"Carte du Lac Ontario." A Specimen French Map of the Niagara Frontier.
Dated October 4, 1757.
From the original in the British Museum.
Vaudreuil left toward the latter part of August after having seen the company well roofed. Many of the number, who were at first fired by the spirit of adventure and a desire to remain at Niagara, now, foreseeing the suffering to be undergone, desired to return with Vaudreuil; but nearly all were compelled to remain at the fort.
Although the expedition when it set out against the Senecas was tolerably well supplied with necessaries for an Indian campaign, those who were left at the fort were left in a bad condition indeed. About three thousand bushels of corn had been destroyed which belonged to the Senecas; but scarcely a week's rations had been brought along to their destination. Very few had brought any seeds, and not much gardening could have been done anyway, on account of the lateness of the season. The few attempts that were made brought no returns on account of a drought. No hunting could be undertaken except in large parties so as to be secure from the savages. Almost the only food supply was the fish caught in the lake.
There was unbounded joy at the fort when the sail of the ship with supplies, which had been promised by De Nonville, was seen on the horizon. But even then the unlading was delayed two days by calms which prevented the vessel from coming nearer than several miles from the shore. Finally a landing was effected; and the cargo was quickly stowed in the fort. The ship immediately returned to Canada.
From the very first the provisions proved to be bad. Still with these, together with the few herbs of the forest, a small amount of game and fish, the men managed to eke out an existence. There was no labour to perform—nothing to do but complain of the food and hard life which they were compelled to live.
Toward the latter part of September, the Indians made their first appearance. A hunting party in the vicinity of the Falls lost two men. Another party was cut off from the fort. Their dead bodies were found scalped and mutilated by the savages. The commander, De Troyes, soon fell ill, as did also Jean de Lamberville, the only priest in the colony. Thus at almost the same time was the company deprived of leadership and religious consolation. Christmas season drew on; but it was a sorry time for those at the fort. The weather had become severe, and fierce snow-storms were frequent. No one ventured beyond the palisades except in quest of firewood; and it was almost impossible at times to obtain this. Many were nearly frozen in their cabins. One day the wood-choppers were overwhelmed in the snow in sight of the fort. No one dared to go to their succour for fear of suffering the same fate. Two days after, those within the stockade saw their dead comrades devoured by wolves. Not a charge of powder was left. The food was almost unbearable. The biscuits were full of weevil from the first, and the meat was in such a putrefied condition that no one could eat it. Scurvy broke out. De Troyes could not leave his cabin and was compelled to trust everything to his men.
From a band of gallant soldiers, they had been reduced to a mere handful of disease-infected skeletons. In six weeks there were sixty deaths; and this was only the middle of February. Only a few of the stronger were left able to do the work which was absolutely necessary, such as supplying firewood and burying the dead, and these duties were performed with infinite toil and danger. More than twenty died in the month of March; in this number was the brave commander De Troyes. With their leader seemed to perish all the little spirit left in his followers. Almost no hope was left for the suffering inmates of the fort. It was still many weeks until the promised succour could possibly come from Montreal. The Western savages had promised an alliance and aid to the French against the Iroquois, but little confidence was to be placed in their promises.