ton has been held in considerable tracts and
the very names of these suburban points suggest altitude and
outlook--Highbridgeville, Fordham Heights, Morris Heights, University
Heights, Kingsbridge Heights, Mount Hope, &c. The growth of the city
all the way to Jerome and Van Cortlandt's Park during the last few
years has been marvelous. It has literally stepped over the Harlem to
find room in the picturesque county of Westchester.

=The Island of Manhattan.=--As we approach the northern limit of
Manhattan we feel that in the preservation of the beautiful name
"Manhattan," distinctive of New York's chief borough, Irving's dream
has been happily realized. The meaning of this Indian word has been
the subject of much discussion. It is, however, simply the name of a
tribe. As the old historian De Laet says, "On the east side, on the
main land dwell the Manhattoes," and again from the "Documentary
History of New York." "It is so called from the people which inhabited
the main land on the east side of the river."

* * *

Pleasant it is to lie amid the grass,
Under these shady locusts half the day,
Watching the ships reflected in the Bay,
Topmast and shroud, as in a wizard's glass.

_Thomas Bailey Aldrich._

* * *

[Illustration: INDIAN HEAD, PALISADES]

The word Manhattan signifies also it is said: "The People of the
Islands," and it was evidently used by the Indians as a generic term
designating the inhabitants of the island itself, and also of Long
Island and the Neversink. This is in accordance with the testimony of
Van der Donck. With Irving we all recognize the music and poetry
of the name and are proud that our river of beauty is so happily
heralded.

=Spuyten Duyvil Creek.=--Above Washington Heights, on the east bank,
the _Spuyten Duyvil_ meets the Hudson. This stream is the northern
boundary of New York Island, and a short distance east of the Hudson
bears the name of Harlem River. Its course is southeast and joins the
East River at Randall's Island, just above Hell Gate. It is a curious
fact that this modest stream should be bounded by such suggestive
appellations as Hell Gate and Spuyten Duyvil. This is the first point
of special legendary interest to one journeying up the Hudson and it
takes its name according to the veracious Knickerbocker, from the
following incident: It seems that the famous Antony Van Corlear was
despatched one evening with an important message up the Hudso