substratum of fine uniform lava, ten to fifteen feet thick,
supposed to have issued from Mount Alagos (13,450 feet), an
extinct volcano thirty miles from Alexandropol. The depth of the
earth allows the growth of grain, but entirely prevents that of
trees, which with their roots cannot penetrate into the lava. The
Russians have taken advantage of this bed of lava in the ditch of
the fortress. The fortress is well constructed and in perfect
repair. There are upwards of 200 guns (varying from 36-pounders
to 12-pounders) mounted on the works, and about 100 in reserve,
of which 30 are field-guns with their equipment wagons, etc. The
garrison would be 5000 to 6000, including artillery. There are
large supplies of ammunition and military stores. The ditch,
twelve feet deep, of the two western fronts has not been
excavated near the flanks on account of the expense. The Russians
have constructed in the centres of the two curtains a
_caponniere_ with two guns in each flank to defend the dead
angles caused by the non-excavation of the whole of the ditch. In
the centre of these two fronts is a large _caponniere_, mounting
ten guns in the upper tier and eight in the lower tier. This
_caponniere_ is on a lower level than the enceinte of the place.
The counterscarp at the north-west and south-west angles of these
two fronts is for the distance of twenty yards composed of a
crenellated wall four feet six inches thick. This was caused by
the irregularity of the ground. The bomb-proof barracks of the
northern fronts mount in casemate two tiers of fourteen guns at
the curtains. The flanks have five guns in casemates open to the
rear, in addition to the guns on the parapet above. The lunette
in the ditch is eight feet deep. The eastern front has an escarp
fourteen feet high cut in the lava, and well flanked by the
_caponniere_ defending the entrances, mounting four guns. The
bomb-proof barracks in the northern fronts have one tier of eight
guns in casemate at the curtains, and three guns in each flank in
casemates open to the rear. The two outworks are closed at the
gorge with a loopholed wall, flanked by a small guard-house. They
have no ditches, but an escarp of ten feet in the lava. The tower
marked _A_ in my plan is sixty yards in diameter, with a well in
the