had then no lighthouses, buoys, or other aids to navigation,
as it has now, and though the British officers themselves
were compelled to take the ships through the worst places
in these foreign and little-known waters. The result was
that there were abundant supplies for the British army
the whole time, thanks to the fleet.

But Montcalm was in a very different plight. Since the
previous autumn, when Wolfe and Hardy had laid waste the
coast of Gaspe, the supply of sea-fish had almost failed.
Now the whole country below Quebec had been cut off by
the fleet, while most of the country round Quebec was
being laid waste by the army. Wolfe's orders were that
no man, woman, or child was to be touched, nor any house
or other buildings burnt, if his own men were not attacked.
But if the men of the country fired at his soldiers they
were to be shot down, and everything they had was to be
destroyed. Of course, women and children were strictly
protected, under all circumstances, and no just complaint
was ever made against the British for hurting a single
one. But as the men persisted in firing, the British
fired back and destroyed the farms where the firing took
place, on the fair-play principle that it is right to
destroy whatever is used to destroy you.

It thus happened that, except at a few little villages
where the men had not fired on the soldiers, the country
all round Quebec was like a desert, as far as supplies
for the French were concerned. The only way to obtain
anything for their camp was by bringing it down the St