| 1839 Tuesday July 9 |
(Vertical margin note: HMS Implacable from Lisbon to Malta)
...by not seeing the amazingly strong fortifications I expected. However this was easily accounted for by my finding on enquiry that nearly the whole of the fortification consists of galleries cut in the solid bed the embrasures only being visible from the exterior & these only at a very small distance. Opposite to Gibraltar is a very strongly fortified place called Ceuta, should this ever come into our possession we should entirely command the entrance of the Mediterranean, but at present from the width of the Gut at this point & from the sea side of the rock being fortified only by its own precipitous cliffs we do not at present possess this advantage. Nearly opposite to Tangiers is the strong tower & lighthouse of Tarifa. Lat Noon Long..Noon |