64 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 
round. But it was worse inside. There its split walls, rent 
roofs, and ruined houses, presented a spectacle never to be 
forgotten while memory last. Upwards of twenty-five 
houses were totally destroyed, and one hundred others ren- 
dered uninhabitable. All this was the work of the sugar- 
loaf shells,* one of which had pierced the face of the old 
church clock, stopping its hands at twenty minutes after 
one. The bombardment had begun on the 20th of Novem- 
ber at six o’clock in the morning, and continued, with one 
short interval of rest, for two days. The victors marched 
in on the 26th, and immediately hastened to extinguish the 
flames, but two houses were smoking still when we arrived, 
The ability displayed in managing the assault was very 
great. Before beginning, the Germans divided their artillery 
into three batteries, so placed as to be about equidistant. 
From each of these was hurled, no round shot, but the much 
more effective shell—oblong and conical—which bursting 
into fragments jeoparded alike life and property, while at 
the same time the petroleum inside ignited, quickly kindling 
all that it might happen to come in contact with. No 
sooner was a house perceived to be in flames than the guns 
were compressed into a focus on it, and all the efforts of the 
artillerymen were directed to spreading the conflagration. 
This was the mode of warfare, and the gutted town bore 
awful testimony to its success. We did not see a French 
soldier; they had been all sent away into Germany. They 
were chiefly the “Garde Mobile.” Very few of them were 
killed or wounded. Only the poor inhabitants were made 
to suffer, for the enemy did not fire at the ramparts. This 
explains why the town did not surrender sooner. In spite 
of the confusion we got a capital dinner, but the people 
were atraid to light a fire, dreading lest there might be an 
unexploded bomb in the chimney. However, I believe it 
© 20,000 were thrown into this devoted town, 
