VIEW FROM THE SIGNAL-STATION.
Most conspicuous among the buildings was the old Moorish castle, which recalled to the spectator the palmy days of Saracenic supremacy in Spain. It was situated on the north-west side of the hill, and originally consisted of a triple wall, the outermost of which rose sheer from the water’s edge. The lower portions, however, had been destroyed before the siege, and on their ruins was planted the Grand Battery. The walls formed an oblong, ascending the hill, with the principal tower, or governor’s residence, at the upper angle. The remains of a mosque were still visible; as also those of a Saracenic court, and a tank or reservoir for water.
Ruins of Moorish edifices were discernible also on Windmill Hill, and at Europa. Those on the hill were in a condition which rendered it impossible to determine their original character; at Europa they have been converted by the Spaniards into a chapel, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Fragments of Moorish walls run along the water’s edge; and near Europa Advance is a Moorish bath, which our English soldiers named the Nuns’ Well. It is sunk eight feet deep in the rock, and measures seventy-two feet by forty-two feet. Over it is an arcaded canopy, supported by graceful Saracenic columns.
In the hill are numerous caves and hollows, some natural, and some improved by the hand of man. Of the former the most considerable appears to be St. Michael’s Cave, which lies on the south side, about eleven hundred feet above the sea-level. The remains of a strong wall are visible near this entrance, which is only five feet wide. On entering, the stranger finds himself in a considerable cavity, about two hundred feet in length, and ninety feet in breadth; and the light of his torch, if he penetrate into the interior, reveals the mouths of several other caves. From the roof depend stalactites of great size and curious shape, giving to the whole that character of Gothic architecture which is noticeable in all stalactitic grottoes. There are also numerous stalagmites, which in some cases almost join the calcareous droppings from the roof, and appear to form supporting pillars.
Mr. Bartlett describes in some detail a visit which he paid to this remarkable cave. Accompanied by a guide with blue lights, he descended the slippery pathway between lofty pillars of stalactite, to find himself in a darkness visible, and in a silence so deep and still that the droppings of the water which filters through the roof above could be distinctly