The situation in Gibraltar was desperate by mid-June. The food had run out and the townspeople and garrison had been reduced to eating their own shields, belts and shoes in an attempt to gain sustenance from the leather from which they were made.[6] Admiral Jofre attempted to sling bags of flour into the town by firing them over the walls from ship-mounted catapults, but the Moors were able to drive the Castillian ships away.