125 
1893.] C. R. Wilson — Topography of old Fort William. 
piazza west of them, and formed the court of guard south of the gate. 
Three arches further on was another cross wall aa v If this wall oc- 
curred exactly after the seventh of the first line of arches G 1 D 1 and 
I am right in believing that these arches measured 8 ft. 9 in. from 
centre to centre, then the centre of the cross wall aa 1 would he 61 ft. 
3 in. from the south face of the wall CG l C 2 . If we rely on the evidence 
of the excavations its north face was 60 ft. 3 in. from the south face of 
CG i C 2 . The next cross wall bh l occurred after the tenth arch. As 
shown by the excavations its north face was 86 ft. distant from the 
south face of the wall GG X C 2 , or if we reckon its distance according to the 
arches, its centre will be 87 ft. 6 in. from OG l 0 2 . I have argued that 
another cross wall cc x was 126 ft. distant from the centre of the 
east gate, that is its north face is 112 ft. from the south face of GG 1 G 2 -, 
and if we reckon that this wall came after the thirteenth arch its 
centre will be 113 ft. 9 in. from 00 1 C 2 . The last cross wall dd 1 is 131 
ft. 6 in. from OC y 0 2 , or if we reckon that it came after the fifteenth 
arch its centre would be about 131 ft. 3 in. distant. The room cut off 
by the walls cc L , dd v is the Black Hole. It measured internally IS ft. 
by 14 ft. 10 in. It was bounded on the east by the curtain, on the south 
by the wall dd v on the north by the wall cc v and on the west by the 
fourteenth and fifteenth arches of the first line of arches parallel to 
the east curtain OjH j. These two arches were bricked up and only a 
window was left in the centre of each. Along the east wall of the Black 
Hole was a wooden platform about six feet broad and raised three or 
four feet from the ground, open underneath. It probably projected from 
the east wall as far as the door in the north wall cc r This door opened 
inwards. The three rooms between the court of guard and the Black 
Hole were the barracks. They were bounded on the east by the curtain 
wall, along which ran a wooden platform similar to that in the Black Hole. 
The nine arches which bounded the bai’racks on the south, (i. e., the 
fifth to the thirteenth arches inclusive) were partially closed by a 
dwarf wall, or, as Holwell calls it, a parapet wall. The rooms opened 
one into another and a door in the wall cc t led to the Black Hole. South 
of the Black Hole there were no more rooms, the remaining space being 
taken up by a straight staircase, fifty feet long, built against the east 
curtain wall, leading to the south-east bastion. 
1 believe that this arrangement of the rooms will satisfy all the 
requirements of Holwell’s narrative. The barracks according to him 
would have been a fairly comfortable place for 146 persons to spend the 
ni°ht in. I make the whole area, of the barracks to be 72 ft. by 14 ft. 
10 in. This gives 7 sq. ft. 45 sq. in. for each individual. The area of 
