THE SHIPKA PASS. 
529 
rugged valley, in which, later on (in September) two sunken 6-inch 
mortar batteries were built to fire against the “ Devyatiglazka” Battery. 
As it was, their position was very favourable. In front they were pro¬ 
tected by the hill itself, in rear by an old Turkish breastwork, on the 
right by another half demolished Turkish entrenchment, and on the 
left again by the hill. Pits were, however, dug for the wheels, in case 
the wagons might be seen from the “ Woody Hill,” or from the 
“ Devyatiglazka” Battery. This ravine, it seemed, was regarded by 
the Turks as the least exposed part of the position, for, during their 
occupation of the Pass, they had here constructed a magazine for all 
the artillery of the defence. This was built behind the first named 
breastwork, which mounted several guns, destined to sweep the Gabrova 
road and the approaches to Mount St. Nicholas from the north. 
The magazine was almost finished, and had been skilfully and care¬ 
fully constructed. Its position on the slope made it almost invisible 
to anyone in the valley, and the approach to it was protected by a 
slight parapet 3 \ feet high ; it held enough shells, cartridges, and other 
stores to suffice for all our needs when we first occupied the Pass. 
The stores were used up by the commander of the “ Steel Battery.” Sub- 
Lieutenant K., “ annexed” the magazine with this intention, but 
afterwards it was put in charge of one of the officers of Battery No. 1, 
and when all the rounds it contained were fired away, it was used as a 
shelter for the drivers. In September it was badly damaged by the 
enemy^s shells, and was then abandoned. 
All the spare rounds were taken over from the 2nd Battery, the 
empty wagons were taken away so as not to take up room, and all 
superfluous stores were sent down to Gabrova. At about midnight the 
whole work was finished, and the men settled down in the lodgments, 
close to their guns. Sentries were posted, whose duty it was to wake 
the men in case of necessity, and each gun was laid by means of scales, 
to regulate the firing in case of an unexpected attack. An officer was 
was placed on duty in the battery for the whole night, who had to remain 
in it to give the alarm in case of necessity, and to visit the sentries (of 
the infantry). All other officers had to be in readiness to turn out at 
the first alarm. The commander of the battery and two other officers 
occupied one tent; two of ours, one of the 2nd Battery (who was attached 
to us for duty), and the commander of the “ Steel Battery,” shared 
another. The latter tent was a double Turkish horsehair one, and 
proved very good. The former was pitched over a hole two feet deep, 
seven broad, and twelve long, and was made up of two soldiers tents 
joined together. In the centre the earth had been left so as to form 
a table, but this had the disadvantage of limiting the interior space. 
In the corners of the excavation the sleeping places were arranged in 
slight hollows. Both tents were pitched behind the Turkish breast¬ 
work to the left rear of the battery, and were completely screened from 
the enemy’s sight, except from the batteries on the “ Woody Hill,” 
which was, however, pretty far off. 
At about 2 a.m. we turned in, forgetting Shipka and the Turks, and 
everything else in our wearied state. 
20th August, The enemy, however, did not let us oversleep ourselves. 
