George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 4, 15th edition.

[260] Sorel, their missionaries with them, and hymns were

chap XI.} 1757.

sung in almost as many dialects as there were nations. On the sixth day, as they discerned the battlements of Ticonderoga, the fleet arranged itself in order, and two hundred canoes, filled with braves, each nation with its own pennons, in imposing regularity, swept over the smooth waters of Champlain, to the landingplace of the fortress. Ticonderoga rung with the voices of thousands; and the martial airs of France, and shouts in the many tongues of the red men, resounded among the rocks and forests and mountains. The Christian mass, too, was chanted solemnly; and to the Abenaki converts, seated reverently, in decorous silence, on the ground, the priest urged the duty of honoring Christianity by their example, in the presence of so many infidel braves.

It was a season of scarcity in Canada. None had been left unmolested to plough and plant; the miserable inhabitants had no bread. But small stores were collected for the army. They must conquer speedily or disband. ‘On such an expedition,’ said Montcalm to his officers, ‘a blanket and a bearskin are the warrior's couch. Do like me, with cheerful goodwill. The soldier's allowance is enough for us.’¹

During the short period of preparation, the partisans were active. Marin brought back his two hundred men from the skirts of Fort Edward, with the pomp of a triumphant warrior. ‘He did not amuse himself with making prisoners,’ said Montcalm, on seeing but one captive;² and the red men yelled for joy as they counted in the canoes two-and-forty scalps of Englishmen.