NEIGHBORS OF NEW NETHERLAND 129

as a passenger David de Vries. The skipper asked
his advice about lowering his colors. "If it were
my ship/' De Vries asserts that he answered, "I
would not lower to these intruders." But peace
at any price prevailed, the skipper lowered his
colors, and the ship passed on to New Gottenburg,
the capital of the colony. Here De Vries was wel-
comed by Governor Printz, whom the traveler
describes as "a brave man of brave size." The
evening was spent in talk over a jug of Rhenish
wine. Such friendly intercourse and the aggres-
sions of the English against both Dutch and
Swedes led to the temporary alliance of these latter
in 1651. Indians called in council confirmed the
Dutch title to all lands except the site of the Swed-
ish fort planted by Minuit, and a peace which
lasted for three years was declared between the
Dutch and the Swedes.

In endeavoring to understand the relations be-
tween the settlements of the different nations in
America in the seventeenth century we must
realize that the colonies were only pawns in the
great game being played in Europe between Spain
and the Papacy on the one hand and the Protes-
tant countries, England, Sweden, and the United
Netherlands on the other. Once apprehending