GIBRALTAR FROM THE QUEEN OF SPAIN’S CHAIR—p.45.
During the celebrated siege of Gibraltar, the subjects of her most faithful Majesty, with becoming loyalty and gallantry, but with little knowledge of coming events, erected a small tower on the hill nearest to Gibraltar, from which her Majesty and the ladies of her court, were to witness the surrender of the fortress to her arms. This fortalice is called "the Queen's Chair," and from its summit may be enjoyed the most striking, grand, and complete view of the formation of the rock, as well as of its relative position with respect to surrounding objects. At the spectator's feet is the Isthmus, dotted with Spanish sentinel-houses, that mark the limits of the neutral ground, and extend from the ruined fortress of Santa Barbarossa to that of St. Philip. The sandy soil beyond yields to British industry both fruits and vegetables; and the giant rock, that raises its bold form above the sea, is an appropriate emblem of the power, strength, and courage of that nation by which it is retained. The Straits intervene, on the right, between the rock and the African coast, which there attains an elevation of 3,000 feet, and the blue waves of the Mediterranean wash the Isthmus on the left.
