A strong body of fanatics, however, still held the mosque, the fire in the roof of which they had succeeded in extinguishing, and, amid the beating of war-drums and cries of "Allah" from the priests, kept up a smart fire upon the troops as they entered the large central square in which the mosque stood. To have stormed the building would have involved great sacrifice of life; the men, therefore, were directed to occupy the houses enclosing the square, and open fire, until the rockets could be brought into play.
The second rocket fired whizzed through the roof of the mosque, the defenders of which, however, only increased their drumming and shouts of defiance, for they were secure in their belief of the local tradition, which said that the mosque was impregnable and indestructible. In a very few minutes flames began to appear on the roof, and, though the enemy worked hard to extinguish it, it rapidly increased, until the mosque was untenable. Dozens of the fanatics blew out their brains rather than surrender, while others threw themselves out of the windows and passages, and rushed sword in hand, in a state of frenzy, upon the British. The coolness and steadiness of the troops was, however, more than a match for the mad rage of the Mandingoes, who were shot down one after another, until the whole of the defenders of the mosque were killed or made prisoners. The remainder of the enemy, who fled at the storming of the stockade, had taken refuge in the neighbouring woods, and, the object of the engagement being accomplished by the capture of the town, they were not pursued.
The stockade and mosque being destroyed, the force left Sabbajee on June 4th, and returned to Josswung, where, by an arrangement with the King of Combo, a portion of that kingdom, including the town of Sabbajee, was ceded to the British.
The mosque was a singularly strong building, and for a day and a half resisted every effort to pull it down, being eventually reduced to ruins by blasting the walls with bags of gunpowder. It consisted of a large central hall, with walls made of baked clay, three feet in thickness, and an external corridor running round the whole circumference of the inner apartment. The roof, conical in shape, was supported by six masonry pillars.