Block, Adriaen, fl. 1610–24, Dutch navigator. Eager to establish
a fur trade with the Native Americans, Amsterdam merchants sent
(1613) Block and another Dutch navigator to explore the region
discovered by Henry Hudson. After wintering near Albany, Block
sailed from the Hudson into Long Island Sound (1614), which he
may have been the first European to enter, coming in through the
East River passage that he named Hellegat (Hell Gate). He
discovered the Connecticut River, sailed past and named Block
Island, and explored Narragansett Bay. Block made the Figurative
Map of 1614, showing details of the southern coast of New
England and showing (the first to do so) Long Island and
Manhattan as separate. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th
ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights
reserved. More on Adriaen Block from Fact Monster: See more
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