In 1612 a memorable voyage was made to Hudson's River by Henry Christiansen and Adrian Block, two Hollanders, in a vessel which they owned jointly. They returned with a goodly cargo of furs, carrying with them to the home country two sons of Indian chiefs, by one of whom Christiansen, several years subsequently, was murdered on a Hudson River island. In 1613, with two vessels, the " Fortune " and the " Tiger," they came back. Christiansen, commanding the " Fortune," decided to pass the winter on Manhattan Island, and built several houses of branches and bark. Upon the spot where his little settlement stood (now 39 Broadway) the Macomb mansion, occupied by Washington for a time while President, was constructed; and the officers of the Netherlands- American Steamship Line are now located on the same site. Block's ship, the " Tiger," took fire and was completely destroyed while at her anchorage in the harbor. This great misfortune operated, however, only to stimulate the enterprise of the resourceful Dutchmen, who forthwith, in circumstances as unfavorable for such work as can well be conceived, proceeded to build another, which was named the " Onrust," or " Restless," a shallop of sixteen tons' burden, launched in the spring of 1611. With the " Restless " Block now entered upon an exploration almost as important as Hudson's own, and certainly far more dangerous. Steering it through the East River, he came suddenly into the fearful current of Hellgate, whose existence was previously unknown to Europeans, and which he navigated safely. Passing the mouth of the Harlem River, he thoroughly explored the Westchester coast along the Sound and emerged into that majestic body of land-locked water. To Block belongs the undivided honor of the