WOLFE AT QUEBEC.
French Preparation ? Muster1 of Forces ? Gasconade of Vaudreuil ? Plan of Defence ? Strength of Montcalm ? Advance of Wolfe ? British Sailors ? Landing of the English ? Difficulties before them ? Storm ? Fireships ? Confidence of French Commanders ? Wolfe occupies Point Levi ? A Futile3 Night Attack ? Quebec bombarded ? Wolfe at the Montmorenci ? Skirmishes ? Danger of the English Position ? Effects of the Bombardment ? Desertion of Canadians ? The English above Quebec ? Severities of Wolfe ? Another Attempt to burn the Fleet ? Desperate Enterprise of Wolfe ? The Heights of Montmorenci ? Repulse4 of the English.
In early spring the chiefs of Canada met at Montreal to settle a plan of defence. What at first they most dreaded6 was an advance of the enemy by way of Lake Champlain. Bourlamaque, with three battalions7, was ordered to take post at Ticonderoga, hold it if he could, or, if overborne by numbers, fall back to Isle9-aux-Noix, at the outlet10 of the lake. La Corne was sent with a strong detachment to intrench himself at the head of the rapids of the St. Lawrence, and oppose any hostile movement from Lake Ontario. Every able-bodied man in the colony, and every boy who could fire a gun, was to be called to the field. Vaudreuil sent a circular letter to the militia12 captains of all the parishes, with orders to read it to 196
V2 the parishioners. It exhorted13 them to defend their religion, their wives, their children, and their goods from the fury of the heretics; declared that he, the Governor, would never yield up Canada on any terms whatever; and ordered them to join the army at once, leaving none behind but the old, the sick, the women, and the children. [701] The Bishop14 issued a pastoral mandate15: "On every side, dearest brethren, the enemy is making immense preparations. His forces, at least six times more numerous than ours, are already in motion. Never was Canada in a state so critical and full of peril17. Never were we so destitute18, or threatened with an attack so fierce, so general, and so obstinate19. Now, in truth, we may say, more than ever before, that our only resource is in the powerful succor20 of our Lord. Then, dearest brethren, make every effort to deserve it. 'Seek first the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.'" And he reproves their sins, exhorts21 them to repentance22, and ordains23 processions, masses, and prayers. [702]
[701] Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760.
[702] I am indebted for a copy of this mandate to the kindness of Abbé Bois. As printed by Knox, it is somewhat different, though the spirit is the same.
Vaudreuil bustled24 and boasted. In May he wrote to the Minister: "The zeal25 with which I am animated26 for the service of the King will always make me surmount27 the greatest obstacles. I am taking the most proper measures to give the enemy a good reception whenever he may attack us. I keep in view the defence of Quebec. I have given orders in the parishes below to muster the 197
V2 inhabitants who are able to bear arms, and place women, children, cattle, and even hay and grain, in places of safety. Permit me, Monseigneur, to beg you to have the goodness to assure His Majesty28 that, to whatever hard extremity29 I may be reduced, my zeal will be equally ardent30 and indefatigable31, and that I shall do the impossible to prevent our enemies from making progress in any direction, or, at least, to make them pay extremely dear for it." [703] Then he writes again to say that Amherst with a great army will, as he learns, attack Ticonderoga; that Bradstreet, with six thousand men, will advance to Lake Ontario; and that six thousand more will march to the Ohio. "Whatever progress they may make," he adds, "I am resolved to yield them nothing, but hold my ground even to annihilation." He promises to do his best to keep on good terms with Montcalm, and ends with a warm eulogy32 of Bigot. [704]
[703] Vaudreuil au Ministre, 8 Mai, 1759.
[704] Vaudreuil au Ministre, 20 [?] Mai, 1759.
It was in the midst of all these preparations that Bougainville arrived from France with news that a great fleet was on its way to attack Quebec. The town was filled with consternation33 mixed with surprise, for the Canadians had believed that the dangerous navigation of the St. Lawrence would deter34 their enemies from the attempt. "Everybody," writes one of them, "was stupefied at an enterprise that seemed so bold." In a few days a crowd of sails was seen approaching. They were not enemies, but friends. It was the fleet 198
V2 of the contractor35 Cadet, commanded by officer named Kanon, and loaded with supplies for the colony. They anchored in the harbor, eighteen sail in all, and their arrival spread universal joy. Admiral Durell had come too late to intercept37 them, catching38 but three stragglers that had lagged behind the rest. Still others succeeded in eluding39 him, and before the first of June five more ships had come safely into port.
When the news brought by Bougainville reached Montreal, nearly the whole force of the colony, except the detachments of Bourlamaque and La Corne, was ordered to Quebec. Montcalm hastened thither40, and Vaudreuil followed. The Governor-General wrote to the Minister in his usual strain, as if all the hope of Canada rested in him. Such, he says, was his activity, that, though very busy, he reached Quebec only a day and a half after Montcalm; and, on arriving, learned from his scouts41 that English ships-of-war had already appeared at Isle-aux-Coudres. These were the squadron of Durell. "I expect," Vaudreuil goes on, "to be sharply attacked, and that our enemies will make their most powerful efforts to conquer this colony; but there is no ruse42, no resource, no means which my zeal does not suggest to lay snares43 for them, and finally, when the exigency44 demands it, to fight them with an ardor45, and even a fury, which exceeds the range of their ambitious designs. The troops, the Canadians, and the Indians are not ignorant of the resolution I have taken, and from which I shall not recoil46 under 199
V2 any circumstance whatever. The burghers of this city have already put their goods and furniture in places of safety. The old men, women, and children hold themselves ready to leave town. My firmness is generally applauded. It has penetrated47 every heart; and each man says aloud: 'Canada, our native land, shall bury us under its ruins before we surrender to the English!' This is decidedly my own determination, and I shall hold to it inviolably." He launches into high praise of the contractor Cadet, whose zeal for the service of the King and the defence of the colony he declares to be triumphant48 over every difficulty. It is necessary, he adds, that ample supplies of all kinds should be sent out in the autumn, with the distribution of which Cadet offers to charge himself, and to account for them at their first cost; but he does not say what prices his disinterested49 friend will compel the destitute Canadians to pay for them. [705]
[705] Vaudreuil au Ministre, 28 Mai, 1759.
Five battalions from France, nearly all the colony troops, and the militia from every part of Canada poured into Quebec, along with a thousand or more Indians, who, at the call of Vaudreuil, came to lend their scalping-knives to the defence. Such was the ardor of the people that boys of fifteen and men of eighty were to be seen in the camp. Isle-aux-Coudres and Isle d'Orléans were ordered to be evacuated50, and an excited crowd on the rock of Quebec watched hourly for the approaching fleet. Days passed and weeks passed, yet it did not appear. Meanwhile Vaudreuil held 200
V2 council after council to settle a plan of defence, They were strange scenes: a crowd of officers of every rank, mixed pell-mell in a small room, pushing, shouting, elbowing each other, interrupting each other; till Montcalm, in despair, took each aside after the meeting was over, and made him give his opinion in writing. [706]
[706] Journal du Siége de Québec déposé à la Bibliothêque de Hartwell, en Angleterre. (Printed at Quebec, 1836.)
He himself had at first proposed to encamp the army on the plains of Abraham and the meadows of the St. Charles, making that river his line of defence; [707] but he changed his plan, and, with the concurrence51 of Vaudreuil, resolved to post his whole force on the St. Lawrence below the city, with his right resting on the St. Charles, and his left on the Montmorenci. Here, accordingly, the troops and militia were stationed as they arrived. Early in June, standing52 at the northeastern brink53 of the rock of Quebec, one could have seen the whole position at a glance. On the curving shore from the St. Charles to the rocky gorge54 of the Montmorenci, a distance of seven or eight miles, the whitewashed55 dwellings56 of the parish of Beauport stretched down the road in a double chain, and the fields on both sides were studded with tents, huts, and Indian wigwams. Along the borders of the St. Lawrence, as far as the eye could distinguish them, gangs of men were throwing up redoubts, batteries, and lines of intrenchment. About midway between the two extremities57 of the 201
V2 encampment ran the little river of Beauport; and on the rising ground just beyond it stood a large stone house, round which the tents were thickly clustered; for here Montcalm had made his headquarters.
[707] Livre d'Ordres, Disposition58 pour s'opposer à la Descente.
A boom of logs chained together was drawn59 across the mouth of the St. Charles, which was further guarded by two hulks mounted with cannon60. The bridge of boats that crossed the stream nearly a mile above, formed the chief communication between the city and the camp. Its head towards Beauport was protected by a strong and extensive earthwork; and the banks of the stream on the Quebec side were also intrenched, to form a second line of defence in case the position at Beauport should be forced.
In the city itself every gate, except the Palace Gate, which gave access to the bridge, was closed and barricaded61. A hundred and six cannon were mounted on the walls. [708] A floating battery of twelve heavy pieces, a number of gunboats, eight fireships, and several firerafts formed the river defences. The largest merchantmen of Kanon's fleet were sacrificed to make the fireships; and the rest, along with the frigates62 that came with them, were sent for safety up the St. Lawrence beyond the River Richelieu, whence about a thousand of their sailors returned to man the batteries and gunboats.
[708] This number was found after the siege. Knox, II. 151. Some French writers make it much greater.
In the camps along the Beauport shore were about fourteen thousand men, besides Indians. The 202
V2 regulars held the centre; the militia of Quebec and Three Rivers were on the right, and those of Montreal on the left. In Quebec itself there was a garrison64 of between one and two thousand men under the Chevalier de Ramesay. Thus the whole number, including Indians, amounted to more than sixteen thousand; [709] and though the Canadians who formed the greater part of it were of little use in the open field, they could be trusted to fight well behind intrenchments. Against this force, posted behind defensive65 works, on positions almost impregnable by nature, Wolfe brought less than nine thousand men available for operations on land. [710] The steep and lofty heights that lined the river made the cannon of the ships for the most part useless, while the exigencies66 of the naval67 service forbade employing the sailors on shore. In two or three instances only, throughout the siege, small squads68 of them landed to aid in moving and working cannon; and the actual fighting fell to the troops alone.
[709] See Appendix H.
[710] Ibid.
Vaudreuil and Bigot took up their quarters with the army. The Governor-General had delegated the command of the land-forces to Montcalm, whom, in his own words, he authorized69 "to give orders everywhere, provisionally." His relations with him were more than ever anomalous70 and critical; for while Vaudreuil, in virtue71 of his office, had a right to supreme72 command, Montcalm, now a lieutenant73-general, held a military grade far above him; and the Governor, while always writing himself down 203
V2 in his despatches as the head and front of every movement, had too little self-confidence not to leave the actual command in the hands of his rival.
Days and weeks wore on, and the first excitement gave way to restless impatience74. Why did not the English come? Many of the Canadians thought that Heaven would interpose and wreck75 the English fleet, as it had wrecked76 that of Admiral Walker half a century before. There were processions, prayers, and vows77 towards this happy consummation. Food was scarce. Bigot and Cadet lived in luxury; fowls78 by thousands were fattened79 with wheat for their tables, while the people were put on rations16 of two ounces of bread a day. [711] Durell and his ships were reported to be still at Isle-aux-Coudres. Vaudreuil sent thither a party of Canadians, and they captured three midshipmen, who, says Montcalm, had gone ashore80 pour polissonner, that is, on a lark81. These youths were brought to Quebec, where they increased the general anxiety by grossly exaggerating the English force.
[711] Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760.
At length it became known that eight English vessels82 were anchored in the north channel of Orleans, and on the twenty-first of June the masts of three of them could plainly be seen. One of the fireships was consumed in a vain attempt to burn them, and several firerafts and a sort of infernal machine were tried with no better success; the unwelcome visitors still held their posts.
Meanwhile the whole English fleet had slowly advanced, piloted by Denis de Vitré, a Canadian of 204
V2 good birth, captured at sea some time before, and now compelled to serve, under a threat of being hanged if he refused. [712] Nor was he alone; for when Durell reached the place where the river pilots were usually taken on board, he raised a French flag to his mast-head, causing great rejoicings among the Canadians on shore, who thought that a fleet was come to their rescue, and that their country was saved. The pilots launched their canoes and came out to the ships, where they were all made prisoners; then the French flag was lowered, and the red cross displayed in its stead. The spectators on shore turned from joy to despair; and a priest who stood watching the squadron with a telescope is said to have dropped dead with the revulsion of feeling.
[712] Mémorial de Jean-Denis de Vitré au Très-honorable William Pitt.
Towards the end of June the main fleet was near the mountain of Cape84 Tourmente. The passage called the Traverse, between the Cape and the lower end of the Island of Orleans, was reputed one of the most dangerous parts of the St. Lawrence; and as the ships successively came up, the captive pilots were put on board to carry them safely through, on pain of death. One of these men was assigned to the transport "Goodwill," in which was Captain Knox, who spoke85 French, and who reports thus in his Diary: "He gasconaded at a most extravagant86 rate, and gave us to understand that it was much against his will that he was become an English pilot. The poor fellow assumed great latitude87 in his conversation, and said 'he made no doubt that 205
V2 some of the fleet would return to England, but they should have a dismal88 tale to carry with them; for Canada should be the grave of the whole army, and he expected in a short time to see the walls of Quebec ornamented89 with English scalps.' Had it not been in obedience90 to the Admiral, who gave orders that he should not be ill-used, he would certainly have been thrown overboard." The master of the transport was an old sailor named Killick, who despised the whole Gallic race, and had no mind to see his ship in charge of a Frenchman. "He would not let the pilot speak," continues Knox, "but fixed91 his mate at the helm, charged him not to take orders from any person but himself, and going forward with his trumpet92 to the forecastle, gave the necessary instructions. All that could be said by the commanding officer and the other gentlemen on board was to no purpose; the pilot declared we should be lost, for that no French ship ever presumed to pass there without a pilot. 'Ay, ay, my dear,' replied our son of Neptune94, 'but, damn me, I'll convince you that an Englishman shall go where a Frenchman dare not show his nose.' The 'Richmond' frigate63 being close astern of us, the commanding officer called out to the captain and told him our case; he inquired who the master was, and was answered from the forecastle by the man himself, who told him 'he was old Killick, and that was enough.' I went forward with this experienced mariner95, who pointed96 out the channel to me as we passed; showing me by the ripple97 and color of the water where there was any danger, and distinguishing 206
V2 the places where there were ledges98 of rocks (to me invisible) from banks of sand, mud, or gravel99. He gave his orders with great unconcern, joked with the sounding-boats which lay off on each side with different colored flags for our guidance; and when any of them called to him and pointed to the deepest water, he answered: 'Ay, ay, my dear, chalk it down, a damned dangerous navigation, eh! If you don't make a sputter100 about it you'll get no credit in England.' After we had cleared this remarkable101 place, where the channel forms a complete zigzag102, the master called to his mate to give the helm to somebody else, saying, 'Damn me if there are not a thousand places in the Thames fifty times more hazardous103 than this; I am ashamed that Englishmen should make such a rout104 about it.' The Frenchman asked me if the captain had not been there before. I assured him in the negative; upon which he viewed him with great attention, lifting at the same time his hands and eyes to heaven with astonishment105 and fervency106." [713]
[713] Others, as well as the pilot, were astonished. "The enemy passed sixty ships of war where we hardly dared risk a vessel83 of a hundred tons." "Notwithstanding all our precautions, the English, without any accident, by night, as well as by day, passed through it [the Traverse] their ships of seventy and eighty guns, and even many of them together." Vaudreuil au Ministre, 22 Oct. 1759.
Vaudreuil was blamed for not planting cannon at a certain plateau on the side of the mountain of Cape Tourmente, where the gunners would have been inaccessible107, and whence they could have battered108 every passing ship with a plunging109 fire. As it was, the whole fleet sailed safely through. 207
V2 On the twenty-sixth they were all anchored off the south shore of the Island of Orleans, a few miles from Quebec; and, writes Knox, "here we are entertained with a most agreeable prospect110 of a delightful111 country on every side; windmills, watermills, churches, chapels112, and compact farmhouses113, all built with stone, and covered, some with wood, and others with straw. The lands appear to be everywhere well cultivated; and with the help of my glass I can discern that they are sowed with flax, wheat, barley115, peas, etc., and the grounds are enclosed with wooden pales. The weather to-day is agreeably warm. A light fog sometimes hangs over the highlands, but in the river we have a fine clear air. In the curve of the river, while we were under sail, we had a transient view of a stupendous natural curiosity called the waterfall of Montmorenci."
That night Lieutenant Meech, with forty New England rangers117, landed on the Island of Orleans, and found a body of armed inhabitants, who tried to surround him. He beat them off, and took possession of a neighboring farmhouse114, where he remained till daylight; then pursued the enemy, and found that they had crossed to the north shore. The whole army now landed, and were drawn up on the beach. As they were kept there for some time, Knox and several brother officers went to visit the neighboring church of Saint-Laurent, where they found a letter from the parish priest, directed to "The Worthy118 Officers of the British Army," praying that they would protect the 208
V2 sacred edifice119, and also his own adjoining house, and adding, with somewhat needless civility, that he wished they had come sooner, that they might have enjoyed the asparagus and radishes of his garden, now unhappily going to seed. The letter concluded with many compliments and good wishes, in which the Britons to whom they were addressed saw only "the frothy politeness so peculiar120 to the French." The army marched westward121 and encamped. Wolfe, with his chief engineer, Major Mackellar, and an escort of light infantry122, advanced to the extreme point of the island.
Here he could see, in part, the desperate nature of the task he had undertaken. Before him, three or four miles away, Quebec sat perched upon her rock, a congregation of stone houses, churches, palaces, convents, and hospitals; the green trees of the Seminary garden and the spires123 of the Cathedral, the Ursulines, the Recollets, and the Jesuits. Beyond rose the loftier height of Cape Diamond, edged with palisades and capped with redoubt and parapet. Batteries frowned everywhere; the Chateau124 battery, the Clergy125 battery, the Hospital battery, on the rock above, and the Royal, Dauphin's, and Queen's batteries on the strand126, where the dwellings and warehouses127 of the lower town clustered beneath the cliff.
Full in sight lay the far-extended camp of Montcalm, stretching from the St. Charles, beneath the city walls, to the chasm128 and cataract129 of the Montmorenci. From the cataract to the river of Beauport, its front was covered by earthworks along 209
V2 the brink of abrupt130 and lofty heights; and from the river of Beauport to the St. Charles, by broad flats of mud swept by the fire of redoubts, intrenchments, a floating battery, and the city itself. Above the city, Cape Diamond hid the view; but could Wolfe have looked beyond it, he would have beheld131 a prospect still more disheartening. Here, mile after mile, the St. Lawrence was walled by a range of steeps, often inaccessible, and always so difficult that a few men at the top could hold an army in check; while at Cap-Rouge, about eight miles distant, the high plateau was cleft132 by the channel of a stream which formed a line of defence as strong as that of the Montmorenci. Quebec was a natural fortress133. Bougainville had long before examined the position, and reported that "by the help of intrenchments, easily and quickly made, and defended by three or four thousand men, I think the city would be safe. I do not believe that the English will make any attempt against it; but they may have the madness to do so, and it is well to be prepared against surprise."
Not four thousand men, but four times four thousand, now stood in its defence; and their chiefs wisely resolved not to throw away the advantages of their position. Nothing more was heard of Vaudreuil's bold plan of attacking the invaders134 at their landing; and Montcalm had declared that he would play the part, not of Hannibal, but of Fabius. His plan was to avoid a general battle, run no risks, and protract135 the 210
V2 defence till the resources of the enemy were exhausted136, or till approaching winter forced them to withdraw. Success was almost certain but for one contingency137. Amherst, with a force larger than that of Wolfe, was moving against Ticonderoga. If he should capture it, and advance into the colony, Montcalm would be forced to weaken his army by sending strong detachments to oppose him. Here was Wolfe's best hope. This failing, his only chance was in audacity138. The game was desperate; but, intrepid139 gamester as he was in war, he was a man, in the last resort, to stake everything on the cast of the dice140.
The elements declared for France. On the afternoon of the day when Wolfe's army landed, a violent squall swept over the St. Lawrence, dashed the ships together, drove several ashore, and destroyed many of the flat-boats from which the troops had just disembarked. "I never saw so much distress143 among shipping144 in my whole life," writes an officer to a friend in Boston. Fortunately the storm subsided145 as quickly as it rose. Vaudreuil saw that the hoped-for deliverance had failed; and as the tempest had not destroyed the British fleet, he resolved to try the virtue of his fireships. "I am afraid," says Montcalm, "that they have cost us a million, and will be good for nothing after all." This remained to be seen. Vaudreuil gave the chief command of them to a naval officer named Delouche; and on the evening of the twenty-eighth, after long consultation146 and much debate among their respective 211
V2 captains, they set sail together at ten o'clock. The night was moonless and dark. In less than an hour they were at the entrance of the north channel. Delouche had been all enthusiasm; but as he neared the danger his nerves failed, and he set fire to his ship half an hour too soon, the rest following his example. [714]
[714] Foligny, Journal mémoratif. Vaudreuil au Ministre, 5 Oct. 1759. Journal du Siége (Bibliothêque de Hartwell).
There was an English outpost at the Point of Orleans; and, about eleven o'clock, the sentries147 descried148 through the gloom the ghostly outlines of the approaching ships. As they gazed, these mysterious strangers began to dart149 tongues of flame; fire ran like lightning up their masts and sails, and then they burst out like volcanoes. Filled as they were with pitch, tar11, and every manner of combustible150, mixed with fireworks, bombs, grenades, and old cannon, swivels, and muskets151 loaded to the throat, the effect was terrific. The troops at the Point, amazed at the sudden eruption152, the din2 of the explosions, and the showers of grapeshot that rattled153 among the trees, lost their wits and fled. The blazing dragons hissed154 and roared, spouted155 sheets of fire, vomited156 smoke in black, pitchy volumes and vast illumined clouds, and shed their infernal glare on the distant city, the tents of Montcalm, and the long red lines of the British army, drawn up in array of battle, lest the French should cross from their encampments to attack them in the confusion. Knox calls the display "the grandest 212
V2 fireworks that can possibly be conceived." Yet the fireships did no other harm than burning alive one of their own captains and six or seven of his sailors who failed to escape in their boats. Some of them ran ashore before reaching the fleet; the others were seized by the intrepid English sailors, who, approaching in their boats, threw grappling-irons upon them and towed them towards land, till they swung round and stranded157. Here, after venting158 their fury for a while, they subsided into quiet conflagration159, which lasted till morning. Vaudreuil watched the result of his experiment from the steeple of the church at Beauport; then returned, dejected, to Quebec.
Wolfe longed to fight his enemy; but his sagacious enemy would not gratify him. From the heights of Beauport, the rock of Quebec, or the summit of Cape Diamond, Montcalm could look down on the river and its shores as on a map, and watch each movement of the invaders. He was hopeful, perhaps confident; and for a month or more he wrote almost daily to Bourlamaque at Ticonderoga, in a cheerful, and often a jocose160 vein161, mingling162 orders and instructions with pleasantries and bits of news. Yet his vigilance was unceasing. "We pass every night in bivouac, or else sleep in our clothes. Perhaps you are doing as much, my dear Bourlamaque." [715]
[715] Montcalm à Bourlamaque, 27 Juin, 1759. All these letters are before me.
V2 would go well. He too corresponded with Bourlamaque, to whom he gave his opinion, founded on the reports of deserters, that Wolfe had no chance of success unless Amherst should come to his aid. This he pronounced impossible; and he expressed a strong desire that the English would attack him, "so that we may rid ourselves of them at once." [716] He was courageous165, except in the immediate166 presence of danger, and failed only when the crisis came.
[716] Vaudreuil à Bourlamaque, 8 Juillet, 1759.
Wolfe, held in check at every other point, had one movement in his power. He could seize the heights of Point Levi, opposite the city; and this, along with his occupation of the Island of Orleans, would give him command of the Basin of Quebec. Thence also he could fire on the place across the St. Lawrence, which is here less than a mile wide. The movement was begun on the afternoon of the twenty-ninth, when, shivering in a north wind and a sharp frost, a part of Monckton's brigade was ferried over to Beaumont, on the south shore, and the rest followed in the morning. The rangers had a brush with a party of Canadians, whom they drove off, and the regulars then landed unopposed. Monckton ordered a proclamation, signed by Wolfe, to be posted on the door of the parish church. It called on the Canadians, in peremptory167 terms, to stand neutral in the contest, promised them, if they did so, full protection in property and religion, and threatened that, if they presumed to resist the invaders, their 214
V2 houses, goods, and harvests should be destroyed, and their churches despoiled168. As soon as the troops were out of sight the inhabitants took down the placard and carried it to Vaudreuil.
The brigade marched along the river road to Point Levi, drove off a body of French and Indians posted in the church, and took possession of the houses and the surrounding heights. In the morning they were intrenching themselves, when they were greeted by a brisk fire from the edge of the woods. It came from a party of Indians, whom the rangers presently put to flight, and, imitating their own ferocity, scalped nine of them. Wolfe came over to the camp on the next day, went with an escort to the heights opposite Quebec, examined it with a spy-glass, and chose a position from which to bombard it. Cannon and mortars169 were brought ashore, fascines and gabions made, intrenchments thrown up, and batteries planted. Knox came over from the main camp, and says that he had "a most agreeable view of the city of Quebec. It is a very fair object for our artillery170, particularly the lower town." But why did Wolfe wish to bombard it? Its fortifications were but little exposed to his fire, and to knock its houses, convents, and churches to pieces would bring him no nearer to his object. His guns at Point Levi could destroy the city, but could not capture it; yet doubtless they would have good moral effect, discourage the French, and cheer his own soldiers with the flattering belief that they were achieving something.
215
V2 The guns of Quebec showered balls and bombs upon his workmen; but they still toiled171 on, and the French saw the fatal batteries fast growing to completion. The citizens, alarmed at the threatened destruction, begged the Governor for leave to cross the river and dislodge their assailants. At length he consented. A party of twelve or fifteen hundred was made up of armed burghers, Canadians from the camp, a few Indians, some pupils of the Seminary, and about a hundred volunteers from the regulars. Dumas, an experienced officer, took command of them; and, going up to Sillery, they crossed the river on the night of the twelfth of July. They had hardly climbed the heights of the south shore when they grew exceedingly nervous, though the enemy was still three miles off. The Seminary scholars fired on some of their own party, whom they mistook for English; and the same mishap172 was repeated a second and a third time. A panic seized the whole body, and Dumas could not control them. They turned and made for their canoes, rolling over each other as they rushed down the heights, and reappeared at Quebec at six in the morning, overwhelmed with despair and shame. [717]
[717] événements de la Guerre en Canada (Hist. Soc. Quebec, 1861). Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760. Vaudreuil au Ministre, 5 Oct. 1759. L'Abeille, II. No. 14 (a publication of the Quebec Seminary). Journal du Siége de Québec (Bibliothêque de Hartwell). Panet, Journal du Siége. Foligny, Journal mémoratif. Memoirs173 of the Siege of Quebec, by John Johnson, Clerk and Quartermaster-Sergeant174 to the Fifty-eighth Regiment175.
The presentiment176 of the unhappy burghers proved too true. The English batteries fell to 216
V2 their work, and the families of the town fled to the country for safety. In a single day eighteen houses and the cathedral were burned by exploding shells; and fiercer and fiercer the storm of fire and iron hailed upon Quebec.
Wolfe did not rest content with distressing177 his enemy. With an ardor and a daring that no difficulties could cool, he sought means to strike an effective blow. It was nothing to lay Quebec in ruins if he could not defeat the army that protected it. To land from boats and attack Montcalm in front, through the mud of the Beauport flats or up the heights along the neighboring shore, was an enterprise too rash even for his temerity179. It might, however, be possible to land below the cataract of Montmorenci, cross that stream higher up, and strike the French army in flank or rear; and he had no sooner secured his positions at the points of Levi and Orleans, than he addressed himself to this attempt.
On the eighth several frigates and a bomb-ketch took their stations before the camp of the Chevalier de Lévis, who, with his division of Canadian militia, occupied the heights along the St. Lawrence just above the cataract. Here they shelled and cannonaded him all day; though, from his elevated position, with very little effect. Towards evening the troops on the Point of Orleans broke up their camp. Major Hardy180, with a detachment of marines, was left to hold that post, while the rest embarked141 at night in the boats of the fleet. They were the brigades of Townshend and Murray, 217
V2 consisting of five battalions, with a body of grenadiers, light infantry, and rangers,—in all three thousand men. They landed before daybreak in front of the parish of L'Ange Gardien, a little below the cataract. The only opposition181 was from a troop of Canadians and Indians, whom they routed, after some loss, climbed the heights, gained the plateau above, and began to intrench themselves. A company of rangers, supported by detachments of regulars, was sent into the neighboring forest to protect the parties who were cutting fascines, and apparently182, also, to look for a fording-place.
Lévis, with his Scotch-Jacobite aide-de-camp, Johnstone, had watched the movements of Wolfe from the heights across the cataract. Johnstone says that he asked his commander if he was sure there was no ford183 higher up on the Montmorenci, by which the English could cross. Lévis averred184 that there was none, and that he himself had examined the stream to its source; on which a Canadian who stood by whispered to the aide-de-camp: "The General is mistaken; there is a ford." Johnstone told this to Lévis, who would not believe it, and so browbeat185 the Canadian that he dared not repeat what he had said. Johnstone, taking him aside, told him to go and find somebody who had lately crossed the ford, and bring him at once to the General's quarters; whereupon he soon reappeared with a man who affirmed that he had crossed it the night before with a sack of wheat on his back. A detachment was immediately 218
V2 sent to the place, with orders to intrench itself, and Repentigny, lieutenant of Lévis, was posted not far off with eleven hundred Canadians.
Four hundred Indians passed the ford under the partisan186 Langlade, discovered Wolfe's detachment, hid themselves, and sent their commander to tell Repentigny that there was a body of English in the forest, who might all be destroyed if he would come over at once with his Canadians. Repentigny sent for orders to Lévis, and Lévis sent for orders to Vaudreuil, whose quarters were three or four miles distant. Vaudreuil answered that no risk should be run, and that he would come and see to the matter himself. It was about two hours before he arrived; and meanwhile the Indians grew impatient, rose from their hiding-place, fired on the rangers, and drove them back with heavy loss upon the regulars, who stood their ground, and at last repulsed187 the assailants. The Indians recrossed the ford with thirty-six scalps. If Repentigny had advanced, and Lévis had followed with his main body, the consequences to the English might have been serious; for, as Johnstone remarks, "a Canadian in the woods is worth three disciplined soldiers, as a soldier in a plain is worth three Canadians." Vaudreuil called a council of war. The question was whether an effort should be made to dislodge Wolfe's main force. Montcalm and the Governor were this time of one mind, and both thought it inexpedient to attack, with militia, a body of regular troops whose numbers and position were imperfectly known. Bigot gave 219
V2 his voice for the attack. He was overruled, and Wolfe was left to fortify188 himself in peace. [718]
[718] The above is from a comparison of the rather discordant189 accounts of Johnstone, the Journal tenu à l'Armée, the Journal of Panet, and that of the Hartwell Library. The last says that Lévis crossed the Montmorenci. If so, he accomplished190 nothing. This affair should not be confounded with a somewhat similar one which took place on the 26th.
His occupation of the heights of Montmorenci exposed him to great risks. The left wing of his army at Point Levi was six miles from its right wing at the cataract, and Major Hardy's detachment on the Point of Orleans was between them, separated from each by a wide arm of the St. Lawrence. Any one of the three camps might be overpowered before the others could support it; and Hardy with his small force was above all in danger of being cut to pieces. But the French kept persistently191 on the defensive; and after the failure of Dumas to dislodge the English from Point Levi, Vaudreuil would not hear of another such attempt. Wolfe was soon well intrenched; but it was easier to defend himself than to strike at his enemy. Montcalm, when urged to attack him, is said to have answered: "Let him amuse himself where he is. If we drive him off he may go to some place where he can do us harm." His late movement, however, had a discouraging effect on the Canadians, who now for the first time began to desert. His batteries, too, played across the chasm of Montmorenci upon the left wing of the French army with an effect extremely annoying.
The position of the hostile forces was a remarkable one. They were separated by the vast gorge 220
V2 that opens upon the St. Lawrence; an amphitheatre of lofty precipices192, their brows crested193 with forests, and their steep brown sides scantily194 feathered with stunted195 birch and fir. Into this abyss leaps the Montmorenci with one headlong plunge196 of nearly two hundred and fifty feet, a living column of snowy white, with its spray, its foam197, its mists, and its rainbows; then spreads itself in broad thin sheets over a floor of rock and gravel, and creeps tamely to the St. Lawrence. It was but a gunshot across the gulf198, and the sentinels on each side watched each other over the roar and turmoil199 of the cataract. Captain Knox, coming one day from Point Levi to receive orders from Wolfe, improved a spare hour to visit this marvel200 of nature. "I had very nigh paid dear for my inquisitiveness201; for while I stood on the eminence202 I was hastily called to by one of our sentinels, when, throwing my eyes about, I saw a Frenchman creeping under the eastern extremity of their breastwork to fire at me. This obliged me to retire as fast as I could out of his reach, and, making up to the sentry203 to thank him for his attention, he told me the fellow had snapped his piece twice, and the second time it flashed in the pan at the instant I turned away from the Fall." Another officer, less fortunate, had a leg broken by a shot from the opposite cliffs.
Day after day went by, and the invaders made no progress. Flags of truce204 passed often between the hostile camps. "You will demolish205 the town, no doubt," said the bearer of one of them, "but 221
V2 you shall never get inside of it." To which Wolfe replied: "I will have Quebec if I stay here till the end of November." Sometimes the heat was intense, and sometimes there were floods of summer rain that inundated206 the tents. Along the river, from the Montmorenci to Point Levi, there were ceaseless artillery fights between gunboats, frigates, and batteries on shore. Bands of Indians infested207 the outskirts208 of the camps, killing209 sentries and patrols. The rangers chased them through the woods; there were brisk skirmishes, and scalps lost and won. Sometimes the regulars took part in these forest battles; and once it was announced, in orders of the day, that "the General has ordered two sheep and some rum to Captain Cosnan's company of grenadiers for the spirit they showed this morning in pushing those scoundrels of Indians." The Indians complained that the British soldiers were learning how to fight, and no longer stood still in a mass to be shot at, as in Braddock's time. The Canadian coureurs-de-bois mixed with their red allies and wore their livery. One of them was caught on the eighteenth. He was naked, daubed red and blue, and adorned210 with a bunch of painted feathers dangling211 from the top of his head. He and his companions used the scalping-knife as freely as the Indians themselves; nor were the New England rangers much behind them in this respect, till an order came from Wolfe forbidding "the inhuman212 practice of scalping, except when the enemy are Indians, or Canadians dressed like Indians."
222
V2 A part of the fleet worked up into the Basin, beyond the Point of Orleans; and here, on the warm summer nights, officers and men watched the cannon flashing and thundering from the heights of Montmorenci on one side, and those of Pont Levi on the other, and the bombs sailing through the air in fiery213 semicircles. Often the gloom was lighted up by the blaze of the burning houses of Quebec, kindled214 by incendiary shells. Both the lower and the upper town were nearly deserted215 by the inhabitants, some retreating into the country, and some into the suburb of St. Roch; while the Ursulines and Hospital nuns216 abandoned their convents to seek harborage beyond the range of shot. The city was a prey217 to robbers, who pillaged218 the empty houses, till an order came from headquarters promising219 the gallows220 to all who should be caught. News reached the French that Niagara was attacked, and that the army of Amherst was moving against Ticonderoga. The Canadians deserted more and more. They were disheartened by the defensive attitude in which both Vaudreuil and Montcalm steadily221 persisted; and accustomed as they were to rapid raids, sudden strokes, and a quick return to their homes, they tired of long weeks of inaction. The English patrols caught one of them as he was passing the time in fishing. "He seemed to be a subtle old rogue," says Knox, "of seventy years of age, as he told us. We plied93 him well with port wine, and then his heart was more open; and seeing that we laughed at the exaggerated accounts he 223
V2 had given us, he said he 'wished the affair was well over, one way or the other; that his countrymen were all discontented, and would either surrender, or disperse223 and act a neutral part, if it were not for the persuasions224 of their priests and the fear of being maltreated by the savages225, with whom they are threatened on all occasions.'" A deserter reported on the nineteenth of July that nothing but dread5 of the Indians kept the Canadians in the camp.
Wolfe's proclamation, at first unavailing, was now taking effect. A large number of Canadian prisoners, brought in on the twenty-fifth, declared that their countrymen would gladly accept his offers but for the threats of their commanders that if they did so the Indians should be set upon them. The prisoners said further that "they had been under apprehension227 for several days past of having a body of four hundred barbarians228 sent to rifle their parish and habitations." [719] Such threats were not wholly effectual. A French chronicler of the time says: "The Canadians showed their disgust every day, and deserted at every opportunity, in spite of the means taken to prevent them." "The people were intimidated229, seeing all our army kept in one body and solely230 on the defensive; while the English, though far less numerous, divided their forces, and undertook various bold enterprises without meeting resistance." [720]
[719] Knox, I. 347; compare pp. 339, 341, 346.
[720] Journal du Siége (Bibliothêque de Hartwell).
V2 French commanders had thought it impossible for any hostile ship to pass the batteries of Quebec; but about eleven o'clock at night, favored by the wind, and covered by a furious cannonade from Point Levi, the ship "Sutherland," with a frigate and several small vessels, sailed safely by and reached the river above the town. Here they at once attacked and destroyed a fireship and some small craft that they found there. Now, for the first time, it became necessary for Montcalm to weaken his army at Beauport by sending six hundred men, under Dumas, to defend the accessible points in the line of precipices between Quebec and Cap-Rouge. Several hundred more were sent on the next day, when it became known that the English had dragged a fleet of boats over Point Levi, launched them above the town, and despatched troops to embark142 in them. Thus a new feature was introduced into the siege operations, and danger had risen on a side where the French thought themselves safe. On the other hand, Wolfe had become more vulnerable than ever. His army was now divided, not into three parts, but into four, each so far from the rest that, in case of sudden attack, it must defend itself alone. That Montcalm did not improve his opportunity was apparently due to want of confidence in his militia.
The force above the town did not lie idle. On the night of the twentieth, Colonel Carleton, with six hundred men, rowed eighteen miles up the river, and landed at Pointe-aux-Trembles, on the north shore. Here some of the families of Quebec 225
V2 had sought asylum231; and Wolfe had been told by prisoners that not only were stores in great quantity to be found here, but also letters and papers throwing light on the French plans. Carleton and his men drove off a band of Indians who fired on them, and spent a quiet day around the parish church; but found few papers, and still fewer stores. They withdrew towards evening, carrying with them nearly a hundred women, children, and old men; any they were no sooner gone than the Indians returned to plunder232 the empty houses of their unfortunate allies. The prisoners were treated with great kindness. The ladies among them were entertained at supper by Wolfe, who jested with them on the caution of the French generals, saying: "I have given good chances to attack me, and am surprised that they have not profited by them." [721] On the next day the prisoners were all sent to Quebec under a flag of truce.
[721] Journal tenu à l'Armée que commandoit feu M. le Marquis de Montcalm.
Thus far Wolfe had refrained from executing the threats he had affixed233 the month before to the church of Beaumont. But now he issued another proclamation. It declared that the Canadians had shown themselves unworthy of the offers he had made them, and that he had therefore ordered his light troops to ravage234 their country and bring them prisoners to his camp. Such of the Canadian militia as belonged to the parishes near Quebec were now in a sad dilemma235; for Montcalm threatened them on one side, and 226
V2 Wolfe on the other. They might desert to their homes, or they might stand by their colors; in the one case their houses were to be burned by French savages, and in the other by British light infantry.
Wolfe at once gave orders in accord with his late proclamation; but he commanded that no church should be profaned236, and no woman or child injured. The first effects of his stern policy are thus recorded by Knox: "Major Dalling's light infantry brought in this afternoon to our camp two hundred and fifty male and female prisoners. Among this number was a very respectable looking priest, and about forty men fit to bear arms. There was almost an equal number of black cattle, with about seventy sheep and lambs, and a few horses. Brigadier Monckton entertained the reverend father and some other fashionable personages in his tent, and most humanely237 ordered refreshments238 to all the rest of the captives; which noble example was followed by the soldiery, who generously crowded about those unhappy people, sharing the provisions, rum, and tobacco with them. They were sent in the evening on board of transports in the river." Again, two days later: "Colonel Fraser's detachment returned this morning, and presented us with more scenes of distress and the dismal consequences of war, by a great number of wretched families, whom they brought in prisoners, with some of their effects, and near three hundred black cattle, sheep, hogs239, and horses."
227
V2 On the next night the attention of the excellent journalist was otherwise engaged. Vaudreuil tried again to burn the English fleet. "Late last night," writes Knox, under date of the twenty-eighth, "the enemy sent down a most formidable fireraft, which consisted of a parcel of schooners240, shallops, and stages chained together. It could not be less than a hundred fathoms241 in length, and was covered with grenades, old swivels, gun and pistol barrels loaded up to their muzzles242, and various other inventions and combustible matters. This seemed to be their last attempt against our fleet, which happily miscarried, as before; for our gallant243 seamen244, with their usual expertness, grappled them before they got down above a third part of the Basin, towed them safe to shore, and left them at anchor, continually repeating, All's well. A remarkable expression from some of these intrepid souls to their comrades on this occasion I must not omit, on account of its singular uncouthness245; namely: 'Damme, Jack246, didst thee ever take hell in tow before?'"
According to a French account, this aquatic247 infernal machine consisted of seventy rafts, boats, and schooners. Its failure was due to no shortcoming on the part of its conductors; who, under a brave Canadian named Courval, acted with coolness and resolution. Nothing saved the fleet but the courage of the sailors, swarming248 out in their boats to fight the approaching conflagration.
It was now the end of July. More than half the summer was gone, and Quebec seemed as far 228
V2 as ever beyond the grasp of Wolfe. Its buildings were in ruins, and the neighboring parishes were burned and ravaged249; but its living rampart, the army of Montcalm, still lay in patient defiance250 along the shores of Beauport, while above the city every point where a wildcat could climb the precipices was watched and guarded, and Dumas with a thousand men held the impregnable heights of Cap-Rouge. Montcalm persisted in doing nothing that his enemy wished him to do. He would not fight on Wolfe's terms, and Wolfe resolved at last to fight him on his own; that is, to attack his camp in front.
The plan was desperate; for, after leaving troops enough to hold Point Levi and the heights of Montmorenci, less than five thousand men would be left to attack a position of commanding strength, where Montcalm at an hour's notice could collect twice as many to oppose them. But Wolfe had a boundless251 trust in the disciplined valor252 of his soldiers, and an utter scorn of the militia who made the greater part of his enemy's force.
Towards the Montmorenci the borders of the St. Lawrence are, as we have seen, extremely high and steep. At a mile from the gorge of the cataract there is, at high tide, a strand, about the eighth of a mile wide, between the foot of these heights and the river; and beyond this strand the receding253 tide lays bare a tract36 of mud nearly half a mile wide. At the edge of the dry ground the French had built a redoubt mounted with cannon, 229
V2 and there were other similar works on the strand a quarter of a mile nearer the cataract. Wolfe could not see from the river that these redoubts were commanded by the musketry of the intrenchments along the brink of the heights above. These intrenchments were so constructed that they swept with cross-fires the whole face of the declivity254, which was covered with grass, and was very steep. Wolfe hoped that, if he attacked one of the redoubts, the French would come down to defend it, and so bring on a general engagement; or, if they did not, that he should gain an opportunity of reconnoitring the heights to find some point where they could be stormed with a chance of success.
In front of the gorge of the Montmorenci there was a ford during several hours of low tide, so that troops from the adjoining English camp might cross to co-operate with their comrades landing in boats from Point Levi and the Island of Orleans. On the morning of the thirty-first of July, the tide then being at the flood, the French saw the ship "Centurion," of sixty-four guns, anchor near the Montmorenci and open fire on the redoubts. Then two armed transports, each of fourteen guns, stood in as close as possible to the first redoubt and fired upon it, stranding255 as the tide went out, till in the afternoon they lay bare upon the mud. At the same time a battery of more than forty heavy pieces, planted on the lofty promontory256 beyond the Montmorenci, began a furious cannonade upon the flank of the French intrenchments. 230
V2 It did no great harm, however, for the works were protected by a great number of traverses, which stopped the shot; and the Canadians, who manned this part of the lines, held their ground with excellent steadiness.
About eleven o'clock a fleet of boats filled with troops, chiefly from Point Levi, appeared in the river and hovered257 off the shore west of the parish church of Beauport, as if meaning to land there. Montcalm was perplexed258, doubting whether the real attack was to be made here, or toward the Montmorenci. Hour after hour the boats moved to and fro, to increase his doubts and hide the real design; but he soon became convinced that the camp of Lévis at the Montmorenci was the true object of his enemy; and about two o'clock he went thither, greeted as he rode along the lines by shouts of Vive notre Général! Lévis had already made preparations for defence with his usual skill. His Canadians were reinforced by the battalions of Béarn, Guienne, and Royal Roussillon; and, as the intentions of Wolfe became certain, the right of the camp was nearly abandoned, the main strength of the army being gathered between the river of Beauport and the Montmorenci, where, according to a French writer, there were, towards the end of the afternoon, about twelve thousand men. [722]
[722] Panet, Journal.
At half-past five o'clock the tide was out, and the crisis came. The batteries across the Montmorenci, the distant batteries of Point Levi, the 231
V2 cannon of the "Centurion," and those of the two stranded ships, all opened together with redoubled fury. The French batteries replied; and, amid this deafening259 roar of artillery, the English boats set their troops ashore at the edge of the broad tract of sedgy mud that the receding river had left bare. At the same time a column of two thousand men was seen, a mile away, moving in perfect order across the Montmorenci ford. The first troops that landed from the boats were thirteen companies of grenadiers and a detachment of Royal Americans. They dashed swiftly forward; while at some distance behind came Monckton's brigade, composed of the fifteenth, or Amherst's regiment, and the seventy-eighth, or Fraser's Highlanders. The day had been fair and warm; but the sky was now thick with clouds, and large rain-drops began to fall, the precursors260 of a summer storm.
With the utmost precipitation, without orders, and without waiting for Monckton's brigade to come up, the grenadiers in front made a rush for the redoubt near the foot of the hill. The French abandoned it; but the assailants had no sooner gained their prize than the thronged261 heights above blazed with musketry, and a tempest of bullets fell among them. Nothing daunted262, they dashed forward again, reserving their fire, and struggling to climb the steep ascent263; while, with yells and shouts of Vive le Roi! the troops and Canadians at the top poured upon them a hailstorm of musket-balls and buckshot, and dead and wounded in 232
V2 numbers rolled together down the slope. At that instant the clouds burst, and the rain fell in torrents264. "We could not see half way down the hill," says the Chevalier Johnstone, who was at this part of the line. Ammunition265 was wet on both sides, and the grassy266 steeps became so slippery that it was impossible to climb them. The English say that the storm saved the French; the French, with as much reason, that it saved the English.
The baffled grenadiers drew back into the redoubt. Wolfe saw the madness of persisting, and ordered a retreat. The rain ceased, and troops of Indians came down the heights to scalp the fallen. Some of them ran towards Lieutenant Peyton, of the Royal Americans, as he lay disabled by a musket-shot. With his double-barrelled gun he brought down two of his assailants, when a Highland116 sergeant snatched him in his arms, dragged him half a mile over the mud-flats, and placed him in one of the boats. A friend of Peyton, Captain Ochterlony, had received a mortal wound, and an Indian would have scalped him but for the generous intrepidity267 of a soldier of the battalion8 of Guienne; who, seizing the enraged268 savage226, held him back till several French officers interposed, and had the dying man carried to a place of safety.
The English retreated in good order, after setting fire to the two stranded vessels. Those of the grenadiers and Royal Americans who were left alive rowed for the Point of Orleans; the fifteenth regiment rowed for Point Levi; and the 233
V2 Highlanders, led by Wolfe himself, joined the column from beyond the Montmorenci, placing themselves in its rear as it slowly retired269 along the flats and across the ford, the Indians yelling and the French shouting from the heights, while the British waved their hats, daring them to come down and fight.
The grenadiers and the Royal Americans, who had borne the brunt of the fray270, bore also nearly all the loss; which, in proportion to their numbers, was enormous. Knox reports it at four hundred and forty-three, killed, wounded, and missing, including one colonel, eight captains, twenty-one lieutenants271, and three ensigns.
Vaudreuil, delighted, wrote to Bourlamaque an account of the affair. "I have no more anxiety about Quebec. M. Wolfe, I can assure you, will make no progress. Luckily for him, his prudence272 saved him from the consequences of his mad enterprise, and he contented222 himself with losing about five hundred of his best soldiers. Deserters say that he will try us again in a few days. That is what we want; he'll find somebody to talk to (il trouvera à qui parler)."
Note.—Among the killed in this affair was Edward Botwood, sergeant in the grenadiers of the forty-seventh, or Lascelles' regiment. "Ned Botwood" was well known among his comrades as a poet; and the following lines of his, written on the eve of the expedition to Quebec, continued to be favorites with the British troops during the War of the Revolution (see Historical Magazine, II., First Series, 164). It may be observed here that the war produced a considerable quantity of indifferent verse on both sides. On that of the English it took the shape of occasional ballads273, such as "Bold General Wolfe," printed on broadsides, or of patriotic274 effusions scattered275 through magazines and newspapers, while the French celebrated276 all their victories with songs.
234
V2 HOT STUFF.
Air,—Lilies of France.
Come, each death-doing dog who dares venture his neck,
Come, follow the hero that goes to Quebec;
Jump aboard of the transports, and loose every sail,
And ye that love fighting shall soon have enough:
Wolfe commands us, my boys; we shall give them Hot Stuff.
Up the River St. Lawrence our troops shall advance,
To the Grenadiers' March we will teach them to dance.
Cape Breton we have taken, and next we will try
At their capital to give them another black eye.
Vaudreuil, 't is in vain you pretend to look gruff,—
Those are coming who know how to give you Hot Stuff.
With powder in his periwig, and snuff in his nose,
Monsieur will run down our descent to oppose;
And the Indians will come: but the light infantry
Will soon oblige them to betake to a tree.
Advance, grenadiers, and let fly your Hot Stuff!
When the forty-seventh regiment is dashing ashore,
Says Montcalm: "Those are Shirley's—I know the lappels."
"You lie," says Ned Botwood, "we belong to Lascelles'!
Tho' our cloathing is changed, yet we scorn a powder-puff;
So at you, ye b——s, here's give you Hot Stuff."
On the repulse at Montmorenci, Wolfe to Pitt, 2 Sept. 1759. Vaudreuil au Ministre, 5 Oct. 1759. Panet, Journal du Siége. Johnstone, Dialogue in Hades. Journal tenu à l'Armée, etc. Journal of the Siege of Quebec, by a Gentleman in an eminent280 Station on the Spot. Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760. Fraser, Journal of the Siege. Journal du Siége d'après un MS. déposé à la Bibliothêque Hartwell. Foligny, Journal mémoratif. Journal of Transactions at the Siege of Quebec, in Notes and Queries281, XX. 164. John Johnson, Memoirs of the Siege of Quebec. Journal of an Expedition on the River St. Lawrence. An Authentic282 Account of the Expedition against Quebec, by a Volunteer on that Expedition. J. Gibson to Governor Lawrence, 1 Aug. 1759. Knox, I. 354. Mante, 244.
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muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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repulse
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| n.击退，拒绝；vt.逐退，击退，拒绝 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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exhorted
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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mandate
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| n.托管地；命令，指示 | |
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rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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19
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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20
succor
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| n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助 | |
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21
exhorts
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| n.劝勉者，告诫者，提倡者( exhort的名词复数 )v.劝告，劝说( exhort的第三人称单数 ) | |
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22
repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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23
ordains
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的第三人称单数 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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24
bustled
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| 闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促 | |
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25
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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26
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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27
surmount
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| vt.克服；置于…顶上 | |
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28
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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29
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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30
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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31
indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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32
eulogy
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| n.颂词；颂扬 | |
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33
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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34
deter
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| vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住 | |
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35
contractor
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| n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌 | |
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36
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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37
intercept
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| vt.拦截，截住，截击 | |
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38
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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39
eluding
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的现在分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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40
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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41
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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42
ruse
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| n.诡计，计策；诡计 | |
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43
snares
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| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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44
exigency
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| n.紧急；迫切需要 | |
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45
ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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46
recoil
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| vi.退却，退缩，畏缩 | |
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47
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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48
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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49
disinterested
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| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
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50
evacuated
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| 撤退者的 | |
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51
concurrence
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| n.同意；并发 | |
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52
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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53
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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54
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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55
whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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57
extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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58
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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59
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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60
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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61
barricaded
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| 设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守 | |
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62
frigates
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| n.快速军舰( frigate的名词复数 ) | |
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63
frigate
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| n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰 | |
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64
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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65
defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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66
exigencies
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| n.急切需要 | |
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67
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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68
squads
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| n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍 | |
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69
authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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70
anomalous
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| adj.反常的；不规则的 | |
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71
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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72
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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73
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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74
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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75
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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76
wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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77
vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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78
fowls
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| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
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79
fattened
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| v.喂肥( fatten的过去式和过去分词 )；养肥（牲畜）；使（钱）增多；使（公司）升值 | |
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80
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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81
lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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82
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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83
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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84
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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85
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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86
extravagant
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|
| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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87
latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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88
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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89
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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90
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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91
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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92
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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93
plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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94
Neptune
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| n.海王星 | |
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95
mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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96
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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97
ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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98
ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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99
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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100
sputter
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| n.喷溅声；v.喷溅 | |
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101
remarkable
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|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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102
zigzag
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|
| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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103
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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104
rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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105
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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106
fervency
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| n.热情的；强烈的；热烈 | |
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107
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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108
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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109
plunging
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|
| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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110
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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111
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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112
chapels
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| n.小教堂， （医院、监狱等的）附属礼拜堂( chapel的名词复数 )；（在小教堂和附属礼拜堂举行的）礼拜仪式 | |
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113
farmhouses
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| n.农舍，农场的主要住房( farmhouse的名词复数 ) | |
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114
farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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115
barley
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| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
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116
highland
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| n.(pl.)高地，山地 | |
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117
rangers
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| 护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员 | |
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118
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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119
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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120
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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121
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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122
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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123
spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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124
chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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125
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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126
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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127
warehouses
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| 仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
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128
chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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129
cataract
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| n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障 | |
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130
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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131
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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132
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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133
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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134
invaders
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| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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135
protract
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| v.延长，拖长 | |
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136
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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137
contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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138
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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139
intrepid
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| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
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140
dice
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| n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险 | |
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141
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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142
embark
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| vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机 | |
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143
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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144
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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145
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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146
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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147
sentries
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| 哨兵，步兵( sentry的名词复数 ) | |
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148
descried
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| adj.被注意到的，被发现的，被看到的 | |
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149
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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150
combustible
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| a. 易燃的,可燃的; n. 易燃物,可燃物 | |
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151
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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152
eruption
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| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
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153
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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154
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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155
spouted
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| adj.装有嘴的v.（指液体）喷出( spout的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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156
vomited
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157
stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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158
venting
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| 消除； 泄去； 排去； 通风 | |
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159
conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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160
jocose
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| adj.开玩笑的，滑稽的 | |
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161
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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162
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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163
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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164
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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165
courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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166
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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167
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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168
despoiled
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| v.掠夺，抢劫( despoil的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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169
mortars
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| n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵 | |
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170
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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171
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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172
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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173
memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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174
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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175
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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176
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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177
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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178
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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179
temerity
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| n.鲁莽，冒失 | |
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180
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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181
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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182
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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183
Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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184
averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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185
browbeat
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| v.欺侮；吓唬 | |
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186
partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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187
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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188
fortify
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| v.强化防御，为…设防；加强，强化 | |
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189
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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190
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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191
persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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192
precipices
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| n.悬崖，峭壁( precipice的名词复数 ) | |
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193
crested
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| adj.有顶饰的，有纹章的，有冠毛的v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的过去式和过去分词 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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194
scantily
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| adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地 | |
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195
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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196
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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197
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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198
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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199
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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200
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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201
inquisitiveness
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| 好奇，求知欲 | |
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202
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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203
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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204
truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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205
demolish
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| v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等) | |
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206
inundated
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| v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付 | |
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207
infested
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| adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于 | |
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208
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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209
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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210
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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211
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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212
inhuman
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|
| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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213
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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214
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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215
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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216
nuns
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| n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
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217
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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218
pillaged
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| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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219
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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220
gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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221
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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222
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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223
disperse
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| vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散 | |
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224
persuasions
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| n.劝说，说服（力）( persuasion的名词复数 )；信仰 | |
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225
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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226
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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227
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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228
barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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229
intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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230
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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231
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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232
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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233
affixed
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| adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章） | |
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234
ravage
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| vt.使...荒废，破坏...；n.破坏，掠夺，荒废 | |
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235
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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236
profaned
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| v.不敬( profane的过去式和过去分词 )；亵渎，玷污 | |
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237
humanely
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| adv.仁慈地；人道地；富人情地；慈悲地 | |
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238
refreshments
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| n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待 | |
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239
hogs
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| n.（尤指喂肥供食用的）猪( hog的名词复数 )；（供食用的）阉公猪；彻底地做某事；自私的或贪婪的人 | |
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240
schooners
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| n.（有两个以上桅杆的）纵帆船( schooner的名词复数 ) | |
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241
fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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242
muzzles
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| 枪口( muzzle的名词复数 )； （防止动物咬人的）口套； （四足动物的）鼻口部； （狗）等凸出的鼻子和口 | |
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243
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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244
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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245
uncouthness
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246
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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247
aquatic
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| adj.水生的，水栖的 | |
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248
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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249
ravaged
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| 毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫 | |
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250
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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251
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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252
valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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253
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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254
declivity
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| n.下坡，倾斜面 | |
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255
stranding
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| n.（船只）搁浅v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的现在分词 ) | |
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256
promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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257
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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258
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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259
deafening
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| adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
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260
precursors
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| n.先驱( precursor的名词复数 )；先行者；先兆；初期形式 | |
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261
thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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262
daunted
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| 使（某人）气馁，威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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263
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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264
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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265
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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266
grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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267
intrepidity
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| n.大胆，刚勇；大胆的行为 | |
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268
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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269
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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270
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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271
lieutenants
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| n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 )；副职官员；空军；仅低于…官阶的官员 | |
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272
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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273
ballads
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| 民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴 | |
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274
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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275
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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276
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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277
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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278
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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279
cannons
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| n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 ) | |
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280
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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281
queries
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| n.问题( query的名词复数 )；疑问；询问；问号v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的第三人称单数 )；询问 | |
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282
authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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