art of the city.

One morning, however, soon after Grenville had lain down to rest, being
exhausted with the labours of the night, he was awakened by Leigh, with
the news that the Mormons were again approaching in force; and on taking
up his position on the plateau our hero found that the enemy had brought
with them a new engine of warfare in the shape of an enormous catapult
somewhat after the ancient Roman style, but worked with india-rubber
springs, the country being of course alive with rubber-trees. The
operators, moreover, were securely ensconced behind a sheet and roof of
the same product, the thickness of which must have been immense, as the
rifle-bullets of the little party had evidently not the remotest effect
upon it. This curious-looking half-house on wheels was moved forward by
its defenders to within fifty feet of the rock, and after some little
time had elapsed the engine correctly pitched its first missile right
upon the plateau, where, to the horror and consternation of our friends,
it revealed itself fuming and hissing, in the shape of _an explosive
shell_. "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise;" still, the
sight of that infernal bomb must have roused suspicions as to its
capacity for evil in even the ignorant mind of Amaxosa, and he could
read a confirmation of some unknown horror in the countenances of his
friends. Coolly stepping forward, he took up the shell in his powerful
hands, and with a mighty effort threw it, with the fuse still smoking,
right on to the top of the covered catapult, where it spontaneously
exploded with a fearful roar, tearing the entire engine to pieces and
killing its miserable occupants. The Mormon band, watching at a
distance to see their foes destroyed, at once made a stampede in the
direction of the town, and disappeared from view.

On descending to the plain it was found that the catapult had been
worked by five men, all of whom were fairly cut to pieces; and lying
close by, Grenville discovered two more shells with fuses attached.
These bombs were evidently home-made, being simply a lead casing filled
with powder and ball, and ignited by a long fuse. They might, however,
come in most useful in case of a concentrated Mormon attack upon the
plateau; so these instruments of destruction were carefully stowed away
in one of the smaller caves, and Grenville was again able to betake
himself to his prematurely-disturbed slumbers.

The effect of this last atte