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Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664
CONTENTS
ON HUDSON'S VOYAGE
LETTER OF ISAACK DE RASIERES
MEGAPOLENSIS ON THE MOHAWKS (Part 1)
MEGAPOLENSIS ON THE MOHAWKS (Part 2)
LETTER AND NARRATIVE OF FATHER ISAAC JOGUES
ON HUDSON'S VOYAGE
Reference material and sources.
Emanuel Van Meteren, On Hudson's Voyage, 1610. In J. Franklin Jameson,
ed., Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664 (Original Narratives of
Early American History). NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909.
We have observed in our last book that the Directors of the East India
Company in Holland had sent out in March last, on purpose to seek a
passage to China by northeast or northwest, a skilful English pilot,
named Henry Hudson, in a Vlie boat, having a crew of eighteen or twenty
men, partly English, partly Dutch, well provided.
This Henry Hudson left the Texel on the 6th of April, 1609, doubled the
Cape of Norway the 5th of May, and directed his course along the
northern coasts towards Nova Zembia; but he there found the sea as full
of ice as he had found it in the preceding year, so that they lost the
hope of effecting anything during the season. This circumstance, and
the cold, which some of his men, who had been in the East Indies, could
not bear, caused quarrels among the crew, they being partly English,
partly Dutch, upon which Captain Hudson laid before them two
propositions. The first of these was to go to the coast of America, to
the latitude of 40 degrees, moved thereto mostly by letters and maps
which a certain Captain Smith had sent him from Virginia, and by which
he indicated to him a sea leading into the western ocean, by the north
of the southern English colony. Had this information been true
(experience goes as yet to the contrary), it would have been of great
advantage, as indicating a short way to India. The other proposition
was to direct their search through Davis's Straits. This meeting with
general approval, they sailed thitherward on the 14th of May, and
arrived on the last day of May with a good wind at the Faroe Islands,
where they stopped but twenty-four hours, to supply themselves with
fresh water. After leaving these islands, they sailed on, till on the
18th of July they reached the coast of Nova Francia, under 44 degrees,
where they were obliged to run in, in order to get a new foremast,
having lost theirs. They found one, and set it up. They found this a
good place for cod-fishing, as also for traffic in good skins and furs,
which were to be got there at a very low price. But the crew behaved
badly towards the people of the country, taking their property by
force, out of which there arose quarrels among themselves. The
English, fearing that between the two they would be outnumbered and
worsted, were therefore afraid to pursue the matter further. So they
left that place on the 26th of July, and kept out at sea till the 3d of
August, when they came near the coast, in 42 degrees of latitude.
Thence they sailed on, till on the 12th of August they again reached
the shore, under 37 degrees 45'. Thence they sailed along the shore
until they reached 40 degrees 45', where they found a good entrance,
between two headlands, and entered on the 12th of September into as
fine a river as can be found, wide and deep, with good anchoring ground
on both sides.
Their ship finally sailed up the river as far as 42 degrees 40'. But
their boat went higher up. In the lower part of the river they found
strong and warlike people; but in the upper part they found friendly
and polite people, who had an abundance of provisions, skins, and furs,
of martens and foxes, and many other commodities, as birds and fruit,
even white and red grapes, and they traded amicably with the people.
And of all the above-mentioned commodities they brought some home. When
they had thus been about fifty leagues up the river, they returned on
the 4th of October, and went again to sea. More could have been done if
there had been good-will among the crew and if the want of some
necessary provisions had not prevented it. While at sea, they held
counsel together, but were of different opinions. The mate, a Dutchman,
advised to winter in Newfoundland, and to search the northwestern
passage of Davis throughout. This was opposed by Skipper Hudson. He was
afraid of his mutinous crew, who had sometimes savagely threatened him;
and he feared that during the cold season they would entirely consume
their provisions, and would then be obliged to return, [with] many of
the crew ill and sickly. Nobody, however, spoke of returning home to
Holland, which circumstance made the captain still more suspicious. He
proposed therefore to sail to Ireland, and winter there, which they all
agreed to. At last they arrived at Dartmouth, in England, the 7th of
November, whence they informed their employers, the Directors in
Holland, of their voyage. They proposed to them to go out again for a
search in the northwest, and that, besides the pay, and what they
already had in the ship, fifteen hundred florins should be laid out for
an additional supply of provisions. He [Hudson] also wanted six or
seven of his crew exchanged for others, and their number raised to
twenty. He would then sail from Dartmouth about the 1st of March, so as
to be in the northwest towards the end of that month, and there to
spend the whole of April and the first half of May in killing whales
and other animals in the neighborhood of Panar Island, then to sail to
the northwest, and there to pass the time till the middle of September,
and then to return to Holland around the northeastern coast of
Scotland. Thus this voyage ended.
A long time elapsed, through contrary winds, before the Company could
be informed of the arrival of the ship in England. Then they ordered
the ship and crew to return as soon as possible. But, when this was
about to be done, Skipper Henry Hudson and the other Englishmen of the
ship were commanded by the government there not to leave [England], but
to serve their own country. Many persons thought it strange that
captains should thus be prevented from laying their accounts and
reports before their employers, having been sent out for the benefit of
navigation in general. This took place in January, [1610]; and it was
thought probably that the English themselves would send ships to
Virginia, to explore further the aforesaid river.
END OF "ON HUDSON'S VOYAGE."
LETTER OF ISAACK DE RASIERES
Isaack de Rasieres, Letter of Isaack de Rasieres to Samuel Blommaert,
1628. In J. Franklin Jameson, ed., Narratives of New Netherland,
1609-1664 (Original Narratives of Early American History). NY: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1909.
Mr. Blommaert:
As I feel myself much bound to your service, and in return know not how
otherwise to recompense you than by this slight memoir, (wherein I have
in part comprised as much as was in my power concerning the situation
of New Netherland and its neighbors, and should in many things have
been able to treat of or write the same more in detail, and better than
I have now done, but that my things and notes, which would have been of
service to me herein, have been taken away from me), I will beg you to
be pleased to receive this, on account of my bounden service, etc.
On the 27th of July, Anno 1626, by the help of God, I arrived with the
ship The Arms of Amsterdam, before the bay of the great Mauritse River,
sailing into it about a musket shot from Godyn's Point, into Coenraet's
Bay; (because there the greatest depth is, since from the east point
there stretches out a sand bank on which there is only from 9 to 14
feet of water), then sailed on, northeast and north-northeast, to about
half way from the low sand bank called Godyn's Point to the
Hamels-Hoofden, the mouth of the river, where we found at half ebb 16,
17, 18 feet water, and which is a sandy reef a musket shot broad,
stretching for the most part northeast and southwest, quite across,
and, according to my opinion, having been formed there by the stream,
inasmuch as the flood runs into the bay from the sea, east-southeast;
the depth at Godyn's Point is caused by the tide flowing out along
there with such rapidity.
Between the Hamels-Hoofden the width is about a cannon's shot of 2,000
[yards]; the depth 10, 11, 12 fathoms. They are tolerably high points,
and well wooded. The west point is an island, inhabited by from 80 to
90 savages, who support themselves by planting maize. The east point
is a very large island, full 24-leagues long, stretching east by south
and east-southeast along the sea-coast, from the river to the east end
of the Fisher's Hook. In some places it is from three to four leagues
broad, and it has several creeks and bays, where many savages dwell,
who support themselves by planting maize and making sewan, and who are
called Souwenos and Sinnecox. It is also full of oaks, elms, walnut
and fir trees, also wild cedar and chestnut trees. The tribes are held
in subjection by, and are tributary to, the Pyquans, hereafter named.
The land is in many places good, and fit for ploughing and sowing. It
has many fine valleys, where there is good grass. Their form of
government is like that of their neighbors, which is described
hereafter.
The Hamels-Hoofden being passed, there is about a league width in the
river, and also on the west side there is an inlet, where another river
runs up about twenty leagues, to the north-northeast, emptying into the
Mauritse River in the highlands, thus making the northwest land
opposite to the Manhatas an island eighteen leagues long. It is
inhabited by the old Manhatans [Manhatesen]; they are about 200 to 300
strong, women and men, under different chiefs, whom they call Sackimas.
This island is more mountainous than the other land on the southeast
side of the river, which opposite to the Manhatas is about a league and
half in breadth. At the side of the before-mentioned little river,
which we call "Achter Col," there is a great deal of waste reedy land;
the rest is full of trees, and in some places there is good soil, where
the savages plant their maize, upon which they live, as well as by
hunting. The other side of the same small river, according to
conjecture, is about 20 to 23 leagues broad to the South River, in the
neighborhood of the Sancicans, in so far as I have been able to make it
out from the mouths of the savages; but as they live in a state of
constant enmity with those tribes, the paths across are but little
used, wherefore I have not been able to learn the exact distance; so
that when we wish to send letters overland, they (the natives) take
their way across the bay, and have the letters carried forward by
others, unless one amongst them may happen to be on friendly terms, and
who might venture to go there.
The island of the Manhatas extends two leagues in length along the
Mauritse River, from the point where the Fort "New Amsterdam" is
building. It is about seven leagues in circumference, full of trees,
and in the middle rocky to the extent of about two leagues in circuit.
The north side has good land in two places, where two farmers, each
with four horses, would have enough to do without much clearing at
first. The grass is good in the forest and valleys, but when made into
hay is not so nutritious for the cattle as here, in consequence of its
wild state, but it yearly improves by cultivation. On the east side
there rises a large level field, of from 70 to 80 morgens of land,
through which runs a very fine fresh stream; so that that land can be
ploughed without much clearing. It appears to be good. The six farms,
four of which lie along the River Hellgate, stretching to the south
side of the island, have at least 60 morgens of land ready to be sown
with winter seed, which at the most will have been ploughed eight
times. But as the greater part must have some manure, inasmuch as it
is so exhausted by the wild herbage, I am afraid that all will not be
sown; and the more so, as the managers of the farms are hired men. The
two hindermost farms, Nos. 1 and 2, are the best; the other farms have
also good land, but not so much, and more sandy; so that they are best
suited for rye and buckwheat.
The small fort, New Amsterdam, commenced to be built, is situated on a
point opposite to Noten Island; [the channel between] is a gun-shot
wide, and is full six or seven fathoms deep in the middle. This point
might, with little trouble, be made a small island, by cutting a canal
through Blommaert's valley, so as to afford a haven winter and summer,
for sloops and ships; and the whole of this little island ought, from
its nature, to be made a superb fort, to be approached by land only on
one side (since it is a triangle), thus protecting them both. The river
marks out, naturally, three angles; the most northern faces and
commands, within the range of a cannon shot, the great Mauritse River
and the land; the southernmost commands, on the water level, the
channel between Noten Island and the fort, together with the Hellegat;
the third point, opposite to Blommaert's valley, commands the lowland;
the middle part, which ought to be left as a marketplace, is a hillock,
higher than the surrounding land, and should always serve as a battery,
which might command the three points, if the streets should be arranged
accordingly.
Up the river the east side is high, full of trees, and in some places
there is a little good land, where formerly many people have dwelt, but
who for the most part have died or have been driven away by the
Wappenos.
These tribes of savages all have a government. The men in general are
rather tall, well proportioned in their limbs, and of an orange color,
like the Brazilians; very inveterate against those whom they hate;
cruel by nature, and so inclined to freedom that they cannot by any
means be brought to work; they support themselves by hunting, and when
the spring comes, by fishing. In April, May, and June, they follow the
course of these [the fish], which they catch with a drag-net they
themselves knit very neatly, of the wild hemp, from which the women and
old men spin the thread. The kinds of fish which they principally take
at this time are shad, but smaller than those in this country
ordinarily are, though quite as fat, and very bony; the largest fish is
a sort of white salmon, which is of very good flavor, and quite as
large; it has white scales; the heads are so full of fat that in some
there are two or three spoonfuls, so that there is good eating for one
who is fond of picking heads. It seems that this fish makes them
lascivious, for it is often observed that those who have caught any
when they have gone fishing, have given them, on their return, to the
women, who look for them anxiously. Our people also confirm this....
As an employment in winter they make sewan, which is an oblong bead
that they make from cockle-shells, which they find on the seashore, and
they consider it as valuable as we do money here, since one can buy
with it everything they have; they also make bands of it, which the
women wear on the forehead under the hair, and the men around the body;
and they are as particular about the stringing and sorting as we can be
here about pearls. They are very fond of a game they call Seneca,
played with some round rushes, similar to the Spanish feather-grass,
which they understand how to shuffle and deal as though they were
playing with cards; and they win from each other all that they possess,
even to the lappet with which they cover their private parts, and so
they separate from each other quite naked. They are very much addicted
to promiscuous intercourse. Their clothing is [so simple as to leave
the body] almost naked. In the winter time they usually wear a dressed
deer skin; some a covering made of turkey feathers which they
understand how to knit together very oddly, with small strings. They
also use a good deal of duffel cloth, which they buy from us, and which
serves for their blanket by night, and their dress by day.
The women are fine looking, of middle stature, well proportioned, and
with finely cut features; with long and black hair, and black eyes set
off with fine eyebrows; they are of the same color as the men. They
smear their bodies and hair with grease, which makes them smell very
rankly; they are very much given to promiscuous intercourse.
They have a marriage custom amongst them, namely: when there is one
who resolves to take a particular person for his wife, he collects a
fathom or two of sewan, and comes to the nearest friends of the person
whom he desires, to whom he declares his object in her presence, and if
they are satisfied with him, he agrees with them how much sewan he
shall give her for a bridal present; that being done, he then gives her
all the Dutch beads he has, which they call Machampe, and also all
sorts of trinkets. If she be a young virgin, he must wait six weeks
more before he can sleep with her, during which time she bewails or
laments over her virginity, which they call Collatismarrenitten; all
this time she sits with a blanket over her head, without wishing to
look at any one, or any one being permitted to look at her. This
period being elapsed, her bridegroom comes to her; he in the mean time
has been supporting himself by hunting, and what he has taken he brings
there with him; they then eat together with the friends, and sing and
dance together, which they call Kintikaen. That being done, the wife
must provide the food for herself and her husband, as far as
breadstuffs are concerned, and [should they fall short] she must buy
what is wanting with her sewan.
For this reason they are obliged to watch the season for sowing. At
the end of March they begin to break up the earth with mattocks, which
they buy from us for the skins of beavers or otters, or for sewan.
They make heaps like molehills, each about two and a half feet from the
others, which they sow or plant in April with maize, in each heap five
or six grains; in the middle of May, when the maize is the height of a
finger or more, they plant in each heap three or four Turkish beans,
which then grow up with and against the maize, which serves for props,
for the maize grows on stalks similar to the sugar-cane. When they
wish to make use of the grain for bread or porridge, which they call
Sappaen, they first boil it and then beat it flat upon a stone; then
they put it into a wooden mortar, which they know how to hollow out by
fire, and then they have a stone pestle, which they know how to make
themselves, with which they pound it small, and sift it through a small
basket, which they understand how to weave of the rushes before
mentioned. The finest meal they mix with lukewarm water, and knead it
into dough, then they make round flat little cakes of it, of thickness
of an inch or a little more, which they bury in hot ashes, and so bake
into bread; and when these are baked they have some clean fresh water
by them in which they wash them while hot, one after another, and it is
good bread, but heavy. The coarsest meal they boil into a porridge, as
is before mentioned, and it is good eating when there is butter over
it, but a food which is very soon digested. The grain being dried,
they put it into baskets woven of rushes or wild hemp, and bury it in
the earth, where they let it lie, and go with their husbands and
children in October to hunt deer, leaving at home with their maize the
old people who cannot follow; in December they return home, and the
flesh which they have not been able to eat while fresh, they smoke on
the way, and bring it back with them. They come home as fat as moles.
When a woman here addicts herself to fornication, and the husband comes
to know it, he thrashes her soundly, and if he wishes to get rid of
her, he summons the Sackima with her friends, before whom he accuses
her; and if she be found guilty the Sackima commands one to cut off her
hair in order that she may be held up before the world as a whore,
which they call poerochque; and then the husband takes from her
everything that she has, and drives her out of the house; if there be
children, they remain with her, for they are fond of them beyond
measure. They reckon consanguinity to the eighth degree, and revenge
an injury from generation to generation unless it be atoned for; and
even then there is mischief enough, for they are very revengeful.
And when a man is unfaithful, the wife accuses him before the Sackima,
which most frequently happens when the wife has a preference for
another man. The husband being found guilty, the wife is permitted to
draw off his right shoe and left stocking (which they make of deer or
elk skins, which they know how to prepare very broad and soft, and wear
in the winter time); she then tears off the lappet that covers his
private parts, gives him a kick behind, and so drives him out of the
house; and then "Adam" scampers off.
It would seem that they are very libidinous--in this respect very
unfaithful to each other; whence it results that they breed but few
children, so that it is a wonder when a woman has three or four
children, particularly by any one man whose name can be certainly
known. They must not have intercourse with those of their own family
within the third degree, or it would be considered an abominable thing.
Their political government is democratic. They have a chief Sackima
whom they choose by election, who generally is he who is richest in
sewan, though of less consideration in other respects. When any
stranger comes, they bring him to the Sackima. On first meeting they
do not speak--they smoke a pipe of tobacco; that being done, the
Sackima asks: "Whence do you come?" the stranger then states that, and
further what he has to say, before all who are present or choose to
come. That being done, the Sackima announces his opinion to the
people, and if they agree thereto, they give all together a
sigh--"He!"--and if they do not approve, they keep silence, and all
come close to the Sackima, and each sets forth his opinion till they
agree; that being done, they come all together again to the stranger,
to whom the Sackima then announces what they have determined, with the
reasons moving them thereto.
All travellers who stop over night come to the Sackima, if they have no
acquaintances there, and are entertained by the expenditure of as much
sewan as is allowed for that purpose; therefore the Sackimas generally
have three or four wives, each of whom has to furnish her own seed-corn.
The Sackima has his fixed fine of sewan for fighting and causing blood
to flow. When any are--[here four pages, at least, are missing in the
original manuscript].
Coming out of the river Nassau, you sail east-and-by-north about
fourteen leagues, along the coast, a half miles from the shore, and you
then come to "Frenchman's Point" at a small river where those of
Patucxet have a house made of hewn oak planks, called Aptucxet, where
they keep two men, winter and summer, in order to maintain the trade
and possession. Here also they have built a shallop, in order to go
and look after the trade in sewan, in Sloup's Bay and thereabouts,
because they are afraid to pass Cape Mallabaer, and in order to avoid
the length of the way; which I have prevented for this year by selling
them fifty fathoms of sewan, because the seeking after sewan by them is
prejudicial to us, inasmuch as they would, by so doing, discover the
trade in furs; which if they were to find out, it would be a great
trouble for us to maintain, for they already dare to threaten that if
we will not leave off dealing with that people, they will be obliged to
use other means; if they do that now, while they are yet ignorant how
the case stands, what will they do when they do get a notion of it?
From Aptucxet the English can come in six hours, through the woods,
passing several little rivulets of fresh water, to New Plymouth, the
principal place in the district Patucxet, so called in their patent
from his Majesty in England.
New Plymouth lies in a large bay to the north of Cape Cod, or
Mallabaer, east and west from the said [north] point of the cape, which
can be easily seen in clear weather. Directly before the commenced
town lies a sand-bank, about twenty paces broad, whereon the sea breaks
violently with an easterly and east-north-easterly wind. On the north
side there lies a small island where one must run close along, in order
to come before the town; then the ships run behind that bank and lie in
a very good roadstead. The bay is very full of fish, [chiefly] of cod,
so that the governor before named has told me that when the people have
a desire for fish they send out two or three persons in a sloop, whom
they remunerate for their trouble, and who bring them in three or four
hours' time as much fish as the whole community require for a whole
day--and they muster about fifty families.
At the south side of the town there flows down a small river of fresh
water, very rapid, but shallow, which takes its rise from several lakes
in the land above, and there empties into the sea; where in April and
the beginning of May, there come so many shad from the sea which want
to ascend that river, that it is quite surprising. This river the
English have shut in with planks, and in the middle with a little door,
which slides up and down, and at the sides with trellice work, through
which the water has its course, but which they can also close with
slides.
At the mouth they have constructed it with planks, like an eel-pot,
with wings, where in the middle is also a sliding door, and with
trellice work at the sides, so that between the two [dams] there is a
square pool, into which the fish aforesaid come swimming in such
shoals, in order to get up above, where they deposit their spawn, that
at one tide there are 10,000 to 12,000 fish in it, which they shut off
in the rear at the ebb, and close up the trellices above, so that no
more water comes in; then the water runs out through the lower
trellices, and they draw out the fish with baskets, each according to
the land he cultivates, and carry them to it, depositing in each hill
three or four fishes, and in these they plant their maize, which grows
as luxuriantly therein as though it were the best manure in the world.
And if they do not lay this fish therein, the maize will not grow, so
that such is the nature of the soil.
New Plymouth lies on the slope of a hill stretching east towards the
sea-coast, with a broad street about a cannon shot of 800 feet long,
leading down the hill; with a [street] crossing in the middle,
northwards to the rivulet and southwards to the land. The houses are
constructed of hewn planks, with gardens also enclosed behind and at
the sides with hewn planks, so that their houses and court-yards are
arranged in very good order, with a stockade against a sudden attack;
and at the ends of the streets there are three wooden gates. In the
centre, on the cross street, stands the governor's house, before which
is a square stockade upon which four patereros are mounted, so as to
enfilade the streets. Upon the hill they have a large square house,
with a flat roof, made of thick sawn plank, stayed with oak beams, upon
the top of which they have six cannon, which shoot iron balls of four
and five pounds, and command the surrounding country. The lower part
they use for their church, where they preach on Sundays and the usual
holidays. They assemble by beat of drum, each with his musket or
firelock, in front of the captain's door; they have their cloaks on,
and place themselves in order, three abreast, and are led by a sergeant
without beat of drum. Behind comes the governor, in a long robe;
beside him, on the right hand, comes the preacher with his cloak on,
and on the left hand the captain with his side-arms, and cloak on, and
with a small cane in his hand; and so they march in good order, and
each sets his arms down near him. Thus they are constantly on their
guard night and day.
Their government is after the English form. The governor has his
council, which is chosen every year by the entire community, by
election or prolongation of term. In inheritances they place all the
children in one degree, only the eldest son has an acknowledgement for
his seniority of birth. They have made stringent laws and ordinances
upon the subject of fornication and adultery, which laws they maintain
and enforce very strictly indeed, even among the tribes which live
amongst them. They speak very angrily when they hear from the savages
that we live so barbarously in these respects, and without punishment.
Their farms are not so good as ours, because they are more stony, and
consequently not so suitable for the plough. They apportion their land
according as each has means to contribute to the eighteen thousand
guilders which they have promised to those who had sent them out;
whereby they have their freedom without rendering an account to any
one; only if the King should choose to send a governor-general they
would be obliged to acknowledge him as sovereign overlord. The maize
seed which they do not require for their own use is delivered over to
the governor, at three guilders the bushel, who in his turn sends it in
sloops to the north for the trade in skins among the savages; they
reckon one bushel of maize against one pound of beaver's skins; the
profits are divided according to what each has contributed, and they
are credited for the amount in the account of what each has to
contribute yearly towards the reduction of his obligation. Then with
the remainder they purchase what next they require, and which the
governor takes care to provide every year. They have better sustenance
than ourselves, because they have the fish so abundant before their
doors. There are also many birds, such as geese, herons and cranes,
and other small-legged birds, which are in great abundance there in the
winter.
The tribes in their neighborhood have all the same customs as already
above described, only they are better conducted than ours, because the
English give them the example of better ordinances and a better life;
and who also, to a certain degree, give them laws, in consequence of
the respect they from the very first have established amongst them.
The savages [there] utilize their youth in labor better than the
savages round about us: the girls in sowing maize, the young men in
hunting. They teach them to endure privation in the field in a singular
manner, to wit:
When there is a youth who begins to approach manhood, he is taken by
his father, uncle, or nearest friend, and is conducted blindfolded into
a wilderness, in order that he may not know the way, and is left there
by night or otherwise, with a bow and arrows, and a hatchet and a
knife. He must support himself there a whole winter with what the
scanty earth furnishes at this season, and by hunting. Towards the
spring they come again, and fetch him out of it, take him home and feed
him up again until May. He must then go out again every morning with
the person who is ordered to take him in hand; he must go into the
forest to seek wild herbs and roots, which they know to be the most
poisonous and bitter; these they bruise in water and press the juice
out of them, which he must drink, and immediately have ready such herbs
as will preserve him from death or vomiting; and if he cannot retain
it, he must repeat the dose until he can support it, and until his
constitution becomes accustomed to it so that he can retain it.
Then he comes home, and is brought by the men and women, all singing
and dancing, before the Sackima; and if he has been able to stand it
all well, and if he is fat and sleek, a wife is given to him.
In that district there are no lions or bears, but there are the same
kinds of other game, such as deers, hinds, beavers, otters, foxes,
lynxes, seals and fish, as in our district of country. The savages say
that far in the interior there are certain beasts of the size of oxen,
having but one horn, which are very fierce. The English have used
great diligence in order to see them, but cannot succeed therein,
although they have seen the flesh and hides of them which were brought
to them by the savages. There are also very large elks here, which the
English have indeed seen.
The lion skins which we sometimes see our savages wear are not large,
so that the animal itself must be small; they are of a mouse-gray
color, short in the hair and long in the claws.
The bears are some of them large and some small; but the largest are
not so large as the middle-sized ones which come from Greenland. Their
fur is long and black and their claws large. The savages esteem the
flesh and grease as a great dainty.
Of the birds, there is a kind like starlings, which we call maize
thieves, because they do so much damage to the maize. They fly in
large flocks, so that they flatten the corn in any place where they
alight, just as if cattle had lain there. Sometimes we take them by
surprise and fire amongst them with hailshot, immediately that we have
made them rise, so that sixty, seventy, and eighty fall all at once,
which is very pleasant to see.
There are also very large turkeys living wild; they have very long
legs, and can run extraordinarily fast, so that we generally take
savages with us when we go to hunt them; for even when one has deprived
them of the power of flying, they yet run so fast that we cannot catch
them unless their legs are hit also.
In the autumn and in the spring there come a great many geese, which
are very good, and easy to shoot, inasmuch as they congregate together
in such large flocks. There are two kind of partridges; the one sort
are quite as small as quails and the other like the ordinary kind here.
There are also hares, but few in number, and not larger than a
middle-sized rabbit; and they principally frequent where the land is
rocky.
This, sir, is what I have been able to communicate to you from memory,
respecting New Netherland and its neighborhood, in discharge of my
bounden duty; I beg that the same may so be favorably received by you,
and I beg to recommend myself for such further service as you may be
pleased to command me in, wherever you may find me.
In everything your faithful servant,
ISAACK DE RASIERES.
END OF "LETTER OF ISAACK DE RASIERES."
MEGAPOLENSIS ON THE MOHAWKS
Harmen Meydertsz van den Boagaert (?), Narrative of a Journey Into the
Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634-1635. In J. Franklin Jameson, ed.,
Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664 (Original Narratives of Early
American History). NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909.
Praise the Lord above all--Fort Orange, 1634.
December 11. Journal kept of the principal events that happened during
the journey to the Maquas and Sinnekens Indians. First, the reasons
why we went on this journey were these, that the Maquas and Sinnekens
very often came to our factor [commis] Marten Gerritsen and me stating
that there were French Indians in their land, and that they had made a
truce with them so that they, namely, the Maquas, wished to trade for
their skins, because the Maquas Indians wanted to receive just as much
for their skins as the French Indians did. So I proposed to Mr. Marten
Gerritsen to go and see if it was true, so soon to run counter to their
High Mightinesses; and, besides, trade was doing very badly, therefore
I went as above with Jero[ni]-mus [de] la Croex and Willem Tomassen.
May the Lord bless my voyage! We went between nine and ten o'clock
with five Macquas Indians, mostly northwest above eight leagues, and
arrived at half-past twelve in the evening at a hunter's cabin, where
we slept for the night, near the stream that runs into their land and
is named Oyoge. The Indians here gave us venison to eat. The land is
mostly full of fir trees, and the flat land is abundant. The stream
runs through their land near their (Maquas) castle, but we could not
ascend it on account of the heavy freshet.
December 12. At three hours before daylight, we proceeded again, and
the savages that went with us would have left us there if I had not
noticed it; and when we thought of taking our meal we perceived that
their dogs had eaten our meat and cheese. So we had then only dry
bread and had to travel on that; and, after going for an hour, we came
to the branch that runs into our river and past the Maquas villages,
where the ice drifted very fast. Jeronimus crossed first, with one
savage in a canoe made of the bark of trees, because there was only
room for two; after that Willem and I went over; and it was so dark
that we could not see each other if we did not come close together. It
was not without danger. When all of us had crossed, we went another
league and a half and came to a hunter's cabin, which we entered to eat
some venison, and hastened farther, and after another half league we
saw some Indians approaching; and as soon as they saw us they ran off
and threw their sacks and bags away, and fled down a valley behind the
underwood, so that we could not see them. We looked at their goods and
bags, and took therefrom a small [loaf of] bread. It was baked with
beans, and we ate it. We went farther, and mostly along the aforesaid
kill that ran very swiftly because of the freshet. In this kill there
are a good many islands, and on the sides upward of 500 or 600 morgen
of flat land; yes, I think even more. And after we had been marching
about eleven leagues, we arrived at one o'clock in the evening half a
league from the first castle at a little house. We found only Indian
women inside. We should have gone farther, but I could hardly move my
feet because of the rough road, so we slept there. It was very cold,
with northerly wind.
December 13. In the morning we went together to the castle over the
ice that during the night had frozen on the kill, and, after going half
a league, we arrived in their first castle, which is built on a high
hill. There stood but 36 houses, in rows like streets, so that we
could pass nicely. The houses are made and covered with bark of trees,
and mostly are flat at the top. Some are 100, 90, or 80 paces long and
22 and 23 feet high. There were some inside doors of hewn boards,
furnished with iron hinges. In some houses we saw different kinds of
iron work, iron chains, harrow irons, iron hoops, nails,--which they
steal when they go forth from here. Most of the people were out hunting
deer and bear. The houses were full of corn that they call onersti,
and we saw maize; yes, in some of the houses more than 300 bushels.
They make canoes and barrels of the bark of trees, and sew with bark as
well. We had a good many pumpkins cooked and baked that they called
anansira. None of the chiefs were at home, but the principal chief is
named Adriochten, who lived a quarter of a mile from the fort in a
small house, because a good many savages here in the castle died of
smallpox. I sent him a message to come and see us, which he did; he
came and bade me welcome, and said that he wanted us very much to come
with him. We should have done so, but when already on the way another
chief called us, and so we went to the castle again. This one had a
big fire lighted, and a fat haunch of venison cooked, of which we ate.
He gave us two bearskins to sleep upon, and presented me with three
beaver skins. In the evening Willem Tomassen, whose legs were swollen
from the march, had a few cuts made with a knife therein, and after
that had them rubbed with bear grease. We slept in this house, at
heartily of pumpkins, beans and venison, so that we were not hungry,
but were treated as well as is possible in their land. We hope that
all will succeed.
December 14. Jeronimus wrote a letter to our commis (factor), Marten
Gerritsen, and asked for paper, salt, and atsochwat--that means tobacco
for the savages. We went out to shoot turkeys with the chief, but
could not get any. In the evening I bought a very fat one for two
hands of seewan. The chief cooked it for us, and the grease he mixed
with our beans and maize. This chief showed me his idol; it was a male
cat's head, with the teeth sticking out; it was dressed in duffel
cloth. Others have a snake, a turtle, a swan, a crane, a pigeon, or
the like for their idols, to tell the fortune; they think they will
always have good luck in doing so. From here two savages went with
their skins to Fort Orange.
December 15. I went again with the chief to hunt turkeys, but could
not get any; and in the evening the chief again showed us his idol, and
we resolved to stay here for another two or three days till there
should be an opportunity to proceed, because all the footpaths had
disappeared under the heavy snowfalls.
December 16. After midday a famous hunter came here named Sickarus,
who wanted very much that we should go with him to his castle. He
offered to carry our goods and to let us sleep and remain in his house
as long as we liked; and because he was offering us so much I gave him
a knife and two awls as a present, and to the chief in whose house we
had been I presented a knife and a pair of scissors; and then we took
our departure from this castle, named Onekagoncka, and after going for
half a league over the ice we saw a village with only six houses, of
the Canowarode; but we did not enter it, because he said it was not
worth while, and after another half league we passed again a village
where twelve houses stood. It was named Schatsyerosy. These were like
the others, he saying they likewise were not worth while entering; and
after passing by great stretches of flat land, for another league or
league and a half, we came into this castle, at two good hours after
dark. I did not see much besides a good many graves. This castle is
named Canagere. It is built on a hill, without any palisades or any
defense. We found only seven men at home, besides a party of old women
and children. The chiefs of this castle, named Tonnosatton and
Tonewerot, were hunting; so we slept in the house of Sickarus, as he
had promised us; and we counted in his house 120 pieces of salable
beaver skins that he captured with his own dogs. Every day we ate
beaver meat here. In this castle are sixteen houses, 50, 60, 70, or 80
paces long, and one of sixteen paces, and one of five paces, containing
a bear to be fattened. It had been in there upward of three years, and
was so tame that it took everything that was given to it to eat.
December 17. Sunday we looked over our goods, and found a paper filled
with sulphur, and Jeronimus took some of it and threw it in the fire.
They saw the blue flame and smelled the smoke, and told us they had the
same stuff; and when Sickarus came they asked us to let them take a
look at it, and it was the same; and we asked him where he obtained it.
He told us they obtained it from the stranger savages, and that they
believed it to be good against many maladies, but principally for their
legs when they were sore from long marching and were very tired.
December 18. Three women of the Sinnekens came here with dried and
fresh salmon; the latter smelled very bad. They sold each salmon for
one florin or two hands of seawan. They brought, also, a good quantity
of green tobacco to sell; and had been six days on the march. They
could not sell all their salmon here, but went farther on to the first
castle; and when they returned we were to go with them, and in the
evening Jeronimus told me that a savage tried to kill him with a knife.
December 19. We received a letter from Marten Gerritsen dated December
18, and with it we received paper, salt, tobacco for the savages, and a
bottle of brandy, and secured an Indian that was willing to be our
guide for the Sinnekens. We gave him half a yard of cloth, two axes,
two knives, and two awls. If it had been summer, many Indians would
have gone with us, but as it was winter they would not leave their
land, because it snowed very often up to the height of a man. To-day
we had a great rainfall, and I gave the guide a pair of shoes. His
name was Sqorhea.
December 20. We took our departure from the second castle, and, after
marching a league, our savage, Sqorhea, came to a stream that we had to
pass. This stream ran very fast; besides, big cakes of ice came
drifting along, for the heavy rainfall during yesterday had set the ice
drifting. We were in great danger, for if one of us had lost his
footing it had cost us our lives; but God the Lord preserved us, and we
came through safely. We were wet up to above the waist, and after
going for another half league we came thus wet, with our clothes, shoes
and stockings frozen to us, to a very high hill on which stood 32
houses, like the other ones. Some were 100, 90, or 80 paces long; in
every house we saw four, five, or six fireplaces where cooking went on.
A good many savages were at home, so we were much looked at by both the
old and the young; indeed, we could hardly pass through. They pushed
each other in the fire to see us, and it was more than midnight before
they took their departure. We could not absent ourselves to go to
stool; even then they crawled around us without any feeling of shame.
This is the third castle and is named Schanidisse. The chief's name is
Tewowary. They lent me this evening a lion skin to cover myself; but
in the morning I had more than a hundred lice. We ate much venison
here. Near this castle there is plenty of flat land, and the wood is
full of oaks and nut trees. We exchanged here one beaver skin for one
awl.
December 21. We started very early in the morning, and thought of
going to the fourth estate, but after a half league's marching we came
to a village with only nine houses, of the name of Osquage; the chief's
name was Oquoho--that is, wolf. And here we saw a big stream that our
guide did not dare to cross, as the water was over one's head because
of the heavy rainfall; so we were obliged to postpone it till the next
day. The chief treated us very kindly; he did us much good and gave us
plenty to eat, for everything to be found in his houses was at our
service. He said often to me that I was his brother and good friend;
yes, he told me even how he had been travelling overland for thirty
days, and how he met there an Englishman, to learn the language of the
Minquase and to buy the skins. I asked him whether there were any
French savages there with the Sinnekens. He said yes; and I felt
gratified and had a good hope to reach my aim. They called me here to
cure a man that was very sick.
December 22. When the sun rose, we waded together through the stream;
the water was over the knee, and so cold that our shoes and stockings
in a very short time were frozen as hard as armor. The savages dared
not go through, but went two by two, with a stick and hand in hand; and
after going half a league we came to a village named Cawaoge. There
stood fourteen houses, and a bear to fatten. We went in and smoked a
pipe of tobacco, because the old man who was our guide was very tired.
Another old man approached us, who shouted, "Welcome, welcome! you must
stop here for the night"; but we wanted to be on the march and went
forward. I tried to buy the bear, but they would not let it go. Along
these roads we saw many trees much like the savin, with a very thick
bark. This village likewise stood on a very high hill, and after going
for another league we came into the fourth castle by land whereon we
saw only a few trees. The name is Te notoge. There are 55 houses,
some one hundred, others more or fewer paces long. The kill we spoke
about before runs past here, and the course is mostly north by west and
south by east. On the other bank of the kill there are also houses;
but we did not go in, because they were most of them filled with corn
and the houses in this castle are filled with corn and beans. The
savages here looked much surprised to see us, and they crowded so much
around us that we could hardly pass through, for nearly all of them
were at home. After awhile one of the savages came to us and invited
us to go with him to his house, and we entered. This castle had been
surrounded by three rows of palisades, but now there were none save six
or seven pieces so thick that it was quite a wonder that savages should
be able to do that. They crowded each other in the fire to see us.