labours of a siege could commence.

But the maintenance of Bayonne must at all times depend upon
keeping possession of the citadel. The city lying upon a plain,
and the castle standing upon an eminence immediately above it, it
is clear that, were the latter taken, the former must either
surrender or be speedily reduced to ruins. It is true that, by
destroying the bridge which connects them, all communication
between the two places would be cut off; but the distance from
the one to the other being not more than half-musket shot, and
the guns of the fort pointing directly down upon the streets and
of the city, any attempt to hold out could cause only the
destruction of the town, and the unavenged slaughter of its
garrison. Of the truth of this the French were as much aware as
their enemies, nor did they neglect any means which an accurate
knowledge of engineering could point out, for the defence of what
they justly considered as the key of the entire position. In
addition to its own very regular and well-constructed
fortifications, two strong redoubts were thrown up, on two sides
of the fort, upon the only spots of ground calculated for the
purpose; both of which, I was informed by my guide, were
undermined and loaded with gunpowder, ready to be sprung as soon
as they should fill into our hands. They had judged, and judged
correctly, that if ever the place should be invested, it would be
that the trenches would be opened and the breaching batteries
erected; and they made every preparation to meet the danger which
great prudence and military skill could suggest.

Bayonne, though a populous place, does not cover so much ground
as a stranger would be led to suppose. Like most walled towns,