Judian Tribes of Hudson's River.

CHAPTER I.

HUDSON IN THE MAHICANITUK-HIS INTERCOURSE WITH THE INDIANS-THEIR TRADITIONS CONCERNING HIS VISIT.

AILING under the auspices of the Dutch West India Company, HENRY HUDSON, an intrepid English navigator, moored his vessel, the Half Moon, on the morning of September 3d, 1609, in the waters of the river which now bears his name. Lingering off Sandy Hook a week, he passed through the Narrows, and anchored in what is now Newark bay. On the 12th, he resumed his voyage, and slowly drifting with the tide, anchored over night, on the 13th, just above Yonkers, the great river stretching on before him to the north and giving to his ardent mind the hope that he had at last discovered the gateway to the Eastern seas. On the 14th, he passed Tappan and Haverstraw bays, and sailed through the majestic pass guarded by the frowning Donderberg, and anchored at night near West Point, in the midst of the sublimest scenery of the mountains. On the morning of the 15th, he entered Newburgh bay, and reached Katskill; on the 16th, Athens; on the 17th, Castleton; on the 18th, Albany. Here he remained several days, sending an exploring boat as far as Waterford, and sadly learning that he had reached the head of navigation, and that the Eastern passage was yet an unsolved problem. His return voyage began on the 23d; on the 25th,

he anchored in Newburgh bay; reached Stony point on the 1st of October; on the 4th, Sandy Hook, and sailed from thence

to Europe, bearing with him the information which he had collected, not the least of which in importance was that in relation to the native lords whom he had met on the banks of the river he had discovered, and who then broke the silvery surface of its waters with their light canoes and awoke the echoes of its mountain sides with their wild choruses, of whose power it was an emblem, on the waters of which, as they faded away in the north, was wafted their war shallops into tributaries that stretched on to the lakes and the great river of Canada, bearing with them the prestige of savage supremacy.

Hudson first met the Indians near the Narrows, where they came on board his vessel "clothed in mantles of feathers and robes of fur, the women, clothed in hemp, red copper tobacco pipes, and other things of copper they did wear about their necks;" of arms they brought none, their mission was peace; but he "durst not trust them." Suspicion breeds suspicion, and suspicion leads to violence. Sending an exploring boat up the river the next day, it was attacked, on its return to the ship,

and one of the English sailors, John Coleman, was killed by an arrow shot in the throat. He was buried upon the adjacent beach, the first European victim of an Indian weapon on the Mahicanituk. The offense which had been committed by himself and his companions is not stated, but may be inferred. They were far from the ship, the night came on and a thick cloud of rain and fog settled over them; seeing their condition, the Indians sprang to their boats to rescue them, fear seized them, the savage was more dreaded then the tempest, a falcon shot was hurled at the approaching canoes, the swift arrow replied, and "in the fight one man was slain and two more hurt." Day after day the Indians came on board, brought tobacco and Indian wheat, and oysters and beans, "making show of love," but he "durst not trust them." They brought their women and children with them, but he "durst not trust them." At Yonkers they came on board in large numbers; here he detained two of them, and dressed them in red coats, and though they jumped from the ports and swam away, their detention was not the less a violation of the laws of hospitality, so they regarded it, for when they had reached the shore they called to him "in scorn."

At Katskill he found a "very loving people and very old men." They brought on board "Indian corn, pumpkins, and tobacco," and used him well. At Castleton they were very sociable, and the "master's mate went on land' with an old savage, a governor of the country, who carried him to his house and made him good cheere." "I sailed to the shore," he says, "in one of their canoes, with an old man who was chief of a tribe consisting of forty men and seventeen women. These I saw there in a house well constructed of oak bark, and circular in shape, so that it had the appearance of being built with an

1Coleman's point is the monument to this occurrence.

'It has been assumed on the authority of a quotation alleged by De Laet to have been made from a journal kept by Hudson, that the place of this visit was in latitude 42° 18', or in the vicinity of the present city of Hudson. (N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1, 300). The journal kept by Juet was not only the official record of the

voyage, but is very precise in its statements as to who visited the shore in this, and in other instances. He does not give the latitude, but from the ship's log it would seem that the place was "six leagues higher," up the river than that fixed by De Laet, and that it was at Schodac or Castleton. O'Callaghan, 1, 37; Brodhead, 1, 31; Collections of the New York Historical Society, 2d Ser. 1, 326.

arched roof. It contained a large quantity of corn and beans of last year's growth, and there lay near the house, for the purpose of drying, enough to load three ships, besides what was growing in the fields. On our coming to the house two mats were spread out to sit upon, and some food was immediately served in well-made wooden bowls. Two men were also dispatched at once, with bows and arrows, in quest of game, who soon brought in a pair of pigeons which they had shot. They likewise killed a fat dog,' and skinned it in great haste, with shells which they had got out of the water. They supposed that I would remain with them for the night;" but when they saw that he desired to return to the ship and that he would not remain, they supposed he "was afraid of their bows and arrows, and taking their arms they broke them in pieces and threw them in the fire."

ment.

At Albany, Hudson repaid the old governor for his entertainThe Indians flocked to visit his vessel, and he determined to try some of their chief men to see "whether they had any treachery in them." "So they took them down into the cabin, and gave them so much wine and aqua vita that they were all merry. In the end one of them was drunk, and they could not tell how to take it." At night they all departed, except the old man who had taken the aqua vita; "he slept all night quietly." On the following day they came again, and when they saw that their chief had recovered from his debauch they were glad. They returned to their castle and " brought tobacco and beads" and gave them to Hudson, "and made an oration, and showed him all the country round about." "Then they sent one of their company on land again, who presently returned and brought a great platter full of venison, dressed by themselves," and caused Hudson " to eat with them; then they made him reverence, and departed, all save the old man" who had found the Indian's paradise with the white man's rum. But he took his departure the next day, and two days after returned, bringing "another old man with him" from the place where "the loving people" had first been met. He too brought belts of wampum beads and gave them to Hudson, "and shewed Probably a black bear.