Document: Journal of New Netherland 1647. Written in the Years 1641, 1642, 1643, 1644, 1645, and 1646. Image 011

as the others. Each of these was in appearance not less than a hundred families strong, exclusive of the colony of Rensselaers Wyck which is prospering, with that of Myndert Meyndertsz(2) and Cornelis Melyn,(3) who began first, also the village New Amsterdam around the fort, a hundred families, so that there was appearance of producing supplies in a year for fourteen thousand souls, without straining the country, and had there been no want of laborers or farm servants twice as much could have been raised, considering that fifty lasts of rye and fifty lasts of peas still remained over around the fort after a large quantity had been burnt and destroyed by the Indians, who in a short time nearly brought this country to nought and had well nigh destroyed this good hope, in manner following—

(2) The colony of Hackensack, belonging to Meyndert Meyndertsen van Keren and others.

(3) Cornelis Melyn's colony embraced all Staten Island except De Vries's plantation.