PLANS OF DEFENDEKS AND OF MAHOMET 243 frobably the opinion of the soldiers on such a question was worth more than that of the archbishop. 1 Under these circumstances, the defenders of the city took up their position in the Peribolos or enclosure. The broken Inner Wall was behind them, the strong Outer Wall was in front. The Military Gates from the city into the enclosure were few and far between, there being only one usually in the long distance between the Civil Gates. The only other entrances into the enclosures were at the ends terminating at the Civil Gates. With this explanation we may now understand the dis- Dis- position of his troops and cannon made by Mahomet. He Mahomet' placed Zagan Pasha at the head of an army which was army charged to guard the whole of Pera, to watch the Genoese in Galata and the whole of the northern shore of the Golden Horn, together with a part of the southern shore as far as the Woodgate or Xyloporta, which was at the extremity of the landward walls. He was ordered to build a bridge over the upper portion of the Horn, so that his troops might take part in the attack upon the city. The attack upon the landward walls between the Woodgate and up the hill in front of the palaces of Blachern andPorphyrogenitus, and as far as the Chariseus or Adrianople Gate, was entrusted to Caraja Pasha, the head of the European division. Certain of the guns were given to him in order that he might attack the wall at one of its weakest parts, probably where it runs at right angles to the end of the foss. Isaac Pasha, the head of the Asiatic troops, and Mahmoud, both men who had had great experience in war, commanded the Asiatic division, which covered the ground between Top Capou and the Marmora. The most important position, however, was that which existed between the Adrianople Gate and Top Capou known as the Mesoteichion. This was the place which Mahomet chose as the principal point of attack. There, he considered, 1 Eiccherio (often quoted as Sansovino, who was the editor of Riccherio and has written a bright account of the conquest) says, ' La speranza della difesa era tutta nel antimuro.' (Dethier's Siege, p. 955.) a 2
