Finally they took the field and attacked the bouweries at Pavonia. There were here at the time, two ships of war and a privateer who saved considerable Cattle and Grain. Probably it was not possible to prevent the destruction of four bouweries on Pavonia, which were burnt, not by open force, but by stealthily creeping through the brush with fire in hand thus igniting the roofs which are all either of reed or straw ; one covered with plank was repeatedly saved.
The Commonalty were called together, they were sore distressed. , They chose eight, in the stead of the previous Twelve,* persons to aid in consulting for the best ; but the occupation every one had to take care of his own, prevented anything beneficial being adopted at that time nevertheless it was resolved that as many Englishmen as were in the Country should be enlisted w lo were indeed now proposing to depart ; the third part of these were to be paid by the Commonalty ; this promise was made by the Commonalty but was not followed by the pay.
Terror inereasing all over the land the eight men assembled, drewt up a proposal in writing wherein they demanded that delegates should be sent to the North, to our English neighbours, to request an auxiliary force of One hundred and fifty men, for whose pay a bill of Exchange should be given for twenty five thousand guilders, and that N. Netherland should be so long
/ mortgaged to the English as security for the payment thereof (one of the most influential among the eight men had by lettert