Navesink; A Historical Novel
1608 An English Visitor
Pytechay had nothing on his mind, he had nothing to do and he was not hungry. He was hot, but he was in the best possible spot for a hot late summer day. He could have cooled his body in the river, but high up here there was a breeze and there was shade and there was peace.
Peace was good. He liked peace. He loved peace. Others in his tribe were not as good as him at being at peace. Orechton came into his mind. Why, on this hot day, did he let Orechton slip into his thoughts?
Orechton thought his life required violence and dominance of others. Orechton was young and crazy. Why look for trouble if there was no trouble? Pytechay had seen violence before, but now he was old and enjoyed nothing better than peace. That and singing the songs to the youngsters that enjoyed learning them. Learning the songs taught a human that violence was of no use. Only those who did not want to learn the songs were interested in violence and Orechton had no interest in the songs.
Pytechay loved the songs. His main teacher had been Soccorosett whose main teacher had been Pinna. Soccorosett had died over 10 winters ago. Pinna had long been dead himself, but he had lived to a very old age and was still alive when Pytechay was a very young boy. He had heard Pinna sing. Pinna was a very good singer, and even today there were still many others who would talk about him, but he might be the only singer who remembered Pinna, the others were just old chiefs, warriors, aunties or uncles. Pinna was a great singer, but Soccorosett was a great traveler. Besides his tribe’s songs he had also collected histories from other tribes and Pytechay, who was born in the Turtle clan, had traveled with him when he was quite young. Sometimes when there was war, and other times when there was peace. The peace time travels were wonderful. Why make war if you could travel at peace? In peace time all the women were willing and the tobacco tasted sweet. In war the woman ran away and even tobacco smoke could cause the enemy to find you. Stupid Orechton. Maybe he will come to his senses before too long. No, he won’t. Once a human fills his spirit with violence he never willingly turns to peace. Only death will take the violence out of them.
Bad thoughts. He needed to clear his mind. The horizon will clear his mind. That was the ancient way. The horizon was the tribe’s special source of inspiration. The horizon belonged to everyone, but his tribe had the best view of the biggest horizon of any known human. The hill he was sitting on was not as high as the mountains further inland, but it was right next to the ocean and provided a view of emptiness that cleared the mind and raised the spirit. He was at the top of the hill and this spot was known to be his perch. Others could join him, but as the tribe’s shaman he controlled it. He kept it clear and tended to the few large shade trees on the summit.
He slowly started to raise his gaze to the horizon. Beneath him on this side of the river was the village, he saw kids splashing in the water. His eyes moved across the river to the barrier beach where there were some canoes pulled up to the shore. Maybe some people were collecting the first prickly pears or late beach plums or checking the fish traps further north along the inside shore. He could see the waves breaking on the ocean side of the narrow barrier island. He now spent some time watching the waves roll in. What do other tribes do without the calming spirit of waves? He raised his gaze further to watch the horizon. The heat and humidity made the sea and sky blend together. The horizon was soft and fuzzy.
And there he saw a ghost canoe.
It was still far off and was only moving slowly, but it showed the large hides that Pinna sang about.
Aboard the ship they had just completed their noon sight. The Captain looked up to his mate: “This is the right latitude. We are close. Let’s nudge closer to the shore”. Juet nodded and left the cabin. He wasn’t sure what was better, the heat of the cabin or the bright sun on deck. The crew was clustered in places wherever there was shade. There was a breeze but they were sailing downwind and the wind was pretty much zero across the deck. Juet climbed the poop. They were approaching the shore towards some higher land in the distance. Might as well start sounding now.
He motioned to two sailors near the main mast. “David and Kees take the lead and call the soundings.” Kees got up to get the lead. David followed Kees’ movements but did not get up yet. Strange how afraid most sailors were of water. A couple of buckets of seawater over the head certainly must feel better in this heat. He used to do it as a sailor, but now he was a mate and now it was his job to pretend that heat or cold did not affect him.
If they had correctly figured out Verrazzano’s notes, the entrance would be a little to the north of the southern highland and hopefully they would find the channel. Crazy to think that they had planned to sail to the East and North over Europe and only a few months back had gotten stuck in sea ice and now were pretty much melting along the coast of the New World.
In the Spring he had joined Captain Henry Hudson to look for a Northeast passage to India, but they hit ice almost immediately past the known latitudes. They could have gone back and maybe tried another year, but Captain Hudson felt he needed to bring something home that would be of value to his Dutch sponsors. In 1607 he had not succeeded at a Northwest passage either, although there was a rumor that someone had found a Northwest passage after him. So going for another try at a Northwest passage would simply make him the second European to use it. Meanwhile, the Captain was intrigued by Verrazzano’s initial exploration of a bay that he had quickly explored in 1524. For some reason no one had made any effort to take a closer look after that. Hudson knew its latitude and if he found a middle passage it would be much better than always having to fight the ice.
So they had turned to the west and reached the New World coast. In sailing to 40 degrees latitude they reached a headland and decided to sail south. Initially there was land to the west and they had sailed south when it turned dark. In their morning’s turn west, they found no land. In sailing further west they had adverse winds pushing them south. When they finally found land at 36 degrees latitude, he knew he had already passed the coast and bays his friend John Smith had explored the prior year and they had to work their way north again along the coast to 40 degrees, but now they were close. And the land resembled Verrazzano’s description. Just strange that nobody had taken a closer look here in over 80 years. In theory, sailing over the top of the globe is so much shorter than sailing east nearer to the horizon. It must have kept everyone from retracing Verrazzano’s earlier explorations. Wouldn’t it be something if they found a middle passage? A passage that Verrazzano could have found 80 years ago if he had not had adverse weather. That would have saved us all a lot of misery, but maybe now he would be part of the lucky crew that found the best path to riches.
Ashore Pytechay spent quite a while studying the ghost canoe.
He knew Pinna’s ghost canoe song and he knew that Pinna’s song had changed when Soccorosett combined it with songs from tribes on the north side of the Bay.
Those tribes had seen strangely dressed humans on the ghost canoe, and their songs had also spoken of earlier large canoes just like Pinna’s song. They also sang of the large canoe carrying a smaller canoe that they put into the water, the smaller canoe also had a giant hide and strange paddles. The large canoe had stayed in the Bay and the smaller canoe had gone through the narrows a little distance into the upper Bay. Then it had turned around and returned to the large canoe where it was lifted aboard and the large canoe had left. Especially Pinna sang about it very often. Some people in the tribe even called him ghostship singer.
Maybe this time they would learn more. Pytechay stood up and started his descent to the village below, losing sight of the ghost canoe moving north towards the entrance to the Bay.
He passed the cornfield on the south side of the lower part of the hill. The only part of the three sisters that had not yet been harvested were the pumpkins. The tobacco had also been cut.
There was no rush, but the tribe had started preparing food for winter storage. Closer to the village, beans and corn were drying. Fish was also drying on racks. The late summer heat caused everybody to wait it out in the shade, but it was doing a great job at drying the beans and corn. The heat even kept the birds away. Only some seagulls were gliding over the Navesink. The dogs also were in the shade, but kept their eyes on the drying racks in case some crows or pigeons decided to steal some corn or fish. Most of the canoes were pulled up next to the shell pile. One of the large bay canoes was not there.
Pytechay entered Nutimus’ wigwam. Nutimus was a napper in the summer. He was a dynamic man once the weather got cold, but in hot weather he hardly moved at all and excelled at sleeping. Nutimus’ wigwam was in the shade of a giant cedar and the spacious house was no hotter than outside and felt cooler in the half dark.
Nutimus was sprawled on his back, his legs and arms spread out and snoring gently. No one else was in the wigwam.
Pytechay called out his name, and Nutimus opened his eyes. His eyes found Pytechay without moving his head: “Yes, Pytechay”
“A ghost canoe is entering the Bay”
Nutimus did not answer immediately, or move for that matter. “A ghost canoe. Well, that is interesting. Is it in the Bay?”
“No, it is still some distance from the point.”
Nutimus moved. He rolled onto his side, sat up and then decided to stand up. He felt his hair and rubbed his chin. “Show me”, and started walking out of his wigwam in the direction of the trail to Pytechay’s perch. Pytechay followed him.
Other members of the tribe stopped their summer heat activities when they saw Nutimus on the move. Nutimus gradually started walking faster, and when he reached the trail to the perch his short but powerful body had fully awoken and he went up the trail at an easy trot.
Seeing Nutimus in a hurry in the heat was sufficient motivation for the rest of the village to follow him. Pytechay was slower and when the quickest villagers caught up, they peppered him with questions. Pytechay did not bother to answer and instead they chased after Nutimus.
When Nutimus reached the perch, he had only a moment to scan the sea before he was joined by others. There definitely was something to the north. It was barely visible, and it was larger than any canoe or whale he had ever seen, but he could not discern any further details. He knew Pytechay to be an extremely reliable observer, and readily accepted the possibility it was a ghost canoe.
The others started asking him what was going on.
Nutimus deliberately turned his gaze towards the south and the tribe followed his gaze. He kept staring into the distance, “Pytechay saw an enormous school of whales traveling south. I wanted to see if we should chase them, but they must have moved on.”
Pytechay had reached his perch and heard what Nutimus said and added: “Yes, it was an enormous school, they came in from the North and spent time right off the ocean beach. Strange they left so quickly.”
Some of the tribe members already started to walk back to the village and passed the word to those who were still climbing the trail. The excitement was quickly dying down and everybody turned back to the village.
Soon only Nutimus and Pytechay were left. “I can still see it to the North, it is still short of the point.”
“I can see it too”, Nutimus answered.
“Why did you not say so?”
Nutimus shrugged, “I don’t know, but it is easier to make a plan when there is no excitement. How does the song go? If we scared the ghost ship off the last time, this time I do not want to scare it off”
“Orechton?” Pytechay wondered out loud.
“Yes, I don’t trust that idiot. He will pick a fight with anything. Where is he? And his band of young fellow idiots?”
“I don’t know. I did not see him in the village.”
“Let’s keep this between us. Let’s find out where Orechton is and make a plan. Pytechay, why don’t you ask around. If I start to ask, it will just start rumors.”
They slowly walked back to the village and Nutimus walked back into his wigwam to continue his midday nap.
Pytechay walked over to a small group of aunties and uncles, “Too bad the whales left, it would have given Orechton and the other wild ones something to do. Where are they anyway? I saw two canoes across the river. Are they hunting on the point?”
All of the aunties and uncles except auntie Cholena smiled at the mention of the wild ones. Auntie Cholena as Orechton’s mother, did not approve of the implied characterization of Orechton. She was proud of her only son. She hoped he would be a chief someday. His father had drowned a number of years ago and she had remarried, but her son was her whole life. She was fully aware that her son rubbed some people the wrong way, especially chief Nutimus, but to her Orechton was a leader of men and his strength and ability to influence others may someday enable him to replace Nutimus since he did not have any sons.
One of the uncles spoke up. “They took one of the bay canoes. They are hunting in the highlands. I think they are some way along the Bay towards the Raritan. Most of the other boys went with him.”
Pytechay feigned little interest and switched to other small talk. After his evening meal he once more climbed up to his perch. Some of the tribe members were there too. Apparently they were looking for whales, but they had not seen the ghost ship. Pytechay did not see anything either. The bugs came out near sunset and they all walked back to the village. On the way to his wigwam he stopped at Nutimus’ wigwam. His wife and daughters were there, he sat down next to the chief, where he was expected to sit. Nutimus looked up at him and Pytechay quickly and quietly said: “Nothing to see”.
That evening the Half Moon anchored on approach to the bay. There were too many shallows at the mouth to push through without good reconnaissance with one of the small boats. There was little wind and good holding ground. Captain Hudson set guards on deck and kept look outs in the crow’s nest. Nobody approached them. They lit no lights and it was a quiet night.
Once the sun came up, the sloop was launched and its crew started to scout for a channel.
There was a clear channel near the point and the wind and tide naturally made them choose it to get into the bay. Once they rounded the point, Captain Hudson decided to approach the higher land to the south hoping for creeks that supplied good fresh water. They were now in a relatively open bay between a barrier peninsula to the east that was covered with relatively low trees and fringed with salt marshes, tidal flats and bay beaches. To the south were the highlands. Most of the highlands ran into the bay quite steeply with a narrow fringe of reeds, but there were also some sandy beaches. Between them was an inlet with on the highlands side a flatter section of land. The small boat was still ahead sounding and looking for water. They followed the small boat and took their own soundings. With a wind from the east they were reaching under short sail and a light breeze making about three knots.
“I think anchoring about midway between the highlands and the barrier peninsula with about one half league on each side will do.” Captain Hudson just finished that sentence when they saw the canoes approaching them from the inlet. They were still more than a league away. “Juet I think it is time to make sure arms are ready, matches are lit and swivels are loaded. No arms in anyone’s hands.”
Juet issued his orders.
“I want to be anchored and the small boat taken in before the canoes arrive”
Hudson remained silent after this. His crew was doing what needed to be done and doing it well. It appeared to be slack high tide and if they wanted to leave, they would still be able to sail out, He was not terribly worried. In general natives tended to be friendly, and while arrows could be a nuisance, grapeshot and guns were pretty effective at protecting the vessel and crew.
Nutimus was in the lead canoe with Pytechay. There were three more canoes following theirs.
That morning Pytechay had been at his perch and seen the ghost canoe come into view. He had walked down into the village and without excitement had stated to the first person he saw that a ghost canoe would be approaching. Some more villagers gathered and when the ghost canoe came into view there was sufficient hubbub that Nutimus came out of his wigwam and when they pointed to the ghost canoe he showed no surprise and simply turned to Pytechay and said: “Let’s meet the ghost canoe and see if they have anything to teach us.”
He divided the tribe between those who would be in the canoes and those who would stay in the village and had the village collect trade items. Some copper knives and jewelry, wampum, corn and tobacco. Because Pytechay and Nutimus showed no emotions, it all occurred without excitement or nervousness. When Nutimus found Pytechay separated from the others he quickly asked him if there was any information about Orechton’s whereabouts. Pytechay shook his head, “Nothing, he must still be in the highlands.”
“Let’s bring Auntie Cholena in our canoe. If he shows up while we are at the ghost ship, she may be able to control him”
“Are you really worried about him?”
“Yes” Nutimus walked over to the large bay canoe to take his place midship.
Pytechay took his place in front of him. The trading items were ahead of Pytechay. Bows and arrows were in front of each peddler on the canoe bottom. They pushed off the beach and the other canoes followed.
They watched the smaller canoe return to the ghost canoe.
“Now what?” Nutimus said to Pytechay’s back, when the ghost canoes’ sails came down. Pytechay rested his paddle and turned around. “The large hides push the canoe with the wind. I think it is waiting for us.” He turned back to look at the ship, “They dropped an anchor. It is resting there. There are people aboard. Unless they are hiding, there are not as many as we have in our canoes. Should we sing to show we are friendly?”
“Yes, sing.”
Pytechay thought for a second and decided to sing a song about life appearing in spring. It was silly to sing it in the fall, but nobody could take offense if they understood it. He thought it was the most pleasant sounding song he knew, and if they did not understand it, he felt the sound of it would reassure the ghost ship crew. The tribe must have been confused because it took a few phrases before first Nutimus joined in and then the rest of the tribe joined in. It did sound beautiful.
The ghost canoe crew was standing on the side they were approaching. Their hands were resting on the edge and they seemed at ease. They looked strange, most had a lot of hair on their faces and each crew member’s hair color was different. There were no women. At least, if there were any, they did not look like women.
“What now?”
“Offer something to them”
Pytechay held up a wampum chain.
One of the men on the ghost canoe waived them closer. They pulled up alongside the ghost canoe. It towered over them. The man leaned over the side on the lowest part of the canoe and he could barely reach down to Pytechay who was standing in the canoe.
The man took the chain and examined it. He smiled and handed a lovely colored chain back to Pytechay. He then pointed to the two baskets of corn in front of Pytechay. Pytechay handed one basket up.
He did not receive a trade. He looked at Nutimus, “Hand them another basket?”
“One more”, Nutimus answered.
Pytechay handed him another basket and the man handed him a small shiny disc. Pytechay looked at it and it reflected his face like a reflection in a smooth pond. He handed the disc to Nutimus. “Interesting”, Nutimus said, “Offer some tobacco.”
Pytechay held up a bundle of tobacco, and the man offered him something that looked like his copper knife. Pytechay did not need that and shook his head. The man offered another bright colored chain and Pytechay exchanged if for the tobacco.
The man handed the emptied corn baskets back to Pytechay and he waived his hand in a way that he wanted more. There was no more in the canoe, but they had plenty corn ashore so Pytechay indicated that they would get more from shore and the man indicated they wanted to take their canoe to shore.
“Let’s have them come ashore and we will feed them and smoke a pipe.” Nutimus said to Pytechay, who repeated his gesturing and it appeared the man understood. The man pointed at the setting sun and his gesture indicated they wanted to come the next morning.
They started to leave, and Pytechay pointed at himself and said his name and pointed at Nutimus and said his name. The man on the ghost canoe said: “Hudson” and then pointed at the man next to him and said “Juet”.
When the canoes left, Hudson turned to Juet: “They seemed friendly, I am sure the village will also have fresh water so when we go over tomorrow let’s bring empty barrels. We will go in two boats so we can provide better mutual support in case things go wrong.” Juet acknowledged Hudson’s instructions and then pointed to the sky: “That looks like a thunderstorm Captain”
Hudson nodded: “Let’s tighten up the furl on the sails and rig water canvas. Nice to collect some fresh water in case tomorrow does not work out. I also want to have some crew take the sloop north to look at that river entrance to the North. Maybe the day after tomorrow. And let’s eat, after I take a crap first.” and walked to the head.
The thunderstorm came in just after sunset with very strong gusts from the northwest and the Half Moon dragged anchor and grounded on the bayshore of the peninsula.
It was clear the bottom was soft and while the wind was strong during the storm, the waves never built up. After the storm Henry Hudson used the sloop to reset the anchor, and decided to focus on refloating the Half Moon in the morning.
It was a beautiful clear and cool morning. The thunderstorm drove off the heat and there was a lovely northerly breeze. It was a rising tide, and after breakfast the crew started refloating activities. Refloating turned out to be easier than anyone expected. Once the vessel was afloat, checks of the bilges revealed no leaks and Colman, the bosun, took a swim to make sure there was no rudder damage and to check the exterior bottom.
When all gear was taken in and the vessel was back resting at anchor, Hudson announced his plans to the crew. “Two boats, the pilot and Colman in the barge with eight men, and I and five men will take the sloop. You, Juet, stay aboard. With this wind we cannot sail out. If things go wrong, we will try to make it back while you use the swivel guns to hold off a chase. We will bring swords and blunderbusses and senior men will carry pistols. Blunderbusses stay in the boat. Each boat will keep two men aboard. They will use the blunderbusses to cover us if we need to retreat. I don’t want any mistakes. Nobody fires unless I clearly say so. If I fall, Colman is in charge of the retreat. Don’t fire the blunderbusses too early. Use the pistols to make noise. Load three water barrels in the barge and one water barrel in the sloop. Everybody dress up, and wear gear. Let’s pray to God this will be peaceful”
The crew murmured their own prayers and then Colman asked: “Which blunderbusses do we take Captain?”
“Let’s put the two big matchlocks in the barge and the two flintlocks in the sloop. Make sure you assign two men who know how to manage those matchlocks.”
“Do you want me stay on the barge Captain?”
“I don’t mind if you do Colman, it will increase our flexibility. I appreciate it”, Hudson considered himself lucky to have such an excellent Bosun. He would prefer Colman over Juet as his mate. They had both sailed with him on prior voyages. Juet was competent but he never really felt he trusted him. Juet did his job well, but never seemed committed to the mission of the voyage, he was just too tentative. Colman loved being an explorer as much as Hudson himself and surely would have loved to go ashore to meet the natives up close.
“What do we bring for trade Captain?”
“Let’s bring mirrors because we want corn. Some cloth too. Let’s bring a nice ax to give to the chief. Oh, and bring a jug or bottles, as a target for a shooting demonstration.”
Ashore, the tribe had started to prepare for the visit of the ghost canoe and watched the refloating operations.
Nutimus made the villagers gather around him. “These are very special visitors which will result in much discussion among the families, clans and tribes. If we become their friends first, it will be of much help to our clan. It would be even better if they will return in the future. I want this to be a peaceful exchange. Even if they ask for some of our women, I will make a peaceful trade, but that will not happen on the first day. First we need to eat together, smoke pipes and see if we can learn some of their language. Possibly we can figure out where they come from. Maybe they are coming from the far south or the far north. We have heard tales from travelers about humans like this. Let us not show too many arms. I will carry my spear and some of the men will carry spears but stay back from me. Hide your bows well away from view, but be ready to get them. Pytechay and I will meet them alone. If they bring many men close to us, our men can close up. You know what to do, but no noise or sudden moves. They asked for corn. How much corn can we trade?”
Auntie Allaquippa, the person in charge of family supplies, answered quickly, “We can trade everything we have. It has been a good year for all the tribes and we can trade with them to get enough for winter”.
“Very well Quippa, we will see where it goes. And where is Orechton and the other youngsters?”
There was no response from anyone.
“Let’s get ready.” Nutimus turned to his wife, “Let’s get dressed” and walked to his wigwam.
The two boats were approaching the village, there were a number of cooking fires and the tribe had gathered near the beach where the canoes were pulled up. The water near the beach was calm and getting ashore would pose no problem. A few villagers walked into the water waving the boats in.
Hudson turned to the pilot, “That spot looks as good as any, just drift in. Holy Moses, look at that pile of oyster shells!”
One of the rowers looked over his shoulder and turned to his rowing buddy: “Oysters, Nice!” The Dutch and English were avid oyster eaters.
Hudson moved to the bow of the sloop and stepped ashore first without getting his shoes wet. He was dressed in a gleaming curass with a velvet hat with plumes. His sword was at his side and he had two pistols in his belt. His dress faded into nothingness against the robe Nutimus was wearing. It reached down to the ground and was entirely covered in bird feathers. He also wore a headdress that was fringed in feathers. He was holding a long spear resting the butt end on the ground. The spear had a copper point and was fringed with feathers. It clearly was more ceremonial than a weapon.
Overall, despite the heat, all the villagers were beautifully turned out with varying levels of ostentation in furs and feathers. Hudson and his crew were impressed. The village may be primitive, but there was an overriding feeling of comfort and lack of want.
Nutimus welcomed Hudson and stepped closer to him with Pytechay at his side. Hudson’s coxwain also came ashore and stood next to Hudson. By gesture Nutimus welcomed Hudson and coxwain and led them to a seating circle. Hudson turned to motion for more crew to come ashore and they all followed Nutimus and Hudson with Nutimus’ men more or less lining up with the ship’s crew.
There were friendly but silent smiles all around when they sat down.
Women brought bowls and trays of food. There were large trays of roasted oysters, roasted fish and roasted fowl. The bowls contained various stews and paps. There was a type of bread also and various fruits and berries. They all ate; men, women, and children alike. Some women also brought food to the crew in the boats, who accepted with smiles. When the eating slowed down, the chief brought out a pipe and it was passed around. The entire crew agreed it was an excellent early lunch.
Nutimus and Hudson engaged in a long conversation by gesture and facial expression. Hudson managed to explain they did not come from the North or South, but rather from the East. By drawing in the sand, he thought he managed to explain that they came a long way from the East.
He brought out the ax as a gift for the chief. The chief looked at it gratefully, but did not fully appreciate it until Hudson took it back gently and made some rapid deep cuts in a nearby tree trunk. Hudson returned it to the chief and he took some swings himself. Everybody was impressed by its power. Hudson brought out some bottles and handed them around. The villagers were impressed with the transparency of the bottles.
A crew member placed a bottle near the water’s edge and Hudson took out his pistol, took aim, and shot the bottle. Fortunately the pistol did not misfire and he did not miss the bottle. The noise made the entire tribe gasp and the shattered bottle made some villagers rush forward to see what had happened. They gathered the shards which were much admired for their keen edges. Hudson next asked for more corn. He also asked for oysters, all were happily supplied and exchanged for mirrors and beads. The villagers were eager to supply more corn than they would need and it took some effort by Hudson to convince them he needed no more. It all was remarkably friendly and some of the crew started to interact with the younger female villagers. At this stage Hudson wanted none of that, and he then pointed to the barrels and to the small stream that ran through the village to the water.
“I think they want to put fresh water in those wooden boxes in the boats”, Pytechay said to Nutimus.
Nutimus nodded, “That is what I figured, but why don’t we show them the good spring instead of this creek. The water is cloudy this time of year and the spring will be clear.”
Pytechay walked up to Hudson and with gestures explained there was better water west of the village and they should take the boats.
Hudson’s crew went into the boats, and Nutimus and Pytechay joined them. The village canoes led them and they had a short row west along the shore. A small break in the shore vegetation showed a small creek and they pulled the boats ashore. The creek was only a few feet long and ended in a nice continuous spring that came out of the hill. It was such a short distance between the spring and the boats that the crew decided to start a bucket brigade to fill the barrels without removing them from the boats. The villagers were eager to help and the crew members were now free to climb the hill. The hill was covered with excellent trees, some very large.
When the barrel in the sloop was filled, Hudson indicated to Nutimus and Pytechay he wanted them to join him aboard Half Moon. The sloop and the large bay canoe set out for Half Moon where Nutimus and Pytechay were delighted with a tour of the whole ship. When the barge returned with the other barrels, it was accompanied by the other canoes. The villagers came aboard with their own gifts that were exchanged with items from the crew. Juet kept a close eye on the villagers to stop them immediately if they tried to steal anything, but when they asked for something that could not be traded, they quickly turned to other items and did not make any attempts at taking the refused items.
It was a pleasant and friendly exchange and in the early afternoon the villagers left, with both the ship and villagers thoroughly satisfied with the trades that took place.
The next morning was as fair as the prior day and the breeze held. The sloop was outfitted for a further exploration of the Bay. Hudson put John Colman in charge of the crew of four. They carried supplies for a few days, two big matchlock blunderbusses, cutlasses and a few pistols. Hudson was most interested in the narrow opening to the North. The Half Moon’s sloop was a good sailer, and if the wind held, they would cover most of the bay in a day.
Some canoes from the village visited the Half Moon. There was just a little occasional trading, but for the most part the crew engaged in maintenance and Hudson and Juet updated their records.
That late afternoon there was a general sense of comfort aboard the vessel knowing they were anchored under a friendly shore that could apparently provide ample supplies if needed. Once the sloop returned, they would make a new plan for further exploration.
In the village there was a similar sense of satisfaction.
Further West along the shore at about the same time, Orechton also had a general sense of satisfaction, but moments earlier he had felt humiliated.
He left a number of days ago with nine of the village’s youngsters who thought of Orechton as their leader. Orechton was 17, tall and handsome and was leading a group of kids from the village who were all younger, some almost 17 and some as young as 14. The kids’ parents allowed them to join Orechton for a hunt. They did not particularly like Orechton, but hunting was a common activity and they felt there were sufficient kids in the crowd with more sense than Orechton to keep them all out of trouble. When they pulled ashore at the hunting ground another canoe from the neighboring Osprey clan with about a dozen kids pulled onto the beach next to them. Most of the kids knew each other and they spent some time socializing and posturing and soon it was decided they would meet at the beach in two days in the afternoon and see which village produced the best hunters.
Two days later Orechton and his gang returned to the beach in the afternoon with two deer and a few turkeys. Orechton was particularly disturbed to see that the Ospreys’ haul was much better and even managed to catch some fish while waiting for the Turtle clan kids. The Ospreys were making fun of them and were particularly focused on Orechton, whom they did not like. The Ospreys relished taking Orechton down a notch in front of his gang. Moreover, Orechton suffered from a weak ego. He liked to take charge when things were easy, but had no sense of humor or social skills when people pushed back, and these Ospreys clearly had the upper hand.
Orechton decided to cut his losses and led his gang to his canoe and pushed off. They were heading east to the village and about one half mile from shore, when they saw the sloop to the North. Neither he nor his gang had ever seen anything like it and there was lots of speculative chatter. One of the kids piped up and mentioned the ghost ship song. Orechton had little notion of what he was talking about, but noting that the Ospreys were also heading for the unusual canoe with the large hide, he now saw a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of his gang and the Ospreys.
He had a plan and was satisfied it would restore his image and standing. They were getting closer and there were only five men aboard the canoe. The canoe was quickly sailing almost directly towards them. The men aboard seemed to be relaxed and were calmly regarding them and even waved. Orechton looked over his shoulder, he guessed the Ospreys would arrive at the strange canoe only a few minutes after them.
“If we don’t take that canoe the Ospreys will take it. Paddle harder, we are going to take that canoe!” His gang looked back at him questioningly, but somehow Orechton’s excitement fired them up and they increased the power of their paddle strokes.
“When we get in arrow range we will fire as one, we will surprise them and take that canoe before the Ospreys catch up”
The gang carefully shifted their bows and arrows in front of them out of view of the strange canoe.
When they were in range, in unison, they all fired.
The next morning was a clear day with a steady breeze. Aboard the Half Moon, Hudson was wondering how the sloop had done. He was not concerned they had not returned yet. Adverse tides and wind and unknown shores can easily delay a small vessel in a bay like this. He did send a crew member up to the crow’s nest to keep a look out for the sloop, but the rest of the crew engaged in their regular routines.
That morning there was no sense of satisfaction in the village. The night before Orechton and the other kids had paddled their canoe to the village as fast as they could. It was tough going because two kids were seriously hurt and were moaning in the bottom of the canoe and the rest of the crew had various wounds. Orechton was missing part of one of his fingers. Something had also lodged in his upper chest, but he had managed to stop most of the bleeding. When they arrived at the village all was quiet and they had to wake their parents to help with their wounds.
There was general confusion since Orechton claimed that they had been attacked by a ghost canoe and it took a while to figure out that it could only be the small ghost canoe that had left that morning. Woken by the commotion, Nutimus joined the crowd and confronted Orechton who repeated they had been attacked by a ghost canoe. Orechton had barely completed the sentence when Nutimus turned to one of the youngest kids who appeared to be mostly unhurt.
“Navoo, now you tell me exactly what happened, and remember that I will punish the next liar as much as I will punish Orechton for lying. What happened!”
Navoo quickly looked from side to side to his buddies for support and felt his father’s hand on the back of his neck, but the pressure showed him this was serious and he immediately provided a truthful report.
One of the boys had died from his wound by the time the whole story had been told and most of the village’s attention was directed to the treatment of the other boys’ wounds. The parents were now relating their meetings with the ghost canoe to the kids and were scolding even the most seriously wounded boys. Auntie Cholena took Orechton to her wigwam to tend to his wounds, it was clear the village was already shunning him.
Nutimus and Pytechay stepped away from the crowd.
“Should I kill Orechton and bring his head to the ghost canoe at daybreak?” Nutimus asked Pytechay. “I could use that nice ax Hudson gave me to kill him.”
Pytechay held up his hand to stop that train of thought, “It crossed my mind. Setting a good example can be very bracing to the whole village. He attacked our friends without provocation. On further thought I think we have to move more carefully. As near as I can figure the small ghost canoe crew did not know Orechton is part of our family. They would assume it was just a random clan not related to us. As long as there is no evidence of our involvement in Orechton’s stupidity by daybreak, we can claim we have no involvement. That means Orechton, and the boys and the canoe will have to be hidden when morning comes. They will have to be hidden far away, because if I were Hudson and suspicious, I would ask to search the village and surroundings, and if we want to claim to be innocent, we will have to let them search and may even have to help them. We may have to convince them that the Ospreys are our enemies and they attacked the small ghost canoe. It will keep them away from the Ospreys and so it will be difficult to get the full story from them.”
Nutimus nodded in agreement, “So the best way is to send the kids up the Navesink with the big canoe, and tell them to stay hidden until we come to look for them. Can we trust them to do it by themselves?”
“I doubt they can paddle that big canoe up the river by themselves. Some of those kids are really hurting. Let’s send two or three of our strongest men with them and one or two aunties to tend the wounds. The entire gang needs to go, including the dead and dying. I hope they will not notice the missing men and aunties if Hudson comes ashore again.”
“We can plead ignorance if they notice, but I doubt they will notice anyway.”
“Let’s do it.” Nutimus headed straight for three of his strongest men to put them in charge of the plan.
Before midnight, the three men, Orechton and the kids, living and dead, and Auntie Cholena were heading upriver to hide in the wetlands of the Navesink. Auntie Cholena had insisted that she join the canoe, Nutimus agreed without appearing too eager. Other mothers wanted to come too, but Nutimus forbade them. Auntie Cholena asked her husband to come, but he showed no interest and it was clear he had made up his mind to sever his relationship with Auntie Cholena and her son.
Nutimus had quietly instructed the three men not to hesitate to kill Orechton and Auntie Cholena if they caused any trouble at all. Once the ghost ship had left, he would find them and further deal with Orechton.
By daybreak the village strained to behave normally. Everybody was nervous, but as far they could see, everything at the ghost ship was quiet.
All remained quiet until they saw the sloop both from Pytechay’s perch and from the ghost ship. The village became more nervous while the ship’s crew eagerly anticipated the news the sloop would bring.
It was a blustery day and the sloop was throwing spray and needing to tack several times to reach the Half Moon.
When the sloop was within shouting distance of the Half Moon, one of the crew members in the sloop screamed they had been attacked and that Colman was dead.
The sloop tied up and the Half Moon crew saw Colman laid out on the floorboard, an arrow still sticking out of his neck. Two other crew members were also clearly wounded, but managed to climb aboard with only a little assistance from the crew. Other crew members jumped into the sloop and carefully lifted Colman’s body aboard the Half Moon. Besides some mumbling along the lines of “Fucking Indians” and “What the fuck happened?” there was little conversation. The sloop crew was exhausted and in shock and said nothing significant until they were offered something to eat and drink and sat down in the stern cabin.
Buitendijk was the most senior crew member and he reported to Hudson:
“Yesterday afternoon we were sailing home. We were about three or four leagues to the west, and the clouds started to come in. There was a good breeze and we figured we’d be back by sunset, hopefully before it started to rain. Two canoes approached us from the beach and we figured they would be friendly.”
“How many in the canoes?” Hudson asked.
“About a dozen each, maybe a few more in the second canoe. They were big canoes, Like the big one Nutimus came in. When the first canoe came into deadly arrow range, they fired a volley of arrows at our boat and hit Colman in the neck. He died almost immediately. Kees and Arie also got hit, but not seriously. We fired the pistols and managed to fire the two blunderbusses right when the rain came in. We did some damage to the first canoe and while some of those savages continued to fire, they could not quite keep up with us when we bore off and I think they were pretty confused by our fire. We reloaded and would have given them some more, but the rain made our match go out. We just kept heading for clear water and the canoes backed off. They returned to the shore, but did not stay together. When the rain really came in, we lost sight of them. When the worst was over it started to become dark. Tom and I tended to Kees and Arie and since poor Colman was already dead, we felt it was safer to stay away from the shore until daylight. We intended to sail in the direction of the Half Moon, but the tide and wind did not help. We anchored for a while, but the anchor did not hold. By the time there was daylight we had to work all the way back from the western end of the bay.”
“Did you see any more canoes?” Juet asked
“Not one” Buitendijk answered.
“Do you think the attackers are from Nutimus’ tribe?” Juet asked Hudson.
“Why would they attack the sloop?” Hudson wondered out loud, “Did we do something wrong? Did you have any problems with natives during your trip in the sloop? Did you threaten them?”
“Nothing of the sort, Sir. Earlier in the day we saw smoke and canoes in the distance, but nobody approached us, and Colman, God bless his poor soul, decided not to approach anyone.”
“Poor Colman, we lost one of our best” Hudson mutttered. All nodded in agreement.
“Can we bury him ashore Captain?” Buitendijk asked.
“I don’t know yet. Depends on the savages.” Hudson paused for a moment, “If we bury him on the peninsula, away from the village, we can call the shore party back if the savages come for us.” he turned to Juet, “Why not send an armed party ashore in the sloop to dig a grave while the sailmaker sews Colman up for burial. We will have a service aboard the ship and then bury Colman ashore. Let’s make sure we keep sharp watches.”
Juet turned to leave and the others took it as a sign to leave too.
Hudson turned to Buitendijk, “Wait, help me update the chart please. If we have to leave suddenly, I’d like to have a plan.”
Buitendijk provided Hudson with an update of the chart of the bay. He confirmed that the passage to the North showed the most promise. Up close it was clear there was another large body of water past those narrows and higher lands like the north country, unlike the swampy shores that are to the south of this foreign coast.
Hudson looked at the peninsula that enclosed the bay and where Colman would be buried, “Let’s call this Colman’s Point.”
There was no activity from shore during the day. The village was very quiet. They buried Coleman on Coleman’s Point in a sandy grave. Colman’s gear was sold to the crew and Hudson ordered the cook to make a special meal in memory of Colman, most of which was supplied by the village only the day before.
They rigged the ship for defense. By nightfall the wind died down and the crew stood tense watches in a quiet night. The next day was clear and calm.
In mid morning a few canoes with Pytechay and mostly women approached the Half Moon. They brought some trade. Some turkeys and deer haunches, berries and oysters. Hudson allowed Pytechay and the women to board the vessel with their trade. While the vessel was fully supplied, Hudson decided to purchase their goods as a gesture of friendship. Hudson tried to explain about Colman and the sloop and even showed the arrows that had struck the crew and sloop, but Pytechay did not appear to understand and provided no further information. There was no wind and Hudson managed to explain to Pytechay that they would leave to sail up the narrows once the wind was favorable. Pytechay managed to explain that the narrows had strong tides and if they left with a strong outgoing tide, they would have an in going tide at the narrows.
The trade and Pytechay’s helpful demeanor reassured the crew and whether with a false sense of security or not, they slept more easily that night.
The next morning the wind was fair, but they had to wait for the tide. While waiting for the tide two large bay canoes approached the Half Moon from the West. The canoes were not from the village and when they came closer, the sloop crew agreed that one of the canoes almost certainly was one of the canoes that attacked the sloop.
They wanted to come aboard but Hudson waved them away. They hung around for a while and just before the tide started to ebb strongly, they headed for the village and the Half Moon hoisted anchor and sailed for the Narrows.
On the Turtle clan beach Nutimus and Pytechay watched the Half Moon leave, while the Osprey clan canoes were approaching.
Pytechay chuckled, “The Ospreys must be quite confused. Their kids must have told them about Orechton’s attack on the small ghost canoe. They came to check out what we know and then see a large ghost canoe anchored near our beach. They go over and are ignored and now are coming over to figure out what’s going on.”
Nutimus crossed his arms and smiled, “I suppose the truth is strange enough, but if we think quick maybe we can make the story even stranger”
Pytechay stopped smiling, “Let’s please stick to the truth. We don’t know what these strange humans are doing here, but we lost people on both sides because of confusions and stupidity. If Hudson is going up the river that runs both ways, they will be going out again too. No reason to have another misunderstanding. You can’t fix stupidity, but it serves everybody well to minimize confusions.”
He paused for a moment, “It is not going to be easy to compose a good song on this ghost ship visit.”
After a few seconds further silence Nutimus added: “I will need to kill Orechton before you finish your song.”
The Osprey clan canoes were close enough for a friendly wave and a smile from their chief.
Nutimus waved back and also smiled.
ENDNOTES:
This story follows Juet’s log of Hudson’s visit pretty closely. The log can be variously interpreted, but a good case can be made that the Half Moon anchored in Sandy Hook Bay at the mouth of the Shrewsbury River somewhere near what is presently Popamora Beach in Highlands. Under that assumption the events follow the Half Moon experience pretty closely.
Colman was attacked in the sloop, but it is not known which tribe or clan attacked them. Orechton’s involvement in this regard is fictional, but the schedule of events is exactly as described in Juet’s log.
On the day the Half Moon leaves for the Narrows there is some confusing discussion in Juet’s log of native Americans being captured aboard the vessel and this is omitted in this story.
Hudson sailed up the Hudson River almost up to present day Albany and passed back through the Narrows a month later. Juet reported no further clashes with Native Americans and after sailing back through the Narrows on October 4, 1609 he sailed straight for Europe.
There is no Native American record of Hudson’s visit. As will become even more apparent in later stories native women are an integral part of the action. It is interesting to note that women had substantial power in Lenape society. In paying attention to this understanding, the role of women almost naturally comes to the fore as these stories develop. By alternating to the native point of view it also becomes apparent the Lenapes were not socially primitive societies. There was a very fluid political flow and the arrival of the Europeans simply added another variable to what was already a complex society.
Hudson did not return to Holland. Instead, he sailed to Dartmouth England, but he was not received well there, since he had decided to sail for the Dutch. Hudson only sent copies of his logs to Amsterdam and the Dutch also were not pleased for his treasonous behavior. His logs reported a failure to find a northeast or northwest passage, but did report on the rich and extremely abundant flora and fauna of the Hudson watershed. Dutch traders were almost immediately interested in taking a closer look.
Hudson made another voyage to the New World in search of a Northwest passage. In the far North, Juet led a mutiny against his Captain. Hudson, his son, and seven other crew members were abandoned in one of the boats and never heard from again. Juet did not survive the return voyage and may have been assigned the blame by the surviving mutineers, but he was a senior officer and must have assented to the mutiny.
There is a modern funny story about Juet and Hudson. When Hudson sailed up into the Narrows and pointed to the land to his left he said: “ ‘s that an Island?” On his draft chart Juet wrote: “Staten Island”.