on its way northward as it was developed into the earliest roadway through the island, the old road which was existing when a cartway was ordered to be opened in 1670 to connect New Amsterdam with the township of New Haerlem. There is no historical record of this old road having been an Indian path, but there can be little doubt that this was the case, as it led to the junction of two known native paths at McGown's pass, and its crooked course was evidently directed by ancient physical conditions.

The middle part of the Island of Manhattan does not seem to have been occupied to any great extent by the natives, a condition which may be explained by the rugged nature of that territory, and by its restricted area, which probably limited the wild animal life within it. But the shores of the island, particularly on the sheltered east side, must have been dotted with fishing camps at certain seasons.

The absence of village life on the west side was doubtless due to its physical characteristics, which lent themselves but poorly to native occupancy. It was rocky

AND MONOGRAPHS

INDIAN PATHS

throughout, with a scanty deposit of soil, the hollows insufficiently drained, and therefore boggy. In the difficulties of maintaining vegetation in Central Park we have an illustration of its meager character, its thin soil, its irregular surface, its infertility and scanty sustenance. But the main objection, from an Indian point of view, lay in the exposure of the west side of the island to the bitter wintry winds. In the course of explorations of native sites in and around the island, it has been very definitely determined that the natives preferred the eastern side of hills, or a southern exposure, and the scattered places where aboriginal debris has been found along the west shore of Manhattan indicate their use as summer fishing camps rather than as residential sites.