fort near the outlet of the lake. Frontenac at once saw the advantages
of such a measure, and his desire to execute it was stimulated by the
reflection that the proposed fort might be made not only a safeguard
to the colony, but also a source of profit to himself.

At Quebec, there was a grave, thoughtful, self-contained young man,
who soon found his way into Frontenac's confidence. There was between
them the sympathetic attraction of two bold and energetic spirits; and
though Cavelier de la Salle had neither the irritable vanity of the
count, nor his Gallic vivacity of passion, he had in full measure the
same unconquerable pride and hardy resolution. 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 consternation 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 gigantic fur trading monopoly; the intrigues set on
foot to bar the enterprise; the advance up the St. Lawrence; 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. [Footnote: Discovery of the Great
West, chap. vi.]

On the way to the lake, Frontenac stopped for some time at Montreal,