80 DUTCH AND ENGLISH ON THE HUDSON

trouble himself with questions of international law,
still less with international ethics; but, armed with
the flimsy pretense that Cabot's visit established
England's claim to the territory, he stealthily made
preparations to seize the defenseless colony on the
river which had begun to be known as the Hudson.
Five hundred veteran troops were embarked on
four ships, under command of Colonel Richard
Nicolls, and sailed on their expedition of conquest.
Stuyvesant's suspicions, aroused by rumors of in-
vasion, were so far lulled by dispatches from Hoi-*
land that he allowed several ships at New Amster-
dam to sail for Curagao ladened with provisions,
while he himself journeyed to Rensselaerswyck
to quell an Indian outbreak. While he was
occupied in this task, a messenger arrived to in-
form him that the English fleet was hourly ex-
pected in the harbor of New Amsterdam. Stuy-
vesant made haste down the river; but on the day
after he arrived at Manhattan Island, he saw ships
flying the flag of England in the lower harbor,
where they anchored below the Narrows. Colonel
Nicolls demanded the surrender of the "towns
situate on the island commonly known by the
name of Manhattoes, with all the forts thereunto
belonging."