Sent out, immediately a party of Dutch men and Indians four miles beyond the fort in a South westerly direction where our guide presumed some Esopus Indians would be, but on coming there discovered nothing but some wigwams which had been a long time abandoned by the Indians. Meanwhile I had been over the Kill with a party of men and pulled off the corn and threw it into the Kill. The troops returned in the evening withoni having seen any Indians. About two. miles from the fort perceived the trail of two Indians who had gone across the mountain ; supposed to be strange Indians ; The trail was aday old.

34 ditto. Early in the morning despatched a party of soldiers and Indians into the woods to see if they could not find any Indians ; sent a detachment again over the Kill to pull up the maize and throw it into the Kill. In the afternoon sent two

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other detachments into the corn fields to throw the maize.into the creek, as the corn which stood about the fort was al! thrown into the Kill by the evening. After sundown our party returned, without having captured or discovered any. thing.

4% ditto. We pulled up the Indian fort and threw the palisades, one on the other, in sundry heaps and set them on fire, together with the wigwams which stood around the fort, and thus the fort and houses were destroyed and burnt. About 10 o'clock we marched thence down along the creek where lay divers maize plantations, which we also destroyed and cast the corn into the creek. Several large Wigwams stood also there which we burnt. Now, having destroyed every thing, we marched that day, on our return, about four miles further, where we remained with the troops that night by a small creek, the rain falling the entire time.