When a soldier came in, to say that the horses were at the door, they went out. An officer was standing beside them, and the governor presented him as his chief artillery officer. "You have not brought your horse," he said. "No, your Excellency. The distance is not great, and we should need to dismount so many times, to get a view from the walls, that it would not be worthwhile to ride." "In that case, we may as well walk, also," Dick said. "I would rather do so, too," the governor said. "I proposed riding, because I thought you might be tired. As Bakir Meeram says, the distance is not great. The walls themselves, with the exception of those of the two forts, are not more than half a mile in extent; for in most places the rocks go sheer down, and there defences are, of course, unnecessary. We will inspect this fort, first." They went the round of the walls, Dick and his companion listening to the suggestions of the two officers. The principal one was that a wall should be raised, inside the gate. "The English, last time, got in here by rushing in at the tail of the fugitives from below. They were in before the gates could be closed, and took our men so completely by surprise that they were seized with a panic. Were we to raise a semicircular wall behind the gateway, such a thing could not occur again," the governor said. "Of course, there would be a gate in the inner wall, but not immediately behind the outer gateway as, if so placed, it might be destroyed by the cannon shots that battered the outer gate in. I should, therefore, put it at one end of the inner wall. This gate would be generally open, but in case of a siege I should have it blocked up with stones piled behind it, placing a number of ladders by which men, running in, could get on to the walls, and, however closely they were pursued, could make a stand there until the ladders were pulled up." "That would be an excellent idea," Surajah said gravely, "and I will certainly lay it before the sultan. I suppose you would propose the same for the other fort?" "Just the same." "The only thing that I would observe," Dick said, "is that, if an enemy once got a footing on the top here, you could not hope to make a long defence of these forts." "That is so," the governor agreed. "The strength of the defence is not here, but on the upward road, and if the English once gained the top the forts must fall; but at least it shall not be said, as long as I am governor, that Savandroog fell almost bloodlessly. In these forts we can at least die bravely, and sell our lives to the last. It is for that reason I desire that they shall be so defended that they cannot be carried, as they were before, by a sudden rush." The other fort was then visited, and a tour made round the walls. The suggestions offered by the governor and the officers were all noted down and approved.