ny, took the alarm, and presented a petition to James
I., remonstrating against such proceedings. The British government
promptly sent an ambassador to Holland to urge the States-General to
prohibit the departure of the fleet, and to forbid the establishment
of a Dutch colony in those regions. The diplomacy which ensued led to
no decisive results.

In the year 1623, the Dutch sent a ship, under captain May, and
established a small colony upon the eastern banks of the Delaware,
about fifty miles from its mouth. The settlement, which consisted of
about thirty families, was in the vicinity of the present town of
Gloucester. A fortress was erected, called Fort Nassau. This was the
first European settlement upon the Delaware, which stream was then
called Prince Hendrick's, or South River. Another fortified post,
called Fort Orange, was established upon the western banks of the
Hudson River about thirty-six miles from the island of Manhattan.

Very slowly the tide of emigration began to flow towards the Hudson. A
few families settled on Staten Island. Not pleased with their isolated
location, they soon removed to the northern shore of Long Island, and
reared their log cabins upon the banks of a beautiful bay, which they
called Wahle-Bocht, or "the Bay of the Foreigners." The name has since
been corrupted into Wallabout. The western extremity of Long Island
was then called Breukelen, which has since been Anglicised into
Brooklyn.

The government of these feeble communities was committed to a
Governor, called Director, and a Council of five men. One of the first
Governors was Peter Minuit, who was appointed in the year 1624. The
English still claimed the territory which the Dutch were so quietly
and efficiently settling. In the year 1626, the Dutch decided to make
a permanent settlement upon Manhattan island, which was then estimated
to contain about twenty-two thousand acres of land. The island was
purchased of the natives for twenty-four dollars. It was all that, at
that time, the savage wilderness was worth. In that year the export of
furs amounted to nineteen thousand dollars.

The colony soon numbered about two hundred persons. The village
consisted of thirty log houses, extending along the banks of the East
River. These cabins were one story high, with thatched roof, wooden
chimneys, and two rooms on the floor. Barrels, placed on an end,
furnished the tables. The chairs were logs of wood. Undoubtedly in
many of these