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National Geographic : 1920 Dec
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A LITTLE-KNOWN MARVEL OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE HOLES DUG IN TIHE WALLS OF CHRISTOPHE'S CITADEL IN SEARCH OF TREASURE Even in the gun gallery and in the walls back of the gun emplacements, treasure-seekers have burrowed like moles in the hope of unearthing some of the immense store of gold and silver reputed to be hidden somewhere in the ruins. Only empty and badly rusted money chests have been found in recent years, however. of the structure, and then, upon arriving at one of the highest points of the edifice, ordered both men seized and hurled to their death on the rocks below, thus for ever safeguarding the secrets of the place. There is a legend that the tyrant once had an entire company of mutinous sol diers driven off this same spot; it was his favorite method of dispatching those who incurred the royal ill will. The mere location of this citadel is such that one wonders how nature pro vided such a site, and a thorough inspec tion causes unbounded admiration for the master mind that recognized its possi bilities, aside from conceiving and con structing the edifice now standing there; for Bonnet a L'vfivque could not have been more ideally located for its purpose if it had been made to order. Occupying the entire top of the mountain, the citadel commands every neighboring peak and approach, while a spring beneath and in side of the building furnishes an abun dant supply of water, that prime necessity in withstanding a long siege. THE CITADEL HAS THE PROW FORMATION The building has the prow formation, pointing toward the magnetic north, the entire eastern face being in this line. On the eastward side, which is the longest, is located the main battery of heavy guns; and strategically this should be so, for this gives absolute command of the most dangerous approach, that from the direction of Grande Riviere. An army, with the necessary guns and equipage successfully to attack this stronghold, would have to come from that direction. Guns in the prow commanded the nearer and steeper approaches, both from the direction of Grande Riviere and of Mil6t. Other guns along the southern 473
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