The British batteries being completed at Point Levi and at Montmorency, a fire of guns and mortars was poured night and day upon the city of Quebec, and upon the French lines to the westward. The enemy replied with spirit, but with little effect. The Lower Town was much damaged by the constant bombardment from the opposite side of the river, and at eleven o'clock on the forenoon of the 16th, a fire broke out in the Upper Town, where a shell had fallen. The flames spread with rapidity, fanned by a strong northwest wind; many buildings were destroyed before the conflagration was arrested; among others the great Cathedral, with all its paintings, images, and ornaments. The defenses remained untouched throughout this lamentable destruction; the assailants only diminished the value of the prize for which they strove, without approaching a whit nearer to its attainment. Wolfe returned to the north camp on the 16th, and pushed the works above the Falls of Montmorency with vigor. He frequently, during the day, sent out detachments of troops to scour the neighboring woods, and to keep the marauding Indians in check. The savages hovered constantly round the British position, and from their ambush sprang like tigers upon those who ventured unprotected within their reach. On the night of the 16th they surprised and scalped four sentries of the Louisburg Grenadiers. While Wolfe busied himself in strengthening his position, and cannonading the French lines at a distance, M. de Levi, a distinguished French officer, solicited Montcalm to drive him away. "Dislodge him thence, and he will give us more trouble," replied Montcalm, "while there he can not hurt us; let him amuse himself." The British general determined to reconnoiter the banks of the river above the town, while he still continued his preparations below. With this view, a small squadron under Captain Rous sailed with fair wind and tide a little before midnight on the 18th, and passed up unharmed in the face of the enemy's batteries. One frigate, however, the Diana, ran aground near Point Levi, and could not be got off till the following day. This bold passage was a complete surprise to the besieged: the English ships were not observed by the sentries till it was too late to bring their guns to bear. Two of these unhappy soldiers paid the penalty of death for their carelessness: they were hung on a gibbet the following morning, in sight of both armies.