s [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

a land as one can tread upon." Soon he began to sail up the stream, wondering what he should see and whether
he should come out on an ocean which would take him to Asia.
[Illustration: Map showing the Great River.]
56. Hudson's voyage on the "Great River"; his feast with the Indians.--At first he drifted along, carried by the
tide, under the shadow of a great natural wall of rock. That wall, which we now call the Palisades,[2] is from
four hundred to six hundred feet high; it extends for nearly twenty miles along the western shore of the river.
[Illustration: THE PALISADES.]
Then, some distance further up, Captain Hudson came to a place where the river breaks through great
forest-covered hills, called the Highlands. At the end of the fifth day he came to a point on the eastern bank
above the Highlands, where the city of Hudson now stands. Here an old Indian chief invited him to go ashore.
Hudson had found the Indians, as he says, "very loving," so he thought he would accept the invitation. The
savages made a great feast for the captain. They gave him not only roast pigeons, but also a roast dog, which
they cooked specially for him: they wanted he should have the very best.
These Indians had never seen a white man before. They thought that the English captain, in his bright scarlet
coat trimmed with gold lace, had come down from the sky to visit them. What puzzled them, however, was
that he had such a pale face instead of having a red one like themselves.
At the end of the feast Hudson rose to go, but the Indians begged him to stay all night. Then one of them got
up, gathered all the arrows, broke them to pieces, and threw them into the fire, in order to show the captain
that he need not be afraid to stop with them.
[Footnote 2: Palisades: this name is given to the wall of rock on the Hudson, because, when seen near by, it
somewhat resembles a palisade, or high fence made of stakes or posts set close together, upright in the
ground.]
57. Captain Hudson reaches the end of his voyage and turns back; trouble with the Indians.--But Captain
Hudson made up his mind that he must now go on with his voyage. He went back to his ship and kept on up
the river until he had reached a point about a hundred and fifty miles from its mouth. Here the city of Albany
now stands. He found that the water was growing shallow, and he feared that if the _Half Moon_ went further
she would get aground. It was clear to him, too, that wherever the river might lead, he was not likely to find it
a short road to China.
On the way down stream a thievish Indian, who had come out in a canoe, managed to steal something from
the ship. One of the crew chanced to see the Indian as he was slyly slipping off, and picking up a gun he fired
and killed him. After that Hudson's men had several fights with the Indians.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN HUDSON ON THE GREAT RIVER.]
The Beginner's American History 19
58. Hudson returns to Europe; the "Great River" is called by his name; his death.--Early in October the
captain set sail for Europe. Ever since that time the beautiful river which he explored has been called the
Hudson in his honor.
The next year Captain Hudson made another voyage, and entered that immense bay in the northern part of
America which we now know as Hudson Bay. There he got into trouble with his men. Some of them seized
him and set him adrift with a few others in an open boat. Nothing more was ever heard of the brave English
sailor. The bay which bears his name is probably his grave.
59. The Dutch take possession of the land on the Hudson and call it New Netherland; how New Netherland
became New York.--As soon as the Dutch in Holland heard that Captain Hudson had found a country where
the Indians had plenty of rich furs to sell, they sent out people to trade with them. Holland is sometimes called
the Netherlands; that is, the Low Lands. When the Dutch took possession of the country on the Hudson
(1614), they gave it the name of New Netherland,[3] for the same reason that the English called one part of
their possessions in America New England. In the course of a few years the Dutch built (1615) a fort and
some log cabins on the lower end of Manhattan Island. After a time they named this little settlement New
Amsterdam, in remembrance of the port of Amsterdam in Holland from which Hudson sailed.
After the Dutch had held the country of New Netherland about fifty years, the English (1664) seized it. They
changed its name to New York, in honor of the Duke of York, who was brother to the king. The English also
changed the name of New Amsterdam to that of New York City.
[Footnote 3: New Netherland: this is often incorrectly printed New Netherlands.]
60. The New York "Sons of Liberty" in the Revolution; what Henry Hudson would say of the city
now.--More than a hundred years after this the young men of New York, the "Sons of Liberty," as they called
themselves, made ready with the "Sons of Liberty" in other states to do their full part, under the lead of
General Washington, in the great war of the Revolution,--that war by which we gained our freedom from the
rule of the king of England, and became the United States of America.
The silent harbor where Henry Hudson saw a few Indian canoes is now one of the busiest seaports in the
world. The great statue of Liberty stands at its entrance.[4] To it a fleet of ships and steamers is constantly
coming from all parts of the globe; from it another fleet is constantly going. If Captain Hudson could see the
river which bears his name, and Manhattan Island now covered with miles of buildings which make the
largest and wealthiest city in America, he would say: There is no need of my looking any further for the riches [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]