THE TOWN OF YONKERS. 655 



This beautiful stream was long celebrated for its trout. Well may the 

 lover of the sport exclaim with Cotton, 



" None so bright, 

 So pleasant to the taste, none to the sight: 

 None yield the angler such delight." 



This fish begins to bite in March or April. Very large sized trout have 

 been caught here about the middle of March, and they continue till the 

 months of July and August. They lie, generally, under the shelter of 

 stumps, bridges and stones. 



The bait generally used in catching this fish, is the common earth 

 worm. By connoisseurs, the artificial fly is preferred. 



The north-eastern part of this township is occupied by a high ridge of 

 hills, called the Tuckahoe Hills. This portion of the town, originally 

 formed a part of that large tract of land between the Saw Mill and the 

 Bronx rivers, which was ceded by the Indian chiefs — Sepham and others — 

 to Frederick Phillipse, June 5, 1684. Tradition says, that anciently, an 

 Indian Sachem of that name had his residence on one of these hills, and 

 exercised all authority among the tribes of the neighboring valleys. 



The name Tuckahoe, means in the Algonquin, "The Bread;" literal- 

 ly, Tuckah (bread) the o, oe, or ong, being merely an objective sign re- 

 lating to the plant itself. 



The celebrated Captain Smith, in his travels and adventures, tells us, 

 " That the chief root the Indians of Virginia have for food, is called 

 Tockawhoughe. It groweth like flagge in marshes. In one day a sav- 

 age will gather sufficient for a weeke. These roots are much of the 

 greatness and taste of potatoes. They are toasted, a great many of 

 them, with oke leaves and ferns, and then cover all with earth in the 

 manner of a cole pit ; over it on each side, they continue a great fire 

 twenty-four hours before they dare eat it. Raw it is no better than poyson ; 

 and being roasted — except it be tender, and the heat abated, or sliced 

 and dryed in the sunne mixed with sorrel and greens, or such like — it 

 will prickle and torment the throat, extraordinary; and yet in summer, 

 they use this commonly for bread. "« 



R. Beverly, in his History of Virginia, published A. D. 1722, calls 

 it Tuckahoe fi 



" Respecting the frequent diet of the Indians in general," [says John 

 F. Watson, "we may say that besides their usual plantations of corn, 

 they often used wild roots ; of these they had tawho, [arum virginicum,] 



a Travels and Adventures of Capt. John Smith, p. 121.7. 

 b Beverly's Hist, of Virginia, p. 153. 



