t A -.>.y.^.y.ir»la^fc- 
 
n \ti^ 
 
 hbl. stx 
 
 university of 
 Connecticut 
 ibraries 
 
 Two hundred miles on the Delaware 
 
 3 T153 DDME0tiT3 b 
 
 i ^ • 
 
 .^r^ 
 
 Free Public Library 
 
 WORCESTER 
 
 Circulation Department 
 
 F 
 
 106 
 
 H69 
 
 >ty of Connecticut 
 ^'jDbi'Jge Library 
 'vices/Circulytion 
 "^oad Unit 1005 
 •^-1005 
 -^518 
 
 \5 35 32 
 
 PM 
 
 ware Ri'/if-i a conuf- '.n. 
 
 I 
 
 7in 
 
 «'.': 
 
 / 
 
 r 
 
1^ 
 

 COrA\MHIAN EDITION. 
 
 ICwo 1f3U!ibreb niMles o\\ tbe 
 Delaware 1Rivei\ 
 
 A CANOE CRUISE 
 
 FROM ITS HEADWATERS TO THE FALLS AT TRENTON. 
 
 With an Historical Appendix. 
 
 3B\? 5. Mallace Iboff. 
 
 Urenton, IR. 3. 
 1893. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1893, 
 
 By J. Wallace Hoff, 
 
 In the office of the Librarian of Congress, 
 
 at Washington, D. C. 
 
 OMCARD£0 
 
HE author fraternally dedicates this reminis- 
 cence of a pleasant vacation trip to those 
 canoemen, who, when the spirit moves them, 
 laying aside the thoughts of business for the 
 pleasure of grasping the double blade, gladly 
 leave behind them brick walls and the dust 
 of towns for the eye-resting wooded hills, the clean 
 and wholesome waterway, and the health-giving tonic of 
 woodland odors and cool mountain breezes. 
 
 Trenton, N. J., December ist, 1892. 
 
preface* 
 
 T THE outset the intention of this narrative 
 was to give a succinct account of a canoe 
 cruise down the Delaware to enable future 
 voyageurs to estimate the time required for 
 such a trip, and also to present some of 
 the obstacles and pleasures likely to be 
 encountered. 
 
 We have departed from our original plan, however, 
 because the trip was crowded with matters of interest 
 relating to local scenery, towns and characteristic bits, so 
 that the subject grew on our hands in a way most pleas- 
 ant, at least to us, and it was natural to suppose that 
 others would be entertained in reading about them if 
 unable to see for themselves. 
 
 The Delaware valley proves an inexhaustible field for 
 the artist, presenting, as it does, at every point a vista 
 of landscape and background, the equal of which many 
 among us have travelled far to see. 
 
 To the canoeist-photographer every turn brings to 
 view an opportunity for an interesting exposure. Indeed, 
 
Preface. 
 
 the temptation is to carry away so many souvenirs that 
 one camera with its outfit hardly suffices, for— 
 
 " The mountains that enfold 
 In their wide sweep, the colored landscape round, 
 Seem groups of giant kings in purple and gold 
 That guard the enchanted ground." 
 
 The cruise requires plenty of hard work, but the 
 result is in every way beneficial. At this day the ground 
 can be covered without depending upon a camping outfit 
 as towns and villages-summer resorts-are so' numer- 
 ous along the line that accommodations are assured 
 But. I need hardly add. the only true way to thoroughly 
 enjoy the outing is to spend the time in actual campino- 
 and cruismg, recuperating the body and mind bv com" 
 plete change, and giving vent, if only for a short time to 
 the savagery, which to a greater or less degree is innate 
 m all of us. 
 
 The autumn is the season for canoeino-. and the 
 scenery of the river country dt.ring the autmnn months 
 IS glorious. Then, also, is the best bass-fishing found 
 
 Apart from the picturesque character of the section 
 visited by us, it is also fast gaining popularity as a region 
 for summer homes, and is dotted with towns so situated 
 as to add variety to sport and pastime. 
 
 Tkknton, N. J , NovendK. 30.1, 1892. ^^^^^ AUTIIOR. 
 
Contents, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A Trenton Canoeing Picture. Camping and Cruising Discussed. The Route 
 Mapped. Personnel and Materiel. 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 These Canoeists in General. Some Asides. From Trenton to Hancock. Towns 
 and Scenery. Port Jervis. Glimpses of the River. John Boyle O'Reilly. 
 Afloat on the Head-waters of the Delaware. The First Night's Camp. 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 Mountain Mists. Rifts. Cruising Rules. Description of Saw Mill. The Pecu- 
 liarities of the Delaware. Black Bass. Lordville. Paradise Pool. A Lum- 
 ber Shute. Long Eddy. Log Booms and Ferry Boats. Dinner at Arm- 
 strong's. A Little Chemistry. Camping in a Thunder-storm. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Amenities. Hints. Scenery. Cochecton Falls. Fatigues of Portage. A Ruined 
 Habitation. Narrowsburg. Hotel Arlington. Big Eddy. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A Delaware Highlands Morning. A Day of Comparisons. Wild Scenery. River 
 Currents. Masthope Rift. Blooming-Grove Park. Lackawaxen. Shooting 
 the Dam. Shohola. A Bad Rift. Camp-fire Reveries. 
 
 vii 
 
viii Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A Dream. Poetry. A Hot Day. Parker's Glen. Lost Channel Rift. Mongaup 
 F'alls. Heavy Water. Bapti.sing a Canoe. Butler's Falls. Above Port 
 Jervis. Tri-state Monument. Marking a Boundary Line. (ieological 
 Formations. Glimmerglass. A Little French. 
 
 CHAPTER \T1. 
 
 Milford, Pennsylvania. Sawkill Falls. " Coming Events Cast their Shadows 
 Before." Eel Racks. In the Delaware Valley. We Astonish a Native. 
 Rest and Revery. The First .\ccident. Walpack Bend. A Moonlight 
 Scene. Early History. 
 
 CHAPTER Vin. 
 
 An Indian Dream Legend. The Blue Mountains. Water Ciap. A Bit of Femi- 
 ninity. Rock Formations. Farming. Ramsaysburg. Music and Echoes. 
 A Handy Licjuid. .Sweet Sleep. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A Clear Morning. We P'ind a Channel. Belvidere. Foul Rift. The Second 
 Accident. Drowning of a Canoeist. Phillipsburg and Easton. Above 
 Carpenterville. A Country Hotel. 
 
 CHAPTER Xi 
 
 Tricks of a Camera. Some Places of Interest. Ringing Rocks. Religious Sects. 
 Frenchtown. God's Country. .Vt Erwinna. Lambertville (Wells') Falls 
 to Tide- water. Welcomed Home. Washington's Crossing. Local His- 
 tory. The Moon Once More. Exeunt. 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 A Little Bit of History. 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 
 Distances on the Delaware. 
 
Zo tbe SJclaware. 
 
 All powerful and restless, 
 On it flows to meet the ocean — 
 Flows the historic Delaware. 
 Not a jot its restless motion, 
 Shore, or rocks, or islets, spare. 
 
 From the heights of mountain wilds 
 Every spring and streamlet surges — 
 Rushing on in glee to swell. 
 By its force, the changing dirges 
 Of the mighty river's spell. 
 
 As th' untutored child of Nature, 
 Strong its arm, as sure and swift, 
 Down its rock-baiTed courses wild 
 Forms it here an isle or rift : 
 Yet at times "tis peaceful, mild. 
 
 EN PA.SSANT. 
 
 Countless ages gone, and coming : 
 Roll'st thou as in days of yore ? 
 Or, whilst in thine angry spite. 
 Hast thou a deep valley wore. 
 Ribbed and scored by thy might ? 
 
 Still thou floweth on, resistless. 
 Flowing in, and out, and onward. 
 Ever gaining strength and force 
 As the fall, which, rushing downward. 
 Swells thy ton-ent in its course. 
 
Chapter II. 
 
 A TRENTON CANOEING PICTURE. 
 CAMPING AND CRUISING DISCUSSED. 
 THE ROUTE MAPPED. 
 PERSONNEL AND MATERIEL. 
 
1 hear the babbling to the vale 
 Of sunshine aiul of flowers, 
 
 But unto me thou bring'st a tale 
 Of visionary hours. — Wordsworth. 
 
 BEAUTIFUL moonliorht evening- in the month 
 of July, during- the year 1891. In one corner 
 of the broad porch at the front of a group 
 of canoe-houses overlooking the Delaware 
 river, at Trenton, N. |., sit two members 
 of the Park Island Canoeing Association 
 enragfed in earnest conversation. Around them is bustle 
 and confusion ; canoeists with paddles and pipes, sails and 
 canoes, are passing- and repassing from the floats to the 
 houses, whilst canoes are lying along-shore or darting 
 across or up river. In front of one of the houses two 
 of the graceful craft are being packed for a camp at 
 Park Island. In the club-houses, Ughts and lanterns shed 
 their brilliancy, disclosing- racks of canoes, duffle, pad- 
 dles, and other articles whose value is so well known to 
 
4 T'lVO Hundred Miles on the Dela7>.<are River. 
 
 the canoeing- fraternity. Close to the "Colony" Hows 
 the waveless river, its swift current scarcely heard save 
 where it sweeps past some entangled bush or exposed 
 rock. 
 
 In the distance can be heard the ceaseless suro^inir of 
 the Trenton Falls. 
 
 The animated picture was one of nightly occurrence 
 to the canoemen mentioned, and was just the con- 
 dition of thinp's to direct the thouorhts into canoeincr 
 channels. 
 
 The two members before mentioned were discussing- 
 at this moment, between clouds of frao^rant smoke, their 
 annual vacation. That it would be in some way con- 
 nected with canoeing and camping was assured. But 
 how? Would it be a camp at " Rum-brag, "=== Eagle 
 Island, the Millstone, at Park Island, or would it be a 
 cruise ? 
 
 Camps are all well enough in their way, but the 
 idea was given up immediately the last proposition 
 was advanced. The suggestion was met with such 
 enthusiasm that at a later hour, when lights were out 
 and silence reigned supreme, two blanket-enwrapped 
 canoeists tossed uneasily upon their cots, troubled by 
 visions of swift currents and foam-lashed falls, with which 
 
 *A fishing camp on the Delaware. 
 
The Canoemen atid their Craft- 5 
 
 they were battling in a journey down the Delaware from 
 its headwaters to the tide. 
 
 The romantic moon was responsible for a realistic 
 undertaking. 
 
 The proposed cruise soon became noised about, and 
 within a week the party was increased to six canoeists, 
 and the date of starting fixed for September the twelfth. 
 The personnel and mat^'riel of the trip were as follows : 
 
 William M. Carter, canoe Zerliua, 15x30, Peterboro 
 canoe, full-decked, with six foot pointed cockpit and 
 canvas cover. 
 
 Clark Cooper, canoe Nyleptha, 15x30, Clinker built, 
 by Wiser, of Philadelphia, full-decked, oval cockpit, with 
 cover, with fore and aft compartments for dry stowage. 
 
 Harry Allen, canoe Wcrowance, 12x26, Watertown 
 Canoe company, smooth skin. This was originally an 
 open boat, but had been decked to meet the require- 
 ments of the trip. Although the smallest of the fleet, 
 she was very dry. 
 
 Frederick Donnelly, 15x30, Bowdish canoe, smooth 
 skin, curved stem and stern-posts. A very pretty open 
 canoe, entirely covered with oiled drilling. 
 
 The author, canoe Nahizvi, 14x30x10, an open Water- 
 town huntino- canoe, smooth skin, covered with oiled 
 
6 Tii'O Hundred Miles on the Delazvare River. 
 
 canvas. This canoe was the first open canoe paddled 
 on the 1 )elaware at Trenton, and weig-hs about fifty-five 
 pounds. 
 
 The Imlance of our equipments consisted of canoe 
 traps, camp blankets, tents, cots, cooking utensils, 
 skeleton stoves and oil stoves, provision kits, lanterns, 
 hatchets and toilet bags. 
 
 The sporting outfit comprised an Anthony and a 
 Hawkeye plate camera, fishing implements and a pistol. 
 This outfit, we are sorry to say, reached port in bad 
 condition, the Hawkeye being warped and swollen out 
 of its fine elegant joints, warranted perfectly light-proof ; 
 the fishing tackle devoid of glittering spoons and bloated 
 rubber minnows and minus from ten to fifty feet of its 
 original length, and the pistol — well, a little Stockport 
 dew soon rendered the breech more dangerous than the 
 muzzle, and made a self-cocking, rapid-firing self-ejector 
 as harmless as some cannon of General Washington's, 
 with which we are all familiar. 
 
Chapter HH. 
 
 THESE CANOEISTS IN GENERAL. 
 
 SOME ASIDES. 
 
 FROM TRENTON TO HANCOCK. 
 
 TOWNS AND SCENERY. 
 
 PORT JERVIS. 
 
 GLIMPSES OF THE RIVER. 
 
 JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY. 
 
 AFLOAT ON THE HEADWATERS OF THE DELAWARE. 
 
 THE FIRST NIGHT'S CAMP. 
 
T 
 
 Up witli my tent ; Iicie will I lie to-night. 
 
 But where to-morrow? Well, all's one for that. — Richard III. 
 
 OR punctuality and dependence (and indepen- 
 dence, too) commend to me a canoeist. If he 
 says he will do a thing, he'll do it, and at the 
 time agreed upon. "If he says he won't, 
 he won't, you may depend upon it." 
 
 Our only roll call was the week previous 
 to our start, when we shipped canoes and outfits. At 
 that time the fell hand of death necessitated the with- 
 drawal from our party of one whom we all counted on 
 having with us. Sorrowing with him in his loss, we 
 accepted the situation, making up by keeping our absent 
 comrade apprised of our movements and experiences as 
 best we could. 
 
 It was at 5:15 o'clock on a Saturday morning that four 
 of our party gathered at the station, equipped for the all- 
 rail journey to Hancock, N. Y., free mortals for ten whole 
 days and a distance of four hundred and twenty-five miles. 
 
 9 
 
lo T7C0 Hundred Miles on the Dela^vare River. 
 
 The morning was gray and the crowd looked sleepy. 
 Exchanging confidences, each confessed to having re- 
 sorted to the fiendish alarm-clock in order to be on time. 
 And one, Oh, horrors! despairing of the " rouseful " 
 abilities of one clock, owned up to having impressed 
 two into service. Cab orders were filled as usual, one 
 man being served at 4:30, another forgotten entirely. 
 At 5:37 the Pittsburgh train came rolling in, and we 
 began the first stage of the journey, to Jersey City. We 
 made crood time, and as the mornincr advanced intro- 
 duced into our apartment some fresh air for the sleepy 
 passengers to digest. The discussion of railroad and 
 river maps occupied a great deal of attention, for, with 
 one exception, we were entirely unacquainted with the 
 country through which we were to cruise. Tiring ot 
 this, we took up the discussion of fruit and sandwiches 
 furnished by "my wife's mother-in-law," finally drifting 
 into speculations concerning some of our feminine 
 fellow-travelers. 
 
 One brunette, with tumbled hair and bedraoforled cos- 
 tume, we sat down as an "all-nighter." She braced up 
 as the day advanced, and got out at Newark. Of two 
 others — one a pretty blonde with an elegant figure, the 
 other a brune-blonde, petite and pleasant-faced, we 
 
Eli Route to Hancock. N. Y. 1 1 
 
 decided were sisters, evidently traveling in a new 
 country, as they occupied single seats near the windows, 
 and kept up an incessant conversation. We concluded 
 that they had gotten on at some station down the road 
 — Philadelphia, probably, as they carried bouquets of 
 fresh Howers, and had clean complexions. 
 
 For the sake of accuracy, and tne benefit of w'hom it 
 may concern, I will explain that during the foregoing 
 study and deductions. Carter was asleep in the forward 
 part of the car. 
 
 We caught glimpses of New Brunswick, Metuchen, 
 Iselin, Railway, Linden, Newark, and jersey City, all 
 bathed in the early morning sun. 
 
 The latter place we reached at 7:35, and ran into the 
 ferry over the recently completed elevated tracks of the 
 Pennsylvania company, catching bits of early morning 
 domesticity through fluttering curtains and half-closed 
 blinds, characteristic of second-story boudoir and dining- 
 room living. 
 
 Imagine this parade of household affairs, ye retired 
 country-dwellers and would-be-secluded city tenants. 
 
 We ran into the new arched terminal station of the 
 Pennsylvania railroad, with its amazing network of iron 
 and wire-rope girders and stays, its interior flooded with 
 
1 2 Two Hiindred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 light through the immense Hghts in the roof stretching 
 from end to end. This is the largest railroad station in 
 the world, not even excepting that of St. Pancras. It 
 covers four acres of ground, is 652 feet long, 256 feet 
 wide and 1 1 5 feet high. 
 
 Another innovation, the double-decked ferry-boat, we 
 missed, as the intended second-story waiting-room was 
 not completed. Going down a flight of steps we took 
 the regulation boat for New York. 
 
 The trip through the city up to the Chambers street 
 ferry by way of the water-front at this early hour gave 
 us a little insight into several novelties. We passed 
 fish-stalls, poultry booths, cheap restaurants and sidewalk 
 " stores " — under awnings and in cellars. From the 
 typical groggery, ambled down-at-the-heel and blear-eyed 
 roustabouts, wiping away the burning spray after a nip 
 of questionable character, bought with some chance coin 
 picked up the day before. 
 
 On one hand a " hatter " with a sparsely-splinted whisk 
 flicked spots of dust from antiquated tiles, felts and straws. 
 I'urther on a couple of fat cooks, complacently seated on 
 peach baskets along the curb, jabbed their thumbs and 
 fore-fingers into the weather indicators of skinny-looking 
 chickens, much to the disgust of the merchants. 
 
E)i Route to Hancock, N. Y. 13 
 
 At our heels hung- three ''job hunters," one of whom 
 in choice dialect advised his companion to strike out for 
 the country in search of work. Said he, " Ever buddy 
 is 'er makin' fer der big towns an' doan giv' a feller no 
 chance, See?" — a bit of philosophy his friends readily 
 seconded, showino- that if one-half of the w^orld does 
 not know how the other half lives, it can make a pretty 
 shrewd guess. 
 
 jostling through the motley throng we embarked on a 
 screw ferry-boat, the ample, clean cabin-room of which 
 we all remarked, and in a few minutes landed at the 
 New York, Lake Erie and Western railroad station. 
 We w^ere again in Jersey City. 
 
 In explanation of our round-about route, I would state 
 it was at the suggestion of Clark, whose object in going 
 over to New York was to avoid the crowds, and attend- 
 ant delay to be met with in Jersey City. As our guide 
 is a thorough Jerseyman, I leave further consideration of 
 the subject with the reader. 
 
 Securing tickets, guide-books, morning papers and other 
 reading matter, we repaired to the dining-room, where, 
 seating ourselves at the round table, we ordered a hungry 
 man's breakfast. We had been canoeing all summer, 
 and there was not an impaired digestion in the crowd. 
 
14 Two Hundred Miles on the Delaivare River- 
 
 While we were loiterino- over coffee, Fred tumbled in 
 on us, fresh from an evening and morning in New York. 
 Of course, his experiences were manifold. 
 
 Later we learned that these experiences were the 
 result of a triple-expansion, high-pressure imagination : 
 and we found a safe average was one-third of his results. 
 For example, some of his two-feet bass, which always 
 succeeded in escaping as they were being hauled into 
 the canoe, might be reduced to eight inches. 
 
 At 9:20 we boarded the Erie vestibule, and were soon 
 en route for Hancock. Counting noses, we found our 
 force as follows : Carter, the "father" (later contracted 
 to "Dad") of the expedition, so called on account of 
 age and experience, and from the fact that the trip we 
 were about to make was m.ade by him in 1882 ; Cooper, 
 the Association's traveler, bicyclist, canoeist, photo- 
 grapher, and CRANK ; Allen, amateur canoeist, photo- 
 grapher and botanist; Donnelly (the (juartermaster), a 
 recruit to the ranks of canoemen and cruisers, who 
 turnc^d out the crowd's tonic by day and by night in a 
 double sense, besides being a general informer on topics 
 of interest — with the usual proviso ; lastly, the log- 
 keeper, the title sufficing in this direction. 
 
 We had over a hundred and sixty miles to go and 
 
lui Route to Ilancock. N. Y. 15 
 
 then our troubles, like those of the little bears, would 
 begin. But miles and troubles are as naught in these 
 days, and, besides, we were traveling- through a country- 
 abounding in excellent scenery. The Ramapo and 
 Delaware valleys and the Delaware Highlands certainly 
 justify the admiration bestowed upon them. The 
 scenery is a constant panoramic change. 'Neath pre- 
 cipitous hills we rush to cosy villages and busy towns, 
 and then on to stretches of level country devoted to 
 fruit and stock-raising. The rural surroundings, health- 
 giving atmosphere, and glimpses of long, low farm- 
 houses, suggesting peaceful comforts amidst a land of 
 plenty, cause the city resideMit to sigh for the things he 
 enjoyeth not. 
 
 " Oh I friendly to the best pursuits of man, 
 Friendly to thought, to vntue, and to peace, 
 Domestic life in rural pleasures pastl" 
 
 From Jersey City to Mahwah the road runs in and out 
 of the famous country drained by the Passaic river. 
 Rutherford, Garfield, Passaic, Clifton, Paterson, Ridge- 
 wood, Hohokus and Ramsey's, with from six hundred to 
 fifteen thousand population, are some of the well-known 
 towns through which we pass. 
 
 The first town across the New Jersey line is Suffern. 
 
1 6 Tivo Hundred Miles on the Delaicare River. 
 
 Ihe rest of our journey was throug'h rocky defiles and 
 fertile plains in New York state. 
 
 Quoting' from the Erie guide-book, the surroundings 
 are described as follows : 
 
 "At Suffern the Erie swings into the Ramapo valley, 
 through a narrow defile. For fifteen miles the valley 
 extends, mountain bound, and at times is of barely suffi- 
 cient width to allow the passage, side by side, of the 
 river, the historic post-road and the Erie ; while again it 
 will widen out in a dell or ravine which marks the course 
 of a mountain rill or torrent. Here and there, too, the 
 mountains recede, and the valley spreads itselt into a 
 fertile plain, and in these occasional plateaus nestle, in 
 the order named, the little hamlets of Hillburn. Ramapo. 
 Sterlington, Sloatsburg, Tuxedo Park (with its hard 
 driving roads, picturesque stone fences and lodge-house 
 at the entrance to well-kept estates), Southfields and 
 Arden. The river is a panorama of rare beauty. Its 
 head-waters are in a series of mountain springs and 
 lakes, and in its course through the valley it first 
 meanders across the fiat lands, then sinks into a narrow 
 deep bowl, to widen presently into a placid lake, and 
 finally, before its exit into the level country beyond the 
 valley, it tumbles over a ledge of rocks, and falls, a 
 
En Route to Hancock, N. Y. 17 
 
 seething, roaring mass, to its rocky bed fully fifty feet 
 below. In the quiet portions the boating is charming ; 
 the banks now and then open into snug grottoes and 
 dells, down which come sparkling, splashing streams from 
 the rock-bound springs above, while the dense over- 
 hanging foliage affords a refreshing shade, and there are 
 many sheltered pools where the bathing is delightful. 
 The river, as well as the mountain lakes from which it 
 springs, is populous with game-fish, and in the wooded 
 mountains small game of every variety is plentiful, 
 insuring to the visitor the best sport with gun and rod." 
 
 And what is said of this spot is equally true of other 
 localities in this section and beyond. At every turn 
 mountain and lowland vistas, bold knobs and deep 
 gullies broke upon the view. 
 
 At Turners, where a short stop was made to await the 
 New York express, the boys went to sample the famous 
 Orange county milk on tap at the railroad restaurant. 
 They all agreed as to its excellence, and Carter sighed 
 for a bottle. 
 
 All aboard ! The journey is resumed, and we fly past 
 Monroe, Oxford, Greycourt, Chester, Goshen, Hampton, 
 Middletown (where the rasping pun, How do you make 
 Moses from the word Middletown ? Ans. Leave off 
 
i8 Two Hundred Miles on the Dclaicare River. 
 
 "iddletown" and add " oses " was sprung as usual), 
 Howells, Otisville, (}uymard — all in Orange county — and 
 at 12:30 we reach Port Jervis. 
 
 Heavens and earth, boys, what's the racket? Bees? 
 No wonder the question. The air resounds with the 
 pandemonium and clatter so M^ell known to bee-keepers 
 on a swarm day. Out on the platform all is bustle and 
 confusion. Pretty maidens with their elderly mammas, 
 or chaperones, parade about, laden with shawls, grips 
 and boxes awaiting the making up of the new train. 
 Trucks, trunks and milk cans lie all about the station. 
 Stage drivers and hotel runners jostle and squeeze, 
 swear and coax. 
 
 " Refreshments." 
 
 In front of the inviting hotel doorway and around it a 
 sable son of Senegambia rubbles a puncher on the disk 
 of a brass plate in suspension, calling you in this polite 
 way " to dinnah !" For once, where there is noise there 
 is comfort. Going into the long building on the left, the 
 crowd hustles us to the lunch counter, where boot-legs 
 of milk and pyramids of sandwiches and pie, cups of 
 coffee and plates of cake greet the eye. No traditional 
 railroad lunch here. Everything is sweet and clean, and 
 we have unlimited time. 
 
Our Craft in Jeopardy. 19 
 
 We were soon on the road again. From Port Jervis 
 the railroad winds along the river bank, and we watched 
 the rifts and falls with feverish anxiety whenever close 
 enough, speculating on our chances of a safe journey 
 home. The river had been falling for the past week, 
 and some rifts were dangerously low. Others again 
 were deep and rocky, and visions of swamped and 
 broken boats, and duffle afloat to the sea filled our 
 imaginations. 
 
 Hancock at 3:20 P. M, 
 
 Grasping paddles and bundles, we left the stuffy car 
 for a breath of fresh air and a sio^ht of the East Branch. 
 We found the town rather a dusty place among the hills, 
 situated in what was formerly known as Hardenburg's 
 Patent. It has three large hotels, several groceries, a 
 hardware store, newspaper office, etc. 
 
 We went at once to the freight station to look up 
 canoes and dunnaoe. The little God of Luck was with us. 
 We found everything as shipped from Trenton, but could 
 not help expostulating at the manner in which the canoes 
 were piled — light and empty ones at the bottom and the 
 heavy, loaded ones on top — a state of things favoring a 
 bad strain or a tear in cockpit hatches and covers. The 
 agent, who was obliging, and assisted us in every way 
 
20 Two Hiindi'ed Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 possible, explained that the boats had only arrived that 
 morning. 
 
 We had shipped them the week previous and shrugged 
 our shoulders at the close connection. 
 
 Talk about a boy with his first gun, or a girl with a 
 new beau. The sights around us made all anxious for 
 an immediate start. All but the novice. He thouo-ht it 
 a good plan to stop over night at a hotel and make an 
 early start in the morning. 
 
 Well ! 
 
 Allen was picking cinders out of his eyes, Carter gasp- 
 ing for breath, and the rest with throats like salamanders, 
 and here was a would-be canoeist preferring a stuffy hotel 
 to a woodland camp. 
 
 As a punishment we deputized him in his capacity as 
 Quartermaster to see to the purchase of provisions, while 
 the rest, hunting up a couple of carts, soon had canoes 
 and dunnage at the water's edge. 
 
 The Nahhvi, first to kiss the waters of the East branch, 
 was drawn up alongside a heavy scow, into which I had 
 transferred most of my duffle. 
 
 Just before packing, an elderly gentlemen in the crowd 
 was so enthused with the canoes as they lay bunched on 
 the shore, and with the idea of a cruise, that he asked 
 
Ready to Start. 2 1 
 
 permission to try one of the canoes. Upon my placing 
 my canoe at his disposal he jumped in, and, preferring- 
 a single blade, gracefully paddled across the river and 
 up a swift rift, returning out of breath with the unusual 
 exercise. We were agreeably surprised at his steady 
 seat, for although he stated that he was used to boats, a 
 sixty-pound open canoe with ten-inch siding is not steady 
 riding. 
 
 At the foot of Point Mountain, in a deep pool just 
 below a small rift that dashes under the iron bridge, we 
 packed our impedimenta. The usual crowd of curious 
 natives gazed upon the operation from a respectful dis- 
 tance. The canoes of the veterans, through constant 
 practice on many camps and cruises of by-gone days, 
 were stowed and trimmed with precision each morning, 
 and methodically unpacked to expedite the making of 
 each night's camp. We knew from experience the 
 necessity of careful trimming and the danger, while 
 running a rapid, of a badly-balanced boat, or one down 
 in the nose. 
 
 As for the Quartermaster, he learned a great many 
 wrinkles conducive to comfort in canoeing before we 
 struck our last camp. In my opinion the most important 
 was that a square tin bread canister is at no time more 
 
2 2 Tic'o Hundred Miles on the Delaivare River. 
 
 noticeable tlian when stowed abaft the forward thwart, 
 within reach of the knees of a long-legged canoeist. 
 
 The Mohawk, or West branch of the Delaw-are river, 
 rises in the Catskill mountain range, in Schoharie county, 
 New York ; the Popacton (Popacktunk O. S.), or East 
 branch, in the mountain fastnesses of Greene and Ulster 
 counties. Both branches flow^ through a thinly-settled 
 country, wild and lonesome in the extreme. They are 
 separated by lofty mountain ranges, and, running nearly 
 parallel, meet a short distance below Hancock, at the 
 base of Point Mountain, a name whose appropriateness 
 will be seen w'hen compared with the photograph, which 
 shows plainly its distinctive feature. Both streams are 
 supplied by numerous kills, large and small, some being 
 named on the maps in the Indian and Dutch tongues, 
 but a laroer number bearingr no name at all. 
 
 The Popacton is very shallow' from Arkville to Han- 
 cock. Mr. Carter, with tw^o Trenton canoeists, Messrs. 
 Frank Sigler and R. G. Lucas, of the Crescent Canoe 
 Club, made the trip in 18S2, during the month of June, 
 and had hard canoeing. Although they had a rafting 
 "fresh," the shallows gave them considerable annoy- 
 ance. 
 
 The same year, later in the season, two New \'ork 
 
Jolin Boyle O' Rcilly. 23 
 
 canoeists attempted the trip, and had to give it up on 
 account of the low stage of the water. 
 
 In 1885, John Boyle O'Reilly, at that time flush with 
 triumphs from pen and paddle, in company with three 
 comrades, essayed the trip from Hancock. They found 
 the water so low that they were compelled to re-ship 
 their fleet to Port Jervis, from whence they made a new 
 start. Mr. O'Reilly's article in the December, 1886, issue 
 of the Bosion Pilot had been read by each of us, and 
 our familiarity with this and his other works gave occa- 
 sion to frequent references to the gentlemanly advocate 
 of out-of-door culture. A feeling of sympathy arose for 
 the time being, strengthened doubtless by the fact that 
 our thoughts and craft, although at different periods, 
 were running in the same channels. In common with 
 thousands of others, Trenton canoemen heard with deep 
 sorrow the story of his sudden end ; the testimony from 
 all was that at the close, as in the high noon of his life, 
 he was truly noble. 
 
 At 4:30 P. M. we passed the word " Ready !" Cooper 
 and Allen shot their cameras at the scenery, the crowd, 
 and the loaded and manned canoes, and we pushed out 
 into the East branch, two hundred miles from home, one 
 thousand feet above the sea level, and surrounded by 
 
24 Two Hzindred Miles on the Dclaivare River. 
 
 towering mountains and cliffs, which were rapidly shut 
 ting out the sun's warm rays. 
 
 Ye Gods of health and strength ! to you we drank the 
 cheer we felt, in deepest draughts of pure, fresh moun- 
 tain air, swept from hills of spruce and pine, filtered 
 through branches and cooled by deep ravine and rocky 
 gorge. We drank to you in cups of clean — yes, clean, 
 — wholesome water, dipped over the canoe's side from 
 a mountain stream fed by countless springs, cool, deep 
 and swift. No pollution here ; its cleanliness you could 
 both see and taste. 
 
 In our enjoyment of the scene around us, we made 
 the mountains ring with our overflowing spirits. As we 
 skirted the base of the mountain, in comparatively deep 
 water, Cooper and Carter were suddenly "hung up" 
 on partly submerged rocks, twisting about on keels just 
 amidships. They were gotten off without trouble, but 
 we had the laugh on them. 
 
 We found the East branch shallow and narrow, lust 
 below the town we struck our first rift. The choppy 
 ripples in the swift shoot lapped playfully the bows of 
 our buoyant craft, giving the stern a parting dash as we 
 left the last rush in our wake. After that, shallows and 
 rifts being of such common occurrence, we gave them 
 
Hcadzvatcrs of tJic Delaware. 25 
 
 no especial thought, unless to wish for their aid when we 
 w^ere in some long, smooth stretch or eddy, through 
 which it meant work to paddle. At the end of Point 
 Mountain, which was reached in a short time, we met 
 the waters of the Mohawk branch. At the conjunction 
 of the streams we found a larcje raft stranded. This 
 diverted the channel, and both tributaries entered the 
 larger river — the Delaware proper — with a musical rush, 
 as though glad to cease their checkered course in their 
 own shallow beds. 
 
 It was well we started from Hancock. Further up we 
 should have experienced great trouble, even if we had 
 the great good fortune of getting through at all. 
 
 The West branch is well named, for, as we cast our 
 eyes up its course, indicated by winding mountains as 
 far as eye could see, the setting sun bathed our polished 
 craft in a flood of golden light, tinting the waters ahead 
 and behind, and bathing with his rays the far reaching 
 Highlands. Getting a photographic view of the land- 
 scape, we resumed paddling, having started in earnest 
 on our voyage down the Delaware. 
 
 Rips and raps were of frequent occurrence. If deep 
 enough we floated through them. If we lost the channel, 
 w^hich was often the case, we stepped overboard and 
 
26 Tzvo Hundred Miles 07i the Delazcare River. 
 
 guided and hauled the canoes over the gravelly bottom 
 to deeper water. This was not scientific canoeing, but 
 it saved time. 
 
 Donnelly trolled, and had several strikes, getting a 
 couple of fine bass and losing one or two at the head of 
 rifts. Then came a quiet paddle, during which with 
 some trouble we found a camp site just below Stockport, 
 and at 6.20 pitched tents and started fires. 
 
 The ground was stony, and tent pegs would barely 
 hold, so we pegged the tents down with rocks to our 
 entire satisfaction. After this experience, we agreed to 
 hunt for a camping ground earlier, as darkness soon 
 pervaded the valley, when the sun's rays left it. 
 
 This, our first camp of the trip, comprised three tents. 
 Cooper and the author together, up stream, Carter and 
 Allen next, and then Donnelly, who was going it on the 
 individual plan. He received during the trip all sorts of 
 advice and help, and, for the purpose of keeping even, 
 paid each one back to the best of his ability. 
 
 There was also lots of fun at the novice's camping and 
 cooking, l)ut the meal was ready at last, and so, down 
 between deep hills, in gathering darkness and quietness, 
 surrounded by forests, rocks and stream, we ate our 
 suppers with wholesome relish. 
 
Our First Camp. 27 
 
 We had had some wading- to do — \)V\X. the water was 
 warm and we had paid no attention to our wettings. We 
 dried our clothes before a big" lire that sent smoke and 
 flames and sparks skyward ; we smoked, swapped fish 
 stories, and watched the reflection of the moon over the 
 mountain tops, the stars, and snaky streams of light from 
 passing trains on the opposite bank. At last, at 9:30 
 P. M., we turned in to sleep in our first bivouac at the 
 foot of the mountains of the Delaware Hitrhlands. 
 
Cbaptcr Him. 
 
 MOUNTAIN MISTS. 
 
 RIFTS. 
 
 CRUISING RULES. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF SAW MILL. 
 
 THE PECULIARITIES OF THE DELAWARE. 
 
 BLACK BASS. 
 
 LORDVILLE. 
 
 PARADISE POOL. 
 
 A LUMBER SHUTE. 
 
 LONG EDDY. 
 
 LOG BOOMS AND FERRY BOATS. 
 
 DINNER AT ARMSTRONG'S. 
 
 A LITTLE CHEMISTRY. 
 
 CAMPING IN A THUNDER-STORM. 
 
The turf shall be my fragi-ant shrine, 
 
 My temple, Lord ! that arch of thine ; 
 
 My censers breath the mountain airs, 
 
 And silent thoughts my only prayers. — Moore. 
 
 UNDAY. 
 
 The previous evening had been quite 
 warm, but towards morning the atmosphere 
 became cold and penetrating and we wrapped 
 ourselves closer in the warm blankets. 
 
 We awakened at seven o'clock, three of 
 us, at least, having had a fine night's sleep. Carter had 
 not been feeling well, and consequently slept lightly. 
 Allen also was sick during the night, and what with pain 
 and dosing;, did not oet over the effects until some hours 
 after rising. 
 
 Upon looking out of the tents, we found the heavy 
 night mist hanging over the valley and dripping from 
 bushes and trees. The oreensward crlistened with bead- 
 like drops, and from the rocks that hung over the stream 
 
 31 
 
32 Ttvo H^indred Miles on the Delazuare River. 
 
 the condensed vapor slowly trickled to some angle, 
 whence it fell with musical tinkle. During our trip we 
 found that this heavy mist prevailed every morning until 
 we reached Ramsaysburg, N. J., one hundred and 
 twenty-five miles down river, where the valley begins to 
 widen and the low rolling lands appear. The dampness 
 was dispelled by the sun as soon as its rays could strike 
 in over the mountain tops, which, however, was not 
 until about eight o'clock. This made a late morning 
 for us. 
 
 By the time we had our breakfast over, it became ver}'' 
 warm, the vapor acting as a burning glass to collect the 
 heat. 
 
 On this morning we were in no particular h\irry. The 
 early hours gave promise of a pleasant day, and we had 
 many things of interest to occupy our attention. By 
 the time we were ready to pack, the sun had thoroughly 
 dried our tents and clothing. 
 
 At last we pushed away from camp, drifting slowly 
 into the current, which at the first bend carried us into a 
 rift. Indeed, a noticeable fact in our cruise was that 
 every camp, with one exception, was made above a rift 
 or fall. We thus each day had an early reminder of the 
 work before us. 
 
Our Plan of Progress. 33 
 
 Knowinor that we had some hard work ahead before 
 the trip w^ould be finished, and not being- hardened to the 
 continuous use of the blades, we did not exert ourselves, 
 merely paddling a trifle faster than the current. To-day, 
 too, we not only had a couple in our party somewhat 
 indisposed, but Donnelly was considered a novitiate to 
 be broken in without being broken up. To accomplish 
 with pleasure two hundred miles in canoes, sitting steadily 
 and wielding even a light paddle, requires a gradual pre- 
 liminary hardening. 
 
 By following our plan as above, when we rounded to 
 under the bluff at our island home each man found him- 
 self benefitted and rested, and although we paddled only 
 twelve miles the first day, forty-four were logged on the 
 last. 
 
 Just below our camp, in a bend and facing a smooth 
 lake-like opening in the Highlands, we found hidden 
 away one of the numerous saw mills to be met with in 
 this section. From its location and characteristics it was 
 worth photographing, and Cooper brought his camera 
 into play. Paddling across stream, and running the 
 canoe alongside of a group of up-river punts, I went 
 ashore to inspect. I found the mill was used for sawing 
 heavy logs into planking. The logs were hauled from 
 
 3 
 
34 Two Hundred Miles on the Delarvaj'e River. 
 
 the mountain-side lumber districts by teams, or in season 
 floated down stream. The buildings, three in number, 
 for sheltering workmen and machinery, were erected in 
 what had been a mountain gully. The possibility of a 
 washout was prevented by a stout dam of earth and 
 timbers, braced by rocks, built above. This dam stopped 
 in its course a tiny mountain rivulet, whose channel, 
 diverted from its bed higher up, was led around to the 
 right by a circuitous route and then carried over its 
 natural bed, and thirty feet above it, by means of a 
 trestle-supported wooden shute, to a log flume, four feet 
 square, into which the water tumbled, operating an over- 
 shot wheel. Huge piles of sawdust and lumber scraps 
 lay scattered about. This debris is annually cleared 
 away by the large freshets, the water necessarily rising 
 high in the narrow valley. 
 
 The inspection over, and the photograph taken, we 
 resumed paddles. The river twisted and turned con- 
 tinually, and at every bend we encountered a shallow 
 rift with an accompanying eddy. 
 
 Before leaving the mountain chains an interesting 
 peculiarity in the course of the stream was often pressed 
 upon our notice. Looking ahead of us, we would 
 imagine from the formation of the ranges that our way 
 
The Lord' s Day. 35 
 
 was always to the right of the bend. But in many 
 instances we were badly deceived. In fact, there was 
 no telling how the channel would bear, as a small under- 
 lying mountain, or a level stretch, would cause an entirely 
 new formation, and it would be hours before we would 
 reach that portion of the course reckoned upon. Of 
 course, the aesfreofate of these bends made our mileagre 
 one and a half times greater than if we had traveled in 
 a straight line. 
 
 It was a perfect September morning, with cloudless 
 sky and warm sun, and scarcely a disturbance on the 
 water's surface, save where it passed over a partly 
 sunken rock, or rushed down a steep incline. 
 
 Carter, Allen and Donnelly trolled, catching ten or 
 twelve very fine black bass. We were traveling almost 
 too fast for successful fishing. Several spoons were lost, 
 and points of hooks were continually broken as the 
 canoes floated over shallow, rocky rips. 
 
 About twelve o'clock we coasted down a steep rift, 
 and landed under the bridge at Lordville. Very appro- 
 priately the names of the day and the place coincided. 
 For us the place proved lucky also, as several very 
 necessary things were accomplished. Not the least 
 of these was the use of the post oflice and telegraph 
 
36 Two Hundred Miles on the Delatvare River. 
 
 Station, at which latter place Allen wired home for a 
 pair of stout blades to be sent to him at Port Jervis, 
 as he had broken his lig-ht spoon blades early in the 
 morninor. 
 
 The custodian at the toll bridge was a very interesting 
 elderly man, witty and full of life. He was well informed 
 on the topics of the day, and kept up a newsy conver- 
 sation until we left. 
 
 Under the bridge the current ran swift and clear, and 
 we floated for a long distance, watching the quickly dis- 
 appearing stones and shells on the bottom as we rushed 
 over them. 
 
 About two o'clock we shot down a rift, the foot of 
 which seemed to run under a mountain, the largest and 
 most beautiful in point of shape and evergreen growth 
 that we had yet seen. 
 
 Suddenly, making an elbow bend, we glided into a 
 deep, placid pool. That it was deep we knew from the 
 impossibility of touching bottom with an eleven foot 
 paddle although it was darted downward with force 
 enough to cause it to disappear from sight. Ihat it was 
 placid the want of a single disturbing ripple, even to the 
 next bend, denoted. We were shut in by mountains ; 
 we were mere specks in the midst of nature's grandeur. 
 
Sights and Scenes. 37 
 
 Receding from the sharp bend, westerly, the elevations 
 and depressions as far as eye could reach showed a 
 pleasing picture of sunlight and shadow fantastically 
 broken and controlled by the ranges of hills. The 
 Pennsylvania side of the river was thickly studded 
 with ponderous half-submerged rocks. These rocks 
 were curiously formed of layers of limestone, cemented, 
 seemingly, one above another, and worn smooth and 
 round l)y the action of ice and water. 
 
 The solitude and peaceful surroundings made a little 
 paradise in which we were prone to tarry awhile, but we 
 must onward, so, making a material impression on the 
 dry-plate, we dropped down stream, recalling the words 
 from Bryant's hymn. 
 
 " My heart is awed within me when I think 
 Of the great miracle that still goes on. 
 In silence round me — the perpetual work 
 Of thy creation, finished, yet renewed 
 Forever." 
 
 Some distance above Long Eddy we came to a lumber 
 slide, built down the mountain side from the plateau above. 
 
 To inspect it, I ran my canoe behind a large rock and 
 landed. Looking upward, I saw, disappearing in the 
 thick growth almost straight above me, a narrow open- 
 
38 T'd'o Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 ing, made by cutting away trees and underbrush. 
 About fifty feet from the river, in the center of the open- 
 ing, a mighty hickory tree, trimmed some twenty-five 
 feet from the ground, had been left standing. This 
 sturdy tree supported, far better than artificial braces, the 
 end of a V-shaped shute of hemlock, the beginning of 
 which was out of sight among the trees. The logs, 
 being cut and trimmed in the forests above, are placed 
 in the shute and started down. Gathering momentum 
 as they proceed, they slide to the end of the trough, 
 when they shoot viciously into space and then drop into 
 the river. This vigorous friction wears the shute as 
 smooth as glass. 
 
 I made the ascent to the top, a feat that required a 
 great deal of wind and grip, and gave Cooper a chance 
 to catch a snap shot at a log as it launched into the air. 
 The descent to the water's edge was made zig-zag 
 fashion, with several missteps and slides which happily 
 were not serious. 
 
 Afloat again, we were compelled to go outside a 
 small boom, held out from shore by anchoring in mid 
 stream, and built to catch the logs as they came floating 
 down. From this boom they are pushed into the cur- 
 rent again, only to be caught and shunted over to the 
 
up- River Ferries. 39 
 
 New York shore by a big l)oom, stretching entirely 
 across the stream at Long Eddy. 
 
 We lifted over the log boom and held a council close 
 by a ferry boat peculiar to the section, and used to con- 
 nect the shore ends of the main highways in New York 
 and Pennsylvania. 
 
 These ferry boats we met with all along the river. 
 Some are run diagonally across stream, guided by trolley 
 and guys, and propelled by iron-shod punting or setting 
 poles, or huge, cumbersome oars. Others are reeled 
 across by a windlass, to which a submerged cotton or 
 wire rope is attached. The boats are about twenty-five 
 feet in length, ten feet beam, with sides two feet hio-h. 
 The ends are built alike, each being merely a continu- 
 ation of the bottom above the load line on an incline, 
 and extending past the siding. This forms a gang-way 
 to the road, enabling teams to be driven on board from 
 one end and on land from the other. 
 
 Our council was for the purpose of discussing whether 
 we should or should not stop for dinner. 
 
 We were all hungry, and had been having plenty of 
 exercise. Besides, the clouds we had noticed early 
 in the afternoon were becomino- darker, and omnious 
 thunder mutterinos sounded amontr the Hiorhlands. 
 
 o 00 
 
40 Tivo Himdred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 As if to decide us a few drops of rain came pattering 
 down. 
 
 Yes, we would try for a meal at Charles Armstrong's 
 Maple Grove Hotel, at which place, a man with a kettle 
 informed us, we could get a "square meal." 
 
 Fastening down the canvas covers and donning oil- 
 skins we tramped up to the hotel, sun-burned and wet. 
 Donnelly had gone ahead to order the meal, and, as it 
 was late, he reported that we would have to take what 
 was set before us. Having had previous experience at 
 country boarding-houses we acquiesced, being sure of 
 plenty to eat. While waiting, we engaged in conver- 
 sation with a Mr. Rose, whom we found to be Mr. Arm- 
 strong's right-hand man in his numerous enterprises. 
 
 Mr. Rose asked us if we had time to inspect a native 
 industry — refining wood. Noting that we looked at him 
 c^uizzically, he said, "Yes, that's what I mean — to be 
 more accurate — manufacturing wood alcohol." 
 
 At this remark Allen, who had handled the product in 
 the hardware business, nodded his head, and said it 
 would be worth seeing. 
 
 Under the guidance of Mr. Rose, we went a short 
 distance down the main street, and turned into the 
 factory yard. 
 
A Disscrtatio7i on Wood Alcohol. 41 
 
 On the opposite side of the street, in a vacant lot, we 
 saw innumerable piles of cord-wood. Here was the 
 secret of the lumber slide on the mountain and the log- 
 boom. 
 
 In the yard, under long sheds, were heaps of charcoal. 
 In an open court were rows of iron vats, from under the 
 lids of which steam with a strong odor was issuing. 
 
 Enterino- the buildino-. we saw before us eio-ht furnaces 
 with high iron retorts above them. The retorts were 
 full of wood, and in the furnaces the hottest of charcoal 
 fires. 
 
 The stench that pervaded the place was awful — a com- 
 bination of charcoal gas — sweet smelling and overpower- 
 ing, alcohol and tar. 
 
 Goinor back of the furnaces we found hieh wooden 
 tanks filled with clear cold water from a mountain stream 
 near by, through which ran coiled pipes, connecting with 
 the retorts and with a large pipe at the foot of the 
 tanks, which latter pipe ran to a sunken vat. Further 
 on in the store-room were heaps of acetate of lime, 
 and vats of crude alcohol and wood-tar. The process' 
 of extracting these products, as explained to us, was as 
 follows : 
 
 The cord wood is stacked in the retorts, above the 
 
42 Two Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 furnaces, and allowed to carbonize as in the making of 
 charcoal in southern New Jersey. But the details of 
 the process are different. Here all the gas, smoke and 
 steam generated from the hard wood, instead of beine 
 wasted, is carried by tubes from the retorts into a huge 
 vat. The pipes running through the cold water, as 
 before stated, causes the condensation of a compound 
 of lime, alcohol, tar and pyroligneous acid — the latter 
 being a crude commercial form of acetic acid. The 
 quicker the distillation the freer from impurities is the 
 latter product. 
 
 The alcohol (pyroxylic, or wood spirit,) is a cheap 
 grade, smelling of smoke and tar, and is distilled at a 
 high grade of temperature from the chloride of calcium, 
 the other products being separated at a temperature 
 below boiling point. 
 
 The alcohol when refined has lost the odors which it 
 had at first, so that it may be used in the manufacture of 
 cheap perfumery. Its principal use, however, is in 
 makinof varnishes. 
 
 A fair erade of "fas is obtained, and is used in this 
 case to illuminate the factory, which is running the year 
 around, save when it is necessary to stop for repairs. 
 
 The tar is insoluble and holds the more solid particles 
 
A Delaware \ 'alley Menu. 43 
 
 in suspension. It is used for protecting fence posts and 
 the exposed ends of timbers. 
 
 All the products are salable commodities. The 
 alcohol brings sixty-five cents per gallon wholesale ; the 
 charcoal brings fifteen cents per bushel, and is also used 
 in the furnaces ; the tar has a limited sale. A cord of 
 wood, costing two dollars delivered, will produce forty 
 bushels of charcoal and twenty gallons of alcohol. 
 
 By the time our lecture and sight-seeing was finished, 
 dinner was announced, and we turned from chemistry to 
 cookery. 
 
 The menu plainly in sight was : Cold roast beef, 
 ham, eggs, pickled cucumbers, brown bread, wheat 
 bread, crackers, apple sauce, ice cream and pie. You 
 ran no risk of hearing "we're just out, very sorry," 
 provided you ordered from the board. It took us an 
 hour to do justice to the viands, and the sick ones, sick 
 no longer, performed wonders in the eating line. Allen 
 even committed the indiscretion of eating two plates of 
 cream. 
 
 Our waitress discovered herself to be a city-bred 
 damsel from her want of knowledge of the locality and 
 the condition of the river, as compared with other 
 seasons. It would not do to overlook her noticeable 
 
44 Two Hundred Miles on the Delaivare River. 
 
 graciousness toward the Quartermaster, who had honeyed 
 her into getting ready for us, notwithstanding the fact 
 that she was dressed for an outing. 
 
 During the meal the captain of the Nahizvi called for 
 a plain, common every-day knife. This request is not 
 to be understood as disparaging the ham, although the 
 knife he was using — a plated affair — was the wrong tool 
 for the work in hand. On finishing, he remarked that 
 he was afraid to eat very heartily as it interfered with 
 paddling. Cooper, looking at him, cynically intjuired, 
 " Great Scott ! what do you call a hearty meal ? I'd like 
 to know." 
 
 We decided to reel off a few more miles before camp- 
 ing, and a little after four o'clock we bade goodbye to 
 the genial James and to Long Eddy and started oft in a 
 thunder shower, the heavy clashes reverberating from 
 peak to peak as they passed down the valley. 
 
 just below the town we ran the worst rift of the day, 
 all being hung up with the exception of Carter. Con- 
 sequently, four of us were soaking wet. At half-past 
 five o'clock we found ourselves a short distance above 
 Callicoon, and, the rain having partially ceased, we halted 
 at a pretty knoll on the Pennsylvania bank, and soon 
 had our tents pitched under the trees. We had hardly 
 
After a Wet Day. 45 
 
 finished pegging down when the rain commenced to 
 pour down in torrents. Changing to dry clothes we 
 were soon reading, writing, smoking and discussing the 
 events of the day. At 10:30, sun-burned and sleepy, 
 we "doused the glim," glad to rest after a day of 
 pleasant experiences. 
 
 As the least downfall of rain has a marked effect on 
 the narrow river, we tied our boats securely, hoping for 
 higher water and an easier passage. 
 
Cbaptcr HID, 
 
 AMENITIES. 
 HINTS. 
 SCENERY. 
 
 COCHECTON FALLS. 
 FATIGUES OF PORTAGE. 
 A RUINED HABITATION. 
 NARROWSBURG. 
 HOTEL ARLINGTON. 
 BIG EDDY. 
 
There was a roaring in the wind all night ; 
 
 The rain came heavily and fell in floods ; 
 But now the sun is rising, calm and bright ; 
 
 The birds are singing in the distant woods. — Wordsworth. 
 
 jO YOU fellows expect to get up to-day ?" 
 Thus were Cooper and I awakened by 
 Donnelly at a little after six o'clock. "I 
 don't care whether I do or not, as I am 
 perfectly comfortable," answered my tent 
 mate. 
 In throwing down the coverlet my hand came in con- 
 tact with the canvas, soaked with moisture. "Ugh !" I 
 exclaimed, and aeain snueS'led under the warm blankets. 
 A misty morning was bad enough, but a misty morn- 
 ing after a rainy night ? 'Twas a consummation not to 
 be devoutly wished. 
 
 In front of the camp Allen was trying to build a fire 
 with wet wood, and I expected him to say he was 
 smoking out a swarm of mosquitoes. But he didn't. 
 
 4 49 
 
5o Tzi'o Hundred Miles on the Delatvare River. 
 
 He simply looked anguish through a pair of watered 
 optics. 
 
 Some one whispered "kerosene." 
 
 Chug". Chug. Up ran a blaze, and the lard in the pan 
 was boiling- in the time you are reading this paragraph. 
 
 Carter was cleaning fish down by the water's edge. 
 Donnelly was wrestling with dish washing. 
 
 Such industrious examples must be heeded. Turning 
 back the flaps of the tent, Cooper and I sunned our- 
 selves a minute and then turned out. Something was 
 wrono- with us. We felt strano-e. What was wantincr? 
 
 o o o 
 
 Oh ! ah ! two simultaneous ejaculations. Two ditto 
 actions. Walking in the damp grass our feet were 
 again wet. We were content and happy. 
 
 Cooper was soon imitating Dad, while I played an 
 accompaniment with two preludes, following Allen and 
 Donnelly. 
 
 The grand finale was, bass fried to a delicious brown, 
 eggs, bread and coffee. 
 
 Striking tents was done in a leisurely manner, to give 
 the sun a chance at our wet dunnage. Packing damj^ 
 thintrs on a cruise is a feature that even the individual 
 crank agrees is disagreeable. 
 
 Visitors in the shape of cattle invaded cam}) c nd 
 
Experiences in Rifts and Currents. 5 1 
 
 sniffed about half timidly, half resentfully, at our usurp- 
 ing their domain. 
 
 Embarking, we glided down a little rift at Hankins, 
 and just below caught several heavy drops. Running 
 rifts, getting hung up on rocks and gravel bars, losing 
 the channel and wading, was the order of the day. We 
 summed up thirty-three rifts at the end of the day's trip, 
 including the more noticeable Cochecton Falls. 
 
 At starting, we had a heavy wind at our backs, but 
 the many twists and turns in our journey soon had us 
 paddling dead against it. 
 
 Not only did this make heavy work, but it also caused 
 faulty judgment in running rifts, impeding progress; in 
 swifter water this state of affairs would have caused 
 many accidents, possibly necessitating a stoppage 
 altoP"ether. 
 
 o 
 
 The reasons for exercisino- care in trimmine canoes 
 were now apparent. If too high in the bows, they would 
 be blown about, and if the bows were down, the work 
 would be harder, resultino- also in wet craft. 
 
 Carter, whose study of shallow currents extends over 
 a long period, exhibited a knowledge and skill that was 
 almost infallible He would size up an opening for what 
 it was worth, immediately, from the set of the current, 
 
52 Tii'o Hundred Miles on the De/aicare River. 
 
 nature of rocks, amount and character of foam, etc., 
 rejecting or accepting according to the indications. 
 During the whole trip he was only at fault four or five 
 times, and then not seriously. The Zerlina came out 
 without a scratch, and her captain with only an occa- 
 sional wet foot. 
 
 The scenery on this day varied from that of yesterday, 
 the mountains risincr rock-bound on the rieht, while the 
 hills to the left disappeared far in the interior, where they 
 form a j^art of the Catskill mountains. 
 
 The fishinor was not so grood either, and the luck of 
 our fishermen was not of the kind that furnished our 
 morning's meal. 
 
 We reached Callicoon sometime after eleven o'clock, 
 and calculated from the maps to reach Narrowsburg by 
 niorht. 
 
 The toll-house at the bridge, the piles of lumber upon 
 the sloping bank, and the low lying landscape, offered a 
 fit scene for a photograph, and the camera was accord- 
 ingly used to good effect. 
 
 Between the island and the town we were borne on a 
 swift current, rounding to at the lower end, opposite 
 Hollister creek. Landing, the cameras were brought to 
 bear upon a perfect pastoral scene, which lay spread 
 
Cochcdon Falls. 53 
 
 directly above us. It was a bit of liillside lan(]scai)e that 
 would have made a poem on canvas. 
 
 At the end of the island is a shallow ferry, and teams 
 are constantly passing from the New York to the Penn- 
 sylvania shore. 
 
 Close to Pennsylvania we discovered entrance to a 
 rocky rift. We steered through in safety, and found 
 ourselves traversing a stretch of wild and mountainous 
 country. At Cochecton, the uncleared, rock-l)ound cliffs, 
 retreating, form a veritable wilderness. And yet, just 
 beyond the barrier, one finds fertile valleys and fine 
 farms, a romantic combination, surely. 
 
 Opposite the saw-mill we hauled over an obstruction 
 in the shape of a log-boom. These booms are con- 
 structed and maintained illegally, and, at least, should be 
 swung so as to allow the passage of small craft. Rafts- 
 men cut their way through the booms unhesitatingly, 
 whenever they encounter them Just below, hidden 
 from sight by a sharp bend, we could hear Cochecton 
 Falls, the first really bad spot on the river. 
 
 Drifting to the upper ledge, we landed for an inspec- 
 tion. As we had anticipated, the rain of the night before 
 had given us eight inches greater depth of water. This 
 rise, however, was not sufficient to cover the rocks and 
 
54 Two Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 ledges that were scattered in profuse in the fall. Neither 
 could we discover any decided channel in the swiftly- 
 rushing torrent. 
 
 To run through safely would be a matter of the 
 purest luck. With our loaded canoes it would be 
 foolish to take the risk. Carter, who had run it on a 
 "fresh," stated that the danger was great enough even 
 then. 
 
 Enjoying a short rest, we entered our canoes, and 
 passing over the first ledge, near the New York shore, 
 landed on the huge table rock we found exposed. 
 Enormous pot holes, worn by the action of gravel and 
 water, were found in almost every rock in the ledge. 
 We gathered the canoes at this point, and then guided 
 them to a point half way down by means of bow and 
 stern lines. Opposite the end of the fall was the worst 
 place, and we had to "carry" over the rock to avoid it. 
 Dropping the canoes into an extensive eddy, our task 
 was completed. 
 
 And right here, I may state tliat the boys firmly 
 resolved to fall over a precipice, should we meet one. 
 rather than make another like "carry." It was the 
 hardest work we did during the whole trip, and com- 
 pletely tired us for the rest of the day. 
 
Indian Memories. 55 
 
 We were now traveling through what was at one time 
 Indian stamping ground. 
 
 Cochecton is a corruption of the Lenape Coc^ue- 
 thagechton, meaning "White Eyes," the name of a cele- 
 brated Delaware chieftain. 
 
 Had it not been for the King's Commissioners, we 
 would from Cochecton onward have been passing 
 between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, The boundary 
 line between New Jersey and New York, surveyed 
 from the original orrants, ran to Station Point, in lati- 
 tude 41' 40". The present line, below Port Jervis, was 
 run in 1769. 
 
 At noon, just above Cochecton, thinking to get some 
 milk at a house thai appeared behind a cluster of trees 
 on a bluff on our right. Cooper and I went ashore and 
 pushed through the underbrush until we came to a spring. 
 From here a path led to the house. Clambering up, we 
 reached the top only to meet with a scene of desolation. 
 
 The house was tenantless ; doors were off hinges and 
 windows broken. The out-buildings were delapidated ; 
 Hoors broken, roofs dismantled and joists decayed. 
 
 " Life and thought had gone away, 
 Side by side, 
 
 Leaving doors and windows wide, 
 Careless tenants they." 
 
56 Two Htindred Miles on the Dcla-warc River. 
 
 Gathering some apples, and getting a delicious 
 draught at the spring, we went back to the boats, and, 
 for want of time to cook a meal, feasted on apples and 
 bread. 
 
 Narrowsburg was now our objective point. Although 
 we paddled rather briskly, the village was always "just 
 around the next bend " with us. At least, this was the 
 invariable response given by the natives when we 
 inquired the distance to a given place. It became quite 
 a side issue with our party. 
 
 At last we reached a point where, in rounding a bend, 
 the river narrowed, and became so shallow that it looked 
 as though we would have to carry across the gravel 
 formation that jutted into the river from a hill on the 
 right. 
 
 Going to the left of some large rocks, however, we 
 found a channel, down which we scraped, to emerge 
 directly into a narrow, rocky gorge. A little further, 
 and we were floating on a currentless body of water, 
 deep and black in the mountain's shadow — " Big Eddy," 
 properly named. For the first time during our trip, we 
 had to paddle to keep up headway. We also remarked 
 the sudden coolness in the temperature. 
 
 Passing under the bridge, which is built out of the 
 
Camp at Na7'ro2i'shirg. 57 
 
 reach of the highest freshet, we pushed throucrh the 
 foam-flecked water past numerous fishing parties. 
 
 At last, rounding an abrupt bend, we saw ahead a low 
 lying island, to which we paddled in search of a camp site. 
 
 The island affordincr no inducement for makinor a 
 camp, we turned toward the grassy slopes on the Penn- 
 sylvania shore, and, close to the dividing line between 
 Wayne and Pike counties, pitched our camp. We were 
 on the frontier. In the interior, and not so very far 
 either, trout, bass, pickerel, deer, bear and grouse are in 
 waiting for the hardy woodsman. 
 
 It was now six o'clock, and the sun had left us for the 
 day. As we were in need of provisions, we thought it 
 expeditious to get supper in the village, and to make 
 purchases. 
 
 Donnelly, Allen and I unpacked and made ready for 
 the night, while Carter and Cooper went over the bridge 
 in search of a hotel. 
 
 An hour later we, as the second detachment, repaired 
 to the "Arlington, " whither Carter had directed us, as 
 host Gutheil was expecting a second invasion. Passing 
 through the office and upstairs to the spacious dining- 
 rooms, we found spread before us a meal in keeping 
 with the surroundings. 
 
5 8 T2V0 Hmid7-ed Miles on the Delazvare River. 
 
 As if to enliven our tired wit, we found our guardian 
 angel in the person of Fraulein Guthcil business-like 
 and efficient. Her laughing eyes, pearly teeth and 
 vivacious manners were irresistable. 
 
 Our grace before meat, each to the other, was 
 in the language of Shakespeare, "God comfort thy 
 capacity." 
 
 The meal admitted of no disparaging comments. It 
 was solid worth and squared by rule. We left, feeling 
 at peace with the country and the house of Arlington. 
 Besides, we carried away with us two substantial loaves 
 of home-made bread, bestowed upon us as a special 
 favor by Frau Gutheil. Of course, the intercession in 
 our behalf of her worthy daughter had nothing to do 
 with the case. 
 
 Taking a short walk, we saw the sights and made 
 some purchases, and then went back to camp by the 
 mountain path bathed in a flood of moonlight. To right 
 and left, before and behind, the steep hills formed a 
 mountain pocket, containing a vast body of water, the 
 outlet from which, in our position, we could not discover. 
 
 On reaching camp, we found the boys had made a 
 cheerful fire, the night being cool and promising frost. 
 
 From a native, who dropped in on us, we learned that 
 
A Delaware River Eddy. 59 
 
 the pool in front of our camp was sixty-five feet deep 
 and absolutely without current. This is owing- to the 
 curious formation of tlie valley above and below, and 
 the great depth at the bend. During high water there 
 are two eddies so great that rafts running the river have 
 not sufficient momentum to carry them through the dead 
 water. Consequently, the rafts have to be towed until 
 they reach the downward current. 
 
 For this purpose ropes are carried to the island, 
 opposite the bend, down which the raftsmen walk with 
 their tow. This is the only spot, from Arkville to 
 Trenton, where this haulino- has to be done. 
 
 During the rafting season, the vicinity of the eddy is 
 one of great activity, and not a little confusion. 
 
 Turning in after a day of labor, we took a last look 
 at the orb of nig^ht hanging over the motionless waters 
 of "Big Eddy." It was a picture not likely to be for- 
 gotten — too enchanting to be easily dismissed from the 
 memory. 
 
Cbaptcr ID. 
 
 A DELAWARE HIGHLANDS MORNING. 
 
 A DAY OF COMPARISONS. 
 
 WILD SCENERY. 
 
 RIVER CURRENTS. 
 
 MASTHOPE RIFT. 
 
 BLOOMING GROVE PARK. 
 
 LACKAWAXEN. 
 
 SHOOTING THE DAM. 
 
 SHOHOLA. 
 
 A BAD RIFT. 
 
 CAMP-FIRE REVERIES. 
 
These, as they change, Almighty Father, these 
 Are but the varied God. — Thomson. 
 
 P YE sluggards, and see die day break !" It 
 was Carter calling, and, heeding him, I turned 
 out. 
 
 The morning was crisp and frosty. Allen 
 was already out, and Cooper, sleepy and 
 barefoot, soon followed suit. And Don- 
 nelly? Deep down in a board-thick army blanket 
 that canoeist lay fast asleep. The cows might have 
 been in the corn, the sun melting icicles, or the Boojum 
 Snark invading the Gurzigazoon, but Donnelly was 
 dreaming. 
 
 The nio-ht had been cool. Wood was scarce in our 
 locality, and the camp-fire embers were long since cold. 
 So toward morning I buried my head, ears and nose in 
 the warmth of a thick-knitted Tam o' Shanter. 
 
 While we were busying ourselves with early morning 
 
 63 
 
64 Tii'o Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 camp duties the sun burst in radiance over the eastern 
 hills, flooding the camp with warmth, and the surround- 
 ing valley with brightness. 
 
 The morning was a typical Delaware Highlands morn- 
 ing, and we were in high feather, glad that we were 
 alive. 
 
 The evolutions of the trio, Carter, Donnelly and 
 Allen, in getting arrayed for breakfast at the hotel, com- 
 manded attention. All on account of the pretty waitress. 
 Cooper and I at our ease, en deshabille, cooked a hearty 
 camp breakfast of potatoes, eggs, onions and coffee, 
 with delicious home-made bread and Orange county 
 butter. 
 
 After our meal Cooper, taking the NaJiiwi, paddled 
 above the camp for an exposure, getting the bridge and 
 Big Eddy, looking down stream. 
 
 The absent ones returned to the fold about eight 
 o'clock. An hour later we were packed and afloat, 
 taking with us pleasant recollections of a pleasant camp- 
 ing spot. 
 
 Anticipating the narrative, we made camp at 5:30 
 o'clock in the afternoon, just before reaching Parker's 
 Glen, having made eighteen miles from the time of 
 leavinor Narrowsburof. 
 
Compa risons. 6 5 
 
 For weather and rapids, it was a day to be remem- 
 bered. Keeping- account of the latter, we ran thirty-one, 
 big and Httle, without a single mishap. 
 
 The weather and scenery also vied with each other, 
 and each in its different way contributed to our enjoy- 
 ment. For comparative study we had sunshine and 
 peaceful stretches of farm land ; we had sun-showers 
 and rolling, pine-covered hills ; we had thunder storms 
 and clouds, and rugged, rocky mountain cliffs. 
 
 In the river we encountered quiet currents and foam- 
 lashed, thunder-boomine torrents. For extremes, we 
 had Big Eddy and Lackawaxen Dam ; for intermediates 
 Tusten Rift and Shohola Falls. 
 
 But to retrace our steps. Below Narrowsburg we 
 entered a long, shallow rift with a crooked channel, 
 which finally flowed close under the foot of the moun- 
 tain. We got through safely, and during the day ran 
 rifts so continually that we were on a constant strain 
 taking care of our canoes. 
 
 An explanation is in place right here. A keel canoe 
 is the proper one for river cruising. The keel should 
 be broad, flat and of tough wood, for the river bed is 
 composed of gravel and boulders, on which, in shallow 
 water, the canoe is constantly pounding. 
 
 5 
 
66 Two Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 As we drifted onward, the wildness and grandeur of 
 our surroundings became more marked. 
 
 High and ever-changing hills and mountain ranges 
 loomed about us on every hand. Far away in the dis- 
 tance faint outlines of southern hills were traceable. 
 
 From Narrowsburg to Lackawaxen there still remains 
 a famous bass fishing section. Those caught by our 
 fishermen were numerous and large. And one and all 
 discussed the feasability of a fishing camp at some future 
 time. A two or three weeks' stay would ensure plenty 
 of sport at this season of the year with both rod and 
 gun. 
 
 On either hand extend forests of pine, beech, hemlock 
 and chestnut. The lumber interests are valuable, and 
 with the farm lands in the fertile valleys, which the 
 mountain streams make numerous, and the slate and 
 stone quarries, form the industries of the settlers. 
 
 Where the Erie railroad crosses the river, at Tusten, 
 or Pine Grove, we met with a heavy rift somewhat 
 dangerous on account of its formation. We had marked, 
 from the car window, on our ride to Hancock, a ledge 
 of rocks from shore to shore, just under the bridge. 
 It seemed shallow, and we were dubious about getting 
 through. Actually in the rift, we found more water than 
 
Traveling the Delazcare. 67 
 
 appeared from a distance. In the waters below the rift 
 as we shot through, Donnelly hooked a fine pickerel. 
 
 After getting a photograph, we paddled down to a 
 small rift, in which Cooper provokingly broke his paddle. 
 How it happened, he was at a loss to know ; it might 
 have been injured in the heavier water at Tusten. For- 
 tunately, it was a long split, which was spliced and 
 wrapped as we floated down stream. 
 
 We floated through two or three little rushes, during 
 the paddle-mending incident, but finally had to complete 
 it hastily, as we were bearing down on a heavier rift. 
 
 In traveling the Delaware, it behooves the voyageiw 
 to be careful and wide-awake at all times. He never 
 knows the kind of w-ater ahead. A different stage of 
 water, either lower or higher, completely changes the 
 formation, and even the location of the smaller rifts and 
 falls. Their channels and dangerous ledges also may 
 be changed from a few feet to the entire width of the 
 river. To drift down stream broad-side, or with unjointed 
 blades, is the height of recklessness. 
 
 Late in the morning we reached Masthope. This 
 little place (noted for its stone quarries) can hardly be 
 passed by the traveler on the Delaware without remark- 
 ing its peculiar surroundings. 
 
68 Tivo Himdrcd Miles on the Delaivarc River. 
 
 On the right, just before entering swift water, Mast- 
 hope creek tumbles into the larger body ; below, on the 
 bank, stands a grove of cedars, each trunk as stiff and 
 orderly as if belonging to a detachment of pickets. On 
 the opposite bank rises rocky pine-clad cliffs. Ahead is 
 Big Cedar Rift, a mile and a half long. Entering this 
 the bend places the town at your back. As we began 
 to feel the force of the current the sky clouded and a 
 few drops of rain fell. 
 
 We found the rift a bad one, the fall being great and 
 the volume of water heavy. Add to this length of the 
 rift its uncertain channel and rocky ledges, and it would 
 be bad enough on a clear day. 
 
 On this day the combination was anything but pleas- 
 ant. Before rounding the last bend, from which the foot 
 was visible, we several times rested in the friendly eddies 
 that form on the lower side of exposed rocks. 
 
 Once through, we had better water, and during a 
 paddle of three miles were skirting the game and fish 
 preserves of the Blooming Grove Park association, and 
 the Pike County Hunting and P'ishing club. 
 
 These associations own about twenty-eight thousand 
 acres of the choicest waters and estates in this region, 
 embracing some magnificent scenery. 
 
Lackawaxen Dam. 69 
 
 Overlooking the river and commanding- a grand view 
 of the fertile valley, the associations have large and 
 finely-appointed club houses. 
 
 Opposite the boat landing, a rugged, pine-clad hill of 
 gray rock rises from the depths. A curious feature is a 
 growth of gnarled pines, whose tenacious roots find sub- 
 stance in the frost-split interstices. 
 
 A number of photographs were taken of the exquisite 
 bits of landscape that rapidly came into view. 
 
 Around the bend we scraped over a bar that extends 
 to the slack water above Lackawaxen. The sudden 
 entrance to the beautiful country about this station is 
 sure to occasion outbursts of admiration. In our case 
 the view was enhanced by the breaking away of rain 
 clouds, and the appearance of the sun to lighten up the 
 peaceful scene. The face of the country partakes of the 
 placidity of the huge volume of water, which is held back 
 by an enormous dam, just below the mouth of the creek. 
 
 Lackawaxen is a great summer resort, and the country 
 round-about contains many points of interest. 
 
 While drifting down, we had lunch, and at one o'clock 
 lined up along the right-hand bank below the large white 
 hotel, the Delaware House, and above the sluiceway 
 througrh the dam. 
 
70 T7V0 Hundred Miles 07i the Delaiuare River. 
 
 The Delaware and Hudson canal, beginning at Hones- 
 dale, Pennsylvania, follows the windings of the Lacka- 
 waxen river to its mouth, crosses the Delaware river, 
 and continues in New York state, by way of Delaware 
 river, to Port Jervis, and then along the foot of the 
 sinuous Shawangunk mountain range to Eddyville on 
 Rondout creek. 
 
 The dam built across the river at this point is owned 
 by the Delaware and Hudson canal company. It is 
 sixteen feet high, constructed in the most approved 
 scientific manner, to secure strength. 
 
 During the rafting season, the opening for rafts is in 
 the center. 
 
 Many stories of hair-breadth escapes in running this 
 shute are told by all old raftsmen, and the spot is indeed 
 a dangerous one, so much so that the company, which is 
 a private corporation, is held responsible by the two 
 states for all accidents to rafts incurred while going 
 through. During the season a pilot is furnished, whose 
 duty it is to take charge until each raft is safely through. 
 Notwithstanding this many accidents occur, as the least 
 faulty judgment in the mad rush will break up the mass 
 of timber in a twinkling. 
 
 The drop during a "fresh" is very great, causing a 
 
Shooting the Dam. 71 
 
 long raft to make such a bend that the bow-man cannot 
 see the steersman until the raft straightens out. The 
 plunge is so severe that the forward end goes completely 
 under, drenching all hands. 
 
 We found the sluiceway on the right shore nearly 
 closed by a temporary wing to facilitate repairs. 
 
 The opening was only twelve feet wide, through which 
 the water shot at surprising speed. We judged the rate 
 to be about a mile per minute. The solid volume of 
 water held itself compact for a distance of fifteen feet, 
 with a drop of eight feet, taken in two inclines. 
 
 This huge wave then bore straight downward, by its 
 force sending upward two boat lengths away a foamer 
 sixteen feet in height. Swift rough water followed, 
 between the bank and the first wing, in which racks of 
 slabs are anchored to protect the river bed. A swift 
 shoot under the bridge, ending in a wave-filled tail-race, 
 completes the description. 
 
 After some reconnoitering, and testing the channel 
 with heavy oak slabs, which were whisked into the foam 
 in a twinkling, we decided upon our course. 
 
 Carter took it first, in the Zcrlina, Allen catching a 
 photograph as he was in the act of breaking through the 
 crest. 
 
72 Tzvo Hundred Miles on the Delaivare River. 
 
 Cooper followed the leader, first removing camera and 
 blankets. He went over safely, although his broken 
 blade was twisted in two, leaving him to finish with half 
 a paddle 
 
 Donnelly and the Nahiivi followed suit in safety. 
 
 It was a great feat, and one of which to be proud. 
 The sight, too, was a pretty one, and full of life. Away 
 above the edge the blades of the paddles flashed in the 
 sunlight. Instantly the canoe appears, the occupant's 
 face worthy of study as he braces himself for the shock 
 and its results — good or bad. Quick as a camera 
 shutter drops, the boat and her crew were pitched from 
 the wave into the crest, held aloft for an instant, reveal- 
 ing the boat's bottom from stem to stern ; then breaking 
 through, dropped into the swift water. 
 
 It is over the minute you reach the edge, but you are 
 in the grasp of a demon, and you hold your breath hard. 
 A slip, an upset, and the cribs, ballast and spike-strewn 
 logs below may determine the commencement of a cruise 
 into the great unknown, on a pink cloud, in the ethereal 
 blue. 
 
 Rounding the cribs below, the race is run and a deep 
 eddy welcomes the bonny craft. 
 
 The Werowance being only twelve feet by twenty-six 
 
Sliohola and Mcinity. 73 
 
 inches beam, Allen decided not to take the risk, and so 
 slid over the fishway. 
 
 Below the bridge we stopped and effected needed 
 repairs. Cooper recovered the lost blade and renewed 
 his paddle by cutting back and resetting the ferrule. 
 The only inconvenience was due to its shortening. 
 There were more rifts as we continued, but after our 
 recent shaking up they appeared tame. The river 
 became narrow, flowing: through a veritable sfate in the 
 mountain. The country was wild, rolling from range to 
 range as far as eye could see. 
 
 At 3:45 o'clock in the afternoon we ran ashore at 
 Shohola, under clouds and in rain. 
 
 We were all in good spirits and hungry. Facing the 
 river was the Spring House. Provisions with us were 
 low. Proceeding on our journey meant a damp camp 
 and a damp bit of cookery. Bunching canoes, we had a 
 call of the roll. Too tempting. All lazy. Result — we 
 stopped for dinner. 
 
 At the house we were very nicely served. It should be 
 a fine summer retreat, for, besides its nearness to all points 
 of interest, it commands a fine view of the river and valley. 
 
 The vicinity of Shohola is noted for its mountain 
 scenery. The Glen, containing wonderful cascades, 
 
74 Two Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 waterfalls and rocky caverns, is but a short distance 
 from the town. Hardby are several trout streams, 
 having their sources in the Sullivan Highlands. 
 
 Although it was rather early, we fared well, and three- 
 quarters of an hour after landing, five cruisers were 
 replete with five different portions of potatoes, eggs, 
 beef, tomatoes, pudding, pie and coffee. 
 
 It continued raining, but it was all in the experience. 
 Clad in oilskins, we proceeded until we got hung up in 
 what someone remarked was "mid-chick" rift. It 
 merged into the well-known Shohola falls so suddenly 
 that its growth from a chicken to a full-sized fighting- 
 cock permitted no intermediate stage. 
 
 As Carter was leading through he bumped broadside 
 against a submerged rock. His agility in getting out 
 saved an upset. Each canoeist picked a channel as best 
 he could. The place was narrow and thickly strewn 
 with rocks, the current swift, and the turns frequent and 
 sharp. We struck repeatedly. At the last rush, 
 Donnelly and Cooper were both carried down on the 
 Na/iiwi, and all labored through together, waves from 
 three to four feet high, and choppy from conflicting cur- 
 rents, swashed us from stem to stern, but the little 
 Weroivance behaved herself nobly. 
 
TJie Camp Fire. 75 
 
 Still there were more to follow. We took them antl 
 the attendant wetting- until half-past five, when we came 
 across a camp site at the base of the canal bank. 
 
 It was a level, grassy place, in rather low ground, but 
 we could drive tent pegs, without the difficulty hereto- 
 fore encountered. Hauline out. we soon had the tents 
 erected in a half circle with a camp-fire place in the 
 opening. 
 
 It was showering fitfully, but we had hopes of its dis- 
 continuance. Foraging parties soon had a pile of hard- 
 wood ties and planks, and a lasting fire was scientifically 
 laid. When the blaze became a glowing, we drew our 
 chairs within the warmth, enjoying it immensely, and 
 drying wet garments. Cooper and I took a river bath 
 in the swift flow at the foot of camp, and then added a 
 hot shampoo. 
 
 The Quartermaster got up an impromptu lunch for 
 the party, finding the delicacies from his ample store. 
 He explained that he must do something to lighten his 
 load for the morrow's paddle. 
 
 The country through which we traveled this day was 
 entirely different in point of scenery from that of previous 
 days. We skirted pine-clad hills and rocky cliffs, and 
 pleasant sloping bluffs. All about our camp were wild 
 
j6 Two Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 hills. Opposite, on a heavy grade, ran the tracks of the 
 Erie railroad. We could hear the engines puff and the 
 wheels slip, and see the reflected glow from the fires as 
 the furnace doors were thrown back. 
 
 From Lackawaxen to Port Jervis we were to be 
 accompanied by the Delaware and Hudson canal, with 
 the ever-attendant noise of horns and shoutings, together 
 with the choice vocabulary of captains and mule drivers. 
 
 We greatly enjoyed the camp-fire. After the trying 
 experiences of the day the rest and cheerfulness was 
 welcomed by all. 
 
 I do not doubt but that every cruiser and camper 
 counts as lost the night passed without the blaze of the 
 camp fire, whether the blaze be great or small. To the 
 party grouped about, it lends a fluency to conversation 
 as it leaps and crackles and glows red in the darkness. 
 To the solitary cruiser it is a companion. Its warmth 
 and light prevents feelings of loneliness and longing. 
 To the dreamer and the poet it lends visions and 
 language. As its flames break forth, or its thin curls of 
 smoke twine aloft, it becomes a most trustworthy con- 
 fidant. What reflections it reveals ! what faces ! what 
 forms it conjures up ! It smokes and smoulders at 
 starting, as you sit before it delving into the dim past. 
 
Attendant Visio?is. 77 
 
 It brightens and warms as your impulses deal with 
 thoughts of the present. It is a sympathetic friend. 
 You would see into the future? Your mind, unsatisfied, 
 gives up the task, and the fire in sympathy settles and 
 sighs, tries to resume the thread, flickers and leaves you 
 with your vain quest in confusing darkness. It is out 
 and you retire. Secrets uttered aloud it remembereth 
 not. Joys and sorrows it never repeats. 
 
Cbaptcr m. 
 
 A DREAM. 
 
 POETRY. 
 
 A HOT DAY. 
 
 PARKER'S GLEN. 
 
 LOST CHANNEL RIFT. 
 
 MONGAUP FALLS. 
 
 HEAVY WATER. 
 
 BAPTISING A CANOE. 
 
 BUTLER'S FALLS. 
 
 ABOVE PORT JERVIS. 
 
 TRI-STATE MONUMENT. 
 
 MARKING A BOUNDARY LINE. 
 
 GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS. 
 
 GLIMMER GLASS. 
 
 A LITTLE FRENCH. 
 
On sunny slope and beechen swell, 
 
 The shadowed light of evening fell ; 
 
 And, where the maple's leaf was brown, 
 
 With soft and silent lapse came down. 
 
 The glory, that the wood receives, 
 
 At sunset, in its golden leaves. — LongfeHow. 
 
 N ODD dream disturbed my sleep toward 
 morning. Connecting the threads, it worked 
 itself out about as follows : 
 
 I dreamed that after the night's camp we 
 
 had packed canoes and journeyed onward. 
 
 Having gone but a short distance, we ran 
 
 down to a small fishery in a wide arm of the river. As 
 
 we reached the gravel, the following was noted at a 
 
 glance : 
 
 Close to the water's edge lay a tangled net, two wheel- 
 barrows, and two piles of freshly-caught fish. Slightly 
 to the left we saw two burly fishermen berating each 
 other with tongues and fists. 
 
 As we drifted down, I imagined I heard Cooper sing 
 6 8i 
 
82 Two Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 out, "A nice way to start the morning, pardners ! What's 
 the row?" 
 
 Both contestants, seemingly anxious for arbitration, 
 ran toward us. 
 
 Said one, " D'ye see surs, Bill he wouldn't divide the 
 catch fair, and kept all the big wans." 
 
 "I didn't neither," chimed in Bill, "Besides, don't I 
 own the net ?" 
 
 " A heap you'd a got with yer net if I hadn't a helped 
 ye. 
 
 " Now, listen to 'm," sarcastically ejaculated number 
 two. 
 
 " Ain't I right, gentlemen ?" 
 
 " I leave it you, if he has divided fair." 
 
 All the above was said thick and fast, and we got 
 more information from the surroundings than from the 
 jargon. 
 
 " Court will come to order," said Donnelly in mock 
 severity. "Go ahead with the summing up. Dad." 
 
 We had drifted into shore with Carter in the center, 
 Donnelly and Allen on his left, and Cooper and I up 
 stream. 
 
 judge, jury, court constables, stenographers and 
 notary, with two prosecutors, who were likewise defend- 
 
Cy-pres. 83 
 
 ants and plaintiffs from and of themselves, we proceeded 
 with the celebrated case. 
 
 Each of the principals repeated his story with glowing 
 looks, making a few additions to his first outburst. 
 
 When each had finished. Judge Carter, for the time 
 being, recounted as follows : 
 
 "Gentlemen, you are both right" (here the two 
 worthies looked quizzical), "and you are both wrong " 
 (here they looked indignant). "Taking the case at its 
 present status, one charges dishonesty in the division 
 of the haul. The other claims the right to the larger 
 share from ownership of the net. To this latter claim 
 the matter of assistance is used as an offset. 
 
 "Gentlemen, these points in the case I do not con- 
 sider warrant attention from the force of circumstances. 
 We will overlook them, and pursue another course in 
 the solution of the controversy. From appearances, I 
 take it that you are neighbors, depending upon one 
 another for many small favors in daily life. You have 
 lived peaceably for a long time. Why should you not 
 continue to do so ? You both live and breathe the free 
 air which a great and good God, having required you to 
 need, supplies in abundance. You have to fight no one 
 for it. It is natural for you. You breathe it, and, I 
 
84 Tzvo Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 have no doubt, forget to thank Him to whom you are 
 indebted. 
 
 "Together, you, in friendHness, came here for fish, 
 both for food and to convert them by sale into money, 
 with which to purchase articles needful to life. These 
 fish are not yours ; you did not place them here ; you 
 have asked permission of no one ; you just come and 
 appropriate that which enables you to get greater per- 
 sonal comforts. And the result : having netted a goodly 
 supply, you forget everything — friendship, charity, equity 
 — for selfishness." 
 
 The most righteous judge turned toward the jury as 
 if to ask a verdict, but of this there was no need. The 
 verdict, in accordance with truth and justice, had been 
 anticipated, even by the untutored fishermen. 
 
 From anger the mind of each man had turned to doubt, 
 and from doubt to enliorhtenment and remorse Before 
 Carter had ceased speaking I saw them making up in 
 characteristic style, the net owner throwing all the big 
 fish over to the smaller pile, amid protestations from his 
 companion, both muttering rude apologies. They then 
 loaded the barrows, each assisting the other as gleefully 
 as two school boys on a frolic, each claiming also the 
 rio-ht to bear the additional burden of the net. 
 
Good Prose versus Bad Poetry- 85 
 
 This settled, they generously helped each other up the 
 steep incline to the plateau above. 
 
 My feet had pushed through the blankets and against 
 the cold, damp tent, sending a "chilly flow" along my 
 vertebra. This may account for the dream. 
 
 I lost no time in folding them in the warmth of the 
 blankets, and lay musing over the foregoing deduc- 
 tions. 
 
 Outside, the "foggy, foggy dew" was slowly drifting 
 up stream, blown by a faint breeze. 
 
 Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle. Down the tow-path, close by, 
 comes an early canal boat with its team of mules, its 
 captain and the muleteer. We are objects of curiosity 
 to all the animated creatures until a bend hides us from 
 view. 
 
 We got breakfast by the embers of last night's camp- 
 fire, using chairs for tables and rocks for seats. 
 
 Cleaning up and loading canoes occupied our time, 
 according to rule. Carter meanwhile quoting snatches 
 of poetry. At this we wondered, as Carter's opinion, 
 candidly expressed, is 'T have no use for a man who 
 murders good prose in order to express himself by bad 
 versification." 
 
 We were afloat as the sun broke throupfh the mist. 
 
86 Two Hundred Miles on the Delaivare River. 
 
 Hot? Don't mention it. 
 
 At Parker's Glen we stopped to get a photograph of 
 a natural waterspout that shot some fifty feet in air. It 
 made its exit from the bowels of the earth through a 
 fissure in the rock. The spout was on a bluff above the 
 river, with a dark-green mountain side for a background. 
 The gentle morning breeze dissipated the falling stream 
 into misty arches, the sun completing the spectacle by 
 transforming the whole into miniature rainbows. 
 
 Nestling in the pines, among the hills, and command- 
 ing a wide sweep of glen and river, we noticed a large 
 hotel and several dwellings. 
 
 Opposite the village we ran an unusual kind of rift. 
 There was no definite channel, and we were compelled 
 to dodge in and out among sharp rocks as best we could 
 until through. From shore to shore the current swept 
 resistless, apparently of uniform depth, broken and 
 riffled from countless causes. We dubbed it Lost 
 Channel Rift. 
 
 During the day's journey the channel led us under 
 immense rocky cliffs, rising first from one side of the 
 river and then from the other, the Pennsylvania side, 
 however, being the more precipitous. Scraggly pine 
 trees covered the hillside. 
 
Mongaiip Falls. 87 
 
 The rifts we found very shallow, and with sharp 
 descents, winding- up at the foot in chop cross-currents 
 with turbulent waves. 
 
 Thus we traveled, encountering in some places two 
 or three descents in quick succession. The bends, too, 
 were sharper and more frequent. 
 
 At ten o'clock we were skirting the canal wall at Pond 
 Eddy. Just beyond the village, Allen obtained a fine 
 picture, the rock-bound ending of a rolling mountain 
 range. 
 
 Two miles further down the river, and we heard a 
 heavy booming that caused us to train our eye-sight 
 ahead. 
 
 In the distance we could see a narrow, rocky channel, 
 down which the foam-lashed volume poured with such 
 force that waves six feet in height were formed. And 
 this is Mongaup Falls. It is not long, but it is very 
 juicy, what there is of it, and, as the boy said, there is 
 lots of it, such as it is. The river and town of the same 
 name lay on the right. 
 
 Our experience at this point proved a rough teacher. 
 We had grown so familiar with "rifts" that we wel- 
 comed them merely as helps in our journey. We 
 had as yet no thought of recurring to our lap covers, 
 
88 Two Hiuidred Miles oti the Delaware River. 
 
 not having met with currents sufficiently heavy to 
 swamp us. 
 
 However, we were destined to grow famihar with 
 sterner things. The heavier body of water obHterated 
 the rifts, and falls were now to engage our combined 
 tact and strength — Mongaup, Butler's, Sawyer's, Butter- 
 milk, Bull's Island, Wells', Scudder's and Trenton. At 
 Mongaup we strung out, the Zerlina in the lead, then 
 Werowance, Nyleptha, Nakiwi, and the Quartermaster, 
 the latter trolling. Incidentally, he hooked a fine bass 
 in the deep water, carrying it through only to lose it 
 when hauling it in at the foot of the fall. 
 
 As the Nahiwi shot in, she went down over the crest, 
 and then upward on a wave that made me lean back 
 with bated breath. I threw my weight aft as far as pos- 
 sible to keep her nose out of the wave crests, but it was 
 a failure. The canoe shipped enough of the second one 
 to make her pitch log-like into the next. In the third 
 she was awash completely. I kept her straight until out 
 of the worst of it, and then made for a rocky point on 
 the right. 
 
 We reached shallow water just in time for the canoe 
 to gracefully settle on the bottom with all on board. 
 
 It was over in a short space of time, and accomplished 
 
Butler s Falls. 89 
 
 SO neatly that we laughed over the incident merely at its 
 recollection. We all caus^ht it, and had to bail out 
 canoes for the first time since starting. 
 
 Here I must digress to state that in these falls Don- 
 nelly's handsome Bowdish canoe was christened, in a 
 baptism of violence, Eidalia Mongaitp. She started 
 out a new boat, and nameless. We had partially 
 known her as Eiilalia, in honor of the parlor car in 
 which we traveled to Hancock. The latter addition, 
 later in the trip, gave such a classical Indian-German 
 finish that it was irresistable. And as for the sex, if in 
 this respect there is any doubt, the Lily Gaup settles it 
 forever. 
 
 Almost in the shadow of Hawk's Nest Peak, at the 
 head of the usual bend, we ran Butler's Falls, deep 
 and rough. This is a bad place, owing to the unnatural 
 confinement of the waters by the high canal wall. 
 The worst waves can be avoided by veering to the 
 right after taking the entering pitch, but one is liable 
 to catch the side waves over the gunwale. The plunge 
 at the foot cannot be avoided. The easiest way, and 
 that giving the sport desired, is to ride the heavy waves 
 in the channel. 
 
 A short distance up the side of the cliff winds the 
 
90 Tivo Hundred Miles on the Delazvare River. 
 
 road, and a couple of farmers stopped to watch our tiny 
 barks ride the crests, uttering exclamations in open- 
 mouthed astonishment. From the height our canoes 
 must, indeed, have seemed small. 
 
 Out of this, and running a short, smooth reach, we 
 met with Sawyer's, or Sawmill Falls. We worked our 
 passage through its long and heavy right-hand channel, 
 until we labored under the railroad bridge. 
 
 In a cove at the base of Prospect Hill range, out of 
 the winds and waves, we gathered to rest. Here, where 
 the waves gently lapped the rocks, we found a native 
 fisherman snugly ensconced, luring the gamey bass from 
 the sw^ift channel beyond. 
 
 While resting and taking appreciative views of the 
 landscape spread before us, we noticed, high above 
 on the cliffside, covered with moss, ferns and pines, a 
 "flying buttress." The whole w^as so catchy that a 
 couple of photographs were taken. 
 
 As we pushed out into the stream we were mere 
 specks in the turbulent, narrow channel at the foot of 
 the rocky range. The surroundings can easily be likened 
 to one of the Colorados noted caiions. At the end ot 
 the gorge we floated to the crest of a smooth, shallow 
 incline, down which we glided, bringing up under the 
 
Port Jcrvis and I'icinity. 91 
 
 bridge at Port Jervis. We were glad to get out of the 
 hot sun, and counted the completion of sevenly-five 
 miles of what was turning out to be a most delightful 
 vacation cruise. 
 
 Hauling out canoes, we went up into town for needed 
 supplies ; to the shoe-dealer's (wading is hard on the 
 foot gear) ; to the post-office, for word from the dear 
 ones at home, and praying to receive no urgent recall 
 to business duties ; to the express-office, for Allen's 
 extra blades, and to ship home the dry plates containing 
 precious materialized memories. 
 
 "Port," as the town is familiarly called in the region 
 adjacent, has a population of fifteen thousand souls, and 
 is the central point from which can be reached numerous 
 summer resorts. Stage lines to mountain retreats in 
 the three states do a thriving business in summer. The 
 Monticello railroad branch also has considerable traffic. 
 In view of its industries — railroad shops, manufactories, 
 etc. — the town holds rank with other larger cities in New 
 York state. As for the scenery, the view from the rail- 
 road, just before entering the town is one long to be 
 remembered, so peaceful and romantic withal. 
 
 High Point, to the eastward, and not far from Milford, 
 Pennsylvania, in a direct line, is a noted resort among the 
 
92 Tii'o Hinidrcd Miles on the Delaivare River. 
 
 Shawangunk mountains (or shaw'n-gum in the vernacu- 
 lar). Here the valley begins to widen ; low sloping 
 swells, brown in the autumn, could be clearly traced. 
 Valleys and pleasant nooks are synonymous with the 
 name of Neversink. Minisink Plain is just beyond the 
 range, and this in itself brings recollections of times 
 agone. 
 
 The day was not far advaced, and we decided to make 
 Milford, seven miles below, in time to camp. Milford is 
 reached from Port Jervis by the "White Hat " stage line, 
 over a hard mountain road. 
 
 But we are not going that way. Just below the 
 bridge, and the town, the river is cut up by gravel bars. 
 Consequently, a rocky and shoal rift is met, which con- 
 tinues to the mouth of the Neversink river. 
 
 At this junction the southwest boundary of southern 
 New York state comes to an angle, and turns due west 
 (475 feet). West of this point, in the center of the 
 Delaware river, lies imbedded the corner-stone between 
 New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Across the 
 mouth of the Neversink, the northwest boundary of 
 New Jersey comes to a point. Looking westward, the 
 center of Pike county, the beginning of the north 
 boundary of Pennsylvania pokes its nose into a point. 
 
The Tri- State Rock. 93 
 
 Here in New York state the Delaware and Hudson 
 canal winds off on its way to Rondout and the Hudson, 
 while the Erie railroad curves up on its way to Buffalo. 
 The extreme southern angle of the state has its vertex 
 in the local cemetery, 
 
 Runninof our canoes into a bank of sand, we landed 
 on the point in New York, to view like other curiosity 
 seekers the Tri-State Rock, situated on the very termi- 
 nation of a rocky formation, and also to see the bound- 
 ary monument, 725^ feet above it, on a rising knoll. 
 
 Fifteen years ago the stone that was originally erected 
 to mark the outlines, was carried away by a freshet. 
 After that a brass rod, having the lines sunken on the 
 flat surface, was mortised into the rock. In 1882 the 
 present mark was affixed to the rock by the joint com- 
 mission of the three states, appointed by the governors 
 to perpetuate the record. 
 
 To the present generation the boundary line carries a 
 deep significance, being as it is the straight line between 
 savagery and civilization. As we viewed the fettered 
 surroundings, our minds reverted to the pristine beauty 
 of the place when the red men hunted, fished and roamed 
 at will, beaching their canoes at the rocky point, even as 
 we had, to form their nightly camp. 
 
94 
 
 T7V0 Hundred Miles o?t the Delazcarc River. 
 
 The monument on the knoll is of polished granite, 
 and has carved upon its face the following : 
 
 NEW YORK 
 BOUNDARY MONUMENT. 
 
 NEW JERSEY 
 
 BOUNDARY 
 
 MONUMENT. 
 
 1882 
 
 HENRY R. PIERSON. 
 
 ELIAS W. LEAVENWORTH. 
 
 CHAUNCEV M. DEPEW. 
 
 COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 ABRAHAM BROWNING. 
 
 THOMAS N. McCARTER. 
 
 GEORGE H. COOKE. 
 
 COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 H. W. CLARKE 
 SURVEYOR. 
 
 THE CORNER-STONE BETWEEN NEW YORK & 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 IS IN THE CENTRK OF THE 
 
 DELAWARE RIVER, 475 FEET 
 
 DUE WEST OF THE TRI-STATIC ROCK. 
 
 Facing westerly. 
 
 E. A. BOWSER 
 SURVEYOR. 
 
 SOUTH, 84 DEGREES W. 
 
 72_^ FT. FROM THIS IS 
 
 THE TRI-STATE ROCK WHICH IS THE 
 
 NORTH-WEST END OF THE 
 
 NEW YORK & NEW JERSEY 
 
 BOUNDARY AND THE NORTH 
 END OF THE NEW JERSEY & 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA BOUNDARY. 
 
 Facing easterly. 
 
Historical. 9 5 
 
 The boundary line between New York and New 
 Jersey was long a subject of dispute. In 1774, the 
 assemblies of the colonies of New York and New Jersey 
 (Nova Caesarea) appointed commissions for the pur- 
 pose of confirming- titles and possessions. The commis- 
 sioners for New York were, William Wickham and 
 Samuel Gale ; for New Jersey, John Stevens and Walter 
 Rutherford. 
 
 Under the joint commission the present boundary line 
 was run by two surveyors, representing the two states. 
 Their certificate corrected the old survey "by staking 
 that from the station rock, marked on the west side of 
 Hudson river, in the latitude of forty-one degrees, to 
 the fork or branch formed by the junction of the stream, 
 or waters called the Machockemack, with the river called 
 Delaware, or Fishkill." 
 
 The trees along the line of the new survey were 
 marked with a blaze and five notches under the same. 
 At a distance of one mile apart, forty-eight stone monu- 
 ments were set, each containing on its north side the 
 words "New York," and on the south side the words 
 "New Jersey." The total distance was forty-eight miles 
 and thirty-eight chains. 
 
 From the boundary monument the view is grand. To 
 
96 Tzvo Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 US it was like bursting from the mountains and beholding 
 the pleasant paths of peace. Close at hand, forming a 
 charming picture, the Neversink merged with the Dela- 
 ware. It was a diorama of one of nature's most lavish 
 moods. 
 
 Ahead the country spread out into far-reaching hills 
 and fertile plains, forming, in the sunlight, as Cooper 
 remarked, a perfect Scotch landscape. 
 
 " Never did sun more beautifully steep 
 In his first splendor, valley, rock, or hill ; 
 Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep ! 
 The river glideth at its own sweet will." 
 
 We traveled in this section during the best part of a 
 pleasant afternoon, skirting the base of the Highland 
 Range foot hills. As we proceeded, we found that we 
 had left the mountains. We picked up the lost thread 
 below Milford, when we met with the continuation of 
 the Appalachian chain, the Blue mountains, about Water 
 Gap. Thence the valley widens for two or three miles, 
 the ranges disappear and are gradually left behind. 
 We passed several islands and plenty of pretty scenes, 
 which were lost and found at the roundina of each 
 successive bend. 
 
 After leaving Port Jervis, we noticed for a long dis- 
 
Geological. 9 7 
 
 tance a very remarkable geological formation, that lay 
 exposed above water-mark. It had the appearance of 
 having been at one time subjected to melting heat, and 
 then agitated so that it had taken on jagged and wave- 
 like forms (or outlines) before cooling. 
 
 We were still traveling- in the limestone section 
 belonging to the upper Helderberg epoch, but this was 
 the first appearance of Cherty limestone beds with the 
 hornstone exposed. 
 
 The action of the water had worn away the limestone, 
 leaving the peculiar conglomerate. Inside the knodules 
 we found a liquid pitch, supposedly caused by the sun's 
 heat. 
 
 At five o'clock we drifted into the wide arm of the 
 river at Milford, finding the exact counterpart of Feni- 
 more Cooper's word picture of the Glimmerglass. The 
 minutest shadow was reflected with exactness, and not 
 a ripple broke the surface to the next bend. We 
 pitched our tents near the boat landing, at the base of 
 the cliff, on which is had one of the finest drives in the 
 section. 
 
 Donnelly was bound we should stop over night, 
 promising a fine meal at the Hotel Fauchere. We were 
 in prime condition to discuss a hearty meal, whether 
 
 7 
 
98 Tivo Hundred Miles on the Delazvare River. 
 
 served in Parisian or xA.merican style. The claim of this 
 meal to the former style was based upon the service of 
 hot plates, warm milk and elegant and enmiied dinners. '='• 
 
 The eveninof was cool, and the moonlig-ht revealed 
 from our camp and from the bluff a grand view of fertile 
 plain and winding river, bathed in the soft light. 
 
 The influence of the surroundings manifested itself in 
 many^ ways. Donnelly, who affects tragedy, regaled us 
 with some heavy Shakespearean passages. Carter and 
 Cooper indulged in reminiscences of travel through 
 European countries, and Allen botanized, and theorized 
 on instantaneous photography. 
 
 And the scribe ? Well, the scribe has a bad habit of 
 "thinking and smoking tobacco." That he enjoyed the 
 passage of the evening is evident from his assertion that 
 "the night's camp at Milford was remembered as one of 
 the most pleasant of the trip." 
 
 Note. — If the cruiser expects to follow this kind of living, extras must include a 
 freight canoe as a tender to contain full-dress suits, white flannel outing suits, sashes, 
 patent leathers, silk underwear, freckle and tan lotions, almond meal, brilliantine 
 and a barber. 
 
Cbapter IDUH. 
 
 MILFORD, PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 SAWKILL FALLS. 
 
 COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS BEFORE. 
 
 EEL RACKS. 
 
 IN THE DELAWARE VALLEY. 
 
 WE ASTONISH A NATIVE. 
 
 REST AND REVERY. 
 
 THE FIRST ACCIDENT. 
 
 WALPACK BEND. 
 
 A MOONLIGHT SCENE. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY. 
 
Lo ! dusky masses steal in dubious sight 
 Along the leaguered wall, and bristling bank 
 Of the armed river. — Byj-on. 
 
 HE dampness of Mongaup Falls proved pene- 
 trating. I turned out at 6 o'clock, after 
 a night in wet blankets. Trees, bushes, 
 and the very ground dripped with the cold, 
 clinging fog. Climbing up the mountain 
 side, I had a discourao^ihg- search for fire- 
 wood. Once back in camp, the boys were soon routed 
 out and a fire started. Cooper and I cooked a delicious 
 breakfast of chops, eggs and coffee, and the others — the 
 dudes — went up into town for a hotel breakfast. 
 
 Milford is the county seat of Pike county, and has a 
 population of about 800. It is most charmingly situated 
 on a broad, rolling formation, some two hundred feet 
 above the river, yet at the base of higher mountains 
 further inland. 
 
 We had arranged for the local stage to stop for us at 
 
I0 2 Two Hundred Miles o?i the Delaware River. 
 
 seven o'clock, as we wished to view the Sawkill Falls, 
 about a mile inland, reached by a mountain road. 
 
 Gathering our party, we drove up into the town over 
 hard roads winding through rows of stately maples. 
 We turned into the road leading through the princely 
 domains of Banker Pinchot, who owns, with other lands, 
 the Glen containing Sawkill Falls. The grounds are 
 most generously thrown open to tourists and residents. 
 
 The road and the path to the Falls are marvels of 
 beauty, winding as they do in full view of " Gray Castle," 
 with its commodious lawns, and under fairy bowers of 
 feathery spruce and pine. 
 
 Reaching the forest we tied the team, and with our 
 guide continued afoot, disappearing into the romantic 
 labyrinth. 
 
 Ahead we heard sharp sounds, as of water falling 
 from a great height. A sudden turn in the path brought 
 us face to face with a pretty bit of rugged nature in 
 soHtude. 
 
 And the noise — 
 
 'Tis only the torrent, tumbling o'er, 
 
 In the midst of those glassy walls, 
 Gushing and plunging, and beating the floor 
 
 Of the rocky basin in which it falls. 
 
Some Uts/cm N^ames Duplicated. 
 
 103 
 
 At our feet was a deep and wide chasm lined with 
 jagged black rocks, covered with moisture. Opposite 
 us, and higher still, the mountain stream, like a huge 
 bridal veil, tumbled over a rocky wall to be churned to 
 foam in its journey over the cliff's side. 
 
 Into a deep rock-basin it fell, continuing to the river 
 through a gorge, down which it plunged, a narrow green 
 stream, deep and rock confined. 
 
 We clambered over the slippery, moss-covered bould- 
 ers to the pool, and inspected the "Devil's Kitchen" 
 and the "Winding Canon." 
 
 The sun glistened upon the scene, affording just the 
 light for taking photographs. 
 
 Beyond, the Knob and Pike's Peak loomed up boldly, 
 but our time was limited, and next to Conashaugh 
 Spring we had seen the prettiest spot at all hazards. 
 
 On our way back to camp, we learned that our o-uide 
 had been a raftsman during the piime of lumbering in 
 the regions round about, and from him we became posted 
 on that portion of the river down which we were yet to 
 travel. 
 
 On our arrival at Port Jervis. we had been questioned 
 as to our purpose to run Foul Rift, about a mile below 
 Belvidere, and were warned not to attempt it. 
 
I04 Ttvo Hundred Miles on the Delatvare River. 
 
 Our guide also brought up the subject, and cautioned 
 us to be careful, if we decided to risk it, and to keep the 
 Pennsylvania channel if we could. 
 
 As an exciting incident of his own rafting experience, 
 he told us how, at one time, his raft being overtaken by 
 another, just before entering Wells' Falls, at Lambert- 
 ville, the two were lashed together, side by side, and 
 piloted through safely. 
 
 The width of the channel at Wells' is about ninety-five 
 feet, and that of two rafts ninety feet. To accomplish 
 the undertaking required a steady nerve, coupled with 
 plenty of daring, as one familiar with the place will 
 acknowledge. 
 
 Stopping in town for provisions and tent pegs (which 
 latter we vowed should be iron when we essayed another 
 cruise), we went back to camp and struck tents, not 
 getting under way, however, until after ten o'clock. 
 Our fortunate cruise, thus far, seemed to strike the 
 natives as remarkable. 
 
 A boatman at Milford put the usual cjuestion, and we 
 replied that we had run all the rapids but those at 
 Cochecton. 
 
 In an undertone, we heard him doubt it to a com- 
 panion, saying that he was acquainted with the river 
 
Folding in Sicift Water. 105 
 
 from having- made the trip on a raft, and he knew it 
 could not be done in a canoe. 
 
 We paddled down the pond-like opening until we 
 reached the point below the landing. Here the current 
 shallowed, and babbled over a gravel bar. The channel 
 ran directly down hill to the right, and then wound along- 
 the base of a bluff. 
 
 The foot of the rift proved to be an eel-rack, and we 
 did not notice it until we were nearing the apex of trap, 
 when it was too late to back out of the rush. Cooper 
 and I were ahead, and we passed through safely, finding 
 the opening between two large rocks. Beyond was 
 deep water again. Allen fouled Carter and swamped, 
 jumping out just before going over the side wall. It re- 
 quired some exertion in the swift running current to get 
 the water-logged craft ashore. We had to work waist 
 deep in water, and gradually trend up stream. Reaching 
 shore, the canoe was emptied and then repacked; 
 
 The accident was unfortunate, as it occasioned the 
 loss of several exposed plates, and the spoiling of the 
 camera. 
 
 These fish racks, of which a number were encountered, 
 are built thus: f, by slanting dams of rocks, 
 
 sticks, etc. ; they begin from the shore in a narrow, 
 
io6 Two Hundred Miles on the Delarvare River. 
 
 shallow part of the stream, and runniiiL);; down stream, 
 meet in the center ; at the end of each wing a huge rock 
 is placed, with an iron spike embedded in it. 
 
 To the spikes a fyke-net is fastened, into which the 
 eels are enmeshed as they are carried down by the cur- 
 rent. The nets are set and watched at night, and 
 require to be taken up and emptied every two hours. 
 
 The practice is illegal, and the racks are only built 
 in secluded localities. Besides, they make very danger- 
 ous places for canoes or boats as the rush of water over 
 the dam carries one along at a high rate of speed. 
 Added to this is the danger of being impaled on the 
 spikes, which, at low water, are about even with the 
 surface. 
 
 Usually, one side or the other does not reach the bank, 
 and the canoeist can diverge either way before entering 
 the trap. The lines of foam and spray, sparkling ahead, 
 also help to denote danger. 
 
 Not including these shallows, we ran on this day 
 twelve rifts, including Mary and Sambo (channel to left 
 of island), Ground Hog, Hay Cock and Fiddler's Elbow. 
 
 We were now, strictly speaking, in the Delaware 
 valley. We left the "endless chain of mountains," 
 when we ran down the rift, below Port lervis, and 
 
Before iis f 107 
 
 rounded to at the mouth of the peaceful Neversink, or 
 in the Indian tongue, " Mohaccomac " branch. 
 
 Years ago, before 1675, that branch of the Delaware 
 tribe, known as the Minsimini, or Wolf tribe, roamed at 
 will between these waters and the Forks at Easton. On 
 the plains at these two points notable council fires were 
 held. Here also is the terminus of the Upper Indian 
 Path, reaching from Navesink to Minisink. 
 
 On our rio'ht, back from the river, ran the cliffs, eieht 
 hundred feet in height. The stage road to Water Gap 
 winds at the very base, and the landscape is unsurpassed. 
 The limestone soil is most excellent, and the reg-ion is 
 noted for its agricultural products. 
 
 The early history of the valley we were now traveling, 
 compared with its present state, forcibly calls to mind 
 those lines of Bryant's — 
 
 " Before these fields were shorn and tilled 
 Full to the brim our rivers flowed ; 
 The melody of waters filled 
 The fresh and boundless wood ; 
 And torrents dashed and rivulets played 
 And fountains spouted in the shade." 
 
 We were told not to miss the falls of the Raymonds- 
 kill, and were sorry that our time was too limited to 
 
io8 Tivo Hundred Miles ofi the Delaiuare River. 
 
 enable us to take the wild tramp. Dingman's High 
 Falls and the Silver Thread we also had to forego 
 visiting. 
 
 Our intention at starting was to make Bushkill by 
 evening, and, as it w^as one o'clock when we reached 
 Dingman's Ferry, a stoppage of a couple of hours would 
 throw us far back of our schedule. We were shown the 
 long rift by a vigorous farmer-waterman, who became 
 deeply interested in our craft. 
 
 He w^as very doubtful as to our ability to run the rift, 
 and looked incredulous when w^e told him what we had 
 accomplished. 
 
 "What did you do about ' Lackawax ?' " he queried 
 doubtingly. 
 
 "Ran it," sententiously answered Carter. 
 
 "In a pig's eye you did," he drawled out. 
 
 As we passed, he jumped into an unwieldly, high-sided 
 row-boat, propelled by clumsy oars, having bent handles, 
 working on tholes, and accompanied us to the head of 
 the rift. 
 
 It was only an ordinary shallow stretch, with an 
 eighteen-inch drop over the first ledge. 
 
 As usual, in taking a narrow channel, we w^ent through 
 Indian file, and our friend was pleased as we glided down 
 
Aivay from the City s N'oise and Dirt. 109 
 
 like so many turtles without any mishap. He waved us 
 a good-bye, and shouted a warning about Foul Rift as we 
 passed out of hearing. At the end of the rift, broken 
 stone piers told the tale of a freshet- and a wrecked 
 bridge. 
 
 The country about us, on both sides, we judged to be 
 extremely wild. Large game abounds in the interior, 
 and the river affords good bass fishing. 
 
 During the latter part of the afternoon we paddled 
 through some long stretches of deep and rough water. 
 The day had been perfect, and we felt in excellent 
 spirits. 
 
 In running a succession of rapids I became separated 
 from the rest, just being able to see their paddle blades 
 flash in the sunlight as they approached the edge of 
 some steep rift. Rounding a bend, I lost sight of them 
 entirely, and landed at the foot of a meadow that began 
 some feet above the river. Close by the cliffs, a cosy 
 farm nestled. 
 
 Stretched at ease under the overhanging trees, I spent 
 a very pleasant and restful hour. A soft breeze swept 
 through the valley, and before me, in New Jersey, lay a 
 fine, well-cultivated farm. Barns and buildings were 
 strung along the river-bank, and a long, low country- 
 
I lo Two Hiindred Miles 07i the Delaware River. 
 
 house was visible on the side of a commanding hill, 
 the brow of which was reached by a series of natural 
 terraces. To the left a plowman was busy turning 
 furrows, and in the woods, lower down, the ringing 
 sound of an axe was heard. As I meditated visions of 
 a cold fall and winter, housed crops and marketed pro- 
 duce filled my mind. And then the farmer's season of 
 ease, the daily duties, and the following quiet evenings 
 before open fire-places and huge wood-fires. Not a bad 
 picture, I think I hear you echoing. 
 
 I had waited long, and was beginning to get uneasy 
 about the boys, thinking they might have taken another 
 channel, when I saw a couple of canoes creeping down 
 in the shadow of the fast departing day. 
 
 They proved to be captained by Cooper and Donnelly, 
 who shortly landed near me. 
 
 The boys reported Allen's canoe as having sprung 
 a leak, through a long split, probably received in the 
 morning's accident. Carter had stopped with him to 
 see what they could do with the fracture, and expected 
 to catch up with us as soon as possible, so we dropped 
 paddles and waited near a cooling spring that bubbled 
 from the gravel. 
 
 Cooper, in nosing along shore, had fallen in with a 
 
Anecdotes of Foul Rift. 1 1 1 
 
 fisherman and found in him an interesting talker. He 
 had been a raft pilot at Lackawaxen dam, taking rafts 
 through for twelve shillings each. He also sounded the 
 warning about Foul rift, although he said we could make 
 it if we were careful. 
 
 For himself he said he hated the place, as it was 
 swift and rocky. He almost met with an accident at 
 one time while running the rift, unshipping a sweep in 
 the worst place. Happily he recovered the unwieldly, 
 but essential article, before the raft became unmanatre- 
 able. 
 
 Carter and Allen soon joined us, having succeeded in 
 repairing the broken Werozvance. 
 
 The sun was now directly over the river course, and 
 the last four miles were made with the annoyance of 
 having Sol's rays directly in our eyes. This was bad for 
 us, especially so on a strange part of the river. We had 
 to depend mainly on the current floating us into the right 
 channel. 
 
 We took three rifts thus handicapped, and it was 
 slow work. We also narrowly escaped being swept 
 down on a low hanging ferry guide-wire, which reached 
 across the river at the head of one of the rifts. 
 
 We landed at the fishery, near a dark ravine, the wild 
 
112 Two Hundred A files on the Delaware River. 
 
 mouth of ihe P)ushkill creek. The town lay so far away, 
 that on account of approaching darkness we decided not 
 to visit it, but instead looked about for a camp site. We 
 found ourselves on the arm of the famous Walpack 
 bend, the ferry of the early settlers in this section. To 
 the left was the Walpack Ridge. Close to the right 
 shore arose a member of the Blue mountain range. 
 Above us, the nearest railroad was at Port Jervis, below, 
 at Water Gap. The country we found very thinly 
 inhabited. 
 
 In Pennsylvania the damp wooded mountain-side gave 
 no hope of a camp, so we turned our canoes to New 
 Jersey. 
 
 Now, as in the time of the colonists, we found her 
 ever ready to give shelter to the traveler. On a bluff, 
 about fifteen feet above the water, we found a fine level 
 for pitching our tents, and back and above us, on another 
 slope, was a far-reaching wheat field. The lifting and 
 carrying of duffie from the water's edge to the height 
 was the only objectionable feature. 
 
 It was dark when we finished pitching tents, and we 
 were tired. Camp-fires soon lit up the dark surround- 
 ino-s, and were reflected in the waters beneath. 
 
 Hungry mortals we, ai^ we gathered around the 
 
A Rare Sight. 113 
 
 evening meal, and the appetite each exhibited was an 
 honest one, full of meanine. 
 
 While thus engaged we witnessed a grand sight, 
 which will ever live in our memories. Directly opposite, 
 rising from out the water's dark depths, towered a hem- 
 lock and pine-covered mountain cliff, the leafy eftect in 
 the dusk shading from dark green to black. 
 
 Above the clift 's edu^e, we first noticed a halo of lieht, 
 which grew brighter as the moon ascended. 
 
 Then, clear cut against the dark blue sky, Luna's 
 upper edge appeared, forming an enchanting back- 
 ground for the display of the feathery limbs and leafy 
 tree tops on the brow of the rocky eminence. Slowly 
 it mounted, until the whole display of interlaced tree- 
 forms was marked in bold relief on its brilliant face. 
 As it passed higher into the heavens, the oblique rays 
 of light lit up the hillside and were reflected in the 
 current. 
 
 The scene was sublimely grand, and, musically, the 
 current rippled below us : 
 
 How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank ! 
 Here we will sit and let the sounds of music 
 Creep in our ears : Soft stillness and the night 
 Become the touches of sweet harmony. 
 
114 T7^'0 Htnidred Miles 07i the Delan'are River. 
 
 To add to the romance of the situation, the lon^-drawn 
 cries of owls sounded in the forests, and katy-dids rasped 
 about us. 
 
 The latter signify six weeks from frost, according to 
 the accepted idea, but we imagined that we had slept in 
 it on several occasions. 
 
 The fires burned low, and the boys were resting 
 and sleeping. Looking out on the peaceful scene, as 
 I lay on my cot, warmly banked by blankets, I could 
 not help recalling a little bit of history, that tells how 
 nearly two hundred and fifty years ago nigh this very 
 spot, during an Indian uprising on the frontier of 
 New Jersey, the family of Nicholas Cole was unexpect- 
 edly attacked, and its members murdered or carried 
 off. 
 
 Upon investigation, the massacre was justified by the 
 Indians on the ground that the hanging for murder of 
 one of their Sachems, Wee-que-helah, had been without 
 cause. 
 
 This is only one of many bloody scenes through which 
 our country has passed. The valley of the Delaware, 
 however, was noted for its continued peace during the 
 exciting times of the early settlement of the three states 
 on whose borders we were journeying. That the condi- 
 
Thoughts of William Perm. 1 15 
 
 tion of affairs in this section, as they existed, was due to 
 that truly good Quaker, WilHam Penn, is undeniable, 
 and the esteem in which he was held by the Delaware 
 tribes is proof of the justice of his dealings with them. 
 
Chapter mn. 
 
 AN INDIAN DREAM LEGEND. 
 
 THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 WATER GAP. 
 
 A BIT OF FEMININITY. 
 
 ROCK FORMATIONS. 
 
 FARMING. 
 
 RAMSAYSBURG. 
 
 MUSIC AND ECHOES. 
 
 A HANDY LIQUID. 
 
 SWEET SLEEP. 
 
" Each day is a little life." — Lubbock. 
 
 HE morning was well advanced when we 
 turned out, and, consequently, we had late 
 breakfast. 
 
 The sun was a long time breaking through 
 
 the fog-like mist, which hung clinging to the 
 
 mountains about us. 
 
 At breakfast Carter accused Allen of having made 
 
 some wild statements and gyrations in his sleep, but 
 
 could give no definite reasons for them beyond the fact 
 
 that the dreamer appeared in great trepidation. 
 
 We came to the conclusion that owing to the his- 
 torical associations of the surroundings the tired 
 canoeist had had a vision of the curious Lemipe legend 
 AinaiigachktiatniacJiqne, or Legend of the Big, Frightful 
 Naked Bear. 
 
 This animal, of which even at that time there was a 
 scarcity, had been hunted by the different tribes, and was 
 immense in size and very ferocious. Its skin was bare, 
 
 119 
 
I20 Two Hundred Miles on the De/au'a?r River. 
 
 with the exception of a tuft of wliitc hair on its back. 
 The animal was, also, very fond of Indian meat, and the 
 pursuer frequently became the jHirsued. When the 
 tables were thus turned the native's only safety was in 
 reaching- water. The naked bear's olfactory nerve was 
 well developed, but, as is usually the case with monstros- 
 ities, the acuteness of one part was offset by a corres- 
 ponding dullness of another, in this instance by defective 
 sio^ht. 
 
 Its heart was so small an arrow could not enter it with 
 certainty be the archer ever so skillful. The only sure 
 method was to break the creature's back-bone. This, 
 we conjectured, was the dreamer's object, hence his wild 
 motions. 
 
 The sun's rays streamed directly into camp, drying 
 our effects thoroughly. We gathered and packed duitle 
 on the bluff, and then rolled it down to the canoes where 
 the operation of stowing was performecl. At ten o'clock 
 we crossed the river, seeking the shade of the precipi- 
 tous cliff. The sun heated the narrow channel unmerci- 
 fully. 
 
 I must digress here to warn that any future cruiser, if 
 in looking through these glassy waters to the river bed, 
 he should see numerous white squares, strewn irregularly 
 
A Maze Puzzle. 1 2 1 
 
 over the gravel, and wonder thereat, not to investigate 
 if tempted so to do. No curious glacial formations are 
 they ; no relics of Indian handicraft ; no mirrors of 
 English fur-traders. They are simply camera plates, 
 whose future usefulness had been impaired by damp 
 wetness, the result of the accident below Milford. 
 
 For two and a half miles of our morning journey we 
 did not advance at all, substantially retracing on another 
 arm of the river, the route we had run the night before. 
 After many twists and turns, during which evolutions we 
 were on a down orade, we straightened out and com- 
 menced a tedious experience in rapids running, under a 
 burning sun and arainst a head wind. 
 
 The water was very heavy and deep, with numerous 
 cross currents. 
 
 We remarked some fine scenery above Water Gap. 
 Far ahead of us, in the distance, enveloped in a blue 
 mist, could be seen the bold ranges of the Blue moun- 
 tains, with their peaks and gaps. 
 
 " 'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view, 
 And robes the mountain in its azure hue I" 
 
 Most noticeable were the peaks, Minsi and Tammany, 
 which form the famed water gate through which the river 
 
12 2 Tzvo Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 rushes, from thenceforth to flow throug^h an important 
 farming and grazing district, irrigated by innumerable 
 streams, whose charming, peaceful valleys afford unsur- 
 passed facilities for market gardening. 
 
 We passed a little raft on its way to Water Gap. 
 The owners were having a tedious experience with the 
 head wind and the numerous shoals. 
 
 Reaching the landing at the grove about half-past one 
 o'clock, we hauled canoes out on the sandy shore and 
 went up into town. 
 
 Cooper, who was ahead of us, had gone down the 
 next rift. We expected him to join us in the town. In 
 this we were disappointed, as he staid below taking 
 photographs until we joined him. 
 
 At the Delaware House we had lunch, and then went 
 shopping for provisions ; and thereby hangs a tale. 
 
 From necessity our party had formed no Academe, 
 such as Shakespeare depicts in Love's Labor's Lost. 
 To my knowledge none had been tied by silken bands, 
 or left a love-lorn maid at home. Still a hard cruise 
 amidst many trials, with only male companionshij), 
 gives wonderful acuteness to that longing for women's 
 faces, if the eye is at all susceptible to those daintier 
 charms. 
 
Under the Circumstance. 123 
 
 It is no wonder then, that when we sun-burned river 
 travelers came across a charming bit of womanhood in 
 the confectionery at the foot of the mountain road, we 
 became most deferential and polite. 
 
 The pretty miss' cream-colored dress, loosely gathered 
 in careless folds, enhancing a pair of brown eyes and 
 wavy-like hair, proved an irresistible combination, sug- 
 gestive of Johnson's delicately-turned verse. 
 
 As a compliment, cream was purchased where, in 
 truth, the aromatic pipe would have been preferable. 
 
 After making purchases, we took a walk up the 
 mountain path to the Kittatinny and Mountain Hotels, 
 and stopped at the Glen and Bazaar. 
 
 At the latter place the proprietor was much interested 
 in our trip, and deprecated our running Foul Rift. He 
 told us he was acquainted with young Mr. Leiper, of 
 Philadelphia, who was drowned in the rift last July. 
 
 He said the channel was on the Pennsylvania side, but 
 would not take the responsibility of further instructing us. 
 
 During the morning we remarked the heat, even upon 
 the water when we were running against the wind. In 
 town it was unbearable. We learned that the east was 
 experiencing a hot wave that had been predicted several 
 days previously. 
 
124 Ttvo Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 We joined Carter at the hotel", and tlien returned to 
 the boats. The place at which we stopped was the 
 upper landing, where a side wheel steamer lay. We 
 were informed that during the season she plied back 
 and forth to and above the railroad bridge. Between 
 the upper landing and the Mountain House wharf is a 
 shallow rift. Between this rift and the Gap another 
 steamer carries sightseers. 
 
 The sun was shining bright and strong, but Mount 
 Minsi cast a orateful shadow, which we souo^ht. Mount 
 Tammany (from Tamenend, the noted Delaware chief- 
 tain, who dealt with Penn), bold and rocky, appeared 
 ahead, outlined against a perfectly clear sky. 
 
 Numerous fishing parties and " girling " canoes dotted 
 the placid o'ershadowed waters. The black bass were 
 biting freely. 
 
 As we floated down with the current the solid front of 
 mountain beoan to show irreofular outlines. A few 
 strokes of the paddles and we found our course again 
 close to the base of these lofty, silent sentinel peaks. 
 
 just before entering the rift below the Gap, we noticed 
 on the down stream side of the right-hand cliff, the pro- 
 file of a man's face, plainly marked. To heighten the 
 effect a bush at the chin formed a realistic LToatee. 
 
Soil Formations. 125 
 
 The Blue mountains at this point are known as the 
 Shawangunk in New York and New Jersey, and as the 
 Kittatinnyin Pennsylvania. The elevation at the Water 
 Gap is 1,479 feet above the sea level. 
 
 The geological formations prominently exposed, as 
 we proceeded, were sand and limestone soils, and trap 
 rock. Slate also abounds, and a most successful quarry 
 is located at Water Gap. Further down the river, below^ 
 Easton, granite is quarried in commercial quantities. 
 
 The cultivated and tillable soil every where in this 
 region is formed from decayed rock. The Oriskany 
 sandstone and the magnesian limestone readily disinte- 
 grate, and form rich and productive soils, supplying 
 phosphoric acid and potash in abundance. The climate, 
 rainfall and natural drainage are combinations bound to 
 be appreciated by those seeking profitable farms, and 
 the percentage of recovered arable lands has greatly 
 increased. 
 
 Below Water Gap the country began to spread out, 
 and the river showed many shallow^s. 
 
 We had plenty of excitement as we took one rift after 
 another until sun-down. We passed numerous islands 
 above and below Water Gap, and we kept mostly to the 
 Jersey channel. During low water the best course must 
 
126 Two Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 be selected from the many that present themselves, and 
 one need not expect to get along without grounding. 
 
 Below Portland we entered a winding and swift rift in 
 which Carter was hung up, without any serious mishap, 
 however. 
 
 It was dusk when we found a camp site, at Ramsays- 
 burg, two miles above Manunka Chunk. 
 
 The site selected was at the edge of a commanding 
 bluff, the termination of an extensive Jersey farm. Not 
 far up stream a ferry was established. 
 
 It was indeed a camp much welcomed by all hands. 
 The day had been intolerably hot, and we had battled 
 with a head wind until sundown. Besides making about 
 twenty-five miles, we had had the mountain climb at the 
 Gap, which in itself was hard on muscles unused to the 
 work. 
 
 The NaJihvi was hauled bodily up the bluff and un- 
 packed in camp for convenience, and as a labor-saving 
 expedient. 
 
 As the shades of night were falling our camp was 
 completed, and moonlight beamed upon us as we sat 
 down to a hearty dinner of steak, eggs, potatoes and 
 coffee. 
 
 The nieht was clear and warm, and the moon's soft 
 
Poetry and Com ra dt s/t ip. 127 
 
 light, over the rolling hills and wide expanse of water 
 formed withal a pleasing picture for the memory. 
 
 From afar, on the still night breezes and echoing in 
 the valley, came strains of music o'er the quiet waters. 
 The receding slopes about us caught up the swelling 
 tones, bearing them onward, until the sounds died away 
 in the night like the distant hush of a purling stream. 
 
 'Twas undoubtedly such an incident as this that evoked 
 the following verse from Moore — 
 
 " How sweet the answer Echo makes, 
 To music at night 
 
 When roused by lute or harp, she wakes, 
 And far away o'er lawns and lakes, 
 Goes answering light." 
 
 From our vantage point above the stream we listened 
 to the sounds — sweet recollections of home. 
 
 We built a snug camp-fire for comradeship and enjoyed 
 it until late, for rest and refreshment to mind and body 
 are wonderful stimulants. 
 
 We had two invalids in camp. Cooper nursing a 
 sprained wrist, and Donnelly a bad cold. Jamaica rum 
 was the antidote for both ailments. It was applied ex- 
 ternally as a liniment in the former case, by inhalation in 
 the latter. 
 
128 Tzvo Hundred Miles on the Delatvare River. 
 
 The joke of the evenincr was an incident that hap- 
 pened at Water Gap. The Quartermaster had fallen 
 into the habit of calling Carter, " Dad," and in the 
 course of conversation at the hotel, made use of the 
 appellation in the hearing of a third party, who earnestly 
 inquired if such really was the case. 
 
 We were out of the mountain mists and dews at last, 
 and to-morrow we could look for a clear mornino- much 
 
 o 
 
 earlier than usual. 
 
 To-morrow, too — and it was discussed about the camp- 
 fire — we would know whether we were to continue to 
 Trenton as a party, or break up on the other side of 
 Bior Foul. 
 
 We turned in with assurances of a hearty sleep, pos- 
 sibly, however, to be disturbed with visions of artistically 
 carved canoe bottoms and frantic struggles in a resist- 
 less, rock-strewn tide. 
 
Chapter 1! J. 
 
 A CLEAR MORNING. 
 
 WE FIND A CHANNEL. 
 
 BELVIDERE. 
 
 FOUL RIFT. 
 
 THE SECOND ACCIDENT. 
 
 DROWNING OF A CANOEIST. 
 
 PHILLIPSBURG AND EASTON. 
 
 ABOVE CARPENTERVILLE. 
 
 A COUNTRY HOTEL. 
 
Row, brothers, row ! the stream runs fast. 
 The rapids are near and tlie dayliglit's past ! 
 
 '■'Cdii/u/ian /y'oir/ Soj/i;-,''' Moore. 
 
 IE WERE all out at six o'clock, in time to see 
 the sun rise, a slorht strano-e to us, who had 
 been so long in the misty Highlands. 
 
 For the first time in a week our camp 
 
 equipments were dry. Not a particle of 
 
 dew had fallen. 
 
 As early as eight o'clock canoes were packed, and, 
 
 breakfast over, we pushed away from our night's camp, 
 
 with bright prospects of a pleasant day. 
 
 Below Manunka Chunk we saw some distance ahead 
 a series of islands, and were in doubt as to the proper 
 channel to take. Running ashore, I stopped at a house 
 on the bank to ascertain the lay of the land. In the 
 door-yard I met an elderly lady, of whom I inquired if 
 our party could, with safety, follow the left shore. 
 "No, sir," she answered, with a risinor inflection. 
 
132 Two Utmdred Miles on the Delazvarc River. 
 
 "The channel, then, is on the right?" I interrogated. 
 
 "Yes," she replied as before, but added, hastily, 
 "You can't get down there. The rifts are ahead of 
 you." 
 
 " Thank you," I replied, " That is just what we wanted 
 to know." 
 
 Our informant was right. We found plenty of rifts, 
 and bad ones, too, some nineteen to Raubville, and they 
 were deep, swift and rough. Notably so were Long Rift 
 and Buttermilk Rift, above Belvidere. 
 
 On our way we passed several fishing parties, and 
 each had some particularly horrible phase of Foul Rift to 
 pound into our ears "free, gratis, for nothing." And I 
 believe if we had not firmly intended to pass through at 
 any cost, we would have been scared into avoiding this 
 spot before even seeing it. 
 
 One, a ferryman, wanted to know if the fate of one 
 canoeist was not enoug-h to make us afraid of it, without 
 wanting to take a personal risk. 
 
 Carter, laconically, answered his question by asking 
 another — namely, if he was afraid to go to bed. 
 
 Laughing and catching the point, he said " no," and 
 wished us a safe passage. 
 
 Just above Belvidere our photographer got a pretty 
 
Noticed in History. 133 
 
 picture of the yet distant town with its wild back- 
 ground. 
 
 Another picture taken, an ideal subject for a landscape 
 painting, was a water-wheel, standing alone in a wild 
 and rocky glen back of the river. The buildings had 
 been carried away by flood, and only the wrecked wheel 
 remained. 
 
 We ran in at the mouth of Pequest creek at ten 
 o'clock, and went ashore to send telegrams and letters, 
 and to express a lot of undeveloped plates. 
 
 In the town we heard nothing but Foul Rift, and how 
 dangerous and swift it was. 
 
 Of course we could pardon the natives, as there is 
 considerable rivalry existing between them and the 
 people of Lambertville as to the honor of the worst rift 
 on the river. Wells' Falls being upheld by the Lambert- 
 villians as even the more dangerous of the two places. 
 
 Foul Rift is, without doubt, a bad place to encounter, 
 and always has been. Proude's " History of Pennsyl- 
 vania," published in 1798, calls it by the same name on 
 the map issued with Vol. I. Smith's " History of New 
 Jersey," 1765, says : 
 
 "The Delaware river, from the head of Cushietunk, 
 though not obstructed with falls, has not been improved 
 
134 Tivo Htindrcd Miles on the Dclazcare River. 
 
 to any inland navig-ation, l)y reason of the thinness of 
 the settlements that way. From Cushietunk (Cochecton) 
 to Trenton Falls, are fourteen considerable rifts, yet all 
 passable in th^ long, flat boats used in the navigation of 
 these parts, some carrying 500 or 600 bushels of wheat. 
 The greatest number of rifts are from Easton downward, 
 and those fourteen miles above Easton, another just 
 below Wells' Ferry, and that at Trenton are the worst. 
 The boats seldom come down but with freshes, espe- 
 cially from the Minnisinks." 
 
 The rift fourteen miles above Easton is, undoubtedly, 
 Foul Rift. The boats mentioned were somewhat on th(; 
 style of the Durham boats, forty or fifty feet long and 
 seven feet wide, built of heavy planking, and drawing 
 about twenty inches of water. The up-river ferry scows 
 are built with about these dimensions even to-day. 
 
 In the rift the limestone ledo-es and the scattered lime- 
 stone rocks, with their serrated edges and deep pot holes, 
 over which the current sweeps and churns rapidly and 
 loudly, are constant sources of danger. 
 
 The limestone does not wear smooth by the action of 
 the water, but breaks in jagged layers, leaving sharp 
 angles, and points that cut like knives. 
 
 Pushing away from the raft to which we had tied, we 
 
In tlic Distance. • 135 
 
 floaied down with the stream, each one baring for the 
 fray, arms tanned to the shoulders. 
 
 We had every confidence in our craft, and our duffle 
 was packed without danger of shifting — we had paid 
 marked attention to that with each article stowed, in the 
 early morning. 
 
 We would also see whether the experience gained in 
 rifts above amounted to anything at a pinch. 
 
 At 11:07, ^^'ith Carter in the lead, we entered Little 
 Foul at the edo^e of a bend. At the foot of the incline 
 we straightened out and passed into the eddy above the 
 Big Rift. 
 
 We could hear in the distance the old familiar sound we 
 had oft listened for to desig^nate either a rift or fall, but in 
 this instance it sounded with greater volume than usual. 
 
 " Do you hear it, Hoff ?" asked Carter, as the Nahhui 
 ran alongside. 
 
 "Yes, and see it, too," I answered, for thickly to the 
 left lay sentinel rocks high in air, against which the cur- 
 rent broke in angry spray, covering the shore with per- 
 petual moisture. 
 
 Truly the channel was ''to Pennsylvania," and ex- 
 ceedingly narrow. 
 
 Carter and I were swept onward in safety, and were 
 
136 Ttvo Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 Steering for the last drop over which the current boiled 
 and seethed, when to me it seemed as if his canoe would 
 be carried down on a ragged rock lying fairly in the 
 channel. 
 
 If so, this would throw him across the narrow open-ng, 
 and I would certainly foul him. Pointing my canoe close 
 to a gravel formation, jutting down stream, I was pre- 
 paring to jump, when I saw the Zerliria swing clear, the 
 force of the water against the rock helping her past in 
 safety. 
 
 I headed for the current again, but too late to pass the 
 end of the bar, which was strewn with rocks, and collided 
 with a sharp one, striking on the left forward quarter. 
 The force caused the point of rock to go through the 
 garboard-streak like an axe, and water commenced to 
 leak through the break. So clean was the cut and so 
 great the speed that the canoe was not deflected from 
 her course, nor the jar noticed. 
 
 I took the last drop and landed at 1 1:20 with a great 
 deal of water shipped. 
 
 Allen and Donnelly came through with plenty of water 
 aboard, having struck only at the last ledge. With the 
 exception of being hung uj) on a rock at the entrance, 
 Cooper was all right. 
 
Our Experience. 137 
 
 And so we ran this bHc noir of the Delaware river 
 raftsmen. 
 
 The length of the incline is about a mile and a half. 
 Therefore the rate of the canoe's speed was not so great. 
 The course was rock-strewn and rough, but still no 
 worse than the rift at Masthope, where in places the cur- 
 rent is quicker than here. I remember striking a rock 
 in the Masthope rift, hitting squarely on the keel with 
 such force as to be thrown or slid completely over it. 
 Had the canoe drawn half an inch more water she would 
 have been a wreck. 
 
 Foul Rift is bad for rafts on two accounts, first, the 
 sharp bend in approaching it ; and second, the rocks on 
 the Jersey side. 
 
 For amateur canoeists, starting in at Port Jervis, or at 
 Water Gap, with no previous experience, it is dangerous, 
 and had better be avoided, as had Wells' Falls. For a 
 canoeman fresh from the trying school below Hancock, 
 it should have no terrors. A scow or batteau could not 
 get through when the water is low without striking. 
 On a full river or fresh it could be done easily. In fact, 
 the people exagsi'erate its dangers from hearsay. In 
 most cases, where the natives have to depend on their 
 own knowledge for the name, location, or channel, 
 
138 Tjvo Hundred Miles on the Delaivare River. 
 
 unless they be fishermen, or follow rafting, the informa- 
 tion is not of much assistance. 
 
 A very sad accident happened here on the tenth of 
 July, during the present year, when Samuel Leiper, a 
 young Philadelphia canoeist, and press correspondent, 
 was drowned. He, in company with three others, started 
 from Water Gap, bound on a cruise in search of health 
 and recreation. The four canoeists traveled in two 
 canvas canoes, and went all right until they attempted 
 Foul Rift, where they capsized. All were rescued but 
 Mr. Leiper, who attempted to swim ashore. He was 
 swept clown on a rock and killed. 
 
 Two of the party, Messrs. Williams and Johnson, hatl 
 made the trip from Port Jervis the year before, having 
 stopped at Park Island, on that occasion, and were con- 
 fident of repeating it successfully. 
 
 The real danger lay not in the river, so much as in the 
 men traveling two in a boat, which should not be done 
 under any circumstances. In this instance, not onl\- did 
 this disadvantage exist, but the two men were amateurs, 
 and one was lame. Everything was therefore against 
 the feat being accomplished safely. 
 
 This is one of the rare instances of the drowning of 
 a canoeist, and while very deplorable, was almost to be 
 
/;/ Mcmoriani. 139 
 
 expected, unless the parties bore charmed Hves. Trust- 
 ing to kick does not carry one through everything. 
 
 While repairing the broken NaJiiwi, we had a conver 
 sation with a fisherman named Dickey, who said he had 
 been watching for us every day, as he had been told by 
 his brother that we were on our way down. 
 
 He told us he had seen almost every canoeing party 
 that had run the falls, and mentioned several with whom 
 we were familiar. He slyly remarked that usually some 
 of the boats were hauled up for repairs before pro- 
 ceeding. 
 
 Further down, on the Pennsylvania bank, lay the 
 Wanderer, one of the canoes abandoned by the Phila- 
 delphia cruisers. Over her floated a couple of American 
 flaofs. 
 
 Nearby we met Samuel Snyder, of Easton, who, with 
 Mr. Dickey, was instrumental in recovering the body of 
 the drowned canoeist, and in rescuing the other mem- 
 bers of the ill-fated party. 
 
 We landed on a sand bank at the foot of the rift, 
 hardby a pretty grove of larches, while Cooper photo- 
 graphed the surroundings, and also a point of the lime- 
 stone formation half way down the rift. 
 
 After resting we continued our trip, running Cape 
 
140 Tzvo ffiaidrcd Miles on the Delaivare River. 
 
 Bush, Bush, Little Bush, Martin's, and Smalley rifts, 
 getting plenty of vigorous exercise. The twists in the 
 channels were constant revelations, and although w^e 
 started in a rift on the Jersey shore, it were wonderful if 
 we had not been to the Pennsylvania shore and back 
 again in traversing its length. 
 
 At Brainerd's we sought shelter from the heat of the 
 sun, in a grove above the railroad bridge. Our rest was 
 made doubly restful by the unexpected arrival of a 
 pitcher of milk and some large home-made ginger cakes, 
 obtained at a nearby farm-house. 
 
 An hour later we reached Phillipsburg and Easton, 
 twin cities on the heights, after meeting with some 
 rough falls above, especially at Sandt's Eddy. Here we 
 stopped awhile to rest, as we had plenty of time to make 
 Raubville before nightfall. 
 
 Phillipsburg in New Jersey and Easton in Pennsyl- 
 vania are representative cities of the two states. The 
 former is conspicuous for its extensive blast furnaces 
 and manufactories, and the traffic incident to its being 
 the terminus of the Morris canal, and the central ship- 
 ping and transfer point for coal and iron products, 
 through the medium of the Lehigh Valley and the Bclvi- 
 dere Division Railroads. 
 
A Favored Country. 141 
 
 " I'Vom tlie hundred chimneys of the village, 
 Like the afreet in the Arabian story, smoky columns 
 Tower aloft in the air of amber." 
 
 Easton, with Lafayette College, its canal and railroad 
 facilities and rich agricultural districts, ranks with the 
 representative cities of the state. 
 
 Habit is strong with us. At noon, October loth, 
 1887, I left Phillipsburg for a cruise down to Trenton. 
 On that occasion I paddled under the railroad bridge, 
 close to the rioht bank, there not beings sufficient water 
 over the dam. To-day, as we continued, I took the 
 same course. Carter, Allen, Cooper and Donnelly went 
 throucrh the shute. 
 
 The water below was rough and deep, as it flowed 
 through a cut formed by a high bank on the right, and 
 the railroad embankment on the left. Here a number 
 of lads, in swimming, gave chase to our canoes, their 
 lithe bodies cutting the water quickly, in their efforts to 
 distance the paddle. 
 
 The waning afternoon was pleasant, affording a grate- 
 ful change from the heat in which we had been paddling. 
 We had ample time to make camp, and were in no 
 particular hurry, floating downward, scarcely a breeze 
 ruffling the water. 
 
142 Two Hundred Miles 07i the Delaware River. 
 
 Above Carpenterville the inland country ahead, termi- 
 nating in the far distance in a series of elevations and 
 depressions, formed a companion to the exquisite picture 
 which we beheld at the junction of the Neversink, and 
 about Port Jervis. The water from now on we noticed 
 was not as clear as above Easton, beinof foul with coal 
 and sewage. It takes seven miles for a stream to purify 
 itself, and not until it gets below Raubville is the water 
 clean ao-ain. 
 
 The river was quite wide, and we were on the crest of 
 an incline that ended in a noisy rush, caused by a dam 
 that extended half way to the Pennsylvania shore. 
 
 We were in a quandary regarding a camping spot, so 
 Donnelly went ashore to ascertain about hotels. A 
 couple of our party had wet blankets and did not care 
 to make camp, as the night was likely to prove cool. 
 
 Whilst waiting for the Quartermaster, we stopped in 
 an eddy back of some exposed rocks in mid-stream. In 
 the water the inverted shadows of surrounding objects 
 appeared as clear cut as the original outlines against the 
 perfect sky. 
 
 Presently our attention was attracted, by the angry 
 barking of dogs, to the bank on which our courier had 
 landed. We at once beheld Donnelly backing down a 
 
Items of Interest. 143 
 
 crooked pathway with a stick in either hand, keeping- at 
 bay a pack of mongrel curs. Jumping into his canoe he 
 pushed off hastily, leaving some disappointed canines 
 howling for fresh meat. 
 
 We learned that at this season there were no hotel 
 accommodations to be had at Carpenterville, but that 
 across the river, at Raubville, we could stop at the Dela- 
 ware House, As it was fast falling night, we decided to 
 stop for supper and breakfast, and to make an early start 
 in the mornino-- 
 
 We completed a thirty-three mile paddle by running 
 in the dusk the dam and rift before mentioned, and haul- 
 ing the boats up in front of "ye hostelrie." 
 
 Saturday night at a country hotel is not without its 
 interesting features. The week's work over, the farmers 
 from the country-side gather to discuss crops, horses and 
 politics. On this occasion the latter subject received a 
 stimulant in the shape of the high sheriff, who had 
 stopped on his way home from Doylestown, the county 
 seat of Bucks county. 
 
 It was late at night before the ferry to the Jersey shore 
 ceased from business. But we had sought our welcome 
 rest in "tired Nature's sweet restorer — balmy Sleep!" 
 
Cbaptcr J, 
 
 TRICKS OF A CAMERA. 
 
 SOME PLACES OF INTEREST, 
 
 RINGING ROCKS. 
 
 RELIGIOUS SECTS. 
 
 FRENCHTOWN. 
 
 GOD'S COUNTRY. 
 
 AT ERWINNA. 
 
 LAMBERTVILLE. 
 
 FALLS TO TIDE-WATER. 
 
 WELCOMED HOME. 
 
 WASHINGTON'S CROSSING. 
 
 LOCAL HISTORY. 
 
 THE MOON ONCE MORE. 
 
 EXEUNT. 
 
The sun is down and lime gone by 
 
 The stars are twinkHng in the sky, 
 
 Nor torch nor taper longer may 
 
 Eke out a blylhe but stinted day ; 
 
 The hours have passed with stealthy flight 
 
 We needs must part ; good night, good night ! 
 
 — Joantia Baillic, 
 
 E HAD an early breakfast served, and made 
 the start at eight o'clock. Cooper photo- 
 graphed our last camp on the cruise, and it 
 was fun to see the stable boy and man of all 
 work pose with broom and rake. Their 
 attitudes may have been perfect and un- 
 strained, but they will never be any the wiser, for they 
 were "not in it." A camera is a "wery deceivin' 
 creetur," it may be looking squarely at you and yet 
 won't see you at all. 
 
 Forty-four miles to Trenton. Would we make it 
 to-day? Cooper said "yes," and Donnelly, "no." 
 We waited to see. 
 
 147 
 
148 Tzvo Hundred Miles on the Delazvare River. 
 
 The sky was slightly clouded, and the country on 
 this Sunday morning- seemed so (|uiet and entirely differ- 
 ent from that of a week a(ro, when we floated throutrh 
 rifts and down placid pools, enjoying the scenery as it 
 lay spread out before us. 
 
 This day we encountered innumerable rifts and long 
 stretches of shallows. During the morning we left 
 behind us Pincher's Point, a bass fishing locality, 
 Warren, Upper Black's Eddy, where the deep waters 
 are continually bubbling and eddying for a considerable 
 distance ; Brougher's, or Hog-Back Island, yielding cob- 
 blestone on the upper and sand on the lower end ; 
 Reielesville, with its curious rift and rocks and the dam ; 
 Durham Furnace, a portion of the extensive Cooper & 
 Hewitt iron plant, and then Milford. Across the river, 
 at the latter place, runs the canal, and near the road is a 
 canal-boat yard, with powerful cribs or jacks for bending 
 the heavy bow timbers. 
 
 Up on the mountains of Pennsylvania a curious 
 phenomenon exists, known as the Ringing Rocks, a 
 collection of metallic boulders that emit ringing and 
 even musical combinations of sounds upon being struck. 
 Wonderful to relate, there is not a tradition as to how 
 they came there. They present to the eye an aggre- 
 
Delatvarc Valley Districts. 149 
 
 gation a couple of acres in extent, in the midst of the 
 cultivated mountain plateau. 
 
 Further inland the religious sects, known as Dunkards, 
 Moravians and Mennonites, have their social colonies, 
 and each is well known in the large towns adjacent. 
 
 At twelve o'clock we reached Frenchtown and stopped 
 for dinner, and it was after one o'clock when we resumed 
 paddling. Our way lay through a comparatively flat 
 country, famed for its crops of corn, wheat, rye and 
 potatoes. But not until you reach Trenton do you 
 strike the real low country. 
 
 The districts bordering on the Delaware fall into three 
 classes, the Highlands, from Hancock to Port Jervis ; 
 the Delaware valleys, of which there are several from 
 Port Jervis to Trenton, and the lowlands from Trenton 
 to Delaware Bay. 
 
 Each district has its peculiar value. The timber lands 
 belonging to the first district are very important indeed, 
 the scarcity of lumber and the destruction of forests 
 being vigorously discussed in economic journals. The 
 agricultural districts of the second are the life and stay 
 of our manufacturing towns. And the cranberry, char- 
 coal, vineyard and peach sections of the third are all 
 well known and important. 
 
150 Two Hundred Miles 07i the Delaware River. 
 
 A noticeable fact concerning the section through 
 which we were traveHng was that the river villages of 
 any importance center about some milling industry, the 
 motive power for which was obtained by the construction 
 of temporary dams, race-ways or canal weirs. These 
 prosperous hamlets were mostly noticed on the New 
 York and New Jersey shores, where some inland stream 
 was utilized, or where dams running to the center of the 
 Delaware had been constructed. 
 
 On the Pennsylvania shore we failed to see these 
 dams, and only saw two or three mills. The reason for 
 this is the lack of legislation in the big state legalizing 
 the construction of dams. This is very short-sighted 
 policy, as a few low dams, with long race-ways, placed 
 in the river to control the power for manufacturing pur- 
 poses, would in a few years, with its present start and 
 possibilities, make the Delaware valley the rival of the 
 far-famed Merrimac, Passaic and Ohio valleys. 
 
 We shot through Bull's Island (Raven Rock) dam, 
 and down tlie rapids at three o'clock, passing Point 
 Pleasant. At the latter place, during an August freshet, 
 a store and dwelling were swept from their founda- 
 tions, bringing up in pieces at Penn's Manor, below 
 Trenton. 
 
Rem in iscences. 151 
 
 Before reaching this place, we had a tedious experi- 
 ence among the islands and shoals between Erwinna and 
 Tumble, where it was necessary to get out and wade for 
 some distance. Those of our party who passed to the 
 right of the island found deeper water. The channel on 
 the Jersey side is close to the island. 
 
 Above Lambertville we passed Eagle and Hendricks 
 Islands, with their grassy camping spots, and Carter 
 regaled us with camp experiences from 1883 to within a 
 few years of the present time. The channel at these 
 places will be found on the left-hand side. 
 
 We reached Lambertville, sixteen miles above Trenton, 
 at five o'clock, and it was a question for debate whether 
 we should camp on one of the many pleasing slopes, or 
 continue homeward. 
 
 The question, however, was decided for us in a most 
 delightful manner. On going under the bridge, we saw 
 ahead of us a crowd of Park Island canoeists at the 
 canal lock, waiting to welcome, feed, and escort home 
 five proud but tired cruisers. Hand-shakines, coneratu- 
 lations, and good-cheer infused new strength, and, of 
 course, we decided to go on with the boys. 
 
 It was fast falling dusk, and after Wells' Falls come 
 the Bucktails, Titusville rift, Scudder's Falls, and Park 
 
152 Tzvo Hii7id7'ed Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 Island rift, so, as all the other craft were in the canal, 
 we decided to carry thither. 
 
 Wells' Falls is caused by the present dam. It is a bad 
 place at low water, on account of the rocks below the 
 opening forming- a treacherous foamer. 
 
 Scudder's Falls have a narrow shute through the dam, 
 and is only a drop and a rough race. 
 
 The other places mentioned are only ordinary rifts, 
 and traveling down the left side of the river will take 
 you through them all. Trenton Falls has the channel 
 right in the center, all the way through. It is winding, 
 however, and the first part takes you close to a long 
 ofravel bar on the left-hand side. 
 
 Many hands make light work, and the carry was soon 
 completed. Chatting and rehearsing incidents, wonders 
 and escapes of the trip, and breaking bread with our 
 escorts, in some twenty canoes, we invaded the quiet 
 vale and left much wonderment in our wake. 
 
 It was growing dark when we carried to the river and 
 floated down past Washington's Crossing. 
 
 Back in a grassy hollow nestled the old-fashioned, 
 shinorle-covered house, of hewn timbers and curved 
 gables, that sheltered General Washington and his aides 
 on that memorable Christmas eve, 1776, when the Con- 
 
/;/ Mcii/on'aiii. 153 
 
 tinental army crossed tlie river, amid the floating ice, and 
 landed on New Jersey soil. Their march to Trenton by 
 the Pennington road and the capture of the Hessian 
 troops are incidents that have been vividly recalled by 
 recent historical celebrations. 
 
 The house, erected about ten years prior to the revo- 
 lution, is a fitting picture of "ye olden colonial tymmes," 
 and bears the scars of many winters. Inside, over the 
 open fire-place, the wooden mantle shows curious poker 
 tracings, and a deep hole in the wall tells the tale of 
 pistol practice at short range, spotting the ace. 
 
 Across in Pennsylvania, at the end of the gravel bar, 
 where the old ferry road used to run, is the point from 
 which the crossing was made. The ferry, known as Mc- 
 Kenty's ferry, connected with the road on the Jersey 
 shore, which then ran to the river at a point near where 
 the old house stands. 
 
 The Pennsylvania road ended above the present toll 
 bridge, about in front of Dr. Griffith's residence. Later 
 a toll bridge was erected lower down, and the roads on 
 both sides extended to connect with it. Thus traces of 
 the ferry were destroyed. 
 
 To mark the original spot, the Bucks County Historical 
 Society contemplated erecting a fifteen-dollar monument. 
 
154 Two Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 but so much fun was made of the amount appropriated 
 that nothing further has been done, at this writing, tlian 
 to haul stones for the foundation, which stones still lay 
 piled near the spot. 
 
 When the first toll-bridge was built a Quaker painter 
 executed two paintings of Washington and his favorite 
 steed, nailinof one at each end of the bridore. 
 
 When the bridge was destroyed by a freshet, years 
 ago, one picture was taken possession of by Landlord 
 Jamieson, of Taylorsville, and the other fell into the 
 hands of the proprietor of the Washington's Crossing 
 hotel. The former was presented to the Historical 
 Society of Pennsylvania, while the latter adorns the bar 
 of the hostelrie on the Jersey side. There are many 
 other incidents connected with the surroundings, the 
 relation of which with more detail has been reserved for 
 another part of this book. 
 
 As we journeyed on our old friend the moon came 
 up full and grand from the peaceful hillside, making for 
 us a bright pathway as we drifted down to Park Island, 
 the home of the Trenton canoeists. 
 
 Here some of the party stopped at the Club 
 house, and others went on, bound for "Home, Sweet 
 Home !" 
 
A Fitting Se7itiment. lee 
 
 And so ended a charming vacation cruise, whose 
 associations we shall ever recall with pleasure. 
 
 And, replete with Nature's varied phases and intlu- 
 ences as was the time we passed, as we mused one and 
 all rei'choed with Shakespeare : 
 
 " And this our life, exempt from public haunt, 
 Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks. 
 Sermons in stones, and good in everytliintr. 
 
 Z\iz BnD— ©ooD IRigbt. 
 
appcnMy I!, 
 
1Rcinai1^0, 
 
 OME time ago, while engaged in collaborating 
 an historical sketch for a local paper, the 
 author necessarily engaged in an extended 
 research of acknowledged authorities, includ- 
 ing such local treatises as Smith's "History 
 of New Jersey," 1765; Proude's "History of 
 Pennsylvania," 1798; "New York Gazeteer," Tuttle's 
 "Physical Man," and, through the courtesy of the State 
 Librarian of New Jersey, Col. Morris Hamilton, Brin- 
 ton's "Aboriginal American Literature," Vol. V., ("The 
 Lenape and their Legends"). 
 
 The reading, outside of the matter in hand at that 
 time, proved very interesting, especially to one living in 
 so historical a spot as is the vicinage of Trenton. 
 
 The settlement of the country, the Indians of the 
 earlier periods, the acquisition of their lands, and other 
 numerous details of our own unique history are such, 
 that, once read, they are never entirely forgotten. It is 
 
 159 
 
1 6o T'iVO Htcndrcd Miles on the Delarvare River. 
 
 no wonder then that in foHowino- up the incidents narrated 
 in this vokune, the author was forcibly impressed with 
 the fact that the subject in hand from its local connec- 
 tions would warrant the introduction of a great many 
 interesting passages pertaining to the early settlement. 
 It was then suggested that the digression necessary 
 would, at times, inconvenience the reader desiring to use 
 the work as a book of reference — its main excuse for 
 appearing. 
 
 To overcome this, and still give the pith of the his- 
 torical happenings in sec[uence, the following concise 
 presentation of "A Little Bit of History" was decided 
 upon. 
 
 It is sincerely hoped that the perusal will give pleasure 
 as well as instruction, inasmuch as the tendency of this 
 busy age is to overlook those important incidents to 
 which we, as a progressive nation, are so much indebted. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 Trenton, N. J., December 1st, 1892. 
 
a Xittle Bit of MQtov^. 
 
mM 
 
 H Xittlc Bit of Ibietor^. 
 
 HE territory comprised by the Middle Atlantic 
 States has always been intimately associated 
 with the early history of our country. 
 
 The discovery of the Bahama Islands by 
 Columbus in October, 1492 ; the landing of 
 Vespucci in the Caribbees, and his further 
 discoveries in the year 1501, through which this continent 
 obtained its present name, though of vital importance in 
 opening the way to the knowledge of a vast countr}^ 
 hitherto unknown to the people of the Old World, did 
 not receive such recognition from the powers benefitted 
 by these possessions as one would suppose. Still it was 
 through the proclamations of these discoveries that 
 Henry the Seventh, of England, was induced to charge 
 an expedition for the discovery of lands in higher lati- 
 tudes. 
 
 This expedition was under Sebastian Cabot, a Venetian 
 explorer, who, in the year 1497, discovered and made a 
 
164 Two Hundred Miles on the Dclazvare River. 
 
 map of the country bordering on the ocean from Green- 
 land to Florida. Possession was taken in the name of 
 the crown of England, and the land, being waste and 
 uncultivated, was, under the existing laws of nations, 
 annexed and claimed by the English. 
 
 The English did not remain long in ignorance of the 
 value of these new acquisitions. In the year 1584, a 
 company of merchants, with Sir Walter Raleigh at the 
 head, obtained a charter from Queen Elizabeth, of Eng- 
 land, for making a settlement in America of "Virginia 
 Territory," the habitable domain of the British possession 
 as marked out by Cabot. 
 
 In rapid succession, history points to the discovery of 
 Delaware bay and river, Hudson river, Chesapeake bay 
 and Susquehanna river. 
 
 It was by the settlement of the lands along these rivers 
 that the true character of the country was learned, and 
 it is to the territory along the first of these streams that 
 we will turn our attention. 
 
 To the Dutch East India Company belongs the honor 
 of the discovery, in the year 1606, of South river. 
 
 Through their agent, Henry Hudson, an Englishman, 
 this stream and the North (or Hudson) river were dis- 
 covered and explored, with the result that the country 
 
A Little Bit of History. 165 
 
 was settled in the name of the Dutch, and called New 
 Netherlands. News of this settlement reaching England 
 the territory was claimed by the original proprietors, who 
 compelled the Dutch to surrender their titles and lands. 
 
 By this reversion of rights we now have New York, 
 in honor of James, Duke of York, and New Jersey, 
 named by Sir George Carteret, whose family came from 
 the Isle of Jersey. 
 
 The grants for these lands were conveyed to the pro- 
 prietors in the year 1664, by King Charles the Second. 
 It was not until 1681 that letters patent were granted 
 William Penn, covering' that tract of land Ivino- "north 
 of Maryland ; bounded on the east by Delaware river ; 
 and on the west limited as Maryland and northward as 
 far as plantable," from which letters we have the State 
 of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Regarding the present name of Delaware, by which 
 the historic stream and sheltering bay is known, history 
 chronicles the fact that the South river, of the Dutch, 
 was named as a compliment to the memory of Lord 
 Delaware, who died at sea while voyaging to the Virginia 
 Colony in the year 161 8. The river, to Trenton and 
 above, was called Charles river at first, while from Easton 
 the Dutch bestowed upon it the name Viskill. By slow 
 
1 66 Tivo Hundred Miles on the Dela^vare River. 
 
 Stages the stream from its scorce became known as the 
 Delaware river. 
 
 So much for Enghsh history. 
 
 The very fact of a recital of the conditions governing 
 the early settlement of the states mentioned, presupposes 
 a consideration of previous Indian history. Possibly 
 the latter possesses for all of us the most interesting 
 features, enwrapped as it is, even at this day, in mystery. 
 
 To the question, "Who were the original discoverers 
 of the new continent?" we must undoubtedly answer 
 "The North American Indians, as they were known to 
 the Old World." Previous to that, as the Spaniard 
 queries — " Qiiien Sabe ?'' 
 
 The landing of Columbus was made in the presence 
 of a strange people, whose language and mode of life 
 was regarded with wonder by the Spaniards, who called 
 them Indians, from the West Indies, the name given to 
 all the first Spanish possessions in i\merica, in contra- 
 distinction to " East Indies." 
 
 Vespucci in the Caribbces and Ca1)ot at New P\)und- 
 land encountered bands of natives each peculiar to the 
 several sections of country discovered. 
 
 The Spaniards found the natives very simple, of a low 
 
A Little Bit of History. 167 
 
 order — possessing little intelligence, a crude language, 
 and much superstition. They lived, too, in the most 
 primitive manner. At all events, the statements of the 
 discoverers and explorers upon their return home convey 
 these opinions. 
 
 That they were grossly wrong in many respects is well 
 known at the present day. The enlightenment of the 
 early Indian tribes of this continent — their history, beliefs 
 and traditions — only became partly known as late as the 
 eighteenth century, and to-day the tangled skein is as 
 yet unraveled. 
 
 The Indian opinion of the early Spanish and English 
 people, who drove them from their land, we well know, 
 for the hostile attitude of our western tribes to-day is an 
 evidence that the injustice and imposition begun centuries 
 ago still rankles. Weakened and surrounded though 
 they are, they are living examples of the well-worn say- 
 inof — ''An Indian never forp"ets." 
 
 " They linger yet, 
 Avengers of their native land." 
 
 The time is not far off when the effects of whiskey, 
 and the white man's avarice and vices, can be pointed at 
 as having wiped a nation from the face of its rightful 
 possession. 
 
1 68 T'lVO Hundred Miles on the Delaivare River. 
 
 A detailed comparison of the inhabitants of the Old 
 and New Worlds of the fifteenth century would prove of 
 great interest from a scientific, physical and geographical 
 standpoint. In the first place, the arts, science and 
 literature of the European provinces had been slowly 
 progressing for centuries under the most favorable con- 
 ditions. In the New America, for how long? The 
 answer is even to-day a conjecture. 
 
 Whence came the North American nomadic popu- 
 lation ? is a hard question to answer, to such an extent 
 do different authorities conflict. 
 
 Thousands of people inhabited the continent when the 
 Spaniards came. They had been living, migrating and 
 accumulating knowledge long enough to have perfected 
 the arts as far as they were needed for actual use. Their 
 historical recollections, legends or traditions, like those 
 of the Romans of old, were retained in chants and 
 ceremonies, which were handed down from parent to 
 children. Their literature was complete and concise, 
 though to what extent we have no means of knowing, 
 other than those afforded by incomplete records and long 
 established oral rites. 
 
 The Spaniards claimed that the Indians knew nothing 
 of their orii^nn or ancestors, simply pointing to the sky 
 
'A Little Bit of History. 169 
 
 when questioned regarding the former, and to the south 
 as the abode of the latter. That the history of their 
 forefathers was better understood by themselves than 
 was claimed, is shown from the facts contained in the 
 Indian records of late years, which consistently state that 
 their ancestors came from the North and W^est. That 
 they came from the North is proven by the fact that 
 they were no strangers to cold — defying the coldest and 
 bitterest weather. That they came from the West is 
 known from their statement when driven from the colo- 
 nies by the action of the whites — "They would return to 
 the lands from whence they came." 
 
 Historians pretty generally agree that the country dis- 
 covered by Columbus had been settled in the extreme 
 North and West, 2,000 years B. C. The most plausible 
 theory of such settlement is that wandering Aryan tribes 
 from the Asiatic realm reached the main land by cross- 
 ing Behring Straits on the Aleutian Isles, which in the 
 early stages of history may have provided a continuous 
 communication by land. 
 
 The sub-tribes in America, through migrations and 
 otherwise, no doubt founded the nations as they are 
 known to us to-day, viz., Eskimos, Aztecs, Incas, and 
 lastly, the American Indians. And it is in connection 
 
170 Tzvo Htindrcd Miles on the Delaivare River. 
 
 with this latter tribe that we consider the settlement of 
 the Delaware valley. 
 
 Discoveries had been made and possession taken right 
 and left by foreign powers, with total disregard to the 
 rights of the tribes occupying the new territory, but it 
 was not until the year 1627 that history began to deal 
 with the original owners of the continent — the Indians. 
 In this year, nine years after the discovery of South 
 river, the first recognition of the rights of the aboriginal 
 settlers was when the Swedes purchased from them the 
 country lying on both sides of the Delaware from Cape 
 Henlopen (Paradise Point) to the falls now known as 
 Trenton Falls. The river they called " New Swedes- 
 land stream." 
 
 Following the precedent established, further acquisi- 
 tions of land embracing New Jersey, New York and 
 Pennsylvania were made by purchase from the confed- 
 eration known as the Five Nations. 
 
 It was on account of the equitable and just purchase 
 from the rightful owners, even after the proprietary 
 grants from the owners, that the Slate of Pennsylvania, 
 through William Penn enjoyed the immunity from that 
 Indian distrust which was so marked in those other 
 sections seized and usurped by the early settlers. 
 
A Little Bit of I/istojy. 1 7 1 
 
 " On just and fairest terms the land is gain'd ; 
 No force of arms has any right obtain" d. 
 'Tis here, without the use of arms, akme, 
 The blest inhabitant enjoys his own : 
 Here many, to their wish, in peace enjoy 
 Their happy lots ; and nothing doth annoy. 
 But sad New England's different conduct show'd 
 What dire effects from injured Indians flow'd." 
 
 The Indian history relating to the territory embraced 
 in the three states aforesaid, enables us to gain an 
 insight into the conditions of the country and its inhabit- 
 ants before the usurpation and final total possession by 
 the whites. It is to the early English writers and mis- 
 sionaries that we are indebted for the preservation of the 
 little now known of the Indians of America, their tradi- 
 tions and literature. Our own historians have perfected 
 by all means possible such records of the savage era as 
 have been left them. But the rapid extinction, caused 
 by disease and forced migration from the first colonial 
 possessions, has left an incompleteness of detail and 
 ground-work for study the want of which has mainly 
 been supplied by that most indefinite of all processes — 
 theory. 
 
 Historical traditions from the most authentic sources 
 establish the theory that the whole country contained scat- 
 
172 T7V0 Hundred Miles on the Delaware River. 
 
 tered tribes of savages, each tribe being known as a 
 nation with a head chief, king, or sachem. The legends 
 of these different nations, interesting and quaint as they 
 certainly are, disagree emphatically with each other in 
 vital points. We can thus see the doubt and perplexity 
 attendant upon the correct presentations of such records. 
 That the tribes and confederacies had been at war with 
 one another for an indefinite period, is well known by 
 our own writers, from the chronicles of our own times. 
 But that their war-like proclivities were aggravated by 
 the whites cannot be disputed. 
 
 The territory inhabited and controlled by these tribes 
 and alliances stretched from the Atlantic coast to the 
 Rocky mountains ; from the lakes to Georgia ; even to 
 the country north of New Foundland. To treat of the 
 Indians, in connection with this work, brings us directly 
 into contact with that tribe of the Five Nations, calling 
 themselves the Grandfathers of Nation — the Lenni 
 Lenape — the original Delaware Indians of present his- 
 tory. This nation claimed the totem symbolic of the 
 legendary tortoise that supported the tribe on its back 
 and saved it at the time of the Hood. This legend, it 
 will be noted, corresponds with the Brahmin legend of 
 former times. 
 
A Litfic Bit of History. i 73 
 
 The whole Delaware valley was peopled by the Lenape 
 and their sub-tribes, and the country from the Susque- 
 hanna to the sea was claimed by them. William Penn, 
 in letters forwarded to England, describes them a very 
 peaceable nation, and they were in no wise involved in 
 the early Colonial wars. Penn also treatly directly with 
 the Unami and Un-alachtigo sub-tribes for the land in 
 the first Indian deed dated in the year 1682. The bal- 
 ance of the lands was acquired from the Minsi and 
 Iroquois tribes, who held undisputed possession of a 
 large tract. 
 
 The Unami territory also extended to the mouth of 
 the North river, and it was by this means that an off- 
 shoot of the tribe, the Mahicanni, settled on the Upper 
 Hudson, taking the same totems, the wolf, the turtle 
 and the turkey. Through some reason they became 
 absorbed in the New England tribes, and lost to a great 
 degree their original tongue. 
 
 The Lenape name for the strip of land lying between 
 the Delaware river and the Atlantic ocean was Sha-akbee, 
 meaning "long land between water." So, also, they 
 called the river Lenape Wihittuck (the stream of the 
 Lenape). The name, however, applied only from the 
 ocean to the Forks at Easton. At this point we find the 
 
174 Ttvo Hundred Miles on the Delaicare River. 
 
 original East and West Branches, the former known as 
 the Lecha, now the Lehiofh river. From Easton to Har- 
 denburg Patent, in New York State, the Indian name 
 was Namce Sipu, or Seepu, (Fish river). The Dutch 
 called it Viskill. As the river became better known 
 through boating and rafting the present name was ap- 
 plied to it from the junction of the Mohawk and Popacton 
 branches, below Hancock, New York, to the Delaware 
 river. The former takes its name from the tribe of the 
 Lenape Confederacy. 
 
 The Lenni Lenape sub-tribes and their location were 
 as follows : The Minsi, or Mountain tribe, with the wolf 
 as the totemic animal, inhabited the country above the 
 Forks of the Delaware. They had two council fires, 
 one at Water Gap and the other on Minisink plains. 
 Their lands extended from the Hudson to and beyond 
 the Susquehanna. The Unami — from the Indian Naheu, 
 meaning down stream — or Turtle tribe, trace their wig- 
 wams from the Lehigh valley to the falls at Trenion. 
 The Unalachtigo, or Turkey tribe, designating " the 
 people who live near the ocean," occupied the land from 
 Philadelphia to Wilmington. The low lands about 
 Trenton were settled upon by the Assanhicans, "The 
 Stone-implement People," a small sub tribe, whose lands 
 
A Little Bit of History. 175 
 
 also extended along the upper Indian path to New 
 York bay. 
 
 The legends, traditions and literature of this nation 
 have been well preserved through their prominence in 
 connection with the English proprietaries. The Lenape 
 were well versed in the art of pottery-making, copper- 
 smelting and paint-mixing, and relics of their handicraft 
 are constantly found by scientists in the Delaware valley. 
 At Park Island, the retreat of the Trenton canoeists, 
 several fine specimens of arrowheads, stone hatchets 
 and pottery have been unearthed. 
 
 A few members of this once powerful and important 
 tribe still exists among the Indians of the far West. 
 
 Francis Parkman, in his book "The Oregon Trail," has 
 the following to say: "This tribe, the Delawares, once 
 the peaceful allies of William Penn, the tributaries of 
 the conquering Iroquois, are now (1847) the most 
 adventurous and dreaded warriors upon the prairies. 
 They make war upon remote tribes, the very names of 
 which were unknown to their fathers in the ancient seats 
 in Pennsylvania, and they push these new quarrels with 
 true Indian rancor, sending out their war parties as far 
 as the Rocky mountains, and into the Mexican terri- 
 tories. But the Delawares dwindle every year, from 
 
176 Tzvo Hundred Miles 07i the Delazvare River. 
 
 the number of men lost in their war-Hke expeditions." 
 
 One thing- is certain their disappearance from the land 
 of their council fires was remarkably complete. As 
 early as the year 1700 their deterioration commenced, 
 and the last remnant migrated to Ohio in the year 1800. 
 Fifty years later their bands were scattered over the 
 plains beyond the Platte. 
 
 To the white man's war-like teachings and the scourges 
 of the day — whiskey and small-pox — can be traced their 
 overthrow. In view of what they once were, their 
 friendliness and readiness to part peaceably with valuable 
 grants, they deserved a better fate. 
 For, as Milton says — 
 
 " Thus was this place 
 A happy rural seat of various views." 
 
Hppcubiy nil. 
 
H)t6tanccs on tbc IDclaware, 
 
 These distances are in the main correct — 
 
 Hancock to Stockport vStation, ...... 41^ miles. 
 
 Stockport to Lordville, ...... 53^ " 
 
 Lordville to Long Eddy, ...... 6^ " 
 
 Long Eddy to Callicoon, ...... i " 
 
 Callicoon to Cochecton, . . . . . • 5/4^ " 
 
 Cochecton to Narrowsburg, ...... 8)4 " 
 
 Narrowsburg to Masthope, . . . . . • 5/4 " 
 
 Masthope to Westcolang Park, . . . . . 3 " 
 
 Westcolang Park to Lackawaxen, ..... 2^ " 
 
 Lackawaxen to Shohola, ...... 4 " 
 
 Shohola to Pond Eddy, . . . . . . . 8 " 
 
 Pond Eddy to Port Jervis, . .... 10^ " 
 
 Port Jervis to New Jersey State Line, ..... 2^ " 
 
 Total 68^ miles (direct line measurements), passing 
 Equmink, Little Equmink, below Stockport and Lord- 
 ville ; Hankins, below Long Eddy ; Parker's Glen, below 
 Shoholo ; and Matamoras, opposite Port Jervis. 
 
 New Jersey State Line to Milford, Pennsylvania, 
 
 Milford to Montague, ...... 
 
 Montague to Dingman's Ferry, ..... 
 
 Dingman's to Bevans, or Peter's Valley, .... 
 
 179 
 
 5X 
 
 inii 
 
 les. 
 
 H 
 
 
 ' 
 
 6^ 
 
 ' 
 
 ' 
 
 i^ 
 
 
 ' 
 
1 80 Tivo IJundrcd Miles on the Delmvarc River. 
 
 Bevans to Walpack Center, . . . . . .3 miles. 
 
 Walpack Center to Bushkill, ..... 6 " 
 
 Lenfjth of Walpack Bend, . . . . . . zj^ " 
 
 Bushkill ti) Millbrook (travelin<; thn)u.L;li Walpack B.end), . . 3 " 
 
 Miilbrook to Calno, . . . . . . . I>^ " 
 
 Calno to Brotzmansville, ...... 6 " 
 
 Brot/.mansville to Mouth of Cherry Creek (Water Gap), . . I/^ '* 
 
 Cherry Creek to Portland, ...... SX " 
 
 Portland to Delaware Station, . . . . . . i /^ " 
 
 Delaware Station to Ramsaysburg, . . . . . ij^ " 
 
 Ramsaysburg to Manunka Chunk, . . . . . I " 
 
 Manunka Chunk to Belvidere (Pequest Creek), . . . 3^ " 
 
 Belvidere to Martin's Creek, . . . . . . 6 " 
 
 Martin's Creek to Brainard's, . . . . . 1)4 " 
 
 Brainard's to Phillipsburg, . . . . . • 5 " 
 
 Philllpsburg to Carpenterville (Raubville), .... 4^ *' 
 
 Carpenterville to Reigelsville, ...... 2){ " 
 
 Reigelsville to Durham Furnace, ..... 2'^ " 
 
 Durham Furnace to Milford, New Jersey, .... S/i " 
 
 Milford to Frenchtown, ...... 3 " 
 
 Frenchtown to Erwinna, . . . . . • l/^ " 
 
 Erwinna to Tumble, . . . . . . I^ " 
 
 Tumble to Lumberville (Raven Rock), .... S/{ " 
 
 Lumberville to Lambertville (Cat Hill), .... SH " 
 
 Lambertville to Moore's, . . . . . • 5 " 
 
 Moore's to Washington's Crossing, ..... 3 " 
 
 Washington's Crossing to Yardley, . . . . . 4 " 
 
 N'ardlcy to Trenton, ...... 4 " 
 
 Total distance from New Jersey State line to Trenton, 
 in a straight line, iogj4 miles. 
 
University of 
 Connecticut 
 
 Libraries 
 
 1 
 
 Free Public Library of Worcester. 
 
 Circulating Department. 
 
 BookNcMCcR i 
 
 BOOK DUE 
 
 ^^^nya 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 flW C 1«K. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
'^ii