NicoUs, the new English Governor, a man of enterprise and tact, who paid much attention to developing the settlements and obtaining the good will of the Dutch, in 1666 granted a charter to the inhabitants of Harlem, which, among other things, provided for " a ferry to and from the main which I may redound to their particular benefit," and authorized them "at their charge to build one or more boats for that purpose fit for the transportation of men, horses and cattle, for which there will be such

0 N. Y. Col. Docs., xiii. 363, 392.

' 2 Bancroft, 69 {Little Brown's ed.).

8 Riker's " History of Harlem " is the source from which most of the information in the following pages is derived.

WESTCHESTER.

a certain allowance given as shall be adjudged reasonable." About this time it was found by the Harlem people that as there was a convenient fordingplace at Spuyten Duyvil, a good road should be made to Harlem and a good ferry established over the river; so, on January 3, 1667, at a meeting of the mayor and magistrates, it was determined that tlie Harlem people should make one-half the road from Harlem to the Manhattans and that Spuyten Duyvil " be stopped up "; that like care be taken for a suitable ordinary (tavern) for persons coming and going; and the mayor. Captain Delaval, promised the nails and the making of a scow, on condition that the ferryman should repay him when required to do so.