In that curious journal of a voyage up the Hudson in 1769 which we have the good fortune to publish in this volume, the reader will notice that the name " Broken Neck Hill" appears, and a glance at the camel-like profile of the mountain in question will go far toward convincing one that the later name, "Breakneck," is a corruption of a title that was really descriptive. The name Breakneck might be applied with equal propriety to any of the steep-sided promontories along the rock-wall of the Highlands. Uninteresting in many respects as Coldspring is to those not immediately concerned in foundry work, it has contributed its share to national military strength, having been for years engaged in the production of ordnance for the United States army and navy.

Chapter XXIV

The Fisher's Reach

IT is as difficult now to get beyond the Highlands as it was in 1777. Instead of the chevaux-dc-frise, chains, and fortresses with which Sir Henry Clinton had to contend, we are stayed by the no less imperative challenge of natural beauty, at once majestic and imique; while the imagination carries by assault the heights that are buttressed with historic associations and garrisoned with legions of romantic fancies. We hear in the thunder that reverberates from crag to crag the echo of long silent artillery; we see in the mists of morning the smoke of British guns, and under the downright rays of noon seem to distinguish the entrenchments of patriotic levies. But when night falls the mysterious significance of nature asserts a sway that is stronger than embattled arms and older than history. Then the passions and the conquests of man are forgotten and the abiding mystery of immemorial hills possesses the soul. The pen of Irving has fixed on an inimitable page the subtle charm of a nio^ht in the Hio^hlands: