PETER STUYVESANT, THE LAST DUTCH GOVERNOR OF NEW AMSTERDAM by JOHN S. C. ABBOTT Illustrated PREFACE It is impossible to understand the very remarkable character and career of Peter Stuyvesant, the last, and by far the most illustrious, of the Dutch governors of New Amsterdam, without an acquaintance with the early history of the Dutch colonies upon the Hudson and the Delaware. The Antiquarian may desire to look more fully into the details of the early history of New York. But this brief, yet comprehensive narrative, will probably give most of the information upon that subject, which the busy, general reader can desire. In this series of "_The Pioneers and Patriots of America_," the reader will find, in the "Life of De Soto," a minute description of the extreme south and its inhabitants, when the Mississippi rolled its flood through forests which the foot of the white man had never penetrated. "Daniel Boone" conducts us to the beautiful streams and hunting grounds of Kentucky, when the Indian was the sole possessor of those sublime solitudes. In the "Life of Miles Standish, the Puritan Captain," we are made familiar with that most wonderful of all modern stories, the settlement of New England. "Peter Stuyvesant" leads us to the Hudson, from the time when its majestic waters were disturbed only by the arrowy flight of the birch canoe, till European colonization had laid there the foundations of one of the most flourishing cities on this globe. In these Histories the writer has spared no labor in gathering all the information in his power, respecting those Olden Times, now passing so rapidly into oblivion. JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. DISCOVERY OF THE HUDSON RIVER. 13 The Discovery of America. Colonies. The Bay of New York. Description of the Bay. Voyage of Sir Henry Hudson. Discovery of the Delaware. The Natives. The Boat Attacked. Ascending the Hudson. Escape of the Prisoners. The Chiefs Intoxicated. The Return. The Village at Castleton. The Theft and its Punishment. The Return to England. CHAPTER II. THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY. 33 Value of the Territory Discovered. Fate of Hudson. The Conspiracy. Aspect of Manhattan Island. The Trail which has Widened into Broadway. The Opening Commerce. The Fur Trade. Visit of the English Man of War. Exploring the Sound. Commercial Enterprise Receives a New Stimulus. Erection of Forts. Character of the Fur Trade. CHAPTER III. THE COMMENCEMENT OF COLONIZATION. 54 The Puritans. Memorial to the States-General. Disagreement of the English and the Dutch. Colony on the Delaware. Purchase Of Manhattan. The First Settlement. An Indian Robbed and Murdered. Description of the Island. Diplomatic Intercourse. Testimony of De Rassieres. The Patroons. The Disaster at Swaanendael. CHAPTER IV.