1 84 WINTER SKETCHES. 



habitants on the opposite side of the river 

 were comparatively unmolested. 



Two or three miles below Haverstraw the 

 boldness of the shore makes a road impracti- 

 cable. We turned to the right, following up a 

 steep hill that was to bring us over to the 

 other side of the river coast range. It leads 

 through a gorge, which in summer must be 

 most attractive to the many tourists who 

 come from the city to saunter in the shade of 

 its trees and rocks. The trees, naked in win- 

 ter, are clothed with verdure in the summer, 

 but the rocky cliffs through which the road is 

 cut, bare as they are in summer, were now 

 draped in silver sheen and fringed with icy 

 stalactites. 



Before we left the level, the shadows of the 

 hills had fallen over the frost-bound river, 

 but now that we had mounted to the summit 

 we caught up with the bright light and saw 

 far in the west over that hitherto undiscov- 

 ered country, the snow-clad hills and valleys, 

 the black forest, the straggling towns and vil- 

 lages, a wide-spread panorama of surprising 

 beauty, just as the last touch was being given 

 to it by the setting sun. Then we descended 

 the western slope and went rapidly on a few 



