Projecting, as they did, seven feet from the wall, they threw it into shadow, so that the enemy could not see what to fire at; and, at the same time, they lit up the ground in front brilliantly, so that the defenders could make out their assailants, and fire with accuracy.
The fort was eighty yards in length.

The walls were twenty-five feet in height, and the five towers fifty feet.

It lay in a hollow in the lowest part of the valley, and was commanded on all sides by hills, on which the enemy erected numerous sangars.

As, from these, the men moving about inside the fort were clearly visible to the enemy, barricades of stones had to be erected, along the sides of the yards, to afford cover to the men as they went to and from their posts.
On March 5th a letter was received from Umra Khan, stating that the British troops must leave Chitral at once, and that he would guarantee them a safe conduct.

The offer was, naturally, refused.
Next night the enemy, about two hundred strong, made a determined effort to fire the water tower.