Produced by Richard J. Shiffer and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to correct an obvious error is noted at the end of this ebook.] COCKENOE-DE-LONG ISLAND Edition Limited To 215 Copies. _No. 169._ [Illustration: INDIAN GRAVES ON FORT HILL, MONTAUK] JOHN ELIOT'S FIRST INDIAN TEACHER AND INTERPRETER COCKENOE-DE-LONG ISLAND AND _The Story of His Career from the Early Records_ BY WILLIAM WALLACE TOOKER _Member of the Long Island Historical Society, Anthropological Society of Washington, etc., etc._ + "He was the first that I made use of to teach me words and to be my interpreter."--_Eliot's Letter_, 2, 12, 1648. + LONDON: HENRY STEVENS' SON AND STILES. 1896 RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE SUFFOLK COUNTY (N. Y.) HISTORICAL SOCIETY BY YOUR FELLOW MEMBER WILLIAM WALLACE TOOKER. INTRODUCTION. _This little work is a brief resume of the career of an Indian of Long Island, who, from his exceptional knowledge of the English language, his traits of character, and strong personality, was recognized as a valuable coadjutor and interpreter by many of our first English settlers. These personal attributes were also known and appreciated by the inhabitants of some parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts, by the Commissioners of the United Colonies of New England, and by the Governor of the Colony of New York, all of whom found occasion for his services in their transactions with the Indians. The facts which I shall present in their chronological order, and the strong circumstantial evidence adduced therefrom, will indicate the reasons why I have unraveled the threads of this Indian's life from the weft of the past, and why the recital of his career should be the theme of a special essay, and worthy of a distinctive chapter in the aboriginal, as well as in the Colonial, history of Long Island._ WILLIAM WALLACE TOOKER. SAG HARBOR, L. I., _March, 1896_. [Illustration] COCKENOE-DE-LONG ISLAND.