or our passport, which we
supposed would be a special one granted by his Excellency to us, but
in that we were mistaken. Our names were merely added to the common
passport to go up and down the river, as the names of all the
passengers were written on it. We left New York about three o'clock in
the afternoon with a southerly wind, in company with about twenty
passengers of all kinds, young and old, who made great noise and
bustle in a boat not so large as a common ferry-boat in Holland; and
as these people live in the interior of the country somewhat nearer
the Indians, they are more wild and untamed, reckless, unrestrained,
haughty, and more addicted to misusing the blessed name of God and to
cursing and swearing. However there was no help for it; you have to go
with those with whom you are shipped. We were scarcely in the North
River when we saw a ship coming through the Narrows, but as it was so
far off we could not discern what vessel it was. Each passenger had
his own opinion on the subject. After we had sailed along for half an
hour we heard five or six guns fired from the fort and otherwise,
which was a proof that she was from sea. As we were sailing along a
boat came up to us but lost her mast in boarding us. She was to the
leeward and we were sailing before the wind with a good headway. She
came too near our yard-arm, which carried away her mast, and it was
lucky she was not upset. They put on board some tons of oysters, which
are not to be found at Fort Albany or away from salt water. In passing
Sapocanike we saw Theunis standing upon an eminence where he was busy
ploughing, and observing us as long as he could. We made rapid
progress, but with the night the wind slackened, and we were compelled
to come to anchor in order to stem the tide.

_20th, Saturday._ When the day broke we saw how far we had advanced.
We were at the entrance of the Highlands, which are high and rocky,
and lie on both sides of the river. While waiting there for the tide
and wind another boat came alongside of us. They had a very fine fish,
a striped bass, as large as a codfish. The skipper was a son-in-law of
D. Schaets, the minister at Albany, a drunken, worthless person who
could not keep house with his wife, who was not much better than he,
nor was his father-in-law. He had been away from his wife five or six
years, and was now going after her.[326] The wind coming out of the
south about nine o'clock we weighed anchor, and got under s