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218 The gorge had been necessarily kept clear during the continuance of the cannonade; but when it ceased, by reason of the approach of the assailants, the garrison formed across the opening, while the portion of the parapet which bore on the enemy was also fully manned. Their fire was coolly reserved till it could be given with effect, and by the first discharge the leading part of the column was completely brought down. Recovering from the momentary hesitation caused by the fall of their comrades, those behind again began to advance; but the steady and rapid fire of the garrison threw them into confusion, and, regardless of the Sultan's appeal and their answer to it, they fled to their horses and soon disappeared, their retreat being covered by the firing from the fort and the rocks. After the repose of an hour, the garrison was threatened with another attack. It was led by the Sultan's European corps, commanded by Monsieur Vigie. This corps had been engaged in part of the operations of the preceding night, and, being brought into a situation of some danger, it broke, and officers and men alike sought safety in disorderly flight, an object which was facilitated by the uniform of the corps being red; but the behaviour of this regiment at the redoubt did not tend to obliterate the disgrace of their previous flight. The garrison were prepared for a conflict far more severe than those they had already sustained; but the expectations founded on the supposed superiority of this corps over the native troops were not realised. Monsieur Vigie and his men advanced but a little way from the rocks, when a few of the foremost falling, the rest came to a stand, fell into confusion, and went off.

No further attempt was made on the redoubt; and never was relief more welcome than that afforded to the garrison by the cessation of the enemy's attacks. The day had been oppressively sultry, and within the narrow limits which bounded the efforts of the garrison two officers and nineteen privates lay dead; while three officers and twenty-two privates, miserably wounded, were passionately imploring water, which their compa-