elf was in the fields. After we had rested
ourselves and eaten something, we went outside upon the banks of this
beautiful bay, to breathe a little air, and look at various vessels,
going and coming. In the meantime he came with his son to meet us.
They had been to the fish _fuyck_,[183] which they had lying there
upon the shore and out of which they had taken at noon some fine fish,
but at present the water was too high. Another of his sons had been
out shooting, but had not shot anything; though the day before he had
shot a woodcock and a partridge before the door of the house, which we
must taste this evening with still some other things. Also because we
were there the _fuyck_ must be lifted again, from which they took out
two fine bass, of a kind we had not yet seen. They are quite large,
and of a good shape. They have seven black stripes on the body,
extending from the head to the tail. We ate of them also in the
evening, and found them very fine, and had not yet tasted any better
in the country. They were fat and hard, with a little of the flavor of
the salmon. The other suited us very well.

[Footnote 182: Brooklyn, Flatbush, New Utrecht.]

[Footnote 183: Large stationary net.]

We had much conversation together, and informed ourselves in relation
to various matters. He gave us some medicinal roots, which we have
mentioned heretofore. He also let us look at the laws, which were
written in a folio volume, but in very bad Dutch, for they had been
translated from English into Dutch.[184] As it was a large book, and
we saw we could not copy it there, we requested him to let us take it
home with us for that purpose. He consented upon condition that if we
left for the south, we would then deliver it to his brother-in-law,
Gerrit, who intended to come over shortly, and would hand it to him.
We lodged this night at his place, but somewhat better than we had
done in the barn, for we slept in his dwelling, still so that we could
well feel where we had slept.

[Footnote 184: The reference is to Governor Nicolls's code, commonly
called the Duke's Laws, first promulgated in 1665, for Long Island and
the Delaware River region, and reissued by Governor Lovelace in 1674.
Copies were sent to each Long Island township, and thus to New
Utrecht. The code was printed in 1809 in the first volume of the
_Collections_ of the New York Historical Society, and may also be
found in a Pennsylvania issue, _Charter to William Penn_, etc.