1692.] A WINTER EXPEDITION. 299 



was to close it so completely that the annual supply 

 of beaver skins would be prevented from passing, 

 and the colony be compelled to live on credit. It 

 was their habit to spend the latter part of the 

 winter in hunting among the forests between the 

 Ottawa and the upper St. Lawrence, and then, 

 when the ice broke up, to move in large bands to 

 the banks of the former stream, and lie in ambush 

 at the Chaudiere, the Long Saut, or other favor- 

 able points, to waylay the passing canoes. On the 

 other hand, it was the constant effort of Frontenac 

 to drive them off and keep the river open ; an 

 almost impossible task. Many conflicts, great and 

 small, took place with various results ; but, in spite 

 of every effort, the Iroquois blockade was main- 

 tained more than two years. The story of one of 

 the expeditions made by the French in this quarter 

 will show the hardship of the service, and the 

 moral and physical vigor which it demanded. 



Early in February, three hundred men under 

 Dorvilliers were sent by Frontenac to surprise the 

 Iroquois in their hunting-grounds. When they 

 were a few days out, their leader scalded his foot 

 by the upsetting of a kettle at their encampment 

 near Lake St. Francis; and the command fell on 

 a youth named Beaucour, an officer of regulars, 

 accomplished as an engineer, and known for his 

 polished wit. The march through the snow- clogged 

 forest was so terrible that the men lost heart. 

 Hands and feet were frozen ; some of the Indians 

 refused to proceed, and many of the Canadians 

 lagged behind. Shots were heard, showing that 



