lustrative of the extraordinary
chances of war than the perilous, though fortunate, adventure of the
Commander-in-Chief of the army in Canada, whose descent by water from
Montreal to Quebec was effected with safety in the very teeth of
danger. The shores of the St. Lawrence for upwards of fifty miles below
the city were possessed by the enemy, who had constructed armed rafts
and floating batteries at the junction of the Sorel with the St.
Lawrence, to cut off communication with the Capital. Upon the successful
issue of so hazardous an attempt depended the preservation of Canada,
and the taking of General Carleton, which appeared nearly certain, would
have rendered its fate inevitable; but the happy arrival of the Governor
at Quebec at so critical a juncture, and the well-advised and active
steps which he immediately adopted, secured to Britain a footing in that
beautiful portion of America which circumstances threatened to forever
deny her. A clandestine escape from the surrounding enemy was the only
alternative left, and an experienced officer, distinguished for his
intrepidity and courage, was immediately sent for to concert measures
for the General's precipitate departure. Captain Bouchette, the officer
selected for this purpose, then in command of an armed vessel in the
harbour, and who was styled the 'wild pigeon' on account of the celerity
of his movements, zealously assumed the responsible duty assigned him,
suggesting at the same time the absolute necessity of the General's
disguise in the costume of a Canadian peasant fisherman. This was deemed
prudent as increasing the chances of escape, if, as seemed probable,
they should fall in with the enemy, whose gun-boats, chiefly captures,
were cruising in various parts of the river.

"It was a dark and damp night in November, a light skiff with muffled
paddles, manned by a few chosen men, provisioned with three biscuits
each, lay alongside the waiting vessel." Under cover of the night, the
disguised Governor embarked, attended by an orderly sergeant, and his
devoted Aide-de-Camp, Charles Terieu de la Perade, Sieur de Lanaudiere,
Seigneur de Ste. Anne, and a lineal descendant of de Ramezay. The skiff
silently pushed off, the Captain frequently communicating his orders in
a preconcerted manner by silently touching the shoulder or head of the
man next to him, who passed on the signal to the one nearest, and so on.
"Their perplexity increased as they approached the Berthie