Fish, Fishing and Fisheries of Pennsylvania. 29 



mand of Timothy Miller, a man of great muscular strength, set sail on 

 the 20th of April, intent upon desperate deeds, and in the full anticipa- 

 tion of success. Arriving at Long Ford they commenced a work of 

 havoc among the racks, which they broke away from the moorings and 

 sent adrift down the stream. A few of the fishermen, who chanced to 

 be there when the fleet appeared, at first attempted with soft words to 

 stay the destruction which was being committed, and, finding prayers 

 and entreaties ineffectual, seized upon the loosened racks and endeavored 

 to carry them away. 



''This did not suit the purpose of the assailants, who pursued and 

 relentlessly dragging the implements from their grasp broke and cut 

 them into pieces. It was more than could be endured. Abandoning 

 temporarily the disputed ground, they fled into the settlement, sounded 

 the slogan and summoned to the rescue every man who could handle 

 an oar or wield a club. Thus reinforced they returned to the encounter, 

 and in their canoes made a furious assault upon the fleet of the enemy, 

 which still unwisely lingered about the scene of demolition. The 

 struggle that ensued, whose issue perchance depended more upon in- 

 dividual strength than skillful manoeuvering, became desperate, and for a 

 long time Mars or Neptune whichever we may suppose to have been the 

 presiding divinity, maintained the utmost impartiality. The scale was 

 finally turned by the valor of Thomas Valentine, the tenant at the Knoll, 

 who leaped into the canoe of the opposing commodore, Timothy Miller, 

 struck out lustly upon all sides with a club, and after beating down 

 every man of its crew succeeded in effecting its capture. 



" This serious loss dampened the ardor of the assailants, and Miller, 

 his thumb broken and his companions overpowered, was compelled to 

 order a retreat. Encouraged by the unexpected advantage, the victors 

 pressed their antagonists closely and the retreat soon become a route. 

 The beaten squandron fled rapidly down the Schuylkill, and in order to 

 escape their pursuers, who followed with the utmost pertinacity, made 

 the grave mistake of entering the Perkiomen. 



"This stream was too shallow for navigation, and the canoes soon run- 

 ning aground; the crews were compelled to seek the shelter of the for- 

 ests for safety. A complete destruction of the boats and their contents 

 satisfied the vindictive ire of the fishermen, who returned to their homes 

 elated with a triumph which had been dearly purchased with many se- 

 vere wounds and the loss of their racks. 



" This is the description of what was perhaps the only Naval battle 

 ever fought upon the Schuylkill, as it has been handed down to us by 

 those who participated in it on the side of the victors. The story of 

 their opponents was detailed at the time as follows: 



"William Eichards, Constable of the Townships of Amity, in the 

 County of Philadelphia, makes oath. That on the twentieth day of this 

 Instant April, he received a Warrant from George Boon, Esq., one of 



