A LITTLE-KNOWN MARVEL OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 



473 



HOLES DUG IN THE WALLS OF CHRISTOPHE S CITADEL IN SEARCH OF TREASURE 



Even in the gun gallery and in the walls back of the gun emplacements, treasure-seekers 

 have burrowed like moles in the hope of unearthing some of the immense store of gold and 

 silver reputed to be hidden somewhere in the ruins. Only empty and badly rusted money- 

 chests have been found in recent years, however. 



of the structure, and then, upon arriving 

 at one of the highest points of the edifice, 

 ordered both men seized and hurled to 

 their death on the rocks below, thus for- 

 ever safeguarding the secrets of the place. 

 There is a legend that the tyrant once 

 had an entire company of mutinous sol- 

 diers driven off this same spot ; it was his 

 favorite method of dispatching those who 

 incurred the royal ill will. 



The mere location of this citadel is 

 such that one wonders how nature pro- 

 vided such a site, and a thorough inspec- 

 tion causes unbounded admiration for the 

 master mind that recognized its possi- 

 bilities, aside from conceiving and con- 

 structing the edifice now standing there ; 

 for Bonnet a L'Eveque could not have 

 been more ideally located for its purpose 

 if it had been made to order. Occupying 

 the entire top of the mountain, the citadel 

 commands every neighboring peak and 



approach, while a spring beneath and in- 

 side of the building furnishes an abun- 

 dant supply of water, that prime necessity 



in withstanding a 



long siege. 



THE CITADEL LIAS THE PROW FORMATION" 



The building has the prow formation, 

 pointing toward the magnetic north, the 

 entire eastern face being in this line. On 

 the eastward side, which is the longest. 

 is located the main battery of heavy 

 guns : and strategically this should be so, 

 for this gives absolute command of the 

 most dangerous approach, that from the 

 direction of Grande Riviere. An army, 

 with the necessary guns and equipage 

 successfully to attack this stronghold, 

 would have to come from that direction. 



Guns in the prow commanded the 

 nearer and steeper approaches, both from 

 the direction of Grande Riviere and of 

 Milot. Other guns along the southern 



