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."
Pleasant it is to reflect that by no very extended journey we may still discover in parts of the metropolitan area some woodland places, in which the same natural features exist, wherein we may find flourish-
INDIAN NOTES
INTRODUCTION
BOLTON - INDIAN PATHS IN THE GREAT METROPOLIS
LOWER MANHATTAN IN A30RIGINAL TI MES.
II. MANHATTAN, ITS PATHS AND SETTLEMENTS (Maps II, III, IV, V)
THE important Island of influence Manhattan of on the the interrelations of the tribal communities of the entire region is
evidenced by the paths which converged on it. These were undoubtedly developed by experience. The processes of trade, by which the products of the ocean were exchanged for those of the mountains, were probably the most potent influence in deciding the use of a given line of travel. Such barter would have extended over the whole year, since food and clothing were continuous necessities . Therefore the traffic could not always be conducted by the use of watercourses, and floating ice and storm made travel dangerous by the frail and sometimes clumsy canoe.