Dey and the city. Thus is Fort l'Empereure the monument of victory in the days of prosperity, and the scene of the closing struggle, inscribed in the brightest and in the darkest pages of the history of Algiers. CAPTURE OF GHUZNEE. 140. At six o'clock in the morning we were in motion, the baggage under protection of partiesh of cavalry; and all the artillery were to goi by the circuitous route along the western face of the fort, keeping at a distance of about three miles; and the infantry brigades were to climbm the range of hills at the north-east angle, and descend into the plain on the south-east angle" of the town and fort of Ghuznee. I have seldom experienced the sweets of nature, in all the balmy bloom and perfume of a summer evening," so deliciously developed as whilst we crossed the Ghuznee river, and proceeded through the blossomed clover fields on its banks. The villagers from a rudely fortified village came out to look at us, and asked if we were proceeding to Kabool: they showed no personal alarm; and we were now2 so well known in the country, that we had no sooner halteda before Ghuznee than they were driving their asses, laden with clover and lucerne for sale,d through our camp. 141. The march was very steep ascent on one descent on the other. tournée. b laboriouse and difficult, by a side, and a very precipitoush The view from the summit C'est ainsi que le Fort l'Empereur être.' dernier combat. s du. - de détachements.- devoir marcher. dé1 en se tenir à. devoir gravir." par l'angle éprouver.- de la.- a la fraîcheur.- - d'un soir d'été.- - que nous avancer.- - champs de trèfle.grossièrement.-- sortir.- x pour nous voir. sud-est. - aller à. - alors. nous n'avoir pas plutôt fait halte.. duire. charger de.- -dà vendre.- e pénible. ——— d'un.— rapide. de. of the hill was one of the most enchanting k landscapes in the country:1 the windings of the river, through its dark green fields; the expanse of the valley, studded with numerous villages, surrounded with° luxuriant orchards; the fort every now and then discharging a heavy gun; the long line of the three brigades of infantry, slowly, but steadily, working a their laborious wayr over the rugged hill, were a strange combination of the sweet and the terrible: and the destinedt destruction of the garrison before us, a matter of supposed certainty, added fearful interest to the sublime and beautiful of the scene. S q 142. The appearance of Ghuznee seems to have unpleasantly surprised those who were to direct the force of the British arms against it. It had been represented as very weak, and as completely commanded from the adjacent hills. "But we were very much surprised," says the chief engineer of the army of the Indus, "to find a high rampart in good repair a built on a scarped mount, about thirty-five feet high, flanked by numerous towers, and surrounded by a FAUSSE BRAYE and a wet ditch. The irregular d e figure in the ENCEINTE gave a good flanking fire; whilst the height of the citadel covered the interior from the commanding fire of the hills to the north, rendering it nugatory. In addition to this, the towers at the angles had been enlarged; screen walls1 had been builtm before the gates; the ditch cleared out" and filled with water, and an outwork built on the right bank of the river, so as to command the bed of it."r * des plus charmants.- -1 de la contrée."parsemer de. - - entourer de.. a opérer. r marche. senter. carpé. le lit. m sinuosités.. P de temps en temps. ceux qui devoir diriger les forces.- -c d'environ.- 1 des avant-murs.- h i " sujet. On l'avoir repré a état. de. bes f d'un fossé. k Joint à cela. m construire.. " nettoyer.— ° de. a de manière à. en commander 143. Such was the impression made by the first view of the fortress of Ghuznee. The works were evidently much stronger than we had been led to anticipate,r ‚r and such ass our army could not venture tot attack in a regular manner," with the means at our disposal. We had no battering train, and to attack Ghuznee in form, a much larger train would be requireds than the army ever possessed. The great height of the parapet above the plain (sixty or seventy feet), with the wet ditch, were insurmountable obstacles to anz attack, merely by mininga or escalading. The fortifications were of about equal strength in every part. There wered several gates, but all, excepting one, called the Kabool gate, because opening on the facef of the fortress in the direction of that city, had been closed by the erection of walls across them. This gate was deemed by the engineer officersh the only eligible point for attack. b 144. The requisite orders for the attack oni Ghuznee were circulated among the commanding officers in the evening, and were communicated to the troops. The various parties of the British force destined to1 take part in the attack were in position before daylight. The night was stormy, and loud gusts of wind tended top deprive the besieged of the opportunity of becoming acquainted with the movements of their assailants, from the noise with which they were inevitably attended. Within the fort a dead calm prevailed;" not a shot was fired; and some suspicion was entertained that the place had been evacuated. 145. When all were in position, the attention of 'qu'on ne nous l'avoir fait espérer. tels que.de. "en forme.- V 'pas d'artillerie de siége.'il avoir fallu un train beaucoup plus considérable. mine.· bescalade. une. avoir. génie. à peu près de. thasarder -- pour. z dans La Il y elle s'ouvrir. 'sur la façade. h officiers du mà le point du jour.——— de. le.1 à. a de suivre. " régner. de violents coups de vent.- par. pas un. * the enemy was partially diverted by a false attack. The British batteries opened and were answered a from the fortress. In the mean time, the explosion party b were preparing themselves for the assault, which, it was anticipated,d would put the British force in possession of the place. The charge ordinarily employed for blowing open gates is from sixty tos one hundred and twenty pounds of powder, but as it was apprehended that the enemy might have taken alarm at the approach of the British army toi that side of the place on which the Kabool gate was situated, and might thereupon have strengthened the gate, the charge was increased to three hundred pounds. The movements of the explosion party were discerned from the ramparts, but the enemy did not penetrate their precise object.1 146. Blue lightsm were thrown up to afford them a better opportunity of ascertaining what was in progress, but being burned from the top of the parapet instead of being thrown into the passage below, they afforded little assistance to those who employed them. The besieged were content with firings from loopholest upon the explosion party, and those by which they were protected, and these random operations produced little effect. The powder was then placed, and the train fired." The gate was instantly blown away▾ together with a considerable part of the roof of the square building in which it was placed. The batteries pouredy their fire into the works, and the buglez sounded for the assaulting column to push on. A series of desperate struggles took place within the de Bengal. de.- k n -* porter à. pour leur donner. on leur répondre. .c se préparer.- dà ce que fde. - -8 à. m -1 but précis.- h on Des feux P de s'assurer de ce qui se faire.-ils être de peu d'utilité.rse contenter de.- stirer.t meurtrières.-- " la mine faire sauter à l'instant. — ainsi que. y lancer. trompette.- - pour faire avancer la colonne d'assaut. bavoir lieu. explosion. gateway and town, and several officers were wounded. Then it was, "d says an officer, "I ordered a volley from the leading section, and the effect was complete: all the obstacles fell before us, and we pushed on at the charges into the body of the place, driving before us a mighty i crowd, who showed us the road by the way they took."-THORNTON. THE FOUNTAIN OF VAUCLUSE, IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. 147. The valley of Vaucluse is bounded on the left by a steep rocky1 acclivity; and below the road, on the right, flows the limpid and rapid Sourgue, skirted by a stripe° of the finest verdure, about? two or three hundred yards broad.a Beyond this,* another ranger of rocky hills bounds the right side of the defile. After following the stream upwards about half a mile, I reached the little village of Vaucluse, which is only a few houses and an inn. From this little village to the fountain, a narrow path leads up thex ravine by the margin of the stream, which is a rapid from the fountain to the village. The defile grows gradually narrower, and the scenery becomes at every step wilder and grander and more sterile. There is now no green stripe by a the margin of the Sourgue. Huge blocks of rock lieb in its channel, and are strewed on every hand; and the sides of the defile approach nearer to each other. After about twenty minutes' walk,f the defile is seen to terminate ing a - première sec- yards de largeur. r chaîne.- Après avoir remonter la rivière. " n'a que.-▾ quelques.- - conduire au.- - se rétrécir graduellement.- Il n'y avoir alors aucune.b gisent.- -de tous côtés.- dse rapprocher.l'autre. de marche.- - se terminer en. a sur. |