nned again, and the remains of Parker's
flotilla rowed up the lake to Fort William Henry.

Several of the prisoners taken by the Indians were cooked and eaten by
them. A few days afterwards a party of Indians, following the route
from the head of Lake Champlain, made a sudden attack on the houses
round Fort Edward, and killed thirty-two men.

It was an imposing spectacle, as the French expedition made its way
down Lake George. General Levis had marched by the side of the lake
with twenty-five hundred men, Canadians, regulars, and redskins; while
the main body proceeded, the troops in two hundred and fifty large
boats, the redskins in many hundreds of their canoes.

The boats moved in military order. There were six regiments of French
line: La Reine and Languedoc, La Sarre and Guienne, Bearn and
Roussillon. The cannons were carried on platforms formed across two
boats. Slowly and regularly the procession of boats made its way down
the lake, till they saw the signal fires of Levis, who, with his
command, was encamped near the water at a distance of two miles from
the fort. Even then, the English were not aware that near eight
thousand enemies were gathered close to them. Monro was a brave
soldier, but wholly unfitted for the position he held, knowing nothing
of irregular warfare, and despising all but trained soldiers.

At daybreak, all was bustle at Fort Henry. Parties of men went out to
drive in the cattle, others to destroy buildings which would interfere
with the fire from the fort. The English position was now more
defensible than it had been when it was attacked in the spring. The
forest had been cleared for a considerable distance round, and the
buildings which had served as a screen to the enemy had, for the most
part, been removed. The fort itself lay close down by the edge of the
water. One side and the rear were protected by the marsh, so that it
could only be attacked from one side. Beyond the marsh lay the rough
ground where Johnson had encamped two years before; while, on a flat
hill behind this was an entrenched camp, beyond which, again, was
another marsh.

As soon as the sun rose, the column of Levis moved through the forest
towards the fort, followed by Montcalm with the main body, while the
artillery boats put out from behind the point which had hid them from
the sight of the English, and, surrounded by hundreds of Indian canoes,
moved slowly forward, opening fire as they went. Soon the sound of
f