Keeping to the west side of Rahway river, it reached Springfield; thence it passed through the Short hills to Northfield and Livingston, where it crossed the Passaic into Morris county. Its course may be traced beyond that point by old roadways through Sussex county to the island of Minisink in Delaware river, which is situated halfway bebetween Hainesville and Milford.34 This is stated by Whitehead to have been the only native path or trail in upper New Jersey of which there is any definite record. Its importance is evident on examination of its course around the waters of the metropolitan area, as it afforded the desired access to the ocean without the necessity of passing over the mountains of the Ramapo, avoiding also the extensive swamps of the Passaic and the Hackensack. It formed so direct a means of contact with the natives of the Delaware tribe that it can hardly

AND MONOGRAPHS

INDIAN PATHS

have existed without a number of branch trails, connecting through the hills with the homes of natives resident in the East Jersey district, and probably extending, by some such routes as those previously described, to the trading-place on the Hudson, thus establishing contact between the Delawares and their blood relatives on the Island of Manhattan, and the adjoining territories on the mainland and Long Island.

INDIAN NOTES

NOTES

1. Valentine 's Manual for 1865, pp. 572 and 652.

2. On the other hand, Mr M. R. Harrington,

in a personal communication to the author, says of the name Werpoes or Worpus: "There seems to be nothing in recorded Delaware to help us here, but the Natick word waapu, 'raised up,' with the diminutive -s added, would seem to indicate 'a slight elevation.' This would accord with the Kolch hill, the most conspicuous elevation of the neighborhood."