BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES 391 



The sachems answered the next day, using as guides small . 

 pieces of wood and the French presents. Their answer was 

 probably unsatisfactory, for Hennepin, who described the pro- 

 ceedings, failed to give the text of their reply. 



The permission of the Senecas thus withheld was absolutely 

 necessary to La Salle. As soon as their refusal was reported to 

 him, he set out for the Seneca country. He entered their coun- 

 try from the lake shore, where he found at the mouth of the 

 Genesee River some Franciscan priests, trading guns, knives and 

 brandy, for furs and supplies. (*i) He seems to have reached 

 the main Seneca village in January or February, 1679, and to 

 have called a council at which the chiefs gave him the necessary 

 permission to build a fort at Niagara and a vessel above the 

 Falls. Both these enterprises were rushed forward at once and 

 were watched with suspicion and anger by the Seneca hunting 

 parties scattered along the river. Once a Seneca, pretending 

 drunkenness, tried to kill a French blacksmith at work on the ves- 

 sel, but he was attacked vigorously with an iron bar and driven 

 away. A Seneca woman alarmed the boat-builders by telling 

 them of an intended attempt to burn the boat, but their plan, if 

 there were one, failed. Many Senecas witnessed the launch of 

 the Griffon, and their excitement and wonder at its size and its 

 sails have been recorded by Father Hennepin. The French 

 post at Niagara erected for the convenience of the Senecas was 

 destroyed by fire a few months afterward, and so far as we know, 

 the smiths who were promised failed to appear. 



The feeling amongst the Senecas of opposition to the French, 

 recorded by Father Hennepin, seems to have increased during 

 the year 1679. Whether because of the adverse influence of La 

 Motte and Father Hennepin, who disliked and distrusted the 

 Jesuits, or because of the continued successes against their 

 enemies, the Senecas treated the missionaries with constantly 

 growing insolence. In a council it was recommended that they 

 be killed and their executioners were appointed. Though this 

 sentence was deferred the priests were constantly assaulted and 

 their chapels were repeatedly demolished. Drunkenness was on 

 the increase amongst all the people. The men were constantly 

 drunk, and while intoxicated committed with impunity the wild- 

 est crimes. The women, also, who previously had not been 



*i Buff. Hist. Sec. Pub., Vol. I, p. 273. 



