230 THE THREE WAR-PARTIES. [1C90. 



object on the farther side of a fence; and, rightly 

 judging that those they sought were hidden there, 

 they raised a cheer, and ran to the spot. They 

 were met by a fire so close and deadly that half 

 their number were shot down. A crowd of Indians 

 leaped the fence and rushed upon the survivors, 

 who ran for the fort ; but only four, all of whom 

 were wounded, succeeded in reaching it. 1 



The men in the blockhouses withdrew under 

 cover of night to Fort Loyal, where the whole 

 force of the English was now gathered along with 

 their frightened families. Portneuf determined to 

 besiege the place in form ; and, after burning the 

 village, and collecting tools from the abandoned 

 blockhouses, he opened his trenches in a deep gully 

 within fifty yards of the fort, where his men were 

 completely protected. They worked so well that 

 in three clays they had wormed their way close to 

 the palisade ; and, covered as they were in their 

 burrows, they lost scarcely a man, while their ene- 

 mies suffered severely. They now summoned the 

 fort to surrender. Davis asked for a delay of six 

 days, which was refused ; and in the morning the 

 fight began again. For a time the fire was sharp 

 and heavy. The English wasted much powder in 

 vain efforts to dislodge the besiegers from their 

 trenches; till at length, seeing a machine loaded 

 with a tar-barrel and other combustibles shoved 

 against their palisades, they asked for a parley. 

 Up to this time, Davis had supposed that his assail- 

 ants were all Indians, the French being probably 



1 Relation de Monseignat ; La Potherie, III. 79. 



