no disparagement of the valour of the defenders of Quebec to doubt whether the incident took place as described either by Charlevoix, who did not visit the country till thirty years after the event, and did not publish his book till twenty-four years later, or by Mere Juchereau. Many a brave deed has passed unnoticed of history; and, en revanche, many an insignificant act has been wrapped round by legend with clouds of glory. If there is reason to doubt whether this particular deed was done in a specially heroic, or even in a very dramatic manner, there are incidents in abundance left to attest the heroism of the French-Canadian race. The legends of a people bear witness to its ideals, and help to repair the wrongs that history does by leaving so much that is truly memorable and admirable unrecorded. While Phipps on Thursday was drawing off his shattered vessels, Walley and his men were having a very miserable time ashore. The succour he was expecting did not arrive. Instead he received what he did not want at all--six field-pieces, twelve-pounders, weighing about eight hundred pounds each, which the nature of the ground made it impossible to use, and which thus proved a simple embarrassment. However, thinking the vessels would arrive later in the day, Walley moved his men somewhat nearer to the town, and took up a position rather better both for shelter and for defence. This movement does not seem to have been opposed by the Canadian forces, as there is no mention in the narratives of any fighting on this day. The vessels did not come with the evening tide as hoped; and Walley, in his simple narrative, says: "We stood upon our guard that night, but found it exceeding cold, it freezing that night so that the next morning the ice would bear a man." The position was both distressing and precarious, and a council of war was called during the night to consider what should be done. By this time the assailing force had some idea of the nature of the task they had undertaken: to advance in the face of skirmishers having every advantage of position; to ford a river behind which a thousand men and several pieces of artillery were posted; and, should they by any miracle succeed in that, to encounter a couple of thousand more within the walls of the town. Many of their men were sick, some were literally freezing, others worn and exhausted. Their provisions were short, their ammunition very low. The decision of the council was that Walley should go on board the admiral's vessel next day and ask for instructions.