96 THE FALL OF NEW FRANCE 
deroga, and won an easy victory over savages who had 
never before beheld a white man or heard the report 
of a musket. From that time forth the Iroquois hated 
the French, and after the destruction of the Huron 
mission the French had good reason for reciprocating 
the hatred. In 1664 the English supplanted the 
Dutch in the control of the Hudson, and thus for the 
first time came into formidable proximity to Canada; 
and now began the rivalry between French and Eng- 
lish which lasted for ninety-nine years. A sort of alli- 
ance naturally grew up between the English and the 
Five Nations, while, on the other hand, the French 
sought to control the policy of all the Algonquin 
tribes from the Penobscot to the Mississippi, and to 
bring them into the field against the dreaded warriors 
of the Long House. But there was a difference 
between these two alliances. The English valued 
the friendship of the Iroquois partly as a protection 
against Canada, partly as a means of gaining access to 
the lakes and obtaining a share in the fur trade; but, 
in spite of all this, they took very little pains to con- 
ciliate their dusky allies, and generally left them to 
fight their own battles. On the other hand, the far- 
sighted policy of the French made firm allies of the 
Algonquin tribes and of the remnant of the Hurons, 
and taken together they were more than a match for 
the Iroquois. Yet for a long time the contest was by 
no means an unequal one. The Five Nations held 
their ground bravely, and at times seemed to be 
getting the best of it. They inflicted immense dam- 
age upon the Canadian settlements. From one end 
of the Long House the Mohawks were perpetually 
taking the war-path down Lake Champlain, while 
