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OLD FORT SAN MARCO.
Built by the Spaniards in 1565, the Indians being compelled
to do the labor of building. The thickest part of the fort walls is forty
feet, and covers five acres. It was bombarded in 1744 by Governor Oglethorp
of the colony of Georgia. It is built of coquina and said to be the best
preserved specimen in the world of the military architecture of its time. It
is the oldest fortification on the Western continent. Its walls and watch
towers remain intact, but its guns are dismounted, and the moat is dry. It
is, in all respects, a castle, built after the plan of those of the Middle
Ages of Europe. There are the inner and outer barriers, the barbican, the
draw-bridge, portcullis, wicket, and all the appliances of such
fortification. In 1836, the terra plain of the north-east bastion caved in
exposing a deep and dismal dungeon. Impelled by curiosity, the United States
military engineer descended into this dungeon, where, to his surprise, he
discovered the skeleton of a human being manacled to the wall. He also
discovered two iron cages suspended from hasps in the wall of the dungeon.
One had partly fallen down, from rust and decay, and
human bones lay scattered beneath it, on the floor of the dungeon. |
