The chapel (_Hist. Mon._), with a semicircular vaulted roof on curious pillars, contains fine baptismal fonts (1085) decorated with sculptures. These fonts, resembling the curb-stone of a well, are decorated with bas-reliefs representing: _John the Baptist preaching repentance to publicans and soldiers who came to him in the wilderness; John baptizing two naked Jews immersed in a cistern; John baptizing Jesus Christ, plunged up to the waist in the waters of Jordan._ On the terrace are numerous trenches, in addition to shafts dug by the engineers to reach the underground passages which communicate with concrete shelters. One of these shelters may still be seen along the southern ramparts of the old château. All these military works are very interesting to visit. There is a =splendid panorama= from this terrace: _on one side_ (_photo, pp._ 100 and 101) the town of Pont-à-Mousson and the valley of the Moselle with, behind Pont-à-Mousson, Puvenelle Forest and Prêtre Wood; _on the other side_, the valley of the Seille, with Metz Cathedral in the distance. _To the south-east is seen_ the Grand Couronné. Mousson was a first-rate observation-post for the French gunners, which explains the fortifications that were erected there during the war. [Illustration: PANORAMIC VIEW OF PONT-À-MOUSSON AND THE VALLEY OF THE MOSELLE, SEEN FROM MOUSSON] [Illustration: RUINS OF THE OLD FORTIFIED CASTLE OF MOUSSON _On the right_: JOAN-OF-ARC TOWER AND STATUE] [Illustration: MOUSSON CEMETERY _In the background_: WALLS OF THE OLD FORTIFIED CASTLE] A VISIT TO PRÊTRE WOOD =A.=—_From_ =Pont-à-Mousson= _to the_ =Croix des Carmes=, _via_ =Montauville=, _returning to_ =Pont-à-Mousson= The Fighting in Prêtre Wood Prêtre Wood dominates all the southern part of the Plain of Woëvre (altitude: 1,200 feet). From October, 1914, to May, 1915, it was the scene of a continual struggle, at the end of which the wood remained in the hands of the French. It was in September, 1914, that the Germans installed themselves in Prêtre Wood, which they at once fortified with barbed wire, chevaux-de-frise, etc. On September 30, 1914, the French obtained a footing in the south-western edges of the forest. A month later (October 29) they captured a German post in the south-eastern salient. Their efforts were next concentrated on Père Hilarion Ravine, which they gradually occupied after many fights in the rain and snow of November and December. Their troops advanced by short rushes as far as the principal line, which had to be taken by a direct attack. First, artillery was brought up by night to prepare the attack. Sappers, by long and patient sapping, blew up the minor defences and penetrated the blockhouses. The adversaries were at times less than a hundred yards apart. [Illustration: PRÊTRE WOOD. SHELTERS IN CARRIÈRES RAVINE]