Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan.djvu/440

416 left, reached almost to the surf, and being a little turned to the s. W. bore upon the north ravelin, which before night was much impaired by them. Nevertheless, the general fire from the north was diminished, for these new embrasures in Lally's were supplied with three guns from other embrasures of the same battery; and the four in the Lorrain, which bore upon the royal bastion, ceased entirely, and their embrasures were filled up; but Lally's and the burying-ground disabled two guns in the demi bastion, two in the north ravelin, a mortar in the royal, and rendered the three northern embrasures of the N. E. bastion unfit for service. A party of the enemy had been employed through the day in raising a breastwork at a little distance to the left behind their former post at the bar, and began to fire from it at dusk with two field-pieces in barbet against some Sepoys posted on the spit of sand: their mortars continued firing vehemently through the day and night, but, as from the beginning of the bombardment, still against the inside of the fort. Every day one, two, or three of the garrison, and sometimes more, had suffered by the fire; but on this day five Europeans and three Sepoys were killed, and five of each wounded. Notwithstanding a constant fire of cannon and small arms, wheresoever probable, through the night, the enemy advanced their zig-zag across the foot of the salient angle of the glacis, inclining a little to the left towards the surf; and being so near, the governor issued instructions to the officers of the different posts, how to conduct themselves and dispose their parties in case they should assault the outworks. The next day, which was the 19th, the enemy changed their two field-pieces to the south for two eighteen-pounders, from which they fired shot into the fort: in the forenoon their musketry in the advanced or second crochet had fired smartly upon the north ravelin and the covered-way; their mortars continued incessantly through the day, and set fire to three buildings in different parts of the fort at once, but ceased in the night: during which they only produced their third zig-zag obliquely from the ridge of the glacis to the water-mark of the sea, which was not more than 15 yards. The next day, which was