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auricula
initiated an all out mutual
smugglery to Gibraltar. This
r ema r k a b l e
En g l i s h -
dominated cliff is connected
to the Spanish mainland by a
mere three-kilometer-wide
isthmus of shifting sand,
which rises but a few meters
above the sea. Because
smugglery of a less self-
contradictory nature had once
t a k e n
p l a c e
w i t h
dispropor tionately large
succes s , the Spani sh
government ordered a low
rampart (La Linea) built right
across the isthmus. Within a
short period of time it was
equipped with blockhouses,
small, primitive wooden
sheds, where the isthmus’
guards could shelter from the
daily sun and where a coal
brazier dauntlessly warded
off the nightly sea fogs. Since
these measures effectively
eliminated what they had
been erec ted against,
however, the guards now
faced a dilemma, namely,
their purpose there was now
meaningless, though if they
retreated back to their cozy
homes in shadow-filled La
Linea, the activity precluded
by their presence would
undoubtedly blossom up
again. Uneasy at the negative
task imposed upon them by
their country, many of the
guards simply broke, and a
number, suffering under the
situation’s impact, turned to
booze, which they liberated
under cover of darkness and
their official status from the
more formal Englishmen.
Besides supplying them with
gin and tonic, this activity was
also useful, indeed one might
say it had a direct galvanizing
effect, since it served to
maintain the guards ’
awareness of why they were