HELLGATE AND SANDY HOOK.—ENTRANCES TO NEW YORK HARBOR.—THE HELLEGAT AND ITS MEANING.—STORIES OF THE OLD VOYAGERS.—EDITORIAL JOKES.—MAILLEFERT’S OPERATIONS.—DEEPENING THE CHANNEL.—GENERAL NEWTON.—THE AUTHOR ON AN EXCURSION.—BLOWING UP COENTIES’ REEF.—HOW IT IS DONE—AN ACCIDENT WITH NITRO-GLYCERINE.—THE AUTHOR’S NARROW ESCAPE.—DIVER’S EXPERIENCE.—ASTONISHING THE FISHES.—RECEPTION AT HALLETT’S POINT.—GOING UNDER THE REEF.—THE MEN AT WORK.—AN INUNDATION.—HOW THE REEF IS TO BE REMOVED.—SURVEYING IN THE WATER.—A GRAND EXPLOSION.
From the Atlantic Ocean there are two entrances into the harbor of New York; one by way of Sandy Hook, and the other through Long Island Sound and the East River. For a steamer coming from Liverpool, the nearest entrance is through Long Island Sound. The Sandy Hook entrance is obstructed by sand bars; the channel is tortuous, and accidents are not uncommon. The entrance to Long Island Sound is broad and easy, but between the Sound and the East River there is a very dangerous passage, which extends, however, less than a mile. This dangerous passage is popularly known as Hellgate ; the early Dutch navigators gave the place its name. Tradition says that a Dutch skipper, named Adrian Blok, called it the Hellegat Rivière, after a small stream in Flanders, the place of his nativity. There is nothing sulphurous in the name, Hellegat, which is said, by one writer, to mean “Beautiful Pass;” somehow, the transposition of the word into Hellgate, has given it an infernal aspect.
VIEW OF HELLGATE FROM NEGRO POINT, EAST RIVER, NEW YORK.
GENERAL VIEW OF WORKS AT HALLETT’S POINT, EAST RIVER, NEW YORK.
The early historians of Manhattan and its vicinity described the Hellgate as a very dangerous place; one of the earliest writers speaks of it as follows: “which being a narrow passage, there runneth a violent stream both upon flood and ebb, and in the middle lyeth some islands of rocks, which the current sets so violently upon, that it threatens present shipwreck; and upon the flood is a large whirlpool, which continually sends forth a hideous roaring, enough to affright any stranger from passing that way, and to wait for some Charon to conduct him through, yet to those who are well acquainted, little or no danger; yet a place of great defence against any enemy coming in that way, which a small fortification would absolutely prevent.”
Washington Irving humorously says of it, “At low water it is as pacific a stream as you would wish to see. But as the tide rises it begins to fret; at half tide it roars with might and main, like a bull bellowing for more drink; but when the tide is full it relapses into quiet, and for a time sleeps as soundly as an alderman after dinner. In fact, it may be compared to a quarrelsome toper, who is a peaceable fellow enough when he has no liquor at all, or when he has a skinful, but who, when half-seas over, plays the very devil.”