es
and their mode of equipment.

When the before-mentioned proposal was conveyed to Crillon he
peremptorily refused to accede to it. Nor could any decision be arrived
at regarding the most proper point of attack; the Old Mole, which at
first appeared the weakest part of the fortress, was found to be covered
by the guns of the principal batteries on the Rock, while the New Mole
presented even greater difficulties. There was another matter too which
became the subject of discussion up to the very moment of the attack,
and this was whether it would not be expedient to supply each floating
battery with warp-anchors and the double cables, that they might
withdraw in case of accident.

These unfortunate disputes, which arose at a time when perfect unanimity
was most essential, hampered the progress of operations, and destroyed
that harmony which should have existed between Crillon and his
subordinates. D'Arcon especially was offended and annoyed; he claimed
for himself the merit of having invented the machines which were to
annihilate the place, and insisted upon his right to have the sole
direction of their movements. Crillon, on the other hand, perceived that
if the command were divided, and the attack should prove successful,
the glory of the triumph would be appropriated by the French engineer.
In the many councils of war that preceded the bombardment the Duke did
not care to conceal his jealousy of the Chevalier d'Arcon. On one
occasion, deriding the propositions of the engineer, he exclaimed: "You
have a fatherly love for your batteries, and are only anxious for their
preservation. Should the enemy attempt to take possession of them, I
will burn them before his face." On another occasion, when in the
presence of the French princes, he said: "You were summoned into Spain
to execute _my_ plan for the attack of Gibraltar by floating batteries.
_Your_ commission is performed: the rest belongs to me."

While these discussions and misunderstandings were distracting the
councils of the besiegers, a master hand was guiding the preparations
for the defence within the fortress. Every emergency that might occur
was provided for, every danger that could be foreseen averted, and the
garrison itself reenforced by a marine brigade of six hundred men under
command of Brigadier Curtis. In the first week of September the land
works of the enemy had progressed with gigantic strides, immense
batteries, some containing as many as sixty-f