There had been signs of the enemy from the first opening of spring.  In the intervals of fog, rain, and snow-squalls, sails were seen hovering on the distant sea; and during the latter part of May a squadron of nine ships cruised off the mouth of the harbor, appearing and disappearing, sometimes driven away by gales, sometimes lost in fogs, and sometimes approaching to within cannon-shot of the batteries.  Their object was to blockade the port,—­in which they failed; for French ships had come in at intervals, till, as we have seen, twelve of them lay safe anchored in the harbor, with more than a year’s supply of provisions for the garrison.

At length, on the first of June, the southeastern horizon was white with a cloud of canvas.  The long-expected crisis was come.  Drucour, the governor, sent two thousand regulars, with about a thousand militia and Indians, to guard the various landing-places; and the rest, aided by the sailors, remained to hold the town.[580]

[Footnote 580:  Rapport de Grucour.  Journal du Siege.]

At the end of May Admiral Boscawen was at Halifax with twenty-three ships of the line, eighteen frigates and fireships, and a fleet of transports, on board of which were eleven thousand and six hundred soldiers, all regulars, except five hundred provincial rangers.[581] Amherst had not yet arrived, and on the twenty-eighth, Boscawen, in pursuance of his orders and to prevent loss of time, put to sea without him; but scarcely had the fleet sailed out of Halifax, when they met the ship that bore the expected general.  Amherst took command of the troops; and the expedition held its way till the second of June, when they saw the rocky shore-line of Cape Breton, and descried the masts of the French squadron in the harbor of Louisbourg.

[Footnote 581:  Of this force, according to Mante, only 9,900 were fit for duty.  The table printed by Knox (I. 127) shows a total of 11,112, besides officers, artillery, and rangers.  The Authentic Account of the Reduction of Louisbourg, by a Spectator, puts the force at 11,326 men, besides officers.  Entick makes the whole 11,936.]

Boscawen sailed into Gabarus Bay.  The sea was rough; but in the afternoon Amherst, Lawrence, and Wolfe, with a number of naval officers, reconnoitred the shore in boats, coasting it for miles, and approaching it as near as the French batteries would permit.  The rocks were white with surf, and every accessible point was strongly guarded.  Boscawen saw little chance of success.  He sent for his captains, and consulted them separately.  They thought, like him, that it would be rash to attempt a landing, and proposed a council of war.  One of them alone, an old sea officer named Ferguson advised his commander to take the responsibility himself, hold no council, and make the attempt at every risk.  Boscawen took his advice, and declared that he would not leave Gabarus Bay till he had fulfilled his instructions and set the troops on shore.[582]