But the interest to St. Augustine visitors is not confined to the Ponce de Leon, glorious as it is, joined though it be to its almost equally superb annexes, the Cordova and Alcazar, for the city is filled with the relics of an olden time, and associations that are almost painful to recall. Along its water-front extends a sea wall one mile in length and ten feet broad, built of coquina and coped with granite, forming an incomparable promenade between the old Franciscan monastery, now used as a barracks, and the ancient fort of San Marco, now known as Fort Marion. Though not the most formidable, these antique fortifications rank all others of this country in interest. Their construction was begun by Menendez de Aviles in 1565, at the time of the founding, but were not completed until two centuries later, all of the work being performed by enslaved Indians. The fortifications cover about four acres, and the walls are of coquina, a conglomerate of shells and sand brought from Anastasia Island, which, soft when dug, hardens by exposure. The fort is a splendid example of the best military architecture of the time, being in the shape of a trapezium, surrounded by a wide and deep moat, and with walls twenty-one feet high, sharp bastions at the corners, thick casemates, and subterranean passages and vaults which might serve equally for refuge ports or dungeons. That some of these were used for the latter purpose is proved by the fact that in one of the least accessible dungeon-rooms, the entrance to which was accidentally found, two skeletons chained to the wall were discovered. What a story of suffering these might tell if they could speak! In the earlier centuries a wall extended across the peninsula, which protected the city from attack on the north side, but nothing now remains of this defence except the old city gates, at the head of St. George street. These are massive square towers fifteen feet high, pierced with loop-holes, and at the base of each is a sentry-box, which the guards occupied when on duty. Near the center of the business part of the city is the old slave- market, adjoining which is the _Plaza de la Constitucion_, containing a monument erected in 1812, commemorative of the Spanish Liberal Constitution, while another monument stands in front of the old Market, which was erected in 1879, in honor of the Confederate dead. Besides being a great winter resort, St. Augustine is a place of some commercial importance, its largest industry being the manufacture of palmetto hats, while in the convents a fine quality of lace goods is made, by girls and the nuns in charge. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: