he possession of vast meadows of salt marsh and interminable patches
of cabbages. From this delectable vision he was all at once awakened by
the sudden turning of the tide, which would soon have hurried him from
this land of promise, had not the discreet navigator given the signal to
steer for shore, where they accordingly landed hard by the rocky heights
of Bellevue--that happy retreat where our jolly aldermen eat for the
good of the city and fatten the turtle that are sacrificed on civic
solemnities.

[Illustration: HERE THEY REFRESHED THEMSELVES]

Here, seated on the green sward, by the side of a small stream that ran
sparkling among the grass, they refreshed themselves after the toils of
the seas by feasting lustily on the ample stores which they had provided
for this perilous voyage.

By this time the jolly Phoebus, like some wanton urchin sporting on
the side of a green hill, began to roll down the declivity of the
heavens; and now, the tide having once more turned in their favor, the
Pavonians again committed themselves to its discretion, and, coasting
along the western shores, were borne toward the straits of Blackwell's
Island.

And here the capricious wanderings of the current occasioned not a
little marvel and perplexity to these illustrious mariners. Now would
they be caught by the wanton eddies, and, sweeping around a jutting
point, would wind deep into some romantic little cave, that indented the
fair island of Manna-hata; now were they hurried narrowly by the very
basis of impending rocks, mantled with the flaunting grape-vine and
crowned with groves which threw a broad shade on the waves beneath; and
anon they were borne away into the mid-channel and wafted along with a
rapidity that very much discomposed the sage Van Kortlandt, who as he
saw the land swiftly receding on either side, began exceedingly to doubt
that terra firma was giving them the slip.

Wherever the voyagers turned their eyes a new creation seemed to bloom
around. No signs of human thrift appeared to check the delicious
wildness of Nature, who here reveled in all her luxuriant variety. Those
hills, now bristled, like the fretful porcupine, with rows of poplars
(vain upstart plants! minions of wealth and fashion!), were then adorned
with the vigorous natives of the soil--the hardy oak, the generous
chestnut, the graceful elm--while here and there the tulip tree reared
its majestic head, the giant of the forest. Where now are seen the