1 July 1833 – 7 July 1833

Major —— and Mr. —— came over from West Point: they were going to prove some cannon that had not yet been fired; and some time passed in the various preparations for so doing. At length, we were summoned down to the water-side, to see the success of the experiment. The cannon lay obliquely one behind the other, at intervals of about six yards, along the curve line of the little bay; their muzzles pointed to the high gravelly bank into which they fired. The guns were double-loaded, with very heavy charges; and as soon as we were safely placed, so as to see and hear, they were fired. The sound was glorious: the first heavy peal, and then echo after echo, as they rimbombavano among the answering hills, who growled aloud at the stern voice waking their still and noonday's deep repose. I pushed out in the boat, from shore, to see the thick curtain of smoke as it rolled its silver, and brassy, and black volumes over the woody mountain-sides; parting in jagged rents as it rose; through which the vivid green, and blessed sky, smiled in their peaceful loneliness. They ended in discharging all the cannon at once; which made a most glorious row, and kept the mountains grumbling with its echoes for some minutes after the discharge. All the pieces were sound; which was highly satisfactory, as upon each one that flaws in the firing Mr. —— loses the cost of the piece. Just as the smoke cleared off from the river, we saw the boat making to shore; and, presently, Mr. ——, his wife and children, and a young Mr. ——, landed. After introductions, and one or two questions, Mrs. —— went up to her cottage to put things in order there; Mr. —— betook himself to Froissart and the shade; Mr. —— to his business; and D——, my father, Mr. —— and myself, set forth to the fountain in the glen. The weather was intensely hot; the thermometer above ninety in the shade; it was about half-past twelve; and we toiled and gasped on like so many Indians up the steep path. The walk had been so laborious, that neither D—— nor my father were willing, at first, to admit that the object was a sufficient one. We sat for some time by the dark shady pool; and they, by degrees, recovered their breath and complacency, and began to perceive how beautiful the place really was. My father said the waterfall looked like a fine lace veil torn by the rocks; which pleased me, because it did look like that. Mr. —— proposed an admirable plan, that of walking down the water's side, and taking a boat upon the Hudson; and so avoiding the long hot walk home. We called at the highland school; where the worthy man who keeps it received us with infinite civility, put us into a delicious cool room, and gave us some white hermitage and water to drink, which did us all manner of good. We then descended to the river: after some delay and difficulty, got a boat and rowed home. * * * * * * * * * * LINES. Here be the free gifts of the morning for thee; Dog-roses, with their thorns all strung with pearls, And a large round diamond in each rosy cup: Their leaves are the colour of Aurora's cheeks. Here is a pale white flower, without a name, At least to me, who am a stranger here: It has a delicate almond smell, and grew Among thick boughs, and leaves that guarded it. Poor thing! I took it from its shelter for thee. Here be some lilac heads of clover, sweet As the breath of love: they lay amongst the hay In a new-mown meadow, glittering in the sun. Here are the leaves of the wild vine, that shine Like glass without, and underneath are white And soft as a swan's breast. There is an oak branch; I gather'd it, because it grows at home, And in this strange land look'd as sad and loving As a friend's face: when it is wither'd, keep it. They are all heavy with the tears of the night, Who weeps, because she may not meet the sun; And when he comes down from the mountain tops, Parting the forests with his hands of fire, He drinks her weeping, kissing all the flowers With passionate love, which makes them look so blushing.

Packed up my bag, took a cup of tea, went and gathered some flowers, and gave the poor lamb some heads of clover; bade a very unwilling farewell to the pretty place, and rowed over to West Point, where Mr. —— was waiting for us. We breakfasted at ten, and went down to meet the boat. Young Mr. —— came over to see us off, and brought me some lovely fresh flowers. Mr. —— and Mr. —— were both at the embarking-post. When the boat came up, the rush to and from it was, without exception, the most frightful thing I ever saw. The ——s were landing; and I just spoke to her, as she was borne past by the throng. Safely on board, I again found myself surrounded by familiar faces: I took out my work, and Mr. —— sat down by us. As a nuisance, which all unsought-for companionship is, he is quite the most endurable possible; for he has seen such things, and known such people, that it is greatly worth while to listen to him. Every thing he says of Byron and Shelley confirms my own impression of them. The scenery of the Hudson, immediately beyond West Point, loses much of its sublimity, though no beauty. The river widens, and the rugged summits of the highlands melt gradually into a softer and more undulating outline. The richness, and swelling, and falling of the land reminded me occasionally of England. The yellow grain was giving diversity and warmth to the green landscape; and the shadowy woods fencing the corn-fields threw over the whole picture a sheltering peaceful charm. On the left, we presently began to see the blue outline of the Catskill mountains, towering into the hot sky, and looking most blessedly cool and dark amid the fervid glowing of the noonday world. Mrs. —— came on board at one of the stopping places. I was quite glad to see her sweet face, and hear her gentle voice again. Mr. —— was greatly smitten with her calm look of repose, and lulling speech, and took to her vehemently. She told me long stories, like fairy tales, of caverns lately discovered in the bosom of these mountains; of pits black and fathomless; of subterranean lakes in gloomy chambers of the earth; and tumbling waters, which fall down in the dark, where men heard, but none had dared to go. How I should like to go there! Oh, who will lead me into the secret parts of the earth; who will guide me to the deep hiding-places where spirits are—where the air of this upper world is not breathed, and its sounds are unknown—where the light of the sun is unseen, and the voice of human creatures unheard? how I should like to go there! At about half-past three in the afternoon, the sky became suddenly and thickly overcast: the awning which sheltered the upper deck was withdrawn, and every preparation made for a storm. The pale angry-looking clouds lay heaped like chalk upon a leaden sky; and presently one red lightning dipped down into the woods like a fiery snake falling from the heavens. At the same time, a furious gust of wind and torrent of rain rushed down the mountain side. We scuttled down to the lower deck as fast as ever we could; but the storm met us at the bottom of the stairs, and in an instant I was drenched. Chairs, tables, every thing was overturned by the gust; and the boat was running with water in every direction. It thundered and lightened a little; but the noise of the engine was such, that we scarce heard the storm. I stood by the door of the furnace, and dried leisurely, talking the while to Mr. ——, who is sun-burnt enough to warm one through with a look. During our progress, one of the wheels (or paddles, as they are properly called) took it into its head to knock its case to pieces, and banged the boards about in a strange way. Accident the second:—one of the men, a black, who was employed in tending the fire, got so dreadfully heated with the intense furnace, that he rushed out of the engine-room, and swallowed two or three draughts of cold water. The effect was instantaneous: he fell down in violent internal spasms, and died, poor wretch! before we arrived at Albany. We reached that town at about half-past five in the afternoon, and went to a house the ——s recommended to us. At about seven, they gave us dinner; and immediately after I came up to my own room. I was so exhausted with fatigue, and a violent cold and cough, that I literally fell down on the floor, and slept till dark. As we came up the river, we passed Dr. ——'s place, Hyde Park, which has the reputation of being the best-kept private estate in America: the situation of the house, on the edge of a ridge, appeared to me, from the river, rather too much exposed.

My father had settled to go to the Cohoes Falls. * * * * * * * * * * When we were in the steam-boat, going up to Troy, —— put a letter into my hands, which he told me was written by the mother of Allegra, Byron's child. The letter was remarkable only for more straightforwardness and conciseness than is usual in women's letters. I do not know whether —— gave it me to read on that account alone, or because it contained allusions to wild and interesting adventures of his own: perhaps there was a mingling of motives. There never was, by the by, a homogeneous motive, as Brewster would say, in the human breast. We reached Troy in about twenty minutes, and walked up into the town to procure some species of vehicle for our progress to the falls. There was none ready; and while one was being procured, a man, who was standing near us, very civilly invited us to come into his shop and sit down, which we did very readily. The situation of the warehouses, on the side near the river, of the main street of Troy, is exceedingly pretty. They are, for the most part, large long rooms, opening to the street at the one end, and on the other looking down, from a considerable height, upon the Hudson. The shop we were in was a china-store; and the nice cold crockery-ware made one cool to look at it: the weather was roasting. Mr. —— left us to gather information, and kindly brought me back word that the population of Troy was five hundred, or five thousand, I really forget which; and, for my journal, it don't much matter; and that the storekeeper assured him the Trojans were an exceedingly refined and literary set of folks; and that the society, in point of these two advantages, was no whit behind Boston: there's for Boston!—We obtained a coach, and crossed a ferry, such as I had never seen before, worked by horses. Poor wretches! they reminded me of ——'s steeds, Martyre et Souffrance. Mr. —— observed that they led the life of the majority; and so they do,—labour and suffering that custom renders endurable, and that ends by grinding down every faculty of mind or soul: we're a blessed pack of drudges, and deserve to be just what we are. After crossing the ferry, we drove about five miles through some gentle smiling lands, that made one feel very charitable. The Cohoes is, I believe, a Dutch name for a hill just above a turn in the Mohawk, where, after some shallow, rapid, hasty running over a rocky bed, the river flings itself down over a broad barrier, between thirty and forty feet high, with the most delightful gushing sound in the world. The foam looked very nice, and soft, and thick, and cold: I longed to be in the middle of it. * * * * * * * * * * After wandering about for some time, we sat ourselves down on a high grassy knoll just above the falls. * * * * * We returned in time, as we flattered ourselves, to meet the steam-boat which leaves Troy for Albany at four; but, just as we were crossing the ferry, the steamer ran past us, leaving us, with eyes and mouths wide open, very much bothered as to how we were to get down to Albany. D—— proposed a row-boat, and the sense of the company seemed to agree thereto; but, upon driving to the inn where we hired our carriage, and enquiring for such a conveyance, we were assured that there was no such thing to be had: whereupon my father, good easy man! believed there was not, and got into the coach again. Mr. ——, however, had absconded, and remained gone so long, that I began to think he had, perhaps, started to swim down the river; when he presently appeared, informing us that he had gotten a boat for us. We jumped readily out of the coach; and, though my father had actually made a bargain for the hire of it, to convey us to Albany, with the innkeeper, and, moreover, given him the money, the righteous man refunded the dollars; which, Falstaff knows, is a displeasing thing to do: "I hate that paying back!" Our row back was delightful: the evening was calm and lovely beyond description; the sun had lost his fierceness, and the warm air clasped the fresh woods tenderly; the waters were unbroken as a mirror; the very spirit of love and peace possessed the world: the effect of all which was to send me into a very sound sleep. * * * * * * * * * * We reached Albany in very good time for dinner. Mr. —— dined with us: what a savage he is, in some respects! He's a curious being: a description of him would puzzle any one who had never seen him. A man with the proportions of a giant for strength and agility; taller, straighter, and broader than most men; yet with the most listless indolent carelessness of gait, and an uncertain wandering way of dropping his feet to the ground, as if he didn't know where he was going, and didn't much wish to go any where. His face is as dark as a Moor's; with a wild strange look about the eyes and forehead, and a mark like a scar upon his cheek: his whole appearance giving one an idea of toil, hardship, peril, and wild adventure. The expression of his mouth is remarkably mild and sweet, and his voice is extremely low and gentle. His hands are as brown as a labourer's: he never profanes them with gloves, but wears two strange magical-looking rings: one of them, which he showed me, is made of elephant's hair. * * * * * * * * * * Occasionally, in his horror of one class of prejudices, he embraces the opposite ones: perhaps the extreme of any evil, in this world of imperfect means, can only be effectually resisted by its reverse extreme.