Also that he had purchased on credit at a high price payable in the Spring, all the provisions which were on hand and necessary there, as the rivers are closed by the ice, and prevent approach ; whereby the poor people are reduced And as these matters are of very bad consequence and produce to extremity and great scarcity. many inconveniencies for New Netherland, as we could specifically enumerate at large but which for brevity sake we shall here dismiss with only one word. Passing over the confiscation of the Danish ship, although it, too, is of dangerous consequences, we observe, as regards the loss of the horses, that it tends to the prejudice and great injury of the country and its population. This also appears from the protest of tiie [Vice] Director L. van Dincklagen, whom the Director, as appears by the accompanying letters, berated as a vagabond, though an honorable man and a Doctor of Law, and eventually excluded from the Council Chamber, for proposing something for the Country's good and the Company's advantage. Secondly, the exportation of the provisions, consisting in most part of grain and flour, is likewise injurious to the country and the people; for when the rivers in that country are closed, which commonly happens in December, no transportation can take place ;

Vol. I. 49

386 NEW- YORK COLONIAL MANUSCRIPTS.

so thnt a sliip load of provisions amounts to a great Heal among so few people, more especially as mimy farms wliich were devastated by the war, are yet unsown by farmers and laborers and lie waste ; ail which cause want and scarcity. These being noted, as your Noble Mightinesses will furtiier see by the accompanying documents, the Delegates again most humbly turn to your Noble Mightinesses respectfully beseeching your noble Mightinesses to be pleased to hasten the Redress of New Netherland, and to issue and make such order therein as you shall find for the advantage of that country.