The events which consummated the Canadians adaptation to Indian-style warfare were the gruelling journey to James Bay and the capture of three English trading posts in 1686. The expeditionary force of seventy Canadians and thirty regular troops departed from MontrÄal late in March and moved north with spring in order to take maximum advantage of the short northern summer. The movement of one hundred men in canoes through the Canadian Shield during breakup was accompanied by unusual hardship. At times the men, out pacing the change of season, were obliged to drag their vulnerable canoes along bone-chilling waters which were still filled with ice. Finally, after twelve weeks, the party arrived at James Bay on 21 June, just as the spring breakup was occurring there.
