fish, is often seen in large numbers, sporting in the summer sun. Here, in the spring, vast numbers of shad are caught while on their way to spawning places in fresh-water coves; and here, at all seasons, most delicious fish may be taken in great abundance. All things considered, this is one of the most interesting points for a summer residence to be found on the Hudson.

The highways, on land and water, from the Croton to the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, at the head of York Island, pass through exceedingly beautiful and picturesque scenery, made classical to the American mind

because of most interesting historical associations. On the west side of the Hudson, seen by the traveller on road, railway, or river, is a bold mountain shore, having a few cultivated slopes and pleasant villages as far down as the lower extremity of Tappan Bay. From that point there are presented, for about twenty miles southward, perpendicular walls of rock, with bases in buttress form, called the Palisades, fronting immediately on, and rising several hundred feet above, the river. On the east the voyager sees a beautiful, high, undulating country, well cultivated, and sprinkled with villages and hamlets.

The drive from Sing Sing to King's Bridge at Spuyten Duyvil Creek, along the old post-road, is attractive at all seasons of the year, but more especially in spring and early summer, when the trees are in leaf, because of the ever-varying aspects of the landscape. Fine mansions and villa residences are seen on every side, where, only a few years ago, good taste was continually offended by uncouth farmhouses, built for utility only,

without a single thought of harmony or beauty. Now all is changed, and the eye is as continually pleased.

One of the finest of the older country seats in this region was the mansion of General Aaron Ward, overlooking the village of Sing Sing, and commanding a very extensive view of the Hudson and its distant shores. General Ward is one of the most distinguished men in Westchester

He was

County, and is descended from an early settler in that region. an officer in the American army during the war with Great Britain in 1812-15, and at its close conducted the first detachment of the British prisoners from the States to Canada. Law was his chosen profession, and in 1825 he became a law-maker, by election to the Lower House of the National Congress. He was an active and efficient worker, and the satisfaction of his constituency was certified by their retaining him as their representative, by re-election, twelve out of eighteen consecutive years. He assisted in framing the present constitution of the State of New York, in 1846, and since then has declined invitations to public service. During the years 1859 and 1860, he visited Egypt and the Holy Land. His narrative of his journey, published under the title of "Around the Pyramids," is considered one of the most truthful productious of its kind from the pen of an American. Sing Sing owes much to General Ward's enterprise and public spirit, and he is sincerely honoured and beloved in the community where he resides.

Pleasant residences-some embowered, others standing out in the bright sunlight near groves and woods-delight the eye more and more as we approach the large village of Tarrytown, twenty-seven miles from New York. Of these the most conspicuous between the little hamlet of Scarborough, below Sing Sing and Tarrytown, is that of Mr. Aspinwall, a wealthy New York merchant. Near it was the residence of General James Watson Webb, then the veteran editor and proprietor of the New York Courier and Inquirer, and well known, personally, and by reputation, in both hemispheres as a gentleman of rare abilities as a journalist. At the beginning of the Civil War, General Webb was appointed resident minister at the court of Pedro II., emperor of Brazil, in which position he continued during the entire struggle.

Approaching Tarrytown, we observe upon the left of the highway an already populous cemetery, covering the crown and slopes of a gentle hill. Near its base is an ancient church, and a little beyond it flows a clear stream of water, which the Indians called Po-can-te-co, signifying a "run between two hills." It makes its way in a swift current from the back country, between a hundred hills, presenting a thousand scenes of singular beauty in its course. The Dutch named it Slaeperigh Haven

Kill, or Sleepy Haven Creek, and the valley in the vicinity of the old church, through which it flowed, Slaeperigh Hol, or Sleepy Hollow, the scene of Washington Irving's famous legend of that name.

The little old church is a curiosity. It was built, says an inscription upon a small marble tablet on its front, by "Frederic Philips and Catharine Van Cortland, his wife, in 1699," and is the oldest church edifice existing in the State of New York. It was built of brick and stone, the former imported from Holland for the purpose. Over its little

spire still turns the flag-shaped vane of iron, in which is cut the monogram of its founder (VF in combination, his name being spelt in Dutch, Vedryck Flypsen); and in the little tower hangs the ancient bell, bearing the inscription in Latin, " If God be for us, who can be against us? 1685." The pulpit and communion table were also imported from Holland. The former was long since destroyed by the iconoclastic hand of "improvement."

At this quiet old church is the opening of Sleepy Hollow, upon the shores of the Hudson, and near it is a rustic bridge that crosses the

Po-can-te-co, a little below the one made famous in Irving's legend by an amusing incident. In this vicinity, according to the legend, Ichabod

* "Over a deep, black part of the stream, not far from the church," says Mr. Irving, in his "Legend of Sleepy Hollow," "was formerly thrown a wooden bridge; the road that led to it, and the bridge itself, were thickly shaded by overhanging trees, which cast a gloom about it even in the daytime, but occasioned a fearful darkness at night."

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