78 J. G. BOURINOT ON 
On a free-stone slab near the site of Fort Moncton—the name afterwards given to Fort 
Gaspereau, which had been erected by the French at Bay Verte so as to command the 
whole Isthmus—can still be seen a rudely chiseled and not very grammatical inscription, 
which recalls the perilous times of Acadia :—‘ Here lies the body of Sergeant Mackay, and 
eight men killed and scalped by the Indians, in bringing firewood, Feb. 26th, 1755.” This 
fortification contained an acre of ground and was well built. The ancient turnpike and 
causeway across a tract of marsh, as well as the contour of the walls, can be ascertained 
without difficulty by the curious tourist. The enterprising city of Moncton, an important 
station of the Intercolonial Railway, is named after the captor of the Gasperean fort. 
Now we must leave the peninsula of Acadia and turn our attention for a few moments 
to Ile Royale, or Cape Breton. The cape from which the Island takes its name is a large 
point of land jutting out into the Atlantic. Cape Breton, while occupied by France, was 
highly valued as an entrepôt for the shipping engaged in the French, Canadian and West 
India trade, as well as for the large fleets which have been fishing in North American 
waters ever since the Basque and Breton sailors discovered the value of the fisheries. 
So important did the French consider the position of the Island—a sentinel, as it were, at 
the approaches of the River St. Lawrence—that they erected a formidable fortress on one 
of the noblest harbours of its Atlantic coast, to which they gave the name of Louisburg, in 
honour of Louis Quinze. 
The harbour of Louisburg, which is two miles in length and half a mile in breadth, 
with a depth of three to six fathoms, communicates with the open ocean by a channel, 
only half a mile in length and one-third of a mile in width, the average depth of water 
being seven fathoms. The great facility of access from the ocean was probably one of the 
principal reasons why this harbour was chosen in preference to others which are larger 
and otherwise preferable. Approaching the harbour from the eastward, more than a hundred 
years ago, the stranger could see the city surrounded by massive walls bristling with 
cannon. Standing out like sentries in advance of the fortress are three small rocky islands 
protecting the harbour from the swell of the Atlantic. Upon one of these, called Goat 
Island, there was a battery mounting thirty 28-pounder guns. On the north-west shore, 
directly facing the entrance of the harbour, stood the Grand or Royal Battery, armed with 
twenty-eight 42-pounders and two 18-pounder guns. This battery completely covered the 
entrance of the harbour, as its guns could rake the decks of any ship attempting to force 
the passage. The town itself was situated upon the promontory lying between the 
south shore of the harbour and the sea, and occupied, including the walls, an irregular 
quadrilateral area of 100 acres. The walls or defences were constructed according to the 
first system of the celebrated French engineer, Vauban. All the authorities agree that in 
the circuit of the walls there were embrasures for 148 guns, though they differ widely, 
respecting the number of guns actually mounted. The most prominent building within 
the walls was a stone structure called the citadel, standing in the gorge of the king’s 
bastion, with a moat next the town. The entrance to the citadel was over a drawbridge, 
with a guard-house on one side and advanced sentinels on the other. Within the citadel 
were apartments for the governor, barracks for the garrison, an arsenal, and a chapel 
which served as the parish church. There was also under the platform, or terre pleine, a 
magazine well furnished at all times with military stores. The other public buildings 
within the walls were a general storehouse, and ordnance storehouse, an arsenal and 
