As soon as the hard winter was over, Block and his men began to build a
new ship, and before another winter had come they had one larger than
the Tiger. It was the first vessel to be built in the new world, and was
called the Restless.
That same year the Dutch merchants decided that they were giving too
many glass beads for the furs, and that if all the merchants combined
into one company they might not have to give so many. So they did
combine, and called themselves the United New Netherland Company. It
was in this way that the name New Netherland first appeared.
When the first ships of the new company reached the island, a house was
built for the use of the fur-traders, just south of where the Bowling
Green Park is. This structure was called Fort Manhattan. It was of
wood, and did not take long to build because the traders did not intend
to live in it a great while. They felt quite sure that all the furs
would be collected in a few years, and that then the island would be
abandoned. No one thought at that time that the little wooden stockade
was the commencement of a great city.
But after a few years it was found that the new country was a much
richer place than had been supposed. Shipload after shipload of otter
and beaver skins were sent across the ocean and still there were otters
and beavers without number.
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