Page:History of the United States of America, Spencer, v1.djvu/69

 arrived safely at Dartmouth in England. The ship, after some eight months' delay, was allowed to continue its voyage to Holland, but Hudson was detained by a royal order, and soon after fitted out for a fourth voyage. From that voyage he never returned, but, set adrift in an open boat with his young son and eight others, he perished in the frozen regions of that Bay which still bears his name and reminds us of his fearful fate.

The Dutch East India Company claimed a right to the new lands discovered by their agent; and vessels were immediately despatched to open a trade with the natives. A few fortified trading houses were erected for this purpose on the island of Manhattan, the nucleus of the future city of New York. Argall, it is said, returning to Virginia from his attack on the French settlements, entered the harbor, and claimed the right of possession for England. Too weak to dispute his claim, the Dutch affected submission, but only till his vessels were out of sight. But this statement lacks confirmation, and is positively denied by the best authorities. The States-general had meanwhile granted a four years' monopoly to any enterprising traders, and an Amsterdam company sent out five ships. One of these adventurers, Adriaen Block, extended the sphere of discovery by way for there was no pursuer ; and there were none but of the East River, ran through the formidable "Hellegat," or Hell Gate, and traced the shores of Long Island and the coasts of Connecticut as far as Cape Cod. A few years later, Captain Thomas Dermer was the first Englishman who visited the Dutch at Manhattan and sailed through Long Island Sound. A fort was erected on Manhattan Island, and another a few miles below Albany, more, however, as centres of traffic with the Indians, than with the view of permanent colonization. After a further duration of three years, during which they were first brought into contact with the Mohawks, the easternmost of the Iroquois or Five Nations, and succeeded in opening friendly relations with different tribes of Indians, the trading monopoly passed into the hands of the Dutch West India Company, who were endowed with the exclusive privilege of trafficking and colonizing on the coasts of Africa and America.

This wealthy and important corporation, combining military with commercial operations, was divided into five chambers, established in five of the principal Dutch cities. Its affairs were managed by a Board of Directors called the Assembly of Nineteen; and its attention was devoted more, especially to making reprisals on Spanish commerce, purchasing slaves, the conquest of Brazil, etc. New Netherland was committed to the charge of the