PASSAGE TO ALBANY. 269 
whilst neat farm houses and distant towns 
embellish the charming landscapes. 
After sunset, a brisk wind sprang up which 
carried us on at the rate of six or seven miles 
an hour for a considerable part of the night: 
but for some hours we had to lie at anchor at 
a place where the navigation of the river was 
too difficult to proceed in the dark. Our sloop 
was no more than seventy tons burthen by 
register; but the-accommodations she afforded 
were most excellent, and far superior to what 
might be expected on board so small a vessel; 
the cabin was equally large with that in a com- 
mon merchant vessel of three hundred tons, 
built for crossing the ocean. This was owing 
to the great breadth of her beam, which was 
no less than twenty-two feet and a half, a!- 
though her length was only fifty-five feet. All 
the sloops engaged in this trade are built nearly 
on the same construction; short, broad, and 
very shallow, few of them draw more than 
five or six feet water, so that they are only 
calculated for sailing upon smooth water. 
Early the next morning we found ourselves 
opposite to West Point, a place rendered re¬ 
markable in history by desertion of General 
Arnold, during the American war, and the 
consequent death of the unfortunate Major 
Andre. The fort stands about one hundred 
and fifty feet above the level of the water, on 
