In a few days there was an
uprising of Indian tribes. In New Jersey and on Staten Island they
murdered colonists, burned houses, and laid farms waste. Stuyvesant
hurriedly returned. He made peace with the Indians, treating them
kindly, as though there had never been any trouble. He gave them
presents, and used such gentle measures that the war which had
threatened to be so serious ended abruptly.
In the calmer days that followed, attention was given to improvements
in the city. By this time there were a thousand persons on the island.
Streets were nicely laid out, and the city of New Amsterdam grew, day
by day. It was a tiny place still, however, for it all lay below the
present Wall Street. Some distance beyond the city wall was a fenced-in
pasture for cattle, which was later to become The Common, and still
later City Hall Park. Farther on there was a wide lake, so deep that
it was thought to be bottomless. On its banks were a vast heap of
oyster-shells, where an Indian village had been. This place was called
Kalch-hook, or Shell-point. Afterward it was shortened to The Kalch, and
in time was called The Collect. The lake was called Collect Lake. There
is no trace of it to-day, for it was filled in, and the Tombs Prison now
stands upon the spot.
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