PORLP LOCH ORCHILL. 217 
would suppose that Churchill should have been safe 
from attacking foes, but this does not seem to have been 
the 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- 
smitten 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 
the most part the walls were still solid, though from 
between 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 lhved. 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 144° below 
zero (Fahr.), and with that temperature the movement 
of floating ice ceased and the river was bridged from 
