under Credan Head in full view of the fort, but their commanders dared not come within reach of the plunging fire, by which one Parliamentary vessel had already been sunk. Frequent sallies of the garrison annoyed the enemy, who suffered from bad weather and from the labour of making approaches in the rocky ground. Lalue contrived an infernal machine which appears in advance of his time. A trunk filled with explosives and calculated to go off when opened was left near the gate of the fort. Esmond suspected a snare, and advised that the trunk should be soaked in the sea for some hours, but the soldiers were too impatient, and the explosion took place. The besiegers heard the noise and expected great results, but only one person was killed, a woman who had drawn near out of curiosity. There were some men in the fort who sided secretly with the besiegers, and when the trenches approached the ditch communicated with them by letters tied to bullets and flung by hand. At last an assault was made, but, says Bellings, the musketeers who were to cover the storming party had their pieces rendered unserviceable by a whirlwind which blew away the priming and filled the pans with gravel. The assailants were beaten off with great loss, but Larcan, who had been the soul of the defence, was hit by a stone which a round shot had displaced. A surgeon might have saved him, but there was none, and he died. The sap went on until a mine was brought up to the rampart, and the second assault was likely to be successful. Vice-Admiral Smyth with the _Swallow_ and other vessels lay in the offing, and to him Esmond made a last appeal. 'Your lordship,' the sailor quaintly answered, 'hath but two things to consider of: first, the potency of the enemy; next, your abilities to subsist. For, before any relief can overtake you, it will be ten or eight days at soonest. Now, if you find in your strength a disability, then our Saviour Jesus Christ gives you the best counsel, who sayeth: agree with thy adversary quickly while thou art in the way.' If they waited for the assault, he argued, they would all be put to the sword, but if they capitulated so many gallant men would be available for future service, and might perhaps even have a hand in recapturing the fort. As for the guns, they must go with the place, for if they were 'all of beaten gold' there was no means of embarking them. The poor old governor could only lament that he had been encouraged to hope for help which had never come, and replied that he would try one stratagem more by asking for a Protestant garrison named by Ormonde. Two days later he still defied Preston, and declared that he would not surrender without the direct orders of the King or the Lord Lieutenant. Larcan being gone, the other officers prepared to take Smyth's advice, and Esmond was at last forced to ask for a parley. Preston was not bloodthirsty, and on March 19, being the fifty-ninth