while liurgoyue was making his way toward Albany, Colonel St„ Leger penetrated the upper Mohawk valley, and laid siege to Fort Schuyler. On one occasion he sent Indian messengers to the Fairchilds, who took the old trail through the Sacandaga valley, by way .of the Fish House, owned by Sir William Johnson. AVhen they approached Tio-sa-ron-da (Luzerne), they were discovered and pursued by a party of republicans, and one of them, close pressed, leaped the Hudson, at the foot of Jesup's Little Falls, the high wooded banks then approaching within twenty-five feet of each other. He escaped, took the trail to Lake George, and pushed on to Skeuesborough (now Whitehall), where he found Burgoyne. Soon after

THE HUDSON.

this a small party of republican troops, sent by General Gates, not succeeding in capturing these royalists at Westfield, laid Avaste tbe settlement.

Luzerne Lake, lying many feet above the village, is a beautiful little sheet of water, with a single small island upon its bosom. It is the larger of a series of four lakes, extending back to within five miles of Lake George. It abounds with fine fish, the largest and most delicious being the Masque alonge, a species of pike or pickerel, which is also found in the Upper Hudson, and all over northern New York. One was caught

in the lake, and brought to Hockwell's, on the morning of our departure, Avhich weighed between five and six pounds. •'•

On the northern shore of Luzerne Lake, Avhere the villas of Eenjamin C. Butler and J. Leati, Esqs. (seen in the picture), stood, was the ancient gathering place of the Indians in cou-ncil. Here was the fork of the great Sacandaga and Oneida trail, one branch extending to Lake George and the northern country, and the other to Port Edward and the more southern country.