casins, snow-shoes, with a ranger's feet in them, can easily outwit an Indian.

There, you observe, is Prisoners' Island, whose thick overgrowth was the French dungeon for English prisoners during the seven years' war. The wilder loveliness of the lake here yields to a gentler character. The shores are greener fields, and lawny slopes, and the water grows shallower. Fortunately, some of the prisoners upon the island one day discovered this fact, and tranquilly waded off to liberty. Close by is Howe's landing, the point at which Abercrombie's troops landed at noon of the July Sunday, and, forming upon the shore, marched toward Fort Ticonderoga, four miles distant. Lake George connects with Lake Champlain by a neck of water, in which are two rapids, and at the lower falls stands the village of Ticonderoga.

One of the pleasantest hours of one of the pleasantest of summers will be that you pass musing among the ruins of Ticonderoga. It is one of the few historical spots upon our soil which unite great picturesqueness with the most interesting associations.

The Indians called the strait between the lakes Cheonderoga-an Iroquois word, meaning rushing and roaring water. The point was always called

so until the end of the seven years' French war.

In the history of this most interesting region, we must remember that, almost upon the shores, in the immediate neighborhood of the head of Lake George, "the British colonists of America, for the first time, encountered in battle the trained soldiers of Europe."*

Upon the commencement of the war, the French had posted themselves at Cheonderoga, or Ticonderoga, in the year 1755, and in 1756 built a fort, which they called Carillon. The situation was commanding. It had water upon three sides, and a morass upon the fourth, and was more than a hundred feet above the level of the lake.

Here sat the French maturing their plans, and getting ready to sally out upon excursions of destruction, and the English had their eye and heart fixed upon Ticonderoga. The French had much the advantage in the earlier years of the war, having secured the friendship of the Indians, whom the French Jesuit pioneers had always skillfully treated. Montcalm, coming from the destruction of Oswego, made two or three attempts to subdue Fort William Henry, and finally, as we saw, swept over the lake from Ticonderoga, and leveled the fort, at the time of the dreadful mas

sacre. He then returned to Ticonderoga.

The English were disheartened. William Pitt, the minister, said that Lord Loudon never told him what he was

doing, and Loudon was superseded by Major General James Abercrombie, who had served with valor and distinction upon the continent.

He arrived, and found himself at the head of fifty thousand men, mostly provincials. He was to do everything that Lord Loudon had not done; and he proposed to begin by taking Ticonderoga.

The moment was promising; for, in the year 1758, the fortune of the war began to change. The fortress of Louisburg was reduced. Fort Du Quesne, which had withstood General Braddock, yielded to General Forbes, and Fort Frontenac was captured by Colonel Bradstreet. Hoping to strike a blow which would resound at home with even greater applause than these,

Lord Abercrombie advanced to the head of Lake George with sixteen thousand men. The brave and gallant Lord Howe was one of his officers. The soldiers were the flower of the English army, and Lord Howe was the idol of

the soldiers.

We have seen how splendid a spectacle was the embarkation at the head of the lake; there were nine hundred batteaus, and one hundred and thirtyfive whale-boats. We have followed the brilliant army over the lake, through scenes that demand better things than war; we have stopped with them in the bright summer night at Sabbathday Point, and remembered Howe, as he must have remembered England. Once more they embarked and rowed away, landing this time four miles from the French fort. Forming into three columns, Abercrombie marched upon the advanced posts of the enemy, a single battalion in a camp of log huts, and drove them back. One of

Let Parkman tell the sad sequel in his own words:

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On the following morning they (the English) prepared to storm the lines which Montcalm had drawn across the peninsula in front of the fortress. Advancing to the attack, they saw before them a breastwork of uncommon height and thickness. The French army were drawn up behind it, their heads alone visible, as they leveled their muskets against the assailants, while for a hundred yards in front of the work the ground was covered with felled trees, with sharpened branches pointing outward.

"The signal of assault was given. In vain the Highlanders, screaming with rage, hewed with their broad-swords among the branches, struggling to get at the enemy. In vain the English, with their deep-toned shout, rushed on in heavy columns. A tempest of musket-balls met them, and Montcalm's cannon swept the whole ground with terrible carnage. A few officers and men forced their way through the branches, passed the ditch, climbed the breastwork, and leaping among the enemy, were instantly bayoneted. Yet, though the English fought four hours with determined valor. the position of

the French was impregnable; and at length, having lost two thousand of their number, the army drew off, leaving many of their dead scattered upon the field. A sudden panic seized the defeated troops. They rushed in haste to their boats; and, though no pursuit was, attempted, they did not regain their composure until Lake George was between them and the enemy. The fatal lines of Ticonderoga were not soon forgotten in the provinces; and marbles in Westminster Abbey preserve the memories of those who fell on that disastrous day."

The British loss on this fatal day was about two thousand men, and twentyfive hundred stand of arms. Mr. Pitt was disappointed; the English people were chagrined; and the next year General Abercrombie returned to England, and Lord Amherst succeeded him.

But Montcalm remained at Ticonderoga until Wolfe threatened Quebec; and then the brave soldier marched away.

While Wolfe marched upon Quebec, Lord Amherst, in person, undertook to reduce Ticonderoga. He marched cautiously from Fort Edward with eleven thousand men, and, appearing suddenly before the fort, began his preparations for a siege. The French, accustomed to victory in that quarter, prepared to resist. But they discovered that Amherst was not Abercrombie; that the fight would be fierce and fatal to one side; and so wisely slipped off to Crown Point-and Lord Amherst entered Fort Ticonderoga without a shot. He made ready to follow the enemy to Crown Point, but they had already retreated.

The story of Ticonderoga is not quite ended. There is one more chapter, more interesting to us, Americans, than any other-the capture by Ethan Allen.

When the Revolution commenced, it was well understood that "Ty" should be seized, and shortly after the battle of

Lexington, some members of the Connecticut Provincial Assembly secretly concerted an attack upon the fort. In the spring of 1775, forty men reached Bennington on their way to take Ticonderoga. There they were joined by Colonel Ethan Allen, a Green Mountain Hercules and his Green Mountain boys. The party, now two hundred and seventy strong, came within fourteen miles of Whitehall, on the evening of the 7th of May.

Ethan Allen was there elected commander of the expedition, and the force divided into three parties. Allen was to go to Shoreham, opposite Ticonderoga; the second party was to capture boats at Whitehall, and hurry to join Allen, and the third was to act as a general police, and secure every boat and barge upon the lake. Benedict Arnold, who had just joined the army, arrived, at this juncture, without a soldier, but with a commission from the Massachusetts General Committee of Safety, to head the expedition. The Green Mountain boys said, if he persisted, they should go home again. So Arnold yielded, and served as a private, but held his rank.

On the morning of the 10th of May, before light, Allen crossed the lake, with only about eighty-three of his men. There was some mistake about boats, and if they waited until all were over, the daylight would surprise them.

Without further delay, therefore, he led his men to the gate of the fort, Arnold marching at his side. The alarmed sentinel snapped his musket, and fled. Allen and his men followed, and, entering the parade, they shouted lustily, and the startled British soldiers seized their arms only to be seized in turn by the Yankees.

Ethan Allen knocked loudly with his sword-hilt on the door of the Commandant De la Place, and summoned him to appear. Commandant De la Place, in his night-shirt, and Madame De la Place, in her night-cap, showed their frightened faces together at the door. But recognizing Allen, De la Place, with as much sternness as his shirt allowed, demanded his business.

and Indians, and, after taking possession of Crown Point, which the Americans did not pretend to defend, he observed that St. Clair had failed to secure the heights of Mount Hope and Mount Defiance, which commanded Ticonderoga, and he resolved to capture them.

He began by issuing a pompous proclamation, threatening all rebels with fire, sword, and tomahawk, and then took comprehensive measures to achieve his purpose. On the 2d of July the British army moved; the American outposts fell back; the enemy's light artillery and infantry occupied Mount Hope, and on the morning of the 5th of July, 1777, the red coats of the English upon Mount Defiance flashed surprise and dismay into the garrison of Ticonde