It is casemated in part, though but few of these embrasures were armed,--its chief force being in the pieces _en barbette, _and some nine or ten mortars.

The masonry, though solid, is represented by an eye-witness not to be bomb-proof, and so dilapidated by age that the mortar was falling out from the interstices, leaving the stone to disintegrate.

The interior space was occupied by ranges of wooden buildings, slightly constructed and plastered over." "This fort is said to be armed with sixty pieces.

The English admiral states, that all three of the works mounted eighty-one guns and mortars.
The calibres are not given officially, but stated in private letters to be 18-pounders and 32-pounders." "The above description will quite justify the further remark as to these works:--" "They were inferior in every respect, and manifestly incapable of withstanding any serious operation by sea or land.

The main fort was particularly weak in design, and dilapidated; all of them were indifferently armed and garrisoned." "So much for the works.