his ships towards the northwest. Aided by an easterly wind, the fleet was gradually closing on the "North Shore," which in the vicinity of Île-aux-Oeufs (Egg Island) runs almost north and south. When a captain reported that land had been sighted, presumably dead ahead, Walker assumed that he was approaching the south shore, and ordered the fleet to wear, and bring-to on the other tack. Not many minutes later he was again summoned from his bed, and hurrying upon deck in dressing gown and slippers saw breakers "all round us." By that time the whole fleet was heading for the "North Shore," or more accurately, the coast to the westward; ships in the van were already plunging on the edge of the breakers. Once recovered from the shock, Walker made all available sail, and stood from the shore towards mid-channel. Up to this time a gale had been blowing almost directly on shore, and had it continued it is doubtful if many of the fleet could have survived. However, in the early morning of the next day, the wind dropped, and this lull was followed by a shift of wind which enabled most of the ships to slip their anchors and escape the shoals on either quarter. Altogether, seven transports and one storeship were lost. Out of a total of 1,390 on the 8 lost ships, 740 soldiers (including 35 women attached to the regiments) and probably 150 sailors were either drowned or died from exposure on shore. Walker cruised in the neighbourhood of Île-aux-Oeufs for two days in an effort to save what men and stores he could. Then, following a council of war, he decided to abandon the assault on Quebec. Later life Walker returned to London in October 1711, where he was not censured for his conduct in the expedition. In 1712 he was appointed commodore of the Jamaica Station. He returned a year later to England. Walker's journal, recounting the events of 1711, was published in 1720 and was edited by Gerald S. Graham and re-published jointly by the Champlain Society and the Navy Records Society in 1953. See also List of Trinity College Dublin people References Sources 17th-century births 1720s deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin People of Queen Anne's War Naval history of Canada Royal Navy officers Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain 18th-century British people