French expedition against the Senecas, 369 David Williams captor of Andre,
Long Island Indians,

Conference at Unadilla, between Gen.
Herkimer and Brandt,

Indian sacrifice at Rochester,

371 Execution of a deserter,

Indian chiefs Cornplanter and Big Kettle, 375 Rachel Baker,
First settlers of Greene,

Page

383

383

Blowing up of the Steam Frigate Fulton, 385

373 Murder of Robert Barber,

374 Capture of the Amistad,

389

390

392

12

376 Abduction of Morgan,

Ancient Dutch Church, Sleepy Hollow, 381 Towns recently organized,
Deception on Sir James Yeo,

382

NEW YORK.

OUTLINE HISTORY.

THERE is reason to believe that the first Europeans who landed on the soil of New York, were the crew of a French vessel under the command of John de Verrazzano, a Florentine, in the service of Francis I., of France. “Verrazzano had been for some time intrusted with the command of four ships, in cruising against the Spaniards. These vessels being separated in a storm, the commander resolved with one of them, the Dauphin, to undertake a voyage for the purpose of discovering new countries." About the middle of March, 1524, he arrived on the American coast near Wilmington, N. C. From this point he proceeded as far south as Georgia. He then turned and proceeded northward, until he came to about the latitude of 41° north, where he entered a harbor, which, from his description, is believed to be that of New York.*

It appears from Verrazzano's account, that he stayed in the harbor about fifteen days. It seems he had much intercourse with the natives of the country. "They came on board his ship frequently, and without reserve; traded with him freely for such articles as he needed, and generally attended his men, in greater or smaller numbers, whenever they went on shore." He sailed from the harbor on the 5th of May, and proceeded as far north as the coast of Labrador; from thence he sailed for France, where he arrived in July. In a letter to the king, he gave an account of his voyage, giving the name of New France to the country he visited. As his voyage neither produced nor promised any addition to the revenues of France, his discoveries were not pursued, and even the memory of it was almost forgotten. It is supposed that Verrazzano, in a subsequent voyage, was cut to pieces and devoured by the savages.

In 1607, a London company fitted out a ship under the command of Henry Hudson, for the purpose of discovering a northwestern passage to the East Indies. This voyage, and another the next year

* An account of this voyage, given in a letter to the French king, is found in Richard akluyt's Voyages, Navigations, &c., published in 1600, in London, in three vols. folio. is ublished in vol. i. of the Coll. of the New York Hist. Soc.

for the same purpose, both proving unsuccessful, the company suspended their patronage. Hudson then went to Holland, and entered into the service of the celebrated Dutch East India Company. This company fitted out a small ship, named Half Moon, under the command of Hudson, with a crew it is said of twenty men, Dutch and English. Hudson left Amsterdam on the 4th, the Texel on the 6th of April, and arrived on the American coast on the 18th of July, 1609, near Portland, in the state of Maine.

Pursuing his course southward, Hudson came to Cape Cod. where he landed, about the 3d of August. After this, he sailed southward and westward for one-and-twenty days, "making remarks on the soundings and currents," until he came to the entrance of Chesapeak Bay, about the 24th of August. From this point, he returned northward along the coast, and on the 28th discovered Delaware Bay During the six following days, Hudson pursued his northerly course, until, on the 3d of September, 1609, he anchored within Sandy Hook. "The next day, the 4th of September, he sent a boat on shore for the purpose of fishing. The tradition is that his men first landed on Coney Island, which lies near to Long Island, and now makes a part of Kings county. On the same day the natives came on board his ship, as she lay at anchor, conducting themselves with great apparent friendliness, and discovering a strong disposition to barter the produce of their country for knives, beads, clothes, and other articles of a similar kind. The next day, the 5th of September, Hudson again sent his boat on shore, for the purpose, as appears from the journal, of exploring and sounding the waters lying to the south, within Sandy Hook, and forming what is now called the Horse Shoe. Here the boat's crew landed and penetrated some distance into the woods, in what is now Monmouth county, in New Jersey. They were very well received by the natives, who presented them very kindly with what the journal calls 'green tobacco,' and also with dried currants; [these were probably whortleberries,] which are represented as having been found in great plenty, and of a very excellent quality.

6

"On the 6th of September, Hudson sent a boat manned with five hands to explore what appeared to be the mouth of a river, at the distance of about four leagues from the ship. This was no doubt the strait between Long and Staten islands, generally called the Narrows. Here, the writer of the journal observes, a good depth of water was found; and within, a large opening, and a narrow river to the west; in which it is evident he refers to what is now called the Kills, or the channel between Bergen Neck and Staten Island. In exploring the bay and the adjacent waters, the boat's crew spent the whole day. On their way in returning to the ship towards night, they were attacked by the natives, in two canoes; the one carrying fourteen men, and the other twelve. A skirmish ensued, in which one of Hudson's men, named John Colman, was killed by an arrow, which struck him in the throat, and two more were wounded. The next day the remains of Colman were interred on a point of land not far from the ship, which from that circumstance