gated to an almost incalculable ex-
tent through the various transi-
tory periods unto the present day.
The discoverer of Manhattan
Island was undoubtedly Verra- ||
zano, a Florentine, who, under an.
the patronage of the French,
voyaged for the purpose of ex-
ploration and discovery through-
out the North Atlantic, and who,
in 1504, nearly one hundred and
twenty-five years before the
Dutch were finally ensconced as
proprietors, anchored his ship at
the “mouthe of an exceeding
greate streme of water,” landed,
and erected a wooden cross bear-
ing a metal plate inscribed with
the royal arms of France, and
took possession of the land in the jp

  
   
 
 

 
    
    

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