Henry Hudson. He first discovered it on the
south, and partially explored Delaware Bay; then he sailed up the coast
and entered New York Bay, and sailed some distance up the river which
now bears his name.

Hudson did more for New Jersey than any of the other discoverers, for
his men were the first Europeans who ever set foot upon its soil. Some
of them landed in the vicinity of Bergen Point, and were met in a
friendly way by a great many of the original inhabitants. But the fact
that he found here possessors of the soil made no difference to Hudson:
he claimed the country for the Dutch. Five years afterwards, that nation
made a settlement at New York, and claiming the whole of the surrounding
country, including New Jersey, gave it the name of New Netherland.

Thus was New Jersey discovered on the north; and after the efforts of
four nations,--the Indians first, the English under Cabot, the French,
and the Dutch (for Hudson was now in the service of that nation),--it
may be said to have been entirely discovered.

THE STORY OF A PEACEMAKER.

After the outside boundaries of New Jersey had been pretty thoroughly
discovered, it was quite natural that some nations who laid claim to the
State should desire to find out something in regard to its interior, and
make settlements upon its soil.

This was not done by the English, who had made the first claim to the
land, but by the Dutch. In the early part of the seventeenth century,
the West India Company of Holland sent out a ship containing the
foundation for a little colony,--men, provisions, and all things
necessary. They sailed into Delaware Bay; and the commander, Cornelius
Jacobsen Mey, gave his name to Cape May. The expedition went up the
Delaware River till they reached Timber Creek, probably not much more
than ten miles from the spot where Philadelphia now stands. There they
settled, and built a fort, which they called Fort Nassau. But this was
not looked upon with favor by the Indians, and it was not long before
the whole colony was destroyed.

This unfortunate beginning of the white settlement of New Jersey did not
deter the Dutch, who are a persevering and dogged people. About twelve
years later, another Dutch commander, De Vries, sailed up the Delaware
River, or, as the Dutch called it, the South River; his main object
being to catch whales, very different from the Delaware fisheries of the
present day. He set up a little colony on shore; but it appear