losion,--it
is the cannon of the ramparts firing on the Rond Point of Courbevoie;
and beyond this the Avenue de Neuilly stretching far out in the
sunshine, deserted and dusty, a human form crossing it rapidly from time
to time; and farthest of all, beyond the Seine, beyond the Avenue de
l'Empereur, deserted too, the hill of Courbevoie, where a battery of the
Versailles troops is established. But stretch my eyes as I may I cannot
distinguish the guns; but a few men, sentinels doubtless, can be made
out. They are _sergents de ville_, says my right-hand neighbour; but he
on my left says they are Pontifical Zouaves. They must have good eyes to
recognise the uniforms at this distance. The most contradictory rumours
circulate as to the barricade on the bridge; it is impossible for one to
ascertain whether it has remained in the possession of the soldiers or
the Federals. There has been but little fighting, moreover, since I
came. A little later, at twelve o'clock, the fusillade ceases entirely.
But the battery on the ramparts continues to fire upon Courbevoie, and
Mont Valerien still shells Neuilly at intervals. Suddenly a flood of
dust, coming from Porte Maillot, thrusts back the thick of the crowd,
and as it flies, widening, and whirling more madly as it comes, everyone
is seized with terror, and rushes away screaming and gesticulating. A
shell has just fallen, it is said, in the Avenue of the Grande Armee.
Not a soul remains about the Triumphal Arch. The adjoining streets are
filled with people who have run to take shelter there. By little and
little, however, the people begin to recover themselves, the flight is
stopped in the middle, and, laughing at their momentary panic, they turn
back again. A quarter of an hour afterwards the crowd is everywhere as
compact as before.

[Illustration: PLACE DE LA CONCORDE AND CHAMPS ELYSEES, FROM THE GARDENS
OF THE TUILERIES--FEDERALISTS GOING OUT TO FIGHT THE VERSAILLAIS.

This panorama gives an idea of the theatre of operations of the Second
Siege of Paris. The Prussians closed the eastern enceinte, whilst the
Federals held the southern forts to the last, with the exception of Issy
and Vanves that were abandoned. Point-du-Jour and Porte Maillot were the
parts particularly attacked; the former being defended by the Federal
gunboats on the Seine. Mont Valerien, it will be seen, commands the
whole of the distant plateau. About one mile and a half beyond the
Triumphal Arch the river Sei