Journal of Jasper Danckaerts, 1679-1680 Part 9

We had much conversation together, and informed ourselves in relation to various matters. He gave us some medicinal roots, which we have mentioned heretofore. He also let us look at the laws, which were written in a folio volume, but in very bad Dutch, for they had been translated from English into Dutch.[184] As it was a large book, and we saw we could not copy it there, we requested him to let us take it home with us for that purpose. He consented upon condition that if we left for the south, we would then deliver it to his brother-in-law, Gerrit, who intended to come over shortly, and would hand it to him.

We lodged this night at his place, but somewhat better than we had done in the barn, for we slept in his dwelling, still so that we could well feel where we had slept.

[Footnote 184: The reference is to Governor Nicolls's code, commonly called the Duke's Laws, first promulgated in 1665, for Long Island and the Delaware River region, and reissued by Governor Lovelace in 1674.

Copies were sent to each Long Island towns.h.i.+p, and thus to New Utrecht. The code was printed in 1809 in the first volume of the _Collections_ of the New York Historical Society, and may also be found in a Pennsylvania issue, _Charter to William Penn_, etc.

(Harrisburg, 1879).]

_11th, Sat.u.r.day._ As soon as we awoke we determined to return home and finish up our matters in the little time remaining. We left, therefore, about eight o'clock, after taking some breakfast. He conducted us to New Utrecht. We lent him _Les Pensees de Pascal_[185]

which we judged would be useful to him. We returned by the same roads as we came, and reached home about eleven o'clock. We had observed that although the previous day had been pretty warm, this night had not only been frosty but ice had formed as thick as the back of a knife. We commenced at noon copying the most necessary [laws], and afterwards the rest of them.

[Footnote 185: The _Pensees_ of Blaise Pascal had been published, posthumously, in 1670.]

_12th, Sunday._ We continued making extracts, and finished about the middle of the day all that we deemed it necessary to make, omitting minor matters pertaining to the duties of particular officers. Still, what shall we say, they were laws and nothing else.

_13th, Monday._ We took care that Jaques should receive the papers back again, and then went to see whether our journey with Ephraim would be made. We found the boat lying at the dock, laden with firewood, and that the day would necessarily be occupied in discharging, so that at the best, it could not be undertaken before the next day. The time was finally fixed for the journey for the next day, and every thing was this day arranged.

JOURNEY TO THE SOUTHWARD BEGINS.[186]

[Footnote 186: These words appear as a marginal note in the original ma.n.u.script.]

_14th, Tuesday._ Having taken leave of all our acquaintances, we set off at ten o'clock, this morning, in company with Ephraim, his wife, his wife's mother, two of her sisters, and a young brother, who were to accompany her as far as Pescatteway.[187] We stepped into the boat, where we found three horses, two Quakers, and another Englishman. We were not long in starting. The wind was from the west, which is a head wind for sailing to Achter Kol. The sky began to be heavily overcast, and the wind to freshen up more, so that we had to tack. Ephraim being afraid the wind might s.h.i.+ft to the northwest, and blow hard, as it usually does when it is from that quarter, wished to return, and would have done so, if the skipper had not tried to go ahead more than he did. The tide running out, and the boat advancing but little, and being fearful of the flood tide, which would delay us, if it did not drive us back, and as there was room to work with the rudder, I went and took hold of the tiller myself, and brought the boat, with the flood tide, just within the point of Staten Island, where we found a ketch bound for Achter Kol, and further up to Snake Hill. Having now the tide with us, we tacked about, and quickly pa.s.sed by Schutters Island, lying in the mouth of a kill, on the north side of the Kil achter Kol. This island is so called, because the Dutch, when they first settled on the North River, were in the practice of coming here to shoot wild geese, and other wild fowl, which resorted there in great numbers. This kill, when the water is high, is like a large river, but at low water it is dry in some places. Up above it divides itself into two branches, one of which runs about north to Snake Hill and Ackingsak; and the other, called the Northwest Kill, because it extends in that direction, runs to Aquakenom, of which we will speak hereafter.[188] We sailed inside of Schutters Island, although the pa.s.sage is very small, and thus obtained the in-running current; because the flood tide which came from Achter Kol, and that from the North River, strike each other here, and thus shoot together in this kill. With much effort we reached the point of Elizabeth's Kill, where we were compelled to come to anchor, at four o'clock. We all went ash.o.r.e, and lodged for the night in the house of the French people, of whom we have spoken before, and who were not yet rid of the suspicion they had conceived, notwithstanding the declarations we had made to the contrary. We all slept on the floor, and supped upon what we had brought with us. We were no sooner in the house, than it began to rain and blow hard from the northwest, and to be very cold. We saw herein the good providence of the Lord again, whom we had so many times, during our journeying, so visibly perceived, watching and protecting so faithfully those who cared for nothing, except for Him and to do His will.

[Footnote 187: Piscataway, N.J., founded in 1666, some seven or eight miles up the Raritan River from its mouth at Perth Amboy. Achter Kol, below, was the Dutch name for what is now corruptly called Arthur Kill, and, by extension, for Newark Bay and the portion of New Jersey immediately west of Staten Island, Arthur Kill, and the Kill van Kull.]

[Footnote 188: Hackensack and Pa.s.saic Rivers.]

_15th, Wednesday._ It still blew stiff out of the northwest, so that our skipper had little disposition to weigh anchor and get under sail, especially with the horses on board, although we would have willingly proceeded. It was, therefore, determined that the horses should go by land with the servant and brother of Ephraim, and the Quakers resolved to do the same. The rest of the company went on board the boat, and after taking in a large reef, we got under sail, with a head wind, but ebb tide. It blew hard and squally, and we had to look out well, with sheets in hand. We made good progress, and came to Smokers Hoeck, which is about half way of Kil achter Kol. We came to anchor here, because the next reach was directly against the wind, and it blew too hard to tack. We all stepped ash.o.r.e here, and went on foot to an English village called Wout Brigg,[189] where we should find the horses. Smoker's Hoeck is the easterly point of the kill, which runs up to Wout Brigg, and we would have sailed up this creek, but it was ebb tide. We pa.s.sed over reasonably fair and good land, and observed particularly fine salt meadows on the creek, on which there was built a good grist mill,[190] and over which we had to cross. We arrived about noon or one o'clock, at this English village. Ephraim, not wis.h.i.+ng to go with his family to the ordinary tavern, went to another house or tavern, where he had been many times before, and where the people were under some obligations to him. But he could not lodge there now; and we were, therefore, compelled to go to the common tavern, which was full of persons, sitting drinking, and where nothing was to be obtained except that vile rum. Nevertheless, we had to pa.s.s the day there, waiting for the boat and the baggage; but these did not come up to-day, in consequence of the hard wind. We had, therefore, to lie down here upon the ground all together, on a little hay, as we had done last night.

[Footnote 189: Woodbridge, N.J., founded in 1665.]

[Footnote 190: The mill of Jonathan Dunham, whose house was standing till 1871.]

_16th, Thursday._ The weather moderated and it cleared up, but we had to wait till about noon, before the goods arrived from the boat, which the skipper had to bring up in a canoe, because the boat could not come. We obtained here another horse, making five horses we had, and another servant of Ephraim. We then dined, and politely took our leave of Madam van B.[191], the mother of Ephraim's wife, and of her two sisters, who had come to conduct her as far as here, and from here were to return home again in the same boat, but the little brother went with us to the south, to live with Ephraim. It was then about three o'clock, when we mounted the horses, namely, Ephraim and his wife upon the best one, my comrade and myself each upon the one we had obtained at Woodbridge, his brother and servant on one, and the other servant upon another. _Our_ horses, like the riders, were very poor.

We proceeded on, however, and about four o'clock arrived at Pescatteway, the last English village in New Jersey, for thus the government of the Governor my Lord Catrix [Carteret] is called; which begins on the west side of the North River, and extends about half way to the South River, though this division did not seem to me to be well made. We rode about two English miles through Pescatteway, to the house of one Mr. Greenland,[192] who kept a tavern there. We had to pa.s.s the night here, because it was the place of crossing the Milstoons [Millstone] River, which they called the falls. Close by there, also, was the dwelling of some Indians, who were of service to this Mr. Greenland, in many things. We were better lodged and entertained here, for we slept upon a good bed, and strengthened ourselves against the future.

[Footnote 191: Madame van Brugh, _nee_ Katrina Roelofs, later Madame van Rodenburg, now the wife of Johannes Pieterszen van Brugh.]

[Footnote 192: Dr. Henry Greenland, formerly a resident of Newbury, Ma.s.s., and of Kittery, Maine. The route which travellers at this time took through New Jersey crossed the Raritan at the present site of New Brunswick, and then proceeded to what is now Trenton. The crossing of the Raritan is not mentioned in the journal.]

_17th, Friday._ As the water was high in the kill or Millstone River, Ephraim would not ride over the fall, on account of the current of water, which made it dangerous. He, therefore, determined after breakfast we should be set across in a canoe, and the horses should swim across, as they did. We reached the other side about nine o'clock, and proceeded on horseback. The road from here to the falls of the South River, runs for the most part W.S.W., and then W. It is nothing but a foot-path for men and horses, between the trees and through the small shrubs, although we came to places where there were large plains, beset with a few trees, and grown over with long gra.s.s, which was not the worst. When you have ridden a piece of the way, you can see over the lands of the Nevesink, far off on the left hand, into the ocean, affording a fine view. The land we rode over was neither the best, nor the worst. The woods consist of reasonably straight oak and hickory, with some chestnut, but they are not very close. They would, therefore, afford tolerably good tillable land; but we observed the best pieces lay here and there, along the creeks. We saw many deer running before us, out of the road, sometimes five or six together, starting off at the sound of the horses. When about half way, you come to a high, but very rocky hill, which is very difficult for man or beast to walk upon. After crossing it, you come to a large valley, the descent to which, from this hill, is very steep, by a very shrubby road; and you must dismount, in order to lead your horses down carefully, as well as to descend carefully yourselves. We were in the middle of this valley, when a company met us on horseback, from the South River. They were acquaintances of Ephraim, and some of them were his relations. They wished each other welcome, and mutually inquired after various matters, after which we separated, exchanging one of our horses, which Ephraim's brother rode, and was to be sent back to the Manathans, for one of theirs, which must return to the South River. We rode on a little further, and came to Millstone River again, which runs so crookedly, that you cross it at three different places. After we crossed it now, we took the bridles from the horses, in order that they might eat something, while we sat down and dined together, upon what we had in our travelling bags. We remounted in about an hour, and rode on, continuing our way and course as before. About three o'clock we came again to Millstone River, which we again waded over, but it had gradually become smaller. Resuming our route, we arrived at the falls of the South River about sundown, pa.s.sing a creek where a new grist-mill was erected by the Quakers, who live hereabouts in great numbers, and daily increase.[193] But it seemed to us as if this mill could not stand long, especially if the flow of water were heavy, because the work was not well arranged. We rode over here, and went directly to the house of the person who had constructed it, who was a Quaker, where we dismounted, and willingly dismissed our horses. The house was very small, and from the incivility of the inmates and the unfitness of the place, we expected poor lodgings. As it was still daylight, and we had heard so much of the falls of the South River, or, at least, we ourselves had imagined it, we went back to the river, in order to look at them; but we discovered we had deceived ourselves in our ideas. We had supposed it was a place, where the water came tumbling down in great quant.i.ty and force from a great height above, over a rock into an abyss, as the word _falls_ would seem to imply, and as we had heard and read of the falls of the North River, and other rivers. But these falls of the South River are nothing more than a place of about two English miles in length, or not so much, where the river is full of stones, almost across it, which are not very large, but in consequence of the shallowness, the water runs rapidly and breaks against them, causing some noise, but not very much, which place, if it were necessary, could be made navigable on one side. As no Europeans live above the falls, they may so remain. This miller's house is the highest up the river, hitherto inhabited. Here we had to lodge; and although we were too tired to eat, we had to remain sitting upright the whole night, not being able to find room enough to lie upon the ground. We had a fire, however, but the dwellings are so wretchedly constructed, that if you are not so close to the fire as almost to burn yourself, you cannot keep warm, for the wind blows through them everywhere. Most of the English, and many others, have their houses made of nothing but clapboards, as they call them there, in this manner: they first make a wooden frame, the same as they do in Westphalia, and at Altena,[194] but not so strong; they then split the boards of clapwood, so that they are like cooper's pipe staves, except they are not bent. These are made very thin, with a large knife, so that the thickest end is about as thick as a little finger, and the other is made sharp, like the edge of a knife. They are about five or six feet long, and are nailed on the outside of the frame, with the ends lapped over each other. They are not usually laid so close together, as to prevent you from sticking a finger between them, in consequence either of their not being well joined, or the boards being crooked. When it is cold and windy the best people plaster them with clay. Such are almost all the English houses in the country, except those they have which were built by people of other nations. Now this house was new and airy; and as the night was very windy from the north, and extremely cold with clear moons.h.i.+ne, I shall not readily forget it. Ephraim and his wife obtained a bed; but we pa.s.sed through the night without sleeping much.

[Footnote 193: In 1675 the moiety of Berkeley and Carteret's grant called West New Jersey came into the hands of three English Friends, Penn, Lawrie, and Lucas, as trustees. In the four years since that time more than a thousand Friends had settled in the province. The owner of the mill was Mablon Stacey, a Yorks.h.i.+re Quaker, who had just built it, on a.s.sanpink Creek, in what is now Trenton.]

[Footnote 194: The Labadists had dwelt at Herford in Westphalia from 1670 to 1672, and at Altona in Holstein from 1672 to 1675.]

_18th, Sat.u.r.day._ About ten o'clock, after we had breakfasted, we stepped into a boat, in order to proceed on our journey down the river. The ebb tide was half run out. Although there is not much flood tide here, as it is stopped by the falls, yet, the water rises and falls with the ebb or flood, or through the ebb or flood, because the water, although it runs down, increases through the flood, in consequence of its being forced up, and is diminished with the ebb, because the ebb gives it so much the more course to run down. We went along, then, moving with the tide; but as Ephraim was suffering with the quartan ague, and it was now its time to come on, we had to go and lie by the banks of the river, in order to make a fire, as he could not endure the cold in the boat. This continued for about an hour and a half. The water was then rising, and we had to row against the current to Borlinghton [Burlington], leaving the island of Matinakonk[195] lying on the right hand. This island, formerly, belonged to the Dutch governor, who had made it a pleasure ground or garden, built good houses upon it, and sowed and planted it. He also d.y.k.ed and cultivated a large piece of meadow or marsh, from which he gathered more grain than from any land which had been made from woodland into tillable land. The English governor at the Manathans now held it for himself, and had hired it out to some Quakers, who were living upon it at present. It is the best and largest island in the South River; and is about four English miles in length, and two in breadth. It lies nearest to the east side of the river. At the end of this island lies the Quakers' village, Borlington, which east side of the river the Quakers have entirely in their possession, but how they came into its possession, we will show in another place.[196] Before arriving at this village, we stopped at the house of one Jacob Hendrix, from Holstein, living on this side. He was an acquaintance of Ephraim, who would have gone there to lodge, but he was not at home.

We, therefore, rowed on to the village, in search of lodgings, for it had been dark all of an hour or more; but proceeding a little further, we met this Jacob Hendrix, in a canoe with hay. As we were now at the village, we went up to the tavern, but there were no lodgings to be obtained there, whereupon we reembarked in the boat, and rowed back to Jacob Hendrix's, who received us very kindly, and entertained us according to his ability. The house, although not much larger than where we were the last night, was somewhat better and tighter, being made according to the Swedish mode, and as they usually build their houses here, which are block-houses, being nothing else than entire trees, split through the middle, or squared out of the rough, and placed in the form of a square, upon each other, as high as they wish to have the house; the ends of these timbers are let into each other, about a foot from the ends, half of one into half of the other. The whole structure is thus made, without a nail or a spike. The ceiling and roof do not exhibit much finer work, except among the most careful people, who have the ceiling planked and a gla.s.s window. The doors are wide enough, but very low, so that you have to stoop in entering.

These houses are quite tight and warm; but the chimney is placed in a corner. My comrade and myself had some deer skins, spread upon the floor to lie on, and we were, therefore, quite well off, and could get some rest. It rained hard during the night, and snowed and froze, and continued so until the

_19th, Sunday_, and for a considerable part of the day, affording little prospect of our leaving. At noon the weather improved, and Ephraim having something to do at Borlinton, we accompanied him there in the boat. We went into the meeting of the Quakers, who went to work very unceremoniously and loosely. What they uttered was mostly in one tone, and the same thing, and so it continued, until we were tired out, and went away. We tasted here, for the first time, peach brandy, or spirits, which was very good, but would have been better if it had been more carefully made. Ephraim remained there for the evening, and we returned back to our former lodgings, where we slept on a good bed, the same that Ephraim and his wife had the night before. This gave us great comfort, and recruited us greatly.

[Footnote 195: Matinnaconk Island lies in the Delaware River between Bordentown an Burlington.]

[Footnote 196: See _post_, pp. 154-156.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE NORTHEAST PORTION OF AUGUSTINE HERRMAN'S MAP OF MARYLAND, 1673

From Mr. P.L. Phillips's facsimile]

_20th, Monday._ We went again to the village this morning, and entered the ordinary exhorters' house, where we breakfasted with Quakers, but the most worldly of men in all their deportment and conversation. We found lying upon the window a volume of Virgil, as if it were a common hand-book, and also Helmont's book on _Medicine_,[197] whom, in an introduction, which they have made to it, they make pa.s.s for one of their sect, although in his life time he did not know anything about Quakers; and if they had been in the world, or should have come into it, while he lived, he would quickly have said, no, to them; but it seems these people will make all those who have had any genius, in any respect, more than common, pa.s.s for theirs; which is certainly great pride, wis.h.i.+ng to place themselves far above all others; whereas, the most of them, whom I have seen as yet, are miserably self-minded, in physical and religious knowledge. It was then about ten o'clock, and it was almost noon before we left. The boat in which we had come as far as there with its owner, who intended to return in it, was exchanged for another, belonging to Oplant [Upland],[198] of which a Quaker was master, who was going down with several others of the same cla.s.s; but as it was half ebb tide, and the shallop was lying far up in the mud, no one of these zealous people was willing to bring her through it, into the water. Ephraim, in order to get started, and to shame them, did not hesitate long, and followed by his servant and both of us, very soon had the boat afloat in the water. Pursuing our journey, we arrived about two o'clock at the house of another Quaker, on the west side of the river, where we stopped to eat our dinner and dry ourselves. We left there in an hour, rowing our best against the flood tide, until, at dark, we came to Takany,[199] a village of Swedes and Finns, situated on the west side of the river. Ephraim being acquainted, and having business here, we were all well received, and slept upon a parcel of deer skins. We drank very good beer here, brewed by the Swedes, who, although they have come to America, have not left behind them their old customs.

[Footnote 197: Jean Baptiste van Helmont (1577-1644), an eminent Belgian chemist, physiologist, and physician. Of his collected writings, _Ortus Medicinae_, there were many editions and translations, and one of the English versions may have been edited with sympathy by a Quaker, for with much scientific acuteness Van Helmont combined much mystical philosophy.]

[Footnote 198: Chester, Pennsylvania.]

[Footnote 199: Tacony, Philadelphia County.]

_21st, Tuesday._ The tide falling, we set out with the day, and rowed during the whole ebb and part of the flood, until two or three o'clock, when we arrived at the island of Tynakonk,[200] the fifth we had pa.s.sed. Matinakonk and this Tinakonk are the princ.i.p.al islands, and the best and the largest. The others are of little importance, and some of them, whose names we do not know, are all meadow and marsh, others are only small bushes. The pleasantest thing about them is, they afford an agreeable view and a variety to the traveller, and a little _divertiss.e.m.e.nt_ to those who go up and down the river; also some conveniences for fis.h.i.+ng in the river, and other accommodations for the planters.

[Footnote 200: Tinic.u.m Island, a few miles below the present site of Philadelphia (which, it should be remembered, was not founded till 1682). On this island the Swedish governor Johan Printz had in 1643 built his stronghold of Nya Goteborg, or New Gothenburg, and his mansion; and here, after his return to Sweden, his daughter Armegot Printz, wife of his lieutenant and temporary successor Johan Papegoia, lived from 1654 to 1662, and from 1673 to 1675.]

This Tinakonk is the island of which M. Arnout de La Grange[201] had said so much; but we were much disappointed in comparing it with what he had represented, and what M. La Motte has written about it. The first mistake is in the name, which is not Matinakonk--the name rather of the island of which we have spoken before--but Tinakonk. It lies on the west side of the river, and is separated from the west sh.o.r.e, not as he said, by a wide running branch of the river, as wide as the Eemster, near Amsterdam, but by a small creek, as wide as a large ditch, running through a meadow. It is long and covered with bushes, and inside somewhat marshy. It is about two miles long, or a little more, and a mile and a half wide. Although there are not less miles than he said, he did not say they were English miles, which are only one-fourth the length of Dutch miles, of fifteen to a degree. The southwest point, which only has been and is still cultivated, is barren, scraggy, and sandy, growing plenty of wild onions, a weed not easily eradicated. On this point three or four houses are standing, built by the Swedes, a little Lutheran church made of logs,[202] and the remains of the large block-house, which served them in place of a fortress, with the ruins of some log huts. This is the whole of the manor. The best and pleasantest quality it has, is the prospect, which is very agreeable, and one of the princ.i.p.al things for which Mons. La Motte recommends it, namely, _belle videre_. I have made a sketch of it, according to my ability.[203] But as to there being a mine of iron ore upon it, I have not seen any upon that island, or elsewhere; and if it were so, it is of no great importance, for such mines are so common in this country, that little account is made of them. Although Ephraim had told us every thing in regard to the condition of the land, as well as the claim which Mons. de La Grange makes to it, yet we ourselves have observed the former, and have ascertained the latter, from a person who now resides there, which is as follows: When the Swedish colony was flouris.h.i.+ng under its own government, this island belonged to a Mr. Papegay [Papegoia], the Swedish governor, who lived upon it, and cultivated it, the church and the fort still existing there as monuments to prove the fact. Although the Swedes have had fortresses, from time to time, in several other places, at this time, this was called New Gottenburg. This governor died leaving a widow;[204] and she, Madam Papegay, sold the island, which was then very flouris.h.i.+ng, to the father of de La Grange, for six thousand guilders, in the money of Holland, though the person who now lives upon it says it was seven thousand guilders, to be paid in several installments, here in New Netherland. Some of the first payments were duly made by de La Grange, but the last two, I think, he was not so ready to make, as he had to procure the money from Holland, and that, I know not why, did not come. Thereupon Mons. de La Grange determined to go to Holland himself, and bring the money with him; but he died on the voyage, and the payments were not made. It remained so for a long time, and at length the widow Papegay cited the widow de La Grange before the court, claiming as her right, payment in full, or rest.i.tution of the land, as de La Grange had been in possession of the land for some years, and had enjoyed the profits, and the time for the last payment had also expired some years before. In the mean time comes one M. La Motte, who it seems was to a.s.sist Madam de La Grange, either by discharging the debt or by defending the suit, and in order the better to do so, he buys the island from the widow de La Grange, seeking her also in marriage. But as Madam Papegay persevered, and the affair of Mons. La Motte and the widow de La Grange came to nothing, and on the other hand the widow de La Grange could not deliver the land to La Motte, and La Motte could not pay, the widow de La Grange was therefore condemned to restore the island to Madam Papegay, and pay her costs, and also to pay the income which she had received from the island for the time she had lived upon it, and for the buildings which she had allowed to go to waste. Madam de La Grange, conceiving this decree to be unjust, appealed to the high court--the country having in the mean time been taken by the English--and was again condemned, and therefore, had to deliver up the land.[205] Now, in this last war with Sweden,[206] Madam Papegay, who has two brothers in Sweden, in the service of the crown,[207] was sent for by them to come home, whereupon, she sold the island to Mr. Otto Kuif[208] a Holsteiner, who now lives upon it, for fifteen hundred guilders in _zeewant_, as it was very much decayed and worn out. This is three hundred guilders in the money of Holland. Hereupon, Madam Papegay delivered full possession thereof to this Otto. Now, M. Arnout de La Grange, as heir of his father, when he was here last year laid claim to the island from Mr. Otto, who told him he did not know him in the matter, and if M. de La Grange had any lawful claim, he must not apply to him, but to the court, as his possession was under its judgment; but if M. de La Grange wished to buy it from him, he would let him have it for three hundred pounds sterling, or as they might agree.

Whereupon, de La Grange flew into a pa.s.sion, and threatened to appeal to London. "That you can do," said Otto, "if you have money enough.

All this affects me not, since I have bought and paid for it, and have been put in possession of it by order of the court." De La Grange has not proposed to purchase the island again of Mr. Otto, although he could do it very favorably, notwithstanding Mr. Otto asked so much for it. Ephraim told me that Mr. Otto had said to him, confidentially, that in case he could obtain for it what it had cost him, he would let it go, as he had other land lying elsewhere, and that he had asked so much for it, merely to hear what he [de La Grange] would say, and in order to scare him. Should you lay out three hundred guilders in Holland for merchandise, and sell it here, which usually yields an hundred per cent. profit, or is so reckoned in barter, you could have this island almost for nothing, or at least for very little. But there is better land to be bought cheaper. De La Grange has let this slip by, and it seems as if he had not much inclination to stir the subject any more. He has given me to understand that he disregards it, or at least regards it as little now, as he formerly prized and valued it; as indeed he shows, for he has now bought land on Christina Creek, consisting of two or three old plantations, which, perhaps, are not much better than this island, and cost him enough. He has obtained another piece from the governor, lying between Burlington and the falls, on the west side, but will not accomplish much with it. I forgot to mention that de La Grange, four years ago when he was in Holland, gave one Mr. Peter Aldrix,[209] who now resides on the South River, and is one of the members of the court, authority to make this man deliver the island to him, which Aldrix refused, and advised him that he was well a.s.sured he could not accomplish anything with it. Yet to satisfy La Grange he laid the matter before Mr. Otto, who gave him the same answer he had given La Grange. As I understand and have heard, La Grange bases his claim under the English law, that the son is the heir of the father's possessions; but the possession of the father being disputed, and he himself disinherited by two courts, the claim is null and of no value.[210]

[Footnote 201: Here and in many other places the diarist spells the name Grangie.]

[Footnote 202: Built by Governor Printz in 1646.]

[Footnote 203: This sketch is not preserved with the ma.n.u.script.]

[Footnote 204: Papegoia returned to Sweden in 1656, but did not die till 1667.]

[Footnote 205: This suit of Madame de La Grange against Madame Papegoia took place at New York in 1672.]

[Footnote 206: The Scanian War, 1675-1679.]

[Footnote 207: Her only brother, it appears, had died. But she had three sons in the Swedish military and naval service in 1675.]

[Footnote 208: Otto Ernst Koch or k.o.c.k, a justice of the peace of the court held at Upland during this period when the region on the right bank of the Delaware River was under the administration of the Duke of York.]

[Footnote 209: Peter Alrichs, a Dutchman of Nykerk near Groningen, had been commandant of the region during the brief Dutch reoccupation of 1673-1674, and was now a justice of the Newcastle court. He was a nephew of Jacob Alrichs, governor of the region 1657-1659, under the rule of the city of Amsterdam.]

[Footnote 210: In the next year, 1681, Arnoldus de La Grange sued k.o.c.k in the Upland court. The case was postponed "by reason that there's noe court without Justice Otto, whoe is a party," and, under Penn's government, was decided in favor of La Grange in 1683.]

When we arrived at this island, we were welcomed by Mr. Otto, late _medicus_, and entertained at his house according to his condition, although he lives poorly enough. In the evening there also arrived three Quakers, of whom one was their greatest prophetess, who travels through the whole country in order to _quake_. She lives in Maryland, and forsakes husband and children, plantation and all, and goes off for this purpose. She had been to Boston, and was there arrested by the authorities on account of her quakery. This worthy personage came here in the house where we were, although Ephraim avoided her.[211]

They sat by the fire, and drank a dram of rum with each other, and in a short time afterwards began to shake and groan so, that we did not know what had happened, and supposed they were going to preach, but nothing came out of it. I could not endure them, and went out of doors. They left for Upland, which is three or four miles from there on the same side of the river, in the same boat in which we came.