n half of it, is uninhabited, except for
the garrisons of the fort and battery. I tackled the battery first,
making my way to it by passing round the base of the hill until I
reached the shore-line of the next bay, which I then followed for the
remainder of the distance. And heavy walking I found it, with a murrain
on it; for the sand was loose and deep, except where I came upon
mangroves, and there the mud was even deeper than the sand, while, as
for the mosquitoes, they were as eager for my blood as the Spaniards
themselves would be if they but knew what my business is here. However,
I was not to be turned back by the mosquitoes, even though they assailed
me in legions; and after trudging through the heavy sand for a full hour
or more I found myself beneath the walls of the battery.

"It is planned like a triangle, one face, mounting four guns, commanding
the seaward end of the Boca, while the second face commands its inner
extremity, the third face being turned toward the land and containing
the entrance gate. The point or apex of the triangle juts out into the
water; I was therefore unable to walk completely round it; nevertheless
I examined both sides by walking past the back of it. The faces of the
walls are quite smooth, and about twelve feet high; but the angles are
set with rough quoin stones, up which, there being no lights in the
battery, and no sign of a sentinel, I essayed to climb, accomplishing
the ascent with no greater difficulty or hurt than the wearing of the
soles off my stockings--for I took off my shoes for the sake of
quietness and to gain a better foothold. Having gained the parapet, I
found two sentries sitting there, with their backs against the wall,
fast asleep, with their matchlocks beside them. Gently lifting their
weapons in my hand, I shook out the priming--lest perchance they should
awake and, seeing me, open fire upon me before I could get away--and
then, replacing the weapons as I had found them, passed quietly on to
examine the ordnance. The guns are very formidable, of a pattern such
as I have never before seen, being a good twenty foot in length, and of
a bigness to take a shot the size of a man's head, as I learned by
passing my hands over the topmost shot of a pile which stood beside each
gun. There are eight of these pieces of great ordnance, besides falcons
and swivels which I did not stay to count, the heavy ordnance being all
that caused me any anxiety. And even now t