ion the Ottawa and Illinois tribes.
Now, one might indeed raise a thousand robust men, accustomed to savage
warfare, but, if they were used for an expedition, who would cultivate
in their absence the lands of these brave men? A prompt reinforcement
from the mother country became urgent, and M. de la Barre hastened to
demand it.

The war had already begun. The Iroquois had seized two canoes, the
property of La Salle, near Niagara; they had likewise attacked and
plundered fourteen Frenchmen _en route_ to the Illinois with merchandise
valued at sixteen thousand francs. It was known, besides, that the
Cayugas and the Senecas were preparing to attack the French settlements
the following summer. In spite of all, the expected help did not arrive.
One realizes the anguish to which the population must have been a prey
when one reads the following letter from the Bishop of Quebec: "Sire,
the Marquis de Seignelay will inform your Majesty of the war which the
Iroquois have declared against your subjects of New France, and will
explain the need of sending aid sufficient to destroy, if possible, this
enemy, who has opposed for so many years the establishment of this
colony.... Since it has pleased your Majesty to choose me for the
government of this growing Church, I feel obliged, more than any one, to
make its needs manifest to you. The paternal care which you have always
had for us leaves me no room to doubt that you will give the necessary
orders for the most prompt aid possible, without which this poor country
would be exposed to a danger nigh unto ruin."

The expected reinforcements finally arrived; on November 9th, 1684, the
whole population of Quebec, assembled at the harbour, received with joy
three companies of soldiers, composed of fifty-two men each. The Bishop
of Quebec did not fail to express to the king his personal obligation
and the gratitude of all: "The troops which your Majesty has sent to
defend us against the Iroquois," he wrote to the king, "and the lands
which you have granted us for the subsidiary church of the Lower Town,
and the funds which you have allotted both to rebuild the cathedral
spire and to aid in the maintenance of the priests, these are favours
which oblige me to thank your Majesty, and make me hope that you will
deign to continue your royal bounties to our Church and the whole
colony."

M. de la Barre was thus finally able to set out on his expedition
against the Iroquois. At the head of one