ALAND THE BALTIC IX 1854. 209 



and directed by Commander Preedy, a man of great 

 energy and great practical skill Sometimes they 

 would progress slowly, step by step, foot by foot, 

 then with a wild dash would burst over a short 

 space, then stick so fast that it was only by straining 

 every muscle and taxing every limb only by the 

 wild impulse, and with the wild cheer the difficulty 

 was overcome. Thus they went on and on, spite of 

 check or obstacle, patient and enduring with all their 

 wildness, until the end was accomplished, and the 

 guns were in place. 'Twas a strong rough fact, this 

 getting up of the guns. 



The afternoon had its incident. "We heard a 

 heavy rumbling noise felt the ground shake saw 

 a mass of dust rise into the air, and rushed forth 

 to see a ruin yawning with many a wide fissure, 

 shattered and bent from its foundations, in place of 

 the grim regularity and stately perpendicular of Fort 

 Tsee. Since its surrender, the enemy had continued 

 to fire into it, and either one of their shell, or a slow 

 match left burning, had reached the magazine, and 

 so blown up the fort. 



Eagerly on the morning of the 15th did we wait 

 for some sign from the hill, where our battery, of 

 three 32-pounders and four howitzers, was ready, at 

 a range of 750 yards, to commence a single-handed 

 contest Avith Fort Xortike. At length a deep boom, 

 followed by a heavy crash, told us that the work was 

 begun. There was a strength and a power in this 



VOL. iv. o 



