Almost immediately following this skirmish two gunboats ascended the river from New York, with the evident intention of cutting out the vessels congregated near the ferry, but they were discovered and driven away by shot from the shore l:)atteries. Dobbs Ferry was in the heart of that debatable region known as the neutral ground, the inhabitants of which were so harried and impo\^erished that, according to a record left by a traveller of that time, they seemed almost without hope or ambition ; silent, apathetic, regarding every man as a possible foe.

230 The Hudson River

To-day the place is a collection of attractive countr}"- seats, and its inhabitants, like those of most of the river towns within thirty-five miles of New York, are largely de]_^endent upon the city for their social entertainment and business life. In the neighbourhood of Dobbs Ferry, a little way to the north, is the comparatively new station of Ardsley-on-the-Hudson, where is a fashionable and attractive inn, or club-house, with all the modern allurements of golf course, etc. The establishment takes its name from that of Cyrus W. Field's former estate, upon a portion of which it is built. Mr. Field will be remembered, when his eminence as a factor in the financial world may be forgotten, as the man whose energy and persistence in the face of obstacles succeeded in laying the first Atlantic cable. His home was in what some one has called the great millionaire belt of the east shore of the Hudson. For mile upon mile the prospect along shore is that of magnificent residences and highly developed grounds. Although it is no part of our purpose to fill these pages with a descriptive list of the mansions that multiply till they suggest a celestial comparison, yet we think that no American will quarrel with us for making one exception.