Pe from the days of Hendrik Hud- son’s venture-seeking voyage ; through the occupation of the {[- various Dutch governors; the || ge a4k rule of Great Britain; the sec- ond tenure of the Dutch; again to revert to English con- |k trol; and, finally, the era of |feg American independence, under which the present city of New York has thriven and advanced. The island of Manhattan was, at this time, a mass of wood- crowned hills and grassy valleys, extending northward from the bay through a gently rolling region of marsh and glade, and peopled by Indians who, although savages, were supposed to be of a superior class to the average CTR Ry 3 Se z= Ss i