Subercase set forth with
clearness the resources of the colony, and urged strong
reasons in favour of its development. In 1708 a hundred
soldiers came to his aid; but as no funds for their
maintenance came with them, they became a burden. The
garrison was reduced almost to starvation; and Subercase
was forced to replenish his stores by the capture of
pirate vessels. The last letter he wrote home was filled
with anguish over the impending fate of Port Royal. His
despair was not without cause. In the spring of 1710
Queen Anne placed Colonel Francis Nicholson, one of her
leading colonial officers, in command of the troops
intended for the recovery of Nova Scotia. An army of
about fifteen hundred soldiers was raised in New England,
and a British fleet gathered in Boston Harbour. On October
5 (New Style) this expedition arrived before Port Royal.
The troops landed and laid siege once more to the
much-harassed capital of Acadia. The result was a foregone
conclusion. Five days later preliminary proposals were
exchanged between Nicholson and Subercase.
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