THE BURGHERS 121

plain where the landscape was open as far as the
eye could see, and left no room for mystery, were
suddenly transplanted to a region shut in between
overhanging cliffs where lightning flashed and
thunder rolled from mountain wall to mountain
wall, where thick forests obscured the view, and
strange aboriginal savages hid in the underbrush?
Was it not the sense of wonder springing from this
change in their accustomed surroundings that
peopled the dim depths of the hinterland with
shapes of elf and goblin, of demons and super-
human presences?

At any rate the spirit of mystery lurked on the
outskirts of the Dutch settlements, and the youth-
ful burghers along the Hudson were fed full on
tales, mostly of a terrifying nature, drawn from
the folklore of three races, the Dutch, the Indians,
and the Africans, with some few strands inter-
woven from local legend and tradition that had
already grown up along the banks of the Hudson.

It was a simple but by no means a pitiable life
that was led in those days by burghers and farmers
alike on the shores of this great river. Never does
the esteemed Diedrich Knickerbocker come nearer
the truth than when he says: "Happy would it
have been for New Amsterdam could it always