174 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
and passages which they thought unknown to the French, whither they 
would not be able to follow them. But the Favory under Captain 
Harismendy blocked their way and prevented them from escaping. 
Three however, escaped. 
On the Ist of August the indomitable Croisic arrived in the Bay 
at three o’clock in the morning with two Dutch flûtes (gunboats) which 
he had captured, having burnt a third. He urged on M. de Varenne 
that it was necessary to act quickly if he wished to capture the enemy 
on account of the early appearance of the ice. He asked permission 
to go and destroy the enemy’s vessels. The commander allowed him 
to go, taking the Favory, Captain Harismendy, with him but with orders 
to return as soon as possible as the season was advancing and he wished 
to return immediately. 
The Aigle and the Favory started at once but they were detained 
by calm weather and could not make much headway. Finally they 
were stopped by a string of field-ice six miles in width, and extending 
beyond the reach of the eye. Seeing some “leads” they made an 
attempt to enter them when they saw a “lake” and some vessels 
lying in it, and about the 5th day reached the mouth of Bear Bay where 
they saw about nine or ten vessels anchored. Having taken counsel 
together, Le Croisic and de Harismendy determined to attack them, 
though they were much handicapped by the moving ice. A fog also 
arose which hindered their movements a good deal. When the fog cleared 
off next day they saw only five ships, but four more were entering the 
bay, and they believed that there must be a great many more in the bay. 
The calm again obliged them to tow the frigates; arriving towards the 
bottom of the bay they saw a mound on which was raised a staff flying 
the Dutch standard, in the centre of a small fort armed with cannon. 
The French captains though somewhat embarrassed at this discovery 
still determined to push on and attack the enemy. As they passed 
the small battery they were saluted with a few shots, but suffered no 
damage. From this point they could see the bottom of the bay where 
there were 40 vessels drawn up in fighting array in the form of a crescent. 
Three of the principal ships waved the banners of admiral, vice admiral, 
and rear-admiral (contre-amiral). 
The French frigates, still being towed by their shallops, ranged 
themselves broad-side by means of warps. The enemy at that mo- 
ment raised loud cries of “Long live the King,” followed by other 
shouts and yells (hurlements) which the French did not understand. 
They got ready for the fight with great enthusiasm, the number of the 
fleet of the enemy, says the writer of this sketch “rather seemed to en- 
courage them than to cause any fear.” 
