The water now rises into a marble basin. Seats have

n n

THE HUDSON.

been provided for visitors, ornamental shrubs have been planted, and the whole place wears an aspect of mingled romance and beauty. A deep circular indentation in the rock back of the fountain was made, tradition affirms, by a cannon-ball sent from a British ship, while the Polish soldier was occupying his accustomed loitering place, reading Vauban, and regaled by the perfume of roses. From this quiet, solitary retreat, a pathway, appropriately called Flirtation "Walk, leads up to the plain.

A short distance from Kosciuszko's Garden, upon a higher terrace, is Battery Knox, constructed by the cadets. It commands a fine view of

lEW FliO.M 13ATTKHV K^OX.

the eastern shore of the Hudson, in the Highlands, and down the river to Anthony's Nose. Near by are seen the Cavalry Stables and the Cavalry Exercise Hall, belonging to the Military School ; and below there is seen the modern West Point Landing. A little higher up, on the plain, are the groups of spacious edifices, used for the purposes of the institution.

"West Point was indicated by "Washington, as early as 1783, as an eligible place for a military academy. In his message to the Congress in

THE HUDSON. 235

1793, he recommended the establishment of one at West Point. The subject rested until 1802, when Congress made provision by law for such | an institution there. Yery little progress was made in the matter ixntil the year 1812, when, by another act of Congress, a corps of engineers and professors were organised, and the school was endowed with the most attractive features of a literary institution, mingled with that of a military character. From that time until the present, the academy has been increasing in importance, as the nursery of army officers and skilful practical engineers.