July 5, 1834
Early at eight seven o’clock we boarded the fine steamboat Albany, which sails to and from New York. It was eight o’clock before we sailed. The Hudson rises 250 miles in a northerly direction from New York; [it] is named after Henry Hudson, who discovered it on 4 September 1609. It rises in a mountainous area on the border with Canada between Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain and quickly becomes [a] strong [river]. From Albany on, its banks frequently vary [in appearance] and are highly picturesque. No voyage that I experienced in North America could compare with this one down the Hudson, or North, River. We made the voyage of 144 miles (160 miles on land) leisurely in one day. In winter, when ice covers the river, the steamboats do not run, but throughout the rest of the year they sail daily. Some are very large, [but] nonetheless, there are no accidents, because only low pressure engines [are employed]. Usually the voyage is made in twelve to fourteen hours. Some of these boats are colossal—there are a few with four stacks and [——] boilers. The Albany, which we boarded, was a splendid boat as large as a frigate. [There were] three decks, the upper one covered with a canvas tent. The middle [deck] was 80 paces long on the inside (excluding external additions). The third, or lower, deck had three very elegantly furnished cabins. Two [cabins] in the back [were] for ladies: the rear one, 20 paces long, the front one, 10 paces, [both extending across] the whole width of the ship. In front of the [forward] ladies’ [cabin] was the large gentlemen’s cabin, where we took our lunch; [it was] very spacious and long [and] decorated with many oil paintings of nautical scenes. Four men were at the helm. The steam engines at the front of the center deck were about 25 to 30 feet high, with two funnels.
We had a large crowd of passengers of all ages and gender on board, some on the middle deck. A large number of chairs and benches were stacked before the ladies’ [cabins] at the stern. The view of the river entertained us tremendously. While our proud boat sped downriver like a bird, a number of nice schooners and sailboats passed by us going upriver. The river is at least twice the width of the Rhine.
After 30 miles we reached Hudson, opposite the beautiful Catskill Mountains, a charming and sizable town built up and across a hill. Many ships were anchored [tooltips keyword="there" content="Hudson."], even some three-masters.
The Catskill Mountains are a range with highly picturesque, original, and varying peaks, which we saw very few of in North America. High on a hill in the distance, we noticed a house. The whole mountain range [was set against] a sky [of] the most beautiful blue. This range of mountains is also called Catsbergs. Its highest elevations [are] in the area of Greene [County], 8 to 10 miles distant from the river. [The highest peaks] include the Round Top (3,804 feet) and High Peak (3,718 feet). The village of Catskill is located on the riverbank in front of these mountains on Catskill Creek, which flows through [this village] into the Hudson. We put ashore there and took on passengers, who carried in their hands large bunches of lovely Kalmia blossoms as a symbol of the beautiful mountains from whence they came. The [village] had approximately 350 houses and about 5,000 inhabitants.
The [Catskills] are without question the most beautiful place I saw along the picturesque Hudson, and [the scenery] is to be recommended to [any] landscape painter. A little more downriver, the mountains on the riverbank reminded us of many places in the Italian[-speaking] region of Switzerland: green [spaces], conifers and deciduous trees on the [mountain] summits, the more distant [peaks] with attractive shapes. We came across several steamboats that had other boats [attached to] each side, all filled with passengers. In many places [along] the riverbank, I noticed young pyramidal conifers of unusual shape. I do not know to what species of Pinus they belong. Conifers and deciduous trees are mixed together every where on the mountains.
The colossal steamboat Champlain, with four funnels, ran past us going upriver. Farther on, we came across a wood raft [made of] tree trunks with a square sail and a wooden hut for the sailors.
After lunch we put ashore at Newburgh. Downriver from there [we saw] rounded-off mountains with coppices; in several places [these] were similar to the mountains on the Rhine. The river soon [flowed through] a picturesque narrow gorge below where the green mountains come closer together. Not far below this, on the western southern eastern bank, is West Point, the United States Military Academy, located in highly scenic mountains overgrown with green forest.
From here the area opens up and becomes flat, the river magnificent and wide; a very brisk wind moved [its] imposing surface.
About one hour from West Point, we were opposite Sing Sing on the left, or western, bank—a handsome, sizable [but] scattered town with white houses. At the river below [the town] is a penitentiary, a large, barracks-type building. We passed by Bloomingdale, the country house of the Prussian consul [J. W.] Schmidt, where we had spent a very pleasant day two years ago, and reached New York before evening.
Distances from New York to Albany:
| From . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
New York to W. P. F. W. T. B. S. S. H. B. S. P. V. P. H. R. A. N. W. P. P. I. N. M. P. H. P. R. R. R. C. H. C. K. N. B. S. |
Weehawken Palisadoes [Palisades], southern end Fort Washington Tappan Bay, southern end Sing Sing Haverstraw Bay Stoney Point Verplanck’s Point Horse Race (Highlands) Anthony’s Nose West Point Pollopel Island Newburgh Milton Poughkeepsie Hyde Park Rhinebeck Red Hook (lower landing) Red Hook (upper landing) Catskill Hudson Coxsackie Kinderhook New Baltimore Schodack Albany |
6 miles 2 4 12 8 2 5 1 2 3 5 6 4 11 4 5 10 7 3 11 5 8 1 5 4 10 |
| 144 miles |