who, from his exceptional knowledge of the English language,
his traits of character, and strong personality, was recognized as a
valuable coadjutor and interpreter by many of our first English
settlers. These personal attributes were also known and appreciated by
the inhabitants of some parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts, by the
Commissioners of the United Colonies of New England, and by the
Governor of the Colony of New York, all of whom found occasion for his
services in their transactions with the Indians. The facts which I
shall present in their chronological order, and the strong
circumstantial evidence adduced therefrom, will indicate the reasons
why I have unraveled the threads of this Indian's life from the weft
of the past, and why the recital of his career should be the theme of
a special essay, and worthy of a distinctive chapter in the
aboriginal, as well as in the Colonial, history of Long Island._

WILLIAM WALLACE TOOKER.
SAG HARBOR, L. I., _March, 1896_.

[Illustration]

COCKENOE-DE-LONG ISLAND.

The victory of Captain John Mason and Captain John Underhill over the
Pequots on the hills of Mystic, in 1637, in its results was far
greater than that of Wellington on the field of Waterloo. This fact
will impress itself in indelible characters on the minds of those who
delve into the historical truths connected with the genesis of our
settlements, so wide spreading were the fruits of this victory. As the
native inhabitants of the eastern part of Long Island and the adjacent
islands were subjects of, and under tribute to, these dreaded
Pequots,[1] they were more or less disturbed by the issues of the
after conflicts which ensued in hunting out the fleeing survivors. But
as two of the Long Island Sachems, Yoco, the Sachem of Shelter Island,
and Wyandanch, the Sachem of Montauk, through the mediation of their
friend Lion Gardiner came three days after the fight, and placed
themselves under the protection of the victors,[2] and, as the latter
with his men assisted Captain Stoughton during the finale at the
"Great Swamp,"[3] beyond New Haven, they did not feel the effects so
severely as did the immediate allies of the Pequots. Many of the
younger Indians captured in this war, especially those taken in
Connecticut, were carried to Boston, and there sold into slavery, or
distributed around the country into a limited period of
servitude[4]--a period generall