Part 15 (2/2)

This section was known by the Indians as ”Wequehache,” or, ”the Hill Country,” and the entire range was called by the Indians ”the endless hills,” a name not inappropriate to this mountain bulwark reaching from New England to the Carolinas. As pictured in our ”Long Drama,”

given at the Newburgh centennial of the disbanding of the American Army,

That ridge along our eastern coast, From Carolina to the Sound, Opposed its front to Britain's host, And heroes at each pa.s.s were found:

A vast primeval palisade, With bastions bold and wooded crest, A bulwark strong by nature made To guard the valley of the west.

Along its heights the beacons gleamed, It formed the nation's battle-line, Firm as the rocks and cliffs where dreamed The soldier-seers of Palestine.

It was also believed by the Indians that, in ancient days, ”before the Hudson poured its waters from the lakes, the Highlands formed one vast prison, within whose rocky bosom the omnipotent Manitou confined the rebellious spirits who repined at his control. Here, bound in adamantine chains, or jammed in rifted pines, or crushed by ponderous rocks, they groaned for many an age. At length the conquering Hudson, in its career toward the ocean, burst open their prison-house, rolling its tide triumphantly through the stupendous ruins.”

The Highlands are here moulded in all manner of heights and hollows; sometimes reaching up abruptly to twelve or fifteen hundred feet, and again stretching away in long gorges and gentle declivities.

_Susan Warner._

=Pollopel's Island=, east of the steamer's route, was once regarded as a haunted spot, but its only witches are said to be snakes too lively to be enchanted. In old times, the ”new hands” on the sloops were unceremoniously dipped at this place, so as to be proof-christened against the goblins of the Highlands. Here also another useless ”impediment” was put across the Hudson in 1779, a chevaux-de-frise with iron-pointed spikes thirty feet long, hidden under water, strongly secured by cribs of stone. This, however, was not broken and would probably have done effective work if some traitor to the cause had not guided the British captains through an unprotected pa.s.sage.

The State at one time contemplated the purchase of this island on which to erect a statue to Hendrick Hudson. For some reason Governor Flower vetoed the bill. It is now owned by Mr. Francis Bannerman, an energetic business man, who perhaps some day may see his way to promote a monument to Hudson on the splendid pedestal which nature has already completed.

What sights and sounds at which the world has wondered Within these wild ravines have had their birth!

Young Freedom's cannon from these glens have thundered And sent their startling echoes o'er the earth.

_Charles Fenno Hoffman._

=Cornwall-on-the-Hudson.=--This locality N. P. Willis selected as the most picturesque point on the Hudson. The village lies in a lovely valley, which Mr. Beach has styled in his able description, as ”an offshoot of the Ramapo, up which the storm-winds of the ocean drive, laden with the purest and freshest air.”

=Idlewild.=--Where Willis spent the last years of his life is a charming spot and rich with poetic memories. E. P. Roe also chose Cornwall for his home. Lovers of the Hudson are indebted to Edward Bok for his realistic sketch of an afternoon visit. The ”Idlewild” of to-day is still green to the memory of the poet. Since Willis' death the place has pa.s.sed in turn into various hands, until now it belongs to a wealthy New York lawyer, who has spent thousands of dollars on the house and grounds. The old house still stands, and here and there in the grounds remains a suggestion of the time of Willis. The famous pine-drive leading to the mansion, along which the greatest literary lights of the Knickerbocker period pa.s.sed during its palmy days, still remains intact, the dense growth of the trees only making the road the more picturesque. The brook, at which Willis often sat, still runs on through the grounds as of yore. In the house, everything is remodeled and remodernized. The room from whose windows Willis was wont to look over the Hudson, and where he did most of his charming writing, is now a bedchamber, modern in its every appointment, and suggesting its age only by the high ceiling and curious mantel. Only a few city blocks from ”Idlewild” is the house where lived E. P. Roe, the author of so many popular novels, as numerous, almost, in number as the several hundreds of thousands of circulation which they secured. There are twenty-three acres to it in all, and, save what was occupied by the house, every inch of ground was utilized by the novelist in his hobby for fine fruits and rare flowers. Now nothing remains of the beauty once so characteristic of the place. For four years the grounds have missed the care of their creator. Where once were the novelist's celebrated strawberry beds, are now only gra.s.s and weeds. Everything is grown over, only a few trees remaining as evidence that the grounds were ever known for their cultivated products. A large board sign announces the fact that the entire place is for sale.

The river narrows at their proud behest And creeps more darkly as it deeper flows, And fitful winds swirl through the long defile Where the great Highlands keep their stern repose.

_E.A. Lente._

Cornwall has been for many years a favorite resort of the Hudson Valley and her roofs shelter in the summer season many thousand people. The road completed in 1876, from Cornwall to West Point, gives one a pleasant acquaintance with the wooded Highlands. It pa.s.ses over the plateau of Cro' Nest and winds down the Cornwall slope of Storm King. The tourist who sees Cro' Nest and Storm King only from the river, has but little idea of their extent. Cro' Nest plateau is about one thousand feet above the parade ground of West Point, and overlooks it as a rocky balcony. These mountains, with their wonderful lake system, are, in fact, the ”Central Park” of the Hudson. Within a radius of ten miles are cl.u.s.tered over forty lakes, and we very much doubt if one person in a thousand ever heard of them. A convenient map giving the physical geography of this section would be of great service to the mountain visitor. The Cornwall pier, built by the _New York, Ontario and Western Railroad_ in 1892 for coal and freight purposes, will be seen on our left near the Cornwall dock. This railroad leaves the _West Sh.o.r.e_ at this point and forms a pleasant tourist route to the beautiful inland villages and resorts of the State.

A solitary gleam struck on the base of the Highland peak, and moved gracefully up its side, until reaching the summit, it stood for a minute forming a crown of glory to the sombre pile.

_James Fenimore Cooper._

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