In a contemporary English paper occurs the following significant item: "London, September 26th, 1776.

Advices have been received here from Canada, dated August 12th, that General Burgoyne's army has found it impracticable to get across the lakes this season.

The naval force of the Provincials is too great for them to contend with at present.

They must build larger vessels for this purpose, and these cannot be ready before next summer.

The design _was_[3] that the two armies commanded by Generals Howe and Burgoyne should cooeperate; that they should both be on the Hudson River at the same time; that they should join about Albany, and thereby cut off all communication between the northern and southern Colonies."[4] As Arnold's more ambitious scheme could not be realised, he had to content himself with gondolas and galleys, for the force he was to command as well as to build.