OUK NEIGHBOB— OLD COMMUNIPAW. 101 



the imaginary realm where the bard of the "Seasons" fixed the site 

 of his Castle of Indolence : 



"A pleasing land of drowsy-head it was — 



Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye ; 

 And of gay castles that in the clouds that pass, 



Forever flashing round a Summer sky; 

 There eke the soft delights that witchingly 



Instil a wanton sweetness through the breast, 

 And the calm pleasures hovered ever nigh : 



And whate'er smack'd of 'noyance or unrest, 



Was far, far off expelled from this delicious nest." 



To reach this little hamlet you must cross to Jersey City (city by 

 courtesy, like the vast metropolis of Camden), and walk a mile or 

 two southward on foot. When there, you may behold a scene of 

 noiseless ease and security, which has been undisturbed for ages. 

 The great Capitol, Brooklyn, Staten Island, the splendid bay flocked 

 with shipping — the Narrows, ending in the serial hues of the distant 

 Atlantic, and the Hudson, rolling from the North, are all commanded 

 here. 



As all the world is doubtless perfectly acquainted with Communi- 

 paw, it may seem somewhat superfluous to treat of it in the present 

 work ; but my readers will please to recollect that, notwithstanding 

 it is my chief desire to satisfy the present age, yet I write likewise 

 for posterity, and have to consult the understanding and curiosity of 

 some half a score of centuries yet to come ; by which time, perhaps, 

 were it not for this invaluable history, the great Communipaw, like 

 Babylon, Carthage, Nineveh, and other great cities, might be per- 

 fectly extinct — sunk and forgotten in its own mud — its inhabitants 

 turned into oysters,t and even its situation a fertile subject of con- 

 troversy and hard-headed investigation among indefatigable histori- 

 ans. Let me then piously rescue from oblivion the humble relics of 

 a place which was the egg from which was hatched the mighty city 

 of New York! 



Communipaw is at present but a small village, pleasantly situated 

 among rural scenery, on that beauteous part of the Jersey shore 

 which was known in ancient legends by the name of Pavonia,| and 



t "Men, by inaction, degenerate into oysters," — Kaimes. 



t Pavonia, in the ancient maps, was a name given to a tract of country extending from about 

 Hoboken to Amboy. 



