The central geographical fact to be remembered in connection with the history of New France is, that the St. Lawrence and the chain of Great Lakes which serve as its feeders furnish a natural highway to the heart of the continent (page 4, § 2). Sidenote: Early explorations on the Great Lakes. It has been shown that the hostility of the Iroquois forced the French, in their earliest explorations westward, to take the northern, or indirect, route of the Ottawa River, and caused Huron to be the first great lake discovered; Ontario, Superior, and Michigan being next unveiled, in the order named. Erie, the last to be seen by whites, was known as early as 1640, but owing to Iroquois warriors blocking the way, was not navigated until 1669, except by _coureurs de bois_ seeking the New York fur-markets. Thus Frenchmen were familiar with the sites of Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinaw, Ashland, Green Bay, Prairie du Chien, and Chicago before they had visited the site of Detroit (1669). But that place came to be recognized after its settlement (1701) as the most important strategic point in the western possessions of New France. Sidenote: Differences between French and English colonists. The difference between the character of the English and French colonies in North America was great. Englishmen were content to sow and reap in a plodding fashion, extending their territorial bounds no faster than their settlements needed room for growth. Their acquaintance with the Indians did not, with the exception of the New York and Southern fur-traders, extend beyond the tribes which touched their borders. They were possessed of remarkable vitality and a strong sense of political and commercial independence. 110. Social and Political Conditions. Sidenote: _Coureur de bois versus_ farmer.