Meanwhile Braddock, the chosen leader of our troops, had arrived at Alexandria, opposite the site of the present city of Washington, and plans for the coming campaign were discussed, while Johnson, a young Irishman, who had lived much in the backwoods, and who knew the Indians as well as did Steve, was given the task of travelling amongst the six tribes who composed the Iroquois, and endeavouring to counteract the subtle influence of the French. For these astute enemies of ours were not content to have their own Indians following them. They aimed at suborning the six tribes who had hitherto been favourable to the English colony. Now let the reader glance again at the map for an instant. He will see that the river St. Lawrence forms one side of a triangle, of which the Mohawk river, uniting with the Oswego, forms a second, the Hudson, Lake George, and Lake Champlain, with the river Richelieu, completing a line which makes the third. The latter two sides formed the readiest means of attacking the French, for there was a waterway in either case, while on every hand there was virgin forest, through which the task of escorting an army was very great. The council which met at Alexandria, and which consisted of British officers and governors of the various States, decided that Fort Duquesne was the key of the whole position, and should be attacked in force, while to divert the attention of the French an expedition should make for the chain of lakes running northward from the Hudson, and a second for Acadia, where the _habitant_ subjects of King George were in practically open rebellion.