Delaware Bay

“ Nearly all the State, however, lies on the peninsula between Delaware and Chesapeake bays, and the divide between their waters traverses the State from north to south, keeping at a uniform distance from the east coast. Thus, as the State broadens southward, a relatively greater part of it lies west of the divide in the south than in the north. None of these rivers is navigable, although the estuary-like mouth of Christiana Creek permits the ascent of vessels to Wilmington. The Delaware coast of Delaware Bay and the estuary of Delaware River offer few advantages in the way of harbors. ”

“ Holders of small farms lived in the vicinity of this tavern, but the post-office was at Frederica, five miles inland. Embarking the next day, I felt sure of ending my cruise on Delaware Bay before night, as the quiet morning exhibited no signs of rising winds. The little pilot town of Lewes, near Cape Delaware, and behind the Breakwater, is a port of refuge for storm-bound vessels. From this village I expected to make a portage of six miles to Love Creek, a tributary of Rehoboth Sound. ”

“ The streams that drain the state are small and insignificant. Those of the N. flow into Brandywine and Christiana creeks, whose estuary into Delaware river forms Wilmington harbour; those of the S.W. have a common outlet in the Nanticoke river of Maryland; those of the E. empty into Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The principal harbours are those of Wilmington, New Castle and Lewes. The shore of the bay is marshy, that of the Atlantic is sandy. In Kent county there are more than 60,000 acres of tidal marshland, some of which has been reclaimed by means of dykes ”

“ He bought of the Indians nearly the whole southwestern coast of New Jersey, and also a tract of land at Passayunk, on the present site of Philadelphia, and opposite the Dutch fort Nassau. ... On the 30th of August, 1641, there was a Town-Meeting at New Haven, which voted to itself authority over the region of the Delaware Bay. The acts of the Delaware Company were approved, and 'Those to whome the affaires of the towne is committed' were ordered to 'Dispose of all the affayres of Delaware Bay.' The first instalment of settlers had previously gone to the Bay. ”

“ But that was long before the American colonies went to war with England, and in Revolutionary times it was not pirates that Lewes was afraid of, but English warships.
From Delaware Bay the Delaware River lies, wide and open, all the way to Philadelphia. An enemy’s ship that entered the bay could easily sail on up the bay and river, past New Castle, Wilmington and Chester,—and might bombard Philadelphia from the water-front. This was [78] what the Committee of Safety feared the British would do when the Revolutionary War began, so a guard was set at Henlopen light house. ”

“ It receives the Delaware River, whose estuary gradually emerges into the bay. It is about 40 miles long to where it contracts to a width of 4 miles. Its greatest width is 25 miles, and the width at the entrance, between Cape May, in New Jersey, and Cape Henlopen, in Delaware, is about 15 miles. The depth of the channel varies from 30 to 60 feet, but much of the bay has less than 30 feet of water. A breakwater at Cape Henlopen, constructed by the United States Government, forms a large and safe harbor from 24 to 35 feet deep. ”

“ Delaware Bay is twenty-six miles across in the widest part, which is some miles within the entrance of the Capes.
October 31st was cool and gusty. The river route to Philadelphia is twenty-nine statute miles. The passage was made against a strong head-wind, with swashy waves, which made me again regret that I did not have my canoe-decking made at Troy, instead of at Philadelphia. The highly-cultivated farms and beautiful country-seats along both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey sides of the river spoke highly of the rich character of the soil and the thrift of the inhabitants. ”

“ Their seafaring habits and the pursuit of whales led them along the coast and into Delaware Bay. The Puritans of New Haven made persistent efforts to settle the southern part of Jersey, on the Delaware near Salem. They thought, as their quaint old records show, that if they could once start a branch colony in Jersey it might become more populous and powerful than the New Haven settlement and in that case they intended to move their seat of government to the new colony. ”

“ The Delaware River rises in the Western Catskill Mountains, flows southward for about three hundred and seventy-five miles, and expands into Delaware Bay about sixty miles from the sea. Its origin is among the Devonian and Carboniferous rocks, and in its course it passes through Silurian, Triassic and Cretaceous formations, finally reaching the Cambrian and Laurentian beds. ”

“ It may seem strange that a small open boat with nine men could stir up such a commotion in these two great provinces of North America, but if we can try to imagine the effect which would be produced among the inhabitants of Staten Island, or in the hearts of the dwellers in the beautiful houses on the shores of the Delaware River, by the announcement that a boat carrying nine desperate burglars was to be expected in their neighborhood, we can better understand what the people of New York and Philadelphia thought when they heard that Worley had captured a sloop in Delaware Bay. ”

“ In 1634 Captain Thomas Young visited the Delaware and lorded it over the Dutch vessels which he found in the river.22 Then in 1635, while settlers from Massachusetts poured into Connecticut, and the Council for New England, preliminary to its dissolution, assigned Long Island, despite the Dutch claim, to Sir William Alexander, men came from Virginia to Delaware Bay and seized Fort Nassau, then abandoned by the Dutch ”

“ The small triangular section of the coastal plain in New Jersey north of Delaware Bay deserves separate treatment because of the development there of a peculiar topographic feature, which throws light on the occurrence of the islands off the New England coast, described in the next paragraph. ”

“ Calling to her aid Peter Minuit, she bade him go and occupy the deserted Delaware region, dispatching him late in 1637 with two ships and fifty colonists to found New Sweden.
Just when the buds were opening, Minuit arrived inside Delaware Bay, in April, 1638, and began a settlement not far from Cape Henlopen and near Lewes in Delaware. One of the first buildings erected after the fort was the Lutheran church, the first in America. Rev. Reorus Torkillas was pastor of this Christian congregation. ”

“ Great Egg Harbor, which formed the northern part of the Cape May settlement, was named from the immense numbers of wild fowl, swans, ducks, and water birds that formerly nested there every summer and have now been driven to Canada or beyond. Little Egg Harbor farther up the coast was named for the same reason as well as Egg Island, of three hundred acres in Delaware Bay, since then eaten away by the tide. ”

“ Every hundred which, by either taxation or subscription, supports a free school is entitled to its share of the fund. The debt of the State is $1,224,000, and as the cost of the government is moderate, the taxes are small.
On the 28th of August 1609 Henry Hudson sailed into the Delaware Bay; but, finding the water shallow and difficult to navigate, he made no exploration, leaving that honour to the Dutch navigators,—Hendrickson in 1616, and in 1623 Mey, whose name is borne by the eastern cape of the bay. ”

“ Without going into details, it is sufficient to say that the acceptable division line began on the seashore at Little Egg Harbor at the lower end of Barnegat Bay and crossed diagonally or northwesterly to the northern part of the Delaware River just above the Water Gap. It is known as the Old Province line, and it can be traced on any map of the State by prolonging, in both directions, the northeastern boundary of Burlington County. ”

“ Then, again, if we reached the head of the bay, and turned the canoe adrift, she might prove a guide to our track, and bring the land hunters after us.
These and other objections were set aside, by the stronger ones which could be urged against every other plan that could then be suggested. On the water, we had a chance of being regarded as fishermen, in the service of a master. On the other hand, by taking the land route, through the counties adjoining Delaware, we should be subjected to all manner of interruptions, and many very disagreeable questions, which might give us serious trouble. ”

“ So ended my last day on Delaware Bay.
CHAPTER VIII. FROM CAPE HENLOPEN TO NORFOLK, VIRGINIA THE PORTAGE TO LOVE CREEK. — THE DELAWARE WHIPPINGPOST. — REHOBOTH AND INDIAN RIVER BAYS. — A PORTAGE TO LITTLE ASSAWAMAN BAY. — ISLE OF WIGHT BAY. — WINCHESTER PLANTATION. — CHINCOTEAGUE. — WATCHAPREAGUE INLET. — COBB'S ISLAND. — CHERRYSTONE. — ARRIVAL AT NORFOLK. — THE "LANDMARK'S" ENTERPRISE. My first thought the next morning was of the lost outrigger, and how I should replace it. ”

“ A Staten Island man, when the mosquitoes began to get busy in the borough across the bay, has been in the habit every summer of transplanting his family to the Delaware Water Gap for a few weeks. They were discussing their plans the other day, when the oldest boy, aged eight, looked up from his geography and said:
"Pop, Philadelphia is on the Delaware River, isn't it?"
Pop replied that such was the case.
"I wonder if that's what makes the Delaware Water Gap?" insinuated the youngster.—S.S. Stinson.
Among the guests at an informal dinner in New York was a bright Philadelphia girl. ”

“ An immense bid which Wilmington makes for future greatness is in the excellence of her harbor. Shipping there is at once safe and unimpeded in its exit. The Delaware and its bay below the city are broad and without sudden bends. Ice does not gather, and the influence of the ocean, by its tidal movement and salt water, makes the breaking of a channel comparatively easy. The Christine harbor, from any point near its mouth, can be kept open to the sea in all ordinary winters by a stout and well-built tug. ”

“ Small as is the State of Delaware, it has long and honorable history. Many landings of famous men and nationalities have been made on its shores, which face the ocean and a noble bay and river. The Dutch, the Swedes, the Cavalier English, the Quakers May and Verhulsten, Peter Minuit, George Holmes, and William Penn, stepped in succession on the soil. The descendants of the original cosmopolitan population were bitterly opposed to British rule, and were ready at the Revolution to assert and maintain independence. ”

“ Lord Delaware, a man of the highest reputation for courage and principle, determined to go himself, as Captain-General, to Virginia, in the hope of saving the fortunes of the colony. With three ships and one hundred and fifty persons, mostly artificers, he embarked on the 1st of April, 1610, and reached the Chesapeake Bay on the 5th of June, just in time to meet the forlorn company of Gates and Somers putting out to sea. ”

“ We content ourselves with the statement that they have not been overlooked. Omission is the less serious in view of the able and comprehensive report submitted by the special master. All that matters most in this keen but amicable controversy is there set forth at large, and there and in the supporting documents the student of our local history can live it over when he will.
We uphold the title of Delaware to the land within the circle.
Second. The boundary below the circle in the lower river and the bay. ”

“ Governor Carteret established a village on Newark Bay which still bears the name Elizabeth, which he gave it in honor of the wife of the proprietor, and he made it the capital. There were also immigrants from Scotland and England. But Puritans from Long Island and New England continued to settle round Newark Bay. By virtue either of character or numbers, New Englanders were evidently the controlling element, for they established the New England system of town government, and imposed strict Connecticut laws, making twelve crimes punishable with death. ”

“ From New York, centrally situated with reference to the revolting colonies, their vessels proceeded along the Atlantic coast both northward and southward on the outlook for American merchantmen, privateers, and naval craft. Their favorite patrolling [Pg 156] grounds were off the entrances of Delaware, Chesapeake, and Narragansett bays. British vessels were also to be found off Boston Bay, Ocracoke Inlet, Cape Fear, Charleston, and Savannah. ”

“ Here, for the first time since we left Port Jervis, the water ran slowly. It is hard to leave a spot so beautiful, where so few strangers are led. Here was Nature at first hand. To impress it deeper on my mind, I retrace our course, on the bank, to where, a hundred yards above the bend, a little singing river flows into the Delaware. Only a few inches deep, babbling over brown pebbles, bright as the sun itself in its flashes, coming down under a dim arch of trees and fringing underwood—a very dream of a little singing brook, that
"Knows the way to the sea." ”

“ Seen from the river the city makes a pleasing outline against the sky, with its many spires and domes. Smith's Island and Windmill Island lie opposite the city, a short distance away, and Camden is on the New Jersey shore. Ferry boats continually ply across the Delaware, carrying to and fro the travelers of a continent. ”

“ There is but one midway lock to this canal, and passing it we were in the basin of Delaware City by one o’clock. A waspish northerly air was blowing down Delaware River and tide was rushing ebb before it, so there was nothing to be done but wait. Wind slacked by night and tide setting fair by six we locked out and accepted our chance by the light of a full moon in cloudless sky. To quietly steal up a big, swiftly running river by moonlight is a grand thing to do, and when the river is full of the busy life of a great port it is mighty impressive from the cockpit of a little boat. ”