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had been signed between Great Britain and Holland, February 19, 1674, and that he was no longer free to prey upon British commerce or ports. But John Rhoade talked to the Dutchman about a land lying away to the north of the British possessions, known as l'Acadie, a portion of New France, which had been visited long years before by Dutch navigators. Rhoade had voyaged and trafficked about the wilds of Acadie and knew the country, knew its richness in furs, fisheries and forests; knew, also, the weak state of its de fences. He is said to have obtained access to Fort Pentagoet and to have remained there several days. Here was a voyage for the Flying Horse Frigate and its one hundred and ten men which promised easy conquest and valuable plunder. A bargain was struck between Rhoade and the Dutchmen, Rhoade took an oath of allegiance to the Prince of Orange, and the Dutch vessel under his pilotage was headed for Acadian waters.

Penobscot Bay (Maine) where, in 1609, Henry Hudson, in his famous voyage in the Half Moon, spent eight days in refitting, appears, at that time, to have been the only place in Acadia possessing fortifications of any consequence. Here, where now is the village of Castine, was situated the French fort Pentagoet, of which M. de Chambly was commandant, having been appointed to the post the previous year.

In the early days of August the Dutch frigate appeared in Penobscot Bay and summoned Fort Pentagoet to surrender. M. Chambly was a soldier and had been commander of French troops in Canada. Like his predecessor in Acadie, Grandfontaine, and his lieutenant, the young Baron St. Castin, he first came to Canada in the famed Carignan regiment. He prepared to fight. He mustered between thirty and forty men, all told, including inhabitants, but poorly armed