To the citizens they wrote,
A ferry was established to convey passengers from one side of the river to the other. The licensed ferryman was bound to keep suitable boats and also a lodge on each side of the river to protect passengers from the weather. The toll established by law, was for a wagon and two horses one dollar; for a wagon and one horse eighty cents; a savage, male or female, thirty cents; each other person fifteen cents.
When Stuyvesant was preparing to defend New Netherland from the English, he encountered another great annoyance. It will be remembered that the Swedish government claimed the territory on the South, or Delaware river, upon which the Dutch governor had erected Fort Casimir. Gerrit Bikker was in command of the fort, with a garrison of twelve men. On the morning of the first of June, 1654, a strange sail was seen in the offing. A small party was sent out in a boat, to reconnoitre. They returned with the tidings that it was a Swedish ship full of people, with a new governor; and that they had come to take possession of the place, affirming that the fort was on land belonging to the Swedish government.
Bikker with his small garrison, and almost destitute of ammunition, could make no resistance. Twenty or thirty soldiers landed from the Swedish ship, entered the open gate of the fort and took possession of the place. John Rising the commander of the ship, stated that he was obeying the orders of his government; that the territory belonged to Sweden, and that neither the States-General of the Netherlands nor the West India Company had authorized Governor Stuyvesant to erect a fort upon that spot.
The garrison was disarmed, two shotted guns were fired over the works in token of their capture, and the name of the fort was changed to Trinity, as it was on Trinity Sunday that the fort was taken. A skilful engineer immediately employed many hands in strengthening the ramparts. The region was called New Sweden, and John Rising assumed his office as governor. Courteously he sent word to Governor Stuyvesant of his arrival and of his capture of the forts. He also summoned the chiefs of the neighboring tribes and entered into a treaty of friendship with them. Within a month he announced to the home government that the population of New Sweden had risen to three hundred and sixty-eight. "I hope," he added,
Governor Stuyvesant was very indignant, in view of what he deemed the pusillanimous conduct of Bikker in "this dishonorable surrender of the fort." It was in vain for him to attempt its recovery. But with an eagle eye and an agitated mind he watched for an opportunity to retaliate.
About the middle of September, a Swedish ship, the Golden Shark, bound for the Delaware river, under command of Captain Elswyck, entered Sandy Hook and anchored behind Staten Island. The captain had made a mistake and supposed that he had entered the mouth of South river. Discovering his error, he sent a boat up to Manhattan for a pilot.
Stuyvesant's long-looked-for hour had come. He arrested the boat's crew, and sent them all to the guard-house. He also seized the Shark and transferred her cargo to the Company's magazine on shore. He then sent a courteous message to Governor Rising, at New Sweden, inviting him to visit New Amsterdam, "to arrange and settle some unexpected differences." He promised him a hospitable reception, but declared that he should detain the Swedish ship and cargo, "until a reciprocal restitution shall have been made." Governor Rising declined the invitation, not deeming it judicious to place himself so effectually in the power of his impetuous antagonist.
Upon the capture of fort Casimir, Governor Stuyvesant had immediately sent word of the occurrence to the Amsterdam Directors. In November he received their reply. It was, in brief, as follows:
Stuyvesant adopted vigorous measures to cooperate with the little fleet upon its arrival, in its warfare against New Sweden. The 25th of August, 1655, was set apart as a day of fasting and prayer,
Enlistments were pushed with great energy. Three North river vessels were chartered, pilots were engaged and provisions and ammunition laid in store. A French privateer, L'Esperance, which chanced to enter the harbor of New Amsterdam at this time, was also engaged for the service.
It seems hardly consistent with the religious character of Stuyvesant and with his prayers for the divine blessing, that the Lord's day should have been chosen for the sailing of the expedition. But on the first Sunday in September, after the morning sermon, the sails of the little squadron of seven vessels were unfurled and the fleet put to sea, containing a military force of about seven hundred men. Governor Stuyvesant in person, commanded the expedition. He was accompanied by the Vice-Governor, De Lille, and by Domine Megapolensis, as chaplain.
On Friday morning they entered the Delaware river, and with favoring wind and tide, sailed up beyond fort Casimir, and landed their forces about a mile above. A flag of truce was promptly sent to the fort, demanding "the direct restitution of our own property." Some parleying occupied the time during the day, while Stuyvesant was landing his batteries. The next morning the Swedish commander, convinced of the folly of any further attempt at resistance, went on board the Balance and signed a capitulation. The victor was generous in his terms. The Swedes were allowed to remove their artillery; twelve men were to march out with full arms and accoutrements; all the rest retained their side-arms, and the officers held their personal property.
At noon the Dutch, with pealing bugles and flying banners again entered upon possession of the fort. Many of the Swedes took the oath of allegiance to the New Netherland government. The next day was Sunday. Chaplain Megapolensis preached a sermon to the troops. But a short distance above fort Casimir there was another Swedish fort called Christina. It was not denied that the Swedes had a legitimate title to that land. Indeed after the Company in Holland had sent directions to Stuyvesant to drive the Swedes from the river, they sent to him another order modifying these instructions. In this dispatch they said:
But the Swedish Governor, Rising, having lost fort Casimir, re-assembled his forces and strengthened his position in Fort Christina, which was two miles farther up the river. This fort was about thirty-five miles below the present site of Philadelphia, on a small stream called Christina creek. The fleet anchored at the mouth of the Brandywine, and invested the fort on all sides. The Swedes outside of the fort were ruthlessly pillaged; a battery was erected and the fort summoned to surrender. Resistance was hopeless. The articles of capitulation were soon signed between the victor and the vanquished.
The Swedes, who to the number of about two hundred had settled in that vicinity, were allowed to remain in the country, if they wished to do so, upon condition of taking the oath of allegiance to the Dutch authorities. Thus the Swedish dominion on the South river was brought to an end. This was the most powerful military expedition which had ever moved from any of the colonies. The Swedes had held their independent position on the Delaware but about seventeen years. Leaving an agent, as temporary commandant, Stuyvesant returned triumphantly to fort Amsterdam.
And now for ten years there had been peace with the Indians, when a gross outrage again roused their savage natures to revenge. The Indians, ever accustomed to roam the forest, and to gather fruits, nuts and game wherever they could find them, had not very discriminating views of the rights of private property. Ensign Van Dyck, the former treasurer, and one of the most noted men in the colony, detected an Indian woman in his orchard gathering peaches. Inhumanly he shot her dead. This roused all the neighboring tribes, and they united to avenge her death. There was certainly something chivalrous in this prompt combination of the warriors not to allow, what they deemed the murder of a sister, to pass unpunished.
Taking advantage of the absence of Governor Stuyvesant, with nearly all the military force he could raise, on his expedition to the South river, sixty-four war canoes, containing nineteen hundred armed Indians, were at midnight on the fifteenth of September, stealthily paddled into the waters surrounding fort Amsterdam. They were picked warriors from eight tribes. The night was dark, and the sighing of the wind through the tree tops and the breaking of the surf upon the beach added to the deep repose of the sleepers.
The Indians landed and stealthily crept through the silent streets; and yet, from some unexplained cause, they made no attack. Gradually the inhabitants were awakened, and there was a rapid assembling of the principal men within the fort. Several of the chiefs were called before them. They gave no satisfactory account of the object of their formidable visit, and uttered no threats. On the contrary they promised to withdraw before night, to Nutten Island, as Governor's island was then called. Still, watching their opportunity, one of the warriors pierced the bosom of Van Dyck with an arrow.
The cry of murder rang through the streets. The inhabitants were prepared for the not unexpected emergency. The military rushed from the fort, and a fierce battle ensued. The Indians, leaving three of their warriors dead in the streets, and having killed five white men and wounded three others, were driven to their canoes, and crossed over the North river to the Jersey shore.
And now their savage natures burst forth unrestrained. The flourishing little villages of Pavonia and Hoboken were instantly in flames. A general scene of massacre and destruction ensued. Men, women and children fell alike before the bullet, the arrow and the tomahawk. The inhabitants of fort Amsterdam in anguish witnessed the massacre, but could render no assistance. Nearly all their armed men were far away on the Delaware.
The savages, elated with success, crossed over to Staten island. The scattered settlements there numbered about ninety souls. There were eleven farms in a high state of cultivation, and several plantations. The settlers had received warning of their danger, perhaps by the flames and musketry of Hoboken and Pavonia, perhaps by some messenger from fort Amsterdam. Sixty-seven of them succeeded in reaching some stronghold where they were able to defend themselves. The rest, twenty-three in number, were cut off by the savages. The buildings of twenty-eight farms and plantations were laid in ashes and the crops destroyed.
For three days these merciless Indians had free range, with scarcely any opposition. During this time one hundred of the Dutch were killed, one hundred and fifty were taken prisoners, and more than three hundred were deprived of house, clothes and food. Six hundred cattle and a vast amount of grain were destroyed. The pecuniary value of the damage inflicted amounted to over eighty thousand dollars.
Such were the consequences which resulted from the folly and crime of one man in shooting an Indian woman who was purloining peaches from his orchard. Terror spread far and wide. The farmers with their families, fled from all directions to fort Amsterdam for protection. The feeble settlements on Long island were abandoned in dismay. Prowling bands of savages wandered over the island of Manhattan, burning and destroying. No one dared to venture to any distance from the fort. An express was dispatched to South river to inform Governor Stuyvesant of the peril of the colony, and to implore his return. This led to the hurried close of the transactions on the Delaware, and probably secured for the Swedes more favorable terms of capitulation than they would otherwise have obtained.
The return of Governor Stuyvesant with his military force, reassured the colonists. In such an hour his imperious nature hesitated not a moment in assuming the dictatorship. The one man power, so essential on the field of battle, seemed requisite in these scenes of peril. There was no time for deliberation. Prompt and energetic action was necessary.
The governor sent soldiers to the outer settlements; forbade any vessel to leave the harbor, forced into the ranks every man capable of bearing arms, and imposed a heavy tax to meet the expense of strengthening the fortifications. Several persons, who were about to sail for Europe, protested against being thus detained. Governor Stuyvesant fined them each ten dollars for disrespect to the established authorities, and contemptuously advised them to "possess their souls in patience."
The savages found their captives an incumbrance. Winter was approaching and provisions were scarce. They sent one of their prisoners, an influential man, captain Pos, who had been superintendent of the colony on Staten island, to propose the ransom of those captured for a stipulated amount of powder and balls. As captain Pos did not return as soon as was expected, another messenger was sent, and soon one of the chiefs returned to Governor Stuyvesant, fourteen Dutch men, women and children, as a present in token of his good will, and asking that a present of powder and ball might be forwarded to him.
The governor sent in return some ammunition and two Indian captives and promised to furnish more ammunition when other Christians should be brought in.
Three envoys from New Amsterdam visited the savages bearing these presents. They were received with the courtesies which civilized nations accord to a flag of truce. In this way twenty-eight more captives were ransomed. The promise was given that others should be soon brought in. Governor Stuyvesant inquired at what price they would release all the remaining prisoners en masse, or what they would ask for each individual. They deliberated upon the matter and then replied that they would deliver up twenty-eight prisoners for seventy-eight pounds of powder, and forty staves of lead.
The governor immediately sent the amount, and hoping to excite their generosity, added as a present in token of friendly feeling, thirty-five pounds of powder and ten staves of lead. But the savages did not appreciate this kindness. They returned the twenty-eight prisoners and no more.
The governor of the Swedish colony on the Delaware arrived at New Amsterdam with a numerous suite, awaiting their transportation to Europe according to the terms of the capitulation. He was in very ill humor, and Governor Stuyvesant found it impossible to please him. He entered bitter complaints against the governor, declaring that the articles of the late treaty had been grossly violated.
"In Christina," said he,
With much dignity Governor Stuyvesant vindicated himself. "I offered," he said,
Soon after this Governor Rising and his attendants were embarked for Europe in two vessels. A narrative was, at the same time, sent to the fatherland of the recent Indian troubles. The defenceless condition of the country was explained and assistance earnestly implored.
There were still a number of captives held by the Indian tribes who dwelt among the Highlands. The question was anxiously deliberated, in the Council, respecting the best mode of recovering them. One only, Van Tienhoven, was in favor of war. But Governor Stuyvesant said,
The Long Island Indians sent a delegation to New Amsterdam declaring that for ten years, since 1645, they had been the friends of the Dutch, and had done them no harm, "not even to the value of a dog." They sent, as a present, a bundle of wampum in token of the friendship of the chiefs of the Eastern tribes. But the up-river Indians continued sullen. With their customary cunning or sagacity they retained quite a number of captives, holding them as pledges to secure themselves from the vengeance of the Dutch. There was no hope of liberating them by war, since the Indians would never deliver up a white captive in exchange for prisoners of their own tribes. And upon the first outbreak of war the unfortunate Dutch prisoners would be conveyed to inaccessible depths of the forests.
The Dutch settlers had scattered widely, on farms and plantations. Thus they were peculiarly exposed to attacks from the Indians, and could render each other but little assistance. As a remedy for this evil, Governor Stuyvesant issued a proclamation ordering all who lived in secluded places in the country to assemble and unite themselves in villages before the ensuing spring, "after the fashion," as he said, "of our New England neighbors."
In Sweden, before the tidings of the fall of fort Casimir had reached that country, an expedition had been fitted out for the South river, conveying one hundred and thirty emigrants. Stuyvesant, on learning of their arrival, forbade them to land. He dispatched a vessel and a land force, to capture the Swedish ship the Mercury, and bring it with all the passengers to fort Amsterdam. Having disposed of her cargo, the vessel and all the Swedish soldiers it bore, were sent back to Europe.
In obedience to orders from home, Stuyvesant erected a fort at Oyster Bay, on the north side of Long island. In the instructions he received he was enjoined, "to maintain, by force, if necessary, the integrity of the Dutch province, the boundaries of which have just been formally confirmed by the States-General."
The Directors added,
War would doubtless have arisen, between Sweden and Holland, in view of transactions on South river, had not all the energies of Sweden been then called into requisition in a war with Poland. The Swedish government contented itself with presenting a vigorous memorial to the States-General, which for eight years was renewed without accomplishing any redress.
The vice-governor resided at fort Orange, in a two story house, the upper floor of which was used as a court-room. This station was the principal mart for the fur trade, which had now become so considerable that upwards of thirty-five thousand beaver skins were exported during the year 1656.
A survey of the city of New Amsterdam was made this year, which showed that there were one hundred and twenty houses, and a population of one thousand souls. A man like Stuyvesant, the warm advocate of arbitrary power, would almost of necessity, be religiously intolerant. Zealously devoted to the Reformed church, and resolved to have unity in religion, notwithstanding the noble toleration which existed in Holland, he issued a proclamation forbidding any one from holding a religious meeting not in harmony with the Reformed church.
Any preacher, who should violate this ordinance was to be subjected to a penalty of one hundred pounds. Any one who should attend such a meeting was to be punished by a penalty of twenty-five pounds.
This law was rigorously enforced. Recusants were fined and imprisoned. Complaints were sent to Holland, and the governor was severely rebuked for his bigotry.
"We would fain," the Directors wrote to Stuyvesant,
But Stuyvesant was a man born to govern, not be governed. He was silent respecting the instructions he had received from home. When the Lutherans informed him that the Directors of the Company had ordered that the same toleration should exist in New Netherland which was practiced in the fatherland, he firmly replied that he must wait for further explanations, and that in the mean time his ordinance against public conventicles must be executed.
At Flushing a cobbler from Rhode Island, a baptist, William Wickendam by name, ventured to preach, "and even went with the people into the river and dipped them." He was fined one thousand pounds and ordered to be banished. As he was a poor man the debt was remitted, but he was obliged to leave the province.
It will be remembered that thus far nearly all the operations of the Dutch, in the New World, had been performed under the authority of Dutch merchants, called "The West India Company." Their chartered powers were very great. Only in a subordinate degree were they subject to the control of the States-General.
At this time there was a very cruel persecution commenced by the Duke of Savoy against the Waldenses. Hundreds of them fled to the city of Amsterdam, in Holland, which was then the refuge for the persecuted of all nations. They were received with the most noble hospitality. The city government not only gave them an asylum, but voted large sums from its treasury, for their support.
Carrying out this policy, the city decided to establish a colony of its own in New Netherland, to be composed mainly of these Waldenses. The municipal authorities purchased of the West India Company, for seven hundred guilders, all the land on the west side of South river, from Christina kill to Bombay Hook. This gave a river front of about forty miles, running back indefinitely into the interior. This region was named New Amstel. The colonists were offered a free passage, ample farms on the river, and provisions and clothing for one year. The city also agreed to send out "a proper person for a schoolmaster, who shall also read the holy Scriptures in public and set the Psalms." A church was to be organized so soon as there were two hundred inhabitants in the colony.
The Company wrote to Stuyvesant saying,
On Christmas day of 1656, three vessels containing one hundred and sixty emigrants, sailed from the Texel. A wintry storm soon separated them. The principal ship, the Prince Maurice, which had the largest number of passengers, after a long voyage, was wrecked on the South coast of Long island, near Fire island inlet, in the neighborhood of the present town of Islip. It was midnight when the ship struck. As soon as it was light the passengers and crew succeeded in reaching the shore in their boats through the breakers and through vast masses of floating ice.
They found upon the shore a bleak, barren, treeless waste, "without weeds, grass or timber of any sort to make a fire." It was bitter cold. A fierce wind swept the ocean and the land, and the sea ran so high that it was expected every moment the ship would go to pieces. These poor emigrants thus suddenly huddled upon the icy land, without food and without shelter, were in imminent peril of perishing from cold and starvation.
Their sufferings were so terrible that they were rejoiced to see some Indians approaching over the wide plains, though they knew not whether the savages would prove hostile or friendly. But the Indians came like brothers, aided them in every way, and dispatched two swift runners across the island to inform Governor Stuyvesant of the calamity. Some sails were brought on shore, with which a temporary shelter from the piercing blast was constructed, and enough food was secured to save from absolute starvation.
The energetic governor immediately dispatched nine or ten lighters to their assistance, and with needful supplies proceeded in person to the scene of the disaster. Thus nearly all the cargo was saved and the passengers were transported to New Amsterdam. There were one hundred and twenty-five passengers on board the Prince Maurice, seventy-six of whom were women and children. Another ship, the Gilded Beaver, was chartered at New Amsterdam which conveyed them all safely, after a five days' passage, to South river. The other vessels, with soldiers and a few settlers, also soon arrived.
It is said that at this time the "public," exercises of religion were not allowed to any sects in Holland except the Calvinists. But all others were permitted to engage freely in their worship in private houses, which were in fact, as if public, these places of preaching being spacious and of sufficient size for any assembly. Under this construction of the law every religion was in fact tolerated.9
The Lutherans in Holland sent a clergyman, Ernestus Goetwater, to New Amsterdam, to organize a church. The Directors wrote,
This tolerance, so imperfect in the light of the nineteenth century, was very noble in the dark days of the seventeenth. Upon the arrival of Goetwater at New Amsterdam, the clergy of the Reformed church remonstrated against his being permitted to preach. The governor, adhering to his policy of bigotry, forbade him to hold any meeting, or to do any clerical service, but to regulate his conduct according to the placards of the province against private conventicles. Soon after this the governor ordered him to leave the colony and to return to Holland. This harsh decree was however suspended out of regard to the feeble health of Goetwater.
On the 6th of August, 1657, a ship arrived at New Amsterdam with several Quakers on board Two of them, women, began to preach publicly in the streets. They were arrested and imprisoned. Soon after they were discharged and embarked on board a ship to sail through Hell Gate, to Rhode Island, "where," writes Domine Megapolensis, "all kinds of scum dwell, for it is nothing else than a sink for New England."
One of the Quakers, Robert Hodgson, went over to Long Island. At Hempstead he was arrested and committed to prison, and was thence transferred to one of the dungeons of fort Amsterdam. He was brought before the Council, convicted of the crime of preaching contrary to the law, and was sentenced to pay a fine of six hundred guilders, about two hundred and forty dollars, or to labor two years at a wheelbarrow, with a negro.
After a few days' imprisonment he was chained to the wheelbarrow and commanded to work. He refused. A negro was ordered to beat him with a tarred rope, which he did until the sufferer fell, in utter exhaustion, almost senseless to the ground. The story of the persecutions which this unhappy man endured, is almost too dreadful to be told. But it ought to be told as a warning against all religious intolerance.
"Not satisfied," writes O'Callaghan,
His case eventually excited so much compassion that Stuyvesant's sister interfered, and implored her brother so importunately that he was at last induced to liberate the unfortunate man. Let a firm Quaker resolve that he will not do something, and let a Governor Stuyvesant resolve that he shall do it, and it is indeed "Greek meeting Greek."
Henry Townsend, of Jamaica, ventured to hold prayer-meetings in his house, in defiance of the ordinance against conventicles. The governor sentenced him to pay a fine of eight pounds and to leave the province within six weeks, under pain of corporeal punishment. This sentence was followed by a proclamation, fining any one fifty pounds who should entertain a Quaker for a single night, and confiscating any vessels which should bring a Quaker to the province.
The inhabitants of Flushing, where Townsend had formerly resided, and where he was very highly respected, issued a noble remonstrance to Governor Stuyvesant against this persecution of their former townsman.
The remonstrance was drawn up by the town clerk, Edward Hart, and was signed by all the adult male inhabitants, twenty-nine in number. The memorial said:
This remonstrance was carried to New Amsterdam by Tobias Feake, and presented to the governor. His indignation was roused. Feake was arrested and committed to prison. The sheriff was sent to Flushing to bring Hart and two of the magistrates, Farrington and Noble, to the presence of the enraged governor. It was a fearful thing to fall into his hands when his wrath was inflamed. They were imprisoned for some time, and were then released upon their humbly imploring the pardon of the governor, expressing their deep regret that they had signed the remonstrance and promising that they would sin in that way, no more. The town itself was punished by the prohibition in future of all town meetings, without the permission of the governor. Indeed the mass of the settlers were no longer to decide upon their local affairs, but a committee of seven persons was to decide all such questions. All who were dissatisfied with these arrangements were ordered to sell their property and leave the town.
It is not necessary to continue the record of this disgraceful persecution. The governor was unrelenting. Whoever ventured to oppose his will felt the weight of his chastising hand.
New Amsterdam consisted of wooden houses clustered together. The danger from fire was very great. The governor imposed a tax of a beaver skin, or its equivalent upon each householder to pay for two hundred and fifty leather fire buckets and hooks and ladders, to be procured in Holland. He also established a "rattle watch" to traverse the streets from nine o'clock in the evening until morning drum-beat.
Stuyvesant would allow nothing to be done which he did not control. The education of the young was greatly neglected. Jacob Corlaer opened a school. The governor peremptorily closed it, because he had presumed to take the office without governmental permission. To establish a place of amusement the governor formed a village called Haarlem, at the northern extremity of Manhattan island. He also constructed a good road over the island, through the forest, "so that it may be made easy to come hither, and return to that village on horseback or in a wagon." A ferry was also established to Long Island.
Staten Island was a dreary waste. It had not recovered from the massacre of 1655. Efforts were made to encourage the former settlers to return to their desolated homes, and to encourage fresh colonists to take up their residence upon the island. To promote the settlement of the west side of the North river, Stuyvesant purchased from the Indians, all the territory now known as Bergen, in New Jersey.
This purchase comprised the extensive region,
The settlement at Esopus, was in many respects in a flourishing condition. But it was so much more convenient for the farmers to have their dwellings in the midst of the fields they cultivated, instead of clustering them together in a compact village, that they persisted in the dangerous practice, notwithstanding all the warnings of the governor. There were individuals also who could not be restrained from paying brandy to the savages for their peltries The intoxicated Indians often committed outrages. One of the settlers was killed. The house and outbuildings of another were burned. The Dutch retaliated by destroying the cornfields of the Indians, hoping thus to drive them to a distance. At this time, in May, 1658, there were about seventy colonists at Esopus. They had widely extended fields of grain. But the Indians were becoming daily more inimical, and the alarmed colonists wrote to Govern or Stuyvesant, saying,
"We pray you to send forty or fifty soldiers to save Esopus, which, if well settled, might supply the whole of New Netherland with provisions."
The governor ordered a redoubt to be built at Esopus, sent an additional supply of ammunition, and taking fifty soldiers with him, went up the river to ascertain, by a personal investigation, the wants of the people. He urged them strenuously to unite in a village, which could be easily palisaded, and which would thus afford them complete protection. The colonists objected that it would be very difficult to remove from their farms, while their crops were ungathered, and that it would be impossible to select a site for the village which would please all. The governor refused to leave the soldiers with them unless they would immediately decide to concentrate in a village. In that case he would remain and aid them in constructing the palisade till it should be completed.
In the mean time messengers were sent to all the neighboring chiefs inviting them to come to Esopus to meet "the grand sachem from Manhattan." Sixty of these plumed warriors were soon assembled, with a few women and children. The governor, with two followers and an interpreter, met them beneath the widespread branches of an aged tree. One of the chiefs opened the interview by a long speech, in which he recounted all the injuries which he conceived that the Indians had experienced from the foreigners. The governor listened patiently. He then replied,
There was a long pause, as though the chiefs were meditating upon the answer which should be made. Then one of them rose and, with great deliberation and dignity of manner, said, "You Swannekins," for that was the name they gave the Dutchmen,