CHAPTER   II.

THE   DISCOVERY  AND   SETTLEMENT   OP   MANHATTAN   ISLAND.

After the discovery of the Western Continent, by Chris
topher Columbus, the attention of Europe seemed to be
turned toward the southern part of the new world, where
the gold was found emblazoning the garments of the abo¬
riginal inhabitants, holding a glittering temptation to the
enterprise of adventurous spirits. Thus the cold regions
of the north lay unvisited for more than a hundred years
by any other than passing vessels, sailing along the coast,
and making formal discoveries of its shores, to be mapped
as the property of their royal employers.

One of these vessels of discovery, commanded by Yerre-
zano, in the service of the French, is believed to have
entered the south bay of New York, in the year 1525, and
thus may have had a distant glimpse of the island which
is the subject of our history; but by some it is doubted
if his description of the harbor, which is not very explicit,
is applicable to the bay of New York.

The first discovery has been generally ascribed to Henry
Hudson, an Englishman by birth, who, in the year 1609,
being then in the service of the Dutch, sailed westward
from the shores of Europe, in search of a north-west pas¬
sage to the East Indies. The vessel, commanded by Hudson,
was a small yacht, called the " Half Moon," manned by