THE ATTACK UPON THE FORT The Confederate officer was evidently of French descent; at any rate, he was very polite.

He expressed his obligations to the supposed physician for the service he had rendered in very earnest terms.

Mr.Pennant had been able to see that there were no guns in the casemates of the fort, and this was really all he wanted to know.
"All your guns seem to be mounted outside," said the naval officer as he halted on the parade.
"Yes, sir; most of the guns have been removed to points where they can be used to greater advantage than here.

The few we have are twenty-four pounders, mounted _en barbette_," replied Lieutenant Fourchon.

"The fort is practically abandoned; and in a short time will be entirely so, for the enemy's ships of war can do no harm here, and there is not water enough above to permit their passage into the Mississippi." "But the fort can protect your vessels in the bay," suggested the lieutenant of the Bronx.
"The shoal water is the best protection for the small steamers that ply on these inside waters; and the Yankee gunboats can take all others as they come out.