3 Go THE CANNONADE OF C II A P. XI II. Except fnr Agamem- non, no good beilh over the reef. The steam- ships kept under way. Explosion on Fort Constan- tine. Havoc wrouglit amongst the uiijicr- tierVialtorii'S of Fort Con- ■tantinc : forth the whole strength of his port broadside He was, however, exposed to a destructive five from the guns on the cliff; for he lay right under the Telegraph Battery, at a distance from it of less than seven hundred yards. The simple trutli is that, by the destructive i)0vcr of the cliff bat- teries on the one hand, and the ibi'iii of the shoal on the other, the region of comparative impunity was so narrowed as to offer no more than one berth to a great ship of war, and that berth was the one which the fortunate Agamemnon had taken. At this time, the steam-ships kei)t under way were all, it seems, hovering upon the off-shore side of the detached squadron. Some of them tried their range at Fort Constantino ; and, al- most at the time when the Agamemnon opened her fire, a shell which was believed to have been thrown from Carnegie's steam-frigate, the Tribune, caused a great explosion of ammunition amongst the batteries at the top of the Fort.* This dis- aster alone nnist have done much to breed con- fusion ; but it was mainly by the tire of the tlirec great ships — the Agamemnon, the Sanspareil, and the London — that the result was obtained. The upper - tier l)atteries of Fort Coustantine were brought to ruin. Of the 27 guns there planted, 22 were speedily silenced ; and the gunners found
- Brereton, p. 33, confirmed by inquirj' from Admiral Carnegie.
The shell fro;n his sliip, the Tribune, wa.s thrown at a range of 1600 yards. The Lyn.x, also, at this time was firing on Fort Constantine. — Admiral's Journal. As to the cfTret of the ex- j)losion, see Todlcben, p. 33(3.
