The garrison saw that resistance was useless, and promptly acceded
to those terms. The invaders then asked for and got the keys of the
magazine, which they handed out to their friends, who forthwith set to
work to remove the ammunition which they found stored in the vaults.
They seized about 300 lbs. of gunpowder, made up in 8 lb. cartridges, a
quantity of fuses, and other military stores, and then proceeded to
search the entire building for arms. Of these, however, they found very
little--nothing more than the rifles and sword bayonets of the two or
three men who constituted the garrison, a circumstance which seemed to
occasion them much disappointment. They were particularly earnest and
pressing in their inquiries for hand-grenades, a species of missile
which they had supposed was always kept "in stock" in such places. They
could scarcely believe that there were none to be had. Some charges of
grape-shot which they laid hands on might be, they thought, the sort of
weapon they were in quest of, and they proceeded to dissect and analyse
one of them. Grape-shot, we may explain to the unlearned in these
matters, is "an assemblage, in the form of a cylindrical column, of nine
balls resting on a circular plate, through which passes a pin serving as
an axis.
Pages:
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363