vessels are taken into the river above, and towed by steam-tugs, as we have observed, up to Lansingburgh and Waterford. Just above the dam, and near Waterford, there is a communication between the canal and the river, and many loaded boats from the former there enter the latter, pass through the lock, and are towed, some to Troy and Albany, and others to New York. The dam also furnishes water power to a number of mills on the Troy shore below it, into which grain is taken from vessels lying at the docks, by means of "elevators" worked by the water wheels. These form a striking feature in the scene below the dam.

From the lock may be obtained an excellent view of the river below,

with the last of the bridges that then spanned the Hudson. Since then a railway-bridge has been thrown across it at Albany, six miles below. Glimpses of Troy, and Watervliet or West Troy opposite, and of the Katzbergs, thirty miles distant, were obtained from the same point of view. The Troy Bridge was sixteen hundred feet in length, and connected Green Island with the main, having a draw at the eastern end for vessels to pass through. It was used as a public highway in crossing the river, and also as a viaduct of the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railway. It was built of timber, was closely covered, and rested upon heavy stone piers. It crossed where formerly lay a group of beautiful little islands, when Troy was in its infancy. They have almost disappeared, except

the larger one, which is bisected by the bridge. Among these islands shad and sturgeon, fish that abound in every part of the river below, were caught in large quantities, but they are seldom seen there now.

Troy, the capital of Rensselaer County, is six miles above Albany, at the head of tide-water, one hundred and fifty-one miles from the city of New York. It is a port of entry, and its commerce is very extensive for an inland town. It is seated upon a plain between the foot of Mount Ida and the river. It has crept up that hill in some places, but very cautiously, because the earth is unstable, and serious avalanches have from time to time occurred. Its site was originally known as Ferry Hook, then Ashley's Ferry,* and finally Vanderheyden, the name of the first proprietor of the soil on which Troy stands, after it was conveyed in fee from the Patroon of Rensslaerwyck, in the year 1720. After the Revolution the spot attracted some attention as an eligible village site. Town lots were laid out there in the summer of 1787, and two years afterward the freeholders of the embryo city, at a meeting in Albany, resolved that "in future it should be called and known by the name of Troy." At the same time, with the prescience of observing men, they said "It may not be too sanguine to expect, at no very distant period, to see Troy as famous for her trade and navigation as many of our first towns." It was incorporated a village in 1801, and a city in 1816.

From the beginning Troy was a rival of Lansingburgh. It was settled chiefly by enterprising New England people. They perceived the advantages of their location at the head of tide-water and sloop navigation, between two fine streams (Poesten Kill and Wynant's Kill) that flow in wild cascades from Mount Ida and its connections, affording

* Stephen Ashley kept the first tavern at the ferry, in the farm-house of Matthias Vanderheyden, on the south-east corner of River and Division Streets. It is the oldest house in Troy, having been built as early as 1752. On the front of the house, between the two windows on the left, was a brick, on which was cut "a V H. A.D. 1752." The initials stood for Derick (Richard) Vanderheyden. The D was reversed. Between the second window on the left and the door was another brick inscribed "M V H. 1752." These were the initials of Matthias Vanderheyden. South of the window on the right, and a little above it, was another brick inscribed "I V H. 1752." These were the initials of Jacob Vanderheyden. Matthias occupied this, and the other two built houses elsewhere on the plot. Ashley afterward kept an inn at the corner of River and Ferry Streets. On his sign was a portrait of Washington, and the words "Why here's Ashley's."

Q

VANDERHEYDEN HOUSE.

extensive water power. After a hard struggle, Troy was made the countyseat, and the court-house was erected there, and from that time the growth of Lansingburgh was slow, whilst Troy increased with wonderful rapidity. The former had 6,000 inhabitants in 1860, and the latter almost 50,000. It has always been conspicuous for well-directed and associated public spirit, and its institutions of learning are among the best in the land. The most noted of these are the Rensselaer Institute, founded and endowed by the late Stephen Van Rensselaer of the Manor,

the Troy Female Seminary, and the Troy University. The latter was established under the auspices of the Methodist denomination, but the funds for the building were liberally subscribed by men of various sects. It stands upon Mount Ida, and is the most conspicuous object in a view of the city seen from any point. In its immediate vicinity are beautiful residences, which command extensive and interesting pictures of town and country. In their chaste and modest style of architecture, they present striking contrasts to the more meretricious "Byzantine style" of the University,

Opposite Troy is the bustling village of West Troy (formerly Watervlict), with a population of about 9,000 in 1860. At the south end of the village, and occupying a front of a quarter of a mile along the west bank of the Hudson, is the United States Military establishment called the Watervliet Arsenal. It was one of the largest of the six principal establishments then belonging to the United States, where, under the direction of the Ordnance Department, were manufactured the arms and munitions of war required for the use of the army and the

militia before the Civil War. About twelve acres of land were purchased at that point by the United States, in 1813, for arsenal purposes, and the group of buildings seen in the sketch was erected. The grounds comprised about one hundred acres, part covered with necessary buildings and a parade, and the remainder was under cultivation. About two hundred yards west of the highway, the Erie Canal passed through the grounds, and was spanned by a picturesque iron bridge near the officers' quarters. Along the river front was a double row of stately elm trees, whose branches form a leafy arch over the highway in summer. From these the

green-sward bank slopes gently toward the river, and affords a delightful promenade on summer afternoons.*

The highway along the plain from West Albany is a fine macadamised

* I was indebted to the courtesy of Lieutenant George T. Balch, then stationed there, for the following facts:-"As the necessity for greater manufacturing facilities arose, additional lands were purchased, and extensive shops, storehouses, timber-sheds, magazines, barracks and quarters, were erected from time to time, until at the present (1860), the real estate and the improvements are valued at 500,000 dollars, and the military stores and supplies collected, in the various buildings, at 1,500,000. The principal operations carried on are the manufacture of heavy artillery carriages for the sea-coast forts, with all the requisite implements and equipments; carriages for siege trains and field batteries, with their equipments and harness; all machines used in transporting and repairing artillery; ammunition of all kinds for sea-coast, siege, and field guns, and for small arms, and the repair and preservation of the large quantity of material of war in store. The shops comprise all requisite facilities for the various mechanics employed, as well as a conveniently arranged and roomy laboratory. The motive power is water, furnished by the Erie Canal. Under ordinary circumstances from 110 to 150 workmen are employed, but, when the exigencies of the service demand it, 500 to 600 can easily be accommodated. The establishment is under the control of a field officer of the ordnance department, assisted by subalterns of the same, a military storekeeper and paymaster, who is a civilian, and the requisite master, workmen, &c. Forty enlisted Ordnance men are at present stationed at the post, who perform the necessary guard duty and drills, and are at other times variously engaged in out-of-door and mechanical employments. The United States have exclusive control of the grounds included within the arsenal enclosure, the State exercising only concurrent jurisdiction in civil actions and criminal cases."