DE LA BARRe’s EXPEDITION TO HUNGRY BAY.

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By the annexed letters from Onontagu6, you will learn that these people having been joined by theOneidas and Cayugas, had obliged the Senecas to make them Mediators as to the reparation suitableto be made to me for the insult which had unfortunately been committed against the French in themonth of March; and prayed me to send Mr. le Moine to them, with whom they could terminatethis affair. This obliged me immediately to despatch a canoe to Fort Frontenac in all haste, to sendme from there the new bark which I had built in the winter, in order to freight her with the provi-sions 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, notwith-standing the care I taken to send fifty men ahead thither, to cut the trees on the bank of the riverand prevented those passing who were to drag the canoes and batteaux; because the stream beingvoluminous and the bank precipitous the people were in the water the moment they abandoned theshore, 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 ot Montreal , they undertook,for a few presents of Brandy and Tobacco , to pass the said batteaux and the largest canoes, whichthey 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 provi-sions discharged from the canoes before eight o’clock in the morning, and these despatched at the sametime on their return to la Chine to reload there. The strong winds from the South West, whichconstantly 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 somuch, that I could not arrive, at the fort, with my canoes alone until the ninth. I was joined thereby Father de Lamberville whom I despatched next day to his brother at Onnontague whom Iinstructed to assure those of that Nation that I had so much respect for their request and for thoseof the other two, that I should prefer their mediation to war, provided they made me a reasonablesatisfaction.

Three things obliged me to adopt this resolution: the first, because it appeared by letters I hadreceived from Colonel Dongan, in answer to the message by the man named Bourbon, that he wasvery tar from the good understanding of which His Majesty had assured me; but much disposed tointerfere as our enemy in this matter. The second, because I had few provisions, and I did not seethat 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 LaGalette, and I could not despatch another to Lake Ontario , to notify the army of the South, whichwas 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 thesame day with the remainder of the Christian Iroquois who had not previously arrived, I despatchedhim on the sixteenth to Onnontague and placed in his hands, Tegancourt, the ambassador from theSenecas, whom I had arrested at Quebec . Seeing the wind always contrary I sent on the precedingday, eight of the largest canoes that I had to the bark at La Galette to bring me ten thousand weightof flour, bread beginning to fail which caused me a good deal of uneasiness and created considerablemurmurs among the troops and the militia. Finally on the 21 st my canoes arrived with what I sentthem for. I set to work immediately with all possible diligence to have bread and biscuit baked, andsent off forthwith, the King’s troops, D’Orvilliers’ and Dugu6’s two brigades, and two hundredChristian savages to encamp at La Famine [Hungry bay], a post favorable for fishing and huntingand four leagues from Onontague, so as to be nearer the enemy and to be able to refresh our troopsby fishing and the chase, whilst we wero short of provisions, intending to join them, myself, withabout three hundred Frenchmen whom I had remaining.