Page:History of the United States of America, Spencer, v1.djvu/109

] course. Eleven of the smaller tribes in the vicinity joined together to make war on the Dutch. The scattered boweries, extending twenty and thirty miles to the north and east, were furiously attacked; houses were burned; men, women, and children killed and carried into captivity. The colonists fled in terror to New Amsterdam; Kieft was bitterly reproached and assailed for what had happened; and a fast was proclaimed. The Indians, their revenge satiated for the time, soon after made advances for peace, and a treaty was arranged early in the spring of the same year (1643); but war broke out again in the autumn. Great distress was the result; and in an appeal from the board of "Eight Men," sent to Holland in October, there is an affecting account of the wretched condition of the colony. It was at this date that "a good solid fence," or palisade, was erected as a protection to New Amsterdam, where the far-famed Wall Street now stands.

In July of this year, Kieft wrote a letter of congratulation to the Commissioners for the United Colonies of New England. At the same time, he took occasion to complain of the "insufferable wrongs" which the people of Connecticut had been guilty of towards the Dutch residents at the fort of Good Hope. The Commissioners, at their meeting in September, were not a whit behind the Director in making complaints, which led, as was natural, to a rejoinder on the part of Kieft

Various expeditions against the Indians were undertaken during 1643, and 1644; and with ultimate success. The horrors of the Pequod massacre were to some extent acted over again. Kieft's conduct was warmly complained of by the "Eight Men,"in an appeal to Holland respecting the war; and it was not till August, 1645, that a treaty of peace was agreed upon, and a day of thanksgiving appointed.

The settlements about New Amsterdam were almost ruined by the late war, and hardly a hundred men could be mustered. Only five or six remained out of some thirty nourishing boweries; and it appeared, on examination, that New Netherland, up to this time (1638), had cost the West India Company more than $200,000 over and above all receipts.

Kieft became more and more unpopular, and the people complained of his tyranny, exaction, and arbitrary exercise of lawful authority. He fell into several violent disputes with ministers of churches, as well as individuals in the community; and altogether, matters came to such a pass, that it was evidently high time to supersede him and appoint a new Director. Accordingly, Petrus Stuyvesant, governor of Curaçoa, a staunch old soldier, but very haughty and imperious in his bearing, was appointed Director General of New Netherland, with a nominal jurisdiction over his former field of service. Some remaining restrictions on imports and exports were removed; but New Amsterdam still continued the sole port of entry.

Poor Kieft, having freighted a vessel with a valuable cargo of furs, worth, it was said, $100,000, and set sail for home, was wrecked on the coast of