The rest
of the tribe took to the woods. As a result of this easy victory the
triumphant allies destroyed an Iroquois village and all the corn which
it contained, but the political results of the expedition were worse
than nothing. Denonville made no attempt to destroy the other nations
of the confederacy. Returning to Lake Ontario he built a fort at
Niagara, which he had promised Dongan he would not do, and then
returned to Montreal. The net results of this portentous effort were a
broken promise to the English, an act of perfidy towards the Iroquois,
and an insignificant success in battle.

In 1688 Denonville's decision to abandon Fort Niagara slightly changed
the situation. The garrison had suffered severe losses through illness
and the post proved too remote for {109} successful defence. So this
matter settled itself. The same season saw the recall of Dongan
through the consolidation of New England, New York, and New Jersey
under Sir Edmund Andros. But in essentials there was no change.
Andros continued Dongan's policy, of which, in fact, he himself had
been the author. And, even though no longer threatened by the French
from Niagara, the savages had reason enough to hate and distrust
Denonville.

Yet despite these untoward circumstances all hope of peace between the
French and the Five Nations had not been destroyed. The Iroquois loved
their revenge and were willing to wait for it, but caution warned them
that it would not be advantageous to destroy the French for the benefit
of the English. Moreover, in the long course of their relations with
the French they had, as already mentioned, formed a high opinion of men
like Le Moyne and Lamberville, while they viewed with respect the
exploits of Tonty, La Durantaye, and Du Lhut.

Moved by these considerations and a love of presents, Grangula, of the
Onondagas, was in the midst of negotiations for peace with the French,
which might have ended happily but {110} for the stratagem of the Huron
chief Kondiaronk, called 'The Rat.' The remnant of Hurons and the
other tribes centring at Michilimackinac did not desire a peace of the
French and Iroquois which would not include themselves, for this would
mean their own certain destruction. The Iroquois, freed of the French,
would surely fall on the Hurons. All the Indians distrusted
Denonville, and Kondiaronk suspected, with good reason, that the Hurons
were about to be sacrificed. Denonville, however, had assure