— 45 — 



Riviere aux Chiens, under the shade of a walnut tree 

 (un noyer), which he used to call his godfather ; in 

 commemoration of the fact, the word ' Noyer ' was 

 added to his family name, and his descendants bear it 

 to this day. 



" Two months had run over, Wolfe's army was kept 

 in check by Montcalm, and could not advance on 

 Quebec. Eendered impatient by the vigorous defence, 

 which threatened to render abortive their expensive 

 expedition, the English vented their revenge in the rural 

 districts by pillaging and burning the houses. It was 

 easy to follow the march of the invaders in the lower 

 parts of the district (1) of Quebec, by the blaze of the 

 conflagrations they had lit up. Generally, the lives of 

 prisoners were spared — they were even allowed to 

 choose between the alternative to perish of cold or of 

 hunger during the coming winter. Until then, the Cote 

 de Beaupre' had escaped the common fate ; the scouts 

 from the mountain were gratified to find their houses 

 still uninjured. At last their turn came. The com- 

 panies of the Louisbourg Grenadiers, under captain 

 Montgomery, were instructed to take possession of all 

 the cattle, and to burn all the houses from Cape Tour- 

 mente until Ange-Gardien. 



These troops followed the shore until they had got 

 opposite the Grande Ferme, at St. Joachim, where they 

 landed and began their awful work. The Quebec Semi- 

 nary owned at this spot a magnificent farm : close to it 

 was the presbytere and church of St. Joachim. Philippe 

 Bene de Portneuf, the priest of the parish of St. Joa- 

 chim, was a member of the ancient family of Becancour. 

 Several of his ancestors, and three of his brothers, had 



(1) The dwellings at Riviere-Ouelle, Ste. Anne, St. Roch 

 and St. Jean Port-Joly, were burnt and pillaged, even the 

 banal mill of Three Salmons, the only means for the inhabi- 

 tants of grinding their corn for a distance of thirty miles, was 

 consigned to the flames. 



