The Genesee River rises in Pennsylvania and flows nearly 200 miles in a northerly direction through western New York. Within a distance of 7 M. between Rochester and Lake Ontario the river has a fall of 263 ft. The principal falls consist of three cataracts, 96, 26 and 83 ft., respectively. The banks of the first fall, which is in the heart of the city, rise to a height of 200 ft. above the river. The river, in fact, cuts through the center of the city in a deep gorge, the banks of which vary in height from 50 to 200 ft. The Genesee Valley south of Rochester is a very fertile and beautiful stretch of country where the river flows between meadows that rise gradually to high hills. The appearance of the country here, with its immense pasture-land dotted with oak and elm, is distinctly English. Besides being exceedingly productive both for crops and pasturage, the Genesee Valley is famous as riding country, although the hunting interest has of late somewhat waned. But foxes are still found, and the flats along the river give wonderful opportunities for the chase. The modern city, however, has spread north until it now embraces the large village of Charlotte on the western side of the mouth of the river. The region about Rochester was visited about 1650 by Jesuit missionaries who worked among the Seneca Indians in the neighborhood, and in 1687 the Marquis de Denonville fought a battle with the Iroquois near the Falls. The Senecas were members of the League of the Iroquois and eventually became one of the most important tribes of that league. Their territory lay between the Seneca Lake and the Genesee River and they were the official guardians of the league's western frontier. At the height of their power they extended their range to the country west of Lake Erie and south along the Alleghany River to Pennsylvania They fought on the English side in the War of Independence. About 2,800 are now on reservations in New York State. Jacques Ren['e] de Bresay, marquis of Denonville, succeeded La Barre, who succeeded Frontenac, as governor of Canada in 1689. La Barre, an inefficient leader against the insurgent Iroquois, held the administration for only one year. Denonville was of great courage and ability, but in his campaign against the Indians treated them so cruelly that they were angered, not intimidated. The terrible massacre of the French by the Iroquois at Lachine, Quebec, in 1689, must be regarded as one of the results of his expedition. In 1687 he built Fort Denonville, which was abandoned during the following year when an epidemic wiped out its garrison.