The Delawares were more peaceful than many of those with whom the settlers of other colonies, came in contact. But time showed that when roused by ill-treatment, injustice, and fraud, they could be as savage and revengeful as any of their race. Henry Hudson. The first Englishman to enter Delaware Bay was probably Henry Hudson, who was in the service of the Dutch, and was seeking for a northwest passage to India. In August, 1609, he entered the bay in his small vessel, the Half Moon, and at first thought that he had found the longed-for strait. The shoal water a few miles inside the capes drove away all hope of that, and sailing away northward he soon discovered New York Bay and the noble river which now bears his name.

On account of Hudson's discovery the Dutch claimed not only the lands near the North or Hudson River, but also those near the South or Delaware River. In 1610 an English captain is said to have anchored in the bay and named the southern cape De La Warre, and the English began to call the bay, Delaware, in honor of the governor of Virginia.

Captain Mey; Hendricksen. Another captain in the service of the Dutch, Cornelius Jacobsen Mey or May, sailed along the coast about 1614, and reaching this most southern point of what we call New Jersey, named it after himself, a name which the cape still retains. One of his vessels having been burned, he built at Manhattan (New York) another, only forty-five feet long, which was named the Onrust (Restless). In this small craft another Captain, Cornelius Hendricksen, sailed up Delaware Bay and River in 1616, carefully exploring them. He probably went as far as the site of Philadelphia and discovered the Schuylkill River. On his return he gave a glowing account of what he had

PENNSYLVANIA, MARYLAND, DELAWARE, AND NEW JERSEY

seen: woods filled with deer, turkeys, and partridges, and other game and vines full of grapes.

Dutch Colonies on the Delaware. The Dutch West India Company, founded in 1621, was organized by a Swede named William Usselinx. Under its auspices a vessel was sent out to the South (Delaware) River under Captain Mey, with instructions to build a fort for the purpose of defense and for trading with the natives. This was done at the place where Gloucester, New Jersey, now stands. It was named Fort Nassau.1

1 The site is opposite the southern part of Philadelphia.

A colony was started by the Dutch in 1629. Through Peter Minuit, Governor of Manhattan, land was bought from the Indians, and in 1631 colonists to the number of about thirty settled near where Lewes, Delaware, now is, and called the place Swannendael. The next year, owing

to a dispute, all the settlers were killed by Indians and the colony destroyed.

Fort Nassau, which had been abandoned by the Dutch, was re-occupied by them in 1633 when they bought from the Indians lands on the Schuylkill River, and built a small block house for trading purposes.

The Swedes on the Delaware. The great Swedish hero, Gustavus Adolphus, wished that Sweden should have a share in colonizing the New World, and one of the last things he did before the Battle of Lützen (1632) in which he lost his life, was to sign a charter making provision for settlements. The king's plans were carried out by Count Oxenstiern, the

Chancellor of Sweden, and near the close of 1637 two small vessels filled with Swedish and Finnish colonists set sail for the South or Delaware River, which was reached in 1638.

Peter Minuit, who had left the Dutch, and entered the service of the Swedes, was made leader of this expedition. He was well fitted for his post on account of his experience as governor of Manhattan. The little colony landed near where Wilmington, Delaware, now is, built a fort which was called, after the Swedish queen, Fort Christina. Minuit also bought from the natives (1638) all the west shore of the Delaware from Bombay Hook to the Schuylkill River.

When the Dutch at Fort Nassau heard of the Swedish colony they protested against the intrusion, as did also the Dutch governor, Kieft, at Manhattan, and the English

in Virginia. Minuit paid little MAP SHOWING EARLY DUTCH AND or no attention to these pro

SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS

tests. The colony drove a thriving trade with the Indians, with whom they continued to be on friendly terms. In 1640 the Swedes bought of the Indians the land along the Delaware River from the Schuylkill River as far as the falls at Trenton.

Governor Printz. The settlement at Fort Christina increased in population; the houses were small and inconvenient, and were built of round logs with the crevices plastered with clay; the doors were so low that one had to

stoop when entering; the windows were mere loopholes closed by means of sliding boards, for there was no glass; and the fireplaces were made of round stones or clay. In 1642 a new governor, Johan Printz, was sent out. He was an able man and an experienced soldier. "Physically he was a huge man weighing over four hundred pounds; the Indians called him the 'big tub.'" He proved himself to be one of the best colonial governors of his day. He built a fort on Tinicum Island, and also a fine residence for himself. More vessels came from Sweden and there grew up a promising colony in New Sweden, as the land was called, though probably there were never more than two or three hundred Swedish colonists. As time went on the colonists were not well supplied from Sweden with goods for barter, and the trade with the natives dwindled.

The Dutch continued to look upon the Swedes as intruders and there were not unfrequent quarrels between the two. Owing to lack of support from home authorities, Governor Printz left the colony and returned to Sweden. But in 1654 the largest party of emigrants arrived that had yet come to New Sweden. They numbered three hundred and fifty men, women, and children. The new governor, Rising, was more active than Printz, and New Sweden, for a time, seemed to be in a flourishing condition. The Swedes had good crops and built a mill on Cobbs' Creek and erected more houses and churches.

Dutch Conquest of New Sweden. This success of the Swedes roused the Dutch, who began to fear that they would lose the country along the Delaware. So in 1655 they fitted out a small fleet, embarked six hundred men, and started to recover New Sweden for the Dutch. The expedition was completely successful, for the Swedes had no soldiers to pro