So far as can be discovered, the Skraelling was the first proprietor, and by the Skraelling is meant what is called the “Glacial Man,” who appeared on this coast when the great ice-sheet that once covered the highlands of America was melting and sliding into the sea. The evidences of the so-called glacial man are found at the present time in the gravels of the Trenton River, of New Jersey, consisting of stone implements that seem to have been lost while engaged in hunting and fishing. With the disappearance of the ice and the moderation of the climate, these men of the ice-period spread along the Atlantic coast from Labrador to Florida, their descendants being the modern Eskimo and Greenlander, whose ancestors were driven northward by the red man when he conquered the country. The immediate region of the Hudson has thus far afforded none of the stone implements that abound at Trenton yet it may be regarded as beyond question that the first inhabitant of New York was a glacial man, ruder than the rudest red savage, and in appearance resembling the present Eskimo. [Illustration: VERRAZANO.] We turn, however, to note what, in this immediate connection, may be styled the course of maritime enterprise, the first voyage of interest in connection with our subject being the voyage said to have been made by Sebastian Cabot along the coast from Newfoundland in 1515. Upon this initial voyage many Englishmen based their claim, but in the present state of knowledge the expedition itself is considered debatable by some. That John Sebastian Cabot saw the continent in 1498, or one year before Columbus saw South America, can hardly be doubted; but convincing testimony is required respecting the alleged voyage down this part of the coast in 1515. If we accept the voyage as a fact, this expedition, whose objective point was Newfoundland, may be regarded as the first known English expedition to these shores.