ys this work went on; but so
violent was the surf, that more than a hundred boats were stove in in
accomplishing it, and none of the siege guns could be landed till the
18th. While the sailors were so engaged, the troops were busy making
roads and throwing up redoubts to protect their position.

Wolfe, with 1200 men, made his way right round the harbour, and took
possession of the battery at Lighthouse Point which the French had
abandoned; planted guns and mortars there, and opened fire on the
battery on the islet which guarded the entrance to the harbour; while
other batteries were raised, at different points along the shore, and
opened fire upon the French ships. These replied, and the artillery
duel went on night and day, until, on the 25th, the battery on the
islet was silenced. Leaving a portion of his force in the batteries he
had erected, Wolfe returned to the main army in front of the town.

In the meantime, Amherst had not been idle. Day and night a thousand
men had been employed, making a covered road across a swamp to a
hillock less than half a mile from the ramparts. The labour was
immense, and the troops worked knee deep in mud and water.

When Wolfe had silenced the battery on the islet, the way was open for
the English fleet to enter and engage the ships and town from the
harbour, but the French took advantage of a dark and foggy night, and
sank six ships across the entrance.

On the 25th, the troops had made the road to the hillock, and began to
fortify themselves there, under a heavy fire from the French; while on
the left, towards the sea, about a third of a mile from the Princess's
Bastion, Wolfe, with a strong detachment, began to throw up a redoubt.

On the night of the 9th of July, 600 French troops sallied out and
attacked this work. The English, though fighting desperately, were for
a time driven back; but, being reinforced, they drove the French back
into the town.

Each day the English lines drew closer to the town. The French frigate
Echo, under cover of a fog, had been sent to Quebec for aid, but she
was chased and captured. The frigate Arethuse, on the night of the 14th
of July, was towed through the obstructions at the mouth of the
harbour, and, passing through the English ships in a fog, succeeded in
getting away. Only five vessels of the French fleet now remained in the
harbour, and these were but feebly manned, as 2000 of the officers and
seamen had landed, and were encamped in the