





i<58 A M E^I C A. Chap. II. 



therewith. To thefe belong all their feveral Officers and Minifters for the Execu- 

 tion of all Matters proper to their feveral Places. 



The chief Town of this Province is call'd Gorgiana, which is Govern'd by a 

 Mayor, the reft are onely inconfiderable Villages or fcatter'd Houfes . but through 

 Encouragement given to Adventurers and Planters, it may prove in time a very 

 flouriftiing Place, and be replenish 'd with many fair Towns and Cities, it being a 

 Province both fruitful and pleafant. 



Sect. II. 



New Netherlands now call'd New York. 



THat Trad of Land formerly call'd The 2{ey> Ts[etherland, doth contain all 

 that Land which lieth in the North parts of America, betwixt TS[ew England 

 and Mary-Land 5 the length of which Northward into the Countrey, as it 

 hath not been fully difcover'd, fo it is not certainly known : The breadth of it is 

 about two hundred Miles. The principal Rivers within this Traft, are Hudfons~ 

 River, <I{aritan-K\xev, Delay>are-!Bay*RiYCT. The chief Iflands are the Manhatans- 

 Ifland, Long Jfland, and Statoi-Ifland. 



The firft which difcover'd this Countrey was Henry Hud/on, who being hir'd by 

 the Eajldndia Company to feek a PaiTage in the Northern Jmerica to China, fct Sail 

 Anno 1 600. in the Half -Moon Frigat ; coming before Terre-neuff, he flood about to- 

 wards the South-Weft, where Sailing up a great River, he found two Men Clad in 

 in %uffe\os Skins ; and from thence arriv'd fafe at Amflerdam. 



2^ew T*{etherland thus difcover'd, invited many Merchants to fettle a firm Plan- 

 tation there ; to which purpofc they obtain'd Letters Patents fh 1614. granted 

 them by the States in the Hague, That they might onely Traffick to 2>{ew Nethv 

 land- whereupon they earneftly profecuting the Defign, fent out Adrian Slock and 

 Godyn, who difcover'd feveral Coafts, Ifles, Havens, and Rivers. 



The Countrey, as they faid, being then void, was therefore free for any body 

 that would take poffeflion of it : Notwithstanding which pretence, they were 

 fcarcc warm in their Quarters, when Sir Samuel jirgal, Governor of Virginia, having 

 firft fpoil'd the French in Accadie, as we faid, difputed the Poffeflion with thefe alfo. 

 And although they pleaded Hudfons Right (who by Coramiflion from King James, 

 and upon an English Account, had lately difcover'd thofe Parts) and pretended they 

 had not onely bought all his Cards and Maps of the Countrey, but all his Intereft 

 and Right alfo, and had fully contented him for all his Pains and Charges in the 

 Difcovery . yet the faid Hud/on being an Englishman, and acfting all that he did 

 by Commiilion from the King of England, upon Debate it was concluded, That the 

 Land could not be alienated after Difcovery without the King o{ England's confent, 

 efpecially it being but a part of the Province of Virginia, already poffefs'd by the 

 Subjects of England : So that they were fore'd to wave that Title, and the Dutch Go- 

 vernor fubmitted his Plantation to His Majefty of England, and to the Governor of 

 Virginia, for and under him : Upon which Terms for a good while they held it. 

 Afterwards, upon confidence,it feems, of a new Governor fent from Amflerdam } thcy 

 not onely fail'd to pay the promis'd Contribution and Tribute, but fell to fortifie 

 themfelves, and to entitle the Merchants of Amflerdam to an abfolute Propriety and 

 Dominion of the Country, independent of any other ; buildingTowns, as NeTt>Am» 

 fierdam^ raifing Forts, zsOrange Fort, near the Branch of the Nordt ^er, which they 

 call Hell- Gate. Complaint whereof being made to King Charles, and by his Am* 

 < baflador 





