1673.] FORT FRONTENAC. 27 



energetic spirits ; and though Cavelier cle la Salle 

 had neither the irritable vanity of the count, nor 

 his Gallic vivacity of passion, he had in full meas- 

 ure the same unconquerable pride and hardy reso- 

 lution. There were but two or three men in 

 Canada who knew the western wilderness so well. 

 He was full of schemes of ambition and of gain ; 

 and, from this moment, he and Frontenac seem to 

 have formed an alliance, which ended only with 

 the governor's recall. 



In telling the story of La Salle, I have described 

 the execution of the new plan : the muster of the 

 Canadians, at the call of Frontenac ; the consterna- 

 tion of those of the merchants whom he and La 

 Salle had not taken into their counsels, and who 

 saw in the movement the preparation for a gigan- 

 tic fur trading monopoly ; the intrigues set on foot 

 to bar the enterprise ; the advance up the St. Law- 

 rence ; the assembly of Iroquois at the destined 

 spot ; the ascendency exercised over them by the 

 governor ; the building of Fort Frontenac on the 

 ground where Kingston now stands, and its final 

 transfer into the hands of La Salle, on condition, 

 there can be no doubt, of sharing the expected 

 profits with his patron. 1 



On the way to the lake, Frontenac stopped for 

 some time at Montreal, where he had full opportu- 

 nity to become acquainted with a state of things 

 to which his attention had already been directed. 

 This state of things was as follows : — 



When the intenclant, Talon, came for the second 



1 Discovery of the Great West, chap. vi. 



