COLUMBIA LIBRARIES 0FF8ITE aR()i;m);\-«)i Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/historyofcityofnOOIamb_0 '\T l.J [Price 50 conts. NETW VORK. AND CHIC^A^GO Copjmght, 1876, A. S. Barnbs & Co. SOLID OlSTL'S' B^S' STJB3CR,II=TI01ST. FORT NEW AM-STERDAAV H^hen you leave, please leave this hook Because it has been said "Ever'lhin^ comes (' him who loaits £:; the new territory to S]tiiin. It is intercstin<4 to note how all the Lircat plans and jn-ojects of the period tended and ver^'cd to one point. There was a N'enetian niercluuit liviiifv in Hristol, En>,dand, who had paid particidar attention to science, and who had lonj^ housed in his heart a scheme of '^o\\\<^ to Cathay hy the north. It was John Cahot. He was incited to active effort by the prospect of obtaining s})ices and other valuable articles of trade inde- pendent of haughty Venice. His son Sebastian, then a promising youth about nineteen years of age,'^ was, like his sire, stinuilated by the fame of Columbus, and anxious to attempt some notable thing. He was a scholar, had been thoroughly drilled in mathematics, astronomy, and the art of navigation, and accompanied the eUler Cabot to the Court of Henry VII., in order io obtain the royal con,sent to their proposed researches. Henry is well known to have been one of the most penurious monarchs who ever sat u})on a throne. He listened graciously, and, ujion condition that the whole enterprise should be conducted at their own private expense, issued a j)atent guaranteeing ])rotection and privileges. lUit he cunningly re- served to himself one fifth of the jn'otits.'^ The Cabots first steered directly for Iceland, wliere they sto ibr a tew days. For some years a steady and ]>rotitii had been carried on between Bristol and that country. Iceland, al- though the heroic age of the Xorthmen had long since passed, was pretty well peopled, and its inluvbitants had many wants which their northern land was unable to supply. The English sold them cloth, corn, wheat, wines, etc., and took fish, chiefly cod, in exchange. Some of the Nonvegian authors say that in April, 1419, a heavy snow-storm destroyed more than ^ Fattd' s Lmo of Nations, Book I. Chap. 18. - Humboldt, Kritschc Untcrsnchumjen, Vol. II. p. 445. ^ It is a mooted (juestioii whether John Cabot, the father, was the leader of the expedition in 14i>7. Sebastian Cabot lived for more than sixty years afterwards, and became a cele- brateil personage ; his fame so far eclipsed that of his father as to cause much to be accred- ited to him that his father actually performed. But his extreme youth and inexperience at that time would hardly induce the belief tliat the shrewd Henry VII. would intru.st him with such an important command. The Venetian ambassador's letters of 1497, preserved in tlie Sforza archives of Milan, furnish direct evidence in favor of the father. (Pdsqualigo's Letter, August 23, 1497.) M. d'Avezac, an able French writer, has found what he esteems sufficient proof to establish the fact that the Cabots' fii-st voyage wa.s made in 1494, when they only saw land ; the second in 1497, when they navigated three hundred leagues along the coast; the third in 1498, by Sebiistian alone; and the fourth in 1.517. M. d'Avezac to Leonard Woods, dated Paris, December 15, 1868, in Doc. Hist. Muinr ; by Willis. But the evidence of any voyage in 1494 is so slight that all ^illusion to it is omitted in the body of this work. 16 HISTORY OF THE CITY OF iXEW YORK. i twenty-five English vessels on the coast of Iceland, which gives us an idea of how brisk their commerce must have been. From this point the Ca1)ots proceeded westward, toiling, through mountains of ice, hut confi- dent of final success. On the 24th of June they saw land which June 24. "^ they supposed to be an island, but, finding it ran a long distance towards the north, and getting short of provision and into trouble with their crew, they turned back to England. Cabot says in his journal that it was a great disappointment to them. Tliey were absent from England only about three months, and had disco^'ered a continent, but its bleak, uninviting coasts loomed up only as a hateful barrier in the way of the diamond fields beyond. The Portuguese were' at this time the most enlightened nation of Europe. They had very materially enlarged the scoj^e of geo- graphical knowledge by daring voyages along the coast of Africa, under the direction of Prince Henry, third son of John the Great. Their vessels were small but well-built, and their seamen dashed safely along tempestu- ous shores and explored inlets and rivers. Don Emanuel the Fortunate made prodigious efforts to extend the commerce and dominion of Portugal, and his pet problem was a passage to India around Africa. The exploit was actually performed in 1498 by Vasco da Gama. He returned to Portugal with his four ships laden with spices, silks, and other attractive merchandise. All Europe was in the wildest excitement, and the unsuc- cessful venture of the Cabots was hardly noticed. A papal buU granted to Portugal the sole right to trade in the Indies, which were treated as new discoveries. Alas for Venice ! It was her mortal stab, and from that day her prosperity rapidly waned. The Portuguese established them- selves at the East, made Cochin their capital, appointed Vasco da Gama governor of the colony, and for nearly a century they sujiplied the markets of Europe with the Indian produce. Thus the actual results of innnedi- ate communication with the Oriental world completely overshadowed the possible advantages to be reaped from lands lying to the west, which were still regarded as merely the unsurmounted obstacle in the path to tlie Orient. The public could not Ije satisfied by tales of snow-bound or rocky shores without so much as a city or a castle over which to float a banner. But little by little the natural wealth of these western re- gions began to be recognized. At what period the fisheries of Newfoundland were first known to the hardy seamen of Brittany and Normandy it is impossible to determine with accuracy ; it must liave been as early as the commencement of the sixteenth century. Cod, mackerel, and herring were found in abundance, aud the demand for AMEIilCA AS L\l)i:i'i:.\l)K.\T II HM ISI'll KUK. 17 tlii'iu, |i;irli(ulaily in l'"r;iuci', was ^Mi-atly iiuTuasinl l)y lliu lasts (jf lln! cliuK li |)iiriiiLf the next I'l-w veal's the Sijuniiirds were busy Inllowiiij^ iij) tlic ilisioveries (if CoIuiuIhis hy exjHiditiuiis to Centml and Soulli America, and oceupatioa of jjortions of those countries. This led to a neglect of their native soil, and seriously and mischievously re- tarded the rise of Spain to a front rank anionj,' povvei-s ; Init it enlarged the boundarii^s of knowledge, and hastened tlie good time when the earth should assume its i)n)i)er form in the minds of men. Prior to the year ir)22 the Straits of Magellan had Iteen discovered, the broad Pacific crossed, and the globe circunniavigated. America stood boldly out as an independent hemisphere. And yet the avaricious merchantmen and navigators gave little no 1624. heed to its possible resources. They scoured the oceans in every latitude, from the Arctic regions to Cape Horn, searching for a gateway through it to the jeweled cities of the East. The chivalric Francis I. of France had in his employ, to accomplish certain deeds of daring, the Italian navigator Verrazano, who in 1524 was sent on a voyage, with the above object in view. He cruised along our coast from the Carolinas to Nova Scotia, landing many times, and learning all that was possible, under the circumstances, of the strange country and its inhabitants. He estimated that America was greater in territorial extent than Europe and Africa combined, but expressed his belief that he coidd penetrate by some pas- sage to the Indian Ocean. The chart' which his brother drew, contributed towards creating the sui)positiou in Europe that at about the 4Uth degree of latitude such a passage might be found. Verrazano's letter to Francis I. has recently been shadowed with historic doubt, in a volume of nearly two hundred pages, from the facile pen of Hon. Henry C. IMurphy ; but its un- certain light is by no means extinguished. Neither is it less interesting because of the poverty of actual proof in regard to its authenticity. One paragraph relating to the "hdlissimo lago at the mouth of the great river" points significantly towards our own sylvan solitudes, as follows : — " After proceeding one hundred leagues we found a very pleasant situa- tion among some steep hills, tlirough which a large river, deep at the mouth, forced its way into the sea ; from the sea to the estuary of the river any ship heavily laden might pass with the help of the tide, which rises eight feet. But as we were riding at anchor in a good berth we would not venture up in our vessel without a knowledge of the mouth, therefore we took the boat, and entering the river we found the country on the 1 A copy of this chart is now in the possession of the American Geographical Society, hav- ing been recently obtained from the College of the Propaganda Fide in Rome at the instance of Chief Justice Daly, and is a geographical curiosity. 2 18 HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. banks well peopled, the inhabitants not differing much from the others, being dressed out with the feathers of birds of various colors. They came towards us with evident delight, raising loud shouts of admiration, and showing us where we could most securely land with our boat. We passed up this river about half a league, when we found it formed a most beauti- ful lake upon which they were rowing thirty or more of their small boats from one shore to the other, fiUed with multitudes who came to see us. All of a sudden, as is wont to happen to navigators, a violent contrary wind blew in from the sea, and forced us to return to our ship, greatly regretting to leave this region, which seemed so commodious and delight- ful, and which we supposed must also contain great riches, as the hiUs showed many indications of minerals." ^ The letter was dated, " Ship Dolphin, in the Port of Dieppe, Nor- mandy," was a lengthy docmnent, and, besides furnishing curious evidence of the state of nautical science at that time, gives us a fair picture of the North American Indian as first seen by white men. We are induced to believe that the proprietors of Manhattan Island were an amiable people, and had made some progress in the arts which tend to ameliorate the savage. They were not hostile to visitors, and knew something of agri- culture. War was evidently unknown to them, as we can learn of no defenses against hostile attacks. They were, doubtless, of that tribe after- wards called Delawares, or, as they styled themselves, Lenni Leuape, which means original or unmixed men. It was an entirely different race that Champlain encountered in his wanderings into the State of New York, from the north, in 1609. They were fierce and cruel warriors, somewhat advanced in policy, arts, and agricidture, and had already instituted a confederacy of five independent nations, with a sort of congress of their own, seeming to know somewhat of civilized life and much of warlike achievement, long before they became students of the white man's craft. They called themselves Aquanu Schioni, or the United People. Iroquois is not an Indian, but a French name, and is a generic term, having been bestowed upon that type of language, the dialects of which were spoken by the Five Nations. We have strong reasons for suspecting that during the interim between Verrazano's visit and the subsequent Dutch settlement, the martial Iroquois extended their conquests from the inland lakes to the Atlantic shores, leaving the deteriorating effects of barbarous warfare upon the in- habitants, as, at the latter period, the river Indians and many upon the 1 Bcschrijv van America, by Jan Huyghen Van Linschotten. (Amsterdam). i\^. V. H. S. Coll., Vol. I. (Second Series) pp. 45, 46. Hakluyt, III. 360, 361. Harris's Voyages, II. 348. Nort!t, Anurican Review for October, 1837. Belhiap's Am. Biog., I. 33. KSTA'VAX aoMHZ. 19 soii-coust well! rouiiil sulijfct to llu' lr(Miiiortal.ions liad cwised, and u sinfiular nionojioly, cnnsistin;,' cliictly of tin- fiictoi-s of ex- ti'iisive lufvoantili! houses in AnlwHn'i) and llainlauj,', liad olUaintid con- trol of Iiov markets, and, vaiupiic-likc, was suckinj,' liur remnant of strenj,4li. 1 he statesmen and the; merchants ol the reahn met in consultation, and took counsid of the aj^ed and justly celebrated Sebas- tian Cabot, whi», although he had thrice made the attempt to reach Asia by the north witlioul success, had never ;^ivcn up his hobliy, that "some great good lay iu store for the world liy the way of the Polar Seas." He advised that the northern (toasts of Europe be explored foi- new markets, and an effort math' to reach Cathay by a Siberian route. A company was accordingly formed, wiiicli was called " The Society for the Discovery of Unknown Lands," and an expedition was fitted out'iu 1553, the expenses of which wei-e mostly liorne l>y private subscription. It was placed under the command of Sir Hugii WiUoughby, and the IhjUI Richard Chancellor was made pilot-major of the fleet. The vessels became separated during a storm, and WiUoughby with two of them, after the most terrific hardships, reached an obscure harbor on the desolate coast of Lap- land, wlieve he and his men finally perished. Chancellor, with heroic per- sistence, pushed his way through frozen waters where sunlight was perjjct- ual, and landed in safety at Archangel. Russia was then scarcely known to Western Europe. Chancellor made good use of his opportunities. He journeyed by sledge to Moscow, and Avas invited to a personal interview with Emperor Ivan the Terrible. A lucrative and permanent trade was established between the two countries, which was the foundation of the commercial and political relations that have continued with slight inter- ruptions to the present time. By it a fresh impulse was given to produc- tive industry iu England, and her credit was improved, while intercoui-se with the English secured to the Russians civilization, intelligence, and comfort. When Chancellor returned in 1554 to England, he was the bearer of a letter from Ivan the Terrible to Edward IV. The Muscoa^' Company, as it was afterwards styled, obtained a formal charter from the Crown, dated February 6, 1555, in which Sebastian Calwt was named as its first governor. It was granted a charter of privileges also by the Russian Emperor, and commenced energetic operations. The same com- pany, after a brilliant career of more than three hundred years, is still in existence. For full fifty years after its organization it absorbed the energy and the surplus capital of the English nation ; and nothing was attempted in America save a few unimportant settlements, which came to nothing. Meanwhile the Dutch were preparing for a marvelous lea]) into })ublic 22 HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. notice. When, in 1580, Philip II. united Portugal to Spain, and pres- ently began his war upon England, his ports were closed against English vessels. Therefore England was forced to buy her spices, silks, and other Indian produce of the Dutch. But the revolt of the Netherlands followed in quick succession, and Dutch vessels were excluded from Lisbon, which had been so long the European depot for Indian wares. Although the Dutch were not a creative people, there was no nation under the sun which, being strongly pushed in one direction, was more sure to succeed than they. They had Ijegun already to reap large profits from their Eng- lish trade. I'rices had gone up on all India goods ; that of pepper by two hundred per cent. They were compelled, as it were, to seek a direct pas- sage to the Orient. Thus originated the great commercial corporation known as the Dutch East India Company. Their vessels followed in the track of the Portuguese around Africa. The directors were mostly city nobles of the old school, and so prosperous became the company that in twenty years they divided more than four times their original capital among the shareholders, l:)esides having acquired a vast amount of prop- erty in ciildiiics, t'nrtiticatiMii'^, iiml xcssi'ls. East India Company's House. While struggling for freedom amid tlie smallest beginnings, and at war with the nation the shadow of whose haughty flag waved over half a conqiiered world, and whose fashions and language controlled the courts of Europe, the Dutch received the impetus which raised them to tlie rank THK Dl'TCll WHST 1X1)1 A COMI'AXY. 23 of a jjjroiiL powrr. Mcluiuin and the sudden expansion of the Dutch IJepublic wiTc two si(K's (if thr same event. lUit the exiled l?elj,nans had no inten- tion of reniaininjii i)ernianently in Northern Netherlands. They breathed a new element of counnercial strength into iIh; atnio.sphere, and at the same time were j)utting their shrewd heads together to devise some method by which Belgium might be delivered from the Spanish yoke. They well knew that the wide possessions of Spain were ojjen to the resolute attacks of a vigorous foe. Finally, they originated the gigantic scheme of a warlike company of private adventurers, who should conquer or ruin the Spanish settlements, seize the Spanish transports, and cut off all communication with her Transatlantic dei)endencies. And they ])ro- posed to name it, very appropriately, the West India Company. The obstacles in the way of putting so vast a project into execution were very great. John of Barneveld was at the head of affairs in the Dutch liepublic, and advocated peace. He was too practical a philoso- pher not to appreciate the enormous advantages his country had just gained. The victorious return of the Belgians to their native province would only remove commerce and political lead to the south, and was in no case to be desired. He was fully determined to prevent the existence of any such warlike corporation as the one under consideration. But the Belgians found energetic allies. The lower classes in the Holland towns favored them because that Barneveld was hated for his aristocratic pro- clivities. Influential men from the other Dutch provinces lent tlieir aid because the Advocate aimed at an overweening influence for Holland. The House of Orange gave tliem the hand of fellowship because this great family aspired to wider dominion and to a less limited authority than they had hitherto possessed. The leader of the Belgian party was William Usselincx, an exiled Antwerp merchant of noble descent, whose force of will was simply mar- velous, and whose magnetic influence over his countrymen was so great that they seemed to think with his brain and act wdth his hand. His ready pen kept the political life of Holland in one continual ferment. He was opposed to peace w'ith Spain under any circumstances. He said the quarrel was in its nature irreconcilable and eternal, because it was despotism sacerdotal and regal arrayed against the spirit of rational hu- man liberty. His argmnents were convincing, and his wit was as flash- ing and as quickly unsheathed as a sword. The Dutch revolt was in itself the practical overthrow of religious t}r- 24 HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. anny. It was a healthy and, for the age, an enlightened movement. But theological disputes arose upon the ruins of popular delusions, even among the Protestants themselves. Arminius, from the ancient Univer- sity of Leyden, undertook the difticult task of justifying before the tribu- nal of human reason the doctrine of the condemnation of sinners pre- destined to evU. He publicly taught, also, that the ministers of the church ought to be dependent upon the civil authority. The municipali- ties caught at the cleverly thrown bait, and attempted to free themselves from the pretensions of the established clergy. Gomar, a celebrated scholar and a religious fanatic, defended the doctrines of the established Protestant church and its principles of ecclesiastical polity. He was an intimate associate of Usselincx ; and both, being courageous, crafty, far- seeing men, were anxious to prolong a war which would render the absolute government of the magistrates ini]i<)ssil)le, and sub- mission to the Prince of Orange a political necessity. Thus two parties were formed which lasted down to the French Revo- lution, and even at the present day there remains of them nearly as much as of whiggism and toryism in England. They were divided in almost every question of public interest. The Belgian party were strict Calvin- ists and democrats, and their policy was to carry on the war with Spain until Belgium should be freed. The Barneveld party were Arminians, aristocrats, republicans, and quite content to give Belgium over to the Spaniards. The question of the West India Company was agitated for nearly thirty years. Its actual existence dates from the year 1606. That is, commissioners were named from the Assembly at that period, and discus- sions were frequent in regard to it. But Barneveld, who was at the head of the Assembly, never seriously thought of confirming the corporation. He only wished to use it as a threat for the intimidation of Spain, and it was chiefly by this menace that the twelve years' truce was accomplished, which played so important a part in the history of the Netherlands. The wrangling between the two political parties grew more fierce as the details of the peace negotiations became known. The river Scheldt was to be closed, Antwerp thus ruined, Belgium given up, and all attacks upon the Spanish forbidden. The peace party maintained the principle of excluding strangers from every employment, and of concentrating all public offices in a few patrician houses of the old stock. The impov- erished, but proud and fiery Belgian exiles looked with dismay at their gloomy prospects in the event of the truce being agreed upon, and put forth all their energies towards the accomplishment of the West India Company. Usselincx wrote a series of pamphlets, in style siin])l(' 77/ A' TWKLVH YI.Ah'S TltrCE. 25 iuid elli'Ctivc, ;ni(l wliirli licloii;; In lla: most rciiiarkal>Ir jUiMluct iunxif lliat cliias ol' litoniturc. 'I'lu'v creaLotl such a stMisation, iiiul attracLi;il to sucli a (le-Jiiee tlu'. attention of conteiniinrarv liistorians, that the nxist distin- guished of Iheni all, Emanuel van Mi-leien, reprinteil one of them entire Hut the namiihlets, like tlie jilan for the West India Comiiaiiv, ,„, ' . , moo. oidy served to n.ccleiate thr roiiclusion of tiir tnirc llir Ad- vocate nuule a sini^ular use of his adversary's weapons. A (;essation of liostilities for twehe years was signed by tlie representatives of the two nations in ItiO'.i. It was a signal victory for the aristocratic party. But ten years later the great statesman paid for it with his life. No sooner had the Calvinistic faction gained the ascendency than the West India Comi)any becanu; a fixed fact. And it was due almost entirely t ' 1608. ing achieved any further measure of success. The news tliat such voyages were in ])rogress tra\eled in (hie cijurse of time to llolliind, and rendered tlie Dutch Kast Intlia Company uneasy lest the discovery of a short route to India hy their industrious rivals should smUlenly deprive them (»f a lucrative trade. The learned historian. Van Meteren, was the Dutch minister at tlie Court of St. James, and through him messages were transmitted inviting Hudson to visit Holland. It was not long ere the famous sea-captain arrived at the Hague, and was received with much ceremony. The officers of the com- pany met, and all that had been discovered concerning the northern seas was carefully discussed. The Dutch had not been behind their neigh1x)r3 in tlaring exploits. Even while raising enormous sums of money towards carrying on the war with S])ain, they had bent every energy towards ex- tending their commerce. jMerchant companies and private adventures had been encouraged and assisted by the government. A number (jf expeditions had endeavored to reach " China behind Noi-way," and ti'atling monopolies had been established in Guinea and at Archangel ; in short, the sails of the nation whitened the waters of almost every clime. The noblemen who directed the affairs of the East India Company were as cautious as they ■were enterprising. Some of them had been so influenced by the repre- sentations of the sorely disappointed De Moucheron, Barentsen, Cornelis- sen, Heemskerck, and others, that they declared it would be a waste of time and money to attempt again the navigation of the vast oceans of ice. But Hudson stood before them full of enthusiasm, and expressed his ardent conviction that Asia might be reached by the northeast. Peter Plautius, a clergyman of the Eeformed Dutch Chuich in Amsterdam, who had been engaged with Usselincx in trying to found the West India Company, opened a correspondence with Hudson, and sent him some of his own published works. Plantius had a profound knowledge of maritime affairs, the result of unwearied investigations, and he warmly seconded the effort to search for a northeastern passage. He said that the failure of Heemskerck in 1596 was due to his trying to go through the Straits of "Weygate, instead of keeping to the north of the island of Nova Zembla. After much delay, an expedition was finally planned and Hudson placed in command. The Amsterdam Chamber defrayed the expenses. They furnished a yacht, or Dutch galliot, — an awkward, clumsy kind of a brig, with square sails upon two masts. It was a tolerably safe craft, but a slow sailer, of forty lasts' or eighty tons' burden, and was called the 28 HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. Half Moon. It was manned with a crew of twenty men, partly English and partly Dutch sailors. Hudson was instructed to pass by the north and northeast of Nova Zambia, towards the Straits of Anian, and to search for no other routes or passages but the one in question. He obeyed his employers to the letter, until the cold grew so intense that the seamen of the East India Company, who had been accustomed to warmer climates, became chilled and unlit for duty. Once or twice the vessel escaped as by a miracle from unknown currents, then mountains of ice encompassed it, and the crew were so terrified that they arrayed them- selves in open rebellion. Hudson's only alternative was to turn back. He at once gave his attention to searching for a passage to Asia through the American Continent. He was familiar with Yerrazano's charts and reports, and he was a personal friend of Captain John Smith, whose adventures in America were watched in England with critical inter- est. He had good reasons for supposing that there was some commu- nication with the South Sea at about the fortieth degree of latitude. He accordingly sailed southward as far as Virginia, then cruised along ^^^' ' the shore in a northerly direction until the 2d of September, when he anchored in sight of the bea\itiful hills of Neversink, which hold the post of honor near the portals to our island. The next day he ventured a little farther into the lower bay, and found what he ^*^*' ^' supposed to be three great rivers, one of which he tried to enter, but was prevented by " the very shoal bar before it." On the morning of September 4th he sent out a small boat to ^^^^' '*" explore and sound the water, and a good harbor was found where IIIDSOS DISCDVKh'S MAXIIATT.W ISl.AM). 21) tlic soji •' was lour Jiinl livi! I'litlioiiis, (wo caltlcs' lcii;;tli IVoiii shore." A ,u;reat many tine tisli wero also discoverud. Indians were seen ulonj^ the shores, and towards eveniuj,' they came prosjjecting around tlie Hulf Momi in small canoes. They were dresseil in skins, wore leathers in their hair, and were adornetl with clumsy cojtper ornaments. They l)rouj,dit with them {freen tobacco, and oll'ered it as a i)eace-oH'erinf,'. They were so civil that a i)arty of the sailors landed amonj,' them the next day, and were very well and deferentially treated. In addition to *'' tobacco, they seemed to have a great abundance of maize, or Indian corn, dried cummts, and hemp. On the 6th, John Coleman, an Englishman, who had been with Hudson on his previous polar voyages, was sent with four seamen *"' ' to sound the Narrows. They passed through Kill von Kull to Newaik Bay. The sweetness of the inner land, and the crisp saltness of the distant sea, were mixed in one delicious breeze, and they reported the country " as pleasant with grass and flowers as any they had ever seen." While returning to the Hulf Moon late in the afternoon, they were at- tacked by some Indians in canoes, and John Coleman was killed by one of their aiTows. The Indians doubtless fired at random, as there is no evidence that hostilities were continued, or any attempt made to capture the boat, which in the confusion might have been done with the gTeatest ease. Night came on, and the frightened sailors lost their light and their way, and were tossed about on the troubled sea until ten o'clock the next morning, when, with the remains of their murdered ofiicer, they were at last received upon the Half Moon. Coleman was buried upon a point of land near by, which was called Coleman's Point. For some days afterward Hudson spent his time in examining the shores, sounding the waters, and bartering with the Indians. The latter were closely watched, but manifested no knowledge of the fatal affray by whicli John Coleman had lost his life. On the 11th the Half Moon was cautiously gmded through the Narrows, and anchored ^^ ' in full view of Manhattan Island. How little Hudson dreamed that it w'ould one day become the home of Europe's overflowing population ! His mind was occupied with visions of a different character. He was encouraged to believe that he had at last found the passage to Cathay ; for the river stretching off to the north was of such gigantic proportions as to dwarf almost to insignificance the comparative streamlets of the eastern continent ! He determined to proceed at all hazards ; but the wind was ahead, and he could move only with the flood tide, hence it was not until the 14th that he commenced the ascent of the river in earnest. 30 HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. If Hudson had been a trained detective he could not have been sharper- eyed in his observations of the country along his route than his circum- stantial journal indicates. The Indians hovered about his vessel, anxious to trade their produce for the buttons, ornaments, and trinkets of On the 17th he anchored at a point just above the present city of Hudson, and the next day accompanied an old Indian chief to his home on the shore. It was a circular wigwam, and upon the Englishman's entrance, mats were spread upon the ground to sit upon, and eatables were passed round in a well-made red wooden bowl. Two Indians were sent in quest of game, and returned with pigeons. A fat dog was also killed, and skinned with sharp shells. Hudson was served to a sumptuous repast, but he declined an invitation to spend the night with his royal host, and the Indians, supposing it Avas because he was afraid of their bows and arrows, broke them in pieces and threw them in the fire. They proceeded on their way up the river for a few days, but at last navigation became obstructed, and a boat was sent eight or nine leagiies in advance to measure the water. " Seven foot and unconstant soundings" deterred the bold mariner from proceeding far- ther. He had gone as far as he could, and Asia was not yet. There are conflicting opinions as to the precise point reached by the Half Moon, but it is generally supposed that it attained about the latitude of Castle Island, just below Albany. The glowing description which Hudson gave of the country and its re- sources was incorporated in an elaborate work by the Dutch historian I)e Laet, one of the directors of the West India Company some years later. Hudson wrote " that the land was of the finest kind for tillage, and as beautiful as the foot of man ever trod upon." He made himself, it seems, very agreeable to the natives. On one occasion he persuaded two old Indians and their squaws, and two maidens of sixteen and seven- teen years, to dine with him in the cabin of his vessel, and said that " they deported themselves with great circumspection." At another time he treated some of the sachems to wine until they were merry, and one of them was so very drunk that he could not leave the Hnlf Moon until the next day.^ Hudson commenced his return on the 23d, and, eleven days afterwards, " went out of the mouth of the great river," and sailed for Europe. On the 7th of November he arrived safely at Dartmouth, England, where he was detained by the English authorities, who denied his right to enter 1 At this very moment the eminent French navigator, Champlain, was upon tho waters of the lake which bears his name, and within one hundred miles of Hudson. liriJSOX'S DEATH. HI inld till' siTvic-L- III' a t(iivi<;ii power, llf rniwardfii a ici>