Mountains and palisades, and leaning rocks.

William Wallace.

The Old Reaches.—Early navigators divided the Hudson into fourteen "reaches" or distances from point to point as seen by one sailing up or down the river. In the slow days of uncertain sailing vessels these divisions meant more than in our time of "propelling steam," but they are still of practical and historic interest.

The Great Chip Rock Reach extends from above Weehawken about eighteen miles to the boundary line of New York and New Jersey—(near Piermont). The Palisades were known by the old Dutch settlers as the "Great Chip," and so styled in the Bergen Deed of Purchase,[page 39] viz, the great chip above Weehawken. The Tappan Reach (on the east side of which dwelt the Manhattans, and on the west side the Saulrickans and the Tappans), extends about seven miles to Teller's Point. The third reach to a narrow point called Haverstroo; then comes the Seylmaker's Reach, then Crescent Reach; next Hoge's Reach, and then Vorsen Reach, which extends to Klinkersberg, or Storm King, the northern portal of the Highlands. This is succeeded by Fisher's Reach where, on the east side once dwelt a race of savages called Pachami. "This reach," in the language of De Laet, "extends to another narrow pass, where, on the west, is a point of land which juts out, covered with sand, opposite a bend in the river, on which another nation of savages—the Waoranecks—have their abode at a place called Esopus. Next, another reach, called Claverack; then Backerack; next Playsier Reach, and Vaste Reach, as far as Hinnenhock; then Hunter's Reach, as far as Kinderhook; and Fisher's Hook, near Shad Island, over which, on the east side, dwell the Mahicans." If these reaches seem valueless at present there are

Five Divisions of the Hudson—which possess interest for all, as they present an analysis easy to be remembered—divisions marked by something more substantial than sentiment or fancy, expressing five distinct characteristics:—

  1. The Palisades, an unbroken wall of rock for fifteen miles—Grandeur.
  2. The Tappan Zee, surrounded by the sloping hills of Nyack, Tarrytown, and Sleepy Hollow—Repose.
  3. The Highlands, where the Hudson for twenty miles plays "hide and seek" with "hills rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun"—Sublimity.
  4. The Hillsides for miles above and below Poughkeepsie—The Picturesque.
  5. The Catskills, on the west, throned in queenly dignity—Beauty.

On the deck

Stands the bold Hudson, gazing at the sights