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Between nine and ten o'clock in the evening of the 16th of August, 1689, Arnaud gave the signal for embarkation by falling on his knees by the side of the lake, and imploring in a loud voice the almighty and all-gracious Being, who had been their helper in the past, to prosper their attempt to regain their native valleys, and re-erect the standard of evangelical truth on their own beloved fatherland. The patriot band set out in fifteen boats, and having landed, the first detachment returned for those left behind. Only three of the boats, however, made the second journey in safety, and so some were not brought from the Swiss side of the lake. When Arnaud reviewed his forces he found there were some 900 men who had safely crossed the lake. A small band indeed for so great an enterprise; a very inadequate force to contend with thousands of disciplined troops, and to overcome the obstacles which would be raised by hostile populations through whose territories they must pass; to encounter the fatigue of forced marches over craggy precipices, along deep and dangerous defiles in addition, to do all this with but slender equipments of food and other necessaries. Still, no one draws back. They have counted the cost. They deem the prize at which they aim worthy of the risk they run. They are sustained by the recollections of past deliverance. "Our fathers trusted in Thee, and Thou didst deliver them; they cried unto Thee, and were delivered; they trusted in Thee, and were not confounded," was the sentiment which sped them onward in their arduous march. Nor did Arnaud neglect any suitable means of an ordinary kind for ensuring success. He divided his 900 men into twenty companies, organized with reference to their native communes; e.g., Angrogna had three companies, with their captains; San Giovanni two, &c. They were arranged to march in regular military order, having a vanguard, centre, and rear, observing the strictest discipline. Beside Arnaud, there were two other pastors with the little army, Chyon of Pont
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