orce of provincial rangers. The
fortress, which had been considerably strengthened since 1745, was
defended by over three thousand regular troops, and a small number of
Indians and inhabitants. A fleet of fourteen men-of-war, with a crew
of nearly three thousand men, and five hundred and sixty-two guns, were
in the harbour. Chevalier Drucour was governor of the island, and
conducted the defences with skill and resolution, and had Admiral
Desgouttes been as brave and capable as the former, Louisbourg would
hardly have fallen so easily. On the morning of the 27th July, the
English took possession of the West gate, and the cross of St. George
was hoisted on the citadel of a fortress which was destined from that
time to disappear from the pages of the world's history. In 1763 the
fortress was levelled to the ground, and now a few mounds of turf alone
represent the ambitions of France a century and a half ago. Nature has
resumed dominion over the site of the once famous fortress, and the
restless ocean, which stretches away beyond to the eastward without a
break to Europe, brings no message of the fleets that came once, richly
freighted, to this historic fort. Louisbourg is now only a place of
memories--of associations which connect Cape Breton with most glorious
episodes of England's history, with times when the genius of Pitt
triumphed over France.

After the taking of Louisbourg, the English {244} occupied the island
of St. John, now Prince Edward, where there were several prosperous
settlements at Port La Joye (Charlottetown), St. Pierre, and other
places on the bays of the low-lying coast. The population was composed
chiefly of Acadians, who had commenced to cross from Nova Scotia after
the Treaty of Utrecht, and probably numbered in 1758 four thousand
souls, engaged in fishing and farming. These people were able to
supply Louisbourg with provisions, as no agricultural operations of
importance were carried on in Cape Breton.

[Illustration: Louisbourg medals of 1758.]

Wolfe destroyed the French settlements around the bays of Gaspe,
Miramichi, and Chaleurs, while Colonel Monckton performed the same
painful duty in the valley of the St. John River. Acadia, according to
its "ancient limits," was at last completely in the possession of
England.

The news of the capture of Louisbourg was received in America and
Europe with many rejoicings, and the eleven stands of colours won at
this gateway of Canada were de