Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664 Part 5

Fuller's earth is found in abundance, and [Armenian] bole; also white, red, yellow, blue and black clay very solid and greasy, and should be suitable for many purposes; earth for bricks and for tiles, mountain-chrystal, gla.s.s like that of Muscovy,(1) green serpentine stone in great abundance, blue limestone, slate, red grindstone, flint, paving stone, large quant.i.ties of all varieties of quarry stone suitable for hewing mill-stones and for building all kinds of walls, asbestos and very many other kinds applicable to the use of man. There are different paints, but the Christians are not skilled in them. They are seen daily on the Indians, who understand their nature and use them to paint themselves in different colors. If it were not that explorers are wanting, our people would be able to find them and provide themselves with them.

(1) Mica.

Of the Americans or Natives, their Appearance, Occupations, and Means of Support.

The natives are generally well set in their limbs, slender round the waist, broad across the shoulders, and have black hair and dark eyes.

They are very nimble and fleet, well adapted to travel on foot and to carry heavy burdens. They are foul and slovenly in their actions, and make little of all kinds of hardship; to which indeed they are by nature and from their youth accustomed. They are like the Brazilians in color, or as yellow as the people who sometimes pa.s.s through the Netherlands and are called Gypsies. The men generally have no beard, or very little, which some even pull out. They use very few words, which they consider well. Naturally they are very modest, simple and inexperienced; though in their actions high-minded enough, vigorous and quick to comprehend or learn, be it right or wrong, whenever they are so inclined. They are not straightforward as soldiers but perfidious, accomplishing all their enterprises by treachery, using many strategems to deceive their enemies, and usually ordering all their plans, involving any danger, by night. The desire of revenge appears to be born in them. They are very obstinate in defending themselves when they cannot run, which however they do when they can; and they make little of death when it is inevitable, and despise all tortures which can be inflicted upon them while dying, manifesting no sorrow, but usually singing until they are dead. They understand how to cure wounds and hurts, or inveterate sores and injuries, by means of herbs and roots, which grow in the country, and which are known to them. Their clothing, both for men and women, is a piece of duffels or leather in front, with a deer skin or elk's hide over the body. Some have bears' hides of which they make doublets; others have coats made of the skins of racc.o.o.ns, wild-cats, wolves, dogs, otters, squirrels, beavers and the like, and also of turkey's feathers. At present they use for the most part duffels cloth, which they obtain in barter from the Christians. They make their stockings and shoes of deer skins or elk's hide, and some have shoes made of corn-husks, of which they also make sacks. Their money consists of white and black zeewant, which they themselves make. Their measure and valuation is by the hand or by the fathom; but their corn is measured by deontas, which are bags they make themselves. Ornamenting themselves consists in cutting their bodies, or painting them with various colors, sometimes even all black, if they are in mourning, yet generally in the face. They hang zeewant, both white and black, about their heads, which they otherwise are not want to cover, but on which they are now beginning to wear hats and caps bought of the Christians. They also put it in their ears, and around their necks and bodies, wherewith after their manner they appear very fine. They have long deer's hair which is dyed red, and of which they make rings for the head, and other fine hair of the same color, to hang from the neck like tresses, of which they are very proud. They frequently smear their skin and hair with difference kinds of grease. They can almost all swim. They themselves make the boats they use, which are of two kinds, some of entire trees, which they hollow out with fire, hatchets and adzes, and which the Christians call canoes; others are made of bark, which they manage very skilfully, and which are also called canoes.

Traces of the inst.i.tution of marriage can just be perceived among them, and nothing more. A man and woman join themselves together without any particular ceremony other than that the man by previous agreement with the woman gives her some zeewant or cloth, which on their separation, if it happens soon, he often takes again. Both men and women are utterly unchaste and shamelessly promiscuous in their intercourse, which is the cause of the men so often changing their wives and the women their husbands. Ordinarily they have but one wife, sometimes two or three, but this is generally among the chiefs. They have also among them different conditions of persons, such as n.o.ble and ign.o.ble. The men are generally lazy, and do nothing until they become old and unesteemed, when they make spoons, wooden bowls, bags, nets and other similar articles; beyond this the men do nothing except fish, hunt and go to war. The women are compelled to do the rest of the work, such as planting corn, cutting and drawing fire-wood, cooking, taking care of the children and whatever else there is to be done. Their dwellings consist of hickory saplings, placed upright in the ground and bent arch-wise; the tops are covered with barks of trees, which they cut for this purpose in great quant.i.ties. Some even have within them rough carvings of faces and images, but these are generally in the houses of the chiefs. In the fishing and hunting seasons, they lie under the open sky or little better. They do not live long in one place, but move about several times in a year, at such times and to such places as it appears best and easiest for them to obtain subsistence.

They are divided into different tribes and languages, each tribe living generally by itself and having one of its number as a chief, though he has not much power or distinction except in their dances or in time of war. Among some there is not the least knowledge of G.o.d, and among others very little, though they relate many strange fables concerning Him.

They are in general much afraid of the Devil, who torments them greatly; and some give themselves up to him, and hold the strangest notions about him. But their devils, they say, will have nothing to do with the Dutch.

No haunting of spirits and the like are heard of among them. They make offerings to the Devil sometimes, but with few solemnities. They believe in the immortality of the soul. They have some knowledge of the sun, moon and stars, of which they are able to name many, and they judge tolerably well about the weather. There is hardly any law or justice among them, except sometimes in war matters, and then very little. The nearest of blood is the avenger. The youngest are the most courageous, and do for the most part what they please. Their weapons formerly were the bow and arrow, which they employ with wonderful skill, and the cudgel, but they now, that is, those who lives near the Christians or have many dealings with them, generally use firelocks and hatchets, which they obtain in trade. They are exceedingly fond of guns, sparing no expense for them; and are so skilful in the use of them that they surpa.s.s many Christians. Their food is coa.r.s.e and simple, drinking water as their only beverage, and eating the flesh of all kinds of animals which the country affords, cooked without being cleansed or dressed.

They eat even badgers, dogs, eagles and such like trash, upon which Christians place no value. They use all kinds of fish, which they commonly cook without removing the entrails, and snakes, frogs and the like. They know how to preserve fish and meat until winter, and to cook them with corn-meal. They make their bread of maize, but it is very plain, and cook it either whole or broken in a pestle block. The women do this and make of it a pap or porridge, which some of them call Sapsis,(1) others Enimdare, and which is their daily food. They mix this also sometimes with small beans of different colors, which they plant themselves, but this is held by them as a dainty dish more than as daily food.

(1) Probably a misprint for sapaan. For the next word, the ma.n.u.script has Duundare.

By whom New Netherland was first Possessed and what its Boundaries are.

That New Netherland was first found, claimed and possessed by Netherlanders, has already been stated; but inasmuch as a dispute has arisen, not only with the Swedes (which is of little moment) but especially with the English, who have already entered upon and seized a great part thereof, it is necessary to speak of each claim in particular and somewhat at large. But because this matter has been treated upon by various ingenious minds in its length and breadth, and as those claims are so absurd as to require only a few reasons in answer to them, we will be as brief as in any wise practicable.

After Their High Mightinesses, the Lords States General, were pleased, in the year of our Lord 1622,(1) to include this province in their grant to the Honorable West India Company, their Honors deemed it necessary to take into possession so naturally beautiful and n.o.ble a province, which was immediately done, as opportunity offered, the same as in all similar beginnings. Since the year of our Lord 1623, four forts have been built there by order of the Lords Directors,(2) one on the south point of the Manhatans Island, where the East and North Rivers unite, called New Amsterdam, where the staple-right(3) of New Netherland was designed to be; another upon the same River, six-and-thirty Dutch miles [leagues]

higher up, and three leagues below the great Kochoos(4) fall of the Mohawk River, on the west side of the river, in the colony of Renselaerswyck, and is called Orange; but about this river there a been as yet no dispute with any foreigners. Upon the South River lies Fort Na.s.sau and upon the Fresh River, the Good Hope. In these four forts there have been always from the beginning to the present time some garrisons, although they are all now in a very bad condition, not only in themselves but also as regards garrisons.

(1) 1621.

(2) Heeren Majores, the managers or directors of the Company.

(3) Staple-right is a privilege granted to the inhabitants of a place, whereby the masters of vessels or merchants trading along their coasts are compelled to discharge their cargoes there for sale, or else pay duties.

(4) Cohoes.

These forts, both to the south and north, are so situated as not only to close and control the said rivers, but also to command the plantations between them, as well as those round about them, and on the other side of the river as far as the ownership by occupation extends. These the Honorable Company declared they owned and would maintain against all foreign or domestic powers who should attempt to seize them against their consent. Yet, especially on the northeast side of New Netherland this has been not at all regarded or observed by the English living to the eastward; for notwithstanding possession was already fully taken by the building and occupation of Fort Good Hope, and there was no neglect from time to time in warning them, in making known our rights, and in protesting against their usurpation and violence, they have disregarded all these things and have seized and possessed, and still hold, the largest and best part of New Netherland, that is, on the east side of the North River, from Cape Cod, (by our people in 1609 called New Holland, and taken possession of [if we are correctly informed] by the setting up of the arms of their High Mightinesses,)(1) to within six leagues of the North River, where the English have now a village called Stamford, from whence one could travel now in a summer's day to the North River and back again, if one knows the Indian path. The English of New Haven also have a trading house which lies east or southeast of Magdalen Island, and not more than six leagues from the North River, in which this island lies, on the east bank twenty-three and a half leagues above Fort Amsterdam.(1) This trading post was established for no other purpose than to divert the trade of the North River or to destroy it entirely, for the river is now quite free. They have also endeavored several times, during eight or nine years past, to buy of the Indians a large quant.i.ty of land, (which would have served more than any other thing to draw off the trade), as we have understood from the Indians; for the post is situated not more than three or four leagues from the eastern bounds of the colony of Renselaerswyck.

(1) See De Laet, p. 37, supra. The words in square brackets appear in the ma.n.u.script, but not in the printed pamphlet.

(2) Magdalen Island is in the Hudson near Annandale. It appears that the nearest post to the lower Hudson possessed hitherto by the New Englanders was that which the New Haven people established in 1646 on the Housatonic near the present Derby, Connecticut; and that their nearest post to the upper Hudson was that which Governor Hopkins, of Connecticut, set up in 1641 at Woronoco, now Westfield, Ma.s.sachusetts.

This and similar difficulties these people now wish to lay to our charge, all under the pretence of a very clear conscience, notwithstanding King James, of most glorious memory, chartered the Virginia Companies upon condition that they should remain an hundred miles from each other, according to our reckoning.(1) They are willing to avail themselves of this grant, but by no means to comply with the terms stipulated in it.

(1) The hundred miles of the Virginia patent of 1606 were English miles.

All the islands, bays, havens, rivers, kills and places, even to a great distance on the other side of New Holland or Cape Cod, have Dutch names, which our Dutch ship-masters and traders gave to them.(1) These were the first to discover and to trade to them, even before they had names, as the English themselves well know; but as long as they can manage it and matters go as they please, they are willing not to know it. And those of them who are at the Fresh River have desired to enter into an agreement and to make a yearly acknowledgement or an absolute purchase, which indeed is proof positive that our right was well known to them, and that they themselves had nothing against it in conscience, although they now, from time to time, have invented and pretended many things in order to screen themselves, or thereby to cause at least delay.

(1) An exaggeration, yet the number of such names is considerable, as may be seen by consulting the appendix to Asher's _Bibliography of New Netherland_.

Moreover the people of Rhode Island, when they were at variance with those of the Bay,(1) sought refuge among the Dutch, and sojourn among them. For all these things, and What we shall relate in the following pages, there are Proofs and doc.u.ments enough, either with the secretary of the Company or with the directors.

(1) Ma.s.sachusetts Bay. The most conspicuous instance is Mrs. Anne Hutchinson.

In short, is it just this with the English, they are willing to know the Netherlanders, and to use them as a protection in time of need, but when that is past, they no longer regard them, but play the fool with them.

This happens so only because we have neglected to populate the land; or, to speak more plainly and truly, because we have, our of regard for our own profit, wished to sc.r.a.pe all the fat into one or more pots, and thus secure the trade and neglect population.

Long Island, which, on account of its convenient bays and havens, and its good well situated lands, is a crown of the province, they have also seized at once, except on the west and two Dutch villages--Breuckelen and Amersvoort,(1) not of much importance--and some English villages, as Gravesande, Greenwich and Mespat, (from which(2) the people were driven off during the war, and which was afterwards confiscated by Director Kieft; but as the owners appealed therefrom, it remains undecided.) There are now a very few people in the place. Also, Vlissengen, which is a pretty village and tolerably rich in cattle. The fourth and last village is Heemstede, which is superior to the rest, for it is very rich in cattle.

(1) Brooklyn and Flatlands.

(2) I.e., from Mespath or Newtown. Gravesend had been settled by Lady Deborah Moody, Greenwich in 1639 by Captain Daniel Patrick and Robert Feake, Mespath by Francis Doughty in 1642, Flushing and Hempstead by other English in 1645 and 1644.

As we are now on the subject of Long Island, we will, because the English claim it, speak of it somewhat particularly. The ocean on the south, and the East River on the north side of it, shape this island; and as we have said, it is, on account of its good situation, of its land, and of its convenient harbors, and anchoring places, a crown of New Netherland. The East River separates it from Manathans Island as far as the h.e.l.legat. It is tolerably wide and convenient; and has been inhabited by our freemen from the first, according as opportunities offered. In the year 1640 a Scotchman, with an English commission, came to Director William Kieft. He laid claim to the island, but his pretension was not much regarded; for which reason he departed without accomplishing anything, having influenced only a few simple people.

Director Kieft also afterwards sent and broke up the English who wished to begin a settlement at Oyster Bay, and thus it remained for a long time.(1)

(1) James Farrett, as agent for Lord Stirling, made grants at Oyster Bay to a company of men from Lynn, who began a settlement there. Stirling had received a grant of Long Island from the Council of New England in April, 1635.

In the year 1647, a Scotchman came here, who called himself Captain Forester,(1) and claimed this island for the Dowager of Sterling, whose governor he gave himself out to be. He had a commission dated in the eighteenth year of King James's reign, but it was not signed by His Majesty or any body else. Appended to it was an old seal which we could not decipher. His commission embraced the whole of Long Island, together with five leagues round about it, the main land as well as the islands.

He had also full authority from Mary, dowager of Sterling, but this was all. Nevertheless the man was very consequential, and said on his first arrival that he came here to see Governor Stuyvesant's commission, and if that was better than his, he was willing to give way; if not, Governor Stuyvesant must yield to him. To make the matter short, the Director took copies of the papers and sent the man across(2) in the Falconer; but as this vessel put into England, the man did not reach Holland, having escaped there, and never troubling the captain afterwards. The English have since boasted of this very loudly, and have also given out that he had again arrived at Bastock,(3) but we have not heard of him. It is to be apprehended that if he came now, some new act would be committed, for which reason it would be well to hasten the redress of New Netherland.

(1) Andrew Forester, of Dundee.

(2) Across the ocean.

(3) Boston.

Of The Fresh River.

After Fort Good Hope, begun in the year 1623,(1) on the Fresh River, was finished, some time had elapsed when an English bark arrived there.

Jacob van Curler, factor of the Company, by order of Director Wouter van Twiller, protested against it, but notwithstanding his protest they did, a year or two afterwards, come there with some families. A protest was also made against them; but it was very manifest that these people had little respect for it, for notwithstanding frequent protests, they have finally seized and possessed the whole of the Fresh River, and have proceeded so far in their shameless course as, in the year 1640, to seize the Company's farms at the fort, paying no regard to the protests which we made. They have gone even still further, and have belabored the Company's people with sticks and heavy clubs; and have forcibly thrown into the river their ploughs and other instruments, while they were on the land for the purpose of working, and have put their horses to the pound. The same things happened very frequently afterwards. They also took hogs and cows belonging to the fort, and several times sold some of them for the purpose, as they said, of repairing the damage. Against all these acts, and each one in particular, protests were repeatedly made, but they were met with ridicule. Several sharp letters about this were written in Latin to their governors; of which letters and protests, minutes or copies remain with the Company's officers, from which a much fuller account of these transactions could be made. But all opposition was in vain, for having had a smack of the goodness and convenience of this river, and discovered the difference between the land there and that more easterly, they would not go back; nor will they put themselves under the protection of Their High Mightinesses, unless they be sharply summoned thereto, as it is desirable they should be at the first opportunity.

(1) A misprint for 1633. The narrative below relates to the English settlers at Hartford, founded in 1635. See De Vries, pp. 203, 204, supra.

Of the Right of the Netherlanders to the Fresh River.

To speak from the beginning, our people had carefully explored and discovered the most northerly parts of New Netherland and some distance on the other side of Cape Cod, as we find it described, before the English were known here, and had set up our arms upon Cape Cod as an act of possession. In the year 1614 our traders(1) had not only traded at the Fresh River, but had also ascended it before any English had ever dreamed of going there, which they did first in the year 1636, after our fort, the Good Hope, had been a long time in esse and almost all the lands on both sides the river had been purchased by our people from the Indians, which purchase took place princ.i.p.ally in the year 1632.

Kievets-hoeck(2) was also purchased at the same time by one Hans den Sluys,(3) an officer of the company. On this cape the States' arms had been affixed to a tree in token of possession; but the English who now possess the Fresh River have torn them down and carved a ridiculous face in their place. Whether this was done by authority or not, cannot be positively a.s.serted; it is however supposed that it was. It has been so charged upon them in several letters, and no denial has been made.

Besides they have, contra jus gentium, per fas et nefas,(4) invaded the whole river, for the reason, as they say, that the land was lying idle and waste, which was no business of theirs and not true; for there was already built upon the river a fort which continued to be possessed by a garrison. There was also a large farm(5) near the fort, belonging to the Dutch or the Company. Most of the land was bought and appropriated and the arms of their High Mightinesses were set up at Kievets Hoeck, which is situated at the mouth of the river, so that everything was done that could be done except that the country was not all actually occupied.

This the English demanded in addition, just as if it were their right, since they were in greater numbers, to establish laws for our nation in its own purchased lands and limits, and direct how and in what manner it should introduce people into the country, and if it did not turn our exactly according to their desire and pleasure, that they have the right to invade and appropriate these waters, lands and jurisdiction to themselves.

(1) Adriaen Block.

(2) Saybrook Point. Kievit, or kiewit, is the bird pewit.