No. 112.] 665 



ganized by the colonies for the. attack of Montreal, was wasted 

 by disease, while awaiting assistance, which was never supplied ; 

 another was disbanded, ^v^ieu the inadequate naval attack of Eng- 

 land had failed. 



CHAPTER 111. , 



TO THE CAMPAIGN OF DIESKAU. 



The valley of Champlain, appears not to have been occupied, 

 until about 1731, either by England or France, with any enduring 

 or tangible possessions. France asserted no other, than an ideal and 

 constructive title. The claim of England, had in the interval, been 

 augmented by the cession of New-Netherland, which conveyed 

 a tenure, uniformly assumed by Holland, to reach the St. Lawrence; 

 and by the fealty of the Iroquois, which had submitted to the sove- 

 reignty of the British King, the. entire environs of Champlain, 

 and the recognition of that title by France, in the treaty of 

 Utrecht. 



Whilst neither power yielded its dominion to the other, each 

 felt the extreme . importance of securing the ascendancy upon 

 Lake Champlain. The command of that avenue, shed over the 

 colonies of the goverment that held it, a broad and ample protec- 

 tion. 



As clearly as facts can be adduced from the faint glimmerings 

 of history or tradition, it appears probable that, in the early pe- 

 riod of the eighteenth century English occupation and improve- 

 ment were gradually advancing along the valley of Cliamplain. 

 Crown Point, then distinguished by ils present name,* was recog- 

 nised in 1690, as a commanding and important position. The 

 Common Council of Alhany, instructing their scouting party in 

 that year, directs them to proceed " to Crown Point, where you 

 shall remain and keep good watch by night and by day." This 

 fact appears also from the language of the purchase, by Dellius, 

 of a tract from the Moliawks, extending " more than twenty- 

 miles northward of Crown Point." His purchase was so exor- 

 bitant in its claims, and corapreliended so vast an extent of terri- 

 tory, that the Colonial Legislature, without hesitation, abrogated 



• Or ita Dutch equivalent. 



