A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

166 DUG D'ANVILLE. [1746.with the ships that still kept together. On thefourth of November there was another storm, andwhen it subsided, the "Prince d' Orange" foundherself with but nine companions, alltransports.of which wereThese had on board eleven companies ofsoldiers, of whom their senior officer reports thatonly ninety-one were in health.The pestilence madesuch ravages among the crews that four or fivecorpses were thrown into the sea every day, andthere was fear that thevessels would be left helplessin mid-ocean for want of sailors to work them.^ Atlast, on the seventh of December, after narrowlyescaping an English squadron, they reached PortLouis in Brittany, where several ships of the fleethad arrived before them. Among these was thefrigate "La Palme." "Yesterday," says the journalist,"I supped with M. Destrahoudal, who commandsthis frigate; and he told me things whichfrom anybody else would have been incredible.Thisis his story, exactly as I had it from him." And hegoes on to the following effect.After the storm of the fourteenth of September,provisions being almost spent, it was thought thatthere was no hope for " La Palme " and her crew butin giving up the enterprise and making all sail atonce for home, since France now had no port ofrefuge on the western continent nearer than Quebec.Rations were reduced to three ounces of biscuit andthree of salt meat a day ;and after a time half of this1 Journal historique.