The golden sun was delicately veiled in purple exhalations, and over all the scene silence deepened the solemnity of the thought that we were treading paths where a child of genius had daily walked, but who had lately turned aside to be laid to rest in the cool shadows of the tomb.

The village of Hyde Park is upon a pleasant plain, high above the river, and half a mile from it. It received its name from Peter Faulconier, the private secretary of Sir Edward Hyde (afterwards Lord Cornbury),

PLACENTIA.

the governor of the province of New York at the beginning of the last century. Faulconier purchased a large tract of land at this place, and named it Hyde Park in honour of the governor. Here the aspect of the western shores of the river changes from gently sloping banks and cultivated fields to rocky and precipitous bluffs ; and this character they exhibit all the way to Hoboken, opposite New York, with few interruptions.

At Hyde Park the river makes a sudden bend between rocky bluffs, and in a narrower channel. On account of this the Dutch settlers called the place Krom EUehoge, or Crooked Elbow. As is frequently the case

THE HUDSON.

18:

along the Hudson, the present name is a compound of Dutch and English, and is called Crom Elbow.

Six miles below Hyde Park is the large rural city of Poughkeepsic, containing about 17,000 inhabitants. The name is a modification of the Mohegan word, Apo-keep-sinclc,^' signifying " safe and pleasant harbour." Between two rocky bluffs was a sheltered bay (now filled with wharves),