beach. It was the sailors' stupendous task to haul the
whole of this cumbrous material up to the camp. The
bluejackets, however, were not the only ones to take part
in the work, for the ships' women also turned to, with
the best of a gallant goodwill. In a few days all the
material was landed; and Amherst, having formed his camp,
sat down to conduct the siege.

Louisbourg harbour faces east, runs in westward nearly
a mile, and is over two miles from north to south. The
north and south points, however, on either side of its
entrance, are only a mile apart. On the south point stood
the fortress; on the north the lighthouse; and between
were several islands, rocks, and bars that narrowed the
entrance for ships to only three cables, or a little more
than six hundred yards. Wolfe saw that the north point,
where the lighthouse stood, was undefended, and might be
seized and used as a British battery to smash up the
French batteries on Goat Island at the harbour mouth.
Acting on this idea, he marched with twelve hundred men
across the stretch of country between the British camp
and the lighthouse. The fleet brought round his guns and
stores and all other necessaries by sea. A tremendous
bombardment then silenced every French gun on Goat Island.
This left the French nothing for their defence but the
walls of Louisbourg itself.

Both French and British soon realized that the fall of
Louisbourg was only a question of time. But time was
everything to both. The British were anxious to take