130 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



many tribes. " Hence/" as we are told by an old g'overnor, who 

 was somewhat of a wag, and flourished almost a century since, and 

 had paid a visit to the wits of Philadelphia, " hence arose the appella- 

 tion of man-hat-on, first given to the Indians, and afterwards to the 

 island" — a stupid joke! — but well enough for a governor. . . . 

 There is another founded on still more ancient and indisputable au- 

 thority, which I particularly delight in, seeing it is at once poetical, 

 melodious, and significant, and this is recorded in the before men- 

 tioned voyage of the great Hudson, written by Master Juet; who 

 clearly and correctly calls it Manna-hatta, that is to say, the island 

 of manna, or in other words, " a land flowing with milk and honey.'' 



The name given by Juet on returning from the voyage up the 

 river, that of Manna-hata, is the earliest on record, furnishing a 

 hint for Irving's fancy. The other pun came from a familiar cus- 

 tom of Indian women, still existing. 



Min-na-han-onck, on or at the island, was a name for Blackwell's 

 island in 1637, from menahan, island, and uck, place. 



Min-ne-ais, Bedloe's island, was defined lesser island, by School- 

 craft. It might be from minneash, meaning either berries or nuts. 



Min-ne-wits island, below Hellgate and so called in 1663., may 

 have been of either Dutch or Indian origin. Tooker thought it 

 the former. In the latter case it has been defined pine island. 



Mus-coo-ta, nieadozv or grass land, was a meadow at the north 

 end of the island, near Kingsbridge. In 1638 it was called Mus- 

 cota, a flat near Harlem. The term was usually applied to wet 

 land. 



Nagh-tongk, sandy place, is the name given to Corlaer's Hook 

 by Benson and Schoolcraft. French wrote it Nechtank. Nagunt 

 means a sandy place. 



O-ci-toc was Schoolcraft's name for a hight of land near Niblo's. 



Pag-ganck was a name for Governor's island in 1637. The Dutch 

 called it Nut island, and the name may be derived from pohk, to 

 break open, and the terminal locative making a plo^ce for cracking 

 nuts. 



Pen-a-bick was Schoolcraft's name for Washington Heights, de- 

 rived from abic, a rock. This probably originated with him. 



Rech-ta-uck was a name for Corlaer's Hook, which Ruttenber 

 derived from reckwa, sand, making the meaning the same as that 

 of another name. 



