troops, were captured as prisoners of war. Fort Lee soon after surrendered also; but these were only temporary disasters in the glorious effort by which the oppressed colonists of Britain achieved their independence.

At the termination of the Palisadoes, the river, which hitherto continues its breadth of about a mile, suddenly expands to a width varying from two to five miles, and is here called Tappan Bay, the increased breadth continuing for a distance of about eight miles. This spot is also consecrated in American history; for, close by the little village of Tappan, which gives its name to the bay, is pointed out the grave of André, whose connexion with the conspiracy of the traitor Arnold is well known; and whose remains, as that of a British officer, were given up at the request of the British government, and conveyed to England for interment there a few years ago.

On the eastern shore of the Hudson, and near the northern termination of Tappan Bay, is the state-prison for criminals, called Singsing. It presents a very singular appearance from the river, being a mass consisting of several low ranges of buildings, quite close to the water's edge, and, from being built of white marble, it has a snowy, and, in some positions of the sun, even a dazzling appearance. It was my intention, had my health permitted, to have visited Singsing and West Point in our progress up the river; but the interdict under which I was placed by my physician forbade it, and I was therefore compelled to reserve my examination of these two interesting spots-interesting, of course, from very different causes, the one as a place of punishment, the other as a place of education-till some future time.

About twenty miles above the Bay of Tappan, and forty from New-York, the scenery of the river becomes again changed, and the range of hills called the Highlands approach close to the water, and hem in the stream on either side. The entrance into this channel is strikingly picturesque; and, with the full green foliage of the month of June, and the countless sailing and steam vessels going up and down the river, some of the latter like floating warehouses (laden with two or three tiers of decks filled with cargo), few prospects can be imagined more romantic, more stirring, or more beautiful. The hills rise abruptly in steep angles from the stream, and present, for a distance of nearly twenty miles, a succession of bluff headlands or promontories, all, however, clothed with underwood from their base to their summits; and the ravines or valleys between them are

as beautiful as the hills themselves. The windings round the promontories present a series of lakes, in which the spectator seems land-locked, as the continuation of the river is not visible either above or below, from the overlapping or interlacing of the headlands of the one side with the projecting capes of the other. This is peculiarly the case at a spot called "the Horse Race," where the stream makes a bend, running nearly east and west, its general direction being north and south. The hills on either side approach closer to each other here, and the contraction of the river's breadth, contrasted with the height of the overhanging hills, which rise from 1200 to 1500 feet-higher than the highest peak of the Rock of Gibraltar, and with almost as steep an angle of ascent-give the whole a very striking and imposing

appearance.

Here, too, the recollections of the Revolutionary war are preserved in the names of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton, which were captured from General Putnam by the British troops in 1777; and in the name of a sheet of water in the rear of Fort Clinton, called "Bloody Pond," from the crimson tinge given to its waters by the number of the slain thrown into it after the sanguinary battle and dreadful carnage of which that fort was the scene.*

About half past ten we arrived opposite to West Point, having performed the distance of fifty miles in about three

* A similar circumstance, as to the deep discoloration of the waters by the blood of the slain, is mentioned by Josephus in his History of the Wars of the Jews, after a great slaughter in a naval battle fought between them and the Romans on the Lake Tiberias.

hours and a half, making good the rate of fourteen miles an hour. The approach to this spot is highly interesting. On the west side of the Hudson, a promontory of moderate height, from 150 to 200 feet above the level of the river, projects into the stream, so as to require a sharp turn round its extremity to follow the course of the river on the other side. On the upper or level part of this promontory are placed the buildings of the Military Academy, at which all the cadets intended to form the officers of the United States army are educated; and above these, on a commanding elevation of about 600 feet, are the ruins of Fort Putnam, one of the most impregnable of the American fortresses during the Revolutionary war. The position of the fortress, and of the batteries on West Point, gave them a complete command of the river up and down, as far as the range of the cannon could extend; and every effort of the British, during eight years of warfare, to wrest them from the brave hands that defended both, were unsuccessful. Fort Putnam

is dismantled and in ruins, there being no apparent necessity for such inland fortresses at present; and the policy and the interest of the country being pacific, centuries may elapse before they are ever required again.

The establishment at West Point is still, however, maintained with full efficiency, and the beauty, as well as the interesting nature of the spot, occasions it to be much frequented. To accommodate the large number of visiters here in the summer, a spacious and splendid hotel was built by the government, and leased out to a proper superintendent; but, after a few years of trial, it became so attractive that it was thought injurious to the good discipline of the students to continue it, and therefore it was ordered to be shut up. The building still occupies its original position, and forms a fine object from the river, but it is quite untenanted at present.

I had letters of introduction to Colonel De Russey and Colonel Thayer, the officers in command at West Point, as I had originally intended to have passed a few days here; but my present debility rendered it imprudent to attempt it now. I therefore passed on without landing, reserving my visit till another opportunity. We admired exceedingly, however, the beautiful appearance of the place, saw with pleasure the pillared monument erected to the memory of the brave Polish patriot, Kosciusko, who resided here, and tilled with his own hands a quiet little garden, which he made his favourite retreat, and which is still carefully preserved.

The termination of the Highland scenery is about six miles above West Point, where two frowning hills overhang the stream on either side, the one called Breakneck, and the other Butter Hill; and between these, in the centre of the river, rises a mass of rock called Polopell Island. The height of the overhanging hills is here also from 1200 to 1500 feet, and the scene is one of great grandeur and beauty,

Beyond this the character of the landscape changes into a softer and more subdued style. The river again expands in

breadth; the shores on either side are well cultivated in rising slopes, and studded with small villages, separate farmhouses, and private dwellings; while the incorporated town of Newburgh, just above the smaller village of New-WindVOL. I.-3 N

466

NEWBURGH AND POUGHKEEPSIE.

sor, displays itself on a commanding elevation, and presents a striking appearance from the river. It is a rising and flourishing place of trade, containing already a population of about 10,000, annually on the increase. The buildings have all that newness and freshness of appearance which is so characteristic of American settlements; and, being built chiefly of wood (though there are many fine stone houses in Newburgh), and painted, with white walls, relieved by bright-green Venetian windows and blinds, they seem as if they were hardly a month old. There are several large hotels, an Episcopalian Church with a lofty steeple, and a Presbyterian Church with a gilded cupola or dome, the first I had seen in the country; and these, rising from the mass of well-built houses, symmetrically arranged, and sloping down the steep bank of the Hudson on the west, gave the whole town a commanding air and pleasing aspect.

Among the whole is preserved, with great care, the "stone house" in which General Washington held his headquarters when the Revolutionary army was encamped here; and many continue to visit it as a spot rendered sacred by its former occupier, and by the cause in which he fought. On the eastern bank of the river rises a lofty eminence called Beacon Hill, which is 1500 feet high, and a little to the south of it is another peak about 1700 feet high. These are both called Beacon Hills, because, during the Revolu tionary war, signals were made from their summits by fires. They are often frequented by visiters, especially the former, as from its summit the view extends into five different states, namely, Vermont, New-Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New-York.

About fifteen miles beyond Newburgh, but on the opposite side of the river, on the east, is another of those rising and flourishing towns of which America is so full, namely, Poughkeepsie. It contains a population of about 10,000, but is even more rapidly augmenting its numbers than Newburgh. Occupying an elevated position, it is seen as a conspicuous object in the river scenery, both in ascending and in descending the stream. Its principal source of wealth is its manufactures, and of these the principal branch is silk, there being a company engaged in this with a capital of 200,000 dollars. A variety of manufactures in hardware are also carried on, and a peculiarly beautiful screw has been manufactured here by a machine, for which a patent has been taken out, which, from its mathematical precision in all its parts, is likely to supersede every other kind of