Pete, In a message dated 3/23/2007 12:15:02 P.M. Central Daylight Time, gonigam@gmail.com writes: Kinda interesting that the voyages listed start out with a lot of WIC-owned ships but later on privately-owned vessels predominate. If you have not already done so, I strongly suggest that you read the book "The Island at the Center of the World" by Russell Shorto. While Shorto does not specifically address the point of ship ownership, he does lay out the reason why WIC ships predominate up to the mid-1650s. The point is simple. Prior to that time (mid-1650s), New Netherland was considered a WIC property designed not for long term colonization, but rather to make a return on investment for the WIC shareholders. After that point in time, thanks largely to the efforts of Adriaen Van der Donck, colonization independent of the WIC was a primary focus. Thus, there are far more families emigrating to New Netherland post say 1655 that previously. A second relatively recent book worth reading (but it is far more costly to purchase) is "New Netherland A Dutch Colony in Seventeenth Century America" by Jaap Jacobs. This is more in the line of a thesis, and it is not an easy casual read compared to Shorto. But for background, it is, in my opinion, an essential work. Steve Mabie ************************************** AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.