THE TOWN OF NEW ROCHELLE. 68 1 



alis, Linn,) and the velvet duck, commonly called the coot, (Anas Fusca, 

 Wil.) Another mode is by means of decoys, which is practised until the 

 months of April or May, when the. ducks take their departure to the 

 north. 



In this place deserves to be recorded the capture of an enormous tur- 

 tle, upon the 9th of Sept., 1773. " On Tuesday a turtle of an enormous 

 size and singular form and marks was taken with a harpoon, by Mr. 

 Bleecker and some others, near New Rochelle. His length is eight feet 

 from fin to fin, and seven feet three inches from stem to stern. He is 

 spotted under the fore fins like a leopard, and discovered amazing swift- 

 ness after being struck by the harpoon. He had been seen among the 

 rocks in the neighborhood of New Rochelle, but was not known till 

 just before his capture to be a turtle. What a noble repast would this 

 prove to the Blow-bladder street fraternity in London, for he is found to 

 be upwards of 800 cwt." a 



In the vicinity of New Rochelle the waters of the Sound, or "Manun- 

 ketesuck" are studded with numerous islands, which add much to the 

 beauty of the surrounding scenery. The opposite shore of Long Island, 

 also, forms another charming addition to the landscape — sprinkled as it 

 is, in all directions, by neat farm houses and villages. 



"The Sound! Oh! how many delightful reminiscences does the name 

 bring to our recollection. The Sound ! with its white sand banks, and its 

 wooded shores, its far broad bosom covered with fleets of sails, scudding 

 along in the swift breeze in the open day, and its dark waves rolling and 

 sweeping in whole streams of phosphorescent fire from their plunging 

 bows, as they dash through it in the darkness of midnight. The Sound ! 

 redolent with military story. The Sound ! overflowing with supernatural 

 legend and antiquated history." "Are there not the ' Brothers,' unnatu- 

 ral that they are, who, living centuries together, never to one another 

 have as yet spoken a kindly word, and the great savage ' Executioners,' 

 and ' Throgs,' and ' Sands,' and ' Etons,' all throwing hospitable lights 

 from their high beacon towers, far forward, to guide the wandering ma- 

 riner; and the 'Devil's Stepping Stones,' oe'r which he bounded when 

 driven from Connecticut ; and the great rocks, too, inside of Flushing 

 Bay, on which he descended, shivering them from top to bottom as he 

 fell. And are there not the ' Norwalk Islands,' with their pines, — ' Old 

 Sasco,' with her rocks, — ' Fairweather,' with the wild birds' eggs deep 

 buried in her sands, — and the far-famed fishing banks off the ' Middle 

 Ground,' Ay ! and is it not from the fierce boiling whirlpools of the 

 ' Gate ' to ' GardinerS,' and the lone beacon tower Of ' Old Montaukett,' 

 a Kivington's Gazette, N. Y., 1773. 



