156 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
m m 
The works at Tassagong were not intended to resist the fire of artillery, 
as was the one of the Bavine, where the sides facing the west and east 
were of great thickness; this 
stockade was unfinished, and the 
construction of it, with the in¬ 
tention of resisting the fire of 
our guns, can be accounted for 
by the fact of a reconnoitring 
party having, the week before the 
attack, penetrated towards this 
side of the defences, and drawn 
off after exchanging shots. The 
Bhooteas, fancying this might be 
our route, had evidently prepared 
to resist our attack from their 
left flank; an abattis of dense % ^ 
thorn shamble covered the front 
of this ravine stockade, and the rugged, steep ascent would have made an 
attack on this side a severe one. Two lines of fire were directed towards the 
west, that side of the stockade being occupied as a residence, an upper story 
having been added. The east face was incomplete, as shewn in Big. 4. 
Bigs. 5 and 6 will, I think, shew 
plainly the construction of the building 
which I have called the Top Bort; that 
of the Gorge was on precisely the same 
plan, but was not quite finished. The 
lower portions could not have been 
breached by the little Armstrongs under 
a considerable amount of fire, and the 
carriage of a large amount of ammunition 
up the ascent for such a purpose would 
have caused much trouble and loss of 
time. Though narrower at the top, the 
wall of stone at the base was from 8J to 
9 feet in thickness, and very strongly 
