een the starting-point for the expedition which resulted in the
discovery of the Ohio in 1671. La Salle, however, was not with
Frontenac's party, for the governor had sent him to the Iroquois early
in May, to tell them that Onontio would meet his children and to make
arrangements for the great assembly at Cataraqui.

The Five Nations, remembering the chastisement they had received from
Tracy in 1666,[3] accepted the invitation, but in dread and distrust.
Their envoys accordingly proceeded to the mouth of the Cataraqui; and
on the 12th of July the vessels of the French were seen approaching on
the smooth surface of Lake Ontario. Frontenac had omitted from his
equipage nothing which could awe or interest the savage. He had
furnished his troops with the best possible equipment and had with him
all who could be spared safely from the colony. He had even managed to
drag up the rapids and launch on Lake Ontario two large barges armed
with small cannon and brilliantly painted. The whole flotilla,
including a multitude of canoes arranged by squadron, was now put in
battle {42} array. First came four squadrons of canoes; then the two
barges; next Frontenac himself, surrounded by his personal attendants
and the regulars; after that the Canadian militia, with a squadron from
Three Rivers on the left flank, and on the right a great gathering of
Hurons and Algonquins. The rearguard was composed of two more
squadrons. Never before had such a display been seen on the Great
Lakes.

Having disclosed his strength to the Iroquois chiefs, Frontenac
proceeded to hold solemn and stately conference with them. But he did
not do this on the day of the great naval procession. He wished to let
this spectacle take effect before he approached the business which had
brought him there. It was not until next day that the meeting opened.
At seven o'clock the French troops, accoutred at their best, were all
on parade, drawn up in files before the governor's tent, where the
conference was to take place. Outside the tent itself large canopies
of canvas had been erected to shelter the Iroquois from the sun, while
Frontenac, in his most brilliant military costume, assumed all the
state he could. In treating with Indians haste was impossible, nor did
Frontenac desire that the {43} speech-making should begin at once. His
fort was hardly more than begun, and he wished the Iroquois to see how
swiftly and how well the French could build defences.