""Tis the middle watch of a summer's night,
The earth is dark, but the heavens are bright
Nought is seen in the vault on high,

But the moon, and the stars, and the cloudless sky,
And the flood which rolls its milky hue,

A river of light on the welkin blue.
The moon looks down on old Crow Nest,
She mellows the shade on his shaggy breast,
And seems his huge gray form to throw
In a silver cone on the wave below;
His sides are broken by spots of shade,
By the walnut boughs and the cedar made,
And through their clustering branches dark
Glimmers and dies the firefly's spark,
Like starry twinkles that momently break
Through the rifts of the gathering tempest rack.

The stars are on the moving stream,
And fling, as its ripples gently flow,

A burnished length of wavy beam,

In an eel-like, spiral line below.

-

The winds are whist, and the owl is still,

The bat in the shelvy rock is hid;

And nought is heard on the lonely hill

But the cricket's chirp and the answer shrill

Of the gauze-winged katy-did;

And the plaints of the mourning whip-poor-will,

Who mourns unseen, and ceaseless sings

Ever a note of wail and woe,

Till morning spreads her rosy wings,

And earth and skies in her glances glow.

'Tis the hour of fairy ban and spell :

The wood-tick has kept the minutes well;
She has counted them all with click and stroke,

Deep in the heart of the mountain-oak;

And he has awakened the sentry-elve,

Who sleeps with him in the haunted tree,

To bid him ring the hour of twelve,

And call the fays to their revelry."

Above Cold Spring we have Bull Hill, 1586 feet, Breakneck Hill, upon the extremity of which so many steamboat passengers have tried to imagine the profile of a human face, or Turk's face," 1187 feet; and Beacon Hill, the last of the range of Highlands upon the eastern shore, 1685 feet high. On the western shore, Butter Hill, 1529 feet, closes the range. This latter elevation forms a more impressive sight to the traveller than the others, from its immense masses of towering rock, its sudden rise from the river, and its great height. The village of Cornwall lies directly at the foot of Butter Hill, on the north

FISHKILL, sixty miles from New York, is a busy, thriving town. station is at Fishkill Landing, the centre of the town being some miles back from the river. The manufacturing village of Matteawan lies about a mile from the Landing near the north of Matteawan Creek, which supplies its water-power. The situation of this village is romantic in the highest degree. The stream falls rapidly, affording constant power for several factories of the largest class. The village is completely hemmed in by steep and rugged hills, rendering the scene picturesque and pleasing.

A railroad from Providence, R. I., to Fishkill, by way of Hartford, Conn., has been projected, and partly built. As the Newburg branch of the Erie Railroad has its terminus directly opposite, this would make a direct line to Buffalo and the great West.

The stranger, who wishes to carry away a distinct impression of this section of the Hudson, will not fail to visit Beacon Hill, just back of the village, the last summit of the Highlands of any considerable altitude as the range dips off to the north-east; and, it may be added, the highest one upon the river. An hour's ride, partly through the fine arable lands of Dutchess, and partly through the thick overhanging foliage of the mountain road, brings you to the summit. A few occasional glimpses through the trees, with now and then a broader opening at some curve of the road, beautiful though they be, give you but a slight foretaste of the magnificent prospect reserved for you upon the summit. This summit- a rounded peak of primitive granite, bare, or only tufted here and there with a few groups of small trees, with no habitations or traces of cultivation upon it—affords a view at once one of the grandest and most beautiful that can be found in America. Rising, as it does, rather abruptly from the plain, on the east bank, the spectator, gazing from its height upon the scene before him to the west and north, is placed, as it were, upon the boundary of a vast picture, which is continued by the Highlands in the south, the summits of Shawangunk range in the west, and the Catskill in the north, quite round the entire view. Within this circle the materials of the beautiful and the picturesque are arranged with all the grandeur, the softness, the beauty of detail, that the most fastidious connoisseur of fine scenery can desire. Before you lies the Hudson, swollen into a lovely expanse or bay, meandering to the north until it is lost in the distance, sprinkled through its whole course with the white sails of the numberless vessels that float upon its surface. Sloping away from its banks rise the fine cultivated fields; the clustered villages, the elegant villas, and the neat cottages gleaming through the tufts of foliage that surrounds them. As the distance intervenes, these all gradually mingle into one indistinct and undulating carpet of green, colored with various tints by the ripe and ripening grain. It was early in the autumn when we climbed the summit of this mountain on foot. The foliage had been changed to many gaudy hues by the frost, and to us, used as we are to ascend every eminence in our wanderings,

where the beauties of nature can be seen to advantage, this view appeared to surpass all others, not in grandeur, but in beauty.

Beacon Hill was a station for the display of bonfires during the Revolution, which, from its elevated position, denoted the movements of the enemy to the inhabitants for a great distance through the surrounding counties.

Newburg, directly opposite Fishkill, and with which place there is a constant communication by means of a ferry, is one of the largest and most important towns upon Hudson River. The town stands upon a pretty acclivity, rising with a sharp ascent from the river. The view from the steamboats, as they approach the landing, is surpassingly beautiful.

Newburg was originally settled by emigrant Palatines, in 1798. The present population is about ten thousand. A large amount of business is transacted here by the surrounding towns; the main street, upon market days, presenting the thronged and busy appearance of a city, being crowded with teams, and lively with the bustle of traders. Two or three steamboats ply constantly with New York, during the summer months, to do the freighting and other local business of the place.

A branch of the Erie Railroad, leaving the main line at Chester, twenty miles distant, has its termination at Newburg. This branch furnishes a direct line to Buffalo and the great West.

From the top of the hill, in the rear of the village, there is a very fine and extensive prospect. The villages of Fishkill and Matteawan, upon the east bank of the river, especially, make a very graceful appearance.

A short distance south of Newburg village still stands the old stone mansion in which General Washington held his head-quarters when the army was encamped here during the Revolution. It is visited by many as a spot rendered sacred by its former occupant, and by the cause in which he fought. Americans will not soon forget the noble answer of Gen. Washington, written from this place, to Lewis Nicola, who had, as the head of a party of officers, suggested to him the propriety of establishing a monarchy and making him a king. His reply, considering that at that time the war was literally at an end, and the independence of his country established, is worthy of record. It ran as follows:

"Newburg, 22d May, 1782.

"Sir, With a mixture of great surprise and astonishment, I have read with attention the sentiments you have submitted to my perusal. Be assured, sir, no occurrence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the army as you have expressed, and which I must view with abhorrence and reprehend with severity. For the present, the communication of them will rest in my own bosom, unless some further agitation of the matter shall make a disclos ure necessary.

"I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have given encouragement to such an address, which to me seems big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable. At the same time, to do justice to my own feelings, I must add, that no man possesses a more sincere wish to see ample justice done to the army than I do; and as far as my power and influence in a constitutional way extend, they shall be employed to the utmost of my abilities to effect it, should there be occasion. Let me conjure you then, if you have any regard for your country, concern for yourself or posterity, or respect for me, to banish these thoughts from your mind, and never communicate, as from yourself or any one else, a sentiment of the like nature.

"I am, sir, &c.,

66 'GEORGE WASHINGTON."

Low POINT, Sixty-four miles, is in the north part of the town of Fishkill. It is a small settlement.

NEW HAMBURG, sixty-seven miles, is situated directly at the mouth of Wappinger's Creek, a considerable stream, which has its rise in the northeast part of Dutchess county, near the Connecticut line. The village is situ ated upon both sides of the river's mouth, across which there is a good bridge. A ferry connects it with Hampton, across the river.

Hampton, opposite New Hamburg, is a small settlement, in the south part of the town of Marlborough. Two miles above is Milton, another village in the same town.

MILTON FERRY, or Barnegat, sixty-nine miles and a half from New York,