DEM IDBIS. 185 CHAPTEK IX.

DEM IDRIS TO DEM SULEBIAX.

The morning after our arrival at Dem Idris we were np as soon as it was light, and after a hasty cup of coffee, we went with Gessi Pasha to view the scene of so many hattles. The place had been well fortified, but it is now little better than a heap of ruins. Human bones were scattered in all directions, and the trees were covered with bullet marks ; there was one tree, now riddled with shots, left standing within the fort, which Gessi was in the habit of climbing, as from this position he could see the operations of the enemy ; often the bullets struck the tree, and one bullet passed through his fez. The fortifications of the town had been very strong, and we could see how admirably they were adapted for the purpose for which they were constructed. There was first a stockade twelve feet high, made of huge blocks of timber, all the crevices being filled with earth; then a trench eight feet deep, then another stockade four feet high and then another trench. The reason for this plan of defence was that Suleiman's force numbering from 10,000 to 15,000, he could attack the fort on all