panions; a thorough but unsuccessful search was made for Lieut. Charles W. Chipp and his party. Nindemann has invented a tong for the gaff of fore-and-aft rigged vessels, which was patented in 1883, and is the author of a pamphlet entitled “Eines deutschen Matrosen Nordpolfahrten,” edited by Karl Knortz (Zürich, 1885).
NINEGRET, Indian sachem, lived in the 17th
century. He was the uncle of Miantonomo, and
his name was written in several ways. He was first
known to the English settlers as Janemo, and was
sachem of the Niantics, a tribe of the Narragansetts.
He did not participate in the Pequot war of
1632, but aided the English in that of 1637. About
a year after the death of Miantonomo (q. v.) he
formed a plan for expelling the English, and sent
a messenger to Waiandance, the Long Island
sachem, to engage him in it. Instead of listening
to the messenger, this chieftain bound and sent him
to Saybrook fort, whence he was despatched to
Hartford under guard. On their way the party
was forced to put in at Shelter island, and here
Ninegret's deputy escaped. Having passed the
winter of 1652-'3 among the Dutch in Manhattan
and the western Indians, he was suspected of plotting
with them against the English, and after a
special meeting of the commissioners in Boston, in
April, 1653, they declared war with him, but, owing
to the opposition of Massachusetts, it was not prosecuted.
Meanwhile Ninegret waged war against
the Long Island Indians, who had placed
themselves under the protection of the English. In
September, 1654, the commissioners sent a
message to the chief demanding his appearance in
Hartford, where they were convened, and also the
payment of tribute that had long been due. He
refused to appear, and sent them a haughty
answer. War was again declared against him, and
270 infantry and 40 horsemen were raised, and
placed under the command of Maj. Samuel
Willard, whose instructions were to go to Ninegret's
quarters, demand the tribute, and insist upon a
cessation of the war with the Long Island Indians.
On the approach of the troops Ninegret fled to a
distant swamp, and was not pursued. On 13 Oct.,
1660, with other chiefs, he mortgaged his territory
to the colonists, and he gave them possession at
Pettequamscot in 1662. He took no part in King
Philip's war in 1675-'6, and so escaped the ruin
that overtook the other tribes. The date of his
death is not known, but it is said that he was
buried at a place near Charleston, R. I., called
“Burying Hill.” His daughter succeeded to the
sachemdom, and was inaugurated with all the
pomp and ceremony of the Indians. At her death
she was succeeded by her half-brother Ninegret,
who in 1709 granted a large portion of his people's
lands to the colony of Rhode Island, which grant
gave great trouble to the Indians in after years.
This chief died about 1722, leaving two sons,
Charles Augustus and George. The former, dying
shortly afterward, left an infant son, who was
acknowledged by some of the tribe as their sachem,
while another portion adhered to his uncle, who
assumed the entire government in 1735. George's
son, Thomas Ninegret, who became chief in 1746,
made further sales of the Niantic lands to Rhode
Island, which caused discontent among his people,
some of whom tried to depose him. One appeal to
Sir William Johnson, superintendent of the
Indians, takes the ground that the lands sold were
necessary for the support of the families of many
whose lives had been lost in the king's service during
the French war of 1754-'61. In one of their
letters to Sir William Johnson, in answer to an
objection, that the Indians had no power to depose
a sachem, they replied: “As it was in the power
of the nation to put him in, we think it in the
power of the nation to turn him out.” The
controversy continued for several years, and Rhode
Island ultimately obtained the lands. In a letter
to Sir William Johnson, Ninegret speaks of having
paid £500 sterling to a subordinate chief, when
going to the war, for the quit-claim of his land, the
money being intended for the support of his mother
in the event of his fall. Little impression was
made upon the Narragansetts or Niantics by the
Puritans. Roger Williams spoke with discouragement
about this, and, when Mayhew requested
Ninegret to allow him to preach to his tribe, he
replied: “Go and make the English good first.”
A small remnant of the Niantics were living in
Rhode Island in 1812.
NIÑO, Andres (neen'-yo), Spanish navigator, b.
in Moguer in 1475; d. about 1530. From early
youth he navigated vessels for the Portuguese
government to the coast of Africa and the East
Indies, and he went in 1515 to Panama, where he
acquired the reputation of a skilled pilot. When in
1521 Gil Gonzalez-Davila received a commission
from the crown of Spain to explore and conquer
the Pacific coast north of Panama, he constructed
four vessels with timber that was transported with
immense labor across the isthmus from the Atlantic,
and, appointing Niño chief pilot, sailed on 21
Jan., 1522, from Tararegui, in the Bay of San
Miguel. Gonzalez landed on the coast in the Bay of
San Vicente with part of his forces to explore the
country, and sent Niño further north to discover a
passage to the Atlantic of which the Indians had
told him. The latter followed the coast to latitude
17º 50' north, and, finding no passage,
returned to the south, where he found the Adelantado
besieged by an army of 4,000 Indians, whom
he helped to disperse. They then continued to
explore the coast of Cape Blanco, the Bay of
Papagayos, Posesion river, and a gulf which they called
Fonseca, in honor of the president of the council
of the Indies. They landed in the possessions of a
cacique called Nicarao, and, after many encounters
with the warlike tribes, penetrated to the interior
and discovered there a large fresh-water lake,
which they called Mar Dulce, or sweet lake (now
Lake Nicaragua), and the volcano of Masaya.
After exploring the country thoroughly they sailed
again for Panama, where they arrived, 29 Dec.,
1532, laden with treasure. They gave a glowing
description of the country, which for its wealth
they called the paradise of Mohammed. Gonzalez
sailed in the following year to Spain to solicit the
commission of governor of the country and fit out
a new expedition, and Niño returned with him to
enjoy his riches, but, his health being shattered by
the fatigues of his frequent voyages, he did not
survive many years.
NIÑO, Pedro Alonso, called The Negro, b. in
Moguer, Spain, in 1468; d. about 1505. He
travelled on the coasts of Africa, and was a companion
of Christopher Columbus in his third voyage,
in which they discovered the island of Trinidad,
1 Oct., 1498, the mouths of the Orinoco, and the
coast that Columbus called Tierra Firme. Returning
to Spain he resolved to go to the Indies on his
own account in search of the gold and pearls that
the Indians had in great abundance. The council
of Castille gave him permission to discover new
countries, on condition that he should not touch at
those that had been already discovered by Columbus,
and that he should keep the fifth part of his
profits for the king. Louis and Cristopher de la
