xt7vmc8rcd01 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7vmc8rcd01/data/mets.xml  187274  books b92-118-28575320v2 English D. Appleton, : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. United States Description and travel. United States Pictorial works. Qubebec (Province) Description and travel. Qubebec (Province) Pictorial works.Bryant, William Cullen, 1794-1878. Bunce, Oliver Bell, 1828-1890. Picturesque America, or, The Land we live in  : a delineation by pen and pencil of the mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, water-falls, shores, cadnons, valleys, cities, and other picturesque features of our country / with illustrations on steel and wood, by eminent American artists ; edited by William Cullen Bryant. (vol. 2) text Picturesque America, or, The Land we live in  : a delineation by pen and pencil of the mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, water-falls, shores, cadnons, valleys, cities, and other picturesque features of our country / with illustrations on steel and wood, by eminent American artists ; edited by William Cullen Bryant. (vol. 2) 1872 2002 true xt7vmc8rcd01 section xt7vmc8rcd01 






















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PICTURESQUE AMERICA;


                     OR,



        THE LAND WE LIVE IN.



    A DELINEATION BY PEN AND PENCIL

                     OF


THE MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, LAKES, FORESTS, WATER-FALLS, SHOREIS
    CARONS, VALLEYS, CITIES, AND OTHER PICTURESQUE
            FEATURES OF OUR COUNTRY.



With flustvatious on Atet and wtod, by (Iinent tmnimas Artilto.



       EDITED BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.



                VOL. II.



                NEW YORK:
       D. APPIETON AND COMPANY,
             549  55I BROADWAY.

 












































ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year i874, by
           D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
  In the Office of the Librarian of Cengress, at Washington.



 




CONTENTS, VOLUME SECOND.



                SUBJECT.
HIGHLANDS AND PALISADES OF THE 
    HUDSON.                   S

PHILADELPHIA AND ITS SUBURBS.

NORTHERN NEW JERSEY.

VALLEY OF THE CONNECTICUT.

BALTIMORE AND ENVIRONS.

THE CATSKILLS.

THE JUNIATA.

ON THE OHIO.

THE PLAINS AND THE SIERRAS.

THE SUSQUEHANNA.

BOSTON.

LAKE GEORGE AND LAKE CHAMPLAIN.

MOUNT MANSFIELD.

VALLEY OF THE HOUSATONIC.

THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI.

VALLEY OF THE GENESEE.

ST. LAWRENCE AND THE SAGUENAY.

EASTERN SHORE.

THE ADIRONDACK REGION.

THE CONNECTICUT SHORE OF THE SOUND.

LAKE MEMPHREMAGOG.



    AUTHOR.

E. L. BURLINGAME.


C. D. GARDETTE.

W. F. WILLIAMS.

W. C. RICHARDS.

J. C. CARPENTER.

HENRY A. BROWN.

R. E. GARCZYNSKI.

CONSTANCE F. WVOOLSON.

E. L. BURLINGAME.

R. E. GARCZYNSKI.

G. M. TOWLE.

0. B. BUNCE.

ROSSITER JOHNSON.

W. C. RICHARDS.

R. E. GARCZYNSKI.

W. S. WARD.

W. H. RIDEING.

G. M. TOWLE.

ROBERT CARTER.

W. C. RICHARDS.

W. H. RIDEINO.



   ARTIST.

Harry Fens.


Granville Perkins.

7nles Tatvrnier.

7. D. Woodward.

Granville Perkins.

Harry Fenn.

Granville Perkins.

Alfred R. Woeud.

Thomas MIoran.

Granviie Perkins.

7. D. Wowdward.

Harry Finn.

Harry Fenn.

7. D. Woodward.

Alfred R. Wand.

7. D. Woodward.

7ames D. Smillie.

7. D. Woodward.

Harry Fenn.

W. H. Gibson.

7. D. IVoodward.



PAGF



23

47

61

97

116

134

146

168

204

229

253

276

288

318

353

370

395

414

436

451

 




CONTENTS, VOLUME SECOND.



            SUBJECT.
THE MOHAWK, ALBANY, AND TROY.

THE UPPER DELAWARE.

WATER-FALLS AT CAYUGA LAKE.

THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

THE CARONS OF THE COLORADO.

CHICAGO AND MILWAUKEE.

A GLANCE AT THE NORTHWEST.

THE MAMMOTH CAVE.

NEW YORK AND BROOKLYN.

WASHINGTON.



    AUTHOR.
R. E. GARCZYNSKI.

W. H. RIDEING.

W. H. RIDEING.

W. H. RIDEING.

J. E. COLBURN.

0. B. BUNCE.

W. H. RIDEING.

W. H. RIDEING.

0. B. BUNCE.

G. M. TOWLE.



     ARTIST.
Woodward and Fens.

7. D. Woodward.

7. D. Woodward.

Thomas Moran.

ThRomas Moran.

Alfred R. Waud.

Alfred R. Waud.

Alfred R. Wamd.

Harry Fenn.

W. L. Shejjard.



'v



PAGE

457

471

477

482

503

512

529

540

545

566



 




LIST OF ENGRAVINGS ON



VOLUME SECOND,



             SUBJECT.
NEW YORK, FROM BROOKLYN HEIGHTS.

DOME OF THE CAPITOL.

WEST POINT.

MOUTH OF THE MOODNA.

PHILADELPHIA, FROM BELMONT.

CONNECTICUT VALLEY, FROM MOUNT TOM.

BALTIMORE, FROM DRUID-HILL PARK.

SUNRISE, FROM SOUTH MOUNTAIN, CATSKILL.

CITY OF CINCINNATI.

CITY OF LOUISVILLE.

EMIGRANTS CROSSING THE PLAINS.

CALIFORNIANS LASSOING BEAR.

THE SUSQUEHANNA.

BOSTON, FROM SOUTH BOSTON.

LAKE GEORGE.

THE HOUSATONIC.

THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS.

QUEBEC.

BEVERLY COAST, MASSACHUSETTS.



    ARTIST.
A. C. WARREN.

HARRY FENN.

HARRY FENN.

DAVID JOHNSON.

GRANVILLE PERKINS.

J. D. WOODWARD.

GRANVILLE PERKINS.

HARRY FENN.

A. C. WARREN.

A. C. WARREN.

F. 0. C. DARLEY.

F. 0. C. DARLEY.

GRANVILLE PERKINS.

J. D. WOODWARD.

J. W. CASILEAR.

A. F. BELLOWS.

A. C. WARREN.

J. D. WOODWARD.

J. F. KENSETT.



ENGRAVER.    FACE PAGE.
G. R. Hall.  Freutispitce.

E. P. Braxdard.    Tidle-ag.

S. V. Hxnt.     FACE 9

G. W. Wldstiod.     21

R. HinsAhelwod.     40

R. Hins/elmood.     80

R. HisAelwood.      97

S. V. Hxnt.         126

W. Wellstood.      i6i

E. P. Brandard.     i65

H. B. Hall.         176

F. Holl.            201

R. Hinsxhtwood.    216

E. P. Bramdard.    233

R. Hinseelwood.    256

S. V. Hxnx.         289

R. HixsRhIumod.    321

R. Hixshtlwod.     384

S. V Heat.         401



STEEL.

 





LIST OF ENGRA VINS OA" STEEL.



            SUBJECr.

ADIRONDACK WOODS.

EAST ROCK, NEW HAVEN.

THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

CITY OF MILWAUKEE.

TERRACE, CENTRAL PARK.

WASHINGTON, FROM ARLINGTON HEIGHTS.



    ARTIST.

J. M. HART.

C. G. GRISWOLD.

W. WHITThREDGE.

A. C. WARREN.

C. ROSENBERG.

W. L. SHEPPARD.



vi



   ENGRAVER.

R. Hinshetwood.

S. V Hunt.

R. Hinshelwood.

R. Hinshelwood.

G. R. Hall.

R. Hinshelwood.



FACE PAGE.

    425

    444

    488

    528

    557

    569


 



PICTURESQUE AMERICA.



Poughkeepsie, and its Founderies at Night.



HIGHLANDS AND PALISADES OF THE



HUDSON.



                WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY HARRY FENN.

T  o  those who are willing to accept such unobtrusive companionship as we have to
     offer, in this artist's voyage among the noblest scenes of our most beautiful and
perfect American river, wve must say at the beginning that wve shall not follow the tra-
                     12

 



2                          PICTURESQUE AMERICA.

ditions of the ordinary guide. To him it matters little by what path he leads a trav-
eller to the most glorious outlook, nor does he care for his observer's frame of mind;
he will suddenly show you the Rhine-fall from the back-door of a dingy beer-house, and
point out your first view of Niagara through the dusty window of a hackney-coach.
To us, the way of approach seems of no little moment; and here especially, among the
scenes we know so well, we have our fixed ideas of the traveller's most satisfying course.
    The true way, then, to learn the noblest beauties of the Hudson's grandest region,
is to enter the Highlands with the river's course; beginning the voyage from some
point above, watching the growing picturesqueness of the stream, and noting the gradual
rise of the hills, the increasing grandeur of their outline, and the deepening majesty of
their presence, until, with his heart full of this slowly-gaining beauty, one finds himself
among the perfect pictures which lie in the very midst of the mountain-group.  Let us
enter on our journey in search of the picturesque, then, from some point at a little dis-
tance up the river. Newburg is too near the Highlands; it lies in the shadow of their



The fludisn, suth from Nervburg.

 



HIGHLANDS AND PALISADES OF THE HUDSON.



                                                                very gates; let us be-
                                       w' q           ,        gin our voyage at that
                                                        as the;XIpoint of practical as well
                                                            as   heoetialconvenience -at
                                                        Poughkeepsie.
                                                            Indeed, our place of depart-
                On the Old Newburg Toll Road.
                                                        ure is itself, in the matter of
                                                        picturesque outlook, not to be
despised. The "rural city:" as one of our writers has called it, lies very pleasantly
upon its group of gentle hills, and overlooks a bright and sunny portion of the river-
view. By day, one may quarrel a little with the smoke of its busy founderies, but by
night these become the most strangely beautiful and striking feature in many miles of
the Hudson's scenery. They light the river like weird beacons, and the sound of their
great furnaces comes across the water in the stillness, as the panting of giants that toil
when the weaker forces of the world are all asleep.
    Our departure from Poughkeepsie allows us to approach the Highlands by the
"Long Reach "-that quiet and sunny portion of the river's course that here lies like
a broad, straight avenue between the beautiful banks, for more than twenty miles. Its
upper extremity is at Crom Elbow-the Krom Elleboge of the old Dutch settlers; its



3

 



PICTURESQUE AMERICA.



    lower is at Newburg. Sail-
    ing down it, we pass many
    points which their history,
    as well as their beauty,
    makes noteworthy.   Here,
    on the eastern bank, two
    miles below the town, is
    Locust Grove, entitled to
    remembrance as the summer
    home of Morse, whose name
    the wires of his telegraph
    have told to all the world.
    A mile or two farther on,
    where Spring Brook comes
    into the Hudson, lived stout
    Theophilus Anthony, the
    blacksmith, a century ago,
    who helped to forge the
,   great chain that once guard-
9   ed the river at Fort Mont-
    gomery, below. Farther still
10  in the Long Reach lie the
    bright little villages of Mil-
    ton and Marlborough, al-
    most hidden from the river
    by the high banks; we pass
    New Hamburg, too, called
    into sad prominence a year
    or two ago by one of the
    terrible disasters that are all
    too common now; and so,
    noting   picturesque  little
    Fishkill on our left, we
    come upon the beautiful
    Newburg   Bay-the     most
    perfect of the Hudson's har-
    bors
        Close by the gate of
     the Highlands, opposite the



4



 




























































































WEST POINT, AND SCENES IN VICINITY

 


PICTURESQUE AMERICA.



                                                                 range  of the   Fishkill
                                                                 hills, and overlooking a
                                                                 stretch of river and shore
                                                                 such as you may hardly
                                                                 find anywhere else in
                                                                 the world, Newburg lies,
                                                             with its bright group
                                                             4  of picturesquely-clustered
                                                                 houses, with  memories
                                                                 of  old  Revolutionary
                                                         : h:: idays surrounding it, and
                                                                 every  association  con-
                                                                 nected  with    it  that
                                                                 should make it a marked
                                                                 town among our historic
                                                                 places. Here were Wash-
                                                                 ington's headquarters dur-
                                                                 ing a part of the storm-
                                                                 iest of the war - time;
                                            St. Mary's Church at  and here, in combating
                                               Cold Spring.
                                                                 with the strongest and
                                simpliest eloquence, the work of the famous "Newburg
                                Addresses," he perhaps, more than anywhere else, showed
               how great agents were his strength of will and earnest purpose in the sal-
               vation of the country.
                   It is with the beauty of the old town, however, and not with its his-
tory, that we have to do. From the shore below it we have gained one of the most
perfect views of this noble part of the Hudson's course. We see the entrance of the
Highlands, and the broad expanse of water lying between this and the town. This is
the very perfection of an approach to the glorious scenery below. The broad bay forms
a kind of enchanted border-region, which the true guide will let his visitor study well;
and it and its shores-along which one should pass to fully learn the beauty of the great
stretch of sunny river-put one in the truest mood for the first sight of the grander
aspects of mountain and stream upon which he is to look with the next stage of his jour-
ney. One should pass, we say, along the shore as well as make the voyage upon the
river, to catch the full beauty of this scene in Newburg Bay. The old toll-road runs
along the western bank of the Hudson here, and gives from time to time such glimpses
of the hills below as are worth a day's travel to seek. From one of these Mr. Fenn
has shown the very spirit of the whole scene. This is a portion of the journey that no



6

 



HIGHLANDS AND PALISADES OF THE HUDSON.



one should miss. And now we are within the gates of the Highlands themselves, in the
presence of the great Storm-King and the dark pile of the Cro'-Nest.
    To us these two noble mountains are the grandest of the Highland range. They
have a charm that might induce a man to live in their shadow for no other purpose
than to have them always before him, day and night, to study their ever-changing beauty.
For they are never twice alike; the clouds make varying pictures all day long on their
wooded sides, and nowhere have we seen more wonderful effects of shadow and sun-
























                                                               shine. Under the frowvn
                                                               of a low thunder-cloud
                                                               they take on a grim
                                                               majesty that makes their
                                      black masses strangely threatening and weird; one
          4a\i7't\2   nm          forgets to measure their height, and their massive,
   Glimpse of the Hudson from Fort Putnam.  strongly-marked features, by any common standard
                                      of every-day measurement, and they seem to
tower and overshadow all the scene around them, like the very rulers and controllers of
the coming storm. And when the sunlight comes back again, they seem to have
brought it, and to look down with a bright benignity, like giant protectors of the valley
that lies below.
    Beyond them, on a remarkable and beautiful promontory, extending into the river
at what seems to us the most perfect point of the whole course of tne Hudson, lies
West Point. It has always been to us an ideal place. In its shores, every view of



7

 



PICTURESQUE AMERICA.



which is full of picturesque
charm ; in the dark back-
ground of its hills; in the
aspect - somewhat unusual
in our America - of its
earthworks  and   defences,
and all the sulroundings
that have been given it by
the long years of its occu-
pancy as a military school;
in its broad plain, forming
the central ground of hu-
man action, on which the
great natural amphitheatre
of the Highlands looks si-
lently down; even in the
grouping of its cluster of
buildings, and in the pictu-
resque monuments about it,                    View south from the Academy Grounds.
that call up so many mem-
ories, there seems to us a harmony of beauty that makes the site of our important miii
tary post one of the most attractive spots in the wvhole country.
     It is from West Point, too, that the most satisfying viewvs of the Hudson itself are



8



 

















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HIGHLANDS AND PALISADES OF THE HUDSON.



to be gained. Whoever has looked out from the broad veranda of the hotel near the
parade-the familiar "Roe's "-and seen the broad reach of the river stretching north-
ward between the picturesque dark hills, never forgets the perfect vista that lies before
him here.
    Equally beautiful in sunshine and shadow, and fairly glorious in a storm, this is
such a scene as no other river can show.  Sit and watch it lying under the sky of a
cloudless autumn morning, when its outlines all seem mellowed with a touch of golden
haze, and it is framed by the many-colored splendors of the foliage of late October; or
see it when the perfect beauty of the new green of spring is over its hills, and the
river is just rippled by a touch of air; or, best, perhaps, and certainly grandest of all,
when the overhanging thunder-cloud of a summer afternoon comes slowly nearer, and
first the sharply-outlined black shadow, and then the distinct, clearly-marked edge of the
pelting storm, approach across hills and river, until, with the growing thunder and whirl
of rain, you find yourself overtaken by the tempest; see this picture of the Hudson in
one of these aspects or in all, and you will grant that no Old World vaunted Rhine
can show you more and truer beauty than is thus given in our own home.
    But this perfect river-view, which lies always before the visitor, to be enjoyed with-
out an effort, and to satisfy even without any thing else, is really only the beginning of
what West Point has to offer to a lover of the picturesque. Turn in whatever direction
one may from the parade-ground of the academy-the recognized central point of all
things at the post-he finds new points of outlook, and new beauty waiting for him
everywhere. On the summit of Mount Independence, an irregular hill, some distance
back from the river, are the ruins of old Fort Putnam-such ruins as are left of the
once stout work; and, climbing to these, one gains a new glimpse of the Highlands and
the water. It is useless to try to show in words the different and always fresh charm
that each new point of observation gives; nor could the pencil show it with entire suc-
cess unless it could fill a volume with sketches, in which even then one would miss the
glorious coloring that forms a crowning beauty of these hills. The ruins of the fort are
themselves picturesque, with that beauty of ruins that is so rare with us in America-
the nameless charm that, even for the least sentimental, always surrounds an old, decay-
ing structure that has played its part in the world, and seems resting and looking on
dreamily, only an observer now, and not an actor.
    Close by the central grounds of the academy there are other relics of old days,
monuments that have an interest besides their picturesque aspect, as they lie among the
green of the turf and trees. Along the steep shore of the river, that rises so suddenly
as to form a series of sharp precipices and rough terraces between them, there are many
of these memorials, and many historic nooks. Here, half-way down the slope of the
shore, is A Kosciuszko's Garden," where the brave Pole used to make his favorite haunt,
and where he would lie and read in his leisure, regardless, according to the story, of the



 









a:



THE HUDSON AT "COZZENS'S."

 



HIGHLANDS AND PALISADES OF THE HUDSON.



fact that shot from the vessels in the river now and then struck the rocks not far away.
Along the paths that lead from one to another of these natural terraces are smooth
cliffs, on which the names of famous victories have been cut in large, bold letters; the
vines and ferns give to these natural frames of green, and the plain records are the
most perfect that could have been devised-better than any tablets of less noble sim-
plicity. There is no lack of memorial-stones erected by men's hands, however; here and
there a column or an obelisk looks out from the foliage-a monument to some army
hero, who once went out into earnest battle from the quiet existence and petty events
of "the corps."
    Down by the most beautiful part of the shore runs the path-memorable in the
lives of countless fledgling soldiers-that has been named by profane souls "1 Flirtation
Walk"-a designation at which the heart of any man over two-and-twventy must sink, in
despair of his race. For the path is a perfect ideal of beauty; at every point of its
course there are glimpses of hills and river that it makes a man's whole life better to
have seen; and yet it must exist for whole generations more of gray-clad youngsters
under the title of " Flirtation Walk!" Not that we quarrel with the fact of the flirta-
tion-under sun, moon, or stars, there is no such place for tender passages and summer
love-making-but why did not some young hero, with his memory full of these things,
christen it by any name, though ever so ultra-sentimental, that would commemorate
them better than the chosen title that now rules
    From the shady nooks of the West Point shores one may look out upon parts of
the opposite bank that are, in their quieter fashion, also beautiful. Opposite the prom-
ontory of the Point lies the little village of Cold Spring-a bright group of houses
by the water. Above and below it the shore rises into high, steep banks, and on one
of these stands the little church of St. Mary's, which Mr. Fenn has chosen for a pict-
ure that might almost persuade one he was looking upon some view of a little chapel
crowning the rocks by an old river of Europe, so quaint is it, and so foreign in its
features to the ordinary aspect of our American scenes. Near by it the railway runs
along the bank and through a rough tunnel in the ragged point; but the little church
looks like a mediwval building, as far removed as possible from the practical progress
of to-day.
    But we must not long digress from the detail-even though it be so meagre-of
the beauties that more closely surround the West Point plain. We should be unfaithful
to our duties as guide if we did not lead the looker-on at these favorite scenes of ours
to some few more of the points from which he will carry away pleasant memories. One
of these is the landing-place itself at which he finds himself upon arrival by the ordi-
nary route from the city; for one is carried by the train to Garrison's, on the Hudson's
eastern side, and thence in a little steamer across the river, and is landed at the foot of
the cliffs of the promontory. Here is a road leading to the plain above, and built by



I I

 



PICTURESQUE AMERICA.



the engineers in a single long slope from the water, along the steep face of the shore,
to the point where it again reaches level ground. It is to this road and the views seen
from it that we would, in guide-book manner, call the reader's notice. Whoever is
sound in wind and limb should walk up the long, regularly-graded ascent, and now and
then look down at the river. It lies below him, seen through the branches of the trees,
as he will see it nowhere else. Such a sense of overhanging the water is hardly felt
even on the Palisades themselves. The rocks above and below the road are grouped in



Anthony's Nose, from the Western Shore.



rough, massive forms; the sense of height is far greater than actual measurement would
warrant; and the outlook, wherever one turns, is striking, and such as will be gained
from perhaps no other point but this, midway in the slope along the cliff.
    On the opposite side of the promontory from this, and some distance beyond the
academy grounds, is the cemetery of the post. Overlooking the river to the north and
east, and lying in a little level plain above the cliffs, where the sunlight falls all day
long, and where every thing in scene and surrounding seems to join in giving quiet



1 2



, 19 

 



HIGHLANDS AND PALISADES OF THE HUDSON.



and peaceful beauty to it, it is
such a resting - place as any
man might choose after a sol-
dier's stormy life.  Here Scott
is buried, and here are many
heroes of fame more or less
widely spread-all honored by
the younger men growing up
to take their places, with an
honor partly made up of gen-
erous ambition to go and do
like them, partly of an admi
ration for bravery in the ab-
stract, and partly of the name-
less and indescribable senti-
ment of veneration that hangs
about the memory of "' a grad-
uate." To us, the cemetery-
overlooked by dark old Cro'-
Nest; looking down on the
river far below; quiet and
peaceful in the sunlight; silent,
yet never gloomy, under the
stars; scarcely touched, it would
seem, even by the winds of the
Highland  storms-is among
the West Point scenes that
seems most beautiful.
    We must not leave the
Point without saying some-
thing  of  the   associations,
which, besides its beauty, make
it a place full of interest to
every traveller through the
Hudson's scenery.  For here
are the scenes of not a few
events to which every one's
memory turns back familiarly,
and the whole neighborhood is



Near Anthony's Nose at Night.



13

 



PICTURESQUE AMERICA.



among the most famous regions of our history. During the War of the Revolution,
West Point was, if not the principal, at least one of the most important military posts
in the country. Singular as such a statement must appear to us now, it was looked
upon-as an American historian has phrased it-as the key to the passage between the
New-England and the Middle States-the colonies of Revolutionary days. It com-
manded the entrance to the Upper Hudson; it was the centre of the scene of many
principal movements of the war; it was invaluable as a deposit for munitions, and
troops were mustered within its fortifications, to be sent to every part of the theatre of
action. Upon its defences was concentrated much of the attention and effort of the
Congress and the leaders of the army. Here, from Gee's Point to Constitution Island
(no longer surrounded by the stream), was stretched across the Hudson the huge
chain, to which reference has been made already. "It was laid," says the best descrip-
tion that we have at hand, "across a boom of heavy logs, that floated near together.
These were sixteen feet long, and pointed at each end, so as to offer little resistance to
the tidal currents. The chain was fastened to these logs by staples, and at each shore
by huge blocks of wood and stone." Several of the great links of the chain are pre-
served at the Point; and the work of the stout old blacksmith looks as though it
might have borne the wear and rust of centuries; but by the vessels of an enemy its
strength was never tested. Here, too, on a conspicuous part of the promontory, Kos-
ciuszko constructed Fort Clinton, in 1778. Of Fort Putnam we have already spoken;
and, indeed, the whole vicinity of the post was provided with no mean works for forti-
fication and defence. It is not hard to see, then, apart from other reasons, why Wash-
ington and his generals looked upon it as, perhaps, their chief fortress. The fighting col-
onies had no other military stronghold of such extent and permanent character as this.
    All these features of the place contributed to increase the magnitude of the crime
which will always be associated with the history of West Point-the treason of Bene-
dict Arnold. It is impossible to forget it as we look at the scene of the plan-impos-
sible even for us, who have come to seek rather the beauty of the present than the stir-
ring recollections of the past. Inevitably we picture again in mind, as we did when
school-boys, the September morning when the traitor heard of the miscarriage of his
plans, and wonder what feeling came to him as he sat at the table of Beverly
House (where Colonel Beverly Robinson had made his home, on the eastern side of
the river, nearly opposite the post), and the note was brought to him from his subordi-
nate at the military station below, that said "Major Andrd, of the British army, is a
prisoner in my custody." The scene with his wife, the hurried flight, his treacherous sur-
render of his boatmen-all these things that were wont to stir our blood when we read
them in the school-histories, come back to us perforce when we linger at the Highland
fortress. It must have been, indeed, a sorry time for more men than Arnold; and one
can have a feeling of thorough sympathy for the disheartened commander-in-chief, when



14

 



          hllWILAADUJ3 ADSU       tAL1hAVPk3      UP    lHP Hk  USUS.             15


































he  tured   to
Lafayette  and
Knox with his


"Whom      can
we trust now"
But   we   are
Playing false to  our guie
duty in thus digressing to talk
of the by-gone days, when the
Hudson   had  added   to  its
beauties the interest of war.         Anthony's Nose, from Iona Island.
    Because we have lingered
so long in the beautiful neighborhood of West Point and its really glorous scenery,
the patient reader must not fancy that the noblest views of the Highlands approach

 



PICTURESQUE AMERICA.



their end when the picturesque mili-
tary post is passed. So far is this
from  being the fact, that we fear we have
given to what is, we confess, our favorite of
all the places on the river's shore, more than
its share of time and space.
    For we have not yet spoken of Cozzens's, that familiar and
great resort of summer pleasure-seekers, perched high on the
brow of the cliff that is the most prominent on the western
shore for several miles below  the Military Academy.   Nothing could be more pictu-
resque than the situation of the great building of the hotel, high up in air, looking
down upon all the noblest of the river - views. It is several hundred feet above the
water in reality; but it looks twice the real distance from the low shore at the base
of the cliff to the foundations of the house, for the precipice is here so bold and
rugged that the most practised eye is deceived by its appearance of great height.
Along this steep descent runs the road, cut as at the post-landing above, in a well-
graded slope from the river to the summit of the cliffs. On the shore Mr. Fenn has
found a point of view where one may deceive himself into the belief that he looks upon
some legend-aunted ruin near the Rhine or the Neckar, so picturesquely are the out-
lines of this commonplace old structure by the Cozzens's Landing shaped and scarred by
time and weather.
    But we must hasten on, for now, a little distance-farther down the river, we come



i6

 



HIGHLANDS AND PALISADES OF THE, HUDSON.



upon another of the most glorious mountain-groups of the Highlands-the most southern
of all, forming the lower gate, as the Storm-King and its fellows form the upper. Chief
among this new group is the bold height of Anthony's Nose, descending sharply to the
water of the river at one of the most perfect bends in all its course.  So boldly does
the promontory jut out into the stream that it seems actually to close its channel; and
the good Hendrick Hudson, as he approached it, thought for a time that his progress
was finally brought to a close, and that the arm of the sea, up which he imagined that
he was sailing, had ended here among the hills. The stee