own storehouses. Erosion by the sea, especially during the storms of winter, constituted the main cause of damage to storehouses situated near the edge of the water.... Without annual repairs, other fish storehouses on Ile Royale would have suffered the same fate as those of Pierre Bonnain at St. Esprit.” As the French grip on Île Royale (Cape Breton) faltered during the 1740s and 1750s, life in St. Esprit became increasingly uncertain. In preparation for the 1745 siege of Louisbourg, in April of that year, naval vessels from New England shelled and partially destroyed St. Esprit. It is probable that, during this period, additional raids occurred. While the settlement was rebuilt, the population never rebounded to levels seen during the 1730s. According to Endgame 1758: The Promise, the Glory, and the Despair of Louisbourg's Last Decade: "The war that had descended on Ile Royale was still on everyone's mind in 1749-50, as was the possibility of another conflict .... [T]he Anglo-American campaign had brought about ... the destruction of most of the outlying settlements in the colony. When the French returned in 1749, they reoccupied the fishing outports immediately to the north of Louisbourg in smaller numbers than before 1745. There was a similar drop in the population of St. Esprit, to the south of Louisbourg." In 1752, St. Esprit was composed of some 14 families totaling about 75 persons. According to Sieur de la Roque, who performed the 1752 census: "St. Esprit is well settled. It is adapted to the cod fishery, the raising of cattle, and for gardening, the soil being sandy in character. The harbor of St. Esprit is in truth an open roadstead. Its mouth lies east-north-east and west-south-west. Vessels of sixty or seventy tons can enter and anchor in the middle of the roadstead with from ten to twelve fathoms of water at high tide. There are two reefs which one leaves; the one on the starboard and the other on the larboard. Behind the roadstead is a Barachois which runs inland in a north-westerly direction for about a league. The settlers cut what hay they require on the banks of this Barachois. Its mouth lies north-east and south-west. There is sufficient water at high tide to allow for the passage of a boat laden with five or six cords of wood. All the lands in the neighborhood of St. Esprit are covered with fir