On the opposite shore is the mouth of a pretty stream called the Mooda, but which in earlier times was known as Murderer’s Creek, on account of the slaughter by a band of lurking savages of eight soldiers who were sent with buckets to fetch water for the camp near-by. A little way below is Milton’s Ferry, a spot famous as the place of residence of a patriot blacksmith who made the great chain that stretched across the river at old Fort Montgomery, to prevent the passage of British ships. For this service he was taken captive shortly after and kept in close confinement on an English ship until his death. Newburgh is also only a few miles away, smiling benignly from terraced banks upon the river below; and conspicuous among its old houses is one in which Washington had his headquarters in 1780, and which is changed but little in appearance since he occupied it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: BREAK-NECK HILL, ON THE HUDSON RIVER, NEW YORK.—Break-Neck Hill is on the east side of the Hudson, north of West Point, and is a continuation of the Highlands. It is 1220 feet high, and one of the most commanding features of the splendid scenery of this region. Its rock-ribbed and serrated sides present a scene of imposing grandeur as they are observed from the decks of passing steamers; and in the summer season, when the sloping sides, from the water’s edge to the summit, are clothed in emerald green, with the gray rocks peeping out here and there, disclosing shaded nooks and sylvan glades where the birds sing and the squirrels play and frolic, the scene is inspiring enough to arouse the enthusiasm of a stoic. ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: TROPHY GARDEN, WEST POINT.] It is below West Point that the principal places of scenic and historic interest occur, and these crowd rapidly upon one another until Yonkers is reached. At the base of Sugar-Loaf Mountain is a bluffy projection upon which Fort Independence, of Revolutionary times, was built, and near-by is Buttermilk Falls, that runs down a succession of sharp ledges one hundred feet. Anthony’s Nose is on the right, rising to a height of nine hundred feet, and overlooking beautiful Ionia Island, that seems to swim upon the glassy surface of the river, like the halcyon isle of fable; but on close approach its three hundred acres are found to be covered with vineyards and its shaded margins the favorite gathering- place of merry picnickers.