Navesink; A Historical Novel
1644 Stout is Tough in English and Naughty in Dutch.
It had been a rough voyage. All aboard were more than ready to get to Nieuw Amsterdam. Land had been sighted the day before and the Captain had told his crew and passengers he was almost certain it was one of the islands that lay south of the English colonies to the north of Nieuw Amsterdam, all they needed do was continue to sail west by southwest to stay clear of het Lange Eiland and then into the Raritan Bay. Probably by morning they would see Renselier’s pier.
While all the passengers were eager to end the voyage, none wished more to get to Nieuw Amsterdam quicker than Penelope van Princes. Penelope had married Wouter van Princes on New Year’s day in Dordrecht. Wouter was a 30-year-old trader who recently went into partnership with an older trader, and they decided that Wouter would open an agency in Nieuw Amsterdam. His partner had convinced him that it would be best for him to marry and bring a wife to the new world. Through a Baptist minister he had been introduced to Penelope, an English orphan who had been raised under the Minister’s care. Penelope was a quiet but determined young woman who had shown an immediate interest in marrying Wouter and starting a married life in Nieuw Holland.
In the spring their goods had been loaded aboard the Duifken and, together with forty other traders and settlers and a crew of thirty-five, they had left Dordrecht, sailed down the Rijn and entered the Noord Zee.
Only a few days into the voyage Wouter complained of stomach cramps. At first both he and Penelope made light of it, but a few days later he started to throw up and could no longer keep his food down. Bloodletting did not help and the various medicines that were offered by the captain and fellow passengers also did not improve his condition. Wouter kept getting weaker and weaker and by the time they first sighted the new world, he could no longer stand on his own.
There was a steady stern breeze, but there was no moonlight. Penelope went to their corner of the tween deck and when she told Wouter that they would probably make land the next day, he managed to smile and weakly told her he was sure we would get better once they arrived in Nieuw Amsterdam. In their short marriage Penelope had learned to love Wouter and she fiercely hoped it would be so, but was not convinced.
Just before sunrise the bottom came up, then surf was heard and with first light the captain realized he was south of the tip of Zand Hoek. He tried to beat towards the entrance of the Bay, but they could not stand the tip. Unable to wear or tack to escape to the south, he attempted to anchor offshore, but the anchor would not hold and they were pushed up on the beach.
The surf was not terribly high, initially the captain hoped that a change in wind would allow them to kedge the vessel off, but the wind stayed steady from the East.
The vessel developed a list while aground so that as the tide fell, the passengers and crew could walk ashore. There was no panic, their valuables and personal items lifted ashore for safekeeping. While this was taking place, the survivors heard a sound that could only be a cannon and another cannon shot a few seconds later. The cannon fire seemed only a few miles away on the other side of the Hoek, to the North. This led to a brief pause in the work and some speculation as to what it meant, but since there was no ready explanation, everybody refocused on the transfer of goods onto the beach.
Wouter van Princes was lifted ashore in a litter made from oars and canvas and with the rising sun a sail was rigged to provide him with some shade in the warming day. Wouter was no better ashore and barely seemed alive.
It was a beach very much like the wide sandy beaches in the Netherlands, but the dunes were lower and behind them there was a forest of cedars and hollies. Birds were everywhere and while everybody was worried about their possessions aboard Duifken, it was becoming a lovely late spring day. The cook had already started a fire and was making coffee. In some ways this shipwreck looked more like a beach picnic.
The captain was just starting a plan to launch one of the boats to sail to Nieuw Amsterdam to ask for help when two men came running across the low dunes onto the beach. They were carrying muskets and had swords strapped to their side. When the Captain waved to them, the two men naturally assumed he was in charge and ran up to him, struggling in the loose sand. The tall young men were both blond and while not all Dutchmen were blond, their clothes and armaments were Dutch, and they addressed the Captain in that language.
“Are you the Kapitein?” the older of the two asked, catching his breath.
“Yes, I am Kapitein van Gelder van de Duifken”, pointing to the beached vessel behind him, “Where are you coming from so quickly? I was just …”
“My name is Geert and that is Hendrik, but we need to hurry!”
“Hurry?”
“Yes, there is a war with the Indians and you are not safe here. We are on guard on a jacht on the other side of Zand Hoek and saw you went aground. Indian war parties will also know what happened and will almost certainly come down the Hoek to attack you. You need to come with us right away. Do you have weapons?”
“Weapons? Yes, we have some swords and muskets aboard.”
“Get them right away and hand them out.”
The captain turned to his mate and ordered him to take action right away. Everyone had heard the exchange and already sped up their work even before the mate actually addressed them.
“Are there any good defensive positions around here, and can you help us get to Nieuw Amsterdam?” Captain van Gelder questioned them.
“There are no really good defensive positions here. But if we move to the bayside as quickly as possible, we will be in a better position to get everybody on boats to the fort and we can make a stand on the beach. We are only about a mile away and there is a path. We need to go as soon as everybody is armed. The Indians will almost certainly approach along the surf line where they can run fastest and will come from the South. Let one of your fastest runners take a musket and run south to that bend in the beach to stand guard and warn us if they come.”
The Captain scanned the men on the beach and saw one man already loading his musket. He pointed south “Gijs, go and fire the gun if you see anything. Go! Go!”
Gijs ran south along the tideline and barely was at the bend of the beach less than a mile away and still visible when he fired his gun and started running back to the survivors.
Geert turned to the Captain “Let’s go, we need to get to the other side of the Hoek so we can get to the boats. Hopefully our gun signal this morning was heard and help is already on the way.”
Captain van Gelder scanned his crew and passengers, ordering members of his crew, “You and you grab the litter with van Princes. Women and kids go now and follow Hendrik. Men with weapons, you will function as the defensive rear guard.” He turned to Geert, “Is our flank safe? Will they also approach from inland?”
Geert was watching Gijs, apparently running for his life. “No, I don’t think so. Based on how hard Gijs is running he is being chased, so they must be the lead party. I doubt that there is another party ahead or inland from us. I don’t think they expected us to be able to warn you and they expected to surprise you on the beach. I am sorry Kapitein, but I think your ship and cargo are lost.”
“Let’s just hope there is no loss of life.” He waved his men on, “Let’s go. Don’t go faster than the women and children. Help stragglers.”
As they left the beach through a narrow dune section, they saw a band of about fifty Indians come around the bend. Gijs was outpacing them, only a few hundred yards behind the rear guard when the Dutch group entered the forest. There was a narrow but clear wild life path with low shrubs growing along the edge.
Geert stopped along the entrance of the path: “Go! Go! But don’t touch the bushes along the edge, they are poisonous.”
It took time to get everybody in a single file along the path, Gijs following with the Captain and Geert after the last crew member had entered the woods. The Indians were now a half a mile away. Geert and the Captain ran to caught up quickly, because the whole line was not moving at running speed, which meant the Indians would catch them soon.
The Captain was not a young man and between gasping breaths asked Geert: “Will we make it?”
Geert looked over this shoulder, but he could only see a short distance back along the crooked path; none of the Indians had appeared yet. “I don’t know, it will be close, but the path will open soon and then we will have about ½ mile of beach to get to the boats. The guns aboard the jacht may slow them down when they enter the beach.”
Penelope van Princes was running behind the litter carrying her husband. The litter was carried by two strong men, but they could not run as fast as the others and were being passed, first by other women and children and then even some of the armed crew.
When the path opened, they could see the jacht and two smaller boats beached about a half mile to the north. Two other vessels were also approaching under sail down the bay.
The men running with the litter struggled in the loose sand and were faced with a decision as to whether they would beeline to the boats or hook left to the tide line where the running would be easier, but the distance longer. They decided to stay in the loose sand and soon were caught up by the rear guard. The front litter man stumbled so that litter, carriers and Meneer van Princes fell down into the loose sand.
The oars and canvas separated; as Penelope and the litter carriers were rerigging the litter and trying to get van Princes back on top of it, the Indians emerged from the forest. The Captain and Geert came to help, but they knew they were out of time.
Geert grabbed Penelope, “We have to go!” and started pulling her towards the boats. The others also gave up trying to get van Princes on the litter and started running to the boats. Penelope took two steps while Geert was tugging her, pulling free to run back to her husband. For an instant Geert paused, “You have to come with us, we cannot save your husband!”
But Penelope did not listen, standing over her husband facing the Indians, now about 400 yards away.
Geert gave up and followed the captain and the litter carriers to the boats, where most of the crew and passengers now turned to set up a defensive line.
One of the boats was already loaded with women and children and heading for the yacht anchored less than 50 yards from the beach, which had two guns run out.
When Geert reached the remaining boat, he turned about to see the Indians had reached Penelope, who was standing facing them with hands raised. The first Indian to reach her slashed at her with a spear which she tried to avoid by twisting her torso, then another Indian struck her on the head with a club and she fell down. Her husband was speared by a number of Indians as they ran, but none of the Indians stopped, continuing to advance on the ship’s crew.
They were now only two hundred yards apart. The Indians had a few muskets and were reaching for their bows, shouting and gesturing fiercely. The men at the boat were aiming the muskets they had among them, and brandishing swords and a few boarding pikes.
Then the two cannons on the yacht fired. At least one of the shots of grape was true and a few Indians fell. They paused, then started to withdraw, taking their wounded comrades with them.
They moved back to the forest line near the path where they were out of range of the jacht cannon, waited and watched for a minute before disappearing from view back up the path.
The Captain turned to Geert, “Should we recover the bodies of Meneer and Mevrouw van Princes?”
Geert shook his head, “There is nothing we can do for them and it may be an ambush. We should get out of here as soon as possible.”
Penelope was completely disoriented. She had sand in her mouth, her head throbbing and her vision blurred. There was a searing pain in her stomach. She felt and knew she was feeling blood, the Indian with the spear. Was she going to die?
Slowly her vision regained focus, but her head continued to hurt. It was nearing sunset. Her husband was lying next to the litter, the sand around him caked with blood, so much blood. She had no doubt Wouter was dead. A few seagulls were scurrying around his body. She started to crawl towards him before discovering the pain in her stomach was unbearable. She sat up and looked at her stomach, her clothing bloodied. She pulled her shirt back and realized it was sliced just above her waistband, beneath a cut along her upper stomach. It was about 6 inches long and in the middle some of her intestines bulged out. She wiped her bloody, sandy hand on her skirt and tried to push the intestine back. It went in, but when she let go of it, it popped out again. She pushed it in again and managed to keep it in by squeezing the wound’s edges together. It hurt, or rather burned terribly. She bit her lip, and spent some time refocusing. “God it hurts, but that is just pain,” she told herself, “I am alive. What now?”
Holding her wound, she managed to stand. Strangely the wound was not bleeding heavily. Besides her husband’s body, there was nothing else on the beach. Even the seagulls had flown away. There was nothing on the water either.
Seeing the path she wondered whether she should go back to the wreck? No, the Indians were probably looting that. How long had she been unconscious? Did her shipmates make it off the beach? Maybe they would come back for her? Nothing made sense. What about dangerous animals? She remembered, what was his name? Geert! He said don’t touch the shrubs since they were poisonous. She was thirsty. Is there water here?” It almost made her smile. “There is water here; salt water. Fresh water? Maybe there is a lake or pond on this hoek?”
Between her and the path there were high evergreen trees. The ground itself looked higher too. Maybe she could see more from there. She took a step towards the trees, finding she could walk. Every step hurt, but there was nothing else to do. Reaching the edge of the beach she had to climb up a berm. Unable to step up, she found she could work herself up the berm on her butt. There were no shrubs here and the ground cover was sparce, with branches from the trees almost six feet above the ground. Standing again she found the trees were quite large and one of those closest to the beach had a hollowed trunk. The hollow would make a good shelter and provided a clear view of the Bay in the direction of Nieuw Amsterdam. If any ships came by, perhaps she could get their attention.
Looking around more she noticed on the inland side of the tree a glimmer that could just be a pond.
She staggered in the direction of the glimmer which did turn out to be a pond. There was a wildlife track to the water, now all she had to do was get down and drink. That really hurt, but the water was sweet. She tore off a section of her shirt, rinsed it in the water and used it to clean the wound. The water made it bleed again. Should she not have done that or was it the right thing to do? She rested next to the water for a while, but then it started to get dark.
With night falling there was nothing to do but rest and heal, and the hollow tree would be best for that. Staggering back to the tree and crawled inside. Once she rested her back against the inside of the trunk and pulled her legs up, she was not terribly uncomfortable, but then she had to pee. She was not going to get up for that and just let it go without even shifting her skirt.
While there was a beautiful sunset over the bay, Penelope did not notice. She was keeping her eyes closed, while holding her wound with her hands. And then she fell asleep.
When the sun came up the next day Navoo nudged his son, Jahkursoe.
The day before they had sailed into the Bay to hunt on the peninsula, passing their old village beach. Now long abandoned, Navoo tried to recreate the village in his mind.
It was all so promising when they had joined Meneer Block for the trip on the Onrust so many years ago. Navoo and Pahki had met so many people on the trip, trade had been good and Jahkursoe was a natural water baby. Midway through the trip they met another ship named the Fortuyn. Meneer Block decided to return to Holland on the Fortuyn and Meneer Block’s partner Meneer Hendrickson who had been aboard the Fortuyn had taken over command of Onrust. When they returned to the Navesink, Navoo and Pahki knew more about sailing and the tribes along the coast of the long island and south of the bay into the ocean than anyone else along the Navesink. The canons were never claimed by the Dutch and years later they were placed on Pytechay’s Perch to resemble the kind of fort that the Dutch had built in Manahatta even though they could not be fired.
The clan had made plans for more trade with the Dutch. While Navoo had moved to Pahki’s village, Nutimus and Quippa included them in all trade decisions and Navoo continued to study with Pytechay. For a few years Quippa became a trusted native trader for the Dutch and provided much supply to ships returning to Holland. Other tribes might have been able to sell more pelts, but the Navesink supplied corn, other food, water and fire wood to ships returning to Holland.
The Dutch knew that the Navesinks could supply provisions at fair prices and the Navesinks were happy to increase their food production to meet the demand and to trade for steel and pots and even a few guns.
Then one day suddenly Quippa, Pytechai and Nutimus, and pretty much the entire village, got sick, most dying. Then the sickness spread to Pahki’s village. She died as did most of the villagers. Both Navoo and Jahkursoe were sick with the disease but survived. Navoo’s body carried the marks of the disease, his skin covered with scars of the sores that formed on his body during the disease. Jahkursoe also got those sores, but his younger skin had recovered better so he had grown into a good looking and strong young man. To the women Jahkursoe was as attractive as Pahki had been to the men. Even some men were romantically interested in Jahkursoe.
However, once again, Navoo became somewhat of an outcast. The Navesinks knew that this disease came from the white men, and Navoo was the closest remaining connection to them. Navoo did not make an effort to defend himself, losing interest in close contact with either the Dutchmen or the members of his tribe and made no effort to re-ingratiate himself with either. With his son he drifted from one village to another, mostly staying at villages that were struck by the disease where he helped in any way he could; constructing shelters, building canoes with his steel tools, nursing the sick, and hunting and foraging for food. When asked he would sing the songs, but he had no students except his son, who while very much interested in learning his father’s manual skills, had little interest in singing.
So many years ago, Navoo had wondered if he were Dutch or Lenape; now he knew he could be neither. His dreams of leadership had passed. Jahkursoe, with the passion of youth, felt his father was unfairly treated, and refused to associate himself with any clan if his father was not truly welcome. Jahkursoe was in awe of his father and strongly felt he should be leading the tribes, but when he raised the subject, his father never responded.
Over time, the number of outbreaks of the disease went down, but the Navesink had changed. There were far fewer people living along the river, and the surviving clans, villages and families consolidated into new communities. Nobody went hungry, but nothing felt the way it was.
After the outbreaks settled down, Navoo decided to build his own sailboat. Gathering his steel tools, together with Jahkursoe he felled a large canoe tree log in the highlands.
Instead of using the whole length of the trunk, he worked only the best section of it, shaping it in the lower half of a 20-foot boat. The lower half had a sharp bow and stern and a flat bottom, I was only a few feet wide, but then Navoo started fitting planks onto the lower half that spread outward and resulted in a boat that was almost 7 feet wide at the rails. Once launched, above the water it looked very much like Meneer Hendrikson’s sloop, the first white man’s boat to sail up the Navesink, but it was an entirely different boat. When lightly loaded, its skinny lower hull made it much easier to row than the sloop, yet it could carry a great deal of cargo once the wider sides were submerged. When loaded, it sailed quite well, and could sail to windward as well as any of the Dutch vessels and did not need leeboards.
Navoo had learned to read and knew how to write a little and so carved Pahki’s name on either side of the bow. His boat Pahki became a fixture on the Navesink and in the Bay. She ferried Lenapes and occasionally would carry some trade to Manahatta.
More Dutchmen arrived there each year, and while an occasional ship still would come by looking for trade, the Navesink actually saw very little of that increased activity. The trading activity was focused on Manahatta. Less than 20 years ago the Dutch had purchased Manahatta and established a trading post, so the tip of Manahatta was covered with what the Dutch called huisen in a town they called Nieuw Amsterdam. Their homes had angled roofs and their fire smoke went up schoorstenen. He did not know any of the Dutchmen there anymore. Jan Rodriguez had died and Block, Hendrickson and Janszoon never returned to this part of the world. But when he visited Manahatta many people knew him and his sloop by reputation, and he was generally cordially received. Other traders told him that Block and Hendrikson lived well in Holland for many years, and Navoo wondered if they ever thought of him and Pahki.
The last time he was in Manahatta, a few years ago, the Dutchmen he spoke with expressed concern about their leader, a man named Kieft. Neither the Dutch nor the local tribal members he spoke with liked him. From their descriptions he seemed like an older and more powerful version of Orechton, the foolish ringleader of his youth.
Soon thereafter Kieft’s actions had led to warfare between the Dutch and the Lenape, and even the Navesinks had gotten involved. Navoo refused to take sides and managed to convince Jahkursoe that warfare had no winners. Navoo’s position between the two cultures gave him a relatively high level of freedom of movement and occasionally he was asked to deliver messages between parties or even to exchange prisoners.
Last year when he and Jahkursoe were asked to take some pelts to Nieuw Amsterdam, before entering the narrows he saw some activity on the shore to the east. The Lenapes who lived there had been especially hard hit with disease and the few survivors had moved to the west of the Hudson River over 10 years ago.
The vessels were of the European type, the size of the Onrust. The wind was fair so they could stand for these vessels nicely. Instead of struggling through the Narrows, Navoo directed Jahkursoe to set course for them. When they approached the closest vessel, Navoo recognized the Captain even though he did not remember his name. Navoo waved to him before coming alongside and the Captain recognized him too.
“Hallo Navoo, Jahkursoe, how are you?”
“We are well Kapitein. Why are you here? Is this peaceful or part of the war?”
“Entirely peaceful, we are delivering some settlers here who will farm the land.”
“Why here?”
“They are not Dutch and I think Kieft wants them neither too close nor too far away. The land is pretty good here and your people have pretty much abandoned the land.”
“If they are not Dutch what are they?”
“They are English.”
“Kieft allows English to settle here?” Navoo had become aware of some animosity between those European peoples.
Captain Janszoon shrugged, “These are not regular English, their religion is hated by the English up North and that seems to fit the bill for Kieft. You should meet their leader. She is a remarkable woman; her name is Lady Moody.”
“This group of people is led by a woman? I thought that the white men do not allow women to be leaders?”
“Well, sometimes we have female queens, and this woman is sort of a queen.”
At the captain’s direction ship’s crew took a line from Navoo and tied Pahki to his vessel. “Join me aboard, and give me an update about your side of the Bay. Do you have trade?”
“I do, I have some pelts I intended to sell in Nieuw Amsterdam”
“Can I see them? I would not mind buying them and taking them into Nieuw Amsterdam. It will save you the rest of the trip and I am not sure it is safe for you to go to Nieuw Amsterdam right now. Kieft is crazy and will have you arrested if he thinks you are spying”
“I’ll show you.”
Jahkursoe lowered the sail, and he with Navoo climbed aboard with the pelts where Captain Janszoon offered them coffee. He was impressed with the pelts and offered to pay for them in silver since he had little in trade that Navoo was interested in.
They haggled a little over the price, but Navoo felt even the original offer was fair and a price was quickly agreed upon.
They chatted a little about the war, but neither had much news for each other. The captain offered them some more coffee, but Navoo indicated he wanted to sail back while the weather was fair.
“I am afraid you will have to wait a few minutes” as Janszoon pointed to an approaching barge. ”My payment is coming on this barge and when I get paid I can pay you.”
They watched the barge approach. It was rowed by two men, a woman sat in the stern. They pulled up on the opposite side of where Pahki was tied up and all three climbed aboard. When Navoo first saw the woman climb aboard he immediately thought of Quippa. How can a white woman and a Lenape woman be so much alike? They did not look alike but they were sister spirits. She was not young, but attractive by any standard and her body language spoke with the same authority as Quippa. This woman must be the queen.
Navoo stood up and Jahkursoe followed his lead. Navoo greeted her in the Dutch way by simply stating his name and extending his hand: “Navoo.”
The woman looked as him quizzically for a moment and then took his hand. After a second’s pause, she also answered him in the Dutch style: “Moody, Deborah Moody”
She also extended her hand to Jahkursoe, who took her hand and said; “Jahkursoe”
The Captain then spoke to her in a language that was not Dutch, but it was clear he was explaining who Navoo was. Based on the length of the conversation, he was providing a fair amount of background. Lady Moody watched Navoo while the Captain was speaking and he could see she started to regard him with greater care.
Lady Moody then motioned to the two men, who had also been listening. They were both relatively young and dressed very informally in shirts and trousers without shoes. They then introduced themselves. The first was Richard Stout, a short man with red hair and a beard. His hair was neat and he had clear blue eyes that were both kind and clever. The second man introduced himself as James Grover, being of average height with long, limp brown hair and brown eyes. Navoo shook hands with both men, followed by Jahkursoe. Navoo liked Stout’s handshake, but Grover shook his hand tentatively and he did not like how Grover’s brown eyes failed to really see him. Grover barely bothered to touch Jahkursoe’s hand and Navoo could sense Jahkursoe’s offense.
Lady Moody said something to the two men and they joined a few crew members moving cargo staged on the ship’s deck to the barge.
Lady Moody then spoke to the Captain in English. The Captain turned to Navoo: “Lady Moody is establishing a farming community on the shore here. She came from the English settlements to the North to find peace here. She is very sad that there is no peace here, but wants you to know that her people will not be involved in the fighting that is taking place and hopes you will visit her in the future.”
Navoo nodded to Lady Moody, “Please tell Lady Moody that I only value peace and friendship and that I extend my best wishes. I hope that we will meet as friends in the future and I shall make an effort to visit.”
The Captain translated and Lady Moody smiled at Navoo and nodded her head.
Lady Moody then took out a pouch and provided the Captain payment in silver for his transport. The Captain handed most of the silver to Navoo, who took a piece of cloth out of his satchel, wrapped the silver in it, and returned it to his satchel.
“Father …… Father!”
Navoo abandoned his thoughts of Lady Moody and returned to the present.
“Father, shall I beach the boat ahead or should we sail further up the peninsula?”
“Why not beach her here, it will give us a chance to look for tracks before it gets dark. If we find nothing we can always sail further up tomorrow to try our luck near the pond. Besides, it appears there are Dutch boats near the tip. Best to stay away.”
That is when they heard the gunshots.
“I am not sure what’s going on, but maybe it will scare the deer into our direction.”
Through the day they heard more gunshots. Towards late afternoon the shooting increased before the vessels sailed towards Nieuw Amsterdam.
Meanwhile, they did not find any evidence of deer on their part of the hoek and went to sleep on Pahki anchored in the stream, while a few miles further north Penelope was asleep in her hollow tree.
The next morning shortly after daybreak the breeze filled in. Navoo raised the sail and hauled anchor, while Jahkursoe took his time waking up.
When the sail filled and the boat started to move, Jahkursoe handed Navoo a bottle of water and some dried meat. They had to beat into the Bay to the west first. When they could stand the tip of the peninsula, Navoo tacked Pahki and they steadily approached the beach.
At first glance there was nothing to see that indicated anything unusual had happened the day before, but then they saw a dark shape surrounded by scavenging birds.
“That dead seal is strangely high on the beach,” Jahkursoe commented.
“Yes, strange. Are you sure it is a seal? Is it a body?”
“I think you’re right, Father, it is.”
There was no other activity on the shore so they beached the boat. They grabbed their bows and spears and cautiously approached the body. As they approached the tracks on the beach clearly showed a large number of people had come by, and returned to a path that was to their left. At 50 feet the scavengers flew away and it was clear what they had found was a body of a Dutchman. The body had already been torn apart, clothes ripped off, the eyes pecked out and the guts torn open. Next to the body there were two oars and what appeared to have been a litter. A little closer to the trail there was another smaller blood stain in the sand and an imprint showing another person had been injured and fallen there.
The top most tracks next to the bloodstain led to the tree line. Jahkursoe and Navoo studied them for a minute.
Jahkursoe spoke first, “A single person stumbling unsteadily, we know he was hurt. Had to be Dutch, a Lenape would not have abandoned one of their own.”
Jahkursoe started to follow the track, but Navoo stopped him by his arm. “Wait, he may still be alive and armed. I’d hate to approach him and get shot.”
Jahkursoe shook his head. “The tracks do not show a fight here. The fight was further down the beach. See how the tracks reverse? Lenape passed here, took a stand down the beach and returned. They did not even run on the way back. They would have taken his weapons. They must have thought him dead. Apparently he was not, so I will take care of that now.” Jahkursoe quickly followed the trail.
“Why kill?” Navoo asked while trying to keep up.
“Because the Dutch that fight my people should die.”
“Will you kill an unarmed injured human?”
“I used to think they are human, but I am no longer sure.”
“Son, there are bad Lenape and there are bad Dutchmen. I hope you will fight and even kill both, but we barely know what happened here. I am confused, why were these Dutchmen coming from the ocean side of the peninsula?”
“These Dutchmen were fighting the Lenape defending themselves.”
“Maybe, let’s see what we can learn, but let’s be careful. Spread out a little.”
They climbed the small rise into the treeline and it took only a few seconds to notice a leg sticking out of a hollow tree, finding a woman sitting in the hollow.
Her eyes were closed and there was blood all over her front. She was holding a cut in her stomach with her hand. Navoo touched her shoulder and she stirred a little and opened her eyes. It took a minute for her to focus and then she made a groaning sound that seemed to indicate pain and fear at the same time.
Navoo glanced at Jahkursoe. Jahkursoe shrugged his shoulders.
“She is alive so you can kill her if you want,” Navoo challenged.
“You know I wouldn’t.”
“I know. Let ‘s get her out of here.”
Navo spoke to the women in Dutch, “We will help you. Can you speak?”
Penlope was beyond caring, live or die at least it would not be alone. Her mouth was very dry, but she managed to croak out a few words, “I can, thank you”
Jahkursoe walked back to the litter and took it to the tree. They reassembled it and carefully moved Penelope onto it and started to carry her to the boat. When they passed the remains of her husband she spoke out. “Can you please bury my husband?”
“Your husband?” Navoo and Jahkursoe both asked at the same time.
“Let’s get you to the boat first to see what we can do for you and then we will bury him.”
They lifted Penelope onto the boat and managed to make her comfortable. She was a mess; skirts soaked with urine and blood, a smaller cut and severe bruising on her scalp and she still held shut the cut in her stomach. They gave her some water to drink from one of the bottles of water that were aboard.
Navoo gently moved her hand from the cut in her stomach, and the wound started to gape with her guts bulging out. “What is your name young lady?”
“Penelope van Princes.”
“Well, Penelope, I am Navoo and this is my son Jahkursoe. As near as I can see you have a bad wound in your stomach. It looks like the muscles are cut, but luckily your internals appear to be intact. The cut on your head is not serious and I suspect your head hurts from the hit on your head. Are you hurting anywhere else?”
“No but I peed myself.”
“Don’t worry about that. I can sew up your wound. It will hurt, can you handle that?”
Penelope nodded.
Navoo, the man in the middle of two cultures with both Lenape and Dutch tools, took out the smallest of his precious needles and some thread and cleaned the wound with water. It started to bleed again so Jahkursoe kept rinsing the wound while Navoo carefully pulled the edges back together with the needle and thread. Penelope groaned occasionally but did not move. When the sewing was done, the wound no longer bled seriously and Penelope visibly relaxed.
“How is the pain?”
“My head hurts terribly.”
“I have birch bark, chewing it helps. Do you wish to try?”
“Please,” though Penelope had no idea what birch bark was.
Navoo gave her some pieces of dried birch bark and more water, “Just chew, we are going to take your clothes off, clean you up and cover you with a robe. Then Jahkursoe and I shall go back ashore, clean your clothes, get more water from the pond, cook you a little broth, bury your husband, and take you to my cabin. Do you need to relieve yourself?”
“No, I am fine.”
Soon Penelope was resting as comfortably as she could under a robe, and Navoo and Jakhursoe went ashore to do as they’d pledged.
A few hours later Pahki was heading up the north branch of the Navesink.
The broth and bark helped Penelope feel better, allowing her the chance to examine her surroundings. “Are we going to Nieuw Amsterdam?
“No we are not. My people and the Dutch are at war so it is not safe for us to travel to Nieuw Amsterdam. We are on the way to my cabin. We will let you recover and then maybe we can figure out how to get you to Nieuw Amsterdam.”
“Why did you save me? We were attacked by Indians.” Penelope more closely examined Navoo and Jahkursoe: they both wore western coats, but heavily decorated with beads and feathers. They wore sailor’s pants and Dutch style hats, but wore braids very unlike the Dutch. And then this boat. She had seen pictures of Indian canoes, but this was not a canoe. They had rowed the boat for a bit and now were sailing again. “Are you Indians?”
“We are Lenape, the original people here. Jahkursoe and I are not at war with anybody. As humans we wanted to help you. But how did you end up wounded on the beach?”
Penelope told her story.
Navoo nodded, “So you expected to come to a peaceful country and were hardly ashore before being drawn into a war. Well, it all makes more sense now. In this corner of the Bay we are generally left alone, but a wreck on the beach much have much excited the locals. I suppose if we try, we can find where the spoils are being divided. Was there much of value aboard? I just hope the Dutch do not come back for revenge.”
“I don’t know the details of everything that was aboard, but my husband carried a lot of trade. Tools, cloth, some furniture, and also our personal belongings.”
“I can try, but I doubt we will be able to get any of it back for you.” Navoo paused for a moment as he studied Penelope. “Are you really Dutch? Your speech sounds a little different and it is harder for me to understand you than most Dutchmen.”
“I am not, I am English and went to Holland about 8 years ago. My original language is English.”
“I know an English lady. When you get better, I will take you to her, unless you choose to stay with us.”
Penelope soon realized that in many ways she was more comfortable today than she had been since she left Holland. She closed her eyes and let the boat lull her to sleep.
ENDNOTES:
By 1644, The Dutch presence in Nieuw Netherlands was well established and there were substantial settlements on Manhattan and further up the Hudson. Nieuw Amsterdam was formally established in 1624 when Peter Minuet purchased Manhattan from the local Lenape. The Dutch very much discouraged settlement south of Staten Island, since they did not think they could effectively defend those settlements against either native Americans or the English, but there was trade to all clans in the area. The Navesink area was not very actively visited by the Dutch, but it was well known. The South Raritan Bay shore did become a ship supply point for food, fire wood and lumber for the backhaul to the Netherlands.
Nieuw Amsterdam became a trade hub, especially with the Dutch Caribbean sugar producing islands which needed food for their slaves. This compelled the Nieuw Netherlanders to start to produce foods, particularly grains.
Penelope van Princes is a historic character. She plays a central role in later chapters. Her arrival in the new world is shrouded in myth. It appears she shipwrecked on Sandy Hook and was injured in a Lenape attack while her husband who had been sick died in the attack. She survived and another Lenape nursed her back to health. Myth tells us it was a Lenape named Navoo. Penelope’s story is the most likely composite of the many contradicting records of her life, with many details that have no specific historical basis.
The date of her shipwreck is not clearly recorded, but if the Lenape were hostile, it would have been during Kieft’s war (1643-1645), which occurred due to Kieft’s mismanagement of native American affairs during his remarkably inept Director Generalship starting in 1637. Most of the fighting occurred north of the Raritan Bay, but it can be expected the Navesinks also participated whenever there were Dutch in the area.
Lady Deborah Moody is a historic character. She was the leader of an Anabaptist sect that emigrated to the New World. She was ejected from the northern British colonies for religious reasons and allowed to settle along the south shore of Long Island within Raritan Bay a few miles west of the Narrows by Kieft. The settlement was named Gravesend. Kieft probably allowed her to settle there to increase farm production, something of little interest to the Dutch, but which was more interesting to religious communities.
Here we also meet historic characters James Grover and Richard Stout. Richard Stout was a discharged British Navy sailor who joined Lady Moody in Nieuw Amsterdam. James Grover might have arrived in the New World as an indentured servant and ended up in Gravesend with Lady Moody, where it was unclear if he was still indentured.
The village of Gravesend was eventually absorbed into Brooklyn, but the original village layout still interrupts the modern rectangular Brooklyn street grid.