not
exceeding eight or nine weeks at short allowance, so that between ten
and twelve thousand men must have been left to perish with the extremity
of cold and hunger. I must confess the melancholy contemplation of this
(had it happened) strikes me with horror; for how dismal must it have
been to have beheld the seas and earth locked up by adamantine frosts,
and swoln with high mountains of snow, in a barren and uncultivated
region; great numbers of brave men famishing with hunger, and drawing
lots who should die first to feed the rest."[165]

All went well till the eighteenth of August, when there was a strong
head-wind, and the ships ran into the Bay of Gaspe. Two days after, the
wind shifted to the southeast, and they set sail again, Walker in his
flagship, the "Edgar," being at or near the head of the fleet. On the
evening of the twenty-second they were at some distance above the great
Island of Anticosti. The river is here about seventy miles wide, and no
land had been seen since noon of the day before. There was a strong east
wind, with fog. Walker thought that he was not far from the south shore,
when in fact he was at least fifty miles from it, and more than half
that distance north of his true course. At eight in the evening the
Admiral signalled the fleet to bring to, under mizzen and main-topsails,
with heads turned southward. At half-past ten, Paddon, the captain of
the "Edgar," came to tell him that he saw land which he supposed must be
the south shore; on which Walker, in a fatal moment, signalled for the
ships to wear and bring to, with heads northward. He then turned into
his berth, and was falling asleep, when a military officer, Captain
Goddard, of Seymour's regiment, hastily entered, and begged him to come
on deck, saying that there were breakers on all sides. Walker, scornful
of a landsman, and annoyed at being disturbed, answered impatiently and
would not stir. Soon after, Goddard appeared again, and implored him for
Heaven's sake to come up and see for himself, or all would be lost. At
the same time the Admiral heard a great noise and trampling, on which he
turned out of his berth, put on his dressing-gown and slippers, and
going in this attire on deck, found a scene of fright and confusion. At
first he could see nothing, and shouted to the men to reassure them; but
just then the fog opened, the moon shone out, and the breaking surf was
plainly visible to leeward. The French pilot, who at first coul