to the massacre of the Indians in
Jersey and the following Indian war which brought the Dutch almost to
the last extremity.

[Sidenote: _HASTINGS._]

Hastings, the first town beyond Yonkers, covers the old Post Estate.
In early times the inhabitants seem to have developed a rather
unenviable reputation as sports, cock fights and horse racing being
mentioned as the principal amusements. Here, in 1776, a troop of
Sheldon's Horse ambuscaded a body of Hessians, only one of whom
escaped. Peter Post, who appears to have helped lead the enemy to
destruction, was later caught by them and beaten, being left for dead.

As the traveler enters Hastings he passes the former residence of Dr.
Henry Draper. The old observatory, built in 1870, still stands, though
damaged by a recent fire. Here Dr. Draper made the first photographs
ever taken of the moon. The name of Draper should be revered by every
amateur photographer. The father of Henry, Dr. John William, was a
friend of Daguerre, and it is said that in this building was developed
the first portrait negative. The dwelling is beautifully situated on
the high river bluff and affords a wonderful view up and down the
watery highway.

Close on the road stands an old forge or smithy where Washington's
officers were in the habit of having their horses shod when in the
neighborhood. The place also boasts a "Washington Spring," but its
chiefest natural glory is a great walnut tree which tradition says
was, away back in the Indian days, a Council Tree of the
Weckquaskecks. In one of the Draper cottages once lived Admiral
Farragut, whose wife used the first prize money he received to
purchase some needed article for the local church. There are few
places that hold so many and varied interests for the pilgrim as the
old Draper homestead, and none whose hostess could be more gracious to
the stranger.

[Sidenote: _DOBBS FERRY._]

The road winds along the sides of the hills, sometimes fifty,
sometimes one hundred and fifty feet above the water, and many are the
beautiful vistas through the trees and across the well-kept lawns. By
this time the solid wall of the Palisades is beginning to break and
the outline of the Jersey hills becomes more varied. But we are just
now interested nearer home, for as one approaches Dobbs Ferry he steps
on almost holy ground. Here is the Livingston house, where, after the
fighting was all over, Washington and Governor Clinton met the British
commander, Gen