photo of the yacht and her passengers; for he aspired to gain the most
favorable posture, apparently quite a task under the circumstances. How
well he succeeded in his endeavors, the readers can judge for themselves
by glancing at the frontispiece of this book.

Resuming our journey, we soon had opportunity to admire the beautiful and
fertile Mohawk Valley, once the home of one of the tribes composing the
Five Nations. Arendt Van Curler, the noble founder of the "Place Beyond
the Pines," pronounced this picturesque region the most beautiful the eye
of man had ever beheld, at a time when the country was yet in its infancy.
Though great changes have taken place since that remote date (1642), the
grandeur of the scenes spread before us evidently showed that the country
has lost little of its beauty, even at the present day, nothwithstanding
the white man has established in many places his smoking factories and
noisy looms.

At the second lock Mr. Schermerhorn, who owns a beautiful residence near
this place, in the Township of Rotterdam, joined our party, whereupon we
continued sailing on the smooth surface of the canal with accelerated
speed.

At 2.40 P.M., after having passed five locks, we approached _Amsterdam_,
an enterprising and prosperous city of over 20,000 inhabitants, located in
the midst of romantic scenery. We halted at Port Jackson for a few
minutes, since this was the terminus of the voyage of Mr. Hastings and my
father.

When parting with me, my father said:

"This short tour has sufficed me to perceive how delightful your voyage