When La Barre heard the news, he was furious. [24] He trembled for the vast amount of goods which he and his fellow-speculators had sent to Michillimackinac and the lakes. There was but one resource: to call out the militia, muster the Indian allies, advance to Lake Ontario, and dictate peace to the Senecas, at the head of an imposing force; or, failing in this, to attack and crush them. A small vessel lying at Quebec was despatched to France, with urgent appeals for immediate aid, though there was little hope that it could arrive in time. She bore a long letter, half piteous, half bombastic, from La Barre to the king. He declared that extreme necessity and the despair of the people had forced him into war, and protested that he should always think it a privilege to lay down life for his Majesty. "I cannot refuse to your country of Canada, and your faithful subjects, to throw myself, with unequal forces, against the foe, while at the same time begging your aid for a poor, unhappy people on the point of falling victims to a nation of barbarians." He says that the total number of men in Canada capable of bearing arms is about two thousand; that he received last year a hundred and fifty raw recruits; and that he wants, in addition, seven or eight hundred good soldiers. "Recall me," he concludes, "if you will not help me, for I cannot bear to see the country perish in my hands." At the same time, he declares his intention to attack the Senecas, with or without help, about the middle of August. [25] Here we leave him, for a while, scared, excited, and blustering. [24] "Ce qui mit M. de la Barre en fureur." Belmont, Histoire du Canada. [25] La Barre au Roy, 5 Juin, 1684. CHAPTER VI. 1684. La Barre and the Iroquois. Dongan • New York and its Indian Neighbors • The Rival Governors • Dongan and the Iroquois • Mission to Onondaga • An Iroquois Politician • Warnings of Lamberville • Iroquois Boldness • La Barre takes the Field • His Motives • The March • Pestilence • Council at La Famine • The Iroquois defiant • Humiliation of La Barre • The Indian Allies • Their Rage and Disappointment • Recall of La Barre. The Dutch colony of New Netherland had now become the English colony of New York. Its proprietor, the Duke of York, afterwards James II. of England, had appointed Colonel Thomas Dongan its governor. He was a Catholic Irish gentleman of high rank, nephew of the famous Earl of Tyrconnel, and presumptive heir to the earldom of Limerick. He had served in France, was familiar with its language, and partial to its king and its nobility; but he nevertheless gave himself with vigor to the duties of his new trust.