CHAPTER II 



UNDER THE DUTCH 



IN the years 1497 and 1498, the two Venetians, John and 

 Sebastian Cabot, father and son, visited the shores of 

 North America by authority of the King of England, 

 Henry VII. It was during the voyage of Sebastian in 1498, 

 that the explorations were carried as far south as the Capes 

 of the Chesapeake. It is almost certain that he entered the 

 lower bay of New York harbor. In the year 1524, Verrazano, 

 a Florentine under the French flag, explored the coast of North 

 America between thirty and fifty degrees north latitude and 

 took possession of it in the name of the French king. He un- 

 doubtedly entered the bay of New York. In the following 

 year, 1525, Estevan Gomez, a Portuguese navigator under 

 the Spanish flag, also entered the estuary of the Hudson, which 

 he named Rio San Antonio. 



In 1609, Henry Hudson sailed from Holland under the 

 auspices of the United Netherlands Trading Company; and 

 on the third of September entered the harbor of New York. 

 He reached the site of Albany, as far as the river was navigable, 

 and then began his return voyage down the river, leaving it 

 forever on the third of October. In his report to the Company 

 from Dartmouth, England, where he wintered on his return 

 to Europe, he named the river Mauritius, in honor of Prince 

 Maurice of Orange. 



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