harbors. Had he a million livres, he would, he said, invest it gladly
in the country and be certain of a good return. His enthusiasm had
produced, however, no answering enthusiasm at Versailles, for there the
interests of Port Royal were miserably neglected. Yet it was a thorn
in the flesh of the English. In 1708 privateers from Port Royal had
destroyed no less than thirty-five English vessels, chiefly from Boston,
and had carried to the fort four hundred and seventy prisoners. Even
in winter months French ships would flit out of Port Royal and bring in
richly laden prizes. Can we wonder at Boston's deep resolve that now at
last the pest should end!

It was an imposing force which sailed into the basin. The four frigates
and thirty transports carried an army far greater than Subercase
had thought possible. The English landed some fourteen hundred men.
Subercase had less than three hundred. Within a few days, when the
English began to throw shells into the town, he asked for terms. On the
16th of October the little garrison, neglected by France and left ragged
and half-starved, marched out with drums beating and colors flying. The
English, drawn up before the gate, showed the usual honors to a brave
foe. The French flag was hauled down and in its place floated that
of Britain. Port Royal was renamed Annapolis and Vetch was made its
Governor. Three times before had the English come to Port Royal as
conquerors and then gone away, but now they were to remain. Ever since
that October day, when autumn was coloring the abundant foliage of the
lovely harbor, the British flag has waved over Annapolis. Because
the flag waved there it was destined to wave over all Acadia, or Nova
Scotia, and with Acadia in time went Canada.

A partial victory, however, such as the taking of Port Royal, was not
enough for the aroused spirit of the English. They and their allies
had beaten Louis XIV on the battlefields of Europe and had so worn out
France that clouds and darkness were about the last days of the Grand
Monarch now nearing his end. In America his agents were still drawing up
papers outlining grandiose designs for mastering the continent and for
proving that England's empire was near its fall, but Europe knew that
France in the long war had been beaten. The right way to smite France
in America was to rely upon England's naval power, to master the great
highway of the St. Lawrence, to isolate Canada, and to strangle one by
one the Frenc