General Mack still held out in Capua, and Gen. Macdonald hoped to find him also a coward or a traitor; but his assault was resisted with vigor, after the outposts had been driven in, and the attempt was fruitless. Capua was given up to Gen. Championet by the treaty of Jan. 13, 1799. The present condition of Gaeta is thus described by recent Turin papers: "Gaeta is a second Gibraltar. It is armed with seven hundred pieces of artillery. All the sovereigns, from Charles V. downward, have added to its defences. Ferdinand II. fortified its most vulnerable points. Our army will find great difficulties in taking it; but this siege will not hinder the political and military reorganization of southern Italy, a task to which the government is devoting its utmost efforts. Gaeta has provisions for six months, and during the siege, the representatives of foreign powers will remain on board ships of war belonging to their nations at anchor in the port. "The front of attack on the land side does not exceed 700 metres in extent. It is defended by works cut in the rock, and armed with three rows of faced batteries, one of which has rifled cannon. These batteries together mount about 300 guns, and their line of fire converges on the points from which the attack must necessarily be made. The ditch at the foot of the escarpment is cut in the rock, and the bottom of the escarpment itself is completely covered. The other fortified points are protected by masses of rocks, which render them unapproachable. The ground in front of the place of attack is so rocky that any approaches must be most difficult, and occupy a considerable time. Independently of those defences, Gaeta possesses a certain number of works established on the heights, among which may be mentioned the Castle, the Tower of St. Francis, and the Monte Orlando, a strong fort, which commands both the land side and the sea. As to the port, it is defended by considerable works, which would cause great damage to vessels of war built of wood. In the situation in which Gaeta now is, and with the sea side remaining free in consequence of the non-recognition of the blockade by European powers, it may, with a garrison of from 6,000 to 7,000 men, with supplies of all kinds, defend itself for an almost indefinite period. The struggle will be confined on both sides to a combat of artillery. The besiegers may establish mortar batteries and bombard the place, but that means will only occasion the destruction of the churches, public buildings and private houses, but will not make the defenders of it surrender, for the batteries and forts are all bomb-proof. The king had put one wing of his palace into strong defence, and to it retired with his family." Francis II. had issued the following order of the day: