125 



columns — perhaps fifty feet up to the first branch. This path 

 leads up to the summit of the cliff, so we retrace our steps to 

 the tulip tree at the intersection and proceed northward again. 

 Bending under large clumps of spice bush, which becomes more 

 and more omnipresent the further we descend, we come again 

 into a small open space guarded by lofty, majestic tulips. 

 Taking the next fork to the left we go partway up the slope to 

 the Indian caves or rock shelters,^ whence we get a glimpse 

 of Spuyten Duyvil Creek to the northward through the trees. 

 Round about are several good specimens of sugar maple, and 

 in season one may find in this vicinity the blue cohosh (Caul- 

 ophyllum thalictroides) and the Dutchman's breeches {Dicentra 

 Cucullaria). Continuing down the path to the river we come 

 out into open ground — evidently an old Indian feasting ground, 

 if one is to judge by the numbers of oyster shells imbedded in 

 the earth on all sides. In the rear of a large sign, recently erected, 

 "Shorakapkok: Indian Village Site," we see a good example of 

 the native beech, 6 feet 8 inches in circumference measured 4 

 feet from the ground, with a few smaller trees of the same 

 species nearby. This, as far as I know, is the only colony of na- 

 tive beech in the park. 



We find the spring near the Dyckman Institute museum 

 and there we refresh ourselves, admiring meanwhile the giant 

 tulip nearby, probably the largest and most famous tree in 

 Greater New York. On it we read : 



Tulip Tree 



Liriodendron tulipifera 



Circumference 19 Feet 



Height 123 Feet 

 Age about 238 Years 



Hendrick Hudson Entered this Inlet in 1609 and May Have Met 



THE Indians here, Who Used this Place for a Camp as Shown by the 



Quantities of Old Broken Oyster Shells Around this Tree and Nearby. 



This Tree was Thoroughly Repaired and the Fence 



Erected Around it, October, 1912^ 



^ For excellent pen drawings and interesting descriptions of these, as well 

 as of the whole neighborhood, see Torrey, Raymond H., Frank Place Jr., 

 and Robert L. Dickinson, New York Walk Book, pp. 12-16. American Geo- 

 graphical Society; New York, 1923. 



^ Since the above was printed the tree has again been repaired and the 

 inscription erased. Probably it will be replaced by a similar one. 



