Printz also prepared a long report, dated February 20, 1647, to the New Sweden Company concerning the condition of the colony at this time. The population was still very small, only 183 souls in all. The freemen had improved their conditions since 1643, but the soldiers and servants were dissatisfied and desired to go home. Twenty-eight freemen were settled on farms or plantations, but we do not know the extent of their fields nor the number of cattle, sheep and other domestic animals they had. Sixteen oxen, one cow and a horse had been purchased at New Amsterdam for the company, but two of the oxen had either died or been sold to freemen, for in February the company owned only fourteen of these animals. The cattle imported from Sweden by the company had increased to ten. As to the swine, goats and sheep belonging to the company we know nothing, but it is probable that there was a good supply of them at this time. The horse purchased from the Dutch fared well, and was used for work on the land and by Printz in going about the settlements. In the previous autumn he ran away, but he was caught by an Indian, who was richly rewarded for his trouble. Ever since the arrival of Hudde the relations between the Dutch and Swedes had been strained. Hudde bought land from the Indians, which had been purchased by the Swedes, and traded with the savages without any consideration for Printz. In the autumn of 1646 the Dutch attempted to make settlements north of present Philadelphia. A letter instructing Hudde to buy this land was received, while the owner was absent hunting; but Hudde, who would not risk being anticipated by Printz, took possession of the lands two weeks before the purchase was made. When the owner returned from his hunt on September 12, deeds were drawn up and signed. “Having concluded the purchase, the proprietor went with Hudde in person, and the honorable company’s arms being fixed to a pole was set in the ground on the extreme boundary.” The purchase included Wicacoa (Philadelphia), and stretched northward along the river for some miles. The Dutch freemen soon erected a dwelling and a blockhouse on the land; but when Printz became aware of it he built a guard house in the neighborhood of the Dutch, and sent “his quartermaster and other Swedes to tear down and destroy the Dutch buildings.”