[Frederic Shonnard & W.W. Spooner (1900)] on Manhattan Island. " By this date," he says, " all my boats were ready, viz.: One hundred new ones at Albany (constructed under the direction of General Schuyler), and the like number at Wapping's Creek, by the quartermaster-general; besides old ones, which have been repaired." On the 6th of August he supplemented the grand reconnoissance of the 22d of July by carefully reconnoitering the country from Dobbs Ferry to Yonkers. The following is his own account of this proceed-ing, extracted from his Journal: Reconnoitered the roads and country between the North River and the Bronx, from the Camp to Philipse's, and found the ground everywhere strong; the hills, four in number, run-ning parallel with each other, with deep ravines between them, occasioned by the Sawmill River, the Sprain Branch, and another more easterly. These hills have very few interstices or breaks in them, but are more prominent in some places than others. The Sawmill River and the Sprain Branch occasion an entire separa-tion of the hills above Philipse's from those below, commonly called Valentine's Hills. A strong position might be taken with the Sawmill (by the Widow Babcock's) in front and on the left flank, and this position may be extended from the Sawmill River over the Sprain Branch. On August 14 the anxiously expected message from de Grasse reached Rochambeau and Washington at Dobbs Ferry.