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was he usually to be seen, sunning himself at noon-day, with a herd of philosophers of the same sect, on the side of the great canal of Amsterdam. Like your nobility of

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Europe, he took his name of Kortlandt (or Lack-land) from his landed estate, which lay somewhere in Terra incognita.

Of the next of our worthies, might I have had the be nefit of mythological assistance, the want of which I have just lamented, I should have made honourable mention, as boasting equally illustrious pedigree with the proudest hero of antiquity. His name was Van Zandt, which be ing freely translated, signifies from the dirt, meaning, beyond a doubt, that like Triptolemus, Themis-the Cyclops and the Titans, he sprung from dame Terra, or the earth! This supposition is strongly corroborated by his size, for it is well known that all the progeny of mother earth were of a gigantic stature; and Van Zandt, we are told, was a tall raw-boned man, above six feet high-with an astonishingly hard head. Nor is this origin of the illustrious Van Zandt a whit more improbable or repugnant to belief, than what is related and universally admitted of certain of our greatest, or rather richest men; who, we are told with the utmost gravity, did originally spring from a dunghill!

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Of the third hero, but a faint description has reached to this time, which mentions, that he was a sturdy, obstinate, burly, bustling little man; and from being usually equipped with an old pair of buckskins, was familiarly dubbed Harden Broeck, or Tough Breeches.

Ten Broeck completed this junto of adventurers. It is a singular but ludicrous fact, which, were I not scrupulous in recording the whole truth, I should almost be tempted to pass over in silence, as incompatible with the gravity and dignity of history, that this worthy gentleman should likewise have been nicknamed from the most whimsical part of his dress. In fact the small clothes seems to have been a very important garment in the eyes of our

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venerated ancestors, owing in all probability to its really being the largest article of raiment among them.. name of Ten Broeck or Tin Broeck is indifferently translated into Ten Breeches and Tin Breeches-the high Dutch commentators incline to the former opinion; and ascribe it to his being the first who introduced into the settlement the ancient Dutch fashion of wearing ten pair of breeches. But the most elegant and ingenious writers on the subject declare in favour of Tin, or rather Thin Breeches; from whence they infer, that he he was a poor but merry rogue, whose galligaskins were none of the soundest, and who was the identical author of that truly philosophical stanza:

"Then why should we quarrel for riches,

Or any such glittering toys;

A light heart and thin pair of breeches,

Will go through the world, my brave boys!"

Such was the gallant junto chosen to conduct this voyage into unknown realms, and the whole was put under the superintending care and direction of Oloffe Van Kortlandt; who was held in great reverence among the sages of Communipaw, for the variety and darkness of his knowledge. Having, as I before observed, passed a great part of his life in the open air, among the peripatetic philosophers of Amsterdam, he had become amazingly well acquainted with the aspect of the heavens, and could as accurately determine when a storm was brewing or a squall rising, as a dutiful husband can foresee, from the brow of his spouse, when a tempest is gathering about his ears. He was moreover a great seer of ghosts and goblins, and a firm believer in omens; but what especially recommended him to public confidence, was his marvellous talent at dreaming, for there never was any thing of consequence happened at Communipaw, but what he declared he had previously dreamt it; being one of those

infallible prophets, that always predict a thing, after it has come to pass.

This supernatural gift was as highly valued among the burghers of Pavonia, as it was among the enlightened nations of antiquity. The wise Ulysses was more indebted to his sleeping than his waking moments, for all his subtle achievements, and seldom undertook any great exploit, without first soundly sleeping upon it; and the same may truly be said of the good Van Kortlandt, who was thence aptly denominated, Oloffe the Dreamer.

This cautious commander having chosen the crews that should accompany him in the proposed expedition, exhorted them to repair to their homes, take a good night's rest, settle all family affairs, and make their wills, before departing on this voyage into unknown realms. And indeed this last was a precaution always taken by our forefathers, even in after times, when they became more adventurous, and voyaged to Haverstraw or Kaatskill, or Groodt Esopus, or any other far country that lay beyond the great waters of the Tappaan Zee.

CHAPTER IV.

How the Heroes of Communipan voyaged to Hell-Gate, and how they were received there.

AND now the rosy blush of morn began to mantle in the east, and soon the rising sun, emerging from amidst golden and purple clouds, shed his blithsome rays on the tin weathercocks of Communipaw. It was that delicious season of the year, when nature, breaking from the chilling thraldom of old winter, like a blooming damsel from the tyranny of a sordid old father, threw herself, blushing with ten thousand charms, into the arms of youthful spring.

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Every tufted copse and blooming grove, resounded with the notes of hymeneal love. The very insects, as they sipped the dew that gemmed the tender grass of the meadows, joined in the joyous epithalamium-the virgin bud timidly put forth its blushes, "the voice of the turtle was heard in the land," and the heart of man dissolved away in tenderness. Oh! sweet Theocritus! had I thine oaten reed, wherewith thou erst did charm the gay Sicilian plains Or Oh! gentle Bion! thy pastoral pipe, wherein the happy swains of the Lesbian isle so much delighted; -then might I attempt to sing in soft Bucolic or negligent Idyllium, the rural beauties of the scene-but having nothing, save this jaded goose quill, wherewith to wing my flight, I must fain resign all poetic disportings of the fancy, and pursue my narrative in humble prose; comforting myself with the hope, that though it may not steal so sweetly upon the imagination of my reader, yet may it commend itself, with virgin modesty, to his better judgment, clothed in the chaste and simple garb of truth.

ers.

No sooner did the first rays of cheerful Phoebus dart into the windows of Communipaw, than the little settlement was all in motion. Forth issued from his castle the sage Van Kortlandt, and seizing a conch-shell, blew a far resounding blast, that soon summoned all his lusty followThen did they trudge resolutely down to the water side, escorted by a multitude of relatives and friends, who all went down, as the common phrase expresses it, "to see them off." And this shows the antiquity of those long family processions, often seen in our city; composed of all ages, sizes and sexes, laden with bundles and bandboxes, escorting some bevy of country cousins, about to depart for home in a market boat.

The good Oloffe bestowed his forces in a squadron of three canoes, and hoisted his flag on board a little round Dutch boat, shaped not unlike a tub, which had formerly been the jolly-boat of the Goede Vrouw.

And now,

all

being embarked, they bid farewell to the gazing throng upon the beach, who continued shouting after them, even when out of hearing, wishing them a happy voyage, advising them to take good care of themselves, not to get drowned-with an abundance other of those sage and invaluable cautions, generally given by landsmen to such as go down to the sea in ships, and adventure upon the deep In the mean while the voyagers cheerily urged their course across the crystal bosom of the bay, and soon left behind them the green shores of ancient Pavonia.

waters.

And first they touched at two small islands which lie nearly opposite Communipaw, and which are said to have been brought into existence about the time of the great irruption of the Hudson, when it broke through the Highlands and made its way to the ocean. * For in this tremendous uproar of the waters, we are told that many huge fragments of rock and land were rent from the mountains and swept down by this runaway river for sixty or seventy miles; where some of them ran aground on the shoals just opposite Communipaw, and formed the identical islands in question, while others drifted out to sea, and were never heard of more! A sufficient proof of the fact is, that the rock which forms the basis of these islands, is exactly similar to that of the Highlands, and moreover one of our philosophers, who has diligently compared the a

It is a matter long since established by certain of our philosophers, that is to say, having been often advanced, and never contradicted, it has grown to be pretty nigh equal to a settled fact, that the Hudson was originally a lake, dammed up by the mountains of the Highlands. In process of time, however, becoming very mighty and obstreperous, and the mountains waxing pursy, dropsical, and weak in the back, by reason of their extreme old age, it suddenly rose upon them, and after a violent struggle, effected its escape. This is said to have come to pass in very remote time, probably before that rivers had lost the art of running up hill. The foregoing is a theory in which I do not pretend to be skilled, notwithstanding that I do fully give it my belief.

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