Standing upon one of the heights near the head or southern end of Lake George, the tourist looks down on the placid waters, and sees at his feet a little island covered with verdure, and glowing like an emerald in the summer sheen. This is Diamond Island,[28] one of the best known of the many exquisite isles that gem the little inland sea. From time immemorial it has borne its present name, derived from the exquisite crystals with which the underlying rock abounds. Here is the scene of the fight which took place on this lake, September 24, 1777, an occurrence that appears to have been purposely overlooked by the Americans at the time, and which has since failed to find a chronicler.[29] But before proceeding to give the narrative of this event it may be well to speak of several other points, and to make a brief statement of the military situation at that time. First comes the question of the discovery of Lake George by the Europeans. According to the best knowledge that we possess, its waters were first seen by a white man in the year 1646.[30] It is true Champlain tells us that he saw the falls at the outlet of the lake in 1609, yet there is nothing whatever to indicate that he visited the lake itself, though the Indians had informed him of its existence. It is reasonable, therefore, to conclude that Lake George was seen for the first time by a European, May 29, 1646,[31] when it received its name, “Lake Saint Sacrament,” from the Rev. Isaac Jogues, S.J., who, in company with Jean Bourdon, the celebrated engineer, was on his way south to effect a treaty with the Mohawks. Arriving at the outlet of the lake on the evening of _Corpus Christi_, they gave it the above name in honor of this festival, which falls on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday, and commemorates the alleged Real Presence of Christ in the Great Sacrament. From this time until 1755 the lake was rarely visited by Europeans. At this period the French commenced the fortifications of Ticonderoga, while the English met the advance by the construction of Fort William Henry at the opposite end of the lake. We pass over the struggles that took place on these waters during the French wars, and come to the period of the Revolution, when a feeble English garrison held possession of Ticonderoga, while Captain Nordberg lived in a little cottage at the head of the lake, being the nominal commander of empty Fort George. With the commencement of the struggle for liberty, Lake George resumed its former importance as a part of the main highway to the Canadas, and by this route our troops went northward, until the tide turned, and our own soil, in the summer of 1777, became the scene of fresh invasion. Then Burgoyne’s troops poured in like a flood, and for a time swept all before them. It was at this period that the fight at Diamond Island took place.