Chapter XV: Letter IV: Park House, Albion, Aug. 20, 1821 (4)

10th. We proceeded with caution, the morning being misty, as there are many sunk trees in the river sometimes. A man we had seen the evening before, came to us and offered to sell his skiff, as he was near his journey's end; I purchased his skiff, and an old iron shovel, for two dollars; Mr. C. bought of him a hand-saw, for thirty-seven and a half cents. As soon as we had paid him, he went off into [the] woods; from that, and other circumstances, we then concluded he had stolen them. Mr. Pemberton took the skiff and followed {78} him on shore, but could see nothing of him. Mr. Pemberton purchased five large melons for half a dollar, but as we had not been accustomed to melons, we could eat but little of them; but after a few days, most of us could eat them without sugar as well as the Americans. We passed Sistersville, a small place of Virginia.[99] The wind being in our favour we made 30 miles.

[99] Sistersville, about thirty-five miles above Marietta, is now the river port for an oil-producing region; "great red oil tanks and smoky refineries are its chiefest glory." See Thwaites, _On the Storied Ohio_ (Chicago, 1903).--ED.

11th. We passed the mouth of the Little Muskingham river, thirty or forty yards wide, but very low. About four miles lower down we anchored at the Great Muskingham, close by the town of Marietta,[100] of about a hundred houses, many of them good brick-buildings. There are, also, between thirty and forty houses on the other side of the Muskingham. Marietta is well situated for trade; but being subject to floods, it does not appear to increase at all rapidly. It contains two meeting-houses, a bank, several taverns, a jail, a stream-mill, and several rope-walks. Ship-building is {79} carried on, on a small scale; some years ago, a ship of a hundred and twenty tons was built here, fit for the sea, although nearly 2000 miles from it by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. The country, between the Great and Little Muskingham, very hilly; but the bottoms, on the Ohio and Great Muskingham, particularly rich land. The latter river runs far across the state of Ohio, from north to south; it is upwards of two hundred yards wide at its mouth. We were informed some English families were settled at the back of Marietta, but we did not see any of them; I have since heard that one of our fellow-passengers in the Resolution is residing there. Mr. Pemberton did not proceed any farther with us, he having business at Marietta. We proceeded four miles, when Mr. Ferris landed, and went to see his mother and brothers, who lived two or three miles back from the river. Whilst he was gone, I landed, with one of my sons, on the Ohio side; we walked a short distance into the {80} country; the soil excellent, but not much of it cultivated. Some apple and peach orchards, containing vast quantities of fruit; there were more peaches than I ever saw before; single trees had bushels on them. In the afternoon we passed the town of Parkersburg, in the state of Virginia, at the mouth of the Little Kenaway, fifty or sixty yards wide.[101] There is a ferry established here. We made 20 miles, and after we anchored we laid in some lines, and caught a cat-fish; it weighed six or seven pounds, and was excellent eating. As they have no scales, they are stripped like eels; they are often taken of a large size; they sometimes weigh a hundred pounds; they take their name from having whiskers like a cat.

[100] For a description of Marietta at the beginning of the century, see A. Michaux's _Travels_, pp. 33, 34, and note 16.--ED.

[101] For the Little Kanawha River, see Croghan's _Journals_, volume i of our series, note 98.

The site of Parkersburg was held under patent by Adam Parker, who in 1817 laid out the town. Incorporated in 1820, it grew but little until the discovery (1864) of petroleum in the immediate vicinity gave it new life, and it is now one of the wealthiest cities in West Virginia.--ED.

12th. Passed the mouth of the Little Hockhocking, near thirty yards wide.[102] The Ohio is here wider than at Wheeling. We passed several islands in the river, some of them cultivated. Generally the houses on the banks were of logs, but there were {81} some good brick and frame ones; some large orchards. We met several keel-boats going up the river, drawn by eight or ten men to one boat; sometimes they push them up the river with long poles, and at other times, when the wind is favourable, make use of a sail. At almost every house we passed on the banks of the river, there was either a skiff or a canoe. We saw some large wild ducks. About noon we passed the mouth of the great Hockhocking river, fifty or sixty yards wide; this river runs through the State of Ohio, between the Scioto and Muskinghum rivers. It is said to be navigable to Athens, forty miles up. I landed and went to a cabin to purchase provisions. The owner told me a bad fever prevailed at Cincinnatti, and cautioned me against going there: being newly settled, he had nothing to spare. In the afternoon we passed the town of Belleville, in Virginia, a very small old place. This evening we anchored on the Ohio side. Some of my {82} family crossed over to the other side, and bought six chickens for 50 cents (2_s._ 3_d._) This day we advanced twenty-five miles; weather extremely hot.

[102] For the historical associations connected with the Hockhocking River, see Croghan's _Journals_, volume i of our series, note 99.--ED.

13th. We were detained some time by anchoring on some rocks over-night, and the water had fallen a few inches in the night; we got out of the boat, and pushed it into deep water. The banks were high and rocky, some of the rocks had the appearance of an old castle. We passed several islands and sand-banks, the current always much brisker near them than where the river is wider. The country more settled at some distance back than on the banks of the river, as it is said to be more healthy. In the afternoon we passed the falls of Letart;[103] these falls are only a sharp run over some rocks for near half a mile; nowise dangerous, even in low water, to those acquainted with the navigation of the river, but to strangers a little so. In high water there is only a sharp run, sometimes hardly perceptible. There is a floating {83} mill on these falls, it had then most of the grist-work; the other mills for many miles standing still for want of water. We could not procure any flour, they being fully employed in grist-work. We afterwards landed at several cabins to get some butter; but there was not any to be had, being almost all new settlers, many of them in the Spring. Seven or eight miles below the falls, we anchored for the night, after making about twenty-six miles.

[103] For Letart's Falls, see Flint's _Letters_, in our volume ix, note 54.--ED.

14th. The moon shining brightly, we started soon after midnight; the banks high and rocky until we passed an island, when the country became more level and open. In the forenoon the country again more hilly, with many veins of pit-coal under the rocks; some of them opened, and some coal lay dug on the sides of the river. In the afternoon we passed the mouth of the Great Kenhaway; there are some salt-works on this river, and much salt is sent from thence to many towns on the Ohio.[104] This river comes from the south, through {84} part of Virginia. Point Pleasant is situated near the Big Kenhaway; it is a small town, and does not appear to flourish.[105] A great battle was fought here when it was first settled, between the Americans and Indians, in which neither party had much cause for triumph. About four miles below we came to the town of Galliopolis, in Ohio.[106] It is pleasantly situated on a high bank that is never overflowed. This town was first settled by a colony of French, in 1790; but having bought their land of speculators, their titles were not so good as they wished, and some of them left it; but many of the inhabitants are still French and other Europeans, and some Americans. It contains two places of public-worship, a post-office, a large court-house, a printing-office, a market-house, some good stores and taverns, and about a hundred houses of brick, frame, and log. On a green of good land, near the town, a motley flock of sheep was feeding; many of them had a rotten appearance. I was told they {85} belonged to the inhabitants, who kept them in common. The green on which they were was good sound land; but as they had free access to the river-banks, they often fed on herbage that was frequently under water. I was much pleased with the situation of Galliopolis; more so than with any place I had seen west of the Allegany Mountains. We made thirty-two or three miles; the heat intense, with a little rain in the evening.

[104] The manufacture of salt in the Kanawha Valley, for more than half a century its leading industry, is now a thing of the past. The Salt or Great Buffalo Lick on the Kanawha River, near the mouth of Campbell's Creek, was visited in succession by buffaloes, Indians, and pioneers to obtain salt. As early as 1797 a certain Elisha Brooks began in a crude way to manufacture salt, but it was first established as a profitable industry by the Ruffner brothers in 1808. In 1817 coal was substituted for wood as fuel. At that time there were about thirty furnaces and fifteen or twenty wells in operation, producing between 600,000 and 700,000 bushels annually. The maximum of prosperity was reached about 1850, when the output was 3,000,000 bushels for the year.--ED.

[105] For the Great Kanawha River and the battle of Point Pleasant, see Croghan's _Journals_, volume i of our series, note 101.--ED.

[106] For an account of the settlement of Gallipolis, see F. A. Michaux's _Travels_, volume iii of our series, pp. 182-185, and note 34.--ED.

15th. Started by moon-light and got six or seven miles by day-light, and four or rather more afterwards; till the wind being against us, we anchored on the Virginia side. I landed, and went through the woods to a poor log-cabin; but could get no provisions or fruit. The inhabitants looked extremely miserable; they had a female negro-slave, that appeared to do what little was done. The soil very rich; but little of it cultivated, and that little very badly. The trees in the woods I passed through were sycamore, ash, honey-locust, {86} poplar, buck-eye, black walnut, beech, and sugar-maple, &c. Many of the trees were overrun with grape vines. The black walnut and sugar-maple trees were larger than any I had before noticed. Most of the sugar-maple trees had places chopped in them to let out the sap, instead of being tapped. Many of the troughs that were used last Spring were still remaining under the trees. After dinner the wind shifted, and we proceeded for a short time; but a thunder-storm coming on we again anchored, as do most of the flat boats or arks, for fear of being driven on shore, as the wind is generally high at the commencement of a tempest. We had but little wind or rain, and therefore again proceeded. We passed an ark sunk in the river, and also the Little Guyandot river, forty yards wide; and then went over a very rapid part of the river. After dark we anchored on the Virginia side, with a store-boat and a light ark that contained a rather numerous family of English from {87} the neighbourhood of Manchester, going, like ourselves, to look for a home in the western country. The master of the store-boat was also a fellow-countryman; he had been settled a short time at Marrietta, but now purposed going further westward. He had freighted his boat with store-goods and fruit, to pay his expenses down the Ohio. He intended settling in the neighbourhood of Cincinnatti, or of going down to the State of Indiana. He said that, in April last, near a thousand boats of different descriptions passed Marietta going westward; most of them with emigrants, and but few of them Europeans, it being too early for them to come from Europe, Spring being generally the season they leave their native countries. We almost daily saw boats with Europeans, chiefly from England or Ireland. Numerous skiffs had passed us since we left Wheeling, and we afterwards saw many more. The wind being against us, we only advanced about twenty-four miles. Weather much colder.

{88} 16th. Started two hours before sun-rise; the hills lower, and lay farther back from the river. We passed the mouth of the Great Guyandot,[107] and the town of Bordenton, a small place which is situated near it. At dusk we passed Big Sandy river, 200 yards wide, it rises in the Allegany Mountains, and runs east and north-east, separating the States of Virginia and Kentucky for more than 200 miles. This day we made twenty-six miles.

[107] The Guyandotte River rises in Logan County, West Virginia, and flowing northwestward for about one hundred and fifty miles, joins the Ohio a few miles above the Kentucky line.--ED.

17th. Towards noon we reached Greenup, in Kentucky, a small place;[108] here we staid some hours to get our pump repaired. Here I conversed with a native of Kent, who had resided fourteen years in America, three or four of which he had spent at this place. He said he was doing well in his business as a cabinet-maker and carpenter. He informed me much confusion prevailed here in regard to the titles of land, owing to the lots having been entered without the boundaries of each individual being distinctly marked out; so that land was often {89} claimed by two or more individuals.[109] Indeed disputes frequently occur in the old States of America, in regard to the titles of land, as the first settlers often took it without any title. Others obtained grants for a certain space from some river, or other given mark; but as the country was but little known at the time of these grants, they often clash with each other, and many boundaries yet remain to be settled. In the greater part of the new States the country is first surveyed, and then laid out in sections of a mile square; but this I shall mention hereafter. We left this place late in the afternoon, and anchored a few miles below, on the Ohio side. We ran twenty-two or three miles. Weather temperate.

[108] Greenup, the seat of the county of that name, is seventy-two miles above Maysville. It was incorporated in 1818, and named in honor of Governor Greenup.

Christopher Greenup, born in Virginia, about 1750, served throughout the Revolutionary War, and in 1783 came to Kentucky to practice law. He was elected a member of Congress (1792), and in 1804 governor of Kentucky. At the expiration of his gubernatorial term, he represented Franklin County in the legislature, continuing in public life until his death, in 1818.--ED.

[109] For further information on this point, see Flint's _Letters_, volume ix of our series, note 89.--ED.

18th. Passed the Little Sciota, a small stream of Ohio. At noon we reached the town of Portsmouth, in Ohio, at the mouth of the Big Sciota;[110] a considerable stream, said to be navigable upwards of two hundred miles towards the north. Portsmouth {90} is an improving place, containing a court-house, a bank, several good taverns and stores, with more than one hundred houses, many of them of brick: we could get but few provisions here. Alexandria is situated opposite, on the other side of the Sciota; it is a small place. We found change at these towns very scarce; what there was, was mostly cut-money; that is, when change is wanted they often cut dollars, half-dollars, and quarter-dollars, into smaller pieces, with an axe or chisel; and some of them are so expert and _honest_, as to make five quarters out of a dollar. We advanced twenty-two or three miles this day.

[110] For the early history connected with the Scioto River, see Croghan's _Journals_, volume i of our series, note 102.--ED.

19th. We passed a very swift riffle without any danger. About three miles farther on, we were in danger of losing our boat on Twin Riffle, by not going towards the Kentucky side soon enough; but by hard rowing, we got over with only five or six inches to spare. These riffles are occasioned by the water's running rapidly over {91} a rough hard bottom; they resemble the Falls, only they are much less. We saw many wild ducks while passing this riffle; I believe they often feed on these sharp runs, as I noticed they generally frequented them. A little below, we saw three hunters with several dogs; they had just killed a fine young deer in the river, and were skinning it on the bank. We bought a hind-quarter, it weighed fifteen or sixteen pounds, for 50 cents, (2_s._ 3_d._) sterling. The quarter was as much as we could consume while good, the weather being so extremely hot, or we might have had the whole deer for a dollar. In the afternoon we passed a bad riffle, called Bush Riffle, opposite a creek of the same name. This riffle was full of sunk logs, that made it difficult to pass, as the river was so low; at high water these riffles are not perceptible. We passed Salt Creek, Ohio. Some saline-works here; also a small town, of which I did not learn the name. As we floated after dark, the ark got stuck on a sand-bank, {92} in the middle of the river; but some of us getting out into the water, we pushed it off, and then anchored on the Ohio side.

This day we made about twenty-six miles, according to the "Pittsburg Navigator,"[111] also by our pilot's account; but I believe the Ohio has never been surveyed or measured, except that on the Ohio side the land has been surveyed and laid out into sections, from the upper part of the State of Ohio to the mouth of the Ohio river. But the lines running north and south, and east and west, make many small fractions on the edge of the river that have never been measured very correctly, so as to know the exact length of it. We often went in a very circular direction; much more so than the banks; and as the river is full half a mile wide, we sometimes stood nearly right across it, as an ark is difficult to keep out of the current, should it get too near it when the draught is strong. Thus the measurement of the {93} banks of this river cannot be accurate, in the distance it takes to navigate it.

[111] For the Pittsburg _Navigator_, see Cuming's _Tour_, volume iv of our series, note 43.--ED.

20th. Passed the Manchester Islands;[112] and a little below a town of the same name, a small place of about thirty houses. Two of our company landed, opposite the islands, on the Kentucky side. A woman, where they went for milk, gave them some peaches, nearly ripe; she told them they had only apples and peaches for their pigs, a hundred and forty in number. She said they did not get fat on this diet, nor did they expect them to thrive much till the beech-masts fell. Beech the prevailing timber, except on the banks of the river; there mostly sycamore, water-maple, and willows. In the afternoon we reached the town of Maysville, in Kentucky;[113] it is frequently called Limestones, from a small creek of that name that here empties itself into the Ohio. Maysville is a considerable place, and enjoys a good trade with the back country. It lies high; but part of it is subject to floods from the {94} creek. Much good building going forward. A large ferry-boat, worked by horses, plies between Maysville and a small town opposite; it takes over passengers, horses, carriages, and stock; as a road on the opposite side takes most of the land-travellers through the state of Ohio,[114] that cross so low down as this place. We sent a letter from here, that reached Godalming, in Surrey, in fifty-seven days; but letters from England are usually three months in reaching the Prairies, and sometimes much longer. This day twenty miles: the weather sultry, with much thunder, but no rain. The river falling very fast.

[112] In 1790, Nathaniel Massie, the surveyor of the Virginia military tract, who played so prominent a part in early Ohio history, contracted with twenty-one Kentuckians to settle a town which he would lay out on his land along the Ohio River. The following year a stockade was built on the mainland, ten miles above Maysville, and one of the three islands opposite was cleared and planted with corn. He called the settlement Manchester, but for years it was known in Kentucky and Ohio as Massie's Station.--ED.

[113] For the early history of Maysville, see A. Michaux's _Travels_, volume iii of our series, note 23.--ED.

[114] This road was Zane's trace. See Cuming's _Tour_, volume iv of our series, note 135.--ED.

21st. Passed Ripley, a new town of Ohio: it seems likely to thrive.[115] A gentleman who had joined us at Maysville, and my eldest son, went on shore near this place. My son purchased two quarts of milk, for which they charged him 25 cents: he demanded his money again, and offered to return the milk; this they refused; {95} he then gave them, as he called it, a good _blowing up_, and came on board in a very bad humour, not being at all pleased with his bargain.

[115] Ripley, in Brown County, fifty-five miles above Cincinnati, was platted about the year 1812 by Colonel James Poage of Virginia. It continued to thrive in a mild way; twenty years after Woods's visit the inhabitants numbered about seven hundred.--ED.

We afterwards passed a small place, on the Ohio side, of only seven or eight houses, although laid out before Ripley. In the afternoon we passed the town of Augusta in Kentucky; it appears a flourishing place.[116] It was built to rival Maysville in the back-country trade, and it is likely to come in for a full share of it, as the roads are said to be much better than in the rear of Maysville. A considerable deal of land brought into cultivation in its neighbourhood: some round hills cleared quite to their tops, and planted with Indian corn, the growth of which seemed to bespeak a good soil. These hills have a fine appearance from the river. In the evening we passed the town of Mechanicsburg (Ohio), a small place, mostly of log-houses. At dark we anchored on {96} the Kentucky side; our progress twenty-five or six miles.

[116] For a brief account of Augusta, see Flint's _Letters_, volume ix of our series, note 69.--ED.

22d. Much rain during the night; and as the ark was far from being weather-proof, we got very wet in our beds. At noon we anchored near the towns of Richmond[117] and Susanna (Ohio); they are rising places, containing several taverns and stores. A great deal of land round these towns laid down in grass: the soil rich. But few gardens, and these much neglected; the weeds seven or eight feet high, and completely concealed the vegetables. This day we only made thirteen or fourteen miles, and anchored on the Kentucky side. The weather much colder. After we got to bed, two men and a boy came close to us, and began fishing, by torch-light, striking the fish with a gig, or grig, like a dung-prong, with barbed points: I believe they had also some hooks and lines over the sides of their canoe. After fishing about two hours, they anchored, and hung their fish over the {97} side of their canoe, and went on shore and made a fire to dry themselves; then spreading some small boughs under a tree, they laid down till daylight.

[117] On the founding of New Richmond, consult Flint's _Letters_, volume ix of our series, note 70.--Ed.

23d. At dawn the fishers offered us some cat-fish, of between thirty and forty pounds weight each, for 25 cents a piece, but as we had a store of provisions we did not purchase any. They then started for Cincinnatti with their fish. At sun-rise we also proceeded, the wind much against us. After going four miles we passed a large steam-boat a-ground, and had been for some time, and must so remain till the water should rise three or four feet; this did not occur till after Christmas. Soon after we passed a new town, of a few houses, its name I did not learn. We then went over some sand-bars where the water was very shallow; the wind rising, we put in close to the Kentucky side, where the water was deeper, and most of us going on shore, we hauled our boat along, with a towing line, for about two miles. We passed the town {98} of Columbus, at the mouth of the Little Miami.[118] This river crosses the state of Ohio, from the north, and is sometimes upwards of 100 yards wide. Columbus is a small old place, with but few good buildings. Late in the afternoon we reached the city of Cincinnatti; and, with great difficulty, anchored close to four steam-boats that were laid up, the water being too shallow for them to go up and down the river. We had about 14,000 lbs. weight of store goods, on board the ark, to be left at this place. Cincinnatti is the capital of the state of Ohio,[119] and is situated in the richest part of the state, seven miles below the Little Miami, and twenty miles above the Great Miami. Much of the country, between these rivers, brought into culture for a considerable distance from the Ohio; and land sells very high, from five to a 100 dollars per acre. The city is extensive and the buildings are increasing. It is a noble looking town, by far the best I have seen in the western country. It is built on {99} ground rising to a great height from the river. The streets cross each other at right angles. It has several large woollen and cotton manufactories; some glass and iron-works, also a steam-mill, built on a limestone rock, close to the water; the walls of this noble mill are of stone; it contains nine stories, and is upwards of a 100 feet high. The machinery is said to be good, and will manufacture 700 barrels of flour weekly, that is, upwards of 500 sacks. It is represented to have cost 120,000 dollars, or 27,000_l._ sterling in erecting.

[118] This was Columbia, not Columbus. It was the first settlement in the Symmes Purchase, Major Stiles of Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and twenty-five others having established a blockhouse there in 1789. For several years it rivalled Cincinnati in importance.--ED.

[119] Cincinnati was no longer the capital. Columbus, then a complete wilderness, was in 1812 made the capital by legislative enactment. For the early history of Cincinnati, see Cuming's _Tour_, volume iv of our series, note 166.--ED.

The streets of Cincinnatti are very wide; and the stores well stocked with European, East and West Indian, and American merchandize, but in general dear. Articles of dress are much dearer than at Baltimore; yet the principal inhabitants are very gay in their appearance, particularly the ladies, who are equally so with those of London. But the females of the middle and lower orders, though gaily dressed, often go without shoes and stockings; indeed, most of the {100} females in the western country go without them, at least in the summer, and some of the English women, of the lower class, follow their example.

Trade very dull and paper credit extremely low, the banks issue notes as low as 6¼ cents, less than 3½_d._; but these notes are far from being current with strangers, nor were the large ones in good credit, being much below the value of state notes or specie. No copper money to be seen here. There are two large market houses, one in the upper, and one in the lower part of the town; there is a daily market held alternately at one of them. It was the upper market day when we were there; it was well supplied, and most articles were good and cheap, but the tradesmen perfect Jews in their dealings. Meat from 6 to 10 cents per pound; bacon from 8 to 12½ cents a pound; flour from 4 to 5 dollars per barrel, of 196 lbs., average less than 6_s._ a bushel; very fine peaches for 6¾_d._ per peck; melons in vast quantities, both sweet and {101} water, the latter of immense size, weighing from ten to twenty pounds each, for 6¾_d._ Poultry and eggs very reasonable.

The number of inhabitants supposed to be upwards of 12,000, from every part of the Union, and from most of the countries of Europe. Many English, Irish, and Scotch amongst them. I heard of some being there, that I knew, but I did not see any of them. There is a ferry-boat, worked by horses, between Cincinnatti and the towns of Newport and Coverly;[120] these towns, in Kentucky, lie opposite to Cincinnatti, and are separated from each other by the mouth of the Licking; a considerable stream, of Kentucky, during the winter, but very low in dry weather. The streets of these towns are laid out to correspond with those of Cincinnatti, so that at the upper part of the city you see the streets of Newport and Coverly, without perceiving the river between them, and thus the whole appears but one town.

[120] Newport was platted by the proprietor, General James Taylor, about 1791, and upon the organization of Campbell County was incorporated (1795) and made the county seat. In 1803 the United States government established an arsenal at the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers; it consisted of a two-story brick armory, a magazine, and wooden barracks sufficient for the reception of two or three regiments, the whole being enclosed with a stockade. General Taylor emigrated to Kentucky (1791) from Caroline County, Virginia. In the War of 1812-15, he was quartermaster-general of the Northwestern army, and was present with Hull at the surrender of Detroit, but refused to assist in drawing up the articles of capitulation.

Until 1815, the mouth of the Licking below Newport was known as Kennedy's Ferry. In that year Covington was established by legislative enactment, and named in honor of General Covington.--ED.

There is a fort at Newport, with an {102} arsenal of arms, and a magazine for gun-powder; and a garrison of the states' troops are kept here in case of a war with the Indians, as the Indian territories are within 100 miles to the north. We saw some of these troops, they were good looking; their uniform blue.

Newport contains some good houses, and near it there is a large building, in the castle style, belonging to General Taylor, the proprietor of the town.

Coverly is newly laid out, the building but just begun: these two towns may contain about 100 houses.

24th. In the afternoon, having laid in a few provisions for our voyage, we prepared to go off, but found some _honest_ person had made free with the oars belonging to our skiff, and also with a skiff belonging to some person of Cincinnatti. We saw two men go off, about 10 o'clock the night before, with a skiff, but supposed it belonged to them, nor did we know they had borrowed our oars; but this did not detain us {103} long, as we made some more with some boards we had on board. We went about eight miles, and then anchored on the Ohio side of the river. I found myself troubled with very bad boils, that continued for several days; in other respects I was in perfect health, as was the whole of our party. The gentleman, who joined us at Maysville, left us at Cincinnatti.

25th. We passed the mouth of the Big Miami, a considerable stream of Ohio, the boundary between that state and Indiana, at least at its mouth; as a meridian line runs from the middle of the mouth of this river north, to a parallel line, from the south end of Lake Michigan. This river is 200 yards wide at its mouth, and is navigable for a considerable distance up the country. We saw a waggon with four horses, also six or seven men and women fording it, the water up to their middles, and the current so strong they could hardly stand against it. We passed Petersburg,[121] a small place in Kentucky, and also a little {104} town of Indiana, its name unknown to us. We only made 20 miles. Mr. C. shot two turkey-buzzards at one shoot. These birds are of great utility in a warm climate, as they live on carrion; and should you see several of these birds hovering about, you may be certain something is dead near. I understand, that on the Mississippi river, people are liable to a fine of several dollars for killing one of them. Nor is there any temptation to destroy them, having so strong a scent as scarcely to be bearable, and any thing only just touching them retains a very strong smell for some time. The quills of their wings are larger than those of a goose, and too hard to write with.

[121] The present site of Petersburg, twenty-two miles below Covington, was for many years known as Tanner's Station, being settled by and named after Reverend John Tanner, the first Baptist preacher resident in that part of Kentucky. It has not become a place of any size or importance.--ED.

The hills on the river lower with round tops. Some tobacco on the Kentucky side, but none on the other; it is never cultivated on an extensive scale except in the slave states. In the free states cotton and tobacco are only raised for home consumption.

{105} 26th. We passed Lories Island, and afterwards a small town of Kentucky; its name we did not learn. The river banks much lower, and the bottoms much wider, as the hills were further back. Not many houses on the banks. We saw some wild ducks, woodpeckers, and snipes. We advanced twenty-two miles; weather warm.

27th. The country less cultivated. About noon we landed at Fredericksburg, in Kentucky, a place of about forty log-houses; we purchased some butter at eighteen cents per pound. At dusk we passed the Kentucky, a river of the state of the same name, and navigable some distance up the country. After dark we passed Vevay and New Switzerland,[122] and soon after got stuck on a sand bank; some of us got into the water and turned the ark round, and then we floated off again, and about midnight anchored. This day, twenty-five miles. I regretted passing Vevay after it was dark, as I much wished to land to inspect the vineyards belonging to a Swiss colony settled {106} there, who cultivate the vine on a considerable scale, in the manner of their native country. In the twilight we had a glimpse of their vineyards, but too far off to see much of them. I have since learnt that a few Swiss emigrants settled at New Switzerland in 1805, and in 1810 they had eight acres planted with vines, and in full bearing, and from which they made two thousand four hundred gallons of wine, then said to be very good. Since that time their vineyards are considerably extended, but their wine of an inferior quality. They also cultivate wheat, Indian corn, hemp, and flax. They are represented to be a sober, industrious people, and much respected in the country. They speak the French language, most of them having come from the frontiers adjoining France.

[122] For the Swiss settlement at Vevay, see Bradbury's _Travels_, volume v of our series, note 164.--ED.

28th. We landed at Port William,[123] Kentucky, a small place, and procured some very excellent bread. As we proceeded slowly I landed on the Indiana side, and went to two or three cottages; at one of {107} them I got a peck of fine peaches, for which the inhabitants would not take any money. They were hardly ripe, but made very good puddings; as the settlements were new, none of the trees were six years old. At one cabin a man showed me a tree on which there was then growing at least a bushel of peaches; he had planted the stone from which this tree sprung in the spring of 1816. We landed at a cabin in Indiana, where there were a few vines cultivated after the Swiss method; viz. in rows about six feet each way, and tied up to a stick four or five feet high. I was told their appearance promised a productive crop, but a heavy shower of rain prevented my examining them. The soil was rich, but very broken. Only made sixteen miles; the weather showery, and much colder.

[123] Port William, now Carrollton, is situated at the mouth of the Kentucky River. In 1789-90, General Scott built a blockhouse at that point, which was occupied until 1792, when the town of Port William was laid out.--ED.

29th. Early in the morning we reached the town of Madison in Indiana,[124] capital of the county of Jefferson, of sixty or seventy houses, a mixture of brick, frame, and log; {108} it has a steam-mill, &c. The country less settled, and on the banks a much less number of horses, cows, sheep, pigs, geese, &c. to be seen. This day we made thirty miles or upwards.

[124] For the early history of Madison, Indiana, see Flint's _Letters_, volume ix of our series, note 128.--ED.

30th. Both sides of the river more hilly, and but little land brought into culture. In the forenoon we passed an island eighteen or twenty miles above Louisville; the river much wider, the banks lower, with but little space between them and the hills. We passed another island twelve miles above Louisville, and, after sun-set, anchored opposite a small town of Indiana.

Many new places are continually springing up on the bank, and numbers of them soon go to decay, having nothing to recommend them except the opinion of the proprietors. These are often a set of speculators, who purchase land and attempt to puff it off as one of the best spots in the western country; in short, in the whole world. A speculator like those is a nuisance wherever he sets his foot.

{109} 31st. Passed six mile islands; keeping between them we got sight of Louisville, which at that distance had a fine appearance. We could see far beyond it, as the country below the falls is very flat for many miles. The wind rising, we anchored four miles above it, and some of us went to it by land. Louisville is a considerable town of Kentucky, at the head of the Falls of the Ohio.[125] Many boats unload here for the back country, others stop here to get a pilot to take them over the Falls, and sometimes at low water to get part of their lading carried by land to below the Falls. It possesses some manufactories, and is a place of considerable trade, and with the exception of Cincinnatti, is by far the best town I have seen in the western country. It is seven hundred and six miles by water from Pittsburg, and by the course of the river near fourteen hundred miles from New Orleans. The river, opposite Louisville, is a mile wide, being bent back by an island and a chain of rocks that runs {110} through the river. These rocks are the cause of the Falls, as they pen back the water about twenty-two feet above the level of the flat country below. The town of Jeffersonville lies opposite,[126] on the Indiana side, and many boats stop there for a pilot. We did not visit it, but we were informed it was an elegant place, of a hundred and forty houses.

[125] Consult Croghan's _Journals_, in volume i of our series, note 106, for the history of Louisville.--ED.

[126] A brief account of Jeffersonville may be found in Flint's _Letters_, volume ix of our series, note 80.--ED.

The best boat channel to pass the Falls is on the Indiana side, it is called the Indian shoot; the next is called the middle, and the other the Kentuckian shoot; the last was dry when we were there. In high water they may all be passed without danger, but in a dry season, as when we passed, it requires a skilful pilot, and even then is attended with some danger. Some English from Puttenham in Surrey, near Godalming, passed these Falls during the night in a small skiff, without perceiving any of them, the water being then very high. In the morning they enquired how far they had to the Falls, and could hardly {111} be persuaded they had passed them. There is an opposition between the towns of Louisville and Jeffersonville, as to making a canal for vessels to pass the Falls by the means of locks, each wanting it on their side, as most of the traffic would of course be on that side where the canal was.

As we returned to our boat, we passed the stump of a sycamore, lately cut, that three feet from the ground measured eleven feet one way and ten feet the other; the tree was gone, so we could not ascertain the length of it, but the trees on the banks were of an immense size. In the evening we anchored within a mile of Louisville. Made only seven miles; weather very warm.

Sept. 1st. Early in the morning we anchored at the mouth of Bear Grass Creek, that joins the Ohio on the upper side of Louisville. The store goods were here unloaded, to the amount of ten thousand pounds weight. I purchased the ark of Mr. Ferris for twenty-five dollars, and {112} hired two men for eighteen dollars and their board, to take us to Shawnestown, in Illinois, a distance of near three hundred miles. One man was an Englishman, the other a Scotchman. Having trimmed our boat, we expected to go over the Falls in the evening, but the pilot having another boat to take over first, he did not return till too late for us to go over, so we remained at Louisville all night. We purchased a few articles for our voyage, but we should have done better, if we had bought more at Cincinnatti, instead of afterwards doing it at Shawnestown; but the difference was not very material. The heat very oppressive, and in the evening, for the first time, we were annoyed by mosquitoes. We saw great quantities of rats; the quay where we lay was much infested with them. They were most likely brought from Europe, as they are the same as the English rat. I have not seen one at the Prairies, but there being plenty on the Ohio; and I suppose on the Wabash, {113} most likely we shall soon receive a visit from them.

2d. Soon after sun-rise our boat proceeded to go over the Falls. Mr. Ferris was so kind as to go with it; Mr. C. and my eldest son also went. We hired two more men, besides the two going to Shawneetown, as our boat drew twelve inches of water, and there were only fifteen or sixteen inches for some distance over the Falls in the middle, and less, if ever so little on either side. The rest of us walked to below the Falls. They rowed the ark some distance up the stream on the Kentucky side, and they then crossed into the middle shoot, and proceeded to Shippingport, a small town of Kentucky, at the end of the Falls.[127] They passed them with perfect safety, except that the rocks cut the rope of the skiff by which it was tied to the ark, and it was lost on them. We breakfasted at Shippingport, in company with Mr. Ferris, with whom we settled all accompts; he then took leave of us, and {114} returned to Louisville on foot, purposing to walk to Wheeling. It is but justice to Mr. Ferris to say, he was very obliging during the time he was with us, and most attentive to the care of the boat and the store goods committed to his charge.

[127] For the early history of Shippingport, consult Cuming's _Tour_, volume iv of our series, note 171.--ED.

We started, and soon passed an island where we got a hard rap on some rocks; we now found we had lost our pilot with Mr. Ferris; both our new men were much intoxicated, and this they most times continued to be afterwards, whenever they could get liquor; Thomas, the Englishman, in particular. We landed at New Albany,[128] a small town of Indiana, and procured a few provisions which were short at Louisville and Shippingport, and at every other place we touched at till we reached Shawneetown, most of the bacon, pork, &c. having been sent off to New Orleans in the spring. We came thirteen or fourteen miles. In the evening the mosquitoes were very troublesome.

[128] A note on the settlement of New Albany is given in Hulme's _Journal_, _ante_, note 15.--ED.

3d. We found our ark had sprung {115} a leak from hitting on the rocks yesterday, so that we were obliged to be frequently pumping. The country below New Albany less settled than above, but most on the Indiana side.[129] At noon we passed Salt river; it crosses Kentucky from north to south, and in a wet season, at least, it is navigable a good distance. We afterwards passed Otter creek, and found the country more cultivated; and at dusk, Doe creek; our progress thirty miles. We purchased at Louisville "The Pittsburg Navigator," to serve instead of a pilot. We found much difference, in regard to distances, between the book and the accounts we received on the river; but the directions respecting sand-banks and islands we found pretty correct; and these were of some use to us.

[129] Salt River, Kentucky, rises in Mercer County, and flowing northward and then westward, enters the Ohio at West Point, twenty miles below Louisville. Fifteen miles from its mouth, it receives a branch nearly as large as itself, called the Rolling Fork.--ED.

4th. At ten o'clock, we reached the town of Northampton, in Indiana; a place of twenty-five or thirty log-houses. We landed for some whiskey; for our men would do nothing without, and but little with too {116} much of it. The river narrower than above Louisville, and the current brisker; this was generally the case where the river was narrow, as by islands, sand-banks, &c. In the evening we passed Little Blue river and two islands. Thirty miles this day.

5th. At nine o'clock we passed the Big Blue river, sixty or seventy yards wide; it rises in the north of Indiana, and runs south and south east, till it enters the Ohio, eighty-seven miles below Louisville. The country much resembles that below Wheeling, rocky, and the hills close to the river, first on one side then on the other. We landed at several cabins to procure provisions, but found them very scarce, most of the settlements being new. We met a keel-boat, the people on board greatly in want of provisions; they applied to us, but our stock was too low to supply them with any. At dark we passed Flint island, without any difficulty; this is said to be a bad place. We made about thirty miles.

6th. At nine o'clock we reached Rome, {117} the capital of Perry county,[130] a town of Indiana, laid out in 1818; about twenty houses built, and building; a stone jail begun, the second floor laid with solid logs, ten or twelve inches thick, the roof not put on. We purchased sixteen pounds of very lean beef for a dollar; it was killed the evening before, and salted immediately, yet such was the heat of the weather it was scarcely eatable. No bacon, pork, or vegetables to be procured. A garden is the last thing that is thought of by the generality of the Americans. We landed at several cabins and procured a few small potatoes, and some ears of green Indian corn, (here called roasting ears,) but we boiled them; they ate something like green peas, but not quite so good. We bought an old skiff for a dollar, to supply the place of the one we lost on the Falls. Our progress nearly seventeen miles.

[130] This town, a hundred miles below Louisville, was settled in 1808 by two pioneers named William Taylor and Joseph Wright. For many years it was the seat of Perry County, but in half a century did not acquire more than two hundred inhabitants.--ED.

7th. We started at sun-rise, as we generally did, but the wind was so much against us we were obliged to anchor at eight {118} o'clock, at Clover creek. We landed in Indiana, and got near a bushel of peaches for ten-pence. Here we saw some children setting off to school; one boy came to the cabin to light his segar, that he might take a whiff going along to school. The men smoke segars, and many of the women (at least the married ones) pipes; we frequently saw women nursing their children with pipes in their mouths. And we often saw them washing on the banks of the rivers, as there is plenty of drift-wood. It saves the trouble of carrying fuel and water; and it is colder on the banks of rivers than near their cabins. Most of the women were surrounded by a number of young children; indeed, the first thing that strikes a traveller on the Ohio is the immense number of children, many of them almost naked. They do not appear healthy; but they look happy, rolling in the water and dirt. We often saw very little boys swimming in the river, sometimes leading others that could not walk: thus {119} the dread of water wears off while they are very young: I never heard of any of these children being drowned.

At ten o'clock we again set forward till two o'clock, when we passed Doe creek; the wind still getting higher, we anchored till near sun-set, when we again floated on. We found it was often the case for the wind to rise or sink with the sun; and that it was almost always from the south, south west, or west; and very seldom from the north, or east; and as the Ohio runs towards the south west, it was but seldom in our favour. And from what I have heard and read, the wind is generally the same as we found it; and this is the reason why vessels are so long descending the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, at least in low water. At high water they descend much more rapidly, as the current is then a great deal swifter, and the wind makes but little difference. But vessels with sails, often proceed as quickly up the Ohio as those do that float down; so that the advantage that is lost one way is {120} gained the other. This day only seven miles.