s 



FORT CHURCHILL. 217 



would suppose that Churchill should have been safe 

 from attacking foes, but this does not seem to have been 

 he case, for history informs us that on the 8th' of 

 August, 1782, the gallant La Perouse and his three 

 vessels of war, with, it is said, naught but scurvy- 

 mitten crews, made their appearance before the much- 

 amazed garrison of thirty-nine men, and demanded an 

 unconditional surrender, which was granted without 

 resistance, and the gates of the great stone fort thrown 

 open to the invaders. Taking possession, they spiked 

 and dismounted the guns, in places broke down the 

 walls, burned the barracks, and sailed away to France 

 with Hearne, his men, and all their valuable furs. 



As La Perouse left the Fort so did we find it. For 

 e most part the walls were still solid, though from 

 itween their great blocks of granite the mortar was 

 crumbling. The guns, spiked and dismounted, were 

 still to be seen lying about on the ramparts and among 

 the fallen masonry. In the bastions, all of which were 

 still standing, were to be seen the remains of wells and 

 magazines, and in the centre of the Fort stood the 

 walls of the old building in which Hearne and his men 

 had lived. The charred ends of roof-beams were still 

 attached to its walls, where, undecayed, they had rested 

 for the past one hundred and eleven years. 



With a continuous low temperature, such as now 

 existed at Churchill, the ice in the river, much to our 

 satisfaction, began to set fast. This was necessary to 

 enable us to continue the journey. On Saturday, 

 November 4th, the thermometer registered 14^ below 

 zero (Fahr.), and with that temperature the movement 

 of floating ice ceased and the river was bridged from 



