Who being examined relate, y l y e French design to attacke Albany early in y e Spring, haveing 120 batoes 100 birch canoes and 12 light morterpeeces and severall other engines ready, and are to come with 1500 men. Poor Sharpe is lame being wounded with a great gunn y 4 split when y e alarm came [to Albany] of Skinnechtady. ;

;

;

JACOB LEISLER TO THE GOVERNOUR OF BARBADOES. [From Vol. endorsed, Letters in Leislers time &c.]

Ao 1690: 17 May in fort William.

Honorable Sir

--The French of Cannada with their Indianes committed six bloody masacres in

k in New England three, they have destroyed Skanectady a vilage 20 millesfrom & have committed the rypt up greatest tyranny imaginable, women with chyld throwed children alive into the flame, dasht this province three,

Albany, murdered sixty three men women and children, carried captive 27

:

murder of eleaven people, and one or two committed since last fall, we send fifty men up to guard that place, but a certaine number of people there maintaining the comissions from Sir Edmond Andross &. Coll. Dongan deryving from the auothers ag l door post till their brains stuck to it, another

King James would not accept them there, but keept the fort by virtue of the sd Commission & would not suffer any of them to goe & guard s d Village being the frontier but send of their people there, by which meanes from treachery cowardice and carelesnes that too unfortunate and to be lamented accident lies hapened there, the river being frozen that noe forces could be sent up the winter, the well meaned people, lodged our souldiers who kept guard in the City whereof the french & Indian (in number of 200 men) had advise the Indianes would not goe there & so altered the designe, and that place was by that meanes spared our Indians pursued them kild & took 25 frenchmen who gave us an account of severall troops out in a designe in the Spring with 2500 french thority of the late