94 Singing Valleys 



whom Peter Minuit planted on the Delaware. Minuit, lately 

 expelled from New Amsterdam, was wise in colonizing experi- 

 ence. He chose good crop land for New Sweden, and coun- 

 seled the settlers not to rely only on the two barrels of wheat 

 and two of rye and barley which they had brought with them 

 for seed. 



"Plant Indian corn," he warned them. Only by so doing, he 

 added, could they be assured of sufficient food to carry them 

 through the first year. 



But Minuit died on the return voyage to Sweden, and his 

 warning was promptly forgotten in the zeal to make quick, 

 easy profits by trade with the Lenni Lenape and Susquehan- 

 nocks. The Swedes undersold the Dutch until Governor Kieft 

 in New Amsterdam complained of a loss of 30,000 florins. 

 It took several hard years, when political troubles at home 

 prevented the supply ships from sailing, to make the colonists 

 realize the soundness of Minuit's policy. The cargo brought 

 to Fort Christina by the Farna in 1644 would seem to indicate 

 that the settlement had turned its attention to agriculture. It 

 included: 



3 large saws for Saw Mill 



8 grindstones 



i pr. stones for Hand Hill 



i pr. large stones for Grist Mill 



5 anchors 



250 copper kettles 



300 prs. Shoes 



200 prs. Stockings 



200 barrels Flour 



20 barrels Spanish salt 



10 Hogsheads French wine 



i Hogshead Brandy 



10 gilded flag-pole tops. 



Only the last items hint of pompous magnificence on Tini- 

 cum Island where Governor Johann Printz was building his 

 mansion surrounded by the finest gardens in the New World. 



