M62: Cornell Alniversity Library BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henry W. Sage 1891 DATE DUE wun Manhattan in 1628 Ate ee Aa yA {Ks : AWK Ad Sh The Earliest View of New Amsterdam The upper picture is reproduced as it appears in the first edition of Beschrijvinghe Van Virginia, Nieuw Neder- landt, Nieuw Engelandt, En a’ Eylanden Bermudes, Berbados, en 8. Christoffel, published by Joost Hartgers, Amsterdam, 1651; but it was there incorrectly engraved, and should be reversed. The lower picture, slightly enlarged, shows the view correctly. The original drawing was made during the pastorate of Mr. Michaélius, but was first published in Hartgers’ little book. MANHATTAN IN 1628 as described in the recently discovered Autograph Letter of Fonas Michaéhius written from the Settlement on the cth of August of that year and now first published With a Review of the Letter and an Historical Sketch of New Netherland to 1628 BY DINGMAN VERSTEEG New York Dodd Mead and Company 1904 ¢ “ A 206934 Copyright 1904 by William Harris Arnold Contents Page Review of the Letter : : : : ' I Transcript of the Letter : ; : : 39 Translation of the Letter . : : ; . 61 New Netherland to 1628 I Discovery é : ‘ 83 II Trade and Exploration ‘ : . 126 III Colonization . 2 : . : 160 Forty-six spellings of the name of the Island now known as Manhattan. 5 . ‘ » BOs Illustrations (All the Illustrations are Collotypes by Bierstadt’s process, except the facsimiles of signatures opposite pages 30 and 182) 1 Earliest View of New Amsterdam . Frontispiece From a copy of the first edition of Joost Hartger’s Beschrijvinghe van Virginia, Nieuw Nederlandt, etc., Amsterdam, 1651, in the New York Public Library, Lenox Branch. Opposite page 2 Portrait of Joannes Foreest . : : . 28 From the original oil-painting, dated 1628, which is still in the possession of the Foreest family resid- ing in Heiloo, North Holland. 3 Portrait of Josina Van Segwaerd, wife of Joannes Foreest : : 2 ‘ : 29 From the original oil-painting, dated 1628, which is still in the possession of the Foreest family resid- ing in Heiloo, North Holland. 4 Signature of Jan Jansen Brouwer : 3 ae From the earliest original official New Netherland document now extant, dated July 15th, 1630. Illustrations Letter of Jonas Michaélius to Joannes Foreest, written from the Island of Manhattan, August 8th, 1628 From the original in the possession of William Harris Arnold, of Nutley, New Jersey. Title-page of Gerrit de Veer’s Description of three voyages to the Arctic Ocean, 1595- 1597, in search of a passage to the Orient . From a copy of the first edition, Amsterdam, 1598, in the New York Public Library, Lenox Branch. Title-page of Jan Huygen van Linschoten’s Account of his voyage to India in 1583 Reduced from a copy of the first edition, Amster- dam, 1596, in the New York Public Library, Lenox Branch. The beginning of Robert Juet’s Journal of the Voyage in the Half Moon, in the course of which Hudson discovered the river which bears his name From a copy of the first edition of Purchas His Pilgrimes, volume 3, London, 1625, in the New York Public Library, Lenox Branch. Title-page of Joannes de Laet’s History of the West India Company Reduced from a copy of the first edition, becaca: 1644, in the New York Public Library, Lenox Branch. Opposite page 36 88 94 102 126 Illustrations 10 Seal of the Dutch West India Company ( Original size and enlarged ) From an original document in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany. 11 Portrait of Peter Plancius From an original engraving in the Ryks Museum, Amsterdam. 12 Portrait of Willem Usselincx From the original oil-painting, dated 1637, in the Ryks Museum, Amsterdam. 13 Title-page of the Charter of the West India Company From a copy of the first edition, The Hague, 1621, in the New York Public Library, Lenox Branch. 14 Seal of New Netherland From an original Grant of land on Manhattan Island, dated January 18th, 1651, signed by Stuy- vesant. The document is in the possession of William Harris Arnold, of Nutley, New Jersey. 15 Signature of Peter Minuit From the earliest original official New Netherland document now extant, dated July 1gth, 1630. Xl Opposite page 150 160 . 162 166 B72 182 xi Illustrations 16 Letter of P. Schaghen announcing the pur- chase of the Island of Manhattan from the Indians, 1626 From the original in the Ryks Archief, The Hague. 17 Title-page of Wassenaer’s History of Europe, volume 1 From a copy of the first edition, Amsterdam, 1622, in the New York Public Library, Lenox Branch. 18 Title-page of the Liberties granted by the West India Company to founders of colonies in New Netherland From a copy of the first edition, Amsterdam, 1630, in the New York Public Library, Lenox Branch. Opposite page . 186 192 - 202 Review of the Letter Review of the Letter In the latter part of 1902 there took place in Amster- dam a sale of manuscripts, among which the catalogue specified “The archives of a noble family of Holland.” This family was the distinguished house of Foreest, or Van Foreest, and the archives were a portion of their family papers, relating to matters of general interest. Among other important historical matter, they con- tained a letter which is such a valuable contribution to early American history that the family which care- fully guarded it for two hundred and seventy-five years deserves the gratitude of every student of the begin- nings of American colonization. Dated “From the Island of the Manhates in New Netherland, this 8th of August, anno 1628,” it is noth- ing less than the earliest extant autograph document written in the present State of New York.’ A year earlier, indeed, the Secretary of the Council of New Netherland, Isaac De Rasiéres, sent a letter—one copy «The letter is now in the possession of William Harris Arnold, of Nutley, New Jersey. 2 Review of the Letter in Dutch and one in French—to the Pilgrims at Ply- mouth; but the originals have disappeared. Not even a copy of them exists; all we have is an English translation from the Dutch, with a few lines in the original. Of another letter written from Manhattan to the Plymouth colonists, August 7th, 1627, nothing remains, the date only being mentioned in Bradford’s letter-book. A very instructive letter from De Rasiéres to Samuel Blommaert, about Manhattan, the fort, the colonists, and the Indians, is preserved in the Royal Library at The Hague; but it is undated, and bears every evidence of having been written after his return to Europe. The present letter was sent by Jonas Michaélius, the first minister of the Gospel in these parts, to Joannes Foreest, a prominent citizen of Hoorn in Holland, and at one time a Director of the Dutch West India Com- pany. After lying hidden among the Foreest family papers for almost three centuries, it was fortunately brought to light on the very eve of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the granting of the first char- ter to the mighty city of whose founding it treats. As there was no organized postal service to or from Manhattan in 1628, passengers or sailors on the ships Review of the Letter 3 that touched there commonly carried letters, either as an act of friendship or for a small fee. It was not until the close of 1654" that facilities for sending letters to Europe by other than these casual means were offered in New Amsterdam. On this account it was customary to mention on the outside of the letter, near the ad- dress, the manner in which it had been sent. Paper, ink, and pens were scarce at Manhattan in those days, as they had to be imported from Holland. Dominie Michaélius carried on an extensive corre- spondence, and was thus obliged to be very careful with his precious paper and to utilize as much of each sheet as he could. Perhaps for this reason, he did not divide his letter into paragraphs. It would have been a waste of valuable space, especially since the mode of sealing letters required wide margins to prevent the writing from being damaged. Still, he doubtless never dreamed that any of his letters would be deemed of sufficient consequence to be reproduced in print, and, writing as he did to friends, gave little thought to such literary formalities. It would seem that Mr. Michaélius used little if any of his stock of paper for his Dutch sermons; a few * Calendar of New York Dutch Manuscripts, page 280. 4 Review of the Letter notes, possibly a general outline, sufficed. This may be inferred from his only other existing letter, written on August 11th of the same year.* Speaking there of his occasional sermons in French, he says, “ ... which I lay before me in writing, since I do not trust myself extemporaneously.” That he was an excellent penman is attested by the plain, legible, even fine handwriting of this letter. It speaks well, also, for the quality of the ink and paper that both have come down to us in such remarkably good condition. A portion of the wide margin was torn in opening, but the paper shows no other dam- age, except here and there on the edges, probably from causes which have nothing to do with its quality. The handwriting is that of a strong, healthy man, of nervous temperament, while the contents of the let- ter indicate that the writer would have made a success in any vocation. It is plain from both letters that he belonged to that class of seventeenth-century Dutch clergymen who felt themselves at home in the legis- lative halls and courts of justice as much as in the pulpit and in ecclesiastical assemblies; who felt called "This second letter, now in the Lenox Library, New York, has been more than once reprinted. Review of the Letter 6 upon to influence and direét the body politic, and would not hesitate to attack a magistracy which did not comply with their conceptions of public duty. At the same time it is evident, especially from the contents of this earlier letter, that he made and kept friends not only by the force and beauty of his char- acter but by his deft and diplomatic manner of im- pressing the people with whom he came into conta¢t. This is best illustrated by the way in which he tried to interest his correspondent in the case of Captain Brouwer. Some of the expressions in this letter could hardly have been improved by the most accomplished courtier of the days of the fourteenth Louis. Yet they are written evidently without any effort, and bear the stamp of spontaneity and sincerity. If charaéter is really shown in the handwriting, Mr. Michaélius need not have been afraid to have his letters scrutinized by the most discriminating expert. The simplicity and the quiet strength of his written charac- ters would indicate a well balanced, forceful, straight- forward mind, an impression fully borne out by the language and logic of the letter. Power of concentra- tion, capacity for thought, untiring energy, impatience of obstacles, seem to speak out of the small, distin¢t, 6 Review of the Letter quickly penned characters whose even lines make up the compact pages of this significant epistle. The Reverend Jonas Michaélius was one of that large body of zealous and scholarly Dutch divines who since the beginning of the seventeenth century have gone from one end of the world to the other to spread a knowledge of the Gospel in heathen lands, as well among white settlers as among the native tribes. He was, as both his letters imply, a man of wide culture, solid learning, and even more striking intelligence and common sense. Besides the proficiency in the classics which his calling required, and the knowledge of French alluded to above, he possessed another attain- ment by no means universal among classical scholars of the period: that of being able to express himself forci- bly and idiomatically in his mother tongue. In accordance with the custom of the age, he Latin- ized his name from its Dutch form of Michiels or Michielsen. Our early Dutch ministers as a rule (the exceptions being Blom, Selyns, and Schaats) adhered to this custom. The name of Michaélius’ successor, Bogardus, was Latinized from Bogert or Bogaerdt, originally Van den Bogaert or Uyt den Bogaerd. Pol- heem or Polheym became Polhemus; Backer was dig- Review of the Letter 9 nified into Backerus; Wel or Weel became Welius; and Dries or Driesen turned to Drisius. The most striking change involved the calling in of the Greek language to construct the imposing name of Megapo- lensis out of an original Van Mecklenburg. Jonas Michaélius was born in 1577, in the prov- ince of North Holland, probably at Hoorn, when the greater part of Netherland, including Amsterdam, was still in the power of the Spaniards, and when it was by no means certain what the outcome of the Dutch struggle for independence would be. When we next hear of him, in 1600, not only was this independence an accomplished fact, but the infant republic had al- ready begun to grow and to lay the foundations of a Dutch empire in the East. In this year, at the age of twenty-three, he went to the University of Leyden, which, though only two years older than himself, had begun to attain a more than European fame owing to the reputation of several of the professors whom liberal offers had attracted from every land. We cannot trace the young man between that date and 1612, when he entered on his first pastoral charge over the congregation at Nieuwbokswoude. Very pos- sibly he spent some of the intervening years as a teacher 8 Review of the Letter in one of the many classical schools with which Neth- erland abounded. In 1614 we find him settled at Hem, a small village on the Zuyder Zee, in the district of Drechterland and province of North Holland, mid- way between Enkhuizen and Hoorn. Here he stayed ten years, during which his name once more occurs in the records. On August 24th, 1621, the Synod of North Holland met at Haarlem, and among the delegates from the Classis of Enkhuizen is the Reverend Jonas Johannis* Michaélius, minister at Hem. In the church register of Hem, therefore, one might have hoped to find entries of great interest ; and the same thought occurred to the Rev. Dr. E. T. Corwin, who was sent to Holland by the Synod of the Reformed Church in America to condué historical in- vestigations among the archives of the mother church. He says: “The writer had also intended to visit the town of Hem, near Hoorn, to try to discover addi- tional facts from the church there about Rev. Jonas Michaélius, who was settled there from 1614 to 1624, when he went to Brazil; but, sad to say, the records of this church were burned up during his first week’s residence in Amsterdam, September, 1897. This shows 1 Fobannis is a Latin patronymic genitive, equivalent to <*son of John.’’ Review of the Letter 9 the importance of colleéting documents relating to America while it is possible.”* The next best place, possibly even a better place, to gain some additional information about the first preacher and historian of New Netherland would have been the records of the Classis of Enkhuizen; but Dr. Corwin further tells us that they “were burned in 1838, in a fire which con- sumed the Groote Kerk [Great Church] there, and hence we could not examine into the matter from that source.” ” Schotel, in his Biographical Diétionary, gives the same date as Dr. Corwin for the departure of Michaélius from Hem. If it is corre&, he must have left after the synodal meeting of August, 1624; for when the North Holland Synod met at Edam on August rath, 1625, the Classis of Enkhuizen reported that the Rev. Jonas Michielsen had removed from Hem to San Sal- vador, in Brazil. Schotel says: “In 1624 he sailed with the fleet of Piet Heyn to San Salvador in Brazil, where he had been appointed the permanent minister. Next year, when the Dutch had again to vacate this strong point, the Reformed minister left with them. t Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York, i, 28. * Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York, i, 25. 10 Review of the Letter In 1625 or the beginning of 1626 we find him labor- ing in Guinea at Fort St. George d’Elmina. In 1627 he returned to the Fatherland.” Notwithstanding this statement, it is obviously im- probable that Michaélius should have been sent out as permanent minister of a place which was not only not in the hands of the Dutch, but of whose capture they had not even any definite idea when the West India Company’s fleet, under Jacob Wilkens and Piet Heyn, sailed from Holland in the beginning of 1624. It was not until May 8th that San Salvador was taken by them, mainly through the impetuous valor of Piet Heyn. It is therefore very likely that the minister was sent out early in 1625, with Admiral Jan Dirckzoon Lam, who went to the west coast of Africa about this time. This supposition acquires additional strength from the con- text in which Mr. Michaélius refers to Lam in his letter. After mentioning that, prior to 1628, he had sailed long with Croeger, the captain of the ship that brought him to Manhattan, the minister continues: “At that time he was under orders of Mr. Lam.” This can only refer to the Admiral, who during the years 1625 and 1626 cruised with his squadron on the coast of Africa, with Croeger as captain of one of the Review of the Letter II ships," probably the flagship. Lam, after an unsuccess- ful cruise, was obliged to return to Holland, and Mi- chaélius may have remained at the Dutch settlement of Fort Nassau on the Guinea coast. Again the minister is lost to view for awhile, and, possibly owing to the burning of the Classis records with the church at Enkhuizen, no reference is found to his commission as the pioneer clergyman for New Netherland. After his return to Holland he may have found employment as a teacher, or he may have acted as a supply for some pastorless church outside the jurisdiction of the Synod of North Holland and conse- quently was ordained somewhere else. However this may have been, we do not meet with him again until he himself tells us that on January 24th, 1628, he went to sea, destined for New Nether- land. He arrived here on April 7th, accompanied by his wife, two little daughters, and a son Joannes, thus named after the minister’s father, whose name also was Joannes. In New Netherland Mr. Michaélius had the misfor- tune of losing his wife shortly after his arrival, about the middle of May, 1628. He appears, at first at least, ™De Laet, Faerlyk Verbael, pages 66 to 70. 12 Review of the Letter to have kept his young daughters with him. This caused him some trouble, for good maid-servants were hard to get, and doubtless harder to keep, while the Angola female slaves, as we are informed in his later letter, were almost worse than useless for domestic service. For his son Joannes he appears to have found an acceptable home in the family of Captain Jan Jansz Brouwer, of whom he speaks in the highest terms, and who was the exact opposite from Captain Evert Croeger as known to us by Mr. Michaélius’ descrip- tion of him. The first thing that impressed the minister was the insufficient production of the country, and the preca- riousness of the support from the fatherland owing to the risks of the ocean passage. On this account, doubt- less, he not only deemed it his duty to urge immediate immigration of suitable colonists, especially farmers, but even accompanied exploring expeditions into the sur- rounding territories in order to be able to judge for himself of the condition and aspect of the country and to give authoritative information regarding the pros- pects for agricultural settlers. It is not improbable that he went up as far as Fort Orange (Albany), where Review of the Letter 13 there “lies open for us a large tract of remarkably fer- tile and pleasant land.” To a man of his enterprising disposition and inquis- itive intellect, exploring expeditions up the bays and rivers or through the woods, conta¢t with the Indians, all the romantic experiences to be encountered in a wild country, were certain to appeal. Furthermore, his duty, as he understood it, impelled him to view with his own eyes the regions he so much desired to see occupied by his own people. Would that the Directors of the West India Company had heeded his appeals! They did much for the country; but in the light of subsequent events, which they could not then foresee, they did not do half enough. That Mr. Michaélius was an acute observer is also evident from many passages in the letter, and especially from his reference to Manhattan as the key to the country, and the deduction that the West India Com- pany had acted wisely in occupying it before any other parts. It is also evident that he not only studied the native tribes in relation to each other and arrived at an unfavorable estimate of India nature, but that he also observed the conduct of the natives towards the settlers and found it not all that could be desired. This latter 14 Review of the Letter conclusion, evidently founded upon facts of which we know little or nothing, renders the absence of early records so much more deplorable. If the letter written by Mr. Michaélius to his brother in regard to this matter could be found it would doubtless throw much light upon the subject. That he was right in his conclusion that they need not fear the Indians very much at Manhattan was evi- denced during the terrible Indian war of 1643 to 1645. Then the fort sheltered a very large portion of the population of New Netherland, and the combined In- dian tribes not only were powerless to force out the Dutch, but could not even destroy a part of New Am- sterdam. Who was the brother to whom Mr. Michaélius re- fers so many times? He evidently lived at or near Hoorn, and was well known to the recipient of the letter. That he was unmarried, and had no house of his own, is suggested by the fact that the minister left some chests in the custody of Mr. Van Foreest, instead of depositing them with his brother. That the brother was worthy of confidence is plain from the fact that the dominie intended to remit to him from Manhattan a sum of money — possibly an order upon the West Review of the Letter 15 India Company for a portion of his salary —to be in- vested by him with some mercantile house or firm of bankers in North Holland. Many other questions suggest themselves. We should like to know who were the other ministers, Goedhals and Theodorus Christiani, to whom he had written an extensive account of the formation of a Christian con- gregation here, and Jan Verschuyre, whose vines, pre- sented to the minister, were doing so well in the foreign soil into which they had been transplanted. That Mr. Michaélius was a friend worth having is evident from his eloquent and adroit plea in favor of Captain Brouwer, whom the Director-General and Council of New Netherland were loth to dismiss, and whom he himself, for family reasons, would also rather have kept here. Nothing has as yet been discovered to show how long he ministered to the congregation at Manhattan. The letter shows that he was engaged for three years only, but contains evidence that he would not have objected to a longer stay if some unfavorable conditions had been removed. He may have returned to Holland with Minuit in 1632; or he may have remained till the arrival of Bogardus in 1633. The entire absence 16 Review of the Letter of official records here covering this period, and the destruction of the West India Company records in Holland, have rendered an answer to these questions impossible. We know that subsequent ministers often remained after the expiration of their contract until the arrival of their successor, and Mr. Michaélius may have inaugurated this practice. But all this is pure conjecture. There is a gap in his history from 1628 to 1637, when his name again ap- pears upon the records of the Classis of Amsterdam. On September 7th of that year it adopted the follow- ing resolution: “Whereas the Directors of the West India Company request a minister for New Netherland; and since Rev. Jonas Michaélius is now present here [ in Holland] without a charge; the Brethren resolve that the Deputies on Indian Affairs must put forth every endeavor to persuade him to the acceptance of this service. Having done this, they will recommend him most favorably to the Directors.” It appears that Mr. Michaélius was perfectly willing to resume his work at Manhattan, and after a delay of nearly a month the Deputies on Indian Affairs reported to the Classis that they had recommended and proposed Rev. Jonas Michaélius to the Directors, who had fi- Review of the Letter 17 nally given as an answer, that when they had need of him they would summon him. “This,”’ we are told, ‘greatly displeased the Assembly.’’ Still the Classis did not despair, and about six weeks afterward, on Novem- ber 16th, 1637, they resolved to bring his case again before the Directors, and to recommend it earnestly. Five months passed by without any action, but at last, on May 15th, 1638, Mr. Somerus informed the Classis that the Assembly of the XIX of the West India Company had decided to engage two ministers, besides comforters of the sick and schoolmasters. Again, on the 20th of the same month, Mr. Michaélius’ name, with two others, was put on the list by the Classis. When the Deputies recommended the nomination to the Company’s Directors, they received for answer “that the decision of the Company should be made known to the Brethren, through their Committee, as soon as possible.” Three weeks later, on June 7th, it was reported to the Classis that one only of the three candidates, whose name was last on the list, Mr. Lants- man, had been accepted by the Company. Mr. Mi- chaélius, who stood first, had again been passed by. “Tt was now resolved to ask for a more definite reply concerning the first two.” 18 Review of the Letter This was never vouchsafed, and on July sth “the Deputies for Indian Affairs reported that they under- stood from the Honorable President of the West India Company, that the rejection of these two individuals had been announced by his Honor in the name of the Assembly.” * Why did the West India Company reject Mr. Mi- chaélius? It may have been on account of his age. He was now sixty-one years old, and it is possible that the deprivations and hardships of the last ten or twelve years had somewhat weakened his constitution. On the other hand, his contraét would have terminated before he was sixty-five, as the contracts even of Blom and Selyns, who came twenty-two years later, ran for four years only. Mr. Michaélius, therefore, would not have been too old to be useful at the station, unless the Di- rectors expected him to serve also at the outlying settle- ments which at the time had begun to spring up. It is also possible that his free and outspoken crit- icism had offended the Direétors. That he was not afraid to unburden his mind is shown by the contents * The minutes of the Classis in regard to Mr. Michaélius and his colleagues, in connection with their candidacy for foreign pastorates, are contained in the Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York, i, 111-116. Review of the Letter 19 of the two letters which have come down to us. He spares neither the Directors in Holland nor the author- ities in New Netherland. What was contained in the few other letters we know he wrote, and in the many more he may have written during his three years’ stay in the country, we can somewhat guess at from the contents of those that we have. He may also have severely criticized them, whether justly or unjustly, upon his return to Holland; and the Assembly of the XIX, for all these reasons, may have deemed it the interest of the Company not to give him any further chance to denounce them. It is quite possible, also, that the Directors were in no special hurry to appoint a successor to Bogardus until he himself should insist on returning. They prob- ably expected him to stay at Manhattan, because he had, in March, 1638, married a wealthy New Nether- land widow, the famous Anneke Jans, of which fact the Directors must have been informed. Mr. Bogardus, as we know, stayed in New Netherland for nine years longer, till 1647, when he, Director Kieft, and several other passengers perished in the shipwreck of the Princess, in which they had embarked for home. From the contents of the letter we know that Mi- 20 Review of the Letter chaélius had a son named Joannes. He probably ac- companied his father back to Holland, and may have entered one of the Dutch universities, possibly that of Leyden, his father’s a/ma mater, and prepared for the ministry. If so, he may have been the Rev. Joannes Michielsen who on May 2oth, 1641, had served the pastorless Dutch congregation at Yarmouth, England, “about ten weeks, to their great edification.” One of their elders had met Mr. Michielsen in Zee- land. At the time he was without a charge, and the small congregation at Yarmouth, consisting of less than thirty members, had temporarily secured his services. He was now about to depart, and they wished to recompense him for his labors, which obliged them to ask the Dutch Church of London for pecuniary assistance. A few months later, on September 14th, 1641, the Dutch Church of Maidstone, with fifty members, wrote to the Synod of the Dutch Churches at London that they were about to engage as their minister the “Rev. Joannes Mychylsen, and hence they sent their elder, Danneel Beeckman, to confer with the Colloque [Synod] on the subject,” probably for the purpose of securing aid from the Dutch congregations in London, Review of the Letter 21 which numbered eight hundred and forty members, several of them very wealthy. Mr. Michielsen, on his way to Yarmouth, had pro- mised the elders of the Maidstone Dutch Church that he would become their minister in case he received no call from Holland. On October 27th, however, he wrote to London that he had received a summons from Zeeland, and consequently would be unable to serve the Church of Maidstone. It seems that he had neglected to write to Maidstone, or that his letter miscarried, for on November 26th, 1641, the Church of Maidstone wrote to London for information in the matter. They stated that Mr. Michielsen had written them he would come in two or three weeks; but two months had now passed, and still he had not arrived." This is the last reference, as far as at present known, to Rev. Joannes Michielsen, either in Holland or in England. There was another scholar bearing the name of Joannes Michaélius. Though Schotel calls him the cousin of the Rev. Jonas Michaélius, he may have been the son whom we have tried to trace. He was known also as Joannes Michaélius Keratinus, after his birth- « Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York, i, 116-117. 22 Review of the Letter place, Hoorn, and was a renowned Greek, Latin, and Dutch poet as well as a philosopher and mathematician. He had been a pupil of Beeckman, and afterward be- came preceptor of the third class at the Illustrious School at Dordrecht, where he composed and published several poetical works. If he was the son of the Rev. Jonas Michaélius, he was strangely reticent about New Netherland, which may be explained from the faét that the wild country here did not offer anything of interest to a mind so intensely occupied with classical and old- world subjects and ideas. It is true that the date of his death, August 3d, 1646, would imply that he could hardly have been the son of the first ecclesiastic of New Netherland, unless he died young, which is ren- dered plausible by the fact that he did not apparently publish anything of importance until 1645. It is possible that Joannes remained in this country after his father’s departure. The early records of New Amsterdam contain an entry concerning one Jan Mi- chielsen as early as 1653, when he was a tobacco mer- chant living in Virginia, and again in 1658. About a quarter of a century later, in 1684, the name of Jo- hannes Michielszen appears in the records of the Re- formed Dutch Church of New York as father ofa Review of the Letter 23 child baptized. This was evidently much too late to refer to the son of Manhattan’s earliest preacher. There was a tailor Jan Michielsen at Beverwyck ( Albany ) as early as 1637; but he came from Edam, and thus could hardly have been the Rev. Jonas Michaélius’ son. Perhaps there lie buried in obscure and as yet un- known records somewhere in Netherland interesting facts about the Rev. Jonas Michaélius and also about his son, which research may at some future period bring to light. Joannes or Jan Foreest or Van Foreest, to whom this invaluable letter was addressed, was a descendant of Harpert, Lord of Foreest, who, at a tournament held in the year 1096, was one of the chief men among a hundred and fifty knights. It would require too much space to mention a small part even of the great services rendered by scions of this illustrious family. Francois Halma, in his Toonee/ der Vereenigde Nederlanden, thus enumerates some of their many activities: ‘Besides the gentlemen from this House who occupied distinguished political posi- tions in the State, it produced several scholars, especially in medicine.”’ At the time of the war of independence 24 Review of the Letter against Spain, the members of this intensely Dutch fam- ily declared in favor of their country’s cause, and had to bear the consequences. Their family seat, the manor of Foreest, situated on the highway between Haerlem and Alkmaar, near the village of Beverwyck in North Holland, was destroyed by the Spaniards. The celebrated Nanning Van Foreest, born in 1519 at Alkmaar, had been banished by Alva in 1568, and his possessions confiscated. In 1572, after the capture of Briel by the Sea Beggars had opened up a brighter vista, Nanning Foreest, like thousands of other exiles, returned to his country. He settled in his ancestral town of Alkmaar, where he was immediately appointed Pensionary, or City-Advocate. During the siege of the city by the Spanish forces in 1573 he played a con- spicuous part. He not only acted as soldier and adviser, but also as historian of the siege. Fighting the Span- ards and mounting guard on the walls during the day- time, he utilized the night to think out new plans to repulse the enemy, and at the same time to note down in Latin whatever of importance had taken place dur- ing the day. This history of the siege of the first town in Holland which had successfully resisted the mighty power of Review of the Letter 2% Spain constitutes one of the most noteworthy contribu- tions to the literature on the early part of the Eighty Years’ War. It was published at Delft in 1574, under the title Narratio brevis obsidionis Alcmaria, and was several times translated and republished, with notes and additions. From this time until his death in 1592 Nanning Foreest’s life was one of sacrifice and triumph in the cause of national independence. It is impossible and unnecessary to enlarge upon his services here. One conspicuous instance will suffice. So much confidence did the authorities evince in his statesmanlike qualities that in 1576, in company with two such eminent men as Paulus Buys and Dirk De Bye, he was delegated to the Assembly of the States-General which then met at Brussels to consider matters of the gravest importance. Jan or Joannes Van Foreest was a descendant of Nanning’s brother Dirk, who, though less well known, was nevertheless an ardent patriot and champion of his country’s liberty who had also suffered persecution under Alva. By his first wife, Maria De Groot, Dirk had a son Jacob, who not only was a notable statesman, but also an expert in ecclesiastical law, and during several years 26 Review of the Letter was Secretary of the Executive Council of North Hol- land and West Friesland. Jacob married Maria Van Egmond Van der Nyenburg, who became the mother of Jan or Joannes Van Foreest, the gentleman to whom Mr. Michaélius wrote his letter. According to the Wapenboek van den Nederlandschen Adel, Jan or Joannes Foreest was born in 1586. Ac- cording to Schotel, he was born at Alkmaar in 1584. Both agree as to the time of his death, which took place October 27th, 1651. According to the artist’s in- scription on the original portrait of Joannes Van For- eest painted in 1628, the year the letter was written, he was thirty-eight years old, thus making 1590 the year of his birth. In 1624, upon his father’s demise, Joannes Foreest succeeded him as Secretary of the Executive Council of North Holland and West Friesland. Prior to this, how- ever, in 1618, he had been appointed a member of the magistracy of Hoorn, whither he had removed, and was elected burgomaster in 1636. Two years later, on Sep- tember 8th, 1638, he was appointed a member of the High Council (the Supreme Court) of Holland, Zee- land, and West Friesland, which office he occupied up to the time of his death. Review of the Letter 27 He was not only an able jurist, but also distinguished himself as a Latin poet; and many a publication of those days is prefaced by a poem from his hand. We know of at least three works published by himself, whose titles are: Merita Principis Auriace in Belgas, sive crudelitas His- pana, quam Princeps tlle a Federatis Belgis avertit. (Ley- den, 1620, 4to. ) Idyllia Greca. (The Hague, 4to.) Hispanus redux, sive exitus induciarum Belgicarum, ad Federatos Belgas. (Hoorn, 1622, 4to. ) After his appointment to the busy office of Secretary, in 1624, he abandoned the writing of extended works, and thenceforth principally devoted himself to the duties of his several offices. After all we know of his various accomplishments, it is not to be wondered at that some of the choicest spirits of his time felt attracted toward Foreest, and were proud to number this distinguished scion of a pa- trician North Holland family among their most inti- mate friends. As such, among a host of others, may be mentioned Heinsius, Banningius, and Velius, all of them well known names in the Dutch world of letters. Neither is it to be wondered at that a man of Mr. 28 Review of the Letter Michaélius’ cultured tastes should have been eager for the friendship of a scholar possessed of the qualities of his correspondent. It only increases our admiration for the man who, having free access to such distinguished society, could tear himself away from them, and, in a wilderness among “people for the most part rather rough and unrestrained,” assist in laying the foundations of a higher civilization. But others besides scholars, and the rulers of his own country, acknowledged and did honor to Van Foreest’s merits. In 1635, three years before his country had raised him to his high judicial position, King Louis XIII of France made him a knight of the Order of St. Michael. As such he adopted the motto, Vincat amor patrie. Early in life he married Josina Van Seg- waerd, who was six years younger than himself, and to whom as well as to their children Mr. Michaélius refers in the letter. By her Foreest had five children, among them a son Dirk, born in the year 1614, who succeeded his father as Secretary of the Executive Coun- cil after the latter’s elevation to the highest judiciary of the land. It is not at all surprising that a family cherishing the traditions of such an ancestry, possessing the historic Joannes Foreest From the original oil-painting. The portrait was painted in 1628, the year the Letter was written, and is still in the possession of the Foreest family residing in Heiloo, North Holland. . ry 5 ¢ ¢ ' * 5 4 ry Josina Van Segwaerd (Wife of Joannes Foreest) From the original oil-painting. The portrait was painted in 1628, the year the Letter was written, and is still in the possession of the Foreest family residing in Heiloo, North Holland. Review of the Letter 29 sense fostered by long generations of distinguished pub- lic service, should have so carefully guarded such a doc- ument as this letter, the value of which would have been unperceived by less discriminating minds. One of the persons mentioned in this letter should be much better known than by name only. This man is Jan Jansz Brouwer, not only the captain of a Com- pany’s trading-ship permanently stationed in New Neth- erland, but also a member of the Council of the colony. As such he assisted in directing its destiny, while as a captain and a trader he enjoyed “the general reputation of being an honest, well behaved man, of more than ordinary trustworthiness, which has been manifested in the great services rendered by him to this place, and to the general trade of the Company.” The histories con- tain nothing further about him; and as the records of the West India Company have been destroyed, it is doubtful whether anything more concerning him will ever come to light. From the faé that Mr. Michaélius had entrusted him with the delivery of the letter, it would appear that Brouwer came from Hoorn or its neighborhood. There lived a Brouwer family at Enkhuizen, within easy distance of Hoorn. ‘The ancestor of this family 30 Review of the Letter was the Burgomaster Jan Albertsz Brouwer, whose two sons, Dirk Jansz Brouwer and Cornelis Jansz Brouwer, took a prominent part in delivering the city of Enk- huizen from Spanish domination in May, 1572. Prior to this they had been obliged to leave the town and “forced to wander long in exile,” owing to persecu- tions by the Spanish Inquisition, but had hastened to return after the capture of Briel by the Sea Beggars in April, 1572. After his return to Enkhuizen, “some partisans of the Prince and lovers of liberty gathered at the house of Dirk Brouwer for the purpose of deliberating about the best means to shake off the Spanish yoke.” These secret meetings were followed by the bloodless revolu- tion which resulted in Enkhuizen declaring for William the Silent and liberty. The next year, 1573, Dirk Brouwer, at the head of a numerous following of volunteers, took part in the famous naval battle of the Zuyder Zee, which resulted in the partial destruction of the Spanish squadron and the capture of its Admiral, Bossu, by the Dutch patriots. In 1575, and again in 1577, the grateful burghers of Enkhuizen rewarded Dirk Brouwer for his invaluable services by electing him Schepen, or Councillor, of their city. Bin Gos Rar fren Signature of Jan Jansen Brouwer Photographed from the earliest original official New Netherland document extant. This paper, dated July 15th, 1630, is now in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany. It was signed by Brouwer as a member of the Council of New Netherland. No portrait of Brouwer exists. Review of the Letter 31 We know positively that Dirk Jansz Brouwer had a son Jan, who during the same troubles, with his brother and under the leadership of his uncle Cornelis, later assisted by several burghers, prevented the Enkhuizen ship from joining the Spanish Admiral Boshuyzen’s fleet in the Zuyder Zee. This Jan, the son of Dirk, doubtless also had a son Jan, who would have been named Jan Jansz Brouwer, and may have been the same whom Mr. Michaélius praised so highly and would have preferred to have kept at Manhattan for the sake of his motherless son Joannes. From the similarity between the names, and from the faé& that he consented to convey Mr. Michaélius’ letter to Hoorn, we may readily conclude that Jan Jansz Brouwer had lived at Enkhuizen, and was a de- scendant— possibly the great-grandson—of the early Burgomaster whose two sons Dirk and Cornelis were so closely identified with the liberation of that city. It appears that the Directors of the West India Com- pany, possibly upon the recommendation of Mr. For- eest, permitted Captain Brouwer to ply between this country and Holland without obliging him to stay long in New Netherland. On May 24th, 1630, as master of 32 Review of the Letter the ship Unity, Captain Brouwer brought to this country one Arien Dirksen Korn, who was yet living in 1685, when he made a deposition mentioning this fact." There is a possibility that the present American fam- ily of Brouwer, Brower, etc., is of the same stock as Captain Jan Jansz Brouwer. According to the Hon. Teunis G. Bergen,’ Adam, the first of the name in this country subsequent to the Captain, was named Adam Brouwer Berkhoven, doubtless after the birthplace of his father or grandfather. The village of Berkhoven (now called Berkhout?) is situated in the province of North Holland, three miles west of Hoorn and about ten miles southwest of Enkhuizen. At the time of his marriage, March rath, 1645, to Magdalena Verdon, Adam Brouwer is said in the record to be from Ceulen or Cologne. If this be not a mistake of the registrar, it may be explained by the family having fled from Berkhoven to Cologne during the Spanish persecutions, and here Adam, then, must have been born.‘ It would be vain, however, unless additional evidence should * Documentary History of New York, 8vo, iii, 49. 2 New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, ix, 126. 3 Heringa, Aardrykshundig Woordenboek van Nederland, 20. 4 New York Genealogical and Biographical Society’s Collefions, i, 13. Review of the Letter By come to light, to try to conneét the descendants of Adam Brouwer with the Captain-Councillor of New Netherland, though the two may have been distantly related. There lived also in New Amsterdam a Jan Gerritsen Brouwer, who had a child baptized on April 2d, 1656. Two years later another Jan Brouwer had a son bap- tized, likewise named Jan," which suggests that the father of this second Jan Brouwer was also named Jan, and he may have been the Captain Jan Jansz Brouwer mentioned in the letter. Throughout the history of New Netherland, from its discovery to the end of the Dutch rule, the name Texel, as applied to the narrow strait between the island of Texel and the northernmost point of North Holland, is indissolubly connected with its development. Hudson started from the Texel after leaving Amster- dam, and so did Dominie Michaélius. We know from what he tells us in the letter that his ship, in company with a large fleet of other vessels, had been long de- tained there, waiting for a favorable wind to go to sea. The narrow strait of Texel was the outlet for Am- sterdam’s commerce. Amsterdam was really an inland t New York Genealogical and Biographical Society’s Collefions, ii, 42, 49. 34 Review of the Letter city in those days, much more so even than at present, since the North Sea canal has more directly connected it with the sea. In the days of Mr. Michaélius, and for nearly two centuries later, Amsterdam’s only connection with the ocean was by means of the Zuyder Zee, through the strait of Texel, many miles north of the city. The island of Texel was originally part of the main- land of the present province of Friesland. The Zuyder Zee then was a small lake,— Lake Flevo,— differing little from the many lakes which at the present time dot the surface of Friesland. In the year 1170 A. D. one of those terrible inunda- tions took place which have constantly changed the map of Netherland. The tremendous tempests of that year hurled mountains of water against the frail dikes, which broke through in many places. Whole regions disappeared beneath the waves; many populous cities, innumerable villages, scores of feudal castles, thousands of farmhouses and cottages, were washed away; more than a hundred thousand human beings and tens of thousands of cattle found a sudden grave in the angry waters. Then it was that the present small islands of Texel and Wieringen were torn from the mainland and the Zuyder Zee flowed over these drowned lands. Review of the Letter es Without the Zuyder Zee the city of Amsterdam could have never become what it was in Mr. Michaélius’ time and long afterward—the mart, the financial and industrial centre of the Western world. Without the Zuyder Zee this city of the marshes, built on piles, born from a few fishermen’s huts and farmhouses clustered around the protecting walls of the castle of Amstel, might have developed into a respectable country- and market-town, but nothing more. With the Zuyder Zee and the strait of Texel as con- necting links between the outer world and the ambi- tious town, the people of Amsterdam, soon after its foundation in 1200, entered upon their career of peace- ful conquest, which culminated, a little more than four centuries later, in their city being first among her peers in commerce, finance, and industrial enterprise. By a strange freak of nature,—or because the dikes there were more strongly built than in other places,— a considerable portion of the present province of North Holland, toward the east, escaped destruction during the inundation of the year 1170, and juts into the Zuyder Zee as a broad promontory, like the hump on a dromedary’s back. At the extremity of this promon- tory, on the Zuyder Zee, lies the city of Enkhuizen; and 36 Review of the Letter at the southern base, in a sort of cove, is situated the city of Hoorn. Both of these cities were, in Mr. Mi- chaélius’ time, enterprising commercial towns and con- siderable seaports. No two places, excepting of course Amsterdam, are more closely and intimately identified with the early history of New Netherland. Hoorn, es- pecially, had a prominent share in the early fur trade between Holland and Manhattan, and several of its ships continued to ply between here and the mother country long after the fur trade had lost its prime importance. It is therefore not a mere accident that Manhattan’s first preacher was from this place or its neighborhood. Nor is it strange that his earliest existing letter was written to a prominent citizen of Hoorn, who, as a Director of the West India Company for the Northern Quarter, took a most aétive interest in the healthy de- velopment of the colony. ¢ gaa ; ae cofi-ghbo bom “ a vet Meret oe +r ow He x6 os £2 % % nee 3 bs a ene ao ee ae ce ba veer, DIOS at a te Si ; Po ‘en the 5 ogy Do G roar fg L- Es Sug’ D2 9 ens ne A ote a aty tet. Wadd ford , of eat gh i a . Lar ¢ a fy ee wy 32 Sdn? wey ’ oreog “> Sollnp *f rept ¥ ee" af eee SCR ned - oe {Ma fo fre oot ah, - “What hign, Sy oe a oh g- ae ont CLA Gue GER teaps “Guts ty ans 6 mtb widurcbhy fg br Bie ad a tues hw 2a tess dan grb bb ie ey [opty be ote a Gr hyde’ oe Ake oe He Oe Cum ae Mo} is pauphed aad SCImp oy any h~ Cie? SL % ow 1? Speer \aadard 26 ode YO is garth SP stat, 3+ 5 free et Go Ko o 06 Rody, a ef ark drd ay gO fe Corey it LA i dy wn » Shen —F 7 7 Bat no nnd Va Ry ale fre > VN Gaus a7 iad Pep aby sty, Aa pea ’ afd isha? 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Sabtevait HS Se es seed Ce eae WCamtahed vy TEwerb- TEA Ladl Wy Pi au fh Ae V2: bine L fok afd wy Cote Pubnfettiger, fms Mihaelias ° af 7 ai ah, shige, ana Pee > Sere BY 3 g seh be ate nS arena “ ju ae Fare ieee Liteof “Fy fo % ahh 4 mb’ daL- Camry” ae eS gor, wh 2 eeeaey 5 aaeh i 22 at spe ay fa on vee se, a i Fey h gyal a SHA ag oye pprvie wLsheng why, voormdm o} e aa 2 Dion dd BH ora7 pee On aan Lee GeOF (ober Wiser Se fdr (uedy BF gerkoofse Co {> a Est a oh SS Corals a von tds Sane Bi song ane, wy ae ag sa Se goede prom Yodnmaded ond onddy bq 61D van Gud E PEE = Cee “Bint Yar ws Ct os Poe, PRG De? dw CD arin wap fores be, oy Yad YW, | aa © worl. Maryt 2 fycod 520 Sends, a Sade hic — ma onfer bdtdnfgap covey a aa a az Qs Goo. bot F Got | Reis a€ atpatfod Bold, AVabrow uch oh. @ ae —" ae Gabe BR Iromnr- dea &y he Candy? d4. argt feud? 5d86., Sy assy. owls. Aa! Spends on AE ie ous resi oy? 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(var eer S oy ° ae asad basse ks ofan 4s sie a eae erga se le eres Seale ro ie a-pieps) esas ee po Yay oe Med MP APH [oP Fe id, pads, 4 0 ote ios thr moda hte? 9 vay ) Ss a ber Milby Seige AX i math edhe So per ras ode 5 wall pd sack Rakai gee any Web? 4 Plo wo ° Wee irae 2 bow pao Rae! eek sen. Fs MatrReBntes dwrgads me ea ea ae ore 2 1 Sy eamnsaht Goi we. Sheth uh + ay (Pr wr us wt 7 ae odie Ber pian Se rk a oie ratty Py am d Yomi fata? ° v Se, apr Ce We aie eoape meee ce as . ah 4 te Candd TeOP, GS Vat es ay rast he tech eT Aydu? ond ‘ { Be 7 si | Letter of Jonas Michaélius to Joannes Foreest Written from the Island of Manhattan, August 8th, 1628 aera eaee | Transcript of the Superscription of the Letter | Achthare, welgeleerde, wel wyse, voorsienige vrome ende seer discrete Heere D “foannes Foreest Sec- retaris der E. E. Heeren Gecommitteerde Raden van de Staten van Noord Holland ende West- vrieslant, houdende syne residentie tot Hoorn. P vriend dien God beware Transcript of the Letter De vrepDE CuristTi. Achtbare welwyse seer voorsienige Heere, goed- gunstige vriend. De goede gelegentheyt hebbende om an- deren te schryven, soo en heb’ ick niet willen versuymen het selfde tot uwe E. te doen. Ick hadde uwer E. sulcx belooft ende soo oude als nieuwe verbyntenissen maken my uwe E. dat schuldich. Wy syn na een lange ende verdrie- tige verwachting na den goeden wynd in Texel, eyndelyck den 24 January deses jaers met een groote vlote schepen te seyl gegaen. De reyse heeft redelyck langhe, moeyelyck ende pericu- leus gevallen, voornemelyck ontrent de Bar- mudes ende de ruyge custen deser Landen. 4.0 Transcript of the Letter Ons tractament te schepe viel gansch hard ende sober ende dat door faulte van eenen seer snooden ende godloosen Cock, ende onsen Schipper Evert Croeger met welcken ick wel eer lange ter see gesworven hebbe, maer en heb hem voor desen nooyt tedegen gekent. Hy stond doenmaels onder tgebied van de Heere Lam ende geleeck meer een kind dan een man te wesen, maer nu hebbende de hoog- ste voogdye van’t schip, verthoonde hem als een Cleyn Conincxken in gebied, maer als enen grooten Buffel in onbeleefde manieren. Het jammert my te meer van wegen myn arme huysvrouwe, omdat den tyd soo cort was dien sy noch hadde te leven, ende daer en boven na onse beste wetenschap noch bevrucht was van kynde, hoewel sy haer vyftichste jaer al gepasseert was. Waerom ick oock het selve in Texel bemerckende haer wederomme aldaer te lande gebracht soude hebben soo ons het Transcript of the Letter 41 dagelycx onweder niet verhindert hadde ende sy selve seer resoluyt geweest om de voorge- nomene reyse met God te volbrengen. Wy quamen hier eerst den 7en Aprilis te lande wel vermoeyt synde: ende als wy nu ontrent 5 weken opt land geweest hadden, is sy met een grof lichaem door een seer brandige siecte, niet sonder groote vercoutheyt op de borst, bevangen, ende daerna door enen grooten vloed hares lichaems vele vuylicheyt gelosset hebben, doch niet van aldat tot hare vrucht mochte behooren, met groot verlangen ende wel getroost van gemoede, deser wereld over- leden ende in den Heere ontslapen. Alle din- gen deden haer wel op, ende het land beviel haer ende my gansch wel, onse compste was oock aengenaem by allen: ende siet hoe on- versiens de Heere quam afbreken den draed van haer broossche leven! Daer legt onse menschelycke inbeeldinge daer legt onse hope. 42 Transcript of the Letter Want het scheen ons toe als of wy nu na verscheydene beproevingen eniger jaren, wat meerder wille ende vermaeck na de wereld souden gehat hebben: Doch siet, des Heeren gedachten en waren niet als de onse. Nu wat heb’ ick te seggen? De Heere heeftet gedaen: Ick moet het lyden: Ende wat heb ick voor reden om oock niet te wil- len? Want alle dingen wercken den genen die hem lief hebben, mede ten goede. Dit can wel de lichamelycke ooge tegenwoordich qualyck bemercken, maer de reden gelooft het, ende het herte vertrouwt het op des Heeren belofte. Ondertusschen lydt de nature last ende geweld ende en can haer selven niet versaken. Ick bidde den Heere dat hy my die couragie die ick in dese bedieninge soo wel te besigen hebbe noch door dese, noch door enige andere besoeckingen niet en late ont- vallen, ten eynde myn werck, of veel liever het Transcript of the Letter 43 syne, door my geluckichlyck succedere. Of ick hier na de expiratie der 3. jaren noch langer sal verblyven en can ick niet seggen: dencke my daerin te reguleren na de vrucht myns dienst’s ende de comoditeyt die ick sien sal om met myn huysgesin hier wel te leven. De leeftocht valt hier hard ende sober. Ver- versschingen van boter melck en is qualyck te becomen van wegen de veelheyd des volcx ende het cleyn getal van beesten ende boeren: Twordt alles tot enen dieren prys betaelt, ende diet halen syn noch jaloers tegen malcander. Ons en gebreeckt niets soo seer dan peerden, koeyen ende arbeydsame wercklieden tot de bouwinge van huysen ende sterckten ende om onsselven beter te bedroopen met de land- bouwerye om suyvel ende granen genoech te hebben aen ons selven: Want gestadich uyt het Vaderland geaest te worden valt moeye- lyck, costelyck ende sorgelyck soo onder wege 44 Transcript of the Letter enich schip ofte schepen quamen te veronge- lucken. Het vee begint dapper te vermenich- fuldigen ende insonderheyt de swynen ende schapen De koeyen die int eerste aencomen door ongeluck ende versuymenisse vele afge- storven syn, syn wat te weynich om binnen corte tyd seer vermenigt te werden. 10 ofte 12. Boeren met beesten ende land na adve- nant waren genoech om ons uyt alle swarich- eyt te helpen. Dit eyland is wel de sleutel ende voorneemste vasticheyt van het Land ende heeft wel van nooden eerst besett te worden gelyck het alreede is, maer is wat on- vruchtbaerder dan andere plaetsen ende heeft meer moeytens in van wegen de menichte der Wortelen van struycken ende boomen. Wy hebben onlange geleden enige welgelene plaet- sen naby bespiedt die goed syn van grond en lichtelyck, om hare nabuyricheyt, souden connen beschermt werden: soo de Heeren Transcript of the Letter 45 Meesters hiervan nu verwittigt synde, verstaen conden om ons beesten ende volck toe te senden wy waren na menschelycke rekeninge genom[en] geholpen. Aent oppereynde van de Riviere by’t fort Orangie, staet voor ons open een groot Landbegryp, vruchtbaer ende plaisierich tot verwonderens toe: want d’In- woonders, de Mahicans genaemt; hebbent ver- laten ende synt verloopen door vreese van de Maeckwaeys die haer vyanden ende te mach- tich syn: ende oock van ons; dewyle sy tot verradische moorderyen ende overumpelinge vant voornoemde fort tegen den onsen trouw- looslyck gecomplotteert hadden: Waervan ick aen mynen broeder de Historie int breede overgeschreven hebbe, die uwer E. van alles wel pertinente kennisse sal doen hebben, ge- lyck als van vele andere dingen meer, als de menichfuldige godloosheyt, duyvelrye ende meer dan barbarische wreedheden deser natien 46 Transcript of the Letter tegen malcanderen, alsoo sy haer in vele soor- ten van volcken bedeelen. Ons en ontbreeckt maer een goede partye volcx, om soo dat, als dit naest gelene land in te nemen. Men can om een cleyn sommeken hun een groote partye lands afcoopen: ende behalven dat soo synder oude ende nieuwe actien genoech op hun land (daer van ons doch geen ofte luttel prouffyts can toecomen) aen te eygenen by forme van confiscatie over verscheydene on- trouwicheden ende delicten tegens ons ge- committeert, de welcke hun noch nooyt en syn quytgescholden noch door enich accoord afgedaen maer gereserveert met sekere insicht om te gelegener tyd daermede der Comp‘ en deser plaetse beter prouffyt te mogen doen. De lucht is hier seer gesond nochtans vallen de alteratien van hitte ende coude gemeyn- lyck subyt. De somer is gansch heet de win- ter seer langh ende strenge. De dagen vallen Transcript of the Letter 17 des Somers wat corter ende’s Wynters wat langer dan int Vaderland, gelyck uwe E. uyt het verschil der Climaten selve genoech can afmeten. Het land geeft vele soorten van goede dingen die grootelycx dienen tot gerief des levens van visch, gevogelten, wilde gedier- ten ende bosschagien, oesters, boomvruchten, eerdvruchten, kruyden soo medicinale als an- dere van alle soorten, maer is alles seer onge- reedt ende wild te soecken, soo lange geen beter ordre gestelt en wordt om alles by een te brengen ende luyden gevonden werden die hen daerop verstaen ende hun werck daeraf maken, het welcke allenskens apparent is te sullen geschieden. Men bouwt hier een nieuwe forteresse tegen den aenstoot niet soo seer der Wilden die wy nu voortaen met Godes hulpe niet seer te vreesen hebben, als wel der vyan- den van buyten. Men begint vast nieuwe huysen te bouwen in de plaetse van de hutten 48 Transcript of the Letter ende oolen daerin men te voren meer genes- telt dan gewoont heeft. Men sneyt vast hout ende maeckt noch een meulen tot dien eynde om schepen vol houts tot timme [ragie] van huysen ende schepen dienstich na het Vader- land te voeren. Ende om hier te bouwen onbreeckt het meer aen arbeyders dan stoffe: Want behalven vele soorten van goed hout soo valt hier caleye om stenen ende tegels te backen, hoewel wat slechts doch de bergstenen niet verde van hier, syn soo vele te beter ende daer syn menichte van oesterschelpen om calck te branden. De belofte die my de Heeren Meesters deden van 6. ofte 7. morgens land te verlenen om my te erneeren in de plaetse van een vrye tafel die my anders toebehoorde die is gansch ¥del want hare E.E. wisten selve wel dat hier noch peerden, noch koeyen, noch ar- beyders om geld te becomen en syn. Ende dat is den eersten Item op de rekeninge: wat Transcript of the Letter 49 noch meer vallen wil, sal de tyd leeren. Want dus doende leven wy een hard ende sober le- ven, als arme luyden. Ten behoort immers soo niet te gaen, hoewel het lyden heylich is, gelyck de Nonnen plegen te seggen. Want sy weten oock selve wel dat ydele schappraeyen maken dulle Bagynen. Alle dingen beginnen nu wat beter te slagen dan voor desen. Want daer is vele verloren arbeyd ende cost gedaen. De Meesters syn in vele dingen door ver- keerde rappoorten ende advysen verabuseert geworden. Enige Directeurs ende overhoof- den hebben door quaed beleyd het volck ende land meer onderdruckt dan opgeholpen, ende vele onder den gemeynen man hadden liever met ledich gaen dan met vele wercks den cost gewonnen ende daertoe noch rycke gewor- den: seggende dat se niet gecomen waren om te wercken, dat se om te wercken wel te huys gebleven mochten hebben, ende dat het al eens 50 Transcript of the Letter was wat ofte hoevele men dede als het maer was in dienst der Comp* Sulcke en dierge- lycke propoostgens waren den teneur van het gesangh dat men alden dach hoorde: Ende de sulcke worden al metdertyd voor enen on- nutten ballast na huys geremiteert. Daer syn oock hier ende daer vele stercten begonnen te bouwen op onsekere resolutien, de welcke ten halven bleven steken, niet wetende waer men eyndelyck een vaste verblyvinge soude maken. Wy hebben hier door des Heeren genade begonnen een Christelycke Kercke te formeren waervan ick breeder aen D. Goed- hals ende D. Theodorus Christiani wydloopiger hebbe geschreven, gelyck mede van vrucht mynes diensts die ick alreede sie ende noch voort verwachte met des Heeren zegen: ende hoe cleyne apparentie dat ick sie om dese blinde ende verkeerde Natie tot de ware ken- nisse Godes in Christo te brengen. Voorts, Transcript of the Letter ai isser yet meer dat uwe E. geerne soude weten belangende myne ofte oock deses geheelen lands gelegenheyt de brenger deses Jan Jansz Brouwer sal uwe E. in alles wel connen ende seer geerne willen dienen: alsoo hy lange voor Schipper ende Coopman ghints ende weder op dese custe heeft gesworven: Een man die wel eenvoudich is ende hem niet gansch vele en verstaet op schryven cyfferen ende boeck- houden, maer nochtans by allen getuygenisse heeft van een eerlyck ende goed coporte- ment ende meer dan ordinaire getrouwicheyt, waermede hy deser plaetse ende der gansche Comp* in den Handel groote diensten gedaen heeft. Ende dewyle het schynt, dat hy nu syne becomste schier hebbende van dese lan- den (voornemelyck soo het hem van de Heeren Meesters niet gegunt en wordt met enich schip wt het Vaderland over ende weder te varen, sonder hier op de custe lange stille 82 Transcript of the Letter te moeten leggen) dit vaerwater lichtelyck soude verlaten, ende elders in dienste der Comp® ofte des Vaderlands syne avantagie soecken; soo ist dat hem syn eerlyck verzoeck, van een eerlyck getuygenisse te mogen hebben belan- gende synen goeden handel ende wandel (ick en segge niet geweygert, maer) te noodder verleent werdt, van de E.E. Heeren Directeur ende Raden alhier, ende dat wt enckele vreese van synen getrouwen dienst hier niet langer te sullen mogen genieten: twelck of het een genoechsame reden z¥, om yemand als hy enich beter voordeel siet, op syne schad[e] te houden, en soud’ ick niet wel durven seggen, ende geve 't uwer E. oock selve te b[e]denck- en. Wat my belangt, ick en soude niet liever sien, dan dat hy weder herwaerd quame, oock te meer van wegen myn eygen geryf, om dies- wille dat myn soone Joannes te synen huyse woont; maer soude niet te min swaricheyd Transcript of the Letter 53 maken van hem, ofte der waerheyt selve, met een behoorlyck getuygenisse te onbreken. De Heere verlene hem succes ende geluck in hoe- danige plaetsen ende diensten hy hem selven voor het L. Vaderlan[d] ofte dese Comp* soude mogen imploeyeren ende het sal uwer E. (de welcke vele en goe[de] recommandatien ver- mach voor vrome luyden) gelieven dese per- soon te favorizeeren ende te gratificeren daer *t mogelyck syn sal ende in goede reden be- staen sal connen. Ende siet hier eens een seldsam[e] recompense van uwer E. goetwil- licheyt tegens my (daervan ick my van over menige jaren hebbe mogen versekeren door vele preuven) dat ick my niet eens en ontsie uwe E. om faveur voor een ander mede te molesteren. Ick hebbe aen mynen broeder geschreven om enige dingen wt die kisten die by uwe E. ingestelt syn in bewaringe, gelyck als hy met myn schrift by uwe E. selve wel 54 Transcript of the Letter bekent sal maken, na het welcke de selve dingen op de lyste die by uwe E. mede is, connen geroeyeert werden. Wat hier al valt van rare ofte schoone dingen en can ick noch soo voor eerst niet weten. Dewyle ick maer nieuwelycks gecomen synde wat vele occu- patie hadde ende daer en boven noch in de huyshoudinge seer weynich geaccomodeert was, soo en heb’ ick niet wel geconnen: ende alsoo my dese myne droeffenisse onverwacht over den hals is gecomen, soo heb’ ick schaers de lust gehat om daerna veel te vernemen: evenwel en heb ick niet connen nalaten uwer E. yet toe te senden van het weynege dat ick hadde, namelyck twe beentgens die de Wil- dinnen hier dragen voor quispels ende orna- menten om haer lyf, van de welcke sy al vry wat proncks maken. Tsyn de beentgens uyt de mannelycke gelederen van Bevers, comende met het ene eynde boven het scrotum ende Transcript of the Letter 55 met de reste langs de schacht henen. Men segt hier dat se int Vaderland uyt nieuwsgie- richeyt wel gebruyckt worden tot lepelstelen want het ene eynde bequaem is om een knop- ken ende het andere om een lepelblad aen te voegen. Ick hebbe mynen broeder gelastet de selve by den Silversmit alsoo te doen for- meren ende dan aen uwe E. te behandigen, uwe E. biddende,’t selve in teecken van vriend- schap ende danckbaerheyd voor dese reyse te willen acceptéren: Ende soo doe ick van ge- lycken aen enige goede vrienden tot Leyden de welcke meer met cleyne ende nieuwe snuys- teringen, dan met andere dingen van grooter weerde gedient zyn. Gelyck als dit oock is d’enige avantagie der luyden van een sobere fortuyne datse volstaen mogen, als sy met goede woorden ofte geringe beuselingen hare danckbaerheyd voor grooter weldaden be- thoonen. De Wyngaerden die ick van uwe E. 56 Transcript of the Letter hadde syn behouden overgecomen. Want op zee meynde ick datse gansch dood waren, maer geplant synde op avonture, soo syn sy noch late in den Somer voortgecomen met nieuwe spruyten. d’andere dingen als Note- boomkens ende Aelbessen, syn wtgegaen hoe- wel sy noch binnen groen waren doen ickse in de aerde stelde. Ick soude noch wel een handvol van dat goed begeeren, doch sonder groote wortels. Want vele in een cleyne ruym- te staende, met groote wortels ende weynich aerde moeten noodsaeckelyk verdrogen. Ick hadde oock een mandeken met Wyngaerden van Sr Jan Verschuyre de welcke op de West Indische Passagie daer t gansch warm was dap- pere rancken schoten met druyven daer aen: doch wederom terstond verdwenen, als wy on- sen coers enige graden verder Noordewaerds gehouden hadden comende onversiens als in enen tweden Winter: Doch int voorjaer we- Transcript of the Letter a der geplant synde syn terstond weder uytge- loopen doch met gene druyven, ende hebben al redelyck groote rancken. Ick dencke het naestcomende jaer, soo my de Heere het le- ven sal gunnen een sommeken gelds over te maken aen myn broeder, ende soude t liever (waert mogelyck) aen eenich comptoir in Noord Holland wtgestelt hebben dan in Suyd Holland: Soo uwe E. als dan enige gelegent- heyt daertoe sage ende geliefde hem daervan te verwittigen ons soude daermede sonder- linge vriendschap geschieden. Doet doch myne vriendelycke ende beleefde groetenisse aen uwer E. L. huysvrouwe die ick mede van alle vriendschap te bedancken hebbe ende voorts alle de kinderen maer voornemelyck mede uwer E. Oude Moeder die God vruch- tige Matrone de welcke de Heere in haren ouderdom wille stercken, om met Christe- lycke couragie ende volstandicheyt de reste 58 Transcript of the Letter van haren goeden loop ende geloove oefte- ninge aller deugden dus verre gebracht, tot den eynde toe uyt te loopen. Hiermede dan eyndigende ende my selven in uwer E. goede gunste ende gebeden tot den Heere bevelende, Achtbare Welgeleerde voorsienige seer dis- crete Heere ende gunstige vriend wil ick uwe E. ende allen den uwen den Almogenden God in genaden tot een langduyrige voor- spoed ende welvaert alhier, ende een eeuwige zaligheyt hier na, van herten wederom bevo- len hebben. Wt het Eyland van de Manhates in Nieuw Nederlandt desen 8n Augusti A° 1628. Uwer E. tot alles in Chro dienstwillige, Jonas MIcHAELIUS. [ Translation of the Superscription of the Letter | Honorable, well learned, very wise, prudent, val- tant, and very discreet Sir, D. Foannes Foreest, Secretary to the Hon. Lords of the Executive Council of the States of North Holland and West Friesland, residing at Hoorn. By friend whom God preserve. Translation of the Letter THE PEACE oF CuristT. Honorable, very wise, very prudent Sir, hind friend. Having a good opportunity to write to others, I was not inclined to neglect doing the same to your Honor. I had promised to write to your Honor, and old as well as new obligations render me your Honor’s debtor in this regard. After having waited long and impatiently for a favorable wind in the Texel, on January 24th of the present year we at last set sail with a large fleet of vessels. The voyage lasted rather long and was difficult and perilous, especially about the Bermudas and the rough coasts of this country. Our 62 Translation of the Letter treatment on board was rather severe and mean through the fault of a very wicked and ungodly cook, and of our skipper Evert Croeger, with whom, prior to this, I had made long voyages, but never before did I know him well. At that time he was under orders of Mr. Lam, and resembled more a child than a man; but now, being in su- preme command of the ship, he appeared like a petty king in authority, but as unman- nerly as a big buffalo. I feel the more sorry on account of my poor wife, for her days on earth were so nearly numbered; and besides, as far as we knew, she was with child, though having passed her fiftieth year. Having be- come aware of this in the Texel, I should, on this account, have sent her back to the shore, had not the continually bad weather prevented, and had not she herself been so firmly resolved, with God, to finish the pro- Translation of the Letter 63 posed voyage. We reached here only the 7th of April, much tired out. About five weeks after our arrival she was, in her delicate con- dition, seized by a malignant disease, accom- panied by a heavy cold in the chest. After her system had got rid of many impurities, but not of all pertaining to childbirth, she, with intense longing and in great happiness of mind, departed this life and slept in the Lord. Everything did appear favorable, and she and I were well pleased with the coun- try. Our coming, also, was agreeable to all, and now look how unexpectedly the Lord came to sever the fragile thread of her life! There now lies our conceit, there lies our hope; for it seemed to us as if now, after many tribulations extending over some years, we should have been in a position to enjoy life a little better. But, behold, the Lord’s thoughts were not as our thoughts. 64 Translation of the Letter Now what shall I say? The Lord has done it. I must bear it. And what reasons have I to object? For all things work to- gether for good to them that love Him. This the physical eye, it is true, can now hardly perceive; but reason believes, and the heart trusts, because of the Lord’s promise. Meanwhile the human affections suffer and refuse consolation. I pray the Lord that neither through this nor through any other trial shall I lose the courage I need so much in this ministry, in order that my work, or rather His, may be successful. I cannot say whether or not I shall remain here any longer after the three years shall have ex- pired. I expect to be governed in this mat- ter by the fruits of my ministration, and the convenience I shall find in living here with my family. Food here is scanty and poor. Fresh butter and milk are difficult to obtain, Translation of the Letter 65 owing to the large number of people and the small number of cattle and farmers. These articles are dear, and, moreover, those en- deavoring to secure them are jealous of one another. We need nothing so much as horses and cows, and industrious workers for the building of houses and fortresses, who later could be employed in farming, in order that we may produce sufhicient dairy products and crops. For to draw continually from the Fatherland is difficult, expensive, and hazard- ous, as on the way any ship or ships may be wrecked. The domestic animals, especially swine and sheep, are increasing considerably. The cows, several of which died in the be- ginning owing to accidents and neglect, are too few in number to increase very much in a short time. Ten or twelve farmers, with cattle and land in proportion, would be suf- ficient to help us out of all difficulties. True, 66 Translation of the Letter this island is the key and principal strong- hold of the country, and needs to be settled first, as is already done; but it is somewhat less fertile than other spots, and causes more trouble on account of the multitude of roots of shrubs and trees. Recently we have ex- plored some favorably situated lands near by, which have good soil, and which, on account of their proximity, could be easily protected. If the Lords Masters, being now informed about this, would agree to send us cattle and people, we should be, humanly speaking, se- cure. At the upper end of the river, near Fort Orange, lies open for us a large tract of remarkably fertile and pleasant land, as its inhabitants, the Mohicans, have abandoned it, having fled from there for fear of the Mo- hawks, their enemies, who are too strong for them; and also for fear of us, because they had faithlessly schemed to murder our peo- Translation of the Letter 67 ple, and treacherously plotted to surprise the aforesaid fort, a detailed account of which I have written to my brother. Doubtless he will have pertinently informed your Honor of the whole affair, as well as of many more things, such as the manifold wickedness, dev- ilish tricks, and more than barbarous cruelties of these nations against each other; for they are divided into many tribes. We lack only suficient people to occupy that country, as well as the one nearer to us. For a small sum of money we can buy of them a large quantity of land; and besides there are enough old and fresh causes to take posses- sion of their land (which cannot [now] af- ford us any or but little profit) by way of confiscation, on account of much treachery and many offenses committed against us. These have never been forgiven them, nor adjusted by any treaty, but have been re- 68 Translation of the Letter served for the certain purpose, at the propi- tious time, to make use of them to the ad- vantage of the Company and of this place. The air here is very healthful, yet the changes of heat and cold are usually sudden. The days in summer are somewhat shorter, and in winter are a little longer, than in the Father- land, as your Honor will be quite well able to deduce from the difference of the climate. The country produces many species of good things which greatly serve to ease life: fish, birds, game, and groves, oysters, tree-fruits, fruits from the earth, medicinal herbs and others of all kinds. But all is as yet uncul- tivated, and remains in a wild state as long as no better regulations are made to have things arranged by people who understand the work and make it their business, which, apparently, will be gradually done. A new fortress is in course of construction, not so Translation of the Letter 69 much for protection against the savages, whom we with God’s help need not fear so much from this time on, as against enemies from abroad. They are meanwhile beginning to build new houses in place of the hovels and holes in which heretofore they huddled rather than dwelt. They are also cutting wood and erecting another mill for the pur- pose of exporting to the Fatherland whole cargoes of timber fit for building houses and ships. And for building purposes there is a greater lack of laborers than of materials. For besides many kinds of good timber, there is here clay for the making of bricks and tiles, though rather poor; but the quarry stones, not far away, are better for our use, and there are large quantities of oyster shells to burn for lime. The promise of the Lords Masters to grant me 6 or 7 morgens of land to support myself in place of free board, 70 Translation of the Letter which otherwise would be my perquisite, 1s worth nothing. For their Honors themselves knew perfectly well that neither horses nor cows nor laborers are to be had here for money. And this is the first item of the bill; time will show what else will follow. Thus we lead a hard and sober existence like poor people. Verily it should not be so, though suffering is salutary, as the saying is among the nuns; for they [the Lords] themselves also well know that empty cupboards make mad Beguines. Everything begins to succeed now better than before, for much labor and expense have been in vain. The Masters have been misled in many respects through false re- ports and advice. Some Directors and Heads, by bad management, have rather kept back than helped the people and the country, and many among the common people would have liked to make a living, and even to get rich, Translation of the Letter 71 in idleness rather than by hard work, saying they had not come to work; that as far as working is concerned they might as well have staid at home, and that it was all one whether they did much or little, if only in the service of the Company. Such expres- sions were the burden of the song one heard all day long. And this sort of people are all, in course of time, reshipped home as useless ballast. Here and there many forts, also, founded on uncertain resolutions, had been projected, and were left half finished because it was yet undetermined where, in the end, a permanent settlement would be made. Through the Lord’s mercy we have begun to establish here a Christian congregation, about which I have written more particularly to D. Goedhals and to D. Theodorus Christiani, as well as of the fruit of my ministry, which I already perceive, and, through the Lord’s 72 Translation of the Letter blessing, still expect; also of the little pos- sibility I see to lead this blind, perverse [Indian] nation to the true knowledge of God through Christ. Further, should your Honor wish to learn any more concerning myself or regarding this country, the bearer of this letter, Jan Janssen Brouwer, will be able and very much pleased to satisfy you, because he has long ranged these coasts as skipper and trader. True, he is a simple man, and not much learned in writing, fig- uring, and bookkeeping; but he enjoys the general reputation of being an honest, well behaved man of more than ordinary trust- worthiness, which has been manifested in the great services rendered by him to this place and to the general trade of the Company. And whereas it appears that the country has now become somewhat repugnant to him (especially if the Lords Masters do not per- Translation of the Letter 73 mit him to ply between here and the Father- land, without obliging him to tarry long on this coast), he might consequently easily re- solve to quit these waters, and try his for- tune somewhere else in the employ of the Company or of the Fatherland. Because of this, his modest request to receive a true tes- timonial concerning his upright dealings and conduct (I do not say was refused, but) was the more unwillingly granted by the Hon. Lords Director and Councillors here, simply from fear that they might no longer enjoy his faithful service. Whether this be a sufh- cient reason to keep any body to his disad- vantage when he sees a better opening, I am not inclined to affirm, and submit this also to your Honor’s consideration. As far as I am concerned, nothing would please me better than his return hither, the more so on account of my own convenience, because my a4. Translation of the Letter son Joannes lives at his house; but I should nevertheless have scruples in denying him, or truth itself, a suitable testimonial. May the Lord grant him success, and make him pros- per in whatever positions and services he shall be employed by the beloved Fatherland or this Company. And may it please your Honor (whose recommendations in behalf of deserving people carry great weight) to favor and gratify this person whenever possible and proper. And behold in this a rare reward for your Honor’s kindness towards myself (of which I have been assured by numerous proofs extending over many years), that I do not even hesitate to trouble you for favors to somebody else. I have written my brother for some ar- ticles in the chests you have in charge, of which he will inform your Honor through my handwriting, after which these articles Translation of the Letter a5 may be taken from the list you have. It is too soon for me to know much about rare or beautiful objects here, because having only recently arrived I have been very busy, and besides I could not very well attend to this, owing to scant accommodations in the household. Moreover, this my sorrow came upon me so unexpectedly that I did not feel much inclined to go in quest of them. However, I cannot neglect sending your Honor some of the few I have, namely, two small bones which the savage women here wear upon their bodies as finery and orna- ment, and of which they are quite proud. These small bones are taken from beavers. It is said here that in the Fatherland, as a novelty, they are used for spoonhandles, with a little knob joined to one end and a spoon bowl to the other. I have directed my brother to have them thus prepared by a sil- 76 Translation of the Letter versmith and then presented to your Honor, with the request that you be pleased to ac- cept the same, for this once, as a token of friendship and gratitude. And I also make similar presents to some good friends at Ley- den who are more pleased with small and novel knicknacks than with other things of greater value. For this is the peculiar priv- ilege of people of small means, that they are permitted to show through pleasant words or small trifles their gratitude for greater favors. The vines I received from your Honor ar- rived in good condition, although at sea I thought they were quite dead; but, having been planted at a venture, they put forth new sprouts late in the summer. The other plants, such as nut-trees and currants, have died, though they were still green inside when I planted them. I should like another handful of them, though without large roots, Translation of the Letter ae for many with large roots, in a small space and in little soil [while on the ship], must necessarily wither. I also had a little basket with vines from Mr. Jan Verschuyre, which, when passing the West Indies, where it was very hot, sprouted finely and bore grapes that disappeared immediately after we had sailed some degrees further north, unexpect- edly arriving as it were in a second winter. After having been replanted in the spring they quickly sprouted again, but bore no grapes, and have now quite large shoots. Next year, if the Lord spare my life, I in- tend to remit a small amount of money to my brother, and (if possible) would rather in- vest it with a firm in North Holland than in South Holland. If your Honor then should be aware of any opportunity, and would kindly inform him of it, we should feel great- ly obliged. Present my kind and courteous 78 Translation of the Letter greetings to your esteemed wife, to whom also I am indebted for much friendliness; and further to the children, but more particularly also to your old mother, that pious matron whom the Lord will support in her old age to finish with Christian courage and stead- fastness the remainder of her good course, and to continue the faithful practice of all virtues adhered to thus far. Closing herewith, and commending myself to your Honor’s favor and desiring your sup- plications to the Lord, Honorable, well learned, prudent, very dis- creet Sir and kind friend, I once more from my heart commit your Honor and all yours to Almighty God’s grace, for continuous prosperity and welfare here and eternal bliss hereafter. Translation of the Letter 79 From the Island of the Manhates in New Netherland, this 8th of August, anno 1628. In all things your Honor’s willing servant in Christ, Jonas MicHakLIUs. New Netherland to 1628 DISCOVERY TRADE AND EXPLORATION COLONIZATION New Netherland to 1628 I DISCOVERY The discovery by the Portuguese in 1498 of a sea passage around the Cape of Good Hope to the East Indies had not only dethroned Venice, the beautiful Queen of the Adriatic, but had elevated the city of Lisbon to the first rank among the commercial centers. The capital of Portugal became the mart for the wares brought from the Orient. The river Tagus was filled at all times with the commercial fleets of the leading maritime nations, resorting there in quest of the mer- chandise of Persia, India, China, and Japan. Among the principal customers of the Portuguese were the Netherlanders, who, in exchange for the products of the fields, the mines, the forests, and the workshops of northern Europe, received here the mer- chandise shipped by the Portuguese merchants from the East. To the Spanish ports, also, the Netherland traders resorted in quest of the products of South America and the West Indies, and, in their turn, sold 84 New Netherland to 1628 all this varied merchandise throughout the north of Europe. The revolt of the Dutch against Spanish domination in Netherland, which began in 1568, had at first no perceptible influence upon the commercial relations between the two nations. Dutch sailors continued to visit, Dutch merchants continued to live in, Spanish ports as of old, and though the two nations were en- gaged in deadly combat their business intercourse went on unimpeded. In 1580 Portugal had been conquered by the Duke of Alva for King Philip II. of Spain, and the entire Iberian peninsula united under one government, with Spain as the predominant party in the union. In 1581, one year after the Spanish conquest of Portugal, the Dutch abjured the King of Spain as their sovereign, thus severing every political tie be- tween the empire of Spain and the people of Nether- land. From this time on the Spanish government be- gan to put obstacles to the intercourse of the Dutch merchants with the Spanish and Portuguese, hoping to bring the Dutch to submission by taking away from them their lucrative carrying trade. In 1584 the Spanish King thought he could deal a death-blow to Discovery 8 5 the independent spirit of his revolting Dutch subjects by closing to them access to the wares of Asia and America, thus hoping to paralyze many important means of livelihood of the Dutch people. ‘The Span- iards, however, and the Portuguese even more, were fully alive to the importance for themselves of com- mercial intercourse with the Dutch rebels. With the secret connivance of Portuguese officials, a sort of clandestine commerce was for many years carried on between the port of Amsterdam and that of Lisbon. This condition of affairs, however, became irksome to the Dutch, whose facilities for trading depended upon the good will of the authorities charged with the execution of the prohibitive laws. Several times Dutch ships had been confiscated, their crews thrown into prison, and it became necessary to find means to put a stop to this unbearable situation. Owing, also, to the heavy war expenses incurred by the Spanish government, the customs duties upon American and Oriental goods entering Iberian ports had been raised very considerably, and the price of these goods had proportionately increased. There existed only one remedy for these many evils, and this was for the Dutch to go themselves to the 86 New Netherland to 1628 countries producing the goods whose distribution had been monopolized by the subjects of Philip of Spain. The beaten track to southern and eastern Asia, around the Cape of Good Hope, was beset with great difficul- ties and many dangers. Strong Spanish and Portuguese fleets were continually patrolling these oceans, and it was doubtful whether the new-born Dutch Republic would yet be able to cope as successfully with the enemy in distant seas as in the home waters. Only one other way was possible. If an unob- stru€ted passage could be found through the Arctic Ocean along the northern coast of Russia and Siberia, (or Tartary, as it was then called,) the danger of attack by the Spaniards and Portuguese would not only be averted, but the duration of the voyage would be shortened by more than one half. The trip from Holland to eastern Asia by way of the Cape of Good Hope was computed at two thousand nine hundred and thirty-five leagues; the passage from Holland by way of the Arctic Ocean at only twelve hundred and thirty-two leagues. Should this passage prove prac- ticable, the Dutch would be able to undersell the Por- tuguese merchants, if only on account of the consid- erable saving in cost of transportation. Discovery 87 The Dutch were not strangers in the Arctic seas. In 1577 the energetic Middelburg trader Balthazar De Moucheron and other enterprising Dutch merchants had opened commercial intercourse with the White Sea. In 1584 they established permanent agencies at Archangel for the North Russian trade. The difficulties of the Iberian situation were accu- mulating, and for some years there had been serious talk in Holland about equipping an expedition to go in search of a northeastern passage. In December, 1593, Moucheron, having formed a company, proposed to the States of Holland and Zeeland to equip an expe- dition, towards whose fitting out his company was to pay one quarter of the expense, provided they received one quarter of the duties levied on the goods to be imported from the countries discovered by the expedi- tion. This offer was declined. The States, however, now were thoroughly aroused, and resolved themselves to equip an expedition in search of the desired route. Early in the summer of 1594 three ships were equipped by the government to go in search of the northeastern passage. One of the ships belonged to Amsterdam, one to Zeeland, and one to Enkhuizen. The experienced pilot William Barendsz commanded 88 New Netherland to 1628 the large ship from Amsterdam, and with him sailed Gerrit De Veer, the chronicler of the voyage. The Enkhuizen ship was commanded by Jan Huyghen Van Linschoten, a famous Dutch traveler, who likewise wrote a history of the voyage. On June 5th, 1596, the three ships, attended by a Terschelling yacht to act as despatch boat, sailed out of the Texel. After having reached the Waygat Strait, the ships separated on July 21st, and took different directions. The strait was open, but further on the passage was considerably obstructed by ice. Consider- ing they had fulfilled the tenor of their instructions, and hampered by lack of provisions as well as by the unwillingness of several of their crews to proceed any further into the ice-covered seas, the officers of the various ships resolved to return to the Waygat Strait, where they met on the morning of August 15th. Three days later they returned together to Holland, and on September 16th, 1594, arrived in the Texel. Though this first trip had been barren of any tan- gible result, the authorities had been encouraged rather than disheartened by the reports sent in, and resolved to make a second attempt, upon a much larger scale. This time a fleet of seven ships was fitted out, two of VVaerachtighe Befchryvinghe Wlandote leplagien / ter twerelt noyt foo heeemt ghe: hoort / Dele jacren achter malcanderen deur de Hollandtiche ende Veelanodtiche (chepen by noorDent Nooweghen/Mofcovia ede Cartaria/na de Coninckrijcken ban Cathay mde China , fomede bande op- Docninghe bande Weygats, Nova Sembla,cfipan’t landt op De So, grabé / Dat men arht Gpoentandt tezgn / baer nope menfch ghewweelt ts/ enbe hande felle berfrheurende Bepren ende ander Zee-monfters ende ondzachlijche houbs/eh fe op be lactfte repfe tichtp inc ps befet is/ende toolck op 76. graben op Nova Sembla een Huds ghetimmert/enbe ro.maenden haer albact onthouben Hebben/enbde daet nae meer als 3 s0.mmplen met open clepne fepuptert ober ende lange der Zee ghebarens Alles met {eer grooten perijebel/ mopten/ende ongeloofelicke ( warichept. Sedacts peur Geitit de Veer ban Amftelredart, INAVARCHV.S HOLLANDVS eS Ser a "TOF = 97 hl _ el ee Eee Se wee Re == sn RR AT a a a ER Ghedruckt t Amftelredam , by Cornelis Clactz,op’t wwater,int Shrijt-boeck, A? 1598 Title-page of the first edition of Gerrit de Veer’s Description of three voyages to the Arctic Ocean, 1595 to 1597, in search of a passage to the Orient. Discovery 89 which were furnished by Amsterdam, two by Zeeland, two by Enkhuizen, and one by Rotterdam. So confi- dent were the projectors of success that the Nether- land merchants were invited to freight six of the ships with whatever merchandise they saw fit, free of charges and duties. The seventh vessel was a pinnace, added to the fleet for the purpose of carrying intelligence to the fatherland as soon as the expedition should have passed Cape Tobin in Siberia. Van Linschoten again took part in the expedition, as commissary or supercargo of one of the Enkhuizen vessels. De Veer shipped with Barendsz. On June 18th, 1595, the fleet left Amsterdam, but not until the 2d of July did the wind become favor- able enough to allow them to leave the Texel Strait. On the 5th of August they reached the North Cape, and the actual work of discovering a passage began. More than once they lost track of each other, and after many futile efforts to find a way through the ice, and being several times in great danger through storms, fogs, snow, and ice-floes, they were at last forced to abandon the attempt. On the 1oth of Odtober they resolved to give up the vain search and to return to the fatherland. About six weeks later, on November go New Netherland to 1628 18th, 1595, the ships cast anchor in the river Maas, where the crews landed, nearly every man of them suffering with scurvy. The authorities resolved to give up all official efforts to find a northeastern passage to the Indies. Yet the matter was of too great consequence for the future of Holland to be absolutely abandoned without making at least one more attempt. They now issued a decree promising a reward of twenty-five thousand guilders ($10,000) to any person or corporation that should succeed in discovering the desired passage. The city of Amsterdam was not only most vitally interested in an unobstructed commercial intercourse, but also best able to pay the expenses of the expedition required for the discovery of a passage. In the hope, therefore, of earning the reward promised by the States General, but desiring even more to benefit its own commerce, the city government of Amsterdam, on the roth of May, 1596, sent out the third Arctic expedi- tion in search of a safer and shorter route to the coun- tries of eastern and southern Asia. This expedition consisted of two ships only. On the larger one the famous Jacob Van Heemskerk acted as commander and commissary, with the able Willem Discovery gI Barendsz as pilot, while the smaller ship was in charge of Jan Cornelisz De Ryp. This time Van Linschoten did not accompany the expedition. On Barendsz’ ship, however, De Veer again took passage, and to him we are indebted for the most important and circumstantial account of this famous and eventful expedition. Again a number of Amsterdam merchants, hoping that this time the long sought passage would be found, had freighted the ships with such merchandise as they thought would be acceptable to the Oriental peoples in exchange for the native products. It had been observed during the previous voyages that the married members of the crews had been most troublesome and most opposed to extending the trips beyond certain limits. The city government, therefore, had taken the precaution to enlist almost exclusively unmarried men who would not be solicitous to return at any critical moment, or opposed to remaining away as long as there existed any possibility of success. The men had also been mustered for the trip with the promise of a certain amount of wages in case the ex- pedition should not meet with success, and of a large additional reward should the passage be found. The two ships kept company for nearly seven weeks, 92 New Netherland to 1628 when, on July rst, 1596, De Ryp and his officers boarded Barendsz’ ship in order to induce him to alter his course. Barendsz, who had had some differences with De Ryp before, and had usually acceded to his wishes, would not now listen to a change of plan, so the ships parted company. De Ryp sailed north to the eightieth degree to look for a passage there, but was forced to give up his efforts and to seek refuge in the harbor of Cola on the White Sea. Heemskerk and Barendsz first sailed southward, but on the 2d of July adopted an easterly course. After many adventures their ship, on the 11th of September, became fast in the ice off the coast of Nova Zembla, and then their most serious trials began. After nine months of almost indescribable sufferings and hardships they resolved, on the 13th of June, 1597, to leave their inhospitable surroundings, and in two open boats set out for Cola, a distance of eleven hundred and forty- three English miles. On the 2oth of June Willem Barendsz succumbed to the hardships of the voyage, and they ‘thus lost their chief guide.” On the 28th of July, while still skirting the Nova Zembla coast, they met a company of thirty Russians, the only peo- ple seen since parting from De Ryp thirteen months Discovery 93 before. On the 3d of August they gazed on the coast of Nova Zembla for the last time, and steered their frail boats into the open sea. De Ryp, meanwhile, through the Russians, learned of their coming, and on the 30th of August went to meet them in a Russian yoll. The hardships then were practically at an end, and on the first day of September the survivors of Heemskerk and Barendsz’ expedition set foot on De Ryp’s ship in the harbor of Cola. On September 17th the ship and the reunited crews set sail for the fatherland, where, on the 2gth of Odtober, 1597, they cast anchor in the river Maas. These three failures convinced the Dutch, for the time being at least, that there existed no hope of dis- covering a passage to eastern Asia through the ice- bound waters of the Arétic Ocean, and for several years to come no further attempts in that direction were made. There was, however, another reason why the attempt to reach the East Indies by a northeastern route was given up. Individual Dutchmen, both sailors and travelers, had long been acquainted with the sea route to India. Many Dutch seamen had made the passage on Portu- guese vessels, but never as masters, always in inferior 94 New Netherland to 1628 positions. The celebrated traveler and geographer Van Linschoten had made the voyage to Goa in 1583, while in the employ of the Portuguese Archbishop of that see, and had investigated the conditions of the India trade, taking innumerable notes which several years later were published in book form. Upon his return to Holland, in 1592, he immediately began to advocate direct Dutch connections with the Orient, and took an active and leading part in the Arétic ex- peditions of 1594 and 1595. He seems to have be- come convinced of the futility of any further efforts in that direction, and took no part in the third expedi- tion of 1596. In the year 1593 Cornelis and Frederick De Hout- man, sons of a brewer of Gouda in South Holland, had been obliged to visit Lisbon in the interest of their commercial affairs. While there they made con- tinuous inquiries concerning the East India trade and other matters connected with it, and gathered a most valuable store of information. The Hispano-Portuguese authorities, however, always jealous of any inquisitive foreigners, had the brothers arrested, condemned to a heavy fine, and, upon their inability to pay, cast into prison. The Houtmans found means to communicate ITINERARIO. oypage ofte Schipbaert / van Jan Bupgen ban Zinkcboten naet Dot ofte wo2tugacls Fu Dien injjoudende een corte beleh2poinghe der (elver Landen ende Hee-culten, met acnz topfinge ban alle dDeboomnaembe principale avens/Webieren/Hoecken ende plactfen, sot noch toe bande Portugelen ontdechtende bekent: Waer bp ghevoecihe sifu / niet alleen Die Conterz feptfels bande habpten/dzachten ende welen/fo bande Pozrtugelen aldaer reliderende/ als ban- Deingeboognen Jndiancn/ ende huere Cempels/Afyoden/Huplinge/met die voomacmse Boomen/Ducheen/Aacupden/ Dpecerpen/ende diergeltjcke matezialet/ als ooc dre Manteren des (elfen Dolckes/fo in Hunnen Godts-dientten/ alsin Politle efi Huijl-Houdinghe: maerooc cen cozte verhalinge ban dé Coophan- . DelingenHoe en ware bie ghedzeben ef ghevonden wogdery met die ghedenckweerdich te gefchiedenifien/ boogghevallen den cijt Zynder ‘relidentie aidacr, seca 5 ay Alles befchreven ende by een vergadert, door den felfden, feer nut, oorbser, ende oockvermakelijcken voor alle curieufe ende Lief ‘ : "* hebbers van vreemdigheden; i A») foe & rAMSTELREDAM. By Cornelis Clac[z.. op t Vater, in’t Schrijf-boeck, by de oude Brugcht. Anno CIO. 1d. DEEAE Title-page of the first edition of Jan Huygen van Linschoten’s Account of his voyage to India, in the year 1583, in the company of the Portuguese Bishop of Goa. Discovery 95 with a few leading merchants at Amsterdam, and to send them a general report of the result of their in- vestigations, at the same time adding a request for lib- eration from their imprisonment. The merchants not only immediately paid the fines, but furnished them with the means to return to Holland. Upon their arrival the brothers went to Amsterdam, where they met the assembled merchants. As a consequence of the conference, ten Amsterdam merchants immediately formed an association for the promotion of a direct trade with the East Indies. This association, named “‘De Maatschappij van Verde,” or “The Company of Distant Countries,’ equipped four armed ships with two hundred and fifty men, under the command of Cornelis De Houtman. On April rst, 1595, the little squadron left the Texel, and after many adventures returned to Amsterdam in August, 1597. Only three ships, and less than ninety men, had come back. Though the proceeds of the sale of the cargoes were not sufficient to pay the expenses of the equipment, this was no barrier to further and more extensive ex- peditions. De Houtman’s first trip had opened up the communication between Holland and eastern Asia, and 96 New Netherland to 1628 the Netherland merchants immediately resolved to profit by the discovery. From that time the Dutch depended no longer on the Portuguese for the produéts of the Oriental countries. The mercantile supremacy of Lisbon was doomed, and Amsterdam in a few years took its place as the metropolis of the world’s trade. As soon as the news of Houtman’s successful return became generally known, associations were formed throughout the land for the prosecution of the India trade. A second company was immediately inaugurated at Amsterdam, and others at Rotterdam, in Zeeland, and elsewhere. As a consequence, no less than twenty- two vessels were in 1598 sent to the East Indian islands, some of which returned a little more than a year afterward with rich cargoes, the sale of which brought the owners enormous profits. Several ships were now also sent to the coast of Guinea and to the West Indian islands. What several farseeing Spanish statesmen prophesied had actually happened. The Spanish King, through his restrictive measures, his confiscations, his imprison- ments, had forced the Dutch merchants to draw di- rectly from the countries of their origin the wares which a few years earlier they had been satisfied to Discovery 97 obtain from Iberian ports. At the close of the six- teenth century the Dutch merchants held direct inter- course with countries where Spain and Portugal had enjoyed an absolute commercial monopoly. In the year 1600 there were not less than four East India companies at Amsterdam, two at Rotterdam, two in Zeeland, one at Delft, and one at Hoorn and Enk- huizen, all of which had only one aim: to destroy the commercial supremacy of Portugal in the countries bordering the Indian Ocean and the eastern Pacific, and to secure it for themselves. Strife between the rival companies exerted an un- favorable influence upon the market. Their factors competed with one another for the Indian goods, driv- ing up the prices, so that before long the original cost of some of the articles had increased eightfold. On the other hand, when they reached the Dutch ports, it happened more than once that the market became glutted with some kinds of goods, thus depressing the prices and causing loss to the importers. Ruin stared them in the face, and in order partially to avert this calamity the local companies of each port combined their interests. This union caused a monopoly of the Oriental trade 98 New Netherland to 1628 in each city, but the competition between the various city companies was as fierce, their buying in the Asiatic markets as indiscriminate, as before. The Spaniards and Portuguese also began to redouble their efforts to keep the Dutch away from the countries bordering upon the Indian Ocean and the eastern Pacific, and strong naval armaments were soon needed for the protection of the expanding commerce of the Dutch. For these various reasons the States General of the United Provinces, at the instigation of the able Jan Van Oldenbarneveld, called the directors of the various city companies to a conference at The Hague, and in 1601 proposed to them a combination of all their interests and the formation of a national East India Company. All were willing except the Zeeland com- pany, which feared the preponderating influence of Holland in the councils of the proposed organization. Oldenbarneveld and his coadjutors in the plan, how- ever, silenced these fears, and on March 20th, 1602, the general Dutch East India Company received its first charter from the States General of the United Provinces. This charter extended over twenty-one years, but was renewable at its expiration. The capital of the Company amounted to six mil- Discovery 99 lion five hundred thousand guilders ($2,600,000 ), and was soon subscribed. Those subscribing five thousand guilders towards the Company’s capital were styled chief stockholders and were entitled to vote at the election of the directors or managers of the Company. Those subscribing less were simply known as stock- holders, and had no vote in the management of the Company’s affairs. The powers of this commercial body were very extensive. To it was not only granted the national monopoly of the trade with the countries “East of the Cape of Good Hope, or through the Strait of Magellanes,”’ but also authority to conclude, in the name of the States General and Prince Maurice of Orange, treaties and alliances with Indian potentates, to equip and employ armies and navies, to make con- quests, to build forts, to appoint military and civil governors, to send ambassadors to Oriental powers,— in brief, to exercise all the rights of sovereignty within the limits described by its charter. The Company was divided into four divisions, named chambers: the Chamber of Amsterdam, of Zeeland, of the Maas (Delft and Rotterdam), and of the Northern Quarter (Enkhuizen and Hoorn). 100 New Netherland to 1628 Seventeen Managers or Diredtors, elected by the sev- eral Chambers, conducted the general affairs of the Company, and were required to render an accounting once in every ten years. Amsterdam elected eight of the Direétors, Zeeland four, the Maas and the Northern Quarter two each, while the three last named Chambers were granted the privilege of elect- ing the seventeenth member, who was to officiate as President of the Company. This body, the XVII, exercised powers not exceeded even by autocratic sov- ereigns. Though themselves simple citizens of one of the smallest European nations, the XVII, deriving their authority from the national government of their country, in the course of a few years exercised sov- ereign powers over a territory several times greater than that of the largest European state of the period. The shares of the Company, because of large divi- dends, — sometimes on prospective profits, — quickly rose from the par of one hundred guilders to one hundred and forty, but almost as quickly dropped to sixty and even to forty-eight. The depression, how- ever, was only temporary. Within ten years the shares went up as high as three hundred, and for more than a century and a half the Dutch East India Company Discovery IolI remained one of the most prosperous of European enterprises. In 1606 the dividends amounted to sev- enty-five per cent., and for almost a century the yearly average was over twenty per cent. The fluctuations in the profits were in part due to the necessity of equipping and maintaining powerful fleets and armaments, not only to fight the Spaniards and the Portuguese, as well as other enemies, in India, but also to convoy the merchantmen sailing to and from Holland by seas in which their enemies con- stantly maintained several men-of-war. When not thus protected, each merchantman was armed like a war ship, necessitating heavy expenses for the numerous crews and additional provisions, as well as for arms and ammunition. Each time a ship was captured by the Portuguese, the Spaniards, or other prowlers, as happened not infrequently, it caused a loss to the Company of tens of thousands of guilders. During the long trips, extending on an average over six months each way, the sickness and the mortality among the crews were often appalling. For these reasons the Directors of the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company were much inclined to listen to certain proposals made to 102 New Netherland to 1628 them in the beginning of 1609 by Henry Hudson, an English Arétic explorer. In the years 1607 and 1608 Hudson had already made two voyages in search of a northeast passage to Cathay and the East Indies, under the auspices of the London Muscovy Company. On January 6th, 1609, a contract was signed at Amsterdam in which Hudson engaged himself to “search for a passage to the North, around by the North side of Nova Zembla.” The Ha/f Moon, a yacht of eighty tons burden, was fitted for the trip, and put in Hudson’s charge. A Dutch mate, or “‘onder-schipper,’’ was second in command, while the crew consisted of sixteen men, some Dutch, some English. Robert Juet of Limehouse, the chronicler of the voyage, was probably second mate and chief gunner, or ‘constabel.”’ On the 4th of April, 1609, the Half Moon left the harbor of Amsterdam. The trip across the Pampus shoals and through the Zuyder Zee occupied two days; and about noon of the 6th of April, with favor- able winds, the ship passed through the Texel Strait into the North Sea. A month later, on the sth of May, the expedition reached the vicinity of the North Cape. Here the obstacles of the northern seas soon The third Voyage of Maftr Henrie Hvvson toward NouaZembla, and at bis returne, bis pafiing from Farre Ilands , to New-found Land, and along to to Sortie foure degrees and ten minutes , and thencets Cape Cod, and fo to thirtie three degrees; andalong the Coaft to the Northward, to fortie two degrees and an halfe, and-vp the Riuer neereto fortie three degrees. Written by Ro went Iver of Lime-houfe. N Saturday the fiue and twentieth of March, 1609. after the old Account, we fet fayle from Amyferdaws; and by the feuen and twentieth day, we were downe at the Texel : and by twelue of the clocke we were off the Land, it being Eaft of vs two leagues off. And becaufe it is a journey vfualty knowne, I omit toput me Sfx downe what pee, till we came to the height of The North Cape of Finmarke, Peer which we did performe by the fiftof May (fio sono }being Tuefday. On which day we obferued the height of the Pole, and tound it to bee 71. degrees and 46. minutes; and found our Compaffe to vary fix degrees to the Weft: and at twelue of the clocke, the North Cape did beare South-weft and by Sourh,cenne leagues off, and wee fteered away Eaft and by South, and Eaft. After much trouble with fogges, fometimes, and more dangerous of Ice. The nineteenth, being Tuefday, was clofe ftormie weather, with much wind and {now,and very cold: the wind vari= able betweene thc North North-weft, and Northeeaft, We made our way Weft and by North - gillnoone. Then we obferued the Sunne hauing a flake, and found our heigth to bee 70. degrees $0 go. minutes. And the fhip had outerunne vs twentie leagues, by reafon of the fet of the ftreame of The White Sea : and we had fight of Wardhonfe. Thenat two of the clocke wee tackttothe Beals Mere, Eaftward : for we could not get about the North Cape, the wind was fo feant ; and at eight of wardonfe theclocke at night, on the one and twentieth, the North Cape did beare South-eaft and by aoe a ee leagues off. And at mid-night e4ffimption Point did beare South and by Eaft, flue C,p¢ 3 off vs. . “The twoand twentieth, guiting weather with haile and {fnow, the Sunne breaking out fome- Point, times : we continued our courfe along the Land Weft Souch-welft. And at tenneof theclockeat = night we were thwart off Zenam, The bodie of it did beare Batt off vs fiue leagues: and the zenq—_, courfe from the North Cape to Zewam,is for the moft part Weft and by South,and Weft South- weit i¢ foure leagues. eae and erent ath faire Sun-(hining weather; the wind at Eaft and by South, and Eaft South-eaft, wee fteered along the Land South-weft , and South-welt and by Weift,eight leagues a Watch, for fo we found the Land to lye from Zenam to Lofoote. -And the diftance is fif- tie leagues from the bodie of Zenam, to the Weltermott Land of Lofoore, And from the one to the other, the courfe is South.weft and by Weft. For the Needle of our Compatle was fecright |, tothe North. At twelue of the clocke at night, the bodie of Lofeote did beare South-eaft, fixe Lofostt. leagues off. ben oe ee : : -Sun-fhining weather: the wind variable vpon all oo ie irae aes Eat en a fometimes calme. We continued our $0 Points of the Compaff, but molt vpoo ifr ight of the clocke at night, the Souther part of Ze- courfe Wet Souch-welt as before, And at eight of the clocke at night, pa Foote did beare Southeeaft ten leagues off vs. May 5. filé Rona. i] inni i Jf Moon, in the course of which f Robert s Journal of the Voyage in the Ha Moon, PS eed ie Ps a bears his name. From Parchas His Pilgrimes, volume 3, London, 1625, in which the Journal was first published. Discovery 103 manifested themselves. Fog, ice, and storms impeded the vessel’s progress, and it was not until the 21st of May that she doubled the Cape. Opposing currents, as well as the climatic and atmospheric impediments of the Arctic Ocean, and the indisposition of some of his crew to proceed, now induced Hudson to change his course. On the 22nd of May he steered in a westerly direction, hoping to find a passage through Davis Strait. Eight days later the Half Moon touched at Stromo, one of the Faroe Islands. Here the captain decided to fill his water casks, and the ship’s boat was kept busy all day making trips between the island and the ship. Not until ten o’clock at night were the casks all filled and the men free to rest. Part of the following day was taken for recreation, and most of the ship’s company, including the captain, spent the morning on shore. At one o’clock in the afternoon all had returned, and they at once set sail. Taking “many courses,” the ship arrived within a few days of Newfoundland. On the 15th of June, while making for that island, the Ha/f Moon encoun- tered a fierce gale and lost her foremast and ails. In this disabled condition, she slowly proceeded on 104 New Netherland to 1628 her voyage, and on the second day of July reached the Banks. The next morning they found themselves in the midst of a large fleet of French fishermen, plying their vocation. Before leaving the vicinity of the Banks, Hudson decided to try his luck at fish- ing, and on the 8th of July “caught one hundred and eighteene great Coddes, from eight oclocke till one, and after dinner wee tooke twelve and saw many great Scoales of Herrings.” At last, on the r2th of July, in foggy weather, the Half Moon arrived within sight of the American shore. The following day land was seen again, and two ships were espied. Proceeding further south, on the 16th they passed five islands. The next morning was so foggy that they were obliged to anchor at the entrance of a harbor which the fog prevented them from entering. This was Penobscot Bay, on the coast of Maine. At ten o’clock in the morning the fog lifted somewhat, and two _ boats, manned by six natives of the country, left the shore and made for the ship. The savages were glad to see the strangers, apparently mistaking them for French traders, with whom they had been in the habit of bartering. As one of the savages spoke a few words Discovery 105 of French, they could make themselves partially un- derstood. ‘The ship’s company presented the visitors with a few trifles, and entertained them on board with food and drink. The following day the weather was clear, and the Half Moon sailed into the harbor. Here the sailors immediately proceeded to repair the damages wrought by the gales of the Atlantic; they mended their tat- tered sails, and part of the crew was sent on shore to cut a foremast. By noon a tree had been felled, and the workers returned on board for dinner. While some of the crew were thus kept busy get- ting the ship in shape, others were employed in securing provisions. During the afternoon of the 19th some of the sailors were sent ashore for fresh water, and on the way caught thirty-one lobsters. The savages now began to swarm on board, and several of the seamen were kept busy watching the visitors. On the 2oth two French-built shallops full of Indians came out to the Ha/f Moon, and Juet, speaking of this visit, remarks that they “offered us no wrong, as we stood on our guard.” On the morning of the 23d of July, after five days of steady work, the new foremast was ready and was 106 New Netherland to 1628 towed to the ship. In the afternoon it was put in place, and before night it was rigged. The Ha/f Moon was now in good repair and ready to sail; but the next day the ship’s small boat, manned with six sail- ors, armed with four muskets, was sent out from the ship to get one of the shallops from the mooring. They took the shallop and towed it to the ship. Then the two boats were sent back to the shore with twelve men, armed with muskets. Two stone pieces, or ‘murderers,’ completed the equipment. The savages were overwhelmed and their huts looted, “as they would have done of us.” Mr. Brodhead, in relating this incident," makes it appear that the crew committed the outrage, if such it was, without the consent or even the knowledge of Hudson. But it was evident from the perfect equipment, as well as from their deliberate proceed- ings, that the aét was committed with the consent of the captain. Juet’s Journal contains no intimation to the contrary. A little more than a week later, Hudson landed on what he at first supposed to be an island, naming it New Holland. Upon reaching its southern point ' History of the State of New York, i, 27. Discovery 107 he saw his error, for the supposed island was a penin- sula, discovered by Gosnold in 1602 and then named Cape Cod. Passing by the outlet of the grand river which later on was to bear his name, Hudson, on the 18th of August, reached the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. He did not remain there long, but shaping his course northward for ten days, was the first to discover and to enter the wide estuary now known as Delaware Bay. Finding navigation in it rather difficult because of the many shoals, Hudson resolved to quit its waters and steer to the north in the hope of discovering the inlet to the western sea which had been mentioned in letters and charts sent to him by his old friend Captain John Smith of Virginia. Crawling northward along the coast for about two weeks, the Ha/f Moon at five o’clock in the afternoon of the 2d of September, being becalmed, cast anchor in eight fathoms of water. The sky was clear, and to the northwest the ship’s company could plainly discern a range of high hills, since known as the Navesinks. At ten o’clock the following morning, the night’s fog having lifted, they passed Sandy Hook, and at three o’clock in the afternoon “‘came to three 108 New Netherland to 1628 great rivers.” Endeavoring to enter the northern- most of them, (probably Rockaway Inlet) the ship’s progress was arrested by the very shoal bar, so Hudson decided to try one of the other waterways. Anchor- ing, he sent out a boat to sound the depth of the bay. An hour and a half later the boat returned with the report that they had found from four to seven fathoms of water, more than enough to float the Half Moon. The ship now sailed further into Sandy Hook bay, and toward evening “rode in five fathoms ozie ground.” At daybreak of the following morning, the 4th, Hudson again dispatched the boat to reconnoitre. Having found sufficient depth “two cable-lengths from the shore,’ , the boat was sent out to fish. Among the catch was ‘a Ray as great as four men could hale into the ship.” Here, also, the natives of the country (probably the Raritan Indians) visited the yacht, and exchanged their green tobacco for the knives and beads of the Europeans. At night a strong gale blew from the northwest; the Ha/f Moon dragged her anchor and floated on shore, but the soft oozy bottom fortunately prevented disaster. The next morn- ing, after the ship had been got clear from the shore, Discovery 109 the boat was again dispatched to sound the bay fur- ther up. Three fathoms of water were found “hard by the southern shore,” and the sailors went on land, visited the Indians, and explored the country round about. The Indians (possibly of Staten Island) came to the ship in return, and though the whites “durst not trust them,” the intercourse was cordial, and advantageous to both parties. On the 6th of September an event took place which appeared fully to justify Hudson’s lack of confidence in the Indians. In the morning he had dispatched five men in the boat to sound “the other rivers” opening toward the north at about twelve miles’ dis- tance from where the Half Moon was then lying. Having passed through the Narrows, the boat entered the upper bay, where they found “very good riding for ships.” Venturing further northward, the boat’s crew discovered “a narrow river to the westward, between two islands,’ now known as the Kill van Kull, separating Staten Island from Bergen Point. After discovering Newark Bay also, they turned back with the intention of rejoining the ship. On the way the boat was attacked by two canoes, one manned by twelve, the other by fourteen, Indian warriors. ILO New Netherland to 1628 As rain was falling at the time, the seamen’s fuse went out, and being unable to use their firearms they could not defend themselves. During their flight John Colman, an English member of the crew, was killed by an arrow which pierced his throat, and two other men were wounded. The gathering darkness pre- vented the Indians from overtaking the boat, and she was steered to safety. In the darkness and confusion the explorers had lost their bearings, and were unable to locate the Ha/f Moon. “They could not find the ship that night, but labored to and fro on their oars,” as “they had so great a stream their grapnell would not hold them.” Not until ten o’clock of the next morning did the boat, still bearing the lifeless body, reach the ship. Immediately a grave was dug on the shore, and here Colman’s former comrades deposited his remains. Hudson named the place Colman’s Point, in memory of the first European buried on these shores. The location of the grave has long been unknown." Taught a useful lesson by this sad incident, they hoisted the boat on board immediately after the *Mr. Brodhead supposes this to have been at Sandy Hook. Considering the part of the bay the ship must have been in at the time Colman was killed, it is much more likely that it was somewhere on the southeastern shore of Staten Island, possibly in the neighborhood of New Dorp. Discovery Ill burial, and the carpenter “raised her side with waste boards for defense of our men.’ No further progress was made that day, and during the night a sharp watch was kept for Indian prowlers. On the morning of the 8th of September the Indians again visited the ship and bartered their products for the goods of the Europeans. With char- acteristic Indian imperturbability, none of them indi- cated in any way that they had knowledge of the night affray. The crew did all they could to remind the Indians of the killing of Colman, but none of them seemed to understand. On the morning of the gth two canoes, one of them a war canoe, full of armed Indians, made for the ship, but the crew were on their guard and would not permit the armed savages to come near. Two Indians belonging to the other canoe were permitted to board, but were not allowed to leave. They were held by way of hostage, and red coats were put on them. Later a third Indian who came to the ship was seized, but he managed to escape by jumping overboard. After passing the Narrows, the little ship anchored over night off the northern shore of Staten Island, 112 New Netherland to 1628 where “there was a very good harbor for all winds.” At two o'clock in the afternoon of the 12th, the Half Moon set sail, went six miles further up, and cast anchor near the west shore of Manhattan Island. Here some twenty-eight canoes, full of men, women, and children, put out for the ship; but Hudson, distrusting their intentions, would not admit a single visitor. The crew, however, bought some of the oysters and beans of which the Indians had large quantities. After proceeding up the river nearly twenty miles, they cast anchor on the night of the 13th above the site of the present city of Yonkers, in plain view of a high point of land about fifteen miles to the northeast of them. On the morrow, as the weather was very fair and the wind favorable, they sailed farther than on the previous day. Passing through Tappan Zee and Haver- straw Bay, they covered more than fifty miles, and toward evening hove to a little above the Highlands. Early the next morning, while all hands were busy attending to the ship, the two captive savages jumped overboard through one of the portholes, swam to the land, and when the Ha/f Moon was under sail Discovery 113 derided their captors at a safe distance. The ship made sixty miles that day, and toward evening the anchor was lowered under the shadow of the Catskill mountains. Here was excellent fishing, and the kindly disposed natives treated the strangers well. All night their canoes hovered near the ship, which disturbed the fish; so when, early the next morning, the boat was sent out, the men could catch very few. They were partially compensated for this disappointment by the Indians bringing them ears of corn, pumpkins, and tobacco, which were secured by the seamen for mere trifle. Hudson took advantage of the friendly disposition of these natives to have his empty water casks refilled with the pure water of the clear moun- tain streams. This done, in the afternoon of the 16th, he proceeded six miles further up the river, and, on account of the shoals, stopped for the night near the spot where, in after years, grew the city now bearing the explorer’s name. At sunrise of the 17th the Ha/f Moon again set sail. Eighteen miles further up, the channel, though seven fathoms deep, was much narrowed by the shoals and small islands in the midst of the stream, so that towards nightfall the ship twice grounded. The place 114 New Netherland to 1628 where this happened was about midway between where at present are situated the villages of Schodac and Cas- tleton. Here they remained over night and the whole of the following day. The mate accompanied one of the chiefs to his house, where the people ‘made him good cheer.’’* About eleven o’clock in the morning of the 1gth of September the tide set in, the ship slowly ran up six miles farther, and the anchor was cast in eight fathoms of water in the neighborhood of what is now the city of Albany. Here the natives (the Mohicans ) evinced the same friendly disposition as the Indians lower down the river. Swarming on board, they cheerfully exchanged their grapes and pumpkins for the “trifles” of the crew. Many, too, brought beaver and otter skins for which the ship’s company traded beads, knives, and hatchets. The next day the mate and four seamen were sent out with the boat to make soundings further up the river. Toward nightfall they returned with the report that six miles above the channel was not only very ‘According to De Laet, who had Hudson’s log book before him when he wrote, it was Hudson himself who went ashore with the ‘old savage.’’ Hudson’s original report of this voyage has been lost. Discovery 115 narrow but contained no more than two fathoms of water; still further north, however, they had again sounded not less than seven or eight fathoms. The swarms of Indians visiting the ship on the following day prevented Hudson from carrying out his purpose of continuing the exploration as far up the river as practicable. A new foreyard was needed, so the car- penter went ashore to prepare it. Hudson and his mate, ever distrustful of the Indians, wished to ascertain the disposition of the chiefs and to find out “whether they had any treachery in them.” Inviting them to the cabin, Hudson served them so abundantly with wine and brandy that all became merry. One of the sachems had brought his wife with him, and Juet took special pains to note her conduct during the revelry. His verdict, recorded in his jour- nal, is that ‘she sate so modestly as any of our country women would do in a strange place.”’ An old Indian who had gone on the ship immedi- ately after her arrival and had since remained on board was of the party, and before long the drink began to affect him. His strange actions perplexed his countrymen, and possibly on this account they soon took to their canoes and left for the shore. A few, 116 New Netherland to 1628 however, returned and brought the old man strings of beads, probably in the hope of conjuring the evil spirit that seemed to have taken possession of him. But he had fallen asleep, and did not awaken until the next day. On the morning of the 22nd the mate and four of the sailors again manned the boat to try to discover a navigable channel higher up the river. While the explorers were gone, the Indians of the neighboring shore came to the ship about noon to see how the old man was getting on. When they found that no harm had befallen him, and that he was as well as ever, they were rejoiced and immediately returned to inform the others. At three o’clock they again came on board, bringing with them tobacco and beads which they presented to Hudson. Then the orator of the tribe made a speech to the Half Moon’s captain, which was, of course, absolutely unintelligible to the whites except where the speaker by signs “showed him all the country round about.” The oration ended, one of their number was sent back, and shortly after returned on board carrying with him a large platter of dressed venison. The Indians then invited the whites to eat with them. Afterwards they paid their respeéts to Discovery 117 Hudson, and all left the ship except the old man who had been the cause of all this ceremonial. In the rain at ten o’clock in the evening the ship’s boat returned. The mate was obliged to report that the soundings proved they had reached the end of navigation. They had gone with the boat nearly twenty-seven miles further up the river, and had found there no more than seven feet of water, rendering it impossible for the Half Moon to go much higher up than where she lay. Seeing it would be vain to hope to attain the western ocean, Hudson decided to return. At noon of the 23rd of September the downward voyage began. After going cautiously for six miles, the ship struck bottom and was fast for an hour, when the tide and a strong breeze from the west fortunately enabled the men to get her into deep water again. As it was then late in the day, they went no further. The next day, after making nearly twenty-four miles, the ship struck again. Taking advantage of the delay, some of the crew went on shore and gathered a large store of chestnuts. It was ten o’clock that night before the flood tide floated the ship, and then they immediately dropped anchor in deep water. 118 New Netherland to 1628 Remaining here all of the following day, the crew paid a visit to the westerly bank of the river, thor- oughly exploring the neighboring country. On the 26th a south wind held them, and the mate and the carpenter with four of the men were sent ashore to cut wood. A little later in the morning the ship was visited by a number of Catskill Indians in two canoes. In one of the canoes was the old man who had been so unaccountably affected by liquor during the revel at Albany. With him was another old man, and also two old women and two young girls “who behaved themselves very modestly.’ Presents were exchanged, and when, at one o’clock in the afternoon, the visitors left the yacht, they invited Hudson by signs to come to see them at their settlement about six miles further down the river. On the 27th the Ha/f Moon was again under way, when she suddenly stuck fast in the mud and the crew failed to get her afloat. By renewed efforts when the tide was fairly high she was floated again, and was soon sailing slowly past the lodges of the friendly natives. The old man who the day before had invited Hudson saw the vessel approaching and set off from the shore to meet her, and again begged the ship’s Discovery 119 company to come on land and take food with his people. The favorable wind, however, rendered it advisable to proceed. The aged Indian showed unmis- takable signs of disappointment as the Ha/f Moon sailed on. After she had made only twelve miles, the wind shifted to west-southwest and forced them to anchor. As it was only five o’clock in the afternoon, the boat was immediately lowered and part of the crew went fishing. But the fish would not bite very well, and having in an hour caught no more than a dozen of different kinds, the men returned to the ship. The next two days’ sailing carried them into New- burgh bay, where they remained all of the next day, because a stiff southeast gale was blowing “between the mountains.” While the vessel lay at anchor she was visited by neighboring Indians, who as usual were pleased to barter their products for the knives and trifles of the travelers. On the morning of the rst of Odtober they resumed the voyage, and after having made upwards of twenty miles were obliged by head winds to heave to at noon near Stony Point. Again the Indians visited the vessel, expressing wonder at all they saw. In the afternoon a canoe with a single occupant was seen loitering 120 New Netherland to 1628 under the ship’s stern. The savage in it had _per- sistently declined to leave. At a favorable moment he clambered up by the rudder, reached the cabin window, and stole Juet’s pillow, two shirts, and two bandoleers. The mate detected the savage in the adt, and leveling his piece shot the thief in the chest, killing him instantly. All the visitors then fled, several of them leaping out of their canoes and swimming: to the shore in the hurry to get out of danger. Im- mediately the boat was lowered and sent in quest of the stolen articles, which were all recovered. One of the Indians in the water took hold of the boat’s side with the intention, as Juet says, of capsizing it. The ship’s cook, however, drawing his sword, lopped off one of the man’s hands, and he disappeared beneath the waves. After this tragic incident the travelers set sail as quickly as possible. Covering six miles more before dark, the yacht anchored for the night near the mouth of the Croton River, in the Tappan Zee. It is quite possible that the occurrence near Stony Point roused the revengeful spirit of the Indians living on the river bank. When, on the 2nd of October, after the explorers had made twenty miles, the incom- ing tide obliged them to cast anchor, they were at Discovery 121 once met by unfriendly Indians, among whom was one of the two savages that had escaped from the ship during the trip up the river. Neither he nor his com- panions were permitted to come on board, whereupon two war canoes full of armed Indians attacked the Half Moon from the rear. The warriors in the canoes discharged flights of arrows, but no one was hit. On the other hand, the bullets fired from six muskets killed two or three of the Indians. More than one hundred of them now took up a position upon a point of land, intending to continue the attack. Juet then discharged a falcon shot at them, which killed two. The rest retired into the woods, but very soon a canoe manned by ten savages left the shore to renew the fight. Juet again fired, and so true was his aim that he not only killed one of the assailants but made a hole in the canoe. Another discharge of musketry killed at least three more of the Indians, who then “went their way.” This fight took place opposite the northern extremity of Manhattan Island, the attack being directed from the west bank of the river. Hudson now deemed it best to get out of harm’s way, and sailed six miles further down stream, where he cast anchor “in a bay, clear from all danger of 122 New Netherland to 1628 them on the other side of the river.’ This bay was “on that side of the river that is called Manna-hata. There we saw no people to trouble us, and rode quietly all night, but had much wind and rain.”* While here, the crew explored part of the Island, and, besides seeing ‘‘a good piece of ground,” dis- covered a cliff which, judging from its color and also from the poor condition of the trees growing on its slopes, they thought might contain either copper or silver. The day after the fight wind and rain not only con- tinued, but in the morning a gust of wind tore loose the anchor in the oozy bottom, and the Ha/f Moon floated into the mud. Just as the crew had brought out a second anchor to drag the yacht off, the wind veered toward the northwest and blew her again into deep water. They at once cast anchor in four fathoms of water, and neither that day nor the following night had any further accidents. Early in the morning of the 4th of October, the favorable north-northwest wind was still blowing, and «Mr. Brodhead says (History of the State of New York, i, 34) that Hudson cast anchor ‘‘in the bay near Hoboken.’’ Juet’s Journal positively states that immediately after the attack they ‘¢ got down two leagues’? and then anchored near the Manhattan shore. Discovery 123 Hudson left the stream which he had spent exactly a month in exploring. Leaving the Manna-hata an- chorage, he sailed down New York Bay, through the Narrows into the Lower Bay, and, guided by his boat, at noon passed Sandy Hook. Then the boat was taken in, the mainsail, spritsail, and topsails were set, and the Half Moon, again on the ocean, was carrying to Holland the tidings of discovery. As soon as they were well out at sea, the ship’s offi- cers held a consultation as to the measures to be taken next. The mate favored wintering at Newfoundland, and exploring the northwestern passage by Davis Strait during the following season. Hudson was opposed to this suggestion, because his crew was fractious, and even threatened him with mutiny. Many of the sailors were in bad health, and, though none spoke of return- ing, Hudson thought it best to proceed directly to Holland. This plan caused murmurings among the crew, who probably had been promised a large reward should a northern passage to India be found. As a compromise Hudson offered to winter in some Irish port. This was found acceptable. Instead of making for Ireland, however, Hudson steered straight for England, and on November 7th, 1609, the Half Moon 124 New Netherland to 1628 arrived at Dartmouth. A report of the result of the voyage was immediately sent to the Directors of the East India Company at Amsterdam, accompanied by an offer, under certain conditions, to make a fresh start next March. As soon as they learned of Hudson’s return, the Directors sent word to him to report with his ship at Amsterdam. But before he could comply with the order the English government, in January, 1610, detained the Half Moon, and for about five months she was held in the harbor of Dartmouth. When at last permission for her to leave was given, Hudson and the English portion of his crew were prevented by the authorities from joining her, and to the mate fell the honor of acquainting the Diredtors, in the month of July following, with the important discovery they had so unwittingly made. But the voyage had failed of its purpose, and the Chamber of Amsterdam was not inclined to extend its operations into sections outside the chartered scope of the East India Company. Consequently nothing was done as yet regarding the development of the splendid country opened up to the world by Hudson’s great discovery. More than a decade elapsed before Discovery 125 another Dutch commercial organization, the West India Company, began the colonization of the regions watered by the grand stream which has since immor- talized the name of its discoverer. II TRADE AND EXPLORATION Soon after the return of the Ha/f Moon to Amsterdam, in July, 1610, some enterprising Holland merchants, encouraged by the glowing reports of the commercial possibilities of the country which Hudson had just discovered, sent a trading-vessel to the newly found river in quest of peltries. The only countries up to this time from which the Dutch could secure supplies of furs were Northern Russia and France, the latter country importing them directly from Canada. Beyond the mere statement, by De Laet, about the dispatch of the ship to these shores and the mention of the year, we know nothing of this vessel. It is safe to assume, however, that the ship’s owners were officers of the association which had sent Hudson out, because several of those who later became interested in the New Netherland trade are known to have been Directors of the East India Company. It is also very likely that several of the Ha/f Moon's crew, possibly also Fludson’s Dutch mate, were on board this first HES TORIE laerlijck Verhael . Gan de WDerrichtinaben dev Geoctropeerde W cflt-Indifche Compagnie, Kedert haer Begin / tot het eynde van tjaer fefthien-bondert fes-en-dertich; Begrepen in Derthien Boecken, Ende met vericheyden koperen Platen verciert: Befcheeven dood ToaNNEs pve Laer Bewine-hebberder felver Compagnic. WS GS Se Ys TOT LEYDEN, 2p Bonaventuer ende Abraham Elfevicr , ANNO 1644s Met Privilegien Title-page of the first edition of Joannes de Laet’s History of the West India Company. Trade and Exploration 127 trading-ship; because, according to an Indian tradition, the sailors and the Indians, upon the arrival of the ship in these waters, greeted one another joyfully as old acquaintances. | Only passing mention is made by any historian of the time of the vessels plying between Holland and this portion of the North American continent. The equipment of two or three small ships a year in a port whence hundreds of vessels annually departed for the Baltic, the coast of Guinea, the East and West Indies, the Mediterranean, the Northern Seas, and other quarters of the globe, was not likely to attract a great deal of attention, and consequently little is recorded of the fur traders who sailed to the Hudson River. But from what is occasionally said about them, it is evident that the trade was by no means unimportant, and that it was steadily pursued. Could the books of the merchants engaging in the early fur trade with the Hudson River Indians be found, could the reports of the skippers and agents be discovered, many his- torical data would be brought to light, and not a little romance might be read between the lines of the dry accounts. Not only Amsterdam merchants sent their ships to 128 New Netherland to 1628 the newly discovered river, but also those of Hoorn, Enkhuizen, Medenblick, Monickendam, and _ other maritime towns in North Holland. It does not appear from the published records and histories of the period that any of the other Dutch provinces dispatched ships to or had dealings with the country soon to be known as New Netherland. About the year 1612 a ship from Monickendam foundered on the little known coast of this country. Warned by this disaster, Hendrick Christiaensen of Cleef, on his return from a voyage to the West Indies with a valuable cargo, probably of salt, was deterred from entering any of the bays or rivers of the newly discovered region. Upon his arrival in Holland, how- ever, he and another sea-captain, Adrian Block, char- tered a vessel, and entrusting the command to Captain Ryser, who probably had already visited the Hudson River country, set out on a trading voyage to Man- hattan. The historian Wassenaer says nothing of the success of the trip, but mentions that the voyagers brought to Holland two sons of Indian chiefs, whom they had named Orson and Valentine, and who were said to be “very stupid individuals, but expert enough in knavish tricks.” Apparently the venture was not Trade and Exploration 129 sufficiently remunerative to warrant a continuation of: the partnership, for in the year 1613 both captains entered the employ of an association of Amsterdam merchants, Block being put in command of the ship Tiger, and Christiaensen taking charge of the Fortune. In the fall of 1613 these ships were sent to the North American fur-country, Block going to the Hudson River, while Christiaensen probably sailed to the mouth of the Delaware or South River, which the Dutch also were early in the habit of visiting. While at anchor near the shore of Manhattan Island, waiting to complete her cargo, the Tiger accidentally caught fire and was burned. It is quite likely that much of the rigging and sails as well as the carpenter- tools and other necessaries were saved; otherwise Block could not have fitted out the yacht which he immedi- ately built from the excellent timber on the island —the first vessel of European workmanship con- structed in the new country south of what is now the State of Maine. Block doubtless decided to build the yacht as much for the sake of keeping his men busy and out of mis- chief as to provide the means for returning to Holland should no ship have arrived by the time his little vessel 130 New Netherland to 1628 was completed. In the spring of 1614, about the time when the rulers of his country were passing a decree towards whose fulfillment Block was unwittingly con- tributing, the yacht was ready. As soon as the East River was free from ice, in the presence, doubtless, of hundreds of wondering Indians, the stays and sup- ports were knocked from under the little vessel’s keel, and she glided into the stream. ‘She was of only sixteen tons burden, and measured forty-four and a half feet from stem to stern, with a thirty-eight foot keel, and eleven and a half feet in width. Block named her “De Onrust,” the Restless, doubtless in remembrance of the many anxious days spent before and during her construction. As soon as the Restless was rigged, Block took leave of Manhattan Island, and, directing his course through the whirlpool of Hellgate, began to explore Long Island Sound, and gave names to most of its bays, rivers, and islands. Venturing into the Atlantic, he passed beyond Cape Cod and came upon Hendrick Christiaensen’s ship returning to Holland. Leaving the Restless in charge of Cornelis Hendricksen, Block boarded Christiaensen’s ship, and arrived at Amsterdam during the first week of October. Trade and Exploration 131 While Block was building the Restless on the then inhospitable shore of Manhattan Island, the States General of the United Netherland Provinces published a decree which, in its consequences, was destined to exert a decided influence upon the future of New Netherland. On March 27th, 1614, in answer to a petition presented by many merchants, the States General issued a general charter providing that “who- soever shall from now henceforth discover any new Passages, Havens, Countries, or Places, shall alone resort to the same or cause them to be frequented for four voyages, without any other person directly or indirectly sailing, frequenting, or resorting, from the United Netherlands, to the said newly discovered and found passages, havens, countries, or places, until the first discoverer and finder shall have made or caused to be made the said four voyages, on pain of confiscation of the goods and ships wherewith the contrary attempt shall be made and a fine of fifty thousand Netherland ducats for the benefit of the aforesaid finder or discov- erer: Well understanding that the discoverer, on com- pletion of the first voyage, shall be holden within four- teen days after his return from said voyage, to render us a pertinent report of the aforesaid discoveries and 132 New Netherland to 1628 adventures, in order, on hearing thereof, we may ad- judge and declare, according to circumstances and dis- tance, within what time the aforesaid four voyages must be completed. Provided that we do not under- stand to prejudice hereby or in any way to diminish our former Charters and Concessions: And, if one or more Companies find and discover, in or about one time or one year, such new Passages, Countries, Havens, or Places, the same shall conjointly enjoy this our grant and privilege; and in case any differences or questions concerning these, or otherwise, should arise from this our Concession, the same shall be decided by us, whereby each shall have to regulate himself.’ Since the promulgation of this decree, steps had been taken, both in the provincial States of Holland and in the States General, for the formation of a gen- eral West India Company. But though a provisional charter was drafted, the public interest was so slight that nothing could be done in the matter. However much the authorities might favor such an enterprise, those on whom it must depend for its success kept aloof. While this project was still under discussion, the Trade and Exploration 133 enterprising Amsterdam and Hoorn merchants who, since its discovery, had sent their vessels to the Hudson River in quest of furs, resolved to take advantage of the decree of March 27th, which they had doubtless been instrumental in getting framed, and secure to themselves the temporary monopoly of a traffic in which they had been among the first to engage. They formed the United Company of Merchants, and called the recently explored regions New Nether- land. On the r1th of October, 1614, they sent a deputation to the States General at The Hague request- ing, on the ground of priority of discovery, the ex- clusive right to traffic with those regions for the next three years. At the same time they submitted to their High Mightinesses a map of the country,’ doubtless prepared by or under the supervision of Block, May, Christiaensen, and De Witt, who appear to have been more extensively engaged in exploring the country than any of the other ship-captains. As a consequence the States General, on the same date, granted the mem- orable charter which first officially applied the name of New Netherland to the territory covered by the later Commonwealth of New York and several neigh- *Tt is doubtful whether this map still exists. 134 New Netherland to 1628 boring States of the American Union. The charter reads: “The States General of the United Netherlands to all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting. Whereas Gerrit Jacobs Witssen, ancient Burgomaster of the City Amsterdam, Jonas Witssen, Simon Morris- sen, owners of the ship named the Little Fox whereof Jan De With has been skipper; Hans Hongers, Paulus Pelgrom, Lambrecht Van Tweenhuyzen, owners of the two ships named the Tiger and the Fortune, whereof Adrian Block and Henrick Corstiaensen were skippers; Arnold Van Lybergen, Wessel Schenck, Hans Claessen, and Berent Sweertssen, owners of the ship named the Nightingale, whereof Thys Volckertssen was skipper, merchants of the aforesaid City Amstel- redam, and Pieter Clementssen Brouwer, Jan Clements- sen Kies, and Cornelis Volckertssen, merchants of the City of Hoorn, owners of the ship named the Fortune, whereof Cornelis Jacobssen May was skipper, all now associated in one Company, have respectfully repre- sented to us, that they, the petitioners, after great ex- penses and damages by loss of ships and other dangers, had, during the present year, discovered and found with the above named five ships, certain new lands Trade and Exploration 135 situate in America, between New France and Virginia, the sea-coasts whereof lie between forty and forty-five degrees of latitude, and now called New Netherland: And whereas we did, in the month of March last, for the promotion and increase of Commerce, cause to be published a certain General Consent and Charter set- ting forth that whosoever should thereafter discover new havens, lands, places, or passages, might frequent or cause to be frequented, for four voyages, such newly discovered and found places, passages, havens, or lands, to the exclusion of all others from visiting or frequent- ing the same from the United Netherlands, until the said first discoverers and finders shall, themselves, have completed the said four voyages, or caused the same to be done, within the time prescribed for that purpose, under the penalties expressed in the said Charter, etc., they request that we would accord to them due A&t of the aforesaid Octroy [ charter | in the usual form: «Which being considered, We, therefore, in our Assembly having heard the pertinent Report of the Petitioners, relative to the discoveries and finding of the said new Countries between the above named limits and degrees, and also of their adventures, have con- sented and granted, and by these presents do consent 136 New Netherland to 1628 and grant, to the said Petitioners now united into one Company, that they shall be privileged exclusively to frequent or cause to be visited, the above newly dis- covered lands, situate in America between New France and Virginia, whereof the sea-coasts lie between the fortieth and forty-fifth degrees of Latitude, now named New Netherland, as can be seen by a Figurative Map hereto annexed, and that for four Voyages within the term of three years, commencing the first of January, sixteen hundred and fifteen, next ensuing, or sooner, without it being permitted to any other person from the United Netherlands, to sail to, navigate, or frequent the said newly discovered lands, havens, or places, either directly or indirectly, within the said three years, on pain of Confiscation of the vessel and Cargo where- with infraction hereof shall be attempted, and a fine of fifty thousand Netherland Ducats for the benefit of said discoverers or finders; provided, nevertheless, that by these presents we do not intend to prejudice or diminish any of our former grants or Charters; And it is also our intention, that if any disputes or differ- ences arise from these our Concessions, they shall be decided by ourselves.” * t Holland Documents, i, 11. Trade and Exploration 137 As soon as the New Netherland Trading Company had received its charter, and was secure against com- petition for the next three years, it sent out Captain Hendrick Christiaensen as direétor of the New Nether- land trade. His ship this time carried not only the articles required for traffic with the Indians, but also the materials needed in the ere€tion of a somewhat pretentious structure, which was to serve as a ware- house for the goods, a shelter for the men, and a stronghold in case of attack. Passing by the Island of Manhattan, Christiaensen directed his course up the Hudson, and on a small island since known as Castle Island, now within the limits of the City of Albany, discharged the portion of the ship’s cargo which had been prepared for the erection of the stronghold. The name of Fort Nassau was given to it, and the structure was surrounded by a moat eighteen feet wide, while each of the four walls measured fifty-eight feet in length. Within this en- closure a house had been built thirty-six feet long and twenty-six feet wide, not only for the purpose of hous- ing the small regular garrison, consisting of twelve men, but also to serve as a storehouse for the goods. Two pedereros ( gotelingen ) and eleven stone cannon 138 New Netherland to 1628 ( steenstukken) had been mounted on the walls, while the men were armed with muskets. The fort, how- ever, did not long remain occupied; the Indians ob- jected to its location, and a freshet in the spring of 1618 destroyed nearly the whole of it. The site was abandoned, and a new fort was erected on an eminence near by at the mouth of the Tawasentha, now called Norman’s Kill. As no fort appears to have been erected on Man- hattan Island, it seems likely that Fort Nassau was made the headquarters for the Indian trade, and the representatives of the New Netherland Company at Manhattan loaded the peltries they had collected on the return of the ships from up the river, or else sent them up to Fort Nassau in one of the small vessels which the Company maintained at the Island. To the little fort, from a circuit of more than a hundred miles, and from the North even as far as Canada, the Indians came in troops to exchange their peltries for the beads, knives, adzes, axes, cleavers, kettles, and all sorts of iron utensils of the white men. From Fort Nassau, also, the sloops of the traders con- tinually explored and visited the neighboring streams and kills in quest of the skins of the sable, beaver, Trade and Exploration 139 otter, fox, bear, mink, wildcat, marten, and other an- imals, and these the Indians were only too happy to exchange for the produéts offered by the visitors. Sometimes overland parties were sent out from the fort to conduct explorations, and establish connections in quarters where the sloops could not penetrate. Through the information which was brought to them by the Indians, and the knowledge gained by exploring parties, the Dutch became much better ac- quainted with the geography of the country. On a map presented to the States General in the year 1616, not only the sea-coasts of New Netherland but several inland streams are delineated, and the location of var- ious Indian tribes is given in an approximately accurate manner. Cornelis Hendricks of Monickendam, who in the summer of 1614 had been left in command of the little Restless, continued the work of exploration begun by Block and his associates. While Christiaensen was extending the influence of the Dutch in the North River territory, Hendricks confined his operations more especially to the regions watered by the South River, as the Delaware was then called, and the Schuylkill, between the thirty-eighth and fortieth degrees of north 140 New Netherland to 1628 latitude. He not only learned the names and locations of many Indian tribes of the interior, but cultivated friendly relations with them and at the same time increased the trade of the Company. Whenever he secured a full cargo, he seems to have gone to Fort Nassau or Manhattan Island to unload, and then re- turned with a fresh stock of European merchandise to the South River. It was probably during one of these trips that Hen- dricks was told that three New Netherland Company men, who were employed specially for the trade with the Mohawks and Mohicans, had been captured by the Minquas or Ogehage, a tribe of Indians living in the South River country. These three traders were familiar with two widely spoken Indian dialeéts, and on this account may have been sent out, about the year 1615, to explore the more distant interior of the country and establish relations with the tribes. Hen- dricks immediately went to look for the unfortunate prisoners, and on finding the captors offered them so many beads, kettles, and other articles that they re- leased the men. One of them, Kleintjen by name, was able to impart valuable information to Hendricks about the inland tribes, and this was used in preparing the Trade and Exploration 141 map of the country which accompanied the petition of the New Netherland Trading Company for a more ample charter. About the middle of June, 1616, Captain Cornelis Hendricks sailed to Holland, where he arrived early in August. From his report it was seen that while the charter of the Company gave the commercial monopoly for only the regions embraced between the fortieth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude, the explorations of Hendricks and of Captain Cornelis Jacobsen May, made a few years earlier, had extended two degrees further south. Consequently on August 18th, 1616, they sent Hen- dricks, in company with Notary Karel Van Gelder, to The Hague, carrying a petition to the States General to favor them with a charter for the exclusive trade with all the territory which had been explored by Hendricks. From this petition it will be seen that the managers of the New Netherland Trading Company had assumed the title «‘ Directors of New Netherland.” “To the High and Mighty Lords, the Lords States General, etc. ‘Respectfully represent Gerrit Jacob Witsen, Burgo- master at Amsterdam, Jonas Witsen, Lambrecht Van 142 New Netherland to 1628 Tweenhuyzen, Paulus Pelgrom, cum soctis, Directors of New Netherland extending from 40 to 45 degrees, situate in America between New France and Virginia, that they have, at great and excessive expense, discov- ered and found a certain country, bay, and three rivers situate in the Latitude of from 38 to 40 degrees (as is more fully to be seen by the figurative map hereunto annexed) in a small yacht of about eight lasts [| 16 tons] burden, called the Ovnrust | Restless], whereof Cornelis Henrickszn of Munnickendam is Skipper — which little yacht they, the petitioners, caused to be built in the country there, and employed the aforesaid Hendrickszn in the aforesaid Countries during the space of three years, in the above mentioned little yacht, looking for new countries, havens, bays, and rivers. And whereas Your High and Mighty Lordships did, in March, 1614, publish by Placard, that whoso- ever should discover any new countries, bays, or rivers, the said finders and discoverers should enjoy, for their discovery, the grants to trade and traffic exclusively for four Voyages to the aforesaid countries, on con- dition of making a Report thereof to Your High Mightinesses; Therefore your Petitioners turn to Your High Mightinesses, respectfully praying and request- Trade and Exploration 143 ing that You, High and Mighty Lords, may be pleased to hear the aforesaid Cornelis Hendrickxszen’s Report, and to examine the aforesaid map and discovery, and to grant the Petitioners accordingly Charter of the ex- clusive trade to the aforesaid Countries, for the term of four years, according to the accompanying Placard’’* [the decree of March 27th, 1614]. Whether the States General wanted to leave the commerce with those quarters free, or whether they wanted to include this territory in the charter of the contemplated West India Company which was still under consideration, or what other reasons prompted the authorities, will never be known. The matter was brought up in the States General several times, but its decision was always postponed, until at last the Directors of New Netherland ceased petitioning for the amplification of their charter. As the New Netherland trading charter had been granted for three years only, it expired on January rst, 1618. On October 4th of the same year, the “Com- pany trading to the island of New Netherland” had presented a petition to the States General requesting an extension of the charter for a few years longer. t Holland Documents, i, 13-15. 144 New Netherland to 1628 Before deciding in the matter the States desired to consult the old charter, and the case was postponed. On October gth another petition was presented to the States General signed by Henrick Eelkins, Adriaen Jansse Engel, and other former partners in the New Netherland Company, praying for leave to send their ship the Schzlt [Shield] to New Netherland without opposition from their old associates. As was to be expected, their High Mightinesses readily granted the desired permission “by reason of the expiration of the charter granted to the petitioners.’ Notwithstanding the fact that their charter had long since expired, it is evident that most of the merchants who had originally formed the New Netherland Com- pany continued in it. As late as 1620 the association was still in existence, carrying on business in open competition with other merchants. Though no longer enjoying a monopoly of the trade, the old New Neth- erland Company, because of its ample capital, efficient organization, priority of operations, thorough acquain- tance with the field, possession of trading posts, and other advantages, was fully able to meet competition and conduct a profitable business. Since the States General appeared unwilling to re- Trade and Exploration 145 new the charter, the Directors resolved to try a new scheme. It is quite probable that during its chartered existence criticism had been directed against the Com- pany for not colonizing the country the exclusive trade with which secured them such large profits. Should they undertake the settlement of the region on a large scale, they might hope that the States General, out of consideration for the heavy expense incurred, would renew the monopoly of the New Netherland trade. They certainly had this in mind when, on Febru- ary 12th, 1620, they presented a petition to Prince Maurice, as admiral of the navy, in which they related that they had been trading to New Netherland for sev- eral years, but that now, owing to the expiration of their charter, any one was at liberty to trade there. They further stated that they had again sent thither two ships, and that some vessels had been likewise dispatched by other merchants who were not mem- bers of the Company. The petition then continued: “Now it happens that there is residing at Leyden a certain English Preacher,’ versed in the Dutch lan- * This preacher was no other than John Robinson, the leader of the small band of English dissenters who had found a refuge in Holland. Many of these were the Pilgrims who in the same year crossed the ocean in the Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony. 146 New Netherland to 1628 guage, who is well inclined to proceed thither to live, assuring the petitioners that he has the means of in- ducing over four hundred families to accompany him thither, both out of this country and England, pro- vided they would be guarded and preserved from all violence on the part of other potentates.’’ After hav- ing dwelt upon the many spiritual benefits to be ex- pected from this colonization, and the necessity of forestalling the English, the petition concludes: “that, for the preservation of this country’s rights, the afore- said Minister and the four hundred families may be taken under the protection of this country, and that two ships of war may be provisionally dispatched to secure to the state the aforesaid Countries in as much as they would be of much importance, whenever the West India Company is established, in respect to the large abundance of timber fit for ship-building, etc., as may be seen by the accompanying report.” The Prince sent the petition to the States General, who, in turn, requested his advice in the matter and that of the Board of Admiralty. The result of all the deliberations was that the petition was rejected. The States General may have been unwilling to assist in colonizing the country with English subjects; or Trade and Exploration 147 they may not have wished to become involved in dif- ficulties on the eve of the reopening of the war with Spain. It is also quite possible that they deemed it best to leave the projected West India Company en- tirely free to act as it desired with regard to peopling a country that would certainly be included jin its charter. Again the efforts of the New Netherland Company to monopolize the country’s trade had been frustrated. Had they proposed the colonizing scheme during the existence of their charter it is quite possible that an extension would have been granted, and it is probable that, because of the disturbed state of the country, a considerable number of Dutch citizens would have emigrated to New Netherland. Soon after the rejection of the colonization plan of the New Netherland Company, others entered the field desirous of a share in the profitable fur trade. On August 29th two petitions were received by the States General in regard to the New Netherland com- merce. One was from the Hoorn owners of the re- nowned Cornelis Jacobsen May’s ship the Glad Tidings, requesting the exclusive right to trade during four voy- ages to the New Netherland regions where May had recently made some discoveries. 148 New Netherland to 1628 The other was from a number of Amsterdam mer- chants, who had perhaps been informed of the project of the Hoorn ship-owners. In this counter petition the boundaries of New Netherland were extended to more than three times the original size, in order, most likely, to cover every portion of the country that the Hoorn merchants might include in their prospective charter. This second petition, however, was not, like the first, a request to monopolize the whole or part of the New Netherland trade, but on the contrary con- tained the prayer to leave it absolutely free, as is to be seen from the following transcript: “Read another petition of Henrick Elkens, Adrian Jansen, cum suis, merchants at Amsterdam, having had a charter to trade exclusively to New Netherland, dis- covered by them, situate from the thirty-fourth to about the fiftieth degrees, requesting that their High Mightinesses would be pleased to reject and refuse all grants that may have been requested or still will be requested of them, regarding the trade on the Coasts or any of the Rivers of New Netherland, and to allow the petitioners and other merchants of this country to continue in the free trade they are pursuing there, and Trade and Exploration 149 further to equip some ships which they have in a sufhi- cient state of forwardness.”’ As both parties, as well as the captains who had made the voyages, were present, it was resolved by the States General to have them discuss the matter in the presence of a committee of two deputies, appointed by their High Mightinesses, in the hope of coming to an amicable arrangement. For more than two months the deputies endeavored to reconcile the conflicting claims of the opposing parties. Both, however, were obdurate, the one desiring a monopoly, the other con- tending for absolute freedom of trade, and on Novem- ber 6th the deputies reported that they had not been able to effect an agreement. The States General then refused the charter requested, thus securing for Elkens and his associates a temporary victory. The trade with New Netherland remained free for two years longer. When on June 3d, 1621, the West India Company was incorporated, it might have been assumed that the free navigation to New Netherland would immediately cease, for the trade with this quarter was included in its monopoly. But as the Company was slow in begin- ning its operations, owing to the difficulty in getting the required capital subscribed, it was decided that L SG New Netherland to 1628 the advantages of the New Netherland trade ought not to be lost on account of the inability of the new association to send out ships. Consequently when, three months after its incorporation, the West India Company failed to give any sign of life, some Amster- dam merchants, having interested the States of Hol- land in their behalf, petitioned the States General for liberty to send to Virginia their ship the White Dove, of eighty tons burden, under Captain Willem Jansen Houten. On September 15th, 1621," the request was granted on condition that the ship would return with cargo by the first of July of the following year. No sooner had this permission been given when a company t About this time, an event took place which must have cast a temporary gloom over the small company of traders sojourning at Fort Nassau. According to the historian De Laet, it had happened many times that sailors and traders were killed by the Indians, either for the sake of plunder or for other causes. The two young savages Orson and Valentine had been returned to their tribe by Christiaensen, who, while superintending the general New Netherland trade, had crossed the ocean not less than ten times. Orson, who ‘¢ was an intensely bad fellow,’’ does not appear to have been improved by his visit to civilization. As stated by Wassenaer, it was Orson who killed Christiaensen, how or for what reason is not related. The enraged traders, however, swiftly avenged the death of their chief, and a bullet put an end to the career of the murderous Indian. Jacob Eelkens, who was Christiaensen’s lieutenant and usually represented him during his absence, now took charge of the Indian trade, and was continued in this position by the West India Company during the earlier years of its mo- nopoly. Seal of the Dutch West India Company (Original size and enlarged 514 diameters) From an original document in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany. The letters GWC are the initials of the official title of the Company: Geoc- troyeerde West Indische Compagnie. Trade and Exploration 151 of Hoorn and Medenblik adventurers also petitioned for leave to send a vessel, which, on September 24th, was granted on the same conditions. Four days later, the petition of some other Amsterdam traders, this time for permission to send out two ships, was con- sidered by the States General and was granted, under the conditions that they were “to bring back into this country their goods, cargoes, clerks, and seamen,” and “be home with their ships and goods before the first of July, 1622.” Though it was several years before the West India Company’s capital was fully subscribed, the Diredtors did not delay operations longer than was absolutely necessary. New Netherland as well as the coast of Guinea presented promising fields for commercial en- terprise of moderate scope, and the Company’s means were ample for the development of both regions. The year 1622 seems to have been spent by the managers mostly in perfecting arrangements, and by 1623 not only the commerce but also the coloniza- tion of New Netherland was taken up in earnest. Besides a few families of colonists, sufficient people were sent over to occupy the posts which would be established to promote the Company’s trade with the 152 New Netherland to 1628 natives. The experienced trader and explorer Cornelis Jacobsen May was appointed the first Director of New Netherland. Though his authority extended over only about two hundred people at the most, his field of activity comprised the country from the Delaware Bay to the sources of the Hudson River, as far inland be- tween these two points as his traders could penetrate, and easterly to the extremity of Cape Cod. Immediately upon his arrival in 1623, May, as Di- rector, sent an expedition provided with all necessaries to the Delaware River. A few miles up the river, near a point which was easy of access to the Indian tribes of the interior, a small fort was erected and named Fort Nassau. From this point the sloops of the traders stationed at the post frequented the tributary rivers and kills in quest of peltries, while at the same time the few agricultural settlers began tilling the soil. For three years Fort Nassau remained the headquarters for this southern section. It was found, however, that the profits of the trade were not commensurate with the expenses of the establishment, and the agricultural settlers, as well as the traders, were withdrawn to strengthen the colony at Manhattan Island. Fort Nas- sau was abandoned, though the trade with the South Trade and Exploration L§9 River, as the Delaware was always called by the Dutch, was not relinquished. As had been the cus- tom before the West India Company took possession, yachts continued regularly to frequent the regions watered by the Delaware and its tributaries. When- ever a full cargo of peltries was secured, the traders returned to the Island of Manhattan, which, since the arrival of Director May, had been made the head- quarters for the New Netherland trade. Now also the ships from Holland no longer went up the Hud- son, but loaded and unloaded at the Island settlement, which, on account of its central location, had not only been found most favorably situated for commercial purposes, but also was held to be strategically of the greatest importance. With the advent of the West India Company, old Fort Nassau on the Tawasentha Creek had been aban- doned. A more substantial stronghold “with four angles,’ named Fort Orange, was constructed a few miles higher up the river, at about the same time that the other Fort Nassau had been built on the South River. At Fort Orange an agricultural settle- ment was also begun, but within three years of its founding the settlers had all returned to Manhattan, 154 New Netherland to 1628 and only sixteen men were left at the fort for trade purposes. Daniel Van Krieckebeeck, or Beeck for short, had been supercargo of the Company’s ship Mackere/, in which capacity he had performed his duties so well that he was not only thanked, but, about 1624, made Commander and Vice-Direétor at Fort Orange. The tribes on the banks of the Hudson River were in a chronic state of mutual enmity, and naturally endea- vored to secure the assistance of the white traders, whose firearms were so much superior to the simple weapons of the natives. In the year 1626 war broke out between the Mohawks, inhabiting the west bank of the Hudson, and the Mohicans, whose villages lined the east bank of the stream. The Mohicans sent to Fort Orange for assistance, and Krieckebeeck, with six men of the garrison, indiscreetly joined their forces. After marching three miles into the enemy’s country without opposition, the allied forces were so unexpectedly attacked by the Mohawk war- riors that Krieckebeeck and his Europeans could not even make use of their firearms. The arrows flew so thick and fast that the Commander and three of his men were killed, and the rest took flight. Of the Trade and Exploration 12% three who survived the onset, two were Portuguese and the third was a Hollander from Hoorn. One of the Portuguese, while swimming across a stream, was hit in the back by an arrow, but all three escaped and found safety in the fort. Krieckebeeck and two of his dead companions were buried side by side, but the third, Tymen Bouwensz, was partly eaten by the cannibal Mohawks. Pieter Barendsz, one of the West India Company’s agents, whose chief business was to search for furs on the river and its tributaries, and along the neighboring sea-coasts, happened to arrive at Fort Orange a few days after the sorrowful incident. Barendsz not only understood and spoke most of the Indian dialects, but the Indians trusted him so well that some would deal with him only. As soon as he had been informed of the deplorable affair, he boldly set out for the nearest Mohawk castle, desiring to gain additional informa- tion and to effect a conciliation. Upon his arrival the savages told him all that had happened and expressed regrets for the unfortunate end of the commander and his three companions, adding that they had never in- terfered with the whites, and that this deplorable event would not have occurred had Krieckebeeck not med- 156 New Netherland to 1628 dled with them. The diplomatic Barendsz succeeded in smoothing over matters, which doubtless was easier to accomplish because the Mohawks had come out victorious and, having no unsettled scores to avenge, could afford to be generous. It seems, however, that Minuit, the Director-Gen- eral at Manhattan Island, feared that evil conse- quences might ensue from Krieckebeeck’s defeat, and either at the time or somewhat later he increased the permanent garrison at Fort Orange to twenty-six armed traders. At the same time Barendsz was ap- pointed temporary Commander of Fort Orange in Krieckebeeck’s place, and remained there until about September, when he was succeeded by Sebastian Jansz Crol, who at first had officiated as ‘comforter of the sick”? at Manhattan. As the West India Company reserved the trade in peltries to itself, none but its agents were permitted to engage in it, though the settlers, contrary to the regulations, occasionally exchanged their knives and other European articles for skins offered by the na- tives. As the quantity of peltries loaded in any one ship was never large enough to make up a full cargo, the vessels needed much ballast, for which the pro- Trade and Exploration 157 ducts of the forest were very early used. In this way timber soon became a valuable by-produé, and as the trade in wood seems to have been left absolutely free, it was not long before many of the colonists them- selves made a regular business of exporting planks, staves, prepared logs, and other products of New WWetherland’s magnificent forests. The cargo of any one ship was usually not more than eight thousand skins of various kinds, and the yearly value of the New Netherland peltry trade seldom exceeded fifty thousand guilders. As soon as a ship was unloaded at Amsterdam, her cargo of val- uable furs was stored in the West India House, while - the products of the forests were taken to the Com- pany’s wharf and workshops to be used in the con- struction and repair of ships, as well as for the mak- ing of barrels and various other articles of general use. From time to time the Directors of the several Cham- bers arranged for the sale of the goods brought by the ships. These occasions were announced by bills con- spicuously posted in various parts of the town, and gave the date, hour, and place of the sale, as well as the kind of goods to be offered. Though the Amster- dam Chamber was not charged with the exclusive ad- 158 New Netherland to 1628 ministration of New Netherland affairs until 1645, nearly all cargoes from that province were landed at Amsterdam, and consequently the sales of the New Netherland peltries were mostly held in that city. Thus the ship New Netherland having arrived from Manhattan in November, 1624, with a cargo of 500 otter skins, 1500 beaver skins, and many more of other kinds, the Amsterdam Directors at their December meeting resolved to sell these peltries on the 2oth of the same month, at nine o’clock in the morning, in the storage-room of the West India House. The skins in this instance were divided into four parcels, and were disposed of for a little over twenty-eight thou- sand guilders. About the time of the arrival of Mr. Michaélius, in the spring of 1628, war had again broken out be- tween the Mohawks and the Mohicans in the neigh- borhood of Fort Orange. The Mohicans, as in 1626, were worsted in the encounters. Some of them were carried away into captivity by the victorious Mohawks, while the remainder, forced to quit their abode on the east bank of the Hudson, migrated further east and settled on the banks of the Connecticut or Fresh River. Trade and Exploration 159 The Mohawks did not occupy the country aban- doned by the Mohicans, and it remained open for future settlement, as is evident from the following clause of the Michaélius letter: ‘“‘At the upper end of the river, near Fort Orange, lies open for us a large tract of remarkably fertile and pleasant land, as its inhabitants, the Mohicans, have abandoned it, fleeing from there for fear of the Mo- hawks, their enemies, who are too strong for them; and also for fear of us, because they had faithlessly schemed to murder our people, and treacherously plot- ted to surprise the aforesaid fort.” It is comment of this sort that makes us realize what a flood of light would have been thrown on events in New York’s early history had the many other letters written by Mr. Michaélius from Manhattan been preserved. During the first eight years of the West India Com- pany’s existence the commerce with New Netherland was absolutely in its hands. Gradually, however, this monopoly was relinquished, until in time the fur trade and all other commerce was thrown open, the mer- chants being required only to ship their goods in the Company’s vessels and to pay a moderate duty on the merchandise carried to or from New Netherland. Ill COLONIZATION Even before the founding of the East India Company voices had been raised in Netherland favoring an or- ganization to promote the commerce of the Dutch with the coast of Guinea, the countries of South America, and the West Indies. One of those who took a conspicuous part in direct- ing their countrymen’s attention to the benefits to be derived from transatlantic commerce was Peter Plan- cius, a Flemish preacher at Amsterdam who had been prominent in all the movements of the day which tended to extend the influence of the Dutch people. He had been a leading promoter of the attempts to discover an Arctic passage to China, and two years later strongly supported Houtman’s scheme for finding India by the Cape of Good Hope route. Plancius was the scientific authority in all the distant maritime enterprises of the Dutch. He used his knowledge, acquired not only from books but also from personal intercourse with travellers and sailors, to prepare and Peter Plancius Photographed from the original engraving. his portrait was made in the last year of his life. He died in 1622, at the age of seventy years. Colonization 161 correct sea-charts for the use of the Dutch discoverers setting out in quest of foreign countries. Being at the same time an able mathematician and astronomer, Plancius even invented or corrected nautical instru- ments for the use of navigators. In 1871 Captain Elling Carlsen found at Nova Zembla, besides many other interesting relics of the Barents expedition, “a quaintly curious copper dial to work on an astrolabe, an invention— probably the only example extant — of Plancius, which Mr. De Jonge believes to be an instrument for determining the variations of the com- pass.’’* Plancius naturally was deeply interested in the move- ments to form a West India Company, and Commelin states that he held many conferences with Willem Usselincx, the most enthusiastic advocate of the pro- posed association. The man who had, more than Plancius, more than any one else, to do with the founding of the West India Company was this Willem Usselincx, a former Antwerp merchant who upon the capture of that city by the Duke of Parma in 1585 had sought refuge in Holland. His commercial inter- ests had often taken him to Spain, where he had not «§, R. Van Campen, in the preface to his translation of The Barents Relics, 8. 162 New Netherland to 1628 failed to observe the almost fabulous riches poured into that country from the mines of America. After his flight it became a fixed idea with Usselincx to cripple Spanish power, not only by preying upon the ships carrying the proceeds of the American mines and other transatlantic sources of Spanish wealth, but also by wresting from her part, at least, of the territories whence she derived that wealth. For this purpose Usselincx, as early as 1592, began to advocate the formation of a strong association of Dutch merchants and capitalists. It is not easy to determine the influ- ence of Usselincx’s ideas on the organization of the East India Company. Nor is it at all possible to de- termine the influence of the East India Company upon Usselincx’s subsequent ideas, though this influence must have been marked, because in the East India Company Usselincx actually perceived the realization of his ideal, at least as far as organization and practical workings were concerned. As early as July, 1606, the formation of a West India Company was discussed by the Assembly of the States of Holland and West Friesland, and after six months of parliamentary wrangling was at last deter- mined on by these Provincial States. Several cities Willem Usselincx From the original oil-painting, dated 1637, in the Ryks Museum, Amsterdam. Colonization 163 of Holland, however, especially Enkhuizen and Hoorn, were opposed to the scheme, out of fear that their val- uable salt trade with the West Indies, which was of the greatest importance for their fishing interests, might be included in the monopoly of the proposed Company. Notwithstanding the fact that the diplo- matic Frangois Vranck was sent, in February, 1607, to smooth over matters, the two cities remained ob- durate, and the Provincial Assembly, lacking the con- sent of all of its constituent members, could not pro- ceed in the matter. Just then, moreover, a fresh impediment to the for- mation of the Company arose in the shape of nego- tiations for a cessation of hostilities between Spain and the United Provinces. A few months after the bus- iness of the proposed West India Company had been brought before the States of Holland, the commis- sioners of the King of Spain and of the States Gen- eral met together at The Hague to try to arrive at an understanding regarding a peace or a truce between the warring countries. The East India Company had caused an immense amount of damage, principally in the Indian Ocean, to the interests of the Spanish Empire. The Spanish 164 New Netherland to 1628 government was thus able to forecast in some degree what would result should a similar association be formed for the promotion of the Dutch influence in the West Indies and the mainland of South America. Jan Van Oldenbarnevelt, the leading Dutch statesman of the time and the man who directed the Dutch in- terests in the negotiations for the proposed peace or truce, well knew this, and he therefore made use of the agitation for the founding of a West India Com- pany as one of the means to force the Spanish King to agree to an armistice, which was greatly needed to relieve the strain upon the country’s finances. Olden- barnevelt was not an enemy to the projected West India Company, but he saw in its consummation a hindrance to the desired truce and a threat against its continuance after it should have been established. He therefore resolved to oppose the formation of the West India Company at the same time that he utilized its projection as a threat and an inducement to Spain to agree to the twelve years’ truce which at last was made at Antwerp in 1609. The truce was a stunning blow to the expectations of the promoters of the West India Company, who had most strenuously opposed peaceful overtures. For Colonization 165 several years the project was permitted to slumber, and it was not until June 21st, 1614, that the States Gen- eral again took up the matter, impelled thereto by “a Remonstrance of divers Traders of these Provinces, in substance for the formation and ere¢tion in this coun- try of a general Company for the West Indies, the coast of Africa and through the Strait of Magellan without prejudice to the East India Company or in- fraction of the Truce.’’" More than two months later, on August 25th, a committee was appointed to consider the matter fur- ther. One of the members was the ablest and most persistent advocate of the enterprise, Willem Usse- lincx. On September 2nd the affair of the projected Company was again mentioned in the Assembly of the States General, but from that time nothing more is heard of it there for several years. At last the twelve years’ truce came to a close, and now the Dutch government was at liberty to set on foot the formation of a West India Company which would be more in keeping with the original ideas advanced by Usselincx. From every indication it was evident that the new Company, like the older one, t Holland Documents, i, 7- 166 New Netherland to 1628 would have to fight for its very existence. It would have to fight not only to protect its commerce against assaults by the national enemy, but it would be obliged to fight, first of all, to gain and retain most of the territory deemed necessary for establishing this com- merce. Almost every point of vantage, as far as com- merce was concerned, in Africa, South America, and the West Indies was in the hands of the Portuguese and Spaniards. The acquisition of trading centers in those regions would therefore necessitate the equip- ment of powerful fleets and strong armies. The West India Company would require to be chartered as a semi-independent organization, endowed with large political powers, unless, indeed, the States General themselves were prepared to undertake the protection of the Company’s commerce, the conquest and the government of the regions comprised within its trad- ing privileges. In conformity, therefore, with its wide scope the newly founded organization was endowed by the States General with most comprehensive powers. By the charter of June 3rd, 1621, the West India Com- pany was incorporated for twenty-four years, and re- ceived a monopoly of the trade with the coasts and OCTROY aay De Hooghe Mogende Heeren Staten Generacl/ veriecnt aende Weik- Indilehe Compagnie / in date den devden Juntj 1621, IN sGRAVEN-HAGHE, By Hillebrant Iacobffz , Ordinaris ende Gheiworen Drucker vande Ed: Mo: Heeren Staten yan Hob landt eh VVelt-Vrieflandt. Anno 162:, Title-page of the first edition of the Charter of the Dutch West India Company, granted June 3d, 1621. Colonization 167 countries of Africa from the Tropic of Cancer to the Cape of Good Hope, with all American countries, in- cluding the West Indies, from the southern extremity of Newfoundland to the Straits of Magellan and La Maire, and from there upwards till the extreme north- west coast of the American continent, besides all the islands situated between Africa and America and along their coasts, and further with all the Austral or South lands between the meridian of the Cape of Good Hope towards the East and the meridian of New Guinea towards the West. The Company was further authorized, in the name and under the supervision of the States General, to enter into alliances with the powers included in the Company’s limits, to declare war, to make conquests, to appoint military and civil officers, to equip armies and navies, and, in general, to conduct itself as a sovereign power. The Company was divided into five divisions or chambers: one at Amsterdam, one in Zeeland, one at the Maeze, one in the Northern Quarter (North Holland), and one in Friesland, including the province of Groningen. The general management of the Company’s affairs was intrusted to a board of nineteen Directors, very generally referred to as the Assembly of the XIX, 168 New Netherland to 1628 eight of whom were sent by the chamber of Amster- dam, four by Zeeland, and two by each of the other chambers. ‘The States General appointed the nine- teenth member or additional members if they saw fit, and thus not only kept in touch with the Com- pany but also had a vote in the direction of its gen- eral policy. In conformity with the provisions of the charter, notices were posted in various cities of the country inviting prospective investors to send in their sub- scriptions. One of the notices affixed at Amsterdam has been preserved in C. Commelin’s Beschryving van Amsterdam; a translation follows below. “The common Directors appointed to collect the capital of the West India Company inform by these presents all Princes, Lords and Republics, Nobles and Commoners of whatever quality and condition, living within these United Netherlands or without the same, that those intending to invest with the said Com- pany any amounts of money, within the months of July, August, September, October and November, are requested to address themselves to Jacob Gerritsz Hoingh, former Burgomaster, Jan Gysbertsz, Schepen, Joris Adriaansz, Pieter Beltens and Helias Pels, mer- Colonization 169 chants, residing within this city, who upon request shall inform them about the advantages and _priv- ileges, laudably granted to said Company by the Lords States General and also take their subscriptions of all such amounts of money, as each shall be inclined to invest in said Company. To be paid in three instal- ments, to wit: one third at the expiration of the said five months and the remaining two thirds in three successive years, unless afterwards the General Assem- bly of the Directors should resolve to extend [the period for] some of the instalments, which, in such instance, will be communicated to the stockholders by the posting of notices. Also notifying every one that from nine till eleven o’clock in the morning on Monday and Thursday of every week they will sit as a body in the Princen Hof, where the stockholders may meet them, or may address, at such other times as they please, any one of them in particular for the purpose of sending in their subscriptions. And in order that every one may be inclined to subscribe more liberally, they also give notice that hereafter, when the subscriptions are closed and the capital is full, there will be elected, made and appointed from among the most able, most experienced and highest 170 New Netherland to 1628 subscribers among the stockholders, the Directors of the said Company, in the manner and according to the rules, prescribed by the Charter.” Owing to distrust in the association’s success, sub- scriptions came in very slowly, and for the sake of drawing subscribers the States General were obliged, in 1622, to include the lucrative salt trade in the amended charter of the Company. It was not until the close of 1623, however, that the Directors could command sufficient capital to undertake anything of real magnitude within the limits of the West India Company’s monopoly. Even before the capital of the Dutch West India Company had been fully subscribed and the Company formally organized, the provisional Directors resolved, in obedience to the requirements of their charter, to proceed with the colonizing of their New Netherland province. The colonists were virtually waiting to be carried over.’ * Though it was reported, as early as 1613, that there were at least four dwellings erected on Manhattan by the fur traders, with ‘‘a pretended Dutch governor,’’ and that in 1620 there were Dutchmen living here, it does not ap- pear that the settlement consisted of anything more permanent than a fur-traders’ camp. The requirements of the trade had no doubt necessitated the building of a substantial warehouse for the storing of the valuable cargoes brought from Hol- land, and of the furs which accumulated pending the arrival of ships. There is Colonization 171 A number of Walloon families living in Amsterdam had, in January, 1622, applied to Carleton, the Eng- lish ambassador at The Hague, for permission to settle in Virginia “and establish a colony, to be governed by magistrates of their own election.” The Virginia Company, however, was disinclined to accede to the conditions of the intending colonists, and New Neth- erland was destined to gain what Virginia lost. The Chamber of Amsterdam, to which much of the man- agement of New Netherland affairs had been intrusted by the other chambers of the West India Company, hastened to secure these Walloons for the projected colony." In honor of the newly created province, one of the evidence that one family, at least, was here as early as 1614 or 1615, and their only son may have been born at Manhattan about this time. The two Labadist travelers, Dankers and Sluyter, who visited this part of the country in 1679-80, say in their journal of the voyage, as given in the translation published by the Long Island Historical Society: «*We conversed with the first male born of Europeans in New Netherland, named Jan Vigne. His parents were from Valenciennes, and he was now about sixty-five years of age.’’ This would fix the date of his birth in the year 1615, and no evidence has yet been discovered to refute or even shake the statement. * On April 21st, 1622, the provisional Direétors of the West India Company reported to the States of Holland and West Friesland that they deemed the pro- posed emigration not only ‘‘ very advantageous for the Company,” but that they were even disposed to take the emigrants into the employ of the Company, thus in a measure securing the initial success of the enterprise. 172 New Netherland to 1628 first ships equipped by the Dutch West India Com- pany had been named the New Netherland. This ship, of two hundred and sixty tons burden, was now se- lected to convey the first permanent settlers to the Company’s transatlantic dominion. Early in March, 1623, the New Netherland \eft the Texel, having on board thirty families, mostly of the Walloons. The ship’s commander was the able and experienced Cornelis Jacobsen May, of Hoorn, who had also been appointed chief of the expedition and first Director of the province of New Netherland.* Taking the usual course by way of the Canary Islands and the West Indies, the expedition, in the beginning of May, 1623, reached the mouth of the Mauritius (Hudson) River. Here an event took place which not only showed that other nations besides the Dutch were desirous of securing a foothold on this portion of the North American continent, but also that the South River (now the Delaware) was occu- pied by the Dutch as early at least as May, 1623. ™<« and in the latter part of the month he returned last two letters of Minuit. About a month afterward, in the latter part of September, a more imposing em- bassy was sent out from Fort Amsterdam in the per- son of Secretary De Rasiéres, “accompanied with a noyse of trumpeters, and some other attendants.’’ The bark Nassau, which carried De Rasiéres and his party, had also been freighted with “diverse comodities, as suger, linen, cloth, Holland finer and courser stuffe etc.’ The visit of De Rasiéres resulted in the estab- lishment of lasting commercial relations between Ply- mouth and New Amsterdam. The Dutch exchanged seawan, linen, cloth, and sugar of the West Indies for the fish and the agricultural produéts of the New Englanders. After De Rasiéres’ return from Plymouth in the middle of Oétober, 1627, grave differences appear to have arisen between the Director and the Secretary, which became so serious that De Rasiéres was not Colonization 189 only dismissed but his papers and notes were even taken away from him. In an undated letter written by him in Holland to Samuel Blommaert,’ one of the Direétors of the West India Company, De Rasiéres refers to this confiscation of his belongings and notes. Speaking of Manhattan, he says in the course of his letter: “It is inhabited by the old Manhatesen; they are about two hundred to three hundred strong, women and men, under dif- ferent chiefs, whom they call Sackimas. This island is more mountainous than the other land on the south- east side of the river, which opposite to the Manhatas is about a mile and a half in breadth. At the side of the before mentioned little river, which we call ‘Achter Col’ [the Kills], there is a great deal of waste reedy land; the rest is full of trees, and in some places there is good soil, where the savages plant their maize, upon which they live, as well as by hunting.” After having stated that the Indians round about live in constant enmity with each other, he goes on: “so that when we wish to send letters overland they [ the ColleBions N. Y. Historical Society, vol. ii, part 1. The original is in the Royal Library at The Hague. The copy of this in the possession of the New York Historical Society was translated by Mr. Brodhead. Igo New Netherland to 1628 natives] take their way across the bay, and have the letters carried forward by others, unless one among them may happen to be on friendly terms, and who might venture to go there.” Then, continuing his narrative, he says: “The north side has good land in two places where two farmers, each with four horses, would have enough to do without much clearing or grubbing at first. The grass is good in the forests and valleys, but when made into hay is not so nutritious for the cattle as [the hay] here [in Holland], in consequence of its wild state, but it yearly improves by cultivation. On the east side there rises a large level field of from seventy to eighty morgens of land, through which runs a very fine fresh stream [the “Fresh Water,” along the line of the present Roosevelt Street]; so that land can be ploughed without much clearing. It appears to be good.” What he says next is especially important, as show- ing what had already been done or what was going to be done in regard to the agricultural development of the Island: “The six farms, four of which lie along the River Hellgate, stretching to the south side of the Island, have at least sixty morgens of land ready Colonization 1g! to be sown with winter seed which at the most wi// have been ploughed eight times.‘ But as the greater part must have some manure, inasmuch as it is so exhausted by the wild herbage, I am afraid that all will not be sown; and the more so as the cultivators are hired. The two hindermost farms, Nos. 1 and 2, are the best; the other farms have also good land, but not so much, and more wild; so that they are best suited for rye and buckwheat.” Shortly after Minuit’s arrival a fort had been staked out by the engineer Kryn Frederycks, near the south- ern extremity of the Island. Wassenaer, in speaking of this fort, said that it “will be of large dimensions.”’ Mr. Michaélius also alludes to this fort in both his letters, saying: “A mew fortress is in course of con- struction.” This suggests there had been a fort built before this time, which may have been still standing. It is not at all improbable, though no mention is made of it, that the New Netherland Company erected a fort on Manhattan Island to serve as a warehouse for «If, as the internal evidence shows, the letter was written about 1628, it would appear that agricultural operations were conducted on Manhattan Island as early as 1620. Dermer, on his trip along the coast from Virginia to New England, in the spring of 1620, held a conference with some Hollanders << set- tled in a place we call Hudson’s River.”’ 192 New Netherland to 1628 merchandise as well as for the protection of the agents of the Company. De Rasiéres in his often quoted letter also refers to the fort of the West India Company, as follows: ‘The small fort New Amsterdam, commenced to be built, is situated on a point opposite to Noten Island; [ the channel between] is a gunshot wide, and is full six or seven fathoms deep in the middle. This point might with little trouble be made a small island by cutting through Blommaert’s valley, so as to afford a haven winter and summer for sloops and ships.” De Rasiéres makes a mistake, however, in calling the fort New Amsterdam. The fort was never officially known by this name and was scarcely ever referred to as Fort New Amsterdam. Wassenaer says: “When the fort staked out at Manhates shall be completed it is to be named Amsterdam.’ The settlement near the fort was officially mentioned as New Amsterdam as early as April 1gth, 1638, and doubtless was known by that name years before. It was sometimes mis- takenly designated as the city of Amsterdam in New Netherland by Stuyvesant, and habitually so by the mag- istrates of the town; but though the name of the fort was Amsterdam, that of the settlement was New Am- eS SSSS— TC == Zig Ze iit ‘HIsToRIscH™ VERHAEL 4 N alder ghedenck-weerdichite gelchiedeniBé, /f i) de huer en dacr in Evrora, alt in Duyt{ch lant. Uranckryck, \\ Enghelant, Spaengren, Hungaryen, Polen, Seven-berghen, Walla: | chien, Moldavien, Tirckyen. en Neder-lant, van den beginne— des jaers w21: tot den Herfst toe, voorgeoallen fyn. dooz Doct. Claes Waffenaer. \ \ | j I i eeererTry = tietsqe by Title-page of the first edition of Wassenaer’s History of Europe, volume 1. This book contains many references to New Netherland, and is one of the chief authorities for the present Sketch. Colonization 193 sterdam. The Directors of the West India Company in Holland, who were the lawful sovereigns of the town, always referred to the city as New Amsterdam in New Netherland, while in official documents the stronghold was commonly styled Fort Amsterdam. While the colony was yet in its infancy and the population scattered all over the country, the West India Company had sent out two “comforters of the sick”’ to attend to the religious needs of the colonists. They may also have kept school for the few children on Manhattan and at Fort Orange. After the concen- tration of all the colonists in 1626 around Fort Am- sterdam both the comforters, Sebastian Jansen Crol and Jan Huyck, were also there, but not for long. Crol was very soon sent up to Fort Orange as com- mander of the post and superintendent of the Com- pany’s Indian trade there as successor to Pieter Ba- rendsz, while Huyck remained at Fort Amsterdam and took charge of the Company’s store. The increasing crops and the presence of several hundred colonists on the Island rendered it imperative to have facilities for grinding the corn. Consequently a millwright, Frangois Molemaecker, was sent over by the Company, probably in 1626 or 1627, to build a 194 New Netherland to 1628 grist-mill. It was to be a horse-mill, over which a spacious room was to be constructed to serve as a meeting-place for the congregation. A steeple was to surmount the structure, and in this steeple were to be hung “the bells brought from Porto Rico.” These bells doubtless did service for many years, not only to call the people to worship, but also, as was customary during this period, to call them to work in the morn- ing, to notify them of the arrival and expiration of the meal hour, when it was time to quit work in the even- ing, when the hour of nine at night arrived, when important news was to be made known by the gov- ernment, when disaster or impending danger rendered necessary the massing of the colonists. The structure was doubtless finished when, on April 7th, 1628, the Reverend Jonas Michaélius, his delicate wife, and their three children set foot on Manhat- tan’s soil. In his early letter of August 8th, 1628, he says: “They are also cutting wood and erecting another mill.’’ This second mill, however, was neither a horse-mill nor a grist-mill, but a wind and sawmill erected for the purpose of preparing lumber for the needs of the settlement and even for exportation to Holland. It appears, therefore, that former consign- Colonization 195 ments of lumber for Holland had been all prepared by hand. The advantages of a denser population were beginning to be enjoyed even at this early period. The two mills were among the first great material benefits secured for the colonists by Minuit’s wise policy of consolidation. At the time of Mr. Michaélius’s arrival there must have been at least three hundred Europeans on the island, the majority of whom lived in more than thirty “houses of the bark of trees” along the East River shore. The farming population, which according to Mr. Michaélius appears to have been a small minor- ity, was scattered over the Island wherever there was a sufficiently large clearing in the woods to permit tilling of the soil without resorting to the unfamiliar labor of felling trees. There were no roads, and com- munication between the farmers and the dwellers near the fort, naturally difficult, was almost entirely inter- rupted during bad weather. This may have had some- thing to do with the difficulty of procuring dairy pro- duce, about which Mr. Michaélius complains so much, and which in his opinion could have been remedied by the addition of “ten or twelve farmers, with cattle and land in proportion.” 196 New Netherland to 1628 Several of the settlers, as we are told by Mr. Mi- chaélius, even lived in holes. One reason for this was doubtless that a general conflagration had recently dev- astated the settlement. The colony was just recover- ing from the consequences of this disaster during the summer of 1628, and vigorous efforts were being made to provide somewhat more commodious dwellings. Yet it seems that the practice of living in dugouts was quite general among the early colonists, and that they took this as a matter of course, however much it may have shocked the sensibilities of people just arrived from older civilizations. Secretary Cornelis Van Tienhoven in his “Information relative to taking up land in New Netherland,’ dated March 4th, 1650, thus refers to these dugouts: “Those in New Netherland and especially in New England who have no means to build farm-houses at first according to their wishes, dig a square pit in the ground, cellar fashion, six or seven feet deep, as long and as broad as they think proper, case the earth inside all round the wall with timber, which they line with the bark of trees or something else to prevent the caving in of the earth; floor this cellar with plank and wainscot it overhead for a ceiling, raise a roof Colonization 197 of spars clear up and cover the spars with bark or green sods, so that they can live dry and warm in these houses with their entire families for two, three and four years, it being understood that partitions are run through those cellars which are adapted to the size of the family. The wealthy and principal men in New England in the beginning of the Colonies commenced their first dwelling-houses in this fashion for two reasons; first, in order not to waste time build- ing and not to want food the next season; secondly, in order not to discourage poorer laboring people, whom they brought over in numbers from Fatherland.” The principal officials at Manhattan were provided with modest homes built for the account of the Com- pany, the Direétor and the koopman or factor sharing a house between them. This dwelling was probably located near the Company’s warehouse, a large brick or stone structure, covered with reeds, standing on the East River bank. When the success of the enterprise had been secured, Direétor Minuit sent for his wife, who may have ar- rived on the same ship with Mr. Michaélius and his family. As the minister did not complain about the quarters assigned to him, it is reasonable to suppose 198 New Netherland to 1628 that the Company’s representative at Manhattan had prepared a decent parsonage. It had been intended to have the population move into the fort as soon as it was completed, but the in- creasing numbers of settlers soon rendered this plan impracticable. The walls of the fort were of earth with a stone facing for the four bastions. The struc- tures within the enclosure, however, were substantial buildings, constructed of the stone quarried at some distance from the site of the fort. Because of the small number of available workmen and the size of the several buildings within the fort, the work progressed slowly, and not until the year 1635 could Fort Am- sterdam be considered fully completed. This scarcity of workmen and of useful animals as well caused Mr. Michaélius to complain: «‘We need nothing so much as horses and cows, and industrious workers for the building of houses and fortresses who later on could be employed in farming, in order that we may produce sufficient dairy products and crops.” Besides the small farming population, the Indian traders, and the sloopmen, several other callings and occupations were represented in the growing settle- ment. Woodsawyers, house and ship carpenters, Colonization 199 masons and quarrymen, blacksmiths, and even brick- makers and potash burners, possibly also one or two pilots, a few fishermen and hunters, combined in building up this outpost of civilization on the banks of the Hudson. As the country did not yet produce nearly enough necessaries for the use of the settlers, the ships from Holland brought over not only provisions, such as peas, beans, groats, dried fish, and other victuals, but also beer, dry goods, tools, implements, the most in- dispensable furniture, and whatever else the modest needs of the struggling settlement might call for. A portion of the Company’s large warehouse was also utilized as the store for the settlement. Here Jan Huygen (or Huyck), the Company’s storekeeper, dis- tributed to the colonists the commodities brought from Holland, charging them against the people’s credit with the Company. Those in the West India Com- pany’s employ could draw from the store to the amount of their earnings, while independent settlers or “freemen” could pay either in commodities or in labor. Coin was scarce among the settlers, and they soon learned to utilize the Indian shell money or seawan, which was freely accepted in the Company’s 200 New Netherland to 1628 counting-room, because it was current money among all the neighboring Indian tribes and readily accepted by them in payment for their valuable furs. From later accounts it is evident that the Company freely ex- tended credit to the struggling settlers, owing to which many got deeply in debt, more especially during and shortly after the first Indian war in the year 1643. The government consisted of the Dire¢tor and the Council of New Netherland, assisted by the Schout ( Prosecutor ) and the Secretary. About 1628 De Rasi- éres was succeeded as Secretary of the Council by Jan Van Remundt, who remained in the colony for about five years. In order to strengthen the Council and to secure various opinions, every chief military officer in the Company’s service and every captain of a Com- pany’s ship, when in port, were ex-officio members of the Council and were expected to attend its meet- ings. Captain Croeger of the ship in which Mr. Michaélius came over was derelict in this as well as in other duties, and the minister, in his second letter, mentions having written about it to Mr. Godyn, one of the most influential dire€@tors of the West India Company, and a man closely identified with early New Netherland affairs. Colonization 201 The earliest official ation of the Council of New Netherland of which a record remains was July 15th, 1630, when a grant of land on the South River was made to Samuel Godyn and Samuel Blommart. The document was subscribed to by Peter Minuit, Pieter Bylvelt, Jacob Elbertsen Wissinck, Jan Jansen Brouwer, Symon Dircksen Pos, and Reyner Harmensen, with Jan Lampe as Schout. As the signature of Secretary Jan Van Remundt does not appear on the document, he may have been absent, as happened not infrequently, on some mission or on a voyage of inspection or ex- ploration. ‘This supposition gains strength from the fact that on a grant to Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, dated August 13th, 1630, Lenart Cole, Deputy Secretary, affixes his signature in place of the Secretary, who is said in the document to be absent. The Council was in existence as early as 1624, dur- ing the Directorship of Jacob Cornelissen May. Was- senaer refers to it as follows: “The Council there administered justice in criminal matters as far as im- posing fines ( oer-straffe), but not as far as capital pun- ishment. Should it happen that any one deserves that, he must be sent to Holland with his sentence.” The Council, besides administering justice, also ex- 202 New Netherland to 1628 ecuted the laws passed by the Directors in Holland for the government of New Netherland. In cases of emergency it was permitted, and even charged, to pass such ordinances and take such measures as it deemed necessary, provided the Chamber of Amsterdam in Holland were immediately informed of the steps taken. Later proceedings show that the a¢ts of the Council did not always meet with the approval of the home authorities, and more than one sharp rebuke was ad- ministered by the Directors in Amsterdam. As there are no records in existence of Minuit’s administration, there are no means of knowing whether or not Minuit and his Council were any more fortunate in this regard than their successors. While Mr. Michaélius was yet on his voyage to New Netherland, the Direétors of the West India Company were considering projects for the peopling of their New Netherland dependency, and on March 28th, 1628, provisionally drafted a scheme with this end in view. Then the matter was permitted to rest for a considerable time. It is probable, however, that the preacher’s many letters to influential persons in Holland, containing complaints about the paucity of population and of the crying need of industrious set- ~VRYHEDEN Sy de Clergadevinghe ban De Meqenthiene bande Geoctropeerde Wzit-Indilcye Compagnie vergunt aen aller Den ghenen /die eenighe Colonien in Mieu-~ Mederlanot fullen planten. 71 het light gheghevens ‘Om bekent te maken wat Profijren ende Voordeelen aldaer in Nieu-Nederlandt , yoor de Coloniers ende der {elyer Patroonen ende Meefters , midtfpaders de Participanten , die de Colonien aldaer planten, zijn becomen, We/tindsen Kan Syn Ned erLanos groot Jewitt Derkleynl foyands Macht brengt siloer-platen in T AMS TELREDAM, By Marten laalz Brande Baeckvercooper /wasnende bp De nieuwe Herstyin be Berefagmescde Catechs nus, Hane 263% Title-page of the first edition of the Liberties granted by the West India Company to founders of colonies in New Netherland. Colonization 203 tlers, induced the Directors to take up the matter again, and to adopt on June 7th, 1629, the celebrated ‘Privileges and Exemptions.’ These “Privileges and Exemptions,” while indirectly benefiting the settle- ment of New Amsterdam, were the direct cause of a considerable increase of the farming population of New Netherland and of the founding of the pros- perous and ably managed colony of Rensselaerswyck, part of which, under the name of Albany, afterwards became the capital city of the great State of New York. FORTY-SIX SPELLINGS OF THE NAME OF THE ISLAND NOW KNOWN AS MANHATTAN Compiled from various early records Manachatas Manades Manadoes Manados Manahactas Manahata Manahatans Manahatas Manahatin Manahatta Manahattas Manatans Manate Manatens Manates Manath Manathans Manathe Manathes Manatte Manetto Manhat Manhatan Manhatans Manhatas Manhate Manhatens Manhates Manhathans Manhatoes Manhatoos Manhatos Manhattan Manhattans Manhatten Manhattes Manhattoes Manhattons Manhattos Manhuttons Mannahata Mannatans Menade Menates Monhatons Munhaddons This edition of Manhattan in 1628 is limited to 50 copies on Imperial Japan paper and 175 copies on Holland hand-made paper, numbered respectively from 1 to 50 and from 51 to 225. It was printed at the Marion Press, Jamaica, Queensborough, New-York, and completed in the month of July, 1904. This copy is number SSE. Se at er Hoprlern_s