the hat-stand. " What! " he said; "you have an Indian god there? " He looked a little closer, as I told him how we had found it. " It is the god of the winds and the birds," he continued — " Mesa- ba-wa-sin." Mesa-ba-wa-sin still presides in spirit and fact over the glen, and his altars are everywhere. The wood- thrush and the vireo sing his praises still, and the wake robins are proxies for his redskin worshippers. There is a pathetic side to the Idlewild days. In many of the cheery, entertaining letters, and increas- ingly toward the last, there is an acknowledgment of illness. The man who wrote them was nearing the end of life, and he knew it. A consumptive, whose work and pleasure alike were frequently interrupted by the setbacks peculiar to that disease; prevented by weakness from participation in many of the activ- ities of life ; feeling the ground slipping from under his feet month by month, Willis uttered no note of de- spondency or alarm. He was like a swimmer striking out for a receding shore and singing till the water over- whelmed him. It is meet that there should be an indissoluble con- nection in the thoughts of readers between his name and that of the little spot of earth that he loved so well and where his last days were spent. Digitized by Microsoft® f "fa* ^ 1 1 fc* 1 O '< a o o mt-''. S Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Fisher's Reach 401 The stream into which Idlewild brook flows and which itself meanders between banks that are a per- petual temptation to the artist, finaUy finds its way to the Hudson under the trestles of a railroad bridge. That is Moodna, Moodua, or Murderer's Creek. The last and least attractive name is, of course, the one on which a tradition depends — the story of the compas- sion of a red man, the steadfast loyalty of a woman, and the lust for blood that has seemed at times an uncontrollable instinct with the Indian. A family named Murdoch Hved near the mouth of the stream and frequently welcomed to their cabin an Indian called Naoman, who showed great friendUness towards them. In some way Murdoch had incurred the hatred of the men of Naoman 's tribe, who resolved to kill the whole family. The faithful friend managed to impart this news, at the same time obtaining a promise that his action should never be betrayed. Murdoch and his family stole away at night and took a boat to escape through the Highlands, but when passing PoUopel's Island a canoe put out and gave chase. Murdoch with his rifle succeeded in kill- ing several of the occupants of the canoe, but was fin- ally overcome, and he, with his wife and children, were carried in triumph to the Indian village. The chief demanded of the wife of Murdoch the name of the one who had warned them, threatening her husband and children with instant death if she withheld it; but the heroic woman refused to answer. Then 26 Digitized by Microsoft® 402 The Hudson River Naoman stepped forward and acknowledged that he was the guilty one. He was immediately struck down, and the savages, rendered furious by the sight of blood; rushed upon the captives and slew them every one, casting their bodies into the creek. A small company of German Palatines, by the fav- our of Queen Anne and under the escort of Governor Lovelace, crossed the ocean in 1 709 and settled where is now the city of Newburgh. Directed by their pas- tor, the able and beloved Kocherthall, they formed a colony which struggled for nearly forty years against the hardships incident to frontier life and the en- croachments of incoming neighbours. At last they abandoned the homes they had made, being greatly dissatisfied, and a majority of them migrated to Penn- sylvania. Incidentally it may be observed that, in spite of their many noble and sterling qualities, the Palatines seem to have been uncomfortable neigh- bours, difficult to please and prone to nourish a sense of injury. The attempt to colonise them in the New Forest in England was a failure, the Newburgh ex- periment was a failure, the settlements at East and West Camps, hereafter to be noticed, were scenes of bewailing and protests against the bad faith of those who had taken them, a band of homeless, penniless exiles, and had spent many thousands of pounds for their transportation and maintenance. For that in- vestment they certainly seemed unwilling to make return. Digitized by Microsoft® ^ s 8 S s is o 5? 9 s £ I Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The Fisher's Reach 405 The