Reorus Torkillus, the Swedish minister for the little settlement, did
what he could to keep peace with both the Dutch and the Indians. He was
an earnest, pious man, and his great hope was that he might convert the
savages to Christianity. He regularly held Divine service in the fort.
He also had a plot of ground fenced off to serve as a burying ground
when such might be needed.[7]
The Indians understood but little of the teachings of Torkillus; but
there was one thing that they did understand, and that was that the
Swedes gave them many presents and paid them better for their furs and
skins than the Dutch did. Minuit, indeed, was always careful to find
out what the Dutch were paying them and then to offer a little more. In
this way he secured all the best and choicest of the furs—a cause of
fresh anger to the Dutch.
But with all this friendly feeling between the Swedes and the Indians,
the settlers were obliged to be on their watch with the savages. The
Leni Lenapes, to which the Delaware tribes belonged, were for the most
part a peaceful people; but there often appeared among them Indians
from another tribe, probably Iroquois, whom the settlers called
“Flatheads.”[8] These strange Indians were both cruel and treacherous,
and they made it dangerous for a settler to venture out of sight or
hearing of the settlement. Often they would hide in the woods and fall
upon some lonely wanderer, and kill or stun and then scalp him.
The scalping itself was not always fatal. There is a story of a drunken
soldier who fell asleep across his gun. When he awoke, he had a strange
feeling in his head. At first he thought it was the effect of what he
had drunk, but presently, to his terror, he found he had been scalped.
And there is a story too, of a woman who had gone into the forest
to gather fire-wood. She was struck down, stunned, and scalped by a
Flathead, but she lived many years afterward. Her hair, however, never
grew out again, except as a fine down.
There was another thing about the Indians that, as time went on, made
the settlers more and more anxious. In order to keep them in good
temper, it was necessary to continue to give them presents. At first it
was easy for the colonists to do this, for they had brought with them
from Sweden a large store of things for that very purpose. But as time
went on, their stores dwindled away. They had expected ships from home
to bring them a fresh supply, but no ships came.
Week after week and month after month passed by; the home land seemed
to have forgotten them. Their cloth was all gone, their clothes were
threadbare, and many of their cattle had died. The Indians came to
Christinaham, expecting presents, and went away with angry looks and
empty hands.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account