In his dealings with the English Denonville had little more success than in his dealings with the Indians.  Dongan was a thorn in his side from the first, although their correspondence opened, on both sides, with the language of compliment.  A few months later its tone changed, particularly after Dongan heard that Denonville intended to build a fort at Niagara.  Against a project so unfriendly Dongan protested with emphasis.  In reply Denonville disclaimed the intention, at the same time alleging that Dongan was giving shelter at Albany to French deserters.  A little later they reach the point of sarcasm.  Denonville taxes Dongan with selling rum to the Indians.  Dongan retorts that at least English rum is less unwholesome than French brandy.  Beneath these epistolary compliments there lies the broad fact that Dongan stood firm by his principle that the extension of French rule to the south of Lake Ontario should not be tolerated:  He ridicules the basis of French pretensions, saying that Denonville might as well claim China because there are Jesuits at the Chinese court.  The French, he adds, have no more right to the country because its streams flow into Lake Ontario than they have to the lands of those who drink claret or brandy.  It is clear that Dongan fretted under the restrictions which were imposed upon him by the friendship between England and France.  He would have welcomed an order to support his arguments by force.  Denonville, on his side, with like feelings, could not give up the claim to suzerainty over the land of the Iroquois.

The domain of the Five Nations was not the only part of America where French and English clashed.  The presence of the English in Hudson Bay excited deep resentment at Quebec and Montreal.  Here Denonville ventured to break the peace as Dongan had not dared to do.  With Denonville’s consent and approval, a band of Canadians left Montreal in the spring of 1686, fell upon three of the English posts—­Fort Hayes, Fort Rupert, Fort Albany—­and with some bloodshed dispossessed their garrisons.  Well satisfied with this exploit, Denonville in 1687 turned his attention to the chastisement of the Iroquois.

The forces which he brought together for this task were greatly superior to any that had been mustered in Canada before.  Not only were they adequate in numbers, but they comprised an important band of coureurs de bois, headed by La Durantaye, Tonty, Du Lhut, and Nicolas Perrot—­men who equalled the Indians in woodcraft and surpassed them in character.  The epitaph of Denonville as a governor is written in the failure of this great expedition to accomplish its purpose.