diff --git a/dist/pigeon/message.rb b/dist/pigeon/message.rb
index 6f705ae..3c74bf4 100644
--- a/dist/pigeon/message.rb
+++ b/dist/pigeon/message.rb
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ module Pigeon
     def verify_depth_prev_and_depth
       count = store.get_message_count_for(author.public_key)
       expected_prev = store.get_message_by_depth(author.public_key, count - 1) || Pigeon::EMPTY_MESSAGE
-      assert("depth", depth, count)
+      assert("depth", count, depth)
       assert("prev", prev, expected_prev)
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/pigeon/bundle_spec.rb b/spec/pigeon/bundle_spec.rb
index c136a83..e98a50f 100644
--- a/spec/pigeon/bundle_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/pigeon/bundle_spec.rb
@@ -22,12 +22,7 @@ RSpec.describe Pigeon::Message do
     expect(expected_bundle).to eq(actual_bundle)
   end
 
-  it "debugs a problem" do
-    seed = "\xA3@\x12\xA6\x8Cl\x83\xF5)\x97\xED\xE67\x91\xAD\xFD\xCFf\xF4(\xEF\x81P\xBBD\xF7\x8C\xF7\x8D\xC0\xA9\f"
-    ident = Pigeon::LocalIdentity.new(seed)
-    Pigeon::LocalIdentity.instance_variable_set(:@current, ident)
-    public_key = "@NYTrqYYN2ffTqFyPCUULjhhUkfbY9LorpWYMoMpsOO4=.ed25519"
-    expect(Pigeon::LocalIdentity.current.public_key).to eq(public_key)
+  it "does not crash when ingesting old messages" do
     create_fake_messages
     Pigeon::Bundle.create
     Pigeon::Bundle.ingest
diff --git a/spec/pigeon/message_spec.rb b/spec/pigeon/message_spec.rb
index 00d3776..b9e898e 100644
--- a/spec/pigeon/message_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/pigeon/message_spec.rb
@@ -118,4 +118,19 @@ RSpec.describe Pigeon::Message do
     expect(message.signature).to eq(sig1_b64)
     expect(message.signature).to eq(sig2_b64)
   end
+
+  it "crashes on forged fields" do
+    msg = Pigeon::Parser.parse([
+      [:AUTHOR, "@DYdgK1KUInVtG3lS45hA1HZ-jTuvfLKsxDpXPFCve04=.ed25519"],
+      [:KIND, "invalid"],
+      [:PREV, "NONE"],
+      [:DEPTH, 10],
+      [:HEADER_END],
+      [:BODY_ENTRY, "duplicate", "This key is a duplicate."],
+      [:SIGNATURE, "DN7yPTE-m433ND3jBL4oM23XGxBKafjq0Dp9ArBQa_TIGU7DmCxTumieuPBN-NKxlx_0N7-c5zjLb5XXVHYPCQ==.sig.ed25519"],
+      [:MESSAGE_END],
+    ])
+    m = "Expected field `depth` to equal 0, got: 10"
+    expect { msg.first.save! }.to raise_error(Pigeon::Message::VerificationError, m)
+  end
 end