Chapter IV: Part 4

The Hoosick River flows from its head, near Pittsfield, Berkshire County, in Massachusetts, through the Petersburgh Mountains between precipitous hills, and carries its name its entire length. Fort Massachusetts, in the present town of Adams, Mass., was on its borders and in some records was called Fort Hoosick. It was captured by the French and their Indians in 1746. The general course of the stream is north, west, and south to the Hudson in the northwest corner of Rensselaer County, directly opposite the village of Stillwater, Saratoga County. There are no less than three falls on its eastern division, of which the most considerable are Hoosick Falls, where the stream descends, in rapids and cascades, forty feet in a distance of twelve rods. Dr. Timothy Dwight, who visited it in the early part of the 19th century, described it as "One of the most beautiful rivers in the world." "At different points," he wrote, "The mountains extend their precipitous declivities so as to form the banks of the river. Up these precipitous summits rise a most elegant succession of forest trees, chiefly maple, beech and evergreens. There are also large spots and streaks of evergreens, chiefly hemlock and spruce." Though, with a single exception, entered in English records by the name of "Hoosick or Schaahkook's Creek," it was, from the feature which especially attracted Dr. Dwight's attention, known to the Iroquois as the _Ti-oneenda-howe,_ or "The river at the hemlocks." [FN]

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[FN] See Saratoga. _Ti-oneenda-howe_ was applied by the Mohawks to the Hoosick, and _Ti-ononda-howe_ to the Batten Kill as positive boundmarks, the former from its hemlock-clad hills (_onenda_), and the latter from its conical hills (_ononda_). The late Horatio Hale wrote me: "_Ti-ononda-howe_ is evidently a compound term involving the word _ononda_ (or _ononta_), 'hill or mountain.' _Ti-oneenda-howe,_ in like manner, includes the word _onenda_ (or _onenta_), 'hemlock.' There may have been certain notable hills or hemlocks which as landmarks gave names to the streams or located them. The final syllables _howe,_ are uncertain." (See Di-ononda-howe.)

Cossayuna, said to be from the Mohawk dialect and to signify "Lake of the pines," is quoted as the name of a lake in the town of Argyle, Washington County. The translation is correct, substantially, but the name is Algonquian--a corruption of _Coossa,_ "Pine," [FN] and _Gummee,_ "Lake," or standing water. The terms are from the Ojibway dialect, and were probably introduced by Dr. Schoolcraft.

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[FN] It is of record that "the borders of Hudson's River above Albany, and the Mohawk River at Schenectady," were known, in 1710, as "the best places for pines of all sorts, both for numbers and largeness of trees." (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 656.) Mass. _Kowas-'ktugh,_ "pine tree." The name is met in many orthographies.

Anaquassacook, the name of a patent in Washington County, and also of a village and of a stream of water, was, primarily, the name of a boundmark. The locative has not been ascertained. _Anakausuk-ook,_ "At the end of a course," or as far the brook.

Podunk, a brook so called in the town of Fort Ann, Washington County, is met in several other places. (See Potunk, L. I.) Its meaning has not been ascertained.

Quatackquaohe, entered on Pownal's map as the name of a tract of land on the south side of a stream, has explanation in the accompanying entry, "Waterquechey, or Quatackquaohe." Waterquechey (English) means "Moist boggy ground," indicating that _Quatackquaohe_ is an equivalent of _Petuckquiohke,_ Mass., "Round-land place," _i. e._ elevated hassocks of earth, roots, etc. The explanation by Gov. Pownal may supply a key to the translation of other names now interpreted indefinitely.

Di-ononda-howe, a name now assigned to the falls on the Batten Kill below Galeville, Washington County, is Iroquoian and of original application to the stream itself as written in the Schuyler Patent. It is a compound descriptive of the locality of the creek, the reference being to the conical hills on the south side of the stream near the Hudson, on one of which was erected old Fort Saratoga. The sense is, "Where a hill interposes," between the object spoken of and the speaker. The late Superintendent of the Bureau of Ethnology, Prof. J. W. Powell, wrote me: "From the best expert information in this office, it may be said that the phonetic value of the final two syllables _howe_ is far from definite; but assuming that they are equivalent to _huwi_ (with the European vowel values), the word-sentence Di-ononda-howe means, 'There it has interposed (a) mountain,' Written in the Bureau alphabet, the word-sentence would be spelled Ty-ononde-huwi. It is descriptive of the situation of the creek, but not of the creek itself, and is applicable to any mountain or high hill which appears between a speaker and some other object." (See Hoosick.)

Caniade-rioit is given as the name of Lake George, and "The tail of the lake" as the definition, "on account of its connection with Lake Champlain." (Spofford's Gazetteer.) Father Jogues, who gave to the lake the name "Lac de Saint Sacrament" (Lake of the Holy Sacrament), in 1645, wrote the Mohawk name, _Andiato-rocte_ (French notation), with the definition, "There where the lake shuts itself in," the reference being to the north end of the lake at the outlet. This definition is not far from a correct reading of the suffix _octe_ (_okte,_ Bruyas), meaning "end," or, in this connection, "Where the lake ends." _Caniade,_ a form of _Kaniatare,_ is an Iroquoian generic, meaning "lake." The lake never had a specific name. _Horicon,_ which some writers have endeavored to attach to it, does not belong to it. It is not Iroquoian, does not mean "north," nor does it mean "lake" or "silver water," [FN] The present name was conferred by Sir William Johnson, in honor of King George III, of England.

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[FN] _Horikans_ was written by De Laet, in 1624, as the name of an Indian tribe living at the head waters of the Connecticut. On an ancient map _Horicans_ is written in Lat. 41, east of the Narragansetts on the coast of New England. In the same latitude _Moricans_ is written west of the Connecticut, and _Horikans_ on the upper Connecticut in latitude 42. _Morhicans_ is the form on Carte Figurative of 1614-16, and _Mahicans_ by the Dutch on the Hudson. The several forms indicate that the tribe was the _Moricans_ or _Mourigans_ of the French, the _Maikans_ or _Mahikans_ of the Dutch and the _Mohegans_ of the English. It is certain that that tribe held the headwaters of the Connecticut as well as of the Hudson. The novelist, Cooper, gave life to De Laet's orthography in his "Last of the Mohegans."

Ticonderoga, familiar as the name of the historic fortress at Lake George, was written by Sir William Johnson, in 1756, _Tionderogue_ and _Ticonderoro,_ and in grant of lands in 1760, "near the fort at _Ticonderoga._" Gov. Golden wrote _Ticontarogen,_ and an Iroquoian sachem is credited with _Decariaderoga._ Interpretations are almost as numerous as orthographies. The most generally quoted is from Spofford's Gazetteer: "_Ticonderoga,_ from _Tsindrosie_, or _Cheonderoga,_ signifying 'brawling water,' and the French name, _Carillon,_ signifying 'a chime of bells,' were both suggested by the rapids upon the outlet of Lake George." The French name may have been so suggested, but neither _Tsindrosie_ or _Cheonderoga_ means "brawling water." The latter is probably an orthography of _Teonderoga._ Ticonderoga as now written, is from _Te_ or _Ti,_ "dual," two; _Kaniatare,_ "lake," and _-ogen,_ "intervallum, divisionem" (Bruyas), the combination meaning, literally, "Between two lakes." Horatio Hale wrote me of one of the forms: "_Dekariaderage,_ in modern orthography, _Tekaniataroken,_ from which Ticonderoga, means, simply, 'Between two lakes.' It is derived from _Tioken,_ 'between,' and _Kaniatara,_ 'lake.' Its composition illustrates a peculiar idiom of the Iroquoian language, _Tioken_ when combined with a noun, is split in two, so to speak, and the noun inserted. Thus in combining _Tioken_ with _Ononte,_ 'mountain,' we have _Ti-ononte-oken,_ 'Between two mountains,' which was the name of one of the Mohawk castles--sometimes written Theonondiogo. In like manner, _Kaniatare,_ 'lake,' thus compounded, yields _Te-kaniatare-oken,_ 'Between two lakes.' In the Huron dialect _Kaniatare_ is contracted to _Yontare_ or _Ontare,_ from which, with _io_ or _iyo,_ 'great,' we get _Ontario_ (pronounced Ontareeyo), 'Great lake' which, combined with _Tioken,_ becomes _Ti-onteroken,_ which would seem to be the original of Colden's _Tieronderoga._"

There is rarely an expression of humor in the use of Indian place-names, but we seem to have it in connection with Dekariaderoga, one of the forms of Ticonderoga quoted above, which is of record as having been applied to Joseph Chew, Secretary of Indian Affairs, at a conference with chiefs of the Six Nations. (Col. Hist. N. Y., viii, 501.) Said the sachem who addressed Secretary Chew, "We call you Dekariaderoga, the junction of two lakes of different qualities of water," presumably expressing thereby, in keeping with the entertainment usually served on such occasions, that the Secretary was in a condition between "water and firewater." Neither "junction" or "quality of water" are expressed in the composition, however; but perhaps are related meanings.

Caniade-riguarunte is given by Governor Pownal as the Iroquoian name of Lake Champlain, with the legend, "The Lake that is the gate of the country." (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii, 1190.) The lake was the route taken by the Algonquians of Canada in their forays against the Mohawks. Later, it became a link in the great highway of travel and commerce between New York and Quebec, via. Hudson's River, in which connection it was literally "The gate of the country." The legend is not an interpretation of the Iroquoian name, however. In the French missionary spelling the generic word for "lake" is _Kaniatare_ of which _Caniaderi_ is an English notation. The suffix _-guarûnte,_ in connection with _Caniaderi,_ gives to the combination the meaning, "A lake that is part of another lake." (J. B. N. Hewitt.) The suffix is readily confused with _Karonta,_ or _-garonta_ (Mohawk), meaning "tree," from which, probably, Fennimore Cooper's "Lake of the Woods." "Lake of the Iroquois," entered on early maps, does not mean that when Champlain visited it in 1609 it was owned by the Iroquois, but that it was the route from Quebec to the Iroquois country.

On Long Island.

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Matouwackey, Sewanhackey and Paumanackey, in varying orthographies, are names of record for Long Island, derived from _Meitauawack_ (_Metaûhock,_ Nar.), the name of the shell-fish from which the Indians made the shell-money in use among them, [FN-1] called by English _Peag,_ from _Wau-paaeek_ [FN-2] (Moh.), "white," and by the Dutch _Sewan_ or _Zeewan,_ [FN-3] from _Sewaûn_ (Moh.), _Sueki_ (Nar.), "black." This money was both white and black (so called), the latter the most rare and valuable. It was in use by the Europeans as a medium of trade with the Indians, as well as among themselves, by the Indians especially for the manufacture of their historic peace, tribute, treaty and war belts, called _Paumaunak_ (_Pau-pau-me-numwe,_ Mass.), "an offering." [FN-4] _Meitouowack,_ the material, _Waupoaeek_ and _Sewaûn,_ the colors; _Paumanack,_ the use, "an offering." The suffix of either term (_hock, hagki, hackee_) is generic for shell--correctly, "An ear-shaped shell." (Trumbull.) Substantially, by the corruption of the suffix to _hacki_ (Del.), "land" or place, the several terms, as applied to the island, have the meaning, "The shell island," or "Place of shells." De Laet wrote, in 1624: "At the entrance of this bay are situated several islands, or broken land, on which a nation of savages have their abode, who are called Matouwacks; they obtain a livelihood by fishing within the bay, whence the most easterly point of the land received the name of Fisher's Hook and also Cape de Bay." Van der Donck entered on his map, "t' Lange Eyland, alias, Matouwacks." "Situate on the island called by the Indians Sewanhacky." (Deed of 1636.) "Called in ye Indian tongue Suanhackey." (Deed of 1639.) Than these entries there is no claim that the island ever had a specific name, and that those quoted were from shells and their uses is clear. Generically the island was probably known to the Minsi and neighboring tribes as _Menatey,_ "The island," as stated by Dr. Trumbull; smaller islands being known as _Menatan,_ from which _Manathan_ and _Manhatan._ The occupants of the island were a distinct group of Algonquian stock, speaking on the east a dialect more or less of the Massachusetts type, and on the west that known as Monsey-Lenape, both types, however, being largely controlled by the Dutch and the English orthographies in which local notings appear. They were almost constantly at war with the Pequods and Narragansetts, but there is no evidence that they were ever conquered, and much less that they were conquered by the Iroquois, to whom they paid tribute for protection in later years, as they had to the Pequods and to the English; nor is there evidence that their intercourse with the river tribes immediately around them was other than friendly.

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[FN-1] "_Meteauhock,_ the Periwinkle of which they made their wampum." (Williams.) "Perhaps derived from _Mehtauog,_ 'Ear-shaped,' with the generic suffix _hock_ (_hogki, hackee_), 'shell.'" (Trumbull.)

[FN-2] _Wompompeag_ is another form quoted as Mohegan, from which _Wompum._ "_Wompom,_ which signifies white." (Roger Williams.)

[FN-3] _Seahwhoog,_ "they are scattered." (Eliot.) "From this word the Dutch traders gave the name of _Sewan,_ or _Zeawand,_ to all shell money; just as the English called all _Peag,_ or strung beads, by the name of the white, _Wampum._" (Trumbull.)

[FN-4] An interpretation of _Paumanack_ as indicating a people especially under tribute, is erroneous. The belts which they made were in universal use among the nations as an offering, the white belts denoting good, as peace, friendship, etc., the black, the reverse. The ruling sachem, or peace-chief, was the keeper and interpreter of the belts of his nation, and his place sometimes took its name from that fact. That several of the sachems did sign their names, or that their names were signed by some one for them, "Sachem of Pammananuck," proves nothing in regard to the application of that name to the island.

Wompenanit is of record as the name of "the utmost end eastward" of the Montauk Peninsula. The description reads: "From the utmost end of the neck eastward, called Wompenanit, to our utmost bound westward, called Napeake." (Deed of July 11, 1661.) In other papers Wompenonot and Wompenomon, corrupted orthographies. The meaning is "The utmost end eastward," _i. e._ from the east side of Napeake to the extreme end. The derivatives are Nar. _Wompan_ (from _Wompi,_ white, bright), "It is full daylight, bright day," hence the Orient, the East, the place of light, and _-anit,_ "To be more than," extending beyond the ordinary limit. The same word appears in _Wompanánd,_ "The Eastern God" (Williams), the deity of light. From _Wompi,_ also _Wapan_ in _Wapanachkik,_ "Those of the eastern region," now written _Abanaqui_ and _Abnaki,_ and confined to the remnant of a tribe in Maine. (See Wahamanesing,) Dr. Trumbull wrote: "_Anit,_ the subjunctive participle of a verb which signifies 'To be more than,' 'to surpass'"; with impersonal _M_ prefixed, _Manit,_ as in _Manitou,_ a name given by the Indians, writes Lahontan, "To all that passes their understanding"; hence interpreted by Europeans, "God." It has no such meaning in _Wompenanit,_ but defined a limit that was "more than," or the extreme limits of the island. No doubt, however, the Indians saw, as do visitors of to-day, at the utmost end of the Montauk Peninsula, in its breast of rock against which the ocean-waves dash with fearful force; its glittering sun-light and in its general features, a _Wompanánd,_ or Eastern God, that which was "more than ordinary, wonderful, surpassing," but those features are not referred to in _Wompenanit,_ except, perhaps, as represented by the glittering sun-light, the material emblem of the mystery of light--"where day-light appears."

Montauk, now so written--in early orthographies _Meantacut,_ _Meantacquit,_ etc.--was not the name of the peninsula to which it is now applied, but was extended to it by modern Europeans from a specific place. The extreme end was called by the Indians _Wompenanit,_ and the point, _Nâïag,_ "Corner, point or angle," from which Adriaen Block wrote, in 1614, _Nahicans,_ "People around the point," a later Dutch navigator adding (War Dep. Map) the topographical description, _Nartong,_ "A barren, ghastly tongue." The name has had several interpretations by Algonquian students, but without entire satisfaction even to themselves. Indeed, it may be said with truth, "It has been too much translated" to invite further study with the hope of a better result. The orthography usually quoted for interpretation appears first in South Hampton Records in an Indian deed of 1640, "_Manatacut,_ his X mark," the grantor being given the name of the place which he represented, as appears from the same records (1662), "Wyandanch, Meantacut sachem," or sachem of Meantac. The Indian deed reads: "The neck of land commonly known by the name of Meantacquit, . . . Unto the east side of Napeak, next unto Meantacut high lands." In other words the high lands bounded the place called Meantacqu, the suffix _-it_ or _-ut_ meaning "at" that place. The precise place referred to was then and is now a marsh on which is a growth of shrub pines, and cedars. Obviously, therefore, _Meantac_ or _Meantacqu,_ is an equivalent of Mass. _Manantac,_ "Spruce swamp," and of Del. _Menántac,_ "Spruce, cedar or pine swamp." (Zeisb.) The Abn. word _Mannaⁿdakôô,_ "cedar" (Mass. _-uɧtugh;_ Nar. _áwtuck_), seems to establish conclusively that _-ántak_ was the general generic suffix for all kinds of coniferous trees, and with the prefix _Men, Man, Me,_ etc., described small or dwarf coniferous trees usually found growing in swamps, and from which swamps took the name. [FN] There is nothing in the name or in its corruptions that means "point," "high lands," "place of observation," "fort," "fence," or "confluence"; it simply describes dwarf coniferous trees and the place which they marked. The swamp still exists, and the dwarf trees also at the specific east bound of the lands conveyed. (See Napeak.)

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[FN] The Indians had specific names for different kinds of trees. The generic general word was _Me'hittuk_ or _M'hittugk,_ Del., _M'tugh,_ Mass., which, as a suffix, was reduced to _-ittuk, -utugh, -tagh, -tack, -tacque,_ etc., frequently _ak,_ which is the radical. Howden writes in Cree: "_Atik_ is the termination for the names of trees, articles made of wood," etc. _Mash-antack-uk,_ Moh., was translated by Dr. Trumbull from _Mish-untugh-et,_ Mass., "Place of much wood." _Mannaⁿdakōō_ is quoted as the Abn. word for "cedar;" _Mishquáwtuck,_ Nar., "Red cedar." _Menántachk,_ "Swamp" (Len. Eng. Dic.), is explained by Rev. Anthony, "with trees meeting above." _Menautac,_ "Spruce, cedar or pine swamp" (Zeisb.), from the kind of trees growing in the swamp, but obviously _antac_ never described a swamp, or trees growing in swamps, without the prefix _Men, Man, Me,_ etc. _Keht-antak_ means a particularly large tree which probably served as a boundmark. It may be a question if the initial _a_ in _antak_ was not nasal, as in Abn., but there can be none in regard to the meaning of the suffix.

Napeak, East Hampton deed of 1648, generally written _Napeaka, Neppeage_ and _Napeague,_ and applied by Mather (Geological Survey) to a beach and a marsh, and in local records to the neck connecting Montauk Point with the main island, means "Water land," or "Land overflowed by water." The beach extends some five miles on the southeast coast of Long Island. The marsh spreads inland from the beach nearly across the neck where it meets Napeak Harbor on the north coast. It is supposed to have been, in prehistoric times, a water-course which separated the island from the point. Near the eastern limit are patches of stunted pines and cedars, and on its east side at the end of what are called the "Nominick hills," where was obviously located the boundmark of the East Hampton deed, "Stunted pines and cedars are a feature," wrote Dr. Tooker in answer to inquiry. (See Montauk.)

Quawnotiwock, is quoted in French's Gazetteer as the name of Great Pond; authority not cited. Prime (Hist. L. I.) wrote: "The Indian name of the pond is unknown." The pond is two miles long. It is situate where the Montauk Peninsula attains its greatest width, and is the largest body of fresh water on the island. It would be correctly described by _Quinne_ or _Quawnopaug,_ "Long pond," but certainly not by _Quawnotiwock,_ the animate plural suffix _-wock,_ showing that it belonged to the people--"People living on the Long River." [FN] (See Quantuck and Connecticut.)

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[FN] The suffix _-og, -ock, -uck,_ is, in the dialect here, a plural sign. Williams wrote _-oock, -uock, -wock,_ and Zeisberger wrote _-ak, -wak._ _Quinneh-tuk-wock,_ "People living on the Long River"--"a particular name amongst themselves." _Kutch-innû-wock,_ "Middle-aged men;" _Miss-innû-wock,_ "The many." _Lénno,_ "Man"; _Lénno-wak,_ "Men." (Zeisberger.) _Kuwe,_ "Pine"; _Cuweuch-ak,_ "pine wood, pine logs." Strictly, an animate plural. In the Chippeway dialect, Schoolcraft gives eight forms of the animate and eight forms of 'the inanimate plural. The Indians regarded many things as animates that Europeans do not.

Assup, given as the name of a neck of land--"A tree marked X hard by the northward side of a cove of meadow"--means "A cove." It is an equivalent of _Aucûp_ (Williams), "A little cove or creek." "_Aspatuck_ river" is also of record here, and probably takes that name from a hill or height in proximity. "Aspatuck hill," New Millford, Conn.

Shinnecock, now preserved as the name of an Indian village in the town of Southampton, on the east side of Shinnec'ock Bay, for many years in occupation by a remnant of the so called Shinnec'ock Indians who had taken on the habits and customs of European life, appears in its present form in Plymouth Records in 1637, in treaty association with the Massachusetts government. They claimed to be the "true owners of the eastern end of Long Island," but acknowledged the primacy of Wyandanch, sachem of the Montauks, who had been elected by other sachems as chief sachem or the "sachem of sachem" of the many clans. The name is probably from the root _Shin,_ or _Schind,_ "Spruce-pine" (Zeisb.); _Schindikeu,_ "Spruce-pine forest"; _Shinak-ing,_ "At the land of spruce-pines." (Brinton); _Schindak-ock,_ "Land or place of spruce-pines." There was an extended spruce-pine forest on that part of the island, a considerable portion of which remains in the district south of Peconic River in the town of Southampton. The present form of the name is pronounced Shinnec'ock.

Mochgonnekonck is written, in 1643, as the name of a place unlocated except in a general way. The record reads: "Whiteneymen, sachem of Mochgonnekonck, situate on Long Island." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 60.) Whiteneymen, whose name is written Mayawetinnemin in treaty of 1645, and "Meantinnemen, alias Tapousagh, chief of Marsepinck and Rechawyck," in 1660 (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 58), was son of Mechowodt, sachem of Marsepingh, and probably succeeded his father as sachem of that clan. (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 540.) His last possession was Cow Neck, in the present town of North Hampton, which was given to him by his father; it may have been the Mochgonnekonk of 1643. De Vries met him in conference in 1645, and notes him as a speaker of force, and as having only one eye. Brodhead wrote of him: "Kieft, therefore, by the advice of his council determined to engage some of the friendly Indians in the interest of the Dutch, and Whiteneymen, the sachem of Mochgonnecocks, on Long Island, was dispatched, with several of his warriors, 'to beat and destroy the hostile tribes.' The sachem's diplomacy, however, was better than his violence. In a few days he returned to Fort Amsterdam bearing friendly messages from the sachems along the Sound and Near Rockaway," and a formal treaty of peace soon followed. He was elected "sachem of sachems" by the sachems of the western clans on the island, about the time the jurisdiction of the island was divided between the English at New Haven and the Dutch at Manhattan, the former taking the eastern clans under Wyandanch, and as such appears in the treaties with the Dutch in 1645, '56--His record name is variously written--Tapousagh, Tackapousha, etc. It is frequently met in Long Island Records. _Mochgonneckonck_ the name of his sachemdom in 1643, has not been identified further than that he was the owner of Cow Neck, now called Manhasset (Manhas'et), Queens County, the largest neck or point of land on the coast.

Quaunontowunk, Quannotowonk, Konkhonganik and Konghonganoc, are forms of two distinct names applied respectively to the north and south ends of Fort Pond, as per deed for the tract known as "the Hither Woods purchase," which reads: "The name of the pond is Quaunontowunk on the north and Konkhonganik on the south." Dr. Tooker translated the former from _Quaneuntéow-unk,_ (Eliot), "Where the fence is," the reference being to a certain fence of lopped trees which existed on the north end of the pond, [FN-1] and the latter from _Kuhkunhunganash_ (Eliot), "bounds," "At the boundary place." The present name of the pond is from two Indian forts, one known as the Old Fort, on the west, and one known as the New Fort, on the east, the latter remaining in 1661, the former destroyed, the deed reading, "Where the Old Fort stood." Wyandanch, [F-2] "the sachem of Manatacut,"--later called "The great sachem of Montauk"--had his residence in the Old Fort. He was the first ruler of the Montauks known to the Dutch, his name appearing in 1637. (See Montauk.)

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[FN-1] The deed reads: "The north fence from the pond to the sea, shall be kept by the town; the south fence, to the sea, by the Indians." Presumably the fences were there when the land was sold.

[FN-2] Wyandach, or Wyandance, is said to have been the brother of Paggatacut, sachem of Manhas'set or Shelter Island, the chief sachem of fifteen sachemdoms. On the death of the latter, in 1651, Wyandanch became, by election, the successor of his brother and held the office until his death by poison in 1659.

Mastic, preserved as the name of a river and also as that of a village in Brookhaven, is of uncertain meaning. _Wampmissic,_ the name of another village, is supposed to have been the name of a swamp--Mass. _Wompaskit,_ "At or in the swamp, or marsh."

Poosepatuck, a place so called and now known as the Indian Reservation, back of Forge River at Mastick, probably means "On the other side," or "Beyond the river," from _Awossi,_ "Over, over there, on the other side, beyond," and _-tuck,_ "Tidal river."

Speonk, the name of a village in Southampton near East Bay, on an inlet of the ocean, to which flows through the village a small brook, has lost some of its letters. _Mas-sepe-onk_ would describe a place on a broad tidal river or estuary. In the same vicinity _Setuck_ is of record as the name of a place. It may also be from Mas-sepe-tuck. (See Southampton Records.) While the English settlers on eastern Long Island were careful to preserve Indian names, they were very careless in orthographies.

Poquatuck is quoted by Thompson (Hist. L. I.) as the name of Oyster Pond in the town of Southold. It is now claimed as the name of Orient, a village, peninsula or neck of land and harbor on the east side of the pond. Probably from _Pohqu'unantak,_ "Cleared of trees," a marshy neck which had been cleared or was naturally open. The same name is met in Brookhaven.

Cataconoche, given as the name of the Great Neck bounding Smithtown on the east, has been translated by Dr. Tooker from _Kehte-komuk,_ "Greatest field," later known as the Old Man's Field, or Old Field.

Yaphank, Yamphank, etc., a village in Brookhaven, is from Niantic dialect in which _Y_ is used for an initial letter where other dialects employ _L, N_ or _R._ Putting the lost vowel _e_ back in the word, we have _Yapehánek,_ in Lenape _Rapehánek,_ "Where the stream ebbs and flows." The name is written Yampkanke in Indian deed. (Gerard.) The name is now applied to a small tributary of the Connecticut, but no doubt belongs to a place on the Connecticut where the current is affected by the tide. (See Connecticut.)

Monowautuck is quoted as the Indian name of Mount Sinai, a village in the town of Brookhaven, a rough and stony district on what is known as Old Man's Bay, a small estuary surrounded by a salt-marsh meadow. The name seems to be an equivalent of _Nunnawanguck,_ "At the dry land." Old Man's Bay takes that name from the Great Neck called Cataconche, otherwise known as the Old Man's Meadow, and as the Old Field. "The two neckes or hoeces (hooks) of meadow that lieth next beyond the Old Man's Meadow"--"with all ye privileges and appurtenances whatsoever, unto the Old Field." Presumably _Man's_ was originally _Manse_ (English), pronounced _Mans,_ "the dwelling of a landholder with the land attached," and called _Old_ because it was the first land or field purchased. (See Cataconche.)

Connecticut, now so written and of record _Connetquoit,_ etc, is not the name of the stream to which it is applied, but of the land on both sides of it. It is an equivalent of _Quinnituckquet,_ "Long-river land," as in Connecticut. (Trumbull.) _Quinnituk,_ "Long river"; with locative _-et_ or _-it,_ "Land or place on the long-river." The stream is the outlet of Ronkonkoma Lake, and flows south to Fire-place Bay, where the name is of primary record. There were two streams to which it was applied; one is a small stream in Islip, and the other, the largest stream on the island, as described above. In old deeds it is called East Connecticutt. Fire-place is now retained as the name of a village on Bellport Bay, and its ancient locative on the Connecticut is now called South Haven. [FN]

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[FN] There were two places bearing the name of Fire-place, one on the north side of the island on Gardiner's Bay, and one on the south side. The latter is referred to here.

Minasseroke, quoted as the name of Little Neck, town of Brookhaven, probably means "Small-stone land" or place--_Min-assin-ohke, r_ and _n_ exchanged.

Patchogue, Pochough, Pachough, the name of a village in the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, on Patchough Bay, is probably met in Pochaug, Conn., which Dr. Trumbull read from _Pohshâog,_ where two streams form one river, signifying, "Where they divide in two." The name was early extended to a clan known as the Pochoughs, later Patchoogues, who seem to have been a family of the Onchechaugs, a name probably the equivalent of _Ongkoué_ (Moh.), "beyond," with _-ogue_ (ohke), "land beyond," _i. e._ beyond the bay. [FN] (See Moriches.)

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[FN] Otherwise written _Unquetauge_--"land lying at Unquetauge, on the south side of Long Island, in the county of Suffolk." Literally, "Land beyond;" "on the further side of; in the same direction as, and further on or away than." _Onckeway,_ a place beyond Stamford, on Connecticut river. (Col. Hist. N. Y.) "_Ongkoué,_ beyond Pequannuc river." (Trumbull.)

Cumsequogue is given in will of William Tangier Smith as the name of what is now known as Carman's River, flowing to Bellport Bay. It is probably a pronunciation of _Accomb-suck-ohke,_ "Land or place at the outlet beyond." The record name of Bellport is Occombomeck, Accobamuck, etc., meaning, "Fishing-place beyond," which, as the deeds show, was a fishing-place at a freshwater pond, now dried up. The name is readily confused with Aquebogue.

Moriches, a neck of land "lying at Unquetague, on the south side of Long Island, being two necks called by ye names of _Mariges_ and _Namanock_" (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 45), is now in the town of Brookhaven. Namanock seems, from the locative, to be a corruption of _Nam'e-ohke,_ "Fish-place"--Namanock or Namecock. (Trumbull.) [FN] _Moriches,_ or _Mariges,_ is a corruption of Dutch _Maritches_ (Morichi, Mariche), from _Moriche Palmita_ (Latin), meaning, in popular use, any plant thought to resemble a palm. _Mauritia_ a species of Mauriticæ, or South-American palm, so called in honor of Prince Maurice of Nassau. (See Palmagat.)

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[FN] _Namaus,_ generic, "a fish"--_Namohs,_ Eliot; _Namés,_ Abn., _Namaes,_ Heck.; _Namees,_ Zeisb.; with suffix _-aki, -ohke,_ etc., "fish-land," place or country. _Améessok,_ Zeisb.; _Anmesooak,_ Abn., _Aumsûog,_ Mass., "small fishes." As a generic suffix, _-ama'ug,_ Mass., _-ama'uk,_ Del., "fishing-place." "_Ama'ug_ is only used at the end of a compound name, where it is equivalent to _Nameaug,_ at the beginning." (Trumbull.) The final syllable, _-ug, -uk,_ etc., is an animate plural. On Long Island, _-Ama'ug_ is frequently met in _-amuck;_ in other places, _-amwack, -amwook, -ameock,_ etc.

Kitchaminchoke, given as the name of a boundmark, said to be Moriches Island, is interpreted by Dr. Tooker, "The beginning place." The description (1630) reads, "Beginning at" a place called, _i. e._ an object or feature which would definitely locate a boundmark--apparently an equivalent of _Schiechi-kiminschi-aki,_ Lenape, "Place of a soft-maple tree." The territory conveyed extended to _Enaughquamuck,_ which Dr. Tooker rendered correctly, "As far as the fishing-place."

Niamug and Niamuck are forms of the name of what is now known as Canoe Place, on the south side of Long Island, near Southampton. "_Niamug,_ the place where the Indians haul over their canoes out of the North Bay to the South Bay." (Deed of 1640.) Dr. Trumbull translated from _Nôe-amuck,_ "Between the fishing places." Local tradition affirms that centuries ago the Indians made a canal here for the purpose of passing their canoes from Mecox Bay to Paconic Bay. Mongotucksee, the hero of the story, was a chieftain who reigned over the Montauks in the days of their pride and power. The tradition has no other merit than the fact that Niamug was a place at which canoes were hauled across the island.

Sicktew-hacky (deed of 1638); _Sicketewackey_ (Van der Donck, 1656): "All the lands from Rockaway eastward to Sicktew-hackey, or Fire Island Bay"; "On the south coast of Long Island, at a place called Sicktewacky, or Secontague, near Fire Island Inlet" (Brodhead); Seaquetauke, 1659; Setauck Neck, the south bound of St. George's Manor, now Manorville; of record as the name of an Indian clan and village near Fire Island Inlet, with the Marsapinks and Nyacks for neighbors; now preserved in several forms of which Setauket probably locates a place near Secontague. _Sicketeuhacky,_ writes Mr. Gerard, "is the Lenape equivalent of _Secatogue,_ meaning 'Burned-over land.' Whether the mainland or Fire Island was the 'Burned-over land,' history does not tell us." Lands were burned over by the Indians to destroy the bushes and coarse grasses, and probably some field of this character was referred to by the Indian grantors, from which the name was extended to the Neck and to Fire Island, although it is said that fires were kindled on the island for the guidance of fishermen.

Saghtekoos--"called by the native Indians Saghtekoos; by the Christians Appletree Neck"--the name of the Thompson estate in Islip--probably means, "Where the stream branches or divides," or "At the branch," referring to Thompson's brook. The suffix _-oos_ evidently stands for "small." (See Sohaghticoke.) "Apple-tree Neck" is not in the composition, but may indicate that the Indian owners had planted apple trees there.

Amagansett, the Indian name of what is now East Hampton, was translated by Dr. Trumbull, "At or near the fishing place"; root _Am,_ "to take by the mouth"; _Amau,_ "he fishes"; Abn., _Amaⁿgaⁿ,_ "_ou péche lá,_" "he fishes there," (Rasles); _s,_ diminutive or derogatory; _ett,_ "Near or about," that is, the tract was near a small or inferior fishing-place, which is precisely what the composition describes.

Peconic, now so written and applied to Peconic Bay and Peconic River, but primarily to a place "at the head of the river," or as otherwise described, "Land from ye head of ye bay or Peaconnack, was Shinnec'ock Indians' Land" (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 600), is not the equivalent of _Peqan'nuc,_ "a name common to all cleared land," as translated by Dr. Trumbull, but the name given as that of a small creek tributary to Peconic River, in which connection it is of record _Pehick-konuk,_ which, writes Mr. Gerard, "plainly stands for _K'pe-hickonuk,_ or more properly _Kĕpehikanik,_ 'At the barrier,' or weir. _Kĕpehikan_ from _Kepehike,_ 'he closes up,' or obstructs, _i. e._ 'dams.'" The bounds of the Shinnec'ock Indians extended east to this stream; or, as the record reads, "To a river where they did use to catch the fish commonly called alewives, the name of which creek was Pehickkonuk, or Peconic." (Town Records.)

Agwam, Agawam, is quoted by French as the name of Southampton, L. I. Dr. Trumbull wrote: "Acawan, Agawan or Auquan, a name given to several localities in New England Where there are low meadows--a low meadow or marsh." Presumably from _Agwu,_ "Underneath, below." Another authority writes: "_Agawam_ from _Magawamuk,_ A great fishing place." (See Machawameck.)

Sunquams is given by French as the Indian name of Mellville in Southampton, L. I., with the interpretation, "Sweet Hollow." The interpretation is mere guess-work.

Massaback, a hill so called in Huntington, Suffolk County--in English "Half hill," and in survey (1703) "Half-hollow hill"--probably does not belong to the hill which the English described as "half-hollow," but to a stream in proximity to it--_Massabeset,_ "At a (relatively) great brook." (Trumbull.)

Mattituck, the name of a village in Southold, near the west end of the town, was primarily written as that of a tract of land including the present town of Riverhead, from which it was extended to a large pond between Peconic Bay and the Sound. Presumably the same name is met in Mattatuck, Ct., written Matetacoke, 1637, Matitacoocke, 1673, which was translated by Dr. Trumbull from Eliot's _Mat-uh'tugh-auke,_ "A place without wood," or badly wooded. (See Titicus.)

Cutchogue, Plymouth Records, 1637; "_Curchaug,_ or Fort Neck;" _Corch'aki,_ deed of 1648; now Cutchogue, a village in Southold, in the vicinity of which was an Indian fort, the remains of which and of an Indian burial ground are objects of interest, is probably a corruption of _Maskutchoung,_ which see. Dr. Tooker translated from _Kehti-auke,_ "The principal place," the appositeness of which is not strikingly apparent. The clan bearing the name was party to the treaty with the Massachusetts people in 1637, and to the sale of the East Hampton lands. Their earliest sachem was Momoweta, who acknowledged the primacy of Wyandanch.

Tuckahoe, a level tract of land near Southampton village, takes that name from one or the other of the larger "round" roots (Mass. _P'tuckweōō_), possibly the Golden Club, or Floating Artmi, a root described "as much of the bigness and taste of potatoes." (Trumbull.) [FN] The same name is met in Westchester County.

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[FN] Dr. Brinton writes: "They also roasted and ate the acrid cormus of the Indian turnip, in Delaware _taw-ho, taw-hin_ or _tuck-ah,_ and collected the seeds of the Golden Club, common in the pools along the creeks and rivers. Its native name was _taw-kee._" ("The Lenape and their Legends.") The name of another place on Long Island, written _Hogonock,_ is probably an equivalent of Delaware _Hóbbenac_ (Zeisb.), "Potatoes," or "Ground-nuts"; _Hóbbenis,_ "Turnips." (See Passapenoc.)

Sagabonock has left only the remnant of its name to Sag-pond and Sag-harbor. It is from _Sagabonak,_ "Ground nuts, or Indian potatoes." (Trumbull.) The name is of record as that of a boundmark "two miles from the east side of a Great Pond," and is described as a "pond or swamp" to which the name of the tuber was extended from its product.

Ketchepunak, quoted as the name of Westhampton, describes "The greatest ground-nut place," or "The greatest ground-nuts." (See Kestaubniuk.)

Wequaganuck is given as the name of that part of Sag-harbor within the town of East Hampton. It is an equivalent of _Wequai-adn-auke,_ "Place at the end of the hill," or "extending to the hill." (Trumbull.) The hill is now known as Turkey Hill, on the north side of which the settlement of Sag-harbor was commenced.

Namke, from _Namaa,_ "fish," and _ke,_ "place"--fish-place--was the name of a place on the creek near Riverhead. (O'Gallaghan.) More exactly, _Nameauke,_ probably.

Hoppogues, in Smithtown, Suffolk County, is pretty certainly from _Wingau-hoppague,_ meaning, literally, "Standing water of good and pleasant taste." The name was that of a spring and pond. In a deed of 1703, the explanation is, "Or ye pleasant springs." Supposed to have been the springs which make the headwaters of Nissequogue river at the locality now bearing the name of Hauppauge, a hamlet.

Massapeage--_Massapeag,_ 1636; _Massapeague, Rassapeage_--a place-name from which extended to an Indian clan whose principal seat is said to have been on Fort Neck, in the town of Oyster Bay, was translated by Dr. Trumbull from _Massa,_ "great"; _pe,_ the radical of water, and _auke,_ "land," or "Land on the great cove." Thompson (Hist. L. I.) assigns the name to "a swamp on the south side of Oyster Bay," now South Oyster Bay, and it is so applied in Indian deeds. There were two Indian forts or palisaded towns on the Neck. Of one the name is not given; it was the smallest of the two; its site is said to be now submerged by water. The second, or largest, is called in Dutch records _Matsepe,_ "Great river." It is described as having been situated on the most southerly point of land adjoining the salt meadows. Both forts were attacked by Dutch forces under Capt. Pieter Cock and Capt. John Underhill, in the summer of 1644 (a local record says August) and totally destroyed with heavy loss to the Indians. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv, 15, 16.) In Prime's and other local histories the date is given as 1653, on the authority of "Hubbard's Indian Wars," and Capt. Underhill is assigned to the command in the attack on the largest fort. The official Dutch record, however, assigns that honor to Capt. Pieter Cock. The year was surely 1644, (Brodhead's Hist. N. Y., i, 91.) The prefix _Mass,_ appears in many forms--Massa, Marsa, Marsha, Rassa, Mesa, Missi, Mas, Mes, etc., and also _Mat,_ an equivalent of _Mas._

Massepe, quoted in Dutch records as the name of the Indian fort on Fort Neck, where it seems to have been the name of Stony Brook, is also met in Jamaica Records (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 505) as the name of a creek forming a mowing boundary or division line extending from a certain place "Eastward to ye great creek called Massepe." The name is fully explained by the description, "Great creek." _Massepe-auke_ means "Great creek (or river) land," or place; _Mas-sepe-ink,_ "At or on the great creek." The Indian residents came to be known as the Marsepincks.

Maskutchoung, a neck of land so called forming one of the boundaries of Hempstead Patent as entered in confirmatory deed of "Takapousha, sachem of Marsapeage," and "Wantagh, the Montauke sachem," July 4th, 1657: "Beginning at a marked tree standing at the east side of the Great Plain, and from thence running on a due south line, and at the South Sea by a marked tree in a neck called Maskutchoimg, and thence upon the same line to the South Sea." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 38, 416.) "By a marked tree in a neck called Maskachoung." (Thompson's Hist. L. I., 9, 15, 47.) It is probably an equivalent of _Mask-ek-oug,_ "A grassy swamp or marsh." A local interpretation reads: "Grass-drowned brook," a small stream flowing through the long marsh-grass, to which the name was extended.

Maskahnong, so written by Dr. O'Callaghan in his translation of the treaty between the Western Long Island clans, in 1656, is noted in "North and South Hempstead Records," p. 60, "A neck of land called Maskahnong." It disappears after 1656, but probably reappears as Maskachoung in 1658, and later as Maskutchoung, which see.

Merick, the name of a village in Hempstead, Queens County, is said to have been the site of an Indian village called _Merick-oke._ It has been interpreted as an apheresis of a form of _Namanock,_ written _Namerick,_ "Fish place." (See Moriches.) Curiously enough, Merrick was a proper name for man among the ancient Britons, and the corruption would seem to have been introduced here by the early English settlers from resemblance to the Indian name in sound. The place is on the south side of the island. The Indian clan was known as the Merickokes.

Quantuck, a bay so called in Southampton, is of record, in 1659, _Quaquanantuck,_ and applied to a meadow or neck of land. "The meadow called Quaquunantuck"--"the neck of land called Quaquanantuck"--"all the meadows lying west of the river, commonly called or known by the name of Quantuck." One of the boundmarks is described as "a stumpy marsh," indicating that it had been a marsh from which the trees had been removed. The name seems to correspond with this. It is probably from _Pohqu'un-antack,_ "cleared or open marsh" or meadow. (See Montauk.)

Quogue, the name of a village near Quantuck Bay, and located, in Hist. Suffolk County, as "the first point east of Rockaway where access can be had to the ocean without crossing the bay," has been read as a contraction of Quaquaunantuck, but seems to be from _Pŏque-ogue,_ "Clear, open space," an equivalent of _Pŏque-auke,_ Mass.

Rechqua-akie, De Vries; _Reckkouwhacky,_ deed of 1639; now applied to a neck on the south side of Long Island and preserved in Rockaway, was interpreted by the late Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan: "_Reck_ 'sand'; _qua,_ 'flat'; _akie,_ 'land'--the long, narrow sand-bar now known as Rockaway Beach," but is more correctly rendered with dialectic exchange of R and L, _Lekau._ (Rekau), "sand or gravel," _hacki,_ "land" or place. (Zeisb.) "Flats" is inferred. A considerable division of the Long Island Indians was located in the vicinity, or, as described by De Vries, who visited them in 1643, "near the sea-shore." He found thirty wigwams and three hundred Indians, who were known in the treaty of 1645, as Marechkawicks, and in the treaty of 1656 as Rockaways. [FN]

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[FN] The names in the treaty of 1645, as written by Dr. O'Callaghan, are "Marechkawicks, Nayecks, and their neighbors"; in the treaty of 1656, "Rockaway and Canorise." The latter name appears to have been introduced after 1645 in exchange for Marechkawick. (See Canarise.) _Rechqua_ is met on the Hudson in Reckgawaw-onck, the Haverstraw flats. It is not an apheresis of Marechkawick, nor from the same root.

Jamaica, now applied to a town, a village and a bay, was primarily given to the latter by the English colonists. "Near unto ye beaver pond called Jamaica," and "the beaver path," are of record, the latter presumably correct. The name is a pronunciation of _Tomaque,_ or _K'tamaque,_ Del., _Amique,_ Moh., "beaver." "_Amique,_ when aspirated, is written _Jamaique,_ hence Yameco, Jamico, and modern Jamaica." (O'Callaghan.) The bay has no claim to the name as a beaver resort, but beavers were abundant in the stream flowing into it.

Kestateuw, "the westernmost," _Castuteeuw,_ "the middlemost," and _Casteteuw,_ "the eastermost," names of "three flats on the island Sewanhackey, between the bay of North river and the East river." The tracts came to be known as Flatlands; "the easternmost," as "the Bay," or Amesfort.

Sacut, now known as Success Pond, lying on a high ridge in Flushing, is a corruption of _Sakûwit_ (_Sáquik_), "Mouth of a river" (Zeisb.), or "where the water flows out." The pond has an outlet, but it rarely overflows. It is a very deep and a very clear body of water.

Canarsie, now so written and applied to a hamlet in the town of Flatlands, Kings County, is of record _Canari See, Canarisse, Canarise, Canorise_ (treaty of 1655), _Kanarisingh_ (Dutch), and in other forms, as the name of a place or feature from which it was extended to an Indian sub-tribe or family occupying the southwest coast of Long Island, and to their village, primarily called _Keshaechquereren_ (1636). On the Lower Potomac and Chesapeake Bay the name is written _Canais, Conoys, Ganawese,_ etc. (Heck, xlii), and applied to a sub-tribe of Naniticokes residing there who were known as "The tide-water people," or "Sea-shore settlers." On Delaware Bay it is written _Canaresse_ (1651, not 1656 as stated by Dr. Tooker), and applied to a specific place, described in exact terms: "To the mouth of the bay or river called Bomptjes Hoeck, in the Indian language _Canaresse._" (Col. Hist. N. Y. xii, 166.) "Bomptjes Hoeck" is Dutch and in that language describes a low island, neck or point of land covered with small trees, lying at the mouth of a bay or stream, and is met in several connections. The point or place described on the Delaware (now Bombay Hook) was the end of the island, known on old maps as "Deep Point," and the "Hook" was the bend in the currents around it forming the marshy inlet-bay on the southwest connecting with a marshy channel or stream, and the latter on the north with a small stream by which the island was constituted. Considered from the standpoint of an Algonquian generic term, the rule is undisputed that the name must have described a feature which existed in common at the time of its application, on the Delaware and on Long Island, and it only remains to determine what that feature was. Obviously the name itself solves the problem. In whatever form it is met it is the East Indian _Canarese_ (English _Can'a-resé_) pure and simple, and obviously employed as a substitute for the Algonquian term written _Ganawese,_ etc., of the same meaning. In the "History of New Sweden" (Proc. N. Y. Hist. Soc, 2d Ser. v. i.), the locative on the Delaware is described: "From Christina Creek to _Canarose_ or _Bambo_ Hook." In "Century Dictionary" _Bambo_ is explained: "From the native East Indian name, Malay and Java _bambu_, Canarese _banbu_ or _bonwu._" Dr. Brinton translated _Ganawese_ from _Guneu_ (Del.), "Long," but did not add that the suffix--_wese,_ or as Roger Williams wrote it, _quese,_ means "Little, small," the combination describing Bambo grasses, _i. e._ "long, small" grasses, which, in some cases reach the growth of trees, but on Long Island and on the Delaware only from long marsh grasses to reeds, as primarily in and around Jamaica Bay and Gowanus Bay, on Reed Island, etc. True, Ganawese would describe anything that was "long, small," but obviously here the objective product. Canarese, Canarose, Kanarische, Ganawese, represent the same sound-"in (East) Indian, Canaresse," as represented in the first Long Island form, Canari See, now Jamaica Bay.

Keschaechquereren, (1636), _Keschaechquerem_ (1637), the name of the settlement that preceded Canarese, disappears of record with the advent of the English on Barren Island and at Gravesend soon after 1637-8. It seems to describe a "Great bush-net fishing-place," from K'sch-achquonican, "Great bush-net." (Zeisb.), the last word from _Achewen,_ "Thicket"; from which also _t' Vlact Bosch_ (Dutch), modern Flatbush. The Indian village was between the Stroome (tidewater) Kil and the Vresch Kil, near Jamaica.

Narrioch was given by the chief who confirmed the title to it in 1643, as the name of what is now known as Coney Island, and _Mannahaning_ as that of Gravesend Neck. (Thompson's Hist. L. I., ii, 175.) The Dutch called the former Conynen, and the latter Conyne Hoeck--"_t' Conijen Conine._" Jasper Dankers wrote in 1679: "On the south (of Staten Island) is the great bay, which is enclosed by Najaq, t' Conijen Island, Neversink," etc. Conijen (modern Dutch, Konijn), signifies "Rabbit"--Cony, Coney--inferentially "Small"--literally, "Rabbit, or Coney Island," in Dutch. The Indian names have been transposed, apparently. _Mannahaning_ means "At the island," and _Narrioch_ is the equivalent of _Nayaug,_ "A point or comer," as in Nyack. The latter was the Dutch "Conyne Hoeck." Judge Benson claimed Conyn as "A Dutch surname, from which came the name of Coney, or Conyn's Island," but if so, the surname was from "Rabbit" surely.

Gowanus--_Gowanus,_ 1639; _Gowanes,_ 1641; _Gouwanes,_ 1672--the name of one of the boundmarks of a tract of land in Brooklyn, is probably from _Koua_ (_Kowaw,_ Williams; _Curve,_ Zeisb.), "Pine"; _Kowawese_ (Williams), "A young pine," or small pine. It was that of a place on a small stream, the description in the Indian deed of 1639, reading: "Stretching southward to a certain kil or little low bushes." The land conveyed is described as being "overflowed at every tide, and covered with salt-meadow grass." The latter gave to it its value. The claim that the name was that of an Indian owner is not well sustained. The evidence of the Dutch description of the bay as Boompje Hoek, meaning, literally, "Small tree cape, corner or angle," and the fact that small pines did abound there, seems to establish _Koua_ as the derivative of the name.