From lips of flame with glory crowned:—
"Put off thy shoes from off thy feet,
The place they trod is holy ground."
Such was the vision Hendrick Hudson must have had in those far-off September and October days, and such the picture which visitors still compass long distances to behold.
"It is a far cry to Loch Awe" says an old Scottish proverb, and it is a long step from the sleepy rail of the "Half Moon" to the roomy-decked floating palaces—the "Hendrick Hudson," the "New York" and the "Albany." Before beginning our journey let us, therefore, bridge the distance with a few intermediate facts, from 1609, relating to the discovery of the river, its early settlement, its old reaches and other points essential to the fullest enjoyment of our trip, which in sailor-parlance might be styled "a gang-plank of history," reaching as it does from the old-time yacht to the modern steamer, and spanning three hundred years.
The prow of the "Half-Moon" has left a broadening
wake whose ripples have written an indelible history,
not only along the Hudson's shores, but have left their
imprint on kingdoms over the sea.