Around it is a pleasant agricultural country, and between it and Albany, on the western shore, flows in the romantic IS'orman's-Kill (the Indian Tawasentha, or Place of many Dead), that comes down from the region of the lofty Helderbergs. Upon the island in the Hudson, at the mouth of this stream -- a noted place of encampment and trade for the Iroquois -- the Dutch built their first fort on the Hudson in 1614, and placed it in command of Captain Christians. The island was named Kasteel, or Castle, and from it the little village just mentioned received its name. The alluvial " flats " in this neighbourhood are wide, and low islands, partly wooded and partly cultivated, divide the river in channels. They stretch parallel with the shores, a considerable distance, and the immense passenger steamers sometimes find it difficult to traverse the sinuous main channel. These, and the tall-masted sloops, have the appearance, from the Castleton shore, of passing through vast meadows, the water that bears them not being visible.

In this vicinity is the famous hidden sand-bar, called Overslagh by the Dutch, so formidable to the navigators of this part of the river, not because of any actual danger, but of tedious detentions caused by running aground. Some improvements have been made. In former years the sight of from twenty to fifty sail of river craft, fast aground on the Overslagh at low tide, was not rare, and the amount of profanity uttered by the vexed sailors was sufficient to demoralise the whole district. This bar is formed by the sand brought in by the Norman's Kill and other streams, and large sums have been expended in damming, dredging, and