These were all drawn
from the districts of Three Rivers and Montreal; and, at best, they were
in great danger, since when brought down in boats at night they were apt
to be intercepted, while the difficulty of bringing them by land was
extreme, through scarcity of cattle and horses. Discipline was relaxed,
disorder and pillage were rife, and the Canadians deserted so fast, that
towards the end of August two hundred of them, it is said, would
sometimes go off in one night. Early in the month the disheartening news
came of the loss of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, the retreat of
Bourlamaque, the fall of Niagara, and the expected advance of Amherst
on Montreal. It was then that Levis was despatched to the scene of
danger; and Quebec was deplorably weakened by his absence. About this
time the Lower Town was again set on fire by the English batteries, and
a hundred and sixty-seven houses were burned in a night. In the front of
the Upper Town nearly every building was a ruin. At the General
Hospital, which was remote enough to be safe from the bombardment, every
barn, shed, and garret, and even the chapel itself, were crowded with
sick and wounded, with women and children from the town, and the nuns of
the Ursulines and the Hotel-Dieu, driven thither for refuge. Bishop
Pontbriand, though suffering from a mortal disease, came almost daily to
visit and console them from his lodging in the house of the cure at
Charlesbourg.
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