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On the eleventh day the Rebiera entered the straits, and the rock of Gibraltar was in sight as the sun went down; after which the wind fell light, and about midnight it became calm, and they drifted up. At sunrise they were roused by the report of heavy guns, and perceived an English frigate about eight miles further up the straits, and more in the mid-channel, engaging nine or ten Spanish gun-boats, which had come out from Algesiras to attack her. It still continued a dead calm, and the boats of the frigate were all ahead towing her, so as to bring her broadside to bear upon the Spanish flotilla. The reverberating of the heavy cannon on both sides over the placid surface of the water -- the white smoke ascending as the sun rose in brilliancy in a clear blue sky -- the distant echoes repeated from the high hills -- had a very beautiful effect for those who are partial to the picturesque.
But Jack thought it advisable to prepare for action instead of watching for tints -- and, in a short time, all was ready.