vision, except a small quantity of oaten meal, resembling in grit our chopped rye. Simpson warmed some of this in water, and ate with gusto. To me it was nauseous: this may have been owing to the luncheon from Smith's hoard. The French men told us, that those who preceded, had devoured the very entrails of the cattle. One of the eastern men, as we came to the fire, was gorging the last bit of the colon, half rinsed-half broiled. It may be said, he ate with pleasure, as he tore it as a hungry dog would tear a haunch of meat. We soon encamped for the night, cheered by the hope of succor. November 4th. About two o'clock, P. M., we arrived at a large stream coming from the east, which we ran through, though more than mid-deep. This was the most chilling bath we had hitherto received: the weather was raw and cold. It was the seventeenth and the harshest of my birthdays. Within a few hundred yards of the river stood the "first house" in Canada: we approached it in ecstacy, sure of being relieved from death by the means of famine. Many of our compatriots were unaware of that death which arises from sudden repletion. The active spirit of Arnold, with such able assistants as John M. Taylor and Steele, had laid in a great stock of provisions. The men were furious, voracious, and insatiable. Three starvations had taught me wisdom. My friends took my advice. But, notwithstanding the irrefragable arguments the officers used to insure moderation, the men were outrageous upon the subject; they had no comprehension of such reasoning. Among these was one, of our company, a good and orderly soldier, who, from my affection toward him, I watched like another doctor Pedro Positive; yet all representation and reasoning on my part, had no influence. Boiled beef, hot bread, potatoes, boiled and roasted, were gormandized without stint. He seemed to defy death, for the mere enjoyment of present gratification, and died two days after. Many of the men sickened. If not much mistaken, we lost three of our company, by their imprudence on this occasion. The immediate extension of the stomach by food, after a lengthy fast, operates a more sudden extinction of life, than the total absence of aliment. At this place, we for the first time had the pleasure of seeing the worthy and respectable Indian, Natanis, and his brother Sabatis, with some others of their tribe (the Abenaquis): he, his brother Sabatis, and seventeen other Indians, the nephews and friends of Natanis, marched with us to Quebec, and were in the attack of that place, on the morning of the first of January following. This is the first instance in the course of our revolutionary war, of the employment of Indians in actual warfare against our enemies. To be sure, it was the act of a junior commander, unwarranted, so far as has come to my knowledge, by the orders of his superiors; yet it seemed to authorize, in a small degree, upon the part of our opponents, that horrible system of aggression, which in a short time ensued, and astonished and dis gusted the civilized world. Our severest personal sufferings for want of food were over. The march through the wilderness to this point had been dreadful; one day when near the head of the Chaudiere, a mountain putting into that stream compelled us to pass the margin upon a log, which had been brought there by a freshet The bark and limbs of the tree had been worn away by the rubbings of the ice, and the trunk lay lengthwise along the narrow passage, smooth and slippery, and gorged the pass. This difficulty had collected here a heterogeneous mass of the troops, who claimed the right of passage according to the order of coming to it. The log was to be footed, or the water, of the depth of three or four feet, must be waded. There was no alternative. An eastern man, bare-footed, bare-headed, and thinly clad, lean and wretched from abstinence, with his musket in hand, passed the log immediately before me. His foot slipped, and he fell several feet into the water. We passed on regardless of his fate. Even his immediate friends and comrades, many of whom were on the log at the same moment, did not deign to lend him an assisting hand. Death stared us in the face. I gave him a sincere sigh at parting, for to lose my place in the file, might have been fatal. This pitiable being died in the wilderness. The hard fate of many others might be recapitulated, but the dreadful tale of incidents, if truly told, would merely serve to lacerate the heart of pity, and harrow up the feelings of the soul of benevolence. Tears many years since, have often wetted my cheeks, when recollecting the disasters of that unfortunate campaign, the memorable exit of my dearest friends, and of many worthy fellow-citizens, whose worth at this time is embalmed solely in the breasts of their surviving associates. Seven died sheerly from famine; and many others by disorders arising from hard service in the wilderness. The morning of the 6th of November, we marched in straggling parties through a flat and rich country, sprinkled, it might be said, decorated, by many low houses, all white-washed, which appeared to be the warm abodes of a contented people. Every now and then, a chapel came in sight; but frequently the rude, but pious imitations of the sufferings of our Saviour, and the image of the Virgin. These things created surprise, at least in my mind, for where I thought there could be little other than barbarity, we found civilized men, in a comfortable state, enjoying all the benefits arising from the institutions of civil society. more About noon of the next day, we arrived at the quarters of Arnold, a station he had taken for the purpose of halting and embodying the whole of our emaciated and straggling troops. We were now perhaps thirty miles from point Levi; which is on the St. Lawrence, and nearly opposite to Quebec. Here we found our friend Taylor, at a slaughter house worried almost to death, in dealing out the sustenance of life to others. Without hyperbole or circumlocution, he gave us as many pounds of beef-steak as we chose to carry. Proceeding to the next house, a mile below, some one of the party became cook. Good bread and potatoes, with the accompaniment of beefsteak, produced a savory meal. Believing myself out of danger from any extraordinary indulgence of appetite, the due quantity was exceeded, and yet, believe me, it was not more than an anchorite might religiously take. We soon became sensible of this act of imprudence. The march of the afternoon was a dull and heavy one. A fever attacked me. cording to my feelings, the most miserable of human beings. brought me no comfort, though we slept warmly in a farm house. November 7th. The army now formed into more regular and compact order, in the morning pretty early we proceeded. About noon my disorder I became ac- had increased so intolerably, that I could not put a foot forward. Seating myself upon a log at the way-side, the troops passed on. In the rear came Arnold on horseback. He knew my name and character, and good naturedly inquired after my health. Being informed, he dismounted, ran down to the river side, and hailed the owner of the house, which stood opposite across the water. The good Canadian, in his canoe, quickly arrived. Depositing my gun and accoutrements in the hands of one of our men, who attended upon me, and had been disarmed by losing his rifle in some one of the wreckings above, and Arnold putting two silver dollars into my hands, the Frenchman carried me to his house. Going to bed with a high fever upon me, I lay all this and the following day without tasting food. That had been the cause of the disease, its absence became the cure. The morning of the third day (10th November), brought me health. The mistress of the house, who had been very attentive and kind, asked me to breakfast. This humble, but generous meal, consisted of a bowl of milk, for the guest, with excellent bread. The fare of the family was this same bread, garlic, and salt-I had observed, that this was the usual morning's diet, for I lay in the stove-room, where the family ate and slept. This worthy family was composed of seven persons; the parents in the prime of life, and five charming ruddy children, all neatly and warmly clothed in woolen, apparently of their own manufactory. You might suppose, from the manner of their living, that these persons were poor. No such thing. They were in good circumstances. Their house, barn, stabling, etc., were warm and comfortable, and their diet such as is universal among the French peasantry of Canada. Proffering my two dollars to this honest man, he rejected them with something like disdain in his countenance, intimating to me that he had merely obeyed the dictates of religion and humanity. Tears filled my eyes when I took my leave of these amiable people. But they had not even yet done enough for me. The father insisted on attending me to the ferry some miles off, where the river takes a turn almost due north, to meet the St. Lawrence. Here my worthy host procured me a passage scot free, observing to me my money might be required before the army could be overtaken. Landing on the north bank of the river, the way could not be mistaken, the track of the army had strongly marked the rout. To me it was a most gloomy and solitary march. Not a soul was to be seen in the course of ten miles. Here and there was a farm-house, but the inhabitants were either closely housed or absent from their homes. Afternoon, arriving at the quarters of our company, my gun and accoutrements were reclaimed with ardor. Having arrived at Point Livi we crossed the St. Lawrence in boats on the night of the 13th of November and landed at Wolf's Cove. November 14th. The troops easily ascended the hill, by a good road cut in it slantingly. This was not the case in 1759, when the immortal Wolf mounted here-it was then a steep declivity, enfiladed by a host of savages. November 15th. Arriving on the brow of the precipice, we found ourselves on the Plains of Abraham, so deservedly famous in story. The morning was cold, and we were thinly clad. While an adventurous party dispatched by Arnold, under the command of one of Morgan's lieutenants, were examining the walls of the city, we were pacing the plains to and fro, in silence, to keep ourselves warm. The winter had set in-a cold north wester blew with uncommon keenness. By the time the reconnoitering party returned, daylight was not very distant. The party found everything toward the city in a state of perfect quietness. This report was delivered, in my presence, to Morgan, however the contrary may have been represented since. Not even the cry of "All's well" was uttered, was a part of their report, yet we heard that cry from the walls, even where we were; but this in a direct line, was nearer to us than the voices opposite to the party. This was the happy moment, but with our small and disjointed force, what could be done? There was scarcely more than three hundred and fifty men, willing and determined to be sure, but too few to assail a fortress such as Quebec is. If that had been known this night, which was evidenced in a few days by the fugitives from the city, Arnold would most assuredly have hazarded an attack. St. John's Gate, which opens on Abraham's Plains, and is a most important station, was unbarred, nay, unclosed: nothing but a single cannon under the care of a drowsy watch, was there as a defense; we were not a mile distant, and might have entered unknown, and even unseen. These are uncertain opinions, resting on the vague reports of the moment, which might have been true, or untrue. My memory is, however, fresh in the recollection of the heart-burnings this failure caused among us. Providence, for wise purposes, would have it otherwise. Near daylight, requiring rest and refreshment, the troops moved a mile, to a farm-house of Lieutenant Governor Caldwell's. This was a great pile of wooden buildings, with numerous outhouses, which testified the agricultural spirit and taste of the owner. He, good soul, was then snug in Quebec. ill The next day, Arnold had the boldness, you might say the audacity, or still more correctly, the folly, to draw us up in a line, in front and opposite to the wall of the city. The parapet was lined by hundreds of gaping citizens and soldiers, whom our guns could not harm, because of the distance. They gave us a buzza! We returned it, and remained a considerable time huzzaing, and spending our powder against the walls, for we harmed no one. In some minutes a thirty-six pounder was let loose upon us; but so was the gun pointed, that the ball fell short, or passed high over our heads. Another, and another succeeded-to these salutes, we gave them all we could, another and another huzza. It must be confessed, that this ridiculous affair gave me a contemptible opinion of Arnold. This notion was by no means singular. Morgan, Febiger and other officers, who had seen service, did not hesitate to speak of it in that point of view. However, Arnold had a vain desire to gratify, of which we were then ignorant. He was well known at Quebec. Formerly, he had traded from this port to the West Indies, most particularly in the article of horses. Hence, he was despised by the principal people. The epithet "horse jockey," was freely and universally bestowed upon him, by the British. Having now obtained power, he became anxious to display it in the faces of those who had formerly despised and contemned him. The venerable Sir Guy Carleton, an Irishman of a most amiable and mild character, Colonel Maclean, a Scotchman, old in warfare, would not, in any shape, communicate with him. If Montgomery had originally been our commander, matters might have been more civilly conducted. Many of our wisest men, within the colonies, wrote and spoke of this bra vading, as a matter of moment, and with much applause. Even some of our historians (Gordon) have given it celebrity. But a more silly and boastful British historian (Amwell) says there was a dreadful cannonade, by which many of the rebels were destroyed. The truth is, that this day 1 ot a drop of blood was shed, but that of Governor Caldwell's horned cattle, hogs and poultry, which run plentifully. After this victory in huzzaing, which was boys' play, and suited me to a hair, we returned to quarters to partake of the good things of this world. The next day (November 15th), a scene of a different kind opened, which let us into the true character of Arnold. In the wilderness, the men had been stinted to a pint of flour by the day. This scanty allowance of flour had been continued since we had come into this plentiful country. Morgan, Hendricks and Smith, waited upon the commander-in-chief, to represent the grievance and obtain redress. Altercation and warm language took place. Smith, with his usual loquacity, told us, that Morgan seemed, at one time, upon the point of striking Arnold. We fared the better for this interview. On the following day (November 16th), the rifle-companies removed further from the city. About half a mile from Caldwell's house, our company obtained excellent quarters, in the house of a French gentleman, who seemed wealthy. He was pleasing in his manners, but the rudeness our ungovernable men exhibited, created in him an apparent disgust toward us. Here we remained near a week. November 18th. Not being fully in the secret, it does not become me to recount the causes of our retreat, to Point Aux Tremble, which is at the distance of twenty or more miles from Quebec. The route thither, though in a severe winter, was interesting. The woods were leafless, except as to those troes of the fir-kind; but numerous neat and handsomely situated farm-houses, and many beautiful landscapes were presented, and enlivened our march along this majestic stream. Ascending the river at a distance of ten or fifteen miles, we observed the rapid passage, down stream, of a boat, and soon afterward of a ship, one or other of which contained the person of Sir Guy Carleton. That it was the governor of the province, flying from Montgomery, who had by this time captured Montreal, we were informed by a special kind of messenger, which was no other than the report of the cannon, by way of feu-de-joie, upon his arrival at the capital. Point Aux Tremble, at this time, had assumed the appearance of a straggling village. There was a spacious chapel, where the ceremonies of the Roman Catholic religion were performed, with a pomp not seen in our churches, but by a fervency and zeal apparently very pious, which became a severe and additional stroke at early prejudices. Quarters were obtained in the village and farm-houses, dispersed over a space of some miles, up and down the river. We enjoyed as much comfort as tight houses, warm fires, and our scantiness of clothing would admit. Provisions were in plenty, and particularly beef, which, though small in bulk, was of an excel. lent flavor. Being in a few days, as it were, domesticated in a respectable farmer's house, we now had leisure to observe the economy of the family. Every crevice through which cold air could penetrate, was carefully pasted with strips of paper of every color. To permit the cold air to intrude is not |