HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
 

CHAPTEE  I.

THE   ABORIGINAL   INHABITANTS   OF   THIS   ISLAND   AND   OF    THE    ADJACENT
COUNTRY.

The character of the Indians who occupied this country
previous to the settlement of Europeans, will be regarded,
in future times, as one of the most interesting topics con¬
nected with its history. Their appearance, customs and
manners were so far distinct from those of other nations
known to the civilized world, and their individual charac¬
ter had so little in common with the more restrained and
law-abiding European, that they were, in the first stages
of their acquaintance with the whites, classed by the latter
among those wild and lawless races known as savages,
who, it was supposed, had few, if any, of the affections
and higher emotions of humanity, but rather were bound,
by some mysterious link, to the lower and baser passions
of the animal creation. Later experience, however, has
shown, that under the advantages of education and moral
culture, the American Indian is capable of high attainments