A vessel was at once dispatched, freighted with a variety of goods to be exchanged for furs.

The enterprise was eminently successful and gradually more minute information was obtained respecting the territory surrounding the spacious bay into which the Hudson river empties its flood.
The island of Manhattan, upon which the city of New York is now built, consisted then of a series of forest-crowned hills, interspersed with crystal streamlets and many small but beautiful lakes.

These solitary sheets of water abounded with fish, and water-fowl of varied plumage.
They were fringed with forests, bluffs, and moss-covered rocks.

The upper part of the island was rough, being much broken by storm-washed crags and wild ravines, with many lovely dells interspersed, fertile in the extreme, blooming with flowers, and in the season, red with delicious strawberries.

There were also wild grapes and nuts of various kinds, in great abundance.
The lower part of the island was much more level.