The earthwork was semicircular in form, and was hardly more than a rifle pit.

No sentinel could be discovered, and getting down upon the sand, the two officers crept cautiously towards the heaps of sand which formed the fort.
Christy climbed up the slope with some difficulty, for the dry sand afforded a very weak foothold.

On the top of it, which was about six feet wide, they found a solid path which had evidently been a promenade for sentinels or other persons.

Behind it, on a wooden platform, were four field guns, with depressions in the earthwork in front of the muzzles.
Christy led the way down the slope on the inside to the pieces, which were twelve-pounders.

At a little distance from the platform was a sort of casemate, which might have been constructed for a magazine, or for a place of resort for the gunners if the fort should be bombarded.