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
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HIS TORY
WESTCHESTER
COUNTY
discovery of Long Island Sound, which had never before been entered by a European mariner. Indeed, it was assumed up to that time that the coastline north of the eastern extremity of Long Island was continuous, and the separation of Long Island from New England is not indicated on any of the maps of the period. Block sailed through the Sound to Cape Cod, discovering the Connecticut River and the other
PART
OF BLOCK
S MAP.
conspicuous physical features. The name of Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island, commemorates this truly distinguished discoverer, and his momentous voyage. A highly interesting result of Block's achievement was a chart of the country, which he prepared and published, here reproduced in part. Although the outlines in certain respects, particularly in the case of Manhattan Island, are extremely crude, they are surprisingly faithful in the parts representing It will be observed that the general his individual resp< visibility.
DISCOVERY
PRELIMINARY
VIEW
trend of the Westchester coast on the Sound is traced almost exactly. Returning to Holland in the fall of 1614, with the " Fortune," having left the kt Restless " with Christiansen, Block at once became a beneficiary of an attractive commercial offer which had been proclaimed some months previously by the States-General, or central government, of the Netherlands.