To the north rise the mnjestic Highlands, on the west the race and towering Dunderbarrack. To the south the waters of the Peekskill bay resemble a vast lake bounded by the mountains of Rockland and Stony and Verplanck's Points, while on the east appears the village of Peekskill and the Cortlandt hills. The proximity of this place to the city, and the unequalled facilities of communication by steamboat, renders this

"^ Supplement to H. Gaines' Military Gazette, Feb. 9, 1778, No. 1372,

92 HISTORY OF THE

hotel one of the most desirable residences in summer for families or individuals to be found on the banks of the Hudson. In the rear of the hotel are situated the remains of Fort Independence, whose history is so inseparably interwoven with the stirring events of the Revolution. A small portion of its embankments and trenches are yet to be discerned. The whole is shaded by a luxuriant grove of native pines. The solitude of this delightful spot is occasionally disturbed by the moaning of the wind amid the trees,

And hark ! as it comes sighing through the grove, The exhausted gale a spirit there awakes, That wild and melancholy music makes.

Circuitous paths lead to the landing, while the table land to the east is heavily bordered with the ash, maple, cedar and towering oak.

The hotel is under the management of Mr. Y. Truesdale.

Hudson, the discoverer of the North River, appears to have been much struck with the first sight of this high and mountainous region.