Morning journal and courier., 1886-07-05
OUR HARBoR AND THE SOUND.

ven Harbor-Named by Adrian Block |
Rodenbergh.
Among the records in the Lokas Kas of
the State general in the royal archives at the
Hague, Holland, there is deposited chart OF
Long Island Sound and with it report OF
Adrian Block, a captain in the service of the
East India company of Holland, showing his
explorations of this arm of the sea, which
was made by an expedition from New
Amsterdam early in the spring of 1914.
With these memorial was presen ted to the
State general on the 18th of August, 1916
by the directors of New Netherland, praying
for special octray according to the placaat
of March 81, 1914, and is referred to in the
memorial as showing the extent of the dis
coveries made by Schipper Cornelis Hendrix
sen, of Munnichendam, in a small yatch of
eight lasts Sixteen tons) burthen named the
'Onrust" (the Restless), which the memoir
alists had caused to be built in New Neither
land.
This ordinance of March 9th, 1914, imme-
diately interested numerous merchants of
Holland and four ships were at once fitted
| out for exploration in these parts, viz: The
Nightingale" the "Little Fox" the
''Tiger" and the fortune" The two last
| were commanded by the before mentioned
| Captains Block and Corstisensen of Amster-
| dam, who on arrival at Manhattan started
out exploring expeditions of the numerous
rivers and bays in this vicinity, during one
| of which Blocks vessel was by accident burn
| ed, but being a man of nerve who never
| turned aside for obstacles and of marked
| ability and skilled in the numerous branches
| of his profession, he at once commenced the
| construction of a yacht of dimension A 1-2
\ feet from stem to stern, lover alD 3S feet
| I p of
| uring 16 tons burthen and in this (the first
| vessel constructed by Europeans in these
| waters) be proceeded late in the summer to
explore the Great bay Oong Island Sound)
| to the eastward of Manhattan; and we are
| told che sailed along the East river, to
| which he gave the name of The Hellegat'
after branch of the river Scheld in East
Flanders, situated between the manors of
Axel and Hulst."
After making the passage of Hellegat
| (Which was then and has been ever since the
| terror of mariners), he launched out on the
| broad waters of Long Island, Sound, leaving
| to the southwark Long Island then called
Metoac or Serwanhacky (the land of SHELF,
| and following the north shore eastward he
/ sighted river since named Hutchinson's
| river, in Westchester, which history tells us
was once the abode of English family of
| this name, whose home was the scene of an
awful tragedy, the destruction by Indians in
| 1913 of their settlement which they had To-
| Gated on lands bought of the Dutch at Man
haitian from Mr.. Thomas Pell of New Haven
for $500, and which was settled
| in part by the family of Mrs. Anne Hut
| Crimson and other members of a company
who were religious exies from the colony of
Massachusetts bay, who in 1888 took refuge
| in Rhode Island, and for fear that their home
| might become part of the colony of M ASA
| chusetts bay, they removed to Westchester
/ in 1912
The islands off Stamford and Norwalk
were also sighted and cal efully explored and
\ to which he gave the name of Archipelagoes,
| and father eastward and near the center of
Long Island Sound he discovers and located
two islands about the position of the
middle grounds row, off Stratford, on
which a lighthouse has been lately built
| by the United States government Ito mark
/ this danger) for navigators, which islands
| since Blocks time have been gradually wash
| ing away, although they have been seen to
| lie bare at low tides within the remembrance
of men now living, and known to the writer.
| To these islands he give the name of De
KEGS and as they are repeated as one island
instead of two, on chart made by A. Van
der Donck, in 1866, their existence then was
certain. 1t is probable that Block landed on
these islands and located their latitude by
meridian observation and longitude by a sys-
tenn of calculations used by navigators of his
day, which was not always exact, but ac
| curate enough for all practical purposes.
From these islands in full view over t. Q
coast line were seen continuous ranges of
hills, whose red colored outlines and situa-
| ton seemed to guide and point out large
river running far back into the interior and
| tidal harbor of great magnitude, inviting ex-
ploration, which accomplished he named the
| river R. Venden Rodenbergh, now the Hous-
| atomic, which name doubt was suggested
| by the appearance of two of our most promi
| nent bluffs, East and West Rocks, as seen
studding the coast range and viewed to the
| northward from these islands or from YES
sells deck in this vicinity and Stratford
Point might then have been easily taken for
the commencement of the west shore of the
(New Hayen), which it is supposed
he visited, and certainly named
and located on his chart, the first
one giving detail of this section of the coast
that we have any record of. This very ap-
propriate name Red Mount, Red Hills En-
glish) Rodenbergh (Dutch) to this section of
the coast was no doubt suggested by the red
dish hue of our guardian cliffs, which are of
basaltic formation, and stand forth in bold
relief backed then as now with mountain
GUS outline whose then evergreen verdure
added a striking contrast to their appearance,
made by the red washes of centuries, by
nature, compounded with an ingredient of
salt spray from the ocean acting on their iron
sides and reflected by the suns brilliant rays,
while making its daily course, clarifying the
whole panoramic view until lost in the dark
blue waters of the beautiful bay, which GIBBS
and flows at their bases and which waters
are at last emptied into the distant sea.
1t is probable that Block sailed up this
harbor* and explored it's shores in his yawl,
leaving the Restless at anchor In the quiet
roadstead off the Oyster Point of our day,
which was then protected seaward by dry
sand spit covered with low bushes and other
vegetation, and now partly washed away and
known as the beach.
We judge from his report his stay in our
harbor was brief and pursuing his voyage
eastward he located numerous shoals and
islands, two of which can be no other than
Falkner's, which he named Valkner Eyland,
and Goose Islands, Jan William Eylant the
latter just a wash at high water, save
few rocks which mark its site, giving
positive evidence of the gradual encroach-
ment of the sea and timely notice that Falk-
ner's Island, with its conspicuous lighthouse,
must soon follow if not protected by some
method known to engineering science
And we will here leave him to view theVer-
ache Viervier (Fresh river, now Connecticut),
which direction lies northward through the
lands of the Morhicans and was assembled by
him to an Indian village in latitude
IL 49, N, where he found kind of
of Hartford, called Nawaas, and where
soon after the Dutch of New Amsterdam
built the fort of Good Hope for trade with
the Indians, and having descended the river
and passing out the race he discovers and To-
Gates two islands. One he names after him
self Adrian Block Eyslsnd and the other
farther east for his colleague, the captain of
the 'Tiger," Hendrick Christensen, with
whom he fell in off Cape Cod, and after ex-
ploring the Narragansett Bay which
had been visited by John De
verrazzan in 1925, Block joined his
colleague and returned to Holland, where
these navigators gave publicity to their dis
coveries; and the Restless was sent back
to Manhattan, returning along the south side
of Long Island which length was then deter
mined, and she arriving before winter closed
in at her port of departure, Manhattan, hav-
ing been the first vessel known to have cir
COMMUNICATED Long Island, and the next year
she was employed at the Delaware, and there
finally lost sight Of
This roadstead probably the anchorage of the
Dutch and English vessels which previous to 1857
were engaged collecting furs; also the rendezvous
of the little fleet which pursued the Pequot and
later the fleet of boats and pinsnces which
brought Gov. Eaton via well known portage
across Cape Cod when the Plymouth pilgrims built
house here and kept a ketch to accommodate
here the name and oyster shell bank show and
olGn Of late