Just above the dam, and near "Waterford, there is a communication between the canal and the river, and many loaded boats from the former there enter the latter, pass through the lock, and are towed, some to Troy and Albany, and others to New York. The dam also furnishes water power to a number of mills on the Troy shore below it, into which grain is taken from vessels lying at the docks, by means of "elevators" worked by the water wheels. These form a striking feature in the scene below the dam.

From the lock may be obtained an excellent view of the river below.

LOCK AT STATE DAM, TROY.

with the last of the bridges that then spanned the Hudson. Since then a railway-bridge has been thrown across it at Albany, six miles below. Glimpses of Troy, and Watervliet or "West Troy opposite, and of the Katzbergs, thirty miles distant, were obtained from the same point of view. The Troy Bridge was sixteen hundred feet in length, and connected Green Island with the main, having a draw at the eastern end for vessels to pass through. It was used as a public highway in crossing the river, and also as a viaduct of the Eensselaer and Saratoga Eailway. It was built of timbei', was closely covered, and rested upon heavy stone piers. It crossed where formerly lay a group of beautiful little islands, when Troy was in its infancy. They have almost disappeared, except

THE HUDSON.

the larger one, which is bisected by the bridge. Among these islands shad and sturgeon, fish that abound in every part of the river below, were caught in large quantities, but they are seldom seen there now.