'The stone,' said Chrzanowski, 'is soft and will not splinter.'
'I was struck,' I said, 'with the lightness of the armament; the largest
guns that I saw, except some recently placed in Fort St. Elmo, were
twenty-four pounders.'
'For land defence,' he answered, 'twenty-four pounders are serviceable
guns. They are manageable and act with great effect within the short
distance within which they are generally used. It is against ships that
large guns are wanted. A very large ball or shell is wasted on the
trenches, but may sink a ship. The great strength of the land defences of
Malta arises from the nature of the ground on which Valetta and Floriana
are built, indeed of which the whole island consists. It is a rock
generally bare or covered with only a few inches of earth. Approaches
could not be dug in it. It would be necessary to bring earth or sand in
ships, and to make the trenches with sand-bags or gabions.'
I asked him if he had read Louis Napoleon's orders to Canrobert,
published in Bazancourt's book?
'I have,' he answered. 'They show a depth of ignorance and a depth of
conceit, compared to which even Thiers is modest and skilful.
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