CURIOUS PHYSICAL FACT. 507 



miles below Albany. There the railway commences, 

 and runs along the river nearly all the way to New 

 York, cutting off only those windings and rocky parts, 

 and promontories such as West Point which constitute 

 the chief beauties of the lower half of the river, and 

 which the stranger particularly desires to see. On the 

 whole, I was disappointed with the Hudson; but the 

 hues of winter and a chilly air overspread everything, 

 and I was obliged to descend by land where some of the 

 finest spots as seen from the river occur, and, therefore, 

 I was not in a condition to form an adequate idea of 

 what its beauties in its summer garb really are. At the 

 same time, I would recommend the traveller who wishes 

 to give the river fair play, not to read before he visits it 

 the very patriotic comparison of the Hudson with the 

 llliinc, which Cooper has incorporated into the introduc 

 tory chapter of his Heidenmauer. If he do, and has pre 

 viously seen the Rhine, he will do injustice to the native 

 beauties of the Hudson. 



A curious physical fact in connection with the river 

 Hudson is not unworthy of mention. During the last 

 forty years the influence of the tide has been felt from 

 time to time higher and higher up the river. At Albany 

 this influence was not sensible forty years ago, but, 

 according to Professor Hall, &quot; it has been gradually 

 advancing, till the difference of level between high and 

 low water is now as much as two feet.&quot; The consequence 

 of this is, that the navigation at some distance below 

 Albany has been improved places formerly too shallow 

 being now covered with a sufficient depth of water. At 

 the same time, the advance of the tide, by shifting the 

 point of meeting between the downward stream and the 

 upward tidal wave, at which point the river sediment 

 naturally falls, has caused the formation of new banks of 

 silt below Albany, from which new obstructions to the 

 navigation have arisen. 



