6 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



Moon below the village of Sackhoes on the site of which Peekskill 

 has been built. Here many of the Indians came aboard and mar- 

 veled at the size of the huge ship. Among the visitors was a chief 

 who persuaded Hudson to accompany him to his village. 



"I sailed to the shore in one of their canoes," Hudson after- 

 wards wrote in describing his reception, "with an old man who 

 was the chief of their tribe, which consisted of forty men and 

 seventeen women. There I saw them in a house well constructed 

 of oak bark, cylindrical in shape, with an arched roof, and it had 

 the appearance of being well built. It contained a great quantity 

 of maize and beans of last year's growth, while near the house 

 there lay, for the purpose of drying, enough to load three ships, 

 besides what was growing in the fields. On our coming into the 

 house, two mats were spread out for us to sit upon, and imme- 

 diately some food was served in well carved red wooden bowls; 

 two men were also at once dispatched with bows and arrows in 

 quest of game, and they soon returned with a pair of pigeons which 

 they had killed. They likewise killed a fat dog which they hastily 

 skinned with shells they had got out of the water." Hudson failed 

 to state how he relished the dog. 



When Hudson, on October 2d, passed the scene of his first 

 anchorage, he was amazed to see a large fleet of canoes, swarmed 

 with red-skinned warriors, put out from Shorackkappock, now 

 named Spuyten Duyvil Creek, and boldly advancing toward the 

 Half Moon evidently intent upon avenging the attempted kid- 

 napping of their tribesmen and the breaking of faith with them. 

 When they came within bow shot they showered a volley of arrows. 

 This was the signal for hostilities to begin. The leader of the 

 Half Moon quickly gave the order to fire. Bullets belched forth 

 from the vessel's side, killing a number of warriors and wounding 

 many more. The Indians, astounded at the havoc wrought by 

 the white man's weapons, became demoralized, and leaping into 

 the water, swam frantically for shore. Clear of all danger, the 

 Half Moon now re-entered New York Bay. 



But the Indians would not be so easily subdued. With re- 

 newed courage, and reinforced by several hundred, they gathered 

 at what is now known as Fort Washington Point and again at- 

 tacked the vessel as she was floating down the stream. A few 

 musket shots soon put them to flight with the loss of nine of their 

 warriors. 



