English, a little scattered, were only too glad to abandon their bags or their arms, in order to rejoin the main body of their column.

"It was still possible to re-establish order, and the officers of the escort did their utmost with that end in view. But those Indians who had picked up anything ran at once with it to the camp, each to those of his own nation, to show his trophy. The others, jealous at the idea that they might otherwise appear in their own country with less of glory than their brothers, darted off immediately, and ran tumultuously to endeavour to secure a share of the spoil; some of them even raised a war-cry.

"The English then became agitated, and lost their heads. The British commandant, on the advice, as he pretends, of an unknown Frenchman, ordered his men to carry their rifles, butts upwards, on the ground that the ordinary methods of bearing them appeared menacing, and irritated the

Indians.

"This pusillanimous manœuvre completely killed the already waning courage of the soldiers, and emboldened the Indians, several of whom dared to seize the guns of the former, making signs to them to give them up, which they did with every evidence of terror. One Indian, not satisfied with having secured a gun that was too heavy for him, soon attempted to exchange it for that of an officer, which illustrates the rapid progression of insolence on one side and fear on the other.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE MASSACRE

"Colonel Monro believed that it was only necessary that the cupidity of these barbarians should be satiated, in order to put an end to the disorders, and he ordered his men to cast their bags and other effects at their feet, adding that the King of England was powerful enough to compensate them. Those of the English who were within reach of the escort threw theirs to the French soldiers, who were weak enough to take them. They might have done well had they returned them.

"In most of the packages the Indians found rum and other strong liquors, with which they became intoxicated. Then they became real tigers in fury. Tomahawk in hand, they fell mercilessly upon the English, who, filled with fright, finished by scattering themselves in all directions, having finally believed that they had been really sacrificed by the French.

"None of them dreamed of saving themselves by any other means than flight. Our escort, far too small, protected as many as it could, principally the officers. But being compelled to maintain its ranks, in order itself to command respect, it was only possible for it to shelter those who were within its reach.

"Unfortunately during all this disorder no Canadian officer or interpreter, who usually has some control over the Indian mind, was to be found. They had endured considerable fatigue during the siege, and were all quietly resting.

"At last M. de Montcalm, M. de Lévis, and M. de Bourlamaque were notified. They ran and gave orders to employ the whole force if it should be necessary. Interpreters, officers, missionaries, Canadians, all were set at work, each one striving his best to save the unfortunate English by snatching them from the executioners.

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These last, intoxicated with blood and carnage, were no longer capable of listening to anybody. Many killed their prisoners rather than abandon them; a great number dragged them to their canoes and carried them off.

"M. de Montcalm, in despair at his failure to make any impression on the Indians, bared his breast and cried:- Since you are rebellious children, who break the promise you made to your father, and will not listen to what he says, kill him the first.'

"This extraordinary vehemence on the general's part seemed to impress them a little, and they said, 'Our father is angry.' But the mischief was done. No comparison can be made of the despair which now took possession of us at the spectacle of this butchery! I heard soldiers utter loud cries of indignation."

Desandrouins not unnaturally expresses his astonishment that the English, who had retained their arms, whose guns were loaded, and who were more numerous than the Indians, permitted themselves to be intimidated and disarmed by them. In addi

THE FORT IN RUINS

tion to this they had bayonets at the ends of their guns and their cartridge boxes were filled. Yet they made no use of them.

Montcalm and Lévis were not less surprised than Desandrouins at the pusillanimity of the English. "It is difficult to understand," says the chevalier, "how two thousand three hundred armed men allowed themselves to be stripped by the Indians, armed only with lances and tomahawks, without making the least appearance of defence."

He adds that the English are not justified in complaining of the infraction of the terms of capitulation by the Indians, since they gave them brandy in spite of recommendations to the contrary.

"Several days after the catastrophe," continues Desandrouins, "Colonel Monro and all the officers and soldiers whom he had been able to assemble, left in good order, dragging after them the cannon which belonged to them. Such is the unfortunate event which I have described as I saw and heard it without disguising anything."

Montcalm employed all his troops in the demolition of the fort and the camp. On August 15th there remained nothing but a mass of smoking ruins, of what six days before had been William Henry.

On the night of the sixteenth the last French boats had left the shore, and disappeared one after the other in the light mists which the coolness of the twilight had suspended over the lake. Faint glimmerings of fire, gradually dying out, marked

the sites that the English fort and camp had occupied. All sound of war had ceased in this corner of the land where thousands of men had battled. The whoops of the Indians and the cries of agony and despair had been succeeded by the gloomy silence of the forest, scarcely interrupted by the sinister cry of some nocturnal bird, or of some tawny wild beast attracted to the neighbourhood by the odour of dead bodies.

Thus closed one of the most appalling incidents of these eventful times. The accounts of the massacre given from the English standpoint do not minimize Montcalm's sense of horror at the outrage, but they do not entirely exculpate him and his officers. The English soldiers were defenceless, for they were without ammunition and few of them possessed bayonets. The charges, therefore, of pusillanimity, if we accept this account, are unfounded. Montcalm, moreover, had witnessed the disorder which had prevailed in the afternoon, and if he had followed the dictates of prudence would have had enough troops at his disposal to repress an outbreak among the Indians whose natural ferocity had been intensified by rum.