The old citadel is a brick structure 150 yards long from east to west and 50 yards wide. It occupies an elevation of its own, and, when erected, stood nearly in the centre of the north face of the city. It was flanked by several towers, differing greatly in size; those at the angles were the largest, while those on the north-east angle were the most imposing. The interior, in part occupied by Feramorz Khan, the Commander-in-Chief, is divided into three courts. The inhabited portion is a lofty building, supported by four bastions along its face, with the entrance gate facing the main street to the Charsu. It fills a space 110 yards in length by 60 yards in breadth. The Ark, from its massive appearance, is very dignified, but it is not calculated to withstand protracted defence if the town itself were captured. Its walls, thickly built but of inferior masonry, are exposed from base to parapet, and a few shells dropped behind them would create great havoc. The Ark-i-nao, or new citadel, serves as a parade-ground for the garrison. Weak both in plan and profile, it is constructed in advance of the mound, but 80 feet below it and upon a level with the country. It consists of 4 straight walls 300 yards in length. The face is flanked by 5 semi-circular towers, each possessing a diameter of 30 feet. The walls are 13 feet thick at the base and 8 feet at the top, crowned on their outer edge by a parapet 6 feet high and 1½ feet thick. There was once a ditch 30 feet in width and 15 feet in depth at a distance of 60 feet from its base, but it is now a general receptacle for the refuse of the city. [Illustration: HERAT CITADEL] Within recent years the fortifications of Herat have undergone radical alteration. At one time, prior to the Pendjeh crisis, the city could not be said to possess an esplanade nor any free field of fire. Detached buildings, even small villages, surrounded it, while cultivation extended close to the walls; and where agriculture ended the cemeteries of the city began. Mosques, tombs and reservoirs stood opposite the gateways, some of them lying within 100 yards of the walls. Vast mounds of earth were also close at hand. Many of these defects were removed[13] under the guidance of the British officers who were assisting in the demarcation of the Russo-Afghan boundary in 1884-87; in 1903-04, under the supervision of Feramorz Khan, additional improvements were made and a number of mountain and field batteries installed.