account of the
destruction of the colony:

"One of the chiefs, seeing the glittering tin plate,
emblazoned with the arms of Holland, so conspicuously
exposed upon the column, apparently without any
consciousness that he was doing anything wrong, openly,
without any attempt at secrecy, took it down and quite
skilfully manufactured it into tobacco pipes. The commander
of the fort, a man by the name of Hossett, complained so
bitterly of this, as an outrage that must not pass
unavenged, that some of the friendly Indians, to win his
favor, killed the chief, and brought to Hossett his head, or
some other decisive evidence that the deed was done."

The commandant was shocked at this severity of retribution, so far
exceeding anything which he had desired, and told the savages that
they had done very wrong; that they should only have arrested the
chief and brought him to the fort. The commandant would simply have
reprimanded him and forbidden him to repeat the offence.

The ignorant Indians of the tribe, whose chief had thus summarily,
and, as they felt, unjustly been put to death, had all their savage
instincts roused to intensity. They regarded the strangers at the fort
as instigating the deed and responsible for it. They resolved upon
bloody vengeance.

A party of warriors, thoroughly armed, came stealing through the
glades of the forest and approached the unsuspecting fort. All the men
were at work in the fields excepting one, who was left sick at home.
There was also chained up in the fort, a powerful and faithful
mastiff, of whom the Indians stood in great dread. Three of the
savages, concealing, as far as they could, their weapons, approached
the fort, under the pretence of bartering some beaver skins. They met
Hossett, the commander, not far from the door. He entered the house
with them, not having the slightest suspicion of their hostile intent.
He ascended some steep stairs into the attic, where the stores for
trade were deposited, and as he was coming down, one of the Indians,
watching his opportunity, struck him dead with an axe. They then
killed the sick man. Standing at a cautious distance, they shot
twenty-five arrows into the chained mastiff till he sank motionless in
death.

The colonists in the field, in the meantime, were entirely unaware of
the awful scenes which were transpiring, and of their own impending
peril. The wily Indians approached them