the water overboard to mingle with that of the Atlantic Ocean. It was a pretty bit of sym- bolism, possible to people bred to the formalities of a somewhat artificial life, and no doubt carried out with becoming gravity. Medals were then distributed to the honoured guests of the occasion, after which we may surmise that dignity unbent and a somewhat more rampant Americanism reigned. We are told that a lady who was present wrote at a late hour that night; We met all the world and his wife; military heroes, noble statesmen, artificial and natural characters, the audacious, the clownish, the polished and refined; but we were squeezed to death and heartily tired. Fifty-one gold medals were struck in commemora- Digitized by Microsoft® 50 The Hudson River tion of this event, and were sent in red morocco cases to monarchs and celebrated subjects all over the world. Among the latest and in many respects unequalled among the naval parades in the history of the world was that which swept majestically past the Battery and Castle Garden on the fourth day of the Columbian celebration in October, 1892. There were four nations represented in the parade, and they sent each a contingent of warships that when massed together formed a fleet the like of which perhaps has never been seen. One of the best descriptions of this magnificent dis- play was that published in the Magazine of American History for November of that year: The advance guard of the marine procession was a broad line of some twenty-one tugs, stretching half across the mile-wide Hudson with an almost perfect alignment, as if a file of soldiers on parade; they were manned by white-uniformed volunteers. Among the craft that followed the saucy -looking tugs, was con- spicuous the torpedo boat Gushing, on which was Commander Kane, and tiny steam yachts darted back and forth like winged birds, apparently distributing orders for the chief — a singular contrast to the Indian canoes that for centuries monopolized these waters. They bore the aides of the commander, among whom were General S. V. R. Cruger, James W. Beekman, Wood- bury Kane, Archibald Rogers, Irving Grinnell, and many other well-known gentlemen. 'The great steamer Howard Carroll, bearing a host of notables — a burden of eminence not easily de- scribed— seemed to parade all by herself in lordly grandeur. Then came three large steamers sailing abreast, the Sam Sloan, Matteawan, and Mohawk, on which was the Committee of- One Digitized by Microsoft® Festivals and Pageants 51 Hundred and their invited guests. An interval of open water was given for the gigantic war vessels of America, Spain, Italy, and France, a column of stately men-of-war, the chief attraction in the pageant. They moved in three Indian files, the foreigners flanked by the white-hulled vessels of America. On their decks and bridges and in their lookouts were drawn up the various crews, looking like statues at a distance, so impassively did they hold their respective stations. Our flagship Philadelphia, of the White Squadron, was on the right, with her high white hull, and her two yellow smokestacks. The trim despatch vessel Dolphin followed in her wake, and the long, low, dynamite projector Vesuvius, looking like a torpedo boat enlarged, brought up the rear. The place of honor in the centre was given to the French flagship Arethuse, the largest of the foreign contingent, with her triple row of portholes and towering masts, effective for display, and behind her came her mate, the rakish white Huzzard. The Italian flagship, Bausan, is a big, black, stately ship of modern type, which was regarded on all sides with special admiration. The little Spanish cruiser Infanta Isabdl proudly carried the colors of Columbus. On the left was the United States monitor Mian- tonomoh, our coast defender, which looks very much like a floating derrick, and bears promise of deadly work if it should be called into use. She was followed by the graceful Atlanta, one of our earliest group of steel vessels, and the little yacht-like Blake. Behind this majestic craft came the immense flotilla of mer- chant vessels, steamers, yachts, excursion boats, and fire-boats that lent spectacular interest to the scene by spouting great streams of water into the air as they sailed — streams that have force enough to knock down brick walls. From the start to the finish there was no place where the pageant made such an impressive display as between the shores of the incomparable Hudson. It was a picture of the civilization of the nineteenth century, too vast for a painter and inexpressible in words. From the vessels in the procession the spectacle was even more remarkable. No other city in the world has such a stretch of water-front as New York, and the space