ot make
use of, but the Indians ate them greedily. Flax and hemp
grew spontaneously. Peltries and hides were brought in great
quantities, by the savages, and sold for trifles. The land
was very well provisioned with all the necessaries of
life."[6]

Thus far, as a general rule, friendly relations had existed between
the Dutch and the Indians. But all sorts of characters were now
emigrating from the old world. The Indians were often defrauded, or
treated harshly. Individuals among the natives retaliated by stealing.
When caught they were severely punished. Notwithstanding the
government prohibited the sale of muskets to the Indians, so eager
were the savages to gain these weapons, so invaluable to them on their
hunting-fields, that they would offer almost any price for them. Thus
the Mohawks ere long obtained "guns, powder and bullets for four
hundred warriors."

Kieft endeavored to tax the Indians, extorting payment in corn and
furs. This exasperated them. Their reply, through one of their chiefs,
would have done honor to any deliberative assembly. Indignantly the
chief exclaimed:

"How can the sachem at the fort dare to exact a tax from us!
He must be a very shabby fellow. He has come to live in our
land when we have not invited him; and now he attempts to
deprive us of our corn for nothing. The soldiers at fort
Amsterdam are no protection to us. Why should we be called
upon to support them? We have allowed the Dutch to live
peaceably in our country, and have never demanded of them
any recompense. When they lost a ship here, and built a new
one, we supplied them with food and all other necessaries.
We took care of them for two winters until their ship was
finished. The Dutch are under obligations to us. We have
paid full price for everything we have purchased of them.
There is, therefore, no reason why we should supply them
with corn and furs for nothing. If we have ceded to them the
country they are living in, we yet remain masters of what we
have retained for ourselves."

This unanswerable argument covered the whole ground. The most
illiterate Indian could feel the force of such logic.

Some European vagabonds, as it was afterwards clearly proved, stole
some swine from Staten Island. The blame was thrown upon the innocent
Raritan Indians, who lived twenty miles inland. The rash Director
Kieft resolved to