in one minute the veffel was out of fight of land, and master Juet was fain to wait until the winds dispersed this impenetrable fog. It was indeed—as my great great grandfather used to fay-though in truth I never heard him, for he died, as might be expected, before I was born." It was indeed a spot on which the eye might have revelled for ever, in ever new and never ending beauties." The island of Manna-hata spread wide before them, like some sweet vifion of fancy, or fome fair creation of industrious magic. Its hills of smiling green fwelled gently one above another, crowned with lofty trees of luxuriant growth; fome pointing their tapering foliage towards the clouds, which were gloriously tranfparent; and others loaded with a verdant bur then of clambering vines, bowing their branches tó the earth, that was covered with flowers. On the gentle declivities of the hills were scattered in gay profufion, the dog-wood, the famach, and the wild brier, whose scarlet berries and white bloffoms glowed brightly among the deep green of the surrounding foliage; and here and there a curling column of smoke rifing from the little glens that opened along the fhore, feemed to promise the weary voyagers a welcome at the hands of their fellow creatures. As they ftood gazing with entranced attention on the scene before them, a red man, crowned with feathers, isfued from one of these glens, and after contemplating in filent wonder the gallant fhip, as fhe fat like a state ly fwan fwimming on a filver lake, founded the warwhoop, and bounded into the woods, like a wild deer, to the utter astonishment of the phlegmatic Dutchmen, who had never heard fuch a noife, or witnessed such a caper in their whole lives. Of the tranfactions of our adventurers with the favages, and how the latter smoked copper pipes, and ate dried currants; how they brought great ftore of tobacco and oyfters; how they shot one of the ship's crew, and how he was buried, I fhall fay nothing, being that I confider them unimportant to my history. After tarrying a few days in the bay, in order to refresh themselves after their fea-faring, our voyagers weighed anchor, to explore a mighty river which emptied into the bay. This river, it is faid, was known among the favages by the name of the Shatemuck; though we are affured in an excellent little history published in 1674, by John Joffelyn, Gent. that it was called the Mohegan,* and master Richard Bloome, who wrote fome time afterwards, afferts the same-so that I very much incline in favour of the opinion of these two honeft gentlemen. Be this as it may, up this river did the adventurous Hendrick proceed, little doubting, but it would turn out to be the much looked for paffage to China ! The journal goes on to make mention of divers interviews between the crew and the natives, in the *This river is likewise laid down in Ogilvy's map as Manhattan -Noordt-Montaigue and Mauritius river. voyage up the river, but as they would be impertinent to my hiftory, I fhall país over them in filence, except the following dry joke, played off by the old commodore and his fchool-fellow Robert Juet; which does such vaft credit to their experimental philofophy, that I cannot refrain from inferting it. "Our master and his mate determined to try some of the chiefe men of the countrey, whether they had any treache rie in them. So they tooke them downe into the cabin, and gave them so much wine and acqua vitæ, that they were all merrie; and one of them had his wife with him, which fate fo modeftly, as any of our countrey women would do in a strange place. In the end, one of them was drunke, which had been aboarde of our fhip all the time that we had beene there, and that was ftrange to them, for they could not tell how to take it."* Having fatisfied himself by this ingenious experiment, that the natives were an honest, social race of jolly roysters, who had no objection to a drinking bout, and were very merry in their cups, the old commodore chuckled hugely to himself, and thrusting a double quid of tobacco in his cheek, directed mafter Juet to have it carefully recorded, for the fatisfaction of all the natural philofophers of the university of Leyden-which done, he proceeded on his voyage, with great self-complacency. After failing, however, Juet's Journ. Purch. Pil. above an hundred miles up the river, he found the watery world around him began to grow more shallow and confined, the current more rapid, and perfectly fresh-phenomena not uncommon in the ascent of rivers, but which puzzled the honeft Dutchmen prodigioufly. A confultation was therefore called, and having deliberated full fix hours, they were brought to a determination, by the fhip's running aground-whereupon they unanimously concluded, that there was but little chance of getting to China in this direction. A boat, however, was difpatched to explore higher up the river, which, on its return, confirmed the opinion-upon this the ship was warped off and put about, with great difficulty, being like most of her fex, exceedingly hard to govern; and the adventurous Hudson, according to the account of my great great grandfather, returned down the river -with a prodigious flea in his ear! Being fatisfied that there was little likelihood of getting to China, unless like the blind man, he returned from whence he fat out, and took a fresh start, he forthwith re-croffed the fea to Holland, where he was received with great welcome by the honourable Eaft-India company, who were very much rejoiced to fee him come back fafe-with their fhip; and at a large and respectable meeting of the first merchants and burgomasters of Amfterdam, it was unanimously determined, that as a munificent re |