Page:History of Hudson County and of the Old Village of Bergen.djvu/15

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From the Mural by Howard Pyle, Hudson County Court House

tranquility of the vastly stretching sea meadows at its mouth, where flowed the rivers Hackensack and Passaic, the deep sound of the Kill von Kull, and many pleasant little streams that have been filled in long ago and are covered now by streets and towns.

They looked out from their New Amsterdam, and despite all ample Manhattan Island north of them, the western shore invited prettily. Its river mouths and undulating sea-grass plains and shining sleepy coves reminded them of home. Men who had come so far were not men to sit down and sink root in one little spot. The performances of Captains Hendrick Christæn and Adrien Blok are recommended earnestly to the attention of those who imagine that the Dutchman is a large body that moves slowly. Adrien Blok sailed from Holland in 1614. He arrived at Manhattan Island in 1614.