I was unable to find any traces of the original books of records of the Indian Commissioners, which are supposed to have been removed from this State during the Revolutionary war; but copies have been made of all Sir William Johnson's official letters to the British government, which remain in the State Paper Office, as well as of the greater part of the proceedings respecting Indian affairs, which were from time to time sent to London. " It will, perhaps, be noticed that previous to 1674 there are 'no dispatches or '

communications from the Duke of York or his secretary to his officers in New-York, and but few from them to His Royal Highness. The first entry book, or record of letters from the Duke, commences with 1674, and from that period they are tolerably well preserved. There

XXxii GENERAL INTRODUCTION. are several deficiencies in the series of letters from Governor Nicolls, and very few of Grovernor Lovelace's communications were found. There does not seem to have been any file of Governor Andros' letters, to the Duke or Sir John Werden, handed to the Committee

for Trade and Phintations when the affairs of the Province came under its supervision, upon the devolution of New-York to the Crown, on the accession of King James II. ; but after that date the records are much more perfect. After the final organization of the Board of Trade, by King William III., in 1696, the New-York papers are full and complete. "' The policy of France in regard to her Canadian possessions -- the establishment of her military positions on our frontiers, and her negotiations with the Indian tribes on our borders, and within the very limits of our territory itself, are directly and intimately connected with our Colonial history; and hfer long struggle to maintain her influence in the northern portion of our continent, affected, in no small degree, the condition, disposition and purposes of the people of New-York.