full of sick men and short of provisions. D'Estournel, who
succeeded d'Anville in chief command, in despair at the outlook
killed himself with his own sword after the experience of only a
day or two in his post. La Jonquiere, a competent officer,
afterwards Governor of Canada, then led the expedition. The
pestilence still raged, and from two to three thousand men died.
One day a Boston sloop boldly entered Chebucto harbor to find out
what was going on. It is a wonder that the British did not
descend upon the stricken French and destroy them. In October, La
Jonquiere, having pulled his force together, planned to win the
small success of taking Annapolis, but again storms scattered his
ships. At the end of October he finally decided to return to
France. But there were more heavy storms; and one French crew was
so near starvation that only a chance meeting with a Portuguese
ship kept them from killing and eating five English prisoners.
Only a battered remnant of the fleet eventually reached home
ports.

The disaster did not crush France. In May of the next spring,
1747, a new fleet under La Jonquiere set out to retake
Louisbourg. Near the coast of Europe, however, Admirals Anson and
Warren met and completely destroyed it, taking prisoner La
Jonquiere himself. This disaster effected what was really the
most important result of the war: it made the British fleet
definitely superior to the French. During the struggle England
had produced a new Drake, who attacked Spain in the spirit of the
sea-dogs of Elizabeth. Anson had gone in 1740 into the Pacific,
where he seized and plundered Spanish ships as Drake had done
nearly two centuries earlier; and in 1744, when he had been given
up for lost, he completed the great exploit of sailing round the