ON CAPE BEETON, 287 



new Ibuud lauds," or agaiust their rivals who were exploring those far distant seas.' It 

 is quite easy to believe that these vessels would often be armed with old weapons, which 

 conld be bought cheap in the ports of Europe. Some storm-tossed vessel may have found 

 its way into the haven, and may have been left to rot on the shore, while the crew were 

 taken oil' on the vessels that began to frequent Louisbourg in the beginning of the six- 

 teenth century, or perhaps the old weapon was thrown overboard as useless. But the 

 facts, so far as they have come down to us, by no means establish that Sir Humphrey 

 Grilbertever entered the famous old port. 



As one looks carefully in these days at the natural position of the old fortress, it is 

 quite obvious that it must have been extremely weak on the land side, when once an 

 enemy obtained a footing on shore. The most dangerous point was, of course, Grabarus 

 Bay, and the French would have been wise had they built strong permanent forts or 

 batteries at every cove where there was a chance of an enemy landing. The history of 

 the last siege shows that the French were quite aware of the necessity for such batteries, 

 but they had no force strong enough to maintain even the works they were able to con- 

 struct with the materials close at hand. In endeavouring to prevent the landing they 

 had left the town itself almost undefended. Then, when the enemy was established in 

 force, the French were not able to prevent them taking possession of the northeast 

 entrance, and the green hills which command the town. The grand battery was never 

 of any use, and the one at Lighthouse Point was also deserted at the first sign of peril. 

 Both of these works, if held by the French, could have thwarted the plans of the English 

 for some time ; but as it was there were uo men to spare for these defences, if indeed they 

 were in a condition to resist attack for many days. The town, then, from the land side, 

 stood isolated and dex>endent entirely on its own defences. From the sea on the other 

 hand, it was much less liable to danger. "VVe have evidence of this in the fact that the 

 island battery at the entrance, during the two sieges, for weeks kept the fleet outside of 

 the harbour. If the Lighthouse Point had been defended by a powerful fort, garrisoned 

 by a sufficient force, the entrance w^ould have been almost impregnable. 



The rocky islands that lie between the ocean and the port and make it so secure a 

 haven in the most tempestuous season present a very picturesque aspect as we survey 

 them from the heights of the old town. They seem to form a sort of cordon of rocks and 

 shoals, on which the sea rushes in all its impetuosity, only to find itself stopped in its 

 fierce desire to reach the peaceful haven. The spray rises in times of storm in great clouds 

 of mist on these dangerous rocky ledges, and then, as soon as the wind subsides, there is 

 hardly a ripple to tell of the danger that lurks beneath the unrufiled surface that hides 

 these rocks where death ever awaits the storm-tossed or careless sailor. It was on one of 

 such rocks in the vicinity of Porto Novo, a short distance to the northeast of Louisbourg, 

 that the French frigate Chameau on her way to Quebec, was shipwrecked one August 

 night in "1*725. All the ranks and professions were represented on the hapless vessel, 

 " grande et belle flute du roi, commandée par M. de Voutron." An intendant of Canada, 



' See App. VIII (.") to tliis work, where an account is given of the visit of the Hopewell of London, in 1597, to 

 Louisbourg hai hour, where a Biscay vessel, whose crew had robl)ed the Chancewell, the consort of the English 

 ship, when cast away on the coast of Cape Breton, " bent a piece of great ordnance at us." When we consider the 

 many armed vessels that visited Louisbourg for centuries it is not ditficult to account for the appearance of an old 

 gun in the mud of the port. 



