e other hand, there were those whose temperaments were opposed to
acceptance of the new order of things--those to whom conquest by the
hereditary enemy was intolerable. These irreconcilable spirits were
mainly civil and military officers, seigneurial families, and
_emigres_ of the first generation. To them estates in the New World
meant much, but the motherland and the Bourbon lilies meant yet more;
and as for the more recent arrivals, not having yet struck deep root
in the land of their adoption, they were content to return to France.
Accordingly, many of these availed themselves of the transportation
provided for in the terms of capitulation, and their departure robbed
Canada of much of her best blood. The new government was hard pressed
to find ships to accommodate these distinguished passengers, as well
as the two thousand disarmed soldiers of De Levis. At last, however,
they were all embarked, and the crowded vessels set sail, only to be
attacked by furious gales. De Levis narrowly escaped a watery grave
off the rocks of Newfoundland, while the ship carrying Vaudreuil and
his suite fared little better.

But the most distressing disaster of all befell the _Auguste_, a
frigate bearing the French officer La Corne, his family, his friends,
and a large number of soldiers. Scarcely had the ill-fated ship passed
the island of Anticosti when a dreadful storm overtook her from the
west and drove her into the Gulf. A few days later, a fire broke out
in the cook's galley, which was extinguished only by the most
desperate energy of passengers and crew, and not before most of the
provisions had been destroyed. Off Isle Royale another storm arose, in
which they helplessly tossed for several days, being finally driven
upon the coast. The _Auguste_ went to pieces on the reefs. La Corne
and six companions gained the shore, and unable to render assistance,
saw their families drown in the surf. De Gaspe, in his work _Les
Anciens Canadiens_, recounts the tragic story in the words of La Corne
himself:

"From the 13th to the 15th [of November] we were driven
at the mercy of a violent storm, without knowing where we
were. We were obliged as best we could to replace the
crew, for the men, worn out with fatigue, had taken
refuge in their hammocks and would not leave them;
threats, promises, even blows, had been tried in vain.
Our mizzen-mast being broken, our sails torn to shreds,
and incapable of being clewe