irst opening of spring. In
the intervals of fog, rain, and snow-squalls, sails were seen hovering
on the distant sea; and during the latter part of May a squadron of nine
ships cruised off the mouth of the harbor, appearing and disappearing,
sometimes driven away by gales, sometimes lost in fogs, and sometimes
approaching to within cannon-shot of the batteries. Their object was to
blockade the port,--in which they failed; for French ships had come in
at intervals, till, as we have seen, twelve of them lay safe anchored
in the harbor, with more than a year's supply of provisions for the
garrison.

At length, on the first of June, the southeastern horizon was white with
a cloud of canvas. The long-expected crisis was come. Drucour, the
governor, sent two thousand regulars, with about a thousand militia and
Indians, to guard the various landing-places; and the rest, aided by the
sailors, remained to hold the town.[580]

[Footnote 580: _Rapport de Grucour. Journal du Siege_.]

At the end of May Admiral Boscawen was at Halifax with twenty-three
ships of the line, eighteen frigates and fireships, and a fleet of
transports, on board of which were eleven thousand and six hundred
soldiers, all regulars, except five hundred provincial rangers.[581]
Amherst had not yet arrived, and on the twenty-eighth, Boscawen, in
pursuance of his orders and to prevent loss of time, put to sea without
him; but scarcely had the fleet sailed out of Halifax, when they met the
ship that bore the expected general. Amherst took command of the troops;
and the expedition held its way till the second of June, when they saw
the rocky shore-line of Cape Breton, and descried the masts of the
French squadron in the harbor of Louisbourg.

[Footnote 581: Of this force, according to Mante, only 9,900 were fit
for duty. The table printed by Knox (I. 127) shows a total of 11,112,
besides officers, artillery, and rangers. The _Authentic Account of the
Reduction of Louisbourg, by a Spectator_, puts the force at 11,326 men,
besides officers. Entick makes the whole 11,936.]

Boscawen sailed into Gabarus Bay. The sea was rough; but in the
afternoon Amherst, Lawrence, and Wolfe, with a number of naval officers,
reconnoitred the shore in boats, coasting it for miles, and approaching
it as near as the French batteries would permit. The rocks were white
with surf, and every accessible point was strongly guarded. Boscawen saw
little chance of success. He sent for his