6lO HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF "WESTCHESTER. 



was nothing in all the world, the divine sex excepted, that Anthony van Corlcar 

 loved better i ban errands of this kind. So just stopping to take a lusty dinner, 

 and bracing to his side his junk bottle, well charged with heart inspiring Hol- 

 lands, he issued jollily from the city gate that looked out upon what is at present 

 called Broadway ; sounding as usual a farewell strain, that rung in sprightly 

 echoes through the winding streets of New Amsterdam. Alas 1 never more 

 were they to be gladdened by the melody of their favorite trumpeter! It was a 

 dark and stormy night when the good Anthony at the famous creek (sagely 

 denominated Harlem river) which separates the island of Manna-hata from the 

 main land. The wind was high, the elements were in an uproar, and no Charon 

 could be found to ferry the adventurous sounder of brass across the water. 



"For a short time he vapoured like an impatient ghost upon the brink ; and 

 then, bethinking himself of the urgency of his errand, took a hearty embrace of 

 his stone bottle, swore most valorously that he would swim across, 'en spyt den 

 duyvel,' (in spite of the devil !) and daringly plunged into the stream. Luckless 

 Anthony ! scarce had he buffeted half way over, when he was observed to 

 struggle violently, as if battling with the spirit of the waters; instinctively he 

 put his trumpet to his mouth, and giving a vehement blast, sunk forever to the 

 bottom ! 



"The potent clangour of his trumpet— like the ivory horn of the renowned 

 Paladin Orlando, when expiring in the glorious field of Roncesvalles — rung far 

 and wide through the country, alarming the neighbours around, who hurried in 

 amazement to the spot. Here an old Dutch burgher, famed for his veracity, 

 and who had been a witness of the fact, related to them the melancholy affair ; 

 with the fearful addition, (to which I am slow in giving belief,) that he saw the 

 duyvel, in the shape of a huge moss-bonker, seize the sturdy Anthony by the leg, 

 and drag him beneath the waves. Certain it is, the place v^ith the adjoining 

 promontory which projects into the Hudson, has been called ' spyt den duyvel,' or 

 Spuyten Duyvel, ever since. The restless ghost of the unfortunate Anthony still 

 haunts the surrounding solitudes, and his trumpet has often been heard by the 

 neighbors, of a stormy night, mingling with the howling of the blast. Nobody 

 ever attempts to swim over the creek after dark ; on the contrary, a bridge has 

 been built to guard against such melancholy accidents in future. " a 



This creek, and neighboring waters, are also celebrated for their shad 

 fishery. The season for fishing commences in March, and continues 

 throughout April and May. It is entirely governed by the influx and 

 reflux of the tide, or the last of the flood and ebb. The fishermen make 

 four lifts every twenty-four hours. The aggregate value of this fish, 

 (the Alosa Sapidissima, Rap.,) taken in the Hudson river and neigh- 

 boring waters south of the Highlands, amounts to $100,000 annually. 



The small settlement of Kings Bridge bordering on the Haarlem river, 

 took its name from a ferry and bridge established here at a very early 

 period of the Colonial administration. The Westchester side of the 

 bridge (where stands the Macomb's mansion,) was formerly an island 



o Beauties of Washington IrviDg, p. 198. 



