SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK.

51

CHAPTER XIX.

Discoveries of Henry Hudson.-Settlement of New York by the Dutch.

1. WHILE the colony of Virginia was thus advancing, another

settlement, to the north, had been es tablished. The island of Man-hat'tan, on which the city of New York was afterwards built, was first discovered by Captain Henry Hudson, in 1609. This person was the distinguished navigator who made discoveries to the northward of Canada and Labra

dor, and explored the large bay in that quarter which is called by his name to this day.

2. He was by birth an Englishman, but had been sent by the Dutch East India Company to try to find the East Indies by sailing in a northwesterly direction. Unable to proceed on account of the ice, he returned to Newfoundland, and coasted along the shores of the United States, discovering Manhattan Island, where New York now stands, and at the same time sailing up and giving name to what has since been called the North River, and more commonly Hudson's River.

3. As he was in the service of the Dutch* when he made these discoveries, the Dutch government claimed the country. The English, however, set up an earlier claim to it, as being a part of North

CHAP. XIX.-1. What of Henry Hudson? 2. Hudson's birth? Object of his voyage? His discovery of the Hudson River, &c.? 3. Why were his discoveries claimed for the benefit of the Dutch?

*The name Dutch is applied to the inhabitants of what is now called Holland, and which, in history, passes under the various names of Netherlands and Low Countries. An inhabitant of this country is called Deutscher, in his own language, whence we have the name Dutch.

Virginia. They also maintained that, as Hudson was an English subject, the countries he discovered were theirs.

4. But the Dutch were determined to hold the territory, if possible. They, therefore, in 1610, opened a trade with the natives at Manhattan Island, on the spot where the city of New York now stands, and erected a fort on or near the present site of Albany. To the country in general they gave the name of New Neth'-er-lands; and to the station on Manhattan Island, when it afterwards caine to be settled, that of New Am'-ster-dam.

5. In 1613, Captain Argall, of Virginia, who had sailed to the north to break up a settlement the French were forming on the Pe-nob'-scot River, stopped at New York on his return, and demanded the surrender of the island of Manhattan, and indeed of the whole country, to the British king.

6. But though the Dutch yielded their claim at this time, it was simply because they were unable to defend it; the Dutch traders continued to occupy it, and a new Dutch governor, in 1614, threw off the English yoke, and put the fort at New Amsterdam in a position of defence. The desire of the Dutch to hold the place is not surprising, for a very profitable trade with the Indians for furs of various kinds had been established; in 1624, the skins of beavers and other wild animals which they obtained were valued at over ten thousand dollars.

7. The Dutch continued to resist the claims of the English to the country till the year 1664, and, in the mean time, kept up a profitable trade with the natives. The progress of the settlement was, however, exceedingly slow as long as it remained in the hands of the Dutch.

CHAPTER XX.

Various Settlements in New England.-Captain Smith's Survey of the Coast.

1. LEAVING for a brief space the Dutch settlements in what has since become the great state of New York, we turn our attention to New England. Nothing had been known as to the interior of this region till the year 1605. Captain Gosnold had, indeed, explored the coasts, and attempted a settlement on Elizabeth Island, in 1602, but without success. The country went by the general name of North Vir

4. What did the Dutch do? 5. What occurred in 1618? 6. What took place in 18141 What of the fur trade? 7. What of the Dutch and the English claims?

CHAP. XX.-1 What of New England?

THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY.

53

ginia, South Virginia extending only so far north as to include the

country near the mouth of Hudson River.

2. About the year 1605, Captain Wey'-mouth, an Englishman, while searching for a north-west

passage to the East Indies, discovered the Penob'-scot River, in Maine, and carried home five of the native Indians with him,

to be educated. These Indians excited great curiosity in England; and their accounts of the country led other navigators to the same coast.

3. There was a company formed in England about this time, called the Plymouth Company, whose object was to prosecute discoveries and make settlements along the coast of North Virginia, as the London Company were then about to do with regard to the coast of South Virginia.

4. In 1606, the Plymouth Company sent out two ships of discovery, under Captains Cha-long' and Prynne. The former took with him two of the five Indians brought over by Captain Weymouth. But he did not reach America, for his vessel was taken by the Spaniards, and he himself carried a prisoner to Spain.

5. Captain Prynne, more successful, surveyed the coasts of the country very extensively, and carried with him to England such a glowing account of its excellent harbors, rivers, forests, and fisheries, that, in 1607, one hundred adventurers, in two ships, went out to seek their fortune in America. Yet, so filled were the minds of Europeans with ideas of the mineral riches of America, that even in the depths of the green woods, these emigrants expected to find "mines of gold, and silver, and diamonds."

6. They first fell in with the island of Mon-he'-gan, on the coast of

2. Captain Weymouth? 3. The Plymouth Company? 4. What was done in 19061 3 What of Captain Prynne? What occurred in 1607?

Maine, but landed at the mouth of the Ken'-ne-bec River, then called the Sa-ga-da-hoc'. They settled at Parker's Island, and built a fort on it, which was named Fort George. They brought with them two more of the five Indians taken away by Captain Weymouth; and this procured them a welcome from all the Indian tribes.

7. The Penobscot Indians were, at this time, the ruling tribe from Salem to No'-va Sco'-tia, then called A-ca'-di-a. Pleased with the new settlers, their chief acknowledged subjection to the English king, and sent his son to visit the colony, and opened a trade with them for furs Happy had it proved if the friendly intercourse thus begun on our coast had been continued.

8. In December of this year, the ships returned to England; fortyfive of the adventurers remained behind. These, however, were soon discouraged. The winter was excessively severe, and, not having brought over a very liberal supply of provisions, they were reduced to the necessity of living upon fish and very lean game, and finally upon dogs' flesh. They returned to England with the next vessel, and gave up the colony.

9. A strange story used to be told of these settlers by one of the Indian tribes residing on the Kennebec; but it does not comport very well with other accounts of their pacific disposition. However, as it is quite possible the deed described may have been perpetrated by some white people, it may be well to relate it. If true, we cannot wonder at the subsequent hatred and revenge of the savages.

10. The English, it is said, employed the Indians, on a certain occasion, to draw one of their cannons into the fort, by taking hold, unitedly, of a long rope fastened to it. As soon as they were formed in a straight line, delighted with the sport, the cannon was discharged, and a great part of the Indians were killed or wounded.

11. In 1614, Captain John Smith, the South Virginia adventurer, sailed from England, with two ships, on a voyage of discovery, to the coasts of North Virginia. Arriving at Monhegan Island, in Maine, he built several boats, such as would better answer his purposes than larger vessels; and, in one of these boats, with eight men, he traversed the whole coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod, and made many discoveries.

12. On his return to England, he prepared a map of the coast from Maine to Long Island Sound, most of which he had seen and observed during his journey. To many of the capes, points, islands, etc.,

6. What of the settlement in Maine? 7. The Penobscot Indians? 8. What of the solony? 9, 10. What strange story is told by the Indians? 11. What of Captain Smith in 1614? 12. What did Smith do on his return?

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.

. 55

of this region, he gave the names they now bear. The map was presented to the king's son, afterward Charles I., who named the country, in general, NEW ENGLAND.

13. Captain Smith, on leaving the coast, had left one of his vessels to procure a cargo of fish for the Spanish market. But Hunt, the commander, decoyed on board twenty-seven Indians, whom he carried away and sold for slaves. This act, so well calculated to excite the enmity of the natives, no doubt, afterward caused the death of thousands of unoffending men, women, and children.

CHAPTER XXI.

The Puritans, the first Settlers of New England.

1. THE first permanent settlement in New England was made in 1620,

by a company of

called

men, women, and
children,
Puritans. They
were a pious and
excellent people,
but somewhat pe-
culiar in their re-
ligious opinions
and habits.

2. The Puritans were desirous of what they deemed a purer wor ship of God than that of the national church of

England, and on this account had separated themselves from that church, and thus became exposed to a religious persecution, which, in 1607, drove them, with their pastor, to Amsterdam, in Holland.

3. This pastor was the Rev. John Robinson. Under his pious care they remained a year in Amsterdam, whence they found it desirable to remove to Leyden [li'-den]. The flames of persecution continuing to

13. What of Hunt, the commander of one of the vessels?

CHAP. XXI.-1. What of the Puritans? 2. Why did some of them go to Amsterdam? 8. Their pastor? Where did they remove to?