n was quiet, therefore,
all were employed in transferring valuable goods there, and the house
was then locked up and left to its fate. Against a mere rising of the
rabble the latter might have been successfully defended; but there was
little doubt that, before leaving the town, the troops would join the
fanatics; and in that case, a house not built with a special eye for
defence could hardly hope to hold out, against persistent attack.

The bank, however, might hope to make a stout defence. It was built of
massive stone, the lower windows were barred, and a strong barricade
was built against the massive doors. A hundred and twenty resolute men,
all well armed, could hold it against even a persistent attack, if
unsupported by artillery.

Early in the afternoon, all felt that the critical moment had
approached. Throughout the night a fire had raged, from the opposite
side of the great square; where several deserted houses had been broken
into, and plundered, by the mob; but the soldiers stationed in the
square had prevented any further disorder.

Now, however, parties of troops from the forts began to pour in. It was
already known that their losses had been very heavy, and that many of
the forts had been destroyed. Soon they broke up and, joining the mob,
commenced the work of pillage. Doors were blown in, shutters torn off
and, with wild yells and shouts, the native population poured in. The
work of destruction had begun.

The garrison of the bank saw many Europeans, hurrying, too late, to
reach that shelter, murdered before their eyes. In the Levantine
quarter, the cracking of pistols and the shouts of men showed that the
work of massacre was proceeding there. Soon every door of the houses in
the great square was forced in, and ere long great numbers of men,
loaded with spoil of all kinds, staggered out.

So far the bank had been left alone; but it was now its turn, and the
mob poured down upon it. As they came up, a sharp fire broke out from
every window, answered by a discharge of muskets and pistols from the
crowd. Here men fell fast, but they had been worked up to such a pitch
of excitement, and fanaticism, that the gaps were more than filled by
fresh comers.

All the afternoon and evening the fight continued. In vain the mob
endeavoured to break down the massive iron bars of the windows, and
batter in the doors. Although many of the defenders were wounded, and
several killed; by the fire from the windows of