And yet the English campaigns of this year played their part in awakening the French to the situation; and Niagara was taken in hand at once, as though the presentiment was plain that the flag of the Georges would wave over the Niagara some day. Writes Mr. Porter: The contemplated attack on Fort Niagara, in 1755, under Shirley, had told the French that that fort must be further strengthened, and Pouchot, a captain in the regiment of Bearn, and a competent engineer, was sent to reconstruct it. He reached the fort with a regiment in October, 1755. Houses for these troops were at once constructed in the Canadian manner. These houses consisted of round logs of oak, notched into each other at the corners, and were quickly built. Each had a chimney in the middle, some windows, and a plank roof. The chimneys were made by four poles, placed in the form of a truncated pyramid, open from the bottom to a height of three feet on all sides, above which was a kind of basket work, plastered with mud; rushes, marsh grass or straw rolled in diluted clay were driven in between the logs, and the whole plastered. The work of strengthening the fort was pushed on all winter, 300 men being in the garrison, and in March, 1756, the artillery taken from Braddock arrived. By July, 1756, the defences proposed were nearly completed, and Pouchot left the fort. Vaudreuil stated that he [Pouchot] "had almost entirely superintended the fortifications to their completion, and the fort, which was abandoned and beyond making the smallest resistance, is now a place of considerable importance in consequence of the regularity, solidity, and utility of its works." Pouchot was sent back to Niagara, as commandant, with his own regiment, in October, 1756, and remained there for a year. He still further strengthened the fort during this period, and when he left he reported that "Fort Niagara and its buildings were completed and its covered ways stockaded." On April 30, 1759, he again arrived at Niagara to assume command and "began to work on repairing the fort, to which nothing had been done since he left it. He found the ramparts giving way, the turfing all crumbled off, and the escarpment and counter escarpment of the fosses much filled up. He mounted two pieces to keep up appearances in case of a siege." From the general laudatory tone of his own work we are led to feel that Pouchot overpraised his own work of fortifying Niagara in 1756 and 1757, when no immediate attack was looked for, otherwise it could hardly have been in so poor a condition eighteen months afterwards (1759, as just quoted), unless, as is very likely, he foresaw defeat when attacked, as he was advised it would be, and wanted to gain special credit for a grand defence under very disadvantageous conditions. By July Pouchot had finished