On the 14th July, 1678, Le Sieur La Salle, as he must thenceforth be called, with Tonti, La Motte, and 30 men, mostly ship carpenters, with a cargo of iron, cordage, anchors, etc., sufficient for the equipment of two vessels, set sail for Quebec, where they arrived after a two months’ voyage. Here they met with Father Hennepin, a Récollet friar, who had come to Canada three years before, and whose name from this point is prominently connected with American Western exploration.[9] THE SECOND VOYAGE OF EXPLORATION (1678–1679) was virtually commenced, under the orders of La Salle (who was with Tonti) detained at Quebec by his own affairs, and the difficulties arising from the machinations of his enemies,[10] by La Motte and Hennepin. They set sail, from Fort Frontenac, November 18th, 1678, in a small vessel of ten tons; but it was not until the 6th of December that they reached the mouth of the Niagara river and saw the grand cataract of which Hennepin’s pencil has preserved the first known picture and description. Two leagues above the mouth of the Niagara river La Motte began the erection of a fort, where he was joined later by La Salle and Tonti. Here, under almost unsurmountable obstacles, due to the excessive cold, and hunger, as well as jealousies among the men, and the distrust of the Indians, a ship-yard was improvised, and a vessel of about 45 tons was builded and equipped with five small cannon. She was named the _Griffin_, in honor of the Governor-General, and her prow was ornamented with a grotesque figure of that somewhat apocryphal animal, in compliment to his family arms.[11] The building of this fort and of the _Griffin_ was a masterstroke of La Salle’s, for Niagara was the key to the four great upper lakes (Erie, Huron, Superior, and Michigan), and by its position would control the fur-trade of the whole northern country. In time of peace it would intercept the trade between the Iroquois and the Dutch and English at Albany; in time of war it would be a menace to both. Any forward movement, however, was delayed from February until August, 1679, by the absence of La Salle, who had been obliged to return, with Tonti, to Fort Frontenac for needed supplies, and to attend to some of his private affairs. For his creditors, excited by false reports of his insolvency, had seized upon all his available property, outside of his seigniory.