A study of the topography of known Indian paths affords very clear indication of the reasons governing the selection of their route. Where the land lay reasonably level, the course was fairly direct, swerving only around obstacles such as rocky projections, and probably diverging to avoid heavy growths and fallen timber. The main objective being some other settlement or some neighboring native haunt, the route was directed toward the easiest crossing of streams, either at a wading place or some shallow point in a watercourse where

AND MONOGRAPHS

INTRODUCTION

32 INDIAN PATHS the future heart of the Great Metropolis of the Western hemisphere. James Riker thus imagines the scenery through which that ancient thoroughfare took its way:

"Quitting the drowsy little town of New Amsterdam, its thatched roofs and its fortress with low turf wall receding from view, we follow the Indian trail leading to Wickguaskeek or 'the birch bark country ,' which lies beyond the quiet waters of the Papparinamin, as that part of the Spuyten Duyvil was called, where it turns the extreme northerly end of Manhattan. Spring is in her loveliest attire. Around and along our pathway she displays in rich profusion her grandest works. Plains scarce trodden by human kind save by the red man are clothed in all the beauty of their pristine verdure, while the rock-capped hills and the resonant forest echo back and forth the sounds of wild and savage life. Plumed songsters fill the woods and enliven our journey with their music. Perchance the shrill cry of the eagle, or the plaintive note of the cuckoo, or the busy hammer of the woodpecker in turn arrests our attention."