In 1737 Governor Don Manuel de Monteano, soon after taking command of the province, made the following report to the Governor-general of Cuba: “The fort of this place is its only defense; it has no casemates for the shelter of the men, nor the necessary elevation of the counter-scarp, nor covert ways, nor ravelins to the curtains, nor other exterior works, that could give time for a long defense; but it is thus naked outside, as it is without soul within, for there are no cannon that could be fired twenty-four hours.” The representations of the governor received prompt attention at the Spanish Court, where it had now become recognized that the Spanish possessions in America were endangered, and unless St. Augustine was maintained, they would be irrecoverably lost. Large appropriations of money were sent, and a garrison of seven hundred regular troops, and a number of new cannon assigned to the castle. With the means thus provided, the governor applied himself with great energy and skill in putting the fort in an excellent state of defense. The superintendence of the work was assigned to Don Antonio de Arredondo, an officer who ranked well among engineers. Bomb-proofs were constructed, a covered way made, the ramparts heightened and casemated, and redoubts extended across either end of the town, in which there were ten salient angles.[13] Romans states that two of these salient angles or bastions, built of stone, stood in the southern line of redoubts, but were broken down by the English, and the material used for the foundation of the new barracks. From the statements of old residents, I am satisfied that one or more stood near the present saw-mills, and commanded the approach by the old road across the marshes of the St. Sebastian. It is probable that the credit is due Don Arredondo for the symmetry and beauty of outline in the general design of the fort, and also for the perfection of the lines, curves, and angles in the masonry. The noble conception and perfection of detail throughout the work demonstrates the engineer to have been a man of excellent abilities, and proficient in the higher mathematics, “one of the sublimest realms of human thought.” Some of the curves in the masonry within the casemates are beautiful pieces of design. The compound circular and elliptic arch, or three-centered circular arch, which supports the incline leading from the terre-plein to the court, is said to have presented a problem too difficult for the United States engineer in charge of the repairs after the change of flags. It will be seen that the north side of the arch having fallen has been patched with a rectilinear wall, and the symmetry of the elegant lines destroyed. CHAPTER XII. OGLETHORPE’S ATTACK.--BOMBARDMENT OF THE FORT AND TOWN.--CAPTURE OF THE HIGHLANDERS AT FORT MOSA.--OLD FORT AT MATANZAS.--MONTEANO’S INVASION OF GEORGIA.