sequence of their
being obliged to abandon the siege of Quebec. It must be owned, he acted
with all the spirit and foresight of an experienced general, determined
to exert himself for the preservation of the colony, even though very
little prospect of success remained. His hopes, slender as they were,
depended upon the natural strength of the country, rendered almost
inaccessible by woods, mountains, and morasses, which might have
retarded the progress of the English, and protracted the war until a
general pacification could be effected. In the meantime, major-general
Amherst was diligently employed in taking measures for the execution of
the plan he had projected, in order to complete the conquest of Canada.
He conveyed instructions to general Murray, directing him to advance by
water towards Montreal, with all the troops that could be spared from
the garrison of Quebec. He detached colonel Haviland, with a body of
troops from Crown-Point, to take possession of the Isle-aux-Noix, in the
lake Champlain, and from thence penetrate the shortest way to the bank
of the river St. Laurence; while he himself, with the main body of the
army, amounting to about ten thousand men, including Indians, should
proceed from the frontiers of New York, by the rivers of the Mohawks and
Oneidas, to the lake Ontario, and sail down the river St. Laurence
to the island of Montreal. Thus, on the supposition that all these
particulars could be executed, the enemy must have been hemmed in and
entirely surrounded. In pursuance of this plan, general Amherst had
provided two armed sloops to cruise in the lake Ontario, under the
command of captain Loring; as well as a great number of bateaux, or
smaller vessels, for the transportation of the troops, artillery,
ammunition, implements, and baggage. Several regiments were ordered to
proceed from Albany to Oswego: and the general taking his departure from
Schenectady, with the rest of the forces, in the latter end of June,
arrived at the same place on the ninth day of July.

GENERAL AMHERST REDUCES THE FRENCH FORT AT THE ISLE ROYALE.

Being informed that two French vessels had appeared off Oswego, he
despatched some bateaux to Niagara, with intelligence to captain Loring,
who immediately set sail in quest of them; but they escaped his pursuit,
though they had twice appeared in the neighbourhood of Oswego since
the arrival of the general, who endeavoured to amuse them, by detaching
bateaux to diffe