GassXL 
 Book.[ V6 2j 
 
 ^ 
 
 SMITHSON'IAN l)EPOSIT 
 
o V 
 
 r- 
 
 COLLECTIONS 
 
 NEW-YORK 
 
 HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 SECOND SERIES. 
 
 VOLUME III.— PART I. 
 
 NEW- YORK: 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 
 
 346 & 348 BROADWAY. 
 
 M DCCC LVTt. 
 
 O.C , 
 
 f^<;7 
 
EiiTxmED, according to Act of Conjresi', in the year 1857, by Geo. II. Moork, in the CKrk'i 
 Office ol tbc District Court of the United Stales for the Southern District of Now York. 
 
 JOnX F. TROW, 
 (•TEAM BOOK AND JOD PKIirrER, 
 
 377 i. 37"J Brcn Iwny, N. Y 
 
 FwU 
 
 v\v?% <^^^^- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This volume has been compiled and prepared for publica- 
 tion by the undersigned, to whom the duty was intrusted by 
 the Executive^Committee of the New- York Historical Society. 
 Various circumstances — prominent among which may be 
 named the engrossing, and now successful, efforts to ensure 
 the completion of a fire-proof building for the use of the 
 Society and the safe keeping of its Library and Galleries — 
 have retarded the action of the Committee on Publications. 
 It is confidently believed, however, that no such causes of 
 delay will hereafter occur ; and that when the Society shall 
 at length be happily established in its permanent and con- 
 venient home, its series of collections will begin, and continue 
 to be, regularly, as well as rapidly issued. 
 
 The first volume of the second series of the collections of 
 the Society was issued in the year 1841 : — the second followed 
 it in 1849. Like its predecessors, this third volume is de- 
 voted to the illustration of the Dutch period in our History; 
 that is, to the years between the discovery of the State in 
 1609, and its surrender to the English in 1664, when its 
 name was changed from " New Netherland" to " New York." 
 The fourth and the fifth volumes — which will complete the 
 second series — are intended to contain a full and accurate 
 catalogue of the Library, and are now in press. 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 The several articles embraced in the present volume 
 are so fully indicated in the table of contents and explained 
 in the notes which accompany them, that no further prefatory 
 observations are thought necessary. The Committee, bow- 
 ever, indulge and express the hope that this volume will be 
 found to compare very favorably with any that have been 
 issued by the Society. The proofs of each of the articles have 
 been carefully read by the gentlemen whose names are con- 
 nected with them as translators or annotators ; and every 
 precaution has been taken to secure correctness in all the 
 details of the press. 
 
 Nevertheless, the undersigned deem it proper to state, 
 that, beyond selecting the several papers included in this 
 volume, and intrusting the translation and annotation of 
 them to competent hands, they have not felt it to be their 
 duty to revise, or alter in any way, the translations thus made, 
 or the notes thus contributed. Their responsibility was con- 
 sidered to be that only of securing typographical accuracy. 
 
 Francis L. Hawks, 
 John Romeyn Brodhead, 
 George Henry Moore, 
 
 Committee on Publication. 
 
 N«w-YoBK, March, 1857. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 I. Voyages from Holland to America, A. D., 1682 to 1644. By 
 
 D. P. DeVries. Translated by Henry C. Murpht, . . 9 
 
 n. Short Sketch of the Mohawk Indiana in New Netherland, etc. 
 By J. Megapolensis, Jr. Translation revised, with an 
 Introduction, by John Romeyn Brodhead, . . . 137 
 
 m. The Jogues Papers. Translated and arranged, with a memoir 
 
 by John Gilmart Shea, 161 
 
 IV, Extract from Castell's Discoverie of America, 1644. From Dr. 
 
 Hawks's Copy, 231 
 
 V, Broad Advice to the United Netherland Provinces, &c. Trans- 
 lated by Henrt C. Murpht, 237 
 
 VI. Extract from Wagenaar's Beschryving van Amsterdam, re- 
 lating to New Amstel. Translated by John Romeyn Brod- 
 
 head, 
 
 286 
 
 VII. The Seven Articles from the Church of Leyden, 1617. With 
 
 an Introductory Letter, by George Bancroft, . . . 293 
 
 Vm. Negotiations between New England and Canada, 1648 — 51. 
 
 Translated, etc., by John Gilmary Shea, .... 303 
 
 1. Journal of Father Druilletes, .... 309 
 
 2. Report of Father Druilletes, 321 
 
 5. Letter of the Council of Quebec, .... 322 
 4. Appointment of Godefroy and Druilletes, . . 324 
 
 6. Letter from the Commissioners of the United Colo- 
 
 nies, 325 
 
 6. Answer to the Propositions of the French Agents, . 326 
 IX. Proceedings of the first Assembly of Virginia, 1619. With 
 
 an Introductory Note, by George Bancroft, . . . 329 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 ELECTED JANUARY, 185 7. 
 
 PRESIDENT, 
 
 LUTHER B RADISH. 
 
 nRST VICE PRESIDENT, 
 
 THOMAS DE AVITT, 1). D. 
 
 SECOND ^^CE PRESIDENT, 
 
 FREDERIC DE PEYSTBR. 
 
 FOREIGN CORRESPONDING SECRETARY. 
 
 EDAVARD ROBINSON, D. D. 
 
 DOMESTIC CORRESPONDING SECRETARY. 
 
 SAMUEL OSGOOD, D. D. 
 
 RECORDING SECEETART, 
 
 ANDREW WARNER. 
 
 TREASURER, 
 
 WILLIAM CHAUNCEY. 
 
 LIBRARIAN, 
 
 GEORGE HENRY MOORE. 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
 AUGUSTUS SCIIELL, Chairman. 
 MARSHALL S. BIDWELL, 
 BENJAMIN H. FIELD, 
 FRANCIS L. HAWKS, D. D. 
 JOHN ROMEYN BRODHEAD, 
 ERASTUS C. BENEDICT, 
 BENJ. ROBERT WINTHROP, 
 
 GEORGE H. MOORE, Secretary. 
 [The officers of the Society are members, ex officio, of the Executive Committee ] 
 
The Rooms of the New-York Histoeical SoaExy are in the University 
 Building, and are open daily to Members and Strangers who may be intro- 
 duced by Members. Stated Meetings of the Society are held on the first 
 Tuesday evening of every month, excepting July, August and September. 
 
VOYAGES 
 
 FROM 
 
 HOLLAND TO AMERICA, 
 
 A.D. 1632 TO 1644. 
 
 BT 
 
 DAVID PETERSON DE VRIES. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE DITTCn FOR THE NEW TOEK HISTORICAL SOCIETT, 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, 
 
 BY HENRY C. MURPHY. 
 
 Seoo>t> Seeies. — ^VoL. III. 2 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is remarkable that, after Hudson, only one of the numerous 
 Dutch navigators and travellers has, as far as is known, published a 
 journal or narrative, of voyages to New Netherland, during the period 
 of the possession of the country by their nation. 
 
 Without stopping to speculate upon the cause, we deem the fact 
 a suflacient warrant to authorize an attempt to render the account 
 which stands thus prominently alone, accessible to the English reader; 
 particularly as the work has merits of its own, which make it a valu- 
 able and necessary aid to those who would correctly understand the 
 ante- Anglican portion of our history. It bears the following title : 
 
 KORTE HISTORIAEL ENDE JOURNAELS AENTEYCKENINGE VAN VERS- 
 CHEYDEN VOYAGIENS IN DE VIER DEELEN DES WeRELDTS RoNDE, 
 
 ALs EuROPA, Africa, Asia, ende Amerika gedaen, door D. 
 DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES, Artillerij-Meester vande Ed : 
 M: Heeren Gtecommitteerde Raden van Staten van West- 
 Vrieslandt ende 't Noorder-quartier waerin verhaelt werd 
 
 WAT BaTAILJES by TE WATER GEDAEN HEEFT I YDER LaNDTSCHAP 
 ZIJN GeDIERTE, GeVOGELT, WAT SOORTE VAN ViSSEN ENDE WAT 
 WILDE MENSCHEN NAER 't LEVEN GECONTERFAEYT, ENDE VAN DE 
 BOSSCHEN ENDE RavIEREN MET HAER VrUCHTEN. t' HOORN 
 
 voor] David Pietersz. de Vries, Artillerij-Meester van H Noorder- 
 quartier. Tot Alchnaer, by Symon Cornelisz. Brekegeest. Anno 
 1655. It is a small quarto volume of 192 pages, printed in black- 
 letter, and is illustrated with a portrait of De Vries, and eighteen 
 plates ; two of them representing his encounters with the pirates in 
 the Mediterranean, four relating to scenes in the East Indies, and 
 twelve to the Indians and natural history of America. We cannot 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 say any thing in favour of the plates connected with his voyages to 
 America. They are for the most part copied from Champlain, and 
 look indeed very much like the identical plates used to illustrate an 
 edition of his voyages to Canada. 
 
 The book is one of the rarest to be found, — no printed copy being 
 known to have been extant in this country before the one from which 
 the following translation has been made, and which was obtained by 
 James Lenox, Esq. A part of it in manuscript is among the Du Simi- 
 ti^re papers, in the Philadelphia Library ; and from that manuscript ex- 
 tracts were translated by Dr. Troost, and published in the first volume 
 of the second series of tlie collections of the New York Historical 
 Society. "We now give the journals of the voyages to America entire ; 
 and tliough tliere be much in them relating to mere navigating, and 
 sailing directions, and to his voyage to Guiana, of no importance to 
 this portion of the countn,', yet we deem it due to De Tries, that his 
 relations should be unmutilated ; and to the historical reader, that he 
 should know all that the author has written, in connection with his 
 voyages to America. The style is plain and homely, and we have 
 studied to render it faithfully rather than ornately, exhibiting the same 
 characteristic. We have also, as a general rule, given the proper 
 names in the same orthography a.s that of the original, although the 
 same name is often difterently spelt; because this very variation often 
 afibrds the best means of determining the orthoepy of the word. 
 
 The history of De Vries is, in the absence of any known biography, 
 to be gathered by us from his book. He was born at Rochelle, in 
 1593, whither his father went from Iloom, after the murder of "William 
 of Orange in 1584. His mother was an Amsterdam woman. "When 
 he was four years old his parents returned with him to Holland. He 
 appeaj-s to have been married before 1G20. He made six voyages; 
 the first of which was undertaken in 1618, when he sailed to the 
 Mediterranean for a cargo of grain, returning in about a year's time. 
 During that voyage he was attacked by several Turkish galleys near 
 Ccphalonia, but succeedecl in repulsing them. In June, 1020, he 
 sailed from the Texel, bound to Newfoundland, for fish — thence to 
 the Mediterranean. He arrived at Newfoundland tlie last of July. 
 We give here that portion of his journal of this voyage relating to his 
 stay on the American coast, as illustrative in some degree of the 
 nature of the Newfoundland fishery at that time, and as really an 
 American voyage, though not so classed by the author. 
 
 " On the 10th of July, a small vessel of Plymouth, England, met 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 us of about sixty lasts, coming from New England, having been tliere 
 a-fisbing. 
 
 The 18tb saw a higb iceberg; at first it looked like a ship, but 
 on approaching nearer, we found it an iceberg of wonderful height. 
 It seemed impossible that we should encounter ice in July, in lati- 
 tude 37. 
 
 "The 25th we sounded in twenty-seven fathoms on the bank of 
 Newfoundland, and soon discovered it covered with ships fishing for 
 cod. We bore down to them in order to hail them, but observing 
 that I was not a fishing craft, they would not wait for me to come up, 
 and went away. One among the whole remained. As I came close 
 to him, he made sail, but he had lain still too long, and I overtook 
 him. I desired him to strike his topsail, but he would not listen to 
 it, when I let fire at him my bow gun, and put a shot through his 
 mainsail. He immediately struck, and we hailed him as to what 
 latitude he was in, and for some fish. He answered that they had 
 observed no latitude in eight days, as it was always foggy upon the 
 bank. He let slip, on a line from his stern, ten or twelve codfish, 
 which we hauled in, and tied in their place two or three pieces of pork 
 and beef, so that we paid him well for his fish, and let him go. 
 
 "The 29th, at night, we came upon the coast of Newfoundland, 
 and as I went up on the watch to walk where one of the two mates 
 was on the look-out, I heard a penguin,* and the cry of one of the 
 look-outs on board of an English vessel, ' Shore ! shore ! ' at which 
 I was frightened, and asked him where the land was. He said on 
 the lee. I told the man at the helm to put his helm a-lee, in order 
 to stand about, which he did, and the ship luckily turned. I went 
 aft to brace the topsail, and stood upon the pilot's house, and as the 
 ship turned we felt the spray of the breakers, so that we could not 
 have gone nearer and saved the ship, cargo and crew. We stood out 
 in the opposite direction from that on which we had run in, and tacked 
 back again at break of day, in order to see where we had been in 
 the night. We found three high rocks, and if we had gone against 
 them, cat nor cur of us would have escaped. We saw here great 
 numbers of Basques' boats, who fled before us, supposing we were 
 fi-eebooters. We at length spoke one, who told us we were in the 
 
 * The cry of the penguin long served the mariner as a warning on that 
 foggy coast, and the bird was, in consequence, protected by law from de- 
 struction. 
 
■ INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Bay of riaisance, where the Basqiies fish. He was shy of us, and 
 did not want to come on board, but rowing over to us in front we 
 supposed that he intended to come aboard ; but he raised his foresail 
 on the mast, and being a quarter on the weather-guage of us, forgot 
 to come back, and went off. It was very foggy all day. "We set our 
 course for Cape Race, in order to get among the English. 
 
 " The 2d of August, with calm, fine, pleasant weather, we saw 
 Cape Race. 
 
 " The 4th we ran along the shore and came to a bay called Cap- 
 j)cUnge, where a Yeerelander * was lying, and seven or eight fisher- 
 men, from whom we intended to buy fi.sh, but they had sold out. 
 
 1 took one of their fishing-boats, which was made similar to the 
 Basques' boats, and well adapted for rowing, and rowed along the 
 coast, which has many bays and harbours, in which the fishermen 
 keep with their ships. Having visited many of these harbours, I re- 
 turned again to my ship, which I reached on the 10th. Besides my 
 vessel there was a small boat of fifty or sixty lasts,f with six guns, 
 which had come out of the Virginias with tobacco, in order to ex- 
 change the tobacco for fish. 
 
 "The 12th weighed anchor, and cameto a harbour called St. John's, 
 where sixteen fishing-ships were lying, with whom I traded and left 
 ray money. This harbour is narrow at its entrance, where there are 
 two rocks, but above water, so that they can be avoided. It is so 
 roomy and broad within that an hundred ships may lie in it ; and it 
 runs so far inland that the sea cannot be seen. These fishing-ships 
 lie without any men in them while the latter are fishing. They cover 
 their boats with their sails, and, placing them on the land, build from 
 tliem what they call * stages,' fourteen or fifteen feet over the water, 
 in order, when their ships are full of fish, they may unload upon 
 them. Whilst we were lying here a bear was caught in a trap, having 
 been jerked up with a swipe, and so left hanging while the fishermen 
 pierced him with their guns and pikes until he M-as dead ; they then 
 salted him and eat him, and I eat some myself. There was one 
 caun^ht, or rather caught and shot himself, in this way. They placed 
 a loadl'd gun where this boar was in the habit of coming every night 
 to lick up the train oil, and tied a small cord to the cock of the gun, 
 and a ]>iece of fish at the end of the cord, as a bait to attract him, 
 which the bear pulling at, the gun went otf, and the ball entered his 
 
 * From Vccrc, in Zealand. t A Inst is about two tons. 
 
INTKODUCTION. 7 
 
 breast, and came out beliind. I saw tliis myself. This island is 
 about as large as England, and is full of woods of bircb, pine, and fir 
 trees. The fruits which I saw were nothing but strawberries and 
 blueberries. The island is, as before stated, full of harbours and bays, 
 where there are annually five hundred fishermen, English and French, 
 as well as Basques. The English fish on the middle coast, the 
 French and Basques are on the south, the other on the north side of 
 the island. This coast is full of fish, altogether cod, which they dry 
 in order to take to Italy, Spain, and France. Even in England many 
 are consumed instead of the stockfish eaten in the Netherlands. 
 There are many salmon in the fresh rivers. Whilst we were lying 
 here, there came into the harbour a sloop from the north, who told us 
 that at the north, at a place called Parlekan^ fifteen hundred salmon 
 were taken at one haul, and that the net was so heavy in consequence 
 of the great number of them, they could scarcely get it on land. This 
 is what I know of the country. 
 
 "The 10th of September we weighed anchor, and set sail, five of 
 us in company, among us a caraval from Avere, in Portugal. Going 
 out, two ships came up to us, one of eight guns, commanded by Mr. 
 Geerner van Zonden, the other mounting ten guns, by Mr. Fox. 
 
 "The 30th Cape St. Vincent hove in sight." 
 
 As the little fleet approached Carthagena, in Spain, they encount- 
 ered eight Turkish ships, commanded by a Dutch renegade of the 
 name of Veenboer. It was the 10th of October, at sunrise, that they 
 prepared for battle. De Vries ran up the Vice-Admiral's flag, sum- 
 moned together his men, thirty in number, sang with them the 140th 
 Psalm, distributed brandy among them, and on some of them show- 
 ing signs of cowardice, pricked them to duty with his sword. Two 
 of the piratical craft disposed themselves to engage with De Vries, 
 one of them mounting twenty-eight and the other thirty-three guns, 
 while De Vries' ship had only fourteen. These vessels were strongly 
 manned, one with 250 and the other with 300 men. It seems strange 
 at the present day that a naval fight with such disparity of force could 
 have been long kept up, yet these ships were engaged the whole day. 
 Towards night, however, the Turkish admiral, Veenboer, was killed. 
 The pirates then hauled off", and the next day De Vries entered the 
 bay of Carthagena. Here he remained till the 10th of January, 
 1621, having in the mean time disposed of his cargo of fish. He 
 then sailed for Taharcha for a load of grain ; thence to Genoa, and 
 thence to Toulon, on the 12th of July. Here he entered into a con- 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tract "witli the Duke of Giiise, admiral of the King of France, to serve 
 with his ship by the month, and continued in this service until De- 
 cember. The Duke then desired him to engage in his service against 
 Rochelle,but he declined, on the ground that he could not fight against 
 his religion. The Duke respected his scruples, and gave him a dia- 
 mond ring on parting. After freighting for some time in the Med- 
 iterranean, De Vries heard of the death of two of his partners in 
 Holland, whereupon he sold his ship and set out for Marseilles by land, 
 for Dieppe, where he took ship, and arrived at Rotterdam in August 
 1G23. He prepared, in the following spring, to make a voyage to 
 Canada, which led to a controversy with the "West India Company, 
 thus related by him :— " The 24th of March (1G24), being at home, 
 and my own means not permitting me to buy a ship, I bought a 
 small vessel for the purpose of going from the fishery to the coast of 
 Canada for peltries, and to that end entered into partnership with Jan 
 Mackyn, because every one had not liberty to go there, and no one 
 except those of the West India Company. The ship being ready, 
 two of the Bewinthebbers (managers) of the Nineteen of the "West 
 India Company of Amsterdam, came and said that they had authority 
 to cause the vessels to be seized for their service, which they did. I 
 showed them several more suitable ships than mine, but they were 
 not satisfied with them, and desired mine. It seemed as if they were 
 curious* because I wanted to go to the "SVest Indies. I protested 
 against their proceedings, and sought redress in the Commercial Court, 
 whereby they were adjudged to release my vessel from the seizure and 
 let her go. Upon this they appealed, in order that my time would 
 slip by, so that I could not prosecute my voyage. Understanding this, 
 I started for the Hague to jnj father-in-law, who had been four or five 
 weeks in attendance upon the Assembly of the States of Holland. 
 
 " The 28th of the same montli I came to the Hague, and pre- 
 sented besides my commission f from the King of France, under the 
 Admiral Montmorency, a petition (as I desired to go far beyond their 
 limits, and to Canada) that I might bo released from my arrest; 
 whereupon I obtained an open letter to the nineteen Bewinthebbers, 
 wherein it was set forth as follows: That as they were a newly or- 
 ganized company, they should be careful not to get into any dilierence 
 with any neighbouring princes, their friendly allies. With this letter 
 
 * This is the original — it is used in the sense o{ troubled. 
 t Obtained through Lis partner at Kocbcllc, Jan Mackyn. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 I returned to Amsterdam, and handed it to the Nineteen ; and as 
 those who are inclined to go to the fishery in Canada must sail in 
 Mai-ch, or at the latest in the beginning of April, they, well knowing 
 this, sought to detain me from time to time ; and seeing at last that 
 they could no longer prevent me, ordered me not to go within their 
 limits. Whereupon I said that I had not forged my commission, and 
 that they had no right to prescribe laws to the King of France where 
 he should go to traffic. Finally, the time having passed by, I was 
 compelled to discharge the crew at a great loss, and sold the ship to 
 the "West India Company at Dort. Those at Amsterdam had caused 
 some of my cargo at Amsterdam to be seized, whereupon I sought by 
 law to have it released, and succeeded so fer that the lords caused it 
 to be released without cost or loss. Having already sustained great 
 damage, partly on the goods and partly from the lost time of the ship 
 and crew, instead of going off, it was necessary to stay at home ; so I 
 presented to the Bewinthebbers a petition, in which I sought that they 
 would be pleased to pay me according to justice the damage which I 
 had sustained, but they were not willing to pay me, and said they 
 would allow me nothing. I answered them that the business little 
 concerned me, but my partners at Rochelle having learnt of the un- 
 justifiable seizure of their goods, would not, without doubt, remain still, 
 but would speedily demand of them full compensation for their un- 
 reasonable damage ; and I told them it was contrary to all reason 
 that such a voyage should be frustrated in so unheard of a way, the 
 more so because I had no other design than what was consistent with 
 our business on the sea, to make our people of the Netherlands ac- 
 quainted with those places ; and I told them for a leave-taking, that 
 they might take dov/n what had transpired that very morning, that 
 they then paid no regard to the States General. 
 
 " The 8th of May I received a letter from Lieut. John Mackyn, 
 who was one of the company, to fit me out for Canada, dated the 12th 
 of April, in which he wondered greatly, that as the time was already 
 passed, I had not come over, and that he had hired twenty-five 
 Basques to go on the fishery. I had written to him the first moment 
 of my arrest, but it appeared he had not received the letter, and for that 
 reason being uninformed of what had happened to me, it well enough 
 caused him to wonder. The 1 2th of May he wrote another letter 
 which I received the 6th of June, in which he directed me to come to 
 Rochelle as speedily as possible to prosecute my voyage. 
 
 " The 25th of July I left the Maese with Captain Liefhebber for 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Havre de Grace, where we arrived on the 28tb, and I immediately set 
 out for Paris, wliicli I reached on the 4th of August, and on the 7th I 
 •^ent Avith the post to Rochelle, where I arrived on the loth. After 
 being there three -weeks, I set out for French Bayonne, and on the 
 ■way passed Bordeaux, and arrived at Bayonne on the 8th of Septem- 
 ber, where I hired some Bascans to go with me on the fishery, and 
 bought a ship here, which I sent with the Bascans to Rochelle, in 
 order to fit it out there." 
 
 De Vries proceeded to Rochelle, and remained there till April, 
 1625, when, being ready to sail, a tumult arose in that city, and his 
 ship was taken into the service of the king of France. In March, 
 1G27, he went, as captain, with a fleet of seven ships to the East 
 Indies, and returned in June, 1G30. The events of this voyage are 
 of no interest. After being home about two months, his attention w?.s 
 directed to New Netherland, as detailed in the following pages, to 
 which we must refer for the further incidents of his life. As his book 
 was published under his own direction in 1655, he was then living, at 
 the age of sixty-two years, holding an office under his government. 
 Beyond this we know nothing of his history. Ue was certainly a bold 
 and skilful seaman. He was a religious man, and held the strongest 
 Calvinistic doctrines. His narratives, where he speaks from pei-sonal 
 knowledge, are entitled to the highest credit, for not only do they 
 bear internal evidence of truth, but they have been corroborated in 
 many instances by other evidence, and by the records which we have ; 
 and being his daily observations, taken down at the time, they have 
 rora this circumstance a value which no narrative formed from 
 memory could possess. 
 
 Uis account of the Indians appears to have been compiled partly 
 from his own observation, and partly from Champlain, Megapolensis, 
 and others, and is, therefore, not of the same original merit as the rest 
 of his work. His relation of the disgraceful and disastrous Indian war, 
 in which ho was an actor and friend of the Indians, is the only au- 
 thentic one extant, of any completeness, except that of the govern- 
 ment, and is, therefore, of great interest and value. 
 
SHORT HISTORICAL 
 
 AND 
 
 Journal notes 
 
 of several Voyages made in the four 
 
 parts of the World, namely, Europe, 
 
 Africa, Asia, and America, 
 
 B>j D. 
 
 DAVID PIETERSZ. 
 
 de VRIES, Ordnance-Mafter of the Moft Noble Lords, the 
 
 Committed Council of the States of Weft 
 
 Friesknd & the North Quarter 
 
 ercin arc bcscribci) iul)at S attics l]c 
 I)a0 l)ai) bij lUatcr; ^at\) (Coxmtrn its 
 
 ^ninmb, I3ivi)0, kinlt of £\5\)tQ anlr Savage 
 
 iilcn, — tountcvfcitcii to tl)c £ifc, — 
 
 anb tl)c tDooibs anb Uiucrs 
 
 toitl) tl)cir Probucts 
 
 HOORN. 
 
 For David Pietersz. de Vries, Ordnance- Master of the North Quarter. 
 At Alckmaer, by Symon Cornelisz. Brekegeest. Anno 1655. 
 
To the Noble, Mighty Lords, the Committed Council of the States of 
 West Friesland and the North Quarter. 
 
 Together loith'the Nolle, Very -learned Dirch VanForeest, Doctor in both 
 laws, and Secretary of the Noble, Mighty Lords, the Committed 
 Council of the States of West Friesland and the North Quarter. 
 
 The Noble, Mighty Lords, the Koman Senate, have always had as a 
 maxim and rule of conduct, les lois ne sont faites quentant son salutaires 
 au peuple ; that is, laws are made only for the welfare of the people, to 
 wit, that the community not only suflfer no loss, but flourish and prosper 
 more and more. This lesson and good counsel the excellent and illus- 
 trious kings of France, Henry of Valois, the Third of that name, and 
 Henry the Great of Bourbon, the Fourth of that name, of France and 
 Navarre, have followed and observed in great dignity, according to the 
 testimony of the celebrated historian, Pierre Mathieu, who bears witness 
 of this to the praise of their Majesties, and declares, moreover, that all 
 the potentates and republics of Christendom should practise and follow 
 this precept in order to advance and promote the interests of their people 
 in all business and trade by sea and land. Our own old and faithful 
 forefathers, the Lords Regents of our beloved Fatherland, especially, 
 have always had it at heart, and in every way encouraged it to that 
 end, principally in navigation and voyages by sea, as being the means in 
 and by which the welfare and prosperity of the whole country not a 
 little consist. Now, my most Noble Lords, you Mighty Lords, having 
 no less care therefore at this time than had the old Lords Eegents, your 
 predecessors : so it is that I, David Pietersz : de Vries, having from my 
 youth up been trained in that business, and having under the regulation 
 of the Noble, High, and Mighty Lords States-General, and the privileges 
 granted by the same, and by the Council of Nineteen of the "West India 
 Company, been the first possessor and patroon of the South River at 
 Swanendael, and at Staten Island in Mauritius, or the North River of 
 New Netherland, and also the first patroon who went there for the 
 purpose of cultivating the same, and to trade and trafiic there by special 
 privilege of my Lords, have published my labours in navigation and 
 around the world, as ship-master, as captain and supercargo in the East 
 
14 DEDICATION. 
 
 Indies, as vice-commancler of seven sliips, and as a patroon who has 
 planted colonies in America, — the first, indeed, ■who had ever sailed out 
 of Ilolland or Zealand, — and every thing Avhich I had found by my own 
 experience : in order to make known to trading and seafaring persons 
 what trade and profit (accidents excepted) are to be had there, and to 
 point out to them tlie good havens and roadsteads for securing their 
 ships and goods, and to warn seamen of the rocks, shoals, and dangerous 
 bars, in order that they may avoid them; showing them also what 
 course they must take at sea, and how they must govern by the wind, 
 sun, moon, and stars. These my humble labours and writings, though 
 not embellished with ornaments of words — as is not to be expected of a 
 person who has passed the most of his life upon the wild ocean waste, — 
 but containing every thing which has appeared to me in my voyages 
 worth relating, I ofl:er this day to you, Noble Lords, and pray you to 
 accept the same, trusting that, being made accessible to the trader and 
 seamen by printing, they will be of service to them. May Almighty 
 God prosper your administration to his praise and glory, and to the 
 best interests of yourselves and of the people. Anno 1655. 
 Noble Lords, 
 
 Your dutiful Ordnance-ifaster, 
 
 David Pieteesz : de Yries. 
 
TOTAGE TO NEW NETHERIAND. 
 
 After I liad been home from the Indies two months, 
 I met, at Amsterdam, Samuel Godyn, a merchant, who bid 
 me welcome, as an old acquaintance, and asked me where I 
 came from ? I said from the East Indies. In what capa- 
 city ? I told him as supercargo. He inquired whether it 
 was my intention to remain home. I said, yes. He said he 
 wished me to go as a commander to New-Netherland ; he 
 wanted to plant a colony there, and to employ me as sub- 
 patroon, as may be seen in the privileges granted by the 
 Lords States, and allowed by the Council of Nineteen of 
 the West India Company to all patroons. I gave him for 
 answer that the business suited me well, but I must be a 
 patroon, equal with the rest. He said that he was content 
 that it should be so. So we five first began this patroon- 
 ship ; namely, Samuel Godyn, Gilliame Van Eensselaer, 
 Bloemaert, Jan de Laet, and myself, David Pietersz. de 
 Vries. But more were afterwards admitted into the com- 
 pany ; namely, Mathys Van Ceulen, Nicolas Van Sittorigh, 
 Harinck Koeck, and Heyndrick Hamel, who made a con- 
 tract with the others, whereby we were all placed on the same 
 footing. We at the same time equipped a ship with a yacht 
 for the purpose of prosecuting the voyage, as well to carry on 
 the whale fishery in that region, as to plant a colony for the 
 cultivation of all sorts of grain, for which the country is 
 very well adapted, and of tobacco. This ship with the 
 yacht sailed from the Texel the 12th of December, with a 
 number of people and a large stock of cattle, to settle our 
 colony upon the South River, which lies in tlie thirty-eighth 
 
16 VOYAGES OF 
 
 and a half degree, and to conduct the whale fishery there, 
 as Godyn represented that there were many whales which 
 kept before the bay, and the oil, at sixty guilders a hogs- 
 head, he thought would realize a good profit, and conse- 
 quently that fine country be cultivated. 
 
 The 20th of same month, we understood that our yacht 
 was taken the day but one before as it was running out the 
 Texel, by the Dunkirkers, through the carelessness of the 
 large ship, which had sailed after the yacht, in which there 
 was a large cargo, intended for the coast of New France. 
 The large ship proceeded on the voyage, having on board some 
 jjeople to land at the island of Tortugas in the West Indies, 
 which island we had made a contract with sixty Frenchmen 
 to hold for us as a colony under their High Mightinesses the 
 Lords States and the West India Company, 
 
 Anno 1G31. In September our ship returned from New- 
 Netherland and the West Indies. They should have disem- 
 barked a lot of people on Tortugas, but they found that 
 France had been killed by Spain. The ship conveyed the rest 
 to the South River in New Nethcrland, and brought a sample 
 of oil from a dead whale found on the shore. The Captain 
 said that he arrived there too late in the year. This was a 
 losing voyage to us ; because this captain, Peter Heyes, of 
 Edam, whom we had put in command, durst not sail by the 
 way of the West Indies with only one ship of eighteen guns, 
 where he must have made good the expense of this voyage. 
 He was a person who was only accustomed to sail to Green- 
 land, where he made the voyage in three or four months, and 
 then came home. 
 
 Anno 1G32. The 12th of February we again entered into 
 an agreement to equip a ship and yacht for the whale fishery, 
 in which nmch profit had not been realized ; because^we had 
 had such a losing voyage, and no returns from the whale 
 fishery, and saw no prosi)ect of any. But Samuel Godyn 
 encouraged us to make another attempt. He said the Green- 
 land Company had two bad voyages with Willen Van Muyen, 
 and afterwards became a thrifty company. It was therefore 
 again resolved to undertake a voyage for the whale fishery, 
 and that I myself should go as patroou, and as commander 
 of the ship and yacht, and should endeavour to be there in 
 December, in order to conduct the whale fishing: durinjjr the 
 winter, as the whales come in the winter and remain till 
 March. 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 17 
 
 Before Scailing out the Texel, we understood that our 
 little fort ■•'•■ had been destroyed by the Indians, the people 
 killed, — two and thirty men, — who were outside the fort 
 working the land. 
 
 The 24th May, sailed out of the Texel with the ship and 
 yacht, with a northeast wind. 
 
 The 26th of the same month, at night, we ran aground 
 through the carelessness of the pilots, to whom I gave parti- 
 cular directions, before I went to bed, to throw the load fre- 
 quently, and keep the Vierman, which was a large ship, and 
 drew full three feet more water than we did, upon our lee ; 
 but they not following their orders, we grounded upon the 
 large shoal before Dunkirk. We fired a shot, so that our 
 companion came to anchor. My yacht came under my lee ; 
 but we could not bear the expense of its returning. Our 
 crew took the boat, and in that, and two wood sloops, left 
 the ship. But I was not willing, and kept both of the pilots 
 by me, who dared not leave me for shame, seeing that I 
 remained aboard with eight or nine raw hands, whom I then, 
 learned to be the best of the crew. Those men who had ap- 
 peared fierce as lions, were the first to escape in the boat. 
 All of us pushing and pulling we got into four fiithoms water,, 
 where I let the anchor fall, and set to pumping. At the 
 same time, the day broke, when we saw the boat and two 
 sloops tossing about ; but when they saw the ship, they 
 came on board again, and told us that had the night con- 
 tinued two hours longer, they would have rowed into Dun- 
 kirk, We weighed anchor again and sailed for the coast of 
 England, and, on the 28th, ran into Portsmouth, and hauled 
 the ship into the king's dock, where we repaired her. 
 
 The 10th of July, we sailed from Portsmouth to Cowes 
 in the Isle of Wight. 
 
 The 12th of the same month, the ship New Netherland, 
 of the West India Company, arrived here, — a large ship,, 
 which was built in New ISI etherland, and which was bound 
 to the West Indies, whither I had good company. 
 
 The 1st of August, with a good north-east wind, weighed 
 anchor, and made sail with my ship and yacht, and the ship 
 New Netherland. 
 
 * On the South River. 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. III. 2 . 
 
18 VOYAGES OF 
 
 The 2cl, passed Land's End, and laid our course for the 
 Canary Islands. 
 
 The 13th, we saw Madeira on our larboard, and at the 
 same time a Turk came towards us, hut as soon as he ob- 
 served that we were stout ships, he hauled off from us, and 
 we sailed for him. The evening growing dark, I fired a shot 
 for my yacht to come by me. When night came on, we 
 pursued our course, but the New Netherland followed the 
 Turk by night, which seemed to us folly, because we had not 
 got near him by day. We then separated from the New 
 Netherland. 
 
 The 14th, towards evening, we saw the Isle of Palms on 
 our lee, and set our course from thence to Barbadoes. 
 
 The 4th of September, we came in sight of Barbadoes, 
 and the next day, towards evening, arrived at the Island of 
 St. Vincent. The Indians put out with their canoes and 
 came on board of us. I observed the great astonishment of 
 this people. Their canoes or boats getting full of water, 
 they sprang overboard, and with great dexterity lifted up 
 both ends with their shoulders in the water, emptied out the 
 water, and then clambered in again ; when many of our peo- 
 ple, in such circumstances, would have drowned, as the boat 
 was full of water, and they had no other aid than their bodies 
 and the sea. Wliile here, we had fifteen good supplies of 
 yams, pine-apples, and various other West India fruits. We 
 anchored in the Great Channel in 23 fathoms. 
 
 On the 5th, arrived here also the ship New Netherland, 
 which was separated from us at Madeira. 
 
 On the 8th, we weighed anchor, and passed by the islands 
 of Martinique, Dominica, Guadaloupe, Montserrat, Redonde, 
 and Nevis, arrived the 20th* before St. Christopher, where 
 we found some English ships, and obtained a supply of 
 water. 
 
 The 1 1th, weighed anchor, in order to sail to St. Martin. 
 Halt-way between St. Martin and St. Christopher, we met a 
 French ship with a large sloop in company ; he screamed at 
 us, as if he sought to commit some hostility towards us, 
 but I kept my course, heeding him not. I let the prince's 
 flag fly aloft, and the red flag behind. When he saw this, 
 he turned about and ran a good distance on my lee. To- 
 wards evening, we arrived at the^- roadstead of St, Martin, 
 
 • Evidently » misirint for the 10th. 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES, 19 
 
 and let our anchor fall. AYe found before the fort, three fly- 
 boats under Dirck Femmesz. of Hoorn, two from Waterland, 
 and the third an Englishman. 
 
 The 11th of September, as I lay before the fort with my 
 yacht, the abo\^-named master of the fly-boats came on 
 board, and inquired if I had not met a French ship. I said, 
 " Yes, sir." And whether he had not attacked me .? I 
 said, " No." Had we been a small ship, he perhaps would 
 have done so : for he had sworn to pay off the first Hol- 
 lander whom he should meet, because they had shot and 
 killed two men out of his vessel, which was not creditable to 
 them. He told me that this French ship had come into 
 the harbour some days ago, and that the captain was a 
 Knight of Malta, and the vessel a royal yacht of the King 
 of France, in search of Spaniards. When he was taken 
 ashore by the commander of the fort, he inquired whether 
 there was any one who could speak French. The captain of 
 the soldiers understanding French, he requested that the 
 captain might go with him to interpret what should be said. 
 So the captain went from the fort Avith this Knight in his 
 skiiF to the fly-boats. Having reached them, the Knight 
 desired that they should sell him a barrel of tar, and used 
 good lano-uao-e. He had long sailed in the West Indies ; 
 but they gave him a rude ansAver, — that they did not wish 
 to have him in their ships — if the captain of the fort wished 
 to come on board their ships he might, but he must depart 
 with the boat. The Knight stood perplexed at such an 
 answer, -when he had met them with every courtesy. At 
 length he said to the captain, his interpreter, that they 
 would return to the fort, (as) he wished to make his com- 
 plaints to the commander-in-chief Coming to the commander, 
 he exhibited his royal commission, and inquired of the com- 
 mander whether he had not as much right to go in the road- 
 stead where these fly-boats were, as they ? — that they were 
 friends ; — that all the ports and harbors in France were 
 open to us. The commander said, " Yes." Then the 
 Frenchman weighed anchor, and wished to come to anchor 
 by them in order to careen his ship a little, as the water 
 was shallow there. When they saw the Frenchman had 
 weighed his anchor, they hauled one behind the other, and 
 began to fire upon him, and shot two of his men ; Avhen the 
 Frenchman again let his anchor fall, went to the fort and 
 complained of the hostilities which these brutes had com- 
 
20 VOYAGES OF 
 
 mittecl against him, and desired that the commander, with 
 his officers, should take note thereof ; and made his protest. 
 But lie was lost on his return voyage, with his ship, people 
 and all, which has caused great comfort to these shipmasters, 
 as he would otherwise have made sport enough for them ; 
 but the quarrel was thereby terminated. This we learned 
 afterwards. 
 
 The 12th of September, I let the ship have room, but 
 the capture of a whale brought mo to anchor. In New 
 Netherland and in Patria, this would have been a valuable 
 prize. This day the shii) New Netherland arrived here, 
 which I had left lying at St. Vincent to refresh. With her 
 also arrived the ship Gelderia, together with a ship of the 
 Company, and also two vessels from Hoorn, Cornelis Jansz. 
 Niels, master. "J'he master of the Company's ship, the Fal- 
 con, was Gerrit Jansz. 
 
 The 27th of this month, we had our cargo of salt, as 
 much as we wanted, and made ourselves again ready to sail 
 to Nevis, to take in wood and water, because they were both 
 better there than at St. Christopher, and there is also a fine 
 sandy bay for the boats to land. The captains of the vessels, 
 who had committed the hostilities against the Frenchman, 
 inquired of me whether they might sail with me to Nevis, in 
 order to })rovide themselves with wood and water, so as to 
 sail directly for Holland, as they were afraid of the French- 
 man, who had called out to them that he wished to meet them 
 when they went to take in water ; and they did not mount 
 more than six or eight guns. I gave them for answer, that 
 I was willing that they should sail with me, because they 
 were our citizens, though 1 would not prevent any hostility 
 of the Frenchman ha])pening to them, and that my ship 
 was to be defended as well as theirs. If they wished, how- 
 ever, to sail with me, they could. 
 
 The 2!)th, weighed anchor with my yacht to get under 
 sail, but they remained. By evening I arrived before the 
 Island of Nevis. I \v;iit ashore to the governor, an Eng- 
 lishman, named Littleton. He requested me to take aboard 
 some captive Portuguese, and to put them, on my way to 
 St. Christophers, on board an English ship called Cajitain 
 Stone's ; which 1 could not refuse him, if I had them only three 
 or four hours in the ship. Martin Thysz., from Zealand, had 
 put these Portuguese ashore here. 
 
 The 1st of November, took my leave of the governor of 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 21 
 
 Nevis, and weighed anchor. At noon, came to the great 
 roadstead where the English were. There was a governor, 
 named Sir Warner. Here I immediately got rid of the 
 Portuguese prisoners, gave them over to the Englishman, 
 who wished to sail in company with me to St. Martin. 
 
 The 2d, weighed anchor, with my yacht and the English- 
 man, of London, who had the Portuguese prisoners, whom he 
 was to carry to Porto Eico. He left his barge behind, to 
 follow him with some goods to St. Martin. We arrived in the 
 evening at the anchorage before St. Martin, where we found 
 the whole fleet there still which we had left there. I asked 
 the captains of the fly-boats why they had not followed me 
 when I weighed anchor. They answered that they thanked 
 me for the offer which I had made them, but they had de- 
 termined to remain by each other, and expected that they 
 would be ready together, and the Gelderland would go with 
 them. 
 
 The 4tli, the Englishman expecting his boat from St. 
 Christophers, knew not what it meant that it staid so long, 
 as it should have followed us at noon. This Englishman 
 wished much to sail with me to the latitude of Porto Rico, 
 which I must pass. 
 
 The 5th of this month, took my leave at the fort of our 
 governor and the captains, and weighed anchor with my 
 yacht also ; having a fair sail set, I could not wait longer 
 for the Englisman's boat. W^e understood afterwards that 
 this boat was placed in great distress ; that it was driven to 
 the leeward by a strong wind, and being in want of provisions 
 and water, the men cast lots whom they should first kill for 
 the others to eat for food ; having at length felled one, they 
 fed themselves therewith, till they finally reached the island 
 of Saba, where they subsisted on what they found there, and 
 were afterwards recovered in great distress, but he who was 
 killed v/as eaten up for their subsistence. 
 
 The 14th, in the thirty-second degree of latitude, the 
 Bermudas to the east of us, encountered a severe storm from 
 the north-west ; the water turned round as if it were an hur- 
 ricane ; it blew so, that standing on either side we could not 
 understand each other. I feared when I saw the yacht, that 
 it would be stranded, so dreadful was it to see so small a 
 yacht, of ten lasts, save itself from such a storm. This storm 
 continued until the 18th, but towards the last the wind 
 veered entirely west. 
 
22 VOYAGES OF 
 
 The 1st of December, threw the lead, in the thirty-ninth 
 degree of latitude, in fifty-seven fathoms, sandy bottom ; 
 found out afterwards that we were then fourteen or fifteen 
 mnilefi--' from the sliore. This is a flat coast. Wind west- 
 erly. 
 
 The 2d, threw the lead in fourteen fathoms, sandy bot- 
 tom, and smelt the land, which gave a sweet ])erfume,f as 
 the wind came from the north-west, which blew off land, 
 and caused these sweet odours. This comes from the Indi- 
 ans setting fire, at this time of year, to the woods and thick- 
 ets, in order to hunt ; and the land is full of sweet-smelling 
 herbs, as sassafras, which has a sweet smell. When the 
 wind blows out of the north-west, and the smoke too is 
 driven to sea, it happens that the land is smelt before it is 
 seen. The land can be seen when in from thirteen to four- 
 teen fathoms. Sand-hills are seen from the thirty-fourth to 
 the fortieth degree, and the hills rise u^) full of pine-trees, 
 which would serve as masts for ships. 
 
 The 3d of the same month, saw the mouth of the South 
 bay, or South river, and anchored on sandy ground at four' 
 teen fathoms ; because it blew hard from the north-west, 
 which is from the shore, and as we could not, in consequence 
 of the hard wind, sail in the bay, we remained at anchor. 
 
 The 5th, the wind south-west, we weighed anchor, and 
 sailed into the South bay, and lay, with our yaclit, in four 
 fathoms water, and saw immediately a whale near the ship. 
 Thought this would be royal work — the whales so numerous 
 — and the land so fine for cultivation. 
 
 The 6th, we went with the boat into the river, well man- 
 ned, in order to see if we could S})eak with any Indians, but 
 coming by our /tousc,'l which was destroyed, found it well 
 beset with palisades in jtlace of breastworks, but it was 
 almost burnt up. Found lying here and there the skulls and 
 bones of our people, and the heads of the horses and cows 
 which they had brought with them, but perceiving no Indi- 
 ans, the business being undone, came on board the boat, ami 
 let the gunner fire a shot in order to see if we could find 
 any trace of them the next day. 
 
 * Forty-two or forty-five Enplisli niilos. In tliis tr.aiisl.ition tlu- mifcs .iro 
 accordiiif^ to the Dutch staiuliiril; one Dutch biin<^ iciual to three English 
 miles. 
 
 t Iv.ihn speaks of the sanio smell at about the same place. 
 J The fort before spoken of. 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 23 
 
 The 7th, in the morning, we thought we saw some smoke 
 near our destroyed house ; — we landed on the opposite side. 
 On this side the river, before the beach, there is something 
 of a sand-hill. Coming to the beach, looked over the river 
 near the house where we had been the day before, and where 
 we thought in the morning we had seen signs of smoke, but 
 saw nothing. As I had a cousin of mine with me from Rot- 
 terdam, named Heyndrick de Liefde, and as a large gull was 
 flying over our heads, I told him to shoot at it once, as he 
 had a fowling-piece with him, and he being a good shot on 
 the wing, brought it down. With it came a shout from 
 two or three Indians, who were lying in the weeds on the 
 other side of the river by the destroyed house. We called 
 to them to come over to us. They answered that we must 
 come into the river with our boat. We promised to do so iu 
 the morning, as the water was then low, and that we would 
 then talk with them, and we went back to the boat. Going 
 aboard, we resolved to sail in the river with the yacht, as 
 otherwise in an open boat we might be in danger of their 
 annoyance. 
 
 The 8th of December, we sailed into the river before 
 our destroyed fort, well on our guard. The Indians came to 
 the edge of the shore, near the yacht, but dared not come 
 in. At length, one ventured to come aboard the yacht, 
 whom we presented with a cloth dress, and told him we 
 desired to make peace. Then immediately more came run- 
 ning aboard, expecting to obtain a dress also, whom we pre- 
 sented with some toys, and told the one to whom we had 
 given the cloth garment, that we had given it to him because 
 he had most confidence in us — that he was the first one who 
 came in the yacht, and should they come the next day wdth 
 their chief called SaJcimas, we would then make a firm peace, 
 which they call i-ancontyn mareuit. An Indian remained on 
 board of the yacht at night, whom we asked why they had 
 slain our people, and how it happened. He then showed us 
 the place where our people had set up a column, to which 
 was fastened a piece of tin, whereon the arms of Holland 
 were painted. One of their chiefs took this oiF for the pur- 
 pose of making tobacco-pipes, not knowing that he was doing 
 amiss. Those in command at the house made such an ado 
 about it, that the Indians, not knowing how it was, went 
 away and slew the chief who had done it, and brought a 
 token of the dead to the house to those in command, who 
 
24 VOYAGES OF 
 
 told tliem that they wished they had not done it, tliat they 
 should have brought him to them, as they wished to have 
 forbidden liim not to do the hkc again. They then went 
 away, and the friends of the murdered chief incited their 
 friends — as they are a people like the Italians, who are very 
 revengeful — to set about the v.-ork of vengeance. Observing 
 our pcoj)le out of the house, each one at his work, that there 
 was not more than one inside, who was lying sick, and a 
 large mastiff, who was chained — had he been loose they 
 would not have dared to approach the house — and the man 
 who had command, standing near the house, three of the 
 stoutest Indians, who were to do the deed, bringing a lot of 
 beaver-skins with them to exchange, sought to enter the 
 house. The man in charge went in with them to make the 
 barter ; which being done, he went to the loft where the 
 stores lay, and in descending the stairs, one of the Indians 
 seized an axe, and cleft his head so that he fell down dead. 
 They also relieved the sick man of life ; and shot into the 
 dog, who was chained fost, and Avhom they most feared, 
 twenty-five arrows before they could despatch him. They 
 then proceeded towards the rest of the men, who were at 
 their work, and going among them with })retensions of friend- 
 ship, struck them down. Thus was our young colony de- 
 stroyed, causing us serious loss. 
 
 The 9th, the Indians came to us with their chiefs, and 
 sitting in a ring, made ])eace. Gave them some presents 
 of dutl'els, bullets, hatchets, and various Nuremberg trinkets. 
 They promised to make a present to us, as they had been 
 out a-hunting. They then departed again with great joy of 
 us, that we had not remembered what they had done to us, 
 whicii we sullered to pass, because we saw^ no chance of re- 
 venging it, as they dwelt in no fixed place. We began to 
 make jjreparations to send our sloop to sea, and to set up a 
 kettle for whale-oil, and to erect a lodging-hut of boards. 
 
 Anno 1G33. The 1st of January, I went in the morning, 
 with the yacht, the Squirrel, about eight hours' sail up the 
 iSouth river, to see whether I could obtain any beans from the 
 Indians, as our stock-fish was consumed, and the porridge, 
 now doubled, began to grow short. Towards evening w-e 
 were stojijjed, as it was calm, and the ice, which the tide 
 brought down, o])poscd us, and we cast anchor in eight 
 fathoms. Saw a whale at the mouth of the South river. 
 
 The 2d, in the morning, fine and pleasant, saw two 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 25 
 
 large whales near the yacht. Wished much that we could 
 have had the sloop, with the harpooners, which was lying at 
 Swanendael. We weighed anchor with the tide, and by 
 evening came a good mile before Eeed Island, where we cast 
 anchor'j' and saw fires on the land. Supposed that they were 
 made by Indians out a-hunting ; but an hour afterwards a 
 canoe came alongside. They said that they were a-hunting, 
 but would not come aboard, from which we drew unfavour- 
 able conclusions ; but they answered they would come aboard 
 early in the morning. 
 
 The 4th, after we had chopped some wood, as it began 
 to freeze, weighed anchor with the tide, made sail, and came 
 within cannon-shot of Eed Hook, where we anchored before 
 a kill, because it began to freeze ; so that in case the ice 
 should stop us, we could haul in there to secure the yacht. 
 
 The 5th, we weighed anchor in the morning, and sailed 
 before the little fort named Fort Nassau, where formerly 
 some flirailies of the West India Company had dwelt. ^ Some 
 Indians had assembled there to barter furs, but I desired to 
 trade for their Turkish beans, because we had no goods to 
 exchange for peltries, and our stores had been given away at 
 Swanendael for the purpose of making the peace, so that 
 there were not more than two pieces of cloth left of our 
 goods, and two kettles, for which we wanted corn. We ob- 
 served that the Indians were very scrupulous''' after that. 
 They told us that we ought to haul into the Timmer-kill. 
 There was an Indian of the Sankitans, who cautioned us not 
 to go entirely into the kill, as she knew that they intended 
 to make an attack upon us. When we told her that if she 
 would relate to us everything in regard to the attack, we 
 would give her a cloth garment, as we did. She confessed 
 to us that they had killed some Englishmen, who had gone 
 into Count Ernest's river in a sloop. 
 
 The 6th, we weighed anchor, and came to again before 
 the Timmer-kill, in order to see fully what the Indians would 
 do. While lying there, a crowd of Indians came to trade, 
 bringing beaver-skins with them, and being forty-two or 
 forty-three strong. A portion of them began to play tunes 
 with reeds, in order that they might not cause in us any 
 suspicion, but we kept ourselves strictly upon our guard, as 
 there were only seven of us in the yacht, and there were 
 
 * Shy. 
 
26 VOYAGES OF 
 
 forty-two or forty-three of the Indiana. When we found 
 the t rathe at its height, we ordered thein to go ashore im- 
 mediately, or we would shoot them all. Their Sachem took 
 an armfiil of beaver-skins which he wanted to present to us 
 in order to tempt us, but we desired them not, and gave him 
 for answer that they must make their way to the shore, as 
 we knew that they had evil designs in their heads, that 
 Manetoe (that is, the Devil, whom they call Manetoe) had 
 told us so. They went ashore again, and their villainy was 
 frustrated, God be praised and thanked ! When a few are 
 on their guard against this people, there is, with God's help, 
 no difhculty with the Indians. Moreover, I may observe, 
 that those in the Company's sloops, who give the Indians too 
 much liberty, get into trouble thereby, which they might 
 otherwise prevent with friendsliip. These Indians were from 
 Red Hook, otherwise called Mantes, and had a parcel of 
 English jackets on, which gave me more cause of suspicion, 
 as those were not clothing for them, or trading goods. 
 Whilst they were on the land, there came three or four 
 others, who desired that we would trade for their goods ; 
 but we answered them that we did not want any beaver- 
 skins, but wished corn for food. 
 
 The 7th, the chief, whom they call Sachema, of the Ar- 
 mewaninge, came to us, who were then their neighbours. 
 His name was Zeepentor, and to him we interi)reted our ad- 
 venture. He said he had heard that they had been onboard 
 of our boat strong. He requested us to return soon to the 
 Timmer-kill with the yacht, whereat I was suspicious I 
 told my interpreter to ask him why he was not willing to 
 bring the corn here. He answered that where we were lying, 
 it was too miry and muddy to get on board, and it was too 
 cold to go round the mud. So we said to him that wo would 
 go to the fort again, where it was hard and dry to come 
 aboard, with which he was well content, and was again con- 
 veyed to the shore, saying that when we arrived at the fort, 
 he w.)uld come aboard again. 
 
 The 8th, weighed anchor early in the morning, and came 
 to again before the fort, which we saw was full of Indians, 
 and mure and more constantly coming. This gave us no 
 favorable impression, because of the great numbers of the 
 Indians. When they had all assembled in the fort, a canoe, 
 — which is a boat hollowed out of a tree — came from the fort 
 to board us, in which were nine Sachems from nine dilferent 
 
DAVID PIETEKSZ. DE VRIES, 27 
 
 places about there. I saw among them those who had 
 intended to destroy us ; they had thrown oif the EngHsh 
 clothes, and put on those made ofskins, which I immediately 
 mentioned to my interpreter. The nine seated themselves 
 in a circle and called us to them, saying they saw that we were 
 afraid of them, but that they came to make a lasting peace 
 with us, whereupon they made us a present of ten beaver- 
 skins, which one of them gave us, with a ceremony with each 
 skin, saying in whose name he presented it ; that it was for 
 a perpetual peace with us, and that we must banish all evil 
 thoughts from us, for they had now thrown away all evil, I 
 wanted to make presents to them through the interpreter, 
 to each one an axe, adze, and pair of knives, but they refused 
 them, declaring that they had not made us presents in order 
 to receive others in return, but for the purpose of a firm peace, 
 which we took for truth. 
 
 The 8th of January, we wished to give them something 
 for their wives, but they said we must give it to them on 
 shore. As it was late, they went ashore again, and said they 
 would come the next day with corn, and send aboard that 
 evening seven or eight youth, which showed a good peace 
 with them. 
 
 The 9th, they came aboard again in the morning, and 
 brought Indian corn of different colours, for which we ex- 
 changed duffels, kettles, and axes. We also obtained some 
 beaver-skins, all in good feeling. There came this day fifty 
 of them into the yacht, but we kept ourselves constantly on 
 our guard. 
 
 The 10th, in the morning, traded for some beaver and 
 corn ; and at noon drifted ofi" with the ebb tide, and by noon 
 came to anchor on the bar at Jaques Island, where we re- 
 mained one tide. 
 
 The 11th, weighed anchor in the morning, and by 
 evening arrived about a half-a-mile above Minc^ua's kill, 
 where we anchored, and saw a whale there that evening six 
 or seven times. We were surprised to see a whale seven or 
 eight miles up into fresh water. 
 
 The 12th, weighed anchor again, and arrived at the 
 mouth of the river, where the thicket is. 
 
 The 13th, weighed anchor with the ebb, and at noon 
 came to the ship at Swanendael, where our friends were re- 
 joiced to see us. We found that they had shot two whales, but 
 they furnished little oil. 
 
28 VOYAGES OF 
 
 The 18th, the goods were placed in our yacht, and we 
 Bailed aj;ain up the South river. By evening arrived between 
 Minqua's kill and Reed Island, where we came to anchor. 
 It began to freeze. We anchored here because the tide was 
 running down. 
 
 The 19th, weighed anchor with the tide, and came within 
 a mile of Jaques Island. As it began to freeze, and it was 
 difficult to go on, it became necessary to haul into a kill 
 which was near us. Found it a fine creek, where the water 
 was two fathoms deep at high tide ; but the current was 
 strong, and not above thirty feet wide. The ice began to 
 trouble us some by the rubbing of the currei.t. We quickly 
 cut a parcel of trees, and fastened them in the ground, before 
 and behind, in order to lie clear of the ice. This is a fine coun- 
 try, in which maiiy vines grow wild, so that we gave it the 
 name of Wyngajrt's kill. Went out daily, while here, to 
 shoot. Shot many wild turkeys, weighing from thirty to 
 thirty-six pounds. Their great size and very fine flavour are 
 surprising. We were frozen up in this kill from the 19th to 
 the 3rd of February. During this time, perceived no Indians, 
 though we saw here and there, at times, great fires on the 
 land, but we saw neither men nor canoes, because the river 
 was closed by the ice. 
 
 The 3d of February, we hauled out of the kill, as the 
 river was open again, and sailed to Fort Nassau, where we 
 had left the Indians before, but found no one there now, and 
 saw no Indians. It be^an to freeze asjain, and we hauled 
 into a kill over against the fort, as we were apprehensive, it 
 we should be frozen in there, we might be in danger. When 
 we had lain in this kill, eight days before the ice broke, there 
 came a canoe, in which sat an old Indian with a squaw, who 
 brought with them some maize and beans, of which we 
 bought a parcel. We could not understand from the Indian 
 how it was that we saw no Indians. It seemed as if he were 
 unwilling to tell us ; he appeared astonished that he had 
 escaped, ran frequently ashore, looked to and fro, so that we 
 could perceive there must be something. We hauled the 
 next day out of the kill, and were carried between the cakes 
 of ice and the shore, which we could not prevent with our 
 yacht. 
 
 The 11th, full fifty Indians came over the river from the 
 fort upon the ice, with canoes, directly to our yacht, so that 
 they could step in it from the shore, and spoke to us. They 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ, DE VRIES. 29 
 
 were Minquas, who dwell among the English of Virginia. 
 They came on a warlike expedition, and were six hundred 
 strong. They were friendly to us, but it would not do to trust 
 them too far. I determined, as the flood-tide began to make, 
 that we must haul into the mouth of the kill, so that they 
 could not come upon us on foot and master us. Hauling 
 out of the kill about five-and-twenty paces, we could not get 
 any further, because there was not water enough. I told the 
 master of the yacht, that he must direct the crew to throw 
 some ballast overboard, but he could not induce them to do 
 it. I then went to them, and asked them whether they 
 would rather trust to the mercy of these barbarians, or throw 
 away the ballast. They answered that while we were in the 
 river, our lives were at the mercy of the ice. I replied that 
 God, who had so long aided us, would help us. Finally, I 
 said that I had three flasks of brandy in my locker, and would 
 give them one of them, if they would throw the ballast over- 
 board, and we would all help to do it. The yacht was now 
 driven by the current and with the ice and the ebb tide, 
 which was most spent. We were a thousand paces below 
 the kill, between two high pieces of ice, which had fallen on 
 the shore ; this haj^pened at night-fall. They all raised a 
 great shout, when they saw that we were driven nearer to 
 the river. In the morning, at day-break, they saw that we 
 were lying between the two pieces of ice, with the bowsprit 
 over the shore, and came running to the yacht. We stood, 
 eight of us, on our arms. 
 
 The 12th, we kept them off, as they sought to come 
 into the yacht by the bowsprit, while we were lying, bow on 
 land, between the two pieces of ice. At length the water 
 rose, so that the yacht and the ice floated, and we were to 
 be driven at God's mercy with the ice, which was our great 
 enemy, while the land was our enemy on account of the 
 Indians. We were finally driven up the river, where there 
 was a dry sand-bar running most to the middle of the river. 
 We were afraid we would be driven upon it by the ice, when 
 God provided two canoes to float by us, which we immediately 
 held before the bow, one, on each side, and broke the ice with 
 them. Then setting the foresail, as there was a good wind, 
 in order to sail up the river with the tide, we passed, by the 
 aid of God, the Vogelsant, which was our great j)eril at this 
 place, and arrived at the beautiful island when the tide began 
 to run, and we managed to getto the shore, with the side 
 
30 VOYAGES OF 
 
 to the shore lenp:thwise "with the bow. At last, the water 
 began to fall rapidly, and we found that the bank was bold. 
 We immediately set about making the mast fast to a good 
 stout tree on land, by means of a rope, and to intrench our- 
 selves behind stakes. The next day, the 13th, three Indians 
 of the Armewamen came, who were at the yacht before. They 
 told us that they were fugitives — that the Minquas had 
 killed some of their people, and they had escaped. They had 
 been plundered of all their corn, their houses had been 
 burnt, and they had escaped in great want, compelled to be 
 content witli what they could find in the woods, and came 
 to spy out in what way the Minquas had gone away — the 
 main body of their people lying about five or six hours' jour- 
 ney distant, with their wives and children. They told us 
 also, that the Minquas had killed ninety men of the San- 
 kiekens ; that they would come to us the next day, when 
 the sun was in the south-east, as they were suffering great 
 hunger, and that the I^Iinquas had all left and gone from us, 
 back to their country. 
 
 The 14th, at night, it began to rain hard, and the wind 
 was from the south-west, wliich made it warm. In the 
 morning we had higli-watcr, which caused the yacht to float 
 finely. We loosened the rope from the tree, to which it had 
 been made fast, in order to get from the yacht, because the 
 shore was so bold there, and let her drift into the river. As 
 the ice was already very soft, like snow, we resolved not to 
 wait for the Indians, as they had been driven away, and 
 could not assist us in those things for which we had come, so 
 that it was a hopeless voyage for us. Going down the river, 
 we arrived below the Minqua's kill, where we took in some 
 stone for ballast, which we could not obtain clt;cwliere in the 
 morning. This is a very fine river, and the land all beauti- 
 fully level, full of groves of oak, hickory, ash, and chestnut 
 trees, and also vines which grow upon the trees. The river 
 has a groat plenty of fish, the same as those in our father- 
 land, perch, roach, pike, sturgeon, and similar fish. Along 
 the sea-coast are codfish, the different kinds of fish which 
 are in our fatherland, and others. After we had taken in 
 some ballast, we went further down the river, and came to 
 its mouth. We fished once with our seines, and caught in 
 one draught as many as thirty men could eat of perch, roach, 
 and pike. 
 
 • The 20th, we weighed our anchor, and with a north-west 
 
DAVID PIETEKSZ. DE TRIES. 31 
 
 wind sailed out of the bay, which is ten miles long, and so 
 wide, that in the middle of it you can hardly see from one 
 shore to the other. It is full of shoals on both sides, being 
 from six to seven fothoms deep, but is deepest on the west 
 side. In order to run up by soundings, as you come from 
 sea to Cape Hinloopen, which lies in thirty-eight degrees and 
 twenty minutes, the shoal of the bank, which stretches from 
 Cape Hinloopen over the bay, reaches Cape May, and when 
 you have passed this a mile and a half, and come into the 
 river, so that Cape Hinloopen is south of you, run in then 
 north-west along the west shore, and you will be out of dan- 
 ger of the banks, and keep the west side, where you should 
 keep sounding. If it be less than two fathoms, and if the 
 ship be a large one, you musb go direct to the South river. 
 When you come to the mouth of the river, where it is full 
 two miles wide, there is a shoal before it, on which, at low 
 tide, there is not more than six or seven feet of water. You 
 must then put the helm a-starboard, and you will see a rough 
 point ahead on the west side, along which you must hold 
 your course ; and there it is deep enough, the water being 
 three and a half ftithoms at low tide, but inside, in the river, 
 it is six or seven fathoms. The tide rises and falls here from 
 five to six feet. By evening, we arrived again at the ship, 
 in which there was great rejoicing to see us, as we had been 
 gone over a month. They did not imagine that we had been 
 frozen up in the river, as no pilot or astrologer could con- 
 ceive, that in the latitude from the thirty-eighth and a half 
 to the thirty-ninth, such rapid running rivers could freeze. 
 Some maintain that it is because it lies so far west ; others 
 adduce other reasons ; but I will tell how it can be, from 
 experience and what I have seen, and that is thus : inland, 
 stretching towards the north, there are high mountains, 
 covered with snow, and the north and north-west winds blow 
 over the land from these cold mountains, with a pure, clear 
 air, which causes extreme cold and frost, such as is telt in 
 Provence and Italy, which I have often experienced when I 
 was at Geneva, when the wind blew over the land from the 
 high mountains, making it as cold as it was in Holland. I 
 have found, by experience, in all countries, during winter, 
 that when the wind blows from the land, the hardest frost 
 makes. It is so in New Netherland also, for as soon as the 
 wind is south-west, it is so warm that they may go almost 
 naked in the woods, with only a shirt on them. 
 
32 VOYAGES OF 
 
 The 5tli of March, determined to make a voyage to the 
 English in Virginia, as we had failed to obtain corn in the 
 South river, in consequence of the war among the Indians, 
 as before related, by which we were placed in such danger, 
 and the grain of the Indians was destroyed ; and as we 
 thought that we would not be able to find a sufficient store 
 of it at Fort Amsterdam, on tlie East river, to serve us on 
 our return voyage to Holland, we therefore deemed it ad- 
 visable to sail to the English in Virginia. Although there 
 had never been any one there from this quarter, I said, as I 
 had escaped the danger in the South river, I would be the 
 first one of our nation to venture to the English in Virginia, 
 from these parts, as the distance is not more than thirty 
 miles from the South river or Cape Hinloopen, 
 
 The 6th, we weighed anchor, and laid our course along 
 the shore, south-southwest. In the evening it became calm, 
 and we anchored in six fathoms, sandy bottom, the wind 
 north-west off the shore. 
 
 The 7th, in the morning, at daylight, we weighed anchor, 
 and sailed along the weather-shore. Found that the coast 
 ran i'rom Ca})e Hinlooi)en, about eight miles south-southwest, 
 and north-northeast, then changed again two points south- 
 west and north-east. We coasted along in six fathoms, till 
 we found it began to be shoally, and I saw that the water 
 began to change. I told the captain of the yacht he should 
 throw the lead once, in order to see how deep it was. He 
 said that he had just sounded in six fathoms. I re2)licd that 
 I could not believe it was so deep, for the water changed too 
 much, when he, with a frown, threw out the lead, and there 
 was a fathom and a half of water. I was startled, though 
 we had gone with the yacht where it was only six feet deep. 
 We were now about a mile and a half from the shore, and 
 immediately turned to it, as I saw that it changed less there 
 than towards the sea. Immediately found again two, three, 
 and four fathoms of water ; ran then from the bank to the 
 sea, and obtained seven and eight fathoms, and saw a high 
 point before us, which I guessed to be about seven or eight 
 miles from Smith's Island or Cape Charles, but from this 
 point across the sea, almost to Cape Charles, it is full of 
 shoals, so that it will not do for a large ship to come nearer 
 than nine fathoms, on account of the bank, which lies three 
 or four miles in the sea, and runs along the whole coast to 
 the North river, and on which sometimes there will not be 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 33 
 
 more than five fathoms, or four fathoms and a half of water. 
 Inside of this again, towards the land, you will get ten, 
 eleven, and nine fathoms, for this is a flat coast, and the land 
 is seen first in thirteen or fourteen fathoms. As it was dark 
 at evening, we came to anchor in nine-flithom water, in order 
 that we might not pass by the Bay of Virginia in the night. 
 After we had been lying there about an hour, a storm be- 
 gan to blow from the south-east straight on shore — a lee- 
 shore for us. We put the stout boat's nose to the wind, and 
 took down the topmast at the same time, and she lay there 
 and rode as if she had been a fish. 
 
 The 8th, when we looked out in the morning, we found 
 that it had been snowing all night, for the snow was more 
 than a couple of feet thick. The captain came and inquired 
 whether we should weigh anchor. I answered he must use 
 seamanship ; as he saw that it still blew hard, with a heavy 
 sea, and no sight of land, it was best to remain, as we were 
 well secured, and wait for good, clear weather. At noon, it 
 began to clear, the wind coming from the south-west with a 
 clear, pure air ; and we saw that we were lying right before 
 the bay. Smith's Island north of us. Sailed over to Cape 
 Henry in order to run in by it. Found that from this Cape 
 the land trended north and south. Ran into the north of it 
 with a light breeze. Found at Cape Henry, a fine wide and 
 broad bay. We ran in until we had three fathoms water. 
 Ran out again, and laid otir course to the north, and at 
 evening came to a bank, where, in consequence of the dark- 
 ness, we anchored in fifteen-feet water. This shoal reaches 
 to Elizabeth river. 
 
 The 9th, sounded the depth, and found only nine feet 
 water, so that it had fallen six where we were lying. The 
 wind blew from the east, so that we were on a lee-shore, and 
 were ignorant, as none of us had ever been here. We 
 weighed anchor and sailed from the shore. The bank 
 stretches from the west side more than two paints over to the 
 east shore. It is deep along the east shore. There was a 
 fort newly-made at that time. The land is called by the 
 English, Point Comfort. We ran in here — it being ten, 
 eight, and seven fathoms deep — and saw before us a point 
 stretching out about three miles, which the English call 
 Newport Neivs. As you come to the east side from the sea, 
 you must see that you bring this point of Newport News 
 within the point where the fort is situated, otherwise you 
 
 SECOND SERIES. VOL. III. 3 
 
34 VOYAGES OF 
 
 will 1)0 in danger of being shipwrecked, but keep the before- 
 named hook, which you can see afar off, a good piece out- 
 side. As you pass by the fort to Newport News, you will 
 see on the side of the fort a large bay. Let your anchor fall, 
 so that you may not be driven within six fathoms. This 
 bay is the Bay of Kicletan, and has a river running into it, 
 which you may enter with a ship of fifty lasts. On the west 
 side, opposite, is Elizabeth's river, into which you can sail 
 five or six miles with a large ship. After we had lain a day 
 in this Bay of Kicketan, a pilot was sent on board to pilot 
 us to Jamestown, where the governor holds his court on be- 
 half of the King of England, and where we took an English 
 merchant with us. 
 
 The 10th we sailed up the river. When we came to 
 the before-mentioned point of Newport* News, we landed 
 and took in water. A fine spring lies inside the shore of 
 the river, convenient for taking water from. All the ships 
 come here to take in water on their way home. After we 
 had procured some water, we sailed on, and came at evening 
 to a kill, in which a large ship might lay, called Blank 
 Point. We went ashore there, where one of the most dis- 
 tinguished citizens lived, named Captain Matthews. We 
 were compelled to stay all night, and were well treated. 
 
 The 11th, took our leave of this Captain, and went 
 aboard of the yacht again, and proceeded on. Here, the 
 river is full three miles wide, but shoally, so that it is only 
 by sounding the passage that you can get along. It is only a 
 pilot's channel. At noon, we came to Littleton, where we 
 landed, and where there resided a great merchant, named 
 Mr. Menljit, who kept us to dinner, and treated us very 
 well. The river is half as wide as before. Here was a 
 garden of one morgen,'^' full of Provence roses, apple, pear, 
 and cherry trees, the various fruits of Holland, with dif- 
 ferent kinds of sweet-smelling herbs, such as rosemary, sage, 
 marjoiam, and thyme. Around the house were plenty of 
 peach-trees, which were hardly in blossom. I was aston- 
 ished to see this kind of tree, which I had never seen before 
 on this coast. An express order came to us here, from the 
 governor, who desired to see us, when we took our leave of 
 the merciiant, went aboard, and having weighed anchor, in 
 two hours came to anchor before Jamestown, where the 
 governor holds his court. 
 
 • Two acres 
 
DAVID PIETEKSZ. DE VRIES. 35 
 
 The 11th, went ashore, where the governor stood upon 
 the beach, with some halberdeers and musketeers, to welcome 
 us. On my setting foot upon the land, he came up to me, 
 and bid me heartily welcome. He inquired of me where 
 I came from. I answered him, from the South Bay of New 
 Netherland. He asked how far it was from their bay. I 
 said thirty miles. He then proceeded with me to his house, 
 where he bid me welcome with a Venice glass of sack, and 
 then brought out his chart, and showed me that the South 
 Bay was called by them My Lord Delaware's Bay, who had 
 encountered foul weather there some years ago, and, finding 
 the place full of shoals, thought it was not navigable. They 
 had, therefore, never looked after it since, but it was their 
 King's land, and not New Netherland. I answered him 
 that there was a fine river there, that for ten years no 
 Englishman had been there, and that we for many years 
 had had a fort there, called Fort Nassau. It was strange 
 to him, that he should have such neighbours, and have never 
 heard of them. He had, indeed, heard that we had a fort 
 in the fortieth degree of latitude, at Hudson's river as they 
 called it, and that a sloop was sent there last September^ 
 with seven or eight men, to se^ whether there was a river 
 there, who had not returned, and whether they had perished 
 at sea or not, he did not know. I told him that we had 
 seen Indians in the South river, who had English jackets on, 
 and had also understood from an Indian, who gave us warn- 
 ing, that the Indians had run down an English sloop there, 
 in which were seven or eight Englishmen. He then re- 
 marked they must have been his people ; otherwise, they 
 who had been sent to discover the South river, would have 
 returned home long ago. Finally, he said there was land 
 enough, — we should be good neighbours with each other, 
 and that we were in no danger from them, if the people of 
 New England did not come too near us, and dwelt at a dis- 
 tance from us. I remained to sup with the governor, and 
 he insisted on my staying the night at his house. 
 
 The 12th, arrived here Captain Stone, whom I had left 
 at St. Martin, in the West Indies. He told me that he 
 had waited fourteen days for his boat, which suffered such 
 distress, as I have mentioned before, that they had cast lots 
 whom they should kill for food. He also said that the 
 Portuguese prisoners, whom I had brought from Nevis, and 
 had delivered to him at St. Christopher's, as before related, 
 
36 VOYAGES OP 
 
 he had bron,a:ht to Porto Rico, and that he was very well 
 treated by the Spanish governor. He had hastened his 
 voyage liere to Virginia, and was very glad to meet me. He 
 was very well received by the governor. He was from Lon- 
 don, from the Great House. I remained at dinner with the 
 governor, and as we sat at the meal, Captain Stone asked 
 why the governor had an interpreter for me, as I could speak 
 English ; at least, I had spoken English to them in the 
 West Indies. The governor said he did not know that, and 
 inquired whether I could also speak French. I said " Yes." 
 "Whether I understood Italian. I answered in the affirma- 
 tive. Whether I had been in Italy, and in Africa, and in 
 the East Indies. I said I had. He was astonished that 
 I had begun so early to command. Final!)', there sat at 
 the table an Englishman, who liad been in the East Indies 
 at the same time that I was there, and who asked me who 
 commanded the English in the East Indies when I was 
 there. I gave him the name ; and when I could see him, 
 I looked at him well, and he at me. Then this commander 
 said that mountains could not, but men who go and see the 
 world can, meet each other. Besides, the commander had 
 assisted me with provisions while I was there. This com- 
 mander was named Sir John Harvey. 
 
 The 18th, took leave of the governor, who sent half-a- 
 dozen goats on board, to take with us, which he made a 
 present to our governor, with a ram. He had understood 
 that there were no goats at Fort Amsterdam, in New 
 Netherland. We set sail at once, and arrived at evening 
 at Blank Point, at the Councillor's, to whose place we had 
 before sailed in ascending the river. Here we bought some 
 swine, which we killed and salted. 
 
 The 20th, we took our leave of this Councillor, whose 
 name was Captain Matthews, and proceeded to KicJicfan, 
 and anchored at evening before the point of Newport News, 
 where we took in water. Here lived a gentleman of the 
 name of Goegen. I was astonished to observe of the Enghsh 
 people, that they lose their servants in gambling with each 
 other. I told them that I had never seen such work in 
 Turk or Barbarian, and that it was not becoming Christians. 
 
 The 21st, we arrived again before Kicketan. There, 
 also, \te bought some provisions, while we were waiting for 
 a good wind. These English Virginias are a fine country ; 
 altogether a beautiful llat land, full of all kinds of line large 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 37 
 
 trees — oak, hickory, chestnut, ash, cypress, and cedar, and 
 other kinds. There come here yearly, between thirty and 
 forty ships of various sizes, from two hundred lasts and up- 
 wards, mounting twenty-eight, twenty-four, and nineteen 
 guns, which come here to load tobacco, and carry it to 
 England. The entrance of this bay is five miles wide, from 
 Cape Henry to Cape Charles. Many fine rivers run out, 
 like those on the east side. It turns to the north, and a 
 large ship can sail up it full eighty miles. Thirty miles up 
 the river lies a large island, two miles long, which the 
 English call the Isle of Kent, upon which many of them 
 reside, under one Captain Klaver's '••■ government, who car- 
 ries on there a great trade in peltries. Here is another 
 river. The first after the East river, running to the west, 
 is called York river, which is navigable with a large ship 
 full twenty miles. Then comes the Pette-womeque (Poto- 
 mac) river, navigable thirty miles with a large ship. The 
 river where Jamestown — in Dutch, called Jacob Stadt — is 
 situated, runs mostly west, and is navigable about forty 
 miles, with a large ship, to an island called Henrico. This 
 island is inhabited on every side by the English, and there 
 run into it all around, small kills, from five miles long and 
 less, into which a good-sized ship may enter. There are 
 great numbers of fish of all kinds, the same as in the rivers 
 of Holland ; also, birds of various kinds ; swans, geese, 
 ducks, wild geese, partridges, and wild turkeys, the same as 
 in New Netherland. There is an objection which the Eng- 
 lish make. They say that during the months of June, 
 July, and August, it is very unhealthy ; that their people, 
 who have then lately arrived from England, die during these 
 months, like cats and dogs, whence they call it the (sickly) 
 season. When they have this sickness, they want to sleep 
 all the time, but they must be prevented from sleeping by 
 force, as they die if they get asleep. This sickness, they 
 think, arises from the extreme heat that exists there. Then, 
 again, when it has been a half-an-hour very hot, if the wind 
 shifts and blow from the northwest, it immediately becomes 
 so cold, that an overcoat may be worn. Thus, this country 
 appears to lie in the dividing line between the heat and the 
 cold, while New Netherland is beautifully tempered. 
 
 The 28th, weighed anchor, and set sail with a good 
 south-west wind, along the coast north-easterly. 
 
 * Clayborne. 
 
 fc5^ 
 
38 VOYAGES OF 
 
 The 29th, wo arrived again in the South "Bay at Swan- 
 endael, at our ship, ^Yhere we were verj' welcome. Found 
 that our people had caught seven whales, but there were 
 only thirty-two cartels of oil obtained, so that the whale- 
 fishery is very expensive, when such meagre fish are caught. 
 We could have done more if we had had good harpooners, 
 for they had struck seventeen fish, and only secured seven, 
 which was astonishing. They had always struck the whales 
 in the tail. I afterwards understood from some Basques, 
 who were old whale -fisliers, that they always struck the 
 harpoon in the fore-part of the back. This voyage was an 
 expensive one to us, but not so much, since I had laden a 
 good cargo of salt in the West Indies, which brought a good 
 price. Having put our oil in the ship, taken down our 
 kettle, and hauled in wood and water, we got ready to sail. 
 This bay is, generally, fine flat land, full of the various kinds 
 of pine trees, which I have described. In winter time, from 
 Virginia to Swanendael, there are hundreds of thousands of 
 geese, both gray and white. The country is also full of wild 
 turkeys, and has a great many deer. 
 
 The 14th of Ai)ril, as we were now entirely clear of 
 everything, so as to set sail, we weighed anchor both with 
 the ship and yacht. Whilst we were lying here, there came 
 in during this month of April, hundreds of thousands of 
 wild })igcons, flying from the land over the bay. Indeed, 
 the light could hardly be discerned where they were. Some- 
 times they flew upon the ship, })ressed down by numbers as 
 they came over the bay. Having got under sail, I went 
 again on board the yacht, and the i)ilots took command of 
 the large ship, for I wished to explore the coast distinctly. 
 Sailed over to Cape May, wlicre the coast began to trend 
 east-northeast and west-soul Invest. Came, at evening, to 
 the mouth of Egg harbour. Found between Cape May and 
 Egg harbour, a slight sand-beach, full of small, low sand- 
 hills. Egg harbour is a little river ur kill, and inside the 
 land is broken, and within the bay are several small islands. 
 Somewhat further up in the same direction, on a slight 
 headland, is a beautiful high wood. In the evening it be- 
 came very still. 
 
 The I5th, in the morning, it was so foggy that we could 
 not see the large ship. We heard the ground swell and 
 surf; tlirew the lead, and found it eight fathoms deep. Let 
 the anchor fall. It was shelly ground. Fished with a drop- 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ, DE VRIES. 39 
 
 line, and caught in a couple of hours, eighty-four codfish, 
 which are a very good-flavoured sweet fish, better than those 
 in Newfoundland, It began to blow from the south-west, 
 and to be bright and clear again. So we weighed anchor and 
 made sail. Found ourselves before Barende-gat (Barnegat), 
 where the coast began to stretch to the north-east by north, 
 and south-west by south. At evening we saw the high moun- 
 tains, which make a high point running along the sea, for 
 the most part east-southeast, and weSt-southwest. This 
 was the first mountainous land which I met since I came 
 from the south. We sailed that evening to the Sandy Hook, 
 which forms a large bay close by the point, and is also called 
 Godyn's Point, where we anchored that evening in seven- 
 fathom water. 
 
 The 16th, weighed anchor, and ran over to Staten Isl- 
 and, all along the shore of which runs a great eand-bank, 
 entirely flat. It is necessary to sound the southeast side, 
 and it will not do to come nearer than from three to four 
 and a half fathoms with a large ship. Arrived at noon 
 before Fort Amsterdam, and found a Company's ship there, 
 called the Soutbergh, with a prize taken on the way, laden 
 with sugar. She had brought a new governor, Wouter 
 Van T wilier of Newkirk. He had been a clerk in the West 
 India Department at Amsterdam, They had left Holland 
 after us. I went ashore to the fort, out of which he came 
 to welcome me, and inquired of me also, how the whale- 
 fishery succeeded. I answered him that I had a sample ; 
 but that they were foolish who undertook the whale-fishery 
 here at such great expense, when they could have readily 
 ascertained with one, two, or three sloops in New Nether- 
 land, whether it was good fishing or not. Godyn had been 
 a manager of the Company as long as the Company had 
 been in existence, and also of the Greenland Company at 
 Amsterdam, and ought to have known how it at first might 
 have been undertaken with little expense. While we stood 
 thus discoursing, our sloop came from the large ship to the 
 shore, from which we learned that they had come to anclior 
 at Sandy Hook, and would remain there until I gave other 
 orders. In the mean time, I intended to despatch my yacht 
 to New England and New France, to explore the bay. 
 
 The 18th, arrived here an Englishman, who came from 
 New England to trade in the river, where there was a mer- 
 chant named Jacob Eelkes, who had, during the time of the 
 
40 YOYAGES OF 
 
 private association,* navigated and commanded on the river, 
 but whom the Company would not employ, seeking out an 
 unfit person like this governor, whom they had transfen-ed 
 from a clerkship to a governorship, to perform a comedy. 
 This Englishman invited the governor to come and see him. 
 I went with hin), in company with a number of the officers, 
 who became intoxicated, and got into such high w'ords, that 
 the Englishman could not understand how it was that there 
 should be such unruliness among the officers of the Com- 
 pany, and that a governor should have no more control over 
 them ; he was not accustomed to it among his countrymen. 
 The Englishman remained six or seven days lying before the 
 fort, and then said he wished to go up the river, and that 
 the land was theirs. This we denied, declaring that they 
 had never made any settlement there. He said that David 
 Hudson first discovered this river, and lie was an English- 
 man. We answered that he discovered the river in the 
 year Nine, but he was fitted out at the expense of the East 
 India Company at Amsterdam ; and that the river was now- 
 called Mauritius river, after our Prince of Orange. 
 
 The 24th, the Englishman weighed anchor and sailt^d up 
 the river to Fort Orange, where this Jacob Eelkcs had for- 
 merly resided as commander for the private Company ; when 
 governor Wouter Van Twiller assembled all his forces before 
 his door, had a cask of wine brought out, filled a bumper, 
 and cried out for those who loved the Prince of Orange and 
 him, to do the same as he did, and protect him from the out- 
 rage of the Englishman, who was already out of eight sail- 
 ing up the river. The peoi)le all began to laugh at him ; 
 for they understood Avell how to drink dry the cask of wine, 
 as it was just the thing they wanted, even if there had been 
 six casks, and did not wish to trouble the Englishman, saying 
 they were friendn. As I sat at the table with him at noon, 
 I told him that he had committed great folly, as the Eng- 
 lishman had no commission to navigate there, but a paper 
 of the custom-house that he had paid so much duty, and 
 might sail with so many jiasbcngers to New England, and 
 not to New Netherland. I said, if it were my matter, I 
 would have helped him away from the fort with hcavsfvoui the 
 eight-pounders, and not permitted him to sail up the river, — 
 
 * This refers to tlio company autliorizcil by the octroy of the Stales Genenil 
 of nth October, 1614. 
 
DAVID PIETEESZ. DE VRIES. 41 
 
 would rather have held him back by the tail, as he said he 
 was a man from England, I told him as the English com- 
 mitted some excesses against us in the East Indies, we should 
 take hold of them ; that I had no good opinion of that nation, 
 for they were so proud a nature, that they thought everything 
 belonged to them ; were it an affair of mine, I would send 
 the ship Soutberg after him, and make him haul down the 
 river, and drive him from it until he brought another com- 
 mission than a custom-house license ; that he was only making 
 eport of him. 
 
 The 20th May, I wished to send my yacht to the north by 
 the way of Hell-gate. I also began to make preparations to 
 return with the large ship to Holland, when this governor 
 commenced his pranks of the head, and began again to juggle 
 as if he were drunk. He did not want the yacht to go to 
 the north, and sent alongside of it a schapan, — a flat lighter- 
 boat, in which the whole yacht could easily have been contain- 
 ed,: — and wanted to take out five or six lasts of store-ballast, 
 when I protested to him, explaining the privileges granted by 
 the College of Nineteen, and approved by the States General, 
 and that I did not wish him to unload the yacht. He then 
 desired to search the yacht, the same as was customary by 
 all princes and potentates, in order that he might see whether 
 there was anything in it that concerned the Company. He 
 then ordered the guns at the angles of the fort to shoot at 
 the yacht, when I ran to where he stood at the angle with 
 the Secretary and one or two of his Council, and told them 
 the land was full of fools ; if they wished to shoot anything, 
 they should have shot at the Englishman, who was violating 
 their river in spite of them. Upon this expostulation they 
 desisted from shooting, and set about preparing a yacht to 
 sail along with our yacht. So they both sailed to the north 
 after I had despatched my yacht. 
 
 When we had made everything ready, and were about to 
 take our leave of the governor, he then came to annoy me 
 anew. He did not want me to go with my boat to embark 
 until his boat had first boarded our ship, in order to search 
 her. I opposed it, and told him that she was not to be 
 searched. I was bound home, and if he wished to write any 
 letters, he could do so, and send them after I had gone to 
 my boat. He immediately sent twelve musketeers after me, 
 in order that we should not depart. My boat's crew asked 
 whether they should row away in the boat. I said I would 
 
42 VOYAGES OF 
 
 let them do so, and had they my courage they would. They 
 immediately did so, and the musketeers were ridiculed with 
 shouts and jeers by all the bystanders, who cried out that 
 they should have stopped the Englishman with shot and 
 muskets, from sailing past the fort, and not our own patrons 
 of the country, who sought to promote its interests. In a 
 little while I reached Long Island, where, behind Nut Isl- 
 and, ■■■■ I had commanded my boat to row. Before I crossed 
 over, I went once more to the fort, to take my leave of the 
 governor, I told him I wished that he had omitted 
 the folly of attempting to prevent my departure by his 
 soldiers, as he had only made himself a subject of sport 
 among his people ; — if he desired to write any letters to his 
 masters, the managers, he might send them after me in the 
 bay, I went out and crossed over the bay to my boat at Long 
 Island. Night coming on, and the flood-tide making, I 
 thought it most prudent to let my people row over to Pavouia, 
 and there wait the ebb, Reacliing Pavonia, we were well 
 cntertainsd by Michael Poulusz ; the officer in charge, who 
 prepared letters to send to his master, whilst we waited for 
 the tide. Our people overslept a little their time, as I had 
 ordered them to be on hand as soon as the ebb began to run. 
 We passed the fort early in the morning by break of day, 
 before the reveille was beaten in the fort. 
 
 We arrived at noon again at our ship at Sandy Hook. 
 Saw our ship's boat lying on the point, where our people 
 were catching fish with a seine, and went there to tell them 
 to come aboard as soon as they had made a haul or two. The 
 sail-boat from the fort was also alongside, having • sailed 
 before us in order to bring their letters to us. They tacked 
 away, and were crossing to see what we were doing on the 
 point with our boat, I went towards them immediately, 
 and, coming by them, they inquired of me what I did with 
 my boat when I passed by the ship. I answered that it did 
 not concern them, so they returned again alongside. In this 
 boat were the Schout, Notclman, and the Secretary, Ilemunt. 
 Coming aboard, I bid them welcome to the ship ; and I had 
 my goods taken from my boat into the ship, among which 
 were a dozen beaver-skins. These, the Secretary said, were 
 confiscated, because they had not been entered at the fort. 
 I told him to take them then ; but the Schout said I might 
 
 * Now Governor's Island. / 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ, DE VRIES. 43 
 
 let tliem lie, we were not now at the fort, and let him try our 
 wine, as he was a good bibber, as all of them were. I an- 
 swered that water was good enough for them, for they might 
 otherwise fall overboard. At length, the Schout asked why 
 we were quarrelling here ; he was very thirsty, and would 
 go to the cabin ; if there was anything wrong, the Patroon 
 might answer for it in Holland. Because the Schout spoke 
 so well, I told him he might enter the cabin, and I would 
 let him fill a glass from the best cask ; if the other one 
 wished to play the fool, he might leave ; I was now in my 
 own ship, not under their jurisdiction. The Secretary then 
 said they could send the ship Soutberg after us to board us. 
 I told him they might do so, for the Soutberg had sugar in 
 her, and our crew would be right glad to eat sugar in their 
 groats, as we would have a chance to do. I said to the Sec- 
 retary, that we were surprised that the West India Com- 
 pany would send such fools into this country, who knew 
 nothing, excej)t to drink ; that they could not come to be 
 assistants in the East Indies ; and that the Company, by 
 such management, must come to naught. In the East Indies, 
 no one was appointed governor, unless he had first had long 
 service, and was found to be fit for it ; first, by serving as an 
 assistant, under-koopman, and afterwards as chief-koopman, 
 and promoted further, according to their merits ; but the 
 West India Company sent, in the first instance, as superior 
 officers, persons who never had command in their lives, for 
 which reason it must come to naught. Upon this, they 
 again returned, with their boat, to the fort, which is five miles 
 from Sandy Hook. The bay inside of Sandy Hook is a large 
 one, where fifty to sixty ships can lie, well protected from 
 the winds of the sea. Sandy Hook stretches a full half-mile 
 from the hills, forming a flat sandy beach, about eight or 
 nine paces wide, and is covered with small blue-plum trees, 
 which there grow wild. 
 
 The 15th June, we weighed anchor, and made sail for 
 jpatria. While we were getting under sail, an Englishman 
 came sailing towards us, who would have run straight upon 
 the bar, and lost his ship. When I perceived him, I fired a 
 shot to warn him, and sent my boat to him, and he imme- 
 diately sailed towards me, and perceived that he was not in 
 the right channel. Coming by us, he proved to be an ac- 
 quaintance, — Captain Stone, of whom I have before spoken, 
 — whose boat had suflered such distress in the West Indies, 
 
44 VOYAGES OF 
 
 and whom I had also met in Enghsh Virginia. His ship 
 was laden with corn and young cattle, bound to New Eng- 
 land. As he was in want of water, he wished to put in here 
 to take in some. He sought of me, for the sake of our ac- 
 quaintance, whether I would furnish him a man to pilot him 
 in. I asked our crew whether there was any one of them 
 who wished to make a longer vovafrc, and who would be 
 transferred to this Englishman ; when one offered to make 
 a long voyage, whom I gave over to him, and I laid my 
 course southeasterly to sea, as Long Island lies cast and 
 west. The coast here falls off seventeen degrees, or more 
 than a point and a half 
 
 The I7th, changed our course to east by south, at the 
 fortieth degree of latitude, and then ran cast, so as to pass 
 in sight of Cowes. 
 
 The 29th at break of day, we saw a strange sail, which 
 came upon us before the wind, and hailed him to keej) behind. 
 He called to me to send off my boat. I replied I would not. 
 He then put off his boat, and came on board, and I bid him 
 welcome. He was a privateer from Flushing, Captain Frank- 
 fort. He asked me how far we were from land. I told him 
 I had yesterday evening examined the reckoning with my 
 pilots, but we disagreed a great deal, as I supposed that we 
 were not fifty miles from Cowes, and they both thought we 
 were over a hundred and twenty miles I'rom land ; that he 
 could not understand my reckoning ; and that I had seen 
 small sea-mews which do not go further than thirty or forty 
 miles from land. He said my reckoning was right, and we 
 would by evening see Cowes. 
 
 The 29th,* the cai)tain requested that I would let my 
 pilots come into the cabin, which I did. He inquired of 
 them, when there, how for they reckoned themselves to be 
 from Cowes and Flores. They answered an hundred miles. 
 He said they had made a bad guess, they would soon see 
 the land at Cowes ; that he had been cruising six weeks 
 about here, where he was yesterday evening. After a long 
 discourse, he took his leave of us ; he wished us a safe 
 voyage, and we him much booty ; gave each other a parting 
 shot, and thus separated. 
 
 The 1st of July, in latitude thirty three, discovered a 
 sail running by the wind in on\ev to come over to us, when 
 
 * Misprint for 30th. 
 
DAVID FIETERSZ. DE TRIES. 45 
 
 the crew began to cry out that it was a Portuguese pirate, 
 and wished to repel him by force. The wind was hght. He 
 ran about half a cannon-shot ahead of us, but we could dis- 
 cern no flag. I then asked the crew what they had a mind 
 to do ; it was a large ship, and if they had the courage to 
 attack him, to keep away after him, and endeavour to ap- 
 proach him. When we began to come close to him, my 
 crew said that he was a Turk, that the ship was Jan de 
 Begyn's, of Kotterdam, which the Dunkirkers had taken 
 and sold to the Portuguese, and which was afterwards cap- 
 tured by the Turks." I said, with a ship of eighteen guns 
 and fifty men, I was not afraid of one Turk, for I had in my 
 youth been engaged in a fight with two of them, the smallest 
 of which had twenty-eight guns, and the other thirty-three, 
 and three hundred men, while I had only one ship of four- 
 teen guns, and thirty men, and by the help of God, came 
 off with honour. My crew replied, that was a case where it 
 was necessary to defend myself, but here we could get away, 
 and there was no booty for us to take. We then pursued 
 our course again, but when we had got to the leeward of 
 him, he set his sprit-sail as if he were a-going to chase us, 
 when I immediately struck my topsail, in order to wait for 
 him. When he saw this, he tacked about again. Thus we 
 separated from him, and pursued our course. 
 
 The 9th, sounded the channel, and found sandy ground. 
 It was the bank which lies south of Ireland. 
 
 The 10th, in the morning, we bore away to the north of 
 the Scilly islands ; and, according to my reckoning, I sailed 
 fifteen miles over to the land. My under pilot said it was 
 the coast of France. We had had no latitude (observation) 
 in four or five days. Nevertheless, he maintained firmly 
 that it was the coast of France, and made the point of Land's 
 End, a French Cape. According to my chart, we could not 
 have gone so far east on our last course. I let the ship tack, 
 and run to the north, when we immediately obtained the 
 increasing ground of the ; channel. These knowers of the 
 land were then ashamed of themselves. 
 
 The 10th, (?) I told these wiseacres, if they wished to 
 be good pilots, they must observe their course and altitude 
 better another time. I depend upon mine to the last — 
 until some one comes and says he knows the laud, then 
 the course and altitude may be set aside. 
 
 The 11th, we came near the Lizard. There came also 
 
46 VOYAGES OF 
 
 towards us three ships, and we made everything read}^, in 
 case we were compelled to have a tight, but kept close to 
 the shore. As they were very large ships, we would rather 
 have run into Falmouth, if wp could have reached there, for 
 the chance was a bad one, for one ship to tight three wolves. 
 It was our intention, nevertheless, to do the best — to show 
 that our ancient courage was not gone — although the chances 
 were bad for one merchantman to fight three ships of war, 
 for it is said that many dogs are the death of the hare. At 
 length, as they began to get near us, it became calm, and 
 we careened close to the shore. The admiral, who carried 
 the flag, took a boat ashore, in order to obtain some refresh- 
 ments at Falmouth, and came on board of us, and told us 
 that they came from the Vice-Admiral of Holland, Lief heb- 
 ber, of Rotterdam ; and that we need not now have any fear 
 of the Dunkirkers ; it was nosv iu the midst of summer, and 
 our shijjs of war, under Admiral Dorp, were lying before 
 Dunkirk. They then went from aboard of us to get their 
 refreshments in Falmouth, and we separated, as we supposed. 
 Along the coast of England, it is necessary, sometimes, to 
 sail slowly, though we had a good south-west wind. 
 
 The 15th, in the morning, saw two ships before us. One 
 looked like a privateer with a prize. We kept close to the 
 prize. Then he went to the leeward, as if to wait for the 
 prize, but as we approached him he dared not wait for us, 
 and started forward again. We thought he was afraid that 
 we were a Duukirker. He then sailed away with the other 
 vessel. 
 
 The IGth, in the morning early, we were opposite Dover. 
 The privateer was nearer the French coast, with his prize. 
 There came bearing down towards us, from the English 
 coast, tliirtecn or fourteen ships of war. They were the 
 Lord Admiral Dorp and his squadron. They did not hail 
 us. Near the Downs, the wind nurth-cast, there came three 
 large ships sailing after us, they came along, two after the 
 privateer, and the other to hail us. They told us to send 
 ofi' our boat. I said that I could not, as I was fearful the 
 ship had evil designs, inasmuch as we had, four hours before, 
 seen our whole squadron, and thought that this must be a 
 Dunkirker. W^e were all ready (to light), and resolved not 
 to send the boat. At length, he sent his boat off, with a 
 lieutenant, who came on board of us, and who, when he saw 
 what kind of a ship wc had, wondered that everything was 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VKIES. 47 
 
 SO prepared, and that we intended to oppose so large a ship 
 as theirs was. He informed us that their captain was Cap- 
 tain Danckeras, and that the other two ships which had 
 sailed after the privateer, were commanded, one by Admiral 
 Jan Evertsz. of Flushing, and the other by Captain Block. 
 With a head-wind, ran,"with the other ships, into the har- 
 bour of Dover, where I understood that this privateer was 
 Captain Backer, from Zealand, and the ship was called the 
 Burning Oven, and had, as a prize, a small Holland vessel, 
 with five hundred boxes of sugar, which came from Brazil. 
 He told me he was afraid, when I came sailing behind him, 
 that I would deprive him of his prize, supposing that I was 
 a Dunldrker. We went ashore here at Dover, and learnt 
 that they had suffered great loss last autumn from the 
 French rovers, as well as from the Dunkirkers. 
 
 The 18th, the wind from the south-west, weighed our 
 anchor, and took our leave of the ships of war. They fol- 
 lowed, and conveyed the privateer to AVieling. 
 
 The 20th, saw in the morning, the towersof Egmont, 
 and were becalmed. Saw also there, some sail before us. 
 In the afternoon the wind began again to blow a little.^ 
 
 The 21st, in the morning, with the day, we saw Kyck- 
 duyn. A pilot boarded us, and in six hours we reached 
 Lands Diep, where we run for the Holder, so as to touch the 
 shore. Then, God aiding, we came by evening at the Mer- 
 chantman's Harbour. 
 
 The 22d, in the morning I hired a boat, which took me 
 to Medenbhck, and proceeded by a wagon to Hoorn, and 
 gave thanks to God for my safe voyage. 
 
 The 24th, I returned to Amsterdam, where I found my 
 partners at variance with their associates, the other man- 
 agers, because I had traded from two to four beaver-skins. 
 That was not a handsome thing, and it was not worth men- 
 tioning ; especially as the fifteenth article provides that the 
 Patroons might trade where the Company had no ^ clerk or 
 commissary. On this account, our business of making colo- 
 nies must be suspended in places still uninhabited ; so that 
 these managers at Amsterdam have done nothing else than 
 to fight their own shadow, and to drink Khenish wine in 
 the Kloveniers-Doelen/-' and the other managers to look 
 
 * A famous inn at Amsterdam, so called from the " doelen " or target, at 
 wliicli the " Kloveniers " or archers used to shoot. 
 
48 VOYAGES OF DAVID TIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 
 
 after powder and lead in Brazil, and the managers' magazine, 
 and the yearly meetings of the Nineteen. As we could not 
 agree with the Company, and my partners at Amsterdam 
 were all directors, and were continually at variance with 
 their associates, on account of trifles, I separated from them, 
 seeing there was nothing but roguery. The rest I will leave 
 unwritten. 
 
MY SECOND VOYAGE 
 
 COAST OF AMERICA, 
 
 OR THK 
 
 WILD COAST m THE WEST INDIES. 
 
 Having, with some friends, formed a Company, for the- 
 purpose of planting a colony upon the coast of Guiana,, 
 otherwise called the Wild Coast ; of which Company, Mr.. 
 Jan Bicker was one of the chief Patroons, with others, I re- 
 solved to go myself as Patroon, to conduct the settlement ;. 
 and I was the first who went there as such, from this 
 country. 
 
 On the 10th of July, 1634, in the ship called the King 
 David, mounting fourteen guns, and having a crew of five- 
 and-twenty men, with thirty planters, in order to make a 
 beginning of the colony, left the Texel, four ships in com- 
 pany, — to wit, two Genoese vessels, and one French ship, — 
 at four o'clock in the afternoon, with a north by west wind, 
 on a course south-west by south. At night the wind blew 
 from the north-west, so that we laid our course with a strong 
 wind and rain, and parted from our company. Took in our 
 topsail. 
 
 The 11th, a strong wind as before ; our course west- 
 southwest. At noon, saw two strange sails to the leeward. 
 At night it became entirely calm, so that we could not make 
 a steady course. 
 
 The 12th, in the morning, it began to blow a Httle. At 
 noon fell in with three ships which came out of the Maes. 
 Course southerly, with the wind west-southwest. In the 
 first quarter, lay to the north-northeast ; and in^the second, 
 
 SECOND SERIES. VOL. III. 4 
 
50 VOYAGES OF 
 
 tacked again, and ran soiith-wcst by west, "with a stiff 
 breeze. 
 
 The 13th, the wind sharpened up so that Ave could not 
 sail to the south. • At noon, tacked again, and ran north- 
 west, with the wind west-southwest. To-day, dealt out the 
 ration ; to wit, two cheeses for the voyage, and other things 
 in the ration-list in proportion. At evening, spoke a vessel 
 which came by us. 
 
 The 14th, in the morning, we saw the coast of England, 
 lying west by south, irom us about five miles, and at noon 
 sailed through the Straits of Dover, with rough weather and 
 rain. The wind north-northwest, and course west by south, 
 and so passed the Singels, and in the evening the Foreland, 
 when the wind began to sharpen west-southwest. It changed 
 back and forth during the night, with a stiflf breeze. 
 
 The 15th, the wind west-southwest, as before ; it 
 changed, blowing sometimes from the shore, and then 
 from the sea. ' JSteady rain and wind, so that it seemed 
 as if Nei)tune were wholly against us ; also, had a small 
 storm from west-northwest. Course south-west, with steady 
 rain. 
 
 The IGth, the weather began early to moderate a little, 
 and became entirely calm, so that we took in our sails, and 
 let the ship dritt. Being out of sight of land, we threw 
 out our bow-anchor, and let it be as long as the tide was 
 running. In about three hours, we Avere again under sail. 
 Wind south-west ; course north-Avest by Avest, Avith fine 
 weather. At night it was entirely calm. Course west by 
 south ; the Avind north-Avest. 
 
 The 17th, in the morning, it began to bloAv a little. Set 
 our course Avest, and Avest by south, to the Isle of Wight. 
 At noon, it again became calm, so that Ave threw out our 
 boAv-anchor, in order to stem the tide. In three hours, 
 weighed anchor, and set our course for Wight, for the i)ur- 
 pose of obtaining some more ballast, as Ave Averc lightly bal- 
 lasted. We arrived bcfure Portsmouth at five o'clock, Avhere 
 we came to anchor, and Avherc I Avent ashore, and ordered a 
 lighter to go Avith ballast. 
 
 The 18th, took in the ballast, and made e\'er}'thing ready 
 in order to sail again Avith the next fair Avind. 
 
 The 20th, iu the morning, Aveighed anchor, and sailed 
 from the Isle of Wight by the needle, Avith good Aveather, 
 and a clear sky. The wind north by Avcst ; going west by 
 
 BOUtb. 
 
DAVm HETERSZ. DE VRlES. * 51 
 
 The 21st, early, there was fine weather with a good 
 "breeze, and by evening v;e came to Land's End, lying north 
 of us about five miles. Wind north by west ; course west- 
 south-west. 
 
 The 1st of August, in the morning, we saw land. It 
 was the Island of Maderia, and was five miles w^est of us. 
 At noon, saw to the leeward, two sails, and held for them ; 
 came up to them about noon. They appeared to be English 
 pirates, and we hailed them, when it was very evident that 
 they had intended to attempt something. Wind north-east ; 
 ■course south by west, with a clear sky. 
 
 The 2d, a stiff breeze from the east. Saw in the after- 
 noon the Island of Palms, one of the Canaries. Course 
 south. 
 
 The 9th was good weather. At noon, observed the lati- 
 tude, seventeen degrees and forty minutes, and going west- 
 south-west. Towards evening, saw land rising in three hills, 
 and lying south-west by west, distant about five or six miles. 
 Thought it was the Island of Z^bI, but found it was St. An- 
 thony, so that we were much further west than we supposed. 
 Laid our course west ; the wind north-west by west. 
 
 The 27th, the weather became fine and calm. At noon, 
 got a small breeze west-southwest. Course south, and south 
 by west, with a clear sky. Had here a strong current, which 
 ran to the west. Began to see land birds. 
 
 The 3d September, in the morning, sounded in seventy 
 fathoms, with white and black sand. The water appeared 
 entirely green. Sounded again at noon, and found fifty-five 
 fathoms. Wind east ; course west, and west by south. 
 Found the stream ran here strong to the north-east, as well 
 as we could judge. Sounded at evening, and found forty- 
 three fathoms, sandy bottom, as before. Latitude, three 
 degrees and fifty-six minutes. 
 
 The 4th, weather fine and calm. Sounded in thirty- 
 seven to thirty-five, and thirty-four fathoms. Latitude at 
 flight, five degrees and a half, so that we found that the cur- 
 rent had carried us to the north-east, since yesterday even- 
 ing, twenty-three miles. Seeing that we could not reach 
 Wiapocke, — as those who wish to touch at Wiapocke must 
 run to the latitude of three degrees and a half, and then west- 
 southwest, and find black bottom, when they will be about 
 twenty-five miles from Wiapocke, and have seventy fathoms 
 of water, — we cast anchor at evening in twenty-eight fath- 
 
52 * VOYAGES OF 
 
 » 
 
 omSj in a clayey bottom. At night, bad a bard blow from 
 tbe south, with rain, but it did not last long. 
 
 The 5th, saw land at daylight, between Maruin and 
 Cayana, and found ourselves about six miles below Cayana 
 and the land of Maruin, rising in four high mountains, the 
 middlemost one of which was the highest, and about four 
 miles south-west of us, with a mountain 1o the west of 
 Maruin. The extreme part of the land of Cayana, was from 
 us about seven miles south-southeast. We sounded in 
 twenty-four, twenty-two, twenty, and seventeen fathoms, 
 on hard ground ; and at noon, cast anchor in fourteen fath- 
 oms, clay bottom, the Devil's Islands lying west of us about 
 two miles, and appearing, though it was afterwards disap- 
 proved, a handsome level land. At noon, ten of us went 
 ashore, and by nine o'clock in the evening, came into the 
 river of Korro, which some call Caivrora-Nauiue. At its 
 mouth it is deep, for at low water it has two fethoms and a 
 half to three fathoms, with a fine clayey bottom. xVbout 
 twelve o'clock at night, reached a short mile up the river. 
 It was wide within, and from one and a half to two fathoms 
 deep ; and here and there were some rocks. At three o'clock 
 in the morning, six of us went ashore in order to find inhab- 
 itants. We first passed a large wood, and after that came 
 on a level field, which Avas under good cultivation, and 
 where the grass came up to the waist. About nine o'clock, 
 came to an Indian village, where they received us with all 
 friendship. We informed them that we were Hollanders, 
 and they caused us immediately to sit down, and gave us 
 to eat and drink. Their chief then came to us, and Ifed us 
 into his house, where he treated us well with their liquor, 
 which -they make of Casari ; it is thick like hogs-draf, but is 
 whitish, and stronger to drink than llarlcm beer. About two 
 o'clock, we set out to return to our boat, and the chief, with 
 two of his sons, went with us. Their -sdllagc consisted of 
 six or seven houses, and might contain about fifty souls. It 
 stood in a beautiful grove, and was about two miles and a 
 half from our boat. About one mile from this village is 
 another smaller one, which yields cotton and orlian, but not 
 very much, because they do not plant them ; speckled wood 
 also grows here. Arrived at our boat at evening, and left 
 ajrain with the ebb. Ilcmained at niGfht before the mouth 
 of the river. At daybreak, went to the ship, and about 
 noon got aboard. Having a sea-wind, we weighed anchor and 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES, 53 
 
 left, but towards evening cast anchor again in seven fathoms 
 of water, clayey ground. At night, took our boats to Cayana, 
 in order to ascertain the situation of the country, and get 
 water. 
 
 The 8th, we were lying becalmed. 
 
 The 9th, in the morning, had a land-wind, so that we 
 made sail, but it became calm again, and we again cast 
 anchor. At noon, started again, and at night anchored in 
 seven fathoms, having run a fine piece. 
 
 The 10th, made sail, the wind off land. About nine 
 o'clock, our boat came with water, bringing an Englishman 
 on board, who would take us to Cayana. At noon, cast 
 anchor in eleven fathoms, but about three o'clock were un- 
 der sail again with a stiff breeze. At night, came to anchor 
 a half mile from Cayana and the cliff. The Lost Child ■•'" 
 was about a half a mile from us, lying in five fathoms, and 
 at night in two fathoms and a half, so that the tide falls 
 two fathoms and a half along the coast of Cayana, and an 
 east and west moon makes a full tide or high water. 
 
 The 11th, weighed anchor ; the wind along the shore ; 
 tacked, but gained nothing, so we ran out a piece to sea 
 again, and let our anchor fall in seven-fathom water, hard 
 bottom, a short mile from the Lost Child, which was south- 
 southeast from us. The wind south-east, with a stiff 
 breeze. 
 
 The 12th, the wind and weather the same as before. 
 The 13th, got a land breeze, so that we ran out to sea a 
 piece, and at noon come to anchor in seven fathoms. 
 About three o'clock, weighed anchor, with a sea breeze, and 
 sailed south by east, and south-southeast, in seven, six, and 
 five fathom water, along by the Lost Child, and in the even- 
 ing, anchored under the west shore of the Island of Mecoria, 
 where the river of Cayana empties into the sea. This island 
 lies between the river Cayana, and the river Mia. It was 
 half a mile from Cayana where we were lying at anchor, with 
 four fathoms at low water. As you sail in, there is five, 
 four, and three and a half fathoms of water, between the 
 Lost Child and Cayana. — AVe were no sooner at anchor, than 
 there came a canoe to us with Indians on board, having 
 bananas, and many other refreshments ; among them, the 
 pineapple, which is a delightful fruit for eating. 
 
 *A rock 
 
54 TOTAGES OF 
 
 The I4th, landed thirty men to make a "beginning of a 
 new colony, to raise the dye orlian, called by the Indians 
 Anoiy^^' and cotton and tobacco, all of which grow here 
 well. Took the men to a hillock, adjoining where the ship was 
 lying, where were the ruins of an old fort,, and having still 
 two angles of stone entire, made as well as they could be, to 
 prevent the entrance of foreign ships. Found this fort wild 
 and waste, where good sugar-cane grew wild, of Avhich we 
 eat. It Avas almost as thick as one's arm, so it was natural 
 that we desired to plant sugar there. This ruined fort ap- 
 peared to have been built in former times by the French,^ 
 and lies upon a handsome hill, of tolerable size, by which 
 there is a fine valley for raising fruit, cotton, beans, and 
 tobacco. Two miles from this place, we found seven or 
 eight Zealanders and Englishmen, on account of Jan de 
 Moer, of Zealand, who cultivated tobacco, and had been 
 here eight months. This is an island full of people, all 
 Caribs, as I have mentioned before. They are a warlike 
 people, continually at war with a nation called Arricoens. 
 The chief of Cayana was named Arrawicary, who dwelt two 
 miles from us upon the island, which is sixteen miles round. 
 This chief died while we were here. He was faithful and 
 true to Christians, except the Bi)aniards, whom he would 
 not hear named. They informed us, afterwards, that he was 
 full a hundred and fifty years old. It is to be remarked of 
 this people, that when one of their chiefs die, they immedia- 
 tely kill all his slaves, saying that they shall serve him in 
 the other world. Among the rest, they also kill his physi- 
 cian, because he had not preserved his life longer ; he might 
 be to him a better physician in the other world, as they 
 told me. These priests they call Peoayos ; we call them 
 sorcerers. Whilst we were here, I observed the nature of 
 the climate, and the condition of the people. 
 
 The seasons of the year on this coast are diverse ; for in> 
 the eastern part of Guiana, towaixls the South Sea, the 
 dry season, which we call summer, begins in August, and 
 the violent winds and rain, which we consider their winter, 
 begin in February ; but in the western parts, towards the 
 Oronoco, the dry season commences in October, and the 
 rainy season and winter in April. There is little variation 
 of heat and cold, this country lying so under the Ec[^iinoc- 
 
 •The AtuaXU)^ 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ, DE VRIES. 55 
 
 t 
 
 tial, and tlie days and nights being, for the most part, of 
 equal length, like as I observed at Batavia, in the East In- 
 dies ; but these seasons sometimes vary much, and it rains 
 also one year more than another. The people have division, 
 or reckoning of time and numbers. They reckon only by the 
 moon ; as, one, two, three, &c., moons as we count the days, 
 up to ten, and then, one and ten, &c. In order to better 
 express their meaning, they put up their fingers, and when, 
 they wish to say twenty they bring their fingers to their feet. 
 When they promise to do anything by a certain time, they 
 deliver a bundle of sticks, and keep one of a like number. 
 In order to keep the appointed time, they take a stick out 
 every day, until they have taken all away, when they know 
 that the time which they had fixed has come, and will then 
 keep their promise. 
 
 Of the Genius and Condition of the Natives of this Country ; 
 how they are clothed, and lohat Pride they have. 
 
 The Indians, who dwell upon this whole coast, run 
 almost naked. Their hair is black, but sometimes painted 
 red ; eyes black ; holes in the tips of the ears, and generally 
 holes in the nose and lips ; and the whole body painted with 
 the paint which the Caribs call contseuwe, and the Jaos, 
 anoty. It seems that they prick it, and burn it in with the 
 sun, in youth. Some of the women paint their daughters 
 difierently — particularly with certain strange figures — with 
 a black gum. Some of the men wear a cotton covering in 
 front, but very few, and those more from a love of being odd, 
 because they see us covered, than from modesty. The un- 
 married men generally have a small string tied round their 
 prasputium, and that is fastened to a string which is tied 
 round the neck. The women bear children very easy, and 
 are naturally strong. They carry their children, for the 
 most part upon their hips, sitting, and also in a cotton-band, 
 when they have far to go. They are of middling size, toler- 
 ably handsome, and painted like the men. They go naked, 
 and they bind their hair in a bunch. 
 
 These people have no religion, as far as I could learn, 
 except that they pay some respect to the sun and moon, like 
 the heathens ujjon the coast of Coromandel, believing that 
 
56 VOYAGES OF 
 
 they are endowed with hfe ; and they worship them, as 
 those of the coast of Coromandel do, — wlio, in the morning, 
 when the sun rises, go and stand in the water, with hands 
 uphfted to the snn, — these people, at that time, prostrating 
 themselves. They make no offerings, except they observe 
 certain superstitions, in their drunken festivals. They hold 
 a solemn feast upon the death of their cassique chiefs, or 
 other great friends, making the best provision of their strong- 
 est liquor, which they call Perrouiv, for three or four days, 
 or as long as their liquor lasts ; and spending the time in 
 dancing, singing, and drinking, — in which they exceed all 
 other heathen nations that I have ever seen, — esteeming 
 him the bravest fellow who first gets drunk. While they 
 are drinking, the wives of the next friends of the deceased 
 stand crying and howling. Whether they observe any su- 
 perstition in this, I do not know, but this is certain, that 
 their priests and soothsayers, whom they call peayos, as pre- 
 viously mentioned, have at times communication with the 
 Devil, whom they name JVaUipa, and are by him deceived. 
 Yet, they hate and fear him very much, and say that he is 
 wicked, and not without great reason, for they are frequently 
 beaten by him black and blue. I have since learned that 
 they worship Tamouco ; who, according to their sayings, 
 lives above and reigns over all. The Jaos, especially, wor- 
 ship this Tamouco, every morning and evening. They be- 
 lieve that the good Indians, after death, go upwards, pointing 
 to Heaven, which they name Coupo ; and that the bad go 
 down, pointing to the earth, which they call Soy. 
 
 When one of their cassiques, or chiefs, die, if he have 
 any slaves, or other prisoners, they kill them, — but not any 
 of his other servants, — in order that he may be served in the 
 other world. 
 
 The quality of the land is various in tliis region. On 
 the sea-coast, the land is low, and the heat would be very 
 vehement there, were it not moderated by the fresh and 
 cool breezes, or easterly winds ; which, at the hottest time 
 of the day, blow very strong. In many places, this low 
 land is very unhealthy, and little inhabited, on account of 
 the overflowing of the water ; but it has, for the most part, 
 very fine rivers, fertile soil, and many inhabitants, and is 
 healthy for habitation. Upon the mountains, the climate 
 ■is cold, and the land, in some places, fertile, and in others 
 -not ; but it is generally full of minerals, and mines of differ- 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 57 
 
 ent metals, yielding as much as any places in the East or 
 West Indies, both of the better and inferior kinds, and in 
 most of the mountains. Upon the mountains, are found 
 very healthy dwelling places. There is, also, a middle kind 
 of land, which is of a medium height, very temperate, 
 healthy, and fertile, and almost all peopled. It is full of 
 lakes and pleasant streams of water, fine groves, and pleasant 
 plains, for profit, pleasure, and recreation, and not unpro- 
 vided with minerals. 
 
 They are very much troubled here with mosquitoes, 
 which they call 7napiry, whose sting is very venomous. 
 The building of many fires is a good remedy. They have 
 there, also, fleas, which they call Sico. 
 
 We loill noiv speah of the 'productions of the country, and 
 other things which serve to sustain the life of man. 
 
 The provision of this land, for supporting life, is mani- 
 fold. First the root of cassava, of which they make bread, 
 in the following manner : they break the root upon a stone, 
 and express the juice, which, in its raw state, is poisonous, 
 for I threw a bit of it to a hen, which died therefrom imme- 
 diately ; but, boiled with Cayenne pepper, — of which they 
 have a r>;reat abundance, — it affords an excellent and whole- 
 some sauce. Then they dry the bruised root, and bake it upon 
 a stone in the same manner as oatcakes are baked. This 
 bread is then fit to be used ; they bake it as thick as one's 
 finger. There is a species of large wheat, called maize, or 
 Turkey wheat, like that of Virginia, which grain is a pecu- 
 liar provision for this country, and is very productive, yield- 
 ing a thousand or fifteen hundred for one, and frequently 
 more. It makes very good flour for bread, and good malt 
 for beer or ale, and serves various necessary purposes for the 
 support of man. Of the before-mentioned cassava bread, 
 and of this Indian corn, they make a liquor, which they call 
 passiauw, which must be used in four or five days. They 
 make also another beverage of cassava, which they call^er- 
 nouw, ov perrajLon ; which they jirepare in large pots, and 
 boil it, as they do beer in Holland. It foams, and is as good 
 and strong as the beer of Breme, but it is somewhat hot ; 
 it has, also, as high a colour as Breme beer, and can be kept 
 good ten days. There are several kinds, some strong, others 
 weak, some thick, others thin, but it was all good, and well 
 
58 VOYAGES OF 
 
 prepared, when we were among the Caribs and Arwackes, 
 who are the neatest of all those nations. 
 
 There is a great abundance of honey, and although it is 
 found wild in trees and holes in the earth, it is as good as 
 any in the world. Good mead can be made of it. There 
 are no vines, but as the land is fertile and rich, and the 
 climate warm, they would grow there, if they were planted, 
 and furnish fine wines ; which, for this region, would be 
 very wholesome ; though I would be afraid of their becoming 
 sour from the heat. 
 
 Of the Wild Beasts and Cattle. 
 
 I^Iany other necessaries for the support of man are to be 
 found here, wild, of all kinds. Swine, in great numbers, of 
 two species ; one, small, called by the Indians, j'^ockicro, 
 which has the navel on the back ; the other, named panicjo, 
 as large and fine as any swine, and weighing from one hun- 
 dred and fifty to one hundred and eighty pounds. There 
 are also multitudes of hares and rabbits, but difierent from 
 ours ; they are like young deer, twenty-four hours old. 
 There are leopards, tigers, — one of which, an Indian, while 
 I was here, took and played with, while lying in his ham- 
 mock, — armadillos, maipuries,'-' — whose meat tastes like 
 beef, — harcmocs, which tastes like mutton, — and other small 
 animals of various flavour and colour : as apes, innumerable 
 monkeys of different kinds, good to eat — though I was not 
 willing to taste them — besides many strange animals ; as 
 the Caribs, who had been with one of our men up the river of 
 Caparwaca, and in other places, told us. There are deer, 
 which the Indians call osary ; wild hogs, white, which they 
 call ahiliera ; lions, waricory, — having red hair, the fore 
 legs like the hind ones, three toes on each foot, head like an 
 ape, and a short tail ; it is sluggish, and a small eater, won- 
 derfully slow in moving and climbing. There is also an 
 animal, to which we gave the name sageioynfjcs, of the size 
 of a rat three weeks old, with copperish marks above the 
 eyes, and four small feet, like those of a water-dog ; it is 
 very tender, and cannot be kept alive in confinement. Ba- 
 boons, also, are very numerous. 
 
 * The Tapir. 
 
DAVID PIETEESZ. DE VRIES. 59 
 
 Of the Birds of the Country. 
 
 Here are wild ducks, teal, geese, herons of various colours, 
 cranes, storks, pheasants, partridges, pigeons, thrushes, black- 
 birds, snipe, parrots of different kinds, and many other species 
 of birds of which I have no knowledge, both large and small, 
 of exquisite colour, besides large birds of prey, and hawks of 
 all sorts, and beautiful ravens. 
 
 Of the Kinds of Fish which are caught. 
 
 There are many kinds of fish ; first, of sea-fish, beam, 
 chub, sole, perch, roach, blackfish, sturgeon, like salmon, as 
 it is red, like that at Batavia, in the East Indies. It is of 
 the same species, and is on the ehell like the salmon, except 
 the colour. There are shrimps, lobsters, and oysters, which 
 grow on the branches of trees, which appears very wonderful ; 
 also, a rare fish called Cassoorwa, which has two organs of 
 sight in each eye ; one of which in swimming, it holds above, 
 and the other, under water ; its back and ribs are like the 
 back and ribs of men, the one being round and the other flat, 
 and it has a backbone ; it is somewhat larger than a smelt, 
 which it very much resembles in swimming ; it keeps always 
 along the shore, in large schools. There are many other very 
 good fish ; the accare, which are not unlike the crocodile, 
 but thinner and longer, and shorter heads ; they come upon 
 the land, but feed upon fish ; they are good to eat, but diffi- 
 cult to catch, having an acute smell, by which they become 
 aware of danger. The owanna, very similar to, but smaller 
 than the ayatnare, — a large species of shad, which keeps in 
 deep water, and is very choice eating. 
 
 Moreover, of fresh fish, there are many, but for the most 
 part, they are unknown to us, though they are all very good 
 and delicate ; so that it maybe conscientiously said, that this 
 country, according to its climate, may be compared, for variety 
 and excellence of the fish, with any other country in the world. 
 There is also a sea-fish which generally comes into fresh wa- 
 ter, especially during the winter and rainy season, called by 
 the Indians, cojumero, and by the Spaniards, manatee, and 
 by us, the sea-cow. It is an even chance, if a person, who 
 had never seen one before, should catch one, he would not 
 know but that he had a young bull or heifer, for it has ribs, 
 and is lined with fat. and the hide is like a cow's hide, is suit- 
 
60 VOYAGES OF 
 
 able to make buff leather, and, dried in the sun, and dressed 
 with oil, is good for shields against the arrows of the In- 
 dians. There is a fish here, called cakop in the East Indies, 
 very fine for eating, as large as a cod, with scales the size 
 of a copper ; and also another, called in the East Indies, sanhi- 
 lam, which keeps in the fresh water. The coa, which are crabs, 
 are to be found in great numbers in the low swampy grounds, 
 and all along the coast. 
 
 The fruits are of various kinds : pineapples, plantains, 
 potatoes, medlars, plums of difierent sorts, nuts of curious 
 shape. The pineapple, or ananas, is as excellent and as large 
 as that of the East Indies ; no better fruit can be found ; 
 the flavour is like that of a strawberry and a ripe pippin ; the 
 potato is well known ; the medlars are very large ; the plums 
 are not to be praised, because, when plentifully eaten, they 
 cause a diarrhoea, — which in this country, is very dangerous 
 according to my observation ; and so of the common greens 
 of the country, napi, which are not unlike the eastern reiiven. 
 There is a tree, which grows here, as large as a pomegranate 
 tree, with pale-green downy leaves, and white flowers, but of 
 more leaves, and of no scent ; from the blossom, first comes 
 only a large bean, like the kidney of a rabbit, from which 
 grow'S a fruit in the shape of a pear, and the bean remains 
 hanging below it ; there is a pit in it, which tastes like a 
 hazel-nut, and under the skin is an oil, which is good for in- 
 flammation in the face. 
 
 0/ the Commodities of the Country. 
 
 The most important production of this country is the 
 sugar-cane, of which there are immense quantities. The 
 land is as well adapted to it as any in the world. It grows 
 very large in a little time ; and by cultivating, and the erec- 
 tion of proper buildings for extracting the sugar, which would 
 cost a good deal at first, great wealth would be realized, as 
 we can see has been done by the Portuguese, in Brazil and 
 elsewhere. 
 
 Cotton is a general article of merchandize, and is very 
 useful for merchants and for us, to make fustians and bom- 
 bazines and other goods, and also to make hammocks — which 
 are the beds of the Indians, and very necessary in this region — 
 and calicoes. There is, besides, a kind of hemp or flax, of 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ, DE VRIES. 61 
 
 great value, almost as fine as silk, and can be used like it ; 
 it makes very excellent linen. 
 
 They have here peculiar dyes, one of which is called Au- 
 noto, which grows on trees as large as cherry-trees. These 
 trees bear large nuts, which burst open when they are ripe, 
 and within the kernels of which are small berries of a red 
 colour. These, well prepared by the Indians — which they 
 do with palm-oil — produce a perfect dye of a fast orange col- 
 our ; but the Indians cheat much by mixing cassava with 
 it. There is another berry, which dyes a blue colour ; and 
 a certain gum of a tree, which makes a perfectly fast yellow 
 colour in cloths ; and leaves of trees, which, properly pre- 
 pared, give a deep red colour. There is also a wood which 
 dyes purple, and is of great value ; and another, which yields 
 a yellow dye ; besides many others, undoubtedly, which are 
 as yet unknown ; but which, by careful search, will some time 
 or other be discovered. 
 
 Many aromatic gums are found here ; but as I have no 
 experience in the science, I know not what virtues they pos- 
 sess. Cassia fistula and senna-leaves grow here, and the 
 earth yields Armenian bole. 
 
 There is a tree, with which they catch their fish, worthy 
 of special consideration. It grows generally near their 
 dwellings ; and when they wish to go a-fishing, they carry 
 some branches of it to the creeks, — which at high water are 
 for the most part full of good fish. They take the sticks 
 and beat them upon the stones until they become as soft as 
 flax ; and running up the creek, which they had previously 
 stopped up at high water with the branches of other trees, 
 they throw this wood, which they had by beating made like 
 flax, into the water when it is half run out. When the fish 
 come swimming to the surface of the water, they become 
 intoxicated ; and, finding the creek stopped up at its mouth, 
 they leap upon the land. Some come floating belly upwards, 
 and are scooped up out of the water ; or, if they still swim, 
 they are shot with arrows through the body, so that any one 
 can catch as many as he wishes.* 
 
 While I was walking by the seaside, I saw a whale 
 fightino; with a swordfish, and the water was as red as blood ; 
 as often as the whale jumped out of the water, and m terror 
 
 * Bancroft describes this mode of intoxicating the fish by the natives of 
 Guiana, by throwing into the water the bruised root of^Hiarra. (pp. 322-3.) 
 
62 VOYAGES OF 
 
 of the swordfish, he spouted the water frightfully. The 
 Bwordfish stuck him as he came down under the belly, which 
 made him spring out of the water again. It was wonderful 
 to see. 
 
 There is a tree of red-speckled wood, called by the in- 
 habitants pirattmnere, and in the Netherlands, lettertvood. 
 It is excellent for all kinds of cabinet -work. The tree grows 
 up straight, and has a smooth white bark ; the letterwood 
 is the heart of the tree, in which it grows ; there are no 
 leaves on the tree, except at the top. Good tobacco can be 
 grown here ; and there are rich mines, but they have not 
 been well explored. 
 
 We will now resume our Voyage. 
 
 After I had lain here four weeks, and jDUt my colonists 
 whom I had settled here in order, they set about planting 
 thirty thousand dye-trees, a hundred thousand cotton-trees, 
 and a hundred thousand tobacco-plants, each of which yields 
 a half-a-pound of tobacco, which commands a good price. 
 
 The 14tli of October, about nine in the morning, we 
 weighed anchor for Cay ana, and took with us the grandson 
 of Arrawycary, the principal chief, who was deceased, as 
 before related. This youth was desirous of visiting the 
 Netherland.s, and I was the more willing to take him, be- 
 cause it would make my colonists more contented. Set our 
 course northerly towards the Lost Child, in three and a half, 
 four, four and a half, five, six, seven and eight fathoms of 
 water, and at evening came to, a little below the Devil's 
 Islands, in ten fathoms, the wind from the east. 
 
 The 15th of the same month, we weighed anchor, and 
 sailed along the coast in nine, eight, seven and six fathoms, 
 clay bottom. The coast trends almost north-west by west ; 
 the land is low, and here and there a mountain. At noon, 
 lay to below the river called Senamaria, in three fathoms at 
 low water, a mile from land. The coast is flat, bo that the 
 river is difficult to be found, except by two rocks which lie 
 a little below the river, and another white rock, which lies 
 half-a-mile further in the sea. You can see there is a small 
 opening into the river, very narrow, and having only two 
 feet of water at low tide, but at high tide about nine. It 
 lies between the rivers Suraco and Sincnari. The coast 
 stretches west-northwest, and north-west. I went three 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 
 
 63 
 
 miles up this small river, as there was hvmg there a F^;ench 
 captain called Captain Schanhou, who had dwelt there 
 three years, and had twelve Frenchmen with hmi. He had 
 a ship loading there with aggie, or long pepper, and he ex- 
 pected daily the arrival of another for the same purpose. 
 He compelled me to stay all night with hmi which I did 
 going to him with the yacht. We caught a hog which had 
 its navel on the back, and his gunner shot thirty^three teal 
 at one shot, at which I was astonished. In the morning, 
 took my leave of the captain, thanking him for his hospi- 
 tality. I observed that these Indians are not as thievish as 
 in other countries, for we had let our boat lie at night with- 
 out a guard, and found that they had been by it, and had 
 moved the goods about, but that they had not taken any- 
 thing The French captain said that he had oftentimes 
 gone inland with all his people, but had never missed any- 
 
 ^°The 17th, we got under sail, the wind along the shore, 
 and set our course north-west, and north-west by west, and 
 west-northwest, and anchored at evening about three miles 
 from land, which is very flat. It is three, four, and lour 
 and a half fathoms deep about three miles from land. 
 
 The 18th, we were under sail again, and laid our course 
 west-northwest, the wind along the shore, and at noon came 
 to anchor between the rivers Amana and Marriwyn m 
 thirteen feet at high water, soft clay bottom, so that we had 
 not at low tide more than five feet, and were then last, 
 though it was difficult to lie here, as we could not hold the 
 ship fast because the current changed each time with the 
 tide So we had a great deal of trouble with our anchors, 
 and had every afternoon a stiff breeze from the sea. I went 
 at noon, with eight men, to the river Amana, to see if there 
 was any trade. , 
 
 In the morning of the 19th, went two miles up the 
 river, where we found some houses of the Arrewackcs, but 
 no men. We fired off a musket, when two Indians imme- 
 diately came to us, and conducted us to their houses. They 
 were Arwackes, and gave us to eat and drink. A distance 
 further inland, dwell some Arwackes, but at this time there 
 was not much to trade, because it was too early, ihe dye- 
 plants were still standing in the fields, and the letterwood 
 and redwood could not be procured, because they must be 
 got in the rainy season, which begins in November, ihose 
 
64 VOYAGES OF 
 
 who want to trade here, must manage to be on the coast in 
 January, for at that time the traffic is best. About ten 
 o'clock, we went up the river with the tide, leaving our 
 sloop with a Frenchman, and at evening reached a village 
 where the Caribs lived, who received us in friendship, and 
 where there were ten or twelve houses. It is about eight 
 miles up the river. We remained here at night, verj^ much 
 tormented by the mosquitoes, and in the morning went with 
 the son of the Cassique about three miles into the country, 
 where we found another Carib village of seven or eight 
 houses. They entertained us well with their liquor, and 
 we then went a mile further, to another large village of 
 Caril)s, consisting of eighteen or twenty houses. We found 
 here mostly women, as the men had gone after fish and 
 crabs, which are their chief food. We found nothing here 
 to trade for, it being too early, as before stated. At evening, 
 returned to our sloop, and spent the evening in a frolic with 
 the Indians, for it was a festival-time with them. In the 
 morning, went with the ebb-tide down the river, and on the 
 evening of the 20th reached the ship. This river, at high- 
 water, is ten feet deep at the mouth, and is deep within, 
 and is therefore a fine river to navigate with a yacht. The 
 land is all low, and has nothing else but trees, and is with- 
 out hills ; it is extremely flat, the trees standing and grow- 
 ing in the water, with their branches hanging in water, 
 covered with oysters, of which I ate. 
 
 On the 21st October, went with our sloop to the river 
 of Mariwyne, and saw at once how deep it was. Found, 
 for the most part, eleven to twelve feet at highwater, till 
 we came at the mouth of the river. We found in the middle 
 of the river a sand-bank, entirely dry at low-water. There 
 was an opening on the east side, very narrow, and about ten 
 feet deep ; and also one on tlie west side, but how deep it 
 was I do not know. The river stretches to the so.uth-west, 
 and about two miles up are some islands. It is hardly a 
 mile wide. Such is its situation, as far as I have been able 
 to discover. About a mile up lies a village where Arwackes 
 live, but they had all gone to Sernama, except one woman, 
 who watched the houses. Many diiferent nations live here ; 
 to wit, Caribs, Jaios, Arwackes, Percoren, and many others 
 besides. They promised to furnish us, in another year, a 
 full shipload of letterwood. Whilst we were ashore here, a 
 Netherlander came to us, who had left the ship in which he 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ, DE VRIES, 65 
 
 had come, on account of the Indian-pox, and as he was now 
 better, he requested that he might go to Holland with me, 
 and came aboard our ship. Any one who has this disease 
 must be cured here ; even though he may have it in Holland, 
 he must return here to be cured ; for it is like the Amboyn- 
 pox in the East Indies. Young children of a month old 
 can here be affiicted with it. There came with him to us 
 two Frenchmen, who had run away from Captain Schanbou ; 
 thfiy resided at Cunama, and all three lived in an Indian 
 village. 
 
 The 23d, weighed anchor and got under sail, the wind 
 from the shore, and the course north-west, and afterward-s 
 west. The land trends to the west, and is all low. The 
 water three to four fathoms deep, fine bottom. In the 
 evening let anchor fall in five fathoms, about two miles and 
 a half from land. 
 
 At break of day, in the morning of the 24th, weighed 
 anchor, — wind east, course west, and*west by south, — five, 
 and four fathoms, firm bottom, — and about noon, came 
 before the river of Soimame, and ran in south-east by south. 
 It was first three fathoms and a half deep, then four, and 
 four and a half, firm ground, and in some places hard. We 
 cast anchor in four fathoms and a half, and lay behind the 
 sandy-point, close into the shore. We could see both rivers ; 
 to wit, the river of Sername, the more westerly, and Coma- 
 ivini, the more easterly. To sail into the Comawin, you 
 must keep to the larboard-side, for it is deep there, and then 
 the river runs as far as you wish. There had been here, 
 five or six days before, a ship from Flushing, whose master 
 was named Packemack. He had lain here in Comawin full 
 four months, and obtained from fifteen to sixteen lasts of 
 ietterwood. Towards evening, went with our sloop to the 
 river of Sername, and in the morning of the following day, 
 came to one or two houses which were made with palisades 
 round them like a fort. An Englishman, named Captain 
 Marshall, lived there with sixty English, and wanted to 
 plant a colony. It was about sixteen miles up the river. 
 We remained a day and a night with the captain. The 
 land along the shore is very low. In ascending it, when 
 the tide fell, we went into tlie bushes on the shore with our 
 sloop, — for the trees stand there three feet in the water, — 
 and we made our hammocks fast to the trees, and then got 
 in them to sleep until the tide began to run up again. We 
 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. III. 5 
 
66 VOYAGES OF 
 
 had to draw our hammocks over our heads, as the mosquitoes 
 were very numerous. 
 
 The 26th, took our leave of Captain Marshall, and went 
 down the river again. It is a fine deep river, and can be 
 navigated by a large ship. In descending it, Ave found, 
 about six miles from our ship, an English house, where tliere 
 were fourteen or fifteen Englishmen, who planted tobacco. 
 Got aboard by evening. 
 
 The 27th, sailed from Sernamc, and ran north-west by 
 nortli, along the point east of the sandy-point, and came to 
 another point ; then have the two in range, or the last a 
 little further out, and take care that you go, if you can, 
 west-northwest, for you are then free from the bank that 
 runs out from the west point. Ran west-northwest, and 
 then west by west, in from four to five fathoms, firm bottom. 
 Cast anchor at night, about two miles and a half from land, 
 in five fathoms. 
 
 The 28th, set sail, the wind from the shore. Came to 
 anchor at noon before Sername, well known by the point 
 which you see by the land. You must keep off somewhat 
 from the east point, because there is a reef running before 
 it, and there is not more than ten to eleven and twelve feet 
 water, so that our ship would have been held fast unless we 
 had made our way for enough off, and set our course that 
 Sername lay about east-southeast, two miles and a half from 
 us. Could there see it all open, lying south-east by south, 
 about three miles. Laid here in four fathoms at high-water. 
 It is very flat, and whoever wishes to sail into (Sername, 
 must run close to the starboard-shore, where it is thirteen 
 feet deep at high water. We found here Packemack, of 
 Flushing, with his ship. 
 
 'J'he 30th, weighed anchor, and took aboard full a 
 hundred and fifty Indians, men and women, who prayed us 
 to take them to Timcnare. They were of a nation called 
 SapayCj and were apprehensive that the Caribs would kill 
 them. We went west-northwest, in five, six, seven, eight, 
 nine and ten fathoms water, muddy bottom, and sailed 
 about four miles from the shore, and anchored in the even- 
 ing. 
 
 The 31st, got under sail in the morning, and set our 
 course west-northwest. It began to be calm at noon. The 
 water was twelve to fourteen fathoms, and we anchored in 
 the evening in eight fathoms at hi<rh-tidc. The bottom was 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 67 
 
 hard, the shoals were gravelly, and were distant about three 
 miles from the shore. 
 
 The 1st of November, weighed anchor, the wind bemg 
 along shore ; course west, with a fine breeze. At noon, 
 sailed past Berbysie. The water four, five, and six fathoms 
 deep, muddy bottom. Anchored at night in five fathoms. 
 
 The 2d we weighed anchor. Course the same as before, 
 and by noon came into the river of Timmerarie. The chan- 
 nel stretches south-west by south, and is two fathoms and a 
 half and three fathoms deep in the shallowest part at flood- 
 tide. It runs about three-quarters of a mile from the east 
 shore, where it is the deepest. Here we disembarked the 
 Indian men and women, — who immediately prepared their 
 habitations with pieces of wood, — as they were near their 
 friends. Whilst we were lying here, Jan Vander Goes came 
 with a canoe from the river of IseJcebie, where he was com- 
 mander for the West India Company. 
 
 The 7th, set sail from Timmerare ; the wind east-north- 
 east, the course north, with a fine breeze. 
 
 The Sth, it was again unsettled, with rain and wind, so 
 that Ave took in our topsails. 
 
 The 11th, in the morning, saw the island of Barbadoes. 
 lying about four miles east of us. It was cloudy ; the wind 
 east. Laid our course west, and west by south, and set our 
 topsails. At evening, saw the island of Bequia, and some 
 islands of the Granades ; but we were a little too far south, 
 and so that we ran by the wind. >Sailed north by east, with 
 a strong wind. 
 
 ' The 12th, in the morning, were on the east side of St. 
 Vincent, lying about west from us. On the north side, it 
 has high steep mountains, and further towards the south 
 side, it is also high, and the land doubles. We ran to the 
 north point of the island to anchor. In the first bay, which 
 lies close by, is a rock hke a haystack, a short distance from 
 the land, — you must run as close to the west side of it as you 
 can, — we ran close under the shore and came to in twenty- 
 three fathoms. A multitude of canoes came to us here with 
 refreshments. 
 
 The 13th, at nine o'clock in the morning, our cooper 
 died, after having lain sick seven weeks. 
 
 The 14th, weighed anchor and made sail; the wind 
 easterly ; but after we were a little distance from the land' 
 
68 VOYAGES OF 
 
 it became calm.'^' At night, had occasionally a slight bretee. 
 Our course north by east. 
 
 The 15th, in the morning, St. Lucia lay across us. It 
 is low on the south side. A little distance from the point 
 are two mountains like sugar-loaves, and then, further along, 
 are high mountains. Had the wind east-northeast, the 
 course north-east. At evening, tacked about, because the 
 wind was so sharp, and ran south-east and south-east by 
 east. The wind was at times a little stronger, and then a 
 little weaker, after that it became violent. 
 ;^~ The 16th, the wind variable, so that we lost more than 
 we gained, and at evening were again under the south point 
 of St. Vincent. 
 
 To tlie 24th, of this month, we had much variable 
 weather and wind ; but, by our reckoning, we saw the Isl- 
 and of Trinidad before us. 
 
 The 25th, we had fine weather, and ran at noon in sight 
 of liigh land, in the middle of which was a low valley, and 
 off the cast point of which were two small islands. The 
 wind cast-northeast, and our course north, and at night sailed 
 off and on. 
 
 The 26th, in the morning, got out our boat, which I sent 
 ashore with seven men, to see whether there were any Indians, 
 and if there were a good harbour there. My boat returned late 
 in the evening, and reported that there was no anchorage, 
 and nothing on the land but high steep cliffs, and that they 
 found no signs of men. AVe had here variable weather con- 
 tinually. 
 
 The 1st of December, the weather became fine ; wind 
 "east-southeast, course north-east by north, in latitude fifteen 
 degrees and eighteen minutes. At evening saw the Island 
 of Dominica lying about east of us. Ran over four glasses* 
 into the first watch, because the wind was so sharp, but the 
 wind dying away, we turned to the north by east, and north- 
 northeast. 
 
 At break of day on the 3d, saw tlio Island of Avcs and 
 St. Christophers, and on the third day came to anchor under 
 Nevis, where a small English ship was lying at anchor, bound 
 for Ireland. 
 
 The 6th, a lloorn's man came in from St. Christophers, 
 to wait for a j)acket which was at St. Christophers, and sailed 
 with her for Guadaloupc. 
 
 * Two Lours. 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES.' 69 
 
 On the 13th, five Holland ships arrived from Pernambuco, 
 and anchored by us, bound for Cape de Velle for salt, and 
 for Curagoa for wood. 
 
 The 25th, we weighed anchor and sailed for St. Christo- 
 phers, and came to under the French fort in the afternoon. 
 I went ashore there, and found a Frenchman, named Mon- 
 sieur de Nanbuck, in command. I traded for some tobacco, 
 and vfas well treated by him. 
 
 Anno 1635. The 1st of January, weighed anchor, and put 
 for a harbour before the Fort of the English, where a person 
 named Captain Warnas commanded, and we took in a parcel 
 of tobacco. 
 
 The 15th, we ran to the sand-point, where I found four 
 French ships at anchor, two of which came from Cape de 
 Yerde, the other two were taking in tobacco here. 
 
 The 17th, Schellinger, of Mendenblick, arrived here with 
 a prize which he had taken at Margarita, having lost his sail- 
 maker, who was shot in boarding. 
 
 The 4th of February, learned that the Spanish fleet had 
 arrived at Guadaloupe, and wanted the ships to run to the 
 leeward, and I said that I would not lose my passage on ac- 
 count of the Spanish ships, and must see whether I could 
 pass by them at night. 
 
 The 10 th, we weighed anchor and got under way, and 
 at evening came about Eedonde, and stood towards Mont- 
 serat, but as the dusk of the evening began to come on, two 
 ships followed after us, which it appeared had kept through 
 the day behind the Island of Redonde, in order to observe 
 the ships which might pass there, lying there in wait, it 
 seemed, for the Spanish fleet. One of them sailed towards 
 us, and began to shoot at a distance, and exchanged signals 
 constantly with the other. We cleared for action, and I let 
 the rigging hang. He sailed close behind us, and asked 
 whence our ship. He was evidently an Easterling, who hailed 
 us. He told us to wait for his admiral. I said if they 
 wished anything, they should come by day, and at the same 
 time told him to keep behind us or I would shoot into him, 
 which he scarcely desired. He called to us again to strike, 
 and wait for his admiral, and laid his bowsprit across us. 
 We said we would shoot. He then immediately held pff, 
 when we heard a great noise of people, all speaking Spanish. 
 He hauled short off from us when he saw that we mistrusted 
 him, and we left him well assured that these ships were those 
 
70 VOYAGES OF 
 
 who were lying in wait for the Spanish fleet, and in the 
 morning saw no more of them. 
 
 The 11th, at evening, came in sight of Martinique. 
 
 The 12th, in the morning, had Bcquia east of us. Kan 
 along the coast of the Island of CTranades,and fell in with a 
 canoe of Carihs (who live on this island) with provisions ; 
 hut they are a thievish set, and one must he on his guard 
 with tliem. Anchored at evening on the south end of a fine 
 sandy hay, wliere there Avas a salt pond. We went ashore 
 with the hoat, but found no salt there. 
 
 The 14th, weighed anchor early in the morning, with a 
 brave east wind, and laid our course south by west, and by 
 evening carried little sail. 
 
 The 15th, in the morning, discovered a number of small 
 islands in a round group. They were the Tortugas. We 
 kept near them, and sailed through them, and found the 
 most westerly islet an excellent sandy bay, where we anchored 
 in eighteen lathoms, and sent our boat ashore. There was 
 nothing here but bare naked dills and rocks, where there 
 were many hares and coneys, such as we have in the sand- 
 hills in Holland, and shot about thirty-one hares, which were 
 not unlike the coneys in taste. 
 
 The 16th, weighed anchor, and at night saw the Tortuga, 
 whence they take salt, but did not venture to stop there for 
 salt, because we were alone. Carried a little sail at night. 
 
 The 17th, saw the island of Orchilla in the morning, 
 and coming to it, sent my boat to wood, Avhich came back 
 immediately, bringing nothing, as it was wild, and we did 
 not wish to lose any time. Sailed, at noon, by the Island of 
 Rocca, and at evening came to the Island of Aves, and made 
 Uttle sail, so as not to pass by Bonnapere, 
 
 The 18th, reached Bonnapere in the morning, but saw 
 no salt in the pond. Ban mider little Bonnapere, and laid 
 our course for Curaroa, and coming before Cura^oa, had so 
 much wind that we hauled in both the mainsails. Presently, 
 there came out two ships, one of which was the Otter, com- 
 manded by Iloutebeen, and the other was the Cat, and were 
 bound for the mainland for a prize, and they told me that I 
 could not reach Curai^oa, as the wind and current ran too 
 strong to the west. ^Ve resolved, as it blew hard, to lay our 
 course north by west, with reefed sails. 
 
 The 20th, at evening, saw the Island of Spaniola Copo 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 71 
 
 Colongia, and stood along the shore, with little sail. The 
 wind and our course west-northwest. 
 
 The 21st, found ourselves in the morning close by the 
 Island of Vache. Observed that the eastern shore of the isl- 
 and was full of rocks and rushes, and about noon passed 
 this island, and ran to Cape Tiburon. About three hours 
 after noon, we met a small yacht of the West India Com- 
 pany's fleet, which hailed us, and inquired where we wanted 
 to go. Answered him to the Tortugas, behind Spaniola. 
 He told us we must sail cautiously, as on the 9tli of Janu- 
 ary, he had run away from the Spaniards, who had killed 
 between five and six hundred Englishmen. 
 
 The 22d, Cape Tiburon was east of us, and a Zealand 
 privateer, named Maertman, whose commander was named 
 Pieter Jansz, who came aboard of us, and inquired where 
 we wished to go. Answered him, to the Tortugas. He told 
 us that we should be careful, as he had come from thence, 
 and had careened his ship there. Whilst he was doing that, 
 the Spaniards came and ravaged the island, where they killed 
 and made prisoners many English. He was lying under the 
 English fort, upon which nine pieces of ordnance were 
 mounted, which the Spaniards immediately spiked, as it was 
 night. Maertman, whilst his boat was under the fort, had 
 brought two cannon upon the land. When it was day, he 
 hauled his cannon from the shore, and defended his boat with 
 the two pieces which he had in the ship, as he lay close to 
 the shore. When he had his boat again on board, none of the 
 Spaniards dare come to the fort. They then ran over the 
 plantations to drive away the English. At night, there came 
 a sloop with Spaniards, who ignorantly rowed or sailed upon 
 the reef; but Maertman was aware of this (as it was close 
 by his ship), and sent his boat armed to them, and took 
 them aboard. Thus the governor of the English saved him- 
 self by the assistance of this privateer, who presented him 
 the captured Spaniards, with whom he did not hold much 
 parley, but immediately killed them ; for which Maertman 
 did not have much respect, as he had handed over these pris- 
 oners in order that some of them might be ransomed. All 
 this was told us by Pieter Jansz Martman, who gave him- 
 self out as commander of Martman's ship. We also learned 
 from him that he had taken a prize with fifteen cannon, and 
 laden full of Cumarie wines, but had sailed the same prize 
 on the weather-shore, to the Island of Jamaica. He di- 
 
72 VOYAGES OF 
 
 rectecl us to look well before us, as the Spcaniards, with their 
 four vessels, were full of people, with whom they had made 
 this attaek. They had one ship and three harks, with a 
 small boat. He then took his leave, exchanging a salute 
 "with us ; we separated from each other, and we wished 
 him a good i)rize and a prosperous voyage. 
 
 The 23d, early in the morning, met at the Cahmtes, on 
 the west end of Spaniola, a fishing-boat, with a wood sloop, 
 which was full of the English refugees, who had fled from 
 the Island of Tortuga. They requested that I would take 
 the people from the wood sloop (who were twenty-five strong) 
 with five-and-twenty from the fishing-boat, which was so 
 full that they could not move. But my crevf were afraid to 
 take so many people on board, but I answered them that 
 these were not English seamen, that they were planters, that 
 there was no danger of their running the ship away, that I 
 knew well how to converse with those people, and understood 
 their language, and also that I could not let them perish in 
 the sea, for they were Christians. After a long discourse 
 with my folk, as we were only five-and-twenty men strong^ 
 they thought it was very absiu'd to take on board fifty stran- 
 gers, not thinking in what miseiy these people were, who had 
 no food, and who durst not go ashore to hunt for any, be- 
 cause they had no ship to convey them. I at length took 
 the fifty men on board, and sailed that day with them be- 
 hind the Caimites, an island, where we anchored in ten- fath- 
 om water, and upon a coral bar. Immediately took some 
 English ashore, with one who could manage the harpoon^ 
 and caught a sea-cow, which they brought on board in the 
 evening, with three large turtles. As it was not entirely 
 safe to lie here in foul bottom, and as water covild not be 
 got, we resolved to go to the Bay of Goava, in the Island of 
 Guanaho, about ten or twelve miles deeper in the Gulf 
 
 The 25th, weighed anchor in the morning, and arrived 
 in the afternoon in the Bay of Goava, where was fine fresh 
 water running down from tlie mountain to the sea-shore, and 
 where M'c had only to lie with the boat, and sccK)p the water 
 in the casks at the bows. We went ashore here, with eight- 
 een or twenty English in our boat, who were well acquainted 
 with it, and who took their dogs to himt. This is a fine 
 bay, and has about ten feet water, fine bottom. The boat 
 returned in the evening, bringing three wiUl hogs, which tbo 
 English had taken with their dogs, and about six thousand 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 73 
 
 oranges and lemons ; so that this is a very fine place for 
 provisions. Besides, we caught some fine fish with the drop- 
 line. 
 
 The 26th, went ashore again in our boat, with a party 
 of English, and returned at evening with fifteen or .sixteen 
 thousand oranges and lemons, and with seven wild hogs, 
 which they had hunted. 
 
 The 27th, saw a Holland boat, with a sloop's sail and 
 foresail, lying on the shore, a cannon's shot from us, and I 
 discovered by my spy- glass that the boat was full of people. 
 Immediately sent my sloop and boat, well manned, and 
 boarded it. There were five-and-twenty Spaniards. The 
 captain of the vessel showed me a letter that he had been 
 captured by Roebergen, having a fine ship laden with 
 hides. They had given him back this boat, and thereupon I 
 let him go ao;ain. 
 
 The 4th April, after having well provided ourselves in 
 this bay with provisions and water, we resolved to sail in the 
 morning to a salt-pond, which was situated by Cape Saint 
 Nicholas. 
 
 The 5th, we weighed anchor, and at noon came to an- 
 chorage at a high mountain. There was a j)lain around it, 
 and a small salt pond by the mountain. This salt pond 
 lies between Guanives and Cape Saint Nicholas. We laid 
 here in fifteen-fathom water, on a sandy bottom. I went 
 ashore to examine the pond, and found that there was salt 
 in it. We immediately prepared to make a scaffold, to take 
 in salt for ballast. 
 
 The 6th, finished our scaffold, and began to take the salt 
 from the pan, and after we had collected three or four boat- 
 loads of salt it began to rain, and the salt was immediately 
 dissolved by the fresh water. We hauled the salt on board 
 which we had collected, and if it had not been in the rainy 
 season we might have laden three or four ships with salt. 
 It was convenient to haul, not being more than thirty paces 
 from the sea. We shot here many birds, — flamingoes, and 
 others, — and it was also full of wild horses, which we saw 
 running by hundreds in the morning. 
 
 The 10th, weighed anchor at break of day, and set sail, 
 and reached Cape St. Nicholas in the evening, and arrived 
 on the 12th, before the island of Tortugas, which the Span- 
 iards had left, and found there Eoebergen, from Zealand, 
 
 111* O^ ? 
 
 who had with him the prize which he had taken from the 
 
74 VOYAGES OF 
 
 Spaniards, as before related, with two other ships, one of 
 which was from Schiedam, and the other from Middleburgh. 
 We also found here a vessel, in which the governor of the 
 English Avas bound for Virginia. We trafficked some Brazil 
 wood while we were lying here, and as it blowed a storm 
 daily, so that we could not go out, our English went daily 
 to the island of Spaniola to hunt, to catch hogs, and horned 
 beasts, and we lay here safe, through the bad weather, till 
 the 20th of April. I asked the English whether they did 
 not wish to inhabit the island again ; they answered that 
 they were afraid of the Spaniards, if they should undertake 
 to inhabit it ; so they could not be persuaded to it. This 
 island is at the north end of Spaniola, and at the distance 
 of a mile. Beautiful rills run down from the fresh streams 
 and plenty of fresh water can be had there. There are also 
 upon the island of Spaniola fine savannah or j^asture-lands, 
 where many cattle run Avild, and also horses and swine. 
 There are no Spaniards on the north side. There are many 
 oranges and lemons growing wild. 
 
 The 3d of May, we weighed anchor on the east end of 
 Tortugas, and got under sail. 
 
 The 7th, in the morning, saw the Caicos, the shoal with 
 the small islands, which you have in sight from the Tortu- 
 gas. On the north side there is a clump of trees, which 
 looks like a fort or wooden wall. We had rain daily, and 
 between the 7th and 8th, we passed by the island of Mayr- 
 guana. There come upon me a stifiness at night (as I had 
 been lying asleep in the rain) that confined me to the cabin, 
 such as I had never known. 
 
 The 11th, had a hard storm from the north-east, so that 
 we ran with the foresail. 
 
 The IGth, came in sight of the mainland, and sounded 
 fourteen fathoms on sandy bottom. Saw the sand-hills of 
 Virginia, and were near Cape Engano, in latitude thirty- 
 four and thirty-five degrees. 
 
 The 17th, came before the harbour of English Virginia, 
 and as there was no one in the ship, except myself, who had 
 been there, the helmsman and boatswain came in the cabin, 
 and had me carried on deck, in order to sail the ship. Wo 
 arrived at four o'clock in the afternoon before the fort called 
 Point Comfort, where we found a ship from London, in 
 which was Sir John Harvey, governor on behalf of the King 
 of England. He was sent to England by his council and 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 75 
 
 the people, wlio had made a new governor, which turned 
 out bad for them. I landed here all the English whom I 
 had brought with me, and endeavoured to obtain some pro- 
 visions, in order to sail to New Netherland, to make my ship 
 tight, as it was extremely leaky, which I could not do in the 
 English Virginias, As it was out of season to obtain 
 tobacco, I let all of my cargo lie here, and gave directions to 
 trade when the crop of tobacco should be ripe, and I woukl re- 
 turn again when the unhealthy season should be over, that is 
 September, — for June, July, and half of August are very 
 unhealthy there for those who have not lived there a year. 
 The English die there at this season very fast, unless one has 
 been there over a year, by which they say he is seasoned ; 
 that is, he is accustomed to the land. They attribute the 
 cause of the unhealthiness of this land, which lies in latitude 
 thirfcj^-six to thirty-seven degrees, to the variableness of the 
 climate ; one hour it is so hot, at this season, that a man 
 cannot endure the heat, the next hour the wind shifts to the 
 north-west with such freshness, that he has to put on an 
 overcoat, and that causes the great unhealthiness. 
 
 The 28th, after I had provided myself again with every- 
 thing, we weighed anchor, and sailed for New Netherland, 
 where we arrived safe behind the point in the evening of the 
 30th. 
 
 The 1st of June I went ashore at Fort Amsterdam, where 
 I found Wouter Van Twiller, governor, as before. Asked 
 him if he would hire for me some carpenters, in order to re- 
 pair my ship, which was very leaky ; if not, I would sail to 
 New England. He promised me assistance. I then sent 
 my boat back, in order to let my ship come in, which was 
 five miles from there, and a young man, who might pilot 
 her in, who had formerly, when I went to the East 
 Indies, been in my service. When my boat was about half 
 an hour from the ship, there arose a thunder-storm, which 
 they could not weather, and the boat got full of water, and 
 drove for two nights and three days at sea. I wondered 
 very much why my ship delayed so, with a good wind, with 
 which she could sail in in three hours. I sent one of the Com- 
 pany's yachts on board, which, the next day but one, came 
 sailing in with the ship ; and there came an Indian from 
 the island*'' to the fort, bringing news that my boat had 
 
 * Long Island. 
 
76 VOYAGES OF 
 
 gone ashore, and that the young man, Fhps Jansz, of Haar- 
 lem, was in it, and that they had found him lying one fathom 
 or two from the breakers, and had brought him to there 
 wild houses, as he was entirely exhausted, and that the 
 other five men from the ship were lost. The boat the 
 Indians had hauled up on the land. 
 
 The 5th, the young man, who had been so wonderfully 
 saved, came to the fort ; and he told us, that when he 
 encountered the travado, there were two Frenchmen in the 
 boat, who betook themselves to the sea, when it was full of 
 water, intending to swim aboard (of the ship), but they 
 were never seen again. The first night, as they were all 
 seated in the water in the boat, two more of them betook 
 themselves to the water, intending to swim to the land, but 
 they were not seen again. Flips Janz and my boatswain, 
 who was with him, remained in the boat. The second 
 night, and the third day in the afternoon, the boatswain told 
 Flips Janz, who was to pilot the ship in, that he also 
 would abandon the boat ; but Flips Janz answered that he 
 would remain in the boat, and wait the providence of God. 
 In about a quarter of an hour after the boatswain was out 
 of the boat, and had taken his leave of him, he was thrown 
 with the boat on land by the sea and breakers, and he ran 
 five or six paces from the water, and was so weak and 
 hungry that he could not go further, and there the Indian 
 found him. He said, that while they were seated in the 
 boat, and driven about with it full of water, such spirits 
 were about them, as appear wlien one has eaten and drunk : 
 and, at length, one appeared like a fine lady ; so I suppose 
 that tliese apparitions were only their light-headedness from 
 the hunger and hardships which they suffered. We pre- 
 pared to clean the ship, in order to get at the leak, and 
 unloaded her, and had her hauled upon the strand, — as the 
 water rises and falls here seven feet, with every daily tide, 
 and at spring-tideSj nine to ten feet, according to the force 
 of the wind. We spent here the unhealthy season of the 
 English Virginias, — June, July, and August. 
 
 The 1st of September, we were lying ready to go to the 
 English Virginias, to see whether we could obtain our dues 
 from the rescued English, wliom I had brought from the 
 Tortugas, and for the goods left there. While I was taking 
 my leave of the governor, the bark of the Company arrived, 
 bringing fourteen or fifteen English with them, who had 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VKIES. 77 
 
 taken Fort Nassau from our people. As our people had no 
 one in it, they intended to guard it with the boat, but they 
 found that they must take possession of it again, or else it 
 would be destroyed by the English. This arrival of the 
 Englishmen, delayed me six days longer, as Governor 
 Wouter Van T wilier desired that I should take them to the 
 Enghsh Virginias, from whence they expected assistance. 
 They therefore took their leave of Wouter Van Twiller, who 
 was governor, and came, bag and baggage, on board my 
 vessel. 
 
 The 8th, we again got under sail with the Englishmen. 
 Their commander was named Mr. Joris Hooms (George 
 Holmes). We sailed with a strong north-west wind, along 
 the weather-shore. 
 
 The 10th we arrived at Point Comfort, before the English 
 fort, landed the Englishmen whom we had brought with us 
 at Cicketan, where we found a bark lying with twenty men, 
 bound for the South River to aid them, but our arrival with 
 their people prostrated their design. We sailed up _ the 
 river eight miles, to Blank Point, and found there thirty- 
 six large ships, — all of them English ships of twenty, to 
 twenty-four guns, — for the purpose of loading with tobacco. 
 Fifteen of the captains were dead, in consequence of their 
 coming too early in the unhealthy season, and not having 
 been before in the country. 
 
 The 1st of October, I began to sail up and down the 
 river, according to my license, in order to collect my debts ; 
 but found that little tobacco had been made, and that there 
 had been this year great mortality among the people, and 
 large quantities of goods brought into the country by the 
 EngHsh ; and that there were great frauds among the 
 English, who had not paid each other the tobacco, and that 
 half the ships of their own nation were not laden ; so that 
 I consider, in regard to this trade, that those who wish to 
 trade here, must keep a house here, and continue all the 
 year, that he may be prepared, when the tobacco comes 
 from the field, to seize it, if he would obtain his debts. It 
 is thus the English do among themselves ; so that there is 
 no trade for us, unless there be an overplus of tobacco, or 
 few English ships. 
 
 After I had spent the winter here, I was compelled to 
 return, as did most all the ships, without tobacco, and to 
 
78 VOYAGES OP 
 
 let my debts stand. I determined to go off, and trafiBc for 
 beaver with the English. 
 
 Anno 1636. The 28th April, I came with my ship again to 
 the fort before Cicketan, where I learnt that my colony, which I 
 had established on the wild coast, was broken up by the disorders 
 of some English and seamen who were among them. Those 
 who want to plant a colony, must not let any sailors among 
 them, unless the place be so situated that they caiTy on the 
 trade with a vessel. The cause of abandoning the place was : 
 there came a Spaniard with slaves to seek for water, when 
 our people induced the Indians to show them the water. In 
 the mean time our people ran off the bark and killed the 
 Spaniards. And then the English, who were under our people, 
 went to them and told them that if they would go to the 
 Islands with the bark, they (the English) must be the cap- 
 tains ; for they would be going to their own nation, and 
 would there share the booty, but our people must acknow- 
 ledge that they were their servants ; and thus our line colony 
 was lost, which, if they had remained there for two months, 
 would have had an hundred and fifty thousand guilders' worth 
 of cotton, orlian, and tobacco. But these scoundrels got their 
 reward fur abandoning this colony so well begun. When 
 they reached the Islands, the English, who had the title of 
 captains, sold the prize, and the sailors as servants. The 
 English are a villainous people, and would sell their own fa- 
 thers for servants in the Islands. 
 
 The 6th of May, weighed anchor to sail to New Nether- 
 land. The English Virginias are an unfit place for our nation 
 to trade, unless they continue the trade through all the 
 year. 
 
 The 7th, we saw the South river north by west of us, 
 about three miles. Sounded upon the bar which runs along 
 the coast in four fithoms, and were surprised at its being 
 so shallow. 
 
 The 8th, arrived at evening at Sandy Hook, and stood in 
 immediately, so that at two o'clock at night we anchored under 
 the fort, witliout their being aware of our arrival. At break 
 of day I lired three guns, which caused the people to spring out 
 of their beds all at once, for they were not accustomed for 
 any one to come upon them by such surprise. I went ashore im- 
 mediately to speak to the commander, Wouter Van Twiller, 
 as my ship was very leaky. When I came to the said com- 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 79 
 
 mander, I was welcomed by him, and I requested assistance 
 to repair my ship. 
 
 The 6th,* hauled the ship into the Smith's vly,f where 
 we unloaded all our goods and careened the ship. 
 
 The 25th, we hauled into the stream again, and found 
 her still leaky, and then resolved that we would let the 
 ship lie, and put the goods aboard the West India Com- 
 pany's ship ; but as that was not large, and would not be able 
 to carry our goods, we determined to consult the carpenters 
 whether there was any means of making our own ship answer, 
 and for that purpose they sought after the leak, and found, 
 what we had not supposed, that it was in the keel, which was 
 entirely eaten by the worms. We then resolved to go into 
 the woods, and cut a good oak tree ; where we procured a 
 new keel, sixty feet long, and made the ship tight again, and 
 hauled her up the stream. 
 
 The 25th of June, I went with the commander and min- 
 ister to Pavonia, opposite the fort, in the colony of Michael 
 Pauw, where the person who was in command there for 
 Michaeh Pauw, was named Oornelis Van Vorst. He had 
 arrived, with a small English bark, from the Northern Eng- 
 lish, bringing with him from thence good Bordeaux wines ; 
 and as the commander was fond of tasting good wines, he 
 was treated therewith. Whilst we were there, it so happened 
 that there were some words between the commander and 
 minister and Cornells Van Vorst, in relation to a murder 
 that had been committed there ; but they separated after- 
 wards good friends, when Cornelis Van Vorst, wishing to 
 give the commander a parting salute, fired a piece of cannon 
 which stood upon a palisade before his house, when a spark 
 flew upon the house, which was thatched with rushes, and in 
 half an hour it was entirely consumed. We returned to the 
 fort, and I went to the ship and set to work to haul every- 
 thing aboard again. Whilst we were engaged in shipping 
 our goods, two prizes, taken by the English, arrived. They 
 had first, with a sloop and eighteen men of them, taken, 
 near Carthagena, a fine new and fast sailing frigate of 
 about thirty lasts, laden with tobacco and hides, and then 
 with it took a small bark, having hides aboard. They brought 
 
 * This is evidently a misprint for 16th. 
 
 \ This is a Dutch word still in common use. It is a contraction of the 
 word valley e — a valley. 
 
80 VOYAGES OF 
 
 them to New Netlierland, and ran into the South river, 
 where they found one of our trading sloops, which brought 
 them to Fort Amsterdam. These fellows were fitted out 
 by my Lord Warwick, in order to T)egin a settlement at the 
 Island of Nomhre de Dios ; but through want of assistance 
 and provisions, were compelled to abandon it, and had ob- 
 tained a copy of a commission from one of our privateers, 
 with which they had performed this feat. They sold their pri- 
 zes here at our fort, and shipped their goods in the West India 
 Company's ship and put ten of the Englishmen iu mine. 
 As to which the captain maintained that it was forced ujDon 
 him, as he wished to have his men with his goods ; and want- 
 ed to have his goods in my ship, as I would have taken all 
 his men with me also ; but the commander Wouter Van 
 Twiller, compelled him to ship all his goods in the Company's 
 ship, and compelled me to carry over ten of the Englishmen, 
 all which trading by force was very unreasonable. 
 
 The 8th of August, the gunner of the fort gave a parting 
 feast, and had a tent erected on the top of the fort, where a 
 table and benches were set for many guests. When the 
 banquet was at its highest, the trumpeter began to blow, as 
 to which some words were passed ; when the keeper of the 
 store, Hendrick Hudden, and keeper of the freight railed at 
 Corlaer, the trumpeter, who gave each of them santer quan- 
 ter, whereupon they ran home, and brought out a sword, and 
 wished to have revenge upon the trumpeter. They went to 
 the house of the commander and used much foolish language, 
 one calling out, " I am the same man who took the life of 
 Count Floris." But when they had slept upon it, their sol- 
 diership was all over, and were more afraid of the trumpeter 
 than when they sought him ; and thus the matter passed 
 over. 
 
 The 9th, let my ship sail up the river to the'Great Fall, 
 which is a mile beyond Menates (Manhattan) Island, in or- 
 der to take in water and wood. 
 
 The 13th, I requested Wouter Van Twilliger to regis- 
 ter Statcn Island for me, as I wished to return and plant a 
 colony upon it, which he consented to do. I took my leave 
 of him and went aboard. Weighed anchor, and by evening 
 came to anchor at Sandy Hook, in company with the Compa- 
 ny's ship. The Seven Stars. 
 
 The 15th, weighed anchor, as did also the Company's 
 ship, and set sail for Patria, to which may Almighty God 
 conduct us. 
 
DAYID PIETEESZ. DE VEIES, 81 
 
 The 25th September, overtook a fleet of English ships, 
 which came from St. Lucia, and were by contrary winds 
 driven to the westward. There was among them a smuggler 
 from Hoorn. I hailed the Englishman, what latitude they 
 had, and how far he calculated Scilly was from them ; as I 
 had hailed the Company's ship the evening before, and he 
 told me that he was an hundred and seventy miles from land, 
 the Scilly Islands east-northeast from him ; which diflered 
 much from me, as I calculated I was eighty miles from them 
 east by north. The Englishman'told me that they were ninety 
 leagues east by north of the Scilly Islands, which well agreed 
 with me, as our miles are a little more than their leagues. 
 These mistakes happen very frequently, partly because many 
 pilots do not understand the variation of the compass, and 
 partly because they do not understand the shortening of the 
 way by the rotundity of the earth. 
 
 The 1st of October, we hove in sight of the land of Wem- 
 borough right before Arundel, in a storm, so that we came 
 into the channel with a pair of mainsails, and saw at evening 
 the light of the Singels, and in the second watch the light 
 of Dover. The helmsman then came to me and inquired 
 whether we should not go north-east. I showed him that 
 we were too close to the shore, and that a north-east course 
 would soon make us cold feet, and I told him to go east- 
 northeast on the last watch, and that it would then be day, 
 and that we must drift along till then in a straight course, 
 and when the day broke then go north-east, and north-east 
 by north. 
 
 The 2d, at evening, it appeared as if the wind would 
 come out of the north-west ; veered a little seaward. 
 
 The 3d, laid our course towards the shore, and found we 
 were north of the Haecken ; then stood over to the Vlie. 
 There came sailing behind us a large ship, which we hailed. 
 The captain said it was the Hen, of Hoorn. We came in 
 the evening of this day with the ship before the Castle in 
 the Vlie. 
 
 The 4th, made great eifort to reach Hoorn in a boat, 
 and arriving there, learned from my partners that the red- 
 dye wood was worth only a rix dollar and three guilders a 
 hundred, which made us a bad voyage ; for our expectation, 
 when we left, was to obtain eighteen or twenty guilders a 
 hundred, as for sixteen or seventeen years it had been worth 
 that ; so that instead of having, as we intended, fifteen or 
 
 SECOND SERIES. VOL. III. 5 
 
82 VOYAGES OF DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 
 
 sixteen thousand guilders' worth of wood, we had only fifteen 
 or sixteen hundred, which made it a losing voyage for us ; 
 but this, nevertheless, had not been so if our colony in Cayenne 
 had remained, which would have yielded us a hundred thou- 
 sand guilders a year in commodities, had they not abandoned 
 the place as I have before related. The work was done, and 
 could be repaired again with little trouble, whenever the part- 
 ners at Amsterdam should wish it ; but they abandoned it on 
 account of the loss of this colony which I had begun, and by 
 my experience started ; which would have returned to us great 
 profits, in cotton, orange-dye, and sugar, — which they would 
 have raised there, — and tobacco and letter-wood, — which 
 grows upon that coast only, — five good articles of trade, 
 which would have increased more and more, I have seen 
 this done in Barbadoes, which in my day was not above a hun- 
 dred men strong ; making at first a little tobacco, which was 
 not much thought of ; but since then, they have commenced 
 planting cotton and making sugar. And there can be seen 
 full a thousand men in the Caribby Islands, and much ship- 
 ping, both of the English and of our own nation. The 
 French, also, have i)lanted many colonies. But nothing 
 has been done by us in consequence of the bungling of 
 the West India Company, which covets the profits of all the 
 trade before they are grown. This is my view, and he who 
 has understanding and experience can perceive whether it is 
 right or not. 
 
MY THIRD VOYAGE 
 
 AMERICA AND NEW NETHERLAND, 
 
 IN ORDER TO PLANT A COLONY UPON STATEN ISLAND FOR MYSELF 
 
 AND FREDERICK DE VRIES, SECRETARY OF TILE CITY OF 
 
 AMSTERDAM, AND A MANAGER OF THE WEST INDIA 
 
 COMPANY : UNDERTAKEN AT HIS REQUEST. 
 
 Anno 1638. The 25th of September I am in a Com- 
 pany's ship, freighted by them, and in which are some per- 
 sons in my service. On the same day, weighed anchor and 
 set sail in company with some ships bound to the Straits, 
 and two to Spain. 
 
 The 28th, near the Kiscassen, a Dunkirk frigate came 
 into our fleet, and began to shoot at our ships, but received 
 so prompt an answer, that, thanks to God, he made off from 
 us. 
 
 The 9th of October, we saw the Island of Madeira east 
 of us ; the wind north-west, and so remained with us to the 
 sixteenth degree of latitude, before we obtained the trade 
 wind from the north-east. 
 
 The 28th, we had a west wind with a gust. We were 
 about two hundred miles from the Caribby Islands, — the 
 Island of Seada west of us, — and were much surprised to 
 have, in the track of the trade, such a contrary wind, which 
 continued with us five days with much violence. 
 
 The 8th November, came in sight of Ladeada, the 
 first island which Francis Columbus sav/ when he discovered 
 the West Indies. 
 
 The 10th, we arrived at the Island of Nevis, and an- 
 chored in a fine sandy bay, and went ashore to the governor, 
 who treated me well, and would have me spend the evening 
 
84 VOYAGES OF 
 
 with him ; but imprisoned the master of the ship for refus- 
 ing the anchorage duty, who was a clownish boor, and was 
 not accustomed to this navigation ; so I settled with the 
 governor what was to be paid, and he was set at liberty 
 again. 
 
 The 13 th, weighed anchor, and went to St. Christophers, 
 where we laid at the sandy point for three days, and then 
 left. 
 
 The 16th, having weighed anchor in order to proceed on 
 our voyage to New Netherland, sailed at noon along by St. 
 Martin and AnguiUa, and by evening saw Somhareren. 
 When we sailed by Anguilla, the helmsman tried to make 
 me believe it was Sombareren ; so well do pilots sometimes 
 remember where they do not daily go, that they do not 
 know whether they see one island or another. 
 
 The 18th December, sounded in thirty fathoms in thirty- 
 seventh degree of latitude, and ran into twenty-three fath- 
 oms, and tacked again from the shore, as evening approached. 
 Thus they converted a good wind into a bad one. I told 
 the i)ilot, who was ignorant of this navigation, that he must 
 run into fourteen fathoms, to approach the land, for if we 
 turned at night towards the sea from twenty-three fathoms, 
 we could not during the day get into fourteen flithoms, as in 
 this latitude a strong current set out from the bay of the 
 English Virginias. 1 could not make him understand what 
 I told him, till finally, in consequence of the time that was 
 lost, he was compelled to give heed to me. Early in the 
 morning of the 24th, we came opposite Barnde«gat, the 
 wind north-east, blowing so hard that we ran out to sea ; 
 afterwards it blew a storm straight on the shore from the 
 south-east, so that we sailed the whole night and also aU 
 the day of the 25th under one mainsail. It seemed as if 
 we felt the same tempest here, as that in which so many 
 shi])s and men were lost in the Texcl. 
 
 The 2Gth, moderate weather again, the wind south-west. 
 Saw laud again from on board, and at noon came in sight of 
 the highlands of Sandy Hook, and at four o'clock reached 
 the point, where the pilots wanted to cast anchor and fire a 
 gun, in order that some one might come off and pilot the 
 ship in. I told him that his cannon were not heavy enough 
 for them to hear the report at the fort, which was five miles 
 distant. Then the ski})per said he would return to the West 
 Indies, as he saw the island covered with snow, and wait 
 
DAVID PIETEESZ. DE VRIES. 85 
 
 there till summer. I answered him, that if we could not 
 set in here, I would take him to the South river. But I 
 could not make him understand that there was any South 
 river, inasmuch as he had old false charts by which he 
 wanted to sail. As there were some passengers, who had 
 dwelt several years in New Netherland, they urged him to 
 ask me to take him in. as I had been there with my own 
 ship at night, as before related. The skipper then came to 
 me, and asked me if I would sail the ship in, as I was well 
 acquainted here. I answered him that I would do so for 
 the sake of the passengers who were on board ; and that 
 he, at another time, if he took freight, should employ pilots 
 who were acquainted with the places. So I brought the 
 ship that same evening before Staten Island, which belonged 
 to me, where I intended to settle my people, and at dark let 
 our anchor fall in eight fathoms. 
 
 The 27th, in the morning, the weather became very 
 foggy, so that one could hardly see from the stem to the 
 stern of the ship. The skipper then asked me whether we 
 should lie there, as there was nothing in sight. I told him 
 to weigh anchor, and although it was growing darker, I would, 
 w'itli that breeze, bring him before the fort in an hour. The 
 anchor being raised, Ave quickly sailed to the fort, where 
 there was great rejoicing, inasmuch as they were not expect- 
 ing any ship at that time of year. Found there a comman- 
 der, named William Kieft, who was sent to the station from 
 France, and had come in the spring, having wintered in the 
 Bermudas, because they did not dare to venture upon the 
 coast of New Netherland, in consequence of the ignorance of 
 their pilots. Going ashore, I was made welcome by the com- 
 mander^ who invited me to his house. 
 
 Anno 1639. The 5th January, I sent my people to Staten 
 Island to begin to plant a colony there, with assistance to build. 
 
 The 4tli of June, I started north in a yacht to the Fresh 
 river, where the West India Company have a small fort 
 called the House of Hope, and at night came to anchor in 
 Oyster Bay, which is a large bay which lies on the north 
 side of the Great Island, which is about thirty miles long. 
 This bay put up into the island, and is about two miles wide 
 from the mainland. There are fine oysters here, whence our 
 nation has given it the name of Oyster Bay. 
 
 The 6th, had good weather at break of day, and got 
 
86 VOYAGES OF 
 
 under sail, and at evening arrived at the Kodenberghs* 
 (Ked Hills) which is a fine haven. Found that the English 
 had begun to build a town on the mainland, where there 
 were already three hundred houses and a fine church built. 
 
 The 7th, having weighed anchor, arrived at the Fresh 
 river about tw^o o'clock in the afternoon, w^here at the mouth 
 of the river the English have made a strong fort. There 
 was a governor, Lion Gardiner, who had a Netherland wife 
 from AVorden, and he himself had formerly been an engi- 
 neer and working-baas in Holland. They cannot sail with 
 large ships into this river, and vessels must not draw more 
 than six feet water to navigate up to our little fort, which 
 lies fifteen miles from the mouth of the river. Besides, 
 there are many bare places or stone reefs, over which the 
 Indians go with canoes. Remained at night at this English 
 fort, where we were well treated by the governor. 
 
 The 8th, took our leave and went up the river, and hav- 
 ing proceeded about a mile up the liver, we met, between 
 two high steep points, some Indians in canoes, who had on 
 English garments, and among them was one who had on a 
 red scarlet mantle. I inquired how he came by the mantle. 
 He had some time ago killed one Captain Stone, with his 
 people, in a bark, from whom he had obtained these clothes. 
 This was the captain of whom I have before spoken in my 
 first voyage to America, who had the misfortune of his boat- 
 men eating each other ; and he had now lost his own life by 
 the Indians. 
 
 The 9th, arrived with the yacht at the House of Hope, 
 where one Gysbert Van Dyck commanded with fourteen or 
 fifteen soldiers. This redoubt stands upon a i)lain on the 
 margin of the river, and alongside it runs a creek to a hijxh 
 woodland, out of which comes a valley, which makes this hill, 
 and where the English, in spite of us, have begun to build 
 up a small town, and had built a fine church, and over a 
 hundred houses. The commander gave me orders to make 
 a protest against them, as they were using ovir own land, 
 which we had bought of the Indians. Some of our soldiers 
 had forbidden them to put the i)lough into it, but they had 
 disregarded them, and had ciulgelled some of tlie Company's 
 soldiers. Going there, I was invited by the English gover- 
 nor to dine ; when sitting at the table, I told him that it 
 
 ♦New llavcn. 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 87 
 
 was wrong to take by force tlie Company's land, which it 
 had bought and paid for. He answered that the lands were 
 lying idle : that though we had been there many years, we 
 had done scarcely anything ; that it was a sin to let such 
 rich land, which produced such fine corn, lie uncultivated ; 
 and that they had already built three towns upon this river, 
 in a fine country. There are many salmon up this river. 
 These English live soberly, drink only three times at a meal, 
 and whoever drinks himself drunk, they tie to a post and 
 whip him, as they do thieves in Holland. 
 
 The 12th, among the incidents which happened while I 
 was here, was that of an English ketch arriving here from the 
 north, with thirty pipes of Canary wine. There was a mer- 
 chant with it, who was from the same city, in England, as 
 the servant of the minister of this town, and was well ac- 
 quainted with him. Now, this merchant invited the min- 
 ister's servant on board the vessel to drink with him ; and it 
 seems that the man became fuddled with wine, or drank pretty 
 freely, which was observed by the minister. So they brought 
 the servant to the church, where the post stood, in order to 
 whip him. The merchant then came to me, and requested 
 me to speak to the minister, as it was my fault that he had 
 given wine to his countryman. I accordingly went to the 
 commander of our little fort or redoubt, and invited the 
 minister and the mayor, and other leading men, with their 
 wives, who were very fond of eating cherries ; as there were 
 from forty to fifty cherry-trees standing about the redoubt, 
 full of cherries. We feasted the minister and the governor 
 and their wives, who came to us ; and, as we were seated at 
 the meal in the redoubt, I, together with the merchant, re- 
 quested the minister to pardon his servant, saying that he 
 probably had not partaken of any wine for a year, and that 
 such sweet Canary wine would intoxicate any man. "VVe 
 were a long while before we could persuade him, but their 
 wives spoke favourably, whereby the servant got free. Whilst 
 I happened here, another farce was played. There was a 
 young man, who had been married two months, who was 
 complained of before the consistory, by his brother, that he 
 had slept with his wife before they were married ; whereupon 
 they were both taken and whipped, and separated from each 
 other six weeks. These people give out that they are Israel- 
 ites, and that we at our colony are Egyptians, and that the 
 English in the Virgmias are also Egyptians. I frequently told 
 
88 VOYAGES OF , 
 
 the governor that it would he impossible for them to keep the 
 people so strict, as they had come from so luxurious a country 
 as England. 
 
 The 14th, took leave of the House of Hope. This river 
 is a fine pleasant stream, where many thousand Christians 
 could obtain farms. 
 
 The 15th, early in the morning, we arrived again at the 
 mouth of the river, and ran out of it. Sailed this day four 
 miles |)ast Roode-bergh, and came into a river where the 
 English had begun to make a village, and where over fifty 
 houses were in process of erection, and a portion finished. 
 
 The 16 th, weighed anchor, and sailed by two places 
 which the English had built up, and at noon arrived where 
 two Englishmen had built houses. One of the Englishmen 
 was named Captain Patrick, whose wife was a Dutch woman 
 from the Hague. After we had been there two or three 
 hours, proceeded on our voyage, and at evening reached the 
 Minati'S^ before Fort Amsterdam, where we foimd two ships 
 had arrived from our Patiia, one of which was a ship of the 
 Company, the Her ring, the other was a private ship, the 
 Jb^in of Troy, from Hoorn, laden with cattle on account 
 of Jochem Pietersz, who had formerly been a commander in 
 the East Indies, for the King of Denmark. It was to be 
 wished that one hundred to three hundred such families, 
 with labourers, had come, as this would very soon become a 
 good country. 
 
 The 10th February, I have begun to make a plantation, 
 a mile and a half, or two miles above the fort, as there was 
 there a fine location, and full thirty-one morgens of maize- 
 land, where there were no trees to remove ; and hay-land 
 lying all together, sufficient for two hundred cattle, which is 
 a great article there. I went there to live, half on account 
 of the pleasure of it, as it was all situated along the river. 
 I leased out the plantation of Staten Island, as no people had 
 been sent me from Holland, as was stipulated in the con- 
 tract which I made with Frederick de Vries, a manager of 
 the West India Company. 
 
 The loth of April, I went with my sloop to Fort 
 Orange, where I wanted to examine the land, wliich is on 
 the river. Arrived at Tapacii in the evening, where a large 
 valley of about two or three hundred morgens of clay- soil, 
 lies under the mountain, three or four feet above the water. 
 A creek, which comes from the highland, runs through it, 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 89 
 
 on which fine water-mills could be erected. I bought this 
 valley from the Indians, as it was only three miles above my 
 plantation, and five miles from the fort. There was also 
 much maize-land, but too stony to be ploughed. 
 , The 25th, opposite Tapaen, lies a place called IVick- 
 quaes-qeck, where there is much maize-land, but slony or 
 sandy, and where many fir-trees grow. We generally haul 
 fine masts from there. The land is also mountamous. 
 
 The 16th went further up the river. Passed the Aver- 
 sfro where a kill runs out, formed from a large fall, the noise 
 of which can be heard in the river. The land is also very 
 hio-h. At noon, passed the highlands, which are prodi- 
 o-iSusly hio-h stony mountains, and it is about a mile going 
 through them. Here the river, at its narrowest, is about five or 
 six hundred paces wide, as well as I could guess. At night 
 came by the Dance-chamher, where there was a party ot 
 Indians, who were very riotous, seeking only mischief, so 
 that we were on our guard. 
 
 The 27th, we came to Esoopes, where a creek runs m, 
 and there the Indians had some maize-laud, but it was stony. 
 Arrived at evening, as it blew hard, before the Cats-kill. 
 Found the river up to this point, stony and mountamous, 
 unfit for habitations. But there was some lowland here, and 
 the Indians sowed maize along the Cats-kill. 
 
 The 28th, arrived at Beeren (Bears') Island, where were 
 many Indians fishing. Here the land begins to be low along 
 the margin of the river, and at the foot of the mountains it was 
 good for cultivation. At evening, we reached Brand-pyien s 
 Island, which lies a little below Fort Orange, and belongs 
 to the patroons, Godyn, Bonselaer, Jan de Laet, and Lloe- 
 mart, who had also there more farms, which they had made 
 in good condition at the Company's cost, as the Company 
 had sent the cattle from Fatherkmd at great expena^ ; and 
 these individuals, being the commissioners oi Wew IN ether- 
 land, had made a good distribution among themselves, and 
 while the Company had nothing but an empty lore, ihey 
 had the farms and trade around it, and every boor was a 
 
 merchant. . . i n •*. 
 
 The 30th of April. The land here is, in general, like it 
 is in France. It is good, and very productive of every tlimg 
 necessary for the life of man, except clothes, Imens, wool- 
 lens, shoes and stockings ; but these they could nave it the 
 country were well populated ; and there could be madu good 
 
90 VOYAGES or 
 
 leather of the hides of animals, which multiply in great 
 quantities. Good tan could be made of the bark of oak- 
 trees. The land all along tliis river is very mountainous ; 
 some clifts of stone are exceedingly higli, ujion which grow 
 fine fir-trees, which may be discerned with the eye. Tiicre 
 are, besides, in this country, oaks, alders, beeches, elms, and 
 willows, both in the woods and along the water. The Islands 
 are covered "with chestnut, |)lum, and hazel-nut trees, and 
 large walnuts of dillerent kinds, of as good flavour as they 
 are in Fatherland, but hard of shell. The ground on the 
 mountains is bedecked Avith shrubs of bilberries or blue- 
 berries, such as in Holland come from Yeeluwes. The level 
 land, or old maize-land, is covered with strawberries, which 
 grow here so plentifully that they answer for food. There 
 are also in the woods, as well as along the river, vines very 
 abundant of two kinds, one bearing good blue grapes, 
 which are pleasant when the vines are pruned, and of which 
 good wine could be made. The other kind is like the grapes 
 which grow in France on trellisses, — the large wliite ones 
 which they make verjuice of in France ; — they are as large 
 as the joints of the fingers, but require great labour, for 
 these vines grow in this country on the trees, and the grapes 
 are like the wild grapes which grow along the roads in 
 France, on vinos which are not pruned, and which are thick 
 with wood, Avith little sap in it, for want of being attended 
 to. There was this year, as they told me, a large quantity 
 of deer at harvest and through the winter, veiy fat, having 
 upon their ribs upwards of two fingers of tallow, so that 
 they were nothing else than clear fat. Thoy also had this 
 year, great numbers of tiukeys. They could buy a doer for 
 a loaf of bread, or for a knife, or even for a tobacco-jiipe ; 
 at other times they give cloth, worth six or seven guilders. 
 There are many partridges, heath-hens, and pigeons which 
 fly together in thousands, and our people sometimes shoot 
 thirty, forty, and fifty of them at a shot. Plenty of fowl, 
 Buch as belong to the river, and all along the river are great 
 numbers of them of diflerent kinds ; such as swans, geese, 
 pigeons, teal, and wild geese, wliich go up the river in the 
 spring by thousands, from the sea-coast, and fly back again 
 in the fall. 
 
 Whilst I was at Fort Orange, the 30th of A\)y\\, there 
 was such a high flood at the island on which Brand-pylen 
 lived, — who was my host at this time, — that wc were com- 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VEIES. 91 
 
 pelled to leave tlie island, and go witli boats into the house, 
 where there were four feet of water. This flood continued 
 three days, before we could use the dwelling again. The 
 water ran into the fort, and we were compelled to repair to 
 the woods, where we erected tents and landled large fires. 
 These woods are full of animals, bears, wolves, foxes, and 
 especially of snakes, black snakes and rattlesnakes, which 
 are very poisonous, and which have a rattle at the end of 
 the tail, with many rattles, according to their age. As to 
 what, the land produces, the soil, which on the mountains 
 is a red sand or cliffs of stone, but in the low plains, often 
 clay-ground, is very fertile, as Brand-pylen told me that he 
 had produced wheat on this island for twelve years succes- 
 sively without its lying fallow. He also told me that here 
 the Indians put their enemies to death, as horribly as this 
 plate shows, and had for some time past done justice to their 
 enemies in this j)lace. They place their foe against a tree 
 or stake, and first tear all the nails from his fingers, and 
 run them on a string, which they wear the same as we do 
 gold chains. It is considered to the honour of any chief 
 who has vanquished or overcome his enemies, if he bite off 
 or cut off" some of their members, as whole fingers. After- 
 wards, the prisoner is compelled to sing and dance, entirely 
 naked, before them ; and finally when they burn the cap- 
 tive, they kill him with a slow fire, and then eat liim up ; 
 the commoners eating the arms and buttocks, and the chiefs 
 eating the head. When these Indians fasten their enemy 
 to the stake, he is compelled to sing, and accordingly be- 
 gins to sing of his friends, who will avenge his death. They 
 inflict a cruel death upon him, pricking his body with hot 
 burning wood in difierent parts, till he is tormented to 
 death. They then tear his heart out of his body, which 
 every one eats a piece of, in order to embitter themselves 
 against their enemies. Along this land runs an excellent 
 river, which comes out of the Maquas county, about four 
 miles to the north of Fort Orange. I went there with^some 
 Indians, and passed by a farm upon which a boor lived, 
 whom they called Brother Cornelis. This river runs be- 
 tween two high rocky banks, and falls over a rock as high 
 as a church, with such a noise that it is frequently heard 
 at the farm, and when I was there it made such a loud 
 noise that we could hardly hear each other speak. The 
 water flowed by with such force, that it was all the time as 
 
92 VOYAGES OF 
 
 if it were raining, and the trees upon the hills, as high as 
 the dimes at home, have their Loughs constantiy wet as 
 if with rain. The water is as clear as crA'stal, and fresh as 
 milk, and appears all the time as if a rainbow stood in it, 
 hut that arises from its clearness. There are a great many 
 Indians here, whom they call Maquas, who catch many 
 lampreys, otherwise called pricks. The river is about six 
 hundred to seven hundred paces wide at this place, and con- 
 tains large quantities of fine fish, such as pike, percli, eels, 
 suckers, thickheads, sunfish, shad, striped bass, which is a 
 fish which comes from the sea in the spring, and swims up 
 the river into the fresh water as the salmon does. There 
 arc sturgeon, but our people will not eat them ; also trout, 
 slightly yellow inside, which I myself have caught, and 
 which are considered in France the finest of fish. There 
 are several islands in this river, of thirty, fifty, and seventy 
 morgcns of land in size. The soil is very good. The tem- 
 perature is in extremes, in the summer excessively hot, and 
 in winter exceedingly cold, so that in one night the ice will 
 freeze hard enough to bear one. The summer continues 
 to All Saints' day, and in December it will freeze so hard, 
 that it" there be a strong current, which loosens it, it will 
 freeze in a night what has run over it in the day. The ice 
 continues generally for three months, and although the lati- 
 tude is forty-three, it is nevertheless always frozen for that 
 period ; for though sometimes it thaws, in pleasant days, 
 it does not continue to do so, but it freezes ao-ain until 
 March, when the river first begins to open, sometimes in 
 February, though seldom. The severest cold comes from 
 the north-west, as in Holland from the north-east. The 
 reason of tliis cold is that the mountains to tlie north of it 
 are covered with snow, and the north-west wind comes blow- 
 ing over them, and drives all the cold down. This tribe of 
 Indians was formerly a powerful nation, but they are brought 
 into subjection, and made tributaries by the Maquas. They 
 are stout men, well favoured of countenance, body and limb, 
 but all of them have black hair and yellow skin. They go 
 naked in the summer, except they cover their privy parts 
 with a patch ; but the children, and youth of ten, twelve, 
 or fourteen years of age, run entirely mother-naked. In 
 winter they throw over them an unprepared deer-skin or 
 bear's hide, or a covering of turkey's leathers, which they 
 know how to make ; or they buy duil'els of us, two ells and 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 93 
 
 a half long, and unsewed, go off with it, surveying them- 
 selves, and think that they appear fine. They make them- 
 selves shoes and stockings of deer-skins, or they take the 
 leaves of maize and braid them together, and use them for 
 shoes. Men and women go with their heads bare. The 
 women let their hair grow very long, tie it together a little, 
 and let it hang down the back ; some of the men have it on 
 one side of the head, others have a lock hanging on each 
 side ; on the top of the head, they have a strip of hair from 
 the forehead to the neck, about three fingers broad, and cut 
 two or three fingers long ; it then stands straight up hke a 
 cock's-comb ; on both sides of this cock's-cornb tliey cut it 
 off" close, except the locks, as may be seen in the plate. 
 They paint their faces, red, blue, and brown, and look like 
 the devil himself They smear their foreheads with bear- 
 grease, which they carry along v^ith them in httle baskets.^ 
 It would be much better for them to wash themselves, if 
 they only thought so, and they would not be troubled with 
 lice. Whenever they go journeying, they take with them 
 some maize and a kettle, with a wooden bowl and spoon, 
 which they pack up together and hang on their backs. When 
 they become hungry, they immediately make a fire and cook 
 it ; they make the fire by rubbing sticks together, and that 
 very rapidly. 
 
 They live generally without marriage, promiscuously; for 
 though there are some who have wives, they continue together 
 no longer than it suits both, and separating, each one takes 
 another. I have seen them leave each other, and live a long 
 time with another, leave the second, and return to the first, 
 and be a couple again. When they have wives they do not 
 let them sleep with another, and the wives the like. 
 
 The women after they are delivered, go immediately away, 
 and if it be not cold, they wash themselves and the young 
 child in the river, or in the snow. They will not lie down, 
 for then they say they would starve, but they keep a-going. 
 They cut wood, they walk, they stand, and work as if they 
 had not been delivered, and we do not see that it injures 
 them. The men have their concubines in great subjectipn. 
 If they do any thing which displeases them, they seize a stick 
 and beat them on the head, and so finish them. After I had 
 observed the manners of these Indians, who carry on a fierce 
 war with the French Indians, Coiiear told me that he had 
 been at their fort, where they had brought some Indians 
 
94 TOTAGES OF 
 
 they head captured on the river St. Lawrence, where the 
 French live. They had taken three Frenchmen, one of 
 whom was a Jesuit, — whose release our pco]ile hoped to ob- 
 tain, — and had killed one.* All the children, of ten or 
 twelve years of age, and the women whom they had taken in 
 the war, they spared, cxcei)t the very old women, whom they 
 killed. Though they are so revengeful towards their enemies, 
 they are very friendly to us. We have no fear of them ; we go 
 with them into the woods ; we meet each other sometimes at 
 an hour or two's distance from any house, and we think noth- 
 ing more of it than if a Christian met ns. They also sleep 
 in the chambers before our beds ; but lying down upon the 
 bare ground, with a stone or piece of wood under the head. 
 They are very slovenly and dirty. They do not wash their 
 faces and their hands, but let all remain upon their yellow skin, 
 just as the savages do at the Cape of Good Hope, and look like 
 hogs. Their bread is maize, beaten between two stones, when 
 they are travelling ; but pounded sometimes when they are in 
 their houses, in a large block, hollowed out, as may he seen in 
 ihepkite. They make cakes of it, and bake them in the ashes. 
 Their other food is deer, turkeys, hares, bears, wild cats, and 
 their own dogs, &c. They cook their lish as they take them 
 from the water, without cleaning them. They cook the 
 deer with the entrails and all their contents, and very little, 
 and if the entrails are then too tough, they take one end in 
 the mouth and the other in the hands, and between the hand 
 and mouth, they cut or separate them. They do the same 
 thing generally with the flesh, for they carve little. They 
 jay it in the fire as long as it takes to count an hundred, as 
 in France a steak is laid upon a gridiron ; it is then done 
 enough, and when they bite into it, the blood runs down the 
 sides of the mouth. They will also cat up a ])iece of bear's 
 fat as large as two fists, without bread, or anything else. It 
 is natural for them to have no beards, and not one among a 
 hundred has any hair around his mouth. They also have a 
 great conceit of themselves, and in jiraising themselves, they 
 say, *' 1 am the devil," moaning that they are sujierior men. 
 When they praise their tribe, they say they are great hunters 
 of deer, or do this or that. So they say of all the MahaJcu- 
 iiosers, — they "are great wise devils." They make their 
 
 * The .Testiit Father licrc referred to was Father Jogncs. The person killed 
 was Kcn6 Goupil. 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ, DE VRIES, 95 
 
 dwellings of the bark of trees, very close and warm, and kindle 
 the fire in the middle. Their canoes or boats are made of 
 the bark of trees, and will carry five or six persons. They 
 also hollow out trees and use them for boats and skiffs, some 
 of which are very large, and I have frequently seen eighteen 
 or twenty seated in a hollow log, going along the river ; and 
 I have myself had a wooden canoe, in which I could carry 
 two hundred and twenty-five bushels of maize. The weapons 
 in war were bows and arrows, stone-axes and clap-hammers, 
 but they have now obtained guns from our people. He was 
 a villain who first sold them to them, and showed them how 
 to use them. They say it was the devil, and that they durst 
 not touch them, till an Indian came there with a gun, 
 which they call Kallebacker. They also buy swords and 
 iron axes from us. Their money is small beads made on the 
 sea-side, of shells or cockles, wdiich are found on the shore ; 
 and these cockles they grind upon a stone as thin as they 
 wish them, and tlien drill a small hole through them, and 
 string them on threads, or make bands of them the breadth 
 of a hand or more, which they hang on the shoulders and 
 round the bodj^ They have also divers holes in their ears, 
 from which they hang them ; and make caps of them for the 
 head. There are t\vo kinds ; the white are the least, and 
 the brown- blue are the most valuable ; and they give two 
 white beads for one brown. They call them Zeewan, and 
 have as great a fancy for them as many Christians have for 
 gold, silver, and pearls. For our gold they have hardly any 
 desire, and consider it no better than iron, and say that we 
 are silly to esteem a piece of iron so highly, which if they 
 had they would throw into the water. Though they bury 
 their dead, they place them in a hole in a sitting posture, 
 and not lying, and then throw trees and wood upon the 
 grave, or enclose it with palisades. They have their set times 
 when they go to fish ; in the spring they catch immense 
 numbers of shad and lampreys, which are very large ; these 
 they lay in the sun, upon the bark of trees, and dry tho- 
 roughly hard, and then put them in notessen or bags, which 
 they plait of hemp, which grows wild, and keep the fish in 
 them till winter, when their maize is ripe, from Vv^hich they 
 take the ears and pile them up in caves, and keep them 
 there the whole winter. They also knit bow-nets and seines 
 in their style. From religion, and all worship of God, they 
 are entirely estranged ; they have indeed one whom they 
 
96 VOYAGES OP 
 
 call hy a strangle name, who is a genius, whom they regard 
 instead of God, but they do not serve him or make oflferinp^s 
 to him. They serve, revere, and make offerin<js to the denl, 
 whom they call OsfJcon, or Ayreslcuom ; for when the}' have 
 any misfortune in war, they catch a bear, which they cut 
 into pieces and burn, and offer it to their Ayrcskuoni, saying 
 the following words in their language, " Oh great and jiow- 
 erful Ayreskuoni, we know that we have sinned against thee, 
 because we have not killed and eaten up the enemies we took 
 captive. Forgive us this. We promise that we will kill 
 and eat up all those Avhom we shall hereafter take prisoners 
 as heartily as we have killed and eaten up this bear." So 
 when it is hot weather, and there comes a cooling wind, they 
 immediately cry out, " Asoronnsi,'^ that is, " I thank you, 
 devil, I thank you Oomke;" and when they are sick, and 
 have any sore or pain in the limbs, and I ask them what ails 
 them, they say that the devil is in the body, or is sitting in 
 the sore places and bites them there. They attribute to the 
 devil whatever happens to them ; otherwise they know of no 
 worship of God. They ridicule us when we pray ; some of 
 them, when it was told them what we jirayed, stood in won- 
 der, and asked me whether I had seen in our country llim 
 whom I worshipped. They will not enter any houses where 
 there are women who have their terms upon them, nor cat 
 with them ; and who must not touch any snare in which 
 they catch deer, saying that the deer can scent them. These 
 Macckquasc Indians aie divided into three tribes, one of 
 which takes its designation from the bear, another from the 
 wild tortoise, the third from the wolf; and of these that of 
 the tortoise is the greatest and most celebrated, and claims 
 to be the oldest. These Indians each have upon their ban- 
 ners the animal after which they are named ; and when they 
 go to war, carry it as a sign of terror to their enemies, as they 
 sui)])0se, and of courage to themselves. 
 
 Their government rests with the oldest, wisest, best-spoken, 
 and bravest men, who generally resolve, and the young men 
 and the bravest execute, but if the commonalty do not approve 
 of the resolution, it is then submitted to the decision of the 
 whole populace. The chiefs are generally the poorest among 
 them, for instead of their receiving anything, as amongst 
 Cliristians, from the commonalty, or of those in oiKce enrich- 
 ing themselves by unrighteous means or otherwise, these 
 Indian chiefs are made to give to the jKvpulace, especially 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 97 
 
 whenever there is any one left dead in war, and they then give 
 large presents to the next of blood kin to the deceased ; and 
 if they then take a prisoner, they give him to the family to 
 which the dead man belonged, t.nd the prisoner is 
 then adopted by that family in place of the deceased. There 
 is hardly any punishment for murder and other crimes, 
 but each one is his own judge, and the bereaved friends re- 
 venge themselves upon the murderer until he buys his peace 
 by presents to the relatives. Although they are cruel, and 
 live without any punishment of evil doers, there is not one- 
 fourth part as much roguery and murder among them as there 
 is among Christians ; so that I have frequently wondered what 
 murders happened in Fatherland, notwithstanding such se- 
 vere laws and penalties, while these Indians, living without 
 laws or fear of punishment, kill very few, and then only in 
 anger and personal combat. We are, therefore, entirely with- 
 out fear in going with the Indians, and walk an hour with 
 them in the woods without harm. After I had observed the 
 above written circumstances and manners of the Indians, I 
 set out again for the river. 
 
 The 14th May, took my leave of the Commander at Fort 
 Orange, and the same day reached Esopers, where a creek 
 runs in, and where there is some maize-land upon which 
 some Indians live. 
 
 The 15th, got under sail at break of day, with i\\Q ebb- 
 tide, and at noon came to the Dance-chamber, where there 
 were many Indians fishing ; passed the Highlands, and at 
 evenmg anchored at Tapaeii, and remained there all nio-ht 
 near the Indians, who were fishin"-. ° ' 
 
 The 16th, weighed anchor, and sailed, with the ebb and a 
 strong breeze from the north-west, in three hours to the 
 Fort. _ The above-named river has nothing but mountains on 
 both sides, little capable of sustaining a population, as there 
 are only cliffs and stones along the river, as I have related 
 before. _ There is here and there some maize-land, from which 
 the Indians remove the stones and cultivate it. The tide 
 flows up to Fort Orange by the pressure of the sea. 
 
 The 16th July, Cornehs Van Thienhoven, Secretary of 
 New Netheiiand, departed with a commission from the head 
 men and council of New Netherland, with a hundred armed 
 men, to the Earitanghe, a nation of Indians who live where a 
 little stream runs up about five miles behind Staten Island, 
 lor the purpose of obtaining satisfaction from the Indians for 
 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. III. 7 
 
98 VOYAGES OF 
 
 the hostilities committed by them npon Staten Island, in 
 killing my swine and those of the Company, which a negro 
 watched, — whom I had been solicited to place there, — in 
 robbing the watch-house, and in attempting to run off" with 
 the yacht Vrede, of which Cornells Pietersz was master, and 
 which met with an accident, and for other acts of insolence. 
 Van Thienhoven having arrived there with the said troop, 
 demanded satisfaction according to his orders. The troop 
 wished to kill and plunder, which could not be permitted, as 
 Van Thienhoven said he had no orders to do so. Finally, 
 on accoimt of the pertinacity of the trooj^, the said Van 
 Thienhoven went away, protesting against any injury which 
 should happen by reason of their disobedience and violation 
 of orders ; and having gone a quarter of a mile, the troop 
 killed several of the Indians, and brought the brother of the 
 chief a prisoner, for whom Van Thienhoven had been surety 
 before in eighty fathoms of Zeewan, otherwise he too must 
 have been put to death. "Whereupon the Indians, as will 
 hereafter be related, killed four of my men, burned my house, 
 and the house of David Pietersz De Vries.* I learned also 
 from Thienhoven that one Loockmans, standing on the mast, 
 had misused the chief's brother in his private parts with a 
 piece of wood, and that such acts of tyranny were perpetra- 
 ted by the officers of the Company as were far from making 
 friends with the inhabitants. 
 
 The 20th of October I went with my sloop to Tapaen in 
 order to trade for maize or Indian corn. I found the Com- 
 pany's sloop there for the purpose of levying a contribution 
 from the Indian Christians, of a quantity of corn. The 
 Indians called to me and inquired what I wanted. I 
 answered that I desired to exchange cloth for corn. They 
 said they could not help me, I must go up the river, and 
 should the Company's sloop in the meantime get away, they 
 would then trade with me ; that they were very much sur- 
 prised that the Sachem, who was now at the Fort, dare ex- 
 act it ; and he must be a veiy mean fellow to come to this 
 country without being invited by them, and now wish to 
 compel them to give him their corn for nothing ; that they 
 had not raised it in great abundance, as one chief had gen- 
 erally but two women who planted corn, and that they had 
 calculated only for their own necessities, and to barter some 
 
 * This is probably a mistake for Frederick de Vries. 
 
DA^ID PIETERSZ. DE VKIES, 99 
 
 for cloth. So this affair began to cause much dissatisfaction 
 among the Indians. 
 
 The 1st of December. I have begun to take hold of 
 Yriessendale, as it was a fine place, situated along the river, 
 under the mountains, and at an hour and a half's journey 
 tliere is a valley where hay can be raised for two hundred 
 head of cattle, and where there is thirty morgens of corn- 
 land, and wljere I have sown wheat which grew higher than 
 the tallest man in the country. Here were also two fine falls 
 from the mountains, where two good mills could be erected 
 for grinding corn and sawing plank. It was a beautiful and 
 pleasant place for hunting deei-, wild turkeys, and pigeons ; 
 but the evil of it was, that though I earnestly took hold of 
 the place, I was not seconded by my partner, according to 
 our agreement, who was Frederick De Vries, a manager of 
 the Company, and who thought that colonies could be built 
 lip without men or means, as his idea was that Godyn, Gil- 
 liam* Van Rensselaer, Bloemart, and Jan de Laet, had 
 established their colonies with the means of the Company, 
 which had brought there all the cattle and the farmers, and 
 then the work began to progress. These persons were man- 
 agers of the Company and commissioners of New Netherland, 
 and helped themselves by the cunning tricks of merchants ; 
 and the Company having about that time come into posses- 
 sion of Peter Heyn's booty, bestowed not a thought upon their 
 best trading-post at Fort Orange, or whether they would 
 make farms there or not ; but these fellows, through Rensse- 
 laer, who was accustomed to refine pearls and diamonds, 
 succeeded in taking it from the other managers — partners. 
 Michael Pauw, discovering that they had appropriated the 
 land at Fort Orange to themselves, immediately had the land 
 lying opposite Fort Amsterdam, where the Indians are com- 
 pelled to cross to the fort with their beavers, registered for 
 himself, and called it Pavonia. The Company, seeing after- 
 wards that they were affected, much contention and jealousy 
 was caused among them, because they who undertook to plant 
 colonies with their own money, should have taken the prop- 
 erty of the Company. Tluis was the country kept by these 
 disputes, so that it was not settled ; for there were friends 
 enough who would have peojiled the country by patroonships, 
 but they were always prevented by the contention of the 
 
 * Kiliaen. 
 
100 VOYAGES OF ^ 
 
 managers, who were not willing to do anything themselves, 
 for they would rather see hooty arrive, than to speak of their 
 colonies ; but had the land been peopled, the fruit thereof 
 would have been long continued, while their booty has van- 
 ished like smoke. There may be some managers and book- 
 keepers who are well off by it, but it does no good to the 
 community, as the cultivation of the soil where every one is 
 well off, and there is a steady income, is better than all the 
 booty which we see consumed in bawdy-houses ; for where 
 is now all the booty of which the Dunkirkcrs have robbed us, 
 and also all the booty of Flushing, which was taken from the 
 Portuguese ? It has also vanished like smoke, and those 
 privateers who have taken it have gone to naught ; they 
 have drunk to no purpose, and p against the wall, 
 
 Anko 1641. The 20th August, the ship Eyckenboom 
 (Oak tree) arrived here, in which came a person named 
 Malyn, who said that Staten Island belonged to him, that it 
 was given by the managers to him and to Heer Vander Horst, 
 which I could not believe, as I had sailed in the year thirty- 
 eight to take possession of said Island, and my men were now 
 upon it. I thought better things of the managers than this, 
 as the sixth article of privile[^es mentions that the first occu- 
 pants shall not be prejudiced in their right of posses- 
 sion. 
 
 The 1st of September, my men on Staten Island were 
 killed by the Indians ; and the Karitans told an Indian, who 
 worked for my people, that we might now come to fight 
 them on account of our men ; that we had before come and 
 treated them badly on account of the swine ; that there had 
 been laid to their charge what they were not guilty of, and 
 what had been done by the Company's men when they were 
 on their way to the South River, who came ashore on Staten 
 Island to cut wood and haul water, and then at the same 
 time stole the hogs, and charged the act upon the innocent 
 Indians ; who, although they are bad enough, will do you no 
 harm if you do them none. Thus I lost the beginning of 
 my colony on Staten Island, by the orders of Commander 
 Kieft, who wished to charge upon the Indians, what his own 
 people had done. 
 
 The 2d of November, there came a chief of the Indians 
 of Tunkitekes, named I'acham, who was great with the gov- 
 ernor of the fort. He came in great triumph, bringing a 
 dead hand hanging on a stick, and saying that it was the 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 101 
 
 hand of the chief who head killed or shot with arrows our men 
 on Staten Island, and that he had taken revenge for our sake, 
 because he loved the Swannakens (as they call the Dutch), 
 who were his best friends. 
 
 The same day Commander Kieft asked me whether I 
 would permit Malyn to go upon the point of Staten Island, 
 where the maize-land lay, saying that he wished to let him 
 plant it, and that he would place soldiers there, who would 
 make a signal by raising a flag, to make known at the fort 
 whenever ships were in the bay, to which I have consented, 
 — but am not to be prejudiced thereby, — and to let him 
 have twelve to fourteen or fifteen morgens of land, without 
 abridging my right, as he intended to distil brandy and make 
 goat's leather. 
 
 Anno 1642. As I was daily with Commander Kieft, 
 generally dining with him when I went to the fort, he told 
 me that he had now had a fine inn, built of stone, in order 
 to accommodate the English who daily passed with their 
 vessels from New England to Virginia, from whom he suf- 
 fered great annoyance, and who might now lodge in the 
 tavern. I replied that it happened well for the travellers, 
 but there was great want of a church, and that it was a 
 scandal to us when the English passed there, and saw only a 
 mean barn in which we preached ; that the first thing which 
 the English built, after their dwellings, was a fine church, 
 and we ought to do so too, as the West India Company was 
 deemed to be a principal means of upholding the Reformed 
 Eeligion against the tyranny of ISpain, and had excellent ma- 
 terial therefor, namely, fine oak-wood, good mountain stone, and 
 lime burnt of oyster shells, much better than our lime in 
 Holland. He then inquired who would superintend the 
 work. I answered the lovers of the Keformed Religion who 
 were truly so. He then said that I must be one of them, 
 as I proposed it, and must give an hundred guilders, I told 
 him that I was satisfied, and that he must be the first to 
 give, as he was commander, and then elect Jochem Pie- 
 tersz Kuyter, a devout person of the Reformed Religion, who 
 had good workmen who would quickly prepare the timber, 
 and also elect Damen, because he lived close by the fort ; 
 that we four, as churchwardens, should undertake the work 
 of building the church ; that the commander should give 
 several thousand guilders on behalf of the Company, and 
 then it would immediately be seen whether the rest would 
 
102 VOYAGES OF 
 
 be siibpcribed by the community ; that the church should be 
 built in the fort, to guard against any surprise by the Indi- 
 Jins. Tlius were the walls of the church s])eedily begun to 
 be laid up with quarrj^-stone, and to be covered by the Eng- 
 lish carpenters with slate, or rather with oak-shingles ; which, 
 by exposure to the wind and rain^ turn blue, and look as if 
 they were slate. 
 
 About the same time a harmless Dutchman, named 
 Claes Rademaker, (wheelwright,) was murdered by an In- 
 dian. He lived a short mile from the fort by the Densel- 
 bay, where he had built a small house, and had set up the 
 trade of a wheelwright. It was on the road, over which the 
 Indians from Wickquasgeck passed daily. It happened that 
 an Indian came to this Claes Eademaker, for the purpose 
 of trading bearers with him for duffels-cloth, which goods 
 were in a chest. This chest he had locked up, and stooped 
 down in order to take his goods out, when this murder- 
 er, the Indian, seeing that the man had his head bent 
 over into the chest, and observing an axe standing behind 
 him, seized the axe, and struck Claes Eademaker on the 
 neck therewith, who fell down dead by the chest. The 
 murderer then stole all the goods and ran otf. The com- 
 mander sent to Wickquasgeck to inquire why this Dutch- 
 man had been so shamefully murdered. The murderer an- 
 swered that while the fort was being biiilt, he came with 
 his uncle and another Indian to the freshwater, bring- 
 ing beavers, in order to trade with the Dutchmen, that 
 some Swaunekes (as they call the Netherlanders) came there, 
 took away from his uncle his beavers, and then killed him. 
 He was then a small boy, and resolved when he should grow 
 up, he would revenge that deed upon the Dutch, and since 
 then he had seen no better chance to do so than with Claes 
 Rademaker. Thus these Indians resemble the Italians, being 
 very revengeful. Commander Kicft afterwards made an at- 
 tempt to send some suldiers there, of whom Van Dyck, the 
 ensign-bearer, had the command, but in consequence of the 
 darkness of the night, the guides missed the way, and ar- 
 rived there too late in the day, so that the attempt failed, and 
 they returned again without effecting anytliing. Another 
 expedition against these Indians was subsequently sent, 
 which also miscarried. When Commander Kieft saw 
 that these expeditions against the Indians miscarried, and 
 that trouble would follow, and found that the people began 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 103 
 
 to reproach him with heing himself safely protected in the 
 fort, out of which he had not slept a single night, during all 
 the years he had heen there, and with seeking the war in 
 order to make a bad reckoning with the Company, and began 
 to feel that the 'war would be laid to his charge, he called 
 the people together to choose twelve men to aid him in the 
 direction of the aifairs of the country, of which number I 
 was, as a patroon, chosen one. Commander Kieft then sub- 
 mitted the proposition, whether we should avenge the mur- 
 der of Claes Rademaker by declaring war upon the Indians, 
 or not. We answered that time and opportunity must be 
 taken, as our cattle were running at pasture in the woods, 
 and we were living far and wide, east, west, south and north 
 of each other ; that we were not prepared to carry on a war 
 with the Indians until we had more people, like the English, 
 who make towns and villages. I told Commander Kieft 
 that no profit was to be derived from a war with the Indians ; 
 that he was the means of my people being murdered at the 
 colony which I had commanded on Staten Island in the year 
 forty ; and that I well knew that the managers did not de- 
 sire a war waged against the Indians, for when we made our 
 colony in the year 1630, in the South river at Swanendael, 
 otherwise called Hoere-kil, our people were all murdered 
 through some trifling acts of the commander whom we had sta- 
 tioned there, named' Gilles Oset, as I have already mentioned 
 in the beginning of my journal ; that it was then proposed to 
 the Com])any to make war upon the Indians, but the Com- 
 pany would not permit it, and replied that we must keep at 
 peace with the Indians, This I related to Commander 
 Kieft, but he would not listen to it. It becomes the man- 
 agers to tak6 care what persons they appoint as Directors, 
 for thereon depends the welfare of the country. Were it the 
 case that the East India Company had gone to work in the 
 East Indies, as the West India Company here, they would 
 soon have been there like the West India Company ; but 
 in the East Indies they made no person commander of a fort, 
 if he be not well acquainted with the country, and 
 have knowledge of the people sufficiently. But command- 
 ers are sent here whether they be fit or not. 
 
 About this time also I walked to Ackingh-sack, taking 
 a gun with me, in order to see how far the colony of Heer 
 Vander Horst had advanced, as it was only a short hour's 
 journey behind my house. On approaching Ackinghsack, 
 
104 VOYAGES OF 
 
 about five or six hundred paces from where the colony was 
 started, an Indian met me who Avas entirely drunk. He 
 came up to me and struck me on the arm, which is a token 
 of friendship among them, and said that I was a good chief ; 
 that when he came to my house, I let him have milk and 
 everything for nothing ; that he had just come from this 
 house, where they had sold him brandy, into which they had 
 put half water ; that he could scoop up the water himself 
 from the river, and had no need of buying it ; that they had 
 also stolen his beaver-coat, and he wanted to go home and 
 get his bow and arrows, and would kill some one of the villain- 
 ous Swannekens who had stolen his goods. I told him he 
 must not do so. I then proceeded on to the house of Heer 
 Vander Hoi^t, and I told some soldiers and others who were 
 there, that they must not treat the Indians in that manner, 
 as they were a very revengeful people, and resembled the 
 Italians in that particular. I then returned home, and on 
 my way, shot a wild turkey weighing thirty pounds, and 
 brought it along with me. I was not long home, when there 
 came some chiefs from Ackinghsack, and from lieckawanck, 
 which was close by me, a;id informed me that one of their 
 Indians, who was drunk, had shot a Dutchman dead, who 
 was sitting on a barn thatching it. They asked me what 
 they should do ; they said they durst not go to the fort ; 
 that they would give one or two hundred fathom of Zeewan 
 to the widow and then they would be at peace, I told them 
 that they must go with me to the fort, and speak to the com- 
 mander ; but they were afraid that, on going to the fort, he 
 would not permit them to return home. I made them of 
 good heart, by telling them that 1 would deliver them safe 
 home. They went with me, at length, to the fort ; and, 
 going to Commander Kieft, told him the misfortune which 
 had happened to them. He answered the chief of the Indians 
 that he wanted the Indian who had done the act to be 
 brought to him. They said that they could not do so, as he 
 had run away a two day's journey to Tanditekes ; but they 
 wished the conmiandcr to listen to them, as they desired in 
 a friendly way to make the widow contented, and to pay for 
 the man's death with Zeewan, which is their money ; it be- 
 ing a custom with them, if any misfortune betel them, to 
 reconcile the parties with money. They laid the blame upon 
 our people, saying that it was because we sold the young In- 
 dians brandy or wine, making them crazy, as they were unac- 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 105 
 
 customed to drink ; that they had even seen our people, who 
 were habituated to strong drink, frequently intoxicated, and 
 fight with knives. They therefore desired that no liquor 
 should be sold to the Indians, in order to prevent all accident 
 for the future. It seemed as if they had some fear that the 
 governor would detain them, so they answered him, that they 
 would do their best to get the Indian, and bring him to the 
 fort. They then took their departure ; but on the way they 
 told me that they could not deliver up the Indian to him, 
 as he was a Sackemaker's son, — that is to say, as above, a 
 chief's son. And thus the matter passed off. 
 
 Of ivhat Genius and Condition this Nation of 3Ien are, how 
 they are clothed, and ivhat 3Iagistrates they have. 
 
 As I have related the manner of living, and the appear- 
 ance, of the Indians at Fort Orange, I will state something 
 of the nations about Fort Amsterdam ; as the Hackinsack, 
 Tapaense, and Wicquas-geckse Indians ; and these arc em- 
 braced within one, two, three, or four miles of the entrance 
 of the river. Their manner of living is for the most part like 
 that of those at Fort Orange ; who, however, are a braver, 
 and a more martial nation of Indians, — by name, the Maquas, 
 as before mentioned, and who hold most of the others along 
 the river to Fort Amsterdam under tribute. The Indians 
 about here are tolerably stout, have black hair, with a long 
 lock, which they let hang on one side of the head. The hair 
 is shorn on the top of the head like a cock's-comb, as is 
 shown in the plate. Their condition is bad. They are very 
 revengeful ; resembling the Italians. Their clothing is a 
 coat of beaver-skins over the body, with the fur inside in 
 winter, and outside in summer ; they have, also, sometimes 
 a bear's hide, or a coat of the skins of wild cats, or hefspanen,"-' 
 which is an animal most as hairy as a wild cat, and is also 
 very good to eat. I have frequently eaten it, and found it 
 very tender. They also wear coats of turkey's feathers, 
 which they know how to put together ; but since our Nether- 
 land nation has traded here, they trade their beavers for 
 duffels-cloth, which we give for them, and which they find 
 more suitable than the beavers, as they consider it better for 
 the rain ; and take two and a half in length of duffels, which 
 
 * Indian term for raccoon. 
 
106 VOYAGES OF 
 
 is nine and a half quarters wide. Their pride is to paint 
 their faces strangely with red or black lead, so that they 
 look like fiends. They are then valiant ; yea, they say they 
 are mannette, the devil himself. Some of the women are 
 very well-featured, having- long countenances. Tlieir hair 
 hangs loose from their head ; they are very foul and dirty ; 
 they sometimes paint their faces, and draw^ a black ring 
 around their eyes. When they wish to cleanse themselves 
 of their foulness, they go in the autumn, when it begins to 
 grow cold, and make, away ofi", near a running brook, a 
 small oven, large enough for three or four men to lie in it. 
 In making it they first take twigs of trees, and then cover 
 them tight with clay, so that smoke cannot escape. This 
 being done, they take a parcel of stones, which they heat in 
 a fire, and then put in the oven, and when they think that 
 it is sufficiently hot, they take the stones out again, and go 
 and lie in it, men and women, boys and girls, and come out 
 60 perspiring, that every hair has a drop of sweat on it. In 
 this state they plunge into the cold water ; saying that it is 
 healthy, but I let its healthfulness pass ; they then become 
 entirely clean, and are more attractive than before. The girls 
 consider themselves to have arrived at womanhood when they 
 begin to have their monthly terms, and as soon as they have 
 them, they go and disguise themselves with a garment, which 
 they throw over their body, drawing it over the head so that 
 they can hardly see with their eyes, and run oft' for two or 
 three months, lamenting that they must lose their virginity ; 
 and they therefore do not engage in any diversion by night, 
 or other unseasonable time. This ])eriod being over, they 
 throw away tlieir disguise, and deck themselves with a quan- 
 tity of Zeewan upon the body, head and neck ; they then go 
 and sit in some place, in company with some squaws, show- 
 ing that they are up for a bargain. Whoever gives the most 
 Zeewan is the successful suitor. They go home with him, 
 and remain sometimes one, three, or four months with him, 
 and then go with another ; sometimes remaining with him, 
 according as they are inclined to each other. The men are 
 not jealous, and even lend their wives to a friend. They are 
 fond of meetings to frolic and dance ; but the women are 
 compelled to work like asses, and when they travel, to carry 
 the baggage on their backs, together with their infants, if 
 they have any, bound to a board. 
 
DAVID FIETERSZ. DE VRIES, 107 
 
 We ivill noiv speak of the Productions of the Country, and 
 other things ivhich serve for the siqyport of the Vfe of 
 Man. 
 
 The productions are various. The principal one is maize, 
 which is their corn, and which is called by us Turkish wheat. 
 They pound it in a hollow tree, as may be seen in the plate. 
 When they travel, they take a flat stone, and press it with 
 another stone placed upon the first, and when it is pressed, 
 they have little baskets, which they call notassen, and which 
 are made of a kind of hemp, the same as fig-frails, — which 
 they make to serve them as sieves, — and thus make their 
 meal. They make flat cakes of the meal mixed with water, 
 as large as a farthing cake in this country, and bake them in 
 the ashes, first wrapping a vine-leaf or maize-leaf around 
 them. When they are sufficiently baked in the ashes, they 
 make good palatable bread. The Indians make use of 
 French beans of different colours, which they plant among 
 their maize. When the maize (which is sown three or four 
 feet apart, in order to have room to weed it thoroughly) is 
 grown one, two, or three feet high, they stick the beans in 
 the ground alongside of the maize-stalks, which serve instead 
 of the poles which we use in our Fatherland, for beans to 
 grow on. In New Netherland, the beans are raised on the 
 maize-stalks, which grow as high as a man can reach, and 
 higher, according to the fertility of the soil. There are also 
 pumpkins, water-melons, and melons. They (the Indians) 
 dry the nuts of trees, and use them for food. There are also 
 ground-nuts and white ground-nuts, which are poisonous to 
 eat — a mason of the Company having died in consequence 
 of eating one of them. There also grow here hazel-nuts, 
 large nuts in -great quantities, chestnuts, which they dry to 
 eat, and wild grapes in great abundance. Our Netherlanders 
 raise good wheat, rye, barley, oats, and peas, and can brew as 
 good beer here as in our Fatherland, for good hops grow in 
 the woods ; and they can produce enough of those things 
 which depend on labour, as everything can be grown which 
 grows in Holland, England, or France, and they are in want 
 of nothing but men to do the work. It is a pleasant and 
 charming country, which should be well peopled by our nation 
 only. Medlars grow wild and reversely from what they do 
 in our country, as they grow in Holland open and broad 
 above, but here they grow up sharp, the reverse of those in 
 
10$ VOYAGES OF 
 
 Holland. Mulberry trees there are too, so that silkworms 
 could be raised, and good silk made ; and good hemp and 
 flax, but the Indians use a kind of hemp, which they under- 
 stand making up, much stronger than ours is, and for eveiy 
 necessary purpose, such as notassen, (which are their sacks, 
 and in which they carry everything) ; they also make linen 
 of it. They gather their maize and French beans the last 
 of September and October, and when they have shelled the 
 corn, they bury it in holes, which they have previously covered 
 with mats, and so keep as much as they want for the winter 
 and while hunting. They sow the maize in April and May. 
 
 Of the Animals and Cattle, and how they hunt and catch 
 
 them. 
 
 There are great quantities of deer, which the Indians 
 shoot with their bows and arrows, or make a general hunt of, 
 a hundred more or less joining in the hunt. They stand a 
 hundred paces more or less from each other, and holding flat 
 thigh-bones in the hand, beat them with a stick, and so 
 drive the creatures before them to the river. As they ap- 
 proach the river, they close nearer to each other, and what- 
 ever is between any two of them, is at the mercy of their 
 bows and arrows, or must take to the river. When the 
 animals swim into the river, the Indians lie in their canoes 
 with snares, which they throw around their necks, and drag 
 them to them, and force the deer down with the rump up- 
 wards, by which they cannot draw breath. At the north, 
 they drive them into a. fuyk/-' which they make of palisades 
 split out of trees, and eight or nine feet high, and set close to 
 each other, for a distance of fourteen or fifteen hundred paces 
 on both sides, coming together like a fuyk, as is shown in 
 the plates ; the opening is one or two thousand paces wide. 
 When the animal is within the palisades, the Indians begin 
 to come nearer to each other, and pursue it with great ardour, 
 as they regard deer-hunting the noblest hunting. At the 
 end of the fuyk it is so narrow that it is only five feet wide, 
 like a large door, and it is there covered with the boughs of 
 trees, into which the deer or animal runs, closely pursued by 
 the Indians, who make a noise as if they were wolves, by 
 
 snare. 
 
 A peculiar form of net, large nt the entrance, and terminating in a 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ, DE VRIES. 109 
 
 which many deer are devoured, and of which they are in 
 trreat fear. This causes them to run into the mouth of the 
 fuyk with great force, whither the Indians pursue them 
 furiously with bows and arrows, and from whence they can- 
 not escape ; they are then easily caught with snares, as may 
 be seen in the plate. There are elks, chiefly m the moun- 
 tains ; also hares, but they are not larger than the rabbits in 
 Holland ; foxes in abundance, multitudes of wolves, wild 
 cats, squirrels,— black as pitch, and gray, also flying squir- 
 rels beavers in great numbers, minks, otters, polecats, 
 
 bears, and many kinds of fur-bearing animals, which I can- 
 not name or think of. The Indians understand the prepar- 
 ing of deer-skins, of which they make shoes and stockings, 
 after their fiishion, for the winter. 
 
 Of the Foiul which come in the River, and the Achter ColS^ 
 
 . ' There are great numbers of two kinds of geese, which stay 
 here through the winter, by thousands, and which afford fine 
 sport withlhe gun. One kind is the grey geese, which weigh 
 fifteen or sixteen pounds each ; the other they call white- 
 heads, weighing six or seven pounds, very numerous, flying 
 by thousands, and of good flavour. There are large quan- 
 tities of ducks, which keep along the saltwater shore, and 
 crulls small star-birds,t snipes, curlews, and many other shore- 
 birds, which I cannot give the names of The geese and 
 ducks come here in September and leave in April. Many of 
 the Indians say that they go to the river of Canada, where 
 they breed their young ; for the fishermen who sail to New- 
 foundland, find them there in great numbers in the sum- 
 mer time, when they are fishing there. On the fresh 
 water are many swans. Land birds are also very numerous, 
 such as wild turkeys, which weigh from thirty to thirty-six 
 and fifty pounds, and which fly wild, for they can fly one or 
 two thousand jaces, and then fall down, tired with flying, 
 when they are taken by the Indians with their hands, who 
 also shoot them with bows and arrows. Partridges are 
 numerous, but they are small. There are meadow-hens as 
 lar^e as a year-old hen, and with feathers hke those of a 
 partridge ; and white and grey herons in great numbers 
 Nothing is wanted but good marksmen with powder and 
 
 * Newark Bay. ' f Star-vogeltjes. 
 
110 VOYAGES OF 
 
 shot. Pigeons, at the time of year when they migrate, are 
 so numerous, that the light can hardly be discerned where 
 they fly. There are white and gray cranes, and a s})ecies of 
 blackbird, as large as what is called in our country the star- 
 ling or thrush, and which makes its appearance at harvest, 
 when the corn named maize is ripe. These birds are called 
 maize-thieves, because they fall upon the corn by thousands, 
 and do great damai2;e. I have seen one of our Netberlanders 
 kill, in the commander's orchard at Fort Amsterdam, 
 eighty-four of these birds at one shot. They are good-tasted, 
 and similar to the thrushes in Fatherland. I have also seen, 
 at different times, thirty to thirty-four pigeons killed at one 
 shot, but they are not larger than turtle-doves, and their 
 bodies are exactly like those of the turtle-doves in Father- 
 land, except they have longer tails. 
 
 Of the hinds of Fish zvhich frequent the Sea and Piiver 
 as far up as the brackish and fresh ivater. 
 
 There are different kinds of fine fish on the seacoast for 
 the wants of man, similar to those in Holland, as the codfish 
 (in winter), haddock, plaice, flounders, herring, sole, and 
 many more kinds of which I cannot give the names. There 
 is a species offish which by our people is called the twelve,'^ 
 and which has scales like a salmon, and on each side six 
 black streaks, which I suppose is the reason they call it twelve. 
 It is the size of a codfish, very delicate, and good-tasted for 
 eating ; the head -is the best, as it is full of brains like a 
 lamb's head. The fish comes from the sea into the river in 
 the spring, about the last of March and April, and continues 
 until the last of May. It is caught in large quantities and 
 dried by the Indians, — for at this time the squaws are engag- 
 ed in sowing their maize, and cultivating the land, and the 
 men go a-fisliing in order to assist their wives a little by their 
 draughts of fish. Sometimes they catch them with seines 
 from seventy to eighty fathoms in length, which they braid 
 themselves, and on which, in place of lead, they hang stones, 
 and instead of the corks which we put on them to float them, 
 they fasten small sticks of an ell in length, round and sharp 
 at the end. Over the purse, they have a figure made of 
 wood, resembling the devil, and when the fish swim into the 
 
 * Striped bass. 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VIIIES. Ill 
 
 net and come to the purse, so that the figure begins to move, 
 they then begin to cry out and call upon the mannetoe, that 
 is, the deviCto give them many fish. They catch great 
 quantities of this fish ; which they also catch in little set- 
 nets, six or seven fathoms long, braided like a herring-net. 
 They set them on sticks into the river, one, and one and a 
 half fathoms deep. There is also another kind of fish on the 
 seacoast, which is called iliirteciv^ by us, because it is larger 
 than the twelve. The scales of the thirteen are yellow like 
 those of the carp, to which it is not unlike in shape. It ]s 
 of the size of a codfish. Herring also come into the river. 
 There is a species of fish caught on the shore, called by us 
 stone-bream, and by the English scliip-lieet, that is to say, 
 sheep's-head, for the reason that its mouth is full of teeth, 
 above and below, like a sheep's head. Sturgeon are numer- 
 ous in the brackish water, and as high up in the fresh water 
 as Fort Orange. There are many kinds of fish which we have 
 not in our Fatherland, so that I cannot name them all. In 
 the fresh waters, are pike, perch, roac^i, and trout. There 
 are fine oysters, large and small, in great abundance. In the 
 summer-time crabs come on the flat shores, very good tasted. 
 Their claws are of the colour of the flag of our Prince of 
 Orange, white and blue, so that the crabs show sufliciently 
 that we ought, and that it belongs to us, to people the 
 country. 
 
 In ivhat manner the Indians hury their Dead. 
 
 They make a large grave, and line it inside w^ith boughs 
 of trees, in which they lay the corpse, so that no earth can 
 touch it. They then cover this with clay, and form the 
 grave, seven or eight feet, in the shape of a sugar-loaf, and 
 place palisades around it. I have frequently seen the wife 
 of the deceased come daily to the grave, weeping and crying, 
 creeping over it with extended body, and grieving for the 
 death of her husband. The oldest wife by whom he has 
 had children does this ; the young wife does not make much 
 ado about it, but looks out for another husband. They keep 
 a portion of the dead in the house. I have seen at the 
 North, great multitudes of Indians assembled, who had col- 
 lected together the bones of their ancestors, cleaned them, 
 
 Drum-fish. 
 
112 VOYAGES OF 
 
 and bound them up in small ])undles. They dig a square 
 grave, the size and length of a person, and over it erect four 
 pillars, which they cover with the bark of trees, as may be 
 seen in the plate ;■■•'•" they set a time when they will bury 
 them, when all the friends will have a great gathering, and 
 bring ample supplies of provisions. It is accordingly announc- 
 ed in their village, that a great festival is to be held, with 
 frolic and dancing. This festival continues ten days, during 
 which time their friends come from other nations on all sides, 
 in order to see it held, and the accompanying ceremonies, 
 which are attended with great expense. Under cover of 
 these ceremonies, dances, feasts, and meetings, they contract 
 new alliances of friendship with their neighbours ; saying, 
 that as the bones of their ancestors and friends are together 
 in the little bundles (which appear in the plate), so- may 
 their bones be together in the same place, and that as long 
 as their lives shall last, they should be united in friendship 
 and concord, as were their ancestors and friends, without 
 being able to be separated from each other, like as the bones 
 of the ancestors and friends of each other were mingled toiie- 
 ther. One of them — their chief, a magician — delivers a 
 speech over the bones (saying), " that if they remain thus 
 united, their enemies can have no power over them." They 
 then bury the bones in the grave, with a parcel of Zeewan, 
 and with arrows, kettles, knives, paper, and other knick- 
 knacks, which are held in great esteem by them, and cover 
 them with earth, and place palisades around them as before 
 related. Such is -the custom on the coast in regard to the 
 dead. The chief doctrine held among them is the belief in 
 the immortality of the soul by some. Others are sceptical on 
 this point, but not far from it, saying, when they die they go 
 to a place where they sing like the ravens ; but this singing 
 is entirely different from the singing of the angels. 
 
 How the Indians at the North arm themselves when they 
 
 (JO to War. 
 
 When I was at the North, I saw Indians who were going 
 to war. Tliey were armed as the figures show ; their weapons 
 were bows and arrows in the manner shown, which they carry 
 
 * The reference to figures in different portions of the narrative, is made to 
 plates iu the original work. See Introduction. 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 113 
 
 dally, and each one had in his hand a shield of leather as 
 thick as buffalo-skin. I took it to be elk's-hide, as these 
 animals are numerous there. If they wish to take a journey 
 in winter, when there is snow on the ground, they bind two 
 things under their feet, like the racket with which we strike 
 the balls at tennis, in order to prevent them from sinking in 
 the snow, as may be seen on the figure (of the man), wIk) is 
 accompanied by his wife. 
 
 This * is a Representation of them luhen they dance and 
 have a Feast. 
 
 When they dance they stand two and two beside each 
 other, which I have seen at the north. They dance in two, 
 three, and four pairs. The first pair carry a tortoise in their 
 hands, as this nation say that they have descended from a 
 tortoise-father, at which I laughed. They then asked me 
 where our first father came from. I said he was called Adam, 
 and was made of earth. They said I was a fool to say that 
 he was made of a thing that had no life. I replied that it 
 was full of life, for it produced all the fruit upon which they 
 lived. They answered that the sun, which they looked upon 
 as God, produced it, for in summer he drew the leaves from 
 the trees, and all the fruits from the ground. 
 
 Anno 1643. The 22d February, there broke out a war 
 among the Indians. The Mayekanders, who came from Fort 
 Orange, wanted to levy a contribution upon the Indians of 
 Wickquasgeck and Tapaen, and of the adjacent villages. 
 There were eighty to ninety of them, each with a gun onliis 
 shoulder.^ There came flying to ray house, four to five hun- 
 dred Indians, desiring that I would protect them. I answer- 
 ed them that I could not do it, as the Indians at Fort 
 Orange were our friends, and that we could not interfere in 
 their wars ; that I now saw that they were children, that 
 they were flying on all sides from eighty or ninety men, when 
 they were themselves so many hundred strong ;, that it was 
 displeasing to me that they should be suoh soldiers, as it was 
 to mannetoe himself,— that is to say, the devil ; but that I 
 saw now that they were only children. As my house was 
 full of Indians, and I had only five men with me, I made 
 ready to go to the fort to obtain some soldiers for the pur- 
 
 * Referring to the plate. 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. III. 8 
 
114 VOYAGES OF 
 
 pose of having more force in my house. So I took a canoe, 
 as my boat was frozen up in the kill, and went in the canoe, 
 or hollow tree, which is their boat, as before related, between 
 the cakes of ice, over the river to Fort Amsterdam, where I 
 requested Governor Kieft to assist me with some soldiers, as 
 I was not master of my own house, because it was so full of 
 Indians, although I was not afraid that they would do any 
 harm ; but it was projier that I should be master of my own 
 house. The Governor said he had no soldiers ; that I must 
 8ee how it would be in the morning, and stop at night with 
 him, which I did. The next day the Indians came in troops 
 on foot fi"om my house to Pavonia, by the Oysterbank, where 
 the great body of them encamped. Some of them came over 
 the river from Pavonia to the tort. I spoke to some of them, 
 and they said that they had all left my house. These 
 Indians went to Correlaer's bouwery, where there were some 
 Indians from Reckeweck, opposite the fort, on Long Island, 
 who were under a chief, named Nummerus, whom I well 
 knew. 
 
 The 24th of February, sitting at a table with the gover- 
 nor, he began to state his intentions, that he had a mind to 
 loipe the mouths of the Indians ; that he had been dining at 
 the house of Jan Claesz. Damen, where Maryn Adriaensz, 
 and Jan Claesz. Daraen, together with Jacob Planck, had 
 presented a petition to him to begin this work. I answered 
 him that there was no sufficient reason to undertake it ; 
 that such work could not be done without the ap]irobation 
 of the twelve men ; that it could not take place without my 
 assent, who was one of the twelve men ; that moreover I 
 was the first patroon, and no one else hitherto had risked 
 there so many thousands, and besides being patroon, I was 
 the first to come from Holland or Zeeland to plant a colony ; 
 and that he should consider what profit he could derive from 
 this business, as he well knew that on account of trifiing with 
 the Indians we had lost our colony in the South river at 
 Swanendael, in the Hoere-kil, with thirty-two men, who 
 were murdered in the year 1630 ; and that in the year 1C40, 
 the cause of my people being murdered on Staten Island was 
 a difiiculty which he had with the Raritaense Indians, where 
 his soldiers had for some trifling thing killed some Indians, 
 and brought the brother of the chief a prisoner to the Mari- 
 nates, who was ransomed there, as I have before more par- 
 ticularly related. But it appeared that my speaking was of 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 115 
 
 no avail. He had, with his co-murderers, determined to 
 commit the murder, deeming it a Roman deed, and to do it 
 without warning the inhabitants in the open lands, that each 
 one might take care of himself against the retaliation of the 
 Indians, for he could not kill all the Indians. When I had 
 expressed all these things in full, sitting at the table, and 
 the meal was over, he told me he wished me to go to the 
 large hall, which he had been lately adding to his house. 
 Coming to it, there stood all his soldiers ready to cross the 
 river to Pavonia to commit the murder. Then spoke I again 
 to Governor William Kieft : " Stop this work ; you wish to 
 break the mouths of the Indians, but you will also murder 
 our own nation, for there are none of the farmers who are 
 aware of it. My own dwelling, my people, cattle, corn, and 
 tobacco will be lost." He answered me, assuring me that 
 there would bo no danger ; that some soldiers should go to 
 my house to protect it. But that was not done. So was 
 this business begun between the 25th and 26th of February 
 in the year 1643. I remained that night at the governor's, 
 sitting up. I went and sat in the kitchen, when, about mid- 
 night, I heard a great shrieking, and I ran to the ramparts 
 of the fort, and looked over to Pavonia. Saw nothing but 
 firing, and heard the shrieks of the Indians murdered in 
 their sleep. I returned again to the house by the fire. 
 Having sat there awhile, there came an Indian with his 
 squaw, whom I knew well, and who lived about an hour's 
 walk from my house, and told me that they two had fled in 
 a small skiff; that they had betaken themselves to Pavonia ; 
 that the Indians from Fort Orange had surprised them ; 
 and that they had come to conceal themselves in the fort. I 
 told them that they must go away immediately; that there was 
 no occasion for them to come to the fort to conceal them- 
 selves ; that they who had killed their people at Pavonia 
 were not Indians, but the Svvannekens, as they call the 
 Dutch, had done it. They then asked me how they should 
 get out of the fort. I took them to the door, and there was 
 no sentry there, and so they betook themselves to the woods. 
 When it was day the soldiers returned to the fort, having 
 massacred or murdered eighty Indians, and considering they 
 had done a deed of Eoman valour, in murdering so many in 
 their sleep ; where infants were torn from their mother's 
 breasts, and hacked to pieces in the presence of the parents, 
 and the pieces thrown into the fire and in the water, and 
 
116 VOYAGES OF 
 
 other sucklings were bound to small boards, and then cut, 
 stuck, and pierced, and miserably massacred in a manner to 
 move a heart of stone. Some were thrown into the river, 
 and when the fathers and mothers endeavoured to save 
 them, the soldiers would not let them come on land, but 
 made both parents and children drown, — children from five 
 to six years of age, and also some old and decrepit persons. 
 Many tied from this scene, and concealed themselves in the 
 neighbouring sedge, and when it was morning, came out to 
 beg a i)iece of bread, and to be permitted to warm them- 
 selves ; but they were murdered in cold blood and tossed in- 
 to the water. Some came by our lands in the country with 
 their hands, some with their legs cut oflF, and some holding 
 their entrails in their arms, and others had such horrible cuts, 
 and gashes, that worse than they were could never happen. 
 And these poor simple creatures, as also many of our own 
 people, did not know any better than that they had been at- 
 tacked by a party of other Indians, — the Maquas. After 
 this exploit, the soldiers were rewarded for their services, and 
 Director Kieft thanked them by taking them by the hand 
 and congratulating them. At another place, on the same 
 night at Corler's Hook on Corler's plantation, forty Indians 
 were in the same manner attacked in their sleep, and mas- 
 sacred there in the same manner as the Duke of Alva did 
 in the Netherlands, but more cruelly. This is indeed a dis- 
 grace to our nation, who have so generous a governor in our 
 Fatherland as the Prince of Orange, who has always endeav- 
 oured in his wars to sjull as little blood as possible. As 
 soon as the Indians understood that the Swannekens had so 
 treated them, all the men whom they could surprise on the 
 farm-lands, they killed ; but we have never heard that they 
 have ever permitted women or children to be killed. They 
 burned all the houses, farms, barns, grain, haystacks, and de- 
 stroyed everything they could get hold of. So there was an 
 open destructive war begun. They also burnt my farm, 
 cattle, corn, barn, tobacco-house, and all the tobacco. My 
 people saved themselves in the house where I lived, which 
 was made with embrasures, through wliich they defended 
 themselves. Whilst my people were in this state of alarm, 
 the Indian whom I had aided to escape from the fort came 
 there, and told the other Indians that I was a good chief, 
 that I had helped him out of the fort, and that the killing 
 of the Indians took place contrary to my wish. Then they 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ, DE VRIES, 117 
 
 all cried out together to my people that they would not 
 shoot thera ; that if they had not destroyed my cattle they 
 would not do it ; that they would not burn my house ; that 
 they would let my little brewery stand, though they had 
 melted the copper-kettle, in order to make darts for their 
 arrows ; but hearing now that it (the massacre) had been 
 done contrary to my wish, they all went away, and left my 
 house unbesieged. When now the Indians had destroyed so 
 many farms and men in revenge for their people, I went to 
 Governor William Kieft, and asked him if it was not as I 
 had said it would be, that he would only effect the spilling 
 of Christian blood. Who would now compensate us for our 
 losses ? But he gave me no answer. He said he wondered 
 that no Indians came to the fort. I told him that I did not 
 wonder at it ; " why should the Indians come here where 
 you have so treated them ? " 
 
 The 4th of March, there came three Indians upon Long 
 Island, with a small white flag, and called out to the fort. 
 Then Governor William Kieft asked who would go over to 
 them. There was no one who was willing to do so, among 
 all of thera, except Jacob Olfersz and I, David Pietersz. de 
 Vries. We went to the three Indians. They told us that they 
 came from their chief, who had sent them to know the cause 
 why some of his Indians had been killed, who had never 
 lain a straw in our way, and who had done us nothing but 
 favours 7 We answered them that we did not know that 
 any of their Indians were among them. They then said we 
 must go and speak with their chief, who had fled seven 
 miles from there on the seacoast. We resolved to go with 
 the Indians, for we believed that they were well disposed to- 
 wards us two. 
 
 At evening we arrived at Recliqua Aide, where we found 
 the chief, who had only one eye, with two or three hundred 
 Indians, and about thirty houses. They led us into his 
 house, and treated us to what they had, as oysters, and fish, 
 which they catch there ; told us we were tired, and must 
 rest a little ; they would early in the morning speak to us 
 about the business upon which we had come there. During 
 the night, I went out of the house, when there came an In- 
 dian to me, as the m.oon was shining, and told me I must 
 come into his hut, I then went into his hut, and by the 
 light saw he was an Indian, who lived half a mile from my 
 house at Vriessendael, Avith his squaws, who lived there with 
 
118 VOYAGES OF 
 
 him, at which I was alarmed. Then he assured me, saying, 
 that I was a good cliief, and that 1 came to make lianconiyn 
 Mnruit ; that is, in their hinguage, to make a peace. I 
 asked them liow tliey came so far from their dwelling. 
 They answered that they were out a hunting with these In- 
 dians, and had friends among them. 1 then returned to my 
 comrade in the house of the chief When the day began to 
 dawn, we were awakened, and taken by an Indian, who led 
 us into the woods about four hundred ])acesfrom the houses, 
 and when we came there, sixteen chiefs were there of this 
 Long Island, which is thirty miles long. They ])laced us 
 two by ourselves, and seated themselves around us, so that 
 we bat within a ring. There was one among them who had 
 a small bundle of sticks, and was the best speaker, who be- 
 gan his oration in Indian. He told how we first came upoa 
 their coast ; that we sometimes had no victuals ; they gave 
 us their Turkish beans and Turkish wheat, they helped us 
 with oysters and fish to eat, and now for a reward we had 
 killed their ])eo|ile. Tiien he laid (l<»wn one of the sticks, 
 whieh was one i>oint. He related also that at the begin- 
 ning of our voyaging there, we left our peojile behind with 
 the gooils to trade, until the ships should cou)e back ;^ they 
 had preserved these ])eoi)le like the a])ple of their eye ; yea, 
 they had given them their daughters to sleep with, by whom 
 they had begotten children, and there roved many an Indian 
 who was begotten by a Swanneken, but now our people had 
 become so villainous as to kill their own blood. He then 
 laid down another stick. This laying down of sticks began 
 to be tedious to me, as I saw that he had many still in his 
 hand. I told him that I knew all these things which he had 
 told ; that as to what happened to the Indians of Long Isl- 
 and, we were ignorant of any of them being with the other 
 Indians ; they should go with us to the fort, where the gov- 
 ernor would give them jiresents Ibr a j»eace. The speaking 
 now ceased and they gave to each of us ten fathoms of 
 Zeewan, — which is their money, each fathom being worth 
 four guilders. Then they all rose up and said that they 
 would go with us to the fort, and speak with our governor 
 "William Kieft. We went to the canoes for the jairpo.'^e of 
 going, and to make the journey shorter than when we came, 
 tor it took lull three hours to go. When we reached the 
 
 • See Note .\. 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 119 
 
 canoes, we found that the tide had not yet began to make, 
 and that we must wait some time before it would be flood. In 
 the mean time, an Indian came running up with a bow and 
 arrow, who had come on a run six miles on behalf of a chief 
 who had not been with us, and asked the chiefs who were 
 going with us to the fort if they were so foolish as to go to 
 the fort where there was such a villain, who had caused their 
 friends to be so foully murdered ; and who, when so many 
 of the chiefs were together at the fort, would keep them 
 there, and thus all the Indians would be in distress, being 
 without heads or chiefs, and the chief from whom he came 
 would be entirely without advisers. They then asked us 
 two if we understood what he said. We answered that this 
 was a silly Indian, that they would find it otherwise, and 
 would return home with good presents. Then one of the 
 chiefs who knew uie said, " we will go on the faith of your word, 
 for the Indians have never found you to lie as they have 
 other Swannekens." Finally, twenty ofus went sitting in a ca- 
 noe or hollow tree, which is their boat, and the edge was not 
 more than a hand's-breadth above the water. Arrived at the 
 fort about three o'clock in the afternoon. William Kieft 
 came and made peace with the Indians, and gave them some 
 presents. He requested them to bring those chiefs to the 
 fort who had lost so many Indians, as he wished also to 
 make a peace with them, and to give them presents. Then 
 some of them went and brought the Indians of Ackin-sack 
 and Tapaen and the vicinity, and the chiefs came forward, 
 to whom he made presents ; but they were not well content 
 with them. They told me that he could have made it, by 
 his presents, that those days would never again be spoken 
 off ; but now it might fall out that the infants upon the 
 small boards would be remembered. They then went away 
 grumbling with their presents. 
 
 The 20th of July, a chief of the Indians came to me, and 
 told me that he was very sad. I asked liini wherefor. He 
 said that there were many of the Indian youths, who were 
 constantly wishing for a war against us, as one had lost his 
 father, another his mother, a third his uncle, and also their 
 friends, and that the presents or recompense were not worth 
 taking up ; and that he would much rather have made pre- 
 sents out of his own purse to quiet them : but he could no 
 longer keep them still, and that I must be careful in going 
 alone in the woods ; that those who knew me would do me 
 
120 VOYAGES OF 
 
 no liann, hut I mip^ht meet Indians who did not Icnow me, 
 who would shoot me. I told him that he ou^^ht to go to 
 Commander Kicft at the fort, and tell the same things to 
 him. We went to the fort, and coming to the commander, 
 the chief of these Indians told the same things to him. 
 ComuKinder Kieft told this Indian he was a chiel'of the In- 
 dians, and must kill these young n)adcaps who wished to 
 engage in a war with the Swannekens, and he would give 
 him two hundred fathoms of Zeewan. I then laughed with- 
 in myself, that the Indian should kill his friends for two 
 hundred fathoms of Zeewun, — that is eight hundred guild- 
 ers, — to gratify us. It is true that they do so towards each 
 other, when they are at enmity with each other, but not at 
 the will of foreigners. Then the Indian said this could not 
 be df>ne hy him ; that there were many malcontents. Had 
 he (the governor) paid richly fur the nmrder, it would have 
 been entirely forgotten. He himself would do his best to 
 keep them quiet, but he was afraid he could not, for they 
 were continually calling for vengeance. 
 
 The 28th of ►September, arrived a herring buss from Rot- 
 terdam ; the master was named Jacob Blenck. He was la- 
 den with a hundred pijies of Madeira wine, and had come 
 by the way of the West Indies, wishing to go to the Virgi- 
 nias, but could not find them, and had sailed quite to 
 New England. He could not sell his wine there, because 
 the English there live soberly. He wascomi>ellcd to return, 
 and came along the coast inside of Long Island, through 
 Hellgate to Fort Amsterdam ; and coming here he could 
 not expose his wines for sale, because here was a tax upon 
 wines which the Company had established. He sold liis 
 wines to an Englishman to be taken to the Virginias. As 
 he could liud no one who could ])ilot him to the Virginijis, 
 he asked me if I would take him there, as he understood 
 that I wished to go there in order to take a well-mounted 
 ship for r atria, because my farms, where I had begun my 
 colonies, were lying in ashes ; and the Indians were discon- 
 tented and desired to .go to war again, or to have satisfaction. 
 I promised the skipper that I would take him there, and 
 told him that he nmst provide himself with ])r(nisions here, 
 for it was dillicult to obtain them in the \'irginias, because 
 every one there only produced for himself. 
 
 Tlie 1st of October, nine Indians came to the fort at Pa- 
 vonia, where there were three or four soldiers stationed to 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE VRIES. 121 
 
 protect a farmer who lived there, named Jacob StofFelsz, to- 
 wards whom they were so well disposed, that they did not 
 wish to kill him. So they made a pretended errand, and 
 persuaded him to go over to the fort (Amsterdam), and he 
 came over accordingly ; then they went under the guise of 
 friendship, when the soldiers had no arms in their hands, and 
 killed them all, except the son of his wife by a former mar- 
 riage, whom they took with them captive to Tapaen. They 
 set tire to the farm-house and all the other houses at Pavonia ; 
 and thus began a new war. The next day the governor came 
 to me with the step-father of the boy that was made prisoner 
 by the Indians. He was the son of Cornelis Van Vorst. 
 The governor asked me if I would go to the Indians to ob- 
 tain the release of the boy, as nobody dare go to the Indians 
 except me, I said I would speak to one or two Indians ; 
 but if I brought them to the fort, they must not be misused, 
 for they would come with me upon my word. So I went 
 over to Long Island and brought with me two Indians to go 
 to Tapaen to obtain the release of the boy. When I brought 
 the Indians over, every one wanted to kill them, and I had 
 enough to do to save them. I took them to a privateer 
 which was lying there, which carried them away, and they 
 released the boy. 
 
 The 8th of the same month I took my leave of Com- 
 mander Kieft, and left in the Eotterdammer buss for the 
 English Virginias ; and, in taking leave of William Kieft, I 
 told him that this murder which he had committed was so 
 much innocent blood ; that it would yet be avenged upon 
 him, and thus I left him. Sailed past Staten Island to the 
 headland at Sandy Hook, where we were detained two days 
 by contrary winds. Picked each day some blue-plums, 
 which are abundant there, and grow there naturally wild.* 
 
 The 11th, weighed anchor to sail from Sandy Hook to 
 the Virginias, with a north-west wind and a weather shore. 
 
 The 12th, at daylight, the wind from the southeast 
 straight on a leeshore, and it began to blow hard. We were 
 in twelve fathoms water. When it was day, the skipper 
 asked me if I knew where I was. I told him we must run 
 into eight or nine fathoms, when we would be able to distin- 
 guish the land ; but he was afraid of the shore, as he had 
 never been here. Finally ran into shallower water, when he 
 
 * "Wild plums are still found there. 
 
122 VOYAGES OF 
 
 asked rae if I knew the country. I said, Yes ; and I saw- 
 that we were by Caj)e May, before the South river. He then 
 inquired of nie whether we could not siil straii^ht in. I 
 said, No ; that it was all over full of shoals, that we must 
 enter at the south-west side. lie then threw the lead, and 
 had four fathoms, at which he was startled. I told him he 
 must lay down the lead ; that of my own knowledge 
 it was all a shoal there. We then came by Cape Hinloopen 
 in deep water, when I told him he might throw the lead, 
 and lie would tind t.'ight to nine fathoms, as he ran into the 
 South Bay, close by the shore. We sailed in by the shore, 
 and he said : " I was in this same jdace over seven weeks, 
 and there were Indians here on land, and a-fishing, and I 
 went ashore with my skitT and spoke Spanisii to them, but 
 they could not understand me. It was so full of shoals, I ran 
 again out to sea and ]>roceeded to New England." Then I 
 said to the skipper : '* Had you known the Indian language 
 as I know it, you would not have sailed to New England. 
 This land is called Swancndael, and these Indians destroyed 
 a colony in the year 1G30, whicli I Ijegan. Had yon been 
 able to speak to them, they would have taken you up the 
 river to the Swedes, or to our people, who would have in- 
 formed you that you had passed by the Virginias." I sailed up 
 the Bay west by north along the west shore; at evening came 
 before the river by the liuit/c-Bo.y'en, whvvo we anchored in four 
 fathoms, hard bottom, and in the morning weighed anchor. 
 The 13th, sailed by Ilced Island, and came to the Ver- 
 cJcenfi-kil, where there was a fort constructed by the Swedes, 
 with three angles, from which they tired for us to strike 
 our Hag. The skipper asked me if he should strike it. 
 I answered him, " If I were in a ship belonging to myself, 
 I would not strike it because I hiid been a patnwn of New 
 Netherland, and the Swedes were a ])eople who can)e into 
 our river ; but you come here by contrary winds ami for the 
 purposes of trade, and it is therefore proj»er that you should 
 strike." Then the skipper struck his tiag, and there came 
 a small skift' from the Swedish fort, with some Swedes in it, 
 who iiKjuired of the s-kipper with what he was laden. He 
 told them with Madeira wine. We asked them wiiether the 
 governor was in the fort. They answered, No ; that he was 
 at the third fort up the river, to which we sailed, and arrived 
 at about four o'clock in the afternoon, and went to the gov- 
 ernor, who welcomed us. He was named Ca})tain Prins, 
 
DAVID PIETEKSZ. DE VRIES. 123 
 
 and a man of brave size, who weighed over four hundred 
 pounds. He asked the skipper if he had ever been in this 
 river before, who said he had not. How then had lie come 
 in where it was so full of shoals ? He pointed to me, that 
 I had brought him in. Then the governor's koopman, who 
 knew me, and who had been at Fort Amsterdam, said that I 
 was a patroon of Swanendael at the entrance of the Bay, 
 destroyed by the Indians in the year 1630, when no Swedes 
 were known upon this river. He (the governor) then had a 
 silver mug brought, with which he treated the skipper with 
 beer, and a large glass of Rhenish wine, which was given to 
 me. The skipper traded some wines and sweetmeats with 
 him for peltries, beaver-skins, and staid here five days from 
 contrary winds. I went once to Fort Nassau, which lies a 
 mile higher up, in which the people of the West India Com- 
 pany were. I remained there a half a day, and took my 
 leave of them, and returned at evening to the Governor of 
 the Swedes. 
 
 The 19th, I went with the governor to the Minckquas- 
 kil, where their first fort was, and where there were some 
 houses. In this little fort there were some iron guns. I 
 staid here at night with the governor, who treated me well. 
 In the morning, the ship was lying before the Minckquas-kil. 
 I took my leave of the governor, who accompanied me on 
 board. We fired a salute for him, and thus parted from 
 him ; weighed anchor, and got under sail, and came to the 
 first fort. Let the anchor fall again, and went on land to 
 the fort, which was not entirely finished ; it was made after 
 the English plan, with three angles close by the river. There 
 were lying there six or eight brass pieces, twelve- pounders. 
 The skipper exchanged here some of his wines for beaver- 
 skins. 
 
 The 20th of October, took our departure from the last 
 fort, or first in sailing up the river, called Elsenburg. The 
 second fort of the Swedes is named Fort Christian ; the 
 third, New Gottenburg. We weighed anchor and sailed 
 from the river ; arrived at noon at Cape Hinloopen, and 
 put to sea. Set our course along the coast south-west, quite 
 southerly at first. 
 
 The 21st, we arrived in the Virginias, and passed by the 
 fort into the Bay of Kicketan, where the skipper inquired 
 for his factor, to whom he had letters, who immediately came 
 aboard, and directed that he should sail up the river with 
 
124 VOYAGES OF 
 
 his wines to Jamestown, where the governor has his resi- 
 dence. 
 
 The 22il, we arrived before Jamestown, in our language 
 called Jacub-Stadt — so named alter the old king. I went 
 with the skipper to the governor, who inquired whence he 
 came, and what lading he brought. He said that he was 
 consiirned to a factor, and had sold his wines. Some Eng- 
 lishmen stood there who knew me, and that I had been in 
 the Virginias before, in the time of other governors, and that I 
 was the captain who, in the year 1635, when the Tortugas 
 behind the Island of Spaniola were overrun, had saved the 
 lives of fifty Englishmen who were wandering on the sea, 
 almost without provisions, and would have jierishcd if I had 
 not saved them and brought them to the Virginias, where 
 many of them still lived. This they told to the governor, 
 although they said I had not spoken of it. There was a 
 person interi)reting the skipper, and they told the governor 
 that I could speak good English, although I had been silent. 
 Then the governor asked me why I came there, as he under- 
 stood I had been there with my shi[)s in the times of other 
 governors. I answered him that I had begun to make a 
 colony at the Dutch plantation upon Staten Island, but it 
 was destroyed tlnouvh the acts of the governor, who 
 had provoked a war with the Indians, so that I came here to 
 seek a passage to London, and thence to my Patria. He 
 said I must remain the winter here, until the ships should 
 leave with tobacco in the sj)ring, and he would provide me a 
 good ship, in which I would be well treated ; but I must re- 
 main with him till then, and I should have as good as he 
 had iiimself, for I was a man who had seen the world, and 
 had sailed as a commander over all of it ; that he had heard 
 many speak of me before I came into the country now ; that 
 I had treated their nation well, and on that account he 
 should use me well, and would liave my society during the 
 winter, as he was fond of, and in neeil of society. This gov- 
 ernor was named Sir William Berkeley Knight. I thanked 
 him for his kind offer, and said that 1 had promised the skip- 
 per to aid him, as he had never been here ; but I would try 
 to come occasionally for four or five days ; which I did do. 
 We proceeded with the ship one hundred and seven miles 
 further up the river to Florida, where we discharged a por- 
 tion of the wine ; and I went daily from one ])lantation to 
 another, until the ships were ready, and had their cargoes of 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE YKIES. 125 
 
 tobacco. I saw here tbe old practice of the English of 
 losing their servants by gambUng. I also saw here an Indian 
 and a squaw of this country, whom they call Saske An- 
 neecks, habited as shown in this plate. I occasionally ex- 
 amined their plantations, and found that the lands which had 
 been exhausted by tobacco-planting, were now sown with 
 fine wheat, and some of them with flax. This should be 
 done in New Netherland. Here were now lying full thirty 
 ships to be laden with tobacco, altogether fine English ships 
 of twenty-four to twenty-eight, and eighteen guns, and also 
 four Holland ships, which make a great trade here every 
 year. Tliis should be done in New Netherland, for it is all 
 one kind of tobacco that grows here and in New Netherland, 
 and also in South river, where it is not different, and in 
 process of time twenty ships could be used in New Nether- 
 land ; and ships with grain also go from thence with hemp 
 and flax. Nothing is wanting but to carry men there, for 
 the land upon this coast is very fertile. And to this end a 
 law should be enacted, forbidding leaf-tobacco, which the 
 English bring here ; as the English have done in their coun- 
 try, forbidding foreign ships to take tobacco from there. 
 Then would New Netherland quickly flourish ; for now all 
 that is carried from New Netherland, amount yearly in pel- 
 tries to a hundred thousand guilders, or hardly so much, and 
 the members of the Company are so jealous of each other, 
 that it is not worth the while to have a company, for they 
 are at a great expense there ; but the land being free, as in 
 the English Virginias, every one working for his own nation, 
 and everything produced by labor out of the ground, millions 
 would be returned, and the land populated at once ; there 
 would be no want of cargoes of the productions of the earth, 
 as there is of peltries. Such would be the result of labor, 
 as everything in the Eastern countries, and in other lands, 
 is produced by it, corn, hemp, and flax. In course of time 
 the country would become populous ; and if we should again 
 engage in a war with our old enemy, the King of Spain, we 
 would be able to do him great damage in the West Indies, 
 for we could sail from this country to the West Indies in 
 from fourteen days to three weeks ; but it takes sometimes 
 three or four months from the Texel. We could proceed 
 from here, and have every opportunity to make and equip our 
 ships, and furnish them with provisions in New Netherland. 
 The 10th of April, as I had now passed most of my 
 
126 VOYAGES OF 
 
 time, during the winter, in going up and down the river, I 
 went down to Jamestown to the governor, to thank hira for 
 the friendship which had been shown me by him through 
 the winter. There was lying there a brave ship of twenty- 
 eight guns, to the captain of which he recommended me to 
 go over with hira, who answered that the best in the cabin 
 was at my service, and that I must have my goods carried 
 on ])oard. In going down to Jamestown on board of a sloop, 
 a sturgeon sprang out of the river into the sloop. We 
 killed it, and it was eight feet long. This river is full of 
 sturgeon, as also are the two rivers of New Netherland. 
 When the English first began to plant their colony here, 
 there came an English ship from England for the purpose 
 of fishing for sturgeon ; but they found that this fishery 
 would not answer, because it is so hot in summer, which is 
 the best time for fishing, that the salt or pickle would not 
 keep them as in Muscovy, whence the English obtain many 
 sturgeon, and where the climate is colder than in the Vir- 
 ginias. 
 
 The 13th of the same month, took my leave of the gov- 
 ernor, with my thanks, and drifted down the river to Blank 
 Point, where there was a large fly-boat lying, mounting 
 twelve guns, from Brustock, and there came two Londoners 
 sailing down the river, intending to capture this fly-boat 
 from Brustock (? Bristol), because the Brustock people ad- 
 hered to the King, and the Londoners to the Parliament. 
 So there was a sharp engagement with the fly-boat, which 
 sailed into the creek at Blank Point, and the Londoners 
 could not get nearer to it than a couple of musket-shots, be- 
 cause their ships drew too much water. They did what dam- 
 age they could to each other with cannon shot, and some 
 peo})le were killed. At evening they ceased firing. We 
 went on board of one of the London ships at evening, which 
 did not now come to land, because the governor and all the 
 peo{)le of the country were in favour of the King. These 
 two ships were compelled to go to London without tobacco. 
 They went in company with us. I was on board of one of these 
 Londoners the night, and in the morning I went into the 
 creek at Blank Point, and w^ent on board of the fly-boat 
 from Brust, which was damaged some by the two ships, and 
 had lost a man who was a planter of the country, who had 
 come on board to buy some goods. After we had examined 
 her, we went ashore at Blank Point, where a captain lives 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. DE TRIES. 127 
 
 who is one of the conncil of the country, and holds a court 
 every week. He has three or four persons of his council sit- 
 ting with him. There all suits are tried, and those who are 
 not" satisfied with the judgment, which is given, appeal to 
 Jamestown, where a monthly court is held by the governor, who 
 presides, and all the captains of the country, who are the judg- 
 es. Every two or three miles has a captain, according as the 
 places are populated. I passed the night here with this 
 captain, whose name was Captain Matthews, and who was 
 the first who began to populate this part of the Virginias. 
 Although the Virginias are so unhealthy, they contain ten 
 or eleven thousand men and women. 
 
 The 25th {? 15th) of April I took my leave of this cap- 
 tain, who was a good friend to me, and with whom I had 
 formerly good correspondence. The English there are very 
 hospitable, but they are not proper persons to trade with. 
 You must look out when you trade with them, Peter is 
 always by Paul, or you will be struck in the tail ; for if they 
 can deceive any one, they account it among themselves a 
 Koman action. They say in their language, " He played him 
 an English trick ;" and then they have themselves well-es- 
 teemetl. After I had taken my departure, I went leisurely 
 walking to Newport, where the English ship was lying, taking 
 in water, a ship of twenty-eight guns. Whilst 1 was on my 
 way, it became very foggy in the woods where I was walking, 
 and I could not see the sun. I came to two roads, and did 
 not know which to take. I at length took the large^^t road, 
 which led me to a pond of fresh water, which was four or 
 five hundred paces in circumference, and about five or six 
 feet deep, and there ran across it a dyke, over fifty paces 
 long, and about six feet broad, which was made by the ani- 
 mal they call the beaver. It was set with stakes in the 
 ground as thick as my arm, and boughs and earth had been 
 brought in, as if done by men's hands. The trees stood 
 there, from which this animal had sawed ofi" the boughs with 
 his teeth. It was wonderful to see that suck an animal 
 could make a dyke to hold the water so that it could not run 
 out in the summer ; and it was also wonderful to see that this 
 animal had built a little house on the side of this pool, in 
 shape like a hive, about one and a half fathoms high, with three 
 stories. AVhen the water of this pool rises in the winter, he re- 
 tires to the highest story. The house has eight or ten holes ; 
 if they are beset when they are in their houses, they have 
 
128 VOYAGES OF 
 
 holes through which they can take to the water. On what- 
 ever side they may be attaclvcd, they have a way of escape. 
 These animals are good to eat, and taste like lamb's flesh ; 
 I have eaten of it several times. I proceeded on my journey, 
 and went wandering in the woods, and was afraid that I had, 
 in consequence of the fog missed my way, and that this 
 beaver's path had misled me, and the evening was coming 
 on apace. At last I saw at a distance an old burnt tree, to 
 which I came. It appeared to have been burnt by the Indi- 
 ans, as the Indians in New Ner.herland do, where by every 
 spring an old tree is to be found burnt. I went by this 
 spring to rest myself, and put my ear to the ground to listen 
 if I could hear the voices or noise of men. I could hear 
 nothing. I took a pipe of tobacco, and drank of the water, 
 which tasted the best I had ever drank, I found water- 
 cresses growing wild at this spring, and I eat of thera, 
 and was refreshed. I then heard a great noise, which star- 
 tled me, as the night was approaching. I looked in the di- 
 rection the noise came from, and I saw from thirty to forty 
 deer coming on a full run towards me. They came to drink 
 at this spring, and almost ran upon me before they discov- 
 ered me. It began to clear away, so that I saw the sun, 
 when I found that I had been going away from the habita- 
 tions. I took ray course by the sun, and having run about a 
 half an hour, the sun went down, and I was distressed. At 
 length I heard a dog barking, and I ran towards the noise, 
 and came to a creek where an English house stood, and 
 where they built boats ; there was a carpenter there who 
 carried me over the creek, and bid me welcome, and was 
 glad that he had me in his house, as I had, some years ago, 
 on board of my ship, well treated him, and he hoped to treat 
 me well now. He immediately killed a turkey and some 
 chickens. I considered this a better supper than to be lying 
 in the woods all night at the mercy of the wolves and bears, 
 and that without arms. So I related to him my adventure. 
 I said in consequence of there being no sun, I had followed 
 the largest path, and had taken the beaver's path. He said 
 that he would in the morning give mo a guide who would 
 take me to the great river, and if I went along the stream 
 of the river, I could not go astray. I took my leave of this 
 Englishman in the morning, who had treated me so well, and 
 thanked him for his hospitality. I went thence along the 
 river to Newport, where the ships, eleven in number, were 
 
DAVID PIETERSZ. BE VFvIES. 129 
 
 all lying ready for sea, the least of them mounting from 
 eighteen to twenty-eight guns. Went the same evening to 
 Kicketan by the fort. 
 
 The 18th, the whole fleet weighed anchor and got under 
 sail. The 1st of May, we sounded in eighty fathoms, sandy- 
 bottom, upon the bank which stretches across on the west of 
 Ireland. It began to grow calm. The 2d of May we ob- 
 tained sight of England and fourteen English Parliament 
 ships met us. Our eleven prepared to fight them, supposing 
 them to be the King's shijis ; but on coming up to them, 
 found them to be friends ; and all sailed on quietly together. 
 Ran along the English coast, and arrived the last of May in 
 the Downs, where I tarried eight or ten days, and heard the 
 shots which were fired before Greveling, which the King of 
 France had besieged. The 15th of June, I left the Downs 
 for the Mase, and reached Goree on the morning of the 16th, 
 ■where I hired a wagon to take me to Brie], and on the morn- 
 ing of the I7th, I arrived at Rotterdam, where I stopped a 
 day or two, and on the 21st of June, in the year 1644, by 
 the mercy of Almighty God, arrived here within my pater- 
 nal city of Hoorn, where I have an ancestry of two hundred 
 years on the father's side, and at Amsterdam on my mother's 
 side, and came to my house at three o'clock, for which our 
 God must be eternally praised, that he should have brought 
 me again to my Fatherland, after such long and tedious voy- 
 ages, and through so many perils of savage heathens. 
 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. HI 
 
jNT T E A . See page 118. 
 
 TnK Long Islnnd Sachem, in reproaching the Dutch, at Rocka'n-.ay, for their 
 ingratitude towards his nation, who had given tliem provi:<ions when they first 
 came upon the coast, and had permitted them to pass the winter among them, 
 with their goods to trade, while tlieir ships returned to Holland, indirectly throws 
 light upon a question which is of some historical importance, — that relating 
 to tlie first European Settlement in the territory of New York. These transac- 
 tions had happened within the lifetime of the speaker, and under his o^vn eyes. 
 The statement was not contradicted by those to whom it was addressed, and who 
 must, in defence of their national character, have repelled it, if false ; and it 
 therefore may bo taken as strictly true. 
 
 Historians of our State, both in and out of it, have sought to give an earlier 
 date to the building of houses on Manhattan Island than any authentic evidence 
 which we have seen will justify, fixing it asearl^-as 1G13. The author of this pre- 
 tension, flattering now perhaps to local pride, — ever anxious to establish an early 
 origin for the State, — but then intended for a fraudulent piu-pose, wasjthe ^s-riter 
 of " The Description of the Province of New Albion." * Ho asserts that Sir 
 Samuel Argall, on his return from his expedition to Nova Scotia, lauded at that 
 time on Maidiattan Island, wliere he found four houses. But this a.vertion is a 
 part only of a gross fabrication, contrived by the writer of it, in order to aid a 
 title under the British Crown, as will presently he shown Contemporaneous 
 authorities enable us to sta^, almost with certainty, when and under what cir- 
 cumstances the settlement took place, and to tliem we will first direct attention. 
 
 Hudson made his discovery in 1(>09, but remained oidy a month in the river. 
 The fir.-t voyage after bis was made by Ilcndrick Christiacnsen (wlio had passed 
 along the coast in a previous voyage to the West Indies, but did not venture in 
 the river) and Adrian Block, who chartered a ship, commanded by Skipper 
 Kyser, on their joint private account, and visited Hudson river, returning to 
 Holland with two Indian youths. The period of their visit is not stated by 
 AVassenaar, who is the principal authority for this voyage ; t but he expressly 
 states th;it this was the first voyage, and places it before Chriiitiaensen's connec- 
 tion with the Company, organized under the general autlmrity or grant of the 
 States-(ieneral of the 27tb March, 1(J14; for he s.ays that Cliristiacnsen, after 
 he diss<^ilvcd bis connection with Block, made ten voyages by virtue of that grant, 
 and the special grant made on 11th of October, l(il-t, in pursuance of the 
 general one, sets forth that Block and Christiacnsen had been on discovery to 
 New Netherland, in command of separate ships, owned by certain private mer- 
 chants of Amsterdam and Hoorn, therein named, in th:it year, under the encourage- 
 ment of the CJeneral Octroy. So that the partner>hip nf Block and C'hristiaen- 
 sen must luive been dissolved before then, and allowing tfmc for their n-turn on 
 their own joint voyage, previous to the 27tb March, 1CI4, when the General 
 Octroy was passed, we may fix the time of that voyage in 1G13, or one of the 
 other three years succeeding Hudson's discovery ; but in which year in particu- 
 
 • Triiitcd In Lon.lon In ICl^ nn<l reprinted by Mr. Force, AVasblngton, 1S37. 
 t UbtorbcU Vt:rba<.L tiub uuuo 1C:!4. 
 
NOTE. 131 
 
 lar, ■R-e have no fiirtlier means of determining, than that De Laet, and after him 
 Stuyvesant (probably on the authority of De Laet), in his letter of the 20th of 
 April, 16(!0, to the General Court of Massachusetts, say it was in 1610. In which- 
 ever year it was, there is no further account of their doings than as here given, 
 which by no means countenance the supposition that they built any habita- 
 tions. It is true that the West India Company, in a memorial to the Slates 
 General, in lG34r, state that one or two forts were built in New Netherland be- 
 fore 1614, but where they do not say; and it is to be observed that they speak 
 loosely of a fort or forts, which were built by another Company than their own, 
 and are contradicted by earlier atithority. 
 
 The second voyage after Hiidson's was that of an expedition sent out by the 
 Association formed under the Octroy of March, 161-1, by the merchants of 
 Amsterdam and Hoorn, before referred to. It is expressly stated that this voyage 
 was undertaken under the pledges of this Octroy ; * consequently, it was after the 
 27th March, 161-1. There were five ships, among which were the Tiger and. the 
 Fortune, under the command, respectively, of Block and Christiaensen, as before 
 stated. It returned, as Jairly may be assumed, witliin fourteen days previous to 
 the granting of the special Octroy of the 11th of October, 1614, inasmuch as 
 the Octroy of March required a report to be made within that period after the 
 return from the voyage, to entitle the discoverers to exclusive privileges ; and 
 the Resolution of the States-General granting those privileges, states the fact 
 that a deputation of these merchants was present to make their report on 
 that day, the 11th of October. It occupied them, therefore, a term of about six 
 months, to sail to and get returns from iS^ew Netherland. 
 
 The first buildings in New Netherland, of which the Dutch writers make 
 mention, were forts, constructed for defence, and occupied as trading posts and 
 habitations. The first one was built in 1614-15, at Castle Island in the North 
 river, near Albany, De Laet says in one place it was 1614, and in another 1 615. 
 It was probably constructed as soon after the grant of the exclusive pri^•ileges 
 was made to the Private Company as they could send back and have it done, 
 and therefore after October 11th, 1614; or if not then, at all events after the 
 first Octroy of March in that year. No mention is made by him, however, of 
 any fort thus early on j\Iauhattan Island. 
 
 Do Laet also informs us that Block's ship (the Tiger) was accidentally burnt 
 in 1614, and that he constructed here a yacht, with which he explored Long 
 Island Sound, and that while near Cape Cod, he fell in with Christiaensen, and 
 leaving the yacht, returned with him to Holland. The Company, in a memo- 
 rial to the States-General on the 18th of August, 1616, as recited in their re- 
 solution of that date, state that the yacht was built on its account ; confirmino- 
 the statement of De Laet that the yacht was built as late as the summer of 
 1614. This yacht, 'which was called the Onrust, or Uestless, was left here in com- 
 mand of Cornells Hendricksen, who afterwards returned to Holland, and made 
 a re|iort of his discoveries iu what is called the second voyage of the Com- 
 pany. Hendricksen's report was presented to the States-General on the 18th Au- 
 gust, 1616, doubtless unmediately on his arrival home.f He was thus two win- 
 ters in New Netherland, those of 1614-15 and 1615-16. The Company continued 
 to have voyages made hither until the expiration of their privileges on the first 
 of January, 1618, when the trade was thrown open, and continued so until the 
 estabhshment of the West India Company and settlement by it in 1621-3. De 
 Vries, in the passage now under consideration, reports the Indians as stating 
 that the Dutch wintered here for the purpose of disposing of their goods. :j: It 
 is quite certain that Hendricksen was left in charge of them, and made his dis- 
 coveries in disposing of some of them ; for De Laet informs us that the yacht 
 built by Block, was left here for the purpose of trading fm-ther, — " ende liet dejacht 
 
 * Seethe Resolutions of the States-General in Holl. Doc. I. 39. 
 
 + IIolI. Doc. I. 53, et seq. 
 
 X De Laet, in Novus Orbis, Rooli III. c. 7, also speaks of their wintering here. Ths 
 statement in the Breeden Radt, that it took them two winters to build the yacht is prepos- 
 terous, as well as in direct contradiction to De Laet. 
 
132 NOTE. 
 
 daer op de custe om vorder ie handd'tt. It docs not appear, if they erected tempo- 
 rary huts to live in, while building the yacht, or in which to store their poods, 
 where they -were put up, and from the claim bcinn; set furth hy a Long Inland 
 chief, of aid hy liis people during the period, it is quite as prohable that they were 
 erected on Long Island, or elsewhere than on Manhattan Island, as on that Island. 
 After the expiration of the three years of exclusive privilege to the company 
 of merchants, voyages continued to he made to the Hudson river on private 
 account until the establishment of the West India Company, for the purposes of 
 trade, to the post at Castle Island. * The first vessels sent out by that Company 
 went np the river with some colonists, who built Fort Orange above the Fort of Castle 
 Island, in 1G23. In one of these ships, called the New Xetherlnnd, were a num- 
 ber of families of Walloons, some of whom, according to tradition, settled on 
 Long Island, at the Bay, from them called the A\'aaleboght ; but whether at this 
 time or not, is quite uncertain. Wassenaar states that the colony on Manhattan 
 Island was planted, and Fort Amsterdam commenced to be built on it in lG2.'j-G, 
 which is the earliest period which we have seen mentioned of any settlement on 
 that island, by any reliable authority ; and it is to be remarked that the same 
 annalist, in speaking of the supplies sent out by the West India Company in the 
 year 1G25, says that they Mere sent to the colony near the Maykans (Mohicans) 
 on the river Mauritius, or, in other words, to Fort Orange ; and is entirely silent 
 as to any other colony already established on that river. 
 
 Such, succinctly, is the history of the progress of the Dutch, as given by 
 themselves, in the territory of the State of New York, until the first settlement 
 on Manhattan Island. It is entirely silent as to the alleged building of houses 
 in 1G13 on that island, and is strong negative testimonj' against the statement. 
 There is, besides, a circumstance derived from another source, corroborative of 
 the view here presented of the point under examination, also of a negative char- 
 acter, but equally strong. It is the visit of Captain Thomas Dermer to New York 
 Bay in 1G19. This person had been despatched by the Plymonth Company in 
 England, with a ship, to the coast of New England. Leaving his ship at Mon- 
 hegaii, on the coast of Maine, he set out on the 19th of Jlay in that year, in a 
 small pinnace, to explore the coast to the south, for the purpose of discovering a 
 passage to the South Sea ; and, " in my way," says he, " I discovered land thirty 
 leagues in length, heretofore taken for mayne, where I feared I had been em- 
 bayed, but by the help of an Indian I got to sea again, tlu-ough many crooked and 
 straight passages. * * * * Once the savages had great advantage of us in a 
 streight not above a boweshot, and where a multitude of Indians let lly at us from 
 the banke ; but it pleased God to make ns viotours ; neere unto this we fumd a 
 most dangerous catwTact amongst small rockie islands, occasioned by two uneqaul 
 tydes, the one ebbing and flowing two hours before the other : here we lost an 
 anchor by the strength of the current, but found it decpe enough ; from hence 
 were wee carried in a short space by the tyde's swiftness into a great Bay (to us 
 so appearing), but indeed is broken land, which gave us light of the sea; here, 
 as I said, the laud trendeth southerly. In this place I talked with many salvages, 
 who told me of two sundry passages to the great sea on the west ; offered me 
 pilots, and one of them drew mee a plot with chalke upon a chest, whereby I 
 found it a great inland parted the two seas ; they report the one scarce passable 
 for shoalds, perilous currents, the other no questions to be made of. Having re- 
 ceived these directions, I hastened to the place of greatest hope, where I pur- 
 posed to make triall of God's goodnesse towards us. and use my best endeavour 
 to bring the truth to light, but wee were only shewed the entrance wherein seek- 
 ing to passe, wee were forced backe with contrary and overblowing windes, 
 hardly escaping both our lives. Being thus overcharged with weather, I stood 
 alongst the coast, &c." f Here we have his passage through Long Island Sound, 
 
 * HoU. Doc. I. 91. Dcrmcr, in Goreca' Uricf Narrntion, 11 and 30, 31. De I. net, in 
 Kiiniwi- WeifUlt, 93. Wusscnaar, eub anno lO'Jli. Letter of Sir Dudley Carlton in Lon. 
 Coc. 1.9. 
 
 t rurchai", IV. 1778-9. This letter of Dormer was dated at Captain Mnrtyn's plantation 
 in Vircinia, 27 Dec., 1619, and was publiHheil by I'urchas in hrJG. In the libovo extracts, 
 be furoiehcs a rc-uiaikably accurate Ucscriiition ot our rivrre and baya. 
 
NOTE. 133 
 
 Hellgate, and the East river, to New York Bay, broken with islands, and through 
 the Bay and Narrows to the ocean. The two passages, which he supposed the 
 Indians meant, to a western sea, were the Hudson and Earitan rivers, and the 
 one of them of greatest hope, which he attempted to ascend,^ was the Hudson. 
 The savages were of the tribes who held the conference with De Vries, and 
 knew wheriier there were any Dutch on Manhattan Island ; yet Dermer saw no 
 buildings, or other indications of a settlement on the island, though he coasted 
 along it^on both rivers, and heard of none from the Indians. This we may con- 
 clusively infer from his silence ; because in an account of his return voyage from 
 Virginia to Monhegan, he does not omit to mention his meeting with certain 
 Hollanders who had a trade in Hudson's river,— a circumstance of far less im- 
 portance than the fact of an actual settlement there. The Hollanders whom he 
 met were undoubtedly those in the ship commanded by Comelis Jacobsen May, 
 which was in the Chesapeake, in 1G20.* May was one of the five shipmasters 
 sent out by the Private Company in 1614, and appears to have continued making 
 voyages to New Netherland until 162-i, when he was appointed the first Governor 
 of New Netherland under the West India Company, resident at Fort Orange. 
 Dermer does not state where he met tlie Hollanders, but probably in the Chesa- 
 peake.t It was the information communicated by him to the Plymouth Com- 
 pany of the Dutch trade in Hudson's river, thus accidentally learnt from May, 
 that led to the inquiries on the subject by the British government, through its 
 mmister at the Hague, Sir Dudley Carlton, hereafter referred to._ Dermer, 
 therefore, would not have omitted to state the important fact of tliere being houses 
 on Manhattan Island, if there had been any when he sailed by it. 
 
 Independently of the statement of the author of the description of New Al- 
 bion, it is clear not only that no evidence exists to show a settlement as early as 
 1613, but that we have most satisfactory proof of the contrary. As before inti- 
 mated, however, his statement on this point is part and parcel of a story intended 
 to show the title of the English to the tenitory by right of early conquest. We 
 propose, therefore, to examine this pretension particularly, and to demonstrate 
 its utter falsity. His accomit is in these words : — 
 
 " The Virginia being granted settled, and all that part now called Maryland, 
 New Albion, and New Scotland, being part of Virginia, Sir Thomas Dale and 
 Sir Samuel Argall, captains and counsellors of Virginia, hearing of divers aliens 
 and intruders "and traders without license, with a vessell and forty soldiers, 
 landed at a place called Mount Desert in Nova Scotia, ncer S. John's river or 
 Twede, possest by the French, there killed some French, took away their guns, 
 and dismantled the fort, and in their return, landed at Manhatas Isle in Hudson's 
 river, lehere they found four hou.'ies built, and a pretended Dutch Govemour, tinder 
 the West India Company of Amsterdam, share or part ; who kept trading-boats, and 
 trucking with the Indians ; but the said knights told hhti their commission rcas to 
 expell him and all alien intruders on his Majestie's dominion and territories, this 
 being part of Virginia, and this river an English discovery of Hudson, an Eng- 
 lishman—the Dutchman contented them for their charge and voiage, and hy 
 his letters sent to Virginia and recorded, submitted himself, company and planta- 
 tion to his Majesty and to the governour and government of Virginia ; but the 
 next pretended Dutch governour, in maps and printed cards, calling this part 
 New Netherland, failing in paying of customes at his return to Plymouth in 
 England, was there with his Bever goods and person attached to hisdamage of 
 1500^. ; whereupon, at the suit of the Governour and Councell of Virginia, his 
 now Majesty, by his embassadour in Holland, complaining of the said aliens 
 intrusion on such his territories and dominions, the said Lords, the States of 
 Holland, by their publique instrument declared. That they did not avow, nor 
 would protect them, being a private party of the Amsterdam West India Com- 
 pany, but left them to his Majestie's will and mercy.":]^ 
 
 * De Laet in Nieuwe WereUit, 39. t Gorges' Brief Narration, 11. 
 % Force's reprint, 18. 
 
134 KOTE. 
 
 Tl)er2 are some circnmstances which, at the outset, are calculated to throw 
 discredit upon this statement. I. It does not purport to be founded on any per- 
 sonal knowledge or documentary or other evidence ; but it is a naked assertion, not 
 contemporaneous, made thirty-four years after tlie transactions are alleged to 
 have taken place. II. The author, who styles himself lieauehamp Plautagenet, 
 and who is otherwise an unknown person in the colonization of America, if not 
 a fictitious one, put forth the story for the purpose of establishing title in him- 
 self. As, therefore, he states as facts, matters which were not notorious or es- 
 tablished already in the known history of the time, we may reasonably refuse to 
 admit their truth. III. It is not mentioned or alluded to by those contemporane- 
 ofts writers, v.-ho not only possessed every means of knowledge on the subject, 
 hut were the historians of Argall's expedition. Thus, Ralph Ilamor, who was 
 in Virginia when Argall returned, and who gives a distinct account of Virginian 
 affair.--, and mentions the expedition ;* Purchas, who discusses the rights of the 
 English in this country, and furnishes an account of Argall's attack upon Fort 
 Eoyal ;t ])e Laet, who also relates the expedition against the French ;t Gorges, 
 who sustains the right of the English and his own grant of a part of new Xeth- 
 erland, and mentions the complaint to the Dutch government, made by the 
 English tlirough Sir Dudley Carlton in 1G21; are all silent as to any visit by 
 Argall to Manhattan. Governor Bradford, of Plymouth colony, offers this nega- 
 tive testimony in a peculiarly striking and satisfactory manner. In reply to a 
 letter from the Dutch authorities in Is'ew Xetherland. proposing to send a deputy 
 to coni'er with the Plymouth colonists, he cautions them of the danger wliich 
 might befall the messenger on his passage, adding this remark (dated Ply- 
 mouth, August H, 1627), "If you light either in the hands of those in ]'irfflnia, 
 or the Ji.'!hln^-shi2)S vhich come to New Enghnd. peradvcnture they will make prize 
 of you, if tliey can. iitheij find you trading uilhin those limits, as tiny surjjyised a 
 colony of the Fi-ench not mony years since, vhich vas seated icithin tliose bound s."§ 
 The governor, writing as he was to the Dutch, would have illustrated the danger 
 of their falling into tlie hands of Pirates, not only by Argall's attack upon the 
 French, but most appropriately by tluit upon the identical colony he was address- 
 ing, if any such had taken place ; of which he must have known as well as the 
 Other, \\ith him, we have five original and reliable authorities — contempora- 
 ries of Argall — writing of the events in the colony of Virginia, under different 
 circumstances, for different objects, and without concert or reliance on each 
 other, — one present with Argall himself in Virginia, another in England, col- 
 lecting every thing, whether documentary or oral, in reference to this country — 
 a third, a director of the Dutcli West India Company, writing in Holland a his- 
 tory which is conceded to be the most authentic and full, as regards facts rela- 
 ting to North America, then written, — a fourth, interested as a grantee from the 
 crown of l-^ngland of a part of New Netherland, in producing every fact bearing 
 upon the right of the English, who disputes the right of the Dutch, and there- 
 fore would not omit so strong a circumstance against it as their subjection by 
 Argall, — and the fifth, in the adjoining colony in New England, who speaks of 
 the jealousy of the Dutcli on the part of his own countrymen — uiutedly silent, 
 when each and all of tliem must and would have mentioned tlie affair, if it had 
 ever happened. Against this extraordinary omission of authentic writers, we 
 have the unsupported assertion of a pamphleteer many years after the event, 
 •writing for the purpose of aiding a land speculation, fninded on a title which 
 •was sought to bo upheld by another fraud — that of a pretended grant irom the 
 King of England. II 
 
 It is true that f^amuel Smith, Chalmers, Ebeling, Belknap, Holmes, and Ban- 
 croft, credit the story, hut they rely upon Plantagenet and Stith as their author- 
 
 • Trnc Discourse of tlio present Estitc of Virginia, 35-37. 
 t IML'rimes I\'. ISnT. ami nmrgiu. 
 J Ni.uwc WercldU 71-9. 
 §8. Mass. IlisL Coll. &3. 
 
 i^f e Note to tlie irunslation of tlie Vcitoogh Van Niou NeJcrlnnd, in N. Y. Ilist. Coll. 
 2d sericB, vol. U. l"23. 
 
NOTE. 135 
 
 ties. Heylin and De Britaine, ■^Titing subsequently to Plantagenet in tlie 
 same century, give no autliority, but evidently borrow from him. The accurate 
 Prince, it may be remarked, does not give it any credit. Stith says that Cap- 
 tain Argall, in his return from Port Royal, visited the Dutch settlement on Hud- 
 son's river, demanded possession, and the Dutch governor submitted both himself 
 and colony to the King of England, and to the Governor of Virginia under him. 
 He gives no authority for this statement, but it is evident from his repeating 
 the error as to the Dutch governor, presently to be referred to, that it is taken 
 from Plantagenet. He does, indeed, say m. the next paragraph, that we are 
 indebted to Ralph Hamor for this ]iart of the history of Virginia; but if he in- 
 tended to give Hamor as authority for this statement, it is untrue. Hamor says 
 nothing of a visit to Manhattan ; though, as before observed, he speaks of Ar- 
 gall's voyage to Port Royal, and of his supplanting the French there. Hamor, 
 it may also be observed, in addition to what is said above, appears, in his book, 
 as the eulogist of Argall, whom he accompanied on his return to Virginia as 
 governor, in 1617. He would have been the last one to omit so signal an ex- 
 ploit of his patron, as this was claimed to be, if it had ever happened. But be 
 this as it may, he affords no testimony on the subject for the statement of Stith. 
 There is, therefore, no authority for the statement, except Plantagenet. 
 
 But, passing by these circumstances of discredit, let us look at the story as it 
 is told. The writer asserts that Argall found at Manhattan four houses built, 
 and a Dutch governor under the West India Company. Now, the time of Ar- 
 gall's return to Virginia, from his expedition, can be fixed precisely. Cham- 
 plain says that he left Port Royal on the 9th of November, 1613,* so that he 
 must have reached Virginia before the termination of that year. He found then, 
 according to this story, four houses and a Dutch governor in command at ]\Ian- 
 hattan, several months before the first grant of the States General to their sub- 
 jects, which was passed, as we have seen, on the 27th of Mai'ch, 161-1, and 
 nearly a year before the charter of Special Privileges, by which alone the Pri- 
 vate Company acquired its right to make any trading establishment. It is of 
 course idle to controvert the statement that the governor was under the West 
 India Company, established, as it was, eight years after the pretended event ; 
 but, supposing the writer to have meant a governor under the Private Com- 
 pany, it is quite as evident that there could have been none at the time assigned 
 for the submission of that functionary, namely, on the return of Argall from 
 Nova Scotia. The writer says further, that the governor submitted in writing 
 to the English, in a letter recorded in Virginia. No such letter has ever been 
 found or mentioned by any chronicler of the events in the histoiy of Virginia, or 
 other writer, as it would have been if it had been made a record. Stith, who 
 had the means of kno-s\nng of its existence, and who was indefatigable in the de- 
 tails of the history of Virginia, rejects it as untme, inasmuch as he does not 
 repeat this part of the account, while he admits the rest of it. Thus material 
 portions of the relation are sho\\Ti to be utterly false, discrediting by every rule 
 of argument the whole of it. Another misstatement, not so material, but show- 
 ing the general inaccuracy of Plantagenet, is, that Sir Thomas Dale accompa- 
 nied Argall to Nova Scotia. This was not so ; but as Purchas has it, in the 
 margin before cited, " Sir Thomas Dale was Governor, and sent him," (ArgaU.) 
 We must, moreover, summon Ai-gall himself to bear testimony against this 
 claim. In 1G21, eight years after the alleged transaction, Argall, who was one 
 of the associates in the Company with Gorges, IMason, and others, iiuited vidth 
 them in a»remonstrance to King James, complaining that the Dutch had v>ithin 
 the past year possessed themselves of the country, and were about sending ships 
 there again ; but he says nothing of the former posses.sion of the Dutch, and their 
 submission to himself, which, as affording the strongest argument for the inter- 
 ference of the government, he would have done, if it had been true. An order 
 of Council i-eciting this remonstrance Avas made, directing Sir Dudley Carlton, 
 
 * Champlain's Voyages. Book III. c. i. Ed. of 1830. 
 
iS6 KOTE. 
 
 the minister at tLe Ilagrue, to present the matter to the States General, ana to 
 have the plantation stayed.* Carlton made inquiries, and answered, under date 
 of 5th Feb. 1G27, as follows : — " T could find no more in the matter, but that about 
 four or five years since, two particular companies of Amsterdam merchants began 
 to trade into those parts betwixt forty and forty-five degrees, to which, after their 
 manner, they gave their own name of New Netherland, a South and a North 
 Sea, a Texel, a "\nieland, and the like, where they have ever since continued to 
 send ships of thirty and forty lasts at the most, to fetch furs, which is all their 
 trade ; for the providing of which they have certain factors there, continually 
 resident, trading with savages, but I cannot learn of any colony either already 
 planted there by these people, or so much as intended."! This m\ist be taken 
 as a part of Argall's own testimony — that is, furnished by him. It corroborates 
 the facts before stated, from other sources, in relation to the date of the first 
 Compnnie£ trading to New Netherland, and negatives the alleged donquest of 
 Argall. 
 
 In conclusion, we have the evidence of Captain John Mason, who was one of 
 Argall's associates, and who gives a history of the Dutch encroachments in a let- 
 ter addressed to Sir John Coke. That letter is also important, as it was un- 
 doubtedly the source from which Plantagenet derived the facts from which he 
 fabricated the story in question. It is too long to be given here entire, but an 
 extract will explain the points under consideration. It is dated April 2, 1632, 
 and states: "In the year of Our Lord God, 1G21, or thereabouts, certain Hol- 
 landers were iipon the coast of New England, trading witli the Indians, between 
 Cape Cod and the Bay de la "Warrc. * * The said Hollanders as interlopers 
 fvll into the middle, betwixt the said plantations (Virginia and New England}, 
 and at their return published a map in the Low Countries of the said seacoast, 
 nnder the title of New Netherlands, giving the name of the Prince of Orange to 
 the country and river of Manahata, and giving other Dutch names to other 
 places as far as Cape Cod. And Sir Samuel Argall, Knt., with many English 
 planters, were preparing to go and sit down in Ms lot of land upon the said Man- 
 ahata river, at the same time when the Dutch intruded, which caused a demur 
 in their proceeding, until King James, upon complaint of my Lord Arundel, with 
 Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Knt., and the said Sir Samuel Argall (formerly Gover- 
 nor of Virginia), and Captain John Mason, of the said Dutch intruders, Anno 
 1G21, had, by his Majesty's order, a letter to the Lord of Dorchester, their Am- 
 bassador at the Hague, questioned the States of the Low Countries for that mat- 
 ter, which the Lords the States by anm-er of their ambassador. Sir Noel Carron, 
 did ditclaim, disavowing any such act."\ Sir Samuel Argall's lot was a grant by 
 the PljTUouth Company, within whose bounds Manhattan was situated. Taking 
 Argall's attack upoji Nova Scotia and his subsequent interest in Manhattan nnder 
 this grant, together with the disclaimer of the Dutch government, it is easy to 
 perceive the materials out of which the statement of his subjugation of the Dutch 
 was manufactured; while we have irrefragable proof in the acts of Argall and 
 his associates, and of the British govenmient in not claiming the right which the 
 conquest by Argall would have conferred, at the time when its assertion was im- 
 portant, and the evidence of it was within themselves, of the entire falsehood of 
 the story. 
 
 ♦ See the Dcsnntcli of the Lords Privy Council in O'Callagbnn, I. 9C. 
 + LoikI. Doc. I. 9. The original letter of Carliou Is in the possession of the writer of thi 
 note. 
 
 * Lond. Doe. I. 20. O'Callaghan. I. 415. • 
 
II. 
 
 A SHORT SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MOHAWK IKDIANS IN NEW :N'ETHEELAND, 
 
 THEIR LAND, STATURE, DRESS, MANNERS, AND MAGISTRATES, * 
 
 WRITTEN m THE YEAR 1644, 
 JOHAIfNES MEGAPOLENSIS, Junioe. 
 
 MINISTER THERE. 
 
 KEVISED FROJr THE TRANSLATION IN HAZAEd's HISTOEICAL COLLECTIONS, 
 WITH AN INTEODUCTION AND NOTES, 
 
 BY JOHN ROMEYN BRODHEAD. 
 
INTEODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 The Reverend Johannes Megapolensis, Junior, the author 
 of the following tract, was a son of the Reverend Johannes Megapo- 
 lensis, Minister of the Church at Coedyck, in Holland, and was born 
 in 1003. He married his cousin Machteld Willemsen, by whom he 
 had four children, Hillegond, Dirck, Jan, and Samuel. Having studied 
 divinity, he became the minister of the Congregation of Sclioorl and 
 Bei-g, under the Classis of Alkmaar, in North Holland, where he 
 remained until the spring of the year 1642. 
 
 At that period, there was only one minister, the Reverend Eve- 
 rardus Rogardus, settled in New Netherland, and his services were 
 limited to Manhattan and its neighborhood. The want of a clergy- 
 man at Beverwyck (now Albany), in the Colonie of Rensselaerswyck, 
 having been felt for some time, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, the patroon 
 of that Colonie, made an agreement with Domine IMegapolensis, on 
 the Cth of March 1642, to send him thither "for the edifying im- 
 provement of the inhabitants and Indians." The Patroon bound him- 
 self to convey the Domine and his family to New Netheiland free of 
 expense, and give him an outfit of three hundred guilders, provide 
 him with a proper residence after his arrival, and assure him, for his 
 first three years' ser\dce, an annual salary of one thousand guilders, 
 besides thirty schepels of wheat and two firkins of butter, with the 
 promise of an addition of two hundred guilders a year for the suc- 
 ceeding three years, "should the Patroon be satisfied with his service." 
 On the other hand, Megapolensis agreed to " befriend and serve the 
 Patroon in all things wherein he can do so without interfering with, 
 or impeding his duties." As the Classis of Amsterdam was the 
 ecclesiastical superior of all the Dutch Colonial Clei-gy, it was neces- 
 sary to obtain its assent to this arrangement, and the Domine accord- 
 ingly appeared before a committee of that body on the 18th of March, 
 
140 INTKODUCTORY NOTE, 
 
 and explained his views in wishing to settle himself in New Nether- 
 land. On the 22d of March the Classis attested a formal call for 
 Megapolensis to preach the gospel and govern the church at Rens- 
 'selaerwyck, "in conformity Avith the government, confession, and 
 catechism of the Netherland Churches, and the Synodal acts of 
 Dordrecht." This call, after some delay, having been approved by 
 the Amsterdam Chamber of the West India Company, on the Gth of 
 June, Domine Megapolensis set sail with his family from Holland, 
 and, after a prosperous voyage, arrived at Beverwyck on the 11th of 
 August, 1G42. 
 
 A parsonage house was immediately allotted to the Domine, and 
 preparations made for the building of a church, which was finished 
 the next year, and was, besides that at Manhattan, the only one in 
 New Netherland. The influence of Megapolensis soon 2:)roduced 
 salutary effects at Rensselaerwyck. The colonists revered and es- 
 teemed their faithful jnonitor, who executed the duties of his holy 
 ofiice very acceptably ; and the counsels of the Domine Avere always 
 received with respect by the Commissary and officers of the Colonie 
 and of the Province. 
 
 Nor were the pious services of Megapolensis confined to his own 
 countrymen. A part of his duty was to "edify and improve" the 
 savages in the neighborhood. He therefore applied himself diligently 
 to the task of learning what he termed the " heavy language " of the 
 Mohawks, so as to be able to speak and preach to them fluently. 
 The Red men around Fort Orange or Beverwyck were soon attracted 
 to hear the preaching of the gospel ; and Megapolensis, the first 
 Protestant Dutch Clergyman on the northern frontier of New Neth- 
 erland, thus gave, in 1G43, the example of missionary zeal, which, 
 three years afterwards, in 1G4G, was imitated, near Boston, by John 
 Eliot, the " Morning Star" of a similar cnterprize in New England. 
 
 An incident occurred about this time, which should not bo 
 omitted in any notice of Domine Megapolensis. Father Isaac Jogues, 
 a noble-hearted and self-denying Jesuit missionary, while on his way 
 from Quebec to the Chippeways, was taken prisoner by the Mohawks, 
 and suffered horrible cruelties from • the savages. During the winter 
 of 1642-3, however, some of his persecutors began to listen to his 
 teachings, and his situation was so far improved that he was allowed 
 to make occasional visits, with parties of the Mohawks, to the neigh- 
 boring l>ntch at Fort Orange, who did all they could to eft'ect his 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 141 
 
 deliverance. At length. Jogues eluded the vigilance of the savages, 
 and remained for several weeks in close concealment, during which 
 constant kindness was shown him by Domine Megapolensis, who had 
 become bis warm friend. The Jesuit Father was eventually ransomed 
 by the Dutch, and sent down to Manhattan, whence he sailed for 
 Europe. Jogues returned to Canada in 1640, and again visited the 
 Mohawks, by whom he was cruelly put to death. 
 
 In 1644, two years after his settlement at Beverwyck, Domine 
 ^Megapolensis drew up the tract entitled Korte Onhverjo van de Ma- 
 haJcuase Indianen in Nieuw ISfcderlandt, d'c, or, " A Short Sketch 
 of the Mohawk Indians in New Netherland, &c." This little work is 
 said by Van der Donck (I. N. Y. H. S. Coll. [II. Series], p. 158,) to 
 have been in the form of a letter written to his friends in Holland, 
 by whom it appears to have been published — as the Domine himself 
 said — " without his consent." Van der Donck, who is a very compe- 
 tent authority, adds, that it " may be fully credited, he [Megapolensis] 
 being a man of truth and of great learning, who writes in a vigorous 
 style." The Domine's tract gives a very interesting account of the 
 Mohawk Indians, their habits and customs, of which but little was 
 then known in Holland. Public attention in the Fatherland, however, 
 through the representations of Melyn, Van der Donck, and others, 
 was becoming more and more attracted to New Netherland, and in 
 1651, Joost Hartgers, of Amsterdam, published a small quarto pam- 
 phlet, entitled " Beschryvinge van Virginia, Nieuio Nederlandt, 
 Nieuw Englandt, c&c." This little work was evidently compiled 
 from De Laet's History, and Van der Donck's " Vertoogh," which 
 had been printed the year before. Domine Megapolensis's tract was 
 appended to this " Beschryvinge," and it forms the most valuable — 
 certainly the most original — portion of Hartger's pamphlet, the handy 
 shape of which no doubt gave it a large circulation. Though it was 
 not published until 1651, or two years after the "Breeden Raedt " 
 of Cornelis Melyn, this tract is, actually, in point of date of composi- 
 tion, the earliest separate account of a portion of New Netherland, of 
 which we have any knowledge. Hudson's Journal in Purchas, and 
 De Laet's History were published in 1625 ; but, excepting some offi- 
 cial papers respecting the organization of the West India Company, 
 there seems to have been nothing of interest respecting the Dutch 
 Province printed, after those works, for more than twenty years. 
 De Vries, indeed, treats of the leading events of New Netherland 
 
142 INTEODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 between 1G30 and 1643 ; but he did not publish Lis work until 1655, 
 or four years after the appearance of Megapolensis' tract in Ilartger's 
 paraphlet. It will be noticed that De Vries, in describing the Mo- 
 hawk Indians at the time of his visit to Fort Orange in 1640, uses the 
 Domine's letter of 1644, verj- freely. An imperfect translation of it 
 was published in 1792 by Ebenezer Ilazard, in the first volume of his 
 nistorical Collections of State Papers, pages 517-526, which has 
 been frequently referred to by American writers. 
 
 After serving for six years at Beverwyck, Doraine Megapolensis, 
 in 1648, made preparations to return to Ilolland, whither his wife 
 actually went. This purpose he was about to execute the next year ; 
 but through the persuasions of Director Stuyvesant, who represented to 
 him the urgent need of the Church at Manhattan, which, by reason 
 of the retirement of Domhie Backerus, the successor of Bcgardus, was 
 then without a pastor, he gave up his design, and, in August, 1649, 
 was installed as the Minister of the Church of Xew Amsterdam, with 
 a salary of twelve hundred guilders a year. Before he left Bever- 
 wyck, M(>g;ipolensis had written a catechism, for the benefit of those 
 inclined to partake of the Holy Communion. This work he sent by 
 his wife to the West India Directors, by whom it was placed in the 
 hands of tlie Classis of Amsterdam for examination, w'ith a view to 
 its being printed and distributed in Brazil and elsewhere. The 
 Classis, however, preferred to adhere to the Netherlands Catechisna, 
 of which they ordered a quantity to be sent out. 
 
 In the summer of 1650 the wife of Domine Megapolensis re- 
 turned to him, from Holland, accompanied by their son-in-law, the 
 Reverend AVilhelmus Grasmeer, of G^afdyck, in the Classis of Alck- 
 maer.'* Domine Grasmeer immediately went to Beverwyck, and re- 
 mained in charge of the church there until the next year, when he 
 returned to Holland with good testimonials, and endeavored to pro- 
 cure the ai>pointment of assistant minister to his father-in-law, in the 
 church of New Amsterdam. The Classis, however, owing to his 
 being under censure for having left Ilolland without leave, declined 
 his request; and soon afterwards Domine Samuel Drisius, of Le3-den, 
 who having lived some time in London, could preach in Dutch, 
 French and English, was appointed Colleague with Domine Mega- 
 
 * See Correspondence of Classis of Amsterdam. Uillegoud Megapolensis, 
 however, was married, on the 24tb of June, 16 Jt, to Cornelia Van lUiyveu, the 
 Provincial Secretary of New XctLerlauJ. 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 143 
 
 polensis. Drisius arrived at New Amsterdam in the summer of 1652, 
 where he remained for twenty years, a useful and acceptable minister. 
 
 Megapolensis was a very earnest supporter of his own church, 
 and as vehement an 02:)poser of other denominations. In 1654 he 
 took a leading part in organizing a Dutch church at Midwout, or Flat- 
 bush, to which Domine Johannes Theodoras Polhemus was called as 
 minister. Polhemus also preached at Breuckelen and Amersfoort, or 
 Flatlands, alternately, on Sunday afternoons, until 1660, when 
 Domine Ilenricus Selyns arrived from Holland, and took the Breuck- 
 elen charge. The Lutherans, who wished to establish a church of their 
 own, met, however, with little favor from Megapolensis and his col- 
 league, through whose influence several measures of restraint, savorino- 
 too much of bigotry, were adopted and enforced by the colonial au- 
 thorities of New Netherland. Unauthorized " conventicles " as they 
 were called, were forbidden, and for a time a species of religious intol- 
 erance disgraced the province. Before many years, however, better 
 counsels prevailed, and Lutherans, Quakers, and other sects not of the 
 established church, enjoyed greater freedom. 
 
 In 1655, Domine Megapolensis accompanied Director Stuyvesant 
 in his expedition against the Swedes on the South or Delaware Kiver, 
 where he preached a thanksgiving sermon to the troops, on the sur- 
 render of Fort Casimir. The Domine thought the terms granted 
 the Swedes too easy, among other reasons, because a Lutheran min- 
 ister was allowed to remain in the exercise of his sacred functions 
 there, though the Dutch had none of their own to take his place. 
 
 ]\Iegapolensis never lost his interest in the Mohawk savages, 
 among whom he had spent his early years in the province. His 
 letters to the Classis of Amsterdam contain several interesting details 
 concerning them, from Avhom he obtained the missal and other me- 
 morials of his murdered friend, the missionary Father Jogues. In 
 1658, another Canadian Jesuit, Simon LeMoyne, who, in the summer 
 of 1654, had discovered the Salt Springs at Onondaga, visited New 
 Amsterdam, and became quite intimate with Megapolensis. He re- 
 lated to him his discovery at Onondaga, which the Domine commu- 
 nicated to the Classis in Holland, adding, however, a somewhat un- 
 courteous expression of his doubt of the fact. Le Moyne seems to 
 have been very anxious to eflfect the conversion of his Dutch clerical 
 friend to the Romish doctrine, and wrote three polemical essays, 
 which he sent to Megapolensis, after his return to the North. The 
 
144 IXTRODUCTOEY NOTE. 
 
 Domine, however, not sliakcn in his faith, prepared a reply to the 
 Father, which he dispatched to liim by a bark wliich sailed from 
 New Amsterdam for Quebec. But the vessel — which was the first 
 that cleared from Manhattan for Canada — on entering the Saint 
 Lawrence was wrecked on the Island of Anticosti, and Le Moyne lost 
 the benefit of the Domine's elaborate answer. 
 
 In the autumn of the same year, 1G58, Megapolensis sent bis 
 youngest son Samuel, then going into his 25th year, to Ilolland, for 
 the purpose of completing his education at the University of Utrecht, 
 and of being ordained to the ministry. Samuel had studied the 
 Latin and English languages at the " Academy of New England in 
 Cambridge," and carried with him letters of recommendation from 
 his father to the Classis of Amsterdam. After five years stay in Ilol- 
 land, Samuel took his university degrees in tbeolog}- and medicine 
 and was ordained as a minister. In the summer of 16G4 he returned 
 to New Netherland, and took the place of Domine Henricus Selj^ns, 
 who went back to Ilolland. His charge included Breuckelen, the 
 AYaal-bogt, Gowanus, and Stuyvesant's " Bouwery," near New 
 Amsterdam. The young Domine also assisted his fiither and Domine 
 Drisius in the Metropohtan Church. 
 
 Not long afterwards, the Dutch province was obliged to surrender 
 to the English forces, under Colonel Richard Nicolls. This event took 
 place in September 1664. Both the Domines Megapolensis were promi- 
 nent in the transactions which accompanied it ; and, perhaps, it was 
 owing chiefly to their remonstrances thatStuyvesant refrained from ofier- 
 ing an unavailing resistance. The name of Samuel Megapolensis appears 
 as one of the commissioners by whom the articles of capitulation were 
 signed, at the Director's Bouwery, on the sixth day of September, 1664. 
 
 xVfter the surrender, Domine Megapolensis remained in charge of 
 the Dutch Church of New York, assisted by his colleague, Domine 
 Drisius, and his son Samuel. The ministrations of the latter, however, 
 were chiefly in the " adjacent villages," where he seems to have done 
 good service. He also practised as a physician in the cajiital ; but 
 after five years' settlement, he became dissatisfied with the condition of 
 things in New York, resigned his ministerial charge, and returned to 
 Ilolland in the spring of 1669. 
 
 A few months after the departure of his son, Domine Megapolensis 
 died. This event seems to have occurred suddenly, towards the close 
 of 1669, as the Consistory of the Church of Nyw York, on the 24th 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 145 
 
 of January, 1670, announced to tlie Classis of Amsterdam tliat their 
 venerated pastor had heen "snatched away by death." His widow 
 survived him several years. Although he was not the first clergy- 
 man in the Dutch Church in New Netherland, he was the first who 
 continued a settled minister until he died. His predecessors, Bogardus 
 and Backerus, severally resigned their charges in 1647 and 1649. 
 Megapolensis, after seven years' service at Beverwyck, and twenty 
 yeare' labor at Manhattan, died in the discharge of his pastoral func- 
 tions. He was a man of thorough scholarship, energetic character, 
 and devoted piety ; and he is entitled to high, if not preeminent posi- 
 tion, in the roll of early Protestant Missionaries among the North 
 American Savages. For nearly a quarter of a century he exercised a 
 marked influence in the affairs of New Netherland. He saw the in- 
 fancy of the Dutch I Province, watched its growth, and witnessed its 
 surrender to overpowering English force. His name must ever be 
 associated with the early history of New York, towards the ilkistration 
 of which his correspondence with the Classis of Amsterdam, now in 
 the possession of the General Synod of the Reformed Protestant 
 Dutch Church, and this sketch of the Mohawk Indians, form original 
 and very valuable contributions. 
 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. III. 
 
 10 
 
146 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 Names of the Ministers of the Collegiate Reformed Protestant 
 Dutch Church of the City of New York, in the order of their 
 installation, with the dates of their several resignations or deaths 
 from 1G33 to 1855. 
 
 [As a fitting appendix to this notice of Domine Megapolensis, and as a 
 subject of general historical interest, the following list of tlie Ministers of the 
 Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the City of New York, ia 
 the order of their installation, with the dates of their several resignations 
 or deaths, from 1633 to 1855, has been carefully prepared, and is believed 
 to be quite accurate. It may be added, that portraits of all the deceased 
 clergymen of that church, from Domine ^ubois to the present time, are 
 preserved in the Consistory Room, under the Middle Dutch Church, in 
 La Fayette Place.] 
 
 
 Ministers' Namks. 
 
 Installed. 
 
 Eesiicned. 
 
 Died. 
 
 1 
 
 Everardns Bogardns, 
 
 IfW.'i 
 
 lf.47 
 
 1647 
 
 2 
 
 Johannfcs Backerns, .... 
 
 
 1047 
 
 1W9 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 Joliannes Meiiapolensis, . 
 
 
 
 1649 
 
 
 
 1669 
 
 4 
 
 SainufI Drisius 
 
 
 
 lf..V2 
 
 — 
 
 1072 
 
 5 
 
 Sainupl Meirapolcnsis, 
 
 
 
 1CI>4 
 
 1669 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 Willielinus Van Nieuwenhnysen, 
 
 
 
 1C71 
 
 
 
 16SI 
 
 .7 
 
 Ilonriciis Solvns 
 
 
 
 K.s3 
 
 — 
 
 17O0 
 
 8 
 
 Gualterus Dubois, .... 
 
 
 
 lf.i>9 
 
 — 
 
 17.'>1 
 
 9 
 
 Henricus Boel 
 
 
 
 1713 
 
 
 
 1754 
 
 10 
 
 Johannes Kitzema, .... 
 
 
 
 1744 
 
 17S3 
 
 1796 
 
 11 
 
 Laiiibertiis De Uonde, 
 
 
 
 1T."JI 
 
 17S3 
 
 1795 
 
 12 
 
 Arcliibal.l Ladlie, D. U. 
 
 
 
 17G4 
 
 
 
 1773 
 
 13 
 
 John 11. Livin'.'ston, D. D. . 
 
 
 
 ITTO 
 
 ISIO 
 
 1S25 
 
 14 
 
 ■SVllllain Linn. 1). I). . . 
 
 
 
 17S7 
 
 1S05 
 
 1S03 
 
 15 
 
 Gcranlus A. Kuvpors, D. I). . 
 
 
 
 17S9 
 
 
 
 1S.33 
 
 16 
 
 John N. Abuol, I). 1) 
 
 
 
 1795 
 
 
 
 1S12 
 
 17 
 
 John Sehiin-ninn, 1). IX . 
 
 
 
 1^09 
 
 isn 
 
 1913 
 
 13 
 
 Jacb Broillii-ad, I). D. . . . 
 
 
 
 I'^og 
 
 1S13 
 
 1S55 
 
 19 
 
 Philip Milleilolfr, D. D. . 
 
 
 
 1S13 
 
 1S25 
 
 1853 
 
 20 
 
 John Knox, D. I). .... 
 
 
 
 IMC 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 21 
 
 Pnst'lial N. Strong 
 
 
 
 ISlC 
 
 
 
 1S25 
 
 22 
 
 William C. Brownlee. D. D. 
 
 
 
 1«'2G 
 
 
 
 
 
 2:5 
 
 Thomas l)i< Wilt. 1). D. . 
 
 
 
 lv27 
 
 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 Thom.is H Vormilve, I). D. 
 
 
 
 1S39 
 
 
 
 
 
 35 
 
 Talbot W. Chambers, D. D. . 
 
 • 
 
 1*49 
 
 — 
 
 — ; 
 
lioxk (DnttDcrp 
 
 van de Mahakuase Indianen 
 
 in Nieuw Nederlandt, 
 
 haer landt, stature, dracht, manieren, 
 
 en Magistraten ; 
 
 BESCHREVEN IN 'T JAER 1644; 
 
 JOHANNEM MEGAPOLENSEM5 
 
 JUNIOREM, 
 
 ^rcbikant alliacr. 
 
 AMSTERDAM. 
 
 Bij JOOST HARTGERS, 
 
 Bookverkooper op den dam. 
 Anno I6^I. 
 
A SHORT SKETCH 
 
 MOHAWK INDIANS, ETC 
 
 The land here is in general like that in Germany. It 
 is good, and very well provided with all things needful for 
 human life, except clothes, linen, woollen, stockings, shoes, 
 &c., which ^are all dear here. The country is very moun- 
 tainous, some land, some rocks, and so exceeding high 
 that they appear to touch the clouds. Thereon grow the 
 finest fir trees the eye ever saw. There are also in this 
 country oaks, alders, beeches, elms, willows, &c. In the 
 forests, and in the wilderness along the water side, and on 
 the islands, there grows an abundance of chesnuts, plumbs, 
 hazle nuts, large walnuts of several sorts, and of as good 
 a taste as in the Netherlands, but they have a somewhat 
 harder shell. The land on the hills is covered with thickets 
 of bilberries or blueberries ; the ground in the flat land 
 near the rivers is covered with strawberries, which grow 
 here so plentifully in the fields, that we go there and lie 
 down and eat them. Vines also grow here naturally in great 
 abundance along the roads, paths, and creeks, and you 
 find them wherever you turn yourself. I have seen many 
 pieces of land where vine stood by vine and grew very 
 luxuriantly, climbing up above the largest and loftiest trees, 
 and although they were not cultivated, the grapes were as 
 good and sweet as in Holland. Here is also a sort of grapes 
 which grow very large, each grape as big as the end of one's 
 finger, or a middle sized plumb, and because they are some- 
 what filmy and have a thick skin we call them Speck Druy- 
 ven/'' If we would cultivate the vines we might have as good 
 
 * Hog-grapes. 
 
150 A SHORT SKETCH 
 
 wine here as tliey have in G-ermany or France. I had 
 myself last harvest a boat load of grapes and pressed 
 them. As long as the wine was new it tasted better than 
 French or Khenish Must, and the colour of the grape juice 
 here is so high and red that with one wine glass full you 
 can colour a whole pot of white wine. In the forests is 
 great ]ilenty of deer, which in harvest time and autumn 
 are as fat as any Holland deer can be. I have had them 
 with fat more than two fingers thick on the ribs, so that 
 they were nothing else than clear fat, and could hardly be 
 eaten. There are also many turkies, as large as in Holland, 
 but in some years less than in others. The year before I 
 came here, [1641] there were so many turkies and deer 
 that they came to the houses and hog pens to feed, and 
 were taken by the Indians with so little trouble, that a deer 
 was sold to the Dutch for a loaf of bread, or a knife, or 
 even for a tobacco pipe ; but now we commonly give for a 
 large deer six or seven guilders. In the forests here there 
 are also many partridges, heath-hens and pigeons that fly in 
 flocks of thousands, and sometimes 10, 20, 30 and even 40 
 and 50 are killed at one shot. We have here, too, a great 
 number of all kinds of fowl, swans, geese, ducks, wid- 
 geons, teal, brant, which are taken by thousands upon the 
 river in the spring of the year, and again in the autumn fly 
 away in flocks, so that in the morning and evening, any 
 one may stand ready with his gun before his house and 
 shoot them as they fly past. I have also eaten here several 
 times of elks, which were very fat and tasted something like 
 venison ; and besides these profitable beasts we have also in 
 this country lions,* bears, wolves, foxes, and particularly 
 very many snakes, which are large and as long as 8, 10, and 
 12 feet. Among others, there is a sort of snake, which 
 we call rattlesnake, from a certain rattle Avhich is in its tail, 
 two or three fingers breadth long, and has ten or twelve joints, 
 and with this rattle it makes a noise like the crickets. Its 
 colour is variegated like our large spotted dogs. These 
 snakes have very sharp teeth in their mouth, and dare to 
 bite dogs ; they make way for neither man nor beast, but 
 fall on and bite them, and their bite is very poisonous, and 
 commonly even deadly too. 
 
 As to the soil of this country, that on the mountains is 
 
 Panthers, or American Liens. 
 
OF THE MOHAWK INDIANS, ETC. 151 
 
 a reddisli sand or rock, but in the low flat lands, and along 
 the rivers, and even in the sides of the mountains for an 
 hundred or two hundred paces up there is often clay ground. 
 I have been on hills here, as high as a church, to examine 
 the soil, and have found it to be clay. In this ground there 
 appears to be a singular strength and capacity for bearing a 
 crop, for a farmer here * told me that he had clean wheat 
 off one and the same piece of land, eleven years succes- 
 sively without ever breaking it up, or letting it lie fallow. 
 The butter here is clean and yellow as in Holland. Through 
 this land runs an excellent river, about 500 °or 600 paces 
 wide. This river comes out of the Mahakas Country, 
 about four miles f north of us. There it flows between two 
 high rocky banks, and falls from a height equal to that of a 
 Church,! with such a noise that we can sometimes hear it 
 with us. In the beginning of June twelve of us took a ride 
 to see it. When we came there we saw not only the 
 river falling with such a noise thai we could hardly hear one 
 another, but the water boiling and dashing with such force in 
 still weather, that it was all the time as if it were raining ; 
 and the trees on the hills there (which are as high as 
 Schoorler Duyn §) had their leaves all the time wet exactly 
 as if it rained. The water is as clear as crystal, and as 
 fresh as milk. I and another with me saw there, in clear 
 sunshine, when there was not a cloud in the sky, as we 
 stood above upon the rocks, directly opposite where the 
 river falls in the great abyss, the half of a rainbow, or a 
 quarter of a circle, of the same colour with the rainbow 
 in the sky. And when we had gone about ten or twelve 
 rods farther downwards from the fall, along the river, we 
 saw a complete rainbov^?-, or half a circle appearing clearly 
 in the water just the same as*if it had been in the clouds, 
 and this is always to be seen by those who go there. In this 
 river is great plenty of several kinds of flsh, — pike, eels, 
 perch, lampreys, suckers, cat fish, sun fish, shad, bass, &c. 
 In the spring, in May, the perch are so plenty, that one 
 man with a hook and line will catch in one hour as many 
 as ten or twelve can eat. My boys have caught in less than 
 
 * Brandt Peelen, of Utrecht, -who lived on " Brandt Peelen's " or Castle 
 Island, a little below Fort Orange. See De Vries, ante p. 91, and Van der 
 Donck, in I. N. Y. H. S. Coll. (Second Series), page 159. 
 
 t Twelve English miles. J The Cohoes Falls. 
 
 § A " dune,'' or sand hill, on the coast of North Holland, near the village_of 
 Schoorl, where Domine Megapolensis had Uved. 
 
152 A SHORT SKETCH 
 
 an hour fifty, each a foot long. They have a three pronged 
 instrument with which they fish, and draw up frequently 
 two or three perch at once. There is also in the river a 
 great jilenty of sturgeon, which we Christians do not make 
 use of, but the Indians cat them greedily. In this river, 
 toOj are very beautiful islands, containing ten, twenty, thirty, 
 fifty and seventy morgens '""'" of land. The soil is very good, 
 but the worst of it is, that by the melting of the snow, or 
 heavy rains, the river is very likely to overflow and cover 
 that low land. This river ebbs and flows as flir as this 
 place, although it is thirty-six miles f inland from the sea. 
 
 What relates to the climate of this country, and the 
 seasons vf the year, is this, that here the summers are pretty 
 hot, so that for the most of the time we are obliged to go in 
 our bare shirts, and the winters are very cold. The sum- 
 mer continues until All Saints' Pay ; but then begins the 
 winter, in the same manner as it commonly does in Decem- 
 ber, and it freezes so hard in one night that the ice will 
 bear a man. Even the river itself, in still weather and no 
 strong current running, is frozen with a hard crust in one 
 night, so that on the second day we can go over it. And 
 this freezing continues commonly three months ; for 
 although we are situated here in 42 degrees of latitude, yet 
 it always freezes so. But sometimes there come warm and 
 pleasant days. The thaw however docs not continue, but 
 it freezes again until March. Then, commonly, the river 
 first begins to open, but seldom in February. We have the 
 greatest cold from the north west, as in Holland from the 
 North East. The wind here is very seldom East, but almost 
 always h^outh, South West, North West, and North. 
 
 Our shortest winter days have nine hours sun ; in the 
 Summer, our longest days are about fifteen hours. We 
 lie so far west of Holland that I judge you are about font 
 hours before us, so that when it is six o'clock in the morning 
 with us it is ten with you, and when it is noon with us, it 
 is four o'clock in the afternoon with you. 
 
 The inhabitants of this country are of two kinds ; 1st, 
 Christians — certainly so called : 2d, Indians. Of the Chris- 
 tians I shall say nothing ; my design is to speak of the 
 Indians only. These among us are again of two kinds : 1st, 
 
 • A morpen is about two ncros. 
 
 f A Dutch mile is ubout three English miles. 
 
OF THE MOHAWK INDIANS, ETC. 153 
 
 the Mahaldnbas,*" or, as they call themselves, Kajinc/ahaga; 
 2cl, the Mahakans, otherwise called Agotzagena. These two 
 nations have different languages, which have no affinity 
 with each other, as the Dutch and Latin. These people 
 formerly carried on a great war against each other, hut 
 since the Mahakanders were subdued by the Mahakobaas, a 
 peace has subsisted between them, and the conquered are 
 obliged to bring a yearly contribution to the others. We 
 live among both these kinds of Indians ; and, coming to us 
 from their country, or we going to them, they do us every 
 act of friendship. The principal nation of all the savages 
 and Indians hereabouts with which we are connected, are the 
 Mahakuaas, f who have laid all the other Indians near us 
 under contribution. This nation has a very heavy lan- 
 guage, and I find great difficulty in learning it, so as to 
 speak and preach to them' fluently. There is no Christian 
 here who understands the language thoroughly ; those who 
 have lived here long can hold a kind of conversation just 
 sufficient to carry on trade with them, but they do not 
 understand the idiom of the language. I am making a 
 vocabulary of the Mahakuaa language, and when I am 
 among them I ask them how things are called ; but as they 
 are very stupid, I cannot sometimes get an explanation of 
 what I want. Besides what I have just mentioned, one 
 will tell me a word in the infinitive mood, another in the 
 indicative ; one in the first, another in the second person ; 
 one in the present, another in the praeter perfect tense. So 
 I stand oftentimes and look, but do not know how to put it 
 down. And as they have their declensions and conjugations, 
 so they have their augments like the Greeks. Thus I am 
 as if I was distracted, and frequently cannot tell what to do, 
 and there is no person to set me right ; I must do all the 
 studying myself in order to become in time an Indian gram- 
 marian. When I first observed that they pronounced their 
 words so differently, I asked the commissary of the com- 
 pany what it meaned. He answered me that he did not 
 know, but imagined they changed their Language every two 
 or three years ; I told him in reply that it could never be 
 that a whole nation should so generally change their lan- 
 guage ; — and, though he has been connected with them here 
 these twenty years, he canafford me no assistance. 
 
 * The Mohawks. f The Mohawks. 
 
154 A SHORT SKETCH 
 
 The people and Indians here in this country are of 
 much the same stature with us Dutchmen ; some of them 
 have very good features, and their hodies and limbs are 
 well proportioned ; they all have Llack hair and eyes, but 
 their skin is yellow. In sunnner they go naked, having only 
 their private parts covered with a patch. The children and 
 young folks to 10, 12 and 14 years of age go mother naked. 
 In winter, they hang loosely about them an undressed 
 deer's, or bear's, or i)anther's skin ; or they take some 
 Beaver and otter skins, of wild cat's, raccoon's, martin's, 
 otter's, mink's, squirrel's or several kinds of skins, which are 
 plenty in this country, and sew some of them to the othei-s, 
 until it is a square piece, and that is then a garment for 
 them ; or they buy of us Dutchmen two and an half ells of 
 duffels, and that they hang loosely on them, just as it was 
 torn off, without any sewing, and as they go awa}' they look 
 very much at themselves, and think they are very fine. They 
 make themselves stockings and shoes cf deer skin, or they 
 take leaves of their corn, and plat them together and use 
 them for shoes. The women, as well as the men, go naked 
 about the head. The women let their hair grow very long, 
 and tie it to'j:ether a little, and let it hang down their backs. 
 Some of the men wear their hair on one side of the head, 
 and some on both sides, and a long luck of hair hanging 
 down. On the top of their heads they have a streak of hair 
 from the forehead to the neck, about the breadth of three 
 fingers, and this they shorten until it is about two or 
 three fingers long, and it stands right on end like a cock's 
 comb or hog's bristles ; on both sitles of this cock's comb 
 they cut the hair short off, exce})t the aforesaid locks, and 
 they also leave on the bare places here and there small 
 locks, such as are in sweeping-brushes, and then they are 
 very fine. 
 
 They likewise })aint their faces red, blue, &€., and tlicu 
 they look like the devil himself. They smear their heads 
 with bear's-grease, which they all carry with them for this 
 purpose in a small basket ; they say they do it to make 
 their hair grow better and ])revent their having lice. AVhen 
 they travel, they take with them some of their maize, a 
 kettle, a wooden bowl, and a spoon ; these they jjack up 
 and hang on their backs. Whenever they are hungry, they 
 forthwith make a fire and cook ; they can get fire by rub- 
 bing pieces of wood against one another, and that very 
 quickly. 
 
OF THE MOHAWK INDIANS, ETC. 155 
 
 They generally live without marriage ; but if any 
 of them have wives, the marriage continues no longer than 
 they think proper, and then they separate, and each takes 
 another partner. I have seen those who had parted, and 
 afterwards lived a long time with others, seek their former 
 partners, and again be one pair. And, though they have 
 wives, yet they will not leave off going a whoring ; and if 
 they can sleep with another man's wife, they think it a 
 brave thing. The women are exceedingly addicted to 
 whoring ; tliey will lie with a man for the value of one, two, 
 or three schillings, and our Dutchmen run after them very 
 much. 
 
 The women, when they have been delivered, go about 
 immediately afterwards, and be it ever so cold it makes no 
 difference, they wash themselves and the young child in the 
 river or the snow. They will not lie down (for they say 
 that if they did they should soon die), but keep going about. 
 They are obliged to cut wood, to travel three or four miles 
 with their child in a wood ; they go, they stand, they work, 
 as if they had not lain in, and we cannot see that they 
 suffer any injury by it ; and we sometimes try to^ persuade 
 our wives to lay-in so, and that the way of lying-in in Hol- 
 land is a mere fiddle-faddle. The men have great authority 
 over their concubines, so that if they do anything which 
 affronts them and raises their passion, they take an axe and 
 knock them in the head, and there is an end of it. The 
 women are obhged to prepare the land, to mow, to plant, 
 and do everything ; — the men do nothing, except hunting, 
 fishing, and going to war against their enemies. They are 
 very ci'uel towards their enemies in time of war ; for they 
 first bite off the nails of the fingers of their captives, and 
 cut off some joints, and sometimes the whole of the fingers ; 
 after that, the captives are forced to sing and dance before 
 them stark naked ; and finally, they roast their prisoners 
 dead before a slow fire for some days, and then eat them 
 up. The common people eat the arms, buttocks and trunk, 
 but the chiefs eat the head and the heart. 
 
 Our Mahakas carry on great war against the Indians of 
 Canada, on the River Saint Lawrence, and take many cap- 
 tives, and sometimes there are French Christians among 
 them. Last year, our Indians got a great booty from the 
 French on the River Saint Lawrence, and took three French- 
 men, one of whom was a Jesuit.* They killed one, but the 
 
 * This happened on the 4th of August, 1642. The Jesuit Father, whose life 
 
156 A SHORT SKETCH 
 
 Jesuit (whose left thumb was cut off, and all the nails and 
 pieces of his fingers were bitten,) we released, and sent him 
 to France by a yacht which was going to Holland, They 
 spare all the children from ten to twelve years old, and all 
 the women whom they take in war, unless the women are 
 very old, and then they kill them. Though they are so very 
 cruel to their enemies, they are very friendly to us, and we 
 have no dread of them. AVe go with them into the woods ; 
 we meet with each other, sometimes at an hour or two's 
 walk from any houses, and think no more about it than if 
 we met with a Christian. They sleep by us, too, in our 
 chambers before our beds. I have had eight at once who 
 laid and slept upon the floor near my bed, for it is their 
 custom to sleep only on the bare ground, and to have only 
 a stone or a bit of wood under their heads. In the evening, 
 they go to bed very soon after they have supped ; but they 
 rise early in the morning, and are up before day begins to 
 break. They are very slovenly and dirty ; they wash neither 
 their face nor hands, but let all remain upon their yellow 
 skin, and look as dirty as hogs. Their bread is Indian com 
 beaten to pieces between two stones, of which they make a 
 cake, and bake it in the ashes : tlieir other victuals are 
 venison, turkies, hares, bears, wild cats, their own dogs, 
 &c. The fish they cook just as they get them out of the water 
 without cleansing ; also the entrails of deer with all their 
 contents, which they cook a little ; and if the entrails are 
 then too tough, they take one end in their mouth, and the 
 other in their hand, and between hand and mouth they 
 separate and eat them. So they do commonly with the 
 flesh, for they carve a little piece and lay it on the fire, as 
 long as till one can go from house to church, and then it is 
 done ; and when they eat it, the blood runs down their 
 
 vras spared, was Isaac Jogiies"; the one killed "was Ren6 Goupil, a dotme, or 
 novice. In the summer of the foUowinf; year, Jogues visited Fort Orange, 
 where Domine Megapolensis showed him grout kiiulncss. He sailed from Man- 
 hattan for Europe on the 5th of November, 1G43. Returning to Canada, 
 JogUfS again visited the Mohawk country in ICIC, and gave the name " Saint 
 Sacrament" to what is now known as "Lake George," because he first saw it 
 on Corpus Christi day. He was murdered by the Mofaawks on the 18th of Octo- 
 ber, 1G46. De Vries refers to Jogues' capture, under date of his own visit to 
 Fort Orange in IG40, which was two years before the Jesuit Father's misfor- 
 tune happened. He no doubt got the facts, chiolly, from this tract, which he 
 uses freely and follows closely. Sec ante, page 8D to page 07, for the portion 
 of De Vries' work, copied almost word for word from Megapolensis. There 
 are a few transpositions and alterations. The translation is, in general, suffi- 
 ciently accurate. 
 
OF THE MOHAWK INDIANS, ETC. 157 
 
 chins. They can also take a piece of bear-grease as large 
 as two fists, and eat it up so without bread or anything else. 
 It is natural to them to have no beards ; not one in an 
 hundred has any hair about his mouth. 
 
 They have also naturally a great opinion of themselves ; 
 they say, Ihy OfJikon, ("I am the devil ;") by which they 
 mean that they are superior folks. In order to praise them- 
 selves and their people, whenever we tell them they are very 
 expert at catching deer, or doing this and that, they say, 
 TIcoschs ho, aguiveeclwfi Kojingahaga koicaane Jountuckcha 
 Oth/i07i; that is, " Really all the Mohawks are very cunning 
 Devils." They make their houses of the bark of trees, very 
 close and warm, and kindle their fire in the middle of them. 
 They also make of the peeling and bark of trees, canoes or 
 small boats, which will carry four, five and six persons. In 
 like manner they hollow out trees, and use them for boats, 
 some of which are very large. I have several times sat and 
 sailed with ten, twelve and fourteen persons in one of these 
 hollowed logs. We have in our colony ■^''- a wooden canoe 
 obtained from the Indians, which will easily carry two hun- 
 dred schepels t of wheat. The arms used by them in war 
 were formerly a bow and arrow, with a stone axe and clap 
 hammer, or mallet ; but now they get from our people guns, 
 swords, iron axes and mallets. Their money consists of cer- 
 tain little bones, made of the shells of cockles, which are 
 found on the sea-beach ; a hole is drilled through the mid- 
 dle of the little bones, and these they string upon thread, 
 or they make of them belts as broad as a hand, or broader, 
 which they hang on their necks, or around their bodies ; — 
 they have also several holes in their ears, and there they 
 likewise hang some. They value these little bones as highly 
 as many Christians do gold, silver and pearls ; but they 
 have no idea of our money, and esteem it no better than 
 Iron. I once showed one of their chiefs a rix-dollar ; he 
 asked how much it was worth among the Christians ; and 
 when I told him, he laughed exceedingly at us, saying we 
 were fools to value a piece of iron so highly ; and if he had 
 such money, he would throw it into the river. They place 
 their dead upright in holes, and do not lay them down, and 
 then they throw some trees and wood on the grave, or en- 
 close it with palisades. They have their set times for going 
 
 * Eensselaerswyck. f A sclieiiel is about three pecks. 
 
OJ 
 
 158 A SHORT SKETCH 
 
 to catch fisli, bears, panthers, and heavers. In the sjn-Ing 
 they catch vast quantities of shad and lampreys, which 
 are very Lar2;e here : — they lay them on the hark of trees in 
 the sun, and dry them thoroughly hard, and then put them 
 in " notasten," or bags, which they plait from hemp -svliich 
 grows wild here, and keep the fish till winler. When their 
 corn is rix^e, they take off the ears and put them in deep 
 pits, and preserve them therein the whole winter. They 
 can also make nets and seines in their fashion ; and when 
 they want to fish with seines, ten or twelve men will go 
 together and help each other, all of whom own the seine in 
 common. 
 
 They are entire strangers to all religion, but they have 
 a Tharonhijouaagon, (whom they also otherwise call Ath- 
 zoockkuatoriaho,) that is, a Genius, whom they esteem in 
 the place of God ; but they do not serve or present ofler- 
 ings to him. They Avorship and ])resent offerings to the 
 devil, whom they call Otskon, or Aireskuoni. If they have 
 any bad luck in war, they catch a bear, which they cut in 
 j)ieces, and roast, and that they offer up to their Ahrshiojii, 
 saying the following words : "Oh ! great and mighty Airesku- 
 oni, we know that we have offended against thee, inasmuch as 
 "we have not killed and eaten our captive enemies ; — forgive 
 us this, AVe promise that we will kill and eat all the cap- 
 tives we shall hereafter take as certainly as we have killed, 
 and now eat this bear." Also when the weather is very 
 hot, and there comes a cooling breeze, they cry out directly, 
 AsoromiSL, asoronusi, Otskon aicorouhsi rehiniiha; that is, 
 " I thank thee, I thank thee, devil, I thank thee, Oomke ! " 
 If they are sick, or have a pain or soreness any where in 
 their limbs, and I ask them what ails them ? they say that 
 the devil sits in their body, or in the sore places, and bites 
 them there; and they always attribute to the devil the ac- 
 cidents which befcd them ; they have otherwise no religion. 
 When we j^ray they laugh at us. Some of them despise it 
 entirely ; and some, when we tell them what we do when 
 we pray, stand astonished. When we have a sermon, some- 
 times ten or twelve of them, more or less, will attend, each 
 having a long tobacco pipe, made by himself, in his mouth, 
 and will stand awhile and look, and afterwards ask me what 
 I was doing and what I wanted, that I stood there alone 
 and made so many words, while none of the rest might 
 speak ? I tell them that I admonish the Christians, that 
 
OF THE MOHAWK INDIANS, ETC. 159 
 
 they must not steal, nor commit lewdness, nor get drunk, 
 nor commit murder, and that they too ought not to do 
 these things ; and that I intend in process of time to preach 
 the same to them and come to them in their own country and 
 castles (about three Days' journey from here, further in- 
 land) when I am acquainted with their language. They 
 say I do well to teach the Christians ; but immediately 
 add, DlatennonjawiJ Assyreoni, hagioivisJc, that is, "Why 
 do so many Christians do these things ? " They call us 
 Assyreoni, that is, cloth-makers, or Charistooni, that is, 
 iron workers, because our people first brought cloth and 
 iron among them. 
 
 They will not come into a house where there is a men- 
 struous woman, nor eat with her. No w^oman must touch 
 their snares in which they catch deer, for they say the deer 
 can scent it. 
 
 The other day an old woman came to our house, and 
 told my people that her forefathers had told her '" that 
 Tharonliij-Jagon, that is, God, once went out a-walking 
 with his brother, and a dispute arose between them, and 
 God killed his brother." I suppose this feble took its rise 
 from Cain and Abel. They have a droll theory of the Crea- 
 tion, for they think that a pregnant woman fell down from 
 heaven, and that a tortoise, (of which there are plenty 
 here, in this country, of two, three and four feet long, some 
 with two heads, very mischievous and addicted to biting) 
 took this pregnant woman on its back, because every place 
 was covered with water ; and that the woman sitting upon 
 the tortoise grabbled with her hands in the water, and 
 scratched up some of the earth ; whence it finally happened 
 that the earth became elevated above the water. They 
 think that there are more worlds than one, aud that we 
 came from another world. 
 
 The Mohawk Indians are divided into three tribes, which 
 are called Ochkari, Anaiuare, OknaJio, that is, the bear, the 
 tortoise and the wolf Of these, the tortoise is the great- 
 est and most eminent; and they boast that they are the 
 oldest descendants of the woman before mentioned. These 
 have made a fort of palisades, and they call their castle 
 AsseruS. Those of the bear are the next to these, and their 
 castle is called by them Banagiro. The last are a progeny 
 of these, and their castle is called Thcnondiogo. Each of 
 
ICO A SHORT SKETCH, ETC. 
 
 these tribes carries the beast after which it is called (as the 
 arms in its banner) when it goes to war against its 
 enemies, and this is done as well for the terror of its 
 enemies, as for a sign of its own bravery. Lately one of 
 their cliiefs came to me and jiresented me with a beaver, 
 an otter, and some cloth he had taken from the French, the 
 which I must receive as a token of friendship. When he 
 opened his budget there appeared in it a dried head of a 
 bear, with grinning teeth. I asked him what that meant ? 
 lie answered me that he fastened it upon his left shoulder 
 by the side of his head, and that then he was the devil, 
 who cared for nothing, and did not fear any thing. 
 
 The government among them consists of the oldest, the 
 most sensible, the best-speaking and most warlike men. 
 These commonly resolve, and then the young and warlike 
 Men execute. But if the common people do not ajjprove 
 of the resolution, it is left entirely to the determination of 
 the mob. The chiefs are generally the poorest among them, 
 for instead of their receiving from the common peoi)le as 
 among Christians, they are obliged to give to the mob ; 
 especially when any one is killed in war, they give great 
 presents to the next of kin of the deceased ; and if they 
 take any jn-isoners they present them to that family of 
 which one has been killed, and the prisoner is then adopted 
 by the family into the place of the deceased person. There 
 is no punishment here for murder and other villainies, but 
 every one is his own avenger. The friends of the deceased 
 revenge themselves upon the murderer until peace is made 
 by presents to the next of kin. But although they are so 
 cruel, and live without laws or any punishments for evil 
 doers, yet there are not half so many villainies or murders 
 committed amongst them as amongst Christians ; so that 
 I oftentimes think with astonishment upon all the murders 
 committed in the fatherland, notwithstanding their severe 
 laws and heavy penalties. These Indians, though they live 
 without laws, or fear of punishment, do not — at least, they 
 very seldom — kill people, unless it may be in a great passion, 
 or a hand-to-hand fight. Wherefore we go wholly uncon- 
 cerned along with the Indians and meet each other an hour's 
 walk oil" in the woods, without doing any harm to one 
 another. 
 
 Johannes Megapolensis. 
 
ni. 
 
 THE JOGUES PAPERS 
 
 TRANSLATED AND ARRANGED, WITH A MEMOIR 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN GIL MARY SHEA, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY. 
 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. III. 
 
 11 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 >- The following papers, written by the illustrious missionary between 
 the years 1642 and 1646, consist of, 
 
 I. Narrative of his Captivity among the Mohawks, from a Latin 
 manuscript preserved at Montreal, and in Alegambe. 
 
 II. Account of his Escape, from the Relation of 1642-3, p. 284. 
 
 III. Description of New Netherland, from his original manuscript. 
 
 IV. His last Letters in 1646, from the Relation of 1646-7. 
 
 V. Captivity and Death of Rene Goupil, from his original manu- 
 script. 
 
 YI. Letters of Gov. Kieft announcing his death, from an attested 
 
 copy preserved at Montrt-al. 
 
 The narrative of his captivity forms part of a manuscript volume, 
 entitled " Memoires touchant la mort et les vertus des peres Isaac 
 Jogues, Anne de Noue, Antoine Daniel, Jean de Brebeuf, Gabriel Lale- 
 mant, Charles Gamier, Noel Chabanel et Rene Goupil," consisting of 
 authentic papers relating to their life and death, being copied from 
 originals, and each sworn to by Fathers Paul Ragueneau and Joseph 
 Poncet ; as to Father Jogues, it includes Father Buteux's "Narre de la 
 prise du p. Isaac Jogues," Jogues' oAvn narrative, his account of the 
 captivity and death of Goupil, and letters of Fathers Buteux and 
 De Quen relative to his death. It was found, accompanied by the 
 Description of New Netherland, and the account of Goupil's death, in 
 the handwriting of Father Jogues himself, both in letter form, with the 
 folds and incisions for sealing in use at the time, and both more easily 
 read than the court-hand of tlie volume. They were found in the Hos- 
 pital of the Augustin nuns, or Hotel Dieu, at Quebec, where they had 
 been deposited shortly before 1800 by Father Cazot, the last of the old 
 race of the Jesuits of the French colony, who seeing his body then 
 about to expire by the enactments of the English conquerors, which 
 prevented their receiving new members, wished to save for Catholicity 
 at least a few of the most valuable of the papers in the archives. The 
 
164 INTEODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 volume in question, and some others, were selected by liim, and faith- 
 fully preserved by the ladies to whom he intrusted them, as a sacred 
 deposit, and were by them restored to the Jesuits soon after their return 
 to Canada a few years since. 
 
 The use of these raanusoripts has been kindly afforded by the Eev. 
 Felix Martin, President of St. Mary's College, Montreal, Corresponding 
 Member of the Societ}'. 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 Isaac Jogues ^vas born at Orleans, in France, on the tenth of 
 January, 1607, and his family still enjoys the esteem of his native 
 city Educated in a Jesuit college but lately opened there, his tender 
 piety his wonderful love of the Cross, or, in less ascetic language, ot 
 sufferings, and a desire of pouring out his blood in attemptmg to 
 convert the heathen to the Faith of Christ, induced him, towards 
 the close of his studies, to ask to be enrolled among the members of 
 the celebrated Society which had directed his education. Admitted 
 to the Rouen novitiate in 1624, he was sent, after the two years ot 
 seclusion and prayer which usher in the religious Hfe, to Pans to 
 continue his literary studies. In 1629, he began his career as u 
 teacher, and for four years attracted universal admn-ation by his able 
 scholarship and ability in the direction of youth. The following let- 
 ter in its latinity would do credit to a scholar writing m the quiet 
 of his study, and other monuments are extant to show how easily 
 he might have grasped at literary fame. He sighed, however, for 
 the missions; and it was with joy that he received a summons to 
 repair to the Clermont College, at Paris, to prepare, by the study ot 
 divinity, for the order of priesthood, which would enable him to set 
 out for that field which he had ever ardently desired. 
 
 In 1636, after four years' study, he was ordained priest, and or- 
 dered to prepare for immediate embarkation to Canada, to which, 
 when all chance of the European mission was cut oft, his longings 
 had been turned. After bidding farewell to his mother and family, 
 he set sail from Dieppe with Father Gamier and Father Chatelam, 
 and after a stormy voyage reached Miscou, a httle island at the 
 entrance of Chaleurs Bay, where the Jesuits then had a missionary 
 station. Here he landed; but after a short stay proceeded to Que- 
 bec, and arrived in the city on the 2d of July : his two compamons 
 
166 MEMOIR. 
 
 had already started for the Huron mission — a long and painful voy- 
 age by the Ottawa river. He followed, embarking in his frail canoe 
 at Three Rivers, on the 24th of August. " It would not be easy," 
 says he, in a letter to his mother, " to detail all the miseries of the 
 voyage ; but the love of God, who calls us to these missions, and our 
 desire of contributing something to the conversion of these poor 
 savages, renders this so sweet, that we would not exchange these 
 pains for all the joys of earth. Our food on the way is a little Indian 
 corn, pounded between two stones, and boiled in water without any 
 seasoning; our bed the earth, or the frightful rocks, lining the great 
 liver, which rolled by us in the clear moonlight, for we always slept 
 in the open air. The posture to be taken in the canoe is extremely 
 inconvenient; you cannot stretch out your legs, so little and cramped 
 is it : scarcely do you venture to move, for fear of capsizing all into 
 the river. I was forced to keep perfect silence, being able neither to 
 understand nor make m}'self understood by my Indians. Another 
 source of pain and hardship is, that in this voyage we meet sixty or 
 eighty cataracts, or waterfalls, which descend so precipitously, and 
 from such a height, that the canoes are often ingulfed b}' approaching 
 too near them. We indeed were not exposed to this, as we went 
 against the current ; but we were not the less obhged to land verj- 
 frequently, and make through the neighboring rocks and wood a 
 detour of a league or more, loaded with our baggage, and with even 
 our canoe. As for me, I not only carried my little bundle, but I also 
 helped our Indians and relieved them as much as I could, till at last 
 a boy some ten or twelve years old, belonging to our party, fell sick • 
 then I was forced to carry him on my shoulders in the marches occa- 
 sioned by the falls, of which I have spoken." This and the heavy 
 burdens which he afterwards had to carry broke him down, so that 
 soon after his arrival at the mission of St. Joseph's, at Ihonatiria, he 
 was prostrated by a dangerous malady. Destitute of every suitable 
 remedy, of food, and even of care, as his folio w-missioners, one by 
 one, were prostrated around, he trusted to Providence alone, and soon 
 recovered. He was immediately initiated into a missionary life by 
 Father Brebeuf, and spent the winter in hurrying froni town to town 
 to visit the victims of a pestilence then raging throughout the coun- 
 try. Like all the missionaries, he had to contest every inch of ground 
 with the medicine men, who saw in the new apostles the destroyers 
 of their influence. The study of the language engaged his leisure 
 hours; and when the violence of the epidemic abated, he daily visited 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 167 
 
 a number of cabins to learn the practice, then returned to listen to 
 the theory of the Huron language explained by its first master, Brebeuf. 
 After passing unscathed through the terrible persecution and immi- 
 nent danger to which the missionaries were exposed when the plague 
 broke out anew a year later, and almost depeopled the land. Father 
 Jogues, with the rest of the missionaries, removed to Teananstayae, 
 the second St. Joseph's, (the first missionary station, Ihonatiria, hav- 
 ing dwindled to a few cabins.) We find him next, with Gamier, 
 carrying the Cross to the Petuns, who had imbibed such prejudice 
 against them, that the town Ehwaa, unmindful of Indian hospitality, 
 «losed its doors against them irt the depth of winter, and compelled 
 the missionaries to depart from their ungrateful cabins. Never again 
 had it a season of mercy ; the next year it was a heap of ruins, de- 
 stroyed by famine, pestilence, and war. 
 
 On his return from this painful mission, Father Jogues was sta- 
 tioned at the permanent residence which, under the name of St. 
 Mary's, had risen on the banks of the river Wye. As in old con- 
 vents, a hospice stood hard by, where the wayfarer might enter in, 
 and where neophytes came from the most distant villages to receive, 
 away from the noise of their towns, full and particular instruction in 
 the truths of Christianity. From this seminary issued many of the 
 ablest and most fervent Catechists of the Huron Church. Father 
 Jogues was not, however, to remain here long : the Jesuit, like the 
 soldier is ever liable to receive orders for a distant march. In the 
 summer of 1641, the neighboring nations had gathered in the Huron 
 country to witness the games, the dances and the alternately joyful 
 and lugubrious ceremonies of the Feast of the Dead. Among the 
 rest, came the Pauoitigoueieuhak, fi-om the rapid outlet of Lake Su- 
 perior. Charmed with the conduct of the missionaries, they invited 
 them to their lodges, and Father PK,aymbault was chosen to visit them 
 from his skill in Algonquin ; Father Jogues was assigned to him as a 
 companion, and they launched their bark in September on the Fresh- 
 W^ater Sea ; and, wandering amid its maze of isles, hallowed to the 
 Indian's mind, in seventeen days reached the Sault de Gaston, which 
 henceforth assumes in the mission annals the name we still give it— 
 Sault St. Mary's. Here, where the adventurous Nicolet had pene- 
 trated a few years before, Jogues and Raymbault planted the Cross 
 turned to the South, where a great river was said to stretch away to 
 a vast lake, passing by the villages of countless tribes. Two thousand 
 Indians assembled round the Cross, and listened with attention to 
 
168 MEMOIR. 
 
 the words of truth ; they earnestly pressed the missionaries to winter 
 with them ; but the Huron land reclaimed them, and they returned 
 to their labors there. 
 
 While the missionaries were thus extending their spiritual con- 
 quests on every side, they were personally reduced to a state of most 
 frightful poverty ; their clothes were in shreds, their little stock of 
 flour for hosts, was all but expended ; for wine, they pressed the wild 
 grape of the forest, but even then they had not chalices and vest- 
 ments enough for the various missions. The want of the mere com- 
 forts of life had no weight with them, but now they needed what 
 could not be foregone ; and though the Iroquois, who had for some 
 time back prevented all intercourse with Quebec, still waylaid the 
 passage, a Father must be sent : the Superior stated to Jogues his 
 wish that he should go ; he had already asked of heaven an occasion 
 of suffering; his prayer was heard; he bowed his head and de- 
 parted. 
 
 The following letters (i-iv.) will detail his subsequent history, 
 and give us, in his own words, the sufferings of this refined scholar 
 and poet, yet no less humble and zealous missionary. 
 
 The sequel of his career after his captivity can be shortly told. 
 He left New York in a small bark on the 5th of November, and 
 after much hardship, put into Falmouth, in England, havincr al- 
 most fallen into the hands of a Parliament cruiser. Here their bark 
 was entered by robbers, and F. Jogues stripped of his hat and coat. 
 Having seen a French collier, he went up to him, and though at first 
 taken for a beggar, made known his real character, and obtained 
 passage to the French coast, which he reached, between Brest and St. 
 Pol de Leon on Christmas Day, early enough to satisfy his devotion 
 by receiving communion, of which he had so long been deprived. 
 
 A good merchant took him to Rennes : unknown, he presented 
 himself at the college of his order as one who brought news from 
 Canada. The Rector, who was preparing to say Mass, hurried to see 
 the stranger as soon as he heard the word Canada. Almost his first 
 question was as to Father Jogues, " Do you know him ?" "J know 
 him well," said the other. " We have heard of his capture bv the 
 Iroquois, and his horrible sufierings. What has become of him ? Is 
 he still alive?" " He is alive," said F. Jogues ; "he is free, lie is now 
 speaking to you ! " — and he cast himself at the leet of his astonished 
 Superior to ask his blessing. 
 
 Once known, honors met him on every side; objects belono-ing 
 
MEMOIK. 169 
 
 to him were eagerly sought as relics ; the Queen Regent even re- 
 quested that he should come to Paris, that she might see so illus- 
 trious a sufferer. All this was painful to him, and it was not till 
 three times summoned that he proceeded to the capital. He longed 
 to return to Canada; but one thing prevented his departure. The 
 mangled hands which had been reverently kissed by the Queen and 
 Court of France, were an obstacle to his celebrating the Holy Sacri- 
 fice of the Altar. A dispensation was needed. Urban VHI. then 
 sat in the See of Peter — a Pope noted especially for the stringent 
 rules which he introduced against any symptom of public veneration 
 to the departed servants of God until their life and virtues had been 
 sifted and examined in the long and minute legal proceedings for 
 canonization. Yet when the application of Father Jogues was pre- 
 sented, and he had learned the story of his sufferings, he forgot his 
 own laws, and exclaimed, as he granted it, "Indignum esse Christi 
 martyrem Christi non bibere sanguinem." 
 
 Nothing now detained the missionary in France ; and early in the 
 spring of 1644 he was again in Canada. The colony was on the 
 brink of ruin ; but the Governor fortunately brought the Mohawks 
 to offer peace. It was concluded at Three Rivers on the 12th of 
 July, 1G45. Father Jogues, though stationed at Montreal, was pres- 
 ent, and an anxious observer of the state of feeling. The treaty was 
 at last confirmed on the Mohawk, and again renewed on the St. Law- 
 rence, with a request for a missionary. 
 
 Conscious that he would be selected. Father Jogues announced 
 to his friends his perilous mission, (v. ;) and in April, 1646, readily 
 accepted it when offered by his Superior, (vi.) 
 
 Though a mission was resolved upon, it was thought better that 
 he should go first as ambassador, and was accordingly sent with Mr. 
 Bourdon, an officer in the employ of the colony.* Of his embassy, 
 the missionary drew up a full account, which was in existence till 
 1800, when it was, with other papers belonging to the Canada 
 Jesuits, seized by the British Government. It has now disappeared. 
 The " Relation," which doubtless followed it, says that they left Three 
 
 * As the misssionary was about to set out, an Algonquin chief advised him 
 to lay aside his rehgious habit. His reason was striking : it exemplifies per- 
 fectly what has been called " the hideous face of Christianity." " There is 
 nothing," said the Algonquin chiefs, " nothing more repulsive at first than this 
 doctrme, that seems to exterminate all that men hold dearest. Your long gown 
 preaches it as sti-ongly as your lips : leave it, and go in a short coat." 
 
170 MEMOIR. 
 
 Rivers on the IGtli of May, 16-iG, with four Mohawks and two Algon- 
 quins. Ascending the Sorel, they traversed Lake Champlain, and on 
 the 29th of May reached tlie beautiful lake below it. Its Iroquois 
 name was Andiatarocte : for Europeans it was without a name, but 
 as it was the eve of Corpus Christi, the festival instituted by the 
 Church to honor Christ's presence in the Holy Sacrament, the mis- 
 sionary gave it the name, which it bore for more than a century — 
 Lake Saint Sacrament.* 
 
 Continuing their march, they came to Ossarague, a fishing sta- 
 tion on the Maurice, or Upper Hudson, which they descended to Fort 
 Orange. When the missionary had here repaid his debt of gratitude 
 to his generous benefactors, the embassy proceeded to the Mohawk. 
 The first castle was reached on the Vth of June, its name had been 
 changed from Ossernenon to Oneowgowre. Here Jogues was wel- 
 comed as a friend : a council of Sachems was soon convened, and he 
 delivered the presents of the Governor, and in a discourse, still pre- 
 served, urged them to thoughts of peace. He was heard with atten- 
 tion, and responded to in a similar strain. According to Indian cus- 
 tom, he presented a belt of wampum to the tribe into which he had 
 been incorporated. The Wolf replied that Ondessonk should ever 
 find among them his mat to rest upon, and a fire to warm him. 
 
 Another present was yet to be made. Jogues had remarked 
 amonf the spectators some Onondaga braves, and to these also he 
 made a present, to smooth the way for the French to their land of 
 lakes. This was cheerfully accepted ; and Jogues, no longer a tem- 
 poral envoy, turned to his spiritual avocations. The captive Chris- 
 tians were soon ^•isited and consoled, the sacraments cif baptism or 
 penance conferred on many ; but he could not delay as long as his 
 zeal desired. The Iroquois pressed his departure, and on the 16th 
 he left their castles for the St. Lawrence. As he expected to return 
 speedily, he left a box containing his little missionary furniture : they 
 showed a disinclination to keep it, but as he opened it in their 
 presence he thought their suspicions dispelled, and went his way. 
 
 On his arrival in Canada, joy, such as had not been known for 
 years, quickened every heart, for all had been so suspicious of the 
 ISIohawks, that public prayers had been constantly ofiered for the 
 missionary and his companion. 
 
 His immediate return to the Mohawk was now expected ; but 
 
 * It would need but a sliglit cliange to make Lake George, Lake Jogues, and 
 eorely its great discoverer deserves it better than a Hanoverian king. 
 
MEMOIR. 171 
 
 suddenly there came mysterious rumors, and the Superiors paused. 
 Joo-ues must not go. * But as the summer wore on all became quiet, 
 and, yielding to his entreaty, the Superior permitted him to depart. 
 In September, 1646, he left Three Rivers for the last time with 
 Lalande, a worthy successor of Goupil, and some Hurons. As they 
 advanced, they heard tidings which seemed positive as to the end of 
 the peace: some Hurons left them, but Jogues went fearlessly on. 
 After the return of these, the French were left in the greatest anxiety 
 and uncertainty as to his fate. Months rolled by, and no tiJings 
 reached them : at last, almost at the same time, they heard from 
 some Hurons, who had escaped from the Mohawk, an account of his 
 death, and received letters from (rovernor Kieft which confirmed it. 
 
 The Indian account, as preserved in the manuscript of Father 
 Buteux and Father De Queu, is, that when the missionary was within 
 two days' march of the castles, that is, half way between Lake George 
 and the Mohawk, he was met by a war party out against the French. 
 The missionary and his companion were immediately seized, and in 
 spite of his remonstrances stripped and beaten : they then turned 
 homeward, and Father Jogues was again Kl naked into Gandawague,f 
 the place of his former captivity. Blows were mingled with threats 
 of death on the morrow. " You shall not be burned," they cried ; 
 " you shall die beneath our hatchets, and your heads shall be fixed 
 on our palisades, to show your brethren whom we take." In vain 
 did he endeavor to show them the injustice of treating him as an 
 enemy, when he came the messenger of peace : deaf to the voice of rea- 
 son, and blinded by superstition, they began their butchery. Slicing 
 off the flesh from his arms and back, they cried, " Let us see whether 
 this white flesh is the flesh of an Otkon." " I am but a man like 
 yourselves," replied the dauntless missionary, "though I fear not 
 
 * Decision in the Superior's journal. 
 
 f Thus do all the French Relations from this time name the place of his 
 death : it is the same as Caughawaga, and means " at the rapids.'' Father 
 Poncet, in the narrative of his captivity on the Mohawk, makes the place of Gou- 
 pil's death that of Jogues' also, to-be the second village, the Andagoron, or Gan- 
 dagoron, of Father Jogues. The present Caughnawaga may therefore be con- 
 sidered the place of the missionaiy's death, as we have nothing to show that the 
 village in question lay south of the Mohawk, although the first village did. 
 Caughnawaga became, too, in the sequel, the centre of the most successful 
 Catholic mission among the Iroquois, and is hallowed, not only by the deaths 
 of Jogues and GoupU, but by the birth of the sainted Catharine Tehcjakwita. It 
 is our holy ground. 
 
172 MEMOIR. 
 
 death, nor your tortures. You do "wrong to kill me. I have come 
 to your country to preserve peace and strengthen the land, and to 
 show you the way to heaven, and you treat me like a dog ! Fear 
 the chastisement of Him who rules both the Indian and the French!" 
 
 In spite of their threats his fate was undecided. Of the three 
 great families in each tribe, the Bear was clamorous for blood, while 
 the Tortoise and his own, the Wolf, declared that he should live. 
 A council was called in the largest town : it was there decided that 
 he should be spared ; but it was too late. 
 
 Towards evening, on the day after his arrival, some Indians of the 
 Bear family came to invite him to supper ; he rose to follow, but 
 scarce had he stooped to enter the lodge, when an Indian, concealed 
 within, sprang forward, and dealt him a terrible blow with his 
 hatchet. Kiotsaeton, the deputy, who had concluded the peace, 
 threw up his arm to avert the blow, but it cut through his arm, and 
 sank deep in the head of the missionary. Ilis head was then cut oft", 
 and set on the palisade. His companion shared his fate. 
 
 On the 5th of June, 1G47, the day after the reception of the let- 
 ters from the Dutch authorities (viii. ix.), a solemn Mass of the Dead 
 was offered up at Quebec ; but " we could not," says Ragueneau, 
 "bring ourselves to offer for him the prayers of the dead. We offered 
 the adorable sacrifice, but in thauksmvino: for the favors Avhich he 
 had received from God. Laity and religious share our sentiments on 
 this happy deatli, and more were found inclined to invoke his aid 
 than to pray for his repose." 
 
 The Catholic clergy of our State may well be proud of so illus- 
 trious a founder, for he was the first priest who entered or labored in 
 the city and State of New York. 
 
 His sufferings and toils now find a place in every histoiy of our 
 country ; but we must not consider him as a mere explorer of the 
 wilderness, borne up perhaps by religious enthusiasm. He was a 
 man of deep and tender piety, of extraordinary candor and openness 
 of soul, timid by nature, yet of tried courage and heroic firmness ; a 
 man who saw all iu God, and in all resigned himself to the directing 
 hand of Providence. To make God known at the expense of per- 
 sonal suffering was his only thought. In a word, he was one of those 
 superior men who rise from time to time in the Church, so distin- 
 guished from all around by an impress of sanctity, by a prestige of 
 all Christian virtue, as to make us look without astonishment on even 
 miraculous powers in their hands. 
 
NAKRATIVE 
 
 OF THE CAPTIVITY OF FATHER ISAAC JOGUES, OF THE 
 SOCIETY OF JESUS, AMONG THE MOHAWKS, IN 1642 
 AND 1643. 
 
 Eeverend Father in Christ, 
 
 The Peace of Christ : 
 
 Wishing to write to your Eeverence, I at first hesitated 
 in what language to do so, for after so long a disuse, almost 
 equally forgetful of both, I found equal difficulty in either. 
 Two reasons, however, induced me to write in the less com- 
 mon idiom. I shall be better enabled to employ the words 
 of Holy Scripture which have at all times been my greatest 
 consolation, "amid the tribulations which have found us 
 exceedingly," (Ps. xlv. 2 ;) I also wished this letter less 
 easily understood. , 
 
 the exceeding charity of your Reverence, which m other 
 days overlooked my manifold trangressions, will excuse me 
 if, after eight years' intercourse and residence with savages, 
 nay, a savage now in form and dress myself, aught be here 
 wanting in correctness or decorum. I fear still more, that, 
 rude in language, I may be more so in knowledge, " nor 
 know the time of my visitation," (Luke xix. 44,) nor re- 
 member the character imposed on me by God, of preacher 
 of his Gospel, Jesuit and Priest. This induced me to write 
 to you, that if this letter should ever reach your hands, i 
 may, though living here in this hard land amid Iroquois and 
 Maaquas, be helped by your masses and the prayers of your 
 whole province. This aid, I trust, will be more earnestly 
 given, when from a perusal of this letter* you shall have 
 
 * This letter is adddressed to the Provincial of the Jesuits at Paris. The 
 original in its classic Latin has been printed by Alegambe in his '' Mor es illu.- 
 trel," Rome, 1657; and by Tanner in his "Societas miUtans, Prague, 1675. 
 
174 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 seen both how much I am indebted to the Ahnighty, and in 
 what need I am of the prayers of the pious, in which, I am 
 aware, I have a powerful shield. 
 
 We sailed from the Hurons on the 13th of June, 1642, 
 in four small boats, here called canoes ; we were twenty- 
 three in all, five of us being French.* The line of travel 
 is in itself most difficult for many reasons, and especially 
 because in no less than forty places both canoes and bag- 
 gage must be carried by land on the shoulders. It was, 
 moreover, now full of dangers, from fear of the enemy, who 
 every year, by lying in wait on the roads to the French 
 settlements, carry off many as prisoners ; in fact. Father 
 John de Brebeuf had been all but taken the year before. Be- 
 sides this, they not long previous had carried off two French- 
 men, but afterwards brought them back to their countrymen 
 unharmed, demanding peace on most unjust terms, and 
 then conducted themselves in a very hostile manner, so that 
 they were driven off by our cannons. On this they declared, 
 that if they took another Frenchman ])risoner, they would 
 torture him cruelly, like their other captives, and then burn 
 him alive at the stake. 
 
 The Superior, conscious of the dangers to w^hich I was 
 exposed on this journey, (one, however, absolutely necessary 
 for God's glory,) assigned the task to me in such a Avay as 
 to leave me at liberty to decline it if I chose. " I did 
 not," however, " resist, I did not go back," (Isaias 1.,) but 
 willingly and cheerfully accepted this mission imposed upon 
 me by obedience and charity. Had I declined it, it would 
 have fallen to another, far more worthy than myself 
 
 Having therefore loosed from St. Mary's of the Hurons, 
 amid ever-varying fears of the enemy, dangers of every kind, 
 losses by land and water, we at last, on the thirtieth day 
 
 A sworn copy of the autograph letter is preserved at ]\Iontrcal, examined and 
 attested in 1G52 by Father Poncet, whose sufferings and captivity the next year 
 were but a copy of tliose of Jogues and Bressani, who liad preceded him to the 
 Mohawk. There is also another narrative of F. Jogues' captivity, extorted 
 from him by Father Buteux, when his superior, which is more full in some 
 respects. This narrative was translated into Italian by Bressani in his work 
 "Breve Relatione,'' into German in the edition of Tanner in that language, and 
 part of it into French in the "Ilelation" of 1G47; but. though written at the 
 capital of the State of New York, has never till now nppeared in English. 
 
 '^ The pliice from which they departed was the M ij'sion-house of St. Mary's, 
 on a little river now called the Wye. Traces still exist to mark the site of this 
 cradle of European colonization in Upper Canada. It was at first at some dis- 
 tance from any Huron town, but some years after this date, on the ruin of 
 tlie frontier towns, a village was grouped around it. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 175 
 
 after our departure, reached in safety the Conception of the 
 Blessed Virgin. This is a French settlement or colony, 
 called Three Kivers, from a most charming stream_ which 
 iust there empties by three mouths into the great Eiver St. 
 Lawrence.* We returned hearty thanks to God, and re^ 
 mained here and at Quebec about two weeks. 
 
 Havino- transacted the business which had brought us 
 down, we "celebrated the feast of our holy father, Ignatms ; 
 and on the second of August were once more on our way 
 for Huronia. The second day after our departure had just 
 dawned when, by the early light, some of our party discov- 
 ered fresh foot-prints on the shore. While some were mam- 
 taining that they were the trail of a hostile, others that ot 
 a friendly party, Eustace Ahatsistari, to whom for his gal- 
 lant feats of arms all yielded the first rank, exclaimed, 
 " Brothers ' be they the bravest of the foe, for such 1 judge 
 them by their trail, they are not more than three canoes, 
 and we number enough not to dread such a hand ul ot the 
 enemy" We were, in fact, forty, for some others had 
 
 joined us. , i i i 
 
 We consequently urged on our way, but had scarcely 
 advanced a mile when we fell into an ambush of the enemy, 
 who lay in two divisions on the opposite banks of the river, 
 to the number of seventy in twelve canoes. As soon as we 
 reached the spot where they lay in ambush, lurking in tne 
 reeds and tall grass, they poured in a volley of musketry, 
 for they were well supplied with arms, riddhng our canoes, 
 but killing none : one Huron only was shot through the 
 hand.t At the first report of the fire-arms, the Huvons, 
 almost to a man, abandoned the canoes, which, to avoid the 
 more rapid current of the centre of the river, were advanc- 
 ing close by the bank, and, in headlong flight, p unged into 
 the thickest of the woods. We, the four Frenchmen, thus 
 left with a few either already Christians, or at least Uate- 
 chumens, offering up a prayer to Christ, faced the enemy. 
 
 * The Algonquin name was Aletaberoutse. It had been prior to tlieir ex- 
 pulsion from Canada, the site of an Iroquois town. Rel. ^^^^ ; Per^ot ^^^^• 
 ^ t Father Jogues omits a fact worth mentionmg. Tlje pilot of ^'^ <^"°«/^; 
 unblptized, though instructed. Regardless of the ha Is whxzzmg auW. ^e 
 bade him kneel, °and, bending down, took up a handtul of ^j^ter -ul bapt zed 
 him. This Indian, Bernard Atieronhonk, afterwards e^°-P-\^;f .^"'ufor'ot 
 lees in his praise of the Missionary. " Ondesonk," he ^^o^l^^^f^^^J^^ ^^^°J 
 self at the sight of danger ; he thought only of me and my salvation , he teaiea 
 not to lose hfs own life, but feared lest I should be lost forever. 
 
176 THE JOGUES JPAPERS. 
 
 We were, however, outnumbered, being scarcely twelve or 
 fourteen against thirty ; yet we fought on till our comrades, 
 seeing fresh canoes shoot out from the opposite bank of the 
 river, lost heart and fled. Then a Frenchman named Eene 
 Goupil, who was fighting with the bravest, was taken, to- 
 gether with some of the Hurons. When I saw this, I neither 
 could nor cared to fly. Whither, indeed, could I escape, 
 barefooted as I was ? ■•■" Conceal myself amid the reeds and 
 tall grass I could indeed, and thus, perhaps, escape ; but 
 could I leave a countryman and the unchristened Hurons, 
 already taken, or soon to be ? As the enemy, in hot pur- 
 suit of the fugitives, had passed on, leaving me standing on 
 the battle-field, I called out to one of those who had re- 
 mained to guard the j^risoners, and bade him place me 
 beside his French captive, that as I had. been his companion 
 on the way, so would I be in his dangers and death. Scarce 
 crediting what he heard, and fearful for himself, he ad- 
 vanced and led me to the other prisoners. 
 
 "Dearest brother," I then exclaimed, " wonderfully hath 
 God dealt with us ; ' but he is the Lord, let him do what 
 is good in his sight,' (1 Kings, iii. 18 ;) as it hath pleased 
 him, so hath it come to pass, blessed be his name." Then, 
 hearing his confession, I gave him absolution. I now turn- 
 ed to the Huron prisoners, and instructing them one by one, 
 baptized them. As new prisoners were constantly taken in 
 their flight, my labor was constantly renewed. At length, 
 Eustace Ahasistari, that fiimous Christian chief, was brought 
 in : when he saw me, he exclaimed, " Solemnly, indeed, did 
 I swear, brother, that I would live or die by thee." What 
 answer I made 1 know not, so much had grief overcome 
 me. Last of all, William Couture was dragged in : he, too, 
 had set out from Hurouia witli me. When he saw all 
 routed, he had, with the rest, taken to the woods, and 
 being a young man, as gifted in body as in mind, had by 
 his agility left the enemy far behind ; but when he looked 
 around and could see nothing of me, — " Shall I," said he 
 to himself, " abandon my dear Father a prisoner in the 
 hands of the savages, and fly without him ? — not I." 
 Then, returning by the path which he had taken in flight, 
 he gave himself up to the enemy. Would that he had fled, 
 
 * To keep their canoes free from sand and gravel, the Indians required all 
 to enter them barefoot. Few even of th(? missionaries were exempted from this 
 rule. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 177 
 
 nor swelled our mournfu] band ! — for, in such a case, it is 
 no comfort to have companions, especially those whom you 
 love as yourself. Yet such are the souls who, though but 
 laymen, serve God and the society among the Hurons, with 
 no views of earthly reward.* It is painful to think even 
 of all his terrible sufferings. Their hate was enkindled 
 against all the French, but especially against him, as they 
 knew that one of their bravest had fallen by his hand in the 
 fight. He was accordingly first stripped naked, all his nails 
 torn out, his very fingers gnawed, and a broad sword driven 
 through his right hand. Mindful of the wounds of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, this pain, though most acute, he bore, as he 
 afterwards told me, with great joy. 
 
 When I beheld him thus bound and naked, I could not 
 contain myself, but, leaving my keepers, rushed through the 
 midst of the savages who ^Jiad brought him, embraced him 
 most tenderly ; exhorted him to offer all this to God for 
 himself, and those at whose hands he suffered. They at 
 first looked on, in wonder, at my proceeding ; then, as if 
 recollecting themselves, and gathering all their rage, they 
 fell upon me, and with their fists, thongs and clubs beat me 
 till I fell senseless. Two of them then dragged me back 
 to where I had been before ; and scarcely had I begun to 
 breathe, when some others, attacking me, tore out, by biting, 
 almost all my nails, and crunched my two fore-fiugers with 
 their teeth, giving me intense pain. The same was done to 
 Keno Goupil, the Huron captives being left untouched. 
 
 When all had come in from the pursuit, in which two 
 Hurons were killed, they carried us across the river, and 
 there shared the plunder of the twelve canoes (for eight had 
 joined us). This was very great ; for, independent of what 
 each Frenchman had with him, we had twenty packages, con- 
 taining Church plate and vestments, books and other arti- 
 cles of the kind — a rich cargo, indeed, considering the 
 poverty of our Huron mission. While they were dividing 
 the plunder, I completed the instruction of such as were 
 unchristened and baptized them. , Among the rest, was one 
 
 I * Goupil and Couture -were -what are called in the old French -ivriters, 
 Donnes, that is, inen given : they were not religious of the order to which they 
 attached themselves, but laymen, who, from motives of zeal, gave themselves to 
 the missionaries, to be employed as they saw fit. There probably never was a 
 set of more humble and heroic men than the Donnes of the early Gathoiic 
 missions. 
 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. III. 12 
 
178 THE JOGUES PAPEES. 
 
 sere octogenarian warrior, who, when ordered to enter the 
 canoe to be borne off with the rest, exclaimed, " What ! 
 shall I, a hoary old man, go to a strange and foreign land ? 
 Never ! here will I die," and there he died, for absolutely 
 refusing to go, they slew him on the very spot, where he had 
 just been baptized. 
 
 Eaising then a joyful shout, which made the forest ring, 
 "as conquerors who rejoice after taking a prey," [Isaiah 
 ix. 3,] they bore us off, as captives towards their own land. 
 We were twenty-two, three had been killed. By the favor 
 of God our sufferings on that march, which lasted thirteen 
 days,* were indeed great ; hunger and heat and menaces, the 
 savage fury of the Indians, the intense pain of our untended 
 and now putrifying wounds, which actually swarmed with 
 worms. No trial, hoAvever, came harder upon me than to 
 see them five or six days after approach us jaded with 
 the march, and, in cold blood, with minds in nowise excited 
 by passion, pluck out our hair and beard and drive their 
 nails, which are always very sharp, deep into parts most 
 tender and sensitive to the slightest impression. But this 
 was outward ; my internal sufi'erings affected me still more, 
 when I beheld that funereal procession of doomed Christians 
 pass before my eyes, among them five old converts, the main 
 pillars of the infant Huron Church. f Indeed I ingenuously 
 admit that I was again and again unable to withhold my 
 tears, mourning over their lot and that of my other com-^ 
 panions, and full of anxious solicitude for the future. For 
 I beheld the way to the Christian fliith closed by these 
 Iroquois on the Hurons and countless other nations, unless 
 they were checked by some seasonable dispensation of Divine 
 Providence. 
 
 On the eighth day we fell in with a troop of 200 J Indians 
 
 * Every copy of this letter printed in Latiii or other languages, till the dis- 
 covery oi" the niannscript at Montreal, has here 38 days, although the context 
 shows the error. Taken the 2d, they reached the Castles on the 15th, leaving 
 just 13 days as the manuscript actually has. The lielation of 1647, Bressani, in 
 his work in 1653, as well as Alegamhe and Tanner, have the erroneous number. 
 
 I The progress of the missionaries among the Hurons was at first extremely 
 slow ; three years elapsed after tlieir return before a single adult was baptized, 
 and indeed the conversion of Aliasistari, just before the date of this narrative, was 
 the first impulse given. On his example and influence the missionaries had 
 built many fond hopes, and Jogues miglit well grieve to see them blasted. The 
 conversions of the llurou in any considerable number took place only when the 
 nation was on the brink of ruin. See Bressani, Breve Rcl. 
 
 X Charlevoix, probably by a misprint, says 700. The place was an island 
 ia Lake Champlaiu. See accoimt of Ken6 Goupil. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 179 
 
 going out to fight ; and as it is the custom for savages when 
 out on war parties to initiate themselves, as it w^ere, by 
 cruelty/ under the belief that their success will be greater as 
 they shall have been more cruel, they thus received us. 
 First rendering thanks to the Sun, which they imagine pre- 
 sides over war, they congratulated their countrymen by a 
 joyful volley of musketry. Each then cut some stout clubs 
 in the neighboring wood in order to receive us. After we 
 had landed from the canoes they fell upon us from botli 
 sides with their clubs in such fury, that I, who was the last 
 and therefore most exposed to their blows, sank overcome 
 by their number and severity, before I had accomplished half 
 the rocky way that led to the hill on which a stage had been 
 erected for us. I thought I should soon die there ; and so, 
 partly because I could not, partly because I cared not, I did 
 not arise. How long they spent their fury on me He 
 knows, for whose love and sake it is delightful and glorious 
 thus to suffer. Moved at length by a cruel mercy, and 
 wishing to carry me to their country alive, they ceased to 
 strike. And thus h^lf dead and drenched in blood, they 
 bore me to the scaffold. Here I had scarce begun to breathe 
 when they ordered me to come down to load me with scoffs 
 and insults, and countless blows on my head and shoulders, 
 and indeed on my whole body. I should be tedious were I 
 to attempt to tell all that the French prisoners suffered. 
 They burnt one of my fingers, and crunched another with 
 their teeth ; others already thus mangled they so wrenched 
 by the tattered nerves, that even now, though healed, they 
 are frightfully deformed. Nor indeed was the lot of my 
 fellow- sufferers much better. 
 
 But one thing showed that God watched over us, and 
 was rather trying than cutting us off". One of these savages, 
 breathing naught but blood and cruelty, came up to me, 
 scarce able to stand on my feet, and, seizing my nose with 
 one hand, prepared to cut it off with a large knife which he 
 held in the other. What could I do ? Believing that I 
 was soon to be burnt at the stake, unmoved, I awaited the 
 stroke, groaning to my God in heart, when, as if stayed by 
 a supernatural power, he drew back his hand in the very act 
 of cutting. About a quarter of an hour after he returned, 
 and, as it were, condemning his cowardice and fainthearted- 
 ness, again prepared to do it ; when again held back by some 
 similar unseen hand he departed. Had he carried out his 
 
180 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 design my fate was sealed, for it is not their custom to grant 
 life to captives thus mutilated. 
 
 My sufferings were great in themselves, heightened by 
 the sight of what a like cruelty had wreaked on the Christian 
 Ilurous, fiercer than all in the case of Eustace ; for they 
 had cut off both his thumbs,* and through the stump of the 
 left one they, with savage cruelty, drove a pointed stake up 
 to his very elbow. This frightful pain he bore most nobly 
 and piously. 
 
 The following day we fell in with some other war canoes, 
 who cut off some of our companions' fingers to our great 
 dread. 
 
 On the tenth day about noon, we left our canoes, and 
 performed on foot the rest of the journey, which lasted four 
 days. Besides the usual hardships of the march came that 
 of carrying the baggage ; hunger, too, was ever increased 
 by the ever increasing want of food, so much so that for 
 three days we ate nothing but some berries once gathered 
 on the way.f 
 
 [Aug. 15th.] At last, on the eve of the Assumption of 
 the Blessed Virgin, we reached the first village of the 
 Iroquois. I thank our Lord Jesus Christ that on the day 
 when the whole Christian world exults in the glory of His 
 Mother's ' Assumption into heaven, he called us to some 
 small share and fellowship of his sufferings and cross. 
 Indeed we had, during the journey, always foreseen that it 
 would be a sad and bitter day for us. It would have 
 been easy for Rene and me to escape that day and the 
 flames, for being often unbound and at a distance from our 
 guards, we might, in the darkness of night, have struck off 
 from the road, and even though we should never reach our 
 countrymen, we would at least meet a less cruel death in 
 the woods. He constantly refused to do this, and I was 
 resolved to suffer all that could befall me, rather than forsake 
 in death Frenchmen and Christian Hurons, depriving them 
 of the consolation which a priest can afford. 
 
 On the eve of Assumption, then, about three o'clock, we 
 
 * This practice of cutting off fingers so constant with the Iroquois was, be- 
 fore firearms were known, a matter of policy, to unfit their prisoners from hand- 
 ling the bow. Sagard, 461. 
 
 t The text m Aicgambc, and others, has here some details which I omit, as 
 they are not in the manuscript. One of these describes the Indian custom of 
 taking warm water to check the pangs of hunger. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 181 
 
 readied a river, which flows by their village [Ossernenon], 
 Both hanks were filled with Iroquois, who received ns with 
 clubs, fists and stones. As a bald or thinly covered head is an 
 object of aversion to them, this tempest burst in its fury on 
 my bare head.* Two of my nails had hitherto escaped, 
 these they tore out with their teeth and with their keen 
 nails stripped off the flesh beneath to the very bones. 
 When satisfied with the cruelty and mockeries which we 
 thus received by the river side, they led us to their village 
 on the top of the hill. At its entrance we met the youth of 
 all that district, awaiting us in a line on each side of the road, 
 all armed with clubs. ^Conscious that if we withdrew our- 
 selves from the ranks of those chastised, we no less withdrew 
 ourselves from those of the children, we cheerfully oflered 
 ourselves to our God, thus like a father chastising us, that 
 in us " he might be well pleased." Our order was as follows : 
 in the front of the line they placed a Frenchman, alas '. en- 
 tirely naked, not having even his drawers ; Kcne Goupil was 
 in the centre, and I, last of all, closed the line. 
 
 The Iroquois scattered themselves through the line 
 between us and the Hurons, to check our speed and aflbrd 
 more time and ease to our torturers to strike us thus separ- 
 ately as we passed. Long and cruelly indeed "did the 
 wicked work upon my back," [Psalms, cxxviii. 3,] not with 
 clubs merely, but even with iron rods, which they have m 
 abundance, from their proximity to the Europeans ; one of 
 the foremost, armed with an iron ball of the size of a fist, 
 slung to a thong, dealt me so violent a blow that I should 
 have'' fiillen senseless, had not fear of a second given uie 
 strength and courage. Eunning then our long race amid 
 this fearful hail of blows, we with difficulty reached the stage 
 erected in the centre of the village. 
 
 If each here presented a face to excite compassion, 
 Rene's was certainly the most pitiable. Being by no means 
 quick or active he had received so many blows all over his 
 body, but especially in the face, that nothing could be dis- 
 tinguished there but the white of his eyes ; more beautiful, 
 ind'eed, as he more resembled Him, whom we have beheld 
 'as a leper and smitten by God for us,'__"in whom there 
 was no comeliness or beauty." [Isaias liii. 2.] 
 
 We had but just time to draw breath on this stage when 
 
 * Not in MSS. 
 
182 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 one, with a huge club, gave us Frenchmen three terrible 
 blows on the bare back ; the savages now took out their 
 knives and began to mount the stage, and cut off the 
 fingers of many of the prisoners, and as a captive meets 
 with cruelty proportioned to his dignity they began with 
 me, as my manner of acting showed me to be in authority 
 among the French and Hurons. Accordingly an old man 
 and a woman* approached the spot where 1 stood ; and he 
 commanded her to cut off my thumb ; she at first drew back, 
 but at last when the old Avretch had three or four times re- 
 peated the order, as if by compulsion she cut off my left 
 thumb where it joins the hand. Then taking in my other 
 hand the amputated thumb, I offered it to thee, my true 
 and living God, calling to mind the sacrifices which I had 
 for seven years constantly offered Thee in thy Church. 
 
 At last warned by one of my comrades to desist, since 
 they might otherwise force it into my mouth and compel me 
 to eat it as it was, I flung it from me on the scaflbld and 
 left it I know not where. Rene had his right t]mmb cut 
 off" at the first joint. I must thank the Almighty that it 
 was his will that my right should be untouched, thus ena- 
 bling me to write this letter to beg n)y dear Fathers and 
 brothers to offer up their masses, prayers, supplications and 
 entreaties in the Holy Church of God, to which we feel our- 
 selves now entitled by a new right, for she often prays for 
 the afflicted and the captive.f 
 
 On the following day, the Assumption of the Blessed 
 Virgin, after spending the morning on the stage, we were taken 
 about mid-day to another village, [Andngoron,] about two 
 miles distant from the^first. As I was on the point of start- 
 ing, the Indian who had brought me, loth to lose my shirt, 
 sent me off with nothing but an old and tattered pair of 
 drawers ; when I beheld myself thus naked, " fSurcly, 
 brother," said I, " thou wilt not send me off thus naked, 
 thou hast taken enough of our property to enrich thee." 
 This touched him, and he gave me enough of the hempen 
 bagging, in which our packages had been put up, to cover 
 my shoulders and part of my body. But my flesh, mangled 
 
 * In the printed text are here some words, statin^; her to have heen a Chris- 
 tian Al^oiiqniii, named Jane, not long before taken by the Iroquois. 
 
 t Here ends tlie first part, written apparently apart from what follows ; which 
 is not in the attested copy in Canada. This we have hitherto followed, the rest 
 we take as given by Tanner and Alegambe. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 183 
 
 by their blows and stripes, could not bear this rough and 
 coarse cloth. On the way, while scarcely and at last not at 
 all covered by it, the heat of the sun was so intense, that 
 my skin was dried, as though in an oven, and peeled off 
 from my back and arms. 
 
 As we entered the second village blows were not spared, 
 though this is contraiy to their usual custom, Avhich is to be 
 content with making prisoners run the gauntlet once. The 
 Almighty, doubtless, wished us to be somewhat likened in 
 this point to his Apostle, who glories that he was thrice 
 beaten with rods, and though they received us with fewer 
 blows than the first, these were more cruelly given, being 
 better aimed from there being less of a crowd, and some 
 struck constantly on the shins to our exquisite pain. 
 
 The rest of the day we spent on the stage, and the 
 night in a hut tied down half naked to the bare ground, at 
 the mercy of all ages and sexes ; for we had been handed 
 over to the sport of the children and youth, who threw hot 
 coals on our naked bodies, which, bound as we were, it was no 
 easy matter to shake off. In this manner Indian children 
 make their apprenticeship in cruelty, and from less grow ac- 
 customed to greater. 
 
 In this village we spent two days and nights, with 
 scarcely any food or sleep, in great anguish of mind as far as 
 I was concerned ; for from time to time they mounted the 
 stage, cutting oft' the fingers of my Huron companions, and 
 binding their clenched hands in hard cords so tightly drawn 
 that they fliinted, and while each suffered but his own 
 pain, I suffered that of all. I was afflicted with as intense 
 grief as you can imagine a most loving father's heart to feel 
 at the sight of his children's misery, for, with the exception 
 of a few old Christians, I had begotten them all recently in 
 Christ by baptism. 
 
 Yet amid all this the Lord gave me such strength, that 
 suffering myself I was able to console the suffering Hurons 
 and French ; so that both on the road and on the stage, 
 when the tormenting crowd of ' saluters ' •■'■ had dropped away, 
 I exhorted them, at one time together, at another individu- 
 ally, to preserve their patience and not lose confidence, which 
 would have a great reward; to remember "that by many 
 
 * (So they call those who wreak their cruelty on captives brought in.) Nota 
 m the orisrinal. 
 
184 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 tribulations it behoves us to enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven ; " that the time was come, indeed, foretold us by God, 
 when he said : " Ye shall lament and weep, but the world 
 shall rejoice, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy ; " that 
 we were like to " a woman who, when she is in travail, hath 
 sorrow because her hour is come ; but when she has brought 
 forth, no longer remembers her anguish for joy that a man is 
 born into the world ;" [John xvi. 21 ;] so should they feel 
 assured that in a few days these momentary pains would 
 give place to never-ending joys. And surely I had reason 
 to rejoice when I beheld them so well disposed, especially 
 the older Christians, Joseph, Eustace and two others, for on 
 the very day that we reached the first village, the filth one, 
 Theodore, had freed himself from his bonds, but as in the 
 battle his shoulder had been broken by a blow of a musket, 
 he died on his way to the French. 
 
 Never till now had the Indian scaffold beheld French 
 or other Christian captives.* Hence, contrary to usual cus- 
 tom, we were led around through all their villages to gratify 
 the general curiosity. The third indeed [Teonontogen] we 
 entered scatheless, but on the scaftuld a scene met my eyes 
 more heart-rending than any torment ; it was a group of 
 four Hurons taken elsewhere by another party and dragged 
 in to swell our wretched company. Among other cruelties, 
 every one of these had lost some fingers, and the eldest of 
 the band his two thumbs. As soon as I reached them, I 
 began to instruct them separately on the articles of faith, 
 then on the very stage itself I baptized two with rain-drops 
 gathered from the leaves of a stalk of Indian corn given us 
 to chew ; the other two I baptized at a little stream which 
 we passed when led to another village. At this place, cold 
 setting in after the rain, we suffered extremely from it as we 
 were entirely uncovered. Often shivering with cold on the 
 stage, I would, unordered, come down and enter some hut 
 but I could scarcely begin to warm myself when I was 
 commanded to return to the scafibld. 
 
 William Couture had thus far lost none of his fingers ; 
 this excited the displeasure of an Indian in the village, and 
 he sawed off half the forefinger of his right hand ; the pain 
 
 * A Frenchman, Peter Jlagnan, liad indeed been put to death as eai-ly as 
 1G28 by the Mohawks to whom he went as ambassador. (Sagard, p. 483. 
 Le Clerc, ch. ix.) ]Jut this was probably forgotten by them and unknown to F. 
 Jogues. Margueric audGodefroy, taken in 1G40, were not tortured. ReL lGiO-1. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 185 
 
 was more excruciating, as he employed not a knife, but a 
 shell very common there. As it could not sever the sinews, 
 which were hard and slippery, he wrenched the finger so 
 violently that when the sinews gave way, the poor sufferer's 
 arms swelled frightfully up to his very elbow. An Indian 
 seeing it, was touched with compassion and took him to his 
 hut where he kept him the two days which we spent in that 
 village, leaving me in ignorance and great anxiety as to his 
 fate. At nightfall we were taken to a hut, where the youth 
 awaited us. Being ordered to sing as other captives do, we 
 at last complied, for alas ! what could we do ; but we 
 " sang the canticles of the Lord in a strange laud." Tor- 
 ture followed the chanting, and its fury burst especially on 
 Keno and myself, for the good savage still kept WiUiam in 
 his hut. On me then, and especially on Eene, they threw 
 hot ashes and live coals, by which he was severely burnt in 
 the breast. 
 
 They next hung me between two poles in the hut, tied 
 by the arms above the elbow, with coarse rope woven of the 
 bark of trees.* Then I thought I was to be burnt, for this 
 is one of their usual preliminaries ; and that I might know, 
 that I had thus ftir borne any thing with fortitude or even 
 with patience, this came not from myself, but from Him 
 who gives strength to the weary. Now as though left to my- 
 self in this torture I groaned aloud, for " I will glory in my 
 infirmities that the power of Christ may dwell in me," 
 [2 Cor. xii. 9,] and from my intense pain I begged my tor- 
 turers to ease me some little from those hard rough ropes. But 
 God justly ordained that the more I pleaded, the more they 
 drew my bonds. At last, when I had been hanging thus 
 about a quarter of an hour, they unloosed me, as I was on 
 the point of fainting. I render thee thanks, Lord Jesus, 
 that I have been allowed to learn, by some slight experience, 
 how much thou didst deign to suffer on the cross for me, 
 when the weight of thy most holy body hung not by ropes, 
 but by thy hands and feet pierced by hardest nails ! 
 
 Other chains followed these, for we were tied to the 
 ground to pass the rest of the night. AVhat did they not 
 then do to my poor Huron companions, thus tied hand and 
 foot.? What did they not attempt on me? But once 
 
 * Bressani was hung up in the same way and loaded with chains. This tor- 
 ture is not unlike that of the thumbscrew applied to the Jesuits in more civilized 
 coimtries. See Jardine on the Use of Torture in England. 
 
186 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 more I thank thee, Lord, that thou didst save me, thy 
 priest, ever unsullied from the impure hands of the savages. 
 
 When we had thus spent two days in that village, we 
 were led back to the second [Andagoron] which we had 
 entered, that our fate might be finally determined. We 
 had now been for seven days led from village to village, 
 from scaffold to scaffold, become a spectacle to Grod and to 
 his angels, as we may hope from his" divine goodness, a scoff 
 and jeer to the vilest savages, when we were at last told 
 that that day should end our lives amid the flames. Sooth 
 to say, this last act was not without its horrors, yet the 
 good pleasure of God, and the hope of a better life, where 
 sin should have no place, rendered it rather one of joy. 
 Addressing my French and Huron companions, for the last 
 time, I bid them be of good heart, and amid their mental 
 and bodily sufferings to think "diligently upon Him that 
 had endured such opposition of sinners against himself ; not 
 to be weary, fainting in their minds," (Heb. xii. 3,) but to 
 hope that the morrow would unite us to our God, to reign 
 for ever. 
 
 Fearing lest we might be torn asunder, I especially 
 advised Eustace to look towaixls me when we could not be 
 together, and by laying his hand on his breast and raising 
 his eyes to heaven, to show contrition for his sins, so that 
 I could absolve him, as I had already frequently done after 
 hearing his confession, as well on the way as after our ar- 
 rival.* Acting on my advice, he several times made me 
 the sign. 
 
 The sachems, however, on further deliberation resolved 
 that no precipitate action was to be taken with regard to 
 the French prisoners, and summoning us before the council 
 they declared that our lives were spared. To almost all the 
 Huron s they likewise granted life ; three only were excepted, 
 Paul, Eustace, and Stephen, who were put to death in the 
 three villages which make up the tribe ; Stephen in Anda- 
 goron, the village where we were ; Paul in Ossernenon, and 
 Eustace in Teonontogen. The last-named was burned in 
 almost every part of his body, and then beheaded ; he bore 
 
 * Owing to the sacramental grace of alisolution, a Catholic will often Fcek 
 ft, when not conscious of any mortal sin which absolutely requires it : and thus 
 renews his contrition for past, but forgiven suis, as an act pleasing to God and 
 beneficial to himself. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 187 
 
 all most piously, and while it is usual for dying captives to 
 cry out,— ^ 
 
 " Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus iiltor."— ^n. iv. 6-5. 
 Rise from our scattered bones, avenger, rise ! 
 
 he on the contrary, in the Christian spirit which he had so 
 deeply imbibed in baptism, implored his countrymen who 
 stood around not to let any feelings for his fate prevent 
 the conclusion of a peace with the Iroquois. Fau Unon- 
 horaton. who, after the usual fiery ordeal, was tomahawked 
 in the village of Ossernenon, was a young man ol about 
 twenty-five, full of life and courage ; for such they generally 
 put to death, to sap, as it were, the life-blood of the hostile 
 tribe With a noble contempt of death, arising, as he 
 openly professed on the way, from his hope of a better lite, 
 this generous man had repeatedly, when the Iroquois came 
 up t?me to tear out my nails, or inflict some other injury, 
 offered himself to them, begging them to leave me and turn 
 their rage on him. May the Lord return him a hundred- 
 fold, with usury, for that heroic charity which led him to 
 give "his life for his friend," and for those " who had be- 
 gotten him in Christ in bondage." w^lll.m 
 Towards evening of that day they carried off William 
 Couture, whom they regarded as a young man ot unpar- 
 alleled courage, to Teonontogen the furthest - ^^f ?f; ^^ 
 canton, and gave him to an Indian famdy. (It is^ ^^e cus 
 torn of these savages, when they spare a prisoner s lite, to 
 adopt him into some family, to supply the place oi a de- 
 ceased member, to whose rights he, in a manner, succeeds 
 he is subject thenceforward to no man's orders but those ot 
 the head of the family, who, to acquire this right, of^eis 
 some presents.*) But seeing that Rene and I were less 
 vigorous, they led us to the first village, the residence of the 
 party that had captured us, and left us there [Ossernenon] 
 till some new resolution should be taken. _ 
 
 After so many a long day spent fasting, after so many 
 sleepless nights, after so many wounds and stripes, especially 
 after such leart-rending anguish of ^^^^"d, when time was 
 so to speak, given us at last to feel our suffermg we sank 
 into a state of helplessness. Scarce able ^^'^^^l^l'l^^ 
 stand erect, nor night nor day brought a moment of repose, 
 
 * This is a note added apparently by another hand, as it interrupts the nar- 
 rative. 
 
188 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 from many evils, but chiefly from our still untended wounds ; 
 all this state was rendered more trying by the myriads of 
 lice, fleas and bugs, which it was not easy to keep from us 
 with maimed and mutilated fingers. Besides this, we suf- 
 fered from hunger ; more true here than elsewhere is the 
 saying : 
 
 " Non cibus iitilis segro." 
 
 So that, with nothing but unri2)e squashes to add to their 
 American (or, as we Europeans call it, Turkish) corn, care- 
 lessly bruised between two stones, we were brought to the 
 verge of the grave, especially Eene, whose stomach refused 
 this food, and who, from his many wounds, had almost lost 
 his sight. The Indians then seeing us fail day by day, 
 hunted up in the village some small fishes and some bits of 
 meat dried in the sun or smoke, and pounding them, mixed 
 them with our sagamity. After three weeks we were just 
 recovering from our illness, when we were sought to be put 
 to death. The two hundred Indians who had maltreated 
 us so on the way, advanced into New France, to the point 
 where the river Iroquois,* so called from them, empties into 
 the great river St. Lawrence : here seeing a party of French 
 engaged in laying the foundations of Fort Eichelieu, they 
 thought they could easily kill some and carry off the rest as 
 prisoners. Accordingly the whole two hundred, in a single 
 column, almost all armed with muskets, rushed almost un- 
 expected on the whites engaged in their various works. At 
 the first onset of the foe, the French, though but a handful 
 compared to the hostile forces, flew to arms, and so bravely 
 and successfully withstood their savage assailants, that after 
 killing two and wounding many more, they put the rest to 
 flight. The war party returned furious, and as though they 
 had been greatly wronged, who had gone forth to do wrong, 
 demanded the death of such of us as were yet alive. " It is 
 a shame," they cried, " that three Frenchmen should live 
 quietly among us, when they have so lately slain three of 
 our braves." Amid these complaints, Ilene's safety espe- 
 cially and my own were brought into great jeopardy. He 
 alone, who as he gave, so protccteth life, warded off the 
 blow. 
 
 [Sept. v.] On the eve of the nativity of the Blessed Vir- 
 gin, one of the principal Hollanders, who have a settlement 
 
 * The Sorel, or Kichelicu. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPEHS. 189 
 
 not more than twenty leagues from these Indians, came with 
 two others to eifect our hberation.* He remained there 
 several days, offered much, promised more, obtained nothing. 
 But as they are a wily and cunning race of savages, in order 
 not to seem to refuse all that a friend asked, but to concede 
 something to his desires, they lyingly asserted that they 
 would in a few days restore us to our countrymen. This was 
 perhaps the wish of some of them ; but in the latter part of 
 September (for constant rains had put off the matter till that 
 time) a final council was held on our fate, although osten- 
 sibly provisions had been prepared and men appointed to 
 take us back. Here the opinion of the few well inclined was 
 rejected, confusion carried the day, and some clamorous 
 braves declared that they would never suffer a Frenchman to 
 be taken back alive. The council broke up in alarm, and 
 each, as if in flight, returned to his lodge or the village 
 whence he came. Left thus to the cruelty of bloodthirsty 
 men, attempts were constantly made on our lives. Some, 
 tomahawk in hand, prowled around the cabins to find and 
 despatch us. However, towards the close of the council, God 
 had inspired me with some thought that induced me to draw 
 my companions together, without the village, in a field be- 
 longing to the cabin where I was. Here, ignorant of what 
 had transpired, we lay hid in comparative safety, until the 
 storm under which we should all have fallen, had we re- 
 mained in the village, was somewhat calmed. 
 
 William was after this taken back by his master to his 
 own village. Rene and I, perceiving that there was now no 
 hope of our return, withdrew to pray on a neighboring hill 
 which commands the village. Here, remote from every wit- 
 ness and from all officious intrusion, we resigned ourselves 
 entirely to God and to His holy will. On our road back to 
 the village we were' reciting our beads, and had already com- 
 pleted four decades of the rosary, when we met two young 
 men, who commanded us to return to the village. '' Dear 
 brother," said I, " we know not what may be, in this period 
 of general excitement, the design of these men; let us com- 
 
 * This was the celebrated Arendt Van Curler, so highly esteemed by the 
 French and Indians. The latter even gave his name perpetually to the English 
 governors. He was the constant friend of Fatlier Jogues, and after many 
 ineifectual attempts to ransom him, by the charitable contributions of the Dutch 
 colonists, aided him to escape. The journal of his present visit to the Mohawk 
 villages has been published by. Dr. O'Callaghan in his History of New Nether- 
 land, vol, i. p. 334. 
 
190 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 mend ourselves earnestly to God, and to the most blessed 
 Virgin our good Mother." We had reached the village in 
 prayer, when at its very entrance one of the two who had 
 met us, plucking forth his tomahawk, which was concealed 
 in his dress, dealt Rene so deadly a blow on the head that he 
 fell lifeless, invoking the most holy name of Jesus as he fell. 
 We had happily (mindful of tlie indulgence thereby gained) 
 often reminded each othei- to close our life by uttering with 
 our dying voice that holiest of names. 
 
 At the sight of the reeking hatchet I knelt down on the 
 spot, and, uncovering my head, awaited a like blow ; but 
 when I had been there a moment or two, they bade me rise, 
 as he had no right to kill me, for I was the slave of another 
 family. Eising then in haste, I ran to my still breathing 
 companion and conferred absolution, which I was in the 
 habit of giving him after his confession every other day ; then 
 two other blows, dealt before my very face, added him to the 
 number of the blessed. He was thirty-live years of age, 
 eminent for his simplicity of manners, his innocence of life, 
 his patience in adversity. Entirely submissive to God, whom 
 he in all things regarded as present before his eyes, he was 
 ever resigned to His most holy will in love. Most worthy is 
 he, Reverend Father, to be counted among thy children, not 
 only because he had most edifyingly spent several months in 
 one of the novitiates of the Society, and had afterwards, by 
 order of the Superiors, to whom he gave the entire disposal 
 of his life, proceeded to Huronia to aid the Christian popu- 
 lation by his medical knowledge, but especially does he merit 
 it from the fact that, a few days before his death, impelled 
 by a desire of uniting himself more closely to God, he pro- 
 nounced the usual vows of the Society to subject himself to 
 it as far as in him lay. And certain it is, that in lite as in 
 death, where his last word was the most holy name of Jesus, 
 be had proved himself no unworthy son of the Society. Nay, 
 I not only love him as a brother, but revere him as a martyr 
 — martyr to obedience, and still more, a martyr to the faith 
 and to the cross. As he was very pious, and accustomed to 
 be with the Christians, or such as were more intimate with 
 our Christians, he daily spent a long time in prayer, to the 
 wonder and even suspicion of the savages, so novel did it 
 seem to them. These sus})icions were contirmed in their 
 minds, when one day, taking oif the cap of a child in the hut 
 ■where he lived, he made him make the sign of the cross on 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 191 
 
 his breast and forehead ; for a superstitions old Indian, the 
 grandfather of the boy, seeing this, ordered him to be killed. 
 This I afterwards learned from the boy's mother, who told 
 me that he had been killed by the old man for that reason. 
 
 But to resume my narrative. After I had been a little 
 while in our hut, where my life had been pretty tranquil, I 
 was taken to another, the hut of the one that had cut off my 
 thumb, a most bitter enemy of the Algonquins, and conse- 
 quently of the French. Here not I alone, but the Iroquois 
 generally, expected every moment to see me tomahawked. 
 In consequence some who had given me articles of clothing, 
 that I might in part at least cover my person, now asked 
 them back, for fear of losing them by my death. 
 
 The next day I was filled with so great an anxiety to 
 know what had become of my dear companion that I re- 
 solved to look for his body at all hazards, and commit it, if 
 possible, to the earth. After stripping it, they had con- 
 temptuously tied a rope around the neck and dragged it 
 through the village to a ravine at a considerable distance, 
 where they flung it. As I was going out of the village I 
 met the old man in whose lodge I had previously been ; he 
 advised me to stay at home : " Whither art thou hurrying," 
 he exclaimed, " thou art scarce alive ; they seek thee every 
 where to slay thee, and yet thou goest to find an already 
 putrefying corpse ; dost thou not see those fierce young 
 braves who are about to kill thee ? " Some in fact had gone 
 out of the village just before me with arms in their hands ; 
 but fearlessly, for in my bitter anguish it was ' a pain to live, 
 a gain to die' in such a work of charity, Ifpursued my way. 
 When the old man saw me so resolute he asked another 
 Indian to go with me. By his assistance I found the body 
 which the dogs had begun to gnaw about the hips, and, 
 sinking it in the deepest part of the torrent, I covered it 
 with a heap of stones, intending to return the next day with 
 a spade and bury it secretly and alone, for I was afraid that 
 they would disinter it. As I re-entered our hut I found 
 two young men waiting to take me to their village to put 
 me to death. Aware of their design I told them that I was 
 in the hands of those with whom I lived, that if they gave 
 the slightest consent I would accompany them ; as I would, 
 in fact, have done. Seeing that they gained nothing in 
 this way, the next day one of them, who, at the time of our 
 capture had, with his brother, been wounded in the action, 
 
192 THE JOGUES rAPERS. 
 
 seeinf^ me in a field, whither I had gone to execute some 
 order of ray owners, seized a hatchet and was rushing on to 
 kill me, when he was stopped by an old man of our family 
 and prevented from accomplishing his design. Thus did the 
 Almighty teach me " to cast all my solicitude on him," 
 " knowing that he hath care for me, and that I should not 
 fear the ftice of man," when the Almighty was the protector 
 of my life, without whose permission not a hair could Ml 
 from my head. 
 
 As I could not that day accomplish my design, I pro- 
 ceeded to the spot early the next morning, with a spade or 
 hoe, to inter the body, but alas ! they had carried off my 
 brother. I returned to the spot, I ascended the mount at 
 the foot of which the torrent ran, I descended again ; I 
 searched the wood on the opposite side, — all, all in vain. 
 The torrent ran swollen by the night rains, but undeterred 
 either by its depth or the cold, for it was the first of Octo- 
 ber, I tried the bottom with my stick and feet, as I thought 
 that the stream might jierhaps have borne him to another 
 spot ; I asked all whom I met, whether they knew any thing 
 of hini ; bat as they are a most mendacious race and always 
 give an aflirmative answer without regard to truth, they 
 falsely told me that it had been dragged to a quite distant 
 river. What groans did I not utter then ? What tears 
 did I not shed, mingling them with the waters of that 
 mountain stream, chanting to Thee, my God, the })salms 
 w^hich the holy Church employs in the service of the dead. 
 
 When, however, the snows had melted away I heard 
 from the young men that they had seen the scattered bones 
 of the Frenclmian. Hurrying to the spot, I gathered up 
 the half-gnawed bones, the remnants Iclt by the dogs, the 
 foxes and the crows, and clearest of all the skull fractured 
 in several places ; these, reverently kissing, I committed to 
 the earth that I might one day, if such were God's will, 
 bear them with me as a great treasure to a consecrated 
 Christian land. 
 
 From many other dangers which I know and know not, 
 did the Lord rescue me, unwilling and furious as the Iro- 
 quois were; but the following I should not omit. There was 
 in our cabin an idiot who asked me to let him cut olf two 
 hands' breadth from a wretched bit of cloth not seven long, 
 yet all that I had to cover me. " Brother," said I, " thou 
 seest me shivering every uight under this short thin cover- 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 193 
 
 ing ; but do as thou wilt." My modest excuse offended 
 him ; and when soon after I went to the huts of the bap- 
 tized Hurons, whom I daily instructed and " bore again till 
 Christ should be formed in them," (Gral. iv. 19,) he came in 
 search of me and fiercely bade me return. When I entered 
 the cabin, Rene's murderer was sent for, that the same hand 
 might end both our lives ; they looked for him in vain ; he 
 could not be found. I was accordingly sent the next day 
 with two women into a field of his, where he was then stay- 
 ing, under the pretence of bringing back some article or 
 other, but in fact to be exposed to death ; for two days be- 
 fore the only son of one of their noble women had died in 
 our cabin, and I was to be sacrificed to his manes. These 
 women actually had with them the squashes, corn, and other 
 articles of the kind which were to be the fee of my execu- 
 tioner. " But 1 like a deaf man heard not " the vain things 
 they devised, " and like a dumb man opened not my mouth, 
 and I became like a man that heareth not, nor hath a reply 
 in his mouth," (Ps. xxvii. 14,) '' because in Thee, Lord, 
 have I hoped ;" but mindful of his meekness, " who was led 
 like a lamb to the slaughter," (Acts, viii. 32,) I went to my 
 death begging the Lord with David " to turn away evil 
 from my enemies and scatter them in his truth." (Ps. liii. 
 7.) About midway we met the looked-for murderer. Seeing 
 him at a distance, I commended myself for the last time to 
 God, begging him to receive a life spent with care and 
 anguish ; but my sins still rendered me unworthy. He 
 passed quietly by us, and his mother, who soon met us, 
 addressed some words, of what import I know not, to those 
 who conducted me ; on this, trembling and as if in flight, 
 they darted off, leaving me in the road, for they saw that I 
 was aware of their design. 
 
 Amid this frequent fear and death, while every day I 
 die, or rather drag on a life more bitter than any death, two 
 months glided away. During this time, I made no effort 
 to learn their language ; for why should 1, who every mo- 
 ment expected to die ? The village was a prison for me ; 
 I avoided being seen ; I loved the wild wood, where I beg- 
 ged the Lord not to disdain to speak to his servant ; to give 
 me strength in such fearful trials — in which indeed, if I 
 have become a prodigy to many, God \vas ray stout helper, 
 and often, by His unfailing goodness, roused my drooping 
 8i)irits. I had recourse to the Holy Scriptures, my only 
 
 SECOND SERIES. VOL. III. 13 
 
194 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 refuf^e "in the tribulations which had found mc exceeding- 
 ly :" these did I venerate ; with these I wished to die. Of all 
 the books which we were carrying to Huronia for the use 
 of the Frenchmen living there, none had fallen into my 
 hands but the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews, with the 
 para])hrase of the Right Rev. Anthony Gcdeau, Bishop of 
 Gratz. This little book^ with a picture of St. Bruno, the 
 illustrious founder of the Carthusian order, to which some 
 indulgences were attached, and a rude wooden cross which 
 I had made, I always canied about me ; so that wherever 
 death, ever present before my eyes, should strike me down, 
 I might cheerfully die with the Holy Scriptures, which had 
 ever been my greatest consolation, with the graces and 
 indulgences of my most holy mother the Church, whom I 
 always greatly, but now most tenderly loved, and with the 
 cross of my Lord and Saviour. 
 
 And now the middle of October was come, when the 
 Indians leave their villages to go and hunt deer, which they 
 take by traps, or kill with their guns, in the use of which 
 they are very skilful. This seast)n, to the Indians one of 
 relaxation and enjoyment, brought its new burden of sor- 
 rows for me ; for 1 was given to a })arty who were at first 
 amazed at me, then ridiculed, and at last began to hate 
 me. Mindful of the character imposed upon me by God, 
 I began with modesty to discourse with them of the adora- 
 tion of one only God, of the observance of his command- 
 ments, of heaven, hell, and the other mysteries of our faith, 
 as fully as I was able. At first, indeed, they listened ; but 
 when they saw me constantly recur to these things, and 
 especially when the chase did not meet with the det^ired 
 success, then they declared that I was a demon who caused 
 them to take so little game. But what turned their ill-will 
 into perfect rage and fuiy, so to speak, was this : it is the 
 custom with all these nations to have recourse, in their 
 hunting, fishing, war, sickness, and the like, to a certain 
 demon, whom they call Aireskoi.*-* Whoever desires his 
 fishing, hunting, or other exi)editions to be successful, takes 
 meat and other of the better articles of food, and begs the 
 
 • In Huron, Agreskon6. This demon or divinity is evidently the same as 
 Tharouhyawagon, or the holder of the licavens, whose worship, even among 
 the so-called Pagan Iroquois, has been superseded by that of tlie true God, 
 called by tlicm " Niio," a coiniption of />i«/, or with an Indian prefix, Ilaw- 
 enniio. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS, 195 
 
 oldest of the house or village to bless them for him, if I may- 
 use the expression, and there are some to whose blessings 
 they attach more value than to others. Tlie old man stand- 
 ing opposite the one who holds the meat, in a loud and dis- 
 tinct voice, speaks thus : "Oh, demon Aireskoi ! lo we offer 
 thee this meat, and of it we prepare thee a banquet, that 
 thou mayest eat thereof and show us where lurk the deer, 
 and lead them into our traps ; " or if not during the chase, 
 "that by thee we -may again behold the spring, taste the 
 new harvest, and again engage in the chase in the fall : ' 
 if it be a case of illness — "that by thee we may recovei 
 health." 
 
 The very first time I heard a formula couched in such 
 words, I was filled with a deep detestation of this barba- 
 rian superstition, and firmly resolved to abstain for ever from 
 meats thus ofiered. They interpreted this abstinence on 
 my part, and this contempt of their demon, as the cause 
 of their taking little game : " the wicked have hated me 
 without cause." (John xv. 25.) As under the influence of 
 this hate, they would neither listen to my instructions, nor 
 help me to acquire their language in which I refuted their 
 fables, I resolved to devote my time entirely to spiritual 
 exercises. Accordingly, I went forth every morning from 
 the midst of this Babylon, that is, our hut, where constant 
 worship was paid to the devil and to dreams,* and "saved 
 myself in the mountain," (Gen. xix. 17,) a neighboring hill. 
 Here I had formed a large cross on a majestic tree, by strip- 
 ping off the bark, and at its foot I spent almost the whole 
 day with my Grod, whom, almost alone in those vast wilds, 
 I worshipped and loved : sometimes in meditation or in 
 prayer, at other times reading an Imitation of Christ, which 
 I had just before recovered. This for some time was unper- 
 ceived ; but on one occasion finding me, as was my wont, 
 in prayer before my cross, they attacked me most violently, 
 saying that they hated the cross, that it v/as a sign they 
 and their friends, the neighboring Europeans, knew not, 
 (alluding to the Dutch Protestants). Upon this, I changed 
 
 * An instance of their superstitious worship of dreams gave him an occasion 
 of Christian fortitude. A sick man, for whom the medicine-men were perform- 
 ing their usual mummeries, dreamed that he should recover if Ondesson were 
 to come with his Arrihsa, or book, and do as the French did when they prayed; 
 — they called on Jogues to satisfy this dream ; but he resolutely refused, though 
 threatened with death ; and when they attempted to drag him there, he 
 escaped by a precipitate flight. — Buteux't MSB, (SeeBruyas, Racines Agnieres.) 
 
196 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 my conduct ; and whereas I had before carefully avoided 
 praying or kneeling in the hut, that I raight not give them 
 the slightest reason to complain, (for we should, especially 
 among savages but little accustomed to such things, act in 
 all prudence,) I now conceived that I should no longer re- 
 frain from those pious exercises which make up a spiritual 
 life — a life I far preferred to my temjjoral one. This I 
 believed would be serviceable to them when the moment 
 of their conversion should come, " which the Father hath 
 put in his own power." (Acts i. 7.) 
 
 While thus an object of their enmity, I certainly suffered 
 much from hunger and cold, the contempt of the lowest of 
 men, the bitter hatred of their women, who are the great- 
 est gainers by the hunting season, and regarded me as the 
 cause of their want and i)overty. I endured, indeed, great 
 hunger, for as almost all the venison on which they then 
 chietiy lived had been offered to the demon in these obla- 
 tions, I spent many days fosting ; and almost every night 
 when I came in famished, I would see our Egyptians sitting 
 over their fleshpots, which my severe, though self-imposed 
 law, prevented my touching. And although reasons occur- 
 red to me in a manner dissuading me from my course, yet, 
 by God's grace, I never suffered myself to break my resolu- 
 tion, but in hunger said to my Lord, '"We shall be tilled 
 with the good things of thy house," (Fs. Ixiv. 5 ;) "1 shall 
 be satisfied when thy glory shall appear," (Ps. xvi. 15,) 
 when thou wilt truly till the desire of thy hungry servants 
 in thy holy city Jerusalem, " which thou wilt till for ever 
 with the fat of corn." (Ps. cxlvii. 14.) 
 
 I suffered also greatly from cold, amid the deep snows 
 in ray scanty, worn-out cloak, es{)ecially at night, wiiun or- 
 dered to sleep uncovered on the bare ground on some rough 
 bark ; for though they had plenty of deer-skins, perfectly 
 useless to them, not one was givr.-n to me ; nay, when some- 
 times, on a very bitter night, 1 would, driven by the cold, 
 secretly take one, they rose at once and stripped it from 
 me, so great was their enmity. My skin was now in such 
 a state, that I could, with David, say, "it had withered with 
 the filth of dust," (Job vii. 5;) it spUt with cold, and gave 
 me great pain all over my body. 
 
 But when inward afilictious came crowding on these 
 outward cares, then indeed my grief became mtolerable. I 
 remembered that 1 had been recently covered with the life's 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 197 
 
 blood of my dearest companion — and those who came from 
 William's Village told me that he had already been put to 
 death, with exquisite torture, and that I myself, on my re- 
 turn, was to meet the same fate. With this came up the 
 remembrance of my past life, stained with so many sins, 
 and so unfaithful to God ; and I grieved that I was thus 
 to be torn away, unaided by any of the sacraments, in the 
 midst of my course — rejected, as it were, by God, with no 
 good works sent on to plead my cause. In this state, loath- 
 ing life, yet shrinking from death, I uttered many a mourn- 
 ful cry, and said unto my God : When shall my sorrows and 
 miseries have an end .^-^Hovv long wilt thou forget our want 
 and our tribulation .? — When, after this tempest, wilt thou 
 give us calm, and, after weeping, joy and exultation ? — 
 "And had not those days been shortened, my flesh had not 
 been saved." (Mark xiii. 20.) I had recourse to my wonted 
 refuge of the Scriptures, my usual retreat, and passages 
 which my memory had retained taught me how I should 
 think of God in goodness, even though not ui)held by sensi- 
 ble devotion ; that I should know that "the just man lives 
 by faith." (Wis. i. 1.) I searched them ; I followed their 
 streamlets, and sought, as it were, to quench my daily thirst. 
 " I meditated on the law of God night and day," (Ps. i. 2,) 
 and " had not the law of God been my meditation, I had 
 perhaps perished in my abjection," (Ps. cxviii 92,) and 
 "my soul had passed through a water insupportable." (Ps. 
 cxxiii. 8.) " But blessed be God, who did not give us a prey 
 to the teeth of our enemies," (Ps. cxxiii. 6,) "whose hour 
 had come and the power of darkness," (Luke xxii. 53,) " in 
 which we were overmuch oppressed," (2 Cor, i. 8 ;) so that 
 I was weary of life, and could say with Job, though in a 
 different meaning, "Although he should kill me, I will trust 
 in him." (Job. xiii. 15 ) 
 
 Thus passed two months away in this retreat, where, 
 like St. Bernard, a disciple of the trees of the forest, I 
 thought of naught but God, until, having become an object too 
 hateful to all to be any longer borne with, I was sent back 
 to the village before the usual time. During this journey, 
 which took us eight days, " I was become like a beast of 
 burthen before God," (Ps. Ixxii. 23,) under the heavy load 
 of venison which I carried ; and being ignorant what late 
 awaited me at the village, since many reports had been 
 spread about me by a party that had gone before, I endeav- 
 
198 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 ored to be ever united with God. My sufferings on the 
 march from the intense cold were extreme; for I was nearly 
 naked, and we generally passed the night in the open air.* 
 My unhealed fingers were another source of misery, for the 
 wounds were hardly closed by the middle of January. In 
 the village, however, a thin skin was added to my worn-out 
 mantle, and in this wretched guise 1 traversed the streets 
 of our village, begging that the Lord would one day join rae 
 to his saints, who formerly served him in " sheep-skins, in 
 goat-skins, distressed, afflicted, of whom the world was not 
 worthy." (Heb. xi. 37.) And I daily saw the Indians well 
 dressed in the cloth and garments which our baggage had 
 plentifully supplied, while I was shivering night and day 
 with cold ; — but this was little ; more was I moved to see 
 these heathen men unworthily profane things dedicated to 
 the service of God. One of them had made himself leggings 
 of two of the veils used at Mass— 
 
 "non hos servatum munus in iisus." — ^En. iv. 647. 
 
 I can, in truth, say before God of all that period up to 
 mid-January : " Even unto this hour we both hunger and 
 thiist, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no fixed 
 abode. And we labor working with our hands : we are re- 
 viled and we bless ; we are persecuted and we suffer it ; we 
 are ill-spoken of and we entreat ; we are made as the refuse 
 of this world, the offscouring of all, even until now." (1 Cor. 
 iv. 11.) 
 
 When in the middle of January my owners returned 
 from the chase, they in a manner dressed me in skins, until 
 a Lorrainese, who lived among our Dutch neighbors, hear- 
 ing that r suffered greatly from cold, sent me from his house 
 a dress, such as they usually sell to the Indians. Tiiis 
 brought some slight alleviation to my pains ; but I found 
 still greater in the care of an old woman, whose only son 
 had died not long before. A noble of high rank in the 
 nation (for barbarism, too, has its nobles), f she took care 
 
 * He omits an act of charity which he performed on this march. A woman, 
 heavily loaded and carrying a chihl, fell from a tree which formed a bridge over 
 a deep and rapid stream, and woidd have perished had he not sprung iiito the 
 water and rescued her. Yet they showed no gratitude: on returning to the 
 village, he was sent back to tlie hunters, and falling from exhaustion, was set 
 to nurse one of his persecutors, then a dying mass of corruption, abandoned 
 by all. — ButeuT. 
 
 \ Sonic of these noble matrons, under the name of Oyenders, sat in council 
 with the Sachems. — Bruyas, Jiaciites Agnieres. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 199 
 
 of me, and " the Lord gave me grace in her eyes." Yet all 
 this was but a slight solace in such woe. 
 
 When I saw that my life was at last in some sort 
 spared, I applied myself to the study of the language, and 
 as our cabin was the council- hall not only of the village, but 
 almost all that canton, I began to instruct the oldest on the 
 articles of our faith. They, too, put me many questions as 
 to the sun and moon, the face which seems to appear on her 
 disk, the circumference of the earth, the size of the ocean, 
 its tides, whether, as they had heard, the heavens and the 
 earth anywhere met each other ? Adapting my philosophy 
 to their reach, I satisfied them on all these points ; — then, 
 indeed, they began to wonder and say : " Indeed we should 
 have lost a great treasure, had we put this man to death, 
 as we have been so often on the point of doing." Then I 
 endeavored to raise their minds from creatures to a kaovv- 
 ledge of the Creator : I confuted their old wives' tales of 
 the creation of the world, which their fable makes out to 
 have been created by a tortoise : the sun wa*?, I showed 
 them, not only without intellect, but even a lifeless mass, 
 much less a God : " with whose beauty, if they, being de- 
 lighted, took it to be a God, they should know how much 
 the Lord of it is more beautiful than it," (Wis. xiii. 3;) 
 that Aireskoi, whom they pretended to be the author and 
 preserver of life, and the. giver of all the good things which 
 they enjoyed, was not a God, but a demon. 
 
 Were they as easy in belief as they are easy to be con- 
 vinced, the matter would soon be settled ; but " the prince 
 of this world" (John xii. 31,) expelled from almost every 
 quarter of the globe by the power of the Cross, seems to 
 have retreated into these regions as his last stronghold ; so 
 that the kingdom which this "strongman armed" (Luke xi. 
 21) has possessed here for so many thousand years, can be 
 overthrown only in lapse of time, and by unconquerable con- 
 stancy on the part of the soldiers of Christ. From time to 
 time, however, Christ, their true Lord and Lord of all, 
 chooses some for himself, not only among the infants, many 
 of whom are now in heaven, but even among adults, some 
 of whom I baptized in sickness or in bondage. 
 
 Many other native adults I instructed ; but some refused 
 to listen to me, others rejected me, others assented merely 
 with the lips, from a kind of politeness which makes them 
 consider it rude to contradict you, and which would easily 
 
200 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 mislead most. I sometimes even made excursions to the 
 neighboring villages to console and instruct the Cbristian 
 Hurons, " who had not bent their knee before Baal," 
 (3 Kings xix. 18,) and to absolve them after hearing 
 their confessions, to announce a God every where, so far as 
 I was able, to succor the dying, but especially to save in- 
 fants in danger of death. This was my only solace in my 
 bitterest mental pangs ; and once when with this view I 
 visited a neighboring village, and there baptized five chil- 
 dren, I learned soon after, in another excursion, that all had 
 been called to heaven. 
 
 In these and like exercises, therefore, and efforts at the 
 study of their language (what study can there be without 
 writing ?) two months glided by. About the middle of 
 March, when the snow had melted away, they took me with 
 them to their fishing-ground. A party accordingly started, 
 consisting of the old man and woman, a little boy and my- 
 self; — four days travel brought us to a lake, where we 
 caught nothing but a few little fishes. The entrails of these 
 generally served as a seasoning for our sagamity, the fish 
 being laid by to carry back to the village. Such food as 
 this — with the entrails of deer, full of blood and half-jjutre- 
 fied excrement, boiled fungus, decayed oysters, frogs eaten 
 whole, head and feet, unskinned, uncleaned — had hunger, 
 custom, and want of better made, I will not say tolerable, 
 but even pleasing. How often in those journeys, and in that 
 lonely wilderness, "did we sit by the rivers of Babylon and 
 weep while we remembered thee, Sion," (Ps. cxxxvi. 1-4,) 
 not only exulting in heaven, but even praising thy God on 
 earth ! " How often, though in a strange land, did we sing 
 the canticle of the Lord," and mountain and wild-wood 
 resound with the praises of their Maker, which from their 
 creation they had never heard ! How often on the stately 
 trees of the forest did I carve the most sacred name of Jesus, 
 that, seeing it, the demons might fly, who tremble when 
 they hear it ! How often, too, did I not strij) off the bark, 
 to lurm the most holy cross of the Lord, that the foe might 
 fly before it; and that by it thou, Lord, my King, "might 
 reign in the midst of thy enemies," (Ps. cix. 2,) " the ene- 
 mies of thy Cross," (Phil. iii. 18,) the misbeliever and the 
 ]iagan who dwell in that land, and the demons who rule so 
 fearfully there ! I rejoiced, too, that I had been led by the 
 Lord into the wilderness at the very time when the Church 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 201 
 
 recalls the stoiy of His Passion, so that I might more un- 
 interruptedly remember the course of its bitterness and gall, 
 and " my soul pine away at the remembrance," Jer. ni. 20. 
 When therefore, I had fulfilled the task imposed on me by 
 my masters as their slave— the slave of savages— when i 
 had cut and brought in wood for the fire m the lodge, 1 
 spent almost all the rest of my time before a large cross 
 which I had formed on a huge pine-tree at a considerable 
 distance from the hut. But I was not long allowed to en- 
 iov this holy repose ; indeed too many days had passed un- 
 alarmed by my wonted terrors. On Monday in Holy Week, 
 an Indian came to us from the village ; the reason of his 
 coming was this : Ten Iroquois, among whom was the son 
 of the man who had cut off my thumb, and in whose hut 
 I now dwelt, had gone out on a war-party about midsum- 
 mer Summer, fall, and even the long winter passed, and 
 yet no tidings of them came : they were consequently given 
 up especially as neighboring nations said that they had 
 fallen victims to the cruelty of the enemy. Early in the 
 snrino- during our absence, a captive was brought in, who 
 bein-^'also questioned as to them, gave the same answer, 
 and said that they had been killed. Then indeed deeming, 
 what they already believed, to be now passed doubt they 
 sacrificed that very captive to the manes of the young brave, 
 my master's son. But the soul of this captive seemed too 
 vile to atone for the life of the noble youth. I was accord- 
 incrly sent for from the lake where we were, that my lite 
 widi his might compensate for the death of the chieftain 
 Such, at least, was the conclusion to which one or two old 
 women and a decrepit old man had come. We consequent- 
 ly set out the next day, as if in flight, under the pretence 
 that parties of the enemy were around us. We reached 
 the village towards evening, on Maundy Thursday, April I. 
 The moirow, which had closed the Saviour's life, was now 
 to close mine also, when it pleased Him who, by dying on 
 that day, had given life to my spirit, to give it to my body 
 also. Accordingly on that day, when I was o have been 
 put to death, rumor was spread, as if without good au- 
 thority, that those supposed to be dead were still alive 
 then it came that they had joined another war party, and 
 were now bringing in twenty-two captives. _ 
 
 Thus did God scatter the malignant designs of the 
 savages— instructing and showing me that he took care ot 
 
202 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 me, that I should cast myself wholly on him, conscious that 
 he would not recoil and let me fall. 
 
 Although I naturally rejoiced to be rescued from these 
 and other dangers, yet I sighed to see myself given over to 
 new sorrows and heart-breaking torments, compelled to drag 
 on a life more painful than the most cruel death ; for the 
 success, as well as the reverses of these men, fell heavily on 
 me alone. If any one was slain in battle, I was at once 
 demanded as a victim to be offered to his shade ; but if, as 
 was generally the case, they brought in prisoners after hav- 
 ing killed more, my heart was always rent with grief, for 
 they were either Frenchmen, or allies of the French. 
 
 Naturally, therefore, did I prefer retirement and solitude, 
 where, far from the villages, I was no longer dismayed at 
 the wonted cruelty of these savages, and where I could bet- 
 ter and more freely hold converse with God. Yet, knowing 
 that though Lia was blear-eyed, she was more fruitful than 
 Rachel, and bore more children ; mindful, too, of the In- 
 stitute of our Society, which prefers our neighbor's salva- 
 tion to our private spiritual joy, I unreluctantly remained 
 at home, for the village enabled me to make greater progress 
 in the language, and to secure the salvation of infants and 
 adults by baptism ; for I was greatly grieved whenever dur- 
 ing my absence an adult died without instruction, or a child 
 without baptism. 
 
 To return to our war-party : they came in, bringing 
 twenty-two prisoners, but belonging to a nation with whom 
 they had never as yet been at war ; * still, in violation of all 
 right and justice, they were beaten with clubs and stripes, 
 and mutilated by the usual cutting off of fingers. Five of 
 them were to be put to death — for all the rest, being boys 
 and girls, or women, were kept as slaves. Their instruction 
 was now the object of my solicitude, for I was ignorant of 
 their language ; yet, by God's grace, I was enabled, by a 
 few words that 1 knew, but chietly by the kindness of one 
 who knew both languages, to instruct and baptize them. 
 
 This happened at Easter.f At Whitsuntide (May 24), 
 they brought in new prisoners — three women with their lit- 
 tle children, the men having been killed near the French 
 settlements. They were led into the village entirely naked 
 
 * A manuscript says Abnakis. 
 
 f Between these, in April there came a Sokoki embassy to solicit bis libera- 
 tion. This he details in the uarrative of bis escape. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 203 
 
 • — not even with any kind of drawers on — and after being 
 severely beaten on the way, had their thumbs cut off. One 
 of them (a thing not hitherto done) was burned all over her 
 body, and afterwards thrown into a huge pyre. Worthy 
 of note is a strange rite I then beheld. When this woman 
 was tortured, at every burn which they caused, by applying 
 lighted torches to her body, an old man, in a loud voice, 
 exclaimed : " Demon Aireskoi ! we offer thee this victim, 
 whom we burn for thee, that thou mayst be filled with her 
 flesh, and render us ever anew victorious over our enemies." 
 Her body was cut up, sent to the various villages, and de- 
 voured ; — for about midwinter, grieving, as it were, that they 
 had refrained from eating the flesh of some prisoners, they 
 had, in a solemn sacrifice of two bears, which they offered 
 to their demon, uttered these words : "Justly dost thou 
 punish us, oh demon Aireskoi ! — lo, this long time we have 
 taken no captives : during the summer and fall we have 
 taken none of the Algonquins." (These they consider pro- 
 perly their enemies.) " We have sinned against thee, in 
 that we ate not of the last captives thrown into our hands ; 
 but if we ever again capture any, we promise thee to devour 
 them, as we now do these two bears," — and they kept their 
 word.* This poor woman I baptized in the midst of the 
 flames, for I was unable to do it before, and then succeeded 
 only while raising a drink to her parched lips. 
 
 On the eve of St. John the Baptist, (June 23,) of whom 
 it is written, "that many shall rejoice at his birth," a new 
 weight was added to my usual sorrows : eleven Huron s and 
 a Frenchman were brought in ; — three Frenchmen and ten 
 Hurons, among them some of the most celebrated Chris- 
 tians, had been killed, treacherously circumvented by a show 
 of friendship. Of these they bore the scalps, or hair, which 
 they tear off with the skin from the head of their fallen 
 enemies. 
 
 Really, T felt in my own person this punishment de- 
 served by my sins, and pronounced of old by God to His 
 
 * An idea too generally propagated by those who knew the Indians but 
 slightly is, that those in Northern America had properly no religious worship. 
 This is refuted by many facts ; but by none, perhaps, more clearly than that 
 here given by Father Jogues. We have here all the essentials of a sacrifice, 
 ■which, in the human annals, is the only recognized act of adoration to a Supreme 
 Being. The idea of man's sinfulness, of his condemnation to death, of a per- 
 mitted substitution, of the great human sacrifice that was to appease the Al- 
 mighty, are all here recognizable. 
 
204 THE JOGUKS PAPERS. 
 
 people when He said, "that their new moons, their festivals 
 and s, lemnities, should be tinned into grief and sorrow/' 
 (Osee ii. 11,) as Easter, and Whitsuntide, and the nativity 
 of St. John the Baptist, each brought new sorrows on me, 
 to be afterwards increased to agony by the slaughter of a 
 hundred Hurons, most of whom, racked by fearful torments, 
 were burned to death in the neio;hborin<2; cantons. "Woe 
 18 me ; wherefore was I born to see the ruin of my 
 people." * (1 Mach. ii. 7.) 
 
 Verily, in these and like heart-rending cares, " my life is 
 wasted with grief, and my years with sighs," (Ps. xxx. 11.) 
 " for the Lord hath corrected me for mine iniquity, and hath 
 made my soul waste away as a sfjider," (Ps. xxxviii, 12 ;) 
 " he hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me 
 with wormwood," (Lam. iii. 15,) " because the comforter, 
 the relief of my soul, is far from me," (Lam. i. 16 ;) " but 
 in all these things we overcome," and by the favor of God 
 will overcome, " because of Him that hath loved us," (Rom. 
 viii. 37.) until " he come that is to come, and will not 
 delay," (Heb. x. 37,) "until my day, like that of a hireling, 
 come," (Job. vii. 1, to xiv. 14,) or my change be made. 
 
 Although I could in all piobability escape either through 
 the Europeans or the Indian nations around us, did I wish 
 to fly, yet on this cross to which our Lord has nailed me, 
 beside Himself, am I resolved by His grace to live and die. 
 For who in my absence would console the French captives ? 
 who absolve the jjcnitent ? who remind the christened Huron 
 of his duty ? who instruct the piisoners constantly brought 
 m ? who baptize them dying, encourage them in their tor- 
 ments ? who cleanse the infants in the saving waters ? who 
 provide for the salvation of the dying adult, the instruction 
 of those in health ? Indeed I cannot but think it a })ecu- 
 liar interposition of divine goodness, that while a nation, 
 
 * About this time F. Jop^ies, who, since the Sokoki embassy, had risen in 
 importance, was taken by some .Sachems about to visit a dependent tribe, 
 about eighty leagues distant from them. Hither he was led in triumph, as a 
 proof of the irresistible power of the Mohawk. The tribe was poor, and he 
 suffered much by the way, but had the inexpressible satisfaction of finding the 
 Indian who had cut him down, when hung up at Tconontogen. He was dying, 
 and though Jogues could give his bodily ailments only the tears of sympathy, 
 he carefully instructed and baptized him, repaying his act of chiurity by the 
 endless joys of heaven. 
 
 On liis return to the village, ho was knocked down and nearly killed by a 
 madman : his kind mistress, or aunt, fearing for his safety, urged him to escape ; 
 but the letter shows his feelings on this poiut 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 205 
 
 fallen from the true Catholic religion, harred the entrance 
 of the faith to these regions, on one side, and on the other, 
 a fierce war hetween savage nations, and on their account 
 with the French, I should have fallen into the hands of 
 these Indians, who by the will of God reluctantly, and I 
 may say against their will, have thus far spared my lite, that 
 throuoh me, though unworthy, those might be instructed, 
 believe and be baptized, who are predestined to eternal lite. 
 Since the time when I was taken, I have baptized seventy 
 children young and old, of five different nations and lan- 
 gua<-es, that of "every tribe, and people, and tongue, they 
 mi-ht stand in the sight of the Lord." (Apoc. vn. 9.) 
 
 Therefore do I daily bow my knee to my Lord and to 
 the Father of my Lord, that if it be for his glory, he may 
 confound all the designs of the Europeans and savages tor 
 ransoming me or sending me back to the ^yhltes ; /^^ m^^ 
 of the Indians speak of my being restored, and the Dutch, 
 amono- whom I write this, have frequently offered, and now 
 again'are offering to rescue me and my companions. 1 have 
 visitpd them twice, and have been most kindly welcomed ; 
 they leave no stone unturned to effect our deliverance and 
 have made many presents to the Indians with whom I am, 
 to induce them to treat me humanely. 
 
 Bat I am now weary of so long and so prolix a letter , 
 I the vefore earnestly beg your Reverence ever to recognize 
 me, though unworthy, as one of yours; for though a savage 
 in dress and manner, and almost without God in so tossed 
 a life, yet as I have ever lived a son of the most holy 
 Church of Rome and of the Society, so do I wish to die. 
 Obtain for me from God, Reverend Father, by your holy 
 sacritices, that though I have hitherto but lU-ernpl^.yed 
 the means He gave me to attain the highest smicatyi 
 may at least employ well this last occasion which He otlers 
 me Your bounty, surely, owes this to a son who has 
 Sc^urse to you ; for I lead a truly wretched hie where 
 eveiT virtue is in danger: Faith in the dense darkness 
 of paganism, Hope in so long and hard trials. Chanty amid 
 so much corruption, deprived of all the sacraments. i:^ui y 
 is not, indeed, endangered here by dehghts, ^^f .^^^^f^^^' ^^^ 
 this promiscuous and intimate intercourse of both sexe. oy 
 the perfect liberty of all in hearing and doing wha^ they 
 please ; and, most of all, in their constant nakedness 
 For he e, wil ing or not, you must often see what elsewhere 
 
206 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 is shut out, not only from wandering, but even from curi- 
 ous eyes. Hence I daily groan to my God, begging Him 
 not to leave me without help amid the dead ; — beg- 
 ging him, I say, that amid such impurity and such super- 
 stitious worship of the devil to which he has exposed me, 
 naked as it were, and unarmed, " my heart maybe undefiled 
 in His justifications," (Ps. cxviii. 80,) so that when that good 
 Shepherd shall come, "who will gather together the dis- 
 persed of Israel," (Ps. cxlvi. 2,) "He may gather us from 
 among the nations to bless His holy name. Amen ! Amen !" 
 (Ps. cv. 47.) 
 
 Your Reverence's 
 Most humble servant and son in Christ. 
 
 Isaac Jogues. 
 
 Permit me through your reverence to salute all my dear 
 fathers and brothers whom I tenderly love and cherish in 
 Christ, and to commend myself to their holy sacrifices and 
 prayers. 
 
 Your most humble servant and son in Christ, 
 
 Isaac Jogues. 
 
 Eenssalaerswjck, in New Netherland, August 5, 1643.* 
 
 II. 
 
 FATHER JOGUES TO MR. DE CHAMPFLOUR, GOVERNOR OF 
 
 THREE RIVERS. 
 
 [Written in a jargon of French, Latin and Huron.] 
 
 Sir — This is my fourth letter since I fell into the hands 
 of the Iroquois. Time and paper prevent by repeating here 
 what I have already given you at length. Couture and I are 
 yet alive, Henry, a young man taken at Montn-al, was 
 brought in on St. John's eve. He did not run the gauntlet 
 on entering the village, nor has he lost any fingers as we 
 did ; he is alive, as well as all the Hurons brought in 
 with him. Be on your guard every where. New parties are 
 constantly setting out, and you must rely on it that the 
 rivpr will not be free from the enemy before the fall. The 
 
 * This letter was written, as wo shall see by No. UI., after the holy mis- 
 sionary had left the Mohawk \ illages for the last time, unconscious as he was 
 while penning it at Renssahierswyck, our modern Albany, where the kind-hearted 
 Dutch, impelled by their minister. Dominie Megapolensis, showed him every 
 courtesy and kind sympathy. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 207 
 
 Iroquois here are about 700 ; they have 30.0 arquebusses, 
 and handle them well. They can reach Three Elvers by 
 diiferent streams. Fort Richelieu gives them a little more 
 trouble, but does not hinder them. The Iroquois say that 
 if those who took and killed the French at Montreal had 
 known how you acted in rescuing the Sokokiois from the 
 hands of the Algonquins, they would not have done so. They 
 had set out in midwinter, before the news came. For all 
 that, a new party has just set out, and Mathurin's man (F. 
 Brebeuf knows him well) is with them, and leads the band, 
 as he did at our capture lust year. This troop desires and 
 intends to take French as well as Algonquins. Do not let 
 any consideration for me prevent your doing what may be 
 for God's glory. 
 
 The design of the Iroquois, as far as I can see, is to take 
 all the Hurons, if they can, put to death the most emi- 
 nent, and a good part of the rest, and make of the two one 
 people and one land. I feel great compassion for these poor 
 people, many of whom are Christians, others Catechumens, 
 prepared for baptism. When shall these evils be stopped J' 
 When they are all taken ? I received many letters from the 
 Hurons with the Relation taken at Montreal. The Dutch 
 have wished to deliver us, but in vain. They are now 
 making another efibrt, but will be, I think, equally fruitless. 
 I am more and more resolved to stay here, as long as it 
 shall please our Lord, and not go away, even if an occasion 
 should offer. My presence consoles the French, Hurons and 
 Algonquins. I have baptized more than sixty persons, many 
 of whom are now in heaven. This is my only consolation, 
 with the will of God, to which I most cheerfully unite mine. 
 
 I beg you to recommend them to offer prayers and 
 masses lor us, and especially for him who desires ever to be 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 Isaac Jogues, S. J. 
 
 Iroquois Village, June 30th, 1643. 
 
 III. 
 
 father jogues to his superior in canada. 
 
 Eeverend Father : The Peace of Christ. 
 
 On the very day of the feast of our holy Father Ignatius 
 (July 31), I left the village where I was a prisoner to follow 
 and accompany some Iroquois who were going first to trade, 
 
208 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 then to fish. Having got tliroiigh their traffic, they pro- 
 ceeded to a place seven or eight leagues below the Dutch 
 post, which is on the river where we were fishing. While 
 arranging our weirs for the fish, a report reached us that an 
 Iroquois war party, returned from the Huron land, had killed 
 five or six on the spot, and brought in fnir jirisoners, two of 
 whom had been already burnt at our village with move than 
 common cruelty. 
 
 At these tidings my heart was rent with most keen and 
 bitter grief, that I had not seen, consoled or baptized these 
 poor victims. Fearful that something of the kind might 
 happen again during my absence, 1 went to a good old 
 woman, who from her age and her care of me, as well as 
 from her compassion for my sufferings, called me her nephew, 
 as I called her aunt. " Aunt," said I, " I would much 
 rather go back to our cabin, I am very lonesome here," I 
 did not indeed expect more comfort or less pain at the vil- 
 lage, where I suffered a continual martyrdom, compelled to 
 witness before my eyes the horrible cruelties they perpetrate, 
 but my heart could not bear that one should die without my 
 affording him baptism. " Go, nephew," said this good 
 woman, " go, if you are tired of this place, and take some- 
 thing to eat on the way." I accordingl}' embarked in the 
 first canoe going up to the village, always conducted, and 
 always accom[)anied by Iroquois. 
 
 Un reaching the Dutch post through which we had to 
 pass, I learned that our vilhige was furious against the 
 French, and that they only awaited my return to burn rae. 
 The reason of all was this. Among the war parties against 
 the French, Algonquins and Hurons, was one that restdved 
 to go and prowl iuonnd Fort Richelieu to spy the French 
 and their Indian allies. A certain Huron of this band, taken 
 by the Iroquois and naturalized anjong them, came to ask 
 me for letters to carry to the French, hoping })erhaps to 
 surprise some one by this bait ; but as I had no doubt the 
 French would be on their guard, I saw the importance of 
 giving them some inkling of the designs, arms and treachery 
 of our enemy, 1 found means to get a bit of paper to write 
 on. The Dutch did me this charity.* 
 
 I knew well the danger to which I exposed myself I 
 was well aware thai it any mishap betell the part}'', I would 
 be made responsible, and the blame thrown on my letters. 
 
 * The letter here referred to is the preceding. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 209 
 
 I foresaw my death, but it seemed to me sweet and agree- 
 able, employed for the public good, and the consolation of 
 our French, and the poor Indians who listen to the word of 
 Jesus Christ. My heart was undisturbed by fear at the 
 sight of all that might happen — Grod's glory was concerned. 
 
 So I gave my letter to the young brave, who never re- 
 turned. The story given by his comrades is, that he carried 
 it to Fort Kichelieu, and that as soon as the French saw it, 
 they fired their cannon at them ; that alarmed at this, most of 
 them took to flight all naked, leaving one of their canoes, in 
 which were three arquebuses, powder, ball and other ar- 
 ticles. When this news was brought into the village, the 
 cry was raised that my letter had caused them to be treated 
 so. The rumor spread around ; it reached my ears ; I was 
 taunted with the mishap ; they talked of nothing but burn- 
 ing me ; and had I been found in the village when these 
 braves returned, fire, rage and cruelty had deprived me of 
 life. 
 
 To increase my misfortune, another party, returning 
 from the neighborhood of Montreal, where they had laid an 
 ambush for the French, said that two of their party had 
 been killed and two wounded. All made rae guilty of these 
 mishaps. They were now beside themselves with rage, and 
 impatient for my return. All these reports I heard, offer- 
 ing myself unreservedly to our Lord, and resigning myself 
 all in all to His most holy will. 
 
 The commander of the Dutch post where we were, 
 aware of the evil design of the savages, and aware, too, that 
 the Chevalier de Montmagny had prevented the Canada 
 Indians from coming to kill the Dutch, had offered me means 
 of escape. ' Here,' said he, ' lies a vessel at anchor, to sail 
 in a few days. Get privately on board. It is bound first to 
 Virginia, whence it will carry you to Bordeaux or Eochelle, 
 where it must stop.' Thanking him with much respect and 
 courtesy, I told him that the Iroquois would suspect them 
 of favoring my escape, and perhaps do some injury to their 
 people. ' No ! no ! ' he replied, ' do not fear ; get on board, 
 it is a fine opportunity, and you will never find a surer way 
 of escaping.' 
 
 At these words my heart was perplexed. I doubted 
 whether it was not for the greater glory of our Lord to ex- 
 pose myself to the danger of savage fury and flames in order 
 to aid in the salvation of some soul. I therefore replied, 
 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. III. 14 
 
210 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 ' This affair, sir, seems to me so important, that I cannot 
 give you an answer on this spot ; give me, if you please, 
 to-night, to think it over. I will recommend it to our Lord ; 
 I will examine the reasons on both sides, and will tell you 
 my final resolution in the morning/ Greatly astonished, he 
 granted my request. The night I spent in prayer, earnestly 
 imploring our Lord not to let me adopt a conclusion myself, 
 but to give me light to know His most holy will ; that in 
 all and through all, even to the stake itself, I would follow 
 it. The reasons to retain me in the country were the con- 
 sideration of the French and Indians ; I loved them, and 
 felt so great a desire to be of aid to them, that I had re- 
 solved to pass the rest of my days in this captivity for their 
 salvation ; but now I beheld the face of affairs entirely 
 changed. 
 
 First, as for the three Frenchmen, brought prisoners 
 like myself into the country ; one, Rene Goupil, had al- 
 ready been massacred at my feet. This young man was as 
 pure as an angel. Henry, taken at ]\Iontreal, had fled to 
 the woods ; because while he was beholding the cruelties 
 peri)etrated on two Hurons roasted alive, some Iroquois told 
 him that they would treat him so, and me too, as soon as 
 I got back. This threat made him resolve to run. the risk 
 of starving in the woods, or being devoured by some wild 
 beast, rather than endure the torments inflicted by these 
 halt-demons. He had not been seen for seven days. As to 
 William Couture, I could scarcely see any means of being 
 of service to him, for he had been put in a village at a dis- 
 tance from mine, and the Indians kept him so busy here 
 and there, that I could no longer find him. He had, more- 
 over, himself told me, — ' Father, try to escape ; as soon as 
 I see no more of you, I will manage to get off. You know 
 well that I remain in this captivity only for your sake ; do 
 your best, then, to escape, for I cannot think of my own 
 liberty or life till I see you in safety.' Besides, this good 
 young friend had been given to an old man, who assured 
 him that he would let him go in peace, if I could effect my 
 deliverance ; so that I no longer saw any reason to remain 
 on account of the French. 
 
 As to the Indians, instructing them was now out of the 
 question, and almost hopeless ; for the whole country was so 
 excited against me, that I no longer found means to speak 
 to them, or gain them ; and the Algonquins and Hurons 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 211 
 
 kept aloof from me, as a victim destined to the flames, be- 
 cause they feared to come in for a share of the rage and 
 hatred which the Iroquois bore me. I saw, too, that I had 
 some knowledge of their language, tliat I knew their country 
 and their strength, and that I could perhaps contribute bet- 
 ter to their salvation in other ways than by remaining 
 among them. All this knowledge, it occurred to me, would 
 die with me if I did not escape. The wretches, too, had so 
 little intention of giving us up, that they committed an act 
 of perfidy against the right and custom of all these nations. 
 An Indian of the coUntry of the Sokokois, allies of the Iro- 
 quois, having been taken by the upper Algonquins and 
 brought to Three Rivers or Quebec as a prisoner, was deliv- 
 ered and set at liberty by the intervention of the Governor 
 of New France, at the solicitation of our Fathers. The good 
 Indian, seeing that the French had saved his life, sent beau- 
 tiful presents in the month of April to deliver at least one 
 of the French. The Iroquois retained the jjresents without 
 setting one of us at liberty ; a treachery perhaps unexam- 
 pled among thpse tribes, for the}* invariably observe .the law, 
 that whoso touches or accepts the present made him, must 
 execute what is asked by the present. Accordingly, when 
 they do not wish to grant what is desired, they send back 
 the presents, or make others in their stead. 
 
 13ut to return to my purpose. Having weighed before 
 God, with all possible abstraction from self, the reasons for 
 remaining among the Indians, and those for leaving, I con- 
 cluded that our Lord would be more pleased with my taking 
 the opportunity to escape. 
 
 As soon as it was day I went to salute the Dutch Gov- 
 ernor, and told him the resolution I had come to before 
 God ; he called for the officers of the ship, told them his 
 intentions, and exhorted them to receive and conceal me — 
 in a word, to carry me over to Europe. They replied, that 
 if I could once set foot in their vessel, I was safe ; I should 
 not leave it till I reached Bordeaux or Rochelle. " Cheer 
 up, then,' said the Governor ; ' return with the Indians, and 
 this evening, or in the night, steal off quietly and make for 
 the river, there you will tlnd a little boat which I will have 
 ready to take you to the ship.' After most humble thanks 
 to all those gentlemen, I left the Dutch the better to con- 
 ceal my design. In the evening, I retired with ten or twelve . 
 Iroquois, to a barn, where we spent the night : before lying 
 
212 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 down, I went out ''to see where I could most easily escape. 
 The dogs then let loose ran at me, and a large and power- 
 ful one snapped at my bare leg and bit it severely ; I 
 immediately entered the barn, the Iroquois closed the door 
 securely, and to guard me better, came and lay beside me, 
 especially one who was in a manner appointed to watch me. 
 Seeing myself beset with these mishaps, and the barn well 
 shut and surrounded by dogs, tliat would betray me if I 
 attempted to go out, I almost thought that I could not es- 
 cape, I sweetly complained to my God, that having given 
 the thought of escaping, ' He hath sbiit up my way with 
 square stones, and in a s{)acious place my feet.' (Lament, iii. 
 9.) This whole night also I spent without sleep ; towards 
 day, I heard the cocks crow ; — soon after, a servant of the 
 Dutch farmer who had received us into his barn, entered by 
 some door I did not see. I went up to him softly, and not 
 understanding his Flemish, made him a sign to stop the dogs 
 barking ; he immediately went out, and 1 after him as soon 
 as I had taken my little luggage, consisting of a Little Oliice 
 of the Blessed Virgin, an Imitation of Christ, and a wooden 
 cross which I had made to keep me in mind of my Saviour's 
 sufferings. Having got out of the barn without making any 
 noise or waking my guards, I climbed over a fence whieh 
 enclosed the house, and ran straight to tlie river where the 
 ship was ; it was as much as my wounded leg could do, for 
 the distance was a good quarter of a league. I found the 
 boat as I had been told, but as the tide had gone down, it 
 was high and dry ; 1 pushed it to get it to the water, but 
 finding it too heavy, I called to the ship to send me their 
 boat to take me on board. There was no answer ; I do not 
 know whether they heard me ; be that as it may, no one 
 appeared, and day was now beginning to reveal to the L'O- 
 quois the robbery which I had made of myself, and I I'eared 
 to be surprised in my innocent crime. \Veary of hallooing, 
 I returned to my boat, and i)raying to the Almighty to in- 
 crease my strength, I succeeded at last so well by working 
 it slowly on, and ])ushing stoutly, that I got it into the wa- 
 ter. As soon as itlloated, I junjped in and reached the ves- 
 sel alone, unperceived by any Iroquois. 1 was immediately 
 lodged in the bottom of the hold, and to hide me they put 
 a large box on the hatch. I was two days and two nights 
 in the hold of this ship, in such a state that I ex})ected to 
 be sutfocated and die of the stench, when I remembered poor 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 ^13 
 
 Jonas, and prayed our Lord ' that I might not flee from His 
 face/ (Jonas i. 3,) nor depart from His will ; but on the 
 contrary, 'that He would infatuate all counsels' (2 Kings- 
 XV. 31) that were not for His glory, and to keep me in the 
 land of these heathen if He did not approve my retreat and 
 flight. 
 
 The second night of my voluntary imprisonment, the 
 Minister of the Hollanders came to tell me that the Iro~ 
 quois had made much trouble, and that the Dutch settlers 
 were afraid that they would set fire to their houses and kill 
 their cattle. They have reason to fear them, for they are 
 armed with good arquebuses. ' If,' I replied, ' for my sake 
 this great tempest is upon you, cast me into the sea.' (Jonas 
 i. 12.) If this trouble has been caused by me, I am ready to 
 appease it at the loss of my life. I had never wished to es- 
 cape to the injury of the least man in the colony.* 
 
 At last, then, I had to leave my den ; the sailors took 
 umbrage, saying ' that they had pledged their word in case 
 I could set foot on the ship, and that they were now 
 taking me off at the very moment when they should have 
 brought me, had I not been there ; that I had put my life 
 in danger by escaping on their promise, and that, cost what 
 it might, they must stick to it.' This honest bluntness 
 touched me, but I begged them to let me go, as the captain, 
 who had opened to me the doorway of escaping, now asked 
 me back.t I was taken to his house, where he kept me 
 concealed. These comings and goings were done by night, 
 so that I was not discovered. In all this proceeding I might 
 have urged my own reasons, but it was not for me to speak 
 in my own cause, but rather to follow the commands of 
 others ; I cheerfully submitted. At last the captain told 
 me that we must yield calmly to the storm, and wait till 
 the minds of the Indians were appeased : in this advice all 
 concurred. Here, then, I am a voluntary prisoner in his 
 house, whence I write this. If you ask my thoughts m all 
 this affair, I will tell you first, that the vessel which had 
 wished to save me has gone off without me ; second, that if 
 our Lord does not in an almost miraculous way prorect me, 
 the Indians, who come and go here every moment, will dis- 
 
 * He could say no more, for, spent with sufferings of mind and body, and 
 with want of food, he feU senseless on the deck.— .l/.S. of F. Buteux. 
 
 f By Captain, he means apparently another than Van Curler, whom he 
 calls Governor, for he was not in his house. 
 
214 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 cover me ; and if they ever believe that I am still here, I 
 must necessarily be restored to their hands. 
 
 Now, when they had such fury against me before my 
 flight, how will they treat me when I fall again into their 
 power ? I will die by no ordinary death ; their fire, rage, 
 and new-devised cruelties will wring out my life. Blessed 
 be God's name for ever ! We are ever in the bosom of His 
 divine and adorable providence. 'Yea, the very hairs of 
 your head are numbered. Fear not, therefore ; you are of 
 more value than many sparrows,' ' not one of whom fills to 
 the earth without your Father.' (Luke xii. 7.) 
 
 I have been hidden ten or twelve days, and it is hardly 
 possible that an evil day will not come upon me. 
 
 In the third place, you will see our great need of your 
 prayers, and of the holy sacrifices of all our Fathers. Give 
 us this alms ' that the Lord may render me fit to love Him, 
 patient to endure, constant to persevere in His holy love 
 and service." This and a little New Testament from Europe 
 are my sole desires. Pray for these poor nations that burn 
 and eat each other, that they may come to a knowledge of 
 their Creator, and render Him the tribute of their love. ' I 
 am mindful of you in my bonds,' captivity cannot enchain 
 my remembrance. 
 
 I am, in heart and affection, &c. 
 
 Renselaerwyck, 30 August, 1G43. * 
 
 IV. 
 
 LETTER OF FATHER JOGUES TO FATHER CHARLES LALEMAKT. 
 
 Rennks, January G, 1644. 
 
 ' Now I know in very deed that the Lord hath sent 
 His angels and hath delivered me out of the hand of Plerod, 
 and from all the expectation of the Jews.' (Acts xii. 11.) 
 The Iroquois came to the Dutch i)ost about the middle of 
 September, and made a great deal of disturbance, but at last 
 received the presents made by the captain who had me 
 concealed. They amounted to about three hundred livres, 
 w^hich I will endeavor to repay. All things being quieted, 
 
 * The Mohawks were not easily .^ppcased, and Father Jogues rcni:iined a 
 close prisoner for six weeks ; so much neglceted by his honest, but, it would 
 setni, avaricious host, that he actually suffered hunger aud thirst ; for, though 
 his excellent friend Alegapolensis constantly sent him victuals from his own ta- 
 ble, it was not always that his present reached the missionarj-. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 215 
 
 I was sent to Manhattan, where the Governor of the country 
 resides. He received me very kindly, gave me clothes, and 
 passage in a vessel which crossed the ocean in mixl-winter. 
 
 Having put in in England, I got on a collier's vessel 
 which brought me to Lower Brittany, with a nightcap on 
 my head, in utter want of every thing, as you landed at St. 
 Sebastian, but not after two shipwrecks.* 
 
 V. 
 
 FATHER JOGUES' DESCRIPTION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 New Holland, which the Dutch call in Latin Novum 
 Belgiu7n — in their own language, Nieuio Nctherland, that 
 is to say. New Low Countries — is situated between Virginia 
 and New England. The mouth of the river, which some 
 people call Nassau, or the Great North River, to distinguish 
 it from another which they call the South River, and from 
 some maps that I have recently seen I think Maurice River, 
 is at 40 deg. 30 min. The channel is deep, fit for the largest 
 ships, which ascend to Manhatte's Island, which is seven 
 leagues in circuit, and on which there is a fort to serve as 
 the commencement of a town to be built here, and to be 
 called New Amsterdam. 
 
 The fort, which is at the point of the island, about five 
 or six leagues from the mouth, is called Fort Amsterdam ; 
 it has four regular bastions mounted, with several pieces of 
 artillery. All these bastions and the curtains were, in 1643, 
 but mounds, most of which had crumbled away, so that they 
 entered the fort on all sides. There were no ditches. For 
 the garrison of the said fort, and another which they had 
 built still further up against the incursions of the savages, 
 their enemies, there were sixty soldiers. They were begin- 
 ning to face the gates and bastions with stone. Within the 
 fort there was a pretty large stone chiu'ch, the house of the 
 Governor, whom they call Director General, quite neatly 
 built of brick, the storehouses and barracks. 
 
 On the Island of Manhatte, and in its environs, there 
 may well be four or five hundred men of different sects and 
 nations : the Director General told me that there were men 
 of eighteen different languages ; they are scattered here and 
 there on the river, above and below, as the beauty and con- 
 
 * See Eel. 1642-3, p. 284. 
 
216 THE JOGUES PAPERS, 
 
 venience of the spot invited each to settle : some, mecha- 
 nics, however, who ply their trade, are rans^ed under the fort ; 
 all the others were exposed to the incursions of the natives, 
 who, in the year 1643, while I was there, actually killed 
 some two score Hollanders, and burnt many houses and barns 
 full of wheat. 
 
 The river, which is very straig;ht, and runs due north 
 and south, is at least a leao;ue broad before the fort. Ships 
 lie at anchor in a bay which forms the other side of the 
 island, and can be defended from the fort. 
 
 Sliortly before I arrived there, three large ships of 300 
 tons each had come to load wheat ; two found cargoes, the 
 third could not be loaded, because the savages had burnt a 
 part of their grain. These ships came from the West In- 
 dies, where the West India Company usually keeps up 
 seventeen ships of war." 
 
 No religion is publicly exercised but the Calvinist, and 
 orders are to admit none but Calvinists, but this is not ob- 
 served ; for there are in the Colony besides the Calvinists, 
 Catholics, English Puritans, Lutherans, Anabaptists, here 
 called Mnistes, &c., &c. When any one comes to settle 
 in the country, they lend him horses, cows, &c. ; they give 
 him provisions, all which he returns as soon as he is at 
 ease ; and as to the land, after ten years he pays to the 
 West India Company the tenth of the produce which he reaps. 
 
 This country is bounded on the New England side by a 
 river which they call the Fresche river, which serves as a 
 boundary between them and the English. The English, 
 however, come very near to them, choosing to hold lands un- 
 der the Hollanders, who ask nothing, rather than depend on 
 English Lords, avIio exact rents, and would fain be absolute. 
 On the other side, southward, towards Virginia, its limits are 
 the river which they call the South river, on which there 
 is also a Dutch settlement, but the Swedes have one at its 
 mouth extremely well supplied with cannons and men. It 
 is believed that these Swedes arc maintained by some Am- 
 sterdam merchants, who are not satisfied that the West In- 
 dia Company should alone enjoy all the commerce of these 
 parts. It is near this river that a gold mine is reported to 
 have been found. 
 
 See in the work of the Sieur de Laet of Antwerp, the 
 table and chapter on New Belgium, as he sometimes calls 
 it, or the map " Nova Anglia, Novum Belgium et Virginia." 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 217 
 
 It is about forty years since the Hollanders came to 
 these parts. The fort was hegiminthe year 1615; they 
 beo;an to settle about twenty years ago, and there is al- 
 ready some little commerce with Virginia and New Eng- 
 land. 
 
 The first comers found lands fit for use, formerly cleared 
 by the savages, who had fields here. Those who came 
 later have cleared the woods, which are mostly oak. The 
 soil is good. Deer hunting is abundant in the fall. 
 There are some houses built of stone :— lime they make of 
 oyster shells, great heaps of which are found here, made 
 formerly by the savages, who subsist in part by that fish- 
 ery. 
 
 The climate is very mild. Lying at 40|° there are 
 many European fruits, as apples, pears, cherries. I reached 
 there in October, and found even then a considerable quan- 
 tity of peaches. 
 
 Ascending the river to the 43d degree, you meet the 
 second Dutch settlement, which the tide reaches but does 
 not pass. Ships of a hundred and a hundred and twenty 
 tons can come up to it. 
 
 There are two things in this settlement (w^hich is called 
 Kenselaerswick, as if to say, settlement of Kenselaers, who 
 is a rich Amsterdam merchant)— 1st, a miserable little 
 fort called Fort Orange, built of logs, with four or five 
 pieces of Breteuil cannon, and as many swivels. This has 
 been reserved, and is maintained by the West India Com- 
 pany. This fort was formerly on an island in the river j it 
 is now on the mainland, towards the Hiroquois, a little 
 above the said island. 2d, a colony sent here by this Ken- 
 selaers, who is the patron.— This colony is composed of about 
 a hundred persons, who reside in some twenty-five or thirty 
 houses built along the river, as each found most convenient. 
 In the principal house lives the patron's agent ; the Minis- 
 ter has his apart, in which service is performed. There is 
 also a kind of Bailiff here, whom they call the Seneschal, 
 who administers justice. Their houses are merely of boards 
 and thatched, with no mason work except the chimneys. 
 The forest furnishing many large pines, they make boards 
 by means of their mills, which they have here for the pur- 
 pose. 1 • 1 x-u 
 
 They found some pieces of ground all ready, whicli the 
 savages had formerly cleared, and in which they sow wheat and 
 
218 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 oats for beer, and for their horses, of which they have great 
 numbers.*" There is little land fit for tillage, being hemmed 
 in by hills, which are poor soil. This obliges them to sepa- 
 rate, and they already occupy two or three leagues of countiy. 
 
 Trade is free to all ; this gives the Indians all things 
 cheap, each of the Hollanders outbidding his neighbor, and 
 being satisfied provided ho can gain some little profit. 
 
 This settlement is not more than twenty leagues from 
 the Agniehronons,f who can be reached by land or water, 
 as the river on which the Iroquois lie, falls into that 
 which passes by the Dutch, but there are many low rapids, 
 and a fall of a short half league, where the canoe must be 
 carried. 
 
 There are many nations between the two Dutch settle- 
 ments, which are about thirty German leagues apart, that 
 is, about fifty or sixty French leagues. The Loups, | whom 
 the Iroquois call Agotsagenens, are the nearest to Rense- 
 laerswick and Fort Orange. War breaking out some years 
 ago between the Iroquois and the Loups, the Dutch joined 
 the latter against the former ; but four men having been 
 taken and burnt, they made peace. Since then some na- 
 tions near the sea have killed some Hollanders of the most 
 distant settlement ; the Hollanders killed one hundred and 
 fifty Indians, men, women and children. They having then, 
 at intervals, killed forty Hollanders, burnt many houses, 
 and committed ravages, estimated at the time that I was 
 there at 200,000 liv. (two hundred thousand livres,) they 
 raised troops in New England. Accordingly, in the be- 
 ginning of winter, the grass being trampled down and 
 some snow on the ground, they gave them chase with six 
 hundred men, keeping two hundred always on the move 
 and constantly relieving one another ; so that the Indians, 
 shut up in a large island, and unable to flee easily, on ac- 
 count of their women and children, were cut to pieces to 
 the number of sixteen hundred, including women and chil- 
 
 * The introiluctioii of horses sind of European fraits was much neglected by the 
 French in Canada, and even later than this date an apple was a rarity. 
 
 t Mohawks. 
 
 J These are the Mohegans, whom Champlain, the first to know them, calls 
 them " Mayganathicoise, ' which means " Wolf tribe,'' p. 173. The Indian 
 name, Jloliegan has been preserved in English, hut the I'Vcnch, translating their 
 name, generally call them Loups, that is. Wolves, though Mahingan is not un- 
 frequent. Champlain puts them two days' march from the YrocoLs, and three 
 or four from the Dutch. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 219 
 
 dren. This obliged the rest of the Indians to make peace, 
 which still continues. This occurred in 1643 and 1644. 
 
 Three Rivers in New France, f_ 
 August 3d, 1646. ) 
 
 VI. 
 
 LETTER OF FATHER JOGUES TO A FRIEND. 
 
 Ahis, my dear Father, when shall I begin to love and 
 serve Him wliose love for us had no beginning ? When 
 .shall I begin to give myself entirely to Him, who has given 
 Himself unreservedly to me ? Although I am very miser- 
 able, and have so misused the graces our Lord has done me 
 in this country, I do not despair, as He takes care to render 
 me better by giving me new occasions to die to self, and 
 unite myself inseparably to Him. 
 
 The Iroquois have come to make some presents to our 
 Governor to ransom some prisoners he held, and to treat 
 of peace with him in the name of the whole country. It 
 has been concluded, to the great joy of the French. It will 
 last as long as pleases the Almighty. 
 
 To maintain it, and see what can be done for the in- 
 struction of these tribes, it is here deemed expedient to send 
 some Father. I have reason to think I shall be sent, hav- 
 ing some knowledge of the language and country. You see 
 what need I have of the powerful aid of prayers, being amidst 
 these savages. I will have to remain among them, almost 
 without liberty to pray, without Mass, without Sacraments, 
 and be responsible for every accident among the Iroquois, 
 French, Algonquins, and others. But what do I say ? my 
 hope is in God, who needs not us to accomplish His designs. 
 We must endeavor to be faithful to Him, and not si)oil His 
 work by our shortcomings. I trust you will obtain me 
 this favor of our Lord, that, having led so wretched a life 
 till now, I may at last begin to serve Him better. 
 
 My heart tells me that if I have the happiness of being 
 employed in this mission, Iho et non redibo; but I shall be 
 happy if our Lord will comi)lete the saciifice where He has 
 begun it, and make the little blood I have shed in that land 
 the earnest of what I would give from every vein of my body 
 and my heart. 
 
 In a word, this people is ' a bloody spouse to me,' — ' in 
 
220 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 my blood have I espoused it to me/ (Exod. iv. 25.) May 
 our good Master, who has purchased them in His blood, 
 open to them the door of His Gospel, as well as to the four 
 allied nations near them. 
 
 Adieu, dear Father ; pray Him to unite me inseparably 
 to Him. Isaac Jogues, S. J. 
 
 VII. 
 LETTER OF FATHER JOGUES TO HIS SUPERIOR. 
 
 Montreal, April, 164:6. 
 
 Keverend Father : 
 
 The letter which it has pleased your Keverence to 
 WTite found me in my retreat and in the exercises* which 
 I had begun, there being no canoe to carry our letters. I 
 chose this time, because the Indians, being at the chase, 
 allow us to enjoy a greater silence. 
 
 Would you believe that, on opening your letter, my 
 heart was at first seized with a hind of fear that what I 
 desire, and what my soul should earnestly desire, might not 
 arrive. Poor nature, mindful of the past, trembled ; but 
 our Lord, by His goodness, has given, and will again restore 
 it calra. 
 
 Yes, Father, I will all that our Lord wills, and I will 
 it at the peril of a thousand lives. Oh ! how I should re- 
 gret to lose so glorious an occasion, when it may depend 
 only on me that some souls be saved ! I hope that His 
 goodness, which has not abandoned me in the hour of trial, 
 will aid me still. He and I are able to trample down every 
 difficulty that can oppose the project. 
 
 It is much to be 'in medio nationis pravcc,' without 
 Mass, without Altar, without Confession, without Sacra- 
 ments ; but His Holy will and divine providence so will it. 
 
 He who, by His holy grace, j)reserved us without these 
 helps for eighteen or twenty months, will not refuse us the 
 same favor, for we do not thrust ourselves into this work, 
 but undertake this voyage solely to i)lease Him, without 
 consulting all the repugnances of nature. 
 
 * To make a retreat or perform the spiritual exercises is to give a certain 
 time, usually eight days, to silence, prayer, meditation, pious reading, and self- 
 examination. This is required annually by the rules of some religious orders, 
 and is a common practice widi the devout in Catholic countries, where suitable 
 houses are to be found adapted lor this temporary retirement. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 221 
 
 As to all these comings and goings of the Iroquois, 
 what I can say is, that I see very few from the first two 
 towns • yet it is with them chiefly that we are concerned, 
 as the last killed were of these villages. Scarcely any have 
 come, except from the last village, where Couture was ; and 
 they profess, at least in words, not to come as warriors m 
 these parts. It is not, however, with these last that we 
 must dwell, but with those whom we do not see. 
 
 I thank you affectionately for sending me your Huron 
 principles. Send the rest when you please. What 1 need 
 is chiefly prayers, formularies for confession, et ejusdem gene- 
 ris I will thereby become your debtor, as I am already 
 on so many grounds. I owe your Keverence the account 
 of the ' Capture and death of good Rene Goupfl, which i 
 should have sent already. If the bearer of this give me 
 time, I will send it along. 
 
 If God wills that I go to the Iroquois, my companion 
 must be virtuous, docile, courageous, and willing to sutier 
 something for God. It would be well for him to_ know how 
 to make canoes, so that we can go and return without call- 
 ing on the Indians. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 CAPTIVITY AND DEATH OF RENE GOUPIL. 
 
 BY FATHER ISAAC JOGUES. i 
 
 Rene Goupil was a native of Angers, who, in the blooiu 
 of life earnestly asked admission into our novitiate at i'ans, 
 where he remained some months with great edification.^ His 
 bodily aUments having deprived him of the happiness nt con- 
 secrating himself in the holy state of religion as he had 
 wished, he crossed over to New France, as soon as he grew 
 better, to serve the Society there, as he had not had the 
 happiness of giving himself to it in the old And to do 
 nothing of his own head, though perfect master of his ac- 
 tions, he submitted himself entirely to the direction of the 
 superior of the mission, who employed him for two whole 
 years in the meanest employments of the house, which he 
 discharged with great humility and charity. Ihey a so gave 
 him th? care of tending the sick and wounded in the hos- 
 pital, a post he filled with great abihty, for he was well 
 skilled in surgery, and with equal love and chanty always 
 
222 THE JOGUES PAPEKS. 
 
 beholding our Lord in the person of his patients. So sweet 
 an odor of his goodness and other virtues did he leave in 
 that place, that his memory is still in benediction there. 
 
 .As we descended from the Hurons in July, 1642, we 
 asked the Reverend Father Vimont to let us take him, as 
 the Hurons greatly needed a surgeon, and he consented. 
 It were impossible to ex|)ress the joy of this good young 
 man when the Superior told him to jjrepare for the voyage. 
 He knew, withal, the great dangers on the river ; he knew 
 how furious the Iroquois were against the French ; yet all 
 this could not deter him from embarking for Three Rivers, 
 at the slightest sign of His will, to whom he had volun- 
 tarily resigned all that concerned him. 
 
 We left there (Three Rivers) on the first of August, 
 the morrow of the Feast of our Holy Father. On the 
 second, we met the enemy, who, divided into two bands, 
 awaited us, with all the advanta2;e which a larire number 
 of picked men, fighting on land, can have over a smaller one 
 of all kinds on the water in bark canoes. 
 
 Almost all the Hvnons had fled into the wood, and, 
 havins: left us, we were taken. Here his virtue was strikino- 
 ly displayed ; for as S(X^n as he was taken, he said : ' Father ! 
 blessed be God, He has permitted it ; He has wished it ; 
 His holy will be done ! I love it, I wish it, I cherish it, I 
 embrace it with all my heart.' While the enemy jKusued 
 the fugitives, I confessed him and gave him absolution, not 
 knowing what was to befall us after our capture. The 
 enemy, having returned from the chase, fell on us with their 
 teeth, like furious dogs, tore out our nails and crunched our 
 fingers, all which he endured with great patience and 
 courage. 
 
 His presence of mind in so distressing an accident was 
 shown specially in his aiding me, in spite of the pain of his 
 wounds, in instructing, as far as he could, the Huron prisoners 
 who were not yet Christians. As I was instructing them 
 separately, and as they came to me, he reminded me that a 
 poor old man named Ondoterraon might well be one of those 
 to be killed on the spot, it being then the custom always to 
 sacrifice some one to the heat of their rage. I instructed this 
 old man carefully while the enemy were busied with the 
 division of the booty of twelve canoes, a part of which were 
 laden with necessaries for our Huron Fathers. The spoil 
 being divided, they killed the poor old man almost at the 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 223 
 
 very moment Avhen I had given him a new birth. During 
 om- march to the enemy's country, we had the additional 
 consolation of being together ; and here I witnessed many 
 virtues. , 
 
 On the way, he was always absorbed in God. ^ His 
 words and conversation were all in perfect submissive- 
 ness to the orders of Divine Providence and a voluntary 
 acceptance of the death which God sent him. He offered 
 himself to him as a holocaust, to be reduced to ashes in the 
 fires of the Iroquois, which that good Father should enkin- 
 dle. In all, and by all, he sought means to please Him. 
 Qne day — it was soon after our capture— he told me, while 
 still on the way,—' Father ! God has always given me a 
 great desire to consecrate myself to His holy service by the 
 vows of rehgion in His holy Society ; till now, ray sins have 
 rendered me unworthy of this grace ; yet I hope that our 
 Lord will accept the offering I wish to make Him now, and 
 to take, in the best manner that I can, the vows of the So- 
 ciety, in the presence of my God and before you.' Having 
 permitted him, he pronounced them with great devotion. 
 
 Wounded as he was, he dressed the wounds of others, 
 not only of the prisoners, but even of such of the enemy as 
 had received any wound in the combat. He also bled a sick 
 Iroquois, and did all with as much charity as if he were do- 
 ing it to his dearest friends. 
 
 His humility and the obedience he paid to his captors, 
 confounded me. The Iroquois, who had us both in their 
 canoe, told me to take a paddle and use it. Proud even in 
 death, I would not. Some time after, they told hirn to do 
 it, and he immediately began to paddle ; but when he per- 
 ceived that the Indians wished to comi)el me to do so after 
 his example, he begged my pardon. At times, on the way, 
 I suggested to him thoughts of flight, as the liberty given 
 us afforded him abundant opportunity. For my own part, 
 I could not forsake a Frenchman and twenty-lour or hve 
 Huron prisoners. He would never do it, resignmg himselt 
 entirely to the will of our Lord, who inspired him with no 
 
 such thought. 1 1 T 
 
 On the Lake (Champlain), we met two hundred Iro- 
 quois, who came to Richelieu, when they began to build the 
 fort ; thev covered us with stripes, drenched us, as m blood, 
 and made us experience the rage of men possessed by the 
 
224 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 devil. All these outrages and cruelties be endured with 
 great patience and charity for those who ill-treated him. 
 
 On entering the first town where we were so cruelly 
 treated, he showed extraordinary patience and mildness. 
 Having fallen under the hail of blows of clabs and iron rods 
 poured on us, and unable to rise, he was carried, as it were, 
 half-dead on the scaffold, where we were already, in the 
 middle of the town, but in so pitiable a state that he would 
 have moved cruelty itself to compassion ; he was all livid 
 with bruises, and in his face we could distinguish nothing 
 but the white of his eyes ; yet he was the more beautiful 
 in the eyes of angels as he was more disfigured ; and like 
 Him of whom it is said, ' We have seen Him as a leper,' 
 &c. ; ' There was in Him neither comeliness nor beauty.' 
 
 Scarcely had he, or even we, recovered breath, when 
 they came and gave him three blows on the shoulders with 
 a heavy club, as they had done to us. After cutting off a 
 thumb from me as the most important, they turned to him 
 and cut off his right thumb at the first joint. During this 
 cruel operation, he constantly repeated, 'Jesus, Mary, Jo- 
 seph.' During the six days that we were expos'jd to all 
 those who chose to maltreat us, he displayed extraordinary 
 mildness ; his breast was all burnt by the live coals and 
 ashes which the boys threw on his body when he was tied 
 down on the ground at night. Nature gave me more dex- 
 terity than him in escaping some of these pains. 
 
 After our life was granted us, just after we had been 
 warned to jjrepare to be burned, he fell sick in great want 
 of every thing, especially of food, for he was not accustomed 
 to theirs. Here truly it may be said, ^ Non cibus utilis 
 cegro.' I could not relieve him, being also sick, and not 
 having one linger sound, or whole. 
 
 But I must hasten to his death, which wants nothing 
 to be that of a martyr. 
 
 After we had been six weeks in the country, as confu- 
 sion arose in the councils of the Irof[uois, some of whom 
 were for sending us back, we lost all hope, which in me had 
 never been sanguine, of seeing Three llivers that year. 
 We consoled one another then at this disposal of Provi- 
 dence, and prepared for all He should ordain in our regard. 
 He did not see the danger we were in so clearly : I saw it 
 better. This made me often tell him to hold himself in 
 readiness. Accordingly, one day when in our mental pain, 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 225 
 
 we had gone out of the town to pray more becomingly and 
 undisturbed by noise, two young men came after us and 
 told us to return home. I had some presentiment of what 
 was to happen, and told him : '' My dear brother, let us 
 recommend ourselves to our Lord and to our good mother 
 the Blessed Virgin, these men have some evil design, as I 
 think." We had a little before offered ourselves to our 
 Lord with much devotion, beseeching him to accept our 
 lives and blood, and unite them to his life and blood for 
 the salvation of these poor tribes. We were returning 
 then towards the town reciting our beads, of which we had 
 already said four decades. Ha^'ing stopped near the gate 
 of the town to see what they would say, one of these two 
 Iroquois drew an axe which he had hidden under his blan- 
 ket, and dealt Eene a blow on the head as he stood before 
 him ; he fell stiff on his face on the ground, uttering the 
 holy name of Jesus, for we had often reminded each other 
 to close our voice and life with that holy name. I turned 
 at the blow and seeing the reeking hatchet, fell on my 
 knees to receive the blow that was to unite me to my loved 
 companion, but as they delayed I rose, ran to him, as he 
 lay expiring near me. They gave him two more blows on 
 the head and extinguished life but not before I had given 
 him absolution, which since our captivity, I had given 
 him regularly after his confession every other day. 
 
 It was the day of September, the feast of St. Mi- 
 chael, that this angel in innocence, and martyr of Christ, 
 gave his life for him, who had given him His. They com- 
 manded me to return to my cabin, where I awaited during 
 the rest of the day and the next the same treatment. It 
 was the belief of all that I would not wait long, as they had 
 begun it, and in fact for several days they came to Idll me, 
 but our Lord prevented it by ways, which would take 
 long to explain. Early the next morning, I did not fail to 
 start out to inc|uire where they had thrown that blessed 
 body, for I wished to inter it, cost what it might. Some 
 Iroquois who had a wish to save me, said, " Thou hast no 
 sense ; thou seest that they seek thee every where to kill 
 thee, and thou goest out still, thou wilt go to seek a body 
 already half puterfied, wliich has been dragged far from here. 
 Seest thou not, those young men going out, who will kiU 
 thee, when thou art past the paHsade." This did not stop 
 me, and our Lord gave me courage enough to be wiUing to 
 
 SECOND SERIES. VOL. III. 15 
 
226 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 die in that office of charity. I go, I seek, and by the help 
 of an Algonquin taken, and now a real Iroquois, I find it. 
 After he had been killed, the children had stripped him 
 and tieing a cord around his neck, dragged him to a torrent 
 which runs at the foot of the town. The dogs had already 
 gnawed a part of his thighs. At this spectacle, I could not 
 withhold my tears. I took the body and aided by the Al- 
 gonquin, I sank it in the water and covered it With large 
 stones, to hide it, intending to return the next day with a 
 spade, when there was no one near and dig a grave and in- 
 ter it. I thought the body well hidden, but perhaps some 
 one saw us, especially of the youth, and took it up. 
 
 The next day as they sought to kill me, my aunt sent 
 me to her field to escape as I think ; this compelled me to 
 defer it till the next day. It rained all night so that the 
 torrent was extremely swelled ; I borrowed a hoe in another 
 cabin, the better to conceal my design, but on approaching 
 the place, could not find the blessed deposit ; I entered the 
 water already quite cold, I go and come, I sound with my 
 feet to see whether the water had not raised and carried off 
 the body, but I saw nothing. How many tears I shed, 
 which fell in the torrent, while I sang as I could the psalms 
 which the church chant for the dead. After all I found 
 nothing, and a woman known to me who passed by, see- 
 ing me in trouble, told me,when I asked her whether she 
 did not know what had been done with it, that it had been 
 dragged to the river which is a quarter of a league from 
 there, and with which I was not acquainted. This was 
 false, the young men had taken it up and dragged it to a 
 neighboring wood, where during the fall and winter it was 
 the food of the dog, the crow, and the fox. When I was 
 told in the spring that he had been dragged there, I 
 went several times without finding any thing ; at last, the 
 fourth time, I found his head and some half-gnawed bones, 
 which I interred, intending to carry them off, if taken back 
 to Three Rivers as was then talked of Repeatedly did I 
 kiss them as the bones of a martyr of Jesus Christ. 
 
 I give him tliis title, not only because he was killed by 
 the enemies of God, and his church, in the exercise of an 
 ardent love for his neighbor, putting himself in evident 
 perils for the love of God, but particularly because he was 
 killed for prayer, and expressly for the Holy Cross. He 
 was in a cabin where he prayed daily, which scarcely pleased 
 
THE JOGUES PAPERS. 227 
 
 a superstitious old man there. One day seeing a little 
 child, three or four years old, in the cabin, from an excess of 
 devotion and a love of the cross, and in a simplicity which 
 we who are more prudent according to the flesh would not 
 have had, he took off his cap and putting it on the child's 
 head made the sign of the cross on his body. The old man 
 seeing it ordered a young man in his cabin, who was start- 
 ing on a war party, to kill him, and he obeyed the order as 
 we have seen. 
 
 The mother of the child herself, in a voyage which I 
 made with her, told me that he had been killed for that sign 
 of the cross, and the old man who had given the order to kill 
 him, invited me one day to his cabin to dinner, but when I 
 made the sign of the cross before beginning, he said : " There 
 is what we hate ; that is what we killed thy comrade for, 
 and will kill thee too. Our neighbors, the Europeans, do 
 not make it." Sometimes too as I prayed on my knees in 
 hunting time, they told me that they hated that way of do- 
 ing, and had killed the other Frenchman for it and would 
 kill me too, when I got back to the village, 
 
 I beg pardon of your Reverence for the precipitation 
 with which I write this, and my want of respect in so do- 
 ing. Excuse me, if you please ; I feared to miss this oppor- 
 tunity of dischargiQg a debt I should long since have dis- 
 charged. 
 
 VIII. 
 LETTER OF GOVERNOR KIEFT TO GOVERNOR DE MONTMAGNY. 
 
 " To M. De Montmagny, Governor of New France. 
 
 " Monsieur, Monsieur : 
 
 " I wrote a reply to that which you were pleased to 
 honor me with by Father de Jogues, dated May 15, and I 
 sent it to Fort Orange to deliver it to said F. de Jogues ; 
 but he not having returned as expected, it was not irome- 
 diately sent. This will serve, then, to thank your Excel- 
 lency for your remembrance of me, which I shall endeavor 
 to return, if it please God to give me an opportunity. I 
 send this through the Northern Section by the English or 
 Monsieur d'Aunay, in order to advise you of the massacre of 
 F. Isaac de Jogues and his companions, perpetrated by the 
 barbarous and inhuman Maquaas, or Iroquois ; as also of 
 
228 THE JOGUES PAPERS. 
 
 their design to surprise you, under color of a visit, as you 
 will see by the enclosed, which, though badly written and 
 spelt, will, to our great regret, give you all the particulars. 
 I am sorry that the subject of this is not more agreeable ; 
 but the importance of the affair has not permitted me to be 
 silent. Our minister above carefully inquired of the chiefs 
 of this canaille their reasons for the wretched act, but he 
 could get no answer from them but this, that the said 
 Father had left, among some articles that he had left 
 in their keeping, a devil, who had caused all their corn or 
 maize to be eaten up by worms.* This is all I can at })res- 
 ent write to you. Praying God to vouchsafe to guard you 
 and yours from this treacherous nation, and assuring you 
 that I am 
 
 " Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 " William Kieft. 
 
 " Fort Amsterdam, in New Netherland, Nov. 14, 1646." 
 
 IX. 
 
 LETTER OF JAN LABATIE TO MONSIEUR LA MONTAGNE. 
 
 (Enclosed iu the foregoing.) 
 
 " Praised be God at Fort Orange ! 
 
 "Monsieur, Monsieur La Montagne : 
 " I have not wished to lose this occasion of letting you 
 know my state of health. I am in good health, thank God, 
 and pray God that it may be so with you and your children. 
 " I have not much more, but how the French arrived 
 the seventeenth of this month at the Maquaas Fort. This 
 is to let you know how those ungrateful barbarians did not 
 wait till they were fairly arrived at their cabins, where they 
 were stripped all naked, without shirt, only they gave each 
 a pair of drawers to cover decency. 
 
 " The very day of their coming they began to threaten 
 
 * The allusion here is to Dominoe John Megapolensis, to whom the Indians 
 brought some of the books and clothes of the mm-dered missionary. The friend- 
 ship existing between this early representative of the Dutch Church in New 
 York and the Catholic missionaries, is one of the most pleasing incidents iu this 
 period. To his kind sohcitude and subsequent hospitality, two acknowledged that, 
 next to God, they owed their lives. A correspondence was subsequently car- 
 ried on between them, and the missionaries lost no opportunity of expressing 
 their gratitude to so eminent a benefactor, and the name of this clergyman of 
 the Reformed Dutch Chui-ch is deservedly honored by the Catholics of New York. 
 
THE JOGUES PAPEES. 229 
 
 them, and immediately with fists and clubs, saying : ' You 
 shall die to-morrow ! Do not be astonished, we shall not 
 burn you ; take courage ; we shall strike you with an axe, 
 and put your heads on the palisade, that your brothers may 
 see you yet, when we take them.' You must know that it 
 was only the Bear nation that killed them. Knowing that 
 the Wolf and Tortoise tribes have done all that they could 
 to save their lives, and said against the Bear, 'Kill us first;' 
 but, alas, they are no longer alive. Know, then, that the 
 eighteenth, in the evening, they came to call Isaac to sup- 
 per. He got up and went away with the savage to the Bear's 
 lodge ; as entering the lodge, there was a traitor with his 
 hatchet behind the door. On entering, he split open his 
 head, and at the same time cut off his head and put it on 
 the palisade. The next morning early he did the same with 
 the other, and threw their bodies into the river. Monsieur, 
 I have not been able to know or hear from any savage why 
 they killed them. 
 
 " Besides this their envy and enterprise, they are going 
 with three or four hundred men to try and surprise the 
 French, to do the same as they did to the others ; but God 
 grant they don't accomplish their design. 
 
 " It would be desirable that Monsieur should be warned, 
 but there is no way to do it from here. Monsieur, I have 
 no more to write, but I remain 
 
 " Your very humble and affectionate servant and friend, 
 
 " Jan Labatie.* 
 
 " Monsieur, I beg you (give) my baisemains (respects) 
 to the Governor. 
 
 " Written at Fort Orange, Oct. 30, 1646." 
 
 * Labatie was tlie French interpreter at Albany, and had, with Van Curler, 
 visited the Mohawk castles for the rescue of the missionary in 1642. 
 
IV. 
 
 EXTE AC T 
 
 FROM 
 
 CASTELUS " DISCO YERIE" OF AMERICA, 
 
 1644. 
 
 BEPBINTED FBOM THE OMGINAL IJT THE POSSESSION OF THE 
 KEV. FRANCIS U HAWKS, D. D. 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 The following extract is taten from a small quarto pamphlet, in 
 two books, containing 102 pages, printed in London in the year 1G44, 
 entitled " A Short Discoverie of the Coasts and Continent of America 
 from the Equinoctiall Northward, and of the adjacent Isles. By Wil- 
 liam Castell, Minister of the Gospell at Courtenhall, in Northampton- 
 shire. Whereunto is prefixed the Author's Petition to this present 
 Parliament for the propagation of the Gospell in America, attested by 
 many eminent English and Scottish Divines. And a late ordinance 
 of Parliament for that purpose, and for the better government of the 
 English Plantations there. Together with Sir Benjamin Rudyer's 
 speech in Parliament, 21 Jac. concerning America." The first book 
 contains a general introduction, and separate descriptions of New- 
 foundland, Nova Francia, New England, New Netherland, Virginia, 
 Florida, Cuba, Hispaniola, and the West India Islands. The second 
 book relates to South America and Mexico. 
 
 The author of this little work was a clergyman in the Diocese of 
 Peterborough, whose chief motive appears to have been a desire to 
 convert th^ savages of America to Christianity. For this purpose, 
 he drew up a petition to Parliament, setting forth the importance of 
 propagating the Gospel in the New World, and the necessity of en- 
 couraging the English colonies already planted there, which, with the 
 attestation of several eminent clergymen in London and the Provinces, 
 is prefixed to the pamphlet. 
 
 In this petition, Castell, among other arguments, urges that " al- 
 though some of the Reformed Ue\\g\on—£nc/Ush, Scotch, French, and 
 Dutch— hiwe already taken up their habitations in those parts, yet 
 hath their going thither (as yet) beene to small purpose, for the con- 
 verting of those nations, either for that they have plaped themselves 
 
234 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 but in the skirts of Ainerica, where there are but few natives, (as 
 those of JVew England,) or else for want of able and conscionable 
 ministers, (as in Virginia^ they themselves are become exceedingly 
 rude, more likely to turn heathen, than to turn others to the Christian 
 faith." A copy of this Petition is contained in the eighth volume of 
 Churchill's Voyages, pp. 772-775, and another in the first volume of 
 Hazard's EListorical Collection of State Papers, pp. 527-532. The 
 extract of the work itself, now reprinted, is also to be found in 
 Churchill's Voyages, volume viii., pp. 739, 740. 
 
 Castell's account of " New Netherland," as he styles it, is chiefly 
 interesting by reason of the circumstances under which it was pub- 
 lished. Charles I. and the Parliament of England were at that time 
 in open war ; and although the English Government had questioned 
 the title of the Dutch to their American province, no steps had been 
 taken in opposition to the Hollanders' settlements, excepting by pri- 
 vate enterprise of British subjects in the valley of the Connecticut 
 and its neighborhood. Sir William Boswell, the English Minister at 
 the Hague, suggested, in 1642, that the House of Commons should 
 make some open declaration on the subject, and urged that the 
 English in Connecticut should " not forbear to put forward their 
 plantations, and crowd on — crowding the Dutch out of those places 
 where they have occupied." It was some years, however, before 
 Boswell's advice was fully carried out ; and, in the mean time, the 
 House of Commons appears to have taken no exception to Castell's 
 description of New Netherland, as " the Dutch Plantation," nor to 
 his calling in his Petition presented to Parliament, the people whose 
 colonists were settling themselves there, " our best friends the Nether- 
 landers." 
 
NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 As the bounds of New England westward, and by the south 
 endeth with the Promontory Malehare : so the Dutch plan- 
 tation beginneth there, and extendeth itself more westward, 
 and more southward toward Virginia. Yet was first found 
 out in the yeare 1609 by Master i7e?ir?/ Hudson an English- 
 man, imployed by the States of the Low Countries, for a dis- 
 covery in those parts. After which discovery returning to 
 Amsterdam, he was next yeare by the Merchants thereof 
 sent forth againe* \vith a ship furnished with such commodi- 
 ties as were fittest to truck with the Natives, for number 
 far exceeding those of New England. The continent upon 
 the Sea-coast from the aforesaid Malehar bending a good 
 space to the South-west. And then a little to the North- 
 west hath adjoyning foure Islands Petakonocke, Kotget, 
 Christian and Block ; whereof the third, Christian, is of 
 good note for store of timber, aboundant fowle and fish. 
 Within the Continent lyeth the great River of Nassaiv, whose 
 first enterance is two miles wide, and for eight miles it con- 
 tinueth very Navigable, but after becommeth shallow. The 
 country adjoyning on either side is very pleasant and fruitfuU, 
 inhabited by the Wapavockes and Nalucantos. 
 
 Then foUoweth River Siccanamos, the country where- 
 unto adjoyning is possessed by the Pequets, professed en- 
 emies to the English. Then the River Virresche on the 
 
 * This is an erroneous statement, bo far as Hudson is concerned. A 
 vessel was, indeed dispatched from Amsterdam to the " River of the Moun- 
 tains," or the North River, in 1610, and she was probably navigated by 
 some of the mariners who had accompanied Hudson in the Half Moon the 
 year before. But Hudson himself never revisited Holland, nor the American 
 territories he had discovered for the Dutch. He sailed from London in the 
 spring of 1610, on his last voyage to the north, and discovered Hudson's Bay, 
 where he perished in the summer of 1611. See Brodheads History of New 
 York, I. p. i2. 
 
236 NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 West-side whereof bending to the north, lye the Sequini 
 and Novasis. Between these Nations, and the Mataiuaces, 
 who live by fishing ; there lieth an ArcMpellagus, wherein 
 are many islands. On the North side of the Dutch Planta- 
 tion springeth River MacMcIiam, called the great North 
 River, which running thorow one of the widest parts of that 
 part of the Continent, as yet discovered aifordeth convenient 
 habitation for the Aquamachites, and the Manahots on the 
 East side. For the Sanachans and Tappans on the westside 
 Neare of this great River, the Dutch have built a Castle of 
 great use to them, not only for the keeping under of the 
 Natives adjoyning, but likewise for their more free trading 
 with many of Florida who usually come down the river 
 Canida and so by land to them. A plaine proofe Canida is 
 not for remote. 
 
 There is yet another River, not fully discovered, bigger 
 than the former, called the South River ; It lyeth westerly 
 by South toward Virginia ; The enterance into it is very 
 wide, having Cape 3Iay to the East, and Cape Hinlop)en to 
 the West, lying about the degrees of 41., and from thence 
 the Sea-coast iuclineth by little and little somewhat more 
 than two degrees to the South. A point necessarily to be 
 observed by those who saile into those Seas for avoiding of 
 shelves and sands. The chiefe inhabitance lying on the East 
 side of this River to the East are the Sicones and the Nara- 
 ticonse. On the West are the Minquaans and Senenquaans^ 
 and many more. 
 
 And now concerning Nero Netherlands convenient tem- 
 perature, the goodnesse of the soile, or commodities which 
 either Sea or land afford. I need say no more, but that in all 
 these respects it differeth not much from New England only I 
 must in these foure things give it the precedency,'that the land 
 in general is richer, the fields more fragrant with flowers, the 
 timber longer and therefore more fit for building and ship- 
 ping, the woods fuller of Bevors, and the Waters of Salmon 
 and Sturgeon. 
 
V. 
 
 BROAD ADVICE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 UNITED NETHERLAND PRO<VINCES 
 
 GELRELAND. 
 
 HOLLAND. 
 
 ZEELAND. 
 
 UTRECHT. 
 
 VRIESLAND. 
 
 OVER-YSSEL. 
 
 GROENINGEN. 
 
 MADE AND ARRANGED, FROM DIVERS TRUE AND TRUSTY MEMOIRS, 
 BY I. A. G. W. C. 
 
 TRANSLATED FBOM THE DUTCH, FOE THE NEW YORK HISTOEICAL SOCIETY, 
 
 HENKY 0. MUEPHY. 
 
Isaiah: I., 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, <fec, 
 
 12. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your 
 hand, to tread my courts? 
 
 13. Bring no more vain oblations ; incense is an abomination unto me; 
 the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblieB, I cannot away with ; 
 it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 
 
 14. Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hateth: they 
 are a trouble unto me ; I am weary to bear them. 
 
 15. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from 
 you ; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear : your hands are full 
 of blood. 
 
 16. Wash you, make you clean ; pot away the evil of your doings from 
 before mine eyes ; cease to do evil ; 
 
 17. Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the 
 fatherless, plead for the widow. 
 
 18. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your 
 sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; though they be red like 
 crimson, they shall be as wool. 
 
 19. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land; 
 
 20. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword : for 
 the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 The original title-page of the following tract reads thus : — 
 
 " Breedeist-Raedt aende Vekeexichde Nederlaxdsche Peo- 
 viNTiEx, Gelreland, Holland, Zeeland, Wtrecht, Vriesland, 
 OvEK-YssEL, Groeningex, Gemaeckt ende gestelt uyt diverse 
 WAKE EN waerachtige memorien. Door I. A. G. W. C. Tot 
 Antwerpen, ghedruct by Francoys Van Duynen^ Boeckverkooper by 
 de Beursin Erasmus, 1649." 
 
 "^^ The author's name nowhere appears, and we are therefore left to 
 conjecture on the subject. Judging from the work 'itself, we may 
 reasonably attribute it to Cornelis Melyn himself, whose cause it so 
 zealously espouses ; or to his dictation, as he had returned to Holland, 
 on his banishment from New Netherland, at the time of the publica- 
 tion, and was a native of Antwerp, where it was printed. It is coarse 
 and calumnious, but contains some historical fects, which were within 
 the knowledge of the writer not to be found elsewhere, and, for that 
 reason, deserves preservation in its present new form. What the 
 writer states beyond his personal knowledge is of little authority. 
 
 H. C. M. 
 
 Beookltn, Sept., 1856. 
 
BROAD ADVICE, 
 
 OR 
 
 DIALOGUE ABOUT THE TRADE OF THE 
 WEST INDIA COMPANY, ETC. 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 A. — ALFONSO, a Porticguesc Soldier, serving the Company in Brazil. 
 
 B.— BOUWEN KRYNSSEN, Skipper. 
 
 C— CHARLES, a Student from Sweden. 
 
 D.— DOMINGO, a Spanish Barber. 
 
 E.- STEPHEN DE CHEFNE, a French 'Merchant. 
 
 R— FAUST, a Neapolitan. 
 
 G.— GOVERT, a poor English Nobleman. 
 
 H.— HANS CHRISTOPHER, a High-Dutch Gentleman. 
 
 j._JUD. HANS VAN SCHOONEN. Boatswain. 
 
 K— KONR.VD POPOLSKL 
 
 B. Well, comrades, though I am the last to come 
 aboard, I am bold to be the first to ask how will we pass 
 away the time on the way, while we are thus in a ship ? is 
 it by playing cards ? 
 
 A. Although I speak bad Dutch, yet, as we are stran- 
 gers, let us hear the news from one another. 
 
 0. There I am also elogieert. Is that good HoUandish, 
 shipmate ? 
 
 D. That does very well. Yo non puedo mais, ha, ha, 
 he! 
 
 E. 3Ion Dieu ! Here people are brought together to 
 talk. We shall interpret each other. 
 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. III. 1 
 
242 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 F. Bon jorno Signoresi, 2)ar il amor di dios, that will 
 be a ridiculous talk. 
 
 G. Wait a little. I will come by and by, as soon as 
 my knapsack is ofif. 
 
 H. Why the devil don't these ragamuffins let me rest ? 
 
 J. I have conversed with Hollanders so long, that they 
 will talk much before it will trouble me. 
 
 K. It is good to drive away melancholy. 
 
 B. It cannot fail of our having some news, when we 
 come together from such foreign quarters. But you, Senor 
 Alfonso, what brings you from Brazil ? Who has advised 
 you so foolishly, that you should abandon your own country, 
 which was so victorious, and enter our service ? 
 
 A. Shall I tell some news first ? May I speak freely 
 the truth ? 
 
 All. Yes ! Yes ! 
 
 B. Why not? 
 
 A. AVell, I will. You Hollanders, do you not reproach 
 our nation that they are traitors and rebels ? 
 
 B. Yes ; it is not otherwise, according to what is made 
 known to me, and as it appears from this treacherous revolt. 
 
 A. I do not take that to myself, for I am yet a servant 
 of the Company. I will therefore speak the more freelv 
 of it. 
 
 B. Were it otherwise, speak freely, else we cannot com- 
 prehend. 
 
 A. All the mischief happens to you from your own 
 nation, who have brought you into, this labyrinth. For who 
 has sold Cape St. Augustine ? Was not Hoogstraten him- 
 self a Hollander ? And the captain of the horse, Le}', Cap- 
 tain Hicq. and his brother, with Alberto Giraldo Wedda ? 
 Who have not regarded the advices of the revolt ? Are they 
 not the Supreme Council itself.? Who have administered 
 justice badly in Brazil ? Are they not your own Council ? 
 Who have given so much credit, and handed over all the 
 means to the Signers and those who, by the contracts, have 
 drawn for the four million of guilders in money and effects, 
 besides the eight millions of guilders which the inhabitants 
 of Brazil were indebted to the Company, whereby they have 
 hitherto carried on the war against the Comj)auy ? Are 
 they not your own Council ? Who are they whom the High 
 Council have suffered to go unpunished, after they were con- 
 victed of robberies, murders, and acts of treason ? Are they 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 243 
 
 not here in this country those who, directly or indirectly, 
 obstruct the laws, or who, on the other hand, have not as yet 
 punished these villains as they should have done ? 
 
 Who are they who promised to maintain the people who 
 have settled in Brazil under the decree of the year 1630, and 
 do not now aid them as they should do ; or, on the other 
 hand, do not terminate their misery ? Who, whenever suc- 
 cor is devised, know how so to arrange the necessities, that 
 no benefit can be derived from it ? 
 
 Who are they who, when only the smallest number of 
 troops in Brazil went out to reconnoitre, gave intelligence of 
 it to the enemy, at what they were designed, ^yhat would be 
 the expense, and how strong they were ? As in the last at- 
 tack on the Cararapes, a certain ensign having hid himself 
 and his company of nineteen men in a morass, apphed to the 
 Supreme Council for assistance, in order that he and his com- 
 pany might be saved, and no sooner was the application 
 made at the Reciff, than intelligence of it was sent from the 
 Eeciff to the enemy. As to which, when afterwards the en- 
 sign came to the Eeciff and related circumstantially to the 
 Supreme Council what had passed, it has been told to us for 
 the truth, that the President said, " One of us four, then, 
 must be a villain ; for the letter of the ensign was communi- 
 cated only to the four members of the Supreme Council." 
 That person could not, indeed, have been a Portuguese, but 
 of necessity must have been a Netherlander. 
 
 Further, who has so annoyed the inhabitants at Maran- 
 hon, that they have been compelled to protect themselves by 
 desperate means ? Was it not your director, Peter Janson 
 Bas, the Maranhon murderer, who put twenty-four Portu- 
 c^uese in a boat, and, through his cousin and secretary, Ne- 
 gentoon, sent them adrift in the country of the Brazdians at 
 Commenecij,where they were all cruelly murdered by the Bra- 
 zilians, except one man who was saved ? 
 
 Finally, who has so badly managed at Angola that the 
 whole country was suddenly surrendered ? Are they not 
 the Netherland managers who were entrusted with the com- 
 mand '^ 
 
 Who has sold St. Thomas .? Was it not your own com- 
 mander ? And yet they will cry out that our nation are the 
 traitors, and charge them with all the mischief What thmk 
 you, friends, had Master Bouwen no reason to ask me what 
 had caused me to forsake the victorious side of the Portu- 
 
244 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 guese in Brazil ? Had I understood the government of the 
 Company as well before as I did afterwards, I should have 
 weW considered the matter four times. 
 
 E. Our nation, indeed, do not say much good of the 
 Hollanders on this same matter and other bygone histories. 
 Truly, the Rochellois ascribe all their trouble to the Hollan- 
 ders, and principally to the deceased Admiral, Heer van Haul- 
 tain. But it seems that God has hitherto listened to them 
 who have now after a long time begun to open their eyes. 
 
 J. Well, Mons. Estienne, you have learned to talk Hol- 
 land isli very quickly. 
 
 B. While you people are holding conversation, I am 
 thinking what I, in return for this Portuguese dish, may rub 
 in his beard. I certainly cannot swallow it, though what he 
 says is true, when he hatchels our nation so. But, neverthe- 
 less, Senor Alfonso, I ask you, as Hoogstraten has sold the 
 Cape, to whom has he sold it .? Is it not to the Portuguese, 
 and especially to those of Bahia ? Who has given him the 
 charge of Coronel ? Is it not the Governor of Bahia ? Who 
 has given the orders to the rebellious chiefs ? Whence are 
 the salaries drawn ? In whose name are the forts demand- 
 ed ? Arc they not all in the name and in behalf of Don 
 John the Fourth, King of Portugal ? Who have planned, 
 promoted, set to work, and, from time to time, supported 
 this revolt ? Are they not all from Bahia, and hence from 
 all Portugal, and almost all the Portuguese who dwell in 
 Netherland Brazil, a tew of that nation excepted ? The ban- 
 ners from the Cape, from Zerinhaein, from Porto Calvo, from 
 Rio St. Francisco, and those which were taken at the mill of 
 Tourlon and at the Cararapes in the three battles, arc they 
 not hung up in Bahia in triumph ? And so much as relates 
 to those fra\idulent contracts which you enlarge upon so, have 
 not the Portuguese senors and the contractors brought them 
 about by their rascally presents ? Wo know well what such 
 presents can accomplish towards the injury of a whole re- 
 public, nmch more of so innocent a Company, whose regents 
 have always so attended to their particular profit that gener- 
 ally the community have sulfered damage thereby. 
 
 Who knows what is going on, even at this day, here in 
 Holland ? What does the Portuguese ambassador here any 
 longer, except, as a spy, to feel the pulse of one and another ? 
 Anel in the meanwhile so hinder what would be advantage- 
 ously done for Brazil and other places, as cither to prevent it 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 245 
 
 entirely, or at least, to prevent it from being done in time ; 
 or, if it be timely done, it so happens that it is known 
 in Portugal and obviated before it is undertaken here. 
 And though Hooghstraten and Champfleury, with more like 
 them, have forgotten their fatherland, their own souls, and 
 salvation, besides their honor and oaths, they are bribed 
 thereto like Judases by the Portuguese. So that in this 
 there is a greater fault in your nation than in ours, for what 
 is done by ours is done by seduction, but that which is done 
 by yours is done by design, in order to rob, steal, murder, and 
 commit every other crime which can be thought of, and that 
 almost in cold blood. 
 
 Besides, other correspondence was held at the Kecifif, was 
 it not with the Portuguese ? Is that treasonable ? How^ 
 can your nation be excused of this, who built it up ? And, 
 if the seller of St. Thomas was a Netherlander (which I do 
 not know), who was the buyer ? Were they not Portuguese, 
 yea, most all the Portuguese who live there, from the least 
 to the greatest inclusive ? So that I can, against one vil- 
 lain from our nation, set off a dozen, yea, a hundred or more, 
 from your nation. But every one may carry his own 
 burdens and villainies until he chokes under them, before I 
 shall ever help him. 
 
 H. In our country there was formerly a pious citizen, of 
 whom a dame complained that she had let him treat her 
 improperly ; and when the citizen said to the coin-t that he 
 had had such intercourse with her, a heavy find was imposed 
 upon both of them. So will it be done with these, for they are 
 both equally guilty, and they will equally be taxed and shorn. 
 
 A. As to what you, Mr. Bouwen, say of Portuguese rob- 
 bery, thievery, and murdering, I will set off against them 
 the wicked murder of twenty-four Portuguese, who, sent from 
 the Marahan, landed at Commassy, and were killed by the 
 Brazilians or Cabocolos. Also, the horrible massacre at Con- 
 hau, for what can be imagined more cruel than that they 
 should call the inhabitants together for the purpose of pro- 
 posing something to them, and when they are assembled fall 
 upon them, when they had no weapons at all with them, and 
 massacre them ! 
 
 But your godless Netherlanders have therein done the 
 wickedest that could be devised. Tell me once, is it not true 
 that in Piio Grande a public resolution was taken by the 
 heads of the government, signed by the Schout, Schepens, 
 
24G BROAD ADVICE, 
 
 and tlie Council of War, to massacre twelve prisoners and 
 the sixty inhabitants, ■svhu, being unarmed, could do no 
 harm ? If this were deemed cruel by your nation, why are 
 they not punished who did it ? Why do they sufier no punish- 
 ment whu have connived at it, and have failed to be punished ? 
 It hai»})ened in this massacre that a certain little girl, from 
 eight to ten years of age, was not willing to be separated 
 from her father, who was brought out to be massacred, and 
 when her father was killed, went and 8at upon his dead body, 
 crying " ! matta mi tambem " — ! kill me also ivith my 
 fatJier, — which did not bapjien according to her wish ; but, 
 nevertheless, tiiat lamb was robbed of all her clothing, in the 
 same manner as after that all the widows and orphans who 
 were left by those who were killed were despoiled, and as 
 afterwards the Portuguese who revolted were sent away. 
 
 Can you Hollanders digest all this in your conscience, 
 without providing for some mode of justice therefor ? Or 
 is your justice tied ? 
 
 B. This man contends like an enemy for his side ; 
 should he with better heart serve on ours, when he has so 
 many reasons to the contraiy ? It is cruel. I know not 
 what I shall say of that business. The truth lies in the 
 grave. But do you know, Alfonso, that your count rpnen 
 are not as they ought to be where they can play the mas- 
 ter ; that they hung up by the legs the youth of Rio 
 Grande, and on occasion shot them ; that the jirisoners 
 were led out by })airs, and nmrdered in cold blood ; that 
 they cut oft" the private parts of some and stuck them in 
 their mouths, and left them Ipng a vile spectacle. Yes, 
 they chopped off the hands of some, and the Portuguese 
 cavaliers ]n*esented them to their mistresses, saying, " See 
 what wliile hands these dogs have." I would have a year's 
 task, were I to relate all the cruelties which they have per- 
 petrated. Some were found dead with thirty, twenty, and 
 ten wounds, more or less ; and how can they not be more 
 mad at us, than they had been before this at their own 
 Portuguese for debts only. For you know, indeed, that 
 Diego da Kaujo let strips be cut out of the botly of his 
 lahorador dafarinha, and let him, thus cut, be bitten by 
 the mosquitoes and gnats for a whole day, and after that 
 s])rinkled him with lemons and l^razil }»ep])er. Also Ro- 
 derigo de Barros sawed a leg off of ids slaves fur the least 
 fault that can be mentioned. si .v v v 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 247 
 
 Wliat would tliey then not clo to us, wliom they regard as 
 open enemies ? 
 
 A. What I could pay against your people here is un- 
 speakahle. Has not Lyhargen suspended persons by the 
 feet, and burned their feet with hot irons, so that they 
 have been compelled to go all their lives upon crutches ? 
 And was he not helped away to Brazil by Mr, Carpentier 
 and Secretary Jacob Hamel, when these matters were dis- 
 covered, and that he must suffer therefor, because he had 
 married the daughter of the Advocate Hamel, and niece 
 of the Supreme Councilor Hamel, who concerned them- 
 selves about it so that no disgrace might fall upon their 
 family, as once happened at the Hague to another fine broth- 
 er of their name and kin, and as was told to us for the 
 truth in Brazil. Something of this is to be seen in the 
 public registers. 
 
 That must not appear so strange to you, as it appears 
 to be customary here for notorious people to be admitted 
 into public office. How many have there been in Brazil, 
 whom we have known in the principal offices, who were 
 bankrupts of low origin and full of all kinds of vices ? Are 
 there not persons employed in the courts of justice who 
 have committed murder even while they were officers of 
 justice, namely, Volbergen, Delinge, and Peter Jansen 
 Bas, who sent twenty-five Portuguese from the Maranhan, 
 who, innocent, were murdered at Commassy ? As I hear, 
 these men will obtain in this country offices in the public 
 mint or elsewhere. And Delinge, who has committed such 
 a public murder at Parayba on the person of Hans Styger, 
 whom he killed from behind, as he stood making water. 
 And what was the political councilor. Van der Voorde .^ 
 Was he not the betrayer of Porto Calvo, although it 
 miscarried ? 
 
 And the traitor Champfleury, who afterwards sold Porto 
 Calvo, was he not coming to Holland to be provided with a 
 company .? What advantage has Torquinus, at present, 
 who compelled my brother-in-law, Francisco Carneiro, in 
 Pojouca, to give so many cases of sugar, who was thereby 
 excused for some time from making payment to the Com- 
 pany ? Does he not say that he had been made, by their 
 High Mightinesses, fiscal over the States soldiers in Brazil, 
 and, by his Highness, receiver of the three per cents.^ This 
 man's corruption may be seen in the secret notules, in what 
 
248 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 the advocate-fiscal has caused to he charged on the 28th 
 of August, 1643, against him ; and it will he found that 
 this man as well becomes such an administration as a 
 pickpocket a silver-cloth douhlet. 
 
 ¥. Let us stop here a spell. Are you able to speak 
 here so freely all those things of which you have made 
 mention ? Friends, I will have no part in what is said. I 
 am a stranger in the country, and know not its customs. I 
 will rather sleej). 
 
 G. I never heard such talk. The world is turned ; 
 the boy is master. Although I speak crooked Dutch, I 
 can understand well. It is now two years since two brave 
 citizens, shipwrecked in the Channel, passed through Eng- 
 land, who came from New Netherland, and I have not in 
 all my life heard the like as these men told us of the direc- 
 tors whom they have there. 
 
 B. Well, I have just come from thence, and have 
 brought over a numher of people in my ship who will com- 
 plain of the present directors and some of the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 K. Well, let us drive away melancholy. It is a hard 
 word that cannot he spoken, and an impossible deed which 
 cannot be done. Scliipjjer, proceed, what kind of country 
 is New Netherland ? 
 
 B. New Netherland is one of the finest countries which 
 lie under the sun, with all kinds of fruits, vegetables and 
 trees ; several fine rivers ; fish are caught there in abun- 
 dance in every diversion, to salt, to dry, to fry, to boil, 
 but principally to eat and to sell. There are also already 
 many tame cattle, and deer more than the inhabitants are 
 able to kill. In short, there is every thing there in suffi- 
 ciency. Birds, wild and tame, to overflowing. The wine- 
 grape grows wild ; onions also grow wild ; chestnuts, mul- 
 herries, plums, medlars, wild cherries, currants, gooseberries, 
 hazel nuts, small a})ples, strawberries, kraakberrics, blue- 
 benics, earthnuts, artichokes in the ground, and more, 
 similar to them, all grow wild. Besides, all that we have in 
 Europe will grow there freely. 
 
 F. What latitude have you there. Master ? 
 
 B. That's a seaman's question ;— 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 
 degrees along the coast. 
 
 F. That's a good climate, I believe you say, also. 
 But what business is there ? 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 249 
 
 B. Ho, ho, wish you so ? I was forbidden by my mas- 
 ter to tell that. You are also a merchant to make such an 
 inquiry. I would not mention it, unless I knew that you 
 intended to send cargoes there and obtain returns, then 
 would I make a good talk about it with Senor. But we are 
 now away from our subject. 
 
 F. Well, what subject, to be hauled up by one and 
 another, by the tail .? 
 
 B. Yes ; were it fishing, I would haul it up by the 
 head ; but as their doings stink too much, I can take hold 
 of no other end. 
 
 F. I preceive that you are one of the sea-jokers. 
 What for governors have you there, and what are they do- 
 ing ? I preceive that you wish to speak of them. 
 
 B. First we had, before this present time, one William 
 Kieft, born in Amsterdam, brought up from his youth as a 
 merchant, who, having attended to liis own and his master's 
 business a long time at KocheUe, or neglected it, failed. 
 Whereupon, his portrait, according to the custom there, 
 was fastened upon the gaUows, as several witnesses, still 
 li^dng, who have seen it with their own eyes, can testify. 
 Being a long time out of business, this man was employed 
 to redeem some captive Christians in Turkey. The money 
 was entrusted to this bankrupt ; and he went and released 
 some, for whom the least was to be paid ; but others, whose 
 friends had contributed the most money, he let stay there, 
 for whom their parents and friends were compelled once 
 more to furnish money. This fine brother was appointed 
 by the managers director over the inhabitants and trade of 
 New Netherland, in the year 1637. 
 
 H. That is truly trusting the cheese to the cat. 
 
 B. The gentleman may well say that ; but the bewin- 
 thebbers (managers) being for the most part merchants, 
 knew how to strike a blow where it was not closely to be 
 looked into. 
 
 F. I can imagine that, if you will say that merchants 
 are not adapted to government. Tell that once at Amster- 
 dam on the Exchange. 
 
 B. That is not exactly my meaning, for I know well 
 that they understand how to govern by sea according to 
 their wishes ; why should they not be able to do so also on 
 land .^ 
 
250 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 H. Can there be traced out on the sea, where the ships 
 sail, with all their courses ? 
 
 All. Ha, ha, ha ! 
 
 B. Why do you laugh so ? Don't you know for what 
 purpose this gentleman asks that ? He will then say, 
 that the ways of merchants, their orders, charter parties, 
 monopolies, contrabands, and what more similar matters 
 there are on the deep, unfathomable sea, cannot be traced 
 out as easily as one can govern on land. So that if any 
 profligate merchants are entrusted with the government of 
 a country, the sceptre of power cannot be wielded blame- 
 lessly, as Brazil, Angola, St. Thomas, and Guinea, have all 
 for some years experienced. But the worst is, that as soon 
 as any profit is to be derived, the largest merchants envy the 
 smaller, not being willing for any others to enjoy it with 
 them ; and especially, whenever they can, use the i30wer of 
 government, under any pretence, so that all the fat may 
 drip into the kettle of some few of them : what schemes do 
 they then contrive ? And whenever it serves their purpose 
 to fail, no man would believe how they then, man and horse, 
 know how to invent and spread a good report around, and 
 then have another, who is the least a loser, or whom they 
 most favor, dexterously to cover up their bad doings, like as 
 the foxes at the North let themselves fill in the water in 
 order not to be any longer bitten by the fleas ; or to screen 
 all manner of roguery, so that the credit of their goods and 
 fortune sustain no injury, as will hereafter clearly be 
 shown. They are the shrewdest merchants who best know 
 how to avoid their losses, if not by cheating or smartness, 
 then by force. 
 
 F, You know well that you must live by the mer- 
 chants. Skipper ; how prate you, then, thus of the mer- 
 chants ? 
 
 B. The merchants cannot do without us ; and the 
 devil's mate might serve the merchants. If one could not 
 have justice against their indiscreet courses, he would be 
 worse than a slave. 
 
 F. You abandoned your former discourse about your 
 Director Kieft. 
 
 B. That happened so between us both, in a measure, 
 after it was proper in the discourse. The merchants are 
 very good in the government when they are selected ; but 
 then they must be of acute understanding, and have honest 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 251 
 
 guardians besides to overlook them, and by a proper dis- 
 cretion to enlarge and cnrtail their power as may be con- 
 venient. 
 
 Kieft thus being made director, had now a path wherein, 
 with good appearance and without being subject to much 
 being said, he could have acquired honor and distinction. 
 And it went along so for a long time, until some of the 
 mayors in the Fatherland, that is, managers, envying the 
 colonies and their founders that they prospered any, wrote 
 to him that, in order to take some of their profits from them, 
 he would institute suits against them, and reckon half a fault 
 for a whole one. 
 
 J. Well, upon my soul, that was enough to set 
 the whole country in an uproar. Who durst Vv'rite 
 that ? 
 
 B. If it were material, I could name man and horse 
 (my author) ; but that is not necessary. 
 
 C We must drive this thick nail in the beam and stop 
 that floodgate, for it is all too bad. It pipes of the flutes, 
 for there is already so much said under the rose : we should, 
 without much doubt, if it were true that what you say was 
 written there, have heard long ago who had dared sign such 
 letters, without its being brought out so. Skipper, those 
 fellows knew well if that came out that they would be dead 
 men, if justice were done them. I therefore consider that 
 writing a fable. 
 
 B. I tell you, in truth, it is no fable ; and I therefore 
 repeat, that I am able to name the author in one and the 
 same breath. 
 
 H. Why, was it not said by your ancestors, that one 
 may freely say what is true ? It fails me to suspect vfho 
 they are. 
 
 B. As you so strongly insist upon it, I will do it ; 
 though, as you do not know the person, I otherwise 
 deem it unnecessary. Isaac van Beeck, Mr. Parkins, 
 and Edward Man wrote them, as Commissaries of New 
 Netherland. 
 
 G. The last two, whom Mister Bouwen mentions, are 
 the most honest men in the world, as I know. 
 
 B. In this matter, however, they were not honest 
 people. 
 
 A. Were the second one, whom you have named, 
 in Brazil, the soldiers would quickly make way with him. 
 
252 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 D. Why? 
 
 A, It was told us in Brazil, that he, being a commis- 
 sary in the year 1647 to send arms to Brazil, observed such 
 care thereof, that when they used them, both before the 
 enemy and in exercise, they burst from ten to twenty at a 
 time, about the heads of the soldiers. 
 
 E. Was there no complaint of this in Holland ? 
 
 A. Would not Manager Van Els and another captain 
 have both told us, that before they went to sea, all the 
 muskets which were already burst were brought to his 
 Highness ? 
 
 C. If any one dared to manage so in our country, it 
 would cost him his life. 
 
 J, Our king would consider it treason. 
 
 E. It is not to be interpreted otherwise, disguise it as 
 you may. 
 
 G. The devil take the rogues, if that be true. 
 
 H. That is coarsely spun. I do not sell my skin to 
 the Hollanders if they cheat so. These fellows did not play 
 such tricks a second time ! 
 
 A. I have seen the muskets bursted, not once, but 
 several times. As to the rest, one may guess from this 
 whether they burst. 
 
 E. But Van Beeck, after I knew him, was certainly a 
 pious man. He had before this sat in the Consistory at 
 Amsterdam, and may still be in it. 
 
 B. He is one of the Heaven-thieves, who, under the 
 cloak of piety, are worse than poison. He knew of the mur- 
 der and of Kieft's proceedings, who so blinded him and others, 
 that no wickedness of Kieft could be so great but it was ex- 
 cused by him and those like him. Kieft, then, being thus 
 written to by those who had command over him, to spring 
 upon those who were under his command, for half as for 
 whole oliences, was eager now the more to pursue tlie course ; 
 but, in the meanwhile, he was so careless in regard, to his 
 masters, that he let ten or twelve persons of the com- 
 monalty see the letters, in order to frighten them there- 
 with, for otherwise no one would have known of them. 
 
 H. When such a rascal or bankrupt has gone so fiir, 
 then must it be that another sustains him. That I under- 
 stand very well. 
 
 E. It is not clear that it so happens. These people 
 forget our French proverb — 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 253 
 
 Main droit et bouche } monde. 
 
 Peut aller par tout le monde. 3 
 
 A civil mouth and spotless hand 
 Can travel over every land. 
 
 What did t^is Director Kieft do further ? I had formerly 
 seen his portrait on the gallows at Eochelle, so I guess not 
 much property followed him here. 
 
 B. Passing by divers trifling abuses, I proceed to the 
 peculations which tend to the ruin of the whole country. Be 
 it known, then, that he had a long time nourished in his 
 own bosom the design of making war upon the Indians of 
 New Netherland, because they had refused him certain con- 
 tributions, which they had done for reasons, saying that they 
 did not consider themselves bound to contribute, to the 
 director or the Netherlanders : 
 
 1. Not for the purpose of maintaining the soldiers, as 
 they did them no service when they were engaged in war 
 with other tribes ; that they then crept together like cats 
 upon a piece of cloth, and could be killed a thousand times 
 before any tidings could come to the fort, which was situ- 
 ated far from them, much less could they be rescued by the 
 soldiers, or seconded in time by them. 
 
 2. Further, that they had allowed our countrymen to 
 take possession of the country peaceably; that they had 
 never demanded any thing for it ; and that we were indebted 
 to them for that reason, and not they to us. 
 
 3. Item, that when our people, having lost a certain 
 ship there, had built another new ship, they had assisted 
 our people with provisions and all kinds of necessaries, and 
 had taken care of them for two winters, until the ship was 
 finished, for which we were indebted to them, and not they 
 
 4 Wherefore, they' asked, for what reason should they 
 give our people maize for nothing, when they paid for 
 ?very thing which they came to buy of us, as much as we 
 
 asked ? ,,11 
 
 5. We have, said they, given you the land where you 
 live, but we remain masters of that which we retain tor our- 
 
 Have we not, then, Siocmnehens (that is, Dutch or 
 Hollanders), when you first came here, and had no mocliols 
 (that is to say, ships), furnished you victuals for two wmters 
 
254 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 through, when, without that, you must have perished with 
 huDger ? 
 
 The delegates from all the Indian tribes, namely, the 
 Baritans — whose chief they called Oringkes, after Orange, — 
 the Hacquinsacks, the Wappenas, the Highlfyiders, Wic- 
 quasgecks, Eeckewacki, Mercckewacks, Tajipanders, Massa- 
 peins, Zinceuw, and others, had as many sticks as they had 
 points to debate, which they laid down there one by one. 
 Director Kieft seeing himself deprived, by so many reasons, 
 of the contributions for which he was very greedy, and that 
 it was disgracing him with our people, carefully meditated 
 by what means he might satisfy his insatiable avarice. 
 
 E. Well, Skipper, how did that end ? 
 
 B. At this time, anno 1643, about Shrovetide, these 
 Indians were surprised by some other tribes (who were too 
 strong /or them) and compelled to retreat. They came to 
 shelter themselves amongst us, not thinking that they had 
 any treachery to expect from us. About this same time, 
 there was a shroving feast at the house of Jan Jaussea 
 Damen, at which the director, in a significant toast, made 
 known his meditated design against the Indians to throe in- 
 considerate boors, to wit, ]\Iaryu Adrijvnsz, Jan Jansz 
 Damen, and Abraham Plancq, who presented to him a peti- 
 tion prepared by Secretary Tienhoven, asking, inasmuch as 
 the Indians before that time had shot a certain servant of 
 Mr. Van Nederhost, and no reparation or punishment liad 
 been made for the act, that he would now avenge it, in order 
 to maintain the reputation of our nation. 
 : K. Was that so ? 
 
 B. I will tell you, Sir. A certain Hacquinsack Indian 
 chief, who was not considered very sensible by the Indiana 
 themselves, was made drunk with brandy by our people, and 
 being asked whether he in such condition could use his 
 bow and arrow, in reply bent his bow upon a certain man 
 named Gerrit Jansz, a servant of the late Mr. Van Ncderhorst, 
 and shot him dead, and then asked whether he was able. 
 Several Indians were killed in revenge for this man, and 
 peace was made with the Indians. So that at the date when 
 the director ordered the massacre, the very tribe which had 
 killed the servant of the late Mr. Van Xederhorst, had been 
 staying some weeks among the Dutch, and were sujiplied by 
 the director with every thing necessary. Thus the pretext 
 was entirely false. 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 255 
 
 K. Was it, then, in one man's power to undertake for 
 that reason war or murder ? 
 
 B. That it might have some plausibility, a petition for 
 it was presented ; whereupon a letter was written on the 
 25th of February, 1643, to the effect that Maryn Adrirensen 
 was authorized, at his request, to perform an exploit with 
 his company, against the Indians living behind _ Curler's 
 plantation, and to treat them as he found convenient, but 
 according to time and circumstances, 
 
 E. Who ever gave such a letter ? Who was the writer 
 of it? 
 
 B. Secretary Cornehs van Tienhoven, who has now 
 come home in order to make a report concerning New Nether- 
 land. He also had prepared the petition. 
 
 C. A child would have seen that this was a mere sham. 
 This secretary deserved to be torn to pieces by four horses, 
 as traitors are ; and these three boors had, according to law, 
 forfeited their lives. Were the people who were settled in 
 the country warned to be on their guard, that no injury might 
 befal them by resistance or assistance ? 
 
 B. Nobody in the world, except the three heretofore 
 named. The people settled in the country were not once 
 thought of The secretary himself went where the Indians 
 were^the day before, to spy them out ; and if the people of 
 the farm lands had known that such was the intention, and 
 there had been reason for it, not one of all the Indians would 
 have escaped ; or if there had been no reason for it, as there 
 was not, the director could not have perpetrated such a mur- 
 der, though he had had ten such treacherous secretaries. 
 
 'j. As well as I can see into the business, the secretary 
 was the principal cause of the consequences. But how did 
 they do then .^ 
 
 B. Between the 25th and 26th of February, 1643, at 
 night, over eighty Indians were massacred at Pavonia by 
 eighty soldiers, where young children were snatched from 
 their mothers' breasts, and cut to pieces in sight of the pa- 
 rents, and the pieces thrown into the fire and into the water ; 
 other sucklings were bound to wooden boards, and cut, stuck, 
 or bored through, and miserably massacred, so that a heart 
 of stone would have been softened. Some were thrown into 
 the river, and when the fathers and mothers endeavored to 
 rescue them, the soldiers would not let them come ashore 
 again, but caused both old and young to be drowned. Chil- 
 
256 - BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 dren, five or six years old, and also some old, decrepid peoiDle, 
 as many of them as had escaped this fury and secreted them- 
 selves in the bushes and reeds, when they came forth in the 
 morning to beg a piece of bread and to warm themselves 
 against the cold, were murdered in cold blood, and pushed in- 
 to the water or into the fire. Some came running past our peo- 
 ple living on the farms, with their hands cut off ; others had 
 their legs cut off. Some carried their bowels in their arms ; 
 others had such horrible cuts, hacks, and wounds, that the 
 like can never have happened elsewhere. And these poor 
 people, and also many of our nation, did not know any bet- 
 ter than that other Indians, the Maquas, had surprised them. 
 After this exj^loit, the soldiers were recompensed for their 
 services, and thanked by Director Kieft, by shaking of 
 hands and congratulations. 
 
 At another place, at Corlor's Hook, near Corlor's plan- 
 tation, on the same night, forty Indians Avere surprised in 
 their sleep in the same manner, and massacred in the same 
 way. 
 
 D. Has the Duke of Alba done more evil in the Nether- 
 lands ? 
 
 F. Certainly you have such Netherland governors or di- 
 rectors, as the Duke of Alba might yield in reputation to 
 them. 
 
 B. Yes, Sir. It is a disgrace to our nation, and it be- 
 hooved me to have kept it secret, if keeping it secret would 
 have remedied it. But they have been written to there con- 
 cerning it ; yet it not only has not been remedied, but it has 
 gone on worse, as you will hear presently. 
 
 H. Did the Indians let this go so ? 
 
 B. Oh no. Sir. As soon they were aware that the Swan- 
 nekens had treated them so, they killed all the men on the 
 farm lands whom they could surprise ; but, as to the women 
 and children, we have never heard that they did them any harm. 
 Besides, they burned all the houses, farms, barns, stacks of 
 grain, and destroyed every thing that they could come at, so 
 that they began an open and destructive war. 
 
 C— 
 
 Quicquid deliraut rcges plectunlnir Acliivi. 
 
 What kings and princes madly say, 
 That must their suffering subjects pay. 
 
 B. I have been told for a truth that a certain skipper, 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 257 
 
 named Isaac Abrahamsen, having saved a little boy in a sail- 
 boat and hidden him under the sail, in order to present him 
 to one Cornelis Melyn, and the child having, through cold 
 and hunger, made himself heard by the soldiers, eighteen 
 German tigers dragged him from under the sail in spite of 
 the skipper, who could not, alone, save him against eighteen, 
 cut him in two, and threw the pieces overboard. 
 
 F. But how did it please the inhabitants ? 
 
 B. They were not only greatly dissatisfied, but they 
 took notes of what passed from time to time ; for those on 
 the farm lands were all ruined, and there was little provision 
 and little strength in the fort. These they wrote to the 
 Fatherland, and related the cause and occasion of this war, 
 with all the circumstances, as they bad happened. 
 
 J. How did you manage in the mean time, before an 
 answer came back ? 
 
 B. We were indeed compelled to choose one of two 
 evils. Then the director allowed ravaging and robbing 
 where he could, and in the year 1643 and 1644, full sixteen 
 hundred Indians were slain in the war in the manner before 
 related, some of whom were settled ten to twenty miles,* 
 and more, off from us under the English, and were most all 
 surprised in the night while asleep, some of whom had never 
 seen any Dutch in their lives, much less done them any 
 harm. 
 
 In April, 1644, seven Indians were arrested by the Eng- 
 lish on the great plain which is called Hempstead, — where 
 Mr. Fordham, an English minister, had the rule, — because 
 they had killed a hog or two of his, which was afterwards 
 found to have been done by his own countrymen. Director 
 Kieft being advised by Mr. Fordham that he had seven In- 
 dians under arrest, in a cellar, whom he dared not treat 
 cruelly, because it could not be justified to his own people, — 
 for such treatment will not be permitted there, — or also be- 
 cause his nation rather sought to create a general discontent 
 among the Indians towards our governors, he immediately 
 sent there Ensign Opdyck, with John Underbill, an English- 
 man, and fifteen or sixteen soldiers, who killed threeof the 
 seven in the cellar, and took four with them in the sail-boat, 
 two of whom, with ropes tied round their necks, were thrown 
 overboard and fastened to the boat, and in that manner were 
 
 * Dutch measure. 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. III. l7 
 
258 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 towed after it and drowned. Two were taken prisoners to 
 Fort Amsterdam, where, having been kept a long time in the 
 guard-house, the director became tired of providing them 
 food any longer ; and the soldiers being at variance, to whom 
 this booty belonged, about going with it to Holland, he gave 
 these poor naked Indian prisoners over to them, in order to 
 cool off their insolence. They immediately dragged them out 
 of the guard-house by the arms and legs, and attacked them 
 with knives from eighteen to twenty inches long, which Di- 
 rector Kieft had caused to be made expressly for such pur- 
 poses, saying that the swords were too long to be used in the 
 huts of the Indians when they wanted to surprise them, but 
 these knives could be more handily plunged into their bowels. 
 The first of these Indians having received, before the guard- 
 house, a horrible wound from such a knife, wished them to 
 let him Kmte-Kaeye, — being a dance, performed by them as 
 a religious rite '■'' — but he received so many wounds, one up- 
 on another, that he forgot the Kinte-Kaeye, and dropped 
 down dead upon the spot. The soldiers cut strips from the 
 live body of the other, from the hams, up the back and shoul- 
 ders, and down to the knees. Whilst this thong-cutting was 
 going on, Director Kieft stood by, in presence of his counsellor, 
 Jan le Montaigne, a Frenchman, and laughed right heartily, 
 rubbing his right arm and laughing out loud, such delight 
 had he in the work. He then ordered him, thus cut, to be 
 dragged out of the fort, whence this poor, naked, simple 
 creature went Kinte-Kaeying all the way. The soldiers, go- 
 ing with him to the beavers' path, threw him down, and 
 stuck his private parts, which they had cut off, into his 
 mouth while he was still alive, and after that placed him on 
 a mill-stone and beat his head off. 
 
 H. What murder that was ! 
 
 B. What I say is true. By the same token, there 
 stood at the time twenty-four or twenty-five Indian women 
 at the north-west angle of the fort, who, seeing this spectacle, 
 threw up their hands, beat their mouths, and said in their 
 lano"uage, " Shame, — what foul and'unspeakable villainy this 
 is ; such was never heard of, or seen, or happened among us." 
 The Indians have frequently during the war called out to us 
 
 * Denton, in his " Brief Description of New York," describes this dance un- 
 der the name of Cantica. The term is one of tlie few Indian words adopted by 
 tlie whites, and is still in use among our old inhabitants to designate a dancing 
 frolic. It is by them pronounced "Canticoy." 
 
BKOAD ADVICE. 259 
 
 from a distance, " What scoundrels you Swannekens are ! 
 you war not against us, but against our innocent women and 
 children, whom you murdered ; while we do your women and 
 children no harm, but give them to eat and drink, yea, treat 
 them well an,d send them back to you : " as, in truth, it had 
 happened that our children, who were taken prisoners by the 
 Indians, on being returned to their parents would hang round 
 the necks of the Indians, if they had been with them any 
 length of time. 
 
 K. Well, Skipper, you have more news, though little 
 of it good, than all of us together. How did it progress ? 
 
 B. Director Kieft not being content with thus causing 
 the fugitive Indians to be surprised, sent certain English spies 
 with soldiers, as guides, in order to point out the places 
 which were unknown to us, where the Indians were living, 
 by which means many poor, unoffending Indians were foully 
 and treacherously massacred. 
 
 G. What pay did the guides have for that service ? 
 
 B. By the journey, according to the amount of booty 
 taken,— sometimes 80, 100, to 200 guilders. 
 
 E. Well, what booty was there to take from these poor 
 
 Indians ? 
 
 B. Belts of zeewan, bows and arrows, sometimes beaver 
 
 skins, but few to signify. 
 
 E. What importance was that ? 
 
 B. It cannot reduce the expenses of the war ; and in- 
 deed, if there were any thing to tempt robbery, it was not 
 worth enough — all the booty which was obtained — to cause a 
 gallows to be erected for a thief, if one had stolen it, much 
 less to carry on such a hazardous war. 
 
 F. How did your director manage with the inhabitants 
 under these circumstances ? 
 
 B He began to introduce tolls, excises, and imposts, m 
 order to obtain the means for the war, to which proceedmgs 
 they were all opposed. Eight men, chosen from the people, 
 understanding that Kieft, in his letter to the XIX.,-- en- 
 deavored to shift the origin and cause of the war upon the 
 people, have sent a second letter to the Chamber of Amster- 
 dam, wherein every thing is particularly stated, which letter 
 was 'signed by these persons, namely, Joachim Pietersz- 
 Keuyter, an elder of the Church, Cornells Melyn, Isaac Al- 
 
 * The nineteen managers of the "West India Company. 
 
260 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 lerton, Jacob Stoffelsz : Gerrit Wolfertz : Thomas Hall, Jan 
 Evertsz-Bout, and Barent Dircksz : 
 
 E. Was there nothing done ? 
 
 B. Yes ; the managers before-mentioned, with whom 
 he corresponded so intimately, sent him back a copy, and 
 made known to him what persons had written, and what 
 they had written ; whereupon he meditated every means to 
 revenge himself upon these persons, and by all kinds of pre- 
 texts and violence to discharge himself of those things laid to 
 his charge. 
 
 A. That same work happened also in Brazil ? 
 
 C Whoever goes once beyond the limits of modesty, is 
 generally stout in his immodesty. 
 
 D. He must have been a wicked man. 
 
 E. Had he any religion ? 
 
 B. Ravens' religion, who rob whatever falls intheirway. 
 What religion could be expected in a man who, from the 3d 
 January, 1644, to 11th May, 1647, has never wished to hear 
 God's word, or to partake of Christian sacraments, doing every 
 thing to keep from Church all those who depended upon him ? 
 His godless example was thus followed by his fiscal, Cornells 
 van der Hoyckens, and his counsellor, Jan de la Montaigne,who 
 was formerly an elder, Ensign Gisbert de Leeuw, Cornells van 
 Tienhoven, his secretary. Deacon Oloff Stevensz : and Gys- 
 brecht van Dyck, besides various minor officers and servants 
 of the company, down to the soldiers inclusive, who all did 
 not attend the administration of the Lord's Supper, or even 
 the meetings to hear God's word. He permitted the officers 
 and soldiers to perform all kinds of noisy plays during the 
 sermon, near and around the church, rolling ninepins, bowl- 
 ing, dancing, singing, leaping, and other profane exercises. 
 Yes, even the members who came in the fort* to celebrate 
 the Lord's Supper, were scoffed at by this rabble, saying, 
 '' There they go again ; they will give them a piece of bread 
 to drink once thereto, and then sing and frolick." By this 
 scoffing, difficulties have frequently arisen. During the pre- 
 paratory sermon. Director Kieft often let the drum beat. 
 The minister, Bogardus, requesting that the drum might be 
 beaten a little further off, so as not to disturb the congrega- 
 tion, was answered that the drummer must go where the 
 director had ordered him. The cannon was discharged sev- 
 
 * The church was built within the fort. 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 261 
 
 eral times during the sermon, as if he had ordered it for the 
 purpose of going a-Maying, so that a miserable villainy 
 against God's church was perpetrated in order to disturb the 
 congregation. In the new church, which was built in the 
 year 1642 by collections from the people, and roofed in the 
 year 1643, there could have been preaching from that time to 
 the year 164V, when Director Stuyves^int came. He has also 
 often said to his own adherents, in substance, " Now the 
 minister shall dispense the Lord's Supper again, and there 
 shall scarcely come a man and a half or one horse's face. 
 They will all follow us, and every one of them remain out." 
 E. What was the cause of his making such bravados ? 
 B. The cause of this director's crooked proceedings 
 against the worship of God besides his own perverseness and 
 the devil's, and the instigations of evil people, was, external- 
 ly, because the minister, the late Everhardus Bogardus, many 
 times in his sermons freely expressed himself against the hor- 
 rible murders, covetousness, and other gross excesses. The 
 director reported falsely of the minister that he was drunk 
 in the pulpit, so that the minister was compelled to take the 
 affidavits of the people to the contrary, in order to use them 
 as occasion required ; and also said that the minister rattled 
 only old wives' stories, drawn out from a distaff; that he was 
 a great cackler, who spoke without tolerating contradiction ; 
 and that he was a seditious man, who sought nothing else 
 than to excite people and the servants of the company 
 against him, who was their sovereign ruler. That Elder 
 Joachim Pieterz : Keuyter, because he stood by the minis- 
 ter, was an assassin ; wherefore, by the director's means, no 
 consistory was assembled for two or three years, as no more 
 than the minister and one elder were left, who did not dare 
 to hold the consistory, as was sufficiently endeavored to be 
 done afterwards, in order to cast a slur upon the body, and 
 say, that they organized the consistory on private author- 
 ity It was said that the wickedness of the director extend- 
 ed so far, and he had so far forgotten himself, and his flat- 
 terers so well agreed with him, that he gave himself no concern 
 either about God or man. Notwithstanding all the uproar 
 acrainst God's church, the wise God has so specially directed 
 that whereas there were not, before his abandonment, more 
 than seventy members from among the people, there were after- 
 wards more than half as many added, and the members are 
 
262 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 SO restrained by God's guidance, that less scandal has taken 
 place than ever before. 
 
 F. Tell me, how could such an impious rascal as this 
 director govern the people afterwards ? 
 
 B. That may with good reason be brought up. As the 
 spit was thus turned into the ashes, to go straight to sea was 
 with him not to opme^ from it. He was as jealous as the 
 devil, whenever he' observed that those whom he meant to 
 trust without suspicion, came to speak familiarly with those 
 whom he suspected. It was, as is said, 
 
 Conscius ipse sibi de se putat omnia dici : 
 
 " He whose conscience is troubled, supposes that every one 
 is speaking of him." In the administration of justice, he gave 
 corruption a free rein for himself and his people. He consid- 
 ered it crime if any one spoke of appeal from his judgment, 
 as appeared, among others, in a certain law-suit which he in- 
 stituted against Laurens Cornelisz : captain of the Maid of 
 Enckhuysen, because he said he had brought a box of pearls 
 to his mother ; which being true, as is known to this day, he 
 nevertheless caused the skipper, on account of the richness of 
 his freight and his illegal acts, to be condemned by his coun- 
 cil according to his pleasure. 
 
 He was so boastful of his commission, which he had both 
 from the company and from their High Mightinesses and his 
 Highness, that not only he himself, but his councilor, Jan de la 
 Montaigne, maintained that he had absolute and sovereign 
 power, like his Highness, or their High Mightinesses, and the 
 West India Company ; which comparison fell very odiously 
 on the feelings, for this man wished to be great without 
 striving after the qualities of true greatness, namely, virtue, 
 honor, and piety. 
 
 His injustice and illegal administration of justice were 
 also apparent in a certain suit against Francis l)outhey, an 
 English minister, to whom he had given i)ermission to form 
 a colony, before the war, and who had made such a begin- 
 ning therein, that more than eighty persons had proceeded 
 there. The war coming on, every thing ran down and came 
 to a stand. They durst not go on with the work. The 
 before-mentioned persons and the means melted away. Out 
 of this, a suit was instituted. Master Douthey was per- 
 mitted to build a colony, on condition that he peopled the 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 263 
 
 designated land, which condition was not performed. ^ It 
 could not be performed by him. It was, however, sufficient 
 cause of action, in order to have the lands turned into the 
 company by confiscation, and to give them to another pa- 
 troon ; as, by suit for that purpose, the matter was accom- 
 phshed. Master Douthey appealing from this judgment, 
 was fined twenty-five guilders, and was to remain in close 
 confinement until the twenty-five guilders were paid. 
 
 G. Durst he do that to an English minister ? It was 
 a brave case for reprisals upon the ships of the West India 
 Company. 
 
 B. But Kieft saw that very well, and therefore he 
 would not let the man go away, though he was greatly 
 injured ; but they were willing to let him go if he would 
 promise, in writing, not to mention what had happened. 
 
 He carried on similar proceedings against one Arnoldus 
 van Hardenburgh, curator of a certain barque of Seger Teu- 
 nissen, in which some smuggled goods were found. The 
 director and the fiscal claimed, therefore, that the goods m 
 the barque were confiscated. Hardenburgh and his co- 
 curators feeling aggrieved, protested against the judgment, 
 and appealed therefrom to such judges as counsel should 
 bring it before. For this he also was fined twenty-five 
 cTuilders. He went as far as the prison, but not being will- 
 fng to be led in by the sergeant, he paid it, like Master 
 
 Doughty. , . -, ^1 
 
 G. Why do not the States of Holland send some other 
 
 person to hold better rule ? 
 
 B. The States having fully understood all these evils, 
 directed the managers— who were well aware that they had 
 too long played with Director Kieft they well knew, what 
 part— to correct them. The managers thereupon chose 
 Petrus Stuyvesant, late director at Gura9oa, a mmister's son 
 in Vriesland, who had formerly stolen the daughter of his 
 own landlord at Franiker, and was caught at it, and let oli 
 for the sake of his father, otherwise he would have been dis- 
 graced. He was to be director in Kieft's place. 
 
 E How did this company know where to look up all 
 these rascals ? I believe that they must have magazmes 
 
 full of them. 
 
 B Their High Mightinesses thought that the managers 
 would take care that no more complaints would be made 
 about a brutal, much less a wicked direction ; but we are 
 
264 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 informed that the same managers who had intrigued with 
 Kieftj had already, to the dechne and ruin of New Nether- 
 land, induced him (Stuyvesant) to sustain Kieft, and to 
 annoy the inhabitants upon every pretext whatever. He 
 could not restrain himself until time and occasion furnished 
 a cause, but while on his way to New Netherland, threat- 
 ened that when he arrived there he would teach the boors 
 better. As he had promised by oath and by grip of the 
 hand that he would punish the faults of Director Kieft 
 according to their merits, and properly sustain the inhabi- 
 tants, so the result has proven entirely the contrary of those 
 fine promises, according to the instructions which he had 
 already shown to several, and which had been given him by 
 the managers, ordering him to do as he has since done. 
 
 I. Is that not the same Stuyvesant who, before this, 
 attempted to take Fort St. Martin for the company, where 
 he lost his leg ? 
 
 B. He is the very same. The managers regarded that 
 as a Roman achievement by him. 
 
 I. All those who were with him there will say other- 
 wise ; how he used up the powder, which was given us for 
 the expedition, in firing salutes on the voyage, and when 
 any thing was to be done, there was none on hand. Every 
 thing went on as disorderly in that expedition, as had never 
 happened on any expedition. We were compelled to move 
 off and retire without accomplishing any thing, — on account 
 of his leg alone, which was shot off' by the first cannon-shot 
 from Fort St. Martin, — and leaving every thing behind 
 which we had brought there, including five or six fine field- 
 pieces. Was not that a brave Roman business ? Who 
 knows what expense the company has been put to for tliis 
 expedition ? Did not such a brave and prudent hero 
 deserve to be chosen and sent, ])y way of promotion, as 
 director and redressor-general to New Netherland ? 
 
 B. When he comes from there, the managers may send 
 him to Brazil as president, in order to spoil entirely what 
 remains, as he is accustomed to do. 
 
 I. He now, surely, gets every day a day older, and 
 ought to improve so as to wipe out previous faults. How 
 does he manage, now, in New Netherland ? 
 
 B. Improve, say you. Comrade ! like old wolves and 
 sailing-ships, which get every day a day worse. 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 265 
 
 I. Does he curse and storm and rage, as he used to do, 
 to striking and beating ? 
 
 B. In that respect he is still the same man as he was 
 of old ; so there is no change to be expected, except for the 
 worse. 
 
 I. What entry had he in New Netherland ? 
 B, There was brave shooting on all sides, so that they 
 were compelled to buy powder elsewhere to use in case of 
 need, and for exercise. 
 
 I. That I can well guess. But how does he manage 
 with the inhabitants ? • i i • 
 
 B. When he first came, some of the principal mhabi- 
 tants welcomed with uncovered heads their new director. 
 He kept them standing several hours bareheaded, while he 
 had his hat on, as if he were the Grand Duke of Muscovy, 
 offering nobody a seat to sit down, although he himself had 
 sat down at his ease in a chair, in order the better to give 
 audience to the welcomers. 
 
 I. You speak so lively of his manner, that I imagme 
 I see it all now. Proceed about this brute. 
 
 B In short, when he took the direction from Kieft, 
 and the Commonalty were called together for the purpose 
 Kieft first thanked the Commonalty for their loyalty, and 
 the like, but more than was reasonable, in hopes that the 
 Commonalty would have returned him thanks unanimously, 
 which was actually proposed. Some spoke out roundly that 
 they did not thank him, nor had they reason to do so, 
 amon- whom were Joachim Pietersz : Keuyter, and Cornells 
 Melyn Stuyvesant, under the blue heaven, promised, with 
 loud words, that every one should have equal justice, winch 
 was pleasant to the ears of the Commonalty to hear. But 
 some days afterwards, as he was persuaded and induced by 
 Kieft, Stuyvesant held court, and let the letter of the Com- 
 mon's-men, written to the Chamber of Amsterdam against 
 Kieft, be brought before it. As he had taken sides with 
 Kieft he wished to take care that nothing should be written 
 afterwards against himself, and accordingly considered these 
 eio-ht deputies as private individuals, and also so regarded 
 all their business and the whole suit between Kieft and 
 them With him it was crimen kesce majestahs, to unite 
 against the magistrates, whether there were cause or not^ 
 Kieft's bare denial availed more than the Commonalty s men 
 proved; and when the deputies offered divers memorials, 
 
266 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 points of inquiry, and persons, in order to establish the 
 truth of what was written, they were at once partly rejected, 
 partly received without weight, and partly concealed before 
 the day came. Yes, what was still more, they got the per- 
 sons who had signed the letter, and compelled them by high 
 authority and heavy threats, as also fine promises, first not 
 to mention what should be proposed to them ; then, to re- 
 voke what they had written, or at least to give it another 
 gloss, and to say that they were suborned to sign it, and 
 were misinformed, not even knowing what they had signed, 
 and that they had done it only upon the earnest solicitation 
 of some who, as was seen by the signatures, remained firm, 
 and still defended the same. 
 
 So Director Stuyvesant passed sentence against Joachim 
 Pietersz : and Cornells Melyn, in which he maintained — 
 that they had clandestinely and lyingly accused Director 
 Kieft, their lawfid governor and chief, and injured him, yes, 
 falsely belied him — in which he, with his Council, in that 
 well-ordered repubhc of New Netherland, willing to protect 
 his cause, in the name of their High Mightinesses the Lords 
 States General, his Highness the noble Prince of Orange, 
 and the General Authorized West India Company, con- 
 demned Joachim Pietersz : Keuyter to a banishment of 
 three successive years, and (a fine of) one hundred and fifty 
 guilders, one-third for the fiscal, one-third for the poor, and 
 one-third for the church. Cornells Melyn was charged in 
 his sentence with more crimes, and visited with severer 
 punishment. (As Kieft had before this supposed that he 
 would have a share with him in Staten Island, and Cornells 
 Melyn, with whom he had agreed in the Fatherland to treat 
 with about it, had been compelled to conclude agreements 
 with others,* Kieft meditated playing him this trick, as the 
 result showed.) As can more fully api)ear by the sentence, 
 which is in existence,! he was convicted as above-men- 
 tioned, of having committed crimen hescc inajestatis,^ crimen 
 falsi, crimen of slander, and on account of these incurred 
 the deprivation of all benefits derived or to be derived from 
 the company, a penalty of three hundred guilders, to be 
 applied as before-mentioned, and banishment for seven years 
 
 * Kieft had, upon the mandate of the West India Company, granted a pa- 
 troonship in Staten Island to Melju. 
 f See Note, at the cod. 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 267 
 
 from New Netlierland. So that those whom Kieft had in- 
 sulted were kicked away hy Stuyvesant. 
 
 It is worthy of particular note that when it was stated 
 to Director Kieft that these proceedings would be regarded 
 in a different light in Holland, he answered, "We may 
 alarm each other but little about justice in Holland, which 
 in this case I consider nothing more than a bugbear." 
 
 And Stuyvesant said, " If I knew you would hereafter 
 appeal from my sentence, or divulge the same, I would, by 
 my soul ! take off your head, or hang you to the highest 
 tree in New Netherland." He represented the affair o± 
 Kieft to those around as favorably as he could, and spoke 
 ao-ainst the faithful Commonalty's men so violently that the 
 froth hung from his beard. And that it might more boldlj 
 appear that he was not inclined to observe the order ot their 
 Hi^h Miflitinesses, and his promises to them, and to give 
 the" Commonalty reasonable contentment, he immediately 
 made Jan Janssen Damen church-warden— a man who had 
 signed the petition to murder the Indians. , , ^ . , , 
 E He was a fine churchwarden, with his bloody hands ! 
 B It is to be apprehended, if the Netherland United 
 Provinces, their High Mightinesses, and his Highness do 
 not see to it in time, that the names of Netherland, their 
 Hioh Mightinesses, and Orange, will stink, not_ only with 
 the Indians, but with all Christendom. It is disgrace 
 enough that it has not been attended to before. Thoretore, 
 those to whom the welfare of Netherland, New Netherland 
 and of the government and the inhabitants, is dear, ougbt 
 to endeavor that this matter be redressed. ., • . 
 
 I. But the sentence before-mentioned, was it carriea 
 
 into execution ? . ^ ^ +u^ 
 
 B Certainly ; for it was of great importance to the 
 new director, Stuyvesant, to his own honor and reputation, 
 yea, his own life. They were brought on board as exiles 
 and torn away from their goods, wives and childi-en. ihe 
 ship "Princess" bore the director (Kieft) and these two 
 true patriots from New Netherland, till, arriving m the 
 (En-lish) Channel, she ran upon a shoal and beat to pieces; 
 wheS this godless Kieft seeing death before his eyes, and 
 Bighing deeply, doubtfully asked both of them : "Friends 
 I ^have done you wrong, can you forgive me ? " _ The ship 
 being broken in eight pieces, drove the whole nigh in the 
 sea till day-break. The most of them were drowned. Cor- 
 
268 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 nelis Melyn lost his son. The Minister Bogardus, Kiefi, 
 Captain John de Vries, and a large number of men were 
 drowned. There was much wealth lost Avith Kieft, as the 
 shi])'s return cargo was worth more than four hundred thou- 
 sand guilders. Joachim Pietersz : Keuyter remained upon 
 the after part of the ship alone, upon which a piece of 
 cannon stood, which he observing from above out of the 
 port-hole, in the break of day, took to be a man, and accord- 
 ingly spoke to it, but receiving no answer supposed he was 
 dead. He was finally thrown on land with it, to the great 
 astonishment of the English, who stood by thousands on the 
 shore, and hauled the cannon to land, as a perpetual memo- 
 rial. Melyn floating back to sea, fell in with others who 
 remained upon a part of the ship on a sand bank, which at 
 the ebb-tide became dry, when they took some planks and 
 pieces of wood, which they put together in the sand bar, 
 and took as many shirts and other garments as were neces- 
 sary for a sail, so that they were enabled to get from the 
 sand bar, over the channel, to the main-land of England. 
 
 And as these persons were mostly concerned for their 
 papers, some of which were totally lost in the sea, they fished 
 for them till the third day. As many of them as were 
 packed in a box, were saved, and are to this hour in posses- 
 sion of Joachim Pietersz. 
 
 C. How some people are tossed about in the world ! 
 How did these men ever get justice ? 
 
 B. They told me afterwards, that when they reached 
 Holland, they understood the managers lamented very much 
 the loss of the rich cargo and the ship, and so many fine 
 folks, and grieved that two bandits, rebels, and mutineers 
 had come to annoy the company with their complaints. 
 
 I. Was that the comfort which they received from the 
 managers ? 
 
 B. That was not only their comfort, but some of the 
 managers have attempted to prevent a hearing for them by 
 their High Mightinesses. 
 
 I. It were better that hell and hell fire stopped these 
 villains. Who dared attempt that ? 
 
 B. Those who corresponded with these godless children 
 of Belial, — Van Beeck and Pasquin, — men whom they knew 
 how to stir up. They obtained a hearing, however, and 
 presented their matters so plainly before their High Mighti- 
 nesses, that they thought proper to prohibit such wicked 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 269 
 
 proceedings, dispatching letters of prohibition. They sent 
 for Stuyvesant to come back, or else to send an attorney 
 either to sustain his sentence, or hear it annulled, or to 
 reverse it there. For this their High Mightinesses provided 
 them all necessary mandates, protections, executions, and 
 other necessary instruments. 
 
 I. How did Stuyvesant manage in the mean time to- 
 wards the inhabitants ; and what regulations did he adopt ? 
 B. Show of religion, and hypocrisy, form one part of this 
 man, and puffed-up pride, especially in regard to his commis- 
 sion, another part, and avarice a third part. All his acts 
 sprout from these three roots, and shoot their tops in the 
 wind far above others. As soon as he had taken possession 
 of his directorship, he began first to make the church of use 
 to him, which was a fine example. He sighed during the 
 sermon so that he was heard by the whole church. Who 
 would not suppose that he would be a righteous Solomon, 
 Abiah, Asa, and desired prince ? But all this fine show was 
 covered by the clouds of his dark deeds. And when the 
 news came that the exiles were permitted by their High 
 Mightinesses to return, and that their High Mightinesses had 
 granted their appeal — which Stuyvesant had never thought 
 that they would have gone so far with, but that the managers 
 would, as they had assured him, have prevented it — feeling 
 pricked on account of these things, he sought advice on all 
 sides, which was not without benefit to him ; for some showed 
 him how wrongly he had proceeded against the persons, — 
 who were chosen for the Commonalty's men, — as against 
 private individuals ; so that, he knowing that he had in- 
 jured them, and being advised to quiet the people, was well 
 disposed to do so. But when he came to Secretary Tien- 
 hoven, he was, as if it would hurt his reputation, turned 
 around. So that, relying upon his worn-out reputation, he 
 has dared to say, " If they return with never so strong an or- 
 der of their High Mightinesses, I will send them back again, 
 and teach them how to appeal." 
 
 Item : it being mentioned to him that in Kieft's time ap- 
 peals were intended, he said, " What happened then little con- 
 cerns me, but some one may in my time think of appealing also, 
 but if any one should appeal from my sentence, 1 would cut off 
 his head, and send the pieces to Holland, and so let him appeal." 
 Notwithstanding the great noise with which he inquired 
 of these people, he began on their arrival to create a diver- 
 sion, but it failed him. 
 
270 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 And when Cornells Melyn arrived on the 1st of January, 
 after many hardships, he wanted to take by force all the 
 letters which Melyn had brought with him, to whom he sent 
 the fiscal and secretary twice in the night. 
 
 But Melyn sent nothing to him, except the passport of 
 their High Mightinesses. He thereupon sent, the third time, 
 a sergeant to have him appear before the General with his 
 papers. He was answered by Melyn, that he would come 
 before the council in the morning, and then produce and de- 
 liver up every thing which he had to produce and deliver. 
 Had it not been for the strong protest of the councilor Lub- 
 bertus van Dincklage, vice-director, who was not willing to 
 have any thing to do with his opposition and hasty rage 
 against the passport of their High Mightinesses, he would 
 with his soldiers have thrown Melyn again into prison. 
 
 The next day, in the morning, Melyn being summoned, 
 appeared and delivered all the orders and despatches of their 
 High Mightinesses, and also those of his Highness, and of 
 divers others written to him particularly. When these let- 
 ters were read through, the hand was in the hair/^ Good 
 advice was the best, whereby he was so far brought over, that 
 he said to Melyn and answered that he, Stuyvesant, would 
 follow the orders of their High Mightinesses, and he, Melyn, 
 should pursue his business as before. But these words had 
 no significance ; for Melyn desired to be nmg in as he was idling 
 out, and reinstated as a Commonalty's man, from which 
 place he had been unrighteously removed ; also to have res- 
 titution of the losses he had sustained by these rude and 
 unlawful proceedings. He would grant none of them. 
 
 It was determined to carry into effect the order of their 
 High Mightinesses on the 8th of March, 1649, at the time 
 when the general, Stuyvesant, had convened the Commonal- 
 ty of New Netherland in the church, in order that he might 
 have his ample commission read before them, and his sove- 
 reign government vindicated thereby. By this he intended 
 to kill dead the present order of their High Mightinesses, or 
 at least to suspend it, besides endeavoring to effect other 
 like designs upon his own responsibility. The vice-director 
 Dincklage protested that he had no knowledge of and gave 
 no consent to these movements, and that the general had of 
 his own motion caused this assembUng of the Commonalty, and 
 
 • That ia, Stuyvesant was perplexed. 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 presented his own views to them without communicating 
 them to him, the vice-director. This protest he villainously 
 ridiculed ; whereupon Melyn, perceiving that the longer he 
 staid the worse it was, left the execution of the mandate of 
 their High Mightinesses to be effected by Arnoldus van Har- 
 denberg, who was invited and agreed to do so in presence of 
 the whole Commonalty. 
 
 The director-general seeing such unexpected opposition 
 befalling him, did not know what countenance to assume ; 
 to attack any one hostilely in the presence of all these wit- 
 nesses was not prudent, and to do nothing was to injure his 
 reputation before such a large assemblage of more than three 
 hundred persons. He asked Melyn whether he would now 
 let the order be executed, who answered, Yes. He seized 
 the mandate angrily out of the hands of him executing it, so 
 that the seal of their High Mightinesses hung to the parch- 
 ment in halves, and if it had been paper only, it would have 
 been torn by this irreverent grabbing. When those who 
 stood next to him earnestly admonished him to have respect 
 for their High Mightinesses, a copy of the mandate was 
 placed in his hands by Melyn, and the original mandate was 
 again put in the hand of the person executing it, who read 
 it out loud, and required his answer thereto. Shortly after- 
 wards, the lowest part of the seal fell off. 
 
 H. I have seen more such birds hobble off than fly. 
 Had he no other respect for his lords and chief magistrates, 
 he would with us certainly forfeit his life. 
 
 B. It ought to be so here too, and I do not consider him 
 yet free. 
 
 E. But did he give no answer to the mandate ? 
 B, That would have been worse than madness, as he 
 had nothing to answer. He said the States and their com- 
 mission were to be honored, their commands obeyed, an au- 
 thorization sent, and the sentence sustained. 
 
 E. But, as on a sentence of banishment more persons 
 ordinarily sit, why were not the others, who had taken part 
 in the sentence, cited with him ? 
 
 B. On the 16th of March, 1649, the fiscal, Henrick van 
 Dyck (who had committed a well-known murder at Utrecht, 
 and had been compelled to go from thence on account of it), 
 was summoned to sustain the sentence. He answered that he 
 had taken no part in this question, notwithstanding he was 
 mentioned in the sentence as the accuser, and had subscribed 
 it. 
 
272 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 I, Henrick van Dyck ! Was he not ensign formerly in 
 New Netherland, when Kieft was there ? 
 
 B. Yes, it is the same man who dragged the Indians 
 from Hempstead. 
 
 I. But since then he has been fiscal. How has he at- 
 tended to that office ? 
 
 B. That I will tell you shortly. It happened that Cor- 
 nells Eenckhoorn was very murderously cut in the belly by 
 Skipper Jan Huygens, after some had escaped from him 
 whom he intended to serve similarly. This murderer was 
 imprisoned in the guard-house, and the same night was 
 taken back by the fiscal, Van Dyck, to the house where the 
 dead man was lying, and sat there drinking with the fiscal 
 till the latter part of the night, when he made his escape by 
 the chimney. Furthermore, Skipper Isaac Abrahamsz : 
 being shot dead by Skipper Adriasn Blowmasrts, pilot of Stuy- 
 vesant's galiot, he was brought by the fiscal on board of us, 
 and remained till we were some days at sea. I knew nothing 
 of it, and put him ashore at the Huys-duynen, to take care 
 of himself. But it may be seen how strongly the disposition 
 to murder has increased in the fiscal under this director. 
 Gerrit Slomp, son of a fish woman of Amsterdam, was very 
 murderously stabbed to death by Joannes Rodenburgh. The 
 murderer was never molested in New Netherland, where the 
 deed was committed, whose brother was one of the councilors 
 there. 
 
 I. How fared the other councilors ; were they not cited ? 
 
 B, The vice-director, Lubbertus van Dincklage, was 
 summoned on the same day, and answered that he had been 
 misled, because the various papers wliich were now produced 
 were concealed from him at the time, and would otherwise 
 have acquitted the condemned ; furthermore, because Stuy- 
 vesant, in giving the sentence, had first decided that these 
 persons had written about public affairs without being qual- 
 ified by public authority. 
 
 Monsieur la Montaigne, councilor without commission from 
 the Fatherland, a Frenchman, cited, made answer that 
 Melyn should first give the reasons for citing him, and then 
 he would answer. 
 
 Brian Nuton, captain and lieutenant, an Englishman, 
 answered that he did not understand what it was, but would 
 answer in the morning. 
 
 Paulus Leandertsz, equipage-master, gave for answer 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 273 
 
 that lie would appear or send an attorney, provided Melyn 
 would first give security. 
 
 Abraham Planck, one of the request-masters, answered 
 that he did not know how the war began. 
 
 On the 23d March, 1649, Cornells van Tienhoven, the 
 secretary, was summoned by process as before. He was the 
 cause of the war with the Indians, and of all this affair, and 
 deferred answering until the 25th of May. He said that he 
 did not wish to give any answer, and did give none. 
 
 On the 23d of May, Jan Jansz : Damen, one of those 
 whose names were upon the petition to carry on the war with 
 the Indians, answered that whenever the order of their High 
 Mightinesses was shown him wherein his name was specified, 
 he would then come, provided Melyn first gave security for 
 the costs. 
 
 C. If it be managed there, as you say, it is very badly 
 done by the director and part of his council. But did he 
 manage afterwards to sustain his sentence, and to send his 
 attorney to the Hague ? 
 
 B. As Melyn was compelled to protest against him, he 
 finally sent a written answer. The protest was made on the 
 29th of July, and was first read in full council on the 9th of 
 August. The answer was dated the 10th of August, in 
 which he for a great part receded from his former sentence, 
 especially from the banishment ; excusing himself also that he 
 was not bound to make restitution because he had received 
 nothing, and also because he understood that while the matter 
 ,was hanging under appeal he was not obliged to make resti- 
 tution, and alleging similar frivolous reasons ; and leaving 
 Melyn in free possession of his goods and efiects. In short, 
 of ail what this aflVighted judge had undertaken, his troubled 
 conscience remained. Seeing that the men stood firm to 
 their purpose, that he should either make them reparation or 
 send an attorney to Holland, he resolved to send the Secre- 
 tary Tienhoven to Holland ; and in order that he might an- 
 ticipate them, the secretary went in a small ship fourteen 
 days before them, and we, with the deputies of the Common- 
 alty, followed fourteen days afterwards. But as the secretary 
 ran behind Ireland, as he deemed it necessary to do so, in or- 
 der not to get on the same shoal as Kieft, and as we, with 
 the deputies of the Commonalty, took our course straight to 
 the Channel, we got in before him. 
 
 C. Must, then, a whole committee be sent against one 
 
 SECOND SERIES. VOL. Ill 18 
 
274 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 man ? Could not Melyn alone see after him — one against 
 one ? 
 
 B. No, Sir. I understand there are more complaints 
 to be made against the director, and their High Mightinesses 
 must be fully informed, and see what the Commonalty have 
 done to be rid of such an intolerable government, or at least 
 to have it corrected. 
 
 C. Certainly it is not necessary that more should be 
 shown than you have already stated. 
 
 B. I would have, indeed, a year's work, if I were to tell 
 all that has passed there improperly. 
 
 E. If you have any more of these proofs, Skipper, tell 
 them as briefly as possible. I have something else to inquire 
 of you about. 
 
 B. In order to conclude this statement, you should 
 know of this director that whoever has him opposed to him 
 in New Netherland, as long as he is there, if he have ever so 
 just a case, he must suffer such fines and amends as pleases 
 him. In matters of confiscation, he has as much discretion as a 
 wolf for the lamb, which it devours be he right or not. If he 
 see beforehand that he cannot bring his ordinary councilors to 
 concur with him in their votes, he takes as many extraordinary 
 councilors as he can, with their votes to accomplish his devil- 
 try, and then advises with his ordinary councilors. And 
 when he can do nothing else, he brings his own opinion in 
 writing upon the table, in order that those who have any 
 thing against it may immediately speak against it ; which 
 is ordinarily so long that the reading becomes tiresome. If 
 that miscarry, he proceeds to scold and threaten every one, 
 and makes such a clamor that one miirht wish that he were out 
 of the council-chamber. Where there are two parties, before 
 the case is presented he is tlio advocate of one of the parties 
 to whom he is most friendly, or who has best bespoken him. 
 There is no trade, in which there is any certain profit, but 
 he seeks to get it all. The diversity of which is wonderful. 
 He is a brewer ; he is a shipowner ; he carries on alone all 
 kinds of business which we all do ; he builds, he fishes, and 
 does a thousand like things, especially annoying to the form- 
 ers. In what he does alone, he regards nobody, either the 
 least or the greatest — either public or private persons ; for 
 when it was determined by the Commonalty's men to send a 
 committee to Holland, the director at first was willing it 
 should be done ; but when they made charges against the 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 275 
 
 director himself, he would not consent to it. He went in 
 person to the lodgings of the president of the people's men, 
 and took from thence certain notes from which he (the presi- 
 dent) intended to prepare a journal. Having possessed him- 
 self of these, he then made the president stay in his own 
 cottage, a prisoner. He undertakes a business rashly, which 
 he soon wishes, when he comes to himself, that he had never 
 begun. He first sees every thing from behind, and is so hypo- 
 critical and fickle that he cannot be depended upon. He has 
 secretly complained to the minister that his mind was so 
 troubled that he wished God would, ordinarily or ex- 
 traordinarily, by his word or his servant, show him what to 
 do ; whereupon the minister boldly held up before him his 
 errors, and exhorted him to improvement, so that he whined like 
 a dog ; but, coming to his work and wants again, he fell 
 continually into greater and grosser faults. Thus, there are 
 no hopes for the better. He forbids, upon pain of death, any 
 one to sell fire-arms, powder, or lead to the Indians, yet does 
 it himself in the sight of all the world ; for which, he says, 
 his masters have given him orders. If this be true, what do 
 they else than to put in the hands of the Indians a knife with 
 which to cut our throats, as opportunity may off'er ? — the 
 which (God help them) has happened too much to those 
 from Fatherland ; and it was time that a stricter order was 
 given thereupon. To say all iu word, this man has so many 
 particular qualities, of which not one is serviceable in a desir- 
 able republic, that he is not fit to rule over Turkish slaves 
 in the galleys, much less over free Christians. The persons 
 who have come over as deputies, have whole trunks full of 
 papers containing charges against him, which the Secretary 
 Tienhoven will have enough to do to answer. 
 
 E. You are continually speaking of this Tienhoven. 
 Who is he? . 
 
 B. He is a man who has run after the Indians like an 
 Indian for love, departing from his religion, and wlwse father 
 killed himself. 
 
 E. What devil, then, does he worship ? 
 
 B. He never has any scruples of conscience, from which 
 he is to the remotest extent removed. He is a libertine, and 
 there is no religion unless it will burn him. He resembles 
 the serpents : those whom he stings he laughs at, and while 
 he flatters he bites. He cheats every one who deals with him. 
 Even his own brothers-in-law and friends are not free from 
 
276 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 his tricks, wlio have on that account frequently made him 
 out a villain and the like. His wife was, before he married 
 her, reputed to be a whore ; and he frequently told others, 
 " If this whore think that I will marry her, I will know bet- 
 ter than that ; " and shortly afterwards he married her, 
 though, not ten days before, he himself had considered her a 
 whore. Her mother 2:)rotested that what had happened be- 
 fore his time should not be laid to her charge ; that he well 
 knew what she was ; if she, therefore, did not please him, he 
 might have left her as she was. She was, even during her 
 marriage, caught in adultery, and proclamations Avere made 
 concerning it for the purpose of instituting criminal proceed- 
 ings against her. The pot was, however, covered up. 
 
 He has also been the book-keeper of the Company, where 
 he has acted so wickedly, both as regards private individuals 
 and the Company, that the poor common soldiers have not 
 been secure from his thievish accounts and book-keeping. 
 Peter Kock has shown me, as is to be seen at the office of 
 the company at Amsterdam, how impudently he filched 
 from him twelve guilders, and placed them to his own credit. 
 
 He has endeavored to pilfer from another honest commis- 
 sary, Crol, four thousand guilders by false accounts. 
 
 In whatever he is engaged there is always, by his manage- 
 ment, strife and contention ; as, in writing a will for Wil- 
 helni Bredenbent, he had the witnesses, but would not let 
 them subscribe their names. Every species of villainy which 
 can be thought of, he has committed. He has so kept his 
 books, that never, or very seldom, especially if any dispute 
 occurred, could the truth be drawn from them, so as to show 
 the peo])le where the entries were taken from which were 
 charjred against those interested in them. 
 
 In short, nothing good can be said of this man, and no 
 wickedness can be left unsaid of him. To the Indians and 
 Christians in New Netherland is he so obnoxious, that' they 
 have desired and sought that this rascal should be sent out 
 of the country, or that they would again engage in open war 
 with us. Both his brothers-in-law signed that wicked request 
 to murder the Indians. What worse can be said than mur- 
 derer, thief, cheat, whoremonger, and villain ? and if he had 
 not these faults, he would, with Clement Marot's servant, be 
 the best man in the world. 
 
 E. What nations live next to New Netherland, and how 
 
BROAD ADVICE, 277 
 
 do these wicked regents behave themselves towards them ? 
 It is v^eiy dangerous to live under such a government. 
 
 B. The English, in thousands and an hundred thousand 
 families, are our neighbors, so to speak ; and there are some 
 Swedes, or Hollandish Swedes, who have wedged themselves 
 in, God knows how, between them and us ! Our directors 
 have so conducted towards them, taking from English har- 
 bors ships of persons trading with the English, that much bad 
 blood exists ; but that nation are not easily led to excesses. 
 If, however, their High Mightinesses, or the government of our 
 Fatherland, do not see to it in time, our nation will, by 
 means of such scoundrels, come short ; for the EngHsh, 
 while they might have gone along smoothly, being once of- 
 fended, are very sensitive. Matters have transpired between 
 us and them, which would not be tolerated if every thing 
 should be examined into, as it ought to be, by us as well as 
 by them. 
 
 E. Is there no boundary-line between you and them ? 
 
 B. There is no trifling difficulty about that, with which 
 the sovereigns of both nations may be troubled. I would 
 that that matter was settled. 
 
 E. But how came the Swedes there ? What pretense 
 have they there ? 
 
 B. You may well ask that .? but what is known to me, 
 I will keep in my sleeve, in order to see if they who are the 
 cause of it will not remedy the same ; for Jan Prins, who is 
 the commander there, obtains cargoes and ships from Holland. 
 I cannot understand how men so lost to all shame Kve in our 
 Fatherland. But I say no more. God help or God destroy 
 those who so contrive to injure us, and send to him openly guns, 
 powder, and lead, in order to sell them to the Indians, and 
 ultimately to murder our people. 
 
 H. Is there no counsel in Holland against all such vil- 
 lainy ? 
 
 B. There is in Holland counsel more than enough 
 against it, if they who receive it would only adopt it. 
 
 How easily could those who were appointed regents be 
 required to state their birth-place and condition, and their 
 subsequent lives then be inquired into, in order that such 
 notorious scoundrels should not be appointed to high places 
 over us ! Or it might be left to the Commonalty to seek 
 out one or more persons, according to their pleasure, or to 
 contrive other means, so that at least open murderers, thieves, 
 
278 BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 and villains should not be entrusted with the command, and 
 neither the people there nor the government here, as well of 
 the country as of the company and stockholders, should be 
 served by them. 
 
 Further, as inordinate and improper charges are imposed 
 in many things, how easily can it be provided to remove 
 them, and as o})portunity offers, when the sheep have any 
 wool, to j)ull it reasonably ! 
 
 And as to the taxes which will be imposed upon the Com- 
 monalty by honest regents, nothing is to be done except with the 
 increase of means to undertake, with discretion, at first, what 
 is practicable, proper, and reasonable, and then to be content 
 therewith. 
 
 Furthermore, to manage to reduce all high officers and their 
 salaries, or at least to pay them so little, that they, living 
 honestly, may do the State and the country more service. 
 
 For, hitherto, in New Netherland, over seventy thousand 
 guilders have ordinarily been spent by the company for 
 wages ; and the income of the company has been scarcely 
 fifty thousand guilders. Must that not go behindhand which is 
 not differently managed ? And if the directors have quarrels 
 about it with their masters, then the people, hardly four or 
 five hundred men strong, will be fleeced by force. Is not 
 every one by this means frightened off" from doing any thing 
 in New Netherland, from building up colonies, or attempt- 
 ing any enterprise which would result in benefit to the in- 
 habitants of our country, both here and there ? 
 
 Above all, care should be taken not to put it in the power 
 of one person to injure a large number, and even a wdiole 
 community, by a needless and unjust, yea, such a destructive 
 war, and to bring our nation into contentious with other na- 
 tions. 
 
 I dare assure the regents of the Netherlands, that if no 
 redress be afforded to New Netherland it will go to ruin, as 
 has already happened by bad regents to other countries which 
 have been under the management of the company. In New 
 Netherland they are waiting, both inhabitants and neighbors. 
 Christians and Indians, the business of this deputation. And 
 it will be a subject of much thought, while the government 
 is committed to such an obstinate vagabond, whether the 
 country will be found in the same state as we left it ; as the 
 Indians have a sharp eye upon those who were the cause of 
 their cruel massacre, which they have yet in their minds. 
 They want neither the power nor the opportunity. 
 
BROAD ADVICE. 
 
 2Y9 
 
 A. Skipper, you have talked almost all of us to sleep, 
 with your bad news. 
 
 B. Well, if they are all asleep, I will sleep awhile. 
 Whoever wishes more, may inquire of others. Eest, com- 
 rade, rest ye a little. It is late enough to take rest, ihe 
 Provinces and the stockholders of the company, and others, 
 private merchants, have here enough to think of, as to what 
 has swallowed up all their subsidies and means, namely, a 
 godless, indecent, wicked, unmannerly, and profligate govern- 
 men, which is known too well to aU the world, and which must 
 be redressed. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 L. GRANTS license to M. to settle upon and possess N., 
 a conquest, provided tliat the fullest power over the subjects 
 who should put themselves under M. should remain with L., 
 as should also, after the lapse of a certain number of years, 
 all forts and fortresses. 
 
 0. thereupon agrees with M. to settle upon and possess 
 a portion ofN., pursuant to the aforesaid license, and under 
 established privileges. 
 
 0. being a subject, although a secret councilor of L., 
 perceiving that some particular loss, either by the ill-direc- 
 tion of M., or by M.'s severe burdens, or by the fraudulent ad- 
 ministration of his particular officers, would befall him, — in 
 order to escape the same, makes an agreement with P., an 
 officer of Q., an absent friend of L., sent by L. from Q., for 
 the preservation of friendship. 
 
 0. sells to P. his possessions or lands acquired in N. with- 
 out informing L. or M. thereof 
 
 P., without the knowledge of L. or M., takes full power 
 and authority from his master Q., and means, people, am- 
 munition, even j^rovisions and ships from the country of L., 
 debauches there, besides, some of the oiHcersofM., by means 
 of which, under the appearance of wishing to trade with the 
 inhabitants in N., takes possession of the before-mentioned 
 purchased lands lying at the entrance ofoneofthe best rivers 
 in N. ; where the officers of P. first began to plant vegeta- 
 bles, then to sow the fields, and finally to build a fort, as they 
 have subsequently, in process of time, built seven forts upon 
 the river, whereby the subjects of L. and M. in N., who wish 
 to go up the river, are compelled to lie before that fort each 
 time, so that L., contrary to his own granted license, andM., 
 contrary to the i)rivileges given him, come to lose their sove- 
 reign jurisdiction on the river, and all manner of harm is done 
 to the good inhabitants of L. and I\I., under pain of death. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 281 
 
 Hence arise these questions : 
 
 1. What crime or crimes has 0. committed against L., 
 M., and their subjects ; and how shall, can, or must he make 
 reparation to L., M., and their subjects ? 
 
 2. "What crime or crimes have P. committed, and his 
 debauched officers, as also others who have in any degree 
 meddled therewith ; and how will they make reparation ? ''•• 
 
 Advorsum hfec etalia, imiilornntur 
 Consilia "I 
 
 Auxilia Saluberrima ) si dautur 
 
 Indicia 1 et V 
 
 Judicia 
 
 Media 
 
 Remedia 
 
 i Efficacissima, ) Belgio, 
 
 * The case here presented relates evidently to the encroachments of the 
 Swedes on the Delaware. 
 
XOTE. 
 
 The judgment against Melyn is preserved in the records at Albany. It 
 should be read in connection with his complaint in the Breeden Raedt. It 
 runs as follows : 
 
 Whereas Cornelis Melyn, born at Antwerp, about forty-five years of age, 
 an inhabitant of New Amsterdam, in New Netherland, dared, as is proven by 
 statements under oath, to oppose and violate justice, on the 2d of May, 1645, 
 and to threaten the Director-General, Kieft, then his governor and chief mag- 
 i.^trate, with the gallows and wheel, or, as the delinquent, prevaricating but 
 voluntarily confessing, admitted that he said to the attorney-general and 
 others, "They who have given such orders* may be upon their guard that 
 they come neither to the gallows nor on the wheel," and to oppose himself 
 further to the orders of Director Kieft, so that the Attorney-general was ob- 
 liged to protest of contumacy and opposition against said Melyn : And as said 
 Melyn is, by sundry other statements under oath at different times, convicted 
 of abusing the court, saying, that there was no justice here : that he was 
 not subject to the director-general ; that the director-general might look 
 after the company's servants ; that he was the devil's head, with numerous 
 mutinous and seditious words to divers soldiers and freemen, endeavoring to 
 persuade the servants of the company to leave its service, because they would 
 not receive their pay ; that the governor was the greatest liar in the country, 
 who gave many fair words and promises, but never performed them ; and 
 also of instigating the freemen not to pay what they owed ; and of many 
 other acts of the same kind, as is proven by various affidavits and credible wit- 
 nesses, all of which were distinctly read to said Melyn ; and also of robbing or 
 endeavoring to steal from tlie Indians on Long Island at the beginning of the 
 war, in which they did not participate, their corn, in a clandestine or forci- 
 ble manner, on which occasion an Englishman was shot by the said Indians; 
 which fact, notwithstanding his denial, appears from his own confession in 
 open court on the 16th of January of this year, when he admitted that his 
 servants, with some soldiers, planned the expedition, but against his orders ; 
 of which, however, he never made any complaint, nor informed any court of 
 what had happened, which is sufficient proof that he connived at the trans- 
 action, and by his silence approved of it ; and also of compelling the Indiana 
 on Staten Island to surrender to him a part of their hunting-grounds, as ap- 
 pears by statements under oath on the last day of July, 1645 ; — all which do- 
 ings are of a pernicious tendency, leading to mutinj' and rebellion, defamation 
 of justice, and of the chief magistrate, and encouraging violence : To all this 
 nmst be added that he, Melyn, with one Jochem Petersen Kuyter, conceived 
 and wrote a letter on the 28th of October, 1644, in the name of the eight 
 elect men, which they copied, signed, and sent to the Honorable Directors of 
 
 • Orders in relation to the Indian war. 
 
NOTE. 283 
 
 the "West India Company of the Chamber of Amsterdam, as calumnious as 
 false, wherein they, in the most false and scandalous manner, abuse and in- 
 sxilt the Hon. Director Kieft, then their governor and chief magistrate, as may 
 be seen and read in the original, — the which being examined and investigat- 
 ed at the request of the aforesaid Director Kieft, We declare that said let- 
 ter is false in its principal points, as is confirmed by his voluntary confession, 
 by the evidence of as many as fifteen others, and by the declarations and 
 answers of several who signed the letter : Whereupon the attorney-general 
 instituted proceedings against the said Melyn, and convicted him of having 
 committed the crime of defamation against the court and justice, and falsehood 
 in writing, and consequently of being guilty of the crime of Icesie majestatis. 
 All which facts, proofs, and documents having been examined, and every part 
 duly considered by the Hon. Director and Council, It is their opinion that 
 such misdeeds are of the most serious and al.arming consequences under any 
 well-regulated government, where they ought not and cannot be tolerated, 
 but ought to be exemplarily punished ; Whkuefokk the director-general, 
 Petrus Stuyvesant, with the advice of the members of his council, administer- 
 ing justice in the name and in behalf of their High and Mighty Lords, the 
 States General, his Highness the Prince of Orange, and the I^oble Directors 
 of the privileged West India Company, does condemn the aforesaid Cornells 
 Melyn to be banished for seven years from the limits of the jurisdiction of New 
 Ketherland, to depart with the first sailing vessel, revoking and withdrawing 
 all benefices, pretensions, and honors which he owed to said directors, and in 
 addition sentencing him to pay an amend of three hundred Carolus guilders, 
 to be distributed, one-third to the poor, one-third to the chiirch, and one- 
 third to the attorney-general, and rejecting the other parts of the said attor- 
 ney's conclusions. Done in Council in Fort Amsterdam, 2ZdJuly, 16-17. (Sd.) 
 
 P. STlTi'VESANDT, L. VAN DiNCKLAGE, BrIAN NeWTON, PoUWELlS LeENDERS VAN DER 
 
 Grikt, Jan Claessen Boll. 
 
 The judgment against Kuyter follows that of Melyn in the record, under 
 the date of 25th July, 1647. 
 
2 Timothy, III., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9. 
 
 1. Tliis know also, iliat in the last days perilous times shall coEie ; 
 
 2. For men shall bo lovers of their own selves, covetous, boaster?, jtroiid, 
 blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholj', 
 
 3. Without natural affection, trucebreakers, fiilse accusers, incontinent, 
 fierce, despisers of those that are good, 
 
 4. Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of 
 God, 
 
 r>. Having a form of godliness, but denj-ing the power thereof: from such 
 turn away. 
 
 9. But the J' shall proceed no further; for their folly shall be manifest 
 unto all men, as tljeirs also was. 
 
VI. 
 
 EXTK AC T 
 
 FROM 
 
 Saldgniiicir's ''|Usr|ri]bin§ bim |imstfrt:im/' 
 
 RELATING TO THE COLONY OF NEW AMSTEL, 
 ON THE DELAWAIIE. 
 
 TRANSLATED FKOM THE DUTCH, 
 BY 
 
 JOHN PvOMEYK BRODHEAD. 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 Jan Wagenaar, from one of whose works the following extract 
 is taken, was born at Amsterdam, on the 31st of October, 1709. In 
 early life he entered a merchant's counting-voom, but soon turned his 
 attention to literature, and at length devoted himself entirely to the 
 study of the history of his native country. In 1749, he published 
 the two first volumes of his " Vaderlandsche Historie." This work 
 was extended to twenty-one volumes, the last of which was issued in 
 1760. It gives an accurate and detailed account of the principal 
 events of the United Netherlands, and particularly of Holland, from 
 the earliest times to the year 1751. A continuation was afterwards 
 published. This History received, as it deserved, high commendation, 
 both at home and abroad, and has always been esteemed a work of 
 excellent authority. In 1758, Wagenaar was appointed Historio- 
 grapher to the city of Amsterdam, and thus obtained free access to 
 its archives. He wrote an " Historical Description " of the city, 
 which was published in three volumes, folio, and also in thirteen 
 volumes, octavo, 1760-1768. The contents of both editions— which 
 are embellished with admirable engravings— are precisely the same. 
 Wagenaar was also the author of several other works, chiefly histor- 
 ical. He was distinguished for his piety and charity, and was held in 
 high esteem by his native city, where he died on the 1st of March, 
 1773. 
 
 The following extract is taken from Wagenaar's Description of 
 Amsterdam, volume I., page 594 of the folio edition, and volume V., 
 page 224, of the octavo. It relates exclusively to the colony which 
 that city undertook to establish on the South or Delaware River, in 
 1656, at Fort Casirair', or, as it was afterwards named, "New Am- 
 stel," and which is now known as New Castle. The chief authorities 
 
288 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 for the account in this extract are the original Records in the archives 
 of the city of Arasterdara. These records were carefully examined 
 by the Historical Agent of the State, in 1841, and copies were made 
 of such as relate to New Netherland, which now form volumes XV. 
 and XVf. of the "Holland Documents," in the office of the Secretary 
 of State at Albany. 
 
 There has been a good deal of misapprehension among historical 
 writers about this colony at New Amstel, which was thus named after 
 the manor of " Nieuw Amstel," or Amstelveen, lying a little south 
 of Amsterdam. Wagenaar himst.-lf is not very precise in a part of 
 his account of it, which indeed he inserts as a short episode in his 
 ponderous description of his native city. Some American authors 
 have even confounded Xew Amstel, on the Sjuth River, with New 
 Amsterdam, the capital of New Netherland. It is hardly necessary, 
 ai this time, to do more than moiely allude to this one instance out 
 of many, in which important facts in our history have been sadly and 
 inexcusably perverted. 
 
EXTRACT 
 
 FKOM WAGENAAR'S AMSTERDAM. 
 
 In North America, there was discovered, in the year 
 1609, by Henry Hudson, saihng in the service of the 
 [Dutch] East India Company, a region in the hititude of 
 above forty-one degrees, which he called New Holland, and 
 which afterwards received the name of Neiv Netherland/^ 
 The West India Company, subsequently organized, sent 
 people and cattle to that region, and continued to carry this 
 on from time to time. Their servants and planters bought 
 much land from the Americans, and among others an island 
 at the mouth of the Eiver Man/tattans, which at present is 
 called Hudson's Pdver ; upon which island, before long, the 
 Fort Amsterdam and the city of New Amsterdar)i were 
 built.f The Company had committed the management of 
 this island to the Amsterdam chamber, which, in the begin- 
 ning of the year 1656, showed itself inchned to make over a 
 part of its possessions in New Netherland to the city [of 
 Amsterdam.] It was judged in the common council that 
 this land, being properly built upon, would produce every 
 thing that was then brought from the Baltic, even to masts; 
 and it was thereupon resolved to enter into negotiations with 
 the Company respecting the purchase of the same, so that it 
 would not be always necessary to depend on the Baltic sea.^ 
 The land was bought. The burgomasters and councillors 
 
 *J. De Laet: Description of the West Indies, p. 83. 
 
 •)• Memorie of 28 Lh February, 1654, in the Vertiaal of H. Van Beverningk, 
 p. 608. 
 
 X Resolution of the Council, Book A, 3d March, 1656, p. 76. [Also, in 
 Holland Documents, vol. xv. p. 2.] 
 
 SECOND SERIES. VOL. III. 19 
 
290 EXTRACT FROM "WAGENAAR'S AMSTERDAM. 
 
 arranged, in November, some conditions for the benefit of 
 such as should be wilHng to settle themselves there to build 
 ui)on and jilant the land.*^ The Duke of Savoy, disi)leased 
 with his Reformed subjects in the valleys of Piedmont, known 
 by the name of Wuldenses, had, for some time, according to 
 their judgment, treated them too harshly, and had obliged 
 them to abandon their dwellings. For these people there 
 were collected here, in Holland, more than two hundred thou- 
 sand guilders, which were ])roniptly sent over to them/j* A 
 large part of this sum was contributed at Amsterdam ; of 
 which — so it appears to me — more than sixty-seven thousand 
 guilders were paid over on two occasions.:|: There also came 
 hither, before long, upwards of tlnee hundred of these 
 exiles, who seemed desirous to help to ])eoj)le the new 
 colony of the city in New Netherland.§ And afterwards, 
 from time to time, persons and families were received for the 
 same purpose. 1| Before the end of this year, the city also 
 took up twenty-five thousand guilders, for the benefit of the 
 Colony, and to piovide it with some necessary wares. ^| In 
 the spring of the year 1657, there were again collected three 
 hundred planters ready for the voyage to New Netherland. 
 It was then resolved to raise yet thirty-six thousand guilders 
 for the same purpose, and to {trovide the Colony with a 
 j)reacher. '"•"''•' Shortly before there had been also taken up ten 
 thousand guilders : somewhat later six thousand more. 
 Still in the beginning of September the commissaries having 
 the oversight of the colony again demanded fresh assistance. 
 Men then began to see that the exjiense of the colony ex- 
 ceeded the benefit derived from it. The council declared that 
 it had not been its intention to maintain it at such heavy 
 outlays.ff Nevertheless, in the spring of the year 1G5S, they 
 
 * [Tlieso "conditions" mo njtpendod to tlie pecoiid c<lition of Van der 
 Donuk's description of New >i'llierlaiid, wliiclj \\&* published in 1066. 
 Tnuislitions nre in Hazard II. 5t:}; 1. N. Y. Hist. Soa Odl. 1, 'iul ; II. 1. 238; 
 O'C"". 'I. S'28; and alidtrncls are in S. Hazard's Ann. Penn. 220; Dunlap's. 
 N. Y. II. appendix XII. I>uidiip t-rrs, however, in dating tlieni in 102.3, and 
 \u makin'.: th>in refir to New Am^liidiiin, instead of .New Anislel, now New- 
 cast!.-, ..n the Delnwnr.' river. Hiodlieiid'a N. Y. I. C30, 6:52.] 
 
 + AlT/.EMA, III. p. 1210. 
 
 \ (iroot .Meinorie, IV. 'J6, 100. 
 • !? IIoLU Merc. <tf lO.^fi, p. 129. Dom.>*ela.mi, VI. p. 407 ; Commelix, p. 1157. 
 
 i Cro.it Meniorie, V. 51, 7S», 81. 
 
 •* Resolution of Couneii, A, 11th Nov., lO.'.O, p. 152. [Hoi. Doo. xv. p. 10.] 
 
 ♦" Kosolution of Couneii, A, 3d Mareh,10.')7, p. 19St. [Hoi. Doe. xv. n. 12. 
 
 ff Kewlution of Council, A, 4lh July, 7lh .^eptciuher, 1657, i<. 225. [llol. 
 Doc. XT. p. 14, 16.] 
 
EXTRACT FROM WAGENAAR'S AMSTERDAM. 291 
 
 ao-ain provided twenty thousand guilders more, and sent, 
 anew, a ship with some planters thither,* In the autumn, 
 deliberations were had respecting the means of maintaining 
 New Netherland at less cost; and it was likewise resolved to 
 levy six thousand guilders more for the colony. Some alter- 
 ations were made in the "conditions" drawn up for the 
 benefit of the planters, inasmuch as the same were found to 
 be too prejudicial to the city.f The planters, who sent their 
 products, in part, at least, wherever they wished, were now, 
 among other things, obliged to send them to this city [Am- 
 sterdam] alone. But, in the beginning of the year 1659, 
 this point was so far modified that such planters as had 
 repaid to the city the expenses of their conveyance over, 
 might send their wares wherever they wished, except peltries 
 and the products which they desired to export to the East, 
 the North, or the Netherlands; all of which they should 
 be holden to bring hitherwards.J Yet the maintenance of 
 this colony, at first, was' so detrimental to the city, and 
 what was i3rought from there produced so little, that it was 
 resolved, in the following September, to get rid of it again, 
 and to re-convey it to the West India Company in the best 
 way possible; § but that body always showed a disinclination 
 to such an arrangement. Meanwhile, in the years 1660 and 
 1661, there were again raised twenty-nine thousand two 
 hundred and fifty guilders, for the benefit of the colony; || 
 and, in the year 1662, one hundred guilders each was allowed 
 to twenty-five families of Mennonists, who wished to betake 
 themselves thither.^ From this time forward the colony 
 began to prosper. The navigation and trade there, which 
 
 * Resolution of Council, B, lltli April, 1658, p. 16- [Hoi. Doc. xv, p. 19.] 
 f Resolution of Council, B, I9th October, 20th December, 1658 ; p. 55, 12. 
 [HoL Doc. XV. p. 21,23.] 
 
 X Res. of Council, B, lOlh March, 1659, p. 91. [HoL Doc. xv. p. 27.] 
 § Res. of Council, B, 30th September, 1659, p. 161. [Hoi, Doc. xv. p. 29.] 
 II Res. of Council, C, 25th August, 16th November, 1660, 6th Jauuary, 9th 
 May, 1661, p. 50, 82, 99, 132. [Hoi. Doc. xv. p. 33, 34, 35, 37.] 
 
 •j[ Res. of Council, C, 20, April, 1662, p. 192. [Hoi. Doc. xv. p. 51. These 
 Mennonists or Anabaptists formed an association, and adopted articles for the 
 government of their proposea Colony, which were published in 1662, in the 
 appendix to a quarto pamphlet of 84 pages, compiled fromDe Laet, De Vries, 
 and the Vertoogh, entitled " Kort Verhae Van JSieuw Nederlant's Gelegen- 
 theit," &c. A copy of this work is in the Library of the New York Histori- 
 cal Society, and a translation of it by Mr. Henry C. Murphy, is about to be 
 issued in the valuable series privately printed by Mr. James Lenox. Brod- 
 head'sN. Y. L 699.] 
 
292 EXTRACT FROM WAGENAAR's AMSTERDAM. 
 
 contributed partly to the city's revenue, increased.* But 
 the war with Charles II. King of Great Britain, which 
 broke out in the year 1664, made an alt ration in all that 
 had been done. The rising colony was conquered in the 
 same year, about the beginning of September, by liohert 
 Holmes.-f The King gained it permanently by the treaty 
 of the year 1667. New Netherland was from that time 
 called Neiv Yorl\ which name was also given to Neio Am- 
 sterdam. In the mean time the council of Amsterdam re- 
 solved, in the year 1665, to confer the burgher-right of that 
 city upon the former burghers of the city's colony in Kew 
 Netherland.J 
 
 * Res. of Council, C, 22d4February, 10, 16, March, 1663, p. 233, 240, 244 ; 
 D. 10th August, 24, 26, Oct. 1663, p. 26, 48, 49. [Hoi. Doc. xv. p. 52, 64, 58, 
 61, 63, 65.] 
 
 t Letters of De Witt, IY, p. 386, 38*7 ; Holl. Merc, of 1664, p. 152 ; Va- 
 dcrlandsche Histoiie, xiii. p. 119. [Tliis statement is not quite accurate. 
 Hohucs conducted an expedition against the Dutch possessions on the coast 
 of Africa; but the forces sent to capture Xew Xetherhind were commanded 
 by Colonel Richard NieoUs. The Colony of the city of Amsterdam on the 
 South, or Delaware River, was reduced b)' Sir Robert Carr, under Kicolls' 
 order. BVodhead's New York, I. 735, lii.] 
 
 X Resolution of the Council, E, 26 Aug. 1G65, p. IS. [Hoi. Doc. XV, p. 
 15.] 
 
vir. 
 THE SEVEN ARTICLES 
 
 FROM THE CHUECH OF LEYDEN, 
 16.17. 
 
 COMMUNICATED, WITH AN INTRODUCTORY LETTER, 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE BANCROFT. 
 
LETTER. 
 
 New York, October 3, 1856. 
 
 My Dear Mu. Moore -.—Agreeably to your request, I enclose a 
 copy of the " Seven Artikells which f- Church of Leyden sent to ye . 
 Counsel! of England to bee considered of in respeckt of their judgments 
 occationed about theer going to Virginia." As far as I know, they have 
 never been published. The account of the principles of the Pilgnms 
 to which the author of the New England Chronology refers, is a dif- 
 ferent paper ; and none of the successors of Prince seem to have been 
 aware of the existence of this document. It escaped the notice of 
 Bishop Wilberforce, to whom America is deeply indebted for the 
 discovery of the original manuscript of Bradford's History of the 
 Plymouth Colony; and of Mr. Anderson, who more distinctly an- 
 nounced to the world that the original manuscript of that long lost 
 work was in the library of the Bishop of London. 
 
 We have now from Mr. Charles Deane of Boston, under the 
 auspices of the Massachusetts Historical Society, an admirable edition 
 of Bradford's History, illustrated with equal diligence and fidelity. 
 On pages 30 and 31 of that volume, you will find a reference to the 
 Seven Articles, which, however, were not inserted in the History, even 
 in an abstract. They seem to have slumbered unnoticed for more 
 than two centuries among the Virginia volumes in the State Paper 
 Office in Westminster. The copy I send you was made for me by 
 Mr. Sainsbury, a clerk in that office, in whose accuracy I have entire 
 
 confidence. 
 
 For the just interpretation of the articles, the purpose of the Pil- 
 grims must be borne in mind; and also the contemporaneous work 
 of John Robinson, called " A just and necessary Apology of certain 
 Christians, no less contumeliously they commonly called Brownists or 
 Barrow ists." 
 
296 LETTER. 
 
 The Protestant Reformation, in its commencement, sheltered it- 
 self under the wing of temporal sovereigns, to whose authority it, 
 for a time at least, appeared to subordinate religion. Luther espe- 
 cially disclaimed all disposition to resist them ; and, to those, whose 
 consciences claimed a greater freedom in belief and forms of woi"ship 
 than the established governments would suffer, be advised emigration, 
 but at the same time encouraged no resistance to the sovereign at home. 
 "The Gospel," said he, "is not tied to place, but moves freely through 
 the world, like the star which beamed on the wizards, and as they 
 journeyed from the East, guided them where the Saviour lay. We 
 have power to change our couutrj' and elsewhere pursue truth. Do 
 not dispute with the sovereign for place, but emigrate iu comjjany. 
 Let the people elect a pastor, and support him at their own charge ; 
 if the magistrate interferes, let the pastor, whom the people have 
 chosen, take to flight, and let them that will, go with him." 
 
 This is just the conclusion to which the Pilgrims were led. They 
 desired to make no resistance to the king or to the hierarchy, but to 
 emigrate to America with a charter, tolerating their worship and con- 
 ceding powers of government. 
 
 The seven articles, which bear no date, but, as appears from the 
 
 letter of Sir Edwin Sandys, must have been written in the autumn 
 
 of 1617, preparatory to an intended emigration to America in 1618, 
 
 express substantially no more than was soon published in Robinson's 
 
 "Just and necessary Apology," which was given to the ])ress, in 
 
 Latin, in 1619. Thus in the first Article, Robinson and pMcwster 
 
 .... . » ^ . ' 
 
 giving the Calvinistic interpretation to the XXXIX Articles of the 
 
 Church of England, accept them unconditionally. So in the Apology, 
 Chapter XIL, Robinson writes : "We accord, as far as the Belgic 
 and other refurmed churches, with the Church of England in the 
 articles of Faith and heads of Christian religion, publislied in the 
 name of that Church, and to be found in the ' Harmony of the Con- 
 fessions of Faith.'" 
 
 The second Article is a corollary from the first, and Robinson 
 always admitted in his printed works, that "in the Church of England 
 lively faith and true piety are both begotten and nourislicd in the 
 hearts of many by the preaching of the gospel there." 
 
 The third Article is a most ample recognition of the royal author- 
 ity ; but purposely couched in terms, which might have been used, in 
 the days of Nero, to express a readiness to render even to a heathen 
 
LETTER. 297 
 
 magistrate that obedience which was acknowledged to be due to his 
 ofBce. So in the eleventh Chapter of the Apology, Robinson is careful 
 to keep Christianity and the civil power distinct, and evidently holds 
 that " no civil or co-active power in things, whether civil or ecclesias- 
 tical," can " come to the magistrate by his Christianity." " We," he 
 says, " believe the very same, touching the civil magistrate, with the 
 Belgic reformed churches, and willingly subscribe to their confession ; 
 and the more, because what is by many restrained to the Christian 
 magistrate, they extend indefinitely and absolutely to the magistrate 
 whomsoever. And that surely upon good ground : seeing the magis- 
 tracy is one, and the power the same, whether the person be Christian 
 or heathen." " The prince rules over his subjects as he is a prince, 
 and they subjects simply ; not as faithful or christian, he or they." 
 " God forbid that the Christian magistrate should take liberty to use, 
 or rather abuse, bis authority for the same ; which yet if he do either 
 the one or the other, whether by commanding what God forbids, or 
 by forbi Iding what God commands, seeing it comes by the feult of 
 the person, not of the oiSce, the subject is not freed from the bond 
 of allegiance, but is still tied to obedience, as active for the doing of 
 the thing commanded, if it be lawful ; so passive, if unlawful, by suf- 
 fering patiently the punishment, though unjustly inflicted." 
 
 The fourth and tifth articles are to be construed as a promise not 
 to question the authority of bishops in eo far as that authority is de- 
 rived from the king. The same doctrine occurs in the^ Apology, 
 Chapter XII., where Robinson writes, " Wherein yet I would not so 
 be understood, as if we were at any defiance with the persons of the 
 bishops, much less with the king's civil authority, whereof they are 
 possessed, Avhether in matters civil or ecclesiastical." " No a as con- 
 cerning their civil authority ; albeit we do not believe that the same 
 is at all competent to the true ministers of the gospel, especially in 
 that eminency, external glory, and pomp of this world, in which they 
 far exceed many worldly princes, and rather seem to represent the 
 triumphant, than the militant church ; yet forsomuch as they both 
 obtain the same by the gift of the king, and exercise it in his name, 
 we do not unwillingly yield honour and obedience unto it, and to his 
 majesty in it." 
 
 The sixth Article carries still further the application of the same 
 principle ; and, as a natural consequence, the Pilgrims in the following 
 year, though with a little reluctance, avowed a willingness to take the 
 oath of supremacy. — [Deane's Bradford^ 34.] 
 
298 LETTER. 
 
 Robinson and Brewster failed in their application for a charter, 
 and got from the king no more than a verbal and vague promise of 
 connivance, if they carried themselves peaceably. Who gave the 
 counsel to refuse their prayer is a question of interest, which I am not 
 able to solve. It is at least certain that the disinclination to sanction 
 colonies of dissenters was not confined to the Church. Bacon, who took 
 a special interest in plantations, adheres on this subject to the policy of 
 the prelates of his day. In the letter of advice to Sir George Villiers, 
 oujhis rising to the state of favorite minister, the ambitious philosopher 
 shows plainly his purpose to extend the Church of England with 
 every new colony ; and lie seems to have originated the theory re- 
 specting colonial Church government, which prevailed in England till 
 after our American revolution. 
 
 "For the discipline of the Church, in those parts," such are his 
 words, written almost at the very time of Robinson and Brewster's 
 application, or a little before it, " for the discipline of the Church in 
 those parts, it will be necessary, that it agree with that which is settled 
 in England, else it will make a schism and a rent in Christ's coat, 
 which must be seamless ; and, to that purpose, it will be fit, that by 
 the king's supreme power in causes ecclesiastical, within all his do- 
 minions, they be subordinate under some bishop and bishoprick of 
 this realm." This is the system which prevailed in the British Colonial 
 Government for more than a century and a half And again, as to 
 dissenters in the foreign plantations, Bacon gives the " caution," "To 
 establish there the same purity of religion, and the same discipline 
 for Church government, without any mixture of popery or anabaptism, 
 lest they should be drawn into factions and schisms ; and that place 
 receive them there bad, and send them back worse." 
 
 The Pilgrims carried with them to the New World the modera- 
 tion which they had professed in their dealings with the Court. There 
 is a marked difference in this respect between the Government of the 
 Old Colony, as that of Plymouth was called, and the Government of 
 Massachusetts. A long time ago I wrote of the Pilgrims at Plymouth 
 that " they were never betrayed into the excesses of religious perse- 
 cution," and after the lapse of more than twenty years, the remark 
 still approves itself as correct. Mr. Andei-son, in liis Eistory of the 
 Church of England in the Colonies, A;c., &c., Vol. I., pp. 453, 454, of 
 his first edition, has seen fit to attempt to refute the remark. But in 
 this he has only committed a double injustice in consequence of a 
 
LETTER. 299 
 
 mistake of his own. He, for the moment, confounded the two colo- 
 nies of the Massachusetts Bay and New Plymouth, although he very 
 well knew that at that period they were distinct, and that their govern- 
 ments were not the same ; and a pertinacity in his error leads him to 
 indulge himself in censuring me for inconsistency and the Pilgrims 
 for intolerance, because the first emigrants to Salem, who were under 
 the Massachusetts charter and belonged to another Government and 
 another jurisdiction from that of Plymouth, had forbidden the public 
 use of the Common Prayer. Should this notice reach the eye of 
 Mr. Anderson, I hope he will take pains to see for himself the error 
 of the statements which his misapprehension has led him to make, 
 and prove his substantial candor by the correction which historic 
 truth requires. 
 
 Excuse the great length of this letter, and believe me, 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 GEORGE BANCROFT. . 
 GeoRGE Henry Moore, Esq., New York. 
 
ARTICLES FROM THE CHURCH OE LEYDEN. 
 
 1617. 
 
 [S. p. 0. Am'&W.Ind. Virg.] 
 
 Seven Artikes which y'^ Church of Leyden sent to y^ Coun- 
 sell of England to bee considered of in respeckt of their 
 judgments occationed about theer going to Virginia Anno 
 1618. 
 
 1. To y'^ confession of fayth published in y'' name of y^ 
 Church of England & to eveiyartikelltheerof wee do w^'^y*' re- 
 formed churches wheer wee live & also els where assent wholy. 
 
 2. As wee do acknolidg y*" docktryne of fayth theer 
 tawglit so do wee y^ frnites and effeckts of y" same docktryne 
 to y"^ begetting of saving fayth in thousands in y^ laud (con- 
 formistes & reformistes) as y" ar called w*'' whom also as w*^ 
 our bretheren wee do desyer to keepe sperituall communion in 
 peace and will pracktis in our parts all lawfuU thinges. 
 
 3. The King's Majesty wee acknolidg for Supreame 
 . Groverner in his Dominion in all causes and over all parsons, 
 
 and y none maye decklyne or apeale from his authority or 
 judgment in any cause whatsoever, but y in all thinges obe- 
 dience is dewe unto him, ether active, if y*^ thing command- 
 ed be not agayust God's woord, or passive yf itt bee, except 
 pardon can bee obtayned. 
 
 4. Wee judg itt lawfull for his Majesty to apoynt bish- 
 ops, civill overseers, or officers in awthoryty onder hime, in 
 y« severall provinces, dioses, congregations or parrishes to 
 oversee y° Churches and governe them civilly according to 
 y-^ Lawes of y« Land, untto whom y^ ar in all thinges to geve 
 an account & by them to bee ordered according to Godlynes. 
 
 5. The authoryty of y' present bishops in y^ Land wee 
 
302 SEVEN ARTICLES FROM THE CHURCH OF LEYDEN. 
 
 do acknolidg so far forth as y® same is indeed derived from his 
 Majesty untto them and as y^proseed in his name, whom wee 
 will also theerein honor in all things and hime in them. 
 
 6. Wee beleeve y' no sinod, classes, convocation or as- 
 sembly of Ecclesiasticall Officers hath any power or awthory- 
 ty att all but as y® same by y° Majestraet geven unto them. 
 
 7. Lastly, wee desyer to geve untto all Superiors dew 
 honnor to preserve y*' unity of y'^ speritt w„, all y feare 
 God, to have peace w"' all men what in us lyeth & wheerein 
 wee err to bee instructed by any. Subscribed by 
 
 JOHN ROBINSON, 
 
 and 
 WILLYAM BEUSTER. 
 
VIII. 
 
 JOURNAL 
 
 OF 
 
 AN EMBASSY FEOM CANADA TO THE UNITED 
 COLONIES OF 'NE^¥ ENGLAND, 
 
 I N 16 50. 
 
 BY 
 
 FATHER GABRIEL DRUILLETTES 
 
 OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT, WITH NOTES, ETC, 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN GILMARY SHEA, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE SOCIETr. 
 
INTRODUCTOKY NOTE. 
 
 The union of the New England colonies in IQi'S forms a remark- 
 able epoch in our history, as showing the progress of those ideas 
 which resulted in the present union of the various European colonies 
 from the St. Lawrence to the Rio Grande. The full scope of the 
 plan conceived by the four colonies in their union has not, it would 
 seem, been fully understood. Evidence exists, to show that they 
 proposed to include in the league the neighboring French and Dutch 
 colonies, so as to form a continental union of the various European 
 colonies ; proposing that each with its own religion, its own language, 
 its own manners, should, while it extended in its own limits by in- 
 dustry and enterprise, form with the rest one friendly body, whose 
 unity should be disturbed by no laws, no wars, no intrigues of 
 European courts. Had it been realized, how much war and blood- 
 shed had been spared ! 
 
 The histoiy of the transaction, so far as we can deduce it, may be 
 here shortly stated. As early as 1647, or the ensuing year, the vener- 
 able John Winthrop, of Massachusetts, '• the father of the country,' 
 wrote to the Governor of Canada, proposing a free trade between the 
 colonies, and in fact a general union, such as we have described.* 
 
 New Netherlaud accepted the first advances made; but the Cana- 
 dian government seem to have delayed an answer till 1650, when 
 Louis d'Ailleboust, the Governor, requested the Jesuit Father, Druil- 
 letes, the Missionary to the Abnakis, to proceed to Boston with his 
 reply, accepting the union proposed, on condition that the united 
 colonies would join them in reducing the Iroquois. As to this embassy 
 Charlevoix and Hutchinson confess their inability to give any details. 
 The accompanying journal of Father Druilletes being, with his report, 
 the only known account of it, cannot then be devoid of interest. It 
 was found at Montreal, among some title papers to property formerly 
 
 * Hutchinson, History of the Colony of MassachusetU Bay, I., 166. 
 SECOND SERIES. VOL. Ill 20 
 
306 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 owned by the Jesuits of Canada. The original is said to be ex- 
 tant ; but the present writer found only a copy, which however may 
 be safely relied on, as it has several corrections made in the hand- 
 writing of Father Paul Ragueneau, Superior of the Jesuits in Canada 
 about 1G51, whose care in causing copies of valuable papers to be 
 made in season has enabled many to reach us. 
 
 The French having been communicated by me to a gentleman 
 who has already reproduced several of the Jesuit manuscripts of that 
 time, in imitation of the printed Relations, was also privately printed 
 by him. A translation is now presented. 
 
 A letter, apparently part of that referred to in this Journal, has 
 been published by the accurate and laborious Abbe Feiland, in his 
 Notes on the Registers of Quebec. We append a translation of this 
 also, as it contains some curious details. (II.) 
 
 According to this journal, Father Druilletes found Plymouth well 
 disposed to enter the league, and most of the others by no means im- 
 favorable ; but the decision was referred to the General Court. He 
 returned to Canada in June, IGol. On his report the French 
 governor convened a meeting of the informal Council of the Colony,* 
 and this body appointed Father Druilletes and John Paul Godefroy, 
 their ambassadors to the authorities in New England.f The appoint- 
 ment, as found in the register of the Council, with the letter of the 
 governor, and that of the Council to the Commissioners of the United 
 Colonies, have been jiroserved by Charlevoix, and are annexed by us 
 to Druilletes' journal. (III.-IV.) 
 
 The deputies, on their arrival at Boston, however, found the New 
 England Colonies less disposed to join them. " To these letters," 
 say the Commissioners, in a letter to their agent AVinslow, "such 
 answare was returned by all the Collonies as might have stojiped all 
 further proceedings ; but it seems by theire commissions or instruc- 
 tions they were enjoy ned to treat with the Commissioners, and from 
 them joyntly to receive theire answare, soe that thoy came along 
 with the M;issachusetts Commissioner to Newhaven.'*J Uere they 
 presented their credentials, and the aflair wjis discussed at length in 
 the General Court ; the New England magistrates being anxious 
 indeed to open a trade, but equally unwilling to purchiise commer- 
 
 • Thrro wm proporly no pcnnnupnt Council till 1663. Ciiaklktoix. Histoirf de la Sow- 
 vtUf Franrt. I. 871. 
 
 f Jdhn I'liul Gidlcfroy wns a captnin of n Te»»H. anil pon of R. Godrfrov, F.»q., of St. 
 NirholiiK tl>'n ChiiiiipM. nt Turin. \U' innrricil in C'niinilii, lii^ wito Ix-iiiif a aHiiehtfr of Lo 
 (iBrilfur lie Uii)rnti;:nv. Kkklanp. yntn nur Ifn llfj/ifin.' ,1c .\i>lre Ihimr rir (^uthrc. .V). 
 
 } Lctl<T to KiUvard Winclow, diitod I'Jih fopK-nibiT, Itx'il, in Hazard. Iliftvricai ColUc- 
 tioHt. II. \&J. 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE, 307 
 
 cial advantages by an Indian war. They finally presented to the 
 French deputies a letter to the Governor of Canada (V.) and an 
 answer to their propositions (VI.), both of which are here given. 
 Thest declining the proposal, virtually closed the negotiation. 
 
 The ground on which this aid was asked gives new light on a 
 point which has not been sufficiently examined, the connection of the 
 French with the Abnakis in Maine. Champlain had indeed had 
 friendly relations with them, but not long before the present epoch 
 some who came to trade on the St. Lawrence were ordered to retire, 
 and threatened with hostilities if they returned. They were considered 
 as English Indians purchasing furs for the Boston market. Yet al- 
 most at the same time a missionary was sent to them in the following 
 way. A party of heathen Algonquins took some Abnakis prisoners by 
 mistake, for they were not at war ; they were proceeding, however, 
 to torture them when the news reached the Christian Algonquins of 
 Sillery ; these hastened to their countrymen, arrested their cruelty, 
 and even obtained one of the Abnakis already covered with wounds. 
 As soon as, by the care and attention of the Hospital nuns, he was 
 restored to health, he set out for his tribe, accompanied by Charles 
 Meiaskyat, a fervent Christian, who, as a missionary, traversed the 
 villages of the Abnakis, exciting all to embrace the saving faith of 
 Christ. One chief followed him back to Sillery, and many others 
 subsequently embraced Christianity. Four years later, in 1646, a 
 Christian chief came to implore the black gowns to come and reside 
 among them to convert tliem all. The proposal was accepted, and 
 the same entry in the journal of the Superior of the mission announces 
 that Father Jogues was to proceed to the Mohawk, and Father 
 Druillettes to the Kennebec. He wintered with them ; and by his 
 patience and assiduity converted many ; returning to Quebec in 1647, 
 he was about to revisit the KennebcQ again, when the French in 
 Acadia wrote to ask that he should not again enter the Abnaki vil- 
 lages. After the French had been driven from their posts in Maine, 
 he returned in 1650, and continued his labors, with some interruption, 
 till 1657. As the journal shows, the Abnakis were eonsidered 
 English Indians, under the protection of Plymouth, and it was to 
 defend them against the Iroquois that the New England colonies were 
 asked to take up arms. As they refused, and soon after became, in 
 a manner, allies of the Five Nations, the Abnakis threw themselves 
 into the arms of the French, who, from about 1685, endeavored by 
 their means to secure to France the territory east of the Kennebec. 
 
308 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 The treaty of Utrecht, however, in I'll 3. gave up to EnglaiiJ all that 
 France claimed on the Atlantic, and the Abnakis thus became again 
 English Indians. Converts to the Church of Rome, they could in 
 vain expect such spiritual guides as they chose from those who now 
 claimed their allegiance ; their missionaries were accordingly French, 
 and their former intercourse was thus kept up with Quebec, to which 
 they naturally turned in the collisions now daily arising between them 
 and the encroaching settlers. Treated with cruelty and perfidy by the 
 English, they at last broke out in open war, and desolated the fron- 
 tiers till, broken by repeated losses, they submitted about the year 
 1*726. Shortly before, in 1724, their chief town, Norridgewock, had 
 been a second time taken, and their missionary, the celebrated Father 
 Rale, killed by the New England troops. The colonists of New 
 England, shutting their eyes to the wrongs which the Abnakis had 
 really suti'ered, threw all the odium of the war on Father Rale, for it 
 was the period of religious hostility ; but, in the absence of proof 
 that he actually excited them to hostilities, there appear no grounds 
 for the imputations cast upon him. After his death, many of the 
 tribe joined the other villages in Maine or Canada ; and in a few 
 years Norridgewock was completely deserted. The Penobscots and 
 Passammaquoddies, however, remained in their old seats, attended by 
 missionaries, down to the fall of Canada ; and, when our Revolution 
 broke out, they joined the colonies, asking for French priests. 
 
 These, and the St. Francis Indians in Canada, now comprise the 
 Abnaki nation, which, though recognized as subject to New England 
 as late as iGol, and from 1713 to the present time, still beai-s deeply 
 imprinted the religion and manners imparted by the French during 
 the half century of their influence. 
 
 The journal, which portrays a Jesuit, following up Winthrop's 
 advance, and urging New England to throw her protecting 
 ajgis over the Abnakis against the Iroquois, shows how easily the 
 Puritans might have avoided their fiercest border war. 
 
 High as were the hopes of Father Druilietes of the success of his 
 embassy, it ultimately failed ; the Abnakis became the enemies, the 
 Iroquois the friends of the English ; yet in the end the former sided 
 with the Colonists, the latter against them ; and the Catholic Orono 
 fought under the fir tree banner of the revolted colonies, while tlie 
 Mohawk IJrant ravaged our frontier towns. 
 
NEGOTIATIONS 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 NEW ENGLAND AND CANADA, 
 
 16 4 8-51. 
 
 KARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE, MADE FOR THE ABNAQUIOIS MISSION, AND IN- 
 FORMATION ACQUIRED OF NEW ENGLAND AND THE DISPOs^ITIONS OF 
 THE MAGISTRATES OF THAT REPUBLIC, FOR ASSISTANCE AGAINST THE 
 IROQUOIS. THE WHOLE BY ME, GABRIEL DRUILLETES, OF THE SOCIETY 
 OF JESUS.* 
 
 I left Quebec for that mission; the first of September, by 
 order of my Superior, and with a passport and permit of 
 Monsieur d'Ailleboust, Lieutenant-General for the King and 
 Governor in the whole Eiver St. Lawrence, accompanied by 
 
 * Gabriel Druilletes was born in France in the year 1593. Having en- 
 tered the Society of Jesus, he solicited a Foreign Mission, and was, after 
 many years, sent in 1G4S to Canada. He embarked at Rochelle, on the 8th 
 of May, with Garreau and Chabanel, both of whom lost their lives amid their 
 ' Apostolic labors. Druilletes was immediately destined to the Algonquins, 
 and applied to the study of that wide-spread language. His labors began as 
 soon as he was able to make himself uudei'stood, and in 1644 he wintered 
 with a party of wandering Indians. 
 
 The torment caused by the smoke of an Indian Cabin, was such as to 
 surpass endurance, and the vivid description of Father Lejeune in the Rela- 
 tion of 1634, shows how much the heroic Missionaries sufl'ered to win their 
 neophytes to Christ. Father Druilletes was more severely tried than any of 
 his predecessors ; his eyesight gradually failed, and he became at last en- 
 tirely blind. Hundreds of leagues of snow and ice, of mountain and forest, 
 cut him off from the French posts, and the well-meant but clumsy attemj^ta 
 of the Indians to restore his sight, made his blindness incurable. He was 
 now led about by a child, and they even proposed tying him on a sledge and 
 dragging him to Quebec. He laughed at this, and advised a recourse to God 
 by prayer. All in the vicinity were invited to assemble for the inirpose; 
 by their help he arranged his chapel furniture, and began a votive Mass in 
 honor of the Blessed Virgin, which frequent repetition had so indelibly im- 
 printed on his mind, that he needed no missal. As he proceeded with the 
 Holy Sacrifice, his neophytes prayed with fervor, and when after the Conse- 
 cration he elevated the Sacred Host, his eyes were opened and he saw what 
 he had adored in darkness. From that moment his eyesight never dimmed 
 ^mid the smoke of the lodges, where he passed many a dreary winter. 
 
310 JOURNAL OP AN EMBASSY. 
 
 Noc4 Negabamat, Chief of Sillery, bearing moreover a letter 
 of credit to speak on behalf of said Sieiir d'Ailleboust to the 
 Governors and Magistrates of said Country. 
 
 I arrived at Narantsouat (Norridgewock), which is the 
 highest town of the Abnaqniois Indians, on the River Kene- 
 bec, fifteen or sixteen leagues from the highest English set- 
 tlement on that river, which is sixteen lea^rues from the 
 mouth. 
 
 I arrived on St. Michael's eve, at this highest English 
 
 Tin's ■woiulerful cure, whicli he ascribed to the faith of his neopljytes, 
 filled liiin with new courage and confidence in the protection of the Almighty. 
 After spending the next year at Sillery, he was, as we have seen, sent to 
 winter with the Abnakis. He set out on the 29th of August, 1646, and after 
 suffering much privation and hardship, recompensed by an abundant spirit- 
 \ial harvest, returned on the iGth of June, 1647, and a (ew days after, a 
 stranger to repose, set out as chaplain to a juirty marching against the Iro- 
 quois. Indeed, till his return to the Abnakis in IGoO, as given in the present 
 iournal, we find him constantly engaged in his laborious duties at Sillery, 
 with wandering parties on the upper St. Lawrence, or around Tadoussac, in 
 almost daily peril of death bj- starvation. At the latter place, he, in 1650, 
 first preached to the Oumamioukis. or people of Antieosti, and then proceeded 
 to the country of the Oupapinachiouk, who now, for thefi:st time invited the 
 Missionary to their viilagi's. From Septend^cr, 1().50, to I\Iarch, 1(557, he was 
 constantly with the Abnakis, exce|it fur a few days spent at Three Rivers, in 
 June, lG5l,and the time of his embassies in New England; for he was on two 
 occasions sent as ambassador of the French, first alone in 1650, and the 
 second time with the Sieur Godefroy, in 1651. 
 
 He was Superior at Three Rivers in 1655, but chosen the next year to 
 found the Ottawa Mission on Lake Superior, he set out with his old fellow 
 voyager, Clarreau ; when that iUssionary was killed at Montreal, Drnilletea 
 was left behind by the Otlawas, and returned for the last time to his beloved 
 Abnakis, wlio had adopted him as a Chief 
 
 In 1661, he set out with Father Dablon for the Kristineaux M'-ssion, and 
 leaving Tadoussac in June, ascended the Saguenay to the River Nekouba and 
 Lake St. John. The approach of the Mohawks prevented his further progress, 
 and after renewing the faith tif his scattered flock, he returned to Tadoussac, 
 where we find him sent again, year after year, carrying the Cross through 
 all the noigldjoriiig country. 
 
 In 16G6, he was at Three Rivers, instructing the celebrated Marquette in 
 Montagnais, but both were soon to labor ou the Western Lakes. 
 
 In IGG'.t, unless the manuscript of Perrot errs, he was at Sault Sic. Marie, 
 on Lake Superior, and the latest relations ten years later, speak of him as 
 still laboring there, though broken with age and toil. He was, however, 
 near the close of his long and useful career. Returning to Quebec, he died 
 there on the 8th ol April, 16Sl, universally regretted and revered as a Saint 
 Few, indeed, of the Apostles of Canada, were more frequently invoked. 
 "The fact is," says Charlevoix, "no Missionary then labored with more fruit 
 in Canada, bcause Heaven had made him powerful alike in work and word," 
 and he, like many others, relates wonderful interpositions of Divine Power, 
 ascribed to the interest of Druilletes' prayers. 
 
 The sources for his life are the Relations, printed and manuscn'iit, the 
 Journal of the Superior, which fixes the year of this Journal and many im- 
 portant dates, the present narrative, and lor his death, a letter in the collec- 
 tion of Paris Documents at Boston and Charlevoix. 
 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY. 311 
 
 settlement, which both by English and Indians is called 
 Conssinoc, and the following day, the feast of him whom we 
 have chosen as patron and guide of our voyage, said Noel and 
 I spoke to the agent of the said settlement, accompanied by 
 the Abnaquiois, to whom we had spoken on the way. Noel, 
 speaking with his present, a bundle of beaver skins, said : 
 " The Governor of the River St. Lawrence, by the Father 
 who stands here to those of your nation, and I as ally join 
 my word to his, not to speak to thee alone, but rather to 
 tell thee to embark my word, that is to say, my present to 
 carry it to the Governor of Plymouth." The said Agent 
 assured them that he would do with the said Governor and 
 said Magistrates, all that could be expected from a good 
 friend, whereupon Noel and the Abnaquiois demanded that 
 I should go with him myself, to ])resent the letters of the 
 said Sieur Governor, and explain his intentions according to 
 the letter of credit which he had, and to bear the word of 
 the Christians of Sillery * and the Catechumens of the Eiver 
 Kennebec. 
 
 The agent, by name John Winslow, citizen Merchant of 
 the Colony of Plymouth, who is of a very good disposition^ 
 as we shall say hereafter, answered : "I love and respect the 
 Patriarch." (This name is ajjplied to me on this river, and 
 on all the Acadian Coast.f) " I will lodge him in my house, 
 and I will treat him as my own br ither, for I well know the 
 good that he does among you, and the life that he leads 
 there." This he said because he had a particular zeal for 
 the conversion of the Indians, as well as his brother Edward 
 Winslow, Agent for said New England at the Parliament 
 of Old England, who is endeavoring to found a Society to 
 bring up and instruct the Indians, as is done with the char- 
 ity poor at London.! 
 
 The other particulars are in the letters which I wrote, as 
 
 * Sillery -was an Algonquin Montagnais Mission, founded near Quebec, by 
 the generosity of Noel Brulart de Sillery, Knight of Malta, in 1642. It was 
 for many years a most flourishing seat of Indian progress, but war and disease 
 at last reduced it, so that the few survivors removed with the Abuakis to the 
 River Cliaudifere, and thence to St. Francis. 
 
 f This name had been given to Messire Josue Fleche, the first Priest on 
 the Acadian Coast, who had come over with Potrincourt, prior to the arrival 
 of tlie Jesuits under Father Biart, whose settlement in Maine was in 1613 
 destroyed by Argal. The title Patriarch came in all probability from the 
 seamen, and was their common term for a clergyman. 
 
 :j:This was the ''Corporation for propagating the Gospel among the 
 Indians," chartered by Act of Parliament, July 27, lG-i9, which names Wins- 
 low among the first members. 
 
312 JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY. 
 
 well to the paid Governor at Quebec, as to my Superior on 
 the 15th of November.* 
 
 I left Coussinoc (Augusta) by land, with the said agent, 
 inasmuch as the vessel that was to carry us had some cause 
 of delay in waiting for the Indians, and feared to be surprised 
 by the ice. We had, therefore, to go ten leagues to embark 
 by sea at Marimitin (Merry meeting), which the Indians call 
 Nassouac (Naxoat). This was a })ainful march, especially 
 to the agent, who is already somewhat in years, and who 
 assured me that he would never have undertaken it, if he 
 had not given his word to Noel. 
 
 Ou the 25th we sailed, and by the way met, at Temer- 
 iskau (Damariscotta), some English fishermen, some of 
 whom jrrumbled at the stiid ajjent for bringing a Frenchman 
 along the coast, who was a spy to help the French, who were 
 about to ravage their settlements. 
 
 Contrary winds were the reason why we reached Kepam 
 (Cape Ann), which forms the Cape of the great Bay of Bos- 
 ton, only on the 5th of Deceuiber. They also forced us to 
 go partly by land and partly by boat, to j>ass across the 
 great Bay to Charleston {sic), where we crossed the river 
 which separates it from Boston, at which place we arrived on 
 the 8th. The chief men of Charleston, learning that 1 came 
 on behalf of the said Sieur Governor, hastened to notify Ma- 
 jor General Gebin (Gibbons), to be at his office on my ar- 
 rival. 
 
 The agent, John Winslow (whom I hereafter cull my 
 Percira,t on account of the aflection which he has always 
 shown me), having made his report to the said Sieur Gebin 
 on the object of my vo\age, he received me as a real am- 
 bassador from said Sieur Governor, and gave me the key of 
 a room in his house, where I might in all liberty jtray and 
 perform the exercises of my religion, and he besought me to 
 take no other lodgings while I remained at Boston. 
 
 The next day, the 8th, the said Sieur Gebin, accompanied 
 
 by , took me to , from Boston to a village called 
 
 Rogsbray (Roxbury), where Sieur Dudley, Governor of Bos- 
 ton, was at the tune. I presented him my letter of credit 
 
 * FiifortuimUly none of tlic.«o papers, referred Jo, hnve been found. 
 
 f .\n nlliisioii to I'ereirn, ft I'ortugiiese nierclinnt. (lie <levoted friend of 
 St Vriuai-s Xii\ ier. tlic Ajnislle of the Indies. It may be thnt Winslow had 
 culled Druilletes hia Xavicr, ond that the Missionor)-, in turn, gave him that 
 of Pcrcira. 
 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY. 313 
 
 from said Sieur Governor. Having opened it, he commanded 
 an interpreter to translate it from French into English. 
 
 I told him that I caoie to speak on behalf of Noel and 
 the Christians of Sillery, as also of the Catechumens of the 
 Abnaquiois who had made me their ambassador to him. He 
 assigned me, as the day of audience, the following Tuesday, 
 December 13th, giving orders to notify the magistrates to 
 repair to Boston on that day. 
 
 On the 13th the said Governor of Boston and the magis- 
 trates invited me to dinner, and after it gave me audience. 
 Besides the magistrates and the secretary, there was present 
 one man, as deputy of the people, whom they call represent- 
 ative. 
 
 I was particularly urgent on behalf of the Abnaquiois, 
 who had been killed by tlie Iroquois (this is in the letter writ- 
 ten to Father Lejeune, in Article 8), after which I was told to 
 withdraw, and soon after invited to supper, after which they 
 gave me the answer which is in the other letter in the afore- 
 said article. 
 
 In consequence of the character I had assumed of ambas- 
 sador of my Catechumens of the Kenebec, they told me that 
 Boston had no interest in it, that I must apply to Plymouth. 
 
 I left Boston on the 21st of said month of December, for 
 Plimouth, where I arrived the next day with my said (Pereira) 
 who lodged me with one of the five farmers* of Coussinoc, 
 named Padis (Paddy). The Governor of the place, by name 
 John Brentford (W. Bradford), received me with courtesy and 
 appointed the next day for audience, and then invited me to 
 a dinner of fish, which he prepared on my account, learning that 
 it was Friday. I met with much favor at this settlement, for 
 the Farmers, and among others Capt. Thomas Willets spoke 
 to the Governor on behalf of my negotiation, and then we had 
 the discussions which are contained in the letter in Article — 
 
 I left on the 24th, and returned by land to Boston, ac- 
 companied by the son and nephew of my said Pereira who 
 paid all my expenses. On the way I reached Eogsbray, 
 where the Minister named Master Heliot, who was instructing 
 some Indians, received me in his house, as night had sur- 
 prised me. He treated me with respect and affection, and 
 invited me to pass the winter with him.f 
 
 * Merchants who farmed the trade. — See Williamso'iCs Maine, 1, SG6. 
 
 f This friendly connection of the two eminent founders of the Catliolie 
 
314 JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY. 
 
 The next day, the 29th, I arrived at Boston, and pro- 
 ceeded to Major Gren. Guebin's. 
 
 The 30th of said month I spoke to Mr. Ebeny (Ellery), 
 one of the magistrates, who declared that he was very glad that 
 the Governor of Plymouth was willing to give the aid against 
 the Inxpiois, saying that it was very reasonable to help 
 fellow Christians, though of another religion, and particularly 
 against a pagan persecutor of Christians. He presented me 
 the answer of the Governor and magistrates of Boston to 
 that of the Governor. 
 
 The last day of said month I returned to Eogsbray to ask 
 said Governor Dudley to insert in the letter assurance for 
 the passage of the French, who would wish to go by Bos- 
 ton against the Iroquois. Grasping my hand, he said : 
 " Assure your Governor that we will be his good friends and 
 servants, whatever war may occur between the crowns. I am 
 very glad that the Governor of Plymouth is disposed to 
 afford the aid you desire against the Iroquois. I will aid 
 him with all my power." 
 
 The 1st of January I wrote the whole state of affairs to 
 Father Lejeune, by an English ship which sailed the 8th of 
 the same month, the said Mr. Guebins wrote to Mr. de 
 Latour and addressed the whole to Rouen, to the Sieur Rosee. 
 I asked Father Lejeune to send an answer as well to Boston 
 as to our Governor, by the Gaspe fishermen. The tenor is 
 in the letter in Article — . 
 
 I wrote also to Mr. Edward Winslow, at the solici- 
 tation of (my Pereira) his brother, begging him to write in 
 tavor of our affair to the magistrates of New England. 
 
 Some ti'.iie after I wrote to Mr. Wintrop, son of the late 
 Sieur Wintrop, heretofore governor of Boston, who is one of 
 the principal magistrates of the Colony of Kenetigout (Con- 
 necticut), ■•' a very good friend, from what they say, of the 
 French and Indians. 
 
 The 3d of said month, I spoke with Sieur Gebin, who 
 told me that he would do what he could for the aid against the 
 Iroquois, but that he believed the Boston people not much 
 inchned to it, but that he believed, that there would be not- 
 
 fttid Puritan Missions among the New England Indians, has hitherto escaped 
 notice; and shows that though traditional jirejudico had led to a penal law 
 against tlie Jesuits, in 1649, those intrepid missionaries won alike the admira- 
 tion and esteem of the stern Puritans of the Coast. 
 
 * The Engli.di documents of the time have Oonitaquit and Canitaquot. — 
 See Hutchinson Papirs 
 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY. 315 
 
 withstanding a means of bumbling tbe Iroquois ; perbaps be 
 founds bis designs on a new discovery wbicb be bas set on foot 
 near New Sweden. 
 
 Tbe 5tb tbe said Sieur Gnebin conducted me to tbe port 
 and commended me very particubirly to Tbomas Yau, 
 master of a vessel clearing for tbe Kenebec, 
 
 Tbe 9tb of said montb bad weatber stopped us at Mor- 
 bletz (Marblebcad) wbere tbere is a quantity of people. Tbe 
 minister, by name William Walter, received me witb great 
 affection, in company witb bim I went to Salem to speak to 
 tbe Sieur Indicott (Endecot), wbo speaks ^nd understands 
 Frencb well and is a good friend of tbe nation and very earnest 
 to bave bis cbildren inberit tbis affection. Seeing tbat I bad 
 no money, be defrayed my expenses and invited me to tbe 
 table of tbe magistrates, wbo for a week were giving audience 
 to every body. 
 
 At bis request I left . bim in letter form, a proxy to act 
 efficaciously during tbe general court of Boston, wbicb was 
 to be beld on tbe 13tb of May. He assured me tbat be would 
 do bis best to bring tbe Boston colony to consent to it. He 
 told me tbat it served as a rule for the otbers, and tbat tbe 
 Governor of Plymoutb bad just ground to insist on obtaining 
 tbis of tbe colonies. On my departure be told me tbat be 
 bad tborougbly read wbat I left in writing, on bebalf of our 
 Governor and my Catecburaens, and tbat be perfectly un- 
 derstood it ; tbat be would dispatcb a man to bring me a 
 letter at tbe Kennebec ; tbat as soon as be could he would 
 tell me wbat be had done in tbe matter and bad obtained 
 of tbe magistrates. 
 
 The 24tb of January I arrived at Peskatigbet (Pis- 
 cataqua), wbicb is twenty leagues from Boston. Here I 
 
 learned in full tbe story of Captain Ki , wbo, somewhere 
 
 about tbe montb of July, took off Cape Breton, a Frencb 
 fisberman, named Elie Cousturier de la Tremblade. The cap- 
 ture was estimated at 700 pistoles. Mr. Chapellier (Nicbolas 
 Sbapleigb)Vice-GovernorofAgaraenticos (York), wbicb is two 
 leagues from Peskatigtiet, assured me tbat all were indignant 
 at tbis capture, tbat Boston hvA fined bim a bundred pistoles, 
 and every sailor forty ; in a word, tbat it was seen, tbat 
 Heaven itself declared against bim ; a violent nortb-east 
 wind having wrecked tbe vessel wbicb be bad used in sur- 
 prising tbis po'jr Frencb Huguenot, in virtue of a commissioa 
 
316 JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY. 
 
 which the Archduke Leopold gave hiin in the year forty- 
 seven, to the extent of fourteen thousand pistoles. 
 
 Pierre Tihaud, a good Catholic, confirmed all this story, 
 as an eye-witness. Seeing this vessel, on which he was a 
 sailor, wrecked, he obtained of Master Thomas Yau leave to 
 come to Canada about the month of May. He is a young 
 sailor of St. Nazaire, on the river of Nantes, a good interpreter 
 for English, Flemish, Dutch, and Spanish, who can act as 
 pilot for all the coast from New England to Virginia. I 
 gave him my word that he would be received as a sailor at 
 Quebec at sixteen livres a month, as he had been among the 
 English. 
 
 The 25th at PeskatigSet Thomas Yau, master of the 
 bark that was taking me to Kenebec, of his own accord 
 asked me for a simple certificate of the peace and good un- 
 derstanding between New England and New France, in order 
 to go about the month of April or May to Isle percee with 
 thirty tons of Indian corn besides other goods. 
 
 The 7th of February at Tameriskau the fishermen 
 showed me much affection ; they were the very ones who had 
 regarded me as a spy, when going to Boston. 
 
 The 8th of February I came to the river Kenebec, where 
 I continue my interrupted mission. All the English who 
 are on this river have received me with great marks of 
 afiection. 
 
 The 13th of April, Mr. John Winslow, my true (Pereira), 
 returned from Plimouth and Boston to K8ssinoc, assures me 
 that all the magistrates and the two commissioners of Pley- 
 mt5th have given their word and resolved that they must 
 press the other colonies to join them against the Iroqiiois in 
 favor of the Abnaquiois, who are under the protection of 
 that colony of Pleymbth, which holds the seigniory of 
 KSssinoc, and for its seignorial rights takes the sixth of what 
 arises from the trade. 13esides this Mr. Brentford, the Go- 
 vernor, who is one of the five merchants or farmers who 
 furnish all that is necessary for the trade, had already, on 
 the 20th of March, sent Captain Thomas Wilhet (a man 
 much inclined to the Abnaquiois, with whom he had formed 
 acquaintance at Kassinoc during several years), with letters 
 pressing the aid against the Iroquois, to the Governors of 
 Ilarfort or Kcnetig8t, which is on the river of the Soksckiois, 
 fifty leagues from Pleym«th and of Nieuf Haven, or K»in- 
 •opiers (Quinnipiac), which is ten leagues from Harfort, and 
 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY. 3l7 
 
 even to the Governor of Manate, to prevent his selling any 
 more arras to the Iroquois, and to speak to him positively so 
 that he will not only not oppose those who would attack the 
 Iroquois, hut even assist the English in their design, in 
 pursuance of the Union into which he entered with New 
 England some years ago. 
 
 "The Captain's orders are to he at Nieuf Haven or Kbin- 
 opeia to solicit the Commissioners or Deputies of the four 
 colonies, who are to assemble there. 
 
 He adds that the common report at Boston, where he 
 had been ten or fifteen days, was that Mr. Indicott would be 
 Governor of that colony at the first General Court, which 
 would be held about the 17th of May. 
 
 The same and the letters of some persons at Boston, 
 assure me that the common opinion of the citizens of Boston 
 is that if the Republic will not undertake this aid against 
 the Iroquois by pubKc authority, individuals are ready as 
 volunteers for this expedition on the simple permission to 
 said request, as in favor of Mr. Guebins for Monsieur 
 Latour, some troops went against the late Mr. Daunay. 
 
 The 24th of April the Soksckiois) * arrive, bearing the 
 word of four towns — namely, of the Sokf^ckiois, the Pagamp- 
 tag«e, the Penagdc (Pennacook), and the Mahingans 
 (Mohegans), situated on the river of Manate. They reply 
 to the proposition which I had made when speaking to them 
 last Ml (Nov. 18th). The Abnaquiois joining me had 
 presented to the Sok«ckiois fifteen belts, and ten or twelve 
 bracelets of wampum (which may be estimated at seven or 
 eight packs of beaver), to say to them : " Do what Onontio 
 and Tekbirimaeth tell you." 
 
 The Sokskiois says that these four towns having held 
 Council during three months last winter, had resolved' to 
 risk it against the Iroquois with Onontio (the French Gov- 
 ernor) and Noel, whether the English undertake the war 
 against the Iroquois or not, and when the Iroquois is ex- 
 terminated, against every other nation that shall make war 
 on Quebec. 
 
 * This name enjgys, like most Indiaa names, an admirable variety m point 
 of orthography. It must not, however, be confounded with the Souriquois or 
 Micmacs, a dilferent tribe. The Sokokiois are supposed by some tohave left 
 their name to Saco ; and Druilletes subsequently calls the Connecticut their 
 river, as though they lay on it. They were certainly between the Abnakia 
 and the Mohawks. 
 
318 JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY. 
 
 2d. He adds that many other nations alHed to them 
 will accompany them in war, especially one called N»tchi- 
 hnict, very numerous and feared by the Iroquois. It lies 
 between the Mahingans and Manate. 
 
 He offers Noel Tekbirimaeth either now at once to wipe 
 away the blood of the Algonquin s and Soksckiois, who have 
 been inadvertently killed, not recognizing each other, or to 
 wait till after the death of the Iroquois to make the satis- 
 faction, which they are accustomed to make one another in 
 such cases. 
 
 Refiections on the hopes given us by the Indians. 
 
 It is certain that all the Indian tribes in New England 
 hate the Iroquois, and fear that he will exterminate them 
 after the Hurons and Algonquins : he has already toma- 
 hawked several whom he met hunting beaver, and has never 
 made any satisfaction. 
 
 Moreover it is certain that the Soksckiois have been 
 closely allied to the Algonquins, and are very glad to deliver 
 themselves from the annual tribute of wam})um, which the 
 Iroquois exacts, in order to avenge the death of many of 
 their countrymen killed by the said Iroquois. Besides this 
 they ho[)e for the beaver hunt near Quebec after the death 
 of the Iroquois. 
 
 Lastly, it is sure that the single nation of N8tchihaut, 
 which has arms, suffices at least to divert the Iroquois so 
 well as to leave him no leisure to do us any injury of impor- 
 tance. 
 
 Rejections on what may he hoped from Neiu England 
 against the Iroquois. 
 
 1st. I suppose as a certain fact that the English of the 
 four united colonies — namely, Boston, Pleym»th, Kenetig«t, 
 (Hartford), and Kbinopeia (New Haven), have a very good 
 hand for exterminating Indian nations ; they have exter- 
 minated two " usque ad mingentem ad parietem." 
 
 They are so powerful in point of number that four 
 thousand men can be put on foot in the single colony of 
 Boston. There are at least forty thousand souls in these 
 four colonies, and then the road leading to the Iroquois is 
 short and easy. 
 
 2u(l. I suppose the express article of their union (which 
 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY. 319 
 
 enacts that without the consent of the Comraissionaries or 
 Deputies of these four colonies, none of the colonies can un- 
 dertake any offensive war ; for this purpose the deputies 
 must assemble to deliberate thereon, and three colonies 
 must consent to the aid, so as to carry it by plurality of 
 votes. 
 
 Now, this I think supposes that we have pretty good 
 hope of this aid by means of the English, because we have a 
 moral assurance that three of the four Colonies are for con- 
 senting to it. 
 
 II. The Governor of Pleym«th with all the Magistrates, 
 not only consents, but presses this affair in favor of the 
 Abnaquiois, who are under the protection of the colony of 
 Pleymath. 
 
 The whole colony has no trifling interest in it, because 
 by its right of seigniory, it annually takes the sixth part of 
 all that arises from the trade on that river Quinebec. And 
 the Grovernor himself in particular, who, with four other of 
 the most considerable citizens, are, as it were, farmers of this 
 trade, would lose nuich, losing all hope of the commerce of 
 the Kennebec and Kebec, by means of the Abnaquiois, 
 which will soon infallibly happen if the Iroquois continues to 
 kill and hunt to death the said Abnaquiois, as he has done 
 for some years past. 
 
 The Governor has a strong precedent for obtaining this 
 aid, all the Colonies having undertaken a war in behalf of 
 an Indian nation on the river of Picot (Pequot), called Mor- 
 thigander,--'-' because the Colony of KenetigSt, having said na- 
 cion under its protection, called on the other three Colonies 
 to undertake the war. 
 
 See more at length in the copy of the letter written to 
 the Rev. Father Lejeune, in Art. 
 
 What this Governor has answered, is to the point, and 
 then all assure me that this Governor's influence is all- 
 powerful. 
 
 2nd. The Vice-Governor of Boston, named Mr. Indicott, 
 who is now probably Governor, has pledged his word to do 
 all in his power to bring the Boston magistrates to consent 
 and unite with the Governor of Plymsth. All the Boston 
 magistrates write that they will recommend it earnestly to 
 the deputies. 
 
 * The allusion here defies all our knowledge. 
 
320 , JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY. 
 
 Boston's interest is the hope of a good trade with Quebec, 
 especially as that which it has with Virginia and the isle of 
 Barbade and St. Christhopf is on the i)oint of being destroyed 
 by the war excited by the Parliamentarians to exterminate 
 there the authority of the Governors who still hold for the 
 king of England. 
 
 This interest has made the Boston merchants say in 
 advance, that if the Eepublic makes any difficulty about 
 sending troops the volunteers will be satisfied with a simple 
 permission for the expedition. 
 
 3d. The principal magistrate of the colony of Kenetigat 
 named Mr. Wintrop, son of the late Mr. Wintrop, who first 
 wrote to Quebec about the trade, likes the French greatly, 
 and will probably do what he can for the aid, after the letter 
 which I wrote him praying him to finish what his father had 
 begun. 
 
 As for the Governor of K«inopeia, since all the world 
 protest he is a most reasonable man, there is some appear- 
 ance that if he does not urge the matter, he will at least not 
 hinder it, seeing it urged by Boston and Plymyth, the two 
 most considerable colonies, and, as it were, the rule of the 
 others. Besides this I have with Mr. John Winslow written 
 to Mr. Edward Winslow, the agent of these four colonies in 
 England, to induce him to write a word in favor of the 
 Indian Christians and Catechumens, whom he tenderly 
 loves. A word from him is all powerful on the minds of the 
 deputies of these four colonies. 
 
 Lastly, what I have represented on behalf of the Gover- 
 nor of Quebec and the Christian Indians seems so urgent 
 tl>at they can scarcely excuse their conduct if they do not 
 resolve to aid. 
 
 This is the whole at length. At least this favorable 
 dis[>osition of the three colonies sufiices to make us hope for 
 a permission for such volunteers as would like to strike a 
 blow, or at least letters of favor for the province of Mariland, 
 all composed of English Catholics, who are quite near the 
 Iroquois. 
 
REPORT OF AN EMBASSY. 321 
 
 II. 
 
 REPORT OF FATHER DRUILLETES. 
 (Ferland, Notes sur les Reffistres dc Notre Dame de Quebec. Page 70-2.) 
 
 I arrived here on the eighth of December, the feast of the 
 Conception ; and not without a special Providence. The 
 Barque of my guide and governor, who is the Agent at 
 Kenebaka, named John Winslow, was surprised by the ice, 
 and we were accordingly compelled to march about a hun- 
 dred leagues, according to what they say, partly by land and 
 partly by water. 
 
 On the 9th, I was conducted by my introducer, and the 
 Major General of this place, Mr. Quebin, (Gibbons"''-) (a 
 great friend of M. de la Tour, and afterwards of the Gover- 
 nor of Kebec, when he heard that said M. de la Tour had 
 been well treated at Kebec,) to the house of Mr. Dutley, 
 (Dudley), Governor of all the Colony of Boston. He resides 
 half a league from here. I presented the letter of credit 
 from the Governor of Kebec, and solicited audience as am- 
 bassador and agent, not only in the name of the Governor, 
 according to the tenor of the letter, but also on behalf of the 
 Abnaquois Catechumens, who are under the jurisdiction of 
 Pleymoutch, (Plymouth,) which is another Colony ; this my 
 poor habit and equipage showed, likening me more to a 
 savage than to a Frenchman of moderate condition. . . 
 
 The day of my audience was deferred till the following 
 Tuesday, as the Governor of this place had to assemble the 
 magistrates on that day for some other matter. Before stat- 
 ing here what I have done for my twofold embassy, I feel it 
 necessary to give you some information of the state and gov- 
 ernment of this country. 
 
 All New England is a republic, composed of four colo- 
 nies. The first and most considerable is that of Boston, 
 which has, they say, forty towns or villages in its dependence 
 or district. The second is that of Pleymoutch, fourteen 
 leagues from here ; this has twenty towns or villages, of which 
 Pleymoutch is the principal one, but much less than Boston, 
 although it is the oldest of all ; it is situated near Cape Maile- 
 
 * Gibbons was Major General from 1649 to his death in 1654. Josselyn, 
 Chronological Observations. Mass. liist. fcjoc. Collections, III., iii., 886-8. 
 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. III. 21 
 
S22 LETTER TO THE COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 barre, (Cod.) The third is that of Kenetigouc, (Connecti- 
 cut,) thirty or forty leagues from the second. This has 
 about ten towns, one of which alone has 500 men, they say. 
 Kenetigouc is the river of the Sokokiois. The fourth is that 
 of Kouinopeia, (Quinuipiack,) ten leagues from the third. 
 This has only 4 or 6 villages on the coast towards Manathe, 
 (Manhattan,) from which it is 30 leagues distant, or there- 
 abouts. From Manathe to the largest English settlement is 
 about 20 leagues. 
 
 All these 4 colonies are united by the articles of Confed- 
 eration, one of which requires that no colony in private shall 
 determine any thing for any war whatever, without the knowl- 
 edge and consent of the Assembly of the States of the whole 
 country ; it is called the Council or Court of the Commis- 
 sioners, who are 8 in number, that is to say, two deputies 
 for each colony. - They are to assemble at Kouinipeia (New 
 Haven) at the first session, which is not held usually till the 
 month of September. They themselves when they assemble 
 choose one of their number who presides. 
 
 Besides the Council of the States for the whole country, 
 each separate colony has a council composed of its Governor, 
 Vice Governor, and a certain number of counsellors whom 
 they call magistrates. This separate council gives audience 
 according to the causes which arise during the year. All 
 the officers of this separate Court are created and confirmed 
 in the month of May, which is the time when the general 
 Court of all the colony is held, that is to say, the upper 
 house, composed of the most considerable men of the colony, 
 and the lower house composed of the deputies of the people. 
 It assembles in the chief town of the colony. It was this 
 separate Court of Boston which gave me audience after in- 
 vitins: me to dinner on the 13th of December. 
 
 III. 
 
 LETTER ADDRESSED BY THE COUNCIL OF QUEBEC TO THE 
 COMMISSIONERS OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 (Charlevoix, Eistoire de la Nouvdle FraiK-e, /., 287.) 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 The gentlemen of Boston having a few years ago proposed 
 to establish commercial intercourse between New France and 
 New England, the Council appointed by His Majesty in this 
 
LETTER TO THE COMMISSIONERS. 323 
 
 country, united its answer to the letters which our Governor 
 addressed to your colonies, the tenor of which was, that we 
 should willingly enter into the commerce, and at the same 
 time into a union of hearts and minds hetween our colonies 
 and yours ; but that we should at the same time desire to 
 enter into an offensive and defensive league with you against 
 the Iroquois, our enemies, who would prevent the commerce, 
 or at least render it less advantageous for us both. The 
 obligation resting on you, it seems to us, to check the inso- 
 lence of these Iroquois Indians, who massacre the Sokokinois 
 and the Abenaquinois, your allies, and the facility with which 
 you can conduct this war if properly undertaken, are two 
 reasons which induce us to continue the negotiation with you 
 in your Court of Commissioners, We have requested our 
 Governor to write to you strongly ; and this is to join our 
 endeavors to his, and to assure you of the disposition of our 
 hearts and of all those in New France for this commerce with 
 New England, and for the designs of this war against the 
 Iroquois, who must be our common enemies. Besides the 
 Sieur de Dreuillettes who this winter began the negotiation, 
 we have requested the Sieur Godefroy, Councillor of our body, 
 to form our embassy. The merit of these two deputies in- 
 spires us with hopes of the successful issue of the plan ; they 
 are endowed with the necessary powers for this purpose ; that 
 is to say, both to establish solidly, intercourse between us, and 
 to relieve you in the expenses necessary for carrying on the 
 proposed war against the Iroquois. 
 
 We beg you to hear them and act with them as you 
 would with us, with that frankViess which is natural to the 
 English, as to us French. The Almighty will, we doubt not, 
 bless your arms and ours, as they will be employed in the 
 defence of Christian Indians, your allies and ours, against 
 heathen savages, who have no faith, no God, no justice in 
 their course, as you may learn in detail from our said Depu- 
 ties, who will assure you of the sincere desire which we en- 
 tertain that heaven may ever continue to bless your pro- 
 vinces, and load you, gentlemen, with his favors. 
 
 Given in the Chamber of the Council established by the 
 King at Quebec in New France, this twentieth of June, ono 
 thousand six hundred and fifty-one. 
 
324 APPOINTMENT OF DRUILLETES. 
 
 IV. 
 
 APPOINTMENT OF SIEUR GODEFROY AND FATHER^ 
 DRUILLETES. 
 
 [Extract from the Registers of the Old Council of this Country, June 20, 1651.] 
 
 (Charlevoix, Eistoire de la Nouvelle France, I. 288.) 
 
 The Council assembled at nine o'clock In the morning. 
 Present, the Governor, the Keverend Father Superior, Messrs. 
 de Mauze, Godefroy and Menoil, on the proposition made to 
 the Council touching' a certain rescription, made by the 
 Council in the year 1648 to the Commissioners of the States 
 of New England, for the formation of a union between the 
 colonies of New France and New England, in order to trade 
 together. The Council, wishing to meet their request, has 
 aj)pointed and appoints the Sieur Godefroy one of the Coun- 
 cillors of the Council established by His Majesty in this 
 country, to proceed with the Eeverend Father Dreuilletes 
 to said New England to the said Commissioners, to treat 
 and act with them, according to the powers given them by 
 the Council, a copy whereof is inserted a la liasse : as also a 
 copy of a letter addressed to the said Commissioners of New 
 England by this Council. And as to the merchandize 
 brought by one Thomas Yost, on the assurance and good 
 faith of Rev. Father Dreuilletes, the Council has resolved to 
 send to meet him, to a{)point him a place where to land 
 them, and that in due time. 
 
 Louis d'Ailleboust, Lieutenant General for the King and 
 Governor of all New France, &c., Greeting : 
 Having been requested and urged both by the Christian 
 Indians depending on our government and by the Abena- 
 quinois, dwelling on the river Kmibequi, and others their ^ 
 allies, to protect them against the attacks of the L'oquois, 
 their common enemies, as had been heretofore done by the 
 Sieur de Montmagny, our predecessor in this government, 
 and they having anew shown us that all their nations would 
 be entirely destroyed, unless we interfered. We, for these 
 causes, and for the good of this colony, and according to 
 special orders given us by the Queen Regent, Mother of the 
 King, to protect the Indians against their said enemies, 
 
LETTER OF THE COMMISSIONERS. 325 
 
 have deputed and depute, with the advice of the Council 
 estaWished in this country, and some of the most notable 
 settlers, the Sieurs Gabriel Dreuilletes, preacher of the 
 Gospel to the Indian Nations, and John Godefroy, one of 
 the Councillors of the said Council, Ambassadors for them 
 to the Gentlemen of New England, to treat, either with the 
 Governors and Magistrates of New England, or at the 
 General Court of the Commissioners and Deputies of the 
 United Colonies, for aid in men, munitions and provisions, to 
 attack the said Iroquois on the most proper and convenient 
 spots ; as also to settle the articles, which shall be deemed 
 necessary, to secure this Treaty ; and to accord to the said 
 Sieurs of New England the commerce which they requested 
 of us in their letter of the year 1647, with the articles, 
 clauses and conditions, which they shall deem necessary, 
 awaiting the arrival of the Ambassador whom we shall send 
 on our behalf to ratify and finally conclude what they 
 
 agree upon. 
 
 We request all Governors, Lieutenant Governors, Cap- 
 tains and others to let them pass freely, &c. 
 
 COPY OF A LETTER FROM THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE 
 UNITED COLONIES TO THE GOVERNOR OF CANADA. 
 
 (Hazard, Historical Collection, IL 183.) 
 
 Most Illustrious Sir, and much honored Gentlemen : 
 
 We have receaved youer severall letters, perused youer 
 Commissions, presented by youer honered agents, and seriusly 
 considered what hath been by them either in writing or by 
 conference propounded, conserning those injuries and hostile 
 attempts made by som of the Mohaukes upon some of youer 
 naighbouring easteren Indians, of whom (as wee are en- 
 formed) som are converted to the Christian Faith and others 
 are willing to bee taught and may in time prove Desiples to 
 oursaveing Lord and Master; as such wee pity thein,^ but 
 see not how wee can protect or afford the healp desired, 
 without exposing the smaler English Plantations, and our 
 owne naighbouring Indians (of which some allsoe professe 
 Christianitye) to danger. Wee can give due credits to youer 
 deputies, and can conceave you may have just grounds for a 
 
326 ANSWEE OF THE COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 warr, but we have yett no cause of just quarrell with the 
 Mohaukes nor is it safe for us to engage in a controversy 
 which wee neither doe nor have means satisfyingly to under- 
 stand, the Mohaukes neither being in subjection to nor in any 
 confederacon with us : wee are free to hold a naighbourly 
 correspondency with you, and would have settled a free 
 comerce betwixt the English and French collonies, but your 
 Agents thought it either unseasonable till maters were com- 
 posed betwixt the Mohaukes and your Indians, or els pro- 
 pounded such restrictions as would have taken away all 
 convenlency and freedome from the trade. What hath 
 hindred our present closure, the enclosed writing will shew ; 
 but if a fitter oppertunitie bee offered, wee shall not bee 
 wanting to contribute to a more satisfying Issue. In the 
 meanetime wee rest, 
 
 Newhaven, Sept. 6, 51. 
 
 VI. 
 
 AN ANSWARE TO THE PROPOSITIONS PRESENTED BY THE 
 HONORED FRENCH AGENTS TO THE PRESIDENT AND COM- 
 MISSIONERS OF THE ENGLISH UNITED COLONIES. 
 
 (Hazard, Historical Collections, II. 184.) 
 
 1. Upon due consideracion and respecte to what the 
 honered deputyes from the illustrius Governor of New France 
 have enformed, and upon experience ourselves have had of 
 the insolency and treachery of som of the barbarians, wee 
 can conseaue and graunt, that the French and those easteren 
 Indians may have just grounds to theire owne satisfaction 
 for a warr against the Mohaukes. 
 
 2. The English looke upon all such Indians as receive 
 the yoake of Christ with another eye than upon others that 
 worship the Divill. 
 
 3. The English desire by all just meanes to keep peace 
 (if it may bee) with all men, even with these Barbarians. 
 
 4. The Mohaukes liveing at a Distance from the Sea 
 have little entercourse in these parts ; but in the warr the 
 English had with the Indians 14 or IG yeares sence, the 
 Mohaukes shewed a reall respecte, and have not sence donn 
 any knowne hostele actes against them. 
 
 5. The English engage not in any warr, before they 
 have full and satisfying evidence, that in all respects and 
 
ANSWER OF THE COMMISSIONERS. 327 
 
 considerations it is just, and before peace upon just tearms 
 hath been offered and refused. 
 
 6. The Mohawkes are neither in Subjection nor league 
 with the English, soe that wee can neither require any ac- 
 coumpt of theire warrs, or other proceedings ; — nor have wee 
 meanes to enform ourselves, what they can say for them- 
 selves. If all other considerations were cleered, 
 
 7. To make warre with the Mohawkes may endanger all 
 our naighbour Indians (of which divers profess Christianitie) 
 and the rest doe rather expect just protection from us than 
 that wee should expose them, by our volentary inroadeing 
 the Mohawkes. 
 
 8. Though the English in these Jurisdictions are free to 
 performe all naighbourly offices of Righteusness and peace, 
 towards the French Collonie : yett they foresee they can 
 neither permitt volenteers or auxiliarye forces to bee taken 
 up against the Mohawkes, nor that the French or Easteren 
 Indians to pase through the English Jurisdictions to envade 
 them, but they shall expose both the Christian and other 
 Indians, and some of the snialer English plantations to 
 danger, 
 
 9. The English are much unsatisfied with that mis- 
 chicvius trade the French and Dutch have had and still 
 continew, selling gunns, powder, and shott to all the Indians, 
 of which wee have dayly complaints ; and by which the 
 Indians arc animated and apt to grow insolent not onely 
 against Indian Converts and Chatechumeni, but against the 
 Christians of Europe. 
 
 10. If the English Collonies were assured of the Justice 
 of this warre, and engaged with the French to prosecute 
 against the Mohawkes, yett wee have noe such short and 
 convenient passage either by water or land to approach 
 them, as may be had by Hudson's River, toe and bejond 
 Aurania Forte, Avhich is in the Dutch Jurisdiction. 
 
 11. They hope the antient peace and Amitye betwixt 
 England and France wil bee continued and confeirmed, 
 which they both desire and as fare as lyes in them shall by 
 all due meanes readdily promote. 
 
 12. They conceive that the honered Deputies have power 
 and authoritie at present to agree and settle a free comerce 
 betwcene the English and French Collonies in these parts. 
 But if the said Deputyes upon reasons knowne to themselves 
 see cause to limitt the Enolish Collonies to such Restrictions 
 
328 ANSWER OF THE COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 or rather prohibitions as the iinpriviledged French are under, 
 that they may not trad untill they have first procured a 
 particulare lycense from the Governor and Counsell of New- 
 France, at least till they have issued the present differences 
 and settled peace with the Mohawkes ; a fitter Season for 
 these treaties must bee attended, which the Comissioner 
 shall readdyly improve when it is presented. 
 
 [The English Colonies as in the second Article are ready 
 upon a fit opportunity to shew all due respect to all truly 
 converted and Christian Indians, and much more than to 
 others, but while they live at such a distance from the Eng- 
 lish Jurisdiction they neither may promise nor afibrd them 
 any protection to secure them from danger.]* 
 
 * This last clause we add from Hutchinsox, Collection of Papers, page 
 166. The rest we have given from Hazard, where it forms part of the letter 
 of the Commissioners to Edward Winslow.. 
 
 ORTHOGRAPHY OF DRUILLETES' NAME. 
 
 The name of this Father is uniformly written Dreuillettes, by Charlevoix, and is so in 
 the Journal : but from his own signature it is evidently Druilletes, although in one case we 
 find Druillettee. A fac-simile of his signature is given in Shea's History of the Catholic 
 Missions among the Indian tribes — p. ^04. 
 
IX. 
 
 PROCEEDINaS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FIRST ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA, 
 
 1619. 
 
 COMMUNICATED, WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE, 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE BANCROFT. 
 
INTKODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 Virginia, for twelve years after its settlement, languished under 
 the government of Sir Thomas Smitlj, Treasurer of the Virginia 
 Company in England. The colony was ruled during that period by 
 laws written in blood ; and its history shows how the narrow selfish- 
 ness of despotic power could counteract the best efforts of benevolence. 
 The colonists suffered an extremity of distress too horrible to bo 
 described. 
 
 In April, 1G19, Sir George Yeardley arrived. Of the emigrants 
 who had been sent over at great cost, not one in twenty then remained 
 alive. " In James Citty were only those houses that Sir Thomas 
 Gates built in the tyme of his government, with one wherein the 
 Governor allwayes dwelt, and a church, built wholly at the charge of 
 the inhabitants of that citye, of timber, being fifty foote in length and 
 twenty foot in breadth." At Henrico, now Richmond, there were 
 no more than "three old houses, a poor ruinated Church, with some 
 few poore buildings in the Islande." "For ministers to instruct the 
 people, he founde only three authorized, two others who never re- 
 ceived their orders." " The natives he founde uppon doubtfull terraes ;' 
 BO that when the twelve years of Sir Thomas Smith's government 
 expired, Virginia, according to the "judgmentes" of those who were 
 then members of the colony, was " in a poore estate." * 
 
 From the moment of Yeardley's arrival dates the real life of Vir- 
 ginia. He brought with him " Commissions and instructions from 
 the Company for the better establishinge of a Commonwealth heere."f 
 He made proclamation, " that those cruell lawes, by which we " (I 
 use the words of the Ancient Planters themselves,) "had soe longe 
 
 * " A Briefe Declaration of the Plantation of Virginia during the first twelve yeares 
 when Sr. Thomas Smyth was Governor of the Companie, and downe to this present tyme : 
 by the Ancient Planters nowe remaininge alive in Virginia."— iUS'. i)i mj/ possession. 
 
 t " A Briefe Declaration,'' &c. 
 
332 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 been governed, were now abrogated, and tbat we were to be governed 
 by those free lawes, which, his Majesties subjectes live under in En- 
 glande." Nor were these considerations made dependent on the good 
 will of administrative officers. 
 
 " And that they might have a hande in the governinge of them- 
 selves," such are tlie words of the Planters, " yt was graunted that a 
 generall Assemblie shoulde be helde yearly once, whereat were to be 
 present the Gov and Counsell w^^ two Burgesses from eacb Planta- 
 tion, freely to be elected by the Inhabitantes thereof, this Assemblie 
 to have power to make and ordaine whatsoever lawes and orders 
 should by them be thought good and proffitable for our subsistance." * 
 
 In conformity with these instructions, Sir George Yeardley "sente 
 his summons all over the countiy, as well to invite those of the 
 Counsell of Estate that were absente, as also for the election of Bur- 
 gesses;"! ^"^ on Friday, the 30th day of July, 1619, the first elec- 
 tive legislative body of this continent assembled at James City. 
 
 In the relation of Master John Rolfe, inserted by Captain John 
 Smith in his History of Virginia, J there is this meagre notice of the 
 Assembly: "The 25 of June came in the Triall with Corne and 
 Cattell all in safety, which tooke from vs cleerely all feare of famine *, 
 then our gouernour and councell caused Burgesses to be chosen in 
 all places, and met at a generall Assembly, where all matters were 
 debated, thought expedient for the good of the Colony." 
 
 This account did not attract the attention of Beverley, the early 
 Historian of Virginia, who denies that there was any Assembly held 
 there before May, 1620. § 
 
 The careful Stith, whose work is not to be corrected without a 
 hearty recognition of his superior diligence and exemplary fidelity, 
 gives an account | of this first legislative body, though he errs a little 
 in the date by an inference from Rolfe's narrative, which the words 
 do not warrant. 
 
 The prosperity of Virginia begins with the day, when it received 
 as " a commonwealth," the freedom to make laws for itself. In a 
 solemn Address to King James, which was made during the govern- 
 ment of Sir Francis Wyatt, and bears the signature of the Governor, 
 
 * "A Briefo Declaration," Sec. 
 
 t " Procpcdings of the first Assembly, now first printod In this volume. 
 
 I Smith's Gnnorall Ilistorie of Virginia, Richinonii edition. Vol. ii., pp. 38, 39. 
 
 § See Beverley's History of Virginia, p. 37 of the first edition, and p. 35 of the second. 
 
 II Stith's History of Virginia, p. 160, Williamsburg edition. 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 333 
 
 Council, and apparently every member of the Assembly, a contrast is 
 drawn between the former "miserable bondage," and "this just and 
 gentle authoritye which hath cherished us of late by more worthy 
 magistrates. And we our wives and poore children shall ever praye 
 to God as our bounden duty is, to give you in this worlde all increase 
 of happines, and to crowue you in the worlde to come w\^^ imortall 
 glory e." * 
 
 A desire has long existed to recover the record of the Proceedings 
 of the Assembly, which inaugurated so happy a revolution. Stith 
 was unable to tiiid it ; no traces of it were met by Jefterson ; and 
 Hening,! and those who followed Hening, believed it no longer ex- 
 tant. Indeed, it was given up as hopelesbly lost. 
 
 Having, during a long period of years, instituted a very thorough 
 research among the papers relating to America in the British State 
 Paper Office, partly in person and partly with the assistance of able 
 and intelligent men employed in that Department, I have at last been 
 so fortunate as to obtain the "Proceedings of the First Assembly of 
 Virginia." The document is in the form of " a reporte " from the 
 Speaker ; and is more full and circumstantial than any subsequent 
 journal of early legislation in the Ancient Dominion. 
 
 Many things are noticeable. The Governor and Council sat with 
 the Burgesses, and took part in motions and in debates. The Secre- 
 tary of the Colony was chosen Speaker, and 1 am not sure that he 
 was a Burgess. This first American Assembly set the precedent of 
 beginning legislation with prayer. It is evident that Virginia was 
 then as thoroughly a Church of England colony, as Connecticut after- 
 wards was a Calvinistic one. The inauguration of legislative power 
 in the Ancient Dominion preceded the existence of negro slavery 
 which we will believe it is destined also to survive. The earliest 
 Assembly in the oldest of the original thirteen States, at its first ses- 
 sion, took measures "towards the erecting of" a " University and 
 Colledge." Care was also taken for the education of Indian children. 
 Extravagance in dress was not prohibited ; but the ministers were to 
 profit by a tax on excess in apparel. On the whole, the record of 
 these Proceedings will justify the opinion of Sir Edward Sandys, 
 that "they were very well and judiciously carried." The different 
 
 * MS. Copy of Address of Sir Francis Wyatt, &c., &,c., to King Jamea I., signed by Sir^ 
 Francis Wyatt and 32 others. 
 
 t Ilcning'a Statutes at Large, I., 119, refers to the acts of 1623-4 as " the earliest now 
 extant." 
 
334 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 functions of government may have been confounded, and the laws 
 were not framed according to any speculative theory ; but a perpetual 
 interest attaches to the first elective body representing the people of 
 Virginia, more than a year before the Mayflower, with the Pilgrims, 
 left the harbor of Southampton, and while Virginia was still the only 
 British Colony on the whole continent of America. 
 
 GEORGE BANCROFT. 
 
 New Yobk, October 3, 1856. 
 
PROCEEDINGS, ETC 
 
 [ S. p. O. Am* & "W. Ind. Virg. : Indorsed Mr. Povy owt of Virginia. 
 The Proceedings of the First Assembly of Virginia, July, 1619.] 
 
 A Keporte of the manner of proceedings in the General 
 Assembly convented at James Citty in Virginia July 30, 
 1619, consisting of the Gov , the CounseU of Estate, and 
 two Burgesses elected out of eache Incorporation, and Plan- 
 tation, & being dissolved the 4'** of August next ensuing. 
 
 First, Sir George Yeardley, knight Governo & Cap- 
 taine General of Virginia, having sente his sumons all over 
 the Country, as well to invite those of the Counsell of Estate 
 that were absente, as also for the Election of Burgesses, there 
 were chosen & appeared : — 
 
 Foi' James Citty : 
 Captaine William Powell, 
 Ensigne William Spense. 
 
 For Charles Citty : 
 Samuel Sharpe, 
 Samuel Jordan. 
 
 For the Citty of Henricus : 
 Thomas Dowse, John Polentinb. 
 
 For Kiccoivfan : 
 Captaine William Tucker, 
 William Capp. 
 
 For Martin-Brandon, Capf. Jolin Martin's Plantation : 
 Mr. Thos. Davis, Mr. Egbert Stacy. 
 
336 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
 
 For Smythe's Hundred : 
 Captaine Thomas Graves, 
 Mr. Walter Shelley. 
 
 For Martins Hundred : 
 Mr. John Boys, John Jackson. 
 
 For Argals Guifte : 
 Mr. Pawlett, Mr. Gourgainy. 
 
 For Floiverdieu Hundred : 
 Ensign Kossingham, Mr. Jefferson. 
 
 For Captaine Laivnes Plantation : 
 Captaine Christopher Lawne, 
 Ensign Washer. 
 
 For Captaine Wardes Plantation : 
 Captaine Warde, Lieutenant Gibbes. 
 
 The most convenient place we could finde to sitt in was 
 the Quire of the churche. Where, Sir George Yeardley, the 
 Governour, being sett downe in his accustomed place, those 
 of the Counsell of Estate sate nexte him on both handes, ex- 
 cepte onely the Secretary, then appointed Speaker, who sate 
 right before him. John Twine, Gierke of the General As- 
 sembly being placed nexte the Speaker, & Thomas Pierse, 
 the Sergeant, standing at the barre, to be ready for any ser- 
 vice the Assembly should comaund him. But, forasmuche 
 as men's affaires doe little prosper, where God's service is 
 neglected all the Burgesses tooke their places in the Quire, 
 till a prayer was said by Mr. Bucke, the Minister, that it 
 would please God to guide and sanctifie all our proceedinges 
 to his owne glory, and the good of this plantation. Prayer 
 being ended, to the iutente that as we had begun at God 
 Almighty, so we might proceed w awfuU & due respecte 
 towards his Lieutenant, our most gratious and dread Sove- 
 raigne ; all the Burgesses were intreatted to retyre them- 
 selves into the body of the Churche ; w''' being done, before 
 they were fully admitted, they were called in order and by 
 name, and so every man (none staggering at it,) tooke the 
 oathe of Supremacy, and then entred the Assembly. At 
 Captaine Ward, the Speaker tooke exception, as at one that 
 without any Comissiou or authority, had seatted himselfe 
 
FIRST ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA. 337 
 
 either upon the Companies, and then his Plantation could 
 not be lawfuU, or on Captaia Martin's lande, and so he was 
 but a limbe or member of him & so there could be but two 
 Burgesses for all. So Captaiue Warde was comanded to 
 absente himselfe, till such time as the Assembly had agreed 
 what was fitt for him to doe. After muche debate they re- 
 solved on this Order following : — ■ 
 
 An Order concluded by the General Assembly concerning 
 Captaine Warde July 30, 1619, at the opening of the said 
 Assembly. 
 
 At the reading of the names of the Burgesses exception 
 was taken against Captaine Warde, as having planted here 
 in Virginia, w'^'out any authority or comission from the 
 Tresurer, Counsell and Company in Englande. But consid- 
 ering he had bene at so great chardge and paines to aug- 
 mente this Colony, and had adventured his owne person in 
 the action, and since that time had brought home a good 
 quantity of fishe, to relieve the Colony by waye of trade; and 
 above all, because the comission for authorizing the Gene- 
 ral Assembly, admitteth of two burgesses out of every plan* 
 tation w^'out restrainte or exception. Upon all these consid- 
 erations, the Assembly was contented to admitt of him and 
 his Lieutenant as members of their body and Burgesses 
 into their Society. Provided that the said Captaine Warde 
 w"^ all expedition, that is to saye, between this and the nexte 
 generall Assembly, (all lawfuU impediments excepted,) should 
 procure from the Tresurer, Counsell, and Company in Eng- 
 land a Comission lawfully to establishe and plant himselfe 
 and his Company, as the ChietFs of other plantations have 
 done. And in case he doe neglect this, he is to stande to the 
 censure of the nexte generall assembly. To this Captaine 
 Warde in the presence of us all, having given his consente, 
 and undertaken to performe the same, was together with his 
 Lieutenant by voices of the whole Assembly first admitted 
 to take the Oath of Supremacy and then to make ujd their 
 number, and to sitt amongst them. 
 
 This being done the Governour himselfe alledged that be- 
 fore we proceeded any further, it behooved us to examnie, 
 whither it were fitt, that Captaine Martin's Burgesses should 
 have any place in the Assembly, forasmuche as he hath a 
 clause in his Patente, w''' doth not onely exempte him from 
 that equality and uniformity of lawes and orders, w'='' the 
 great charter saith, are to extend over the whole Colony ; 
 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. III. 22 
 
338 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE 
 
 but also from diverse siiclie lawes as we must be inforced to 
 make in the General Assembly, That clause is as followeth : 
 Item, that it shall and may be lawfull to and for the said 
 Caplaine John Martin, his Heyers, Executors, and Assignes, 
 to governe and comaunde all suche person or j^ersons as at 
 this time he shall carry over with him, or that shalbe sente 
 him hereafter, free from any comaunde of the Colony, ex- 
 cepte it be in ayding and assisting the same against any 
 forren or domestical enemy. Upon this motion of the Go- 
 vernour, discussed the same time in the Assembly, ensued this 
 order following : — 
 
 An Order of the General Assembly, touching a clause in 
 Captaine Martin's Patent, at James Citty, July 30, 1619. 
 
 After all the Burgesses had taken the Oath of Suprema- 
 cy, and were admitted into the house, and all sett downe in 
 their places, a Copie of Captaine Martin's Patent was 
 produced by the Governour, out of a clause whereof it 
 appeared that when the General Assembly had made some 
 kiude of lawes requisite for the whole Colony, he and his 
 Burgesses and people might deride the whole Company, and 
 chuse whether they would obaye the same or no : the author- 
 ity of Captaine Martin's Patent, graunted by the Counsell & 
 Company under their comon Seale, being of an higher 
 condition and of greater force, than any acte of the General 
 Assembly. It was therefore ordered in courte, that the fore- 
 said two Burgesses should w^'drawe themselves out of the 
 Assembly, till suche time as Captaine Martin had made his 
 personal! appearance before them. At what time if upon 
 their motion he would be contente to quitte and give over 
 that parte of his Patente, and contrary thereunto woulde 
 submitte himselfe to the Generall forme of Governmente, as 
 all others did, that then his Burgesses should be re-admitted, 
 otherwise they were utterly to be excluded, as being spies, 
 rather than loyal Burgesses, because they had offered them- 
 selves to be assistant at the making of lawes, w*^** both them- 
 selves & those whom they represented, might chuse whether 
 they would obaye or not. 
 
 Then came there in a complainte against Captaine Mar- 
 tin, that having sent his shallop to trade for corne into the 
 baye, under the comaund of one Ensigne Harrison, the said 
 Ensigne should affirme to one Thomas Davis, of Paspaheighs' 
 Gent (as the said Thomas Davis deposed upon oathe), that 
 they had made a harde voiage, had they not mett w^'' a Ca- 
 
FIRST ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA. 339 
 
 noa coming put of a Creeke, where their Shallop could not 
 goe. For the Indians refusing to sell their corne, those of 
 the Shallop entered the Canoa w"^ their armes, and toohe it 
 by force, measuring out the corne w'*" abaskett they had, into 
 the Shallop, and (as the said Ensigne Harrison saith) giving 
 them satisfaction in copper, heades, and other trucking stufFe. 
 Hitherto Mr. Davys upon his Oath. 
 
 Farthermore, it was signified from Opochancano to the 
 Gov', that those people had complained to him to procure 
 them justice. For w"*" considerations, and because suche out- 
 rages as this might breed danger and losse of life to others of 
 the Colony, w*"^ should have leave to trade in the baye here- 
 after, and for prevention of the like violences against the In- 
 dians, in time to come, this order following, was agreed on 
 by theGenerall Assembly, 
 
 A second order against Captaine Martin, at James Citty, 
 July 30, 1619. 
 
 It was also ordered by the Assembly the same daye, that 
 in case Captain Martin, and the ging of his Shallop could 
 not thoroughly answere an accusation of an outrage comit- 
 ted against a certain Canoa of Indians in the baye, that then 
 it was thought reason (his Patente notw"'standing the au- 
 thority whereof he had in that case abused), he should from 
 henceforth take leave of the Govemour, as other men, and 
 should putt in security, that his people shall comitte no 
 suche outrage any more. 
 
 Upon this a letter or warrant was drawen in the name 
 of the whole Assembly, to sumon Captaine Martin to ap- 
 pear before them in forme following : — 
 
 By the Govemour and General Assembly of Virginia. 
 
 Captaine Martine, We are to requeste you upon sight 
 hereof with all convenient speed, to repair hither to James 
 Citty, to treatt and conferre w"' us about some matters of 
 especial importance w*^'' concferne both us and the whole Col- 
 ony, and yourselfe. And of this we pray you not to faile. 
 
 James Citty, July 30th, 1619. 
 To our very loving friend, 
 
 Captaine John Martin, Esq'®., Master of the Ordinance. 
 
 These obstacles removed, the Speaker, who a long time 
 had bene extreame sickly, and therefore not able to passe 
 through long Harrangues delivered in briefe to the whole 
 
340 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
 
 Assembly, the occasions of their nieetino^. Wljich done he 
 read unto them the comission for estabhshing the Counsell 
 of Estate, and the Generall Assembly, wherein their duties 
 were described to the life. 
 
 Having thus prepared them, he read over unto them the 
 great Charter or Comission of privileges, orders and lawcs sente 
 by Sir George Yeardley out of Englandc, which for the 
 more ease of the Comitties having divided into fower books, 
 he reade the former two the same forenoon for expeditions 
 sake, a second time over ; and so they were referred to the 
 perusall of twoe Comittees, wh did reciprocally consider of 
 either, and accordingly brought in their opinions. But 
 some man may here objecte; to what ende we should presume 
 to referre that to the examination of Comitties, W'' the 
 Counsell and Company in England had already resolved to 
 be perfect, and did expecte nothing but our assente thereunto. 
 To this we answere, that we did it not to the ende to correcte 
 or controll anything therein contained ; but onely in case 
 we should finde ought not perfectly squaring with the State 
 of this Colony, or any lawe w*^'' did presse or binde too harde, 
 that we might by waye of humble })Ctition, seeke to have it 
 redressed ; especially because this great Charter is to binde 
 us and our heyers for ever. 
 
 The names of the Comitties for perusing the first booke 
 of the fower. 
 
 1. Capt. William Powell. 2. Ensigne Rosingham. 
 
 3. Capt. Warde. 4. Captain Tucker. 
 
 5. Mr, Shelley. 6. Thomas Douse. 
 
 7. Sam Jordan. 8. Mr, Boys, 
 
 The names of the Comitties for perusing the second 
 booke. 
 
 1, Captain L.\wne. 2. Capt. Graves. 
 
 3. Ensigne Spense. 4. Sam Sharpe. 
 
 5. William Cass. 6. Mr. Pawlett. 
 
 7. Mr. Jefferson. 8. Mr, Jackson. 
 
 These Comitties thus appointed, we brake up the first 
 forenoon's Assembly. 
 
 After dinner, the Govemour and those that were not of 
 the Comitties sate a seconde time ; while the said co- 
 mitties were employed in the perusall of those twoe bookes. 
 And whereas the Speaker had jiropouuded fower severall ob- 
 
FIRST ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA. 341 
 
 jects for the Assembly to consider on ; namely first the great 
 charter of orders, lawes, and priviledges ; secondly, which of 
 the instructions given by the Counsell in England to my Lo. 
 La Warre, Capt. Argall, or Sir George Yeardley, might con- 
 veniently putt on the habite of lawes ; thirdly, whafc lawes 
 might issue out of the private conceipte of any of the Bur- 
 gesses or any other of the Colony ; and lastly what Petitions 
 were fitt to be sente home for England. It pleased the 
 Governour for expedition's sake, to have the second objecteof 
 the fower to be examined & prepared by himselfe and the 
 Non-Comitties ; wherein, after having spente some three 
 howers conference, the tv/o Comitties brought in their opin- 
 ions concerning the twoe former bookes (the second of w'^*' 
 beginneth at these wordes of the Charter : And forasmuche 
 as our intente is to establish one equall and uniforme kinde 
 of Government over all Virginia,'"&^) w ^ the whole Assem- 
 bly, because it vv-as late, deferred to treatt of till the next 
 morning. 
 
 Satturday, July 31'*. 
 
 The nexte day therefore out of the Opinions of the said 
 Comitties, it was agreed, these petitions ensuing, should be 
 framed to be presented to the Treasurer, Counsell & Compa- 
 ny in England. Upon the Comittie's perusall of the first 
 booke, the General Assembly doe become most humble Suit- 
 curs to their Lo''', and to the rest of that lion''''' Counsell 
 and renowned Company, that albeit they have bene pleased 
 to allotte unto the Gov', to themselves, together w"' the 
 Counsell of Estate here, and to the Officers of Incorpora- 
 tions certain large portions of lande to be layde out w^^nthe 
 limits of the same ; yet they woulde vouchsafe alsoe, that 
 suche groundes as heretofore had bene granted by patent to 
 the antient Planters by former Governours, that had from 
 the Company received comiss" so to doe, might not nowe, 
 after so muche labour and coste, and so manyyeares habita- 
 tion be taken from them. And to the ende that no man 
 might doe or suffer any wrong in this kinde, that they 
 woulde favour us so muche (if they mean to graunte this our 
 petition) as to sende us notice, what comission or authority 
 for graunting of landes they have given to each particular 
 Governour in times paste. 
 
 The second petition of the Generall Assembly framed by 
 the Comitties out of the second book is : That the Treas- 
 
342 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
 
 urcr & Company in England, would be pleased w'^ as miicbe 
 convenient speed as may be, to sende men bitber to occupie 
 tbeir landes belonging to the fower Incorporations, as well for 
 tbeir own beboofe and profitt, as for tbe maintenance of tbe 
 Counsell of Estate, who are nowe to tbeir extream binderance, 
 often drawen far from tbeir private busines, & likewise tbat 
 tbey will bave a care to sende tenants to tbe Ministers of 
 tbe fower Incorporations to manure tbeir gleab ; to tbe in- 
 tent tbat tbe allowance tbey bave allotted tbem, of £200 
 a yeare, may tbe more easily be raised. 
 
 Tbe tbirde petition bumbly presented by tbis Generall 
 Assembly, to tbe Treasurer, Counsell & Company is, tbat it 
 may plainly be expressed in tbe great Comission (as indeed 
 it is not) tbat tbe ancient planters of botb sortes, viz : such 
 as before Sir Thomas Dale's departure were come bitber 
 upon tbeir owne chardges, and sucbe also as were brought 
 hither upon tbe Companie's coste, maye have tbeir second, 
 third, and more divisions successively in as lardge and free 
 manner as any other Planters. Also, tbat tbey wilbe pleased 
 to allowe to tbe male children of them, and of all others be- 
 gotten in Virginia, being the onely hope of a posterity, a 
 single share apiece, and shares for tbeir wives as for them- 
 selves ; because that in a newe plantation, it is not kuowen 
 whether man or woman be the most necessary. 
 
 Their fourth petition is to beseech tbe Treasurer, Coun- 
 sell & Company that tbey would be pleased to appoint a 
 Sub-Tresurer here, to collect their rentes, to the ende the 
 inhabitants of this Colony be not tyed to an impossibility of 
 paying the same yearly to tbe Treasurer in England ; and 
 that they would enjoine tbe said Sub-Treasurer not jirecisely 
 according to the letter of the Charter, to exacte mony of us, 
 (wliereof we bave none at all, as we bave no minte,) but tbe 
 true value of the rente in comodity. 
 
 The lifte petition is to beseech the Treasurer, Counsell 
 and Company that towards the erecting of the University and 
 College, they will sende when tbey shall thinke most conve- 
 nient, workmen of all sortes fitt for that purpose. 
 
 Tbe sixte and laste is, they wilbe pleased to change tbe 
 savage name of Kiccowtan, and to give that incorporation a 
 newe name. 
 
 These are tbe severall Petitions drawen by the Comit- 
 ties out of the two former bookes ; w*'*' tbe whole General 
 Assembly, in manner and forme above sette down, doe most 
 
FIRST ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA. 343 
 
 humbly offer up and presente to the favourable construction 
 of the Treasurer, Counsell, and Conipany in England. 
 
 These petitions thus concluded on, those twoe Comitties 
 brought in a report, what they had observed in the twoe 
 latter bookes, w'''^ was nothing else, but that the perfection 
 of them was suche, as they could finde nothing therein sub- 
 ject to exception. Onely the Gov'" particular opinion to my 
 selfe in private hathe bene, as touching a clause in the third 
 booke, that in these doubtfull times between us and the In- 
 dians, it would behoove us not to make so lardge distances 
 between Plantation and Plantation as ten miles, but for our 
 more strength and security to drawe nearer together. 
 
 At the same time there remaining no farther scruple in 
 the mindes of the Assembly touching the said Great Char- 
 ter of lawes, orders, and priviledges, the Speaker putt the same 
 to the question ; and so it had both the general assent, and 
 the applause of the whole Assembly ; who as they professed 
 themselves in the first place, most submissively thaukfull to 
 Almighty God, therefor, so they comaunded the S]3eaker 
 to returne (as nowe he doth) their due and humble thanks to 
 the Treasurer, Counsell & Company, for so many priviledges 
 & favours, as well in their owne names, as in the names of 
 the whole Colony whom they represented. 
 
 This being dispatched, we fell once more to debating of 
 suche instructions given by the Counsell, in England, to sev- 
 eral Gov as might be converted into lawes, the last whereof 
 was the establishment of the price of Tobacco, namely : of 
 the best at 3s., and of the second at 18d. the pounde. 
 At the reading of this the Assembly thought good to send 
 for M'. Abraham Persey, the Cape Marchant, to publishe 
 this instruction to him, and to demaunde of him, if he knewe 
 any impediment, why it might not be admitted of ? His 
 answer was, that he had not as yet received any suche order 
 from the adventurers of the Magazin in England. And 
 notw^'^standing he sawe the authority was good, yet was he 
 unwilling to yield, till suche time as the Gov'. & Assembly 
 had layd their comandement upon him, out of the authority 
 of the foresaid Instructions, as followeth : 
 
 By the General Assembly. 
 
 We will and require you, Mr. Abraham Persey, Cape 
 Marchant, from this daye forward to take notice, that accord- 
 ing to an article in the Instructions, confirmed by the Treas- 
 
344 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
 
 surer, Counsell and Company in England, at a general quar- 
 ter Courfce, both by voices, and under their hand sand co- 
 mon scale, and given to Sir George Yeardley, Knight, this 
 present Governour, Decemb. 1, 1618, that jon are bounde 
 to accepte of the Tobacco of the Colony, either for commo- 
 dities or upon billes, at three shillings the beste, and the 
 second sorte at ISd. the pounde ; and this shalbe your suf- 
 ficient dischardge. 
 
 James Citt^^^out of the said General Assembly, July 31'' 
 1619. 
 
 At the same time the Instructions convertible intolawes 
 were referred to the consideration of the above named Com- 
 mitties, viz : The General Instructions to the first Commit- 
 tie, and the particular Instructions to the second, to bo re- 
 turned by them into the Assembly on Monday Morng. 
 
 Sunday, Aug. 1. 
 Mr. Shelley, one of the Burgesses, deceased. 
 
 Monday, Aug. 2. 
 
 Captaine John Martin (according to the Sumons sent 
 him on Fryday, July 30), made his personall appearance at 
 the barre ; when as the Speaker having first read unto him 
 the Orders of the Assembly that concerned him, he pleaded 
 lardgely for himselfe to them both, and indevoured to an- 
 swere some other things that were objected against his Pat- 
 ente. In fine being demanded out of the former order, wheth- 
 er he would quitte that clause of his Patente w'^'^ (quite oth- 
 erwise then Sir William Throckmorton's, Captain Christo- 
 pher Lawnes, and other men's patentes) exempteth himselfe 
 and his people from all services of the Colonic, excepte one- 
 ly in case of warre against a forren or domesticall enemie : 
 his answer was negative ; that he would not infringe 
 any part of his Patente, whereupon it was resolved by the 
 Assembly, that his Burgesses should have no admittance. 
 To the second Order, his answere was affirmative, namely : 
 that (his Patent not\v"'standing) whensoever he should sende 
 into the baye to trade, he would be contente to putt in se- 
 curity to the Gov' for the good behaviour of his people to- 
 wards the Indians. 
 
 It was at the same time farther ordered by the Assembly 
 that the Speaker in their names should (as he nowe doth) 
 humbly demaunde of the Treasurer, Counsell, and Company, 
 
FIRST ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA. 345 
 
 an exposition of this one clause in Capt. Martin's Patente, 
 namely where it is saide. That he is to enjoy his landes in as 
 larsje and ample manner to all intentes and purposes, as any 
 lord of any manours in England doth holcle his grounde ; 
 out of w'^'' some have collected, that he might by the same 
 graunte, protecte men from paying their debtes, and fi'om di- 
 verse other dangers of lavve. The least the Assembly can 
 alledge against this clause, is, that it is obscure, and that it 
 is a thing impossible for us here to knowe the prerogatives 
 of all the manours in Englande, 
 
 The Assembly therefore humbly beseecheth their Lo^', 
 and the rest of that hon"'' bourde ; that in case they shall find 
 any thing in this or in any other parte of his graunte, where- 
 by that clause towardes the conclusion of the great charter, 
 (viz : that all grauntes, as well of the one sorte as the other, 
 respectively be made w"" equall favor, and graunts of like 
 liberties and immunities as neer as may be, to the ende that 
 all complainte of partiality and unindifierency, may be avoid- 
 ed) might in any sorte be contradicted, or the uniformity 
 and equality of lawes and orders extending over the whole 
 Colony, might be impeached ; That they would be pleased 
 to remove any such hinderance, as may diverte out of the 
 true course, the free & publique current of justice. 
 
 Upon the same grounde and reason, their Lo'" together 
 with the rest of the Counsell and Company are humbly be- 
 sought by this Generall Assembly, that if in that other clause 
 which exempteth Captain Martin and his people frona all ser- 
 vices of the Colony, &c., they shall fmde any resistance against 
 that equality and uniibrmity of lawes and orders intended 
 nowc by them to be established over the whole Colony, that 
 they would be pleased to reforme it. 
 
 In fine, wheras Capt. Martin, for those ten shares al- 
 lowed him for his personall adventure, and for his adventure 
 of £70, besides, doth claim 500 acres a share ; that the 
 Treasurer, Counsell, & Company woulde vouchsafe to give 
 notice to the Governour here, what kinde of shares they 
 meante he should have when they gave him his Patent, 
 
 The Premisses about Captaine Martin thus resolved, the 
 Committies appointed to consider what Instructions are fitt 
 to be converted into lawes, brought in their opinions and 
 first of some of the general Instructions. 
 
 Here begin the lawes drawen out of the Instruc- 
 tions given by His Ma''*^' Counsell of Virginia in 
 
346 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
 
 England to my Lo, La Warre, Capt. Argall, & Sir 
 George Yeardley, Knt. 
 
 By this present generall Assembly be it enacted, tliat no 
 injury or oppression be wrought by the Euglishe against the 
 Indians wherby the present peace might be disturbed, and 
 ancient quarrells might be revived. And farther be it or- 
 dained, that the Chicohomini are not to be excepted out of this 
 lawe ; untill either that suche order come out of Englande, 
 or that they doe provoke us by some newe Injury. 
 
 Against Idlenes, Gaming and durunkenes, and excesse 
 in a])parell, the Assembly hath enacted as followeth : 
 
 First in detestation of Idlenes, be it enacted, that if any 
 man be founde to live as an Idler, or runagate, though a freed- 
 man, it shalbe lawful! for that Incorporation or Plantation to 
 w'^'^ he belongeth, to appoint him a M'- to serve for wages till 
 he shewe apparant signes of amendment. 
 
 Against gaming at dice and cardes be it ordained by this 
 present Assembly, that the winner or winners, shall loose all 
 his or their winninges, and both winners and loosers shall 
 forfaicte ten shillings a man, one ten shillings wherof to go 
 to the discoverer, and the rest to charitable and pious uses 
 in the Incorporation where the faulte is comitted. 
 
 Against drunkenes be it also decreed, that if any private 
 person be found culpable therof, for the first time he is to 
 be reprooved privately by the Minister, the second time pub- 
 liquely ; the thirde time to lye in boltes 12 bowers in the 
 House of the Provost Marshall, & to paye his fee ; and if he 
 still continue in that vice, to undergo suche severe punish- 
 ment as the Govern & Counsell of Estate shall thinkc fitt to 
 be inflicted on him. But if any Officer offende in this crime, 
 the first time he shall receive a reproof from the Governour ; 
 the second time he shall openly be reprooved in the churche 
 by the Minister ; and the third time he shall first be co- 
 mitted and then degraded. Provided it be understood that 
 the Gov' hath always power to restore him, when he shall 
 in his discretion thinke fitt. 
 
 Against excesse in apparell ; that every man be cessed in 
 the churche for all publique contributions, if he be unmarried, 
 according to his owne apparell ; if he be married, according 
 to his owne and bis wives, or either of their apparell. 
 
 As touching the instructions of drawing some of the bet- 
 ter disposed of the Indians to converse w"^ our people, & to 
 live and labour amongst them, the Assembly who knowe well 
 
FIRST ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA. ■ 347 
 
 their dispositions, thinke it fitte to enjoine at least to coiin- 
 sell those of the Colony, neither utterly to rejecte them, nor 
 yet to drawe them to come in. 
 
 But in case they will of themselves come voluntarily to 
 places well peopled, there to doe service, in killing of Deere, 
 fishing, beatting of corne, and other workes ; that then five 
 or six may be admitted into every suche place, and no more 
 — and that w^*^ the consente of the Grovernour. Provided, 
 that goode guarde in the night be kept upon them : for 
 generally (though some amongst many proove good) they 
 are a most trecherous people, and quickly gone when 
 they have done a villany. And it were fitte a house were 
 builte for them to lodge in aparte by themselves, and lone 
 inhabitants by no means to entertaine them. 
 
 Be it enacted by this present Assembly, that for laying a 
 surer foundation of the conversion of the Indians to Chris- 
 tian Eeligion, cache towne, Citty, Burrough, and particular 
 plantation do obtaine unto themselves by just meanes, a cer- 
 taine number of the natives children, to be educated by them 
 in true religion and a civile course of life. Of which children 
 the most towardly boyes in witt and graces of nature to be 
 brought up by them in the firste elements of litterature, so 
 as to be fitted for the Colledge intended for them ; that from 
 thence they may be sente to that worl^e of conversion. 
 
 As touching the busines of planting corne, this present 
 Assembly doth ordaine, that yeare by yeare all and every 
 householder and householders have in store for every servant 
 he or they shall keep, and also for his or their owne persons, 
 whether they have any servants or no, one spare barrell of 
 corne to be delivered out yearly either upon sale or exchange 
 as need shall require. 
 
 For the neglecte of which duty he shalbe subjecte to the 
 censure of the Governour and Counsell of Estate. Provided 
 alwayes, that for the first yeare of every newe man this lawe 
 shall not be of force. 
 
 About the plantation of Mulbery Trees, be it enacted, 
 that every man, as he is seatted upon his division, doe for 
 seven yeares together, every yeare plante and maintaine in 
 growth, sixe Mulberry trees at the leaste, and as many more 
 as he shall thinke conveniente, and as his virtue and indus- 
 try shall moove him to plante ; and that all suche persons 
 as shall neglecte the yearly planting and maintaining o 
 
348 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
 
 that small proportion, slialbe subjecte to the censure of the 
 Governour and Counsell of Estate. 
 
 Be it farther enacted, as concerning silke flaxe, that those 
 men that are upon their division or setled habitation, doe 
 this nexte yeare plante and dresse 100 plantes, w"^ being 
 founde a coraodity, may farther be increased. And who- 
 soever doe faile in performance of this, shalbe subjecte to the 
 punishment of the Governour and Counsell of Estate. 
 
 For herape also both Englishe & Indian, and for Eng- 
 lish flaxe and Anniseeds, we do require and enjoine all house- 
 holders of this Colony that have any of those seedes, to make 
 tryal thereof the nexte season. 
 
 Moreover, be it enacted by this present Assembly, that 
 every householder doe yearly plante and maintaine ten vines, 
 untill they have attained to the arte and experience of dress- 
 ing a Vineyard, either by their owne industry, or by the 
 Instruction of some Vigneron. And that upon what penalty 
 soever the Governour & Counsell of Estate shall thinkc fitt 
 to impose upon the neglecters of this acte. 
 
 Be it also enacted, that all necc ssary tradesmen, or so 
 many as need shall require, such as are come over since the 
 dejDarture of Sir Tho'- Dale, or that shall hereafter come, 
 shall worke at their trades for any other man, cache one be- 
 ing payde according fo the quality of his trade and worke, 
 to be estimated if he shall not be contented, by the Govern- 
 our and ofiicers of the place where he wovketh. 
 
 Be it farther ordained by this General Assembly, and we 
 doe by these presents enacte, that all Contractes made in 
 England between the Owners of lande, and their Tenants 
 and Servants w''*' they shall sende hither, may be caused to 
 be duely performed, and that the offenders be punished as 
 the Governour and Counsell of Estate shall thinkc just and 
 convenient. 
 
 Be it established also by this present Assembly, that no 
 crafty nor advantagious meanes be suffered to be putt in 
 practise for the inticing awaye the Tenants or Servants of 
 any particular plantation, from the place where they are 
 seatted. And that it shalbe the duty of the Governour and 
 Counsell of Estate, most severely to imnishe bothe the sedu- 
 cers and the seduced ; and to return these latter into their 
 former ])laces. 
 
 Be it farther enacted, that the orders for the Magazin 
 lately made, be exactly kepte, and that the Magazin be pre- 
 
FIRST ASSEMBLY OP VIRGINIA. 349 
 
 preserved from wronoj and sinister practises, and that accord- 
 ing to the orders of courte in Enci^lande, all Tobacco and 
 Sassafras to be brought by the Planters to the Cape Mar- 
 chant, till such time as all the goodes nowe or heretofore 
 sent for the Magazin, be taken off their handes at the prices 
 agreed on. That by this means the same going for Englande 
 into one hande, the price thereof may be uphelde the better. 
 And to the ende that all the whole Colony may take notice 
 of the last Order of Courte made in Englande, and all those 
 whom it concerned! may knowe howe to observe it, we holde 
 it titt to publishe it here for a lawc among the rest of our 
 lawes. The w'^'' Order is as followeth. 
 
 Upon the 26th of October 1618, it was ordered that the 
 Magazin should continue during the terme formerly pre- 
 fixed ; and that certain abuses now complained of should be 
 reformed ; and that for preventing of all Impositions, save 
 the allowance of 25 in the hundred proffitt, the Govornour 
 shall have an Invoice as well as the Cape Marchant ; that if 
 any abuse in the sale of the goods be offred, hee upon intel- 
 lio'cnce and due examination thereof, shall see it correct- 
 ed. And for the incouragement of particular hundreds, as 
 Smvthe's hundred, Martin's hundred, Lawne's hundred, and 
 the'like, it is agreed that what comodities are reaped upon 
 anie of these several Colonies, it shalbj^ lawfull for them to 
 returne the same to their owne adventurers. Provided, that 
 the said comodity be of their owne growing, w"^out trading 
 w**" any other, in one entyre lumpe, and not dispersed ; and 
 that at the determination of the jointe stocke the goods then 
 remaining in the Magazin, shall be bought by the said par- 
 ticular Colonies before any other goods w shalbe sent by 
 private men. And it was moreover ordered, that if the Lady 
 La Warre, the Lady Dale, Capt. Bargrave, and the rest 
 would unite themselves into a setled Colony, they might be 
 capiible of the same priviledges that are graunted to any of 
 the foresaid hundreds. Hitherto the Order. 
 
 And the Greneral Assembly by voices concluded, not onely 
 the acceptance and observation of this Order, but of the In- 
 struction also to Sir Geo. Yeardley, next preceding the same. 
 Provided first, that the Cape Marchant do accepte of the 
 Tobacco of all and everie the Planters here in Virginia, 
 either for goodes or upon billes of exchange at three shillings 
 the pounde the beste, and 18''- the second sorte. Provided, 
 also, that the billes be duly payde in England. Provided 
 
350 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
 
 in the third place, that if any other besides the Magazin 
 have at any time any necessary comodity w'^'' the Magazin 
 doth waute, it shall and may be lawfuU for any of the Colo- 
 ny to buye the said necessary comodity of the said party, 
 but upon the termes of the Magazin, viz : allowing no more 
 gaine then 25 in the hundred, and that w"^ the leave of the 
 Governour. Provided lastely, that it may be lawfull for the 
 Governour to give leave to an}^ Mariner or any other person 
 that shall have any suche necessary comodity, wanting to 
 the Magazin to carrie home for Eno-land so mucne Tobacco, 
 or other naturall comoditiesof the Country as his Customers 
 shall pay him for the said necessary comodity or como- 
 dities. 
 
 And to the ende we may not onely persuade and incite 
 men, but inforce them also thoroughly and loyally to cure 
 their Tobacco, before they bring it to the Magazin ; be it 
 enacted, and by these presents we doe enacte, that if upon 
 the judgement of fower sufficient men of any Incorporation 
 where the Magazin shall reside, (having first taken their 
 Oathes to give true sentence, tvvoe whereof to be chosen by 
 the Cape Marchant, and twoe b}'' the Incorporation) any To- 
 bacco whatsoever shall not prove vendible at the second 
 price, that it shall there imediately be burnt before the 
 owner's face. Hitherto suche lawes as were drawen out of 
 the Instructions. 
 
 Tuesday, Aug. 3"^- 1619. 
 
 This morning a third sorte of lawes (such as might pro- 
 ceed out of every man's private conceipte) were read and re- 
 ferred by halves to the same Comitties w''^ were from the 
 beginning. 
 
 This done, Capt. William Powell presented to the As- 
 sembly a petition, to have justice against a lewde and trech- 
 erous servant of his ; who by false accusation given up in 
 writing to the Governour, sought not onely to gett him de- 
 posed from his government of James Citty, and utterly (ac- 
 cording to the Proclamation) to be degraded from the place 
 and title of a Captaine ; but to take his life from him also. 
 And so out of the said Petition sprang this order following : 
 
 Captaine William Powell presented a Petition to the 
 Generall Assembly, against one Thomas Garnett, a Servant 
 of his, not onely for extreame neglect of his busines, to the 
 great losse and prejudice of the said Captaine, & for openly 
 
FIRST ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA. 351 
 
 and impudently abusing his house in sight both of Master 
 and Mistresse, through wantonness w*"^ a woman servant of 
 theirs, a widdowe ; but also for felsely accusing him to the 
 Governour, both of Drunkenes and Thefte, and besides for 
 bringing all his fellow servants to certifie on his side, Avher- 
 in they justly failed him. It was thought fitt by the Ge«i- 
 eral Assembly (the Governour himselfe giving sentence) that 
 he should stande fewer days with his eares nayled to the Pil- 
 lory, viz : Wednesday, Augt. 4'^ and so likewise, Thursday, 
 Fryday and Saturday next following ; and every of those 
 fower dayes should be publiquely whipped. 
 
 Now as touching the neglecte of his worke, what satis- 
 faction ought to be made to his M'- for that, is referred to 
 the Governour and Counsell of Estate. 
 
 The same morning the Lawes above written, drawen out 
 of the Instructions were read, and one by one throughly 
 examined, and then passed once againe the generall consente 
 of the whole Assembly. 
 
 This afternoon the Coraitties brought in areporte, what 
 they had done as concerning the third sorte of lawes ; the 
 discussing whereof spente the residue of that daye. Excepte 
 onely the consideration of a petition of Mr. John Rolfes 
 against Captain John Martine, for writing a letter to him, 
 wherein (as Mr. Rolfe alledgeth) he taxeth him both unseem- 
 ingly and amisse of certaine things wherein he was never 
 faulty, and besides casteth some aspersion upon the present 
 government, w"*^ is the most temperate and juste that ever 
 was in this country, too milde indeed for many of this Colony, 
 whom unwoonted liberty hath made insolente and not to 
 knowe themselves. This petition of Mr, Rolfes was thought 
 fitt to be referred to the Counsell of iState. 
 
 Wednesday, Aug. 4*''- 
 
 This daye (by reason of extream heat both paste and 
 likely to ensue, and by that meanes, of the alteration 
 of the healthes of diverse of the General Assembly) the 
 Governour, who himself also was not well, resolved should 
 be the laste of this firste Session. So in the morniu": 
 the Speaker (as he was required by the Assembly) redd 
 over all the lawes and orders that had formerly passed 
 the House, to give the same yett one reviewe more 
 and to see whether there were anything to be amended, 
 
352 PROCEEDINGS OF THE" 
 
 or that might be excepted againste. This being clone, the 
 third sorte of lawes, w"'' I am now coming to sett downe, 
 were read over and throughly discussed ; w"^"^ together with 
 the former did nowe passe the laste and finall consente of the 
 General Assembly. 
 
 A Thirde sorte of Lawes, suche as maye issue 
 out of every mans privat conceipt. 
 
 It shalbe free for every man to trade w'*' the Indians, 
 servants onely excepted, upon paine of whipping, unlesse the 
 M'' will redeeme it off with the payment of an Angell ; one 
 fourth parte whereof to go to the Provost Marshall, one 
 fourth parte to the Discoverer and the other moyty to the 
 publiqueuses of the Incorporation. 
 
 That no man do sell or give any of the greatter howes to 
 the Indians, or any Englishe dog of quality, as a Mastive, 
 Greyhound, ~ Bloodhounde, lande or water ypaniell, or any 
 other dog or bitche whatsoever of the Englishe race, upon 
 paine of forfaiting £5 steiling to the publique uses of the 
 Incorporation where he dwelleth. 
 
 That no man doe sell or give any Indians any piece, shott, 
 or poulder, or any other amies offensive or def(^nsive, upon 
 paine of being helde a Traytour to the Colony, and of being 
 hanged, so soon as the facte is proved, w%ut all redemption. 
 
 That no man may go above twenty miles from his dwel- 
 ling place, nor upon any voiage whatsoever shalbe absent 
 from thence, for the space of seven days together, w"'out 
 first having made the Governour or Comander of the same 
 place acquainted therewith upon paine of paying twenty 
 shillings to the publique uses of the same Incorporation, 
 where the party delinquent dwelleth. 
 
 That no man shall i)urposely goe to any Indian townes, 
 habitations, or places of resorte, w%ut leave from the Go- 
 vernour, or Coniand'', of that place where he liveth, upon 
 paine of paying 40s to publique uses as aforesaid. 
 
 That no man living in this Colony, but shall betweu this 
 and the first of January nexte ensuing come or sonde to the 
 Secretary of Estate, to enter his owne and all his servants 
 names, and for what terme, or upon what conditions they are 
 to serve, upon penalty of paying 40' to the said Secretary of 
 Estate. 
 
 Also whatsoever M" or people do come over to this plan- 
 tation, that within one moneth of their arrivall (notice being 
 
FIRST ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA. 353 
 
 first given tliem of this very lawe) they shall likewise resorte 
 to the Secretary of Estate, and shall certifie him upon what 
 termes or conditions they he come hither, to the ende that he 
 may recorde their graunts and Comissions, and for how long 
 time, and upon what conditions their servants (in case 
 they have any) are to serve them, and that upon painc of the 
 penalty nexte above mentioned. 
 
 All Ministers in the Colony shall once ayeare, namely in 
 the moneth of Marche, bring to the Secretary of Estate a 
 true account of all christenings, burials, and Marriages, upon 
 paine, if they foile, to be censured for their negligence by the 
 Governour and Counsell of Estate. Likewise where there be 
 no Ministers that the Coinanders of that i3lace doe supply 
 the same duty. 
 
 No man w"'out leave from the Governour, shall kill any 
 Neatt-cattle whatsoever, young oroide, especially kine, Hey- 
 fars, or Cowe-Calves, and shall be careful to preserve their 
 Steeres and Oxen, and to bring them to the plough, and such 
 proffitablc uses, and w"'out having obtained leave as afore- 
 said, shall not kill them upon penalty of forfaiting the value 
 of the beast so killed. 
 
 Whosoever shall take any of his neighbours boates, oares 
 or Canoas, w"' out leave from the owner, shallbe helde and es- 
 teemed as a felon, and so proceeded against. Also liee that 
 shall take away by violence, or stelth any Canoas or other 
 thinges from the Indians, shall make valuable restitution to 
 the said Indians ; and shall forfaict, if he be a freeholder five 
 pound, if a servant 40 or endure a whipping. And anything 
 under the value of 13'" ob shall be accounted Petty larceny. 
 
 All Ministers shall duely read Divine service, and exercise 
 their ministerial function,according tothcEcclesiasticall lawes 
 and orders of the churche of Englande, and every Sunday in 
 the afternoon shall catechize suche as are not yet ripe to come 
 to the Comunion. And whosoever of them shall be found 
 negligent or faulty in this kinde, shalbe subject to the cen- 
 sure of the Governor and Counsell of Estate. 
 
 The Ministers and Churchwardens shall seeke to presente 
 all ungodly disorders ; the Comittees whereof, if upon good 
 admonitions and milde reprooff they will not forbeare the said 
 skandalous offenses, as suspicions of whordomes, dishonest 
 Company-keeping with weomen and suche like, they are to 
 be presented and punished acccordingly. 
 
 If any person, after two warnings do not amende his or 
 
 SECOND SERIES. — VOL. III. 23 
 
354 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
 
 her life, in point of evident suspicion of Incontinency, or of 
 the Comission of any other Enormous suines ; that then he 
 or shee be presented by the Churchewardens, and suspended 
 for a time from the Churche by the Minister. In vf"^ Interim 
 if the same person do not amende, and humbly submitt him 
 or herselfe to the Churche, he is then fully to be excomuni- 
 cate, and soon after a Writt or Warrant to be sente from the 
 Governour for the apprehending of his person and seizing on all 
 his goods. Provided alwayes that all the Ministers doe meet 
 once a quarter, namely at the feast of St. Michael the Ark- 
 angell, of the Nativity of our Saviour, of the Annuntiation of 
 the blessed Virgine, and about Midsomer, at James Citt}^, or 
 any other place where the Governour shall reside, to deter- 
 mine whom it is fitt to excomunicate, and that they first 
 presente their opinion to the Governour ere they proceed to 
 the acte of excomunication. 
 
 For reformation of swearing every Freeman and M of a 
 family after thrise admonition, shall give 5' or the value upon 
 present demande, to the use of the Church, where he "dwell- 
 eth, and every servant, after the like admonition, except his 
 M' dischardge the fine, shalbe subject to whipping. Provided 
 that the payment of the fine not'^'^'standing the said servant 
 shall acknowledge his faulte publiquely in the Churche. 
 
 No man whatsoever, coming by water from above, as from 
 Henrico, Charles Citty, or any place from the Westwarde of 
 James Citty, & being bound for Kicowtan, or any other parte 
 on this side the same, shall presume to passe by, either by 
 day or by night w^'out touching firste here at James Citty, 
 to knowe whether the Governour will comande him any ser- 
 vice. And the like shall they performe that come from 
 Kiccowtan-ward, or from any place between this and that, to 
 go upwarde ; upon painc of forfaiting ten pound sterling a 
 time to the Governour. 
 
 Provided that if a servant having had instructions from 
 his Master to observe this la we doe not'"*'standing transgresse 
 the same, that then the said servant shal be punished at the 
 Governours discretion : otherwise that the Master himselfe 
 shall undergo the foresaid penalty. 
 
 No man shall have trade into the baye either in shallop, 
 • pinnace, or ship, w%ut the Governours license ; and with- 
 out putting in security that neither himselfe, nor his company 
 shall force or wrong the Indians, upon paine, that doing 
 
FIRST ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA. 255 
 
 otherwise, they shalbe censured at their returne by the Gov' 
 and Counsell of Estate. 
 
 All persons whatsoever upon the Sabaoth days, shall fre- 
 quente divine service and sermons both forenoon and after- 
 noon ; and all such as beare armes shall bring their pieces, 
 swordes, poulder, and shotte. And every one that shall 
 transgresse this lawe, shall forfeict three shillings a time to 
 the use of the Gdiurche, all lawfull and necessary impedi- 
 ments excepted. But if a servant in this case shall wilfully 
 neglecte his M'' comande, he shall suffer bodily punishmente. 
 
 No maide or woman servant, either now resident in the 
 Colonic, or hereafter to come shall contract herselfe in mar- 
 riage w'^''out either the consente of her parents, or of her M"" 
 or M'" or of the [Magistrat and Minister of the place both 
 together. And whatsoever Minister shall marry or contracte 
 any suche persons w'^out some of the foresaid consentes, shalbe 
 subject to the severe censure of the Gov' and Counsell of 
 Estate. 
 
 Be it enacted by this present Assembly that whatsoever 
 servant hath heretofore, or shall hereafter contracte himselfe 
 in Englande either by way of Indenture or otherwise, to serve 
 any Master here in Virginia, and shall afterward, againste 
 his said former contracte, departe from his M' w"'out leave, 
 or being once imbarked shall abandon the ship he is appointed 
 to come in, and so being lefte behinde, shall put himselfe into 
 the service of any other man that will bring hither : That 
 then at the same servants arrival here, he shall first serve out 
 his time with that M' that brought him hither, and after- 
 wards also shall serve out his time w"' his former M' accord- 
 ino; to his covenant. 
 
 Here ende ihe lawes. 
 
 All these lawes being thus concluded and consented to, 
 as aforesaid, Captaine Henry Spellman was called to the 
 barre, to answere to certaine misdcmeano'" layde to his 
 chardge, by Kobert Poole interpretour upon his oath, (whose 
 examination the Governour sente into England in the Pros- 
 perus) of w*^'^ accusations of Poole some he acknowledged for 
 true, but the greattest part he denyed. Whereupon the Gen. 
 Assembly having throughly heard and considered his speeches, 
 did constitute this order following against him. 
 
 August 4'^ 1619. 
 This day Captaine Henry Spellman, was convented before 
 the General Assembly, and was examined by a relation upon 
 
356 PEOCEEDINOS OF TEE 
 
 oatli of one Eobert Poole, Interpreter, what conference had 
 passed between the said Spelhnan and Opochancano, at 
 Pooles meeting with him at Opochancnnos conrte. Poole 
 chardgeth him, he spake verj'- unrevently and maliciously 
 against this present Grovernour, wherhy the honour and dig- 
 nity of his place and person, and so of the whole Colonie 
 might be brought into contempte, by w*^'' meanes what mis- 
 chiefs might ensue from the Indians by disturbance of the 
 peace or otherwise, may easily be conjectured. Some thinges 
 of this relation Spelman confessed ; but the most parte he 
 denyed, excepte onely one matter of importance ; and that 
 was, that he had informed Opochancano that w"^in a yeare, 
 there would come a Governour greatter than this that nowe is 
 in place. By w' *" and by other reportes it seemeth, he hath 
 alienated the minde of Opochancano from this present Gov- 
 ernour, & brought him in muche disesteem both w Opochan- 
 cano, and the Indians, and the whole Colony in danger of 
 their slippery dcsigues. 
 
 The General Assembly upon Pooles testimony onely not 
 willing to putt Spelman to the rigour and extremity of the 
 Lawe, w''' might perhaps both speedily and deservedly have 
 taken his life from him (upon the witnes of one whom he 
 muche excepted against) were pleased for the present to 
 censure him rather out of that his confession above written, 
 than out of any other proofe. Several and sharpe punish- 
 ments were pronounced against him by diverse of the assem- 
 bly. But in fine the v^hole Courte by voices united did 
 encline to the most favourable, w'^'' was, that for this his 
 misdemean"" he should first be degraded of his title of Captaine 
 at the head of the troupe, and should be condemned to per- 
 forme seven yeares service to the Colony, in the nature of an 
 Interpreter to the Governour. 
 
 This day also did the Inhabitants of Paspaheigh alias 
 Argallstowne presente a petition to the General Assembly to 
 give them an absolute dischardge from certain bondes, wherin 
 they stand bound to Captain Samuell Argall for the payment 
 of £600, and to Captain WiUiam Powell at Capt Argalls 
 appointment, for the payment of c€50, more. To Captaine 
 Argall for 15 shore acres of wooddy ground called by the 
 name of Argallstowne or Paspaheigh ; to Captaine Powell 
 in respect of his paines in clearing the grounde, and building 
 the Houses for w'^'' Capt, Argall ought to have given him 
 satisfiiction. Nowe the General Assembly being doubtful 
 
FIRST ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA. 357 
 
 whether they have any power and authority to dischardge 
 the said bondes, doe by these presentes (at the instance of 
 the said Inhabit'^ of Paspaheighs alias Martins hundred peo- 
 ple) become most humble sutours to the Tresurer, Coun- 
 sell, and Company in England, that they will be pleased to 
 gett the said bondes for £600 to be cancelled forasmuche as 
 in their great Comission they have expressely, and by name 
 appointed that place of Paspaheigh for parte of the Gover- 
 nours lande. 
 
 And whereas, Captaine William Powell is paide his £50 
 w''^ Capt Argall enjoined the saide Inhabitants to presente 
 him with, as part of the bargaine : the Generall Assembly 
 at their intreaty do become sutours on their behalfe that 
 Captaine Argall by the Counsell and Company in England 
 may be compelled cither to restore the said £50, from 
 thence, or else that restitution therof be made here, out of 
 the goods of the said Captaine Argall. 
 
 The last acte of the Generall Assembly was a contribution 
 to gratifie their officers, as followeth : — 
 
 August 4"^ 1619. 
 
 It is fully agreed at this Generall Assembly, that in re- 
 garde of the greate paincs and labour of the Speaker of the 
 Assembly (who not onely first formed the same Assembly and 
 to their great case and expedition, reduced all matters fo be 
 treatted of into a ready method, but also, his indisposition 
 nof'^'standing, wrote or dictated all orders and othei* expe- 
 dients, and is yett to write severall bookes, for all the several 
 Incorporations and Plantations, both of the great charter, and 
 of all the lawes), and likewise in respecte of the diligence of 
 the Clerke and Serircant Officers therto belonoins:. 
 
 That every man and man servant of above 16 yeares of 
 age, shall pay into the handos and custody of the Burgesses 
 of every Incorporation and Plantation, one pound of the best 
 tobacco, to be distributed to the Speaker, and likewise to the 
 Clerke and Sergeant of the Assembl}'', according to their 
 degrees and rankes, the whole bulke whereof to be delivered 
 into the Speakers handes, to be divided accordingly. 
 
 And in regard the Provost Marshall of James Citty hath 
 also given some attendance upon the said Generall Assembly, 
 he is also to have a share out of the same. And tliis is to 
 begin to be gathered the 24th of February nextc. 
 
 In conclusion the whole Assembly comanded the 
 
358 FIRST ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 Speaker (as nowe lie cloth) to present their humble excuse 
 to the Tresurer, Counsell and Company in England, for 
 being constrained by the intemperature of the weather, and 
 the falling sicke of diverse of the Burgesses, to breake up so 
 abruptly, before they had so muche as putt their lawes to the 
 ingrossing. This they wholly comitted in the fidelity of their 
 Speaker, who therin (his conscience telles him) hath done 
 the parte of an honest man. Otherwise he would easily be 
 founde out by the Burgesses themselves, who w**" all expe- 
 dition are to have so many bookes of the same lawes as 
 there be both Incorporations and Plantations, in the Colony. 
 
 In the second place the Assembly doth most humbly 
 crave pardon, that in so shorte a space they could bring 
 their matter to no more perfection, being for the present 
 enforced to sende home Titles rather then Lawes, Proposi- 
 tions rather then Kesolutions, Atteraptes then Atchievements: 
 hoping their courtesy will accepte our poore indevour and 
 their wisedome will be ready to supporte the weaknes of this 
 little flocke. 
 
 Thirdly, the General Assembly doth humbly beseech the 
 said Treasurer, Counsell, and Company that albeit it be- 
 longeth to them onely to allowe or to abrogate any lawes 
 w'^'^' we shall here inacte, and that it is their right so to doe ; 
 yet that it would please them not to take it in ill parte, if 
 these* lawes w*^^ we have nowe brought to light, do passe 
 current, and be of force, till suche time as we may knowe 
 their farther pleasure out of Englande : for otherwise this 
 people (who nowe at length have got the raines of former 
 servitude into their owne swindge) would in shorte timegrowe 
 so insolent, as they would shake off" all government, and 
 there would be no living among them. 
 
 Their last humble suite is, that the said Counsell and 
 Company would be pleased, so soon as they shall finde it 
 convenient, to make good their promise sett down at the 
 conclusion of their comission for estabhshing the Counsell 
 of Estate and the General Assembly ; namely, that they 
 will give us power to allowe or disallowe of their orders of 
 Courte, as his Ma'^ hath given them power to allow or 
 rejecte our Lawes. 
 
 In sume Sir George Yeardley, the Governour, prorogued 
 the said General Assembly till the firste of Marche, which is 
 to fall out this present yeare of 1619, and in the mean 
 season dissolved the same. — Finis. 
 
 )o 
 
NOTICE. 
 
 The second part of the present volume will contain " The Duke of 
 York's Charter of Liberties and Priviledgcs to the Inhabitants of New- 
 York, anno 1683. With Ads of the Assembly of that Year, and the 
 year 1684. From the original MSS. in the office of the Secretary of 
 State. With an Introduction and Notes by George H. Moore. A 
 copious General Index will also be given to all the previous publications 
 of the Society, viz. : 
 
 I. Collcdions. Firft Series, . . . . c vols. 
 
 [Including Smith's History of New York.] 
 II. Colledions. Second Series, . . . . 5 " 
 [Vols. IV. & V.^ will be devoted to the 
 Catalogue of the Library, etc., now in press.] 
 III. Proceedings. From 1843 to 1849, inclusive, , 7 vols.