The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-06

way is in the center of sixty feet of
straight wall, which turns outward at
right ankles at either end and then
branches out to two diamond-shaped
| points. The detached bastion to which
the first drawbrdge leads corresponds to
these, and is midway between them. The
outer wall of the moat therefore, has the
contour of a section of an eight-pointed
star. The moat is about thirty-fve feet
deep, and the castle walls are over twice
that hight. They rise perfectly smooth,
with a slight inward SLOPE and are orna-
mented with rich mosaic work at their
base. The moat stops at a dam-like wall
at either end In days gone by, if the
moat were filed, little cascades rippled
over those walls falling to the ocean, 200
feet below, for these points are at the
tops of sheer precipiceS rising almost
perpendicularly from the waves.
Many materials have entered into the
construction of the old castle. The most
common is the rock of the cliff itself, a
limestone conglomerate, containing a good
many quartzitic modules There are a
few sandstones not TO be found in the Vi
cinity, and several varieties of brick.
Some of these are very large-twice the
ordinary size. The walls are succeed with
in and without and all the chambers are
Vaulted The plaster is all firm on the
inside except where struck by shells dur
ing the recent bombardment, and has not
fallen away to any great extent, even in
the exposed portions of the exterior Most
of the roofs are of solid rock, as are all
floors except near the entrance. There
are a few tiled roofs on some of the at
tached LIS.
The keystone Of the entrance archWay
is of gray sandstone and the arms of old
Spain are carved in it, Portions of great
copper-studded doors remain but other
wise the entrance is plain The Odor that
pervades every closed room is far from
romantic, though the signs of habitation
are primitive enough TO be relics of the
long ago. The stencil that rises every
where is of very recent squalor and filth
ness, and not the mustiness that antigua
rians love. There are signs and numbers
rudely painted on the grated doors There
are few scratchings and drawings on the
dingy walls There are ltters of bottles,
crockery, cooking utensils old clothes, pa
pers and odds and ends in several rooms.
These are in the lighter, more airy cham
bers; then suddenly one steps into a dark
cell which echoes ike a We'll. single
beam of light penetrates the grating of the
deeply recessed window. After one becomes
accustomed to the darkness he see the
room is bare, and as he turns away DIS
covers that its door has a heavier lock
than the others he has noticed. An in
describable something appeals to him and
ring low in the wall on one side, and he
feels he is in a prison cell where, perhaps,
heroes have languished and died, unre-
membered
In the room immedia tely beneath the en-
trance are stocks. Two great beams of
wood are notched to receive a dozen legs,
locked together The edges Of the leg holes
are worn smooth with use, and visions
and fancies of the ancient punishment for
minor faults fills ones mind as he moves
on.
At the northwest corner of the topmost
story of the MORO, exposed on three sides
and directly under one Of the hagstaffs
and one of the cannon mounted on the
TOP Of the castle Is a single room, whose
window, eight feet from the floor, looks
to the north and whose door opens to the
south. Here Lieut.. IIobson was confined
for four days. And when the fleet bonn
barded on June s. here, the sentry whose
box was In front Of the door locked him
In, and sought a place less exposed. Hob
sons seven companies were In two other
rooms nearer the center Of the castle and
at a lower level
All cooking IN the Moro appears to
have been done over open fires. There are
two rooms set OFF FOR this purpose with
raised stone pIaNorms surmounted by
parallel iron b9SE instead Of stoves. There
are also n9fnper Of corners and angles