It has been interpreted in various ways, that most frequently quoted appearing in Spofiford's Gazetteer : **Frtom Matai, a mag-ician. and Wian, a skin ; freely rendered, 'Place of good furs,' " which never could have been the meaning ; nor does the name refer to mountains to which it has been extended. Wm. R. Gerard writes : "Matdivan, an impersonal Algonquian verb, meaning, 'It debouches 'into,' i. e. 'a creek or river into another body of water,' substantially, 'a confluence.' " This rendering is confirmed by Albert S. Gatschet, of the Bureau of Ethnology, who writes: "Mr. Gerard is certainly right when he explains the radix inat -- mata -- by confluence, junction, debouching, and forming verbs as well as roots and nouns." -A'wan, -ivan -nan, etc., is an impersonal verb termination ; it appears only in connection with impersonal verbs. (See Waronawanka. ) Matteawan is met in several forms -- Matawa and Mattawan, Ontario, Canada ; Mattawan, Maine ; Matawan, Monmouth County, N. J. ; Mattawanna, Pa. ; Mattawoman, Maryland. Fishkill, the English name of the stream of which Matteawan is the estuary, is from Dutch Fischer's Kil. It was probably applied by the Dutch to the estuary from Vischer's Rak which the Dutch applied to a reach or sailing course on the Hudson at this point. De Laet wrote: "A place which our country-men call Vischer's Rack,' that is Fisherman's Bend." (See Woranecks.) On the earlier maps the stream, or its estuary, is named Vresch Kil, or "Fresh-