Part 14 (1/2)
[IN NEW YORK.]
_Continuation, of what happened in New York during the Winter._
_4th, Thursday._ It was now Christmas, according to the old style. It had frozen very hard during the night. We went to church, in order to hear Do. Niewenhuise preach, but more to give no offense to the people, than either on his or our own account.
_5th, Thursday [Friday]._ We began writing.
_6th, Friday [Sat.u.r.day]._ It continued to freeze hard, though during the day the weather was more moderate. The ice was strong and mixed with snow.
_13th, Sat.u.r.day._ It felt like a change of weather. In all this time nothing occurred worthy of note except the s.h.i.+ps left the harbor in front of the city, on Thursday, for Deutel Bay, a cove of Long Island in the East River, about three miles east of the city, opposite h.e.l.lgate, where they lie during the winter, to be out of the way of the floating ice, which is sometimes very great.[285] On Friday, the governor's yacht arrived from Virginia, having been twenty-two days on the way. They had brought a _sackemaker_ from there with whom the governor had negotiated for peace between the Indians and English in that quarter. In all this frost and cold we have discovered little difference from the cold in Holland, except that when the sun is high, that is, about nine o'clock in the morning, it is a little milder here. It thawed every day until the
_16th, Tuesday_, when all the ice and snow disappeared. De la Grange having a new small map of a portion of the South River, I copied it.
[Footnote 285: Deutel Bay was a small bight in the East River, about at the foot of Forty-seventh Street. The name was later corrupted into Turtle Bay. It was not a cove of Long Island.]
_24th, Wednesday._ Fred. Flipsen[286] met me, and told me the governor had been at his house, and spoken to him about us, and that he desired to see us and talk with us. We, therefore, determined to call upon him, and at the expiration of three days of rain and stormy weather, on the
_25th [26th], Friday_, we went to Fredryck Flipsen, that he might take us to the governor, as he had promised, and as he did do. The governor received us kindly, and told us he had wondered at our being so long in the country without coming to see him. We replied, that we should undoubtedly not have failed in doing so, if he had been in the city, for when we arrived here he was at Penequik,[287] and afterwards when he had been only a few days at home, with much business to occupy him, he left for Fort Albany just as we were going to the South River. We parted politely from each other.
[Footnote 286: See p. 5, note 1, _supra_.]
[Footnote 287: Pemaquid, on the Maine coast, where Governor Andros had caused a fort to be erected, which he visited in the autumn of 1679.]
_30th [29th], Monday._ A person who, they said, was the thief-catcher, came to our house in the evening, and, by order of the governor, summoned us to appear at eight o'clock the next morning at the house of ---- Rombouts,[288] the mayor of the city, and give our names and further information as to our doings and condition, as all strangers now and henceforth, whether men or women, must do. We were somewhat astonished, since they had told us, as was certainly true, that such had never been the custom. What induced them to adopt this course, we do not know.
[Footnote 288: Francis Rombouts was mayor of New York in 1679-1680.]
_31st [30th], Tuesday._ We went in company with the old woman where we lodged, to Mayor Rombouts, at the appointed time. When we arrived, there was a magistrate's officer or two in attendance, and some came in while we were there. Addressing us, he said: ”Friends, we have summoned you here, not because we have anything to say to you, or have any debt to claim, or because any one has sought of us to demand of you any such thing, or to summon you.” The reason, he said, was because we had been so long in the country without having reported our names, who we were, our profession, trade or business, condition and purpose. We answered, we would by no means have been in default, if there were any law or order which required us to do so, or if we had been informed that it was customary, or had ever been done; and it therefore surprised us that they complained and charged us with neglect of duty, or found fault with us, or wished to convict us of a matter where there was no law, obligation, custom, or even precedent; that this treatment struck us as very strange, since there were several foreigners who had come over in the s.h.i.+p with us, from whom they had not required what they required of us. ”You know well,” he said, ”it is the custom in Europe.” We replied, ”it was not so in any of the United Provinces or any other places except upon the frontiers.” ”Well,” he continued, ”we are no frontier, but a capital, and it must and shall be so in the future.” He then inquired after our names, trade or profession, and place of residence in Fatherland, all of which we told him, namely, that my comrade was a theologian, and had studied at Leyden;[289] that I was a wine-racker, and that we both lived near Leeuwarden, in Friesland. He asked further what we came there to do, or what was our purpose or intention. We told him it was to look at the country. ”How, look at the country?” he asked: ”some come here to look at the cities, others at the fortifications; some to learn the mode of government and policy, others the manner of regulating the militia; others again to learn the climate, and times, and seasons, and you run and travel through the country without giving us any notice why.” We replied, we had come here and travelled through the country in order to make ourselves acquainted generally with the nature and fertility of the soil, as was convenient, or we might perhaps go around mornings and evenings. He inquired further of us how we wished to be regarded in the future, whether as citizens or foreigners. We answered, as foreigners. ”Well then,” he proceeded, ”you are forbidden to carry on trade, particularly with the inhabitants, that is, to sell anything to private persons, but you may dispose of it to merchants who sell to private individuals.” He said the privilege, or burgher right cost ---- beavers,[290] each beaver reckoned at five guilders in Holland money, or twenty-five guilders in _zeewan_, and was prohibited to all persons who reside out of the city; and as we resided out of the city, we must be treated like others. We replied to this, we would cheerfully obey the law. We were also told to travel nowhere, particularly to Albany, without special permission from the governor, which we said we would ask from his Excellency, and thereupon we left.
[Footnote 289: The _Alb.u.m Studiosorum Academiae Lugduno-Batavae_ (Hague, 1875) contains the entry of ”Petrus Sluyter Vesaliensis”
(_i.e._, of Wesel) as entering the University of Leyden in 1666 as a student of theology, at the age of twenty-one. Also, Sluyter in 1670 told Paul Hackenberg at Herford that he had studied three years in the Palatinate (without finding one truly pious pastor or teacher). Domine Selyns, in a letter to Rev. Willem a Brakel, says that Sluyter gave himself out as a physician, but unsuccessful in practice, Danckaerts as a wine-racker, as here. Danckaerts is understood from Zeeland sources to have been originally a cooper for the Dutch West India Company at Middelburg.]
[Footnote 290: Six beavers, according to a munic.i.p.al ordinance of 1676.]
On arriving at our house, we found there Simon of Gouanes,[291] who had brought a boat-load of wood, and with whom my companion went to Long Island, but I remained at home; the Lord exercising me somewhat, I was rather quiet. We had been to the strand several days, watching for Claes, the ferryman, or some other opportunity to cross over to Gamoenepaen, but we found none; and as there was some difficulty between this governor and the governor of New Jersey, we were contented to wait and follow the providence of the Lord therein, although our purpose in going over was not on that account.
[Footnote 291: Simon Aertsen de Hart.]
FEBRUARY _1st [January 31], Wednesday._ Gerrit, the son-in-law of our host, having been a long time upon Long Island, came over with a cask of tobacco, which he intended to s.h.i.+p in the s.h.i.+p _Beaver_; he repacked it, and I helped him cooper it.[292] He said he had another one to bring over from the island, and then he would take Simon's boat and go with us to Ackquakenon. After he had finished packing this one, the boat going to Gouanes after wood, I left along with him on the
_3d [2nd], Friday_, at nine o'clock in the morning. I heard that my companion had gone from the Bay to Najack, where I proposed to follow him, because we might not be able to obtain these people who, in order to go to Ackqueqenon, resolve upon it half a year beforehand, for when one can go, the other cannot, and we were not able to wait. Simon told us now he could not accompany us. The other person was uncertain, and Gerrit was not any more sure. I arrived at Najack in the evening, and my comrade also arrived there from the bay, in company with Jaques.[293] He concluded to return to the city with me in the morning.
[Footnote 292: The _Beaver_ was the s.h.i.+p by which Gerrit van Duyn's wife had just come out. For the writer as a cooper see p. 168, note.]
[Footnote 293: Jacques Cortelyou.]
_4th [3d], Sat.u.r.day._ Our resolution was defeated. We started on the road, but were compelled to return, as it had rained hard the whole night, and continued to do so all day.
_5th [4th], Sunday._ It snowed all night and until about nine o'clock in the morning, when it cleared up, and we set out on our journey. We reached the ferry at one o'clock, where we waited three hours to be taken over by the lame brother-in-law of Jan the baker, or Jan Theunissen.[294]
[Footnote 294: Probably a mistake for Jacob Theunissen, who was a baker at this time.]