carried over. He asked the skipper whether he might go over with him,
who replied he had too much freight. "Well," said he, "I will pay you
for that. How much freight do the people give you?" The skipper
answered six stivers in seewan. "Well then," said the Indian, "I will
give you seven." This made us all laugh, because he valued himself
less and bound himself to pay more than the others. We, therefore,
took him with us. The river here is full four miles wide, and when it
blows, especially from the north or northwest, there is sometimes a
rolling sea, making it dangerous to cross over, particularly in small
boats. While we were in the village of Bergen, a person came to us who
was willing to take us up through the Northwest Kil, where we were
inclined to go, because Jaques[175] of Long Island and his associates
had bought for a trifle, a piece of land there of twelve thousand
_morgen_,[176] and he had related wonders to us about it; and that
above his land, and above the falls which are more than an hour's
distance from it, there was another tract still better, which was
corroborated by almost every one, especially in Bergen, whose
inhabitants were very well acquainted there, and some of whom had
bought a large piece of land close by.[177] The before mentioned tract
was considered by them the best in all New Netherland. We, therefore,
did not reject the offer of this person, but only postponed it until a
later opportunity, perhaps after our return from the South River. They
said this piece of land was very large, and could be increased to
twenty-five or thirty thousand _morgen_, which the Indians were
disposed to sell, and we could buy for a small price. When we reached
home we showed our old people the apples which we had brought with us,
and they confessed that as long as they had lived in the country, they
had never seen any finer or larger.
[Footnote 175: Jacques Cortelyou and his associates had a large grant
of land at Aquackanonck (Passaic). Northwest Kill is the Passaic
River.]
[Footnote 176: A _morgen_ was about two acres.]
[Footnote 177: Deed of March 28, 1679, from the Indian sachem Captahem
to a group of Bergen men.]
_29th, Sunday._ We had been last Sunday to hear the Quakers, but the
greater portion of them were on Long Island, so that nothing was
done.[178] My comrade had a mind to go again to-day, but I remained at
home. After waiting two hours, he went to hear the Episcopalians and
then returned to the Quakers, who had remained all this time sitting
silent and gazing. He then took a walk out for a considerable time,
and went back again and found them still in the same position. Being
tired out, he would wait no longer, and came home. We went in the
afternoon to see Ephraim for the purpose of inquiring of him how soon
our journey to the South River would commence, and whether we would
have time first to take a trip to Aquakenon[179] with the man from
Bergen, of whom we have spoken above; but we did not find Ephraim at
home.
[Footnote 178: There were few Friends yet in New York, but on Long
Island there were already quarterly and half-yearly meetings.]
[Footnote 179: Passaic.]
_30th, Monday._ We went again this morning to speak to him. He said we
should have time to go there, and allowing the utmost it might take
us, he would still wait a day or two We went immediately to
Sapokanikke, where [Gerrit] was engaged in building, whom we wished to
accompany us, because he knew several of those Indians and spoke their
language, and because he had said all along that he wished to see the
land of his brother-in-law, since Jaques had promised him as much of
it as he would cultivate; but we found him indisposed with a sore leg,
and unable to go. Nevertheless, we crossed over the river in the
evening, at the same time the two ministers were returning, namely,
Tessemaker who preached there on Sunday as we have stated, and
Niewenhuisen who had administered the Lord's Supper there to-day. We
went over with Claes, and it was dark when we arrived at Gmoenepaen.
We followed Claes, who took us to his house, where we were made
welcome by his old mother. My comrade went with Claes, yet this
evening, to see the man who was to take us up the kill, so that in
case he had any thing to make ready it might be done this evening. He
said it would be noon before the tide would serve to-morrow and that
he had nothing else to do in the morning. We learned he was a most
godless rogue, which caused us to be cautious in what we had to do
with him. We conversed this evening with the old woman in whose house
we slept, and this poor woman seemed to have great enjoyment and
fruition, as did also her sons and others with whom we occasionally
conversed. It appeared, indeed, as if the Lord might have there the
seed of the elect, which He will bring forth in His own time, if it
please Him. Truly these are the best people whom we have found in
these parts.
_31st, Tuesday._ We went this morning to look about the country a
little, which pleased us very much, and thus occupied ourselves until
noon, when we proceeded to look after our guide and arrange matters
with him. As soon as he came in the house, we inquired of him what he
wanted for his trouble for the journey. He demanded a cloth _innocent_
or coat, and that not of the poorest. His wife, who was the worst
woman, I think, I have ever beheld in my life, did the best also to
cheat us. We asked him what he thought such a coat would cost. "Well,"
said he, "call it a hundred guilders." We told him we did not intend
to give so much. He replied, "I cannot take less for so long a time."
"And how long do you expect to be gone," we asked. "You must not," he
said, "think of being back before Monday." We then asked him how much
he demanded a day, and he said eight guilders. We made an agreement
with him for seven guilders a day, that is, twenty-eight stivers,
Holland money. We then started to get some provisions, which the old
woman, where we slept, had cheerfully given us; but we took nothing,
except two half loaves of rye bread, and some apples in our travelling
bag, but this Dirck provided himself better for making the journey.
When we were ready, we went over the salt meadow or marsh to the kill,
which was full half an hour's distance; but when we came to the canoe,
the ebb tide was still running strong, and we required the flood. The
canoe lay in a bend of a small creek, and it was impossible to get it
out of this bight and over the mire, except at high water, which would
not take place until evening. We were, therefore, brought to a stand,
whether to proceed in the evening, to which we were not much inclined,
or await until the next morning, which was too much of a delay in view
of our journey to the south. We had, besides, felt some misgivings in
our hearts on account of the godlessness of the person who was to
conduct us. We saw that the Lord plainly shewed what we had to do, and
we, therefore, abandoned the trip, and told him we had not so much
time to lose, and should embrace another opportunity. He cursed and
swore at those who had told him the tide would serve at noon. In truth
he had not been careful and had nobody to blame but himself. We were
glad we were rid of him. We gave our apples and bread back to the old
woman, who, as well as all the villagers, who heard we were not going
up, were rejoiced, and declared we should not have been satisfied.
Afterwards, several others offered their services to accompany us by
land, either on foot or horseback, or otherwise, and go with us
themselves, which we did not reject, but only postponed until we
should see what the Lord would do in His time.
We went immediately to the strand to see whether we could still cross
over to the other side; but Claes had left for the city, and did not
return until evening, and there was no other boat. We were, therefore,
compelled to remain; but, in the meantime, we visited the before
mentioned Fytie, where we met several Indians, who lived upon and
owned the very land we had intended to visit. They had heard we had
gone up to look at their land, and wondered at seeing us back there.
They manifested pleasure at our wishing to visit them, and examine
their land; shook hands with us, and said we were great and good
_nitaps_. They were in hopes we would come and live on their lands,
where we would always be good _nitaps_. Meanwhile Claes having
arrived, we went back with him to Bergen, and passed the night again
at his house.
NOVEMBER _1st, Wednesday._ As soon as Claes had taken his freight on
board, we crossed over with him to the city. Our old people where we
lodged were glad we had not gone with that person, for they also knew
him well. About noon Claes came to the house, wishing to buy something
of us, which he did. We presented him and the good people of this
place with _Christelyke Grondregelen_,[180] in Low Dutch, because we
hoped, after what we had seen, it would serve for their instruction
and edification, and the glory of God, who will bring forth the fruits
thereof in His own time if it please Him.
[Footnote 180: The Dutch translation of Jean de Labadie's _Points
Fondamentaux de la Vie vrayement Chrestienne_ (Amsterdam, 1670).]
_2d, Thursday._ This day, and for the rest of the week, nothing
transpired worthy of note, except we informed Ephraim that our trip
was not to take place, and therefore he need not wait on our account.
I have wished several times that I could sketch in order to employ the
art sometimes when it might be serviceable, especially upon this
voyage. I, therefore, have practised it some, because it was
convenient, and I thought I succeeded in it reasonably well, but I
have done it, without any regularity or assiduity, and only to amuse
myself occasionally.[181]
[Footnote 181: Several very interesting pen-and-ink drawings accompany
the manuscript of this journal. See the introduction to the volume.]
_5th, Sunday._ My comrade, who was exercising himself in the English
language, went again to hear the English minister preach.
_6th, Monday._ We went again to ascertain whether our journey to the
South River would soon be undertaken; for although this opportunity
would suit us very well and we should not miss it, nevertheless the
best time was passing by, and the winter was close at hand. There was
a horse offered us elsewhere, which had to be taken to the South
River; and a yacht also was ready to sail there. The time, therefore,
was to be looked to; and we went again to Ephraim, who assured us that
he would not delay it longer than the ensuing Thursday. But we heard
that Domine Tessemaker was going with him, by which we were entrapped,
for it was one of the reasons why we did not leave with de La Grange,
who had now been gone fourteen days, that he always told us Domine
Tessemaker and some other persons would accompany him. However, as the
Lord had thus ordered it, we were glad to submit to His will, who
always knows why He does thus and so.
Nothing worth mention happened between this and Thursday. Meanwhile,
however, Domine Tessemaker had abandoned the journey with Ephraim, and
resolved to proceed by sea in the yacht or boat, in which he sailed
the next day. Whether he had some special reasons for going by water
we do not know, although we guessed so. Ephraim had ordered a shallop
or yacht, which was to land us at the Rarytans, and was to be ready,
he said, Thursday evening or Friday morning without fail, but of that
he would give us timely notice. We, therefore, remained at home until
Friday morning, the
_10th_, when, as we did not see him, we went to ascertain the cause
and why the journey was not begun. He said it was not his fault, but
that his wife could not leave her mother so soon, and he had given her
time until next Monday, and had, therefore, let the sloop make a trip.
This did not please us very much, for our time was fast running away,
and we were able to accomplish nothing. We bethought ourselves,
therefore, whether we could not make some progress, and as our Jacques
[Cortelyou], had promised to show us the laws of the country, we
determined to go and see whether we could not finish what we had to do
therein before our departure. We both left about noon to go over to
Long Island, and passed through Breukelen and the Vlacke Bos, over
Nieu Uytrecht[182] on large, fine wagon roads to Najack, where we
arrived about three o'clock. It had been very warm during the day, and
we were all in a perspiration and fatigued. Jaques's wife bade us
welcome, but he himself was in the fields. After we had rested
ourselves and eaten something, we went outside upon the banks of this
beautiful bay, to breathe a little air, and look at various vessels,
going and coming. In the meantime he came with his son to meet us.
They had been to the fish _fuyck_,[183] which they had lying there
upon the shore and out of which they had taken at noon some fine fish,
but at present the water was too high. Another of his sons had been
out shooting, but had not shot anything; though the day before he had
shot a woodcock and a partridge before the door of the house, which we
must taste this evening with still some other things. Also because we
were there the _fuyck_ must be lifted again, from which they took out
two fine bass, of a kind we had not yet seen. They are quite large,
and of a good shape. They have seven black stripes on the body,
extending from the head to the tail. We ate of them also in the
evening, and found them very fine, and had not yet tasted any better
in the country. They were fat and hard, with a little of the flavor of
the salmon. The other suited us very well.
[Footnote 182: Brooklyn, Flatbush, New Utrecht.]
[Footnote 183: Large stationary net.]
We had much conversation together, and informed ourselves in relation
to various matters. He gave us some medicinal roots, which we have
mentioned heretofore. He also let us look at the laws, which were
written in a folio volume, but in very bad Dutch, for they had been
translated from English into Dutch.[184] As it was a large book, and
we saw we could not copy it there, we requested him to let us take it
home with us for that purpose. He consented upon condition that if we
left for the south, we would then deliver it to his brother-in-law,
Gerrit, who intended to come over shortly, and would hand it to him.
We lodged this night at his place, but somewhat better than we had
done in the barn, for we slept in his dwelling, still so that we could
well feel where we had slept.
[Footnote 184: The reference is to Governor Nicolls's code, commonly
called the Duke's Laws, first promulgated in 1665, for Long Island and
the Delaware River region, and reissued by Governor Lovelace in 1674.
Copies were sent to each Long Island township, and thus to New
Utrecht. The code was printed in 1809 in the first volume of the
_Collections_ of the New York Historical Society, and may also be
found in a Pennsylvania issue, _Charter to William Penn_, etc.
(Harrisburg, 1879).]
_11th, Saturday._ As soon as we awoke we determined to return home and
finish up our matters in the little time remaining. We left,
therefore, about eight o'clock, after taking some breakfast. He
conducted us to New Utrecht. We lent him _Les Pensees de Pascal_[185]
which we judged would be useful to him. We returned by the same roads
as we came, and reached home about eleven o'clock. We had observed
that although the previous day had been pretty warm, this night had
not only been frosty but ice had formed as thick as the back of a
knife. We commenced at noon copying the most necessary [laws], and
afterwards the rest of them.
[Footnote 185: The _Pensees_ of Blaise Pascal had been published,
posthumously, in 1670.]
_12th, Sunday._ We continued making extracts, and finished about the
middle of the day all that we deemed it necessary to make, omitting
minor matters pertaining to the duties of particular officers. Still,
what shall we say, they were laws and nothing else.
_13th, Monday._ We took care that Jaques should receive the papers
back again, and then went to see whether our journey with Ephraim
would be made. We found the boat lying at the dock, laden with
firewood, and that the day would necessarily be occupied in
discharging, so that at the best, it could not be undertaken before
the next day. The time was finally fixed for the journey for the next
day, and every thing was this day arranged.
JOURNEY TO THE SOUTHWARD BEGINS.[186]
[Footnote 186: These words appear as a marginal note in the original
manuscript.]
_14th, Tuesday._ Having taken leave of all our acquaintances, we set
off at ten o'clock, this morning, in company with Ephraim, his wife,
his wife's mother, two of her sisters, and a young brother, who were
to accompany her as far as Pescatteway.[187] We stepped into the boat,
where we found three horses, two Quakers, and another Englishman. We
were not long in starting. The wind was from the west, which is a head
wind for sailing to Achter Kol. The sky began to be heavily overcast,
and the wind to freshen up more, so that we had to tack. Ephraim being
afraid the wind might shift to the northwest, and blow hard, as it
usually does when it is from that quarter, wished to return, and would
have done so, if the skipper had not tried to go ahead more than he
did. The tide running out, and the boat advancing but little, and
being fearful of the flood tide, which would delay us, if it did not
drive us back, and as there was room to work with the rudder, I went
and took hold of the tiller myself, and brought the boat, with the
flood tide, just within the point of Staten Island, where we found a
ketch bound for Achter Kol, and further up to Snake Hill. Having now
the tide with us, we tacked about, and quickly passed by Schutters
Island, lying in the mouth of a kill, on the north side of the Kil
achter Kol. This island is so called, because the Dutch, when they
first settled on the North River, were in the practice of coming here
to shoot wild geese, and other wild fowl, which resorted there in
great numbers. This kill, when the water is high, is like a large
river, but at low water it is dry in some places. Up above it divides
itself into two branches, one of which runs about north to Snake Hill
and Ackingsak; and the other, called the Northwest Kill, because it
extends in that direction, runs to Aquakenom, of which we will speak
hereafter.[188] We sailed inside of Schutters Island, although the
passage is very small, and thus obtained the in-running current;
because the flood tide which came from Achter Kol, and that from the
North River, strike each other here, and thus shoot together in this
kill. With much effort we reached the point of Elizabeth's Kill, where
we were compelled to come to anchor, at four o'clock. We all went
ashore, and lodged for the night in the house of the French people, of
whom we have spoken before, and who were not yet rid of the suspicion
they had conceived, notwithstanding the declarations we had made to
the contrary. We all slept on the floor, and supped upon what we had
brought with us. We were no sooner in the house, than it began to rain
and blow hard from the northwest, and to be very cold. We saw herein
the good providence of the Lord again, whom we had so many times,
during our journeying, so visibly perceived, watching and protecting
so faithfully those who cared for nothing, except for Him and to do
His will.
[Footnote 187: Piscataway, N.J., founded in 1666, some seven or eight
miles up the Raritan River from its mouth at Perth Amboy. Achter Kol,
below, was the Dutch name for what is now corruptly called Arthur
Kill, and, by extension, for Newark Bay and the portion of New Jersey
immediately west of Staten Island, Arthur Kill, and the Kill van
Kull.]
[Footnote 188: Hackensack and Passaic Rivers.]
_15th, Wednesday._ It still blew stiff out of the northwest, so that
our skipper had little disposition to weigh anchor and get under sail,
especially with the horses on board, although we would have willingly
proceeded. It was, therefore, determined that the horses should go by
land with the servant and brother of Ephraim, and the Quakers resolved
to do the same. The rest of the company went on board the boat, and
after taking in a large reef, we got under sail, with a head wind, but
ebb tide. It blew hard and squally, and we had to look out well, with
sheets in hand. We made good progress, and came to Smokers Hoeck,
which is about half way of Kil achter Kol. We came to anchor here,
because the next reach was directly against the wind, and it blew too
hard to tack. We all stepped ashore here, and went on foot to an
English village called Wout Brigg,[189] where we should find the
horses. Smoker's Hoeck is the easterly point of the kill, which runs
up to Wout Brigg, and we would have sailed up this creek, but it was
ebb tide. We passed over reasonably fair and good land, and observed
particularly fine salt meadows on the creek, on which there was built
a good grist mill,[190] and over which we had to cross. We arrived
about noon or one o'clock, at this English village. Ephraim, not
wishing to go with his family to the ordinary tavern, went to another
house or tavern, where he had been many times before, and where the
people were under some obligations to him. But he could not lodge
there now; and we were, therefore, compelled to go to the common
tavern, which was full of persons, sitting drinking, and where nothing
was to be obtained except that vile rum. Nevertheless, we had to pass
the day there, waiting for the boat and the baggage; but these did not
come up to-day, in consequence of the hard wind. We had, therefore, to
lie down here upon the ground all together, on a little hay, as we
had done last night.
[Footnote 189: Woodbridge, N.J., founded in 1665.]
[Footnote 190: The mill of Jonathan Dunham, whose house was standing
till 1871.]
_16th, Thursday._ The weather moderated and it cleared up, but we had
to wait till about noon, before the goods arrived from the boat, which
the skipper had to bring up in a canoe, because the boat could not
come. We obtained here another horse, making five horses we had, and
another servant of Ephraim. We then dined, and politely took our leave
of Madam van B.[191], the mother of Ephraim's wife, and of her two
sisters, who had come to conduct her as far as here, and from here
were to return home again in the same boat, but the little brother
went with us to the south, to live with Ephraim. It was then about
three o'clock, when we mounted the horses, namely, Ephraim and his
wife upon the best one, my comrade and myself each upon the one we had
obtained at Woodbridge, his brother and servant on one, and the other
servant upon another. _Our_ horses, like the riders, were very poor.
We proceeded on, however, and about four o'clock arrived at
Pescatteway, the last English village in New Jersey, for thus the
government of the Governor my Lord Catrix [Carteret] is called; which
begins on the west side of the North River, and extends about half way
to the South River, though this division did not seem to me to be well
made. We rode about two English miles through Pescatteway, to the
house of one Mr. Greenland,[192] who kept a tavern there. We had to
pass the night here, because it was the place of crossing the
Milstoons [Millstone] River, which they called the falls. Close by
there, also, was the dwelling of some Indians, who were of service to
this Mr. Greenland, in many things. We were better lodged and
entertained here, for we slept upon a good bed, and strengthened
ourselves against the future.
[Footnote 191: Madame van Brugh, _nee_ Katrina Roelofs, later Madame
van Rodenburg, now the wife of Johannes Pieterszen van Brugh.]
[Footnote 192: Dr. Henry Greenland, formerly a resident of Newbury,
Mass., and of Kittery, Maine. The route which travellers at this time
took through New Jersey crossed the Raritan at the present site of New
Brunswick, and then proceeded to what is now Trenton. The crossing of
the Raritan is not mentioned in the journal.]