But with the boasts came no little information concerning the French operations on the Great Lakes, the number of their forts and men. But Washington did not get off for Fort La Boeuf the next day, as the weather was exceedingly rough. This gave the wily Joncaire a chance to tamper with his Indians, and the opportunity was not neglected. Upon learning that Half King was in the envoy's retinue, he professed great regret that Washington had not "made free to bring him in before." The Virginian was quick with a stinging retort: since he had heard Joncaire "say a good deal in dispraise of the _Indians_ in general" he did not "think their company agreeable." But Joncaire had his way and "applied the Liquor so fast" that, lo! the poor Indians "were soon rendered incapable of the Business they came about." In the morning Half King came to Washington's tent hopefully sober but urging that another day be spent at Venango, since "the Management of the Indian Affairs was left solely to Monsieur _Joncaire_." To this the envoy reluctantly acquiesced. But on the day after, the embassy got on its way, thanks to Christopher Gist's influence over the Indians. When Joncaire found them going, he forwarded their plans "in the heartiest way in the world" and detailed Monsieur La Force (with whom this Virginian was to meet in different circumstances within half a year) to accompany them. Four days were spent in floundering over the last sixty miles of this journey, the party being driven into "Mires and Swamps" to avoid crossing the swollen Rivière aux Boeufs. On the 11th of December, Washington reached his destination, having traveled over 500 miles in forty-two days. [Illustration: A MAP OF THE COUNTRY BETWEEN WILLS CREEK AND LAKE ERIE [_Showing the designs of the French for erecting forts southward of the lake; drawn, before the erection of Fort Duquesne, evidently on the basis of Washington's information secured in 1753. From the original in the British Museum_]] Legardeur de St. Pierre, the one-eyed commander at Fort La Boeuf, had arrived but one week before Washington. To him the Virginian envoy delivered Governor Dinwiddie's letter the day after his arrival. Its contents read: "Sir, "The lands upon the River _Ohio_, in the Western Parts of the Colony of _Virginia_, are so notoriously known to be the Property of the Crown of _Great-Britain_; that it is a Matter of equal Concern and Surprize to me, to hear that a Body of _French_ Forces are erecting Fortresses, and making Settlements upon that River, within his Majesty's Dominions.