rear with the third one day behind us, so that being, on the 1st of August in Lake St. Francis with about two hundred canoes and our fifteen batteaux, I was joined there by the Rev. Father Lamberville, Junior, coming on behalf of his Brother from Onontagué, and by the Rev. Father Millet, from the Oneidas.

By the annexed letters from Onontagué, you will learn that these people having been joined by the Oneidas and Cayugas, had obliged the Senecas to make them Mediators as to the reparation suitable to be made to me for the insult which had unfortunately been committed against the French in the month of March; and prayed me to send Mr. le Moine to them, with whom they could terminate this affair. This obliged me immediately to despatch a canoe to Fort Frontenac in all haste, to send me from there the new bark which I had built in the winter, in order to freight her with the provisions I brought, and to send the canoes in which they were loaded to fetch others from la Chine.

We arrived, on the second, at the Portage of the Long Sault, which I found very difficult, notwithstanding the care I taken to send fifty men ahead thither, to cut the trees on the bank of the river and prevented those passing who were to drag the canoes and batteaux; because the stream being voluminous and the bank precipitous the people were in the water the moment they abandoned the shore, and were not strong enough to draw said batteaux; this necessitated my sojourn at that place, where having been joined by the Christian Iroquois of the Sault and of Montreal, they undertook, for a few presents of Brandy and Tobacco, to pass the said batteaux and the largest canoes, which they fortunately accomplished in two days without any accident.

On the morning of the fifth I found the new bark arrived at La Galette where I had all the provisions discharged from the canoes before eight o'clock in the morning, and these despatched at the same time on their return to la Chine to reload there. The strong winds from the South West, which constantly prevailed all this time, and which obstinately continued during the remainder of the month, were the cause of the great diligence that the bark had made, and likewise delayed our march so much, that I could not arrive, at the fort, with my canoes alone, until the ninth. I was

joined there by Father de Lamberville whom I despatched next day to his brother at Onnontague whom I instructed to assure those of that Nation that I had so much respect for their request and for those of the other two, that I should prefer their mediation to war, provided they made me a reasonable satisfaction.

Three things obliged me to adopt this resolution: the first, because it appeared by letters I had received from Colonel Dongan, in answer to the message by the man named Bourbon, that he was very far from the good understanding of which His Majesty had assured me; but much disposed to interfere as our enemy in this matter. The second, because I had few provisions, and I did not see that any effort was made to forward flour to me, with any diligence, from Montreal; and the third, because the wind prevailed so strong from the South east, that my bark did not return from La Galette, and I could not despatch another to Lake Ontario, to notify the army of the South, which was to arrive forthwith at Niagara, of my arrival at Fort Frontenac with that of the North.

I afterwards reviewed all our troops, as annexed, and Sieur le Moine having overtaken me on the same day with the remainder of the Christian Iroquois who had not previously arrived, I despatched him on the sixteenth to Onnontague and placed in his hands, Tegancourt, the ambassador from the Senecas, whom I had arrested at Quebec. Seeing the wind always contrary I sent on the preceding day, eight of the largest canoes that I had to the bark at La Galette to bring me ten thousand weight of flour, bread beginning to fail which caused me a good deal of uneasiness and created considerable murmurs among the troops and the militia. Finally on the 21st my canoes arrived with what I sent them for. I set to work immediately with all possible diligence to have bread and biscuit baked, and sent off forthwith, the King's troops, D'Orvilliers' and Dugué's two brigades, and two hundred Cristian savages to encan.p at La Famine [Hungry bay], post favorable for fishing and hunting and four leagues from Onontagué, so as to be nearer the enemy and to be able to refresh our troops by fishing and the chase, whilst we were short

8

of provisions, intending to join them, myself, with about three hundred Frenchmen whom I had remaining.

On the 25th the canoes which I had detached from La Galette to Montreal, arrived, but in far less number than I had looked for, and brought me but eight or nine thousand weight of flour, instead of twenty thousand which I expected, having left them ready for loading when I departed. I caused bread and biscuit to be immediately made of it for the support of our troops who were at the place called La Famine.

On the 27th at four o'clock in the afternoon, a canoe of M. Lemoine's men arrived from Onnontagué with Tegancourt who reported to me, that the Onnontagués had received orders from Col. Dongan which he sent by the person named Arnaud, forbidding them to enter into any treaty with me without his express permission, considering them the Duke of York's subjects, and that he had caused the Arms of the said Duke to be planted three days before, in their village; that the Council had been convened at the said place of Onontague and Sieur Lemoine invited to repair thither, in which the matter having been debated, these savages got into a furious rage, with some danger to the English delegate, saying they were free, and that God, who had created the Earth, had granted them theirs without subjecting them to any person, and they requested the elder Father Lamberville to write to Colonel Dongan the annexed letter, and the said Sieur Lemoine having well sustained the French interests, they unanimously resolved to start in two days, to conclude with me at La Famine. On the receipt of this news I immediately called out my canoes in order to depart and was accompanied by a dozen of others having caused six of the largest to be loaded with bread and biscuit for the army.

After having been beaten by bad weather and high wind, we arrived in two days at La Famine. I found there tertian and double tertian fever which broke out among our people so that more than one hundred and fifty men were attacked by it; I had also left some of them at the fort, which caused me to despatch, on arriving, a Christian savage to Onontague to M. Lemoine, to request him to cause the instant departure of those who were to

come to meet me, which he did with so much diligence, though he and his children were sick, that he arrived as early as the third of September with fourteen Deputies; nine from Onnontague, three from Oneida and two Cayugas, who paid me their respects and whom I entertained the best manner I was able, postponing until the morrow morning the talk about business, at which matters were fully discussed and peace concluded after six hours deliberation, three in the morning and as many after dinner, Father Brias speaking for us and Hotrehonati and Garagonkier for the Iroquois; Tegancout, a Seneca present, the other Senecas not daring to come in order not to displease Col. Dongan, who sent to promise them a reinforcement of four hundred horse and four hundred foot, if we attacked them. The treaty was concluded in the evening on the conditions annexed, and I promised to decamp the next day and withdraw my troops from their vicinity; which I was, indeed, obliged to do by the number of sick which had augmented to such a degree that it was with difficulty I found enough of persons in health to remove the sick to the canoes, besides the scarcity of provisions having no more than the trifle of bread which I brought them.

I allowed the Onontagues to light the Council fire at this post without extinguishing that at Montreal, in order to be entitled to take possession of it by their consent when the King should desire it and thereby exclude the English and Col. Dongan from their pretensions.

On leaving the Fort I had ordered one of the barks to go to Niagara to notify the army of the South to return by Lake Erie toward Missilimakinack. She had a favorable passage; found it arrived only six hours previously to the number of seven hundred men, viz: one hundred and fifty French and the remainder Indians.

I departed on the sixth, having had all the sick of my troops embarked before day (so as not to be seen by the Indians) to the number of one hundred and fifty canoes and twelve flat batteaux and arrived in the evening of the same day at Fort Frontenac, where I found one hundred and ten men, of the number I had left there, already departed, all sick, for Montreal, and having

given the necessary orders as to the number of soldiers to be left there for the security of that post, until the arrival from France of Sieur de la Forest, Major thereof, I started, about nine or ten o'clock in the morning, on my return. Shortly after my departure, the bark arrived from Niagara with some French officers of the army who brought me news from it at night, and assured me that the Chiefs of all the savages had accompanied them to the Fort, desirous to see me, and that they would visit me at Montreal, where I should await them. The Rev. Father de Lamberville Sen came, likewise, with these Gentlemen on account of some difficulties which he was very glad to arrange for Onontague whither he returned. We worked some hours together; I then sent him back to the fort with some of the arrived French; the others being desirous to leave and come down again into the country.

After having waited some time for Messrs du Tast and de Cahonet, to whom I gave one of my canoes and two of my attendants well acquainted with the navigation, to pilot their batteaux and troops in safety through the rapids, I resumed my journey down the river. I likewise took on board one of my canoes the Sieur Le Moine whose fever had seriously augmented, and who had served the King in this affair with so much zeal and affection, aided by the intimate knowledge he had of the Iroquois language, that it may be said the entire Colony owe him a debt of eternal gratitude.

Finally, in my return of three days I accomplished what cost us thirteen in ascending, and found in the stores at Montreal and la Chine, forty-five thousand weight of flour, which, had we received it, would have enabled us to have made a longer sojourn in the upper country.

Done at Quebec the 1st day of October 1684.

LE FEBURE DE LA BARE