At Riverdale Station, on the Hudson liiver Railroad (the first station beyond the Spuyten Duyvel), a splendid view is had of the Hudson, with the villiis clustered along the eastern bank and the Palisades showing their perpendicular fronts against the swelling outlines of the Ramapo Range. The city of Yonkers is seen in the distance, and near at hand are the convent of Mount St. Vincent and the castlelike mansion (belonging to the convent) which was formerly the property of Edwin P'orrest, the tragedian.
The scenery in the immediate iieighborhood is made up of undulating hills, sloping gently to the river's range, with innumerable mansions and cottages embowered in trees. The settlement of Kiverdale is unique in its way, being a group of handsome residences, the effect of which is unbroken by meaner dwellings or business houses.
VIEW OF FOKT WASHINGTON, 188<i.'
somely wooded. The mounds of the old fort mark a spot which was famous in Revolutionary annals. The loss of this important post, followed, as it was, shortly afterward by the fall of Fort I^ee, on the ojiposite bank of the Hudson, was a disastrous blow to tlie American cause and spread consternation and gloom throughout the colonies. Washington Heights, which crown the ridge near the site of Fort Washington, are the site of many fine residences.
The Spuyten Duyvel, it is said, derives its name from a legendary anecdote narrated by Washington Irving, who ascribes the performance from which it arose to Anthony Van Corlaer, trumpeter to the doughty Governor Stuyvesant. The original legend asserts that a valiant Dutchman, obstinately bent on crossing the stream in a storm, attempted to swim across " en spyt den duyvel "(in spite of the devil), but midway sank and was seen no more.