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storm increases its fury as the darkness comes on. Sailors run on deck with knives in their hands to cut the ropes in case of necessity.
"Tuesday, May 22. Strong west wind. Since Saturday, May 12th, the barber has not dared to shave us on account of the ship's rolling. At about 5 o'clock an English ship is hailed. The wind grows fiercer and fiercer. A. C. Kuyper wakens us all in the night on account of the heavy storm, whereupon a general awakening takes place in the ship. Kuyper offers up prayer in the midst of his family.
"Wednesday, May 23. Storm. The captain, who has made fifty voyages to America, declares it noteworthy that we should meet with so many storms this time. We earnestly desire to find more contrition among the passengers. Klaas Vos, of Den Hitzerd, fifty-four years of age, dies. There are still sick people on board. Light cases of scarlet fever prevail, manifested especially in sore throats.
"Thursday, May 31. Last night a child of Anthony Klein died at the age of eighteen months. I told the mate, who had the body brought on deck by a sailor. Favorable north winds--good progress.
"Friday, June 1. Nice, calm weather. The ocean is smooth and shiny as a mirror. The little body was let overboard at 2:30--ceremony as usual. I read Revelations 20, and we sang Psalm 89:19. Maasdam closed with prayer."
The limited scope of this history does not permit us to continue the account of the hardships experienced by the emigrants of 1849, in detail. On June 5th a little child of W. Van Vark died. On June 7th the death of Maaike Hospers occurred; on June 8th, Gerrit Bezemer, aged five, and Adriana Klein, aged seven, and on June 9th, Hendrik Obertop, aged seven, died.
On Wednesday, June 13th, the ship arrived at New York after being at sea about five weeks. On Saturday, June 23d, the seven-year-old son of A. C. Kuyper died in Albany, and was buried there in Rev. Wyckhoff's churchyard. June 25th, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, a child of Nahuis was buried in Rev. Wyckhoff's churchyard and in the evening at 8 o'clock the death occurred of Cornelia Gertrude Hospers, aged sixteen years.
Owing to so much sickness in their families Hospers and Kuyper met with so much delay that they did not reach Pella until July 25th, making the duration of the trip two months and twenty days.
The arrival of this large number of emigrants in 1849 not only meant much to the little colony because of the money brought into circulation, but also because among these emigrants were some of the most highly educated and gifted men who ever came to this country from Holland. Some of them became leaders and men of great influence for good to this community, and their descendants are among our best citizens.
As has already been mentioned, the money brought by the first colonists in 1847 had been exhausted and business and development in the colony had become stagnant, so that the arrival of so many able and well financed men had a decidedly stimulating effect.
With the exception of some of the Vriezlanders who bought farms west of Pella, and J. Hospers, J. De Haan, A. C. Kuyper, van der Linden and a few others,