little different as a city from what it had been before.

In the fall of this year, 1652, war was declared between England and
Holland. Stuyvesant, fearing that the English in New England, which
was on the borders of New Netherland, would attack the city, set about
fortifying it. The fence that Governor Kieft had built so that the
cattle could not wander away was changed into a wall that extended from
river to river. The fort was repaired, and a strong body of citizens
mounted guard by day and by night. Everything was prepared for an
attack. But the enemy did not come after all.

Matters went along quietly enough for three years, until some Swedes
on the Delaware River began to build houses on Dutch lands. Then
Stuyvesant, with 160 men, in seven ships, sailed around to the Delaware
River, and conquered the Swedes.

It was quite ten years since the Indian war, and Stuyvesant, by his
kindness, had made friends of the savages, and had come to be called
their "great friend," But soon after he left to make war on the Swedes,
one of the colonists killed an Indian. 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.

The entire province was in a flourishing condition, but danger was near.
The English had long looked with covetous