Having the interest of the fur trade more in view than the welfare of the colonists, the members of the company were, unfortunately, dispersed, some going to the South, or Delaware River, and others to Castle Island, near Albany, where Fort Nassau was soon afterward built. May had been appointed Director. The settlers who went to the South River soon returned. Other Walloons came from Holland. In December, 1625, Peter Minuit, himself a Walloon, was appointed Director-General, and Manhattan Island and the adjacent lands soon contained an energetic colony of about three hundred souls.

It is probable that the settlers soon tilled the lands upon the northern shores of the Harlem River, as well as the upper portions of Manhattan Island. In the year 1628, Jonas Michaelius, a clergyman of the Reformed Church, came to New Amsterdam and held religious services in both the Dutch and French languages. He wrote of the settlers and their church attendance : -- " Some of them live far away and could not come on account of the heavy rains and storms." This, doubtless, referred to those who lived along the Harlem, as well as those from across the East River. Unfortunately, no records of the colony, for the first fifteen years after its establishment, have been pre-

THE DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT.

served, so that we are forced to draw inferences from sucli collateral statements.

Minuit showed energy and vigor in his administration. To assist him, a council was appointed, with legislative and judicial powers. There was also u secretary of the province and a sheriff. It was soon seen that the rights of the Indians must be respected, as being superior to any European right of discovery and occupation. Minuit, therefore, very justly opened negotiations with them for the purchase of Manhattan Island, and they relinquished their claims thereto " for the value of sixty guilders," which was equivalent to about twenty-four dollars of our money In the light of subsequent events this sum seems most absurdly insignificant, but, under the circumstances, the amount was reasonable and the transaction honorable.