h the general features of the two rivers are not
dissimilar, there is no one portion of the Rhine which can be compared
to the Hudson at West Point. It was what you may imagine the Rhine to
have been in the days of Caesar, when the lofty mountains through which
it sweeps were not bared and naked as they now are, but clothed with
forests, and rich in all the variety and beauty of undisturbed nature.

There is a sweet little spot not far from the college, where a tomb has
been erected in honour of Kosciuscko--it is called Kosciuscko's Garden.
I often sat there and talked over the events of the War of Independence.
Many anecdotes were narrated to me, some of them very original. I will
mention one or two which have not escaped my memory.

One of the officers who most distinguished himself in the struggle was a
General Starke; and the following is the speech he is reported to have
made to his men previous to an engagement:--

"Now, my men,--you see them ere Belgians; every man of them bought by
the king of England at 17s. 6d. a-head, and I've a notion he'd paid too
dear for them. Now, my men, we either beats them this day, or Molly
Starke's a widow, by G---d." He did beat them, and in his despatch to
head-quarters he wrote--"We've had a dreadful hot day of it, General;
and I've lost my horse, saddle and bridle and all."

In those times, losing a _saddle_ and _bridle_ was as bad as losing a
horse.

At the same affair, the captain commanding the outposts was very lame,
and he thought proper thus to address his men:--

"Now, my lads, you see we're only an outpost, and we are not expected to
beat the whole army in face of us. The duty of an outpost, when the
enemy comes on, is to go in, _tree_ing it, and keeping ourselves not
exposed. Now, you have my orders; and as I am a _little lame_, I'll go
in first, and mind you do your duty and come in after me."

I passed several days at this beautiful spot, which is much visited by
the Americans. Some future day, when America shall have become wealthy,
and New York the abode of affluence and ease, what taste may not be
lavished on the banks of this noble river! and what a lovely retreat
will be West Point, if permitted to remain in all its present wildness
and grandeur!

I re-embarked at midnight in the steam-boat descending from Albany, and
which is fitted out as a night boat. When I descended into the cabin,
it presented a whimsical sight: two rows of bed-places on eac