As we neared the Battery, we were afforded a passing glance up the East and North Rivers,--the great waters which give wealth to Manhattan, and jealously clip her beauty about, in equal participation. The _coup d'oeil_ thus taken is very imposing, and at once awakens the stranger to a sense of the commercial importance of the _entrepot_ whose walls he perceives shaded by such a forest of lofty masts. NEW YORK. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE CITY. On landing at the Battery, our first visit was to an office of the customs here; and, instead of the dogged, sulky, bribe-demanding scowl, too commonly encountered from our own low-class officials, who seem to consider the custom-house as a means rather of annoyance to the lieges than a protection to trade, we were met by civility, respect, and prompt despatch. The luggage we had brought with us on shore was not subjected to the least examination, and we went on our way highly pleased. First impressions give their colour to succeeding matters; and surely those derived from my encounter with the officials of a service at best annoying, were much in favour of the land. On entering the quiet Bowling Green, where many of the houses have coloured fronts, and all gaily painted jalousies, with trees shadowing the _stoups_, I was reminded of Cape Town: but the impression was momentary; a few yards on, and the long line of Broadway, with its crowded side walks, showy shops, and numerous hotels, at once transports you back to Europe; and, were it not for the sprinkling of black faces with which the mass is chequered, one might swear oneself in Paris on some portion of the Boulevards not altogether familiar to the eye, but offering most of the points needful to prove identity, from the monkey and hurdy-gurdy of the Savoyard, the _blouse_ of the carman and _Conducteur_, to the swagger of the citizen-soldier, and the mincing step and "_tournure charmante_" of the _belles_. The fronts of the _cafes_ and hotels, too, as you pass along, you perceive to be covered by chairs occupied by similar loungers to those on the Boulevards. Such were my impressions whilst moving on a hot day from the Battery to the City Hotel, and so give I them place here; since I have often, after a long residence in a place, found myself referring back to these first glimpses, when desirous to present it at once fresh and comprehensive to the eye of the stranger, and for such these sketches are chiefly designed. A BIVOUAC. The day after my arrival, I was both interested and amused by accidentally falling on the bivouac of a Swiss family of emigrants.