noiselessly on the soft earth of the track, and no one a few yards
away would have guessed that a hundred and fifty men were engaged
in laborious toil. There was far more noise than there had been
the night before on board the prahus, an incessant jabber being
maintained, and voices rang high in excitement as the men discussed
the destruction of the town and the orders that had been received
for a portion of them to land on the following morning and take part
in the annihilation of the whites if they entered into the forest.
As soon as the two heavy guns were placed upon their carriages,
just behind the screen of bushes, the greater portion of the men
were sent back as far as the point where they had landed, there to
fill the sacks with earth from the bank of the river, a number of
shovels having been brought for the purpose.

Several large bundles of bamboos, cut into lengths six feet long,
and sharpened at both ends, had been among the articles taken up
to the battery, and while most of the men were engaged filling and
carrying the sacks of earth, some were employed in constructing
chevaux de frise, ten paces on each side of the spot where the
battery was being constructed. The bamboos were set diagonally a
foot and a half into the soft earth, and bound together by being
lashed to strong poles running along them. These fences extended
from the edge of the bushes by the water to the trees. The forest
behind was so thick and entangled with creepers that there was
little fear of an attack being made from that quarter.

Accustomed to work in the darkness, the sailors had no difficulty
in carrying out the operation, and before morning broke the battery
was complete. It was six feet high on the side facing the water,
with two embrasures for the guns, four feet high on the sides