vi PREFACE. 



years. It is diflacult to navigate through this part. It 

 is inhabited on this side by the Manteese Indians; tliat 

 nation considers itself entitled to these shores by the 

 right of possession ; their numbers are now much di- 

 minished by wars. The land within is very rich in an- 

 imal productions. There are beavers, otters, elks, bears, 

 wolves, and lions, with every other kind of wild beasts ; 

 also, a great quantity of swans, geese, turkeys, pigeons, 

 and other wild fowl." 



This description can be verified to a great extent. 

 Whether we call them Manteese or Lenape or Dela- 

 wares, certain it is that Indians were here in days gone 

 by, and here for many centuries. As a proof of this, 

 we have only to land at any point, and wander a few 

 rods from the bank of the creek. Wherever the sod is 

 broken, whether by the plough or gullied by summer 

 sliowers, we are sure to find broken pebbles, splinters 

 of flinty rock, and battered stones, which of themselves 

 tell the story of Indian times; but not so readily can 

 we read their history as when we find a little arrow- 

 head, a carved stone ornament, an axe, or broken pot. 

 These are suflScient to satisfy even the most incredu- 

 lous, and from such scattered relics a more trustworthy 

 history of the past can be reconstructed than from such 

 prejudiced mention of the Indians as is made by the 

 short-sighted missionaries who, in questionable efforts 

 to elevate them, destroyed every good quality, and 

 gave tliem nothing of lasting value in return. What 



