290 THE SCOURGE OF CANADA. [1691. 



Scouts had brought warning of his approach; 

 and Callieres, the local governor, crossed the St. 

 Lawrence, and encamped at La Prairie with seven 

 or eight hundred men. 1 Here he remained for a 

 week, attacked by fever and helpless in bed. The 

 fort stood a few rods from the river. Two battal- 

 ions of regulars lay on a field at the right ; and the 

 Canadians and Indians were bivouacked on the left, 

 between the fort and a small stream, near which 

 was a windmill. On the evening of the tenth of 

 August, a drizzling rain began to fall ; and the Can- 

 adians thought more of seeking shelter than of 

 keeping watch. They were, moreover, well sup- 

 plied with brandy, and used it freely. 2 At an hour 

 before dawn, the sentry at the mill descried objects 

 like the shadows of men silently advancing along 

 the borders of the stream. They were Schuyler's 

 vanguard. The soldier cried, " Qui vive ? " There 

 was no answer. He fired his musket, and ran into 

 the mill. Schuyler's men rushed in a body upon 

 the Canadian camp, drove its occupants into the 

 fort, and killed some of the Indian allies, who lay 

 under their canoes on the adjacent strand. 



The regulars on the other side of the fort, roused 

 by the noise, sprang to arms and hastened to the 

 spot. They were met by a volley, which laid some 

 fifty of them on the ground, and drove back the 

 rest in disorder. They rallied and attacked again ; 

 on which, Schuyler, greatly outnumbered, withdrew 

 his men to a neighboring ravine, where he once 



1 Relation de Btnac ; Relation de 1682-1712. 



2 " La debauche f ut extreme en toute maniere." Belmont. 



