holocaust to the popular indignation at the time of the memorable Quarantine rebellion, in the summer of 1857. The hospitals, though sufficiently isolated when first built, had, in the course of years and with the growth of the population, come to stand, with all their peril to the public health, in the midst of crowded homes; so much so, that when the authorities neglected to comply with the demand for their removal to some more suitable place, the impatient populace took the matter into their own hands, and settled it by burning the obnoxious structures to the ground. They were subsequently rebuilt, in part, and were again temporarily used; but the patients were finally removed to the present floating-hospitals, miles below the old quarters, at the locality known as the West Bank. In the neighborhood of the Quarantine ground are Forts Tompkins and Richmond, already referred to, and near them is the picturesque height of Signal Hill, crowned with the telegraph which announces the coming of the yet far-off voyager to the watchers in the city above. Staten Island, or Staaten Eylandt as the ancient Dutch settlers wrote the name, was known to the Indians under the euphonious appellation of Squehonga Manackmong. It forms a considerable and an important part of the Empire State, extending some fourteen miles in length, and about eight miles at the point of its greatest breadth. Guarding as it does the great access to the city from the sea, it is, in a military point of view, a place of high consequence. So the British General, Sir William Howe, regarded it, when he established himself there, first of all, at the period of the American Revolution, keeping possession from 1776 to the close of the contest. The island, lying as it does within half an hour's sail of the metropolis, and possessing great and varied topographical advantages, has become a favorite resort for summer residence, and many are the stately chateaux and the cozy cottages which crown its beautiful heights or nestle in its peaceful glens. At the most northern point of the island, where it is separated from the New Jersey shore by the Kills, as the little strait here is called, lies New Brighton-a winsome village of country seats, much esteemed by the denizens of the city when the dog-star rages. New Brighton presents the pleasantest of faces to the water, and looks out upon a picture equally attractive in return. A little west of this village are the grounds of that famous charity for superannuated sons of the sea, known as the Sailor's Snug Harbor. This fortunate establishment was founded in 1801, by Captain Randall, and endowed by him with farm-lands then far out of the city proper, and valued at the time at some fifty thousand dollars; but which are at this day in the heart of the most densely-populated and most valuable section of the metropolis, and are measured by inches instead of acres. Little did the worthy Captain, however sagacious he was, know, in 1801, how great his generous gift would be sixty years after, and how many thankful lips would bless his bounty. To see the fruits of a good deed, one has but to gaze upon the pleasure of the veterans here looking out from their quiet haven upon the passing craft, and living over again, in grateful memory and reverie, the scenes and incidents of their adventurous lives. Bedloe's Island, lying in the inner harbor, midway between the Narrows and the city, is distinguished as the place for the execution of pirates. It was here that the infamous Hicks lately expiated his fearful crimes. Governor's Island, yet nearer to the city, is occupied with the defenses of Castle William and Fort Columbus. The rolling green-sward, which is now broken here and there only by the shadow of a disconsolate tree, was once covered by a luxuriant growth of shrubbery, and was then called Nut or Nutten Island. This was in the ancient days of Dutch predominance. Formerly it was, no doubt, a portion of Long Island, adjoining. The good people of New Amsterdam were wont to drive their cattle from the one point to the other, so shallow was the channel which intervened in their day. The abrasion of the picturesquely situated upon Gowanus Heights, in the southern part of Brooklyn. It covers some three hundred and thirty acres of very varied topographical beauty, adorned by much attractive embellishment, in landscape gardening and monumental architecture. It may be readily At reached by railway at any moment, from the ferry landings at Brooklyn. The New York Bay Cemetery occupies one hundred acres, all liberally and charmingly adorned. The usual access is by ferry or railway from Jersey City. To explore the scenic wonders of these solemn homes of the dead, in the traverse of their endless paths and avenues, now stealing into shady glens and now looking abroad over the surrounding sea and cities, or to think of past and future, in Before leaving the harbor it will be pleasant to lend our gaze for a moment to the two great Cities of the Silent, sleeping in quiet shades on either side-the beautiful hills and glades of Greenwood on the Long Island shore, and the solemn haunts of the New York Bay Cemetery on the Jersey coast, opposite. Greenwood is reverie and musing, among the quiet tombs, might easily and happily employ the longest summer.day. The harbor and its islets now passed, the eye is dazzled by the pride and pomp of the metropolis, and the ear is filled with the rushing sound of its busy life. We may, perhaps, better understand the scene with the aid of a hasty peep at its antecedents in history and character. it was more melodiously called of yore, has a The In continuing our journey around the Island City, we shall-starting from the lower extremity, where the East and the North or Hudson Rivers meet in the Bay-traverse the first-mentioned waters on the east, and thence enter and follow the Harlem River, still on the eastern side, until we meet the Spuyten Duyvel at the upper end of the city. The eccentric windings of this valorous little river, will lead us around the northern boundary of the island into the great waters of the Hudson on the west, through which we shall readily regain our starting-point in the bay or harbor. Our earliest knowledge of the region is gathered from the log of the old Dutch skipper, Hudson, the first European who ever visited it. Hudson entered the Bay of New York and sailed up the great river, afterward named in his honor, in his valiant little craft the Half-Moon, on the 9th of September, 1609. At that period the country was occupied by a tribe of the Lenni Lenapé Indians, a great nation which extended from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. The year following that of the discovery of the country another vessel visited it, under the patronage of the Dutch, who were then the richest commercial people in the world, and, three years afterward, that is, in 1612, there came yet two other adventurers, and in 1613 still three more vessels made their appearance. With these arrivals the settlement and trade of the present metropolis was fairly commenced. The first charter was granted by the Dutch Government in 1614, and the region was then formally invested with its ancient name of the New Netherlands. Huts The first scene of interest to us, as to all who and houses gradually sprung up, and at length a approach the island from the south, is the Batrude fort was erected for the protection of the tery, a crescent-shaped domain at the lower exsettlers. Thenceforward the population and the tremity of the city. This venerable spot is dear trade increased, under the succeeding adminis- to all New Yorkers for its picturesque delights, trations of the Dutch, the English, and the Amer- and doubly dear through its intimate association icans, until the cabin here and there, and the with the whole life and history of the city. It little exchange of furs and furbelows of the sev- may be said to have been, at one time, the city enteenth century, has grown into the mighty itself; for here, or in the immediate neighborhood, city and the magnificent commerce of the pres- was it that the old pioneers erected the humble ent day. For the details of the thousand and cabins and established the little trading-posts one incidents in all this eventful progress of two from which the present capital has sprung. Its and a half centuries, we must refer the reader to warlike name grew out of the early employment the proper histories, excepting as we may now which was naturally made of the locality for and then be led, as we said, to look back into military defenses, though its associations have the shadows of the past for light upon the pic- been chiefly with scenes and incidents of peace ture of the present. and pleasure. The rude rocks which once occuThe Island of New York, or of Manhattan, as pied the ground soon vanished as the settle ment expanded; pleasant paths, overshadowed by spreading boughs, stole into their wild places, and the present park appeared, to the delight of other days as of the present, and, let us hope, of the future forever. It was here that the worthy burghers of the past loved to loll in summer evenings, watching the ripples on the blue waters of the beautiful bay, as they came ever and anon into view through luxuriant clouds of philosophic smoke. Here was it that the good vrows plied their industrious needles while watching the happy gambols of the future mynheers of the town; and here, too, was it that simple youth and maiden whispered simpler tales of love in the quiet glimpses of the moon. In later days, noble gentlemen and stately dames gravely displayed their courtly graces here, in the morning and evening promenade. Of many a stirring spectacle has the time-honored spot been the theatre in military parade, civic ceremonial, and municipal courtesy. Here Washington was welcomed when he visited the city to be inaugurated as the first President of the Great Republic; here Lafayette, too, was received at a later day, and after him all the honored guests of the city down to the dignitaries of the Japanese Embassy, and the young prince and lords of England during the year just gone by. The ancient fortress, known as Castle Garden, which now stands on the margin of the Batterygrounds, was originally built on a mole, and was connected with the shore by a wooden bridge. The recent extension seaward has absorbed this causeway, turned the intervening waters into terra firma, and placed the fort upon the island itself. Castle Garden lost its military character-forever we trust-as long ago as 1823, at which period it was ceded by the United States to the city of New York. Afterward it became a popular place of public amusement. Icecreams were sipped for many years within its venerable walls. On summer nights the air was filled with the strains of the lyric stage, in all the brilliant array of concert and opera. The immense capacity of the edifice-which is six hundred feet in circumference and sufficient for the accommodation of fifteen thousand peoplecaused it to be selected for the first appearance in America of Jenny Lind, and here the songstress was heard, night after night, by as many as the place could hold. The walks and trees of the old park still remain fresh and green, and the picture, which the spot overlooks, of wide waters and distant shores, is now more beautiful than ever, but the social aspect has changed, and probably for aye. The city now, no longer confined to the little lower end of the island, has marched away leagues beyond, leaving its old site comparatively deserted. To visit it at this day from the fashionable quarters of the town involves the time and labor of a long journey by omnibus or railway. Rivals, too, have sprung up elsewhere in many different neighborhoods; and last of all, that happy one, the great public resort now growing into such varied and wondrous beauty under the name of the Central Park. Yet not even these noble grounds, with all their extent and culture, can surpass the old Battery in its charming glimpses of the busy bay, or in its luscious bounty of fresh sea airs. These virtues yet remain intact, though fashion no longer enlivens the spot, and though the old castle has been transferred from a hall of dainty pleasures into a noisy receptacle for the debarking emigrants from foreign lands. Leaving the Battery on the left, and entering the East River, a wonderful panorama greets the eye-such a picture as only a vast maritime capital can present. Far as the sight may follow the windings of the waters, all is instinct with life and action. Great ships, bearing the flags of every clime, crowd the wharves, their forest of masts and spars hiding the view of the walls and roofs beyond. Craft of every class are moving hither and thither, darting across each other's path, as their varying courses lead; while, as if yet more to confound the seeming confusion, ponderous ferry-boats are forever crossing and recrossing here, there, and every where-altogether, a scene of crowded and tumultuous movement, unparalleled in the New World, unless it be in the ceaseless rush and roar of the great thoroughfare of Broadway close by. The East River is properly a part of Long Island Sound, which waters it reunites with the Atlantic through the Bay of New York. The first settlement of New Amsterdam was made upon that portion of its shores which we are now passing in our starting from the Battery. Until a recent period, it was the marine dépôt of the city, and is so to this day in a great measurealthough the immense expansion of our commerce has necessitated the gradual occupation of the wharves on the North River, as the Hudson is called in contradistinction to the East. Continuing our voyage, the first objects of interest are the great packet-ships which sail between the metropolis and the European ports. They lie at or adjoining the ancient wharves of the old town, many of which still bear their original names, as Coenties Slip, Burling and Old Slips, Wall Street, etc. Wall Street, now the mighty financial heart of the city, was, during the Dutch epoch, the upper extremity of civilization. The boundary walls, in this direction, stood here, giving to the famous locality its present name. Half a mile up the river we are in the vicinage of the principal ferries between the metropolis and the city of Brooklyn on the opposite shore. The first ferry ever established was between a point below Peck Slip, on the New York side, and the present landing-place of the Fulton Ferry on the opposite shore. At the period these localities were much beyond the city limits, but were chosen on account of the narrowness of the |