haracter or infirmity prevented his escape. It
is said, however, that he received the soldiers very haughtily, aiming
his gun at them and saying, "What are you doing here, you dogs?"

The weapon was easily wrenched from his feeble hands. A consultation
was held as to what should be done with the courageous but powerless
old chief. "As it was a considerable distance to carry him," writes
Ensign Smith, "we struck him down with his own axe."

At length the sufferings of the Esopus Indians became so great from
the burning of the villages and the trampling down of their
cornfields, the loss of their armies and the terrified flight of their
starving women and children, that they were constrained to make
another effort for peace.

On the 11th of July, Governor Stuyvesant left New Amsterdam for
Esopus. Messengers were dispatched to summon the Esopus chiefs to his
presence. Appalled by the fate of their brethren, who had been sent as
slaves to the West Indies, they were afraid to come. After waiting
several days the governor sent envoys to the chiefs of other tribes,
urging them "to bring the Esopus savages to terms."

At length four Esopus chiefs appeared before the gate of the village.
Delegates from other tribes also appeared, and a grand council was
held. It is very evident from this interview, that many of the more
delicate feelings of the civilized man had full sway in the hearts of
these poor Indians. Instead of imploring peace themselves, the Esopus
Indians employed two chiefs, one of the Mohawk and the other of the
Mingua tribe, to make the proposition in their behalf.

Governor Stuyvesant assented to peace upon condition that the Mohawks
and the Minguas would stand as security for the faithful observance of
the terms exacted. The chiefs of these tribes agreeing to this, in a
formal speech admonished the Esopus chiefs to live with the Dutch as
brothers. And then, turning to the Dutch, in a speech equally
impressive, they warned them not to irritate the Indians by unjust
treatment. The Indians were compelled to yield to such terms as
Stuyvesant proposed.

All the lands of Esopus were surrendered to the Dutch. The starving
Indians were to receive eight hundred schepels of corn as ransom for
the captive christians. The Indian warriors sent as slaves to the West
Indies, were to be left to their awful fate. The mediators were held
responsible for the faithful execution of the treaty. Should the
Esopus Indians break it