Catskill, now so written, primarily Dutch _Kat's Kil,_ presumably from _Káterákts,_ or "Kil of the Katarakts," has come down from a very early date in _Katskil._ On Van der Donck's map of 1656 it is written _Kats Kill,_ but he never wrote Kil with two l's. Older than Van der Donck's map it evidently was from the frequent reference to the "Kats Kil Indians" in Fort Orange records. Its origin is, of course, uncertain. Reasonably and presumably it was a colloquial form of Katerakts Kil--reasonably, because the falls on that stream would have naturally attracted the attention of the early Dutch navigators, as they have attracted the attention of many thousands of modern travelers. It was the absence of an authoritative explanation that led Judge Benson to inflict upon the innocent streams which now bear them the distinguishing names of _Kat's_ and _Kauter's,_ and to relate that as catamounts were probably very abundant in the mountains there and were naturally of the male and female species, the former called by the Dutch _Kauter,_ or "He cat," and the latter _Kat,_ "She cat," the streams were called by those names. His hypothesis is absurd, but is firmly believed by most of modern residents, who do not hesitate to write _Kauter,_ "He cat," on their cards and on their steamboats, although it is no older than Judge Benson's application. He might have found a better basis for his conjecture in the fact that in 1650, on the north side of the Kat's Kil reigned in royal majesty, _Nipapoa,_ a squaw sachem, while on the other side _Machak-nimano,_ "The great man of his people," held sway; that, as they painted on their cabins a rude figure of a wolf, their totemic emblem, easily mistaken for a catamount, the name of "He cat" was given to one stream, and "She cat" to the other. Katarakts Kil, as it is met of record--now Judge Benson's Kauter Kil--is formed by the outlets of two small lakes lying west of the well-known Mountain House. A little below the lakes the united streams leap over a ledge and fall 175 feet to a shelf of rock, and a few rod's below fall 85 feet to a ravine from which they find their way to the Kat's Kil. Beautiful are the falls and appropriate is the ancient name "The Kil of the Kataracts." Compare it, please, with Judge Benson's "He cat kil."