The Iroquois, as they were named by the French, or the Five Nations as they called themselves, hung like a cloud over the whole great continent.

Their confederation was a natural one, for they were of the same stock and spoke the same language, and all attempts to separate them had been in vain.

Mohawks, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Senecas were each proud of their own totems and their own chiefs, but in war they were Iroquois, and the enemy of one was the enemy of all.

Their numbers were small, for they were never able to put two thousand warriors in the field, and their country was limited, for their villages were scattered over the tract which lies between Lake Champlain and Lake Ontario.

But they were united, they were cunning, they were desperately brave, and they were fiercely aggressive and energetic.