East India Company, though in search of a different
object. It was subsequently called New Netherland by
our people, and very justly, as it was first discovered
and possessed by Netherlanders, and at their cost; so
that even at the present day, those natives of the
country who are so old as to recollect when the Dutch
ships first came here, declare that when they saw them,
they did not know what to make of them, and could not
comprehend whether they came down from Heaven, or were
of the Devil. Some among them, when the first one
arrived, even imagined it to be a fish, or some monster
of the sea, and accordingly a strange report of it spread
over the whole land. We have also heard the savages
frequently say, that they knew nothing of any other part
of the world, or any other people than their own, before
the arrival of the Netherlanders. For these reasons,
therefore, and on account of the similarity of climate,
situation and fertility, this place is rightly called New
Netherland. It is situated on the northerly coast of
America, in the latitude of 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42 degrees,
or thereabouts, coast-wise. It is bounded on the northeast
by New England, and on the southwest by Virginia. The
coast runs nearly southwest and northeast, and is washed by
the ocean. On the north is the river of Canada, a large
river running far into the interior. The northwest side is
still partially unknown.

The land is naturally fruitful, and capable of supporting
a large population, if it were judiciously allotted according
to location. The air is pleasant here, and more temperate