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Noble, Honorable, Esteemed, Wise and very Prudent Lord:

My Lord, in my most recent letters to you dated the 18th and 19th of November as well as the 10th of December of this past year, I referred mostly to difficulties and troubles; but misfortune, as it is said, seldom comes alone. The Almighty God has visited me with a great loss and allowed me to be afflicted with a sorrow which depresses me exceedingly. This has been caused by the death of my dear and beloved wife who on the 6th of this month very piously went to rest in the Lord; nevertheless, such a separation is most difficult for me. May the Lord be pleased to provide and assist me with His grace.

This early and severe winter has befallen us unexpectedly and has continued with many inconveniences which daily become more and more troublesome. The continuous rains hindered the gathering of winter fodder for the livestock; the general sickness struck us so hard and was so protracted that all the work of house and farm ceased for many months, which at the outset is very damaging and difficult to overcome. De Meulen, which arrived on the 27th of September, was very late and came with over 100 people, with no provisions, few goods and no wide duffels to [      ] for corn or venison...

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...could not be thrashed. For this reason everything is scarce and in short supply. Therefore, I respectfully and amicably ask whether it is possible that you might provide us as soon as convenient with some grain, peas and bacon, although it may be at first only a moderate quantity, until the season and weather become somewhat more favorable and settled so that this coast can be navigated with less danger; namely, to send a last or two or wheat, preferably ground, but if unavailable or impossible to do quickly, then rather unground than to have to wait, and 100 skipples of peas with 1000 pounds of bacon. So as not to cause a great deal of trouble, if no vessel is ready, may it please you to arrange it as best as possible so that it may be done as quickly as it is feasible. Upon this I am relying.

I also request that the soldier, Jan van den Bosch, previously returned from here, may be returned to care for the weapons which we still have here. Since we have no suitable place for them, they are being eaten up by rust so much that they need to be cleaned in order to keep them from total ruin.

Noble, Honorable, Esteemed, Wise and very Prudent Lord Petrus Stuyvesant, Director-General over New Netherland, Curacao, Bonaire, Aruba, etc. residing in Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland

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References

Translation: Gehring, C. trans./ed., New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch, Vols. 18-19, Delaware Papers: Dutch Period, 1648-1664 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.: 1981).A complete copy of this publication is available on the New Netherland Institute website.