with as little thought as they hunted the wild animals or hooked the
fish. They held talks which were called "councils," and one Indian would
speak for hours, while the others listened in silence. And when they
determined upon any action, they carried it out, without a thought of
how many people were to be killed, or whether they were to be killed
themselves.

[Illustration: Earliest Picture of Manhattan.]




CHAPTER II

THE FIRST TRADERS on the ISLAND


For several years after the return of Hudson, Dutch merchants sent their
ships to the Island of Manhattan, and each ship returned to Holland
laden with costly furs which the Indians had traded for glass beads and
strips of gay cloth. The Indians cared a great deal more for glittering
glass and highly colored rags than they did for furs.

One trader above all others whose name should be remembered, was Adrian
Block. He came in a ship called the Tiger. This ship was anchored in the
bay close by what is now called the Battery, and directly in the course
that the ferry-boats take when they go to Staten Island.

[Illustration: Indians Trading for Furs.]