Of course the War for Independence interfered for a while with trade and travel, but they were resumed as soon as the country was once more at peace. Almost the last to disappear when steam superseded sail propulsion were the boats that carried the least perishable kinds of farm produce. But now, except for an occasional Haverstraw brick schooner, or a pleasure boat from Nyack or Piermont, there is hardly a sail to be seen on a summer day from Paulus Hook to Croton.

The Passing' of the White Wings 113

Yes, we acknowledge the |)rogress, the utiht>', the convenience; but the picture of another Hudson, radiant in the noontide, hke a pkiin of l:)urnished silver between its purple hills, is present to the mind's eye. It is sparkling with sails, white and glistening as pearls upon a baldric. A hundred are in sight, and a hundred

^ALISADES FROM THE YELLOW ROCKS, TAPPAN ZEE {From a drawing 6y the author^

and a hundred more stretch in endless procession to the shallows of the upper ri\'er. They feed the imagination and satisfy the sense of beauty as the mechanical inventions of the marine steamfitter can never do. In the name of sentiment we deplore the passing of the white wings. It is said that the old rivermen measured the river

114 The Hudson River

by "reaches," counting fourteen of these between New York and the head of navigation. The first extended past the long wall of the PaHsades, the " Great Chip rock" of the old deeds. The second reach included the Tappan Zee, and took the voyager as far as Haverstraw, which gave name to the third. Beyond the Haverstraw was Seylmaker's Reach, then Hoge's, next Vorsen, which included the hazardous passage of the Highlands. After that was Fisher's Reach, to Esopus, and Claverack next, with Bacerack, Playsier, Vaste, and Hunters succeeding each other as far as Kinderhook.