sions between them and their enemies. De la Barre, after convoking an assembly to take into consideration the perilous condition of the province, and after making some abortive attempts at negotiation, marched to attack the Iroquois at the head of a considerable force; but on the way his troops were so reduced and weakened by sickness, arising from the miasma of the marshes and forests, that he was compelled to conclude a humiliating peace with the foes over whom he had anticipated a signal triumph. At his desire the chiefs of the Five Nations repaired to his camp, but his endeavor to overawe them met with no success whatever. On the contrary one of these fierce warriors is represented as having broken out in the following spirited speech, personifying De la Barre as Onondio, and the English governor as Corlear:—"Hear, Onondio, I am not asleep, my eyes are open, and the sun which enlightens me discloses to me a great captain who speaks as if he were dreaming. He says that he only came to smoke the pipe of peace with the Onondagas.. But Garrangula says that he sees the contrary, that it was to knock their, on the head, if sickness had not weakened the arms of the French. We carried the English to our lakes to trade with the Utawawas, as the Adirondacks brought the French to our forts to carry on a trade which the English say is theirs. We are born free; we neither depend on Onondio nor Corlear. We may go where we please, and buy and sell what we please. If your allies are your slaves, use them as such—command them to receive no other than your people. Hear, Onondio!—what I say is the voice of all the Five Nations. When they buried the hatchet in the middle of the fort, they planted the tree of peace in the same place, that instead of a retreat for soldiers, it might be a meeting place for merchants. Take care that your soldiers do not choke the tree of peace, and prevent it from covering your country and ours with its branches. I tell you that our warriors shall dance under its leaves, and never dig up the hatchet to cut it down, till their brother Onondio or Corlear shall invade the country which the Great Spirit has given to our ancestors."
The Marquis de Denonville succeeded De la Barre in 1684, and brought with him some five or six hundred soldiers. A fort was built at Niagara to cover the route from Canada through Lake Erie, and also as a check upon the hostile Iroquois, a measure which helped to increase the jealousy and ill will of the English. An expedition was undertaken by Denonville against the Senecas; but although they penetrated and ravaged the country, yet the Iroquois in turn threatening invasion, the French were glad to purchase peace by giving up their fort and promising to return the captives they had treacherously got into their power. A short interval only of peace followed. The Iroquois advanced on Montreal, killed many, and made prisoners of many more, and spread terror even as far as Quebec.
On the whole, Canada could not be said to have flourished. Although the
