Peter of New Amsterdam: A Story of Old New York

by Harry Castlemon

  You must not understand that Master Minuit had entrusted to me thetrading. That portion of the work was for himself and the gentlemen whohad come with him; but I was in charge of the goods, as Hans was keeperof the furs, while Kryn alone waited upon the master as body servant.

  When any of the savages came in from the village close by, or from faraway, to bargain for our toys, one of the gentlemen looked after him,and I brought this thing or carried that according to orders, for theIndians were not allowed to come inside the log house lest they mightmake mischief. After the trading was at an end, Hans would be summonedto carry away the furs.

  If none of the other gentlemen were near at hand, it was my duty tosummon Master Minuit, when any of the brown men came to the fort withsuch a burden that I could understand he was eager to buy of our goods.

  THE VALUE OF WAMPUM

  Because of thus being employed, I very soon saw that which served thesavages as money, and queer stuff it was, being neither more nor lessthan bits of shell.

  The brown men called the stuff wampum, and because of having such poortools it must be an enormous amount of work to make it. As nearly as Icould learn, there were certain big shells which washed up on the shoreshere after a storm, and only some part of the inside of these, and aportion of the mussel shells, were used.

  From the big shells they made a smooth white bead, grinding the shelldown against a rock until it was perfectly smooth, and then boring ahole through it. The beads of wampum made from the mussel shells were inshape much like a straw, and less than half an inch in length.

  These beads the Indians strung on the dried sinews of wild animals, froma half a yard to four feet in length, when, as I have already told you,they were used as money.

  But wampum is even more than that among the savages. When these stringsare fastened to the width of five or six inches into a belt, they aregiven to messengers to take to another tribe, much as kings of old usedto give their seal rings as a sort of letter of recommendation.

  The great Wampum Belt of the Onondagas.]

  The wampum belts were sent in token of peace after a war, or as apresent from one ruler to another, and, as can be seen, this wampum waseven of more value to the savages than gold is to white men.

  One would think that when they got our beads in exchange for their furs,they would have strung them with those which had been cut from shells,and yet they did nothing of the kind, for in their eyes one of thosetiny, white balls, which had a hole through the middle, was of morevalue than a cupful of Master Minuit's best.

  I do not know how it was figured out; but you must know that in Hollandthey have a coin called a stuyver, which is worth in English money nearto two pennies. Our people here allowed, in trading with the Indians,that four beads of wampum were equal to one stuyver, or two pennies, anda single strand six feet long, was equal to four guilders, or, roughlyspeaking, about eight shillings.

  There is no need for me to say that our people did not buy wampum of theIndians; but in the course of the bargaining it passed back and forth,because of being the only coins the brown men had, and therefore Isuppose it was, that Master Minuit believed it necessary to put somefixed price upon it.

  BUILDINGS OF STONE

  After the fort and the storehouse had been finished, the Dutch laborerswere set about cutting out stone from the ledges of which I have spoken,to be used in the place of bricks. From this rock Master Minuit decidedthat a more secure warehouse for the company's goods should be made,and, also, a dozen or more of the men were set about building a mill tobe worked by horse-power, so that it might be possible to grind thegrain.

  This horse-mill also was to be built of stone, with a large loft thatwould be used as a church.

  There had been no ministers brought over when we came in the _Sea Mew_;but in place of them were two zeikentroosters, which is a Dutch word for"Consolers of the Sick;" but what they might be called in plain EnglishI know not. It appeared to me that the zeikentroosters in Holland weremuch the same as deacons in England, though as to this I may be wrong.

  At all events, there were two of them came in our ship, and, until thefirst minister arrived, they held regular meetings out of doors whilethe mill was being built, and afterward in the loft.

  THE GOVERNMENT

  While the people were working on the mill, the fort, and the storehouse,or at the quarry, Master Minuit, busy man though he was, found time toset up a regular government in this town of huts which he called NewAmsterdam, himself being at the head of it with no one to say him nay,and a Council of five chosen by the West India Company from among thewhite people.

  There was also a secretary for this Council, and a Dutch official, whichin Holland is called schout-fiscal, which means about all of the officesthat could be held in an ordinary village, for he was sheriff,constable, collector of customs, tithing-man, and almost anything elseyou chose to call him.

  The secretary and the schout-fiscal were also appointed by the Companyin Amsterdam, and every act of the Council, as well as the rules andregulations laid down by Master Minuit, were all to be approved by thegentlemen in Holland before our people would be bound by them. Thus itcan be seen that while one might suppose the citizens of New Amsterdammade their own laws, it was in fact the West India Company which hadfull direction of affairs.

  After a time, when I had been so far entrusted with the business of thesettlement as to understand how it was conducted, I came to realize thatall which was done by us of New Amsterdam was for the profit of theCompany, rather than for the benefit of the people, and this finallycame to be one of the causes which worked for the downfall of Dutchpower in the New World.

  A PROSPEROUS TOWN

  Before I had been many days in charge of the Company's goods we began todrive a flourishing trade, for all those gentlemen who had set off withtrinkets to buy furs, urged the brown men to go down to New Amsterdamand see what the white people were doing on the island they had boughtat so generous a price.

  And you can well fancy that these Indians were not slow in accepting theinvitation. It must have been to them much like visiting a museum, or amenagerie, to come into our town and see another race of people workingin a manner entirely different from their methods, and using toolswhich afforded a great saving of labor, the like of which they had neverheard about.

  Before two weeks were passed, there was never a day that from three totwenty canoes were not hauled up on the shore of the point, and thesebrown people were gathered around the fort, many naked, excepting forqueer breeches and belt; others wearing a kind of cloak made of furs,and now and then one who had a mantle of some sort of feather work, butall burdened with bales of furs, deer meat, wild turkeys, ducks oranything which it seemed to them likely would be bought by these Dutchtraders, who had of toys such a store.

  I was kept busy from morning until night, trotting in and out of thehouse with this article or that, as whosoever was conducting thebusiness commanded, and I dare venture to say that Hans was having asorry time indeed, for the weather had grown warm, and his quarters inthe log hut, with those ill-smelling pelts, must have been anythingrather than pleasant.

  The first event of great importance to us of New Amsterdam, was theloading of a ship to be sent home, and I am minded to tell you exactlyhow the cargo was made up, so that you may see whether the West IndiaCompany's servants had idled away any of their time.

  There were 7,246 beaver skins, 1,781-1/2 otter skins, 675 poorer otterskins, 48 mink skins, 33 poorer mink skins, 36 wild cat skins, and 34rat skins. The rest of the lading was made up of oak and hickory timber,while the whole of it was valued by Master Minuit at 45,000 guilders,and it is for you to find out how much that would be in the money ofyour own country.

  Before this ship sailed we had gathered our first harvest, which wasmade up of wheat, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, beans and flax, and insuch quantity that, unless there should be large additions to ournumbers, we had need to feel no anxiety regarding the winter's store offood.

  I a
m telling you this that you may understand how industrious ourDutchmen were, to raise so much on land that at first sight one wouldhave said was in no way suited for planting.

  Now it was that our people began to use stone in the building of houses,and the first looked so comfortable that others were eager to havedwellings like it. The consequence was, that during this first fallafter our arrival, there were no less than twelve stone dwellings inprogress, while Master Minuit already had such a home as was a credit toany town which had been no longer begun than New Amsterdam.

  QUARRELSOME SLAVES

  It was during this year of our Lord, 1626, when the venture of making avillage in the New World was well-nigh shown to be a success, that thefirst serious crime was committed, and one which cost, before many yearshad passed, much of white blood.

  Among the laborers who had been brought over in the _Sea Mew_, were ninenegro slaves, the West India Company having sent them in the belief thatbecause of their skins' being black they might do much toward gainingfavor with the brown men.

  In Holland these fellows had shown themselves to be fairly goodservants, although not greatly given to industry; but no sooner werethey landed in the New World than they became indolent and ill-tempered,seeming to believe that because of this country's being inhabited bypeople whose skins were dark, they were entitled to a full share ofeverything, with no longer the need to look upon any man as master.

  The result of it all was that the negroes became troublesome, ready toquarrel with any man who crossed their path, and unwilling to do so muchof labor as would have provided them with food to eat.

  They swaggered here and there around the village, taking good care,however, not to cross Master Minuit's path, else would he have pulledthem up with a round turn. At night, when the head men of the villagewere in their dwellings, these black fellows did not hesitate to quarrelwith, or even illtreat, the hard working Dutchmen who had never a harshword for any one.

  Now I have heard it said later that Master Minuit was at fault becauseof his not giving to those negroes, when they first showed signs ofbeing unruly, such a punishment as would never have been forgotten; butit must be borne in mind that my master was an exceeding busy man,having the care of everything whatsoever on his shoulders, from thecutting of stone to the dealings with the West India Company.

  Then again, there is a question in my mind as to whether he knew howoverbearing they were growing, for our people, realizing that his careswere many, suffered much in the way of small injuries rather thancomplain to him.

  However this may be, I shall always hold that the behavior of thesenegroes was no affair of Master Minuit. Until some of the people hadcalled his attention to it, matters went on as they began, with theblack men growing more and more unruly.

  A BRUTAL MURDER

  Finally, a certain Indian, having with him a small boy, came down totrade twenty-two beaver skins for red cloth. Because of none of thegentlemen traders being near at hand when he arrived, I was forced toask him to wait until nearly nightfall, and by the time he had finishedhis bargaining, darkness was come.

  Now it was usual for these brown men, who lived at a distance, toshelter themselves for the night nearabout New Amsterdam in thedwellings of the Manhattan Indians; therefore no one gave heed to thefact that these two visitors went out from the fort at quite a late hourin the evening.

  Exactly what happened, no one, excepting those concerned directly in it,could say; but certain it is that between the fort and the settlement ofthe Manhattan Indians, within an hour from the time I saw them last,this Indian and the boy were set upon by four negroes, who beat the manso brutally while robbing him of the goods he had just purchased, thathe died before mid-night.

  The boy escaped, as we learned later, so terrified that he dared noteven trust himself among the Manhattan Indians, but hid in a swampduring a certain time, after which he rejoined his people.

  The negroes were brought before the council; but only one was provenguilty, owing to lack of evidence, and this fellow was hanged off-hand,while the others, although declared innocent of the murder, were soundlyflogged as a warning to others of their kind.

  Not until several years had passed, did the Dutchmen hear furtherconcerning this most brutal murder, and then it was that the boy, whosefather, or uncle, had been killed, aroused the people of his tribe towreak vengeance upon the white men, thus aiding and bringing about amost terrible Indian war, although we of New Amsterdam did not sufferthrough it as did others who, coming to this New World years afterward,were wholly innocent of doing any wrong to the brown men.

  However, save that the trouble which resulted in much bloodshed, beganthere, the war has but little to do with New Amsterdam, and I shall sayno more regarding it at present.

  THE VILLAGE CALLED PLYMOUTH

  I had thought that, having been given the office of storekeeper, I waslike to remain all my days in the town, without having the privilege ofgoing even on a trading ship, and yet matters so came about that Ibecame a great traveler, so far as seeing the New World was concerned.

  Shortly after we were come to New Netherland, Master Minuit heard fromthe savages that at a place called Plymouth, many miles from us, acompany of Englishmen had made for themselves a village which was fairto look upon, and growing exceeding fast.

  Now you may suppose that I had not been dumb during this time, when Iwas showing goods to the savages while our gentlemen made the bargains,but so I must have been had I not learned a word now and then of theirspeech, until, by using many signs in addition, I could carry on quite aconversation with such of the brown men as would stoop to make talk to aboy.

  Therefore it was I understood Indian words far better than I could speakthem, and when these stories were told concerning a company of Englishpeople at this new village of Plymouth, my heart went out to them, forwas I not an English boy, and these my countrymen?

  I had known, of course, that those of my race who once lived in Leyden,came to this New World; but that we might be anywhere near them neverentered my head, until the savages told us of Plymouth, and then I saidto myself that there could be no greater pleasure than to see thesepeople who had been friendly with my father and mother.

  I GO ON A VOYAGE

  I also knew, because of hearing him speak of it to some of the gentlementraders in my presence, that Master Minuit had sent a letter to thegovernor of Plymouth by one of the Indians, and a reply had come back;but more than that I heard nothing until the Secretary told me, onecertain morning, that I was to make a sea voyage with him.

  It was a direct command from Master Minuit, and I made ready withoutasking to what land we should go, because it was for me to obey, not toquestion; but I had a great hope that Hans Braun might not be put intothe storehouse in my place, fearing lest he would not willingly give upthe position, after learning how much more pleasing it was to handle thetoys than the ill-smelling furs.

  "We are to journey as far as Plymouth, where is a village in whichEnglish people live," the Secretary, whose name was that of a Frenchmanand bothered my tongue, said to me when I went on board the pinnaceNassau, which had been made ready for the voyage.

  One might have knocked me down with a breath, so astounded and overjoyedwas I at the possibility of seeing my father's friends, and it was afull five minutes before I could set down an account of the goods thatwere being brought on board, for Master Minuit counted on sending apresent to the governor of Plymouth, of no less value than a chest ofsugar, near to an hundred strings of wampum, and three rolls of bestcloth, each of a different color.

  If it had been in my power to provide the wind for the voyage, it couldnot have been more favorable, and the _Nassau_ sent up a jet of sprayfrom her bow, as we sailed down the river on the eastern side of NewAmsterdam till we were come to what is called Long Island Sound, whichis a vast inland sea.

  Then we crossed the bay which is called Narragansett, because of theIndians of that tribe living along the shores, and afterward were cometo a trading post b
elonging to the people of Plymouth.

  A LUKEWARM WELCOME

  It was as if my heart came into my mouth when I saw these Englishpeople, and I made no doubt they would welcome me warmly on knowing thatmy father was of the same religious faith; but they gave little heed tomy words, and because of being received so coldly, I felt shame that Ihad rejoiced when the Secretary told me where our voyage was to come toan end.

  However, we were not then at Plymouth, but nearly twenty miles away.That the Englishmen might have warning of our coming, word was sentahead by one of the savages who had journeyed with us, that a messengerfrom the West India Company wished to visit Plymouth, and would do so ifthe governor of the town would send a boat to a point four or five milesfrom where we then were.

  All this was done as the Secretary wished, and we walked across a neckof land, some of the people from the trading post carrying the chests ofgifts, until coming to where a boat was in waiting.

  Before another night had come we were in Plymouth; but it was to me asif I had met entire strangers, for none gave me the hearty welcome Ihad been hungering for, although my story was not doubted. I supposethere were too many like me in this wide world, and those who werebattling against the wilderness and the savages, as were these people,could give but little heed to a lad who had no standing among men.