138                              history of
 

CHAPTER VI.
 

n
 

Containing an attempt at etymology'—and of the
founding of the great city of JSTew-Amsterdam..

The original name of the island wherein the
squadron of Communipaw was thus propitiously
thrown, is a matter of some dispute, and has alrea¬
dy undergone considerable vitiation—a melancho¬
ly proof of the instability of all sublunary things,
and the vanity of all our hopes of lasting fame;
for who can expect his name will live to poste¬
rity, when even the names of mighty islands are
thus soon lost in contradiction and uncertainty!

The name most current at the present day, and
which is likewise countenanced by the great his¬
torian Vander Donck, is Manhattan; which is said
to have originated in a custom among the squaws,
in the early settlement, of wearing men's hats, as
is still done among many tribes. " Hence," as we
are told by an old governor who was somewhat of
a wag, and flourished almost a century since, and
had paid a visit to the wits of Philadelphia " Hence
arose the appellation of man-hat-on, first given to
the Indians, and afterwards to the island"—a stu¬
pid joke!—but well enough for a governor.