1 697-] THE FORT. 223 



Abbot de CUoi&y^ may say to the contrary, whose Voyage, in 

 other respects, is good enough. At a certain distance from 

 the Eampart, which is not equal on every side, there are 

 indeed Canals of twenty, and twenty-five Foot broad, which 

 defend, in some measure, the approaches to the Fort, altho' 

 they are fordable almost every where, as I can well affirm 

 who have often sounded them. You cross the Fort from 

 North to South, there being in the middle of the two Cur- 

 tains two Gates which look upon one another. As they have 

 no reason to apprehend a sudden Siege, they have taken no 

 care to leave the place of Arms as open as it ought to be, 

 but on the contrary, have crouded it with Houses, for 'tis 

 there the General, the Director-General, the ordinary and 

 extraordinary Counsellors, and the other Officers and People 

 belonging to the Company, live. This Fort commands both 

 the Haven and the Town, and is mounted with about sixty 

 Pieces of Cannon, fifteen or sixteen whereof have the Arms 

 of France on them, having been taken from the French. 

 The four Bastions have the names of the Diamond, Eitby, 



wet ditch, over which on the south side lies a drawbridge. Between 

 the moat and the buildings within the fort, on this side, there is a large 

 area or esplanade." {Op. cit., i, 225.) Captain Parish's account of this 

 fortress, in Macartney's Embassy to China, 1793, is as follows : " A little 

 above was the castle ; a regular square fort, but without ravelins or 

 outworks. It had two guns mounted on each flank, and two, or some- 

 times three, on each face ; they were not en barbette, nor properly en 

 embrasure, but in a situation between both, having both their disadvan- 

 tages, without the advantage of either. The wall was of masonry, 

 about twenty-four feet high. It had no ditch, but a canal surrounded 

 it at some distance. It had no cordon.'^ [Stavorinus, vol. i, p. 256.) 



" In the middle of the city there is a large square which is used as a 

 garrison. On the west side of this square stands a great church, whose 

 cupola, though not so large, yet resembles that of St. Paul's at London 

 so much, that the English sailors commonly give it that name." ( Voyage 

 to East Indies, 1747-48, p. 79.) 



1 " La citadelle est batie sur pilotis : elle est de quatre grands 

 bastions avec un bon fosse d'eau vive." (Journal du Voyaije de Slam, 

 par M. I'Abbe de Choisy, 2nd edit., p. 22.S.) 



