=Catskill=, 111 miles from New York, was founded in 1678 by the purchase of several square miles from the Indians.  The landing is immediately above the mouth of the Catskill or Kaaterskill Creek.  It is said that the creek and mountains derive their name as follows:  It is known that each tribe had a totemic emblem, or rude banner; the Mahicans had the wolf as their emblem, and some say that the word Mahican means an enchanted wolf. (The Lenni Lenapes, or Delawares, had the turkey as their totem.) Catskill was the southern boundary of the Mahicans on the west bank, and here they set up their emblem.  It is said from this fact the stream took the name of Kaaterskill.  The large cat or wolf, similar in appearance, forms the mark of King Aepgin on his deed to Van Rensselaer.  Perhaps, however, the mountains at one time abounded in these animals, and the name may be only a coincidence.  The old village, with its main street, lies along the valley of the Catskill Creek, not quite a mile from the Catskill Landing, and preserves some of the features of the days when Knickerbocker was accustomed to pay it an annual visit.  The location seems to have been chosen as a place of security—­out of sight to one voyaging up the river.  The northern slope now reveals fine residences, all of which command extensive views.  Just out of the village proper, on a beautiful outlook, stands the charming Prospect Park Hotel.  The drives and pedestrian routes in the vicinity of Catskill are well condensed by Walton Van Loan, a resident of the village, whose guide to the Catskills is the best on this region and will be of great service to all who would like to understand thoroughly the mountain district.

=The Northern Catskills.=—­The northern and southern divisions have been indicated not so much as mountain divisions, but in order to better emphasize the two routes, which converge from Kingston and Catskill toward each other, drawn by two principal points of attraction, the Catskill Mountain House and the Hotel Kaaterskill.

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Ah! how often when I have been abroad on the mountains has my heart risen in grateful praise to God that it was not my destiny to waste and pine among those noisome congregations of the city.

    John James Audubon.

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=The Catskill Mountain House= has been widely known for almost a century.  The original proprietor had the choice of location in 1823, when the entire range was a vast mountain wilderness, and he made excellent selection for its site.  It seems as if the rocky balcony was especially reared two thousand feet above the valley for a grand outlook and restful resort.  “What can you see,” exclaimed Natty Bumppo, one of Cooper’s favorite characters.  “Why, all the world;” and this is the feeling to-day of everyone looking down from this point upon the Hudson Valley.