This work is not intended as a complete history of New York, but rather a description and explanation of Dutch life concentrated in a small area of Manhattan Island below Trinity Church, the principal points of interest of which were the Fort, including the Church and windmill, the Strand, and the City Tavern at the Ferry. The author describes life, hardships, struggles, manners, customs, joys, sorrows, beliefs, superstitions, and worldly possessions of the first white settlers in New Netherland.