and how the whole c[uarrel hiially simmered down and died out, are told in the same racy fashion, and the narrative is altogether more vivid and more easy to remember and belie\-e than many a sol:)er page of history. The sober page of history relates that the Dutch built their first fort on the Hudson in 16 14 u])on an island at the mouth of Norman's Kill, and named the island Kasteel, or Castle, from which Castleton derives its name. An actual altercation between the Director
at New Amsterdam and the patroon's agent at Rensselaerswyckfurnished the basis for Irving's lively sketch. The low l:)ar that for many years impeded na\-igation in the neighbourhood of Castleton, together with numerous other flats and obstructions, led to the construction, by the Government, in 1868, of dykes to protect the channel, which has been deepened by dredging as far as the State dam at Troy. Near Castleton flows the delightful stream known as Mourdener's Kill, or Creek. Its legend is a dreadful story of Indian cruelty. A girl, captured by the savages, was tied by them to a horse, that was then lashed into frenzy and dashed awa\', dragging the \'ictim till life had lon^ been extinct.
Chapter XXXI An Old Dutch Town
LEAVING out of our reckoning the Frenchmen who are supposed to have built a " castle" on the site about the year 1540, Albany is one of the oldest settlements made by white men in America. Its only rivals in age are Jamestown and one or two of the Spanish towns of the far south. The genesis of its history will be found in the little trading station called Fort Orange, which was established in 16 14. The hardiness of the pioneers who gained this foothold in the remote wilderness may only be estimated when we recall the fact that the nearest neighbours of their own blood were more than three thousand miles distant and that the ocean lay between.