Chapter I (2)

William Henry Swift, of Massachusetts, was of mixed Puritan and
Huguenot stock. His father was an army surgeon, and a brother,
General Joseph Gardner Swift, was the first graduate of West
Point. William himself entered the military academy when but
thirteen years of age (1813), and as his class graduated during
his absence on Long's expedition, he was, under date of July 1,
1819, promoted to a lieutenancy in the artillery corps. The map
of the country explored by the expedition was prepared by him.
His later career was notable--he was engaged especially on coast
improvements, fortifications, railroads, and canals; to him more
than to any one else is attributed the success of the Illinois
and Michigan canal. His collection of papers relative to the
latter was, upon his death, presented to the Chicago Historical
Society.--ED.

[002] Allegheny arsenal is on the Pittsburg side of Allegheny
River, opposite the upper end of McCullough's Island. The
grounds lie between Thirty-ninth and Fortieth streets. The
site was purchased in 1814; a wall inclosing the grounds was
completed in 1829. The arsenal was for many years used in the
manufacture of war materials, a force of twelve hundred men
being employed there during the War of Secession. Since 1868
it has been used as a military post, and as a quartermaster's
depot. There were recently (1904) discovered there the principal
documents relating to the equipment of the Lewis and Clark
expedition, which was largely outfitted therefrom.--ED.

[003] Caprimulgus vociferus.--JAMES.

[004] _Triton lateralis._ SAY.--_Body_ and extremity above
brown, with irregular black spots; _tail_ much compressed,
subacutely edged above and beneath, lanceolate; a black vitta
from the nostrils passes through the eyes, and is dilated on the
sides, and becomes obsolete on the tail; a vertebral indented
line, from the neck to the origin of the caudal carina, more
faintly indented on the head; _head_ somewhat rectilineary
attenuated from the anterior branchia, to the vicinity of the
nostril, and truncate or subemarginate before; _nostrils_
minute; _eyes_ very small, whitish, crossed with the lateral
line of the head; _beneath_ pale flesh-colour; _chin_ and _jaws_
to the branchia, and _tail_ from the posterior feet, with the
exception of the areola of the anus, coloured like the back;
_mouth_ moderate, angles beneath the eyes; _lips_ covering
the jaws freely, inferior lip with a duplicature each side,
which is white and covered by the superior lip; _tongue_ free,
fleshy, rounded, extending beyond the angles of the mouth;
_teeth_, lower jaw in a single row, obtusely conic, small,
rather distant; a few smaller ones near the angle, elevated on
a slightly prominent portion of the jaw; _superior jaw_, with
a double series of teeth similar to the others, but rather
smaller, an unarmed depression corresponding with the elevation
in the lower jaw, and a few elevated teeth nearer the angle;
_throat_ with a duplicated cuticle; branchiæ permanent. Legs
short, weak, four-toed.

Total length 10 inches, from the tip of the nose to the vent,
6-1/2 inches.

We caught this animal with the hook and line in the neighbourhood
of Pittsburgh, but it is by no means so common there as the
Salamandra Alleghaniensis of Michaux, or young alligator.

The colour above is in reality pale, but it is rendered of a
brownish appearance by the very numerous confluent points of
that colour, which nearly cover the surface of the body;
branchia bright red; peduncles colour of the body. Daudin
informs us, that Schneider, in his history of Amphibia,
describes an animal very similar to this, found in Lake
Champlain, and which Daudin supposes to be the larva of
_Triton Alleghaniensis_; Daudin, however, is of the opinion,
that the hind feet were mutilated, from the circumstance of
their having only four toes.

The late Professor B. S. Barton had heard of this animal, and
from the account he received, was led to regard it as a Siren.

Finally, Dr. Mitchell has autoptically described the animal,
in the 4th vol. of Silliman's Journal, as a Proteus.

Not supposing the _lateralis_ to belong, strictly speaking, to
either of these genera, and with a view to ascertain its real
nature, we obtained permission from the Academy of Natural
Science, to open a specimen belonging to their cabinet, and
which was brought from the Ohio by Mr. J. Speakman. The result
corresponded with our most confident expectations, showing
that the number of its vertebræ is greatly inferior to that of
the Proteus, and corresponding with that of the Tritons; and
that the pseudo ribs were in an entire series, somewhat
superior in proportional length and perfection of form to
those of the Proteus, and resembling those of the Triton. It
has, therefore, a far more close alliance with the genus
Triton, than with any other yet established.

Several animals have been described, to which it is more
closely related by the character of the persistent branchia,
than it is to the well-known types of the genus, of which the
branchia disappear at the age of puberty. Of such animals the
following may be instanced:

The _Axolotl_ of Mexico. Siren pisciformis of Shaw. Gen. Zool.

The _Tetradactyla_ of Lacepede in the Ann. des Mus. vol. x.

The _Siren Operculée_ of Beauvois in Philos. Trans. of Phila.
vol. iv.

And possibly also, the _Proteus Neo Cæsariensis_ of Professor
Green.--Jour. A. N. S. vol. i.

These four or five species might with propriety be separated
from the genus to which they are referable in the present
state of the system, and placed in a separate genus, the
external characters of which will be the same as those of
Triton, with the exception of the persistent branchia. Its
proper station will doubtless be intermediate between Triton
and Proteus, but far more closely related to the former.

It may be proper to mention in this place, that the generic name
_Triton_, was applied by Laurenti to the Newts, long before
Montfort made use of it in Conchology to designate the war
conch of the ancient Romans, and of the present inhabitants of
Madison's Island.

We are indebted to Dr. Richard Harlan, for the following
anatomical observations, on this singular animal.

Alveolar margins of the maxillæ serrated, the spiculæ pointing
backwards towards the œsophagus. The œsophagus very large, like
that of the serpents, gradually expanding as it descends to
form the stomach, which again contracts at the commencement of
the intestinal tube; the lining membrane of the œsophagus and
stomach, thrown into longitudinal folds, which were continued
throughout the intestines; which tube undergoes several
enlargements in its course, giving it a sacculated appearance
similar to the alimentary canal of the alligator; in the animal
under consideration, they form several convolutions previous
to their termination into the cloaca; the stomach contained an
earth worm. The mesentery transparent, displaying a number of
very large lacteals, which, in the present instance, were filled
with coagulated chyle. Length of the intestines 10 inches.
The ovary is of considerable size, of an oblong figure, lying
close to the vertebræ, and opening by a straight duct into the
posterior part of the cloaca. _Liver_ very large, and apparently
(but not certainly) discharged its contents into the stomach.
_Lungs_ consist of two long membranous bags, which run the whole
length of the abdomen, anteriorly to the stomach and intestines;
the opening of the larynx scarcely large enough to admit a pin's
head; the lungs resemble two long air-bags, more than a true
pulmonary apparatus; the cartilaginous laminæ of the branchia,
three in number, attached superiorly to the integuments over the
cervical vertebræ, converging together beneath or anteriorly,
and are attached to a cartilage answering to the os hyoides; the
heart, which was extremely small, consisted apparently of one
auricle and one ventricle, the aorta soon bifurcated, sending
one branch to each pulmonary apparatus to be intimately ramified
upon the branchia, resembling so far the circulation of fishes,
and differing from the amphibia, in which there is either a
double or mixed circulation.

Olfactory apparatus similar to that of fishes, viz. a small
aperture near the extremity of the snout leads into a cavity
or _cul de sac_, lined by a delicate membrane, plentifully
supplied by the fibrillæ of two slender olfactory nerves,
which go off from the anterior end of each lobe of the
cerebrum. The brain is of an oblong figure, the cerebrum is
formed of two lobes, the cerebellum of one lobe situate
directly posterior, not much thicker than the medulla
oblongata. The optic nerves, which were large in proportion to
the organs of vision, took their origin in a very unusual
manner. On either side of the medulla oblongata, is given off
a large nerve, which proceeds forwards and outwards, and soon
after it passes outside of the cavity of the cranium, it
divides into two branches, the smaller goes to the eye, the
larger is distributed to the superior maxilla. The eye itself
is small, and the lens which was coagulated by the spirits, is
about half the size of a pin's-head, and of the texture of the
lens of a fish when boiled.

The number of vertebræ from the atlas to the last lumbar, is
exactly nineteen; to the transverse processes of all of them
(after the two first) is attached, by a movable articulation,
a small slender spicular of bone, or rib-like process, about
one-eighth of an inch in length, which at the same time, they
give origin to the large muscles that move the body, offer no
obstruction to the lateral curvatures of the animal when in
motion, but as to appearance or function are not to be
considered as ribs. The number of vertebræ from the first
sacral to the last caudal, is from twenty to thirty-five; they
become exceedingly small towards the end of the tail; on the
back part of the œsophagus, exterior to the cavity of the
cranium, is found on each side, a calcareous concretion,
similar to that in the head of the shark.--JAMES.

[005] Maclure.--JAMES.

[006] Geological Survey of Rensselaer county, p. 11.--JAMES.

[007] When central Pennsylvania began to seek an
outlet for her population, the fertility of the soil produced
by the disintegration of the limestone flooring of the
northeast-and-southwest valleys of the mountains, and the
barriers to Western migration imposed by the parallel ridges,
directed most of the pioneers southwestward.--ED.

[008] See Humboldt's Personal Narrative, vol. v. p. 46. Also St.
Pierre's Paul and Virginia.--JAMES.

[009] The great coal field of which that of western Pennsylvania
is a part, is eight hundred miles in length and one hundred and
eighty in width. Besides Pennsylvania, it includes southeastern
Ohio, the western part of Maryland, most of West Virginia,
portions of Kentucky and Tennessee, and the northern end of
Alabama. In Pennsylvania, the main field does not extend farther
north than a central east-and-west line, but several great
projections reach almost to the northern boundary. East of the
Alleghenies the deposits are anthracite, while the bituminous
fields occupy the southwestern section of the state.--ED.

[010] The uses of petroleum have been known from time
immemorial; but the quantities laboriously gathered from springs
like those here described were economically insignificant. The
importance of the industry dates from the discovery, in 1858,
that vast quantities of oil could be obtained by drilling wells.
The excitement which ensued was comparable to that caused
by finding gold in California. Among United States exports,
petroleum products now rank near the top of the column.--ED.

[011] James implies that the Onondaga salt deposits are in the
Carboniferous system. Such deposits, however, occur in almost
every geological system, from Silurian to Recent, and the New
York areas are found in the Silurian; the Kanawha salt district
is Carboniferous. The Onondaga springs were known to Jesuit
missionaries as early as 1646, and soon after were utilized in
making salt for the Indian trade. The existence of salt licks
and springs west of the mountains was an important factor in the
settlement of the trans-Allegheny country. The pioneers could
not have ventured so far from the coast without a native supply
of this necessity.--ED.

[012] So-called gas springs were known to settlers long before
any attempt was made to utilize the product; about 1821,
burners were first devised by which it was made to serve for
lighting purposes. For several years after the beginning of
the oil industry, gas was generally considered as a worthless
and troublesome by-product, and not many wells were drilled
for it until after 1870. The pressure of the gas is sometimes
enormous--as much as three hundred and fifty pounds to the
square inch has been noted. Natural gas consists essentially of
carburetted hydrogen.--ED.

[013] Olean is situated at the head of navigation of the
Allegheny, at the mouth of Olean Creek, in Cattaraugus County,
New York. The first settlers came prior to 1805. It was the
southern terminus of the Genesee Valley canal (begun in 1836),
until in the fifties when that waterway was extended to the
Pennsylvania line. The growth of Olean has been rapid since the
inception of the oil industry; it now being one of the most
important storage and shipping points in the oil fields.--ED.

[014] For sketch of Wheeling, see André Michaux's _Travels_, in
our volume iii, note 15.--ED.

[015] For note on national road, see Harris's _Journal_, in our
volume iii, note 45.--ED.

[016] Charleston, the seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia,
is situated on the Great Kanawha, about fifty miles above its
mouth. The site was included in a grant made (1772) by Lord
Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, to Thomas Bullitt. In 1786
Bullitt transferred his claim to George Clendenin, who was the
first settler on the spot; he built Clendenin's fort in 1786 or
1787.--ED.

[017] _April_ 3d. Dentaria laciniata, Lamium amplexicaule, Draba
verna, Poa anua, Alsine media, Houstonia cerulea, Saxifraga
virginiensis.

4th. Anemone hepatica, _Hepatica triloba of Pursh_. Flowers
varying from blue to white. Alnus serulata, Carpinus Americanus,
Satyrium repens, root perennial.

9th. Collected in flower from the south-west side of the Ohio,
Sanguinaria canadensis, Hydrocotile bipinnata; root small and
round, with small tubers attached to the fibre like radicles,
flowers white. Poa brevi-folia.

13th. Glehoma hederacea; this plant covers not only the low
grounds, but the wildest hills, particularly in northern
exposures. Is it native?

24th. Pulmonaria Virginica: this is a predominant plant on the
islands, as well as along the shores of the Alleghany on both
sides. Epigæa repens, Phlox divaricata.

25th. Corydalis cucullaria, Trillium erectum, flowers varying
from dark purple to white. Anemone thalictroides, Carex
oligocarpa, Gnaphalium plantagineum, Potentilla sarmentosa,
Obolaria virginica, Acer saccharinum, and A. dasycarpum, still
flowering. Also the Celtis occidentalis, Ulmus Americana, and
Planera aquatica, past.

27th. Veronica peregrina, and Ranunculus celeratus; both
common in the wildest situations and apparently native.

28th. Stellaria pubera, Turritis lævigata, Arabis lyrata,
Viola pubescens, Ranunculus hirsutus, Thalictum dioicum,
Cercis canadensis, Cerastium vulgatum.

30th. Dentaria diphylla, Trillium sesile, Mitella diphylla,
Delphinium tricorne, Arabis thaliana, Caulophillum thalictroides.

_May_ 1st. Carpinus Americanus, Vicia cracca, Ranunculus
abortivus, Saxifraga Pennsylvanica, Uvularia grandiflora, _Ph._

3d. Geranium maculatum. Apple-tree flowering. Veronica
officinalis. _Dr. Baldwin's_ Diary.--JAMES.

[018] For Point Pleasant and the battle fought there,
see Thwaites and Kellogg, _Documentary History of Lord
Dunmore's War_ (Madison, Wis., 1905); Croghan's _Journals_, in
our volume i, note 101; and Bradbury's _Travels_, in our
volume v, note 156. Chief Logan was not present at this
battle. The full text of his famous speech is given in
Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia;" Ford, _Writings of Thomas
Jefferson_ (New York, 1894), iii, p. 156; Roosevelt, _Winning
of the West_ (New York, 1889), i, p. 237. It has long ranked
as one of the great masterpieces of Indian oratory; but its
genuineness was attacked by Luther Martin, of Maryland, and
others. A summary of the evidence pro and con is given in
Brantz, _Tah-Gah-Jute; or Logan and Cresap_ (Albany, 1867),
appendix No. 2. It is now generally conceded that it was
delivered by Logan substantially as we have it.--ED.

[019] For sketch of Maysville, see André Michaux's _Travels_, in
our volume iii, note 23.--ED.

[020] Washington, four miles southwest of Maysville, was
founded in 1786, and was an important town in the early days of
Kentucky. It was for some time the seat of Mason County.--ED.

[021] For the early history of Cincinnati, see Cuming's _Tour_,
in our volume iv, note 166.--ED.

[022] For sketches of Glen and Drake, see Nuttall's _Journal_,
in our volume xiii, note 35.--ED.

[023] Drake's Picture of Cincinnati, page 64. To that work,
Cranmer's [Cramer's] "Navigator," published at Pittsburgh in
1814, and Gilleland's "Ohio and Mississippi Pilot," we refer our
readers for very minute, and in general very accurate, accounts
of the country along the Ohio.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ This area, known to geologists as the
"Cincinnati anticline," is co-extensive with the fertile blue
grass lands. It consists essentially of an island of Ordovician
(Lower Silurian) limestone, surrounded by the later systems. The
Ordovician system is especially characterized by mollusca of
the cephalopod class, to which _Orthoceras_ belongs, while the
Ammonites do not appear below the Devonian.

[024] Cincinnati College, the forerunner of Cincinnati
University, grew out of a school established in 1814 on the
model of the new English system of Lancaster and Bell. The
college was chartered in 1815. Possibly the reference is to the
recently-established medical college, for which see Nuttall's
_Journal_, in our volume xiii, note 35.--ED.

[025] Population by census of 1820, 9,642; of 1830, 24,831.--ED.

[026] The Cincinnati mounds are now obliterated. A good
description of them, with diagram, is given in _Smithsonian
Contributions to Knowledge_ (Washington, 1852), iii, art.
vii.--ED.

[027] Voy. a l' ouest des monts Alleghany, 1804. p. 93.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ See F. A. Michaux's _Travels_, in our volume
iii, p. 175.

[028] Pers. Nar. vol. i. p. 357. Philadelphia Edition.--JAMES.

[029] Salt's Abyssinia, p. 49. Amer. Edit.--JAMES.

[030] The cotton-wood-tree is of very rapid growth. It
has been ascertained that one individual, in the term of
twenty-one years, attained the height of one hundred and eight
feet, and nine inches, and the diameter of twenty and an half
inches, exclusive of the bark. _Barton's_ Supp. Med. and Phys.
Jour. p. 71.--JAMES.

[031] Sir James Edward Smith (1759-1828), founder and
first president of the Linnæan Society (1788).--ED.

[032] Charles Schultz, Jr., was the author of _Travels on an
inland voyage through the states of New York, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and through the
territories of Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Orleans;
performed in the years 1807 and 1808_ (New York, 1810).--ED.

[033] On Louisville and the Falls of the Ohio, see Croghan's
_Journals_, in our volume i, note 106.--ED.

[034] For sketch of Shippingsport, see Cuming's _Tour_, in our
volume iv, note 171.--ED.

[035] For the history of the canal at the Falls of the Ohio, see
Nuttall's _Journal_, in our volume xiii, note 40.--ED.

[036] On Clarksville see André Michaux's _Travels_, in our
volume iii, note 123.--ED.

[037] New Albany, founded in 1813, is just below Louisville, in
Floyd County, Indiana.--ED.

[038] Corn Island was the site of the first settlement
at Louisville. George Rogers Clark built a fort on the island
in the spring of 1778, to protect his supplies. The twenty
families who had followed him to Kentucky established
themselves at the lower end, where the land was most elevated,
and during the summer raised the crop of corn from which it is
said the island derived its name. It stood just above the
present Louisville-Albany bridge, in the elbow of the stream;
in Clark's time it had an area of at least seven acres, but it
has now been almost entirely obliterated both by the erosion
of the stream and the operations of a neighboring cement mill
which has used the island as a quarry.--ED.

[039] Jeffersonville, laid out in 1802, is opposite Louisville,
in Clark County, Indiana.--ED.

[040] The same name is applied locally to the hills which extend
nearly fifty miles to the northward of the river.--ED.

[041] Volney.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ Constantin François Chassebœuf Boisgirais,
Comte de Volney, the French traveller and author, member of
the brilliant group which included Holbach, Madame Helvetius,
Voltaire, and the encyclopædists, the correspondent of Franklin
and the friend of Bonaparte, travelled extensively in the
interior of America during the years 1795 to 1799, and after
his return to France published an account of his observations
under the title, _Tableau du Climat et du Sol des Etats-Unis
d'Amérique_ (Paris, 1803). A translation was published in
Philadelphia the succeeding year.

[042] The Indiana coal fields are now known to embrace an area
of about seven thousand square miles, chiefly in the southwest
quarter of the state.--ED.

{29} CHAPTER II

The Ohio below the Rapids at Louisville--Ascent of the
Mississippi from the mouth of the Ohio to St. Louis.[043]

Our small boat descended over the rapids without injury; and having taken on board some wood near New Albany, we proceeded on our voyage, with a pressure of steam equalling one hundred pounds to the square inch, upon all parts of the engine exposed to its immediate operation. This enabled us to descend, at the rate of ten miles per hour. A small island in the Ohio, about twenty-three miles below the rapids, is called Flint Island, from the great numbers of fragments of flints, broken arrow points, and various instruments of stone, heretofore used by the Indians, which are found there on turning up the soil. This island has probably been the favourite residence of some tribe, particularly expert in the manufacture of those rude implements, with which the wants of the aboriginal Americans were supplied. The stone employed in these manufactures appears to have been, in most instances, that compact flint, which occurs in nodular masses, in the secondary limestones. In one instance we met with a triangular prism, of a very hard and compact aggregate of felspar, and hornblende, unlike any rock we have seen in the valley of the Mississippi. This prism was about five inches long, with faces of about {30} an inch in width, and was perforated, from end to end, forming a complete tube, with an orifice about half an inch in diameter, and smoothly polished, both within and without. We were never able to discover to what use this implement could have been applied; nor do we recollect to have met with accounts of any thing analogous to it, except, perhaps, those "tubes of a very hard stone" mentioned by the Jesuit Venegas, as used by the natives of California, in their treatment of the sick.[044] That it may have passed, by means of the intercourse of various tribes of Indians, from the primitive mountains of California to the rapids of the Ohio, is not, perhaps, improbable. Indirect methods of communication may have conveyed the productions of one part of the continent to another very remote from it. The savages of the Missouri receive an intoxicating bean from their neighbours on the south and west; these again must probably procure it from other tribes inhabiting, or occasionally visiting, the tropical regions.

In the Philadelphia museum are many Indian pipes of that red indurated clay, found only (as far as hitherto known) on the Pipe Stone branch of the Little Sioux river of the Missouri; one of these, however, was found on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, in South America: several were found in the territory now called New England, and in the north-eastern part of the continent.

On the 26th we passed the mouth of the Wabash, and arrived at Shawaneetown,[045] ten miles below. Near the mouth of the Wabash, an accident happened to the engine, which rendered it necessary for us to drift down, until we should arrive at some place where repairs might be made. Some of the gentlemen of the party determined to go on shore, and walk to Shawaneetown. In swimming across a creek, {31} three miles above that place, Lieutenant Graham dropped his rifle in the water, and having spent some time in attempts to recover it, did not arrive at Shawaneetown until after the boat had reached that place.

On the 27th, several of the party went out to hunt in the forests and swamps, north-west of Shawaneetown. At about four miles' distance from the Ohio, they arrived at the banks of a small pond, three miles long, and only three or four hundred yards wide. Here they killed a turkey; and some small birds. On the bank of the pond, was found a specimen of the Lake Erie tortoise,[046] depositing its eggs in the sand, at about twenty yards' distance from the water. It had made, with its feet, a hole in the sand, two inches in diameter and four inches in depth, enlarging towards the bottom to three inches. This species occurs frequently in the pools and stagnant waters along the Ohio. We first met with it near the rapids at Louisville. Among other birds, we noticed about Shawaneetown, the pileated woodpecker, the minute tern, numerous flocks of the psittacus caroliniensis, two broods of young wood duck, some gulls, and semipalmated sandpipers. The terns appear to be attracted hither by great numbers of a species of phryganea, with which we found the stomachs of some of them filled. The semipalmated sandpipers were in large flocks, and did not appear stationary.

We left Shawaneetown at twelve o'clock on the 28th, and stopped three miles below, to take in wood; then proceeding forward, at four P. M. we ran aground on a sand bar, seven miles above the "Cave Inn," or "House of Nature."[047] After much exertion, by means of anchors and poles, with the aid of the engine, and all the men, who were under the necessity of jumping into the river, we at length {32} succeeded in getting her off, and ran down to the cave, where we lay by for the night.

Early the next morning, we went to visit the cave, of the entrance to which two views were sketched by Mr. Seymour. It is a perpendicular fissure, extending about one hundred and sixty feet into the horizontal limestone cliffs, which here form the north bank of the river. At times of high water, the Ohio flows in, and fills the cave nearly to its roof. In this cave, it is said, great numbers of large bones were some time ago found, but we saw no remains of any thing of this kind. Impressions and casts of the shells of submarine animals are seen in the rocks, forming the sides of the cave, as in all the strata of compact limestone, in this region. The organic remains here, do not appear to be so numerous as those of the rocks at the falls, and at Cincinnati; and are much less distinct, and visible in the fracture; indeed the fracture generally exhibits to the eye no vestige of organic remains. It is upon the surface only, and more especially in such parts of it as are in a certain stage of decomposition, that they are at all to be distinguished.

As far as we could discover, they consist chiefly of the caryophyllæ, similar to the radiated species, so common at the falls of Ohio; of the encrinus, but of this our specimens were not so perfect as to enable us to determine the analogy. Numerous other remains were exhibited, but not sufficiently characterized to be referred to their proper places in the system. The top of the cliff, into which this fissure opens, is said to be the favourite haunt of great numbers of birds of prey. This is not improbable, as many hawks and birds of prey always choose high and inaccessible cliffs to build their nests in. We saw about the tops of these rocks, only one pair of hawks, which we took to be of the red-shouldered species, (falco lineatus,) but a heavy rain, which commenced soon after we had ascended, prevented {33} us from procuring a specimen. About the cave, we found some fragments of pottery, arrow points, and other articles of Indian manufacture.

Near Shawaneetown are extensive salt manufactories, at a place heretofore called United States' Saline, affording employment and a source of trade to a part of the inhabitants of that village. Common salt, with the nitrates of lime, potash, &c. occur in great plenty, in connexion with the horizontal limestones and sandstones on the Ohio. Of these we subjoin some account, from the mineralogical report of Mr. Jessup.[048]

On the 29th of May we passed the mouths of the Cumberland and Tennessee, the two largest rivers, tributary to the Ohio. At the mouth of the Cumberland is a little village called Smithland; where, for a considerable part of the year, such goods are deposited as are designed for Nashville and other places on the Cumberland.

The Cumberland and Tennessee rivers are, for many miles, nearly parallel in direction, and at no great distance apart. Between them are some low sandstone hills; but, we believe, no lofty range of mountains, as has been sometimes represented. About these hills, also, in the low ridges north of the Ohio, we found the sandstone, which appears to be the basis rock, often overlaid with extensive beds of a pudding-stone, wherein pebbles of white, yellow, and variously coloured quartz, are united in a cement highly tinged by oxide of iron; extensive fields of compact limestone also occur in the same connexion.

About half way between the mouth of the Cumberland and Tennessee, near the old deserted settlement originally called Smithland,[049] are several large catalpa trees. They do not, however, appear to be native; nor have we here, or elsewhere, been able to discover any confirmation of the opinion, that this tree is indigenous to any part of the United States.

It is here called _petalfra_, which, as well as catalpa, {34} the received appellation, may be a corruption from Catawba, the name of the tribe by whom, according to the suggestion of Mr. Nuttall, the tree may have been introduced. Following the directions of the Pittsburgh navigator,[050] we kept near the left shore, below the Cave Inn; by which means we again ran our boat aground, on a sand-bar, where we spent a considerable part of the night in the most laborious exertions. These were at length crowned with success; and having the boat once more afloat, we proceeded with greater caution.

On the 30th, we arrived at a point a little above the mouth of Cash river, where a town has been laid out, called America.[051] It is on the north bank of the Ohio, about eleven miles from the Mississippi, and occupies the first heights on the former, secure from the inundation of both these rivers (if we except a small area three and a half miles below, where there are three Indian mounds, situated on a tract containing about half an acre above high-water mark). The land on both sides of the Ohio, below this place, is subject to be overflowed to various depths, from six to fourteen feet in time of floods; and on the south side, the flat lands extend four or five miles above, separated from the high country by lakes and marshes. The aspect of the country, in and about the town, is rolling or moderately hilly, being the commencement of the high lands between the two rivers above mentioned; below it, however, the land is flat, having the character of the low bottoms of the Ohio. The growth is principally cotton-wood, sycamore, walnut, hickory, maple, oak, &c. The soil is first-rate, and well suited to the cultivation of all products common to a climate of 37 deg. N. lat. From the extensive flat, or bottom, in its neighbourhood, and the heavy growth of timber which here generally prevails, it is probable that the place will be unhealthy, till extensive clearings are made in its vicinity.

This position may be considered as the head of constant {35} navigation for the Mississippi. The Mississippi, from New Orleans to the Ohio, is navigable for boats of the largest size; and America may be considered as the head of constant as well as heavy navigation. Ice is seldom to be found in the Mississippi as low down as the mouth of the Ohio, and never in so large quantities as to oppose any serious obstruction to the navigation.

The navigation of the Ohio has a serious impediment about four and a half miles above the town, occasioned by a limestone bar extending across the river, called the Grand Chain. This bar is impassable in the lowest stage of the water, and will not admit boats of any considerable burden, except in the higher stages.

The Mississippi has, in like manner, two bars, called the Big and Little Chain, which appear to be a continuation of the same range of rocks as that in the Ohio, extending across the point of land situated between the two rivers. These bars are situated a little above the Tyawapatia Bottom, about thirty miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and in low water have but a moderate depth of water across them; which, added to the rapidity of the current, occasions a serious obstacle to the navigation.

Boats suited to the navigation of both rivers above the bars here specified, should be of inferior size; those for the Mississippi not exceeding one hundred tons burden, and those for the Ohio from fifty to seventy-five tons.

Any position on the Mississippi in the neighbourhood of the Ohio would be objectionable, for the following reasons:--First, The rapidity of the current, which renders it difficult to find a safe and commodious landing, there being no rocky-bound shore within thirty miles above and a far greater distance below the point. The Iron Banks,[052] seventeen miles below the mouth of the Ohio, have been thought by some an eligible position for the extensive business, {36} which, it is admitted by all, must centre in this neighbourhood. But at this place there is no safe landing; and besides, the banks are composed of layers of sand and clay alternating with each other, of an acclivity nearly perpendicular, and annually wearing away by the current of the river, which sets strongly against them. These banks are elevated about one hundred and thirty feet above the common level of the river, and are insurmountable, except by a circuitous route, leading from the river a considerable distance above and below them.

Second, There are no positions on the Mississippi, except the Iron and Chalk Banks, for a great distance below the Ohio, secure from inundation. The bottom directly opposite the mouth of the Ohio, on the west side of the Mississippi is elevated a little above high water; but as it is an alluvial shore, having no permanent foundation, and the banks often falling in, it affords no conveniences or security as a place of business.

Third, No places of anchorage for boats of heavy burden are to be found, except in the main channel of the river, where they would be exposed to drift-wood, great quantities of which are brought down in times of freshet; and when borne along with the rapid current of the river, occasion serious danger to boats lying in its way.

The town of America is almost entirely exempt from any of these objections;--although it has not a rocky foundation, (which may be said of most of the towns on the Ohio,) the current of the river is so gentle, that no such guard against the undermining and wasting away of the banks is required. In case of an excessive flood, or an unusual quantity of floating ice (which may possibly be apprehended in remarkably cold seasons), the mouth of Cash river, five miles below the town, is a harbour in which boats may lie in perfect security.[053]

We would not encourage the idea, that the site {37} now fixed upon as a town is exclusively the point where business is to be done; but that the town will eventually extend along on that side of the river about four miles, to the Big Chain above described.

In view of the great extent of inland navigation centring at this place, and the incalculable amount of products to be realized, at no distant period, from the cultivation of the rich vallies and fertile plains of the west, a great proportion of which must find a market here, no doubt can be entertained that it will eventually become a place of as great wealth and importance as almost any in the United States.

In the afternoon of the 30th we arrived at the mouth of the Ohio.

This beautiful river has a course of one thousand and thirty-three miles, through a country surpassed in fertility of soil by none in the United States. Except in high floods, its water is transparent, its current gentle, and nearly uniform. For more than half of its course its banks are high, and its bed gravelly. With the exception of about two miles at the rapids, at Louisville, it has sufficient depth of water, for a part of the year, to float vessels of 300 tons burthen to Cincinnati. The country which it washes may, with propriety, be considered under two divisions. The first, extending from its head at Pittsburgh to the little town of Rockport,[054] about 150 miles below the falls or rapids at Louisville, is hilly. This district forms a portion of one of the sides of that great formation of secondary rocks, which occupies the basin of the Mississippi and its tributaries. This formation, like others of the same period, is rough, with small elevations, which are most considerable on its borders, and diminish in proportion as we approach nearer its central parts.

Compact limestone, and sandstone of several varieties, are the rocks which invariably occur along that portion of the Ohio we are now considering. Sandstone of a light gray or ashen colour, of a compact {38} texture, an argillaceous cement, and a slaty or lamellated structure, is the most abundant, and occupies the lowest points which we have hitherto been able to examine. This rock frequently contains alternating beds of coal, bituminous shale, and its accompanying minerals. The beds of compact limestone, which occur in this region, usually rest upon the sandstone just mentioned. Considered as a stratum, its distribution is the reverse of that of the sandstone. It occupies the central and least elevated portions of the formation; and on the borders where the sandstone is most abundant, the limestone is of less extent and of more uncommon occurrence. These remarks are applicable to the hilly district on the upper portion of the Ohio river. From Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, the prospect from the river is that of hills of moderate elevation, sometimes rocky and abrupt, but often sufficiently gradual in their ascent to admit of cultivation to their summits. Their character, as to extent, direction, &c. seems to be determined by the number, direction, and magnitude of the streams which traverse them. They are the remains of what was formerly a continuous and nearly horizontal stratum, with a large deposit of superincumbent soil, which the flowing of water, during the lapse of ages, has channelled and excavated to its present form. These hills diminish in altitude as you approach the falls from above; there they again rise to a height nearly equal to what they attain at the head of the river, and from thence gradually diminish, until they disappear, a little above the confluence of the Ohio and Green[055] rivers. Here commences the low country, which extends west to the Mississippi. It is characterized by the great extent of the river alluvion, the increased width and diminished velocity of the stream. The river banks are low, but thickly wooded with sycamore, cotton-wood, river maple, the planera aquatica, cypress, &c. The river hills, which terminate the alluvial district, {39} are distant and low; and it often happens that the surface descends on both sides, from the immediate banks of the river to these hills. Hence, when the waters of the river are sufficiently swollen to flow over its banks, they inundate extensive tracts; from which they cannot return to the channel of the river, and are left stagnant during the summer months, poisoning the atmosphere with noxious exhalations. Many of these inundated tracts have a soil of uncommon fertility, which it is probable will hereafter be recovered from the dominion of the river by dikes or levees.

The beach or sloping part of the immediate bank of the Ohio, throughout its whole extent, is of rather gradual ascent, and covered with timber a considerable distance below high-water mark. The average rapidity of the current of the Ohio is about two and a half miles per hour, and the descent of its surface nine inches per mile, as estimated by Dr. Drake of Cincinnati. The annual inundations happen in the spring. The range between extreme high and low water, in the upper part of the river, is more than 60 feet; but below, where it is not confined by high banks, it is much less.

About the falls of Ohio, the cane, (myegia macrosperma of Persoon,) begins to be seen, and increases in quantity thence westward to the Mississippi. The "Cave Inn Rock," or "House of Nature," which we have before mentioned, is an immense cavern penetrating horizontally into a stratum of compact limestone, which forms the river bank for some distance above Golconda in Illinois. Its entrance is a large and regular arch, placed immediately on the brink of the river, and a similar form is preserved in some degree through its whole extent. The Battery Rock is a high mural precipice of the same stratum, running in a straight line, and forming the northern bank of the river which washes its base. The face of this precipice is smooth and naked, and it is surmounted {40} by a heavy growth of timber. This limestone is compact, entirely horizontal in its position, and filled with organic remains. It is traversed by veins containing sulphuret of lead; and at several places near Golconda, this is accompanied by fluat of lime, in beautiful yellow and violet-coloured crystals. Fluat of lime is also found disseminated in small and irregular masses throughout the rock. At Golconda, six miles below the cave, a coarse gray flinty sandstone is found, extending some distance to the west. This rock forms broad hills on the Kentucky side, between the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers; where it abounds in iron ore of several kinds. Perhaps these hills ought to be considered as a spur from the Cumberland hills. At the mouth of the Tennessee river, is a locality of the columnar argillaceous oxide of iron, which rises from the surface in pyramidal and columnar masses, somewhat resembling the cypress knees.

An extensive tract of land between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, included in the recent purchase from the Cherokees,[056] is rocky and broken, abounding in ores of iron and lead, and probably some other minerals. We have seen a specimen of sulphuret of antimony, in possession of an inhabitant, who being a sort of alchymist, greatly delighting in mystery, thought it imprudent to reveal the secret of its particular locality. It is to be hoped, future and more minute examinations than we had the opportunity of making, may hereafter detect valuable mineral depositions in this tract.

The confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi, is in latitude 37° 22′ 9″ north, according to the observations of Mr. Ellicott, and in longitude 88° 50′ 42″ west, from Greenwich.[057] The lands about the junction of these two great rivers are low, consisting of recent alluvion, and covered with dense forests. At the time of our journey, the spring floods having subsided in the Ohio, this quiet and gentle river {41} seemed to be at once swallowed up, and lost in the rapid and turbulent current of the Mississippi. Floods of the Mississippi, happening when the Ohio is low, occasion a reflux of the waters of the latter, perceptible at Fort Massac, more than thirty miles above. It is also asserted, that the floods in the Ohio occasion a retardation in the current of the Mississippi, as far up as the Little Chain, ten miles below Cape Girardeau.[058] The navigation of the Mississippi above the mouth of the Ohio, also that of the Ohio, is usually obstructed for a part of the winter by large masses of floating ice. The boatmen observe that soon after the ice from the Ohio enters the Mississippi, it becomes so much heavier by arresting the sands, always mixed with the waters of that river, that it soon sinks to the bottom. After ascending the Mississippi about two miles, we came to an anchor, and went on shore on the eastern side. The forests here are deep and gloomy, swarming with innumerable mosquitoes, and the ground overgrown with enormous nettles. There is no point near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi, from which a distant prospect can be had. Standing in view of the junction of these magnificent rivers, meeting almost from opposite extremities of the continent, and each impressed with the peculiar character of the regions from which it descends, we seem to imagine ourselves capable of comprehending at one view all that vast region between the summits of the Alleghanies and of the Rocky Mountains, and feel a degree of impatience at finding all our prospects limited by an inconsiderable extent of low muddy bottom lands, and the unrelieved, unvaried, gloom of the forest.

Finding it necessary to renew the packing of the piston in the steam-engine, which operation would require some time, most of the gentlemen of the {42} party were dispersed on shore in pursuit of their respective objects, or engaged in hunting. Deer, turkeys, and beaver are still found in plenty in the low grounds, along both sides of the Mississippi; but the annoyance of the mosquitoes and nettles preventing the necessary caution and silence in approaching the haunts of these animals, our hunting was without success.

We were gratified to observe many interesting plants, and among them several of the beautiful family of the orchidæ,[059] particularly the orchis spectabile, so common in the mountainous parts of New England.

The progress of our boat against the heavy current of the Mississippi, was of necessity somewhat slow. Steam-boats in ascending are kept as near the shore as the depth of water will admit; and ours often approached so closely as to give such of the party as wished, an opportunity to jump on shore. On the first of June, several gentlemen of the party went on shore, six miles below the settlement of Tyawapatia bottom, and walked up to that place through the woods. They passed several Indian encampments, which appeared to have been recently tenanted. Under one of the wigwams they saw pieces of honey-comb, and several sharpened sticks, that had been used to roast meat upon: on a small tree near by was suspended the lower jaw-bone of a bear. Soon after leaving these they came to another similar camp, where they found a Shawanee Indian and his squaw, with four children, the youngest lashed to a piece of board, and leaned against a tree.

The Indian had recently killed a deer, which they purchased of him for one dollar and fifty cents--one-third more than is usually paid to white hunters. They afterwards met with another encampment, where were several families. These Indians have very little acquaintance with the English language, and appeared reluctant to use the few words they {43} knew. The squaws wore great numbers of trinkets, such as silver arm-bands and large earrings. Some of the boys had pieces of lead tied in various parts of the hair. They were encamped near the Mississippi, for the purpose of hunting on the islands. Their village is on Apple Creek, ten miles from Cape Girardeau.

June 2d. As it was only ten miles to Cape Girardeau, and the progress of the boat extremely tedious, several of the party, taking a small supply of provisions, went on shore, intending to walk to that place.

Above the settlement of Tyawapatia, and near Cape à la Bruche,[060] is a ledge of rocks, stretching across the Mississippi, in a direct line, and in low water forming a serious obstacle to the navigation. These rocks are of limestone, and mark the commencement of the hilly country on the Mississippi. Here the landscape begins to have something of the charm of distant perspective. We seem released from the imprisonment of the deep monotonous forest, and can occasionally overlook the broad hills of Apple Creek, and the Au Vaise,[061] or Muddy river of Illinois, diversified with a few scattered plantations, and some small natural meadows.

About five miles above Cape Girardeau we found the steam-boat Jefferson, destined for the Missouri. She had been detained some time waiting for castings which were on board the Western Engineer. Several other steam-boats, with stores for the troops about to ascend the Missouri, had entered that river, and were waiting to be overtaken by the Jefferson and the Calhoun, which last we had left at the rapids of the Ohio. On the 3d of June we passed that insular rock in the middle of the Mississippi, called the Grand Tower.[062] It is about one hundred and fifty feet high, and two hundred and fifty in diameter. Between it and the right shore is a {44} channel of about one hundred and fifty yards in width, with a deep and rapid current.

In the summer of 1673, Father Marquette and M. Joliet descended the Mississippi, probably as far as the mouth of the Arkansa. Their narrative contains sufficient evidence that they passed the mouth of the Missouri, the Grand Tower, the mouth of the Ohio, &c. As their work may not be easily accessible to many of our readers, we subjoin, in a note, an interesting passage, in which these objects are mentioned.[063]

The strata of sandstone containing the extensive beds of coal which have been explored, about the Muddy river of Illinois, are here divided transversely by the bed of the Mississippi. The Grand Tower, the precipice opposite the mouth of the Obrazo,[064] containing the singular cavity called the Devil's Oven, the Cornice Rock, and other remarkable cliffs, are monuments indicating the great extent to which the Mississippi has channelled its bed in these strata of horizontal sandstone.

The Grand Tower, from its form and situation, strongly suggests the idea of a work of art. It is not impossible that a bridge may be constructed here, for which this rock shall serve as a pier. The shores, on both sides, are of substantial and permanent rocks, which undoubtedly extend across, forming the bed of the river. It is probable, however, that the ledge of rocks called the Two Chains, extending down to Cape à la Bruche, presents greater facilities for the construction of a bridge than this point, as the high lands there approach nearer the river, and are less broken than in the neighbourhood of the Grand Tower. The Ohio would also admit of a bridge at the chains, which appear to be a continuation of the range of rocks here mentioned, crossing that river fifteen miles above its confluence with the Mississippi. We look forward to the time when these great works will be completed.

{45} Compact and sparry limestones are frequent in this region; but all the rocks seem to be acted upon with great rapidity by currents of water. The country on the east side of the Mississippi, back of Fort Chartres, and about the river St. Mary, is much broken by sink holes, having the form of a funnel, and occasioned, probably, by the action of subterraneous streams of water finding their way through the friable sandstones, which underlay the deep and fertile soils in those places. We passed in succession the mouths of the river St. Mary, opposite to which is the fine settlement of the Bois Broule bottoms; the Ocoa, or Kaskaskia river; the St. Lora, a handsome stream, from the west; and the Gabaree Creek, on which stands the old French town of St. Genevieve.[065] The navigation of the Mississippi, above the mouth of the Ohio, is at all times difficult. The current is considerably accelerated by the descent of the river over the rocky traverses which cross its bed. At times of low water, innumerable sand-bars occur in various parts of the channel, rendering the navigation extremely precarious.

A little below the mouth of the Kaskaskia, is a creek called the Saline, entering on the west side. A grant of a tract of land, one league square, was here made by the Spanish government, in favour of a Frenchman named Pegreau, the founder of the deserted town called New Bourbon.[066] The tract included a valuable brine spring, near the mouth of the creek. The proprietor built a house near the bank of the Mississippi, where he resided for some time, and carried on a manufacture of salt; but having occasion to go to France, he rented his works to a man, who for want of funds, or for some other reason, failed to keep them in operation. After the transfer of Louisiana to the United States' Government, this grant, among others, became an object of speculation; and advantage being taken of Pegreau's absence, the worthless tenant was instigated {46} to prosecute his landlord for breach of contract, and by a legal process recovered damages to the amount of nine thousand dollars, for the disbursement of which the property was sold, and fell into the hands of the present proprietors.