Some of his vessels were quite unserviceable. There was
no friendly port nearer than Quebec. All his crews were
sickly; and the five months' incessant and ever-increasing
strain had changed him into a broken-hearted man. He died
very suddenly, in the middle of the night; some said from
a stroke of apoplexy, while others whispered suicide.
His successor, d'Estournel, summoned a council of war,
which overruled the plan for an immediate return to
France. Presently a thud, followed by groans of mortal
agony, was heard in the new commander's cabin. The door
was burst open, and he was found dying from the thrust
of his own sword. La Jonquiere, afterwards governor-general
of Canada, thereupon succeeded d'Estournel. This commander,
the third within three days, was an excellent naval
officer and a man of strong character. He at once set to
work to reorganize the fleet. But reorganization was now
impossible. Storms wrecked the vessels. The plague killed
off the men: nearly three thousand had died already.
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