blocks. The area of the town itself was not much more
than a hundred acres altogether--rather close quarters
for several thousand men, women, and children during a
siege.

If reports and memoranda could defend a fortress, then
Louisbourg ought indeed to have been impregnable. Of
course every official trust entails endless correspondence.
But, quite apart from the stated returns that go through
'the usual channel of communication,' reams and reams of
paper were filled with special reports, inspections,
complaints, and good advice. The governor wrote home,
most elaborately, in 1724, about the progress of the
works. Ten years later he announced the official
inauguration of the lighthouse on the 1st of April. In
1736 the chief item was the engineer's report on the
walls. Next year the great anxiety was about a dangerous
famine, with all its attendant distress for the many and
its shameless profits for the few. On November 23, 1744,
reinforcements and provisions were asked for, because
intelligence had been received that the New Englanders
were going to blockade Louisbourg the following summer.
At the same time, the discontent of the garrison had come
to a head, and a mutiny had broken out because the extra
working pay had not been forthcoming. After this the
discipline became, not sterner, but slacker than ever,
especially among the hireling Swiss. On February 8, 1745,
within three months of the first siege, a memorandum was
sent in to explain what was still required to finish the
works begun twenty-five years before.