1G38.] iirsToiiY OF dklaware county. 21 



Janu'stown, to refresh with wood and water, Minuit also made 

 known '■'• tltat both hinisr/f tind ayiother sJtip of his coinpani/ were 

 hound for Delaware Bat/," wliieh, in the language of the letter, 

 '' is the confines of Virginia and New England, and there they 

 pretend to make a plantation and to plant tobacco, which the 

 Dutch do also already on the Hudson river, which is the very 

 next river northward from Delaware bay."' 



Minuit having sailed fi-oni Jamestown previous to the 8th of 

 May, the date of the treasurer's letter, the time of his arrival in 

 the Delaware may be estimated with sufficient accuracy. There 

 are still other facts that will narrow down the period, during 

 which he must have arrived. 



Van Twiller had been succeeded as Director-general of New 

 Netherland, by William Kieft, who arrived at Fort Amsterdam 

 on the 28th of March of this year. As early as the 28th of 

 April, this new and vigilant Director, had been made acquainted 

 with the arrival of the Swedes on the Delaware, as on that day, 

 he addressed a communication' to the directors of the West India 

 Company, advising them of the movements of Minuit, a notice of 

 which he had received from Peter Mey, the assistant Commis- 

 sary at Fort Nassau. One of the Swedish vessels had sailed past 

 the fort, had dropped down again, had been prevented from 

 going up a second time, and had been«visited officially by Mey 

 for the purpose of seeing Minuit's license, previous to sending a 

 notice to Kieft of the arrival of the strangers. These trans- 

 actions, with the time required for a messenger to reach the seat 

 of government, must have occupied at least a week, and besides, 

 it is fair to presume that the Swedes had been in the Delaware 

 several days before the Dutch assistant Commissary had become 

 aware of their presence. As they could not have left Jamestown 

 before the 1st of April, the time of their arrival in the bay could 

 not vary more than a few days from the middle of that month. 



Sailing up the bay, Minuit first landed at ''Paradise point," 

 now known as " Mispillon point,"- a short distance above the site 

 that had been occupied by the unfortunate Colony of De Vries 

 and his co-patroons. The next place at which he cast anchor; 

 was oft' the mouth of the Minquas river, which, in honor of the 

 young Queen of Sweden, he named Christina. On this stream, 

 about two and a half miles from its mouth, Minuit eft'ected a 

 landing at a point then favorable for that purpose, and now 

 known as " The Rocks.'"^ Here, after having purchased the land 

 from the Indians, he erected a fort or trading house, upon which 

 he also bestowed the name of the Swedish sovereign. 



Immediately upon receiving notice of the arrival of the Swedes 



> N. Y. Col. Doc. i. 592. 



'■^ Original Settlements i>n tbe Delaware. 40. 3 n,_ 42. 



