Whether they would be permitted in the "said lands to hunt all game whether furred or " feathered, to fish in the sea and the rivers, to cut "heavy timber, as well for ship building as for com- " merce, at their own will ; in a word, whether they "could make use of all things either above or beneath "the ground, at their own pleasure and will, the royal "rights reserved; and whether they could dispose of " all things in trade with such persons as may be per- "raitted them.

"Which provisions would extend only to said "families and those belonging to them, without ad- " mitting those who might come afterwards to the said "territory to avail themselves of the same, except so " far as they might of their own power, grant this to " them, and not beyond, unless his said Majesty should "make a new grant to them."

Such were the clear, undeniable wishes and desires, expressed in their own words, by those men who began the actual settlement of the region now known as New York, and which they did carry out, a little modified, by the Dutch system and rule.

The West India Company by its charter was bound to take measures for the increase of the population of its new Province, and the development of its agricultural resources. It found this a difficult duty to perform, mainly in consequence of two causes. The first was, the extreme profit of the fur trade which absorbed the general attention. The second was, that the farmers and laborers of Holland knew that they could do well enough at home. This fact is thus state<l in a report of the Assembly of XIX. to the States General in 1629, referring to the effect of a proposed truce with Spain, upon the interests of New Netherland.