The Indian village was no longer to be seen. When Master Kieft stirred up so much trouble with the savages, the last one of the Manhattans fled to the forest, there, most like, to join with our enemies against us, nor did we see any of them save when they came in with furs or wild fowl for barter.
Where the village of the Manhattans had stood were gardens and houses, many built of stone in the Dutch style, and in front of the fort, from the lower bastion to the water's edge, was the green, or the common, where the soldiers paraded on feast days that people might admire them.
Inside the fort, and not far from my storehouse, was the church of stone built by Master Kieft, the jail, the dwelling of the Director, concerning which I have already told you, and low stone barracks, or quarters for the soldiers, while on the northernmost bastion was a wind-mill, made after the fashion of those in Holland.
HOW THE FORT WAS ARMED
It may interest you to know that our fort was well armed, having mounted and ready for service, eight bombards, by which I mean heavy cannon with wide, flaring mouths; six culverins, or exceedingly long, slim guns with handles on either side for carrying; and seven serpentines, these last being thin, long guns with grooves on the inside to throw the shot in a whirling manner. As missiles for the serpentines, two balls were chained together, being sent among the enemy in such way that they swung round and round, oftentimes inflicting much damage.
The palisade, which had been built straight across the island while the savages were thirsting for our blood, was to me a wonder in those days when Master Tienhoven gave me an opportunity for strolling about the town.
It was made of cedar logs full twelve-feet high, and less than a quarter-mile back from the fort, stretching across the island for a distance of nearly twenty-five hundred feet. Here and there, say every three hundred feet, was a small fort built of logs, where the soldiers could be protected while beating back an enemy, and at the water's edge on the river to the eastward, was what is called a half-moon battery, set well out into the stream, where were mounted two guns.