Instead of observing the rules which obtain among civilized nations, after the Americans had laid down their arms the British mercilessly slaughtered many of their helpless prisoners. A monument, erected in 1817, marks the site of this shameful tragedy. Eastward from Paoli the road traverses one of the fairest sections in the world, resembling the richest agricultural regions of England, where the soil is in the highest possible state of cultivation and the farm houses are models of architectural elegance, with a gradual increase in the beauties of the prosperous landscape until the train pursues its way through Fairmount Park and into the great metropolis of Philadelphia. Northward from Philadelphia our artist traveled, through Bethlehem to the Delaware Water Gap, where the Delaware River forges its way through the Blue Mountains, the point of passage being narrowed by walls from 1,200 to 1,600 feet high, which seem to clasp the sturdy stream in colossal arms, of half affection and half restraint. This tremendous gorge formerly bore the Indian name of Minnisink, signifying “Whence the waters are gone,” which is thus explained by a local geologist: “Here a vast lake once probably extended; and whether the great body of water wore its way through the mountain by a fall like Niagara, or burst through a gorge, it is certain that the Minnisink country bears the mark of aqueous action in its diluvial soil, and in its rounded hills, built of pebbles and bowlders.” The gap proper is about two miles long, when the mountains recede on both sides, as if at one time some terrific disturbance had thrown up a giant ridge in the path of the river. It is apparent also that centuries ago the passage, though hardly more than one hundred yards wide now, was very much narrower, and the name given to it by the Indians was no doubt suggested by this cleft through which the pent-up waters must have dashed with terrific force and roar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: NATURAL BRIDGE OF VIRGINIA.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: LITTLE NECK OF THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER, PENNSYLVANIA.—The Susquehanna River takes its rise in the northern part of Pennsylvania and flows southward into Chesapeake Bay. Its entire course passes through a richly diversified and splendid scenic region, equaling in many respects the scenery along the Rhine River in Germany, and lacking only the castles and the ancient historic associations to make it as popular with tourists as its less poetically named sister of the Fatherland. ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------