32 AUTHENTIC HISTORY 



cious ; but it is neither improbable nor inconsistent with the disposition 

 the aborigines had frequently displayed towards foreigners, that the 

 desire of possessing the white man's wealth was as powerful a stimulant 

 to violence as the thirst for vengeance. 



"In December, 1632, De Vries again arrived from Holland. He found 

 no vestiges of his colonists, save the ashes of their dwelling, and their 

 nnburied carcasses. Attracted by the firing of a cannon, the savages 

 approached his vessel with guilty hesitation. But having at length sum- 

 moned courage to venture on board, they gave a circumstantial narrative 

 of the destruction of his people. De Vries deemed it politic to pardon 

 what he could not safely punish ; and was, moreover, induced, by the 

 pacific disposition of his employers, to seek reconciliation. He made a 

 new treaty with the Indians, and afterwards, with a view to obtain pro- 

 visions, ascended the river above Fort Nassau. He had nearly fallen a 

 victim here to the perfidy of the natives. Pretending to comply with his 

 request, they directed him to enter the Timmerkill creek (Cooper's,) 

 which furnished a convenient place for an attack, but warned by a female 

 of the tribe of their design, and that a crew of a vessel (supposed to be 

 from Virginia) had been there murdered, he returned to Fort Nassau, 

 which he found filled with savages. They attempted to surprise him, 

 more than forty entering his vessel; but, aware of their intention, he 

 ordered them ashore with threats, declaring that their Mannetto, or Great 

 Spirit, had revealed their wickedness. But subsequently, pursuing the 

 humane and pacific policy which had hitherto distinguished him, he con- 

 sented to the wishes they expressed, of forming a treaty of amity, which 

 was confirmed with the customary presents on their part; but they de- 

 clined his gifts, saying they did not now give presents that they might 

 receive others in return. 



" Failing to procure the necessary provision, De Vries, leaving part of 

 his crew in the bay to prosecute the whale fishery, sailed to Virginia, 

 where, as the first visiter from New Netherlands, he was kindly received, 

 and his wants supplied. Upon his return to the Delaware, [April, 1638,] 

 finding the whale fishery unsuccessful, he hastened his departure, and 

 with the other colonists returned to Holland, visiting Fort Amsterdam 

 on his way. Thus, at the expiration of twenty-five years from the dis- 

 covery of the Delaware by Pludson, not a single European remained 

 upon its shores." 



Director Minnewit, suspected to have favored the claims of the pa- 

 troons, having been recalled, left the now flourishing colony of New 

 Amsterdam in the spring of this year, [1632.] 



The same year Lord Baltimore obtained a grant for Maryland, under 

 which he claimed the lands on the west side of Delaware River, the fruit- 

 ful source of continual controversies between him and the Dutch, and 



