Peter of New Amsterdam: A Story of Old New York

by Harry Castlemon

  Save for long reeds, at one end of which was a small stone vessel, whichI afterward learned was a contrivance used for burning that Indian weed,tobacco, the savages had nothing in their hands. It seemed to me that itwould have been only natural had they brought with them some of theirweapons, and I was disappointed because of their not having done so, formy curiosity was great regarding what sort of bloodletting instrumentswere in use among them.

  During a full hour I sat on the chest, while two of the seamen loiterednear at hand to make certain the brown men did not attempt to find outwhat we had brought ashore, and then came my master, followed by all thegentlemen of the _Sea Mew_.

  Every one was dressed in his bravest garments, and on stepping out ofthe small boat on the sand, all gave particular respect to my master, asif to show the savages that he was the man who had been sent to ruleover this country of New Netherland.

  This company of gentlemen walked gravely in procession to where thechest was standing, giving no heed to the savages until they weregathered around the useless trinkets, and then they bowed as if eachbrown man before them were a king.

  BUYING THE ISLAND OF MANHATTAN

  I had again been puzzling my brain to figure out how any trading of landcould be carried on, since it was not reasonable to suppose the savageshad knowledge of the Dutch tongue, or that Master Minuit understood suchwords as the brown men spoke.

  It was all made plain, however, when one of the white men who had comefrom Amsterdam the year before, stepped forward, bending low before mymaster as he began making odd sounds to the Indians, which must havebeen words of some kind, since they answered him in the same manner,after which the whole crowd of top-knotted, half-naked savages rose totheir feet.

  Then our Dutchman would repeat the Indian words in English to MasterMinuit, though no one could say whether he repeated exactly that whichthe savages had told him, and thus a full hour was spent in telling ofthe greatness of Holland, the good intent of the West India Companytoward the brown people, and the advantage it would be to have white menin the land.

  Master Minuit was not the only one who could deal out soft words, forthe chief savage of the company was quite his match in such business,and made it appear as if this island of Manhattan were the one place inall the great world, while at the same time he claimed that theManhattan Indians were the only real men ever born.

  Finally Master Minuit got at the kernel of the nut by telling thesavages that he was ready to buy, and to pay a good price for theirisland, at the same time letting it be understood that they need notmove away so long as it was their desire to be neighbors and friendswith the white men, who would pay all kinds of prices for furs, orwhatsoever they had to sell.

  This was the time when the chest was opened, and I looked to see thebrown men walk away angrily, believing Master Minuit was making fools ofthem when he offered such trumpery stuff for good, solid land; but muchto my surprise the savages hung over the beads and cloth as if they wereworth their weight in gold.

  Had I owned the island, and Master Minuit was trying to buy it from mefor what he had in the chest, I would not have given him as much of thesoil as he stood on, for a shipload of the stuff; but these savagesseemed to think they were getting great wealth in exchange for the land,and he who was acting as mouthpiece had need to keep his tongue wagginglively in order to repeat all that was said.

  By noon the bargain had been made; the savages kept a tight grip on allthey had received, even when they were invited on board the _Sea Mew_,where writings of the trade were to be made, and I had hard work not tolaugh outright when I saw how gingerly they stepped into our staunchlongboat, as if fearing it would overset.

  BOATS USED BY THE SAVAGES

  This fear of so seaworthy a craft as ours, was all the more comicalafter I had seen such boats as the savages themselves used, and you maybelieve that I am stretching the truth to the point of breaking it, whenI say that they put off in toy vessels that were little better thaneggshells.

  What is more, they showed no fear in so doing even when the waves ranhigh, and it seemed as if no human power could prevent the frail craftfrom being swamped.

  These canoes, as the savages called them, were given shape by thinsplints of wood, bent something after the fashion of a bow, with theforward and after ends, although one looked the same shape as the other,rising high above the midship portion. They were covered with bark fromthe birch tree, sewn together with sinews of deer, or of such likeanimals, and smeared plentifully with balsam from the pine trees. Wherein another craft would have been the rail, were strips of wood notthicker than my smallest finger, but of such toughness as to give shapeto the boat.

  I could easily, and have done so many times since, toss the largest ofthese canoes on my shoulder and carry it without feeling that I wasburdened. Yet four or five of the brown men would get inside one ofthese drowning machines, as Kryn called them, kneeling in the bottom,since there was no chance to sit squarely down, and dart over the waveswith greater speed than our crew could row the longboat.

  WANDERING OVER THE ISLAND

  When Master Minuit was about to go on board the _Sea Mew_ with thesavages whose land he had just bought, he graciously gave me permit towander at will over the island, with the understanding, however, that Iwas to be on the shore, ready to come aboard ship, before nightfall.

  It can well be understood that I took advantage of the permissionwithout delay, and before I had finished with my roaming, I came tobelieve that my master had not driven as hard a bargain as at firstsight appeared.

  In England, or in Holland, the land would not have been looked upon asof much value to a farmer. There were some spots where a kind of wheatwas growing, but these were few and far between. A goodly portion of theupper part was swampy, and beyond that were ledges, covered withcreeping vines, over which one could not make his way even if he felt sodisposed.

  One of the Dutchmen who had come over before we did, told me that he didnot dare let his cows or sheep wander beyond the marshes, because of theforest's being filled with bears, wolves, and other ravening creatureswhich would make speedy end of them.

  When I asked as to the outlook for a farmer, he turned up his thicknose, saying that save for the fact of the land being rich, neverhaving been planted, he could not raise enough to keep his family andhis cattle from starving.

  Then it was he told me that the West India Company did not give greatheed to what might be grown in the earth, but counted on building here atown in order that they might make much money by buying furs of thesavages.

  It seemed that there were animals in the forest nearabout, the skins ofwhich were valuable in many of the other countries of the world, and itwas Master Minuit's business, if he would please those who had made himDirector of New Netherland, to exchange toys and beads for furs.

  Those white men who had been induced to come over from Holland bypromises of being well paid for their labor, were to turn all theirattention to getting lumber out of the forests, doing no more in the wayof farming than would provide them, as nearly as might be, with food.

  THE HOMES OF THE SAVAGES

  This same Dutchman, seeing that the Indian houses excited my curiosity,offered to go with me inside one, and, on my agreeing eagerly, he ledthe way into the first building on our path, with no thought of askingpermission, much as if entering his own dwelling.

  It surprised me to see what flimsy affairs they were, and yet it wassaid that the savages lived in them during the winter when there is muchsnow on the ground. I have already told you that instead of having aroof laid on upright sides, the top was rounded like a huge log cleft inhalves, and once inside I understood why they were built in suchfashion.

  The timbers were nothing more than small, young trees, the thicker endsof which were thrust into the ground, and the tops bent over until thewhole formed an arch. On the outside of this was bark taken from thebirch tree, sewed or pegged in place, and in the center of the floor,which was simply the bare earth beaten down hard, a
fire could be built,the smoke finding its way out through a hole in the roof.

  Why such frail buildings did not take fire from sparks, I could notunderstand, for it would have needed but a tiny bit of live coal to setthe whole thing in a blaze.

  There were no people in this house which we entered, and therefore itwas that I could look about me more closely than would otherwise havebeen the case. I saw pots and kettles fashioned of what looked to begourds, or baked clay; sharpened stones lashed to wooden handles, to beused, most like, as axes, and shells with an edge so sharp that onemight have whittled a heavy stick into shavings, which shells, so theDutchman told me, served the savages as knives.

  There were many wooden bowls, which must have been formed by these sameknives of shell, and one of them, half filled with a greasy lookingmixture, was yet standing upon the embers, as if its contents had beenheated in that vessel of wood over the fire.

  The beds were not uninviting, save that they were far from beingcleanly, and gave forth a disagreeable odor, for they were made of furspiled high upon a coarse kind of straw.

  MASTER MINUIT'S HOME

  Then it was that this very friendly Dutchman showed me the house inwhich Master Minuit was to live, until such time as a building, madeafter the manner of those in Holland, could be set up.

  It was no more than a log hut, large, to be sure, but yet formed of thetrunks of trees laid one on top of the other, with the ends notched sothat they would lock together, as it were, and the floor was the same asI had seen in the house of the savage, simply earth beaten hard until itwas nearly smooth.

  The idea of bringing his fine garments into such a place, or even ofwearing them where were none save the Indians to see his bravery ofapparel, caused me to smile; but I soon came to know that my master hadno intention of spending very many days within this rough dwelling oflogs.

  The _Sea Mew_ was moored stem and stern, as if for a long stay, andMaster Minuit and the other gentlemen appeared to have no idea of goingon shore to live as did the savages.

  It is not needed for me to say that I also remained aboard the ship,although it would have pleased me far better to have taken my chanceswith the people in the huts, for these Dutchmen who had come in advanceof us were really pleasant fellows, who did not think it beneath theirdignity to answer such questions as a lad like me, who saw so much thatwas curious everywhere around, was aching to ask.

  BEGINNING THE WORK

  There was little chance for me to gratify my curiosity in these firstdays after we were come to America, for Master Minuit counted on havingmuch work done during the summer, in order that we might be prepared forthe frosts of winter, and I had no idle time for making acquaintancewith this New World.

  My master put the interests of the West India Company even before thewell-being of the people who were to make a new town, and his first act,after buying the island of Manhattan for much the same as no price atall, was to begin the gathering of furs.

  The people who had come ahead of us were cutting timber in the forest,and dragging, or rafting, it down to the point where it would be in goodposition to be taken on board the first ship that was to be loaded, andwith such tasks Master Minuit did not interfere.

  The gentlemen who had come with him were to go, each in a differentdirection, up the rivers in search of savages who would exchangevaluable furs for trumpery toys, and it was my duty to assort thesegoods, under the direction of my master, as a matter of course, intovarious lots to the end that each of the traders would have some portionof every kind.

  When this had been done, and I was kept at the task during the greaterpart of two days, each assortment was packed into a chest like unto theone we had taken ashore when the island was purchased of the savages.

  To Hans and Kryn was given the duty of putting these goods into theboats; packing up food for the many crews, and doing the heavy workgenerally, which was not to the liking of the sour-faced servant, whowould have been better pleased could he have remained snug in the greatcabin, as did I.

  A STRANGE KIND OF CRAFT

  Five traders at length set out, each in a boat with four Dutch sailors,and one of the brown men to show him the way, and before the last haddeparted I saw a craft, made by the savages, which was by no means aslight and fanciful as were the canoes of the birch-tree bark.

  The boat had been fashioned out of a huge log, and although there seemedto be great danger she would overset if the cargo were suddenly shiftedto one side, she was of sufficient size to carry a dozen men with twiceas much of goods as we put on board of her.

  I was puzzled to know how these brown men, who had not tools of iron,could build such a vessel, which would have cost the labor of twoDutchmen, with every convenience for working, during at least ten days.Later, however, when I had more time for roaming around on the shore, Ilearned in what manner the task had been performed, and then was Ifilled with wonder because of the patience and skill of these savageswho were so childish as to be pleased with toys.

  When a wooden boat, or "dugout," such as I have just spoken of was to bebuilt, the brown men spent much time searching for a tree of the properkind and size, and, having found it, set about cutting with both fireand sharpened shells.

  A fire was built entirely around the tree, but the flames were preventedfrom rising very high by being deadened with wet moss or leaves, thuscausing them to eat directly into the trunk. When the surface of thewood had been charred to a certain extent, the Indians scraped it awaywith their knives of shell, and this they continued to do, burning andscraping until finally the huge tree would fall to the ground.

  Then was measured off the length of the boat they wanted to make, andthe same kind of work was done until they had cut the trunk again,leaving a log fifteen, twenty, or even twenty-five feet long, as thebuilders desired. Next this log was hollowed out by fire and scraping,until only the shell of the tree was left, so you can have some idea ofthe amount of work that was done by such rude methods.

  The ends were fashioned much after the shape of the canoes, save thatneither the stern nor the bow rose above the midship portion; thwarts,or seats, were fitted in as neatly as one of our workmen could do itwith the proper tools, and when finished, the craft would carry quite aslarge a cargo as one of our longboats.

  Our Dutch seamen looked upon these boats with wonder, questioning ifthey would not be swamped in a heavy sea; but those of our people whohad lived here nearly a year, declared that these dug-outs would swimwhere many a better built craft would go to the bottom.

  BUILDING A FORT

  Within an hour after the last of the traders had set off, Master Minuithad his workmen busy on a fort, to be built an hundred yards or morefrom the place where we first landed.

  Although these brown men appeared so very friendly, it was not in hismind to give them any chance to work mischief, and, therefore, someplace where our people could defend themselves against an enemy, wasneeded.

  All the Dutchmen who had been hewing timber were called upon to takepart in the work, and it went on with amazing rapidity, for MasterMinuit was not one who gave those in his employ much chance to sucktheir fingers.

  The fort was made in the form of a triangle, with bastions, orprojections, at each corner, so that while within them the defenderscould have a view of each side-wall. Around the entire building, say ata distance of twenty feet, was a palisade, or fence, of cedar logsplanted upright in the earth, and fastened together with heavy timbersat the top.

  A more solid fortification of wood I have never yet seen, nor have Iknown of a like defence to have been made in so short a time.

  IN CHARGE OF THE GOODS

  Before the fort was finished, two of the gentlemen traders came back,their chests emptied of beads, cloth, and trinkets, but the boats piledhigh with furs of all kinds, and I heard Master Minuit say that one suchcargo was worth more than all the grain that could be raised in twoyears, by all the white men on the island.

  The log house was taken for a storeroom, and Hans set at wor
k making alist of the furs, which was anything rather than a pleasant task, forthese skins were none of the sweetest or most cleanly, and the Dutchmanboth looked and smelled very disagreeably.

  While Hans was sweating over the furs in the log house, I stayed in thegreat cabin of the _Sea Mew_, refilling the chests with goods, andbefore the task was finished, Master Minuit told me that I was to havecharge of all the things brought for trade with the savages.

  In other words, I was no longer to be body servant, but a realstorekeeper, which was more of a jump in the world than I had even hopedto make for many a long year to come.

  The palisade of the fort was not yet wholly done, when a dozen or moreof the men were set about building inside the fortification a loghouse, where the goods were to be kept and where I was to find lodgings.

  Kryn Gildersleeve, like the honest lad he was, gave me joy because of mythus having become, as it were, a real member of the Company; but Hanswas angry, believing if any of the servants were to be promoted, itshould have been himself, and I am told that he declared I would notlong be allowed to enjoy my high station.

  By the time the palisade had been built my house was finished, and allthe goods brought from the _Sea Mew_, which gave me much of work to do,because my orders were to unpack and store the different articles whereI could bring them out at a moment's notice.