348 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA t 
Arnold, in endeavouring* to force St. John's 
Gate, which leads out on the back part of 
the town, not far from the plains of Abraham, 
was wounded, and repulsed with great loss. 
Montgomery surprised the guard of the first 
barrier, at one end of the lower town, and 
passed it; but at the second he was shot, and 
Iiis men were driven back. The third di¬ 
vision of the Americans entered the lower 
town in another quarter, which, as I have be¬ 
fore said, lies very much exposed, by passing 
over the ice : they remained there for a day or 
two, and during that time they set fire to some 
buildings, amongst which was one of the re¬ 
ligious houses; but they were finally dislodged 
without much difficulty. The two divisions 
under Montgomery and Arnold were repulsed 
with a mere handful of men; the different 
detachments, sent down from the upper town 
against the former, did not all together amount, 
it is said, to two hundred men. Arnold's 
attack was the maddest possible; for St. John's 
Gate, and the walls adjoining, are stupendous, 
and a person need but see them to be con¬ 
vinced that any attempt to storm them must 
be fruitless without the aid of heavy artillery, 
which the Americans had not. 
Independant of what it owes to its fortifi¬ 
cations, and situation on the top of a rock. 
