7086 



Quadrupeds. 



and enjoy the view, thus acting up to the taunt so frequent in the 

 mouth of the unenterprising foreigner, and meant to be very severe, 

 though in reality a tribute to the energy, perseverance and pluck of 

 our countrymen, that the travelling Englishman is never satisfied with 

 seeing any place until he has mounted to the highest point. Slowly 

 we sauntered up the path, for we had the whole day beTore us, and 

 though in the month of November, the heat was very oppressive (in 

 summer it is sometimes terrific, the thermometer of the signal-house 

 on the top of the rock, exposed to the sea-breeze, in July last, having 

 risen to 98° in the shade), and ever and anon we sat down to admire 

 the beautiful scene. There was that wondrous rock, on which we now 

 stood, aptly called " the sentinel watch-tower of the Mediterranean," 

 a veritable crumb of England, so unlike all near it, jutting out south- 

 ward into the sea below, now smooth as glass, though yesterday 

 lashed into frenzy by the dreaded Levanter, as we slowly and with 

 difficulty ploughed our way across from the coast of Africa ; behind 

 us, to the North, stretched the mountains of Spain ; from the West 

 rolled the broad waters of the Atlantic ; to the East lay the blue 

 Mediterranean. 



And now we had gained the flagstaff on the top, and were lazily 

 refreshing ourselves with that which, to be thoroughly appreciated, 

 should be unexpectedly met with in a southern climate, after a hot 

 walk on a sultry day, viz. a genuine bottle of " Bass," imported from 

 England, when all our languor was put to flight and our energy 

 restored by the casual observation of the signal-man, that "the 

 monkeys were on the move," and had been seen several times that 

 morning, and might probably be seen again. First, to overwhelm the 

 man with questions, and then to rush out to the parapet at the flagstaff, 

 and peer amongst the grass and bushes which fringe the steep face of 

 the rock, in the attempt to behold the monkeys with our own eyes, 

 was a moment's work ; but though we gazed long and anxiously, 

 and for a considerable time narrowly watched the rocks and bushes 

 all around, the fates were not propitious to us on this occasion, and 

 we could not, as w r e longed to do, carry back to the captain of the 

 steamer, when we re-embarked in the evening, the conclusive assurance 

 that we had ourselves had ocular testimony of the veritable existence 

 of "los monos" on the rock of Gibraltar. We did not, however, 

 leave the spot till we had obtained all the information we could glean 

 upon the subject from the signal-man at the flagstaff, every particular 

 of which was amply corroborated by many who had repeatedly seen 

 the apes. 



