ride, as if conscious of the
illustrious burden it sustained.

But trust me, gentlefolk, far other was the scene presented to the
contemplation of the crew from that which may be witnessed at this
degenerate day. Wildness and savage majesty reigned on the borders of this
mighty river; the hand of cultivation had not as yet laid low the dark
forest and tamed the features of the landscape, nor had the frequent sail
of commerce broken in upon the profound and awful solitude of ages. Here
and there might be seen a rude wigwam perched among the cliffs of the
mountains, with its curling column of smoke mounting in the transparent
atmosphere, but so loftily situated that the whoopings of the savage
children, gamboling on the margin of the dizzy heights, fell almost as
faintly on the ear as do the notes of the lark when lost in the azure
vault of heaven. Now and then, from the beetling brow of some precipice,
the wild deer would look timidly down upon the splendid pageant as it
passed below, and then, tossing his antlers in the air, would bound away
into the thickets of the forest.

Through such scenes did the stately vessel of Peter Stuyvesant pass. Now
did they skirt the bases of the rocky heights of Jersey, which sprang up
like everlasting walls, reaching from the waves unto the heavens, and were
fashioned, if tradition may be believed, in times long past, by the mighty
spirit of Manetho, to protect his favorite abodes from the unhallowed eyes
of mortals. Now did they career it gayly across the vast expanse of Tappan
Bay, whose wide extended shores present a variety of delectable scenery;
here the bold promontory, crowned with embowering trees, advancing into
the bay; there the long woodland slope, sweeping up from the shore in rich
luxuriance, and terminating in the upland precipice, while at a distance,
a long waving line of rocky heights threw their gigantic shades across the
water. Now would they pass where some modest little interval, opening
among these stupendous scenes, yet retreating as it were for protection
into the embraces of the neighboring mountains, displayed a rural
paradise, fraught with sweet and pastoral beauties; the velvet-tufted
lawn, the bushy copse, the tinkling rivulet, stealing through the fresh
and vivid verdure, on whose banks was situated some little Indian village,
or, peradventure, the rude cabin of some solitary hunter.

The different periods of the revolving day seemed each, with cunning
m