'"oo^ 
 
 
 
 
TRAVELS 
 
 / 
 
 IN 
 
 AMERICA, ^ 
 
 PERFORMED IN IW6, 
 
 Tor the Purpose of exploring thb 
 
 RIVERS 
 
 ALLEGHANY, MONONGAIIELA, OHIO, AND 
 MISSISSIPPI, 
 
 AND 
 
 Ascertaining the PRODUCE and CONDITION 
 
 OF 
 
 THEIR BANKS AND VICINITT. 
 
 By THOMAS ASHE, Esq. ^„ , ^^ ^ 
 
 London : PRiNTF.n. 
 
 ne-wburrport-^re-printed for willi am sawyer & co. 
 
 By Edmund M. Bi.unt, State-Street. 
 
 1808. 
 

PREFACE. 
 
 I 
 
 T is universally acknowledged, that no description of 
 writing comprehends so much amusement and entertain- 
 ment as well written accounts of voyages and travels, espe- 
 cially in countries little known. If the voyages of a Cook 
 and his followers, exploratory' of the South Sea Islands, 
 and the travels of a Bruce, or a Park, in the interior re- 
 gions of Africa, have merited and obtained celebrity, the 
 work now presented to the public cannot but claim a sim- 
 ilar merit. The western part ot America, become inter- 
 esting in ever}^ point of view, has been little knoUn, ami 
 misrepresented by the few writers on the subject, led by 
 motives of interebt or traffic, and has not heretofore Lcrn 
 exhibited in a satisfactory manr.er. jMr, Ahhc, tlic autlior 
 of the present work, and who has now returned to Ameri- 
 ca, here gives an account every way satisfactory. With 
 all the necessary acquirements, he went on an exploratory 
 journey, with the sole view of examining this interesting 
 country; and his researches, delivered in the familiarstile 
 of letters, in which he carries the reader along with him, 
 cannot fail to interest and inform the politician, the states- 
 man, the philosopher, and antiquary. He explains the de- 
 lusions that have been held up by fanciful or partial wri- 
 ters as to the country, by which so many individuals have 
 been misled ; he furnishes to the naturalist a variety of in- 
 teresting information ; and to the antiquary he presents 
 objects of absolute astonishment ; the Indian antiquities 
 of the western world, here first brought forward ^o the 
 public, must create admiration. It will be seen that the 
 fallen race who now inhabit America are the successors of 
 men who have been capable of architectural and other 
 work, that would do honour to any people or any age ; 
 and the remarkable antiquities which he describes cannot 
 but induce a still more minute enquiry and investigation 
 ef objects of so great importance. 
 
 [English Editor.] 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LETl^ER I. 
 
 General character of the north-eastern States of America— -of the middle 
 States— 'the southern— Town of Pittsburg— Alleghany mountains — Lan- 
 caster — The Susquehanna— Harrisburg, Shippensburg, and Stratsburg 
 '—interesting account of a tavern and its occupiers-Bedford — Sublijn- 
 ity and horrors of a night passed in ajoreat — Thoughts on natural hiS' 
 tory—St. Pierre. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 5wn-rjsg in a deep valley— ^Breakfast at an inn— 'American forests gene- 
 rally free from underwood— The Author kills a large bear in the forest : 
 its deliberate precaution on being shot— An Indian camp ; gradual ex- 
 pulsion of the Indians into the interior, and their approximate exter- 
 wination — Grandeur and beautiful tints of an autumnal scene— Lau- 
 rel-hill — Delightful vale leading to- Pittsburg — Expeuces at the Ameri- 
 can inns— Comfort a term of very various application, 
 
 LEri'ER m. 
 
 Situation and description of Pittsburg — its mamfactories, ship-building, 
 and population — State of education here— Character and Persons of the 
 Ladies — Religious sects — Schools — Market lio use, and prices ifprovi'- 
 sions — Price ofland-Auiuicinents. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 The subject of emigration from Britain considered — History of an emi- 
 grant farmer — Kentucky peopled by a pufHug publication— Lord Sel-^ 
 kirk's colonizations— District least pernicious for emigrants. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Morgaritown — The Monoiigahela River — Cheat River and George's Creek 
 '—S'ew Geneva, and Greensburg — Brownsville — Williurns port — Eti- 
 zuheth. town — Mackee's port, and Braddock's defeat — An Indian for- 
 tificd camp described — An interesting object discovered near it— An- 
 cient Indian barrowS) or burial places— -Remains of arms, utensils and 
 insiruments. 
 
 LETTER VL 
 
 Town of Erie — Description of the Alleghany Pdver — Trade on it — Its riic 
 (Old progress — Towns and other remaikuble places in. its course — lVa~ 
 terford, and Journey thence to Mcadville — Big-sngar-creek, and Frank- 
 lin — Montgomerys falls — Ewalt's defeat — Frtcporl — Sandy creek— 
 The navigation of the Alleghany dangerous — Bituminous well — Alledged 
 virtues of the water of the river — nan da r go Lake, and salt springs 
 round it — Fondness of the aniru.tls here for salt— Bujf aloes ; interest- 
 ing narrative respecting the dcstr}iction of those animals- -Destruction 
 of deer — Birds freciucnting the saline waters — Doves — Unhealihiuess 
 of the climate and cautions on that subject— The mo&t salubrious sit- 
 uations— Details of the manner in which the commerce of the two riv- 
 trs is conducted^— Lotinoise circuitous Jouriieii ]icrformed bij those chief- 
 ly engaged in it—Every tiling done without money— A store described, 
 and its abuses— Anecdote. 
 
 LETTER Vn. 
 
 Traces of a i^cneral deluye — Other great natav.d pheunmcna, difficult to 
 bx: accounted j'or—Pecul.i ar w;n.it::s ef thi vrg:t..bic and of the f[>ssii> 
 A 2 , 
 
hingdom-^List of natice plants classed into medicinal, esculent, emct* 
 mental, and useful — Vegetable products of the earth-^Importunt ir> 
 qairies and suggestions concerning some of them — Abundance of vegeta-^. 
 hie and of mineral productions here, which might be turned to great 
 account if projjerly explored— American warnurs-'— statesman, and de* 
 hates in Co7igress — divines, lawyers, physicians, and philosophers-^ 
 Bxiffon's assertion correct, that both man and inferior animals degenc* 
 rate in America. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 General view of the River Ohio, and its beauties-— -its advantage— itt 
 course— its isUinds — its depth and navigation — its obstricctions might, 
 easily be removed— -Advice to persons loishing to descend the Ohio. 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 proper season to descend the Ohio — a Monongahela, or Kentucky boat de- 
 scribed— Conjiuence of the Monongahela and Alleghany waters — Sub- 
 lime scenery — Hamilton's island— Ji win's island — difficulties in the- 
 course—Hogs' and Crows' islands — JMackintosh's fiwn — Warren's town- 
 —Young's town — Grape island — its iidiuhititnts — cause and manner of 
 their settlement — its grape-vines — George town— a spri')ig producing an. 
 oil similar to Seneca oV^— experiments to discover its cause— deductions 
 fvom'them. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Course of the Ohio to Stuhenville — Custard island — Stuhenville — Congress, 
 lands— Indian honourable confederacy — Insidiwus means of sojne ill 
 disposed whites to possess the country and exterminate its inhabitants-^ 
 the Indians becDme undeceived, and resume the great federal tomahawk. 
 They put to death many of their cruel invaders, who place themselves- 
 under the protection of Congress, and receive its support— Events of an 
 Indian lour — Feace restored — its terms— F'liesse of Congress to possess 
 the Indian lands — Hence arose the Korth-ivest territory, now the Ohio 
 State— The subject of Congress lauds continued — nature of their sales, 
 and price of these lands — their great prof t to land-jobbers— increase of 
 poputution of the Stale— a Dutch purchaser, his sentiments after expe- 
 rience. 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 Charlestoivn — Vieioits taste in building to the river— copied from Philadel' 
 phin— its punishment — Navigation from Charlestown to IVheeling — this- 
 port toiDii described—its origin — sketch of the inhabitanti and their 
 propensities— a Virginian horse-race — a boxing-iaalch—A ball and sup-i 
 per — f/ic Siquel—u pathetic stori/.j 
 
 LETTER XI I. 
 
 J mail coach road from Philadelphia to Lexington in Kentucky, seven 
 hundred miles — ucrommodations on the road — enchanting valley and 
 creeks—'their origin — history of thejirst settlement (f Cooundanaga by 
 Irish emigrants — its Judicious regulcitions — Mr. Filzpatrick its head — •' 
 twinntr oj' passing Sundtnj in ihir, Utile republic — general situation of 
 iti inhabitunts — Long lieach — Indian imitations cf animals. 
 
 LEITER XIII. 
 
 Sags — night and day currents, their variation, advantages ajid disadvan- 
 t'fgcs — Indian practical pftilosophy — a sublime prospect — an interesting 
 breakfast — sittleincnt of the banks of Long Reach — description of them 
 -^pusiage to McrieLlU'^u dangerous full'- Little Muskingum Pdver-— 
 
(vii) 
 
 Marietta, a flourishing toton deserted'~^Mp building and commerciai 
 enterprize — has the only church from Pittsburg, one hundred and eigh- 
 ty miles distant— -4he laws strictly enforced— -its tradesmen, generals, 
 colonels, majors, ^c. 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 J^Iarietta—'an inundation-yFort Harmer—Indian antiqidtieS'—'Be a lover 
 of truth, the maxim, of the Western world— Indian tradition— an anec^ 
 dote— an excursion— the Muskingum River— a prospect— discovery of 
 a vault— a beautiful tesselated pavemt^iit and other remarkable remains, 
 of' Indian antiquity — large human skeleton and other curious antiques- 
 •—the depository remains of a chief in ancient times— the author^s re- 
 tnarks on these remains of antiquity— 'predelection of the Indians for 
 tall and robust chiefs—wild turkeys. 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 Indian i7icantations and charms — priests— their extraordinary knowledge 
 and gifts— interesting explanation of the cause — very remarkaUe anti- 
 quities — encounter with a rattle snake, which is killed— deer— .wild 
 turkeys — Lanesvelle — farther very remote and grand antiquities — gold' 
 ai treasure found— 'the bubble bursts. 
 
 LETTER XVL 
 
 Little Kenhaway River— Belleprie — Bacchus' s Island— fine view ofit— 
 the house — its elegant and interesting inhabitants— a rural evenincr and 
 supper-Big Hockhocking River— New Lancaster town — its sudden rise 
 and as sudden decline by a contagious sickness — Dutch cupidity and its^ 
 consequences — Belleville town and Island — the Devil's Creek— LetarVa 
 Fulls-^danger of passing them, especially in the night— Campaign 
 Creek— Point Pleasant, a handsome little town. 
 
 LETTER XVIL 
 
 Farther particulars of the great Kenhaway River — Lead mines — attro- 
 cious massacre of Indians, the family of tlie celebrated Logan, the friend 
 of the whites—its consequences— the battle of Point Pleasant — the speech 
 of Logan — catalogue of Indian birds— character of the Mocking bird 
 and the Virginia Nightingale. 
 
 LETTER XVin. 
 
 Galliopolis, a French Settlement — Historical account of its rise, progress, 
 and fall — its present miserable state. 
 
 LETl'ER XIX. 
 
 Various rivers and creeks — saxc mills — n fine salt spring andan Indian 
 pottery — Great Sandy Creek — central situation of its mouth — erroneous 
 accounts of Kentucky — corrected — extravagant price of lands — an eX' 
 cursion — vestiges of the remains of a Chief of uncommon size — game — 
 wild hogs — remainsifan Indian village — an alarm — explained-^wohes 
 hunting their prey. 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 Settlement of the French families removed from Galliopolis — their mode of 
 Life and domesticated animals — a French rural repast and dance — navi- 
 gation to Alexandria — account of the town and its vicinage — Ports- 
 mouth — The Scioto river — Chilicothe, principal town of the Ohio State 
 — difiicult access to it — The Fickauec Plains — a grand situation for a^ 
 capital — Antiquities of Chilicothe and barbai-ous taste of the iuhabhants 
 — the Governor, his woriliy character — slavery entirely abolished^iis 
 beneficial eJfu'tsS^ilt springs^-^Run to Muysville.. 
 
( vili ) 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 31aysville or Limestone town — Liberty Town-— interior of Kentiic'ky-^de-' 
 ceitful prospect— Washington— May's Lick, a salt spring-^alt Licks, 
 why so called — the Blm Lick — Miilersburgh — Paris. 
 
 LETTER XXn. 
 
 Lexington flescribed-~churches—'unioersity'-'amusements — concerts and 
 balls — the inhabitants, male and female — trade— ~thc merchants, their 
 great wealth— the market— expence of boarding— the town likely to 
 decrease— climate — fevers— their causes — soil — farms, produce, ^'C.— 
 a catacomb with mummies— manner of embalming. 
 
 LETTER XXIIL 
 
 Excellent navigation between Limestone and Cincinnati— Aiigusta—th& 
 Little Miami of the Ohio-— Columbia — Licking River — Cincinnati- 
 details of this important town — interesting anecdote of a lady. 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 Cincinnati— built on the site of an ancient hidian settlement — an asion^ 
 ishing curiosity— other antiqitlties—fne paintings. 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 An excursion to the country of the Miam is— Lebanon town^— interesting 
 sect of Quakers — cintinuance of the excursion— horses of the Western 
 country — state of farming in tiie neighbourhood. 
 
 LETTER XXVL 
 
 Dayton town, its fine situation— a snake or snapping tortoise— timber of 
 this country^—the sugar maple — an Indian camp. 
 
 LETrER XXVIL 
 
 Dayton— a rich and fine country — trees, shrubs, and fiowers— -humming 
 birds — Mad River — situatioii of the inhabitants on its batiks— the Great 
 Miami— Hamilton town. 
 
 LETTER XXVIIL 
 
 Judge Symmes''s nsidencc, an elegant mansion in a charming situation-^ 
 his family, ^-c, — Indian territory — Bigbone Lick — Grant's Lick, its 
 excellent salt — ISlitre, caves, and hills — Frankfort the capital of Kcw 
 tucky — Kentucky River — its magnificent hanks— antiquities— Lc^tiS' 
 xille — passage of the Falls — a terrific scene. 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 Excursion from Loxdsville — view of the country and its productions — 
 Kcntuckyan mode of life — medicinal herbs-r-birds — list of snakes— rC' 
 rnurkuble mockiug bird — a rich vale — Beardstown. 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 Jefferson's town a7id ?anal — Clarkisville — general view of the river twa 
 hundred and seventy-two miles down — lloulersoji's town — Diu)nond 
 Island. 
 
 LETTER XXXL 
 
 Jiemnrkable cave — Vengeance of the Illinois on the Kentuckyans— Wilson* s 
 gang — pariicular dtscrlplion of tic care — hijeroghiphics. 
 
 LETTER XXXfL 
 
 iJurricanc Island — a violent hurricane — Cumberland /i/crr — the Tenas- 
 see State — its produce, commerce, c^-c. — Indian tribes— Tcnasse'e River 
 —the whirl — Shuwahee Villnge, an Inaian settlement— its inhabitants 
 —intercsihv'y^ chura<:Leri$ties and hahlta— Indian gallantries — Hong if 
 Logan — Sliawanec practice of physk — jugglers various customs — war- 
 ■ri'ige and divorce^— other hubU:^ and traits of the Hhawancc charucier. 
 
(ix) 
 LETTER XXXIII. 
 
 Massae fort"— the commandant's successful means of preventing ditense-^ 
 Entrance of the Mississppi — a view of that immense river — fit. Charles, 
 Bon-honime, and New Versailles villages— -Osage, Kanous, and other 
 Indian nations — Kaskaskia river and town — Kuhokia village— ^Illinois 
 river— other rivers Joining the Mississippi. 
 
 LEITKR XXXIV. 
 
 Louisiana — its history — progress through the country — Cape Farida— 
 Hopple Creek—St. Genevieve — Lead Mines— St. Louis Town—The 
 Valley of Bones — Confluence of the 3Iessnuri and Mississipjn, 
 
 LETTER XXXV. 
 
 Mississippi River— An evergreen species of Plane Tree— 'A curious Ca- 
 vern— Chalk Bank — Bajeau de "abe—Neio Madrid— Little Frairie—^ 
 €hick:tsaw Bluf's—A hurricane. 
 
 LETTER XXXVL- 
 
 River St. Francis — Mule River — effects of thunder storms— attack of art 
 allegator — Orkansas River— Ozark Village— Indians— their adoration 
 to the sun— their hymns. 
 
 LETTER XXXVIL 
 
 The Grand Lake— Islands of tlie Mississippi— a remarkable alarm pro' 
 daced by the cries of a host of alligators— interesting particulars of 
 these animals — Yazaus River— the Walnut Hills and Forts Machenrymm, 
 the Grand Gulph—Bayeau Pierre, tht residence of Col, Bruin. 
 
 ll:tter XXXVI iL 
 
 Natchez River-^its trade and luxury^— territory of the Mississippi—Nat- 
 chez Indians — their adorations. 
 
 LETTER XXXIX. 
 
 Fort Adams — General Wilkinson — Riviere Rouge — Several settlements 
 with their trade and produce — Chaffalis Baijeau— Tunica Bayeau and 
 Villages— Point Coupee church — a rich settlement — Bayeau Sacra— ^ 
 Thompson's Creek — Baton Rouge— Bayeau Manchee — Bayeau de la 
 Fourchi — Alacapas and Opclousas settlements— fine breed of horses and 
 cattle— heaithy climate^^sugar plantatio)is — Bona Cara settlement- 
 account of the river from New-Orleans to the sea. 
 
 LET! ER XL. 
 
 New Orleans — particulars of this important city and its environs-^NeV} 
 Madrid, and intended city on an excellent and Salubrious situation, 
 
 LETFER XLI. 
 
 The religion and commerce of New Orleans. 
 
 LETTER XLII. 
 Farther particulars of New Orkans-^its amusementi and inhdhitantst 
 
TRAVELS IN AMERICA. 
 
 I.ETTER I. 
 
 General character erf^ the north-eastern States of America : — - 
 of the middle States : — the southern. Town of Pittsburg, 
 Mleghany mountains. Lancaster. The Susquehanna. 
 Harrisburg. Shippenshurg, and Strashurg, Interesting 
 account of a tavern and its occupiers. Bedford. Sub- 
 limit y and horrors of a night passed in a forest. Thoughts 
 on natural history :- — St. Pierre. 
 
 Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, October, 1806. 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I THOUGHT that you knew my heart too well, to 
 attribute my silence to a decay of affection ; and I had 
 hopes that you entertained too just an opinion of my head, 
 to expect from me extraordinary discoveries in philosophy 
 or politics. At the same time, I hope to convince you 
 that my supposed neglect has operated to the advantage of 
 my correspondence. 
 
 The American states through which I have passed, are 
 unworthy of your observation. Those to the north-east 
 are indebted to nature for but few gifts : they are better 
 adapted for the business of grazing than for corn. The 
 climate is equally subject to the two extremes of burning 
 heat and excessive cold ; and bigotry, pride, and a malig- 
 nant hatred to the mother country, characterize the inhab- 
 itants. The middle States are less contemptible : they 
 produce grain for exportation ; but wheat requires much 
 labour, and is liable to blast on the sea-shore. The na- 
 tional features here are not strong, and those of different 
 emigrants have not yet composed a face of local deformi- 
 ty : we still see the liberal English, the ostentatious Scotch, 
 the warm-hearted Irish, the penurious Dutch, the proud 
 German, the solemn Spaniard, the gaudy Italian, and the 
 profligate French. What kind of character is hereafter to 
 arise from an amalgamation of such discordant materials, 
 lam at a loss to conjecture. 
 
12 TRAVELS IN 
 
 For the southern States, nature has done much, but man 
 little. Society is here in a shameful degeneracy : an ad- 
 ditional proof of the pernicious tendency of those detesta- 
 ble principles of political licentiousness, which are not only' 
 adverse to the enjoyment of practical liberty, and to the 
 existence of regular authority, but destructive also of com- 
 fort and security in every class of society ; doctrines here 
 found by experience, to make men turbulent citizens, a- 
 bandoned Christians, inconstant husbands, unnatural fath- 
 ers, and treacherous friends. I shun the humiliating de- 
 lineation, and turn my thoughts to happier regions which 
 afford contemplation without disgust; and where mankind, 
 scattered in small associations, are not totally depraved 
 or finally corrupt. Under such impressions, I shall write 
 to you with pleasure and regularity ; trusting to your be- 
 lief, that my propensity to the cultivation of literature has 
 not been encouraged in a country w^here sordid specula- 
 tors alone succeed, where classic fame is held in derision, 
 where grace and taste are unknown, and where the or- 
 naments of style are condemned or forgotton. Thus 
 guarding you against expectations that I should fear to 
 disappoint, I proceed to endeavour at gratifying the curi- 
 osity which my raniblings excite in your mind. 
 
 The town of Pittsburg* is distant rather more than 300 
 miles from Philadelphia : of which space 150 miles are a 
 continued succession of mountains, serving as a barrier a- 
 gainst contending seas ; and as a pregnant source of many 
 waters, which take opposite directions, and after fertiliz- 
 ing endless tracts and enriching various countries, are lost 
 in the immensity of the Mexican Gulf and the Atlantic 
 Ocean. Knowing the road to be mountainous and stony, 
 I preferred travelling on horseback to going in a stage- 
 coach, that is seven or eight days on the road ; and the 
 fare in which, for the whole journey, is twenty dol- 
 lars. The first sixty miles were a turnj)ike road ; and my 
 horse, which cost me only eighty dollars, arrived tolera- 
 bly fresh at the end of them in twelve hours. 
 
 The place at which I stopped was Lancaster, the coun- 
 ty- town of Pennsylvania. The inhabitants are chiefly 
 Dutch and Irish, or of Dutch and Irish extraction : they 
 manufacture excellent rillc-guns and other hardware, 
 
 * Situated in latitude 40" 26 nortli, and longitude 79** 4S' wcit 
 fiom London. i 
 
AMERICA. 13 
 
 Tlie town is large, clean, and well built : but in spite of 
 these attractions, I quitted it the next morning by sun- 
 rise. Dr. Johnson was never more solicitous to leave 
 Scotland than I was to be out of the Atlantic States. 
 
 In hurrying along the next day, my career was inter- 
 rupted by the rapid Susquehanna. The peevishness and 
 dissatisfaction which before possessed me were now com- 
 pelled to yield to contrary sensations. The breadth and 
 beauty of the river, the height and grandeur. of its banks, 
 the variation of scenery, the verdure of the forests, the 
 murmur of the water, and the melody of birds, all 
 conspired to iill my mind with vast and elevated concep- 
 tions. 
 
 Harrisburg a handsome Dutch town, stands on the east 
 bank of this river. I did not stop however, but pursued my 
 course to Carlisle ; which has a college, and the reputa- 
 tion of a place of learning. This may be so, but, I have 
 the misfortune to dispute it; for though indeed I saw an 
 old brick building called Me university-, in which the schol- 
 ars had not left a whole pane of glass, I did not meet a 
 man of decent literature in the town. I found a few 
 who had learning enough to be pedantic and impudent in 
 the society of the vulgar, but none who had arrived at 
 that degree of science which could delight and instruct the 
 intelligent. 
 
 Having thus no motive for delay here, I passed on to 
 Shippensburgand Strasburg, both German or Dutch towns ; 
 the latter at the foot of the stupendous mountains before 
 alluded to, and which are called the Alleghany. During 
 the first and second days, I met with no considerable ob- 
 jects but such as I was prepared to expect ; immense hills, 
 bad roads, and frightful precipices : I drove my horse be- 
 fore me most of the distance. On the evening of the third, 
 about dusk, I arrived at the tavern where I meant to re- 
 pose : it was a miserable log-house, filled with emigrants 
 who were in their passage to the Ohio ; and a more pain- 
 ful picture of human calamity was seldom beheld: — old 
 men embarking in distant arduous undertakings, which 
 they could never live to see realized ; their children go- 
 ing to a climate destructive to youth ; and the wives and 
 mothers partaking of all these sufferings, to become vic- 
 tims in their turn to th-e general calamity. This scene 
 held out no very strong temptation to me for pasting the 
 B 
 
li TRAVELS IN 
 
 night her«, but there was no alternative ; for my hors« 
 was tired, the wolves were out, and the roads impassable 
 in the dark ; the fire-side too, and all the seats, were oc- 
 cupied, and the landlord was drunk. I was too much en- 
 grossed however with the distress around me, sensibly to 
 feel my own. I stood in fact motionless, with my aims 
 iolded, and fell into a reverie ; from which I was roused 
 by a meteor crossing the room, or at least my surprise 
 was as great as would have been occasioned by such a 
 phenomenon. It was a beautiful young woman, 
 
 " Fitted or to shine in courts 
 With unaffected grace ; or walk the plain, 
 "With innocence and meditation join'd 
 In soft assemblage.'* 
 
 She spoke to her father and then addressed me with in- 
 finite grace : lamenting that their accommodation *'wasso 
 bad for a gentleman f and oflering to make a fire and serve 
 supper upstairs, and strive to make me as comfortable as 
 the situation and circumstances would permit. In a short 
 time she was as good as her word ; and invited me to a 
 small room, clean and warm, with supper already served. 
 In all this proceeding ; in her conversation, actions, and 
 manners ; there was a merit which could not be the result 
 of a common mind.' Her person was tall and elegant : 
 her eyes were large and blue : her features regular and an- 
 imated ; an<l expressive of a pride and a dignity which 
 the meanest clothing, and the strongest consciousness of 
 her humble circumstances in life, could neither destroy 
 nor conceal. I desired her to sit down, and then question- 
 ed her on local subjects : her answers were neat and sen- 
 sible, I extended my inquiries to a wider range; talking of 
 natural curiosities iji the neighbourhood, the face of the 
 country, manners, books, ^c. and to these particulars al- 
 so her replies were judicious, intelligent, and unassuming. 
 She had read mnch ; and the impression which this had 
 made on her, appeared favourable to her retired life, to 
 virtue, and to feeling : too much so to the latter ; for when 
 I exclaimed, '* By what accident has. one so lovely in per- 
 son, so improved in understandings and so delicate in mind, 
 become the inhabitant of these terrific mountains, these 
 .glopmy woods r" she burst into tears, and Icftmc I thca 
 
AMERICA. 15 - 
 
 rose from table, called the ostler, and saw my horse fed ; 
 and this man explained the mystery. The young lady's 
 father, it seems, was an Irishman ; who, having been once 
 opulent, gave his children th<3 most refined education which 
 his country could afford. He was respected and happy : 
 they were admired and beloved. In an evil day, some jea- 
 lous demon infused into his heart disaffection to his king :. 
 he associated with misguided characters, was implicated in 
 their guilt, and with them banished from his native land. 
 His amiable and suffering family followed him to America ; 
 where, soon after his arrival, some swindlers stripped him 
 of most of his money. He took refuge in profligacy and 
 drink ; his wife died of a broken heart ; his child is fadin;^ 
 in unmerited misery; and he is left to drag on a wretched 
 existence,, which in the moments of reason must be embit- 
 tered to a degree too painful to hear, or almost to ihink 
 
 I saw Eleanor (for that was the name of this interesting 
 cteature) the next morning, when she had returned to her 
 usual duties and apparent serenity. I had an elegant edi- 
 tion of Thomson in my pocket, which attracted her noticcr 
 as it lay on my supper-table the night before. I nov/ wrote 
 a romantic but just compliment on a blank leaf in it, and 
 then presented to her the book : after which I instantly, 
 mounted my horse, and resumed my journey ; deprecating 
 the revolutionary politics which had brought this family, 
 an<I thousands of others, into sucli ignominy and distress. 
 
 The town of Bedford is next to Strasburg, and consists 
 of^about two hundred well built houses. It is natural to 
 inquire into the motives which could tempt men to settle 
 in a region so remote from commerce and the world : iron- 
 mines, and some fine mtervalland (as it is here called), 
 were the original attractions. Bedford is but a short day's 
 ride from the highest mountain of the prodigious chain ; 
 and which, by way of distinction, is called exclusively 
 "the Alleghany i* the others having received names from 
 local events, or something remarkable in their features ; as 
 Coneeocheque or Bloody Mountains, the Three Brothers, the 
 ^Valnut and the Laurel Hills, &c. I travelled along so at- 
 tentive to the objects round me, and wasted so much time 
 in visionary speculations, that I was overtaken by night on 
 the summit of the mountain ; where the road was narrow 
 and bounded by frightful precipices. If I attempted to acK 
 
16 TRAVELS IN 
 
 vancc, a sudden and rapid death was unavoidable ; or if I 
 remained where I was, wolves, panthers, and tiger cats, 
 were at hand to devour me. I chose the latter risk, as 
 having less of fatal certainty in it : I thought I could ef- 
 fect something by resistance ; or that fortune might fav- 
 our me by giving a more suitable supper, and a different 
 launting ground, to the ferocrous animals. 
 
 The progress of night was considerably advanced ; and 
 the powerful exhalations of the preceding sun, for want of 
 ■wind to disperse or waft them to other parts, were return- 
 ing to their parent woods. They at first hovered, in the 
 form of transparent clouds, over small creeks and rivulets 
 in the intervals of the mountain ;' and then assumed a wid- 
 er range, spreading over the entire valley, and giving to it 
 the appearance of a calm continued sea. This beautiful 
 transfiguration took place several hundred feet below me ; 
 while the summit of the hill had no mist, and the dew was 
 not sensible. The moon shone, but capriciously : for' 
 though some places were adorned with her brighest beams, 
 and exhibited various fantastic forms and colours, others 
 were unaffected by her light, and awfully maintained an un- 
 •varied gloom j a '*^ darkness visible/' conveying terror and 
 dismay. 
 
 Such apprehensions were gaining fast on my imagina-^ 
 lion, till an object of inexpressible sublimity gave a dif- 
 ferent direction to my thought?, and seized the entire pos- 
 session of my mind. The heavenly vault appeared to be 
 all on fire : not exhibiting the stream or character of the 
 aurora-borealis ; bat an immensity vivid and clear, through 
 which the stars, detached from the firmament, traversed" 
 in eccentric directions, followed by trains of light of diver- 
 sified magnitude and brightness. Many meteors rose ma- 
 jestically out of the horizon : and having gradually at- 
 tained an elevation of thirty degrees, suddenly burst y and 
 descended to the earth in a shower of brilliantsparks, or 
 glittering gems. This splendid phenomenon was succeeded 
 by a multitude of bhooting-stars, and' bails and columns 
 of fire ; which, after assuming a variety of forms (vertical, 
 spiral, and circular), vanished in slight flashes of lightning, 
 and left the sky in its usual appearance and serenity. " Na- 
 ture stood checked*' during this exhibition ; all was 
 " A death-like silence, and a dread repose." 
 
 >Yottld it had continued so f©r a Ume I for I had insensibly 
 
AlVJ ERICA. ir 
 
 dropped on rriy knees ; and felt that 1 was offering to the 
 great Creator of the works which 1 witnessed, the purest 
 tribute of admiration and praise. ^My heart was full : I 
 could not sii{)press my gratitude, and tears gushed from 
 my eyes. 
 
 These pious, these pleasing sensations, were soon forced 
 to yield to others arising out of the objects and circum- 
 stances round me. The profound silence maintained dur- 
 ing the luminous representation, was followed by the din of 
 the demon of the woods. Clouds of owls rose oat of the 
 valleys, and flitted screaming about my head. The wolves 
 too held some prey in chace, probably deer : their bowl- 
 ings were reverberated from mountain to mountain ; or, 
 carried through the windings of the vales, returned to the 
 car an unexpected^, wonder. Nor was the panther idle ; 
 though he is never to be heard till in the act of springing 
 on his victim, when he utters a horrid cry. The wolf, in 
 hunting, howls all the time ; certainly with the view of 
 striking terror : for, being less fleet than many of the ani- 
 n'ialson which he subsists, they would escape him it he did 
 not thus check thdr speed by confounding theiT faculties, 
 'i'his is particularly the case with the deer : at the hellish 
 cry, the poor animal turns, stops, and trembles ; his eye', 
 till ; his flanks heave; his heart bursts;and hediesthe moment 
 before the monster rushes upon him. The tiger-cat was 
 busily employed close by me. Like out little domestic 
 creature of the same species, he delights in tormenting, and 
 is admirably skilled in the art. lie had now caught 'an 
 opossum, as I understood by the lamentations, but was 
 in no haste to kill iti By the^aetion= andn^jise, he must 
 have let it escape hisclutches several times, and as often 
 seized and overpowered it again ; dropping it irom the tree, 
 and chasing it up the trunk, tiU the wretch being wearied 
 at length with his vagaries and cruelty, he strangled and 
 devoured it. 
 
 The intervals between these cries and roarings, were fill- 
 ed by the noise of millions of other little beings. I'very 
 tree, shrub, )>lant, and vegetable, harboured some ihou-- 
 sands of inhabitants, endowed with the faculty of expres- 
 sing their passions, wants, and appetites, in difTerenl tones 
 and varied modulations. The most remarkable was the 
 voice of whip-poor-will : plaintive and sad, " Whip-poor- 
 Will !" was his constant exclumalion ; nor dij he quit hW 
 B 2 
 
18 TRA.VELS IN 
 
 place, but seemed to brave the chastisement which he s« 
 repeatedly la-mented. The moon, by this time, had sunk 
 into the horizon ; which was the signal for multitudes of 
 lightning-flies to rise amidst the trees, and shed a new spe- 
 cies of radiance round. In many places, where they roscr 
 and fell in numbers, they appeared like a shower of sparks ; 
 and in others where thinly scatterc^l, they emitted an inter- 
 inittent pleasing ray. 
 
 At length the day began to dawn : both the noisy and 
 the glittering world now withdrew, and left to Nature a 
 silent solemn repose of one half-hour. This I employed in 
 reflections on the immensity and number of her works, 
 and the presumption of man in pretending to count and 
 describe them. Whoever dares to compose the history of 
 nature, should first pass a night where I did : he would 
 there be taught the vanity of his views,and the audacity of 
 his intentions. He would there learn, that though gifted 
 ivith a thousand years of life,and aided by ten thousand assist- 
 ants) he still would be hardly nearer to his purpose ; neither 
 the time nor the means would be sufficient for him to pour- 
 tray, with their properties, the herbs under his foot, and^ 
 with their affections,, the insects that dwell among them.. 
 Yet every country has its natural historian ! A residence 
 of three weeks, and a. daily walk of two hours for that pe- 
 riod, arc deemed an ample qualification for the discovery 
 and character of the productions of some of the finest re- 
 gions on the globe. Such was not the disposition of St. 
 Pierre : after passing many years in the laborious search 
 of natural objects, and many years more in investigating, 
 their laws and principles, as a, preparation for writing the 
 history of nature, he abandoned the pursuit as impractica- 
 ble and impious ; and favoured the world merely with his. 
 Studies, which are beautiful, intelligent, and unassuming. 
 
 1 conclude for the present ; again entreating you to ob- 
 serve, that in my letters you are not to look for the graces 
 ©f style, or peculiar accuracy of detail. I write Irom the 
 heart, from the impulse of the impressions made by real 
 events; and this will, I hope, sufriciently gratify your ten-^ 
 dcr and amiable feelings, 
 
 T. A. 
 
AMERICA. JB 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Suti'-rise in a deep vaiky. Breakfast at an inn. American 
 forests generally free from imderwood. The Author kills 
 u large bear in the forest : its deliberate precaution on 
 being shot. An Indian camp : gradual expulsion of the 
 Indians into the interior, and their near extermination. 
 Grandeur and beautiful tints of an autumnal scene. Lau- 
 Tel-hill. Delightful vale leading to Pittsburg. Expen' 
 ces at the American inns^ Comfort a term of very vari- 
 ous application, 
 
 Fittsburg, October, t806* 
 As day approached frorrrthe east, I recommenced my 
 journey. The sun soon after coloured '* in gay attire" 
 some of the summits of the mountains, but his luminous 
 body was not visible for a considerable time; and when it 
 did appear in all its majesty, its rays were for several hours 
 too oblique to penetrate the depths of the valley, and dis- 
 perse the ocean of vapour which the preceding day had 
 formed. It was interesting to observe with, what reluc- 
 tance the mists dissipated. Till touched by the magic 
 beam, they v/ere one uniform sheet: they then assumed 
 a variety of forms ; clouds representing grotesque and live- 
 ly figures, crowning some of the highest trees. Some de- 
 scended to the bosom of the stream, and followed the 
 windings of the waters ; others hovered over fountains and 
 springs ; while the larger portion rose boldly to the moun- 
 tain-tops, in defiance of the sun, to gain the higher atmos- 
 phere, and again descend to the earth in dew or showers. 
 
 The birds, with the first dawn, left the recesses of the 
 valleys ; and taking their elevated- seats, "joined in one 
 uciveisal t:hoir.'* At least, nothing had more the resem- 
 blance of a general thanksgiving, or oblation of praise, to 
 the Author of life and light ; and though it might have 
 been but a burst of exultation for the return of morn, I 
 referred thinking it a grateful expression of worship, which 
 said to me : *' Go thou and do likewise." 
 
 It was near ten before I had descended the mountain, 
 aod reached a ^'luce of refreshiuent. You may conceive 
 
20 TOAVELS IN 
 
 how much I was- exhausted ; and how much I felt for my 
 horse, who had fasted all night after a tedious journey. 
 In recompence I now took good care of him, and resolved 
 to let him rest the remainder of the day. Indeed I was 
 prepossessed in favour of this inn : for it was clean, the land- 
 lady civil, and her husband sober; three extraordinary 
 circumstances, and which I little expected to meet on that 
 road. My breakfast consisted of Indian bread, wild pi- 
 geons, and coffee made of native peas : nothing could be 
 more conformable to the place and to my appetite. During 
 the repast I conversed with my host on subjects which I 
 supposed within the range of his information and capacity, 
 Iwas mistaken : he was entirely unacquainted with the 
 country round him. He never went west, because he had 
 no business; on the east, he was bounded by the mountain, 
 which he was determined never to ascend ; and on his 
 right and left was a wilderness which he feared to pene- 
 trate, as it abounded with wild beasts, snakes, and reptiles 
 »f all kinds. 
 
 I borrowed his guri and ammunition ; and having set the 
 house with a pocket compass, took a north-west course 
 through the woods. The American forest have generally 
 one very interesting quality, that of being entirely free from, 
 under or brush wood. This is owing to the extraordinary 
 height, and spreading tops, of the trees ; which thus pre- 
 vent the sun from penetrating to the ground, and nourish- 
 ing inferior articles of vegetation. In consequence of the' 
 above circumstance one can walk in them with mucb 
 pleasure, and see an enemy from a considerable distance. 
 1 soon felt the advantage of this ; for I had not been long 
 out, before a bear fell from a tree, and rose erect, about 
 twenty yards before me. He was in the act of looking up 
 to the branch from which he had slipped, when I fire<l, and 
 lodged a ball in his groin. He staggered, and leant against 
 a tree : but recovering a little from the i)ain and surprise, 
 he deliberately stooped to pick up a (jiiantity of cle^in . 
 leaves ; which with the utmost precaution he stuffed into 
 the wound, and thus stopped the flow of blood. I was 
 prepared to fire a second time, but my heart failed me : t 
 was overcome by the firmness which he shewed on receiv- 
 ing the shot, and the means he employed to correct it£ 
 injury. He tried to climb the tree once more, but could 
 not: the vital stream again rushed out ; he fell \q tlv*> 
 
AMERICAo n 
 
 ground, uttered a deep cry, and almost immediately ex- 
 pired. He was a veiy large animal ; his tusks being five 
 inches long, and his paw fifteen inches by five. 
 
 I continued on my way, till I came to a wood of younger 
 growth, interspersed with spots entirely clear of timber 
 and marked by traces of former cultivation. I examined 
 the place with care : it was an Indian camp ; such as is 
 often seen from the borders of the Atlantic to the great 
 western waters, and even to the Pacific ocean. Not that 
 the Indians originally took this situation, or any other in- 
 land one, from choice : on the contrary, their pursuits and 
 their happiness lay on the coasts of the sea, and the banks 
 of navigable rivers ; where they could lead a life congenial 
 to the climate, adequate to their few wants, and suitable to 
 their propensities. Thus they lived, regardless of the wealth 
 and beauty of the interior, till the overflowing population 
 of your couatry, and the religious and political tyranny of 
 others, inspired a love of emigration : and brought on tha 
 shores a flood from which the native inhabitants were o- 
 bliged to recede ; renouncing at once their habits, their 
 accustomed aliments and pleasures, the burial-places of 
 their fathers, and the residence of their gads. So great was 
 their respect to '* white men,'' that they retreated without 
 making any opposition ; and with bleeding hearts began to 
 settle in the back grounds, to live on meat instead of fish, 
 to build tumuli for their dead, and sanctuaries for the 
 ** Great Spirit" who they hoped had followed them into 
 the wilderness. Innocent intention'^ ! unassuming views ! 
 yet these too were frustrated. Wave after wave followed 
 the first inundation : each gaining new ground, and forcing 
 this devoted people into the plains ; where they were only 
 permitted to live long enough to form habits, and improve 
 the land,and then were driven to the mountains, to feel the 
 vicissitudes of other climates, range amid barren rocks, and 
 combat for food with beasts of prey. Even this state of 
 miserable existence was still to be denied them. They 
 were hunted from these dreary haunts, and compelled to 
 descend the mountains: not on their own native eastern 
 side ; but on the western, which was the soil of their ene- 
 mies, other savage nations who lived on the margins of the 
 great waters, and who were at eternal war with the rest of 
 mankind. The remainder of their history is obvio;^ j 
 mutual an^ repeat&^d hostilities, th« ftlter^itioja of cUm»ti^ 
 
2«. TRAVELS IK 
 
 anffmodc of life, and disease and intemperance introduced 
 among them by the whites, have nearly annihilated the 
 whole race. From the Atlantic to the Mississippi, a dist- 
 ance of two thousand miles, ten thousand Indians (out of 
 twenty millions) do not at this day exist. 
 
 The camp which I was contemplating therefore, iras^ 
 occupied as a last refuge in the hour of melancholy and 
 despair. It is hid in the depth of the valley, amidst the 
 profoundest gloom of the woods ; and at the period of its 
 first establishment, must have been nearly inaccessible. I 
 spent three hours in exploring it ; and found it to consist 
 of, 1. A regular circle, a hundred paces in diameter, the 
 perpendicular rise of the circumference of which is at least 
 four feet ; 2. the site of about two hundred huts, placed at 
 regular distances between the circle and the foot of a steep 
 hill : and 3. the mounds of the dead. The space contained 
 in the circle was usetl according to the exigencies of the 
 times. In peace it was the forum where their wise men 
 and elders met to deliberate on the affairs of the nation ; 
 distribute impartial justice ; exercise their youth in various 
 combats ; and instruct them in religious worship, of which 
 dancing constituted a considerable part : — in war it was 
 ihe assembly of their lighting-men ; where they debated on. 
 measures of prudence, and stratagems of ingenuity. If 
 the enemy attacked them in the camp, the old men, the 
 wives, and children, with their effects, were placed in the 
 centre of the circle ; while the warriors surrounded them 
 as an impenetrable barrier, guarding the wall entirely 
 round, and shouting defiance to the assailants. Nearly two 
 hundred years have now elapsed since England sent her 
 fiery zealots and furious bigots to one part of America ; 
 while France, regurgitating robbers and prostitutes, colon- 
 ized another. Was this a means to improve a people, and 
 reclaim a country, and can its original inhabitants be con- 
 demned for not accepting even a gospel and laws offered 
 them at the point of the sword ? Are, they to be reproached 
 for indolence, vice, and drunkenness, when most experienc- 
 ed instructors came among them to teach these baneful 
 practices ? Had the first settlers been animated by the 
 j)nnciples of an enlightened humanity, how different would 
 now be the face of society and natare here ! population 
 would abound ; agriculture flourish ; the wide desert be a 
 ^njlin^ plain, loaded with waving corn ; commerce vvould. 
 
AMERICA. u 
 
 have op€ne(l extensive roads, the arts and tb« sciences fol- 
 lowing in her train ; and the cross, that holy emblem which 
 is now disfigured by violence, blood and corruption, would 
 be seen elevated on myriads of temples, and glittering 
 through all the parts of the New World. 
 
 At four o'clock the sun had left the valley, and I had to 
 hasten away so as to reach my tavern before night. This 
 1 effected, to the surprise of my hosts; for, from the length 
 <jf my stay, they began to imagine me to have lost myself, 
 or been devoured by wild beasts. An American has no 
 conception of a person's being able to derive pleasure from 
 a walk, or information from solitude : his sluggish facul- 
 ties require palpable and active objects to give them exer- 
 cise. I mention this to account for the astonishment of 
 my landlord at my delay, and his insensibility to the enjoy- 
 ments which a contemplative walk would every day present. 
 Finding that 1 could derive no information from such a 
 man (who knew nothing of the camp ; and, as his wife 
 said, " did not heed such things, not he"), I hastily took 
 some refreshment; retired to rest:;, and departed next 
 morning, with a fine sun, and the promiseof a delightful day. 
 
 Autumn had already begun to shed a varied tint overthe 
 numerous subjects of her rich domain. I amused myself 
 in endeavouring to count and classify the colours which she 
 etnploys to diversify nature, and distinguish her reign from 
 that of the other seasons : but I made little progress ; for the 
 scene was too grand, extensive and sublime, to come under 
 the confined controul of human calculation. 1 was on a va&t 
 eminence, commanding a view of a valley in which stood 
 millions of trees, and from which many millions more grad- 
 ually rose in the form of an immense amphitheatre. It 
 appeared as if every tree, though many were of the same 
 class, had shades, hues, and characters, peculiar to itself; 
 derived from individual attitude, growth, and soil ; and 
 presentation to heavenly bodies, and the emanations issuing 
 from them. It was one of those scenes on which the mind 
 could dwell with infinite rapture; but which can never be de- 
 scribed with justice and truth, except by one inspired by Him 
 " Whoije breath pei fumes theiw, and whose pencil paints." 
 
 :3ut 
 
 " Who can paint 
 Lihe nature ? Can imagination boast, . 
 Amidst brr gay erection, hues like these,'*' 
 
i!4 TRAVELS IN 
 
 Between this spot and Pittsburg i passed two flourishing 
 little towns ; first crossing the celebrated Laurel-bill, so 
 ■called from its ridge being for several miles crowned with 
 trees of that kin^d. This hill is remarkably steep and stony. 
 Nothing worthy of mention struck my notice till I arrived 
 within three mile^ of Pittsburg, when I descended into 
 the beautiful vale which leads into that town. It was im- 
 possible to behold any thing more interesting than this : it 
 extended three miles on a perfect level, cultivated in the 
 highest degree ; bounded by a rising ground on the left, 
 and a transparent river on the right ; and leading to a well 
 inhabited town where I meant to repose after a journey of 
 ^20 miles, 150 of them over stupenduous mountains and 
 barren rocks. Such a sight could j^ot fail of gratifying 
 and enchanting me ; giving serenity to the mind, and grat- 
 itude to the heart : and awakening in the soul its most 
 amiable and distinguished affections. 
 
 In sending you this sketch, I have not stopped to detail 
 the inferior particulars of the journey. It is of little con- 
 sequence where a traveller sleeps, where and wifet he eats., 
 and whether he was comfortable, &c. In travelling along 
 this and every other road in America, a stranger is furnish- 
 •ed with a route indicating the best inns and their distances 
 from each other : as to the expense, it seldom varies .; be- 
 ing a quarter of a dollar for lodging, the same sum for 
 «very meal, and ^alf a dollar a night for a horse. With 
 regard lo comfort, that favourite British word is two vague 
 for general explanation ; as it relates to comparison, habit, 
 and sensibilities. If the English miss cleanliness, the French 
 coffee, the Dutch tobacco, the Germans beer, the Russians 
 oil, the Italians chocolate, the Spaniards garlick, the Turks 
 opium, the Tartars milk, the Indians rice, and so on through 
 every nation, they never consider themselves comfortable ; 
 and hence we hear the same houge praised by one gucsit, 
 and vilified by another. 
 
AMERICA. 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Situation and description of Pittsburg. Its mannfactoi ies, 
 ship-building, and population. State of education here. 
 Character and persons of the ladies. Religions sects. 
 Schools, Market-house J and prices of provisions. Fric€ 
 of land. Amusements, 
 
 Pittsburg, October, 1806. 
 I AM afraid I tire your patience : three letters frora 
 this place, and yet it remains undescribed ! Excuse me : 
 I now commence. 
 
 No inland town in the United States, or perhaps in the 
 world, can boast of a position superior to this, both as to 
 its beauty, and also the many advantages with which it is 
 attended ; it being delightfully situated at the head of the 
 Ohio, and on the point of land formed by the junction of 
 the Alleghany and the Monongahela rivers. The site of the 
 old French garrison Duquesne, which was taken by general 
 Forbes in the year 1758, is immediately at the confluence 
 of the two streams ; and commands a charming view of 
 each, as well as of the Ohio.' The British garrison Fort 
 Pitt (so called after the late earl of Chatham, and erected 
 near the former post), higher up on the Monongahela, was 
 once a place of some consequence as a frontier settlement, 
 but fell into decay on being given up by its founders. As 
 it was included in one of the manors of the Penn family, it 
 was sold by the proprietaries; and now makes a ])art of the 
 town of Pittsburg, and is laid out in town-lots. Fort 
 Fayette, built a very few years since, is also within the lim- 
 its of the town, on the bank of the Alleghany : a garrison 
 is at present kept there ; and for the most part, it is made 
 head-quarters for the army of the United States. 
 
 The spot on which this town stands, is so commanding 
 (in the military phrase) that it has been emphatically call- 
 ed the key to the western country ; and its natural situa- 
 tion is peculiarly grand and striking. Blest as it is with 
 numerous advantages, there is nothing surprising in it* 
 having increased rapidly within the last few 3'ears. It 
 contains about four hundred houses, many of them large 
 
26 TRAVELS IN 
 
 * 
 and elegantly built with brick ; and above two thousand 
 inhabitants. It abounds with mechanics, who cultivate 
 most of the different manufactures that are to be found in 
 any other part of the United States ; and possesses upward 
 of forty retail «^ore*,* which all seem continually busy. 
 To this place most of the goods conveyed in waggons over 
 the mountains in spring and autumn, and destined for the 
 Kentucky and Louisiana trade, are brought, to be ready 
 for embarkation. 
 
 Many valuable manufactories have been lately establish-' 
 «d liere ; among which are those of glass, nails, hats, and 
 tobacco. The manufacture of glass is carried on exten- 
 sively, and that article is made of an excellent quality. 
 There are two establishments of this sort ; one for the 
 coarser, and the other for the finer kinds. 
 
 Ship-building is practised to a considerable extent in and 
 near this town, and several vessels of from 10 to 350 tons 
 are now on the stocks. They are frequently loaded here 
 with ilour, hemp, glass, and provisions : and then descend 
 %ith the stream to the sea, a distance of 2300 miles ; the 
 only instance of such a length of fresh-water inland navi- 
 gation, for vessels of such burthen, known in the world. 
 
 The principal inhabitants of Pittsburg are Irish, or of 
 Irish origin : this accounts for the commercial spirit of the 
 place, and the good-breeding and hospitality which in ge- 
 neral prevail throughout it. — Colonel O'Hara, and majors 
 Kirkpatrick and Grey, have been long distinguished for the 
 liberality of their character, and their generous attention 
 to strangers. I am indebted to them for much informa- 
 tion and kindness ; and whenever luy mind wants a subject 
 ^pablc of affording it the most pleasing contemplation^ 
 it shall revert to the many ha))py hours which I enjoyed 
 in their society, ajid that of their amiable families. 'Ihe 
 influence of these and many other gentlemen of similar 
 sentiments, is very favourable to the town ; and has hind- 
 ered the vicious pro])Qnsities of the genuine American 
 character, from establishing here the horrid dominion 
 which they have assumed over the Atlantic States. 
 
 ♦ Tlie couHuon name for the places of salo in America and llie colo- 
 nies ; diftViiuj; ixomsJwps in beintr generally larger, and always dealing 
 in a vast variety ol articles, ii^cluding every lhii;g that can be expected i 
 to be asrked for. 
 
AMERICA. 27 
 
 Education is not attended to by tlie men, so much as 
 by the ladies. The former enter into business so early, 
 that they are obliged to abandon their studies before they 
 are half completed ; but the latter having no other \\e\^ 
 than the improvement of their faculties, pass many years 
 in pursuit of solid information and fashionable attain- 
 ments. Hence they acquire a great superiority over the 
 cither sex. The ladies of Pittsburg manifest this superio- 
 rity in a very high degree, but do not abuse it. Modest 
 and unassuming, they Conceal for a considerable time 
 their embellishments; and when they permit them to shine 
 out, it is to pkase a husband, father, or acquaintance, 
 and not for the grarifieation of ambition or the humilia- 
 tion of friends. None of their sensations appear to be vi-^ 
 olent : their character exhibits more of a serene repose' 
 than of a boisterous energy. Their form is slender, per-* 
 son tall, and voice melodious ; the hair light ; the eye 
 mild ; the gesticulation easy : and in a word, the whole of 
 their manner, action, and appearance, denotes a temper- 
 ate £oul, an excellent heart, and an improved mind. I 
 am happy to say that these are the leading features of ma- 
 ny American women : it gives me great pleasure to render 
 this justice to them; and to assure you thatwhen 1 ex- 
 pressed the supreme disgxrst excited in me by the people of 
 the United States, the ladies were by no. means included 
 in the general censure. Indeed it is a highly interesting- 
 fact, that the character of women is in every country 
 more fixed and stable than that of men : the polished fe- 
 males of your court, the innocent ones of your fields and 
 villages, and the females (cultivated or savage) of the most- 
 distant regions, have one universal indeliabte obligation im- 
 pressed upon them; to be the entertaining companions, 
 the charming associates, the bosom-friends, and thefaith- 
 fal comforters, of man. This obligation they obey through- 
 out the world. The vicissitudes of life, which cause a de- 
 plorable difference in the conduct of men, exercise no pow- 
 er OTer their affections ; except that their love is strength-*, 
 ened by our adversity, and their friendship increased by 
 our calamities. When the yellow fever is preying on the 
 exanimate wretch ; when the vital stream urges a passage 
 from every pore ; when his servants, and the nearest and 
 dearest of his own sex, fly the dread contagion ; who 
 stays to check the crimson effusion, to offer the last sad 
 
58 TRAVELS W 
 
 remedy, to cool the burning tongue, to correct the putrid 
 air, to receive the solemn parting injunction, and the last 
 agonizing embrace ? who but the wife of his bosom, or 
 the favourite of his heart ? 
 
 Happily for this place, religion is not extinct, though 
 the professors of it are employing the best possible means 
 for effecting its destruction. They are frittering it into a 
 thousand ceremonies, a thousand absurd and eccentric 
 shapes. In fact, religious worship is expressed hine by 
 every vagary that can enter into a disturbed mind. Some 
 sit still, and appear to commune with themselves in- silence 
 and solemnity : others, on the contrary, employ themselves 
 in violent gesticulation, and shouting aloud. Some, in. 
 mere obedience to the letter of the apostle's instruction, to 
 " become aslittle children,'' think it right to play and roll 
 on the floor, tumble, dance, sing, or practise gymnastic 
 and various other juvenile games. Others deny the ne- 
 cessity of at all frequenting the house of the Lord : and ac- 
 cordingly turn out into the wilderness ; where they fast^ 
 pray, and howl in imitation of the wolves. I did not in- 
 quire into the arguments by which the merits oi these con- 
 tradictory proceedings are supported : I was content "on 
 being assured that the better kind of people frequent the 
 protestant church and the Romish chapel, — I cannot omit 
 mentioning, that even the dress and the costume of the 
 hair and beard, are made subservient to religious opinions. 
 Yesterday, while walking with an intelligent acquaintance, 
 there advanced toward us out of a wood, a being that ap- 
 peared to me a bear in disguise ; wrapped, in an immense 
 cloak ; and a hat like an umbrella unfurled, covering its 
 head. Under this impression, I could not help exclaim- 
 ing: " What the deuce is that ?" My friend laughed, and 
 told me it was a Mcnonite : ** a harmless creature,'' con- 
 tinued he, *' belonging to a sect who never inhabit towns, 
 nor ever cut their beard, hair, or nails; wash or clean 
 themselves ; and whose dress^ habits, and general mode of 
 life, are at variance with those of the rest of mankind." 
 Pity now succeeded the error which 1 at first entertained. 
 
 I am sorry that I cannot make a favourable report of 
 the scholastic establishments of this town. There is but 
 gne of a public nature ; which is called an academy, and 
 supported by the voluntary munificence of the place. It is 
 under the direction of a number of trustees ;. who employ 
 
AMERICA. 2$ 
 
 tiiemselves so much in altercation whenever they meet; 
 that they have not yet had time to come to any mutual- 
 understanding on its concerns. There is however a mas- 
 ter appointed, who instructs about twenty boys in a sort of 
 transatlantic Greek and Latin, something in the nature of 
 what the French call patois, but which serves the purpose 
 of the pupils as well as if their teacher were a disciple of 
 Demosthenes or Cicero. 
 
 There are a few private schools where the principles of 
 grammar^ rhetoric, and a sound English education, may be 
 acquired: the young ladies while cTay-scholars, generally 
 attend a. master, and the present minister of the English 
 church isprincipal of aschool for the fair sex. His course 
 ofstudy is very liberal, philosophical, and extensive. Some" 
 of his scholars compose with great elegance, and read and 
 speak with precision and grace.' He makes them acquaint- 
 ed with history, geography, and polite literature; together 
 with such other branches of instruction as are necessary- 
 to correct the judgment and refine the taste. 
 
 The market-house, which stands in a square in the cen- 
 tre of the town, is frequented almost daily, but more par- 
 ticularly on two stated days of the week by vast numbers 
 of country-people who bring to it provisions of every de- 
 scription. 
 
 The beef is excellent, and is often sold as cheap as three 
 cents a pound ; * good veal, at seven cents ; and pork at 
 three dollars a hundred weight. Remarkable fine fowls 
 cost about a shilling a couple. Quails, partridges, pigeons 
 and game of various kinds, are abundant, and sold at pri- 
 ces equally reasonable. Venison and bear-meat also are 
 s-often brought to market : a hauuch of the former n>ay be 
 bought for half a dollar, and a flitch of thelatter for about 
 twice as much. Vegetables and fruit are plentiful, but 
 rather higher in proportion than other articles. Butter 
 is generally fourteen cents a pound ; eggs five cents a doz- 
 en ; and milk, three cents a quart. From this statement 
 you will readily perceive that living here must be extreme- 
 ly cheap, the best taverns charge half a dollar a day /or 
 three meals and lodging ; and there aie boarding-houses orri 
 the terms of only a hundred dollars ayear for board, lodg- 
 ing, and washing. The great towns en the Atlairtic, are, 
 
 * A hundred cents make a doJInr- 
 C 2 
 
50 TRAVELS IN 
 
 vastly dearer ; in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, aii<f 
 Charleston, the average price of decent accommodation 
 being ten dollars a week. Those places however have th© 
 advantage in respect to foreign manufactures, wine, and 
 liquor L for there Madeira is a dollar a bottle, but here ip 
 is a dollar and a half; and spirits of course are in the same 
 rates. This is the natural eftect of ike dangerous, diffi- 
 cult, and expensive, land-carriage. As these latter are 
 articles of luxury, their weight falls alone on the affluent r 
 the other classes of society have excellent porter brewed 
 in the town at a very cheap rale, and whiskey is to be had 
 for two shillings a gallon. 
 
 The price of land varies with the quality^ the distance 
 from the town, and other causes. Farms on the margins of 
 navigable waters are 300 per cent, dearer than those lying 
 behind them. Good land on the banks of a river, and near 
 a market-town, is not to be had under ten dollars an acre ;. 
 but land under contrary circumstances brings only from 
 one to two or live doUai^. Such land yields from twenty 
 to thirty bushels of wheat, and from forty to sixty bushels 
 of Indian corn. 
 
 As for the amusements here, they are under the domin- 
 ion of the seasons. In winter, carioling or slci/ing predomi- 
 nates ; the snow no sooner falls, than pleasure, bustle, and 
 confusion, banish business, speculation, and strife ; nolh- 
 lUg -is seen but mirth, and nothing is heard but h,ar^ 
 mouy. All young men of a certain condition pro- 
 vide themselves with handsome carioles and good horses, 
 and take out their favourite female friends, whom with 
 much dexterity they drive through the streets ; calling 
 on every acquaintance, and. taking refreshment at many 
 an open house. For the night, an appointment is generally 
 made by a large party (for instance,, the company of twenty 
 or thirty carioles) to meet at a tavern several miles distant; 
 to which they go by torch-light, and accompanied by mu^- 
 sic. On arriving there, the ladies castoti' their fur pelisses^ 
 assume all their beauties, and with the men commence 
 the mazy dance. This is followed by supper, songs, catch' 
 cs, and glees. When the voice of Prudience dispels the 
 charm, they resume their vehicles, and return delighted 
 with the moments v hich they have thus passed : — this is 
 repeated fre(|uently during the snow. The summer amuse- 
 ment consist principally of conccitS; evening walks, and 
 
AMEIIJCA, S4 
 
 rarat fesjtivals held in. the vicinity of clear springs and unr- 
 der the shade of odoriferous trees. On the latter I shall 
 dwell in some future letter : at present I must conclu(|^ 
 with the usual sentiments of attachment and regard. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Tlie subject of emigration from Britain considered. History 
 of an eiTiigrant far7ner, Kentucky peopled by a puffing 
 publication. Lord Selkirk's colonizations. District leusf 
 pernicious for emigrants, 
 
 Pittsburg, November, 1806. 
 As the portrait which I gave you in my last, of this 
 town and its vicinity, might dispose some minds on your 
 side of the water to emigration, it will be but fair and hon- 
 est for me to consider that subject rather minutely, and 
 shew you how far such a measure would tend to their hap- 
 piness or otherwise. For this purpose let us suppose an 
 individual determined to abandon the land of his nativity, 
 and to break the chain of early attachments and maturer 
 
 friendships, to go whither I To a country of which 
 
 scarcely any but unfaithful delineators have written ; to 
 regions described by persons who meant to impose on the 
 public, by giving lavish and flattering details of which 
 they themselves had only heard. One place is said to be 
 " a paradise, where man enjoys the felicities of the golden 
 age;" and another is represented as "a fit residence for gods." 
 Alas ! these are the reports either of travellers who conceive 
 that they must not speak the truth, or perhaps of indigent 
 \vriters who never were out of London. Such compositions 
 are a kind of romance, intended to amuse, not to instruct ; 
 to please, but convey no intelligence : and this is the dan- 
 gerous effect of an opinion, that the public taste would not 
 endure a work destitute of false colouring and meritricious 
 embellishments ; and that an author adhering to the sim- 
 plicity of truth, would be condemned as a gloomy pedant 
 who represented nature in a dark disguise. To illustrate 
 these observations, it may be useful to state a fact. 
 
 Only a few years have elapsed since a gejatleman farmer, 
 
52 Travels m 
 
 re&iding within three or four miles of Lewes in the county' 
 of Sussex, began to entertain unfavourable notions of hi» 
 country ; and to believe that he was a mere slave, subject 
 to the caprice of an arbitrary government; Perhaps yoil 
 will suppose that a course of unmerited adversity had re- 
 duced him to poverty and distress, and thus given this un- 
 happy turn to his thoughts : on the contrary, his farm was 
 his own ; it enabled him to support a large family, to en- 
 joy the comforts and even luxuries of life, and the delight 
 of performing acts of generosity among his relations and 
 neighbours. Under what delusion then did belabour? 
 That which arose fron> an extravagant admiration of the 
 French ^evolution, and the French pahnots ! He extolled 
 all that they did and trusted to all they said. They declared, 
 that the people of ETngland were not free, but in a state of 
 infamous servitude: he believed this; and to amend his 
 wretched condition, resolved to emigrate. He fixed onr 
 America as his destination ; and to obtain all the necessa- 
 ry information for this purpose, bought up every publica- 
 tion which professed to describe that extensive country. 
 He had before read every one that abused and censured big 
 own ; and even his children were familiar with Jefferson's 
 flights on IndependaBCCr the blasphemies of Tom Paine 
 and the political reveries of Priestley. Thus equipped, 
 thus admirably prepared for the completion of his project, 
 he sold his stock and all his possessions, and embarked, 
 without any other regret than what he patriotically felt for 
 the calamities 2lX\6 degeneracj/ of his countrymen. 
 
 You need not be told, that on leaving the land, and 
 encountering storms and dangers of every kind, a variety 
 ©f recollections must have recurred te the minds of our 
 emigrants, and torn their hearts with the anguish of recol- 
 lected and endearing sympathies. Such must have been the 
 state of their feelings till they arrived in sight of America, 
 but these sensations were then diverted by a succession of 
 Jiewand unknown objects. They first saw land to the north- 
 east of Portland, in the district of Maine; and then coasted 
 along the shore to Boston inMassachusetts. During this pe- 
 riod, the father wxi« anxiously looking for that prospect of 
 fields and villages, that general shew of improvement and 
 abundance, wiiich his reading had instructed him to 
 expect ; but- what was his surprise when he found that he 
 could observe nothing but immense forests, covering ao 
 
AMERICA. 3» 
 
 endless successjon of mountains which pencftrated to the 
 interior of the country, and lost their summits in the 
 clouds ! He was not aware, that from the vast extent of 
 America, the industry of man cannot for centuries effect a 
 visible change in the general and primitive face which it 
 bears. The improvements are but as specks scattered here 
 and there, and can only be perceived by particular re- 
 searches: the survey from a distance represents a contin- 
 ued immeasurable tract of woods, apparently occupied by 
 beasts of prey, and incapable of affording accommodation- 
 to man. 
 
 This unexpected sight engaged and astonished him ; nor 
 were his reflections on it interrupted till he arrived in Bos- 
 ton harbour, where other scenes gave him fresh cause for 
 wonder. A swarm of custom-officers were in an instant 
 on board ; and began their work of search, extortion, and 
 pillage. Having escaped from these,, and landed, he found 
 Iiiniself surrounded by a number of persons who, without 
 any kind of ceremony, crowded on him with the most fa* 
 miliar and impertinent inquiries : such as why he left 
 England, whether he intended to settl^^ among them, what 
 were his means, what line of life he meant to follow, &c. 
 One of them could let him have a house and store, if he 
 turned his thoughts to merchandize : another could supply 
 him, at a low price, with the workshop of a mechanic, a 
 methodist-meeting, or a butcher's shop, if either of these 
 articles would suit him. Some recommended him to be* 
 come a land-jobber ; and to buy of them a hundred thou-- 
 sand acres on the borders of the Genessee country, and on 
 the banks of extensile rivers and sumptuous lakes. This 
 speculation was opposed by others : who oifered him the 
 sale of a parcel of town- lots, from which, by building on 
 them, he could clear 500 ptr cent. ; or if he had not means 
 to build for the present, he could cultivate the lots as cab- 
 bage-gardens, clear the first cost in a few years, and sell 
 the whole at an advanced price ! Finding however that 
 none of their advice had any efl^ect, these sordid specula- 
 tors gradually dispersed ; forraing different conjectures of 
 the stranger's intention, and lamenting that he was not 
 simple enough to be made their dupe. 
 
 At length he reached a tavern ; where he had not been 
 long before a succession of swindlers and impostors intru- 
 ded on his privacy, asked him a new set of questions, and 
 
U TRAVELS IN 
 
 harassed him with proposals varying according to the paN 
 ticular interests of the parties. If he had a desire to be- 
 come a banker, he could purchase a share in a capital house : 
 or he might buy a land-lottery ; take a contract for build- 
 ing a bridge ; place his funds in a manufactory oi weavers' ^ 
 shuttles ; buy up unpaid-for British goods, twenty per cent, 
 under prime cost ; sell them by auction, and then buy a. 
 patent for making improved fish-hooks, and cut iron nails. 
 As he did not approve of any of these plans, he was fortu- 
 nately left to his little family : but not till his intruders 
 gave him to understand that they suspected him to be a- 
 poor fellow without either money or spirit ; and who came- 
 among ihem to become a school-master, lawyer, parson^ or 
 doctor, " These professions," they added, " already a- 
 bounded among them, but in the interior of the country he' 
 could not fail to succeed ; and they hoped he would soon 
 remove to those parts, as people of his kind were hardly 
 held in repute among them'' 
 
 When they were again alone, his wife and himself could 
 no longer suppress their astonishment and horror. One' 
 short hour had dispelled the reveries in. which they had sa 
 long indulged ; and changed the liberal^ indepc7identy ami' 
 able Americans, of whom they had read so much, into a- 
 race of impudent, selfish, sordid individuals, without "ithcr 
 principle or common humanity. Still however he was not 
 inclined to judge rashly of them ; but de-iberately to exa- 
 mine the country, and act from his own observations. 
 
 At last, after spending much of his time and property, 
 his conclusions were these y. that the high price of labour 
 renders it impossible for a gentleman- farmer to make any 
 thing of land there ; that no man can succeed on a farm un- 
 less he himself attends the plough, and has a wife and chil-- 
 dren capable of performing the other mean and hard work ;.- 
 that the market-prices are too low to defray the expense 
 of hired labourers, and that one of his own flocks of sheep- 
 m England yielded a greater profit than any farm which. 
 he had examined or seen here. Taxes too, he found, were 
 numerous and increasing ; yet trade was unprotected, and- 
 persons and property were insecure. \s to religion, he 
 saw it in some parts estaWished by a rigid ecclesiastical ty- 
 ranny, compelling him to go to church on a Sunday or 
 pay a fine y and in othei*&so much neglect«d and disre^rd- 
 
AMERICA. . ^5 
 
 «d, that every house of worship was in a state of dilapida-. 
 tion and decay. 
 
 Unwilling to renounce the prejudice which had led him 
 to prefer America to his own country, he travelled south- 
 ward, passing through the malignant ordeals of the middle 
 States : through the burning fevers which annually claim 
 their thousands ; and depopulate the great towns of New- 
 York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. He did not, it is true, 
 iind these dreadful scourges prevailing in the southern States, 
 but he soon learnt that thty too were regularly visited by 
 periodical diseases. Slavery also reigned here ; and con- 
 sequently tyranny^ sloth, avarice, and licentiousness. 
 
 He had now visited the whole of settled America ; and 
 at length awoke from those dreams in which he had so long 
 indulged, and which ruined a considerable part of his for- 
 tune. His present reflections indeed were sound and sal- 
 utary : they brought to his mind new ideas of his native 
 land, and of its constitution. What he had seen in Ame- 
 rica„, led him to recollect the undisturbed security and 
 wealth w^^ich he once so eminently enjoyed at home. To 
 change his. own mild and paternal government, for the wild 
 principles of the American federal system ; to renounce 
 the honour of being a British subject, for the degradation 
 of becoming a citizen of such States ; now appeared to him 
 .absurd and contemptible : he accordingly prepared with 
 eagerness to return to his native home^ and is at this mo- 
 ment the tenant on the farm which was originally his inhe* 
 ritance. And yet he is happy, because be now sees all the 
 objects of his former discontent in a rational view. Tythes, 
 which formerly excited his disgust and uneasiness, he now 
 owns to be necessary (till some equivalent can be substitu- 
 ted in their stead) for the support of religious worship ; the 
 neglect of which, as he has strikingly seen in America, ren- 
 ders a country infamously licentious. Taxes he allows to 
 be essential for securing public order, public wealth, and 
 individual prosperity and happiness. He admits that com- 
 merce must be protected by a navy ; and that foreign pos- 
 sessions, which supply that commerce, must be maintained 
 by astanclingarmy: and concludes that to expect riches 
 and prosperity without taxes, is to expect the return of the ' 
 fabulous golden age ; a thing that may be wished even by 
 the wise, but which fools themselves can never hope for. 
 Such h this gentleman's history ! You will ask me why 
 
-:5tS TRAVELS IN 
 
 others do not follow his example ; and when they find A- 
 mcrica contrary to their sanguine nstions, return to their 
 native home. I reply that they either want means, or are 
 -ileficient in strength of mind ; that they either involve their 
 fortunes in vague speculations from which they cannot re- 
 tire, or fear to encounter the contempt and derision of their 
 former acc[uaintance. Some are even so base as to write, 
 in the midst of their disappointment, flattering letters for 
 the purpose of enticing others to follow their steps (which 
 must inevitably lead them into the same errors and calam- 
 itiei) only for the sake of having companions in misfortune 
 and ridicule. 
 
 But a more powerful cause producing emigration is, that 
 it becomes the business of those who make large purchases 
 of land, to exert all their eloquence and other means for 
 inviting people to settle on it. The first explorer of Ken- 
 tucky hired an author, residing in Philadelphia, to write 
 an animated and embellished description of that country. 
 The narrative was in a florid, beautiful, and almost poetical 
 style : in short, the work possessed every merit except truth. 
 However, the land-speculator succeeded : in the course of 
 seven years, the book drew forty thousand inhabitants into 
 ihat State ; but this instrument of their delusion is now 
 read only as a romance. Such were the views also which 
 accomplished lord Selkirk's extensive colonizations : yet 
 the first settlers nearly perished from %vant, owing to the 
 general devastation of vermin destroying the seed before it 
 took root in the ground ; and the next fell victims to the 
 flux and fevers, generated in the immense swamps on the 
 lakes of the west. Priestley, under the same delusive in- 
 fluence, strengthened by his peculiar political and religious 
 pri-nciples, settled in another inhospitable region ; but he 
 was soon obliged to draw a sad contrast between this and 
 his n.ative land : he fell into a deep melancholy, and died 
 of a broken heart. 
 
 I cannot think it necessary to say much after this detail 
 of facts. I ask you, could ijou dream of coming to this 
 country, from so gloomy yet so true a representation of it ? 
 Though many of these facts do not operate against this 
 town and its neighbourhood, still there are enough to deter 
 me from encouraging any person to remove hither. But 
 I do not hesitate however to declare, that if a friend of 
 mine were resolved on emigration, 1 would recommend 
 
AMERICA. S7 
 
 these waters in preference to any place that I have seen 
 east of the mountains ; and as 1 have carefully travelled 
 from Georgia to the district of Maine, you may depend on 
 mj opinion as possessing the advantages of experience. 
 
 1.ETTER V. 
 
 ^lorgantown. The Moiwngahela river. Cheat titer, mid 
 Georges-creek, New Geneva, and Greensburg. BronnS' 
 ville, JVil/iams-port. Elizabeth-town. Mackee's-porf^ 
 arid Braddock's-defeat, An Indian fortified camp deacri- 
 bed, and interesting object discovered near it. Ancient 
 Indian barrows, or burial-places. Remains of arms, iiteu' 
 sils, and instruments. 
 
 Morgantown, Pennsylvania, November, I806. 
 This, which is a flourishing town pleasantly situated 
 on the east bank of the Monongahela river, contains about 
 sixty dwellings ; and is a county-town for the counties of 
 Harrison, Monongahela, and Randolph. As it may be 
 considered as at the head of the Monongahela navigation, 
 I shall here give you a sketch of that river. 
 
 The Monongahela takes its rise from the foot of the 
 Laurel-mountain, in Virginia : thence meandering in a 
 direction west by east, it passes into Pennsylvania; receiv- 
 ing in its course Cheat and Yougheogheny rivers from the 
 south south-east, and many other small streams. It unites 
 with the Alleghany at Pittsburg ; and the two rivers, as I 
 have before remarked, form the Ohio. The settlements 
 on each side of it are extensive, and much of the land is 
 good and well cultivated. The appearance of the rising 
 towns and the regularly disposed farms on its banks, is 
 truly delightful to passengers. Jn autumn and spring it 
 is generally covered with what arc here called trading and 
 family boats ; the former loaded with flour, whiskey, cy* 
 der, apples, peach-brandy, bacon, iron, glass, eartheru 
 ware, cabinet work, &c. all being the product and manu- 
 facture of the country, and destined for Kentucky and 
 Kew-Orleatts : and the lattor carrying furniture, utensils. 
 
.as TRAVFXS IN 
 
 and tools for the cultivation of the soil. No scene can be 
 more pleasing to a philosophic mind than this ; which pre- 
 sents to view a floating town, as it w^re, on the face of a 
 river, whose gentle rapidity and flowered banks add sub- 
 limity to cheerfulness ; and the sweet harmony of the song- 
 sters of the woods, io the hoarseness of the falling catar- 
 act or the murmur of the quiet stream. 
 
 Eight miles below this town is Cheat river, the mouth 
 of which is obstructed by a long afro difficult shoal ; a 
 pilot should always be taken to guide a stranger through 
 this. Twelve miles from this shoal, and on the east side, 
 is George's-creck ; below the mouth of which is situated 
 New Geneva a thriving town, and distinguished for exten- 
 sive manufactories in its vicinity, which make apd export 
 large quantities of good glass. Kentucky and other boats 
 are built here. A little below, and on the opposite side 
 of the river, lies Greensburg^ a small village, of which 
 nothing favourable can be said. 
 
 Thirty-one miles from this last place is Brownsville, 
 formerly called Redstone. This town is well known to 
 those who migrate down the rivers. It is handsomely sit- 
 uated, but somewhat divided ; a part lying on the first 
 bank, but more on a second and higher one ; both the 
 banks being formed by the gradual subsidence of the wa- 
 ter. It is a place of much business, and contains about 
 a hundred houses and six hundred souls. The settlement 
 round it is excellent ; having some of the best mills to b© 
 found in the country ; and amongtheman extensive paper- 
 mill, which is the only one at this side of the mountains, 
 except that lately erected in Kentucky. A variety of boats 
 are built here ; and an extensive rope-walk is carried on, 
 with various other valuable manufactories. The inhabi- 
 tants are principally German and Dutch ; and this accounts 
 at once for the wealth, morals, and industry of the place. 
 
 William's-port lies nineteen miles below Brownsville. 
 The town is small, but well situated ; and is increasing 
 in business ; as it has a fine settlement, and lies on the 
 direct road from Philadelphia to Whulan on the Ohio, 
 and other places of conveyance. 
 
 Beautifully situated, eleven milesfurther down thestrenm, 
 stands Elizabeth-town ; where considerable business iv. 
 done in the boat and ship-building way. A ship called the 
 IVlonongahela Farmer, and several other vessels of considc- 
 
AMERICA.' 3^ 
 
 rable burthen, were built here ; and, lioaded with the 
 produce of the adjacent country, passed from the midst 
 of the mountains to the bosom of the sea, through cir- 
 cuitous fresh water streams that enrich provinces for an 
 extent of nearly 2,400 miles. 
 
 Mackee's-port, also pleasantly situated, lies eight miles 
 still lower, and just beyond the junction of the Yougheog- 
 heny and the Monongahela. Many boats are built here ; 
 and on that account, migrators to the lower country 
 generally choose this place for embarking. It is increasing 
 in business, and indicates a likelihood to rise to some im- 
 portance. A spot on the east side of the river, and eight 
 miles from Mackee's-port, is called Braddock's-defeat-, in 
 commemoration of the melancholy destruction of that 
 British general and his force by the Indians in the Ameri- 
 can war. Nine miles further down stands Pittsburg, which 
 I have already described. 
 
 As I did not stop to interrupt my rapid sketch of this 
 river by mentioning a variety of interesting particuhirs 
 which occur on its banks, I shall now return to a few oi' 
 them. 
 
 Theneighbourhood of Brownsville, or Redstone, abounds 
 with monuments of Indian antiquity. They consist of for- 
 tilled camps, barrows for the dead, images and utensils, 
 military appointments, &c. 
 
 A fortiiied camp (which is a fortification of a very com- 
 plete nature, on whose ramparts timber of five feet in di- 
 ameter now grows) commands the town of Brownsvillcj 
 which undoubtedly was once an Indian settlement. This 
 camp contains about thirteen acres, enclosed in a circle, 
 tiic elevation of which is seven feet above the adjoining 
 ground. Within the circle, a pentagon is accurately des- 
 cribed ; having its sides four feet high, and its angles uni- 
 i^rmly three feet from the circumference of the circle, 
 thus leaving an unbroken communication all round. "^uicli 
 side of the pentagon has a postern, opening into the pas- 
 sage between it and the circle ; but the circle itself has 
 only one grand gateway, which directly faces the town. 
 Exactly in the centre stands a mound, about thirty feet 
 high, hitherto considered as a repository of the dead ; and 
 which any correct observer can perceive to have been a 
 place of look-out. I confess that 1 examined these remains 
 €)X the former power of man with much care and vencra- 
 
40 TRAVELS m 
 
 tlon ; nor couUl I resist reproaching those writers who hme 
 igiioraiitly asserted, " We know of no such thing existing 
 at> an Indian monument of respectability; for we would 
 not honour with that name arrow points, stone hatchets, 
 stone pipes, half shapen images, &c/' I ask those writers, 
 >\hat opinion they entertain of the object which 1 now de- 
 scribe ; and I request them, when they are again disposed 
 to enlighten the world with their lucubrations, to visit the 
 countries which they profess to delineate ; and diligently 
 searth for materials there, before they presume to lell us 
 that such have no existence. 
 
 At an inconsiderable distance from the fortification, was 
 a small rising ground ; on the side of which I perceived 
 a large projecting stone, a portion of the upper surface of 
 vthich was not entirely concealed in the bank. If the per- 
 ceptible portion of it had been marked with the irregular 
 Huoes (Lat tli^Linguish the hand of Nature, I might have sat 
 on this stone in silent meditation on the objects which it 
 irn mediately ci»mmanded ; but I conceived that the .sur- 
 face had that uniform and eveii character which exhibits 
 the result of industry and art. 
 
 Animated by a variety of conjectures, I hastened to the 
 town to engage assistance ; and quickly returned to clear 
 riway the earth ; which bore strong indications of having 
 fallen on the stone, and not having primitively engender- 
 ed it. In proportion as I removed the obstruction, I 
 pauH-d to dwell on the nature of ilie discovery; my heart 
 tteat as I ]jroceeded, and my iinaginaiir'n traced various 
 symbols which vanished before minute investigation. The 
 itone was finally cleared in a rough manner, and repre- 
 »vnted loour view a polygon with a smooth surface of eight 
 KH't by five. I could not inimediately form any conclu- 
 >»ion, yet 1 persisted in the opinion that the hand of man 
 had been busy in the formation of this object ; nor was I 
 liiverted from this idea by the discouragement of the per- 
 sons whom 1 employed, and the laughter of the multitude 
 that followed me from the town to gaze on my labour and 
 delight in my disappointmeHt. Though the earth was now 
 cleaned from the general surface of the stone, small quan- 
 tities of it remained in certain irregular traces : and this 
 I determined to remove before abandoning expectations 
 which I entertained with so much zeal. I accordingly com- 
 menced this operation, to the no small amusement of th^ 
 
AMERICA. 4^ 
 
 spectators, ami with considerable anxiety ; for noiie of the 
 indentions traversed the stone in right and parallel lines ; 
 but they lay scattered without any apparent order, and I 
 cherished the hope of dccypheringa systematic inscription. 
 AVith a pointed stick I followed the nearest indention, and 
 soon discovered that it described a circle which completed 
 its revolution at the spot where 1 had commenced clearing 
 it. A ray of triumph now shone in ray countenance ; the 
 people no longer ridiculed me, but a silent expectation 
 manifested a desire that I might be crowned with further 
 success. Gn continuing, I cleared a right line which 
 made a segment on the circle, though-itdid not touch the 
 circumference at either end; i cleared in succession four 
 other lines of this description ; and the general view then 
 presented a circle enclosing a regular pentagon, whose an- 
 gles were two inches from the circumference. The mul- 
 titude shouted applause j some of them even entered into 
 the spirit of my design, and returned to their homes for 
 water and brushes to scrub the stone. When this task was 
 effected, there appeared a figure of the head of an Indian 
 warrior etched in the centre. Each side of the pentagon 
 was intersected by a small bar, and the circle was also cut 
 by one bar immediately opposite to a right line drawn from 
 the head of the man. Near each line were an equal num- 
 ber of little dots ; and the circle was surrounded by many 
 more : ail uniform in their size, and in theirdistance from 
 the circle and from each other. 
 
 The deductions from this very interesting spectacle, did 
 not however g4ve me the pride and delight that I ought to 
 have felt ; for in reality they destroyed my most favourite 
 conceptions— that the predecessors of the Indians were 
 not only enlightened by the arts and sciences, but were a 
 different sort of men from the present race, superior both 
 in corporeal structure and mental endowment, and equal 
 in the latter respect to the inhabitants of polished Europe. 
 1 was obliged to allow that the fact before my eyes aboU 
 jshed my theory entirely, for the representation on the 
 stone was nothing more than a rude sketch of the adjoin- 
 ing fort which I have just described. The bars on the 
 lines in the etching designated the posterns and gateway ; 
 the dots denoted the length of the lines, and the extent of 
 the circumference of the circle ; and the warrior's head 
 justified the opinion which I bad entertained, that the- 
 D2 
 
42 TRAVELS IN 
 
 mound in the centre of the fort was a place for a sentinel 
 of observation. The etching is deep, and executed with 
 considerable accuracy ; yet the whole has an Indian air j 
 the head is indelibly marked with savage features, and re- 
 sembles many which the modern tribes carve on theri 
 pipes and tomahawkes. 
 
 Two barrows or burial places lie contiguous to the fort. 
 I perforated them in many places, to discover whether the 
 bones lay in positions which announced any particular re- 
 ligious or customary injunction ; but could discover no- 
 thing on which to fonn an opinion with any certainty ;, 
 though I was influenced by a tradition extant among t-he 
 jiative Indians, that when their ancestors settled in a town, 
 the first person who died was placed erect, and earth put 
 about him so as to cover and support him ; and that when" 
 another died, a. narrow passage was dug to the first, a- 
 gainst whom he was reclmed, and the cover of the earth 
 then replaced ; and so on. Most barrows hitherto dis- 
 covered have been of a spheroidical form, which favours- 
 this tradition. The one which I here opened, might have- 
 been originally a parallelogram, sixty feet by twenty, and- 
 thirty feet high, whose upper surface and angles have been 
 rounded by the long influence of time and accident -, for 
 we are not to conceive that the form of ancient works is 
 exactly similar to that which they first possessed. Such- 
 indeed as are built of stone, and have not been exposed to. 
 dilapidation, do not experience any material change ; but 
 all those monuments (and they are by far the most nume- 
 rous) which are composed of earth, must have undergone 
 considerable alteration and waste : and therefore afford a 
 very scanty evidence of their original dimensions, or (ex- 
 cept where bones were found) of their purpose. 
 
 The bones in the barrows of this neighbourhood were- 
 directed to every point, without any regard to system or- 
 order. This surprised me the more, as I am well con- 
 vinced that in general, most of the ancient aboriginal na- 
 tions and tribes had farouritc positions for their dead, and 
 even favourite strata with which to cover them ; as 1 shall 
 have occasion to explain to you when on the spot where 
 the primitive Indian tribes resided^ Perhaps the irregu- 
 larities in the barrows of this place may arise Irom the 
 bones -deposited in them, having been those of persons kil- 
 hid in battle,, and collected by the survivors in order to be 
 
buried under one great mound. This conjecture is the 
 more probable, as there is abundant testimon}- that In- 
 dians dying naturally have been always interred with great 
 pomp, and certain rites and positions existing to this day 
 among them, which they are instructed to maintain by 
 thoir most respected traditions. 
 
 At the same time and place I found in my researches a 
 few carved stone pipes and hatchets, flints for arrows, and 
 pieces of earthern ware. I. cannot take upon me to say 
 tiliat the workmanship of any of these articles surpasses 
 the efforts of some of the present race of Indiam ; but it 
 certainly destroys an opinion which prevailed, that the 
 inhabitants in the most remote times had the use of arms, 
 utensils, and instruments, made of copper,, iron, anil 
 steel. The discovery however of these objects mixed witii, 
 the bones of the dead, proves the high antiquity of the 
 custom of burying with deceased persons such things a& 
 were of the most utility and comfort to tliem in life. 
 
4A TRAVELS m 
 
 LETTER VL 
 
 Town of Erie. Description of the Alleghany river. Trade 
 on- it. Its rise and progress. Towns and other remark- 
 able places in its conrse. JVaterford, and journey thence 
 to Meadville. Bigsugar creek, and Franklin. Mont- 
 gomery's falls. Ewalt's defeat, Freeport. Sandy creek. 
 The navigation of the Alleghany dangerous. Bituminous 
 well. AUedged virtues of the water of the river, Onan.' 
 dargo lake, and salt springs round it. Fondness of the 
 animals here for salt. Buffaloes : interesting narrative 
 respecting the destruction of those animals. Destruction 
 of deer. Birds frequenting the saline waters: — doves, 
 Unhealthiness of the climate, and cautions on that subject. 
 The most salubrious situations. Details of the manner in 
 which the commerce of the two rivers is conducted. Im- 
 mense circuitous journey performed by those chiefly engU' 
 ged in it. Every thing done without money. A store 
 described, and its abuses ; — anecdote. 
 
 Erie,* December, 1806. 
 
 This town, at the head oi?Lportnge\ communicating' 
 with the river (the Alleghany) which I mean in the pre- 
 sent letter to describe, was a few years since laid out by 
 direction of the legislature of the state of Pennsylvania. 
 From a view of its important and commanding situation, 
 it was planned on a very large scale ; and every encour- 
 agement was given to settlers, in order to advance its pro-- 
 gress. It now enjoys an extensive trade through the lakes ; - 
 and this circumstance would render it of the highest con- 
 sequence to the country, but for the fevers which check 
 its population in a considerable degree. Few rivers exceed 
 the Alleghany in clearness of water and rapidity of cur- 
 rent. It seldom fails to mark its course across the mouth of 
 the Monongahela, in the highest freshes or floods. This is 
 easily observed by the colour of the water ; that of the 
 latter being very muddy, and the other's clear. In high 
 floods the junction of these rivers presents a pleasing view p 
 
 * Formerly called Presqn'isle. 
 t An established commuDicatioH by land, to a Davigable waters' 
 
AMERICA. 45 
 
 Ihe Monongahela flowing sometimes full of ice, but the 
 Alleghany transparent and free. It is delightfully inters- 
 persed with cultivated farms and encreasing towns on its 
 banks, and bids fair to be settled from its mouth, to its 
 source. The trade up and down this river has become an 
 object of much importance to the lower settlements ; there 
 being a great demand for flour, whiskey, apples, cyder, 
 beer, bacon, glass, iron, &c. at the difierent ports on the 
 lakes, and among the inhabitants of the surrounding coun- 
 try. The quantity of salt which comes from Onondargo,. 
 in the state of New York, through the lakes, and thence 
 down this river, is so immense as to be sufficient for the 
 supply of all the western country. 
 
 The Alleghany rises near Sinemahoning creek; a navi- 
 gable stream ihat falls into the Susquehanna, to which 
 there is a portage of only twenty-three miles. Thence it 
 meanders, receiving many tributary streams; and in about 
 a south vveserly direction joins the Monongahela at Pitts- 
 burg ; where these two rivers lose their Uumes, and to- 
 gether form the Ohio. 
 
 Walerford (originally called Le Bccvf) is fifteen miles 
 from Krie : it was laid out by the state of Pennsylvania, 
 and is now increasing. This is one of the western port« 
 which were evacuated only a few years ago. In my way 
 heiice to Neadville, a distance of forty-two miles, I had 
 to pass through Le £«>?//" Lake, Muddy-creek and Dead- 
 water ; a passage void of any lively interest ; and danger- 
 ous in respect to shallows, rapids, and stagnated vapours 
 rising out of ponds near its banks and their immediate 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 Meadville is pleasantly situated on French-creek : it is 
 in a prosperous condition ; and is a seat of justice for the 
 counties of Erie, Warren, Venango, and Crawford, in the 
 last of which it stands. Tliis town carries on a considera- 
 ble trade : it contains about fifty houses, and several 
 stores. 
 
 The distance fiom Meadville to Big-sugar-creek and 
 Franklin,, is thirty miles. From the mouth of the creek, 
 there is a considerable fall, all the way to Franklin. Thac 
 town is seated just below the creek, where it joins the Al- 
 leghany; is a post-town, containing about forty houses 
 and several stores ; and is the principal place of Venango 
 county. Twenty-five miles from it is a very dangerous 
 
^6 TRAVELS IN 
 
 spot called Montgomery's-falls. The channel of the li vei- 
 ls on the left side of a large rock, directly in the middle of 
 the falls : by keeping this in view, there is no danger : 
 though the descent is rapid, and the boat difficult to steer. 
 Three miles lower is a very rocky place, called Ewall's- 
 defeat : the channel is on the east side, near the shore. 
 Thence to Freeport, a distance of eighty miles, the river is 
 full of eddies, ripples, rapids, rocks and other djangers, 
 which it recjuires the utmost attention to avoid. In some 
 of the ripples, the water runs at the rate of ten miles an 
 hour ; and a boat will go at the rate of twelve without any 
 other assistance than the steering oar, Freeport lies at 
 the mouth of Buft'alo-crcek, which falls into the river on- 
 the west ; and opposite to it are received the waters of 
 the Kiskeminetas. Sandy-creek is thirty-tv/o miles from 
 Freeport : at its mouth a vessel of J6'0 tons burthen w^as 
 lately launched, filled with a cargo, and thence sailed for 
 the West Indies. This creek is but ten miles from Pittb- 
 burg. 
 
 The river is interspersed with several small islands, 
 which have a very pleasing effect : though they interrupt 
 the navigation, and render it particularly dangeroivs 
 at night ; as the current has a tendency at times to cast 
 a boat on the points of islands, and- on the sand-bar^ 
 whicb project from them. I could hear of but few ob*- 
 jects of curiosity worth observing : I visited indeed the 
 seat of some old Indian settlements, but did not (ind them 
 distinguished by the fine features v/hich characterize the 
 ruins near Brownsville. Not far from Pittsburg is a well 
 which has its surface covered with a bituminous matter rc- 
 liem.bling oil ;- and which the neighbouring inhabitants col- 
 lect, and use in ointments and other medicinal prepara- 
 tions. The vapour rising from this well is inflammable ; 
 and has been known lo hang in a lambent state over the 
 orifice, being fed by fresh exhalations, for severalhours to- 
 gether. The medical men of Pittsburg profess to have an- 
 alyzed this oil ; and to have discovered in it a variety of 
 virtues, if applied according to their advice. They also 
 extol the water of the Alleghany, and send their patients 
 to bathe in it when the season permits: to this water is as- 
 cribed the faculty of strengthening weak stomachs, and 
 aiding digestion. Those who are afflicted with habitual 
 vomiUugs too (a complaiut not uncommon heroj,, are said 
 
AMERICA. 47 
 
 -to find relief from drinking it. Such persons resort to 
 Pittsburg for this purpose, and ra.ake a favourable report of 
 the effects of their libations : though I am of opinion, that 
 the amendment which they experience is to be attributed 
 to their refraining from spirituous liquors, the primitive 
 cause of their malady ; and not to any peculiar virtue in 
 this beautiful flood, which is supplied by effusions of melt- 
 ed snow from the mountains, and the waters of lakes, nei» 
 ther of which sources is by any means healthy. ^ 
 
 The Onondargo, which (as I observed) has a portage- 
 communication with this river, is a fine .lake of brackish 
 water, surrounded by springs, from two to five hundred 
 gallons of the water of which make a bushel of salt. It ap- 
 pears as if nature expressly intended this region to be po- 
 pulated, and, as a strong temptation, placed this treasure 
 in the bosom of hills and woods. Had it not been for 
 these and similar springs dispersed through the western 
 country, salt must have been at such a price as to deter 
 .persons from settling there. All the animals of those parts 
 have a great fondness for salt. The cattle of farmers who 
 give this substance to their stock, prove superior in value 
 by 25 per cent, to such as are not supplied with an article 
 so essential not only to their general improvement, but 
 their health. The native animals of the country too, 9s 
 «<the buffalo, elk, deer, &:c. are well known to pay peri- 
 odical visits to the saline springs and lakes, bathing and 
 ^washing in them, and drinking the water till they are 
 hardly able to remove from their vicinity. The best roads 
 to the Onondargo from all parts, are the buffiilo-tracks ; 
 so called from having been observed to be made by the 
 buffaloes in their annual visitations to the lake from their 
 pasture ground? ; and though this is a distance of above 
 two hundred miles, the best surveyor could not have cho- 
 sen a more direct course, or firmer or better ground. I 
 have often travelled these tracks with safety and admira- 
 tion. I perceived them chosen as if by the nicest judg- 
 ment ; and when at times I was perplexed to find them 
 .revert on themselves nearly, \v\ parallel lines, I soon found 
 it occasioned by swamps, ponds, or precipices, which the 
 animals knew how to avoid ; but that object being effect- 
 ted, the road again swept into its due course, and bore 
 towards its destination as if under the direction of a com- 
 ";»iass. 
 
48 TRAVELS IN 
 
 An old man, one of the first settlers in this country, 
 built his log-house on the immediate borders of a salt 
 spring. He informed me that for the first several seasons, 
 the buffaloes paid him their visits with the utmost regular- 
 ity ; they travelled in single files, always following eacii 
 other at equal distances; forming droves, on their arrival, 
 of about three hundred each. The first and second years, 
 so unacquainted were these poor brutes with the use of 
 this man^ house or with his nature, that in a few hours 
 they rubbed the house completely down ; taking delight in 
 turning the logs off with their horns, while he had some 
 difficulty to escape from being trampled under their feet, 
 or crushed to death in his own ruins. At that period he 
 supposed there could not have been less than ten thousand 
 in the neighbourhood of the spring. They sought for no 
 manner of food ; but only bathed and drank three or four 
 times a day, and rolled in the earth ; or reposed, witk 
 their flanks distended, in the adjacent shades ; and on the 
 fifth and sixth days separated into distinct droves, bathed, 
 drank, and departed in single files, according to the ex- 
 act order of their arrival. They all rolled successively in 
 the same hole ; and each thus carried away a coat of mud, 
 to preserve the moisture on their skin ; and which, when 
 hardened and baked by the sun, would resist the stings of 
 millions of insects that otherwise would persecute these 
 peaceful travellers to madness or even death. 
 
 In the first and second years this old man with some 
 companions killed from six to seven hundred of these no- 
 ble creatures, merely for the sake of the skins, which to 
 them were worth only two shillings each ; and after this 
 *' work of death," they were obliged to leave the place 
 till the following season ; or till the wolves, bears, pan- 
 thers, eagles, rooks, ravens, &c. had devoured the car- 
 casses, and abandoned the place for other piey. In the 
 two following years, the same persons killed great num- 
 bers out of the first droves that arrived, skinned them, 
 and left the bodies exposed to the sun and air ; but they 
 soon had reason to repent of this ; for the remaining droves, 
 as they came up in succession, stopped, gazed on the man- 
 gled and putrid bodies, sorrowfully moaned or furiously 
 lowed aloud, and returned instantly to the wilderness in 
 an unusual run, without tasting their favourite spring, or 
 Hcking the impregnated earth, which w»* also once tiieir 
 
AMERICA. 49 
 
 most agreeable occupation ; nor did they, or any of tlieir 
 race, ever revisit the neighbourhood. 
 
 The simple history of this spring, is that of every other 
 in the settled parts of this western world ; the carnage of 
 beasts was every where the same. I met with a man who 
 had killed two thousand buffaloes with his own hand ; and 
 others, no doubt, have done the same. In consequence 
 pf such proceedings, not one buffalo is at this time to be 
 found east of the Mississippi ; except a few domesticated 
 by the curious, or carried through the country as a public 
 «hew. The first settlers, not content with this sanguinary 
 extermination of the animal, also destroyed the food to 
 which it was most partial ; which was cane, growing in 
 forests and brakes of immeasurable extent. To this the 
 unsparing wretches set fire in dry seasons ; in order to drive 
 out every living creature, and then hunt and persecute 
 them to death. 
 
 Deer, which also abounded in this country, have nearly 
 shared the Siime fate as the bufialoes ; and they too would 
 be entirely annihilated, if they were not capable of sub- 
 sisting in places almost inaccessible to man. The small 
 number that remain, frequent the mountains ; their de- 
 sire for the water of the saline springs however, occasion- 
 ally brings them into the plains, where they do not want 
 for enemies : there being no settler who would not aban- 
 don the most important business, in order to pursue this 
 species of game. What was formerly common to all in 
 consequence of the multitude of herds daily passing back- 
 ward and forward, can now only gratify a few ; for they 
 esteem the death of this fine animal a triumph, and neg- 
 lect no opportunity of thus distinguishing themselves over 
 their associates. On killing a deer, he is immediately 
 skinned, even whik yet palpitating ; nor are the bowels 
 taken out, lest the hide should shrink. The haunches alone 
 are valued as food ; the rest is either given to the dogs, or 
 left for beasts of prey or vermin, which every where 
 abound. 
 
 The salt lake and springs are also frequented by all the 
 other kinds of beasts, and even by birds ; and from the 
 most minute enquiries, I am justified in asserting that their 
 visitations were periodical ; except doves, which appear 
 to deli9;ht in the neighbourhood of impregnated springs, 
 .*nd to make them their constant aliode. In such situations. 
 E 
 
m TRAVELS IN 
 
 they are seen in immense numbers, as tame as domestic 
 pigeons, but rendered more interesting by their solitary 
 notes and plaintive melody. 
 
 In descending the river, and traversing immense tracts 
 of meadow and woodlands wbich are in a state of nature, 
 I have found the atmosphere, after a hot day, so mephitie 
 and offensive, as to give me vomitings and head-aches, 
 which undoubtedly would have terminated in a yellow or 
 intermittent fever if I had not previously fortified my blood 
 with bark and other preventives. I recommend the same 
 precaution to every person visiting this part of the world, 
 and also to avoid studiously the night air. I hare been 
 wet with a dew so strong and palpable as to feel its effects 
 for several days, in a general chill through ray body, and 
 a pain through particular bones. Yet in consequence of 
 the violent heat of the day, people frequently defer their 
 journeys and most of their pleasures, till the night ; but. 
 a sad experience exposes the danger of the practice, in the 
 strong language of rheumatism, consumption, and mental 
 xlebility and distress. 
 
 You will ask me perhaps what parts of the country in 
 the neighbourhood of the rivers which 1 have described, 
 are likely to secure the blessings of health. I answer at 
 once, though in direct contradiction to various writers, 
 that no part of the western country is healthy ; and I 
 have already detailed my motives for this assertion. For 
 if the air is impregnated (as is undoubtedly the case) with 
 a poisonous exhalation so offensive to the constitution of 
 the brute creation as to compel them to migrate several 
 hundred miles annually in search of an antidote (which I 
 conclude to be the real cause of their visits to the salt lake 
 and springs,) what must be its operation on man ; whose 
 organization is much more feeble ; and whose blood, from 
 the manner of his subsistence, is more subject to be pol- 
 luted by the climate, and the various other elements of 
 disease ! 
 
 I allow that there are situations less dangerous than oth- 
 ers ; for hills and eminences are evidently more favourable 
 than plains and valleys; yet the Americans universally . 
 build in valleys, and on bottoms as they call them : which 
 latter are plains formed by subsiding waters and from putrid 
 ingredients, and subject to occasional overflows and partial 
 But tliis too can be accouated for ; the bor- 
 
AMERICA, 51 
 
 ^ers of rivers and navigable streams, arc the theatres of 
 business ; and the Americans are too indolent to live on 
 the high grounds, and to have the trouble of descending 
 daily for the purpose of pursuing their avocations. They 
 every moment see the consequences of this conduct ; they 
 see their friends fall off, their wives and children languish, 
 and their own constitutions fail ; still they persist ; and 
 prefer inactivity and disease to health and comfort, when 
 the latter are to be purchased by exertion. 
 
 Before I leave the subject of these two rivers, I must 
 give you some few particulars of the manner in which their 
 commerce is conducted. 
 
 I do not conceive that I assert too much, though it may 
 be surprising to you, in saying, that the entire business of 
 these waters is conducted without the use of money. I 
 have already enumerated the produce ; consisting chiefly 
 of flour, corn, salt, cyder, apples, live hogs, bacon, glass,, 
 earthenware, &c. Ihave also mentioned the little towns 
 and settlements along them. To such places persons come 
 from Baltimore and Philadelphia Avith British goods, which 
 they exchange for the above productions ; charging on 
 their articles at least 300 fer cent, and allowing the far- 
 mer and manufacturer but very, low terms for theirs. Some 
 of these prices are as follows : whiskey, two shillings a 
 gallon ; live hogs, two dollars and a half a hundredweight ;; 
 bacon, three dollars a hundred weight ; flour, three dollars 
 a barrel ; corn, a quarter-dollar a bushel ; butter, an 
 eighth of a dollar a pound ; cyder, four dollars a barrel ; 
 native sugar, a sixteenth of a dollar a pound ; and so on 
 in proportion, for any other produce of the country. The 
 storekeepers make two annual collections of these commo- 
 dities ; send them down the rivers to New Orleans ; and 
 there receive an immense profit in Spanish dollars, or bills 
 on Philadelphia at a short date. They then purchase 
 British and West India goods of all -kinds ; send them by 
 waggons, over the mountains, to their stores in the wes- 
 tern country, where they always keep clerks ; and again 
 make their distributions and collections ; descend the wa- 
 ters ; and return by the same circuitous mountainous 
 route, of at least 5650 miles, as nearly as can be calcu- 
 lated on an average between the extreme head of the wa- 
 ters and Pittsburg, thusi 
 
52 TRAVELS IN 
 
 Elites-. 
 
 From each station to N ew Orleans - - - 2300 
 
 rroni New Orleans to Philadelphia by sea - - 3000 
 
 From Philadelphia back to each stalion, by the } a^.v 
 
 way of the Alleghany mountains 5 
 
 Total 5650 
 
 A few, oiv receiving their cash at New Orleans, return by 
 land through the wilderness, Tennasee, and Kentucky, 
 t(' their stations at and above Pittsburg ; but this is sel- 
 dom done. The distance which is thus performed is only 
 1300 miles. 
 
 These storekeepers are obliged to keep every article 
 which it is possible that the farmer and manufacturer may 
 want. Each of their shops exhibits a complete medley ; 
 a magazine where are to be had both a needle and an an- 
 chor, a tin pot and a large copper boiler, a child's whistle 
 and a pianoforte, a ring dial and a clock, a skein of thread 
 and trimmings of lace, a check frock and a muslin gown, 
 a trieze coat and a superfine cloth, a glass of whiskey and 
 a barrel of brandy, a gill of vinegar and hogshead of Ma- 
 deira wine, &c. Hence you will perceive that money is 
 not always necessary as a circulating medium : however, 
 as farmers and manufacturers advance in business, and 
 lind their produce more ihun equal to the wants of their 
 families, they contract with the storekeeper to receive the 
 annual balance of the latter, either in cash, or in land 
 to an equal amount ; for though no person cultivates a 
 tenth part of the land that he possesses, every one is ani- 
 mated with the rage of making further accessions. Ihus 
 the great landholders ultimately absorb all the hard mo- 
 ney ; and as they principally reside in the large towns in 
 the Atlantic States, the money finds its way back to those, 
 and leaves many places here without a single dollar. This 
 is productive of distressing incidents to small farmers who 
 supply the markets M'ith provisions ; for whatever they 
 Lave to sell, whether trivial or important, they receive in 
 jeturn nothing but an order on a store for the value in 
 goods ; and as the wants of such persons are few, they 
 seldom know what articles to take. The storekeepers turn 
 J his ctrcumstance to advantage, and frequently force on 
 the customer a thing for which he has no use ; or, what h 
 worse, when the order is trifling, tell him to sit down at 
 the door and drink the amount if he chooses. As this is 
 
AMERICA, Sa 
 
 often complied with, a market day is mostly a scene of 
 drunkenness and contention, fraud, cunning, and dupli- 
 city ; the storekeeper denying tije possession of a good ar- 
 ticle, till he fails in imposing a bad one. I have known a 
 person ask for a pair of shoes, and receive for answer that 
 there were no shoes in the store, but some capital gin that 
 could be recommended to him. I have heard another ask 
 for a rifle gun, and be answered that there were no rifles, 
 but that he could be accommodiited with the best Dutch 
 looking glasses and German flutes in the western country. 
 Another was directed by his wife to bring her a warming 
 pan, smoothing irons, and scrubbing brushes ; but these 
 were denied ; and a wooden- cuckoo-clock, which the chil- 
 dren would not take a week to demolish, was sent home in 
 their st<?ad. I could not help smiling at these absurdities, 
 though I believe they deserve the name of impositions, till 
 an incident I'educed me to the condition of those whom I 
 have just described. I rode an excellent "horse to the 
 head of the waters ; and finding him of no further nse 
 from my having to take boat there, I proposed selling hini 
 to the best bidder^ I was oitered in exchange for him salt,, 
 flour, hogs, land, cast iron salt pans, Indian corn, whis- 
 key — in short, every thing but what I wanted, which was 
 money. The highest offer made, was cast iron salt pans' 
 to the amount of a hundred and thirty dollars. I asked 
 the proprietor of this heavy commodity, how much cash, 
 he would allow me instead of such an incumbrance ; his 
 answer was, -without any shame or hesitation, yor^j/ </o/- 
 lars at most. I preferred the pans ; thougli they are to 
 be exchanged again for glass bottles at Pittsburg, tobacco 
 or hemp in Kentucky, and dollars in New Orleans. These 
 various commercial processes may occupy -twelve monihs ; 
 nor am I then certain of the amount, unless 1 give 30 jser 
 cent, to secure it. 
 
 The words buy anr? sell are nearly unknown here ; inr- 
 business nothing is heard but the word trade. " Will you 
 trade your watch, your gun, pistols, horses ? »!\:c." nieans, 
 •' Will you change your watch, gun, &c. for corn, pigs,, 
 cattle, Indian meal ? &c." But you must anticipate all 
 this from the absence of money. 
 
 • E ,2. 
 
il4 TRAVELS I>* 
 
 LETTER VIL 
 
 Traces of a general deluge. Other great natural phenome^ 
 na, difficult to be accounted for. Peculiar bonders of the 
 vegetable and of the fossil kingdom. List of native plants^ 
 classed info 7nedicinal, esculent, ornafncntal^and iiseful. Ve* 
 get able products of the earth. Important inquiries and sug- 
 gestions concerning some of them. Abundance of vegetable 
 and 7nineral productions here^ivhick might be turned to great 
 account if properly explored; American warriors ; states- 
 7ne?iy and debates in Congress ; divines, lawyers, physi- 
 cians, and philosophers. Buffon's assertion correct, that 
 both man and inferior animals degenerate in America* 
 
 Pittsburg, January, 1806. 
 
 Before I leave this place, it may be interesting and 
 profitable to take a general survey of the face of the coun- 
 try, and to describe some of its primitive productions. 
 
 That Moses gave an account worthy of credit, of the 
 primeval state of the globe, this part of the world fully 
 demonstrates. It abounds in irresistible proofs of a gene- 
 ral deluge, of a miraculous effusion of water from the 
 clouds and from the great abyss ; or such an effusion may 
 possibly have originated from the great Southern Ocean ;. 
 runr.ing, from interruptions, a south east course, and dri- 
 ving every object before it to the north west ; where it de- 
 posited remains now entirely unknown, or appertaining to 
 legions at a distance of several thousand miles. Whether 
 we inspect the plains, penetrate the caverwous mountains, 
 ©r climb their broken sides, the remnants of organized bo- 
 dies are every where found, buried in the various strata 
 •which form the external surface of the earth. Immense 
 collections of shells lie scattered or sunk around, and some 
 on elevations of fifteen thousand feet above the present le- 
 vel of the sea. Fishes are frequently found in the veins of 
 slate, and all kinds of vegetable impressions occur at 
 Iieighis and depths equally astonishing. 'I'rces of diHeront 
 sorts, and various })lants, are found in the greatest dej>lhs 
 or on the loftiest DunHitains, mixed with marine remains. 
 Trees have also been deposited on the summits of moun- 
 tains, where, from the degree of cold which prevails there. 
 
AMERICA. SB 
 
 they could not now possibly grow ; therefore they must 
 either have grown there at a time when the temperature 
 of these summits was warmer by being less elevated above 
 the sea, or have been deposited there by its inundations*. 
 It appears by the general face of the country, that the re- 
 treat of the sea was gradual. Large plains of different 
 and successive elevations, a uniformity and regularity in 
 the strata, and a variety of other circumstances, indicate 
 the departure of the waters to have been governed by a 
 cause whose action was regular, uniform, and hmg con- 
 tinued. Hence numerous objects which are now viewed 
 as curious exotics, might have been indigenous at the pe* 
 riod of a milder clime. This idea is justified by our know- 
 ledge of the effect of elementary conflicts in other situa- 
 tions. The country near Ararat is now unfit to bear the 
 olive tree, as it did* when the Caspian and Euxine seas 
 were joined ; the soil having been since chilled by its dis* 
 tance from the sea, and having suffered from the absence 
 of matter with which it was accustomed to be impregna- 
 ted. 
 
 Independently of the appearance given to this portion 
 of the globe, by the progress of the invasion of the wa- 
 ters from the great abyss, and their subsequent retreat, it 
 presents features which must have been the result of cau- 
 ses difficult to be accounted for. These features manifest 
 themselves in the extraordinary character and form of the 
 mountains ; in the beds of t)ie rivers, which are not ex- 
 cavated by the constant flow of their water, but seem rent 
 asunder (as it were) to give them instant passage ; and by 
 other phenomena which must have proceeded from violent 
 earthquakes ; igneous fusion ; or elementary fire (tho 
 principle of heat coeval with the creation of matter) act- 
 ing upon metals, sulphur, carbonic and bituminous sub- 
 stances, and thus occasioning vast eruptions which split 
 the face of the earth, and gave it eccentric and new char- 
 acters. Huge rocks cast from off the summits of hilis, 
 make room for lakes ; entire ridges of stony mountains se- 
 parate, aiid yield a passage to the pressing floods ; im- 
 mense caverns resound beneath the feet ; and Nature, in 
 disorder, chaos, and contusion, seems pleased to exhibit 
 
 Genesis, chapter 8, verse^lJ. 
 
56 TRAVELS IN 
 
 stupendous monuments of her power, the principles oi 
 which she has endowed us with faculties to comprehend. 
 
 This country, in consequence of its high antiquity, the 
 immensity of its mountains, and the impossibility of its 
 being afi'ected by the violation and ravages of man, pre- 
 sents a field extremely favourable for the investigations of 
 philosophy and the discoveries of truth. Here, free from 
 any artificial garment, Nature is exhibited in her primitive 
 state. The first productions of the earth were probably 
 the winter mosses ;. they are here in such variety of form, 
 that they hardly yield to herbs in number ; and though 
 extremely minute, yet of so admirable a structure that 
 nothing can excel then\ in beauty or variety. These mos- 
 ses are dried up in summer ',.. but in winter revive, and 
 serve for the food of deer and other animals. The widely 
 disseminated herbs, flowers, and fruits,, also decorate the 
 earth in the most charming manner. Trees grow here to 
 an excessive magnitude ; and by Aveaving their branches 
 together, defend the ground from excessive heat and cold, 
 and afford shelter to animals against the injuries of the 
 weather. The hills, vales, and caverns, also supply nu- 
 merous subjects for contemplation. There may be seen 
 the laborious and unremitted industry of the fossil king- 
 dom ; the manner in whjch water deposits clay;, how it 
 is crystalized into sand near the shore ; how it wears 
 down shells and other substances into chalk, dead plants 
 into vegetable mould, and metals into ochre ; from all 
 which matter, according to certain laws of nature, stones 
 are formed. Thus from sand originates whetstone ; from 
 mould, slate; from chalk, flint; from shelh and earth, 
 marble ; and from clay, ttilc. In the cavities of these 
 are formed concrete pellucid crystals ; which, consisting 
 of various sides opposed to each other, compose a num- 
 ber of regular figures, and emit brilliant and prismatic 
 colours. Here also may be, in formation, ponderous and 
 shining metals ; iron in abundance ; some lead ; silver ; 
 and even the ductile gold, which eludes the violence of 
 fire, and can be extended in length and breadth to a m.obt 
 astonishing degree. It is said that the magnet too has been 
 found here ; the magnet, respecting which no mortal has 
 hitherto been able to learn the secret law of its mutual at- 
 traction wi^h iron, or of its constant inclination to the- 
 poles. None of these metals, however, except iron, ar«i 
 
AMERICA. 
 
 57 
 
 found in such quantity, or are so common, as to be worth 
 the labour of search ; but mineral coal abounds so gen- 
 erally, that an opinion prevails that the whole tract be- 
 tween the Laurel mountain, Mississippi, and Ohio, would 
 yield it in the greatest plenty. The mountain immediate- 
 ly opposite to this town is principally composed of coal, 
 from the base to the summit. It is worked with little 
 comparative trouble, about halfway up ; and rolled down 
 to boats which lie below for its reception. It is of a very 
 superior quality, and costs the citizens about two pence 
 halfpenny a bushel. 
 
 As I do not Conceive it interesting to you to receive a 
 complete catalogue of trees, plants, fruit, &c. I shall 
 only sketch out those which principally attract notice, as 
 being, 1. Medicinal ; 2. Esculent ; 3. Ornamental ;. 
 4. Useful ; adding (from Mr. Jefferson's list) the Linneaii 
 to the popular name. I confine myself to native plants; 
 
 Medicinal. 
 
 Popular name. 
 Senna. 
 Arsmart. 
 
 Clivers, or Goose-grass. 
 Lobelia, several sorts. 
 Palma Christi. 
 James's Town Weed. 
 Mallow. 
 Syrian Mallow. 
 
 Indian Mallow. 
 
 Virginia Marshmallow. 
 
 Indian Physic. 
 Euphrobia Ipecacuanha^ 
 Pleurisy Root. 
 Virginia Snake Root. 
 Seneca Rattle-snake Rt. 
 Valerian 
 Gentian. 
 
 Ginseng. 
 
 Linnean name. 
 
 Cassia Ligustrina. 
 Polygonum Sagittarum. 
 Galium Spurium. 
 
 Racinus. 
 
 Datura Stramonium. 
 Malva Rotundifolia. 
 Hibiscus Moschentos. 
 Hibiscus Virginicus. 
 Sida llhombifolia. 
 Sida Abutilon. 
 !Napa3a Ilermaphrodita. 
 Napaea Dioica. 
 Spiraea Trifoliata. 
 
 Asclepias Decumbens. 
 Actsea Racemosa. 
 Polygala Senega. 
 Valeriana locusta radiata. 
 Gentiana, Sapouaria, Vel- 
 
 losa, et Centaurium. 
 Panax Quinquefolium. 
 
^% 
 
 Angelica. 
 
 Col umbo Root. 
 
 Tobacco.. 
 
 TRAVELS IN 
 
 Angelica &ylve5tris» 
 
 Nicotiana. 
 
 Es^CULENT. 
 
 ^v 
 
 Tuckahoe, 
 
 Jerusalem Artichoke, 
 Long Potatoes. 
 Granadellas* 
 Panic. 
 
 Indian Millet 
 Wild Oat. 
 Wild Pea. 
 Lupine. 
 Wild Hop. 
 Wild Cherry. 
 Cherokee Plumb.. 
 
 Wild Plumb. * 
 
 Wild Crab- Apple. 
 Red Mulberry. 
 Persimmon. 
 Sugar Maple. 
 Scaly-bark Hickory. 
 
 Common Hickory. 
 
 Faccan, or lllenois Nut. 
 
 Black Walnut. 
 
 White Walnut.. 
 
 Chesnwt. 
 
 Chinquapin. 
 
 Hazel Nut. 
 
 Grapes. 
 
 Scarlet Strawberries. 
 
 Whortleberries. 
 
 Wild Gooseberies. 
 
 Cranberries. 
 
 Black Raspberries. 
 
 Blackberries. 
 
 JJew berries. 
 
 Lycaperdon Tuber. 
 Hebanthus Tuberosus., 
 Convolvulas Batatas. 
 Passiflora Incarrata. 
 Panicum, many species. 
 Holcus Laxus. 
 Zizania Aqutica. 
 Dolichos of Clayton. 
 Lupinus Percnnis, 
 Humulus Lupulus* 
 Prunus Virginiana. 
 Prunus Sylvestris fructit 
 
 maj.ori. 
 Prunus Sylvestris fructu 
 
 minori, 
 Pyrus Coronaria. 
 Morus Rubra. 
 Diospyros Virginiana. 
 Acer Saccharinum. 
 Juglans Alba cortice Lyu- 
 
 moso. C, 
 Juglans Alba, fructu mi- 
 
 nore rancedo. C. 
 Unknown to Linnaeus. 
 Juglans Nigra. 
 Juglans Alba. 
 Fagus Castanea, 
 Fagus Pumila. 
 Cory 1 us Avellana. 
 Vitis, various sorts. 
 Fragaria Virginiana. 
 Vacceneum Uligniosum. 
 Ribes Grossularia. 
 Rubus Oxycoecos. 
 Rubus Occidentalis. 
 Rubus Fruticosus. 
 Rubus C^sius. 
 
AMERICA. 
 
 ^9 
 
 Cloudberries, 
 
 Maize. 
 
 Round Potatoes, 
 
 Pumpkins, 
 
 Cymlings. 
 
 Squashes, 
 
 Rubus Chamacmorus, 
 Trea Mays.. 
 Solanum Tuberosum. 
 Cucurbita Pepo. 
 Cucurbita Verrucosa* 
 Cucurbita Melopepp, 
 
 Ornamental. 
 
 Plane Tree. 
 
 Poplar. 
 
 Black Poplar. 
 
 Yellow Poplar, 
 
 Aspin. 
 
 Linden, or Lime, 
 
 Red flowering Mapl^ 
 
 Horse Chesnut^ 
 
 Catalpa. 
 
 Umbrella. 
 
 Swamp Laurel. 
 
 Cucumber Tree, 
 
 Portugal Bay. 
 
 Red bay. 
 
 Dwarf- rose Bay. 
 
 Laurel of the west'n country. 
 
 Wild Pimento, 
 
 Sassafras. 
 
 Locust. 
 
 Honey Locust. 
 
 Dagwood. 
 
 Snow Drop. 
 
 Barbery. 
 
 Red Bud, or Judas Tree. 
 
 Holly. 
 
 Cockspur Hawthorn, 
 
 Spindle Tree. 
 
 Evergreen Tree. 
 
 Elder. 
 Papaw. 
 
 Candleberry Myrtle. 
 Dwarf Laurel. 
 Jvy. 
 
 Platanus Occidentalis. 
 Lerisdendron Tulipifera. 
 Populus Nigra. 
 
 Populus Tremula. 
 Tilia Americana, 
 Acer Rubrum. 
 iEsculus Pavia. , 
 Bignonia Catalpa. 
 Magnolia Tripetala, 
 Magnolia Glauca, 
 Magnolia Acuminata. 
 Laurus Indica. 
 Laurus Barbonia. 
 Rhododendron Majiimum. 
 Many species. 
 Lurus Benzoin, 
 Laurus Sassafras. 
 Robinia Spuedo-acacia, 
 Gleditsia. 
 Cornus Florida. 
 Chionanthus Virginica. 
 Buberis Vulgaris. 
 Cercis Canadensis. 
 Ilex Aquifolium. 
 Crata3gus Coccenea. 
 Euonimus Europaus. 
 Euonimus Americanus, 
 Itea Virginica. 
 Sambucus Nigra. 
 Annona Triloba, 
 Myrica Cerifera. 
 Kalmia Angustifolia. 
 Hedera Quiaquefoliat 
 
60 
 
 TRAVELS^ IN 
 
 Trumpet Honeysuckle. 
 Upright Honeysuckle. 
 Yellow Jasmine. 
 
 American Aloe. 
 Sumach, 
 Poke. 
 Long ^loss. 
 
 Lonicera Serapervirens. 
 Azalia Nudiflora. 
 Begnonea Sempervirens. 
 Calythanthus Fioridus. 
 Agave Virginica. 
 Rhus, many species. 
 Phytoloca Decandra, 
 Tellandsia Usneoides, 
 
 Useful, for fabrication. 
 
 Reed. 
 
 Virginia Hemp. 
 
 Flax. 
 
 Black, or Pitch Pine. 
 
 White Pine. 
 
 Yellow Pine. 
 
 Spruce Pine. 
 
 Plemlock Spruce Fir, 
 
 Arbor Vitae. 
 
 Juniper. 
 
 Cypress. 
 
 White Cedar. 
 
 Red Cedar. 
 
 Black Oak. 
 
 White Oak. 
 
 Red Oak. 
 
 Willow Oak. 
 
 Chesnut Oak. 
 
 Black Jack Oak, 
 
 Ground Oak. 
 
 Live Oak. 
 
 Black Birch. 
 
 White Birch. 
 
 Beach. 
 
 Ash, several species. 
 
 Elm. 
 
 Willow, several species. 
 
 Sweet Gum. 
 
 Arundo Phoagmitis. 
 
 Acneda Cannabina. 
 
 Lenum Virgineanum. 
 
 Pinus Tasda. 
 
 Piri"? Sfrobus. 
 
 Pinus Virginica. 
 
 Pinus Foljis Singularibus 
 
 C . 
 Pinus Canadensis. 
 Thuya Occidentalis. 
 Juniperus Virginica. 
 Cupussus Disticha. 
 Cupussus Thyoides. 
 
 Quercus Nigra.. 
 Quercus Alba. 
 Quercus Rubra. 
 Quercus Phellos. 
 Quercus Prinus. 
 Quercus Aquatica. 
 Quercus Pumila. 
 Quercus Virginiana. 
 Be tula Nigra. 
 Betula Alba. 
 Fagus Sylvatica.' 
 Fraxinus Americana, 
 Ulmus Americana. 
 Salix. 
 Liquidanbar Styracifera. 
 
 There are numerous plants, flowers, &c. wbich I have 
 4jmitted : you will find a scfcntific account of them ip tii^ 
 
AMERICA. 6l 
 
 FIdra Virginica, of the celebrated Dr. Clayton published 
 at Leyden, in 176"2. 
 
 After this enumeration it is unnecessary to tell you that 
 the farms of the country produce wheat, rye, barley, oats, 
 buck-wheat, broom-corn, Indian corn, &c. This neigh- 
 bourhood also cultivates hemp, flax, and hops; but is not 
 favourable to cotton, indigo, rice, or tobacco. Those ar- 
 ticles however are to be had down the Ohio, and ar« 
 brought hither at an expense of about two-pence j^er pound. 
 All kinds of vegetables and fruit grow in great luxuriance : 
 the former especially are superior to those of Europe : but 
 in consequence of the high price of labour, and the little 
 attention paid to so interesting a branch of rural econo- 
 Ciiy, they are not quite so cheap. 
 
 Much has been written and said respecting the arrack- 
 tree : may it not be the same as the American cocoa ; or 
 perhaps rather the sugar maple; which for many years suc- 
 cessively yields a large quantity of rich sweet sap, whence 
 9. fine sugar is made and spirit is distilled ? It also might be 
 worth inquiry whether the cotton of the country, which 
 is different from that raised in the islands, be not the same 
 as that of which the Chinese make their fine calicoes and 
 inuslins. It might be ascertained whether the common 
 Indian hemp be not the same as the Chinese herba ; and 
 whether the silk gathered on the trees in China, be any 
 other than the cocoons which are to be found in great plen- 
 ty in many situations here on trees and bushes. The manu- 
 factured silk of the Chinese appears to be of different sorts, 
 from which it is likely that they have different species of 
 silk-worms. In this country, more to the southward, va- 
 rious sorts of cocoons are found on trees and shrubs, but 
 those on the mulberry are the best : the cocoons of some 
 of them, particularly such as feed on the sassafras, arc 
 large; and the substance which they produce, though not 
 so fine, is much stronger, than that of the Italian silk- 
 worm. Thus in my opinion there is reason to believe, tha^ 
 if experiments were made with these indigenous silk-worms, 
 apd if such as are most useful were propagated, this 
 country might produce abundance of silk. 
 
 Here are also many trees, plants, roots, and herbs, to 
 the medicinal virtues and uses of which we are total strang- 
 crg. It is perhaps true that the fruit of the prescmmon 
 ttce has becji used in brcwi tig of beer; but it is hardly 
 
S^ TRAVELS IN 
 
 known that one bushel of this fruit will yield abov« a gallon 
 of proof spirit, of excellent quality and flavour. To what 
 4>ther uses in pharmacy the gum, bark, and roots of this 
 tree, which are very astringent, may be applied, the pub- 
 lic is also ignorant. The virtues of the magnolia, calalpa, 
 and spice-wood, whose odours extend several miles, are 
 not sufficiently ascertained, though they have been used by 
 the Indians who consider them as excellent remedies in 
 several disorders^. There is another tree called the zam- 
 Ihoxelum, the bark of which is of such a peculiar quality, 
 that the smallest bit of it, on being chewed, stimulates the 
 glands of the mouth iind tongue and occasions a flow of 
 saliva equal to that of a salivation, while its action con- 
 tinues, and yet no rational experiments have been made 
 to ascertain the advantages to be derived from such ex- 
 traordinary properties. A variety of other trees miglit be 
 mentioned, such as the sassafras) the wild cinnamon; th^ 
 magnolia altisima; whose fragrant smell and aromatic 
 taste prove that tht^y possess medicinal qualities with which 
 we are unacquainted. The shumack likewise requires ^x- 
 aiiiination. Perhaps its seed or berries, if not the wood 
 itself, wight be used in dying. The Indians mix its leaves 
 with their tobacco to render it; odorific and pleasant ia 
 ^moaking. v There is a species of it which yields a gum, 
 that nearly, if- not exactly, resembles the gum copal. In- 
 deed there is reason to believe it is the very same. 
 
 Wines and raisins are imported from foreign parts at an 
 extravagant price, while nature points out that few coun- 
 tries can be more proper than this forthe production of the 
 grape. — Where lands are not cleared and the grape-vines 
 not extirpated, it is impossible to resist observing and ad- 
 miring the quantity which those natural vineyards present 
 to the view. Farther down the Ohio, in the Indian 
 territory and elsewhere, hills, vales, and plains, exhibit 
 them in luxurious abundance. They grow spontaneously 
 in every soil, and almost every climate in America ; yet 
 they are neglected, or unskilfully encouraged on a small 
 scale. 
 
 It would be endless to recount all the other articles of 
 the vegetable kingdom which are not investigated, though, 
 with a little care and attention, they might become arti- 
 cles of commerce, and be of infinite use to the country. 
 J. must mention one plant, a native of this place, and wbick 
 
AMERICA. ^ 
 
 growrs in many places, known commonly by the name of 
 Indian hemp. Its bark is so strong that the Indians make 
 use of it for bow-strings. Could a method be found for 
 separating and softening its fibres, so as to render it duc- 
 tile and fit to be spun into thread, it might serve as a sub- 
 stitute for flax and hemp. This plant deserves to be cul- 
 tivated on another account: the pod it bears contains a 
 substance, that, from its softness and elasticity, might be 
 used instead of the finest down. Its culture is easy, in as 
 much as its root, which penetrates deep into the earth, sur-' 
 vives the winter, and shoots out fresh stalks every spring* 
 With the roots of plants, nearly unknown to us, the In- 
 dians stain wood, hair, and skins, of a beautiful colour, 
 and which preserves its lustre far years, though exposed to 
 all extremes of the weather. With the juice of herbs they 
 relieve many diseases, heal wounds, and cure the bite of 
 the most venemous snakes. A perfect knowledge of these 
 simples, and of many others with which this country a- 
 bounds, might be of great utility to mankind. Perhaps 
 they are in as great abundance here as in China. There- 
 semblance is manifest in the weather, the climate, and 
 possibly in the soil and produce. Tobacco, phitolacca, 
 the presemmon tree, the mulberry, with several others, 
 are natives of China as they are also of most parts of A- 
 merica. Ginseng is gathered to the westward of Pekin, 
 and has not been found in any other part of the world, ex- 
 cept within the same degrees of latitude in this country, 
 where ship-loads may be had at a short notice. These olr» 
 servations give grounds to believe that, if proper inquiries 
 were made, many more of the native plants of China, and 
 very possibly, the tea, so much in use, and now become 
 so necessary a part of diet might be found in America. 
 
 Nor are the bowels of the earth sufficiently explored, 
 notwithstanding the great encouragement received from the 
 few experiments which have been made. There is here a 
 great variety of clays, many of them so valuable as to in- 
 duce a hope that, in time, porcelain equal to that brought 
 from China, may be manufactured at home. The lands 
 to the S. W. are so replete with nitre that, in various 
 places, it appears like a hoar frost on the surface of the 
 ground, and it is known that there are mines of saltpetre in 
 the mountains. Besides the minerals 1 have mentioned, I 
 Iftave seen specimens of tin, antimony, besmuth ores, and 
 
6'4^ TRAVELS IN 
 
 many others, the nature, use and properties of which are 
 iiot,surficiently ascertained. ^Vllat you have heard of the 
 cottntry originates from the narratives of hunters, the re- 
 ports of ignorant travellers, and the dreams of persons who 
 never left their native homes. Whereas it richly merits, 
 that a society of learned naturalists should visit it, under 
 the patronage of government, explore with care, annalize 
 with skill, and return enriched with useful knowledge and 
 profitable erudition, derived from the great book of na- 
 ture, and not from uncertain information, or false hypo- 
 iheses. 
 
 From these remarks concerning the riches yielded by 
 its soil, I shall make rather an abrupt transition to what 
 should rank as the far nobler produce of America, its in- 
 habitants ; I now speak only of its civilized parts, the U- 
 nitcd States ; but on this subject, alas ! it may be said 
 with the greatest truth : 
 
 " Man is the only growth that dwindles here." 
 
 You may peihaps have heard so much of great Ameri- 
 can warriors, statesmen, politicians, churchmen, lawyers, 
 physicians, astronomers, &c. that you are astonished to 
 Jiear any one bold enough to dispute the fact. 1 say the 
 fact, because in my correspondence with you, you may 
 have already perceived my determination of making no 
 general assertion but such as I can establish by actual evi- 
 tience and decisive testimonies. I know of no great war- 
 riors, in x\merica. 1 cannot honour by that name even 
 the men who overwhelmed a handful of British, and after 
 several years combat obtained an unprofitable victory. 
 Jn like manner I have known a shoal of herrings run down 
 a whale on the coast of Cornwall, but it did not follow 
 that 1 was to attribute this accident to the hidaidual proW' 
 ess of anij of such contemptible animals, or to the absence 
 of strength and capacity in the whale. This is so ju&t 
 a picture of the American war and its close, that I hasten 
 to the statesmen of whom your papers speak so much: 
 and who are they ? I admit there are two in the country; 
 the one after many years of public life devoted to a 
 democratic party had the good sense again to become an 
 apostate to monarchy, though he might have predicted 
 that it would occasion his fall from the head of the gov- 
 eninajent, and expose him t^ the most intenipei*ate abuse of 
 
AMERICA. 65 
 
 the Jacobinical faction. He met these events soon after 
 with a manly fortitude, and Mr. John Adams now leads a 
 private life, beloved by the admirers of good sense, and 
 sound and practical polilical economy. There is no doubt 
 but that he is the first statesman in America, for I trust 
 you do not mean me to distinguish by that name the swarm 
 of politicians who clog the wheels of the government, and 
 who affect that they alone are competent to the direction 
 of national affairs. The next statesman to Mr. Adams, is 
 Mr. Jefferson. This gentleman has more theoretical talent 
 than sterling political ability. And yet to shew some re- 
 spect to the cry of the world, I call him a statesman, 
 though he certainly has betrayed more derelection and ter- 
 giversation than ought to be accarded to so high and emi- 
 nent a name. During the whole of his two precidencies 
 he has been fluctuating between the interests of his coun- 
 try and his prejudice and attachment ta the French gov- 
 ernment. The remains of good sense and the loud admo- 
 nitions of others, have at length prevailed, and though he 
 continues his affeption to the gallic cock, still he ceases 
 to hate and bully the British lion. There are in America no 
 real politicians; the speeches you see in papers are made 
 by Irish and Scotch journalists, who attend the Congress 
 and Senate merely to take the spirit of their proceedings 
 and clothe it with a language interesting to read. Attend- 
 ing the debates of Congress on a day when a subject of 
 consequence was to be discussed, I left the house full of 
 contempt of its eloquence and the paucity of talent em- 
 ployed for the support or condemnation of the question. 
 Notwithstanding this I read in the next morning's gazette,, 
 ** that a debate took place in the house last rnght: of the 
 most interesting nature ; that it was agitated by all the 
 talent in the country. — particularly by Messieurs Dayton, 
 Morgan, Gtty, Dawson, and whose brilliant speeches we 
 lay before the public." Here follov/ed certainly eloquent 
 orations, a sentence of which never passed in the house. I 
 had the misfortune to attend the Congress at another time,, 
 when the scone was more noisy and turbulent than at any 
 of your electioneering hustings. — ^A Mr. Lyon, of Ver- 
 mont, now of lientucky, not being able to disprove the- 
 arguments of an opponent, spit directly in his face: this- 
 the other resented by running to the fire and catching up 
 i a hot poker, and in a short time nearly killed his opponent^ 
 I V F 2 
 
6d TRAVELS IN 
 
 and cleared the house. I suppose this is sufficient on thi» 
 head; from it you cau readily learn that the Congress is a 
 violent vulgar assembly, which hired persons attend, to de- 
 bate on state affairs, and that the public newspapers are 
 conducted by foreign editors, who amplify such debates^ 
 and give them something of a polished and interesting 
 character. 
 
 Nor has the church any brighter ornaments than the 
 state. The members of it have no conception of eloquence. 
 Mt. Smith of Princeton College, has the highest repu- 
 tation as a divine and orator., I went to hear hLm preach,, 
 and had the mortification to find a transposed sermon of 
 Blair, delivered in a strain of dull monotony. 
 
 As the exposition of all law, and pleading of all facts. 
 is confined to the province of attornies, I was not surpris- 
 ed to find a want of ability and eloq-uence in that depart- 
 ment. The late general Hamilton, a West-Indian by birth,. 
 Avas the first attorney, and pleaded in America. The cel- 
 ebrated Mr. Burr, was his rival at the bar; and since the 
 death of the former, and retreat of the latter, a Mr. Liv-^ 
 iugstone and a Mr. Emmet, alone enjoy repute. 
 
 The physicians o( eminence are very few. Dr. Rush of 
 Philadelphia, ajid Wilson of New York, monopolize all the 
 character of the country, of a medical nature ;. and yet the 
 yellow fever rages and carries off their ajjnual thousands,, 
 tliough these gentlemen have written themselves into the 
 i^ame of infallibility itself. There is no profession in Ame- 
 rica, so shamefully neglected as that of physic, or more 
 destituc of able practitioners. 
 
 As to the department of science, I am toU that there 
 has been a I'ranklin and a Rittenhouse ^ the former 
 ^one in electricity, and the latter cunstructed an orrery 
 on true principles. I will allow this ; 1 have no disposition* 
 to retract from the merits of such gentlemen, but X can- 
 not admit that these two instances after the mediocrity of, 
 genius, are sufficient to justify Mr. Jefferson, in sayings 
 that America is the most enliglttcned country in the world f. 
 and that M. Buffon was guilty of a gross error when he as- 
 serted that man and beast degenerated in America, and- 
 became in time inferior to tho^e of Europe. M. Buffon^ 
 was perfectly right in his assertion and principle, but wrong 
 in the proof he adduced. Mr. Jefferson took advantage of 
 tiiis error; ail his followers haye taken his ground,, and 
 
AMERICA. . ^ 
 
 jiothing is heard through the w.hole union, but " America 
 is the most enlightened nation in the world." This cry has 
 spread abroad ; is believed at home, and M. Buffon is con- 
 demned. This is the natural fate of flattery and truth — 
 Mr. Jefferson is held up as a great statesman and profound 
 philosopher, while M. Buffon, is held in contempt as a 
 prejudiced reasoner, jealous of the pride and honour of the 
 quarter of the globe, which gave the former birth ! The re- 
 flections likely to arise in your mind out of this, 1 shall 
 Bot interrupt^ 
 
 LETTER Yllh 
 
 General view of the rher OkiOf and Bs Beauties-— -its advan- 
 tages — its course — its islands — its depth and navigation — 
 its obstructions might easily be removed, — Advice to per" 
 sous wishing to descend the Ohio, 
 
 Wheelings Virginia, on the Ohio^L April 1 806. 
 
 YOU will perceive,. much to your satisfaction that I have 
 left Pittsburg, whence I sent you so many tedious letters, 
 and am about to descend the Ohio — Before however I 
 commence that river's minute details, I must give you its 
 general description. 
 
 The Ohio commences at the junction of the Alleghanjr 
 ^nd Monangaheta rivers, and there also commences its 
 beauty. It has been truly described as beyond competi- 
 tion, the most beautiful river in the universe, whether it 
 be considered for its meandering courge through an im- 
 mense region of forests ', for its elegant banks, which af- 
 ford innumerable delightful situations for cities, villages, and 
 improved farms ; or for those many other advantages which 
 truly entitle it to the name originally given it by the 
 French, of** La belle riviere." This is the outline of a 
 description given several years since, and it has generally 
 been thought an exaggerated one. Now, the immense 
 forests recede, cultivations smiles along its banks ; nume- 
 rous villages and towns decorate its shores j and it is not 
 
e« TRAVELS IN 
 
 extravagant to suppose, that the day is not far distant 
 when its whole margin will form one continued series of 
 villages and towns. 
 
 The reasons for this gratifying supposition are many ; 
 the principal ones are, the immense tracts of fine 
 country that have communication with the Ohio by means- 
 of its tributary navigable waters ; the extraordinary fer- 
 tility, extent, and beauty of the river bottoms, generally 
 high, dry, and productive ; and the superior excellence 
 of its navigation, through means of which the various 
 productions of the most extensive and fertile parts of the 
 United States must eventually be sent to market. 
 
 At its commencement at Pittsburg, it takes a north west 
 course for about twenty live miles, then turns gradually to 
 west south west, and pursuing that course for about hve 
 hundred miles, winds to the south west for nearly one 
 hundred and sixty miles ; then turns to the west for about 
 two hundred and sixty miles ; thence south west for one 
 hundred and sixty, and empties into the Mississippi in a 
 south east direction, about eleven hundred miles below 
 Pittsburg, and nearly the same distance above New Or- 
 leans in lat. 36 43 north. It is so completely serpentine, 
 that in several places a person taking observations of the 
 sun or stars, will find that he sometimes entirely changes 
 .his. direction, and appears to be going directly back ; but 
 its general course is south, sixty degrees west. Its widtb 
 is from five hundred to fifteen hundred yards ; but at the 
 rapids, and near the mouth, it is considerably wider. 
 
 The numerous islands that are interspersed in this river, 
 add much to thegrandeur of its appearance, but they very 
 much embarrass the navigation, particularly in low water,^ 
 as they occasion a great many shoahi and sand bars. The 
 soil of those islands is, for the most part, very rich, the 
 timber luxuriant, ami the extent of some of them consid- 
 erable. Where fruit trees have been planted, they are 
 found to thrive, to bear well, and seldom fail of a crop.. 
 Indeed this is the case wherever fruit trees have been tried 
 on the river bottoms, the soil of which is very similar to 
 that of the islands, though not quite so sandy. 
 
 In times of high freshes, and during the effusion of ica 
 and snow from the Alleghany and other mountains, vessels 
 of almost any tonnage may descend ; and it is never so 
 low but tliat it may be navigated by canoes and other light 
 
AMERICA. 69 
 
 eraft, not drawing more than twelve inches water. The 
 highest floods are in spring, when the river rises forty-five 
 feet ; the lowest are in summer, when it sinks to twelve 
 inches on the bars, ripples, and shoals where waggons, 
 Carts, &c. frequently pass. Many of the impediments 
 however which are to be met with when the water is low, 
 might in a dry time be got rid of, and at no very conside- 
 rable expense ; at least the expense would be by no means 
 beyond the advantages which would accrue from the un- 
 dertaking if properly managed. Rocks, that now during 
 the dry season, obstruct or render dangerous the large flat 
 bottomed, or what are called Kentucky boats, might bo 
 bhistcd ; channels might be made through the ripples ; 
 and the snags, and fallen timber along the banks entirely 
 removed. 
 
 These improvements, together with many others that 
 might be enumerated, must undoubtedly, sooner or later, 
 be carried into effect, as they are a national concern of 
 the first importance. In the mean time, some general in- 
 structions respecting the present navigation, and which I 
 have collected from the most experienced watermen, will 
 be found useful to those who may hereafter propose de- 
 scending the river, and who are unacquainted both as to 
 the manner this voyage is to be undertaken, and with the 
 nature and channel of the different rivers. Do not let it 
 be said notwithstanding, that I mean to encourage any per- 
 son to follow ray steps or to reside on these waters. I re- 
 peat, that the parts of the river's banks, favourable for 
 tpwns, villages, farms, &c. are without exception, un- 
 healthy — exposing all descriptions of inhabitants, especially 
 new comers, to annual visitations of dissentery, flux, pleu- 
 racy, and various species of intermittent fevers. 1 his is 
 to be expected of rivers which experience such extraordi- 
 nary and great vicissitudes ; at one period sufficient to car- 
 ry a first rate man of war, and at another barely capable 
 of floating a canoe ; at one period running at seven miles 
 an hour, and at another nearly stagnate in an unruffled 
 bed. 
 
 The first thing to be attended to by emigrants, or tra- 
 ders, wishing to descend the river, is to procure a boat, to 
 be ready so as to take advantage of the times of flood, and 
 to be careful that the boat be a good one ; for many of 
 the accidents thai happen in navigating the Ohio and Mis- 
 
ro TRAVELS IN 
 
 sissippi, are owing to the unpardonable carelessness an# 
 penuriousness of the boat builder, who will frequently- 
 slight his work, or make it of injured plank ; in either case 
 putting the lives and properties of a great many persons to 
 manifest hazards This egregious misconduct should long 
 before this time been rectilied, by -the appointment of a 
 boat inspector at different places on the Monongahela. 
 But as this has never been done^ it belongs to every person 
 purchasing Kentucky boats, which is the sort I allude 
 to, to get them narrowly examined before the embarka- 
 tion, by persons who may know a little of the strengtlv 
 and form of a boat suitable to a voyage of this kind. He 
 must also remember this, tliat a boat destined for the Mis- 
 sissippi, requires to be much stronger timbered, and some- 
 what differently constructed^ from one designed only to 
 descend the Ohio. 
 
 Flat bottomed boats may be procureiF almost every 
 where along the Monongahela river, and in some places^ 
 on the Youghiogheny j very few are as yet built on the 
 Alleghany, as the chief places of embarkation are confix 
 ned to the Monongahela and Ohio. Keel boats and ves- 
 sels of burden are also Uiilt at Brownsville, Elizabeth's- 
 town, and nmny other places on the two last mentioned 
 rivers. 
 
 The best seasons for navigating the Ohio are spring and 
 autumn. The spring season commences at the breaking 
 up of the ice, which generally happens about the middle 
 of February, and continues good for about three months. 
 The autumn generally commences in Oetober, and con- 
 tinues till about the iirst of December, when the ice be- 
 gins to form. But the alternations of high water can scarce- 
 ly be called periodical, as they vary considerably, accord- 
 ing to the wetness or dryness of the season, or earliness 
 or lateness of the setting in, or breaking up of winter. 
 The winter of 1802 was even an exception to every other, 
 the Monongahela not having been closed at all with ice, so 
 that there was nothing to impede the passage of boats into 
 the Ohio, &c. This circumstance is the more extraordi- 
 nary, the winters in general being very severe, some oi 
 which a few years past, kept the rivers blocked up for 
 more than two months at a time. The cause of these sud- 
 den and great changes may usefully occupy the philosophise 
 mind. 
 
AMERICA. n 
 
 Kor are freshes in the rivers entirely confined to the 
 spring and autumn : it does not unfrequently happen that 
 a considerable quantity of rain falls in the Apalachian 
 ridges, whence the rivers and creeks that supply the Mo- 
 nongahela proceed, during the summer months ; a swel- 
 ling of the currents of the Alleghany and other rivers, 
 sometimes also happens, and occasions a sufficient supply 
 of water during the same period to render the navigation 
 of the Ohio perfectly eligible. These rains, or freshes^ 
 however, are not to be depended on, and when they oc- 
 cur, must be taken immediate advantage oi as the waters 
 •flubside rapidly. 
 
 When provided with a good boat and strong cable of a^ 
 least forty feet long, there is little danger in descending 
 the river in high freshes, using due precaution, unless at 
 times when there is much floating ice. Great exertion 
 with the oars is, at such times, generally speaking, of no 
 manner of use ; in fact, it is rather detrimental than other- 
 wise, by often throwing the boat out of the current in 
 which she ought to continue, and which will carry her 
 along with more rapidity, and at the same time always 
 take her right. By trusting to the current there is no 
 danger to be feared in passing the islands, as it will carry 
 the boat by them in safety. On the other hand, if persons 
 row, and by so doing happen to be in the middle of the 
 river, on approaching an island, there is great danger of 
 being thrown on the upper point of it before they are 
 aware, or have time to regain the true current. In, case 
 they get aground in such a situation, become entangled 
 among the aquatic timber, which is generally abundant, 
 or be driven by the force of the water among the tops or 
 trunks of other trees, they may consider themselves in im- 
 minent danger ; and nothing but presence of 7mnd and 
 great exertion can extricate them from such a dilemma. 
 
 Persons should contrive to land as seldom as possible ; 
 they need not even lie by at night, provided they trust to 
 the current and keep a good look out. When they bring 
 to, the strength of their cable is their principal safe-guard. 
 A quantity of fuel, .provisions, and other necessaries, 
 should be laid in at once, and every boat should have a 
 skiff or canoe along side, to land on shore when necessary. 
 
 Though the labour of navigating this river in times of 
 ^esh ib very inconsiderable to what it is during low wat^r. 
 
72 TRAVELS IN 
 
 when continual rowing is necessary, it is always best t« 
 keep a good look out, and be strong handed. The winds 
 sometimes drive boats too near the points of the islands, 
 or on projecting parts of the main shore, when considera- 
 ble extra exertion is necessary to surmount the difficulty. 
 Boats most commonly meet with head winds, as the river 
 is so very crooked, that what is in their favour one hour 
 will probably be against them in the next, and when a 
 contrary wind contends with a strong current, it is attend- 
 ed with considerable inconvenience, and requires careful 
 and circumspect management, otherwise the boats must be 
 driven on shore in spite of all the efforts of their crews. 
 One favourable circumstance is, that the wind commonlj 
 abates about sun-set in summer. 
 
 Boats have frequently passed from Pittsburg to the 
 mouth of the Ohio in fifteen days. However, twenty days 
 is a good spring passage. In summer, six, eight, and evea 
 ten weeks are often required to effect the same voyage. 
 
 Descending the river when much incommoded with 
 floating ice, should be as much as possible avoided, par- 
 ticularly early in the winter, as there is a great probability 
 of its stopping the boats ; however, if the water be high 
 and there be an appearance of open weather, they may 
 venture, unless the cakes of ice be so heavy as to impede 
 their progress, or injure their timbers ; the boats will in 
 such case make more way than the ice, a great deal of 
 which will sink, and get thinner as it progresses ; but, on 
 the other hand, if the water be low, it is by no means 
 safe to embark on it when any thing considerable of ice 
 remains. 
 
 If at any time boats are obliged to bring too on account 
 of the ice, great circumspection should be used in the 
 choice of a spot to lie in. There are many places where 
 the shore, projecting to a point, throws off the flakes of 
 ice towards the middle of the river, and forms a kind of 
 harbour below. By bringing too in such a situation, and 
 fixing the canoe above the boat, with one end strongly to 
 the shore, and the other out in the stream, sloping down 
 the river, so as to drive out such masses of ice as would 
 otherwise accumulate on the upper side of the boat, and 
 tend to sink her and drive her from her moorings, a boat 
 may lie with a tolerable degree of safety. This is a much 
 better method ttan that of felling a tree on the shor<t 
 
AMERICA. ^ .7* 
 
 •above, s»as to fall partly into the river ; for if, in its fall, 
 it (iocs not adhere in some measure to the stinnp, or rest 
 sufficiently on the bank, the weight ot accumulated ice 
 will be apt to send it adrift, and bring it down, ice and 
 all, on the boat, when no safety can be expected from it ; 
 •or any means of extrication from so great a dilemma. 
 The reflection here nsturally occurs, how easy it would be, 
 and how little it would cost, in dittercnt places of the ri- 
 \H?r where boats are accustomed to land, to project a sort 
 of pier into the water, which inclining down the stream, 
 would at all time insure a place of safety below it. The 
 advantages accruing from such projections, to the places 
 where they might be made, would be very considerable, 
 bring them into repute as landing places, and soon repay 
 the triflintr cxpence incurred by erection. There is how- 
 ever no hope that any improvement of this kind will take 
 place at least for a number of years, as the inhabitants of 
 the present settlements and towns, appear to have delif^ht* 
 ed in rendering their landing places ditlicult, by fellina the 
 timber on the banks into the river, and by nt)t leaving as 
 much as a shrub to which a boat can be made fast. 'I'he 
 settlements themselves frequently suffer by this their shame- 
 ful prodigality and want of foresight, as boats on makin<^ 
 them, and not finding an immediate fastening and safa 
 landing, drop below the settlements never again to return ; 
 for it would take a flat boat and forty hands ten days to 
 make goc^d five miles against the stream. You must un° 
 derstand from the stress I have laid on the necessitv of a 
 fastening on shore, and a good landing place, that flat 
 boats never carry an anchor. The method to run the boat 
 ashore is, jump hastily out, and fasten a line or Ciible 
 round a stump, tree, &c. ; or hold on till a stake be cut 
 and driven in the ground for the same .purpose. 
 
 Observing the Ohio from Pntsbutg and remarking in 
 the mind its general course, it is bounded on the right-hand 
 ^ide in this manner : , 
 
 1 St. Part of the state of Pennsylvania, extending aboi\J 
 fifteen miles down the river. 
 
 2dly. The whole southern boundary of the Ohio state, 
 formerly called the North-west Territory. This State ex- 
 tends along the river about five hundred miles. 
 
 3dly. The Indiana territory extends to the mouth of 
 the Ohio, maicing tive hundred fifty miles more along its 
 Q 
 
74 TRAVELS IN 
 
 banks; which added to the two former luimbers oialoe 
 the entire course about eleven hundred miles. 
 
 Observing the river under the same circumstances from 
 Fittsbuig, It is lound to be bounded on the lejt-hand ; — 
 
 1st. By part of the state of PenF.sylyahia, extending for- 
 ty-two miles down the rivfer. 
 
 2. By part of Virginia, extending two hundred and 
 3iinety-six miles along a high shore : and 
 
 3. By the state of Kentucky which extends to the 
 mouth seven hundred and sixty two miles, and forms the 
 entire distance of eleven hundred miles or thereabouts. 
 
 The recapitulation of this is, that the right-hand side of 
 the Ohio is bounded by PennsylYar^ia, the Ohio state, and 
 Indiana territory :— and these provinces, or their proper 
 proportions of them, are bounded on the north by the lakes 
 and by the British possessions in Canada ; on the south of 
 course, by the Ohio river ; on the west by Mississippi ; 
 jind on the east by parts of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, 
 ^nd New-York. 
 
 '\\\e left-hand hid^e of the Ohio is bounded by Pennsyl- 
 vania, Virginia andKentucky; and these provinces, or their 
 proper proportion, are bounded on the south by theCaroIi- 
 nas, Georgia, and. Tenassee; on the north of course, by the 
 Ohio river ; on the west by the Mississippi ; and on the 
 
 east by the Atlantic seas. On a map, these general 
 
 boundaries would naturally have to undergo modifications^ 
 and be divided into particular bearings and poiiits. By 
 stating them as I have, I only mean to give you a general 
 idea of them. — This great river contains near one hun- 
 dred islands, and receives as many rivers, creeks, or navi- 
 gable streams. 
 
 In my next I shall examine them step by. step. That 
 they may afford you information and amusement, is my 
 most ardent wish; but you must be patient, and bear with 
 '-my usual wide digression and extraneous matter. 
 
AMERICA. ' 75 
 
 LETTER IX, 
 
 T'roper season to descend the Ohio— a Monongaliela, or Ken-^ 
 tuihy boat ' debcrided — Coiifiiience of the Monons^ahela 
 and Alleghany waters— Sublime scenery — Hamilton s isl- 
 and— Irwin's island— difficidtics in the course — Hogs' 
 and Crows' is/ands— Macintosh's town-^Warrens town— 
 Young's town — Grape island — its inhabitants — cause and 
 manner of their settlement — ?7.$ grape-vines — Georgetown 
 — a spring producing on oil similar to Seneca oil — cxper' 
 iments to discover its cause — deductions-from them. 
 
 Wlieeling, Virginia, April, 1806. 
 
 I LEFT Pittsburg just before the water had entirely 
 subsided. The winter broke up about the the tenth of 
 February, since which time, the flood has been seeking the 
 sea with an unwearied assiduity. I might have taken the 
 advantage of its tirst force, but I declare to you, fond as 
 you may tliink me of diligence and enterprizo^ I have iio 
 fancy to be drasged by day down the river, b;y force, nor 
 to bring too agamst the trunks and in the tops of trees, from 
 liight till morning : this is the fate of all those who depart 
 on the immediate dissolution of the ice ; on they must 
 proceed, and often in spite of every exertion, or bring up in 
 situntions wild, dangerous, and inhospitable. Being con- 
 scious then of all disagreeable circumstances attending 
 those who hurry away with the earliest floods, I waited 
 till this season, when the waters run a little more than three 
 miles an hour, allowing a boat, with small exertion, and 
 not meeting a head wmd, to make between forty and fifty 
 miles in a day of twelve hours. 
 
 This town, which is ninety miles from Pittsburg, I reach- 
 ed on the evening of the second day. The water in some 
 places was' very shallow, and in others rocky and dange- 
 rous. But I believe I promised you to be minute : let me 
 then make a compleat beginning. I purchased, for lorty 
 dollars, on the Monongahela a Kentucky boat. I must 
 describe such a thing to you, for it is no more like an Eng- 
 lish boat of any description, than it is like a church. An 
 oblong frame is first made, perhaps forty feet long by six- 
 
V t> TRAVELS IN 
 
 feen wide. The four pieces forming this fraiiTe are geB€>^ 
 rally from fourteen to eighteen iuchei- square, mortiseu s© 
 iis to receiw* a number of bars across, on which are fasten- 
 ed thick planks with wooden pins — this forming tlie fiat 
 bott<;m of iheboat. From the solid beams of the frunie, 
 3ise several uprights, six feet high, to which boards are at- 
 tached to form the ends and sides ; after which.the boat is 
 loofed over except a snjall space through which the hands 
 can drop or enter. The whole represents an oblong apart- 
 Jneiit — both ends perfectly square, and nothing indicates the 
 fcow but the small op«n space in the roof, and holes in the 
 .sides, through which the oars work. Boats of this sort are 
 steered by a large, oar, balanced on a pivot, issuing from the' 
 Tuiddle uprights of the stern. This is prefercd to a tiller, 
 '-vhich^ by sinking too deep in the water, would risk being 
 carried oh by logs and shoals. 1 divided my boat into two 
 apartments , that next the stern for my own accommodation; 
 that next the head for my servants to cook, row, and keep a 
 kmk out in: the roof served for the helmsman aivd as^aquar- 
 *er-deck, oii which to parade. When 1 add to this, that I had a 
 ^ood chimney built in my boat; four windows made; that a 
 1 laid in two coops-fuil of chickens, other kinds of stores, 
 spirits, cofi'ee, sugar, &c. 1 need not tell you how com- 
 *ort;\bl€ 1 set otf, and how able I was to endure the vicissi- 
 tudes of my intended voyages. My servants were Mindethi, 
 jay old follower, and Cuff, a mustee,of the Bandan nation; 
 I'le former a strong laborious creature, the latter a lellow 
 '.vithout any other charActcr than that he knew something 
 ijf the waters, was a good shot, and well acquainted with 
 Jiaunts of wild turkies, game, and wild beasts. I could 
 iiavegot another hand, for fifteen dollars a month, but as 
 I was determined to steer myself and be active in other re- 
 spects, 1 departed but v.ith two men. I cannot recom^ 
 loend this temerity to others : four liands are always ne^ 
 ccssary, and sometimes more. 
 
 In turning into the stream from Pittsburg I found the 
 scene instantaneously changed, and become peculiarly 
 grand. In ten minutes 1 got into the confluence of \\\f. 
 Monongahela and Allegany waters. For half an ht)ur I 
 bteered my boac in this confluence, being able to dip up 
 whitish water on one side, and perfectly green on the other. 
 The hills on the right hand were near 1200 feet high — 
 ItiUic uu.tl^ kit soiuuthj-^i; Icis lofty— '.-uch cioathcd \\i;i 
 
AMERICA. 77 
 
 sumptuous and unceasing timber, from the base to the 
 summit, the garb of many thousand years, each tree per- 
 ishing in an imperceptible progression, and each as im- 
 perceptibly renewed ! The whole and the individual, still 
 appearing the same, always conveying a grand idea of the 
 munificence of Nature and the immutability of all her 
 works. ' This view was sufficient to lead the mind into a 
 serious contemplation which assumed a character of me- 
 lancholy, when I reflected on the endless scenes of the 
 same nature, only more pregnant with danger, vicissitude, 
 and death, through which 1 had to pass. The river, for 
 nine hundred miles, with the exception of a few intervals, 
 chosen in general for the seats of towns, villages, and 
 farms, is bounded by lofty banks and high mountains, 
 which shed a gloom on its surface, and convey less- of 
 pleasurable sensation tlian that of sublimity and surprise. 
 1 reflected, too, that I was lengthening the chain of all my 
 former friendships ; that I was to pass through countries 
 where death attacked man in a variety of new and alarm- 
 ing shapes; that I was proceeding to New Orleans, a city 
 two thousand two hundred miles off, where fate uniformly 
 demands nine out of ten of every visitant:, and that, should 
 I escape this destiny, 1 should still be six thousand miles 
 from home, and have in that distance, to meet with other 
 numerous tTangers, presenting themselves under every form 
 that could manifest a terrific- appearance. A small imme- 
 dial ) difficulty put a quick conclusion to these gloomy 
 meditations. We had dropt down near three miles when 
 an island appeared a head —the channel was on the right 
 side, and the wind, from that quarter, had set me too much 
 to the left. I instantly put the boat's head across the ri- 
 ver and with infinite exertion of oars gained the trite cur- 
 rent : but not till the water changed colour, indicating 
 soundings of three teet on the bar, which stretched out of 
 the head of the island. I liad to learn from this the neces- 
 sity of moralizing less, and of keeping a better look out. 
 It was Hamilton's island which I was ))assing at the rate of 
 «even miles an hour. The island, by contracting the breadth 
 of the cnannel, gives more iiiipetuosi;y to the current, and 
 forces a boat aloii^' with double its rapidity than ift the oi- 
 dmary and open parts ci the nver. 
 
 Four miles from Hamilton's island and seven from Pitts- 
 burg, is Irwin's inland. Th;j channel is about one-third 
 G2 
 
78 TR.WELS IN 
 
 from the right hand shore. Tlte first ripple is justbeloT^ 
 rtie head of the ishiiid, where 1 had to leave a iarge breaks 
 er, or rock close to my right hand. The second, or Horse- 
 tail ripple, is a small, distance below the first, and the 
 channel which is, npMwice tlxj length of the boat, lies bc-_ 
 tween a bar and sonif. large breakers. The third ripple is 
 ■within hair a mile- of th« lower end of li win's island ; the 
 channel is, about one- third of the width of the river from 
 the right side, and close to th<?. upper emi of the bar. From 
 this to a little town called Macii^toshj I met with a series 
 i)f these, ripples, which required the most exact lookout, 
 sind two islands calleJ Hog's and Crow.!s island, the former 
 *)n account of its acorns inviting tlie periodical visits of 
 hogs, and the latter from being perceived to be the favoar' 
 ite resort of rooks and crows. 1 cannot think that you 
 would conceive it of any profit or pleasure to receive from 
 me my exact notes of the causes, «S:c. of the river and chan- 
 I'tel, 1 shall therefore, content iiiyself with transmitting you 
 fcuch remarks as may have something of interest-above the 
 a.ontents of communications meant as a mere pilot to the 
 siver. i neglect this detail the morevvillingly, as I under- 
 ^tand " a Pilot for the rivers" is now in the press, and will 
 ^uoi•tly be published Rt Pittsburg. Thus are we relieved 
 fr.cm the necessity of much dull detail. 
 
 Macintosh is situated on^ the right side of the Ohio, 
 about a quarter of a miIe^ below Big beaver creek ;, the 
 bituation is beautiliil and commanding, as there is at pre- 
 sent a considerable, and in some time must be a very great 
 trade up and down this creek, the sources of which nearly 
 ieach the borders of lake Erie. Th*? town is encreasing 
 iapidly, and contains many stores^ where the merchants 
 exchange thfir goods for the produVe of the back country, 
 \vhos« market is New (.>ileans or the Isles* Fifty miles in 
 uhe interior of this place, and on the bank of Mahoneny 
 creek, the town of Warren is pleasantly situated. Fourteea* 
 jniles below, on the same creek, is Young's town, a small 
 place, but said to be proijressinjz, rapidly. 
 
 Just below M^acint»)sh, which is twenty eight miles from 
 Pittsburg, is an island called alter the same name, a second 
 island not named, ai.d a third called Grape island. Or* 
 this last 1 landed, and soon discovered the propriety ot the 
 niime : the passage through it in every direction was ren- 
 cl«i€d Hitrica,te,by the multitudes of vines, N\hici) extended. 
 
A^'EftlCA^ 7^ 
 
 fhom tree tolree, rising to the tops of "some, and closely 
 embracing the bodies of olhtrs. Having passed through 
 a great deal of toil during the day, in avoiding a variety oC 
 danger, I was very well pleased to make the pretence ofc 
 curiosity, a motive to myself, for stopping the remainder 
 of the day and night in this little tranquil insulated world, 
 1 no sooner made this intention known, than all was bustle 
 among us. The men with joy took to their oars : we sooa 
 gained the bank, and made fast to a tree, which bade dejS'<^. 
 ance to the impotent though constant efforts of the current;, 
 The next step was to make *' an encampment." Take 
 care that you are not misled by this high sounding terms.. 
 Formerly, indeed, the making an encampment, in this 
 country, bore affinity to the notions you attach to that act 
 at home :^it was for the purpose of protection against the 
 Indians and wild beasts : but now it consists of nothmg 
 more than clearing a spot on which to make a large fire ; 
 stretch a blanket or piece of cloth on two bent poles to 
 windward, and there make a shew of comfort, satisfaction, 
 and repose. This done, we each had a separate employ- 
 ment. Mindeth commenced- preparations for dressing 
 dinner ; Cuff patiently sat on the side of the boat catching 
 fifh, and I took my gun and dog into the woods, 1 pierced 
 to the left side of the island, a beautiful portion of which I 
 found cleared, planted with Indian corn, and very promis- 
 ing wheat. A neat log-house soon appeared in view ; 1. 
 kn<;>cked, the door was opened by an old woman, about 
 whom hung three children, the whole ematiated with sick- 
 ness, and stained by the languid colours of death. They 
 betrayed more fear than surprize, on beholding me. I 
 banished this irapression as soon as possibte, by persuading 
 the mother that Ixlid not come to rob the house, or^do 
 her any manner of injury ; that I was not a Kentucky I 
 man. and that mere chance, not a disposition to plunder,, 
 broujiht me her way. On this she assumed some ^e^enity, 
 and told me that the Kentucky men -so often landed on her 
 island to steal her fruit, fowls, hogs, &c. that she was a- 
 }armed at the sight of others, from an apprehension of their 
 coming with the same design. The husband who soon 
 after came in, 1 found to be a German, who had lived long 
 enouL^h in Virginia to pick up some Negro-English. Ue 
 inlornied me that, coming down the river iour years past 
 %his family boat; forwant of keeping a good look out, oi 
 
m TRAVELS IN 
 
 of knowing the river, he took the wrong channel, and stove 
 his boat within two hundred yards of the spot where his 
 house now stands. The water being shallow he got his 
 goods ashore, and thinking the island possessed as good 
 land as any he could procure elsewhere, he igiermined to 
 proceed no farther, but to pitch his tent where providence 
 had cast him, and set with a good heart about building a 
 log-house, and clearing ground for maize, in the first inst- 
 ance, and then for wheat and other objects of agriculture* 
 He effected this laborious purpose to admiration. His house 
 was comfortable ; his garden neat ; and he had six acres 
 of land under a crop which aj)peared perfectly thriving, 
 He had bought a male and female pig, which had multi- 
 plied m the woods prodigiously, and nothing appeared to 
 interrupt his happiness but the people of Kentuck, as he 
 called all those who occasiourttly made a descent on his 
 island, either to pursue game or to injure him. Robinson 
 Crusoe never stood in so much dread of an Inilian invasion 
 as this German did of his own fellow citizens and inhab- 
 itants of a neighbouiing Srate. It was this apprehension 
 it seems which hindered him from making his settlement 
 on the channel side of the inland, which, under any other 
 impression would be infinitely superior ; mure eligible foe 
 market ; and mi>re interesting and convenient to the pleas- 
 ures and comforts of lite. In fact, he explained to nie his 
 jnotives in fewer words j they were precisely these : — " If 
 the people of Kentuck, find me out sometimes in this silent 
 part, how should I be able to live, when the sight of smoke, 
 the crowing of cocks, and the barking of dogs would call 
 them all upon me ?" 
 
 Having no manner of reply to make to this argument, 
 I invited the Philosopher to my boat, and by tl>e way con- 
 versed with him on the subject of the vines, on which I 
 wanted information. I learned that they bore a small 
 sour fruit, growing in clusters, of from two ounces to three 
 pounds. The fruit was not eatable, nor calculated to have 
 good wine expressed from it. He imagined that this evil 
 was owing to the vines growing under large trees, which 
 entirely deprived them of the heat of the sun. Under this 
 influence he transpUinted more roots in'o his garden field; 
 oir the scc'.nd year ihey produced a fruit not quite so small 
 as that 111 .m uncultivated state ; on the third year the 
 grapes looked much better, but before they could ripeji 
 *-hey were withered and exliaubted by the heat of tht sun. 
 
AMERICAN ^ 
 
 I told hfm that a medium between extreme shade and ex- 
 posure, appeared the thing to be desired. He said he be- 
 lieved so too. The argument was pursued : I hurried him 
 to my encampmcntj where I found prepared an excellent 
 dinner, or rather a supper, for the sun but faintly glimmer- 
 ed on the tops of the highest trees of the opposite moun- 
 tain, and the silent serenity of the evening reigned in the 
 place of the glare of day. My new acquaintance wais 
 much pleased with hi? treatment and repast. 1 gave him 
 a good glass of grog, and sent him home with a small pre- 
 sent for his wife, of tea and sugar ; articles on which peo- 
 ple, in proportion to their distance from such business, set 
 an increased value. I- never asked him why he himself 
 looked so poorly, or why his wife and children were so af- 
 flicted with iiidiirposition ? The reasons were too eviJen* 
 to make it ncccbsary to touch a string which could vibrate 
 uothingbut discord. — i^xcessive perspiration from continu- 
 al labour, and exposure to ri^in and nightly dews, before 
 the completion of the house, hurt the constitution of this 
 poor couple, and the regular periodical fevers which visil' 
 them are hastening them and their chihiren to an early dis- 
 solution. — Were it not for this, who would not envy them 
 the monarchy of their little island ; the tranquility of theiif 
 lives ; and the innocciice of their pursuits 1 
 
 The night advanced rapidly, and with it a pleasing 
 impression of seriousness, unknown to any but those 
 who are exposed to dangerous events, and who like mc 
 are used to live and sleep under the open air. Cuff seem- 
 ed determined to augment this disposition by reciting 
 various stories of accidents happening on the vvat«rs ; of 
 murders conunitted ; robberies perpetrated ; of whirlpools, 
 cataracts, and rapid falls, &c. &c. These dismal nana- 
 tions had the good effect of awaking m our minds a remem- 
 brance of obligation to heaven ; a desire to merit a con- 
 tinuance of mercy ; and a disposition to cast ourselves on 
 the bounty of a Providence which had hitherto accorded 
 so many kind interpositions. If such sentiments as these 
 have been found favourable to happiness in the bosom of 
 society, and iu the midst of safety and ease, you may judge 
 how much more useful and necessary they are when ex- 
 posed to danger on the surface of waters, or in the depth, 
 and borders of gloomy woods. This efi'ect on me was a 
 perfect composure, and an uninterrupted night's rest. I 
 Wid,a bcai'^^iik^^n (lie s»nd,.put my si^ddle bugs under my. 
 
32 TilAVELS IN 
 
 head, and placing my feet to the fire, there remained tilf' 
 the morning ; when the clamour of rooks, and melody of 
 birds of vanous kinds, rebuked my fcluggishness. Cheerful 
 and refreshed, we cast off our fastening ; jumped into our 
 boai ; in ten minutes gained the strongest stream, and in 
 ten more arrived at Georgetown. 
 
 Georgetown is a smaU but flourishing place, just above 
 the mouth of Miilcreek, It is pleasantly situated on a veiy 
 high bank, A post-office has been lately established there. 
 
 Nearly opposite fo Georgetown, and a few yards from 
 the shore, a spring rises from the bottom of the river, which 
 produces an oil nearly similar to Seneca oil. I conjecture 
 that this must proceed from a large bed of mineral coal in 
 tbe vicinity of the spring. On first hearing of this, from 
 an intelligent Scotchman, the post- master at Georgetown, 
 whom 1 questioned as to the curiosities of his neighbour- 
 hood, I immediately crossed over in my canoe to examine 
 the well, and search for grounds on which to establish some* 
 particular conclusions. I found none perfectly satisfactory. 
 The surface, about four feet in dianieCer, was covered over 
 with an olive-coloured slime, here and there rising in lobes 
 fiHed, but not agitated with confined air. On a more mi- 
 nute in««pection however, I perceived these globules burst 
 and subside in gentle undulations, enclosing in a circle ^ 
 matter w'hose colour was less deep than that prevailing on 
 the general face of the well. On discovering other glo- 
 bules to rise in succession, 1 gently dipt up a gourd-full of 
 Water and globules, while in the act of rising through the 
 surface. 1 spilt the whole on the blade of the paddle, and- 
 could distinguish, very plainly, the oil which had been ex- 
 posed to the air from the oil which just rose in search of 
 if. On sounding, 1 fouml the well to be sixty-five feet ' 
 deep ; that is as deep as the bed of the adjacent river. On 
 exan.iiiing the neighbourhood it was plain that coal abound- 
 ed ; but I could not take upon ine to assert that the well 
 or Its sources had any communication with that or any 
 other mineral. As a last act, 1 skimmed off a gourd-full 
 of oil, and again crossing the river, went to the house of a 
 doctor whom 1 supposed capai)le of analizing the subject 
 for me. On' seeing my gourd full of oil, and the interest I 
 took in the investigation of its ])roperties, he very hand- 
 somely told me, that *' he had but just turned doctor ; and 
 had not as ijet give?}, his time to such f kings." My admira- 
 tion of his candour covered him from contempt, and I rc}-, 
 
AMERICA. -S3 
 
 'turned to my Scotch friend more full of the dangerous idea 
 of a limn but " just turned doctor," and let loose on a sick- 
 ly world, than 1 was of my gourd of oil, or the consequence 
 of the discovery of its virtues to mankind. 1 did not how- 
 ever abandon the pursuit. Assisted by the highlander'^ 
 wife, I exposed the oil to slow fusion, a quick boil, and'fi- 
 iiaily set it on fire. Its emotion while over the fire was un- 
 commonly great, and when, entirely separated from watery 
 particles, it caught fire, it consumed in a blaze more live- 
 ly and sudden than that which hovers over spirits, of ordi- 
 nary proof, when inflamed. During the progressive stages 
 of this operation, I kept the noses of all the obliging family 
 occupied over the fume. Owing to a difference in the 
 construction of that organ, as a variation in the sensibility 
 of the olfactory nerve, no two of them gave the same opin- 
 ion as to their notion of the efifluviae. Indeed their opinions 
 were wide and discordant, agreeing but in this essential 
 point, that there was no smell of sulphur. This accorded 
 with my idea, though it traverses that which I first gave, 
 " that the oil proceeded from a bed of mineral coal." The 
 efiluvia3 to me not only appeared divested of sulphur, but 
 to be impregnated with a vegetable aromatic smell. Though 
 by no means content with the result of my researches, I 
 still draw from these their deductions. 
 
 1st. The oil rising in a distinct intermittent globular 
 from the bottom to the surface proves that it does not issue 
 in a continued stream Jrom any rock or mineral strata, but 
 that It is emitted drop by dro[), in the manner of slow and 
 reluctant distillation. 
 
 2dly. The oil is not therefore generated by the sun from 
 particles rising in the water favorable to that liquid, though 
 'the sun changes its colour on cx[)Osure of its rays. 
 
 3dly. 1 his change of colour from a light yellow to a 
 dark olive betrays a sulphurous quality, yet the absence of 
 the smell and taste ot that mineral entirely discountenances 
 - the opinion that it exists in it. And 
 
 ^tbly. From the spirit residing in the oil, the aromatic 
 flavor and smell, it is not unreasonable to presume that it 
 possesses medicinal virtues, which under a judicious ad- 
 ministration, might be productive of salutary effects. 
 
 This latter deduction is strengthened-by the testimony 
 of the Scotchman, who says, the well was much frequented 
 by the Indians previously to their retreat to the backcoun« 
 
dA TRAVELS IN 
 
 iries, and that the neighbouring whites used the oil as a 
 friction when suffering with rheumatism, and as an unction 
 when afflicted with sores. 
 
 Much to the satisfaction of the good hostess and her fam- 
 ily, who could not refrain from laughter at my zeal and 
 earnestness, on a subject to them ** signifying nothing," 
 our gourd and nostrums were pitched out of doors, and 
 they sat about preparing a repast to which 1 got a most 
 hearty and welcome invitation. This gives you a most fa- 
 vorable respite, and me another opportunity of persuadipj 
 you, bow much i am, &c. 
 
 LETTER Xc 
 
 jCcurse of tie Ohio to Stubenville — Custari island — Sfubfn^ 
 vifle — Congress lands — Indian honour able confederacy- — 
 Insidious means of i/I disposed whites to possess the covntrj/, 
 and exterminate its inhabitants— The Indians become w;?- 
 deceiiedj and resume the great federal fomahauk — Thei/ 
 put to death many of their cruel invaders^ who place them" 
 selves under protection of Congress, and receive its sup- 
 port — Events of an Indian vcnr — Peace restored — it^ 
 terms — Finesse of Congress to possess the Indian lands — 
 Hence arose the north west territory , now the Ohio State 
 — The subject of Congress lands -contjnued — nature of their 
 sales, and price nf these lands^— -their great profit to land- 
 jobbers — increase of population of the State — a Dutch 
 purchaser^ hi^ sejitiments after experience, 
 
 Stube^vill^ State of Oliio, May, 1806. 
 I LEFT Georgetown on the evening of the day I im- 
 fbrmcd you I was to dine with the hospitable post-mast«r, 
 and gained this place, nineteen miles, in four hours, but 
 not without a good iook out and some exertion at the oars» 
 I should have told you that the Pennsylvania line crosses 
 at the mouth of Mill creek, and a little bclo^v the mouth 
 of another creek. called Little Beaver. This line separate 
 
AMERICA: . 85 
 
 -that State from Virginia on the left hand, and the Ohio 
 State on the right, when descending the river, and gives 
 Pennsylvania a length of territory from the Atlantic to 
 this line of near five thousand miles ! I passed this after- 
 noon by five islands lying from two to three or four miles 
 from each other ; covered with wood and overrun with 
 flowers and line pasture. One was c?:lled Custard island, 
 in consequence of its abounding with the papaw, which i 
 vulgarly known by the name of the Custard tree. The 
 fruit of the papaw when ripe, exactly resembles in taste 
 the flavour, composition and colour, a custard of the best 
 quality. It may be eaten in moderation without danger. 
 There is one circumstance however attending this fruit of a 
 very remarkable nature. Man, and many other animals, 
 eat it with safety and pleasure, whilst a hog, the most ra- 
 venous and least ciicumspect of all creatures, turns from 
 it with antipathy or a fear of danger. This is one of those 
 subjects whose depth is too great to be fathomed by hu- 
 man intelligence. 
 
 Having arrived late at Stubenville I made secure my 
 boat against a steep bank and clean shore, and went up to 
 the town with the view of passing the night, and gaining 
 some knowledge of the surrounding country. 
 
 The town is pleasantly situated on the right bank of the 
 river and in the Ohio State. A land office is kept here for 
 the sale of Congress lands, which brings a number of pur- 
 chasers, and at times makes a considerable appearance of 
 activity. I must explain the expression of " Congress 
 Lands." 
 
 Little more than twenty years have elapsed since the 
 whole of the right bank of the Oli'o was called the Indian 
 Country or the Indian Side. It was inhabited by the re- 
 mains of several scattered aboriginal nations, who, driven 
 from their former grounds were in hopes of being left in 
 the peaceable possessions of this country. To this effect 
 they buried the tomahawk of enmity which subsisted be- 
 tween each other ; the calumut of peace was sent from 
 Camp to camp, and from tiibe to tribe. A social comj^act 
 was the immediate consequence and the world witnessed 
 the new spectacle of a savage association formed on po- 
 litical principles, and organized with a wisdom and energy 
 Vi-hich would honour the first States of FLurope. Individual 
 II 
 
Sfi TRAVELS IN 
 
 and national animosities were forgotten. A general and na- 
 tional council was formed of warriors and talkers from the 
 councils of the particular tribes, and this council assumed 
 the name of *> the High Council of Confederated Indians." 
 The debates of this instructive assembly principally turned 
 on the propriety of cultivating a warm friendship with the 
 whites, and on the necessity imposed on them, by the 
 limits set to their hunting grounds, of learning the social 
 arts, and of devoting themselves to the pursuits of agrir 
 culture and commerce. These were the intuitions of this 
 primitive people. The discontented and vagabond part of 
 the Onited States saw this confederacy with a malignant 
 ;eye. The idea of Indian policy or ravage association pro- 
 ductive of moral and public happiness, was a thing too 
 insufferable to be endured by those who were taught to be- 
 lieve the Indians little inferior to brutes, and who delight- 
 ed in their extermination. Besides it was whispered abroad 
 that " the Indian country" was the finest in the world ; 
 thatlmley's dreams applied to it alone, and that the French 
 who had visited it from the Canada border, considered '\% 
 as the paradise of the new world. This was more than 
 sufficient to inspire a disposition to possess this charming 
 territory, and to annihilate its inhabitants. The whites in 
 the adjacent parb of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Keur 
 tucky, commenced this work of premeditation and death; 
 not by open violence, but by a means much more fatal, 
 that of proffered friendship, and a shew of conciliation 
 and amicable sj)irit. They set distilleries to work, and 
 backed by the destructive instrument of ardent spirits, and 
 furnished with some coarse blankets, matchlocks, beads, 
 and bawbles for sale, they visited their unsuspecting friends> 
 who sold them their poijsessions in exchange for this poi- 
 son and trumpery, and by degrees, retired from their fa- 
 vourite waters into .th^ bosoni of the deepest woods. So 
 ignorant were they of the value of liieir own landed pro- 
 perty, and so high an estimation did they set on the infa- 
 mous spirits brought among them by their perfidious friends, 
 that whole tribes have been known to sell the rights of 
 their nations to lands, of upwards of two hundred thou- 
 sand acres, for as much whiskey as could intoxicate them 
 at one great public festival or even feast of warriors and 
 chiefs. Seduced by the success of the first speculators, a 
 host of adventurers crowded in from all parts, who geltinj; 
 
AMERICA. $t 
 
 boldf in proportion to their numbers, they began to seize on 
 lands even without the shallow pretext of an impositious 
 piarchase, and drove the Indians from possessions they had 
 begun to cultivate, and in consequence to value and es- 
 teem. The High National Council became alarmed ; the 
 great federal tomahawk, with great solemnity, was taken 
 from the ground ; red feathers was sent to every nation, 
 iarnd war against the cruel insatiable whites was publicly 
 declared. To the gratification of every man inspired by 
 the honourable principles of humanity and justice, this 
 declaration was followed by the instant and sudden death 
 of the greatest part of their cruel and blood thirsty inva- 
 ders. Those who escaped and who wished for the contin- 
 uance of a few 3'cars, appealed for protection to Congress, 
 and to its eternal disgrace and infamy, the Congress ailbrd- 
 ed them both succour and approbation. An Indian war 
 was the universal cry through the whole States ; volunteers' 
 rushed from every quarter, and wretched was he whose 
 parentis circumstance or situation denied him the glory of 
 exterminating with his own hand some forty, or fifty In- 
 dians. For the commissions of a troop of cavalry raised 
 for this service, General Washington had received upwards 
 cf four thousand memorials, issuing from compting hoiv^ 
 ses, banks, farms, manufactures, and public and private 
 schools. But God and justice for a time resided with the 
 Indians. Such was their success that the moral and the 
 good cried out, " surely they are the armies of the living 
 God." They fought several pitched battles with the A-- 
 mericans, and reduced their army several times to the 
 necessity of being renewed and recruited. One commander 
 in chief, several staff officers, and a multitude of privates 
 were killed in one particular engagement, from the field 
 of which the whites had to ffy several miles ; on their re- 
 turn next day, they found the mouths and bodies of their 
 generals and companions killed in battle, stuffed and cram- 
 ed with earth, and stuck through with the boughs and 
 branches of trees. At this dreadful but just spectacle they 
 were struck with horror and remorse. What, said they, 
 we came into this <5ountry in search of new acquisition and 
 territory, and we now find by the lesson before us, that we 
 are to purchase it in this terrific way ; that for a mouth- 
 ful of it we are to surrender our lives. For this in facf 
 was precisely what the Indian figure implied. Conciliation 
 
84. TRA VELS iN 
 
 tollowed. Deputations passed. Boundaries were fixed, and 
 peace was proclaimed with the Indian tribes throughout 
 America with much more joy than that which was mani- 
 fested at the conclusion of the war with the British. Con- 
 g^ress ordained that no individual should purchase Indian 
 lands whether from individuals or from tribes ; that In- 
 dian life and property was under the a?gis of the law as 
 firmly as though they were appertaining to actual Ameri- 
 can citizens, and that commerce, dealings, and intercourse 
 Avith them should be conducted with a respect to their own 
 regulations, and the regards and justice due to all people. 
 This conduct in the Congress was highly satisfactory to the 
 Indians, who did not see through its real and hidden mo- 
 tives. They did not perceive that Congress reserved ta 
 itself the right of legally robbing them. This was soon 
 after done. A regular mission was sent to the Indians 
 proposing to give them some few thousand dollars, and a 
 certain sum annually, and a few trinkets, if they would 
 entirely sell their country and retire to near the lakes, the 
 peaceable possession of which the Americans would invio- 
 lably secure to them. Dazzled by these meritorious offers^ 
 their folly abandoned what their valour could have main- 
 tained, and they now reside and receive their annuity in 
 the neighbourhood of Detroit, and along the waters of their 
 lar famed Ontario, whose beauties breathe through their 
 •lungs, and whose wonders magnify all their tradition. 
 
 'ihis purchase effected, the Indian country took the 
 name of the North-West Territory, and a few years since, 
 on its determined increase of population, it assumed the 
 title of the Ohio State, and bids fair in a very short time 
 to rank high in the federal union. It is about five hundred 
 siquare miles, bounded on the north by the lakes and 
 Canada ; on the south by Ohio river, on the east by part 
 of Pennsylvania and New York, and on the west by the 
 Indian territory, which in its turn will soon become a 
 itale. 
 
 This state is watered by several navigable rivers running 
 from the north to the Ohio, and by numerous creeks and 
 stivams winding nearly the same course. Its banks on the 
 Ohio arc far more eligible for settlements than the opposite 
 Virginian and Kentucky shore. Villages and settlements 
 aie within very few miles of each other, and the towns of 
 Jklarcelia and Cincinnati, are large and rising into com- 
 
AMERICA. 8^ 
 
 mercial eminence. The principal town is Chilicothe, sit- 
 uated nearly in tiie centre of the state ; there the govern- 
 ment resides, and is held the principal hind office, &c. &c; 
 
 The land of the plains ; of the borders of rivers ; of the 
 great meadows, and of all the tract lying between the two 
 Miamis (two rivers so called) is without any exception the 
 finest known in the world. The great part then of this 
 land being obtained by Congress from the Indians by an 
 imposition, called by the fallacious name of a legal pur- 
 chase, is known by the name of " Congress Lands,'' as 
 stated in the early part of this letter, and exposed you to 
 this long dissertation on Indian war and topographical 
 history. I resume however the subject of "Congress 
 Lands." 
 
 By virtue of the treaty with the aboriginal confederacy 
 and subsequent purchases. Congress has become the pro- 
 prietor of nearly all the fine lands in the state. I have 
 mentioned where such lands most abound, and shouldhave 
 stated that nearly one third of the country is muuntaineus- 
 and ridgy, bog and morassj to such a degree as not to be 
 worth one cent per acre. The principal part af the state* 
 of this character lies to the north-east, and east of the ri-^ 
 ver Scioto. The best land is to the west of that river, and 
 continues with few exceptions to the boundary westward 
 of the Great Miami.. It is very necessary that purchasers 
 at u distance should be aware of this, as 1 have known sev- 
 eral who b(>\ight in a distant market at a good price come 
 several thousand miles to take possession of a sterile moun- 
 tain or an unreclaimable swamp.. The truth is, that no 
 person should buy who is not on the spot, or who has not 
 a confidential agent* The mode of sale adopted by Con- 
 gress is highly commendable. The entire country is sur- 
 veyed and divided into sections of six hundred and forty 
 acres each. A certain number of these sections lying con- 
 tiguous compose a township, and a certain number of town- 
 ships forma range. The sections are all numbered, and 
 each number sixteen in every township is reserved for the 
 purpose of education and the support of its professors. 
 There are also reservations which cannot be sold under 
 eight dollars an acre ; but every other acre of Congress 
 land is sold at two dollars per acre forever : and, to en- 
 tourage settlers, the period of four years is allowed for the 
 H 2 
 
^0 TRAVELS IN 
 
 entire payment which commences one-fourth at the bar- 
 gain, and the remainder at three yearly instalments. This 
 indulgence on the part of government was most productive 
 to a few sordid monopolizers, called land jobbers, or land 
 speculators, who made large contracts for twenty thousand 
 to five hundred thousand acres of the best land and in the 
 best situations, and have already sold the greatest part at 
 from three to five dollars an acre. A meadow called the- 
 Rick-a-way plains, containing ten thousand acres free of 
 wood, is advanced by one of these gentlemen, from the two 
 dollars an acre to be paid by his contract,, to thirty dollars 
 per acre, and a considerable part of it is already sold.. 
 The portion under cultivation has yielded one hundred and 
 ten bushels of corn, and fifty bushels wheat per acre. The- 
 land the most sought alter is on the Scioto, the Ohio, and 
 the Miamis :. on which situations the title of Congress is- 
 for the most part bought up, and the present owners de- 
 mand for it from six to twelve dollars per acre. But \€ 
 the land should be oa a mill seat, or place eligible for the 
 site of a village or town, the price might probably be raised 
 to one hundred dollars per acre. 
 
 .Many local circumstances sometimes edso unite to raise 
 the price of certain lands. Such as their vicinity to im- 
 proving towns ; their abundance of ship timber, the facili- 
 ty of conveying it to builders' yards, and their possession 
 of the sugar maple, cherry tree, sassafras, cotton, and other 
 plants. On ^he whole, 1 know of no speculation so prom- 
 ising, as that of buying the remaining good lands, reserva- 
 tions, and all (except schools, reservatioiis which are never 
 to be sold) from. Congress at two dollars per acre,, and of 
 holding them for the space of ten years ; after that period 
 up moderate land will, be sold under ten dollars per acre, 
 and land of the first qualities and situation will fetch fifty 
 in general, and much more in particular, per acre. The- 
 reasons for this are obvious ; the lands of the Atlantic 
 States are not to be compared to these in point of fertility 
 and every excelAince ; the climate here is not worse, and 
 the State tolerate? no slavery. 
 
 This last circumstance has already given it the name of 
 the independent country ; the state where man is free but 
 not licentious. In consequence, quakers, and other religi- 
 ous professors, encir.ies to intolerance and oppression, whelh- 
 •r chiiblian or political, -have settled in the state, and are 
 
AMERICA. St 
 
 ^aily; followed by thousands who either admire, or affect to 
 advocate their principles and doctrines. Such has been 
 this rage, that the last ten years has added to the state one 
 hundred thousand inhabitants, sai-d to be the most peacea- 
 ble, inoffensive, moral, and industrious citizens belonging 
 to the American nation. I have a \evy strong predilection 
 for the state, I must own to you, and a presentiment, from 
 what I observe and hear at present, that my future expe- 
 rience will justify all my hopes, and prove to you that I am 
 more happy when a people permit me to say any thing in 
 their favour, than when their vices and follies compel me 
 to condemn them. I do not mean to be more particular 
 on the subject just now, as I shall have to observe and say 
 a vast deal more relating to the state during my voyage 
 down its southern border along the river. I must not- 
 withstanding remark, generally, that the climate is very 
 relaxing from excess of heat in summer, and very danger- 
 ous from the precarious and uncertain vicissitudes of it iit 
 winter. Those two seasons are however the most healthy. 
 The spring and fall, as autumn is here called, are subject 
 to vissitations of diarrha3 and fever, but not in so great a 
 degree as in the lower parts of the river. These facts might 
 be sufficient to deter moderate minds from exposing them- 
 selves and families to such a climate and to such vicissi- 
 tudes ; — if they be not, there are not wanting' others suffi- 
 ciently cogent and strong to cause reflection at least before 
 steps of such consequence as emigrations are taken. I have 
 asserted and have to maintain it, that land is to be had of 
 the most superior quality at an extraordinary low price. 
 But I ask you, who are a lover of reasoning and an advo- 
 cate of common sense, whether the words good and cheap 
 are not to be considered as relative terms to be compared 
 with those of moderate and dear, in order to distinguish 
 their appropriate acceptations. But to have done with this 
 jargon, and speak a more comprehensive language, 1 will 
 give you an honest D^jttchman's opinion of the business, 
 who has purchased experience and qualified himself to give 
 instruction and advice: — Being dissatisfied with lands in 
 Pennsylvania, which with hard and unceasing industry, 
 yielded but from seven to twelve bushels of wheat per a- 
 ere ; from twenty-five to thirty-five of corn ; and so on in 
 proportion with other produce, he came into the Ohio state 
 and purchased a very fine section from Congress at two dol^ 
 
52 TRAVELS IN 
 
 lars per acre. This land was equal to his most sanguine ex- 
 pectations. Three years after it was cleared it produced 
 him one hundred bushels of Indian corn, and from forty 
 to fifty of wheat per acre. This delighted the Dutchman; 
 the argument appeared strong, and the old Pennsylvania 
 iarm began to be talked of only to be despised. This tri- 
 umph was but of short duration. The Dutchman was near 
 two thousand miles from the principal market; this he 
 could not attend ; slojckeopers and itinerant merchants 
 bought his produce at their own prices in exchange, often 
 for unnecessary goods, and the profits of his most luxuri- 
 ous harvests were no more, saying the best, than those of 
 Lis former farm, when in the vicinity of a market, where 
 the price of produce always bore affinity to the quality of 
 land and the labour employed to render it prolific. The 
 Dutchman had to compare but one article: at his former 
 market he could get from ten to twelve dollars per barrel 
 for his flour, in his present situation he can get but three. 
 And, as he is occasionally visited by grubs, flies, and clouds 
 of locusts, he cannot average his wheat crop at above thir- 
 ty nett bushels per acre ; therefore he and his family must; 
 in future speak in less disrespectful terms of the old Penn- 
 Srylvania farm, and recommend, as he tells me he always 
 does, his former neighbours to enquire the price of pro- 
 duce before they pretend to fix a value on land, or leave 
 their old settlements without the good grounds of unpre- 
 judiced calculations, and ample and liberal enquiries. 
 
 I propose to leave this place to-morrow morning. I 
 have not heard of any thing further of sufficient interest to 
 improve or entertain, though you may be well convinced 
 that I annt)y every person whose countenance beams intelli- 
 gence, and even those whose features manifest none. I 
 make no doubt that I. am considered a strange medley; an 
 interrogative animal passing through society merely to 
 perplex it with questions;, to gain all information and tc 
 communicate none. Some stare* at me with astonishment 
 when I abruptly address them, and others not knowing 
 what to answer turn on their heel. What a foolish man,. 
 Fay all, to loose his time and go in such uMuannex througb. 
 the world, merely to ask questions! 
 
AMERICA. 9$ 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 Charlesfoxon — Vicious taste in building to the river — copi-- 
 ed from Philadelphia — its punishment — Navigation front 
 Charlestown to Wheeling — this port-town described — its 
 origin — sketch of the inhabitants and their propensities — 
 a Virginian horse-race — a boxing-match — A ball and sup' 
 per — the sequal a pathetic story. 
 
 Wheeling, Virginia, April, 1806. 
 THE morning after my departure from Stubenville> 
 I dropped seven miles lower down to breakfast at Charles- 
 town, on the opposite shore. 
 
 Charlestown is finely situated on the Virginia side, at 
 the junction of Buffaloe creek and the Ohio. It is a flour- 
 ishing place, commanding the trade of the surrounding, 
 rich settlement; and having many excellent mills, is much 
 resorted to by purchasers of flour. The boats can be 
 purchased at the Pittsburg price, and articles of provi- 
 sion on very reasonable terms. 
 
 The town, which contains about one hundred and fifty 
 houses was originally well laid out with the best row fac- 
 ing the river, and the intermediate space answered the pur- 
 pose of a street, explanade and water terrace, giving aa 
 air of health and cheerfulness gratifying to the inhabitants, 
 and highly pleasing to those descending the stream. — How- 
 ^ever, owing to the avarice of the proprietor of the terrace, 
 and a disgraceful absence of judgment and taste, he has 
 sold his title to the waterside, and the purchasers are now 
 building on it; turning the back of their houses immedi- 
 ately close to the edge of the bank, and excluding all man- 
 ner of view and communication from the best of the town. 
 1'his violation of taste, it seems, is not to go unpunished.. 
 The bank is undermining fast, and in a very few years, 
 these obtruding edifices must fall unless removed. This 
 vice of building to the high water mark, is not peculiar to 
 Charlestown : Philadelphia set the example. Philadel- 
 phia, which might have had an open airy explanade of four 
 miles long, on a beautiful river, facing a delightful culti- 
 vated shore, has not now thirty feet of quay. The stQX€- 
 
9* TRAVELS IN 
 
 houses are absolutely built on piles in the water, andcroiid* 
 ed on each other in such a manner, as to convey an idea 
 of deficiency of land for the extension of the city, and ta 
 carry on its commercial affairs. Philadelphia has long suff- 
 ered by these disgraceful erections. Theyeilow fever there 
 maintains a perpetual residence, or annually issues from' 
 a crowded waterside to pollute the whole town, and carry 
 off its thousands!*! could not resist apologizing thus much 
 with the Charlestown citizens. They wished me good bye 
 as I departed, and I previously wished them an improve- 
 ment of reason and taste. 
 
 The channel from Charlestown continued on the Vir- 
 ginia shoie till 1 came to Beach Bottom, when it wore over 
 to the right-hand side. The navigation then became in- 
 tricate,, being obstructed by a ripple ;' Pike Island, Twin 
 Islands, from being similar and close together, Glin's Run 
 and Wheeling Island. From this last island to Wheeling, 
 I beg you to observe how accurate one must be. These 
 are the instructions. 
 
 Channel on the Virginia shore — at the upper end keep 
 near to the shore, thence across towards the island for a- 
 bout one hundred yards; witen you come in sight of the 
 next ripple, make still more towards the island, and after 
 you pass the ripple, keep down near the middle between 
 the shore and the island, till you pull in for Wheeling. — 
 You may perceive from this, that a steersman has suffi- 
 cient occupation, and that the oars^ must sometimes work. 
 
 The town of Wheeling is well known as one of the most 
 considerable places of embarkation to traders and emi- 
 grants, on the western waters. It is a port-town, health-, 
 fully and pleasantly situated on a very high bank of the 
 liver, and is increasing rapidly. Here quantities of merch-^ 
 andise designed for the Ohio country, and the upper Louis- 
 iana, are brought in waggons during the dry seasons ; as 
 boats can frequently go from hence, when they cannot 
 from places higher up the river. Besides, as the naviga- 
 tion above Wheeling is more dangerous than all the remain- 
 der of the river, persons should undoubtedly give it the 
 preference to Pittsburg. The distance by water to Pitts- 
 
 • The great fire of London was eventually beneficial. The plague 
 was frequent before that calamity, but since ihe improved airneas of lb© 
 ailer-built streets^ it has never occurred. 
 
AMERICA. ^5 
 
 burg IS eighty two miles ; by land only forty-five, by a 
 good road. A coach runs from Philadelphia also, to this 
 town, for thirty dollars each passenger; and the waggons 
 which daily arrive, charge littJe more per cent, than the 
 Pittsburg price. On the whole, 1 give this place a decide- 
 cd preference, and prognosticate, that it will ultimately 
 injure and rival all the towns above its waters. 
 
 The town is formed of about two hundred and fifty 
 houses ; ten of which are built of brick, eighteen of stone, 
 and the remainder of logs. The plain on which it stands, 
 containing about seven hundred agres, is surrounded by 
 immense hills, except .op t.he lowermost side ; where it is 
 bounded by a fine creek of clear water, near the head of 
 which are erected some fine mills for flour and timber. 
 
 This plain although, one hundred feet above low water, 
 was originally formed by the river subsiding ; and there is 
 a narrower place, or what is here called hoitoniy immediate- 
 ly flowing from the hills^ which also was under water; but, 
 by the growth of its timber, and superior height, its sub- 
 mergement must have been at a much more remote period 
 than that of the plain on \yhich the tovvn is built. A part 
 ,of the latter is now a very wnall but excellent race ground. 
 The original settlers were not calculated to give import- 
 ance to an infant establishment. Had they been so, had 
 they attended to worthy commercial pursuits, and indus- 
 trious and moral dealings, in place of rapine on Indian 
 property, drunkenness, horse-racing, and cock-fighting, 
 their town would have rivel^d JPittsburg long since, and 
 have now enjoyed a respectable name. 
 
 This part of Virginia was, at no very remote period, 
 deemed the frontier, not only of Virginia, but of America. 
 To this frontier all persons outlawed, or escaping from 
 justice, fled, and resided without the apprehension of pi;n- 
 ishmeiit, or the dread of contempt and reproach, 'rhey 
 formed a species of nefarious republic, where equality of 
 crime constituted a social band, which might to this day 
 have remained unbroken, but for the effects of the conclu- 
 sion of the Indian war, which extended the frontier across 
 ! -the river nearly to the Canada line, leaving the ancient 
 boundary within the jurisdiction of government, and un- 
 der the immediate grasp of the law. Tliose who fled from 
 the restraints of moral and political obligations, were ex- 
 - tiperat^d at this unforeseA-'u event, and feU hurt that {^ 
 
S^ TRAVELS IN 
 
 better sort of people came among them. The consequence 
 previously assumed by thieves and swindlers, fled the pres- 
 ence of morals and justice. Such as were determined not 
 to submit to an improvement of life, and a daily comparison 
 of character, left the country ; while others, who " re- 
 pented of their ways," remained, and are now blended 
 with the better order of citizens. Of these materials, the 
 society of this town is now formed. But I have it from the 
 good authority of a quaker of high respectability, that 
 the old settlers will all be botight out in time, and the place 
 become new and regenerated. He founds his hopes on the 
 belief that his friends, when backed by others of their pro- 
 fession, to settle in the town, will gain an ascendaricy in 
 the municipal affairs; abolish cock-fighting, horse-racing, 
 fighting, drinking, gambling, &c. and, above all, enforce 
 the observance of the sabbath and other solemn days. 
 
 I assured the quaker, that if ever he saw his hopes re- 
 alized, that he would not only clear the town of its origin- 
 al race, but of every profligate whatsoever, and deter ^ 
 others of similar description, from coming into it. He 
 appeared much pleased at this assurance, though he deem- 
 ed its consummation as arduous as Herculean labour. I 
 fear in this respect he is too well founded : indeed, m}' ac- 
 quaintance with the place, convinces me that much time 
 and unremitted assiduity must be employed to make it a 
 tolerable residence for any class of men, much less a so- 
 ciety of quakers. The majority of the present inhabitants 
 have no means whatever of distinguishing Sunday, but by 
 a greater degree of violence and debauchery than the af- 
 fairs of ordinary days will allow them to manifest. Evefl 
 on occasion of business, the smallest occurrence will draw 
 them from it, and expose it to total negligence. 
 
 Yesterday two fellows drinking in a public-house, the 
 conversation turned on the merit of their horses — two 
 wretched aniinals they had ridden into town that morning, 
 and which had remained fasting at a post. A wager, the 
 consequence of every argument on this side the mountains, 
 was made, and the poor brutes were galloped ofl' the race- 
 course. ^I'wo thirds of the population followed :-^black- 
 smiths, ship-wrights, all left work : the town appeared a 
 cjesert. The stores were shut. 1 asked a proprietor why 
 the vvharehouses <lid not remain open. He told me all 
 good wasMonefor that day: that .the people would reiuaia 
 
AMERICA. 0^ 
 
 on the ground till night, and many stay till the following 
 morning. I was determined to see this Virginian recrea- 
 tion, which caused ^uch an abandonment of care and busi- 
 ness. On my arrival on the ground, the original race had 
 been won, and the price of a saddle was collecting to ex- 
 cite another course, and raise new o]}ponents. 'i his was 
 soon effected : the course was cleared, and six poor devils 
 were started for the saddle, and numerous bets laid by the 
 owners and spectators. The number of persons interested 
 in this affair, and some disputed points \Ahich occurred in 
 the adjustment of it, gave rise to a variety of opinion : um- 
 pires were called in : iheir judgment was rejected, and a 
 kitid of general battle ensued. This affray over, the quar- 
 rel took a smuller circle, confined to two individuals, a 
 Mrginian by birth, and a Kentuckyan by adoj)tion. A 
 r-ing was formed, and the mob demanded whether they 
 proposed to fight fair, or to rough and tumble. The latter 
 mode was pieierred. Perhaps you do not exactly under- 
 stand the di:stinction of these terms. Fight fair however 
 is much in the English manner; and here, as there, any- 
 thing foul requires interference ; but when parties choose 
 to rough and tumble^ neither the populace nor individuals 
 are to intermeddle or hinder either combatant from tear- 
 ing or rending the other on the ground, or in any other 
 situation. You startle at the words tear and rend, and 
 again do not understand me. You have heard these terms 
 I allow applied to beasts of prey and to carnivorous ani- 
 mals ; and your humanity cannot conceive them applica- 
 ble to man : it nevertheless is so, and the fact will not per- 
 mit me the use of any less expressive term. Let me pro- 
 ceed. Bulk and bone were in favour of the Kentuckyan; 
 science and craft in that (jf the Virginian. The former 
 promised him-elf victory from his power, the latter from 
 liis Silence. Very few rounds had taken place, or- fatal 
 blows given, before the Virginian contracted his whole 
 form, drew up his arms to his face, with his hands nearly 
 cio;<^d in a coi.cavc, by ihe fingers being bent to the full 
 extension of the flexois, and summoning up all his energy 
 for one act of deeperiiti(;n, pitched himkcif into x\\c boscni 
 of his opponent. Before the effects of this coidd be as- 
 certained, the sky was rent by the shouts of the multi- 
 tude ; and I couid learn that the Virginian had ex}; reused 
 as much hauiy and skUi in his refracticn and bound j as li 
 I 
 
$8 TRAVELS IN 
 
 he had been bred in a menagerie, and practised action and 
 attitude among panthers and wolves. The shock received 
 by the Kentuckyan, and the Avant of breath, brought him 
 instantly to the ground. The Virginian never lost his hold, 
 like those bats of the south who never quit the subject on 
 which they fasten till they taste blood, he kept his knees 
 in his enemies body; fixing his claws in his hair, and his 
 thumbs on his eyes, gave them an instantaneous start from 
 their sockets. The sutfcrer roared aloud, but uttered no 
 complaint. The citizens again shouted with joy. Doubts 
 were no longer entertained ; and bets of three to one were 
 oflered on the Virginian. The Kentuckyan not being able 
 to disentangle his adversary from his face, adopted a new 
 mode of warfare ; and, in imitation of the serpent which 
 crushes such creatures to death as it proposes for its food, 
 he extended his arms round the Virginian and hugged lum. 
 into closer contact with his huge body. The latter dis- 
 liking this, cast loose the hair and convex eyes of his ad- 
 versary, when both, folded together like bears in an cm*- 
 brace, rolled several turns over each other. The accla- 
 mations increased, and bets run that the Kentuckyan 
 '^'' wovld ghe out/' that is, after being mutilated and de- 
 prived of his eyes, ears, and nose, he would cry out for 
 mercy and aid. The public were not precisely right. Some 
 (U^mon interposed for the biggest monster ; he got his ene- 
 my under him, and in an inbtaiU snapt otlhis nose so close 
 to his face that no manner of projection remained. The 
 iitlle Virginian made one further, effort, and fastening on 
 the under lip of his mulilator tore it over the chin. The 
 Kentuckyan at length gave out, on which tlie people car^ 
 ried off the victor, and he preferring a triumph to a doctor, 
 who came to circatrizt^ his face, suffered himself to be 
 chaired round the ground as the champion of the times, 
 and the lirst rougher and tunihlcr. The poor wretch, whose 
 eyes were started from their spheres, and whose lip re- 
 fused its office, returned to the town, to hide his impotence, 
 and get his countenance repaired. 
 
 This spectacle ended, and the citizens refreshed with 
 whiskey and biscuit, sold on the ground, the races v*ere re- 
 newed, and possibly other editions of the monstrous his- - 
 tory I have just recited ; but 1 had had sufficient of the 
 sports of the dat/j and returned to my quaker friend, with 
 whom I hadci!7;aged to take my dinner, lie wab afflicted. 
 
AMERICA. §g 
 
 bilt by no means surprised at the news I brought him, and 
 informed me further, that such doings were common, fre- 
 quently two or three times a week j and that twice a year, 
 or at the spring and fall races, they continued for fourteen 
 days without interruption, aided by the licentious and 
 profligate of all the neighbouring states. As to the savage 
 practice of lighting in the manner of wild beasts, my host 
 entertained no hopes whatever of ever seeing it put down. 
 It might be called a national taste, which the laws appear- 
 ed afraid to violate ; and therei'ore it reared its head above 
 authority. Few nights elapsed without the exhibition of 
 this new gymnastic ; few mornings appeared that did not 
 bring to day a friend or acquaintance with the loss of an 
 eye, or the mutilation of half his features. Alarmed at 
 this account, I asked whether this kind of conduct spread 
 down the river. I understood that it did on the left-hand 
 side, and that I would do well to land there as little as 
 possible: that many of the small inns on the Virginia and 
 Kentucky shore, were held in solitary situations by per- 
 sons cf infamous character, driven from the interior and 
 the head waters, by the gradual encroachments made on 
 them by morals, religion, and justice. At such taverns, 
 there were always persons at no loss for a subject of quar- 
 rel. The invariable consequence of which was, the loss 
 of sight, and sometimes of life, and the total confiscation 
 of property, by the viliians, who, on maiming, or murder- 
 ing the innoffensive party, rush out of the house, sieze his 
 boat and descend the river, never more to be heard of — the 
 landlord swearing he had never seen them before, or had 
 any knowledge to what pJace they belonged. All the tav- 
 erns, however, are not so bad. There was generally to be 
 found one of a better sort in towns and villages where there 
 was some semblance of law, or some apprehension of just- 
 ice. I again demanded how a stranger was to distinguish 
 a good from a vicious house of entertainment ? I was ans- 
 wered, by previous inquiry, or, if that was imj)racticable, 
 a tolerable judgment could be formed, from observing in 
 the landlord, a possession., 6r an a'jsence of ears : many of 
 the proprietors of small inns being men who had left those 
 members nailed to certain penitential market crosses in 
 Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the Carolinas, in lieu of cer- 
 tain horses and cattle of which they had from time to time 
 become the illegal owners. Furnished with these useful 
 
100 TRAVELS IN 
 
 instructions, I left my kind entertainer, and retired to my 
 inn with a view of passing a peaceable night. It was not 
 so ordained. It seems the store keepers, and the principal 
 citizens, knowing the people had no intention of returning 
 to their avocations, had resolved to amuse tliemselves, and 
 associated for the purpose of having a ball and supper at 
 ihe principal inn. On my arrival the landlord, with much 
 politeness, told me, that my quality of stranger and a gen- 
 tleman, gave me a title to enter the public room. I bene- 
 ited by this intimation, yet, notwithstanding the delicacy 
 and hospitality it conveyed^ I could not resist casting a 
 glance, e;? passant, at the head of my host, to observe 
 T/hcther it was provided with ears. Pleased (n perceiving 
 these ornamental appendages, or, to follow up the quaker's 
 idea, these indications of character and safety, I entered the 
 ball-room, which was filled with persons at cards, drink- 
 ing, smoaking, dancing, &c. The music consisted of two 
 fcangies, pla3''ed by negroes nearly in a state of nudity, and 
 a lute, through which a Chickesaw breathed with m.uch 
 occasional exertion and violent gesticulations. The danc- 
 ing accorded with the harmony of these instruments. The 
 clamour of the card-tables was so great, that it almost 
 flrovvned every other: and the music of Ethiopia was with 
 difficulty heard. A man should never judge of the princi- 
 ples of the J'ntertainment of others, by his individual con- 
 ceptions. This ball, considered a violent vulgar uproar 
 I)y me, afforded the utmost delight to the assembly, and 
 possibly would have concluded with infinite joy and satis- 
 faction at an early hour next day, had not an unlucky 
 ■wight of a drank?n politician, seized a friend by the throat, 
 and threatened to aiuiihilate him, if he did not drink 
 ** Damnation to Thomas Jeflferson." A bustle a!id crou-d 
 collected about the parties; the ladies and the music made 
 -a precipitate retreat, and I quickly followed, and learned 
 from the landlord, who sat by his tire-side perfectly com- 
 posed, that the ball was over — that a ruwhvuX commenced, 
 >vhich was the signal for the retreat of the graces, and a 
 general break up. I hinted at the propriety of his inter- 
 ^^'■^nce, when he very coolly told me, that if there were 
 *^"y ruffians in company, it was fit they should be kicked 
 *^"Jt, and that bad as the place was, there were always ^fn- 
 ^^^men at his balls who obligingly took that office on them- 
 ®*^lves. His words were soon verified. A cry of out, out ; 
 
AMERICA. iOi 
 
 whip them all! issued from the room, immediately after a. 
 torrent rushed throu^ the passage, and a noise of sticks, 
 and cries, and execrations of every shade, modulation, and 
 sort. The door locked on the whole party, and silence a^-^ 
 gain restored, we visited the theatre of the late effervescence, 
 and found but one person stretched on the ground. I was 
 proceeding to express some apprehension, when my host ex- 
 claimed — "Oh! it is Mr. , he is only drunk, he 
 
 will remain here quietly till moiMing." With that he 
 drew him along the lloor to a corner, and having placed 
 a few chairs as a guard, considered that he had done much 
 towards his accommodation. 
 
 Though it was by this time far advanced in the night,, 
 and [ felt no disposition to retire to rest; my mind was- 
 too much agitated and full, to benelit by a too sudden, or 
 forced repose; and I preferred the conversation of mine 
 host one half-hour longer. It turned on the events of the 
 day, and the evening amusement. He very candidly ad- 
 mitted all I said in favour of more civilized recreations;, 
 and even went so far as to tell me a variety of anecdotes, 
 which from a respect for human nature, 1 suppress. Were 
 it not for the intervention of a row^ which he considered' 
 an innocent occurrence, the close of balls could never be 
 ascertained. He had known them to continue for six and 
 tliirty hours together, and many of the men, at other times,- 
 have remained to gamble and drink for weeks atler the 
 original festival. These balls and rows were frequently 
 followed by duels. That ball or row was thought a mild 
 one, which did not produce from two to three of the latter. 
 . *' An affair of this kind happened" said my landlord, " a. 
 few balls back, involving in its consequences, out of the 
 common, and rather of a melancholy kind. A dispute," 
 continued he, *' took place, in my house, between two 
 young men, who hud been the most intimate friends, as 
 much so that one of them, Mr. IL who is my neighbour, 
 was to be married the Sunday after the ball and the dis- 
 pute, to the sister of the other, lAlr. B. who lives but a 
 small distance up the town. The ties to be formed frbni- 
 this intention, former intimacy, and the interposition of 
 love and friendship, were all of no avail : to tight they were 
 determined ; place and time were cautiously appointed. 
 But love is not easily to be deceived. Maria the sister of 
 B, and the betrothed of H. received the tatal intelligence^ 
 I 2 
 
102 TRAVELS IN 
 
 ]iastcn(-(l to the ground, and arrived — but in time only to- 
 hear the shot, and receive a bleeding lover in her extended 
 arms. The lead past through his lungs — he instantly ex-- 
 pircd. The senses of Maria are lost : she knows no per- 
 son : she has not spoke to a human being since ! I can shew 
 her to you to-morrow ; a slender tall figure, her head and 
 bosom covered v.ith a black veil ; her motion quick, and 
 her air disturbed. She pas'^es every day in her way to a 
 favourite grave, and returns with an appearance still more 
 dejected and broken-hearted. But the poor maid will soon 
 join her lover, and leave a world in which she imagines 
 she has no friend. I could hear no more, the Virginian 
 himself was moved. I ordeied a light, and gaining my. 
 chamber cast myself on a bed to rest : yet not bctore 1 
 cursed the ferocity of manners which reigns in this place, 
 and which caused the eternal wretchedness and misery of" 
 an object so aimable and instructing as my landlord's Ma- 
 ria. It is int(dcrable. It is infamous. Farewell you caa 
 account for my abrupt conclusion. 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 A'lTiml coacJi road from Philadelphia to Lexington in Ken- 
 tHcky seven hundred miles. — Aeeommodafions on the rood 
 — enchanting vallei/ and creeks —their origin — history of 
 the first settlement of Cooandanaga hy Irish emigrants — • 
 its judicious regulations — Mr. Fit zpat rick its head — nmn^ 
 '/ler of passing Sunday in this little republic — general sifua- 
 - Hon of its inhabitants — Long reach — Indian imitation of 
 animals. 
 
 Marietta, Slate of Ohro, May, l%oO, 
 I HURRIED out of >Vheeling with a precipitation which 
 precluded all further enquiries, and perhaps in a slate of 
 mind unfavourable to the pursuit of any farther knowledge 
 .of that place. There is a very beautiful island directly 
 opposite Wheeling, to which there is a ferry, and another 
 i*iry from the island to the Ohio shore^Avhcrc co.^.-:menccs 
 
AMERICA. T03 
 
 II road leading to Chilicothe, and the interior of the State 
 of which that town is the capital. The road for the most 
 part is mountainous and swampy, notwithstanding which 
 a mail coach is established on it, from Philadelphia to Lex- 
 ington in Kentucky, through Pittsburg, Wheeling, and Chi- 
 licothe, a distance of upwards of seven hundred miles, to 
 be performed by contract in fifteen days. Small inns are 
 to be found every ten, or twelve miles of the route. They 
 are generally log huts of one apartment, and the enter- 
 tainment consists of bacon, whiskey, and Indian bread; 
 Let those who despise this bill of fare remember that seven 
 years since this road was called the Wilderness, and travel- 
 lers had to encamp, find their own provisions, and with 
 great difficulty secure their hor-es from panthers and wolves; 
 Another remark is to be made on this great road.. Direct- 
 ly on ascending the mountain in the rear of Wheeling, an 
 immense deep and gloomy valley appears in view; twelve 
 miles long, by from two to six broad. It is completely 
 surrounded by high mountains, through which there is but 
 one small pass serving for the current of the water of a 
 beautiful creek that traverses the valley twelve different 
 times in search of a level to facilitate its course to the 
 Ohio and the sea. The road crosses the creek at every 
 trarers, and, for the entire length is nearly a perfect 
 plain, adorned with trees of the most sumptuous growth ; 
 with corn and wheat of an unexampled luxuriance, and en- 
 circled by an amphitheatre of mountains, whose summits 
 ©t eternal verdure are often embraced by the clouds. The 
 soil, composed of decayed vegetable substances, and putrid 
 animal remains, appears like a fine gardt.i mould ; it is 
 from three to sixteen feet deep, and judgitig from the chan- 
 nel of the creek,, is deposited on gravel and lime-stone 
 rock. There are eight settlers on this enchanting spot, 
 M'ho have to regret nothing but the too transient visits of 
 the sun, who in his meridian glory looks down on this lit- 
 tle world, shedsuponit its most fervid rays, until intercept- 
 ed by the mountains, towards the south he sets in the vig- 
 our of the day. I was about to give you a chain of philo- 
 sophical reasoning and evidence to bear me out in an opini- 
 on that this valley was formed by the subsiding of water 
 which found an avenue in a circuit of the mountain, and 
 by attrition wore it to its base, when it lost its volume and 
 ifuiuensity, and assumed the gentle character of the pre^ 
 
104 TRAVELS IN 
 
 sent lovely vale drained of every thing noxious by a rapid 
 and transparent creek, till I understood that the people of 
 the country, not only entertained my opinion, but at once 
 and without hesitation, called the place the " Dry Lake," 
 or " the Valley of the Lake,'' by which name it is known 
 to this day. I need mention but two of the motives on 
 which they grounded their decision. 1st. The fissure in 
 the mountain, through which the creek now flows, nearly 
 from the origin to the base has, on each side, rocks, stones, 
 and strata, wasted, indented, and hollowed ' by attrition. 
 2dly, The mountains' sides, from top to bottom, exhibit a 
 resular series of swells and falls which are known to be the 
 
 o _ ... 
 
 effect of the undulatory motion of waters and their peaod- 
 ical rise and descent. 
 
 About a mile below the dry lake, on the opposite side, a 
 creek enters the Ohio, also from between the opening of a 
 mountain. Immediately on leaving Wheeling, 1 worked 
 my boat rather across the stream, and in less than ten mi- 
 nutes dropped into the mouth of the creek, where I made 
 fast, and prepared to ascend the hill, take a view^ of the 
 back country, and, if inviting, range through it. I scramb- 
 led with much difficulty to the summit, from which I plain- 
 ly saw that the creek liowed through a valley nearly simi- 
 lar to that of the dry lake. Perceiving a well improved 
 l";lrm on the borders of the creek, and about a mile from, 
 where I stood, I made for it, and on my arrival found a 
 very intelligent settler, from a half hours ramble with whom 
 I obtained the following particulars. 
 
 The valley, Vv'hich was seven miles long, and from two 
 to five broad, was called Coonandanaga, an Indian term, 
 signifying the woody lake. It was watered by the creek in 
 every direction, having a course beating from one side to 
 the other till it issued where I had left the boat. This- 
 creek has a great advantage over that I have just mention- 
 ed on the opposite s.iue, for, having a rapid descent from- 
 its fountain, it serves two capital mills which work at sea- 
 sons when the water of others is entirely consumed. The 
 great western road passes through this valley, and is at 
 times so miry and bad, that the mail coach has been knowiv 
 to pass through jt with difliculty in an entire day. The 
 soil is immenbcly deep and nearly as black as coal. The 
 timber is not near so large or so old as that of the dry lake,^ 
 and a variety of other testimony rushes on the muid to- 
 
AMERICA. 105 
 
 prove that the waters of this former lake had remained ma- 
 ny centuries after those of the other had passed away. The 
 wood is not the growth of many ages ; the soil is not chang- 
 ed by exposure to external air, and much of the land is 
 but now rising out of submergement, to receive the influ- 
 ence of the wind and sun. The mountains encircling this 
 spot are not quite so elevated as those around the dry lake* 
 Those on the north-west side are the highest, which ac* 
 counts in some degree for the waters forcing a passage to 
 the south-east. 'I'he real bed of Coonandanaga is limestone 
 rock, similar to that of the river and the dry lake. From 
 consequences to be deduced from these facta ; from nume- 
 rous other seats of lakes known in the country, and from 
 the number of plains and bottoms which every where a- 
 bound, formed, evidently on the retreat of water, and com- 
 posed of vegetable and animal substances of every descrip- 
 tion, it is manifest that the whole scope of country from 
 above a range of mountains which cross the river some- 
 where below the falls, as high up as Pittsburg, and border 
 Lake Erie, once formed an immense chain of Lakes. The 
 continued and remitting industry of water to find a level to 
 the sea ; the constant though gradual waste by attrition, 
 cr a convulsion of nature which rent every barrier to its 
 base, at length let loose the waters ; drained the lakes, and 
 the floods, entering from all parts of the higher to the low- 
 er grounds, formed the bed of the river now called Ohio* 
 Till persons of a better information disprove this — such 
 shall remain my -lecideil opinion. 
 
 As the first settlement of Coonandanaga embraces the 
 history of many settlements in this part of the globe, I give 
 ityou nearly in the words of my informer. 
 
 Near ten years have elapsed since the daemon of revolu- 
 tion had overthrown some of the best governments in P^u- 
 rope, and she<l the baneful seeds ofdissention and anarchy 
 over the surface of the eastern world. — ^The Irish, those 
 imsophisticated children of nature, were the first to encour- 
 age principles, which they were instructed to believe to be 
 alone compatible with the rights and the dignity of man. 
 The^' were taught to consider the throne and the altar as the 
 mere instruments of national subversion, and morals and laws 
 as nwthing more than unreasonable shackles, fit only to re- 
 strain the mental and physical energies of bondsmen and 
 slaves* It is not to be wondered at, that a people abau- 
 
106 TRAVELS IN 
 
 doned to an instruction of this kind, and what is worse, a-* 
 bandoned by the intelligent of their own community, who 
 reside in great towns, or for the most part abroad, shou4d 
 imagine themselves agrieved, and proceed to measures pre- 
 sumed necessary to the promotion of public happiness, and 
 the security of a general and individual liberty. In adopt- 
 ing these criminal measures for the purpose of correcting 
 visionary ill?, the}^ incurred the displeasure of government ; 
 many expiated their offences on the scaffold, and others 
 crossed the most distant seas. 
 
 in the autumn of 1798, several thousands left Ireland^ 
 buoyed up with a hope, that having escaped from the land 
 of tyranny, they would be received in America with the 
 acclamation of joy, or the sensibility of fraternal tears. At 
 tlie period of their arrival, America was but regurgerating 
 her own rebels, and saw with alarm the superfluity of other 
 nations thrown into her bosom. Besides, as these unfor- 
 tunate Irish generally came in ships crowded with from 
 three to five hundred ea<ch, and furnished with provisioiv 
 unhealthy and scanty, they consequently arrived in a shock- 
 ing state, and had to be succoured by individuals, or takea 
 into public hospitals. 
 
 Independently then of the dislike the American govern- 
 ment began to entertain to the importation of rebel and 
 disaffected doctrines, they saw a serious danger in receiv- 
 ing such a number at a time of sickly and wretched o-bjects, 
 ■who for want of means, character and health, could not be 
 able to assist themselvds, and therefore should become a 
 burden to the state : they remonstrated with the cabinet at 
 St. James's, and that court decreed that no legal banish* 
 ments should be made to America. 
 
 "llie ship in which my informer,. Mr. Fitzpatrick came, 
 left Cork for Philadelphia, with two hundred emigrants ; 
 in consequence of being stifled in the hold, want of provi- 
 sion and water, seventy-six died, and were cast overboard; 
 on her arrival at Wilmington, on the Delaware, eighty- 
 seven more were received into the hospital, and the re- 
 maining thirty-seven walked ;>n to Philadelphia there to beg 
 the streets. A few of these were advised to go to the city 
 of Washington in search of work ; a few more died of want, 
 contagion, and misery, while Fitzpatrick, and fifteen follow- 
 ers, aided by a small sum of money, clothes, and instru- 
 ments of husbandry, generously made up for them by a so- 
 
AMERICA. 107 
 
 <ri*e*y of Irishmen in Philadelphia, set off for the western 
 .country^ and arrived at Coonandanaga, where they deter- 
 noined to stop. The vicinity of the vale to the main water^; 
 the great utility of a creek commanding a fall of tliirty 
 feet in less than one mile, and the light manner in which 
 t-hey found the land timbered, were the motives for this 
 preference. The land itself was not at first much esteemed 
 by these settlers. Black and mixed with roots and other 
 deleterious substances, they feared it might be similar to 
 the bogs of their own country, which yielded nothing but 
 jnoss, heath, rushes, and flags, and refused melioration 
 even from the severest industry, A little observation 
 proved the fallacy of their ideas on this head. They lo- 
 .cated the valley the first season, cleared about five acres ot 
 ground each, and planted Indian corn, cabbage and a few 
 potatoes. These throve to such an astonishing degree, that 
 more land was joyfully cleared for the following year, 
 planted in like manner, and that of the former season re- 
 served for wheat. Owing to the extreme richness of the 
 «oil, the wheat crop failed : it ran up to stalk above seven 
 feet high, and bore little or no corn. ?]aving been since 
 reduced by several successive heavy crops of Indian corn, 
 it begins to bear wheat in considerable perfection, though 
 it still rambles much above the reapers head. The cab- 
 bages grow to a great size, yet are not of a permanent util- 
 ity, in consequence of their being overrun, eaten or perfo- 
 rated by millions of insects, before they can in any quan- 
 tity be brought into use and laid by as a winter provision. 
 The potatoes are large, s])ongy and wet. 
 
 The houses of the settlement are built with much com- 
 fort and neatness. Thouglrscattered through the vale, the 
 settlers have the good sense to unite on all occasions which 
 require the power of many hands. Hence buildings for 
 residence and convenience, clearing land, and rolling pon- 
 derous and heavy logs, are effected in a proper and speedy 
 manner, without consuming the health and wasting the 
 timeof apoorindividual,who,had he the whole to complete 
 through his own means and industry, would droop or sink 
 under the task before it was a tenth part completed. 
 
 I met with nothing so sensible and so judicious as this 
 little republic since I crossed the mountains. The mem- 
 bers of it attone, by a regulated and laborious life, for the 
 j>olilical sius they comjuiLted. 1 attribute the wisdom of 
 
108 TRAVELS IN 
 
 itiis conduct and the prudence of these resolutions to th« 
 council and example of their leader, Mr. Filzpatrick, whom 
 the governor of the state has chosen as the Justice of their 
 district, and whom they themselves have elected as their 
 m-inister and teacher. Mr. F. joins to a good natural un- 
 derstanding, corrected and improved by adversity, an exr- 
 cellent heart and a mind formed to impress on others a 
 love oi virtue and morality. On conversing with him some 
 time, I ceased to wonder at the account he gave me of 
 liimself and associates. So true it is that the example of 
 wisdom and goodness is captivating ; that it shines out in 
 the actions and countenances of those who practice them; 
 reforms folly and vice, and spreads its inftuence over the 
 untutored residents of the most untutored wilderness. I 
 could not helploving this good man, and of sincerely wishing 
 that all misguided emigrants, on abandoning their country 
 and their homes, might choose such a character for their 
 leader. 
 
 Having learned his difierent functions, I was desirous of 
 knowing where they were exercised, and asked him accor- 
 dingly. The boys and the children, replif:(! Mr. F. meet 
 me at the mill on the afternoon of every Sunday. We there 
 administer the little justice that is wanted amcng us, say a 
 few prayers, and then make a hurling match in ihe man- 
 ner of 02//' ou'fi country. But if any oH ihe boys be absent, 
 from sickness, the hurling match cannot go on, as we have 
 agreed among ourselves to visit any sick neighbour on Sun- 
 day, see that he want for nothing, and, if his indispobition 
 continue, look after his stock, get his harvest in, and re- 
 pair his house against the rif^ur of winter ! 
 
 I would not injure the beauty and excellence of this 
 little narrative by any remark, were there not a few words 
 employed in it that may not, according to their spirit, be 
 exactly understood. 
 
 When Mr. F. says "the boys and the children," he 
 means his old companions and their families, and uses the 
 other appaicntly unappropiiate word as a term of famili- 
 arity and endearment, becoming in him as their leader, 
 pastor, and friend. The next expression, "our own coun- 
 try," is more peculiar to the Irish than to any other emi- 
 grant whatever, and does them much honour. The longer 
 they reside abroad the more the attachment to their own 
 country" increases. Evcit llioic whom the law rejected; 
 
AxMERICA. 109 
 
 and others who left their homes under the most violent 
 prejudices of a deluded misconception and heated mind, 
 are the first to talk of their *' own country/* its pleasant 
 hills, green fields, and temperate and happy climate. Their 
 pastime, and their songs too, are national, and their con»- 
 versation in general, commence how they may, end in 
 traditiou. and legendary talc. — Convinced of this, you will 
 not be surprized to hear that very few Irish alienate their 
 political rights, by swearing allegiance to other powers, 
 notwithstanding their casting olT responsibility to their own 
 state. At least there is hardly one Irish subject in this 
 part of the world who has become an American citizen, 
 Uhd certainly not even one who thinks so little of his "own 
 country," as to set on that title any manner of considera- 
 tion or respectful consequence. 
 
 The last phraise I shall elucidate in jNIr. F's simple nar- 
 rative is, *' and repair his house against the rigours of 
 winter." In this country in general, most all settlers 
 houses are built of logs, between which there are large 
 interstices, which require to be filled with well temj^ered 
 clay. Where good clay can be produced this filling up 
 jemains permanent, but where mould or black earth is 
 employed, as a substitute, the heat of summer crumbles it 
 to dust, and the winds blow it through the whole of the 
 apartment. For the want of clay the houses of Coonan- 
 danaga were therefore every summer reduced to a mere 
 shed, through which tlie elc'uent took an uncontrouled 
 range, and were it not for the admirable regulation of these 
 associated emigrants, "to repair a sick man's house against 
 the rigours of winter," his disorder would naturally increase 
 or he would perish from neglect and inclemency. 
 
 Thr^^e or four of the original settlers are dead, and all the 
 rest have past through the dangerous ordeal of a season- 
 ing, that is, they were from time to time reduced to death's 
 door, and recovered, with the blood i^o thiimed, and con- 
 stitution so altered, that the climate cannot act upon it 
 with the same violence it exercises on a virgin subject. It 
 is necessary only to add, that these poor settlers were as 
 happy as people could be, who had left their own green 
 fields for teen^ing swamps and burning hills ; and who had 
 leftacleai and healthy sky, for au atmosphere surcharged, 
 atone litnc, with sulphurious clouds and fxtid f(>g»^,and at 
 anotlKM-, with all the putrid iiud faety particles of death. 
 K 
 
11® TRAVELS IN 
 
 They also liad to pine for the absence of the sun a great 
 portion of the year. In winter he seldom entirely dispersed 
 the vapour which lay densed on the place, and in summer 
 his visits were uncertain and trancient. 
 
 You may ask how a valley can at times be so unsuffera- 
 bly hot which is expoiied to so little action of the sun. In 
 1/arope you seek the shade and the covert of groves as a 
 shield against heat. Here the very reverse is practised. 
 The open plain, the tops of hills, alone can be endured. 
 Protected valleys and immense woods are found to con- 
 tain a heat so pestilential, that man and beast abandon 
 them during the fervor of the day, and seek for situations 
 to which the air has access. In extensive dense wildernes- 
 ses, and in the bosom of vales surrounded by mountains 
 and woods, the air of summer completely stagnates, and 
 remains unruffled, though that of open plains and summits 
 is in continual agitation and perpetually renewed. There 
 is nothing more common here than to hear it said *' it is 
 now too hot to work in the woods,'' which is saying, it is 
 better to work in the open ^ir, though exposed to all the 
 ardour and violence of the sun. 
 
 I returned to my boat, accompanied by Mr. F. and sev- 
 eral of his children, one of which was loaded with a basket, 
 with which his father, when at a distance from me instruct- 
 ed him to bring from his house. I did not return but 
 chose to follow the creek in order to observe the characters 
 of the passage in the mountain which allowed the former 
 waters and the present stream to become tributaries to the 
 river and the sea. Mr. F. no sooner observed the subject 
 of my speculation, than he informed me that he and his 
 friejids had no manner of doubt but that they had settled 
 " in the bottom of a lake/' *' Look," said he, "at the 
 upper part of the o])ening how it has been torn asunder by 
 some earthquake, and the under parts for the matter of 
 twenty tect seem carried away by the constant current of 
 the waters." The aj^peal was strong, the facts evident ainl 
 unequivocal. I had nothing more to do than to gain my 
 boat, where the children had arrived before me, and spread 
 on a table the contents of the basket. It consisted of a 
 wild turkey, some fresh butter, and a loaf of Indian bread. 
 " 1 thought," said Fitzpatrick, " before 1 put the blessing 
 of God on }0ur honour, 1 would take care your honour 
 had something to eat." I made no reply to this. Mindetk 
 
AMERICA. Ill 
 
 understood me. He put a bottle of rum, some powder 
 and lead into the basket : strung some Indian ornaments 
 round the children's necksj and without further ceremony 
 hastened the whole party ashore. He then poled the boat 
 out of the creek on which we all took to our stations and 
 gdined the true current in a few strokes of the oars. 
 
 The true current is on the Virginia side. On bearing 
 .across, I could just perceive below Wheeling, the remains 
 of an old fort standing on the point of land formed by the 
 junction of Big Wheeling creek and the Ohio river. 
 
 if I except the very extraordinary beauty of the river, 
 its islands, bays, indentions, elevated, and, in many places, 
 cultivated banks, adorned by houses, and resounding with 
 the varied noise of social and busy life, nothing else oc- 
 curred to me during the day particularly worthy your at- 
 tention ; for I am well persuaded you do not expect a de- 
 scriptive voyage down a river to consist of every tine view, 
 or to pourtray every striking prospect, bend, turn, or as- 
 pect which it is susceptible of assuming. What in truth 
 is more tiresome than a continued strain of luxuriance of 
 mountains' crowned tons, of hills' variegated pride, enam- 
 elled meads, meandering streams, dashing cataracts, and 
 falling floods ? I proceed then in the manner I originally 
 made you to expect, that is to give thoughts, observations, 
 and occurrences as occasions and circumstances demand, 
 without forcing them from objects fatiguing to dwell upoa 
 and useless to recount. 
 
 It would be unpardonable, however, to omit mentioning 
 a place I arrived at in the evening. It is called Long 
 Reach, is forty-seven miles from Wheeling, and is eighteen 
 miles long. Having arrived there rather late at night, and 
 being somewhat intimidated by the majestic appearance 
 of the river, I resolved to remain till morning, make fast 
 to the shore, and encamp after the manner of my proceed- 
 ing at Grape Island. This occupied no great time; a good 
 fire was lighted, the Coonandanaga turkey prepared, and 
 supper and refreshment spread under the lengthened gloom 
 of a large walnut-tree. Something recruited by such ex- 
 cellent refreshment, I took a solitary walk along the shore, 
 and could not avoid remarking, the extraordinary difference 
 which the arrival of two or three poor individuals could 
 eft'ect over an immense region of forest. On our first arrival, 
 silence almost terrific and certainly awful, reigned through 
 
112 TRAVELS IN 
 
 the woods. The hour was too early for beasts to prowl, 
 and too late for birds to sing. Nature seemed to enjoy a 
 calm, but to us gave a painiul repose. Whereas now the 
 noise of our axe was returned from afar, the voice of hi- 
 hour revi berated in our ear, the smc-ke rose to the sky, 
 and the vivid tiames of the fire shed a blaze of comfort 
 around, relieved the solemnity of the scene, and spread a 
 golden radience over the surface of the water. 1 was 
 drawn from this meditation by Curl, (whose b*st talent, I 
 iind, to consist in a propennty to imitate wild beasts, and 
 vviit> jnofesses to howl like a wolf better than any of his 
 jiution) he had just begun a S(jIo so exquisite in judgment, 
 >a correct in expression, and so natural in cadence, that 
 the very daemons of the woods awoke and joined him in 
 horrid ch(jrus. Fearful his imitative powers might in\ite 
 ^ome unwelcome visitors to the neighbourhood of my camp, 
 i begged of him to suppress his propensity till less danger 
 siiuald be apprehended from its exercise. He told me,- 
 %vhut I indeed knew, that where there was fire, thefe was 
 no danger ; that if 1 would let him go into the wood with 
 ;ny gun, he would cry like a young opossum, and bring me 
 A wolf or a bear in half an hour. Though convinced of his 
 Ciipacity, and the little difficulty he had to personify a 
 brute, I declined his intimation, but told him, if he wished 
 to amuse himself, he might sit on the stern of the boat, 
 MJiile I took a glass of grog at the fire; and in a low voice, 
 give me specimens of all the languages he had acquired in 
 liis early intimacies with the inhabitants of the woods. 
 Quite pleased with the serious manner 1 addressed him, 
 and delighted with the term " Language, which 1 gave his 
 ixvi, he took his station, and asked me what he shauld begin 
 with ; whether he was to lure or to alaim ? 1 told him 
 rirst to lure and then to alarm, by way of safety for the 
 night. On hearing this, Mindeth stepped into the boat, 
 took some arms, and silently placed himself beside. Cuff 
 began. I must do him the justice to acknowledge, that 
 never was man more perfect, more inimitable in this pro- 
 fession, this science, for which the world yet wants a name. 
 He passed through all the varied modulaiicns between in- 
 fancy and old age ; between a fawn and an elk ; between 
 a young calf and a buffalo bull. 'J'he beasts of the lorest 
 were deceived. Much commotion ensued. 1 he stir and 
 agitation approached, Mindeth fired a gun and renewed 
 
AMERICA. 113 
 
 his fire. Cuff next began to alarm. Savage must that 
 beast have been, into which such cries did not strike fear. 
 From the malignant 3^eU of the tiger cat, up to the pan- 
 ther's bloody roar ; the wolfs howl and the bear's rugged' 
 voice; all were heard, and all gave alarm. lie ceased. A 
 tmiversal cry was uttered through the woods, which struck 
 the Virginia shore, beat against the opposite hills, and at 
 length died in the distant windings of the water. 
 
 I rewarded this extraordinary talent with a bumper of 
 spirits, and asked if all the people of his nation were as 
 karnedas himself, or much versed in his accomplishments; 
 he replied^ that by this time he expected they were much 
 more so, for that they could continue to improve ; while 
 he, from residing long among the whites, had not only not 
 learned any thing, but io.st much of the information he 
 originally possessed. He formerly could imitate birds, 
 gobble like a turkey, and crow like a cock ; but now he 
 does not know whether he could enveigle birds by these 
 arts, or lure foxes ^nd racoons toaj)proach a snare or a trap. 
 Yet he hoped to be exercised on the way and to recover his 
 usual powers. Such is this poor fellow. Though he came 
 to me without any charur(L*r whatever., except the vague 
 one, " of knowing something of the waters," I begin to 
 think him a great acquisition, and shall afford him every 
 possible opportunity of following his propensity, and im- 
 proving his voice. , I have just instructed him to crow in 
 the*raorning like a cock, in order to rouse up all hands. 
 That I may obey the fellow's summons which 1 have no 
 doubt will be given, I hastily wish you a good night, and 
 leave my intended description to my next. This fellow's 
 nonsense has put every sublime idea out of my head. 
 
 K 2 
 
114 TRAVELS IN 
 
 LETTER XIIL 
 
 Fugs — night and day currents, their variation, advantages 
 and disadvantages — Indian practical philnsophy — a sub' 
 lime prospect — an interesting breakfast — seitleinent of the 
 hanks of Long Reach — description of them — passage to- 
 Marietta — a dangerous fall — Little Muskingum River-— 
 Marietta, a Nourishing toivn deserted — ship-building and 
 cominercial entcrprize — has the only church from Pitts- 
 burg, one hundred and eighty miles distant — the laws, 
 strictly e? forced — its tradesmen, generals, colonels, ma-^ 
 Jors, Sfc. 
 
 Marietta, State of Ohio, May, 1806, 
 
 I WAS roused at a very early hour by the Mandau 
 Chanticlier, but as the fog was not off the waters, I defer- 
 red my departure till it was in some degree dispersed by 
 the solar rays. I have known the fog remain till twelve 
 at noon, and even for two or three hours after. At such 
 times the navigation is more dangerous than on the darkr 
 est night. The channel, islands, rocks, ripples, snags,, 
 sawyers, and a variety of other dangers, are not visible. — 
 The true channel cannot be seen, nor the true current ob- 
 served ; and, possibly, owing to the density of the atmos- 
 piiere» the noise of the waters beating against objects ne- 
 cessarily to be avoided, remains drowned and unheard* 
 I might with truth remark, that navigating at night is, in 
 many respects, safer than in a foggy day. For at night 
 the noise of Mater in falls and ripples, and against rocks 
 and impediments, is heard at a much greater distance than 
 it is on the iinest day, much less on one, when sound 
 would be retarded by vapour and corrupted air. I have 
 heard the water roar on a fine night, to such a degree, as 
 to impose a belief that I was immediately ajrproaching a 
 dreadful fall or tumbling cataract., After running twa 
 hours, nearly ten miles, with the utmost precaution and 
 constant look-out, I found the terrific noise to proceed 
 from the current dashing through the top of a tree, whose 
 root had got fast near the bed of the stream. In the day I 
 have often seen a lergc tree almost ercct^ aad in a birailaj? | 
 
AMERICA. 115 
 
 situation; but the noise the passing water made over it 
 was only to be heard when close at hand. These tacts, 
 though I do not presume to account for them, are equally 
 singular and fortunate : at night the navigator is warned 
 of danger he cannot see: in the day he beholds a danger 
 which cannot be heard. There are, however, two alarm- 
 ing peculiarities belonging to the night, which should not 
 go unnoticed. 1st. The current differs considerably in 
 character from the current of the day. In the day its 
 breadth is contracted, often to within the width of the 
 boat, or less ; and it delights in hokling a favourite shore; 
 so much so that it is difficult to steer clear of the bank, 
 which, after caressing some hours, it hastily abandons, 
 makes nearly across, as if to enjoy, for a certain time, the 
 beauties of the opposite shore. In the night the current 
 diffuses itself more generally — spreads out, and finally 
 reaches the middle of the river, where it maintains itself 
 with grace and majesty till the morning, when it contracts 
 in sphere, increases in power, and alternately visits either 
 bank. Were there no obstacles in the middle of the river, 
 this circumstance of a nocturnal current, varying from the 
 daily channel to the centre, would be highly favorable, 
 but as islands and sand bars every three or four hours oc- 
 cur, it becomes dangerous. I must confess my ignorance 
 of the latent principle which occasions the variation of 
 current. My loose opinion on the subject is derived from 
 observing, that in the day, the air, iiearlj/ alwai/s, has an 
 inclination to come up the river, or to traverse it from side 
 to side : and iis action is also so high as to be seen on the 
 leaves of the trees when the surface of the water is entirely 
 unruffled. Whereas, at night, as the inclination of the air 
 is always down the liver, when unaffected by storms ; and 
 as the volume, density and weight of the air, are augment- 
 ed to an incalculable degree, by the absence of the sun 
 and the descent of his exhalations, it may be presumed that 
 these great changes in the direction and power of the at- 
 mosphere may operate a change on the current of the wa- 
 ters. The more so as it is known that the air and body of 
 vopour, rejected by the sky after the setting of the sun, 
 seek for the centre of rivers and the sinuosities occasioned 
 by valleys or creeks. This body of air then, of power, 
 course and volume, so superior and contrary to that of the 
 day, pressing on the centre of the river, eitiicr causes there 
 
lie tRAVELS IN 
 
 an additional current, or, by some secret lawr of attraction, 
 draws the current of the day trom the side to the centre. I 
 find the observation made by all navigators to be, tbat a 
 boat makes much more way at night, thaa in the day ; and 
 that it holds the middle of the river. You perceive, by this>. 
 that I am supported in my fact^ but I have never met with 
 any one who could assist me to its elucidation. As to a 
 boat's going faster at night, I am not quite so much at a' 
 loss for an argument ; having on her an encreased weight 
 of atmosphere, and a course of air not running in opposi- 
 tion to the water, she must proceed with more velocity 
 than when the sun deprives her of this pressure, and, by 
 shifting the action of the air gives her a contrary impetus. 
 But why a boat holds the middle of the river at night, ia 
 an apparent current, whose principle is dissipated on the 
 return of day, 1 cannot determine; and what 1 have said,, 
 you are to consider as loose hints, and not as the result of 
 systematic and philosophical opinion. 
 
 The second alarming peculiarity belonging to nocturnal 
 navigation, is in the lalsity of vi&ion, and in the little de- 
 pendence which can be placed on the judgment in regard 
 to the distance^ cbaracter, extent, and eveB nature of ob- 
 jects. I have heard of a man, who ran his boat on the 
 point of an island, mistaking it for an object, which, for 
 upwards of an hour before, he had imagined floating. before 
 him. And, more than once, on hearing the roaring of wa- 
 ter, or apprehending some other danger below me, I have 
 dropped down six mile-) while pulling for safety into ashore 
 on which I thought I couUt have cast a biscuit when I first 
 began to work across the stream. At other times I have 
 been greatly deceived, on making land at night, as to my 
 opinion of the nearest bawk, alter taking the nearest for 
 the most distant, 1 have run the boat's head against a 
 bank I calculated far from me. My poor Maiulanian, 
 Cuff, whom I have more than once introduced to you, see- 
 ing me perplexed at a moment of expected danger, to know 
 what shore to pull to, jumped on the roof of the boat, and 
 giving it a sudden stroke with an oar, listening to the re- 
 luming sound. The left shore first repeated the strgke.; 
 and next, after a small interval, the right. *' The leit: 
 shoi-e," said Cuff, with a modest confidence, ** is but three 
 hundred yards, and the right a mile from us." He was 
 perfectly correct y I was fateful lo him for his instruction, 
 
AiMERlCA. 117 
 
 l&"6f could I check an idea, that the whites theorise on phi- 
 ^oj-ophy, while it is practised by the Indian: neither couUl 
 I resist looking for further instruction ; and asking him 
 \vhether his rule held good on all occasions? he replied, as 
 I might well have Conceived, "It did not : that the echo 
 in some lew parts of the river never answered at all ; and, 
 that in dainp or rainy weather, it also failed telling which 
 was the nearest side/' I am confident, that in general the 
 rule is good and beneficial. So nuich tor a digression: it 
 is surely time to proceed. 
 
 It was eight o'clock in the morning before the fog began 
 to disperse in a sufficient degree to encourage my departure 
 with safety. I then began to form some idea of my situa- 
 tion, and of the vieVv before me. To do this with the more 
 precision I paddled my canoe into the middle of the river, 
 tirst sending the boat on before me, directing her to keep 
 the right bank, and to look well out. I no sooner gained 
 the centre^ than I perceived that the part of the river 1 occu- 
 pied was about a mile broad, bounded with high hills, 
 crowned with sumptuous trees, and the banks decorated 
 with the most beautiful flowers. I could with difficulty 
 make these few observations, before my canoe drifted into 
 the part called the commencement of the Long Reach, on 
 which the river appeared metomorphosed, as if by enchant- 
 ment : it became not less than three miles wide ; the 
 mountains bended off to the right and left, and subsided 
 into fine wooded ground, and an object like a man of war 
 in full sail, moved majesiically in the centre. This very 
 interesting vision arose from the looming of an island di- 
 rectly before me, and in the timbers of which, some re- 
 luctant fog was yet lurking. 1 worked to the left shore, 
 and had an uninterrupted view down the Long Reach to its 
 extremity, where it appeared bounded by a mountain of 
 extraordinary height. In the middle was a chain of islands 
 which divided this lovely portion of the river into two 
 channels of unparrallclled beauty and exactitude. The 
 right-hand channel in particular, which is considerabl}' the 
 best, is straight as an artificial canal, deep as a lake, and 
 i;mooth as glass. 1 crossed over to it between the extre- 
 mities of the first and second island, and on entering it 
 could see through the vista, formed by the narrow part of 
 the river which concludes tl,ie long reach, a distance of 
 eighteen miles. 
 
118 TRAVELS IN 
 
 The banks being comparatively low, are settled by manjr 
 families, who build their houses and cultivate their lands 
 in such a manner as to contribute vastly to the general iiv 
 terest of the scene. Cornfields, pasture grounds, herds of 
 cattle, ascending smoke, the voice of man, and the varied 
 noise of domestic animals, relieved my thoughts from the 
 overwhelming impression they at first received, on the ob- 
 servance of nature in a character so new and inexpressibly 
 sublime. Happy to have an opportunity of unbending my 
 mind after such solitude, admiration, and reflection, [ 
 paddled down the stream, passed my boat which was pro- 
 ceeding at between three and four miles an hour, and drop- 
 ped down to a house which had a neat appearance, and a 
 something which indicated comfort. I drew my canoe u^ 
 the bank, went to the house, and soon discovered I was 
 not very wide in my judgment. A clean and orderly 
 looking family sat at a breakfast composed of maiz and 
 milk. " Good morrow, stranger/' (was uttered involunta- 
 rily by all) "how fares it?" continued an old man, 
 " have you broke your fast this morning ? if not, we have 
 but just sat down." I made little other reply tha% 
 that of drawing a stool, sitting to table, and helping my- 
 self very plentifully in a cedar bowl handed me by one of 
 the family. When it was perceived that my appetite was 
 somewhat appeased, by the sweetest breakfast I think I 
 ever ate in my life, the usual questions were put to me; 
 but not put in the impertinent and intrusive way of the east- 
 ern states, to discover the extent of one's property and 
 private views, but merely as a species of chit chat, or sort 
 of rural good breeding, to engage attention, pass time, and 
 divert the mind. I said the usual questions, presuming 
 you know they consist of, How goes it stranger ? Where 
 are you bound ? Are you from the old country ? What 
 part ? &c. Having answered these inoffensive questions as 
 much to their satisfaction as my time would permit, I, in 
 my turn reversed the tables, and poured in my regular se- 
 ries of queries^ which produced the following few remarks. 
 
 The banks of Long Reach were partially settled in con- 
 sequence of the excellence of the land and the retreat of 
 the miountains into the back country, leaving several fine 
 plains of five miles extent, running to the water ; whereas 
 on most other parts of the river, the mountains bound the 
 \vater board so close, that there is seldom sufficient left for 
 
 J 
 
AMERICA. ng 
 
 the purposes of improvements and agriculture on a large 
 scale ; i( bottoms be excepted, which sometimes contain 
 several thousand acres, but they are for the most part un- 
 healthy, having no vent towards the adjacent country, and 
 being formed of decayed vegetable and other substances, 
 as well as being subject to occasional inundations. The 
 climate of Long Reach has been another motive of prefer- 
 ence. It is supposed cooler in summer in consequence of 
 its being more exposed and open than other parts, and 
 more temperate in winter than places where hills and moun- 
 tains attract rain and cold from the clouds. An extraordi- 
 nary proof of some difference existing in the climate is, that 
 there are trees and shrubs now growing in the islands and on 
 the bank of Long Reach, which are ouly found three hundred 
 miles above and two hundred below it. Of the three islands 
 in the reach, one of them produces little else than fir or 
 pine, which flourishes in great perfection, though no other 
 island in the river furnishes a single stick of it, nor is any 
 of such excellence nearer than the head waters of the Mo- 
 nongahela. The shrubs distinguishing the Reach, are the 
 arbutus and the honey locust, neither of which are to be 
 found above, though they grow lower down the river about 
 two hundred miles. The crops never fail, and yield more 
 than four times the quantity known in the Atlantic States; 
 but owing to the distance of the market, the imposition of 
 the itinerant purchasers, atfid the low price and wretched 
 articles they give for produce, the ])rofits are inferior, and 
 for a certain part of the produce, such as fruit, vegetables, 
 and poultry, there is seldom any sale. '^I'he advantage these 
 settlements enjoy over the Atlantic farms, is, that they re- 
 quire less labour, no manure, and lie adjacent to plenty of 
 lish and game. 
 
 The reach (to use the old man's words) is moderate 
 Wealthy. Fevers, however, are perfectly well known, and 
 intermittents are annually heard of. On the whole, how- 
 ever, to come to some general conclusion, 1 think the Long 
 Reach a very distinguished part of the Ohio ; it is exposed 
 to a free circulation of air ; the shore is of a clean gravel ; 
 the banks are low without being swampy; the wood is or- 
 namental as well as useful, and fine rich plains extend to 
 the mountains equal to the most extensive speculations in 
 agricultural and rural pursuits. I venture to predict, that 
 the Reach will one day become the seat of a great town. 
 
120 TRAVELS IN 
 
 if that happen, tlie land will increase in estimation ; at pre- 
 sent it sells for but two dollars per acre, and that to be ' 
 paid by four annual iiistallments ! 
 
 My entertainers were Germans. We parted with many 
 expressions of good will. The old man came down with 
 me to my canoe, and when I had taken my seat and pad- 
 dle, launched me with a push in-to the stream. The day 
 was calm, the sun shone hot, but I went with such rapidity 
 down the current, that I felt sufficient air to give a tolera- 
 ble coolness. It took me however two hours to recover 
 my boat, which I at length moored ashore, and indeed, 
 might have parsed it, had my attention not been attracted 
 by the more than stentorian voice of Cuff, who hailed me 
 with the cry of " Sago ( Sago ! Master." Owing to the 
 great taciturnity of the Indians, they make particular words 
 express a variety of sensations ; hence the small word „ 
 *' Sago,'* implies joy and satisfaction at an unexpect- I 
 ed meeting. 1 pulled into shore, and enquiring the mo- 
 tives of the boat not continuing her course, found that my 
 servant had got alarmed at the length of my stay, and per- 
 liaps his fears arose out of the dreadful stories told him by- 
 Cutf of the terrific nations who formerly lived on the bor- 
 ders of the Long Reach, and whose remains, if still in the 
 neighbourhood, might take me prisoner, carry me to the 
 woods, and, after certain scalpings and tort\ues, offer me 
 up in sacrifice to the god of their fathers, and the spirit of 
 the lakes. Having chid the one for telling such foolish 
 stories, and the other for attending to them, we cast otf 
 the boat, and being determined to reach INIarietta that 
 night, I took the helm, minutely observing the current, and 
 V'orked hard the oars. It is not a little singular that the 
 i>orti from the Long Reach exactly resembles the entrc. . 
 On looking back the eighteen n»iles of the narrow passage 
 of the river represents a vista, the tops of whose trees ap- 
 pear to join, and in looking forward, what exhibited a con- 
 tracted but beautiful avenue at a distance, opeuk into the 
 ordinary breadth of the river, which again becomes guard- 
 ed by high mouiitains, immense rocks, and all the insignia 
 peculiar to the *vater abov^ Long Reach. | 
 
 The water runs a mile an hour faster between the Reach | 
 and Marietta than it does in the reach itself. This of course ] 
 is to be attributed to the contraction of the current, an.d 
 to a few ripples and islands ia the way which force the- 
 
AMERICA. 121 
 
 stream into a small compass, and increase its action on 
 bodies floating on its surface. I found I went between six 
 and seven miles an hour in common; between eight and 
 ten on passing particular points and islands. This gave me 
 great hopes of arriving at an early hour. It was fortunate 
 that I gave myself so much active occupation, for the riv- 
 €1 afforded few objects for the mental amusement. 
 
 The contraction of the river, the height of its bounda- 
 ries crowned with stately trees, and the inaccessibility of 
 its surface to the direct rays of light, give it a solemn and 
 gloomy aspect, and this effect was considerably augmented 
 by the consequent colour and depth of the water, which 
 appeared in many places an abyss, black as Erebus. Oa 
 passing tiirough that portion of the river which inspires the 
 most painful solemnity, I arrived at a chain of islands, call- 
 ed the Brothers, ran down the right hand channel, and on 
 reaching the foot of the la^st island, perceived a fall in the 
 river, and that the current wore through it in the form of 
 a Z. The channel was very little broader than the boat, 
 confined between rocks, the slightest touch against which 
 would dash her to pieces. I ordered the men to keep a 
 steady stroke, not on any account to abandon the oars, or 
 to bo alarmed at the noise of flood. The boat instantly 
 took the first suction of the fall, encreased in velocity to a 
 great d<>gree, passed through all the mazes of the channel 
 till she came to the last descent, when tumbling, tost and 
 regardless of her helm, she spun round and round, and 
 at length shot ahead :'own the stream. Astonishing coun- 
 try ! Here again the hills subsided, the force of nature 
 smiled, the current diffused, and the river became a per- 
 fect calm. On looking back to contemplate the danger I 
 had just escaped, I could but faintly see the foaming 
 surge, or hear the horrid clamour. I never experienced a 
 more eventful moment than in the passage of that fall. 
 Several times my steering-oar worked so hard as to pitch 
 me nearly overboard, and at one bend of the channel I 
 bore so hard to port that I touched a rock, from which all 
 my exertion could but barely ware the boat's head. I 
 learned from the danger I there experienced, that 1 wanted 
 ajiother hand, whose office should be to stand at the head 
 of the boat, and on approaching a rock, in the mazes of a 
 fall, bear against it with a long pole and assist the helm 
 when wearing round. I strongly recommend a fourth hand. 
 
m TRAVELS IN 
 
 Many of the accidents which occur in the river are owing 
 to the want of a sufficient number to navigate boats. I have 
 bought this correction from experience. 
 
 By seven o'clock in the evening, I reached a much wish- 
 ed for place, a river called the little Muskingum, which 
 I knew to be within six miles of Marietta. Having passed 
 this small river which flows into the Ohio on the right 
 Jiand side, and run down along an island, low, yet beauti- 
 ful, called Durat's, and having reached Its foot in one hour, 
 1 rowed hard across to the right, where I made fast under 
 a high bank on which stood the flourishing town of Ma- 
 rietta. 
 
 Marietta is situated at the confluence of the G reat Mus- 
 kingum, a fine navigable river, with the Ohio. The pror 
 gress of this town and the adjacent settlements was, for 
 several years much impeded by Indian wars; but the town 
 now bids fair to become a, place of considerable import- 
 ,ance, to which it is well entitled -by the beauty of its situ- 
 ation as well as to its being inhabited by New-England- 
 ers, who, notwithstanding the contraction of their habits 
 and principles, it must be allowed are a peaple„of uncom- 
 mon industry and speculative enterprize. 
 
 The inhabitants of Marietta are among the fii'st who 
 have exported the prod,uce of the Ohio country, in vessels 
 of their own building. The first attempt was made a few 
 springs ago with a brig about eighty tons burden, bound 
 for Jamaica, and commanded by an old an well know ma- 
 riner, commonly called .^*, Commodore Whi])ple." The 
 success which attended that voyage, has roHsed the spirit 
 of enterprise among the wealthier class, so that there are 
 now three vessels building, one of which is about two hun- 
 dred aud twenty tons, and several have gone oti' loaded 
 since the first brig. Besides an agent from the United 
 States is now here contracting for the construction of seve- 
 ral gun-boats to be completed by the ensuing spring. 
 
 The town consisting of about one hundred and sixty 
 houses, frame and brick of the neatest workmanship ; is 
 seated on each side of the Muskingum, over which there is 
 a ferry. The site is a very fine plain, running about a 
 mile from the Ohio to a very high chain of mountains 
 which continue for upwards of thirty miles into the back 
 country. The extent of these mountaiiis, and the want of 
 large tracts of good land in the immediate vicinity of the 
 
AMERICA, 12$ 
 
 town m-ust retard the population of the neighbourhood, 
 and in fact hinder the place from ever attaining to a great 
 degree of magnitude. Nor is the country at the back of 
 these mountains healthy ; several who retired behind these 
 died of flux and fever, and several have returned sick and 
 disgusted with the place, saying that it is all either moun- 
 tain or swamp, till towards the sources of the Muskingum, 
 where there is excellent land, but a climate too fatally un- 
 healthy and the price of produce entirely too low. 
 
 Marietta is also a port town, ibsuesa weekly paper, and 
 possesses an academy, court-house, prison, and church. 
 The latter edifice is the only one of the kind between this 
 and PittsbuVg; a distance of one hundred and eighty-one 
 miles. If justice be impotent on the opposite Virginian 
 shore, and morals and laws be trampled upon and despis- 
 ed, here they are strengthened by authority ; and upheld, 
 respected, and supported by all ranks. The New- England 
 regulations of church and magistracy are all introduced 
 and acted on to the full extent — to a point bordering on 
 an arbitrary exaction. Every family, having children or 
 not, must pay a certain annual sum for the support of a 
 public school : every person, whether religious or other- 
 wise, must pay a fixed sum towards the maintainance of a 
 minister of divine worship; and all persons must pay a 
 rigid respect, and a decided observance to the moral and 
 religious ordinances of the sabbath. In consequence never 
 -was a town more orderly or quiet. No mobs, no lighting, 
 no racing, no rough and tuinblbig, or any thing to be ob- 
 served but industry, and a persevering application to imli' 
 mdual views. The Virginians who at times visit the town, 
 remain for a short period, and return to their own shores 
 astonished at the municipal phenomena they witnessed, and 
 wondering hov/ man could think of imposing on himself 
 such restraints. 
 
 As I before observed, the original settlers of this town 
 and neighbourhood were New-Englanders, and many of 
 them old continental officers, and officers who remained in 
 the country after the Indian war. Some few of them still 
 live; but in situations very different from their former 
 ones. This leads a stranger into a variety of error and 
 misconception. Yesterday I was speaking rather harshly 
 to a man who had not fulfilled an agreement with me to 
 caulk my boat, when a gentleman came up and accosted 
 
124 TRAVELS IN 
 
 him with " Ah ! General, how do you ? I mean to dmc 
 with you. What's your hour ?" I made use of this oppor- 
 tunity to go on to the baker in pursuit of some biscuit. I 
 found him at home^. On seeing the bread I began to com- 
 ment on tiie price and quality, and might have betrayed 
 some little dissatisfaction and incivility, hadnota third per- 
 son entered opportunely to say, " Colonel I want a loaf 
 of bread." My next call was on a butcher, whose sorry 
 dirty looking meat made me neglectful of my late experi- 
 ence and I raved without any consideration of propriety 
 and decorum, till brought to a sense of misconduct, and 
 absence of breeding by a negro, who, taking me aside, very 
 kindly warned me that the butcher was a judge, and that 
 he could fine folks for cursing and swearing. Hemmed iu 
 €n every side, I resolved to mend my manners and gain 
 6ome instruction on the subject. I consulted my landlord, 
 ■whom I found to be also a major in the late army. His 
 lessons were short. *' We majors, colonels, and generals," 
 said he, " are so cheap and common here, that people donb 
 mind us no more than nothing. Do you follow their ex- 
 ample : live without constraint, and get your business don» 
 as though you were dealing with knaves, and the most 
 common race of men. Our title signifies but little. For 
 the most part it is used towards us from familiarity, deri- 
 sion and contempt. Those who really respect us, say Tom, 
 Dick, or whatever else we may be called.'' But the judge, 
 said I, how is he to be treated ? " When in his character 
 of butcher," said the major, " he is treated rough enough,, 
 and without any ceremony ; but when in court, and some- 
 times on Sundays, the citizens say, " Your honour," and 
 touch their hat ! 
 
 As I propose writing again from this place, I may now 
 conclude, not without an apprehension that my letter has- 
 already attained a tiresome and immoderate length,. 
 
AMERICA. 125' 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Marietta — a)i inundation — Fort Harmer^- Indian antiqui- 
 ties — Be a lover of truth — the axiom of the Western 
 world — Indian tradition — an anecdote — an excursion — 
 the Muskingum river — a prospect — discovery of a vault — 
 a beautiful tesselated pavement and other remarkable re- 
 mains of Indian antiquity — large human skeleton and oth- 
 er curious antiques — the depository of the remains of a 
 chief in ancient times — the author's remarks on these rC' 
 7nains of antiquity — predelection of the Indians for tail 
 and robust chiefs — xvild turkeys, 
 
 Ularielta, Juae, 1806. 
 
 I MENTIONED in my last, that this town is built on 
 a very high plain, inclined to the mountain, and that the 
 part of the bank on which it more immediately stands, is 
 near sixty feet above the surface of low water. I should 
 have been satisfied that the situation was admirably calcu- 
 lated for the comfort and health of the inhabitants, and 
 would possibly have recommended it as the best site I had yet 
 seen for a city, had I not perceived while at breakfast this 
 morning, that the parlour in which I sat, was distinctly 
 marked all round with a water-mark from seven to eight 
 inches high. As 1 could by no means admit the idea of 
 inundation, I could in no manner account for the appear- 
 ance, and was compelled to seek information from others. 
 1 give you the result of my inquiries. 
 
 in the spring of 1805, the Ohio, and the Muskingum 
 rose at the same time to a more than ordinary height. The 
 111 St flowed in a volume so impetuous across the motith of 
 the latter, that it entirely stopped its course, and forced a 
 return of the water by the revolving instrument of a newly- 
 created counter-current. The Ohio remaining for six weeks 
 ^s a strong wall and rampart against the mouth of the 
 Muskingum, caused that river's waters at length to back 
 and multiply to such a degree, that they overflowed its 
 banks, and inundated e\ery plain to which it could gain 
 access. This inundation being obstructed by the moun- 
 tain in the rear of Marietta, was thrown towards the Ohio, 
 L 2 
 
12.5 TRAVELS LN 
 
 and taking Marietta in its course, did gi*eat injury to the 
 town ; destroyed gardens and fences ; carried off several 
 frame-houses not firmly attached to the ground, and swept 
 away every loose object, and every living thing not endow- 
 ed with the faculty of holding on, and of consulting the 
 best means of self-preservation. The flood descending rap- 
 idly into the Ohio, did her banks considerable injury; wore 
 it into canals and gullies, and abridged the quay and prom- 
 enade of the inhabitants. I consider this event as very 
 alarming : its recurrence may, in some future period, with 
 redoubled force, bear off the town and bank, " leaving not 
 a wreck behind." 
 
 Fort Harmer, erected by the Americans when subjugat- 
 ing the Indians, is situated on the Muskingum, opposite to 
 this town ; and the town itself has in its centre, the remains 
 of an old Log-Guard, built at the same time, and for simi- 
 lar purposes. 
 
 Whoever delights in Indian antiquity, should explore 
 this neighbourhood ; and give the world some minute and* 
 historical sketches of the variety of its remains, said to con- 
 sist of camps, forts, burial-grounds, &c. &c. As this must 
 be a work of time connected with much perseverance, eru- 
 dition, and interests it is entirely out of my province ; and 
 I must leave it to those whose curiosity, leisure, and intel- 
 ligence, may concur to induce them to make such inter- 
 esting researches. Notwithstanding, I could not leave the 
 place without taking a ramble to the spots where by tra- 
 <lition, the monuments of Indian antiquity were said to 
 abound : — the places pointed at, were the banks, hills, and 
 head waters of the Muskingum. You may be surprized 
 to find me put so much faith in tradition, which you may- 
 conceive to be nothing more than fables founded on super- 
 stition, and clothed in the garb of an obscure mystery, 
 calculated to deceive and mislead the multitude, with the 
 view of working on their passions ; and reducing them to 
 an observance of certain rites, habits, and moral or reli- 
 gious institutions. This definition may apply to the tradi- 
 tions of the East-ern, but not to those of the Western world. 
 Of the few axioms which compose the system of savage 
 instruction, this is the principal, " Be a lover of Truths 
 It is natural then to believe, that the traditions of a people 
 so ini:»tructed shojjsd be grounded on a fact, and though 
 that fact mi<;ht be disguised by emk^llisUiiicnt, aud strained- 
 
AMERICA. 127 
 
 hf fancy, its immutability remains inviolate and continues 
 forever the same. I am strengthened in these opinions, by- 
 the following anecdote wjiich, also proves, that a geograplp- 
 ical accuracy exists in tradition equal to the most histori- 
 cal guide. 
 
 A barrow of considerable extent and magnitude exists in 
 a remote part of Virginia, and sevesal miles distant from 
 any public road. That portion of the country was formerly 
 the property of a nation ot- Indians, who, driven from their 
 possessions, crossed the mountains, descended towards " the 
 land of thesleeping sun,'' and finally pitched their tents in 
 the plains of Indiana, where the Great Spirit was often 
 known to dwell, and to interpose his strength in favour of 
 the unhappy. 
 
 After a lapse of eighty years of continued sufferings and 
 adversity ; after the conclusion of the Indian war, car- 
 ried on by the States, with the design to annihilate the 
 Indian, name and power, a party of the descendants of this 
 nation proceeded through Virginia with an interpreter, to 
 Congress, in order to demand their rights, or to sue for a 
 remuneration of those so unjustly violated, and torn from 
 them. On coming into the latitude of the barrow of their 
 ancestors, where were deposited " the bones of their fath- 
 ers," they struck to it directly through the woods, without 
 any instructions or enquiry ; and having staid about it 
 some time, with expressions which were construed to be 
 those of sorrow, they returned to the high road which they 
 had purposely left for several miles, to pay this solemn and 
 pious visit, and then pursued their journey. 
 
 Can you now deny some degree of belief to Indian tra- 
 dition ? Surely this anecdote is of the finest interest, and 
 induces the mind, not only to belief, but to admiration ; 
 and to every sentiment which distinguishes the moral and 
 human part of the world. 
 
 Having made arrangements for an absence of a fc\^ days, 
 I provided myself with an excellent tinder-box, some bis- 
 cuit and salt, (articles absolutely necessary to an explorer) 
 and arming £!utf with a good axe and rifle, taking myself 
 a fowlinsj-piece oft tried, and followed by a faithful dog, I 
 crossed the ferry of the Muskingum, having learned that 
 the left-hand side of that river was the most accessible, and 
 the most abundant in the curiosities and other objects of 
 my research. The Muskingum is two hundred and eighty 
 
fit» TRAVELS IN 
 
 yards wide at its mouth, and two hundred yards at tlie 
 lower Indian towns, one hundred and fifty miles upwards. 
 It is navigable for small batteaux, to within one mile of a 
 navigable part of Cayahoga River, which runs into Lake 
 Eric. 
 
 On travefsing the valley between Fort Harmer and the 
 mountains, I determined to take the high grounds, and af- 
 ter some difficulty ascended an eminence which commanded 
 a view in one direction from off the river into the Ohio ; 
 in another up the river a few miles and over a large tract 
 of hilly back country ; and, nearly directly across the 
 Muskingum could be seen Marietta ; her gardens, poplar 
 trees, ship yards, public buildings, and her highly culti- 
 vated plains ; extending in a narrow breadth along the 
 Ohio many interesting miles. After a very short inspec- 
 tion, and cursory examination, it was very evident that 
 the spot on which I stood, had been occupied by the In- 
 dians, either as a place of observation or a strong hold. 
 The exact summit of the hill I found to be ariiiicial : it 
 expressed an oval (agreeing with the natural form of the 
 foundation) forty-five feet by twenty-three, and was com- 
 posed apparently of earth and stone, though no stone of a 
 similar character appeared near. The base of the oval wa^ 
 girded by a wall in a state of too great decay to justify any 
 calculation, and the whole was so covered with heavy timber, 
 and a bed of such thick bars, that I despaired of gaining any 
 farther knowledge, and would have instantlj' left the place, 
 had I not been detained by Cuff, whom I saw occupied in en- 
 deavouring to introduce a pole in a small opening between 
 two flags near the root of a tree which grew on the crown 
 of the oval or summit of the hill. He told me he was 
 sure that he had found the burrow of a ground-hog, 
 or rattle-sknakes nest, and as I had brought no provision 
 but biscuit, it might be well to look out for supper in time. 
 Though this fare was not of a very inviting nature, or 
 consistent with my feelings and habits, I gratified the fel- 
 low's whim, and assisted him to remove, first, all the leaves 
 and rubbish, and next the large stones, utider which we 
 expected to find a litter of wild pigs, or a nest of rattle- 
 snakelings. 
 
 The flags were too heavy to be removed by the mere 
 power of hands. Two good oak poles were cut in lieu of 
 leavers and crows. Clapping these into the orfice firsi 
 
AMERICA. 129 
 
 discovered, we weighed a large flag stone, and on tilting it 
 over, we each assumed a guard, and waited a few moments, 
 in silent expectation of hearing the hissing of vermin, or 
 the rustling of beasts. Nothing was heard. We resumed 
 our labour, cast out a number of stones, leaves and earth ; 
 and cleared a surface seven feet by five, which had been 
 covered upwards of fifteen inches deep, with flat stones, 
 principally, lying on each other with their edges pointing 
 above the horizon. The surface we had cleared offered 
 insuperable difficulties. It was a plain superficies com- 
 posed of but three stones of such apparent magnitude, that 
 Cuffbegan to think we should find under them neither snake 
 nor wild hog. " If we look for supper under these stones," 
 says my humble companion, *' the moon will shine on an 
 empty stomach, and that is not lucky the first night of a 
 voyage." Having once begun, I was not to be diverted 
 from the task. Stimulated by obstruction, and animated 
 by other views tlran hogs, snakes, and supper, I had made 
 a couple of paddles of hickary shovels, and setting to work, 
 undermined the surface ; and, after much toil and exer- 
 tion, slid the stones off, and laid the space open to my view, 
 I expected to find a cavern. In fact my imagination was 
 warmed by a certain design, I thought I discovered. The 
 manner the stones were placed led me to conceive the ex- 
 istence of a vault filled with the riches of antiquity, or 
 crowded with the treasures of the most ancient world. A 
 bed of sand was all that appeared under the flags I cast 
 off, and as I knew sand not to be nearer than the bed of 
 the Muskingum, a design was again so manifest as to en- 
 courage my proceeding, and the sand, which was about a 
 foot deep, was soon removed. The design and labour of 
 man was now unequivocal. The space out of which these 
 materials were taken, left a hollow in an oblong square, 
 lined with stone on the ends and sides ; and paved with 
 square stones, on the apparent bottom or upper surface, 
 exactly fitted together, in diameter about nine inches. I 
 picked these up with the nicest care, and again came to a 
 bed of sand, the removal of which left my vault, as it now 
 evidently shewed itself, near three feet deep, presenting 
 another bottom or surface compulsed of small square cut 
 stones, fitted with such art, that 1 had much difficulty in 
 discovering many of the places where they met. 1 hese 
 displaced, I came to a substance, which, on the most crit- 
 
130 TRAVELS IK 
 
 ical examination, l judged to be a mat or mats in a' state^^ 
 of entire decomposition and decay. Reverence and care 
 increased with tlie progress already made, I took up this 
 impalpable powder with my. hands, and fanned off the 
 remaining dust with my hat Great indeed was my re- 
 compence for this industry ! Grand was the reward of my 
 persevering labour and strengthened hopes ! There appear- 
 ed before me ; there existed under my feet, a beautiful 
 tassalated pavement of small coloured stones : the colours^' 
 and stones arranged in such a manner as to express har- 
 mony and shades, and to pourtray the full-length figure of 
 a warrior, under whose feat a snake was exhibited in am- 
 ple folds. To tread on a pavement of such exquisite beau- 
 ty and workmanship, formed by hands centuries ago, and 
 by the ancesto/s of a race of people now rejected and de- 
 spised, could not be done without an awful emotion. 
 
 Overcome by feelings I could neither combat or sup* 
 press, I remained for sometime silent and inactive, and at 
 length rose out of the vault to recover my usual energy 
 and strength of mind. I had also spent the best part of 
 the day ; evening was fast approaching, and I had formed 
 no plan for the accommodation of the night. I resolved to 
 remain where I was. A good fire being made, I sent Cuff 
 with the rifle into the wood:s that is into apart which appear- 
 ed likely to harbour wild turkeys, and directed him to steer 
 for my fire on his return, and not to remain after the fall of 
 night. Oveijoyedatthe prospect of hisexcursion, hehadnot 
 left me two minutes before he commenced hisnotes. They at 
 first appeared high and multitareous, or without any ulti- 
 mate end, but before he had gone three hiindred yards, 
 they subsided into the proper modulation of a parent tur- 
 key, calling around her tender young. From this he ne- 
 ver varied while he could be heard. 
 
 Left to myself I felt more at liberty. Like a miser, T 
 wished, uninterrupted to examine my treasure. J again 
 descended into the vault, occupied with the desire of being 
 able to separate the pavement in such a manner, and to im- 
 print on every stone such marks as would enable me to 
 put it together at any future period, and bring it home 
 for the advantage and deTight of the curious world. 1 had 
 made but very little progress before I discovered the im- 
 practicability of my intention. No part of the pavement 
 "wi» exactly of the tessalatc character except the space be- 
 
AMERICA. 131 
 
 twccn the outlines of the figures and the sides and ends of 
 the entire space. The body of the figures was comjiosed 
 of dyed woods, bone, and (i variety of small bits of terre** 
 ous and testacious substances, most of which crumbled in- 
 to dust on being removed and exposed to the open air. — 
 My regret and disappointment were very great, as I had 
 flattered myself, that the whole was stone and susceptible 
 of being taken up in high preservation. Little more than 
 the actual pavement could be preserved ; it is composed 
 of flat stones, one inch deep, two inches square, and the 
 prevailing colours. are white, green, dark-blue, and pale 
 spotted red: all of which are peculiar to the lakes, and 
 not to be had nearer. They are evidently known and fill- 
 ed with a precision which proves them to have been but 
 from one common example. The whole was affixed in a 
 thin layer of sand, which covered a large piece of beech 
 bark in great decay, whose removal exposed what I was 
 fully prepared to discover from all the previous indicati- 
 ons, the remains of a human skeleton of uncommon mag- 
 nitude, extended in a bark shell, which also contained, 
 1st. An earthern urn, or rather pot of earthen ware, in 
 which were several small broken bones and some white se- 
 diment. The urn appears to be made of sand and flint vi- 
 trified, rings like a rummer glass, holds about two gallons, 
 h;as a top or cover of the same material, and re'^ists fire as 
 -completely as iron or brass. 2. A stone hatchet, with a 
 groove round the pole, by which it was lastened with a 
 withe to the handle. 3. Twenty-four arrow-points, made 
 of flint and bone, and lying in a position which betrayed 
 iheir having belonged to a quiver. 4. A quantity of beads, 
 round, oval and square ; coloured green, black, white, blue 
 and yellow. 3. A conch shell, decomposed into a substance 
 like chalk. This shell is fourteen inches long and twenty- 
 three in circumference : larger than any other 1 have seen 
 or heard of the kind. 6. Under a heap of dust, and tenu- 
 ous shreds of feathered cloth and hair, a parcel of brass 
 rings cut, by an art unknown to me, out of a solid peace 
 of that metal, and in such a manner that the rings are sus- 
 pended from each other, without the aid of solder or any 
 other visible agency whatever. Each ring is three inches 
 in diameter, and has an horizontal circumference half an 
 inch wide, on both sides of which arc strongly etched, a 
 variety of characters resembling Chinese, the decyphering 
 
132 TRAVELS IN 
 
 of which my scanty erudition has no pretensions to reach 
 Of the skeleton 1 have preserved a small part of the ver- 
 tebral column ; a portion of the skull ; a part of the under 
 jaw inclosing two grinders of great size ; the bones of the 
 thighs and legs, and some melecarpi of the hands and feet. 
 The ribs, clavicles, vetrebrag of the neck and spine, &c. were 
 nearly an impalpable powder, or entirely consum. Judg- 
 ing from comparison and analogy, the being to whom these 
 remains belonged could not have been less than seven foot 
 high. That he was a king, sachem or chief of a very re- 
 mote period there can be no manner of doubt. The dis- 
 tinction, ingenuity, labour, and care, with which he was 
 buried, and the mausoleum constructed for him alone, on 
 an eminence above the multitude, and its disregarded dead, 
 proclaims this beyond dispute ; and, from the subjects 
 found in the interments, the following (at least, and 
 perhaps many more) useful conclusions may be drawn. 
 1. The Indians of the most remote antiquity possessed the 
 art of making potter's ware in a perfection unknown to the 
 present times, in as much as their's is light, strong, trans- 
 parent, and capable of enduring fires. 2. It docs not ap- 
 pear that they were acquainted with the use of iron when 
 they employed stone hatchets and, flint and bone arrow 
 points. 3. That they had the science of impregnating 
 stones, wood, and shells, with a variety of colours, is man- 
 ifested from the pavement and beads and figures which 
 have tints which we know they are by nature denied. 
 4. That they had a communication with the sea though dis- 
 tant from them two thousand miles, or that the sea was 
 once more in their vicinity, is implied by the conch which 
 contained a marine animal incapable of subsisting in any 
 other than salt water. 5. The tenuous shreds of feather- 
 ed cloth, worked on woven hair, aimounce some inter- 
 course with South America, and a knowledge of its manu- 
 facturs, as the feathers of the northern birds are not cal- 
 culated for show, nor are any nations north of Mexico ac- 
 quainted with their fabrication. 6\ That they knew the 
 use and properties of brass is very clear, and that they 
 could work it with skill, isequally evident. 7. Ifthechar- 
 acters on the rings be in fact Chinese, or if they bear a 
 strong and significant analogy to them, it again justifies a 
 suspicion wliich formerly prevailed, that a communication 
 early existed between Asia and America, since destroyed 
 
AMERICA. 133 
 
 by some violent agitation of the earth at the Straits of 
 Bearing, or by a reverse of climate which renders that pas- 
 sage inaccessible, and too difficult and cold for the powers 
 and tem])erament now accorded toman. 8, Ifthechar- 
 ^acters on the rings be original and unknown to any other 
 of the nations of the earth, it must shew that the use of 
 je4ters and the art of engraving were known to American 
 itribes many ages since, and also prove that when we speak 
 x)f America as a new country, on which science never shone, 
 and in which social arts, agriculture and commerce, never 
 flourished, we arrogate to ourselves more information than 
 we are entitled to, and betray a presumption and ignorance 
 for which we ought to blush. And 9« The remarkable 
 size of the skeleton would signify that the Indians of every 
 time were fond of associating in their chiefs, physical as 
 well as mental endowments. That this king should unite 
 a gigantic form to wisdom and intrepidity of heart appears 
 to have been ever their favourite principle. Even the few 
 scattered nations which still remain, and whose monarchs 
 are elective, betray this passion in their choice, and pay 
 much more deference to a prince of inordinate stature 
 than to one of common magnitude. The present chief of 
 •the Osage, a warlike nation inhabiting the borders of the 
 Missouri, is full seven feet high, and everyway proportion- 
 ate, a distinctive qualification w^ell known of various other 
 American chiefs. It is true, at the same time, that the 
 principal of the great Miami tribe, living near the waters 
 of Antaria, is a poor diminutive creature called by his 
 people the " LH(le Snake," but his instance is a very hon- 
 .ourable exception to a vulgar and general predeliction. 
 The " Little Snake," during the Indian war, was the first 
 4n the council and second to none in the field. In pro- 
 portion as he became terrible to his enemies, he was the 
 pride and praise of his friends : the title of the '* Little 
 Snake" (implying his wisdom and power to injure) was 
 conferred upon him ; he was unanimously elected chief, 
 and the world had to witness the fine sj)ectacle of several 
 thousand Indians casting oflf their prejudices and doing 
 iiomage to virtue and the endowments of the miuil. 
 
 There is no doubt but that this monument and llie«« 
 remains merit a more ample s]-)eculation than I have af- 
 forded them. Perhaps my few remarks may suggest to 
 you and othersidcas of a happier and more material nature. 
 
134 TRAVELS IN 
 
 If they cause a brighter caruscation of genius to break 
 from minds of stronger ca&t than mine, or if they pro- 
 duce arguments and philosophy of ^ more judicious and 
 less feeble character than themselves, formed as they were 
 at the moment from the impulse of feelings, and the tyran- 
 ny of circumstance, I shall be content, and in the place of 
 imposing instruction, I shall be found solicitous to receive 
 information. 
 
 I returned the particular .objects nearly to their respec- 
 tive situations, and Avith the assistance of CufF, who had but 
 just returned, carried them in such a manner that they 
 could not be injured by the weather or violated by other 
 hands : it being my intention on my return down the river 
 to secure them with care and take them into my boat. 
 
 Cuff had succeeded so well that he had great hopes his 
 residence among christians had not entirely obliterated his 
 savage virtues. His imitative powers were still in such 
 perfection that the wild turkeys acknowledged his voice, 
 and the life of one of them paid for their credulity. He 
 brought me a fine turkey of the last year, fat, and weigh- 
 ing about sixteen pounds. As the night was well set in 
 and the day had been laborious, no time was lost in pre- 
 paring supper, that is in broiling a part of the turkey on 
 some bright embers, and laying it on some green leaves 
 before us, with some good biscuit and a bottle of water 
 from an adjacent spring. I relished this primitive enter- 
 tainment as well as any of the sumptuous banquets it has, 
 at times, fallen to my lot to partake of in Europe. 
 
 The wild turkey is excellent food, and has this remark- 
 able property, that the fat is never ofl'ensive to the stomach. 
 When Kentucky was first settled, it abounded with tur- 
 keys to such a degree that the settlers said the light was 
 often interrupted by them. Though this may be consid- 
 ered a figure, still it is well known that they were extremely 
 numerous, so much so that he was esteemed an indifferent 
 sportsman who could not kill a dozen in a day. Even at 
 this time they are sold in Lexington market for half a 
 dollar a pair. They are, notwithstanding becoming very 
 scarce, and, addicted as all classes of people in that state 
 are to an intemperate predelection for destroying every 
 living aboriginal creature, their total extinction must be 
 near at hand. They yet abound in this Ohio State, and 
 possibly will, for many years; till it becomes more peopled. 
 
AMERICA, 135 
 
 t cannot pretend that wild turkeys differ in any striking 
 manner from tlie domestic ones I have every where seen, 
 except the length of their wings ; their superior plumage, 
 their attitude and lively expression in walking. The cock 
 too has a beard composed of about one hundred hairs 
 which hangs in a streamer from under the hick. The hair 
 is thicker than a pig's bristle, and the length accords with 
 the age. In the young the beard is hardly perceptible, in 
 the old it descends more than half a foot. I have killed a 
 wild turkey cock which weighed thirty pounds and whosi3 
 beard was ten inches long : the flesh was execrable, nearly 
 as hard as iron, and as black as Jet. The young on the 
 contrary arc white and tender, delicate meat, and of ex- 
 quisite ilavour. 
 
 Wild turkeys are gregarious. The flocks from fifty to 
 sixty. They are migratory. They winter to tlio south- 
 ward and return in the spring to the deepest recesses of the 
 woods, where they construct their nests with such care and 
 concealment, that few instances ever occur of the eggs or 
 young being found. Where eggs have been obtained and 
 hatched under a domestic turkey, the young shew great 
 disposition to thrive and remain ubout the house very con- 
 tentedly till their first spring*, when they rise, without indi- 
 cating a previous talent for flying, into the air, take a few 
 circles round the heads of their old friends and make for 
 a wilderness whence they never more return. 
 
 Having chatted with my Mandau associate for some time 
 on this and other subjects, the hours were so much be- 
 guiled, that It was full time to make some kind of shade 
 under which to rest. This was done in a few moments : 
 two forked poles were cut and driven in the ground six 
 feet from each other. A third pole was cut and placed on 
 three forks. Against this upper cross pole were laid bran- 
 ches so matted with shrubs, that by lying to the leward 
 no wind could be felt, and by making a bed of dry leaves 
 of good depth, And keeping the feet towards the fire, no 
 cold or inconvenience could be apprehended. For fear 
 this preparatory business should expose you to too sleepy 
 a visitation, and my letter to contempt, I close for the 
 present. . 
 
3 3^^ TRAVELS IN 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 Indian Incantations and charms — priests — t/ieir extraordine- 
 rii knoxvledge and gifts — interesting explanations of the 
 cause — very remarkable antiquities — encounter icith a rat- 
 tlesnake, which is killed — deer — xcild turkeys — LanesxeUe 
 — -farther very reynote and grand anti-^uities — golden treor- 
 Aure found — the bubble bursts, 
 
 Marietta, June, 18O6. 
 
 I PASSED the night near the mausoleum without any 
 ©ther interruption than what proceeded from the howl of 
 hungry wolves exaspcratevl on seeing a fire kept from ihem 
 victims they durst not approach. 1 also had to renew the 
 fire, and tsutier Cuff to perform certain rites and incanta- 
 tions, in the manner of his country, and which had the fa- 
 culty of checkiiyg the advances of snakes. He expressed 
 these ofHccs by stalking several times round our tent. His 
 ^gesticulation was strong, and his cries horrible. He also 
 littered some barbarous words; described a circle on each 
 round with the end ot a stick, and after shedding certain 
 ieaves on the circle, lie conclud4?d with three more infer- 
 nal yells ; and then under a decided impression or strong 
 coiiviction of safety, cast himself near me on his berth. It 
 would seem, that priestcraft, connected as it is in the nar- 
 tive ministers of this country, with an affectation of sorceiy, 
 and supernatural power, gains great dominion over eveiy 
 savage mind, and disposes to the belief and practice of ev- 
 ery absurdity. There are, therefore, no people more un- 
 der the subjugation of superstition, or who exercise such a 
 variety of charms and exorcisms, as the Indians ; in the 
 wses and particular terms and applications of which they 
 are instructed with the utmost precision, by their priests 
 and physicians : those two professions being always united 
 in one character. The priests, savage and untutored as 
 they were, saw, at a very early periotl, that to establish 
 their fame, and an ample sway over the public raind^ it 
 -was necessary for them on every essential occasion, to ma- 
 nifest infinite skill ; and to prove that they were the fiivour- 
 ite children of the Great Spirit, by his having endowed 
 
AMERICA; 137 
 
 them with a portion of his power, and given them permis- 
 sion to display that power in public exhibitions of extra- 
 ordinary miracles. Hence from the most early ages, have 
 they been going about healing wounds, curing inveterate 
 diseases, and giving occular demonstration of their domi- 
 nion over all descriptions of envenomed and noxious rep- 
 tile;?, by suffering them to twine round their bodies, and 
 passing through their fingers and hair without inflicting on 
 them any manner of injury. So complete is the tyranny 
 they have established over rattle-snakes, and others armed 
 with weapons equally deadly, that they lure them from 
 their deepest retreats, and make them fly from or follow 
 them by apparent command.* 
 
 As this preternatural knowledge and powers are exhib- 
 ited in the face of day before multitudes, the respect shewn 
 to the priest, and the observance paid their instruction and 
 precepts, ceases to be the object of surprize ; and the mind 
 fastens on a true ground for ad nii ration and astonishment, 
 and asks from what authority do the Indian priests derive 
 the power of curing disease and of subjugating the most 
 malignant creatures of the reptile world ? The question is 
 very comprehensive, and, no doubt, sufficient to invite the 
 investigation of the learned. For ?uy part, not having taste 
 for elaborate discussion, or talent for metaphysical research, 
 I um reduced to answer the question nearly in a word. 
 *■ They derive their knowledge and their power from the 
 great book of nature which a beneficient God^has laid open 
 before them.'' On assuming the united offices of physici- 
 an and priest, they soon became conscious that any attri- 
 bute or reverence to be accorded to their character of 
 priest, was to be drawn from the skill and acquirements 
 they could display in their profession of physician. To 
 obtain that skill and those acquirements they have to stu- 
 dy nature, and that they do with the most unwearied as- 
 siduity and application. Their own particular saying is-, 
 ** Nature produces nothing for nothing:'' implying that, 
 whatever is, is for sonic particular end and purpose. This 
 leads them to investigate the properties of things, the qua^ 
 lities of plants, and the nature of simples, in order to make 
 them subservient to their will, and applicable to their ex- 
 
 * It is remarkable, tiiat iu E^iypt, ths sect cf Sadl possess similar 
 poNvcr over suakcs. "' £uiroa, 
 
 U 3 
 
138 TRAVELS TN 
 
 jgeiicies. They were evidently conducted to these interfest^' 
 ing inquiries, and to the useful knowledge resulting from' 
 them, by observing, that tht;*-amimals of the forests and" 
 fields, with whom they in a manner associated, on eating 
 iiny noxious herb, had immediate recourse to a salutary 
 one, which counteracted the poison of the other. They 
 also observed, that many plants and herbs were purgative, 
 others astringent. To these and many others, they per- 
 ceived animals^ in a state of sickness drawn by a secret im- 
 pulse, whilst those, in health past them by in disgust. Ani- 
 mals bitten by venomous reptiles, and impregnated by the 
 strongest vines, were seen to seek a peculiar plant to re- 
 cover, their energy and strength ; and these reptiles in their 
 turn, have been known to betray violent apprehension at 
 the approach of a hog, and to shew such antipathy to cer- 
 tain herbs, trees, and plants, as to suffer death sooner than 
 avoid it by passing over them. Objects, too, have been 
 discovered to which snakes in particular, have such passion 
 and attachment, that they abandon their security, and face 
 every danger to enjoy them. 
 
 Armed with all this knowledge, the priests come before 
 the world as persons inspired. Knowing that their science 
 would have little eclat if known to have been acquired in 
 the Melds, and from the animals in the forests and woods, 
 they never di>nlay any part of it without wild cries and 
 horrid gesticuj iiion. Hence, whenever they administer 
 the simple applicable to the disorder, they express cabalis- 
 tical ejaculations, shrieks and contortions, to impress on 
 ihe patient's and public mind an idea that the care is to 
 proceed from their mysterious proceedings, which alone 
 gives operation and virtue to the remedies they administer. 
 On healing sores with warm medicaments ; on curing a- 
 gues in baths of hot vegetable steam ; on removing stiches, 
 5pasm-, anrl pluracies by sodorific^, and the diarrhoea by 
 astringents, Sec. tVc. they perform a multitude of rites, and 
 as their patients for the most part recover, the whole is as- 
 cribed to tlie charrn, and the people adopt the words, spells,, 
 incantations, and exorcisms of the iniest;,', under every af- 
 fliction and disease—whether proceediiig from an unknown 
 ca'ise or from the bite of venomous animals. From their 
 habits of life, Indians are often expo-ed to this last cala- 
 inity, and U)" pii;.'sts, in consequence, have to instruct each 
 '•viivilual to kmr^v the ai)tid'Jlo and. to give it cHicacy by 
 
AlilERICA. i3<) 
 
 gesture and incantation. They also instmct the whole 
 tribe in a manner of sleeping in the open air, and in' the 
 titmost safety, though surroirnded by shake?, not one of 
 "(vhich dare approa(?h them. The instruction consists in 
 taking a stick and leaves from a certain tree; with the 
 point of the stick describe a ring round the sleeping ground ; 
 place on the ring tiie leaves, and on doing this perform cer- 
 tain ceremonies. This process to be renewed at intervals 
 of waking. This is all the knowledge they impart to the^ 
 tribe, and this is highly efficacious and valuable; for, re- 
 jecting the folly of the use ot words arid exorcism, merely 
 given to conve^r a high notion of superior power, the an- 
 tidotes and herbs pointed out are certain cures, and the 
 simple action of drawing a line with a black ash stick, and 
 strewing on the line some leaves of the same tree, is known 
 to be entirely sufficient to hinder any snake from crossing 
 the h'ne, and to deter him from interrupting any thing 
 Avithin side of it. So great is their terror to this tim- 
 ber that they are never know to inhabit where it grows ; 
 and, if a branch of black ash be suddenly cast before a rat- 
 tlesnake, apprehension and fear instantly sieze him ; his rat- 
 tle ceases; his passion subsides ; and groveling, timid, yet, 
 disquiet, he takes a large circuit to pass the branch, or 
 more probably entirely retires. 
 
 The renewal of the operation of describing the circle, 
 and strewing the leaves, is evidently for fear the smell 
 should be faded, or the leaves driven off by the wind. 
 
 As to the familiarity subsisting between the priests and 
 the snakes, the priiK:iplc of which they withold from the 
 multitude, it is to be accounted for in a way no doubt- 
 equally simple. They are as 1 observed acquainted with 
 herbs and other substances, for which the snakes enter- 
 tarin the most inordinate apprehension and antipathy,- or 
 else the most decided attachment and attraction. Alter- 
 nately armed with these, the priests make them fly from or 
 approach them ; and when their hands aiul bodies >are 
 Washed with a decoction of the black ash-leaves or trunk, 
 the snakes will wreath about them in a kind of suffering 
 and terror, but never attempt to bite. Making the snakes 
 dance and move in a variety o( forms in a certain place, is- 
 riothing more than what I have so often stated, either mark- 
 ing or strewing the borders of the enclosure with the object 
 for which they entertain the greatest antipathy, or, what rs 
 
HO TRAVELS IN 
 
 more likely, the greatest terror and apprehension. I need 
 hardly tell you that the stick and leaves employed by Cuff 
 were of tbe black ash, which he purposely brought out of 
 the low woods for our protection. His words, cries, and 
 features, exactly accord to the instructions given his tribe; 
 and to them alone he attributes any virtue: the stick and 
 leaves being only as a wand, or necessary instrument in the 
 great work. I asl^ed him whether he would not the next 
 time merely describe the circle and strew the leaves, he 
 answered, " he durst not, as the Great Spirit might be an- 
 gry if he attempted to tAke from him the power and the 
 praise." I saw it was in vain to make him think other- 
 \vise, and deemed it almost a crime to shake such firm be- 
 lief: I therefore hastened my departure, and left the mau- 
 soleum by the first light of day. 
 
 On quitting the spot, a variety of appearances confirmed 
 my original opinion that it had been an advanced guard, 
 picket post, or place of look-out. That the oval and 
 rampart were not constructed for a barrow, or for an indi- 
 vidual's monument in the first instance, is very certain-, as 
 in either case, the skeletons or skeleton would have been 
 deposited at the base, this being the practice of all Indian 
 tribes. 
 
 Apprehending that a camp and Indian settlement of an- 
 tiquity could not be far distant, I took a north-westerly 
 direction, leaving on my right the river, whose coursQ was 
 K. E. by S. W. I had walked but one hour before I ar- 
 rived at a place which bore strong indications of the object 
 of my research. It was a small valley between two moun- 
 tains, which suffered the waters of a clear creek to find a 
 passage to the Muskingum. On exploring some time, I 
 discovered the actual remains of a very ancient settlement. 
 Ihey consisted, of, first, a wall or rampart of earth, of 
 about nine feet perpendicular elevation, and thirty feet 
 across the base. The rampart was of a semicircular form ; 
 its diameter one hundred paces, bounded by the creek. 
 On crossing the creek I found a similar rampart placed in 
 such a position, that the work must have been a true circle 
 intercepted by the stream. After a minute examination, I 
 could perceive very visible remains of elevated stone abut- 
 ments of bridges, which served to connect the two semi- 
 circles in the centre, and at their divisions above and below 
 the stream. Ihc timber growing on the rampart and with- 
 
AMERICA. I4t 
 
 in Its circumference, is principally red oak of great age and 
 magnitude, some of the trees in a state of decay, being not 
 less than seven feet diameter. Second, higher up, and to 
 where the creek runs in a very coUtracted channel, caused 
 by the approach of the mountains, the sides and passage 
 through which appear entirely inaccessible, are several 
 mounds of earth, standing at equal distances from each, 
 other, and forming three semi-circular streets, which cros- 
 sed the creek, or perhaps, I may be better understood by 
 saying, that sixty mounds, placed so as to describe por- 
 tions of a very large circle, and expressing the ligure of a 
 quadrant, lay at each side of the creek : and, as these two 
 quadrants were also united together by two bridges, whose 
 remains are distinct, when taken in one point of view, they 
 should represent a semi-circle, whose base would be exactly 
 above the camp. On each side of the mountain and par- 
 allel with the mounds are two barrows nearly thirty feet 
 long, twelve high and seventeen wide at the base. These 
 barrows are composed principally of stone taken out of tbe^ 
 creek — notwithstanding here is produced, timber of fine 
 growth. 
 
 The mounds hitherto discovered in America have been 
 taken for tumuli^ or mausoleums of the distinguished dead 
 —the barrows, for the common sepulchres of the multitude. 
 The judgement on the latter subject is perfectly correct, 
 that on the former I presume erroneous^ That the mounds 
 in question are not tutiniH, there caU be no manner of 
 question. Their order, number^ an<d arrangement are such, 
 as entirely to preclade an idea of the kind. In all proba- 
 bility they are the ruins of the houses of an Indian village, 
 ■which, having fallen in on desertion, earth, leaves,- and 
 various substances drifted on them by the winds of ages,, 
 filled up all inequalities, and gave them the conical figure 
 they now possess. Their proximity to, and the protection 
 afforded them by the circular fort, is another evidence of 
 their having been the houses of a town, the dead of which 
 were deposited in the adjacent barrows. 
 
 Presuming it to have been a small town, I can con-* 
 ceive nothing more safe or romantic than its site, Th© 
 country behind it inaccessable ; high mountains on each 
 side, and a beautiful stream, valley, and fortification, in 
 front. It is more than probable that the post at which \ 
 passed the night was the advanced guard of the camp— 
 
U2 TRAVELS IN 
 
 that post could convey an alarm if any thing important 
 occurred on the Ohio side. Encouraging thi? idea, and 
 seeing a very commanding eminence about three miles 
 higher up, and near the Muskingum, I directly made for 
 it, and immediately discovered it to be nearly similar to 
 the ground on which I had slept tbe night before. The 
 appearances were too strong to admit of but one opinion, 
 which was, that it was a place of look out, or beacon, 
 communicating with the former one, and with the settle- 
 ment I had just left. I took the pains of clearing the top 
 of the eminence, which was more of an oblated circle than 
 an oval, but I could not discover any stone or any mark 
 which might lead^o a supposition of its being a barrow or 
 place of interment. The country above was hilly, yet not 
 so high as to intercept the view for a presumed distance 
 of twenty miles. After a hasty repast, I proceeded to- 
 ward that range, and encountered nothing remarkable, if 
 I except the immense quantity of quails 1 met in the val- 
 leys, thirteen of which 1 killed in three shots. I also saw 
 for the tirst time this season, several rattle-snakes sunning 
 themselves on the south side of stony banks. On hearing 
 my dog bark as if at an object he durst^ not spring upon, 
 and at the same time, hearing a quick and irritated rattle, 
 I passed to the direction of the noise, and found the dog 
 running at and from a rattle-snake, whose head stood erect 
 about four feet from a coil of several folds, and whose tail, 
 moving with rapid vibration, was disengaged from the coil 
 to emit a warning or deadly sound. The dog refused to be 
 called oti', and in proportion as he ba;ked and run in and 
 off, the snake increased in agitation and fury — at times 
 feiiinini:^ to strike, and at others casting off a wind of his 
 coil, awaiting a grand opportunity of striking in reality. 
 He emitted his crimson tongue with great velocity, his eyes 
 glared fire, his head swelled to a violent degree, and his 
 throat shone in great variety of beautiful and vivid colours. 
 He had arrived at the acme of his choler : he was even 
 poising himself with the determination to give the fatal 
 blow, when, attachment to my dog, sinking all considerar 
 lions of personal safety, I rushed on and dragged him off. 
 ^rhe poor Mandanean took the same eventful instant to 
 strike the snake with a long stick he had prepare<l for the 
 purpose. The first blow brought him down, but with un- 
 impaired vigor, till he fastened on the stick, with the in- 
 
AMERICA. 143 
 
 tention of wreaking on it the whole of his wrath and ven- 
 geance. So much was he occupied by this determined 
 spirit, and engaged on the stick, that Cuff, on giving him a 
 .blow or two more, run in and struck his head otf with the 
 axe. The last act produced a horrid effect, the body, pre- 
 jjerving all the principles of life, described a sphere frorri 
 the ground under which a man could pass ; it then assum- 
 ed as many undulations as its length and volume would al- 
 'low, and finally rolled along the earth till it cfime in con- 
 tact with a tree, round which it once more coiled, and a- 
 gainst which it beat its extremities with a violence that soon 
 destroyed the power of action and resistance, and left the 
 creature with unfolded involutions, exanimate round the 
 root of the tree. The head remained attached so (irmly to 
 the stick, as not to be shaken off, nor was I disposed to 
 make many efforts for that purpose. Cuff was tempted ve- 
 ry strongly to carry away a piece of the snake which he 
 asserted to be most delicious meet, and ftir superior to the 
 birds he carried in his bag. To this I could not listen, but 
 directed him cautiously to separate the rattle from the bo- 
 dy, and lay it carefully up. 1 also extended the whole 
 animal, though he wa* far from being dead, and found his 
 Jength to be, allowing for rattle and head, twelve feet ; 
 and his circumference over the shoulders fifteen inches. 
 The rattle was composed of eleven joints. The head was 
 so inflated, and expressive of much horror and poisonous 
 malignity, that I had not courage to give it any investiga- 
 tion. 1 pursued my journey, and confess to you without 
 any desire of meeting a Quixote adventure. On the con- 
 trary I had to walk several hours before I could shake off 
 >the influence of terror and the gloom of apprehension. 
 
 Reaching, by four o'clock, a very fine spring, and being 
 considerably weary, I halted, made a fire, and dressed a 
 few quails on the embers. In size and flavor they resem- 
 ble your English patridges ; but their habits and form 
 rank them, under the species of quail. Without disturbing 
 myself respecting their natural history, I made an excel- 
 lent repast, and resumed my route much refreshed, and 
 resolved by night to gain the top of the mountain, which 
 I had previously pitched upon and observed in the morn- 
 ing. Qn the way I was crossed by a very fine herd of 
 deer, exactly like4he European, only sc inevvhat larger in 
 size. They turned to gaze, and passed on a round trot till 
 
144 TRAVELS IN 
 
 J fired a rifle shot, which bringing one of them clown, the 
 rest went off with the speed of the wind, lior heeded Cuff, 
 who assayed all their various plaints and cries to r«?tard 
 and allure them. 
 
 As evening approached, I was much pleased to come in 
 view of a flock of" wild turkeys. I wished to have an op^ 
 portunity of observing their action — the one afforded me 
 was of the best it possibly could be : they were travelling 
 before me-— therefore occasioned no loss of way. The flock 
 consisted of about thirty-four, on the ground, searching 
 for food : they were not considerably alarmed till I had 
 approached them within sixty yards. They then moved 
 on a kind of long hop and run, stopped, and as we gained 
 on them proceeded in the same way. On a nearer ap- 
 proach, they took short flights, rose above the trees, and 
 lighted upon them at intermediate spaces of about thirty- 
 rods. At every rest I instructed Cuff to gobble in their 
 manner. This act appeared to attract their attention and 
 retard their flight ; and, what was of more consLequence, 
 they ipade responses, which guided our pursuit when they 
 were obstructed from view by the thick ombrage of the 
 woods, and the fast-approach of night. They finally went 
 a more considerable distance ; and as I judged, to a fa- 
 vorite place of roost. I still had the good fortune to keep 
 in their track, and to come directly on the spot they had 
 chosen for their rest. They rose up with much pertur- 
 bation and noige, and again descended to rest. The wholo 
 gang occupied four trees, and still they rose, fell, and act- 
 ed with one accord. I resolved to fire on them. J had 
 heard, that whenever ^vild turkeys settled to roost, there 
 they remained in despite of all opposition. My motive in 
 firing then was to ascertain the fact. On the first shot 
 they all rose with great clamour about thirty yards above 
 the summits of the trees, and as instaneously descended dir 
 rect upon them. On firing again, similar circumstance^ 
 occurred, and at a third discharge po variation succeeded, 
 nor did they betray the least disposition to depart eflectu- 
 ally and remove their quarters. ?-'y first disci. <trge was; 
 with ball, which brought down a very fine bird, the two, 
 last merely powder — but I regard the fact to be ascertain- 
 ed as firmly as if I had kiUcd the whole flock. This dull 
 propensity in these animals mvist ultiniately operate to their 
 destruction. There is no manner of doubt but had such 
 
AMERICA. 145 
 
 a ftock come within reach of a sportsman of the Virginia 
 shore, he would have brought every one of them to the 
 ground. 
 
 We proceeded to Zaneville, where learning from the in- 
 habitants, that the neighbourhood was surrounded by In- 
 dian remains, and they offering their assistance, we agreed 
 to proceed together, and make one grand scrutiny and 
 systematic research. Enquiry soon instructed us in what 
 direction to seek the most extensive ruins of the labors of 
 former times. We found it to be five miles due west. 
 The luins were magnificent in a high degree, and consist- 
 ed of mounds, barrows, and ramparts, but of such variety 
 4)fform, and covering so immense a track of ground, that 
 it would take ten days to survey, still more to describe 
 them. I made out an authority however to back an opin- 
 ion I entertained, that the Indians, though they generally 
 preferred a circular fort to all others, still built forts of a 
 different construction, when confined by ground and other 
 particular exigencies. In the present instance, it was ev- 
 ident, that the whole ruins were situated in a plain of a 
 triangular figure, formed by the intersection of one moun- 
 tain with another. Towards the angle bounded by the 
 junction of the mountains, were placed the mounds and 
 ^barrows, and in the front the ramparts, extended in the 
 figure of a triangle, composed of two acute and one obtuse 
 angle — the obtuse forming the centre and front of the 
 plain. The exact length c^f the sides I could not ascer- 
 tain, both from obstru/^tion and their extent. I made an 
 .effort and advanced three hundred yards, but did not at all 
 approach the conclusion of one side. Some swamps and 
 a multitude of snakes prevented my proceeding. 
 
 The principal object was, however, to ascertain the con- 
 tents of the difierent objects. I give you my notes. First, 
 a large barrow to the south was thrown open by making a 
 ditch across it from east to west. Three teet below the 
 surface was fine mould, ujidernealh which were huuill flat 
 stones lying regularly on a strata of gravel brought from 
 the mountain in the vicinity. This la-^t covered the re- 
 jnains of a human skeleton, which fell into impalpable 
 powder when touched and exposed to air. Towards the 
 base of the barrow, we came to three tier more of sub- 
 >stances placed in similar rotation and regularity^ And, 
 N 
 
UO TRAVELS IN 
 
 as the skeletons farmed two rows four tier deep, separated 
 by little more than a flag stone between the feet ot one 
 skeleton and the head of another, it s probable, that the 
 cfltire barrow contained about two thousand skeletons, in 
 a greater state of decay than any I ever yet examined. In 
 this search a well carved stone-pipe, expressing a bear's 
 head, and some arrow flint-points were found, together 
 with some fragments of pottery of fine texture. Second, 
 we perforated, and even perfectly laid open several mounds,: 
 they contained nothing whatever remarkable, except some 
 pieces of black substance representing mineral coal ;• but 
 which, on a nearer inspection, appeared to have been 
 wood, and to have retained every trace and character of 
 timber but colour and weight ; the one being a deep black, 
 and the other of three times the density of ebony or iron 
 wood. When put into a. tire made by the people, it emit- 
 ted much smoke, blue blaze, s'mell of sulphur, aiid very 
 gradually consumed. Third, the rampart, though opened 
 in three distinct places, aftbrded no variety. 1 he com- 
 position "Was earth and stones lying in a manner that be- 
 trayed same design in tlie original construction. The plain, 
 and all the artificial objects upon its surface, grew some of 
 the heaviest timber in the western. Taking this for data, 
 the ruins may be deemed as ancient as any in the world. 
 
 ,Our views effected, and on our return from the mounds, 
 through the angular fort, our attention was attracted by a 
 small swell on a part of the ground which might have been 
 nearly the centre of the tort. Some thought it a natural 
 ,\vave of the earth, and of this opinion 1 should have been, 
 ^ad 1 not perceived a remarkable singularity. Although 
 more than thirty feet in diameter, it had on it neither 
 shrub, tree, nor any thing but a multitude of pink and pur- 
 ple flowers. We came to an opinion that it was artihcial, 
 and as it differed in form and character from the mounds, 
 we resolved to lay it open, though not before every person 
 surmised its contents and properties. It was cast cpen to 
 the level of the plain, without rewarding labor or curiosi- 
 ty. Vexed at such ill success, 1 jumped from the bank 
 among the hands, in order to take a spade and encou- 
 rage them to dig somewhat deeper. At this instant the 
 ground gave way and involved us all in earth and ruin ! 
 you mny conceive what a cry issued from such an unex- 
 pected tomb ! But it was soon followed by much mirth 
 
 I 
 
and laughter. No person was hurt. Nor was the fall a^ 
 bove three feet. 1 had great difhculty to prevail on any 
 person to resume the labor — and had to explore the place 
 myself, and sound it with a pole, before we could renew 
 our pursuit. At length we removed the earth, and found 
 that a parcel of timbers had given way, which covered the 
 orifice of a square hole seven feet by four, and four deep — 
 nearly under the centre of the swell or mound. That it 
 was a sepulchre was unanimously agreed, till we 
 found it in vaiir to look for bones or any substance similar 
 to them in decomposition. At the depth of three feet, how- 
 ever, we struck an object which would neither yield to the 
 spade nor emit any sound ; on persevering still further, we 
 found the obstruction, which was uniform through the pit, 
 to proceed from rows of lar^e spherical bodies — at first ta- 
 ken to be stones. Several of them were cast up to the 
 surface: they were exactly alike : perfect globes, nine in- 
 ches in diameter, and about twenty pounds weight. 'I'he- 
 superricies of one, when cleaned and scraped with knives, 
 appeared like a ball of base metal, so strongly impregna- 
 ted with the dust of gold, that the baseness of the metal 
 itself was isearly altogether obscured. The clamour was 
 so great and the joy so exuberant, that no opinion but one 
 was admitted, and no voice could be heard while the cry 
 oi" "'tis gokl ! 'tis gold 1" resounded through the groves. 
 Having determined on this important point, we formed a 
 council respecting- the urstribution of the treasure, and 
 each individual in the joy of his heart, declared publicly 
 the use he proposed to make of the part allotted to his 
 share. 'I'he Englishman concluded that he would return- 
 to England, being carVain^/rom experience^ that there was 
 no country like it. A German of our party said he would' 
 never have quitted the Rhine, had he had money enough 
 to rebuild his barn, which was blown down by a high 
 wind, but that he would return to ihe very spot iVoni 
 whence he came, and prove to hi*; nehgh hours that he loved 
 his country as well as another, when he had the means of 
 doing well. An Irishman swore damnation the duy longer 
 he'd stay in America, but gave no motive for his determi- 
 nation, and ray iMeztizo appeared to think that were he 
 to purchase some be-iuls, rum, and blankets, and return to 
 his own nation, he might become Sachem and keep the- 
 finest Squaws of it. For my part, I saw in the trea-- 
 
us TRAVELS IN 
 
 sure the ample means of visiting other climes, and my im* 
 agination traversed South America, Africa, Asia, and the 
 few parts of Europe 1 had not before explored. Such were 
 our various views. The most remarkable trait they sug- 
 gest, is, that though in America, and filled with all the 
 dreams that have been related of its felicities and wealthy 
 not one of the party had ever thought of remaining or of 
 making it a perpetual residence ! 
 
 Reserving but one globe of gold, or at least one ball of 
 mixed gold, we carefully secured the remainder of the trea- 
 sure and returned to Zaneville, famished and weary, yet 
 elated, and after a hasty repast, we, with much ])iivacy 
 and precaution subjected our gold to the ordeal ot fire, and 
 atood around its operation in silence, and fearful to regard 
 each other or to breathe. The dreadful element which was 
 to confirm or consume our hopes soon began to exercise its • 
 rarious powers. In a few moments the ball turned black; 
 filled the room with sulphurous smoke, emitted S[)arks 
 and intermittent flames, and burst into ten thousand 
 pieces ! Stj great was the terror and suffocation, that alj 
 rushe(> into the street and gazed on each other with a mix- 
 frd expression of doubt and astonishment;. Tlv.^ German 
 took advantage of the interval to ask ma to lend him a dol- 
 lar, with which he walked away, without returning to ex- 
 amine the gold. The smoke subsided, we were ena- 
 bled to discover the elements of our treasure: they con- 
 sisted of some very fine ashes and a great quantity of cin- , 
 ders perforated through and through. The disappoint- I 
 ment soon wore off; we laughed heartily at our visionary 
 views, and resolved not to be deceived by a ball of splrite 
 another time. A ball of spirite! It wixa nothing more. I 
 understand the mountaii«s abound with it;, but how the 
 Indians came to form it into «,pheres, ancf to preserve it in 
 their camps, 1 remain entirely ignorant. They may have 
 used them in religious rites, or in gymnastic exercises, for 
 ouoht I know ; or, what is still more interesting, they 
 might have made them instrumental to purposes of war. I 
 shall, however, extend my enquiries on this subject, and 
 with some small hopes of success, as I learn that Colonel 
 Lu(llow of Cincinnati, has found balls of a similar compor- 
 sition and structure, and perhaps under circumstances that 
 may assist to illumine their history and use. 
 
AMERICAi l^» 
 
 LETTER XVIi 
 
 MUile Kcnhaumj River— Be/leprie — Bacchiis's hland—fine 
 view of it — the house — its elegant and interesting inhabi- 
 tants, a rural evening and sapper — Big Hockhocking liiv^ 
 er — New Lancaster Town — its sudden rise ami as sudden 
 decline by a contagious sickness — Dutch cupidity audits 
 consequences — Bel 'ex die Town and Island — the Devir& 
 Creek — Lctarf^ Falls — danger of passing them, especially, 
 in the night — Campaign Creek — Point Fleasanty a hand- 
 some little town^ 
 
 Point Pleasant, Great Kenhaway River, July, 1806. 
 THE morning after the golden vision I purchased a small 
 canoe for t>vo dollars and descended the Muskingum tar 
 Marietta without any accident or incident worth recording. 
 On my arrival at Marietta, I perceived means to remove 
 the relics 1 had the good fortune to discover on the first day' 
 of my excursion, and, having got ihem and some necessa- 
 ries into my boat, cast loose and turned once more into 
 the current of the Ohio. 
 
 In a run of ten miles I" passed no less than four islands,, 
 and two miles more brought me up to the little Kenhaway 
 river on the left side. The little Kenhaway is one hundred 
 and fifty yards wide at its mmth. It yields a navigation, 
 of ten miles only. Perhaps its northern branch called Ju- 
 nkjs's Creek, which interlocks with the western branch of. 
 the Monongahela, may one uay admit a shorter passage-- 
 from the latter to the Ohio. Opposite to this river, is the 
 town and settlement of Belleprie, three miles from which- 
 is Bcicchus'., inland, 
 
 Oh leaving Marietta a lady and gentleman, who had 
 l)een on a visit there, desired a passage to the island. This 
 re(]ueot was with much ])leasure gra4ited, and I had only to 
 lament that the voyage was so short which was to termi- 
 nate my acquaintance with persons so truly interesting and< 
 a^miable. Iht3 island hove in sight to great advantage- 
 from the middle of the river, fronvwhich point of view lit— 
 lie more appeared than the simple decorations of nature;. 
 tkees, shrubs and flowers of every perfume and kiad. T.U» 
 N. 2 
 
150 TRAVELS IN 
 
 next point of view, on running with the eurrent, on the- 
 right hand side, varied to a scene of enchantment ; a lawn, 
 in the form of a fan inverted, presented itself, the nut 
 Jorining the centre and summit of the island, and the broad 
 segment the borders of the water. The lawn contained one 
 hundred acres of the best pasture, interspersed with flow- 
 ering shrubs and clumps of trees, in a manner that con- 
 veyed a strong convictioxi of the taste and judgment of the 
 pjoprietor. 1 he house came into view at the instant I 
 was signifying a wish that such a lawn had a mansion. It 
 stands on the immediate summit of the island, whose as- 
 cent is very gradual ; is snow white; three stories high, 
 and furnished with wings which interlock the adjoining 
 trees, confine the prospect, and intercept the .sight of 
 barns, stables, and out offices, which are so often eutfered- 
 to destroy the effect of the noblest views in EnglhtK^I 
 
 The full front of the house being the signal for pulling 
 in for the island, we did so immediately, and fell below a 
 ftmall wharf that covered an eddy, and made the land- 
 ing both easy and secure. There was no resisting the 
 friendly importunity of my passengers :. no excuse would' 
 be taken : to stop the night at least was insisted upon, and 
 Avith H convincing expression that the desire flowed from 
 hearts desirous not to be refused. There is somelaing so 
 irresistible in invitvitions of such a nature that they can- 
 not be denied. I gave instructions respecting my boat 
 and giving the lady my arm we walked^ up the beautiful 
 lawn,. through which a winding path led to the hcjuse. It 
 was tea-time; that reireshment was served and conducted 
 wiih i\ propi'iety afid elegance which I never witnessed out 
 or Britain. The conversation was chasteand general, and 
 t'he manners of the lady and gentleman were refiiunl with- 
 out being frigid ; di.slinguished without beiug ostentaliou«=:5, 
 and familiar wiihcut being vulg.'-r, importunate or absurd. 
 Before the entire decline <»f day we walked in tne gardens 
 which were elegantly laid out in your country's stile; pro- 
 duced remarkably fine vegetables, aiul had a very favour- 
 able siunv of standard peaches and other fruit. We next 
 turned into the woods. 1 soon perceived why the island 
 was nanu'<l Bacchus. It abounds with vines which grow> 
 to great height and strength, but never produce to any 
 jKTleciion. '!'he path v^e had takei> led to the water, the 
 border oi' wliicii brought us to tl^e boat, wkcrcit becnib all 
 
AMERICA. tsi 
 
 the servants of the family ha<} assembled to hear what news 
 my people might have brought into their little world. We 
 found them seated on the green around Mindeth, who, 
 proud to be their historian, related rales of such peril and 
 affright, that they gazed on him with sensations of wonder 
 and astonishment^ or witli the soltened emotions of pity and 
 complaint. The poor Mandanean, excluded by his colour 
 and aspect from participating in the social pleasures of the 
 whites, hiid built himselt a good fireyniade himself Uie sec- 
 tion, of a tent, and was preparing his rod and line to catch 
 some fibh for supper. I saw the laxly so pleased with this 
 scene an<l so delighted, in particular with Cuff's truly ru- 
 ral establishment, that 1 proposed supping on the shore, 
 and by displaying a specimen of my evenings on the river, 
 gave some idea of former times and the innocent enjoy- 
 ments of primitive life. The night being perfectly fine and; 
 the mooa out, and some light clouds hindering the dew 
 from falling, my proposition was joyfully acceded to, and 
 instructi^)ns were given accordingly. 
 
 This determination gave life and interest to a scene, 
 which before was calm and pleasing. All was action and 
 bustle. The historian no more attended. Every one as- 
 sumed an occupation, and Cuff' saw his fire and his tent 
 surrounded by twenty willing assistants. The lady being 
 engaged in instructing the servants and sending them to 
 the house for a few necessary articles, I proposed to take 
 the gentleman in my canoe across the current, and under 
 the shade of the trees of the bank, with a lighted torch 
 attract the fish to the surface and spear them while gazing 
 at the blaze. We crossed over and met with the success 
 of striking seven large cat and sun fishes in less than half 
 an hour. .We relumed with the torch still burning, and 
 the hands singing the " beauteous month of May," in ca- 
 dence to the paddles which rose and struck with a precon- 
 certed regularity. I'hismodeot the nocturnal fishingwasquile 
 novel to the inhabitants of the little insulated world. The 
 lady was charmed with it, and declared that the view of 
 the canoe by turch-light across the water ; the conversa- 
 tion obscurely heard ; the sudden bursts of exultation an- 
 nouncing every success, and tlie cheerful return with mirth 
 ami song, was an improvement of the finest sort to a scene 
 before she deemed incapabteof augmentation ! After ohatt- 
 iiiij s.ynie time oa subjects immediately rising outofoc- 
 
V3^ TR'AVFXS M 
 
 earring incidents, and admiring the versatility of mind 
 wiiich one tini3 rinds felicity in towns aiil midnight mas- 
 cj^ierades, and at another acknovvlediies happiness on the 
 contrasted theatre of the livers and wilderness, we sat down 
 to t'Ur repa-t, and in a short time paid it the strong enco- 
 luium oi" a sat i ted .. ppetite. 
 
 Aiter uhich we reanned to the house, wh( re over »* 
 bottle of wine oi»e hour longer we ccmversed en the plea- 
 i-ures of our rural sports and retired to rest with that heart- 
 felt ea-e and serenity which follows an innocent and well- 
 spent day. 
 
 Next morning after breakfast I with difficulty tore my-- 
 self from this interesting family. You will excuse me 
 for omiiting the names of the amiable couple. They, 
 were emigrants of the first distinc'tion from Ireland. 
 
 Two hours after leaving the island, I reached the lower 
 settlement of Bv'ileprie, a rising place on the right hand 
 side, three miles below which on the same side I passed - 
 Little Hockhccking, Ntwbury settlement and Bar, Majs-- 
 taphy island and Big Hockhocking river, near the mouth 
 of which I brought up m order to make a lew obser\a-- 
 tions and enquiries. 
 
 The Big Hockhocking is eighty yards wide at its mouth, 
 and yields navigation for loaded batteux to the j)ress-place, 
 sixty miles above its mouth. At the h^ead of this naviga- 
 tion stands New-Lancaster, a town tormed of about one 
 hundred and fifty well built houses, and inhabited chiefly 
 by Gerinans and Dutch from Old Lancaster in Pennsylva- 
 nia, and the settlements in its vicinity. New-Lancaster 
 seven jears ago was but emerging from the woods, where: 
 the industrious people I have mentioned from the east,, 
 were tempted by the reputation of the lands in its neigh- 
 bourhood to settle in and around it, and to encourage all 
 their fri nds to flock to the Ohio State, and follow the ex- 
 ample they had set them, for the advancement of their 
 comfort and promotion ©f their prosperity. You may 
 judge with what eagerness the town and country were set- 
 tled when you learn that one hundred and fifty britk, 
 frame and log- houses were erected in less than seven years, 
 and that land rose from one and two, to five, ten, fifteen, 
 and even twenty dollars per acre. It has notwithstanding 
 sustained a sad reverse Wjthin these two years. The last 
 buinmer alone gave lauded imd other property. a fall oi oiiS-- 
 
AMERICA. 153 
 
 hundred and fifty per cent. This violent depreciation is 
 to be attributed to a general sickness which attacked the 
 settlement and swept olf two thirds of the inhabitants, be- 
 fore its progress was checked by the setting in of the frost. 
 Very few of the first settlers now exist ! Seven years toil 
 and labour concluded their reign, and in all probability 
 seven more will extinguish the generation new rising ia 
 their place ! What a gloomy prospect ! What a melan- 
 choly reflection ! And from whence arose a change and 
 calamity so unexpected and painful to a liberal mind ? 
 • Avarice, and an inordinate craving after gold, form the 
 well known characteristic of the Dutch* With them every 
 considemtion dissolve* before views of acquirement, or 
 prospects which hold out acquisitions of wealth. The first 
 settlers of New Lancaster discovering lands to be of the 
 first quality, bought up several thousand acres at a redu- 
 ced price, erected a few buildings, and sent emissaries to 
 their countrymen to tempt them into their speculations, and 
 allow them lor certain advantages a participation of their 
 views. Many came, and by acting in a similar efiicacious 
 manner to sell their purchases and populate the place, a 
 few years numbered from six to seven thousand inhabi- 
 tants, composed of artisans^ shop-keepers, mechanics, and 
 tarmers. The head of the navigation being the most pro- 
 fitable place on which to erect a town, it was chosen for 
 that purpose, and its being healthy or unhealthy made no 
 part of the calculation, or entered into the consultations 
 on the business. Those who settled on farms chose the 
 vicinity of creeks and springs for their habitations, for if 
 they chose high grounds, time would be lost in looking 
 after water, " time is money," say the Dutch. Some in- 
 termittent fevers, and a few hundred deaths in the first 
 tiirec or four years began to spread suspicions, that all 
 was not right ; that swampy spots were pernicious to life, 
 that the money gleaned off them could ueither purchase 
 happiness or maintain health. To build a new town, new 
 houses and barns, and to clear new lands were changes and 
 expences too heavy to be endured ; things remained till 
 two successive summers teeming with disease, consumed 
 the bulk of the inhabitants of the settlement, and com- 
 pelled the few remaining ones to abandon tlieir avaricious 
 intentions and learn ii^ future how to live. 
 
1.54 TRAVELS IN 
 
 So entirely was health cast out of all consivlerafiorr af 
 the time of erecting New Lancaster, that the m triers were 
 not turned trom their intention though a swamp of great 
 extent, and part of which immediately bounds the west of 
 the town, lay directly before them and emitted an effluvia 
 so noxious as could hardly be withstood. Nor did the^ 
 jeflect that another swamp of a still worse nature, callec^ 
 *' the muddy prairie," lay contiguous, and cast out of its 
 bowels an air so mephilic, that persons Iwd to close their 
 mouth and nose on crossing any part of it. Deer and 
 other animals chaced into these swamps by hunters, sink 
 after a lew struggles and never more appear. I lie swamps 
 will never be drained. Their extent and character deiy 
 human industry; the depth alone being much greater 
 than any adjacent streams. The prevailing disorders tliey 
 disseminate are, agues, fevers, and violent reachings. The 
 latter complaint is nearly always latal ; and is accompa- 
 nied by all the symptoms of yt-llow fever^ such as derdnge- 
 ment, convulsions, and a general ctfusion of blood. 
 
 Three miles below the Big ihockhocking^ on the Vir- 
 ginia shore, 1 i)assed the town and settlement of Belleville,' 
 and two miles lower down I enjoyed the sight of a beauti- 
 ful island of the same name, irovered with trees, shurbs 
 and ve-dui^e ; and after a run of ten miles further without 
 impediment, I arrived at a very dangerous part of the riv- 
 er, distinguished by the name of the Devil's Creek. In^ 
 passing the creek, which issues fronvthe Virginia shore, I' 
 found it necessary to keep close round the left hand point 
 to avoid being thrown by the current on dangerous rocks' 
 which lie in the bend nbovc and below the mouth of the 
 creek, I succeeded well, but not without seeing the dan-* 
 ger which required much exertion to shun. 
 
 Having lost considerable time in my late excursions, I 
 being seduced by the fineness of the evenings, and promi- 
 sed lightness of the night, determined on not bringing too- 
 till I should reach this place. I therefore continued on,> 
 past Amberson's Island, Goose Island, and by midnight 
 came up to two islands which 1 understood to be but half 
 a mile above Letart's Falls, universally^ feared as one of 
 the most terrific parts of the navigation of the river. The 
 rearing of the falls had reached us sometime before We 
 made the islands, and reflections of propriety, safety, &c. 
 were making such progress on my mind, that 1 began to 
 jrepent of my determination, and to feel a disposition not 
 
AMERICA* 155 
 
 to proceed any further till morning. Prudence may arrive 
 too late. The channel past the islands was close to the 
 .right hand shore, yet I dared not put the boat's head to- 
 wards it, the current being impetuous, and tlie shore full 
 of trunks of trees, breakers, and Miags. Perceiving ob- 
 structions which were at once ditficull and arduous to re- 
 move, 1 made preparations to shoot the falls. The men 
 received my instructions with a silence which augured some 
 fear ; the wa-ters uttered. the most tremendous sounds, and 
 the mist of their dashing rising into the air spread an ap- 
 parent fog on their surface from side to side. The scene 
 was awful ; there was no alternative, I took the helm 
 and placing the hands on each bow with a pole to guard 
 against rocks, followed the current to the second island, 
 from thence to about one third of the river from the right 
 hand shore, and there held it to the fahs. The boat took 
 chute in the most capital manner, past through like the 
 flight of a bird and never once turned round. In taking 
 the chute, I observed a sunken rock to my right, that 
 formed a very large ripple, and several others to my left, 
 which caused the water to boil and make a grjimbling dull 
 noise. Instantly on dropping from the falls, it was ne- 
 cessary to take to the oars, to avoid an eddy of great 
 power which si,icked in logs and every thing else within its 
 attraction, and cast thera up about two hundred yards 
 lower down. 
 
 I arrived at Point Pleasant to breakfast, and found it a 
 handsome little town, well situated on the confluence of 
 the great Kenhaway with the Ohio, and commanding a 
 very extensive view of the latter river. It contains about 
 forty houses frame and log, and has not the aspect of ever 
 being much augmented. Thejew disconsolate inhabitants 
 who go up and down, or lie under trees, have a dejected 
 appearance, and exhibit the ravage of disease in every 
 feature, and the tremor of the ague in every step. Their 
 motive for settling the town must have been to catch what 
 they can from persons descending the river, and from peo- 
 ple emigrating from the S. \V. parts of \'irginia, with a 
 view of settling lower down the river, and who must make 
 .Point Plevi^aut a {)lace of deposit and e'nbaikation. Were 
 it not for the unhealthincss of the town, it would not be 
 iiureasonabieto presume that this circumstance would ren- 
 der it in time a place of considerable note. Point Plea- 
 sant is two hundicfi ana seventy miles from Pittsburg. 
 
1S6 TIIAVELS IN 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 Further particulars of the Great Kenhax^ay River — Lead 
 mutes — attrocious masmcre of IndianSy thejumily of tkc 
 celebrated Logan, Ute friend of the 'zchites — its conse^ 
 qvences — the battle of Point Pleasant — the speech oj Lo- 
 gan — Catalogue of Indian birds — Character oJ the muck' 
 iiig bird and the Virginia nightingale. 
 
 Mouth of the Great KcAhajvay, July, 1806. 
 
 I FIND the Great Kenhaway to be a river of con- 
 siderable character lor the fertility of its lands, and still 
 more, as leading towards the head waters ot James's river, 
 Keverlbeless it is doubtful whether its great and nume- 
 rous rapids will admit a navigation, but at an expence to 
 which it will require ages to render the inhabitants equal. 
 The great obstacles begin at what are called the great tails, 
 ninety miles above the mouth, below which are only five 
 or si?c rapids, and there passable with some difiiculty, even 
 at low water. From the falls to tiie mouth of Greenbrier 
 River is one hundred miles, and iVom thence to the lead 
 mines, one hundred and twenty. 
 
 'I'he lead is found mixed, sometimes with earth, and 
 sometimes with rock, which requires the force of gun- 
 powder to open ; and is accompanied with a portion of 
 silver, too small to be worth separation under any process 
 hitherto attcjiipted. The proportion yielded is Irom tilty 
 to eighty pounds of pure lead, from one hundred pounds 
 of washed ore. 'J'he veins are at sometimes the most flat- 
 tering, and others they disappear suddenly and totally. 
 They enter the side of the hill and proceed horizontally. 
 Two of them are wrought by the public, the more valua- 
 Lle of which is one hundred yards under tlie hills. 'J he>c 
 would employ about sixty labovirers lo advantage. T here 
 are not, however, in general, moie than forty, an*l even 
 these find tnne to cultivate their own corn. The veins 
 have produced ^ixty tons of lead in a year ; the average 
 i> from twiMity t ) tv»enty-five tons. The furnace is a nnle 
 from the ore bank, and oa the opposite side of the river. 
 
AMERICA. - 1j7 
 
 The ore is first conveyed ir, waggons to the Kcnhawa}-, a 
 <listance only a quaricr of a mile, then laden' on board of 
 canoes and carried across the river, which is there about 
 two hur.dred yards wide ; and then again taken into wag- 
 gons and carried to the furnace. From the iurnace the 
 lead is tran;^ported one hundred and thirty miles along a 
 good road, leading through the peaks of Qttie and Lynch's 
 ferry, whence if is carried by water about the same dis- 
 tance to Westhaui, where it (iiuls its way by Jajues River 
 anfj the Fotownuic to the markets of the Eastern States. 
 Very little of the lead ever descends the river in conse- 
 quence of the falls just l>elow the mines, three of which 
 have a perpendicular chute of four feet each. Three miles 
 above the mines is a raj)id of three miles continuance. 
 Yet the obstructions might be removed for so useful a na- 
 vigation as to reduce very much the portage to James Ri- 
 ver, and facilitate the descent to the Ohio, where the 
 mouth is two hundred and eighty yards wide. 
 
 The banks of the Great Kenhaway were once the fa- 
 vourite resort and residence of several Indian tribes. The 
 ruins of their little empires every where abound. The 
 towns,from which they were banished, and the villages in 
 which they were immolated at the shrine of insatiate ava- 
 rice, ambition and pride, have yet remains which stand, 
 and will for ever stand to perpetuate the memory of their 
 sufferings and of our crimes. 
 
 I visited several monuments of Indian antiquity up the 
 river, and had I not so lately given you ample details on 
 those I discovered on the Muskingum, I would describe 
 them — and even under this impression would give them 
 notice, but they do not sufficiently differ from what I 
 mentioned, to admit of remarks, without a tiresome tau- 
 tology and repetition. I cannot leave the river, however, 
 without telling you an old story, which took its origin on 
 this water, and to which I feel satisfied your sensibility 
 will not be denied. 
 
 In the spring of 1774, a robbery and murder were com- 
 mitted on an inhabita.nt of the ironliers of Virginia, by 
 two Indians of the Shawanee tribe. The neighbouring 
 whites, according to their cus,tom, undertook to punish 
 this outrage jn a summary way. Colonel Cresap, a man 
 infamous ibr his numerous attrocities on this injured peo- 
 ple, collected a party, and proceeded down the Kanha- 
 O 
 
15S TRAVELS IN 
 
 way in quest of Indians. Unfortunately a canoe of wo- 
 men and children, with one man only, was seen coming 
 from the opposite shore unarmed, and unsuspecting an 
 hostile attack from the whites ; Cresap and his party con- 
 cealed themselves on the bank of the river, and the mo- 
 ment the canoe reached the shore, singled out their ob- 
 jects, and at one fire killed every person in it. This hap- 
 pened to be the family of Logan, who had long been dis- 
 tinguished as a friend of the whites. This unworthy re- 
 turn provoked his vengeance. He accordingly signalized 
 himself in the war which ensued. In the autumn of the 
 same year, a decisive battle was fought at the mouth of 
 the Great Kenhaway (in history called the battle of Point 
 Pleasant) between the collected forces of the Shawanees, 
 Mingoes, and Delawares, and a detachment of the Vir- 
 ginia militia. The Indians were defeated, and sued for 
 peace. Logan, however, disdained to be seen among the 
 suppliants. But, least the sincerity of a treaty should be 
 distrusted, from wliich so distinguished a chief absented 
 himself, he sent by a messenger the following speech to be 
 delivered to Lord Dunmore : 
 
 " I appeal to any white jnan to say, if ever he entered 
 Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat ; it ever 
 he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During 
 the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan re- 
 mained idle In his cabiu, an advocate for peace. Such 
 was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed 
 as they p^sed, and said, '•^ I.ogan is the Jriend of nhite 
 men !" \ had even thought to have lived with you, but 
 for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, ihe last 
 spring, in cold, blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the 
 relations of Logan, not spaiing even my women and chil 
 dren. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins o 
 any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I 
 have sought it ; I have killed many ; I have fully glutted 
 my vengeance. For my country I rejoice at the beams of 
 peace. But do not harbour a thought that mine is the 
 joy of fear ! Logan never felt fear ! He will not turn 
 on his heel to save his life ! Who is there to mourn for 
 Logan ? Not one !" 
 
 This atfecting story and speech nctually delivered before 
 Lord Dunmore while governor of A'irginia, are contained 
 in Mr. J e tiers oil's Notes ; the story as a preamble to the 
 
 1 
 
AMERICA. 3 59 
 
 speech, which is given as a specimen of Indian eloquence, 
 and may vie with the most pathetic passages in the orations 
 of Demosthenes or a Cicero. The few remains of Logan's 
 tribe now live in a little village near the mouth of the 
 Ohio. I shall certainly visit them on my way down. 
 
 I have been much engaged during my rambles here, in 
 ascertaining the number and character of the birds, winch 
 are of great variety in this part, and of much brighter 
 plumage than those I noticed at the head waters or in the 
 Eastern States. 
 
 Between ninet}' and an hundred American birds have 
 been described by Catesby, some stationary, others mi- 
 gratory, they are as follow : 
 
 Birds of the North West Country. 
 
 Popular Names. Linmean Designation. 
 
 Tyrant. Field Martin Laniu Tyfannus 
 
 Turkey Buzzard Vultur Aura 
 
 Bald Eagle Falco Leucocephalus 
 
 Sparrow Hawk Falco Sparrerius 
 
 Pigeon Hawk Falco Columbarious 
 
 Fork-tail Hawk Falco Furcatus 
 
 Fishino; Hawk « • — — — - 
 
 Little Owl ' Strix Asco 
 
 Paroquet Psittacus Carolinensis 
 
 Blue Jay Corvus Cristatus 
 
 Baltimore Bird' Oriolus Baltimorus 
 
 Bastard Baltimore Oriolus 'Spurius 
 
 Purple Jackdaw Black Bird Gracula Guiscula 
 Carolina Cuckow Cuculus Americanus 
 
 White bill Wood-pecker Picus Principalis 
 Larger red-crested Wood- Picus Pileatus 
 
 pecker 
 Red-headed Wood-pecker Picus Erythrocephalus 
 Gold-winged Woodpecker Picus Auratus 
 Red-bellied Wood-pecker Picus Carolinus 
 Smallest spotted Wood- Picus Pubescens 
 
 pecker 
 Hairy Wood-pecker Picus Vilosus 
 
 Yellow-bellied Wood-pecker Picus Varius 
 Nuthath. Small Nuthath Sitta Europaea 
 
1 60 
 
 •HIAVELS IN 
 
 King Fisher 
 
 Pine Creeper 
 
 Humming Bird 
 
 Wild Goose 
 
 SufFel's head Duck 
 
 Little brown Duck 
 
 White face Zeal 
 
 Blue winged Zeal 
 
 Summer Duck 
 
 Blue winged Shoveler 
 
 Round crested Duck 
 
 Pied-bill Dopchick 
 
 Largest crested Heron 
 
 Crested Bittern 
 
 Blue Heron. Crano 
 
 Small Bittern 
 
 Little white Heron 
 
 Brown Bittern. Indian Hen 
 
 Wood Pelican 
 
 White Cuilew 
 
 Brown Curlew 
 
 The Chattering Plover. Kel- 
 dee 
 
 Oyster Catcher 
 
 Soree. Rail-bird 
 
 Wild Turkey 
 
 American Partridge. Quail 
 
 Pheasant. Mountain Par- 
 tridge. 
 
 Ground Dove 
 
 Pigeon of Passage. Wild 
 Pigeon. 
 
 Turtle Dove 
 
 Lark. Sky- Lark 
 
 Field Lark 
 
 Red-winged Starling, or 
 Marsh Black-bird 
 
 Fieldfare. Robin Red-breast 
 
 Fox coloured Thrush 
 
 Mocking Bird 
 
 Little Thrush 
 
 Chatterer 
 
 Alcedo Alcyoa 
 Certhia Pinus 
 Trochilus Colubris 
 Anas Canadensis 
 Anas Bucephala 
 Anas Rustica 
 Anas Discors 
 Anas Discors 
 Anas Sponsa 
 
 Mergus Cucullatus 
 Colymbus Podiceps 
 Ardea Herodea 
 Ardea Violacea 
 Ardea Caewlea 
 Ardea Vircescens 
 Ardea iEquinoctialas 
 
 Tantalus Soculator 
 Tantalus Alber 
 Tantalus Fuse us 
 Charadrius Vociferus 
 
 Hajmatophus Ostragulu* 
 Rallus Virginianus 
 Meleagris Gallopavo 
 Tetras Virsianus 
 
 Columba Passerina 
 Columba Migratoria 
 
 Columba Corolincnsis 
 Alauda Alpestris 
 Alauda Magna 
 
 Turdus Migratorius 
 Turd us Rufus 
 Turdus Polygrottus 
 
 Ampelis Garrulus 
 
 i 
 
AMERICA. 
 
 I6l 
 
 Red Bird. Virginia Night- 
 ingale 
 Blue Cross- beak 
 Snow Bird 
 Rice Bird 
 Painted Finch 
 Blue Linnet 
 Little Sparrow 
 Cowp-en Bird 
 Tow he Bird 
 American Goldfinch 
 Purple Finch 
 Crested Fl> Catcher 
 Summer Red Bird 
 Red Start 
 Cat Bird 
 
 Black-cap Fly Catcher 
 Little Brown do. 
 Red-eyed do. 
 Blue Bird 
 Wren 
 
 Yellow-breasted Chat' 
 Crested Titmouse 
 Finch Creeper 
 Yellow Rump 
 Hooded Titmouse 
 Yellow-throated Creeper 
 Yellow Titmouse 
 American Swallow 
 Purple Martin 
 Goat Sucker. Great Bat 
 Whip-poor-will 
 
 Loxia Cardenalis 
 
 Loxia Caerulea 
 Emberiza Hyenalis 
 Emberiza Oryzivora 
 Emberiza Ceris 
 Tarragra Cyanea 
 
 Fringilla Erythrophthalraa 
 Fringilla Tristis c 
 
 Muscicapa Crinita 
 JNJuscicapa Rubra 
 JMuscicapa Ruticilta 
 Muscicapa Caroliniensis 
 
 Motacilla Sialis 
 Motacilla Reguliis 
 Motacilla Irochelus 
 Parus Becoor 
 Parus Americanus 
 Parus Viro;inianus 
 
 liirundo Pclargia 
 Mirundo Purpurea 
 Capri mulgus Europceus 
 Do. Do. 
 
 Besides these, there arc the follow ing, which do not 
 exactly come under the heads of the above list. 
 
 The Roys toTi Crow 
 Crane 
 
 House Swallow 
 Ground Swallow 
 Greatest Grey Eagle 
 Smallest Turkey Buzzard, 
 with a feathered head 
 G2 
 
 Corvus Corncx 
 Ardea Canadensis 
 Hirundo Rustica 
 Hirundo Reparia 
 
162 TRAVELS IN 
 
 Greatest Owl, or Night Hawk 
 
 Wet Hawk, which feeds fly- 
 ing. 
 
 Raven 
 
 Water Pelican of the Missis- 
 sippi, whose pouch holds 
 a peck 
 
 Swan 
 
 Loon 
 
 Cormorant 
 
 Duck and Mallard. Wid- 
 geon, Sheidrach, or Can- 
 vass back Duck 
 
 Black-bird. Ballevot. Sprig 
 Tail 
 
 Dy-doppu, or Dopchick 
 
 Spoon-billed Duck 
 
 Water Witch 
 
 Water Pheasant 
 
 Maw Bird 
 
 Blue Petre 
 
 Water Wagtail 
 
 Yellow-legged Snipe, 
 
 Squatting Snipe 
 
 Small Plover 
 
 Whistling Plover 
 
 Woodcock 
 
 Red Bird, with black Head, Wings, and Tail. 
 
 Brilliant plumage is the principal superiority which any 
 
 of these birds can claim over those of Europe. Very few 
 
 of thern are remarkable for their song. 1 know of but 
 
 two that can be presumed to vie with British warblers ; 
 
 the Mocking Bird and the Virginia Nightingale. On 
 
 these I shall mt^ke a few remarks. 
 
 The mocking bird is of the form, but larger than the 
 
 thrush, and the colours are a mixture, black, white, and 
 
 grey. What is said of the nightingale by its greatest ad- 
 mirers, is what may with more propriety apply to this 
 
 bird, who, in a natural state sings with very superior taste. 
 
 Towards evening, I have heard one begin softly, reserving 
 
 its breath to swell certain notes, which, l^y this means,. 
 
 had a most astonishing effect, and which defies all verbal 
 
 liescsiption. A gentleman residing in London bad one of 
 
AMERICA, 163 
 
 these birds for sLx. years.. During th6 space of a minute, 
 he was heard to imitate the wood-lark, chaffinch, black- 
 bird, thrush, and sparrow. It was also said that he could 
 bark like a dog, and imitate every domestic animal about 
 the house. In this country, 1 have frequently known the 
 mocking birds so engaged in their mimicry, that it was 
 witli much difficulty I could ever obtain an opportunity of 
 hearing their own natural note. Some go so tar as to say 
 they have neither favorite note or imitations : this can be 
 denied. Their few natural notes resemble those of the 
 nightingale, and of infinite mellowness and strength. Their 
 song has a greater volume and compass than the nightin- 
 gale, and they have the faculty of varying all intermediate 
 notes in a succession which is truly delightful. In a word, 
 to make a comparison perfectly intelligible to an English 
 ear ; the Virginia nightingale's powers may be compared 
 to the astonishing bravuras of a Biltington, or a Braham ; 
 those of the natural bird to the fascinating native melo- 
 dies of a Moniitain or an Inclcdon, 
 
 LETTER XVIII, 
 
 Galliopolisy a French Settlement — Historical accovnt of its 
 rise, progress and fall — its present miserable state, 
 
 Galliopolis, State of Ohio, July 1806. 
 
 THE distance from the mouth of the Great Kenhaway 
 being but three miles, I dropt down to this place in about 
 an hour. That time would not be required if the naviga- 
 tien were not interrupted by an island immediately in the 
 middle channel, and several rocks which make it necessa- 
 ry to keep the Virginia shore till compelled to row hard 
 across the river to gain the town. 
 
 Galliopolis being a French town and settlement which 
 has made considerable noise in the world, 1 feel myself 
 under a more immediate obligation to give you a correct 
 and historical account of its rise, progress, and fall. 
 
 A land speculator who explored this western country a few 
 years ago, tookplansof the site of Galliopolis; surveyed two 
 
164, tRAVELS IN 
 
 hundred thousand surrounding acres, and submitted his la- 
 bourson parchment, with all the embellishments of a drafts- 
 man, and all the science of a topographer. The scite for a 
 town was represented as onahigh plane of great extent and 
 beauty, commanding views up, down, and across the river 
 for several miles. Eminences were every where painted' 
 out as eligible for the residence of the wealthy, and com- 
 fortable secluded spots were marked fo.r the retreat of the 
 more humble and indigent. Long extended and fer- 
 tile tracts were noted as proper places for the exertion of 
 the most decidedly active and industrious, and water- falls, 
 cataracts and rapid streams descended and flowed for the 
 benefit of mills, the promotion of commerce, and the diffu- 
 sion of prosperity and happiness. When these advanta- 
 ges were magnified by the high coloured machinery of 
 hanging woods ; ever verdant meads interspersed with 
 clumps of the flowering magnolia and odoriferous catal- 
 pa, natural vineyards with purple clusters bending to the 
 ground, and all the other interesting objects incident to 
 sublime land!?cape, it may well be supposed that the gen- 
 tleman's paper plans captivated the sanguine French, and 
 formed an irresistible lure to this celestial paradise. His 
 maps and surveys had marginal notes illustrative of its na- 
 tural history, and the buffaloe, elk, deer, bear, birds, fish, 
 and game of every description were stated to abound in 
 such quantity, that for several years man could subsist 
 without any other labour than the healthy and pleasant oc- 
 cupations of hunting and fishing. 
 
 Furnished with testimonies of so flattering a nature, and 
 tvith credentials of the first authority to the most respecta- 
 ble houses in Paris, he repaired to that capital, and met 
 with all the hospitality and attention to which he was en- 
 titled by his manners, intelligence, and introductions. Af- 
 ter associating with the great some months, he gave pub- 
 licity to his views ^ opened, by permission of Government, 
 a regular land office; exhibited his plans and charts, and 
 offered the lands they expressed for a French crown per 
 acre. 
 
 The troubles then existing in Franco were favourable to 
 
 his intentions. Those who were compelled to stifle their 
 
 resentment against the State, were rejoiced at an opportu- 
 
 ,iiity to abandon it, and the government at length tired 
 
 with Ibe perpetual work of the guillotine, prefeireU to get- 
 
AMERICA. 155 
 
 tid of the disaflfected by emigration, to the labour of com- 
 pression in dungeons or the effusion ol" blood. 
 
 Numerous emigrants were ready to repair to the ex- 
 tolled territory. Of these a few ot the most opulent, libe- 
 ral and enlightened, combined and purchased the specu- 
 lator's whole right and title, and extinguished all his claim 
 for one hundred thousand crowns, and of course assumed 
 to themselves the disposition of the lands and the charge of 
 settling them, but without any pecuniary advantage. A 
 proceeding so honourable as this in the proprietors had the 
 most auspicious effect : in a short time five hundred fami' 
 lies previously well situated, embarked with the proprie- 
 tors for the United States, crossed the mountains and de- 
 scended the river to their new possessions ; to " the promis- 
 ed land, flowing with milk and honey, and abounding with 
 all the necessaries and luxuries of life.'* 
 
 The lands were distributed among 'hem according to 
 priority of purchase, and where it could with propriety, aC" 
 cording to predeliction and choice. Some went to subju- 
 gate the forests ; some to reside on the river's banks. Some 
 went in pursuit of mill-seats, cataracts and falls, and oth- 
 ers contented themselves to look for flowering meadows and 
 arromatic groves. A considerable number remained to 
 settle the town now called Galliopolis. 
 
 Such a body of settlers soon efTected a change in the face 
 of nature. A very neat town quickly rose on a delightful 
 plain, and a number of comfortable little houses adorned 
 the best situations along the river. Having brought with 
 them implements of husbandry and seeds of all kinds of 
 fruit and vegetables, from Europe, the Colony appeared to 
 flourish to an unprecedented degree, and to extend its fame 
 to the widest bounds. This unexampled character and 
 success was the operation of two years. On the third, the 
 settlers who retired to the back country, and who did not 
 sutler death, came in and. reported that the meadows and 
 good lands they went in seaixh of proved no more than 
 swampy intervals between mountains, were man could not 
 exist ; and that the mill-seats and water-falls were dry, 
 except during the dissolution of the winter snows, which 
 could only be calculated upon for the short period of a- 
 bout three weeks in the year. 
 
 The return of these disappointed speculators alarmed the 
 infant town, and the river settlements spread aa apprehen* 
 
166 TRAVELS IN 
 
 sion of the want of bread and general distress. Smart 
 patches for the gardens and vistas to the water were all the 
 cleared land in the colony, for hone had gone to thedrudge- 
 ryof preparing ground, heavily timbered, for the purposes 
 of raising corn or producing the other necessaries, which 
 are the result only of toil and unremitting industiy. Un- 
 fortunately, too, the settlers were for the most part artisans 
 who had resided all their lives in Paris, Lyon^, and other 
 great towns in France. To labour in gloomy woods, and 
 clear for agriculture land crowded with trees several feet in 
 diameter, was a taok incompiitible with their former habits 
 and views. A contracted system of horticulture, was all 
 they were equal to, and as such a mode could not provide 
 for any supernumerary mouths, the discontented were re- 
 solved to return home, and others to proceed to the East- 
 ern States, sell their shares, and resume thei«r ancient pro- 
 fessions. 
 
 From the sale of the possessions, however, very little 
 trouble arose. On the fourth year, at a time when affairs 
 were progressing, and improvements going on with as much 
 vigour as could be expected from ematiated mechanics and 
 effeminate shop-keepers, a person arrived in the colony, 
 claiming it as his own, and stating that' the man who sold' 
 the property in France was an imposture. To a people 
 alieady under suffering and disappointment, this was a 
 dreadful blow, that could not be averted, and which involv- 
 ed in its fall the ruin of their hopes and the labour and 
 toil of the four previous years. The new claim was sanc- 
 tioned by Congress, and a proposition was made to the 
 F>ench to abandon their improvements, or to re-purchase 
 a certain quantity of land adjoining to and including such 
 improvements, at the rate of two dollars more per acre. 
 Many spurned at this proposition, however fair, and left 
 the country ili disgust, while others with large families re- 
 luained, again purchased and persevered to give the setlle- 
 menta rise, indispite of disappointment, im.position, cala- 
 mity, and a host of evils and difficulties which required all 
 the energies of human exertion to avoid and to remove. 
 
 Such strength of mind and perseverance merited a suc- 
 cessful fate, and no doubt would have terminated in a hap- 
 py issue, but for ponds lying behind and near the town, 
 which often infected the air, and predisposed to fever and 
 ague even from the commencement of the settlement, but 
 
AMERICA. 1^7 
 
 4Dn the fifth year they became so contagious that many 
 died, and several became so seriously alarmed as to throw 
 up their improvements and sell their titles for the little 
 -they required for travelling expences to Philadelphia or 
 New York, where they might follow handicraft trades, and 
 procure bread with more ease and security. Those who 
 remained were principally the infirm and the young chil- 
 dren : few improvements went on, the place continued 
 rapidly to decline, and is now, at the period of my writing, 
 in a fair way of being restored to nature, and of returning 
 to the gloom, of its primitive woods. Several houses are 
 tumbling in : several are shut up; others are burnt down, 
 and the few that are occupied do not strike the mind with 
 an impression that they have long to last. The total 
 number of habitable houses is reduced to nine, about seven 
 more are occupied in the original purchase. Thus I ac- 
 count for sixteen families out of five huwdred who came 
 into the country a few years before, big with. expectations 
 of felicity, and dreaming of nothing less than perpetual 
 comfort and continual happiness. The sixteen families 
 which persist in remaining are of those who purchased a 
 second time. They vainly imagine to make something of 
 their improvements and await the operation of the ponds 
 "wfth more fortitude and determination than judgment and 
 good sense. They are a most wretched looking people : 
 the worst hospital in Europe could not turn out an equal 
 number so capable of proving the great degree of humili- 
 ation that human nature is capable of e>xpressing, when 
 under the hands of neglect, disease, and indigence. So 
 wretchedly poor is the place, that a barrel of flour is not 
 to be had in the whole settlement, and in place of their 
 being able to purchase some Indian meal, I have had ap- 
 plications to know whether I had any to exchange for fruit 
 and small produce. 
 
 They cultivate, as I have observed, little more than fruit 
 and vegetables, and they depend on the exchange of these 
 for bread and other necessaries to be had of boats de- 
 scending the river. The peaches thrive and multiply so 
 well, that one of the old settlers has procured a still, and 
 makes a brandy which, at a tolerable age, is of a very fine 
 quality. He now contracts for all the peaches of the set- 
 tlement ; makes about four hundred gallons of peach- 
 brandy each season, which he barters tor flour, corn, 6tc, 
 
16s TRAVELS IN 
 
 at the rate of one dollar per gallon for the liquor, and 
 then sells out his flour, &c. for chickens, young hogs, and 
 garden produce, with which he supplies at a cheap rate, 
 boats who may stand in need of such things on their pas- 
 sage down the river. I am very much of opinion that 
 were it not for theprospect of bringing the peach-brandy 
 trade into success and a profitable notoriety, CiiilJiopolis 
 town and settlement would be entirely abandoned. 
 
 Never was a place choben,or rather approved of with less 
 judgment. In the rear of the buildings are a number of 
 pestiferious pon<is ; the bac-k country is composed of a 
 series of barren ridges and internal lands of dancerous 
 swamp ; and the access to the town both by land and \va- 
 terj is so extremely difticult, that mere matter of choice 
 will never conduct to it a visitor, trader, or resident. I 
 am given to understand notwithstanding that some New 
 Englanders have made purchases from the fugitive French 
 at very reduced prices, and intend occupying the farms 
 they deserted. If they put this intention into execution, 
 the settlement may again take an artificial rise, though it 
 is difficult to conceive how the public can a second lime 
 be deceived in respect to a spot whose climate and proper- 
 ties have been so much condemned and exposed. 
 
 I am very happy to have authority to account for seventy 
 more of the families who arrived from France, and which 
 seventy were of those who left Galliopolis in disguise on 
 the springing up of the new proprietor, who required them 
 to make a new j)urchase or to quit the premises. Congress, 
 much to its honou?, made their case a national one, and 
 has granted llrem lands lower down the river in lieu of 
 those they had to abandon in this place. They report to 
 their friends that their new grounds are excellent, but that 
 sickness and excess of unaccustomed labour keeps thinning 
 tliem by no very insensible degrees. 
 
 i 
 
AMERICA. m 
 
 LETTER XVIir. 
 
 Vo'-ious rkrrs and creeks — saw-n/ills — -ajine salf-spri?}g and 
 an Indian pottery — Great Sandy Creek — cent rol situation 
 ef its mouth — erroneous accounts of Kentucky correct- 
 ,(d — extravagant price of lands — an excursion — vestiges 
 'ff the remains of a Chief of uncommon size — game — wild 
 hogs — remains of an Indian village — an alarm — explained 
 -r—toolves hunting their prey. 
 
 Mouth of Great Sandy River, July, 1806. 
 I LEFT Galliopolis with all the sensibility which the 
 fate of its poor inhabitants could inspire. 
 
 In my run to this place I passed a very beautiful island, 
 several creeks, and the mouths of the Little and Big Gui- 
 andot. The latter river is sixty yards wide at its entrance 
 into the Ohio; is very rapid and may be navigated seventy 
 miles up. They both are on the Virginia shore, as well as 
 Great Sandy river, which is between seventy and eighty 
 yards wide at its mouth, and navigable for loaded batleaux 
 sixty miles, till it reaches falls were saw mills are erected, 
 and which furnish the best cherry-plank of America, in 
 the greatest abundance. A few miles above the saw-mills 
 a very fine salt-spring has been discovered in the moun- 
 tains, whose waters are so strong that it is said one hund- 
 red gallons could yield one bushel of salt. This spring 
 would in all probability, have remained forever in oblivion, 
 had it not been for the incidental circumstance^of a hunter 
 stumbling over a piece of earthen ware sticking in the 
 ground of its vicinity. The piece evincing the remains 
 of an Indian salt-pan, the hunter examined the nearest 
 spring, and found it to be of the quality I have just descri- 
 bed. It has been since explored, and an ancient furnace, 
 and many pieces of antique pottery have been brought to 
 light. The spring is not worked. The proprietor of the 
 land being unknown — and the distance to ihe market con- 
 siderable. 
 
 The discovery of earthen salt-pans strengthen the opin- 
 ion I before entertained, that the Indians possessed the art 
 of making potter's ware i-u a higher perfection rhaii is at- 
 P 
 
170 TRAVELS IN 
 
 tempted at the present day. They not only manufactured 
 it to resist fire in ordinary culinary purposes, but to make 
 it endure the violence of a furnace ; a perpetual ebullition, 
 and the corrosion of mineral salts. 
 
 The head waters of this river proceed from the immense 
 chain of the Appilachean mountains, the fountains from 
 the opposite side of which supply rivers that fall into the 
 Mexican and Atlantic oceans. These head waters being 
 guarded by a country nearly inaccessible and terrific to 
 ,man, is now the uncontroverted domain of wolves, bears, 
 &:c. Bears especially inhabit the head of this river in such 
 numbers, that their skins can be had by contract for one 
 dollar each. 
 
 Great Sandy is also remarkable for being the boundary 
 v'here Virginia subsides and Kentucky commences. This 
 commencement i* exactly three hundred and thirty-four 
 miles from Pittsburg, seven jiundred and sixty-two from 
 the Mississipi, and one hundred and ten from Lexington, 
 the principal town of the Kentucky state. 
 
 From the point of land below the mouth of Great Sandy, 
 the view is vcr^ extensive. Looking across the Ohio, 
 which is first seen to a considerable distance up and down, 
 the rich and fertiJe state of Ohio reaches to the north 
 hundreds of miles. To the right, Virginia runs to the 
 Alleghany's base, where it is separated from the eastern 
 American world. To the left lies the state of Kentucky. 
 
 This point of land is eminently situated for a trading 
 town. That denomination is already given to a few 
 wretched huts occupied occasionally by hunters and a few 
 stragglers, undetermined as to their final establishment. 
 
 The authors who have given descriptions of Kentucky, 
 tit^ier never saw that State, or only would see a small por- 
 tion of highly beautiful land which it contains in its centre, 
 sixty miles long by about thirty miles broad. Of that 
 singularly fertile, romantic, and delightful spot, enough, 
 perhaps, ha* not been said ; but of all the remainder of 
 tin? State, whatever has been wrote or uttered in its favour, 
 must have proceeded from a dangerous ignorance of facts, 
 or a determination to delude and deceive both individuals 
 and the public. I beg of you to judge from this simple 
 survey. 
 
 From this place to Lexington, which is one hundred and 
 tx*n miles, the road is marked on the ridges of mountains 
 
AMERICA. ifi 
 
 to within ftfteen miles of that city. From that city again 
 to Limestone, and to Cincinnati, on the Ohio, a distance 
 to each of seventy miles, the roads, wnth the exception of a 
 few miles, are no more than butlalo tracts. From the 
 Commencement of Kentucky at Great Sandy, the body of 
 eastern land is entirely mountainous for one hundred square 
 miles. West it is a chain of mountains for an extent of 
 four hundred miles long by fifty broad, on average from, 
 the Ohio bank; and the south-side is principally composed 
 of "the Barrens/' and the " Great Barren,'' terms which 
 denote a country so sterile and inhospitable, that neither 
 man nor beast can reside there for want of water. So 
 mountainous is the river shore on the Kentucky side, that 
 in the distance of five hundred miles, there is not space ibr 
 the erection of a town of any extent except on the very 
 plain from vvhich I now write, and in consequence of therfe 
 beinor no road along the left bank, travellers are compelled 
 to proceed on the shore of the Ohio State. 
 
 After these facts, which no person can deny or contro- 
 vert, we are left to deplore, thatthe public should so long> 
 have been abused by the dreams of enthusiasts, and the 
 falsehoods of knaves. Several thousands have sacrificed 
 their wealth and prospecis in repairing to this " Land of 
 Promise/' and to which their attention was led by flowery 
 and enchanting fables. Several of these deluded persons, 
 finding on their arrival in the State, that all the good land- 
 was occupied, or else bore a price entirely beyond their 
 means, had to remain in small interval specks among the. 
 mountains, or to purchase portions of the Great Barrens 
 for one shilling per acre, and catch water as they could from 
 the dropping and distended clouds. Others who have 
 come into the State and determined on settling on gopd 
 lands and a somewhat comfortable neighbourhood, have 
 been often obliged to sink their whole capital in the pur- 
 chase of a small farm, the produce of which, from the 
 mediocrity of its price at market, could never return the 
 capital, or enable them to do any more than drag on a 
 miserable existence. The price of the lands on the State, 
 taking Lexington for a meridian, are as follows : town lots 
 in Lexington in the market street, and other popular situ- 
 ations, bear as high a price as any lot in the city of London. 
 Land immediately round the town is four hundred dollars 
 per acre ; within one mile two hundred ; within trwo oi* 
 
•m TRAVELS IN 
 
 three miles one hundred; five or six miles, from sixty to 
 seventy. A few miles more distant, the price falls to trom. 
 forty to fifty dollars per acre, and decreases progressively 
 to from thirty to twenty, fifteen, ten and five, at which 
 price it breaks off at the mountains, where the land bears 
 ]io price at all. There are circumstances also, which often 
 contribute to set a local enhanced value on landed proper- 
 ty. The most fertile part ol Kentucky, the very spot yet 
 allowed to be an Eden, is very scarce of water. Land, 
 therefore, which possesses a mill seat capable of acting 
 three months in a year, would fetch a very large sum of 
 money. Salt-springs also, considerably raise the price of 
 land surrounding them. 
 
 • River bottoms and good places for landing, from JheiF 
 .scarcity, situation, and superior excellence, have also a 
 higher price attached to them than any other parts not 
 Kinder the same circumstances. 
 
 Mr. Gardner, a sensible and civil man, who here keeps 
 a tavern, having explored- his neighbourhood in a consid- 
 erable degree, I tempted him to take an excursion with me. 
 We bet off by dawn to observe the rising sun from a very 
 high hill, about a mile to the souih of the point. The 
 eminence was gained in time to enjoy the finest spectacle 
 in nature. 
 
 On the particular spot where I was, I might have re- 
 mained a long time before 1 could perceive the various 
 olfects of the sun on mountains, woods, valleys, and waters. 
 The hei|;iit was so great, that I calculated the rays of the 
 sun could not strike the surface of the floods till they dart* 
 ed from the sun's rise of four hours. 
 
 Particular views of the river were various and beautiful 
 from where I stood, though interrupted every mile by tbe 
 binuosities occasioned by its many windings. 1 lound the 
 lime very favourable to form a judgment on the nature of 
 the surrounding country. The sun shining only on the 
 summits of hills, displayed their situation, course, and va- 
 riety, while the dark intervals pointed out the few valleys 
 and plains which lay commixed between them. The re- 
 marks 1 took accorded precisely w ith the observations I 
 have made respecting the mountainous State of the coun- 
 try. Nor could I see any part of sufficient extent for -a 
 day's excursion, with any tolerable degree of possibility 
 ©r ease, unless a strip of wood land which formed the Qiii« 
 
AMERICA. it» 
 
 bank, and met with but little obstruction for several miles? 
 I resolved to bend that way, and was about to departj 
 when Mr. Gardner informed me that on his first coming 
 to the Kenhaway he discovered an Indian grave on the 
 summit of which we stood. He pointed it out tome im- 
 mediately on the direct summit, but 1 had the mortifica- 
 tion to. perceive that it had undergone so rude a violation, 
 that I could distinguish nothing of its original form or 
 character, or any remains save two or three bones, which, 
 judging by analogy, evinced a man far exceeding ordinary 
 stature. Mr. G. could give me no satisfactory account, 
 either in regard to the contents of the grave, or to the 
 position and appearances of the members of which it wa» 
 composed: he did not even know the bearings of the head 
 and feet, in short, I understood that the violation was com- 
 mitted by a Kentuckyan, in quest of plunder, and that 
 Mr. G. did not see the ruin till the deed was done. The 
 instant I understood a Kentuckyan was concerned, I gave 
 up every enquiry, and contented myself with this other 
 recent evidence, that there formerly existed Indian nations 
 who buried their chiefs on the highest mountain tops, and 
 distant from the living and the dead. Perhaps, too, such 
 nations were worshippers of the sun, and by way of con- 
 tinuing to their prmces the proud pre-eminence they al- 
 lowed them in life, exposed their tombs to the first and 
 last rays of their high and mighty luminary* This idea 
 appears better grounded than on m<?re presumption : at 
 present, however, i cannot back it by any testimony, and 
 the fact is against me, that no Indian tribes cast of the Mis- 
 sissippi, have ever in their worship or tradition, held out aa 
 evidence that their ancestors at any time worshipped the 
 sun, or that they considered their tribes ever to have been 
 the descendants of that all powertul body. Tlie subject 
 must remain for elucidation, till the discovery of other 
 data and events. 
 
 We proceeded down the hill,and along the strip of a level 
 \90ody bank I traced for our excursion from the summrt. 
 We met with excellent sport. Several flocks of wild tur- 
 keys crossed us from the mountains to the water side, wc 
 killed two fine young birds, and could have killed forty had 
 we been disposed to enter on the commission ol unnecessa- 
 ry carnage. We also fell in with a great number ot quails, 
 remarkable for their size; and so fat and heavy, that they 
 V2 
 
J 74 TRAVELS IN 
 
 never attempted flight, bat ran and hid themselves SLmong 
 dry leaves and grass, to a very considerable distance from 
 where we at first started them. Independent oi what we. 
 killed, my dog ran down and caught several, two of which 
 being perfectly white, were to me a great curiosity. The 
 quails of this country are very tractable, soon domesticat- 
 ed, and easily kept to be killed for family use. 
 
 Our notice was frequently attracted by a number of 
 hogs ranging in a wild state. They multiply to a great de- 
 gree notwithbtanding that the wolves have no objection to 
 their flesh, and that panthers consider them as their nicest 
 diet. In this natural slate they attain considerable courage 
 and ferocity, to which, perhaps, their multiplication and 
 safety may be attributed. The sows we met with were sav- 
 age to such a degree that they firmly stood between us and 
 their young, till the latter scampered ofi' and concealed 
 theu>hi.elves with a skill which baffled the minutest search. 
 When a Utter is discovered and attacked by a panther, the 
 old so\y stands all the brunt, and maintains a fight of sufii- 
 cient duration to allow the young to disperse, though often 
 at the expense of her own life. Hogs attract so many wild 
 beasts about a house, that Mr. G. has given over keeping 
 any in a domestic way. When he lays up his winter pro- 
 vision, he selects hogs from the woods, and considers their 
 flesh much more delicate than that of home fed pork. Their 
 food in the woods consists generally of acorns, nuts, ber- 
 ries, ami roots, and occasionally on vermin, reptiles, and 
 snakes, of which last they are extravagantly fond. 
 
 Coming to a fine creek which descended from the moun- 
 }=ains, we halted, and made preparations to forward an ex- 
 cellent dinner, and repose during the violent heat of the 
 the day. We started again before six, and continued walk- 
 ing through a country interrupted with gullies, ridges, and 
 creeksj till near ten, when we made fires, erected tents, and 
 formed our establishment for the night. The place we had 
 chosen was the scite ot an old Indian village, as was mani- 
 fest from the number of mounds and other remains of an- 
 cient works extant around us. I turned to rest under my 
 small shed and near a good fire, full of the vague ideas, and 
 wide and wandering notions which the place, situation, and 
 circumstances irresistibly inspired. 1 slept in the midst of 
 mounds, whichsome thousands of years before were inhabit- 
 ed by men whose name and history were no longer on the 
 
AMERICA. 175- 
 
 face of the earth, and whose line and offspring I vainly 
 •sought for among existing nations. Overcome at length by 
 toil, and weary of fruitless conjectures, I fell into the sound- 
 est sleep, and might have remained for hours in that obli- 
 vion, had I not been startled up by cries such as we are 
 instructed to believe issue from spirits " confined fast in 
 fire, to howl forever in regions of eternal night." In an 
 instant we were up and armed. The cry however approach- 
 ed, and increased to an alarming degree ; the shrubs rust- 
 led, the leaves flew, and the pursuing and pursued, passed 
 us in apparent hundreds. The whole uproar, however, on- 
 ly was occasioned by a couple of wolves enjoying their 
 nocturnal recreation in the chase of a herd of deer* 
 
 They hunt in the style of the best dogs, but give tongue 
 with less melody. The Indians who have the first rate dogs, 
 cross the breed with the wolf, and have this purpose effect- 
 ed by tying the female dog to a tree, in the haunt of wt)lves 
 when she is iji season. Roused up again by a din not like- 
 ly to quit the ears in a short time, we pursued our way to 
 the Kenhaway, and having met with no very particulate 
 event, I am again at liberty to conclude. 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 Settlement of the French families removed fro7n GaUiopolis — 
 their mode of life and domesticated animals — A French 
 rural repast and dance — Navigation to Alexandria — ac~ 
 count of the town and its vicinage — Portsmouth — the Sci- 
 ota river — Chilicothe, principal town of the Ohio state — 
 difficult access to it — the Peckawee plains — a grand situa* 
 tion for a capital — antiquities of Chilicothe and barbarous 
 taste of' the inhabitants — the Governor, his worthy cha- 
 racter — slavery entirely abolished — its benejicial ejf'ects — 
 salt springs — run to Maysville. 
 
 Maysvilje, or Limestone Key, July, 1806. 
 ON leaving the Great Kenhaway, I descended without 
 interruption or stop twenty miles, when 1 made fast to the 
 right haad shore, immediately opposite Little Sandy Creeii. 
 
jr& TRAVELS IN 
 
 I brought too for the purpose of enquiring into the situa- 
 tion of the French families who abandoned Galliopolis iii 
 consequence of the imposition practised on them by the 
 vender of the lands, and the ill health they enjoyed while 
 on them. Opposite to the creek I have mentioned, and at 
 the place I landed, is a tract of land of twenty thousand 
 acres, extending eight miles on the river, granted by Con- 
 gress to these unfortunate settlers, as some indemnification 
 for the losses and injuries they had sustained ; and four 
 thousand acres adjoining, granted to M, Gervais, one of 
 the principals, for the same purpose. On this latter tract, 
 I understand, M. Gervais laid out a town named Burrs- 
 burgh, but it yet has to get an habitation and an inhabit 
 tant. 
 
 I found the settlers in something better health than at Gal- 
 liopolis. They dwell altogether along the river bank. They 
 pursue a mean system of agriculture. Their best exertion 
 only extends to a few acres of Indian corn and garden-stuff 
 to meet their rigid necessities^ They appear to have no idea 
 of farming, or to think, what I cortceive perfectly just, that 
 the price of produce is too contemptible to yield an equi- 
 valent for the labor and health necessarily wasted in bring- 
 ing it to growth and maturity. The management of 
 peach orchards suits their talents and habits, and these 
 they bring to profit and perfection. There are here two 
 peach distilleries at work, that vend about 3000 gallons of 
 peach brandy, the amount of which furnishes the settle- 
 ment with coffee, snuff, knives, tin ware, and other small 
 articles in demand among French emigrants I found the wo- 
 men constantly occupied in making anexcellent strong cot- 
 ton cloth, bluefor tlie men,and party- coloured forthemselves 
 and children. 1 took a walk down the entire settlement, 
 and was much pleased with the simple and primitive man- 
 ner of its residents. 'Fhe day is passed' in the coarser in- 
 dustry, the evening sitting in the house, or under the most 
 adjacent shade, the women spinning, sevvinT;, and knitting, 
 the men making and repairing their nets, gins, traps, and 
 the children playing around, and instructing their pet ani- 
 mals. 'I'he blue jay arriu^l at the art of speaking better 
 than any other bird. I perceived among them ; the paro- 
 quet also excelled in speaking; ; and the summer duck ex- 
 ceeded any thing I ever saw m point ot plumage and colour. 
 At one habitation were two beautiiul tame deer — one as 
 
AMERICA. i7r 
 
 -■white as snow, and the other spotted like a leopard. They 
 had each a collar and boll round ttie neck — went with the 
 cows to pasture m the day tune, an<i returned at the sound 
 of a conch shell to the protet^tion of the house tor the 
 night. 1 considered them such singularly interesting crea- 
 tures, that I made a proposition to purchase them, but was 
 turned (rom the intention by the clamour and lamentations 
 of the young people, who would by no means consent to 
 part with their Julie and Eveline. 
 
 Raccoons and opossums were common, and as tame as 
 any animals could be. The opossums were not enter- 
 tained on a mere principle of curiosity and pleasure: they 
 were kept for utility. They bred with great regularity, 
 and were esteemed better eating than a roasting pig — of 
 whose flavour and qualities they strongly partake, 1 also 
 took notice of a small aboriginal animal, called the Ground 
 or Indian Hog — whose sensibilities are £o little refined, 
 that no attention or caresses, can ever force from it a re- 
 ciprocity of manners, or make it refrain from snapping at 
 the hand extended with its daily food. I was very much 
 alarmed on approaching a house, at the door of which a 
 large cub-bear was hugging a child between his paws, and 
 rolling and tumbling with it on the ground. The mother 
 perceiving my apprehensions, exclaimed, " ! Monsieurf 
 lie craignez rien, ils sont bans amis." 
 
 It was sun set when I returned to my boat. I found a 
 number of persons directly on the bank above it, assembled 
 to converse with my man and Cuff. The manners of the 
 French towards the Indians, form a complete contrast to 
 those of the Americans. The French are sociable and 
 friendly to them, the Americans rude, distant and austere. 
 Jn consequence, the Indians carry on a profitable inter- 
 CK)urse with the one, while they studiously avoid, and man- 
 ifest contempt for the other. The French never receive 
 any injury or outrage from wandering tribes, while the A- 
 mericans stand in perpetual anxiety, if the Indian hunters 
 are known to be within fifty miles of them. The French 
 comprehending, from the manner I addressed them, that I 
 was not displeased with their appearance about the boat, 
 proposed with all imaginable gaiete de cceur^ to sup on the 
 ground, and have a little dance. I entered into their views 
 with a vivacity which shewed them hat 1 took an interest 
 ia their pleasures, and I turnished ray portion of the iu- 
 
178 TRAVELS) 11^ 
 
 tended fete in buiscuit, which was of the highest estima- 
 tion, as the settlement had been for several months without 
 ■fiovr-bread. The neighbouring houses soon provided their 
 quota of milk, cheese, fruit, and various xiandes, and three 
 youths with a flute and two violins, were prepared to strike 
 up after the rural repast. Never was supper more che(sr- 
 fut. never was society of so strange a melange seated on the 
 banks of La Belle Rivere. Old P>enchraen, lively as youth, 
 in large crimson caps; their wives still more animated, 
 ilressed in the obsolete times of Louis XlVth — the youth' 
 of both ^exes habited suiiant Vmage du patjs and mirth- 
 ful, as if " fortune smiled upon their birth," formed the 
 great outlines ot the picture, while numbers of the domes^ 
 ticated animals I have mentioned followed their masters, 
 and seemed " to crave their humble dole." Some with- 
 out apprehension or restraint, came into the circle, while 
 ©thers maintained a cautious distance, and feared to com- 
 mit themselves to the confidence of man. 
 
 Supper over, and the remains carried off, dancing com- 
 menced. Old and young at first joined with the utmost 
 demonstrations of felicity and mirth, at length the aged 
 and infirm sat down, while the youth danced cotillions for 
 at least two hours. The dancing was highly graceful, and 
 in as perfect tune and step as if the performers had beeii 
 the disciples of Vestris. Our festive scene was closed by 
 a performance of Cuff's — he gave us in a grand stile a war, 
 funeral, and marriage dance, which the French had the 
 complaisance to applaud^ though the words, ^^ quel horreur ! 
 quelle abomination! Sacre Dieu ! le Sauvage !" were tittered 
 from every mouth. At twelve o'clock we separated, and 
 with as many adieus and souvenez vous de moi as if our in- 
 timacy had been for years, and our future friendship to be 
 eternal. 
 
 I left the settlement the fallowing morning, much pleas- 
 ed with ray visit, and the improved opinion it allowed me 
 to entertain of a people whom 1 had to commisserate, from 
 the accounts 1 heard of them at Galliopolis. I sincerely 
 hope that the place may become healthy in time, and ad- 
 mit to their original views some small degree of realization 
 and success. 
 
 'JVelve miles below the French Grant, I came before 
 the little Sciota, a small rivulet on thesameside, from the 
 rnoutii of which a bar of rocks exteadis half ^ross the O - 
 
AMERICA. 179 
 
 hio. The channel at the upper end of tlie bar is near the 
 Kentucky bhore — at the lower end it is close round the 
 rocks. About half a mile lower down 1 came to another 
 ,bar, extending more than half across the river. Opposite 
 the bar on the Kentucky shore, I found the water so shal- 
 low, that I was apprehensive of striking every moment. 
 Working midway between the point of the bar, and the 
 'Kentucky shore, 1 recovered a good channel, and without 
 sustaining any damage, though for some time my sound- 
 ings were but from two feet to eighteen inches. 
 
 Running eight miles from the Little, I arrived before the 
 Big Sciota, a fine river on the right-hand shore, and drop- 
 ed under Alexandria, a small town situated on the lower 
 point, formed by the junction of the two rivers. Having 
 secured the boat, I went up to the town, intending tomaka 
 ^rom it some few excursions. I give you their result, with- 
 out fatiguing you with their detail. Alexandria contains 
 about forty houses and three hundred inhabitants, Dutch, 
 German's, Scotch, and Irish. While it was the seat of jus- 
 tice, and only place of deposit for the merchandize of the 
 -extensive settlements of the upper parts of the Sciota, it 
 ^rose with great rapidity, and held out such demonstrations 
 of success, that numbers settled in the town and neighbour- 
 .hood, and bought town lots at such an extravagant price 
 and rash avidity, that none remained on the hands of the 
 original proprietors. The building of a court-hou^ aug- 
 mented the spirit of speculation and settlement, apd all 
 went on to admiration, till the state legislature decreed, 
 that the courts, offices, &c. should be removed across the 
 mouth of the Sciota to a new town called Portsmouth, be- 
 ing a situation more eligible for that purpose, and as a de- 
 pot for merchandize and produce. In this manner did a 
 stroke of the pen sign the ruin of Alexandria, and all the 
 speculating forestallers of its adjacent lands and lots. A 
 dutchman who had purchased a number c^f excellent build- 
 ing grounds, proposed very seriously to " give me my choice 
 for a strong pair of shoes." So sudden a fall is felt severe- 
 ly by the inhabitants in general ; they sunk their means in 
 giving the town a phlethoric rise, and are now without the 
 capacity of removing. They disclaim sadly against the de- 
 cree of the State Legislature, and say it was ordained t« 
 flatter General Massey, who is a member of the State, and 
 ^^roprietor of the township of Portsmouth, On passing 
 
180 TRAVELS IN 
 
 <»ver to Portsmouth in my canoe, I heard a more hojiest 
 and probable story. Alexandria is insulated every sprirrg, 
 and from lying below the mouth of the river, is not calco- 
 lated for a place of depot or business. 
 
 Portsmouth is in its first infancy. As the citizens of A- 
 lexandria must ultimately remove to it or perish, and as it 
 commands numerous advantages, both local and general, 
 it is reasonable to conceive that it miist become a place of 
 consequence and resort. 
 
 The Sciota is two hundred and fifty yards wide at its 
 mouth, which is in the latitude 38° 22' and at the Salt- 
 lick towns, two hundred miles above the mouth, it is yet 
 one hundred yards wide. To these towns it is navigable 
 for loaded batteaux,aRd an eastern branch which it possesses, . 
 affords navigation almost to its source in the confines of 
 Canada and the great northern lakes. 
 
 The lands immediately on the Sciota, are exceedingl/. 
 rich and fertile, but subject to inundation, and consequent- 
 ly capable of generating both fever and flux. 
 
 Chilicothe, the principal town of the Ohio State, and the 
 seat of government, lies about sixty miles up the Sciota. 
 Having heard so much of the town and government, I de- 
 termined on passing a day or two there, and judging for ' 
 myself. I suffered severely for my curiosity. My route 
 lay through a wilderness so thick, deep, dark, and impene- 
 trable, that the light, much less the air of heaven, was near- 
 ly denied access. We were, likewise, almost stung to mad- 
 ness by musketoes. So numerous were these persecutors, 
 that we walked amidst them as in a cloud, and suffered to 
 an excess not possible to describe. On encamping in the 
 evening I was in hopes the fire would drive them off, but 
 was disappointed ; they continued during the night to hover 
 over their prey, and remained buzzing about ourears, pre- 
 venting the possibility of repose. 
 
 Pursuing my route the next morning, I could discover 
 the cause of such myriadsof musketoes. The great body of 
 the country to a considerable distance west of the Sciota is 
 a wood-swamp, a quality of land eminently favourable for 
 the insect tribe, noxious reptiles, and inveterate disease. 
 The evening of my second day's journey I arrived at Chili- 
 cothe, where I put up at an excellent inn, and soon lost. 
 tiVe impression of all my sufferings. 
 
 Chilicothe ig in appearance a liuurislilng little town, coTi-., 
 
AMERICA. 181 
 
 feining about one hundred and fifty houses neat and well 
 built, several of them occupied by the servants of the State, 
 such as governor, attorney, solicitor, and surveyor gene- 
 rals, clerks ot the treasury, judges of the supreme court, 
 attorneys &c. 1 observe it to be in appearance flourishing, 
 because the principle of itsriseis more fortuitous than per- 
 manent, and must in a year or two vanish entirely away. 
 Like Alexandria, its fate is to be decided by a decree, or 
 state act, which is shortly to fix on a more central situa- 
 tion for the deliberations of the legislature, and for the re- 
 moval of the ofificers and offices of government. When this 
 takes place Chilicotiie will be at once abandoned, and the 
 traveller who follows me will hardly find an inhabitant in. 
 jt to teil him when it rose and how it fell : when it flourish- 
 ed, unrl by what means it so soon decayed. This prema- 
 ture and speed}' ruin must come upon it as well from its 
 bemg abandonci by the bulk of its present wealthy inhabit 
 tants, as from the situatu)n being sickly, and the adjacent 
 couritry not being so rich as to inviie emigrants to settle 
 •upon It in any numbers. Why the State Government do 
 not name the Pickawee Plains for the seat of their capital, 
 and the seat or their deliberations, is a matter of surprise. 
 I rode to these plains iu about four hours from Chilicothe, 
 and do not conceive that the world entire could furnish so 
 grand, so great, or so sublime a positinn for a capital or 
 great flourishing town. I'hough a plain, it inclines gradu- 
 ally from its centre to its side, and commands a view over 
 -vood-lands, and meadows of great magnificence and ex- 
 tent. It lies but three miles from the river, and has in its 
 vicinity excellent water and a number of salt-licks. PvC- 
 turning from this ride through some small meadows of great 
 beauty overun with flowers, 1 passed through a place call- 
 ed the old Indian town, the remains of which were too im- 
 perfect to merit investigation, and on entering Chilicolhe, 
 I found an ancient im>und was suffered to remain in thc- 
 centre of the town both as a monument of former times, 
 and of the taste of the present inhabitants. 1 was encour- 
 aging opu-^ions highly flattering to the citizens who appear- 
 ed to honour antiquity so much as to build round the base 
 of one of its most interesting subjects, till, on taking the 
 circumference of the mounds, 1 discovered that they had 
 begun to fell the timber from the sides and summit, and to 
 <:artf off the mould to fill up hojes in the streets, or to 
 
 Q 
 
182' TRAVELS IN 
 
 throw open their gardens and cultivated ground. The r(i- 
 spectl had commenced to entertain for the inhabitants fled 
 before this testimony of the depravity of their taste and 
 vul^^arity of their minds. Never did art or nature before 
 accord to a town so beautiful, so antique, or so interesting 
 an ornament. An ornament connected with the history of 
 the remotest times, with men and events no longer known to 
 posterity, and with feelings and circumstances which ought 
 to have endeared it to the heart and made it an object fit 
 for the most sacred contemplation of the mind. 
 
 Previously to my ride to the Pickawee's, I waited on the 
 governor (Mr. Tiffin) with a letter recommending me to 
 his attention. 1 was handed a card which desired my com- 
 pany to dinner on the day of my return. I readily com- 
 plied and met at his house nearly all the officers of the 
 iState. They were mostly from Eastern America, and of 
 better manners and education than I had for some time 
 met. ihe governor, very fortunately for the State, is noth- 
 ing more than a plain, well informed, honest man. Some 
 out of derision and others out of resj^ect call him a religi- 
 ous character. The latter class have all the honour and 
 justice of the appellation, as no state in the union progresses 
 more in prosperity, or is so distinguished for morals, integ- 
 rity, and public worth. The simple and sophisticated prin- 
 ciples of the governor pervade the whole State. 
 
 The first act of the Ohio State legislature, advised by 
 this honest man, was to abate the spirit of the master, and 
 to allow that of the slave to rise from the dust : not to 
 mollify his condition as in other countries by gradual pro- 
 ceedings, but at once to declare him free and independent 
 as themselves, equally ejitilled to the auspices of heaven, 
 and to the protection of the laws and immunities of their 
 emancipated state. The act immediately destroyed the 
 whole commerce and distinction between master and slave, 
 which was a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous pas- 
 sions, the most unremitting des]M)tism on the one part, and 
 degrading submission on the other. To this benign and hu- 
 mane proceeding may be attributed the rapid pro>«perity 
 of the State, ^lany of those whohad ardently wished for 
 the regeneration of the^egro race came and settled in the 
 province which declared them free ; others followed men 
 whose example and probity they admired, and the country 
 possesses an industrious population improved by the morut^ 
 
AMERICA. 183 
 
 exefcises of the body and the mind. Whereas in the Vit-^ 
 giman, Kentuckyan, Tenessee, and Caroiinean States, the 
 whole labour of the citizens is to storm, to give a loose to 
 the worst of passions, and get their work performed by ex- 
 ercising a tyranny over others which they stamp with a va- 
 riety of horrid and painful peculiarities. I also learned 
 while at table, where the conversation led to points on 
 which I expressed a desire of information, that the gover- 
 nor has directed the attention of the legislature to the im- 
 provement of the penal code; to the more equal distribu- 
 tion of punishment, and the simplification of the law by 
 casting out all extraneous expressions and matter, and by 
 rejecting every obsolete and technical word. The governor's 
 notion is that the people ought to understand the language ^ 
 of an act as well as the lawyers who benefit by its miscon- 
 ceptions and abuse, and that a law, in order to be useful 
 should be simple and uttered in words intelligent to tlie 
 vulgar and unlettered mind. I conceive that this conduct 
 will be followed by a very salutary effect. It certainly 
 promises to be productive of understanding and to the dis- 
 covery of truth without the interventions of learning or 
 the inter^rence of many heads. The world wanted to see 
 a trial of this enlightened kind ; a few years will decide its 
 success, and I sincerely desire it rfiay, in the proportion 
 which the intentions of the governor so easily merit. 
 
 r understood from the gentlemen of our party who had 
 explored the whole State, that the best land lay to the 
 west of GHilicothe; that it was fitted to an incredible de- 
 gree for all the purposes of agriculture Rnd grazing stock of 
 every kind except sheep, which could not be kept from 
 panthers and wolves that were every where in great num- 
 bers. To annihilate this last grievance a premium of re- 
 compence is offered by the government for every panther's 
 skin. 
 
 1 left the governor instructed and pleased with the time'" 
 I passed under his plain, yet hospitable roof, and prepared 
 a canoe to descend the Sciota the succeeding morning, 
 with much exertion I got down by the noon of the second 
 day. 
 
 The principal salt-prings towards the head waters of the 
 Sciota arc the property of the United States, They yield 
 a profit of twenty-five per cent, on capital laid out, and all 
 other incidental expences. The remains of a few Indiau- 
 
184. TRAVELS IH 
 
 nations inhabit the head of the river adjoining the lakes, 
 and the banks from the lakes to the Ohio abound with In- 
 dian monuments to such a degree, that it is evident they 
 were formerly the favourite resort and residence of nume- 
 rous tribes. 
 
 1 left the Sciota with very little regret : the heat, the in* 
 sects and the vermin annoyed me so much that I was glad to 
 push into the middle of the great current, and pursue my 
 way to the town, at which I arrived in two easy days run, 
 from the Sciota a distance of sixty-two miles, in which I 
 passed three islands and several cr'-^.eks of no account, ex* 
 cept Salt Lick Creek, jiist above the mouth of which is a 
 town called Vanne Ville, where considerable salt works are 
 tarried on, and salt made of a good quality. This creek 
 is on the Kentucky shore. 1 should also have remarked 
 Ihat ten miles above Maysville the town of Manchester 
 stands on the right hand shore. It is not thriving, though 
 jt is pleasantly situated, and commands a delightful and 
 extensive view down the Ohio. Immediately above it is a 
 .chain of islands, three in number, well timbered, but lying 
 .^0 low to be occupied by the farmer. 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 ,Mo)/sville orLimestoneToum — Liberty fo-xn — inferior of Ken- 
 tucky — deceitful prospect — Wa'shiugton — Maya Lick, a 
 .Halt-spring — Salt Licks^ uhy so called — the Blue Lick 
 — Millersburgh — Paris. 
 
 Maysville, or Liniestoue Kcj, July, IBCT^. 
 THIS is the oldest and most accustomed landing place 
 ^n the whole State of Kentucky, and the termination of the 
 main road from Lexington and other interior towns. The 
 distance to Lcxiiigton is sixty-three miles, and from Pitts- 
 burg four hundred and t^wenty-five. The creek just above 
 railed Limestone creek, is inconsiderable of itself, but af- 
 lt)rds in high water a small harbour for boats. The land- 
 ing is a good one, lying in the bend of the river. The towiv 
 contains about seventy houses, and supplies accommoda- 
 ^Aon for the storage of goods deposited here before they ars 
 
AMERICA. 135 
 
 received into waggons which take them to Lexington, 
 whence they are distributed through the entire State. Ifc 
 would appear from the commanding situation of the town, 
 from its being a place of deposit, and from the excellence 
 of its landing, that it ought to rise into eminence and be- 
 come a place of mercantile importance, and it possibly 
 would, if nature and circumstances had not otherwise de- 
 termined. It is seated on the segment of a circle circum- 
 scribed to a few acres, cut and intersected by ravines, and 
 bounded by the river in front, and by stupendous moun- 
 tains in the rear. The town has taken but fifteen years to 
 arrive at the extent of its limits and the acme of its vigour; 
 and ten more will close the history of its decline and fall. 
 The cause of a declension so rapid is owing to a town be- 
 ing laid off by the State legislature, about a mile above 
 .Maysville, in a spacious and pleasant bottom of the Ohio, 
 which possesses the advantages of extent, water and excel- 
 lent roads into the interior of the country. This new town, 
 called Liberty, is progressing fast. Some of the most ac- 
 tive and speculative inhabitants have removed to it from 
 Maysville, and a ship yard, under the direction of Mes- 
 sieurs Gallaghus' is established, which has already turned 
 off the stocks, and launched fit for sea, five vessels, the last 
 of which was a fine ship, of three hundred and fifty tons J 
 
 From Limestone, and of course from Liberty, to the 
 Tiiouth of the Ohio and down the Mississippi, loaded boats 
 can go at all seascms, unless in time of ice, without any 
 difficulty, except at the falls and one or two other places. 
 At this period however, and at all times when the water is 
 entirely low, the navigation is excessively tedious, 
 
 1 have just returned from a tour of ten days into the in- 
 terior of Kentucky. I give you the substance of it in a& 
 few words as possible. 
 
 My landlord at Maysville accommodated me with a tol- 
 erable good horse, but the hill was so steep at the back of 
 the town, that I had to lead him up it for fear of blowing 
 him in the early part of his journey. Ariiving on the 
 summit, 1 was struck with a prospect which has deceived 
 and deluded many a one betore me. It was a plain, thick- 
 ly settled with excellent well built farm houses, and rais- 
 ing wheat and corn of a strength- and luxuriance perhaps 
 unknown to any other country than the opposite Ohio 
 
186' TRAVELS IN 
 
 State. This prospect makes a most infatuated ijnpressioii 
 on these poor emigrants destined iorKentuck), and who- 
 for seven hundred miles before had iheir viev\ intercepted 
 by mountains and chains of mountains, extending through- 
 the country, or elevating their heads io the skies. Struck 
 with the beauty and richness of the valley, at length seen, 
 they would think the land of promise at last obtained ; 
 bless their fate, and pursue their journey to meet with oth- 
 er chains of mountains, and other endless succession of 
 hills. The mountain descended, 1 lost sight of the valley^, 
 and gained the summit of a ridge which conducted me to 
 AVashington, a town four times as large as Maysville, and 
 but four miles distance from that place. 
 
 It appears that Washington was built and rose into mag- 
 nitude at a period when the Kentuckyans, terrified at the 
 warlike spirit and just depradations of the Indians, were 
 afraid to dwell upon the river shores, where canoes could 
 silently arrive in the night and call upon them for a sud- 
 den retribution, or inlhct upon them a severe revenge ! 
 Since that period it has retained its importance, and prob- 
 ably improved, owing to the necessary contraction of 
 .Maysville, and the antipathy of the former to the moun- 
 tain lying between the cultivated grounds and that town. 
 
 Mayslick is a salt-spring formerly worked, since aban- 
 doned in consequence of the discovery of le;.-s feeble wa- 
 ters. It is yet interesting from having been the resort of 
 millions of animals who came there to purity their blood 
 at annual intervals and return to the great barrens, swamps,., 
 wildernesses, and cane- breaks, in search of favorite pastures 
 though pregnant with putridity and disease. I amused 
 myself more than an hour in discovering vestiges of facts- 
 which' occurred in the most remote antiquity. No vege- 
 table whatever grows near the Lick. The soil fit for veg- 
 etation being trampled down below the surface, and a blue 
 clay trampled up is perhaps the cause of this phenomenon. 
 At all events it cannot be attributed to the bait and sul- 
 phur of the ground, as Other grounds are known, saturated 
 with those qualities, to produce vegetation in a rich abun- 
 dance. In the vicinity of the spring are several holes- 
 marked in such a manner as to proclaim at once that they 
 were formed by animals wallowing in them after they had 
 bathed and satiated there, pass on for the waters of the 
 spring. Some batiks in the neighbourhood arc hollowed 
 
AMERICA. 187 
 
 mit in a semilunar manner from the action of beasts rub- 
 bing against them and carrying olf quaatitiPi ol the earth 
 on their hides, wet, with the view of ternpeiing the mould 
 and torniing a coat of mail to resist the stings of wasps and 
 all the armed insect tribe. One of those scooped out hol- 
 lowed banks a]'peared like a side of a hill from which one 
 hundred thousand loads of soil might have been carried off, 
 and the height of the waste of the bank b}*^ friction was so 
 great that 1 could not reach it within ten feet, though aid- 
 ed by a pole seven teet long. I admit that some of the 
 upper part might have washed down and given the place a 
 space not required by attrition, but the impression made 
 on the mind from genei'al appearances of the concavity 
 which cannot be described, was favorable to an idea that 
 the concave s\ve?p was made in the bent by animals of un- 
 common height and magnitude ; probably by the mam« 
 moth, whose bones have been often found not far distant 
 from the spot. Other substances within the erea of the 
 salt ground evince their having been' licked and worn by 
 the action of the tongue. It was these indications which 
 induced the first settlers to give the name of salt licks to 
 saline springs. They abound at Mayslick, and are express- 
 ed on stones with more precision than on the banks or 
 surface of the impregnated earth, th^ impressions of which 
 diminish with the encrease of time. The indention on one 
 stone I found to be four inches deep, that is in its greatest 
 concavity, and seven inches wide. On the same rock were 
 several lesser indentions, and on other rocks, after more 
 minute research, I discovered several more concavities^ 
 both larger and smaller than what I have described. The- 
 stone appeared to me to be a blue limestone either impreg- 
 niited with salt, or receiving it on its surface, from the va-* 
 pours issuing from the spring, and failing to the earth from 
 incapacity to rise in consequence of its densit) and weight. 
 'io me the taste of sulphur appeared to predominate in the 
 sj)ring more than that of salt ; and as the salt water rose 
 and blended with the fresh, it ditfused itself in black ck'uds 
 through the surface and discolored it as far as the salt in- 
 dulation could extend. 
 
 Having made these few remarks, I mounted my horse, 
 and continued the road to Lexington, till I arrived at a. 
 place called the Blue lick, both from the colour of the 
 stoiie and the clay brought to the surface by the coustafc'i 
 
188 TRAVELS IN 
 
 trampling of the thousands of animals which formerly fre- 
 quented the springs. Here also vegetation entirely ceases. 
 The blue springs are now in operation ; the water has not 
 much strength ; nine hundred gallons are required to make 
 a bushel ot salt, the price of which at the furnace is two 
 dollars and a half. The indications of rolling in the mire, 
 attrition of banks, and indentions in rocks, from licking 
 their surface, are more numerous at the Blue than at 
 Mayslick ; and an old settler informed me, that on search- 
 ing for the best fountains of salt, bones were discovered,- 
 which required from four to six men to remove. One en- 
 tire defence, or Mammoth's horn was raised up and lay on 
 the bank till knocked to pieces by persons coming along 
 and who wished to Jind out what it was. 
 
 I pursued my journey for the remainder of the day with- 
 out any particular occurrence to divert ray attention till I' 
 arrived late in the evening at a little town called Millers- 
 burg, where I proposed passing the night. Millersburgh is 
 thirty-seven miles from Limestone, and the rnad, without 
 any essential exception, is a mere buffalo track, follo^ving 
 skillfully the ridges of hills and mountains, to avoid deep 
 ravines and swamps, which occasionally occupy the few 
 interstices and intervals which lie between tliem. Noth- 
 ing like a plain did I see the whole day, save what I no- 
 ticed in the morning, or any other prospect whatever, than 
 one mighty scene of endless mountains, covered with pon- 
 derous and gloomy wood. I did not even meet with so- 
 much interval land as could suffice a single farm, and had 
 1 not refreshed at the Licks, \ might have fasted till my 
 arrival at the town. And yet that part of the country is 
 described by Imley and others, as a lawn producing shrubs 
 and flowers, and fit for the abode of gods instead of man,- 
 Had such writers been aware that their romance might 
 occasion miseries in real life, 1 am willing to think that 
 they would have controuled the fancy which produced it, 
 and have given the world plain and useful truths, which 
 would served the unfortunate emigrant as a faithful and 
 honest guide, in the place of offering him flattering and 
 fallncious images, the pursuit of which winds up his histo- 
 ry of calamity, disappointment, and destruction ; and he 
 .discovers the nature of romance at the price of his happi- 
 iiess and fortune. 
 
AMERICA. 189 
 
 After passing the night very uncomfortably at Millers- 
 imrgh, a complete Kentucky iniif 1 next morning set out 
 and rode to Paris, which was but eight miles from Millers- 
 burgh, to breakfast, and had to notice a vast amelioration 
 in the land, and a sensible disposition in the mountains to 
 subside into plains and valleys of greater range and extent 
 than any I had hitherto seen in the State. The ground 
 about Paris, notwithstanding, was broken with several hills, 
 and the town itself stood on the high bank of a consider- 
 able creek, which gave the face of the country a still more 
 interrupted appearance. On the whole, the situation wa» 
 beautiful and highly advantageous, as the creek supplied 
 falls for two mills, and water of a good quality for domestic 
 and other purposes. Paris contains about one hundred 
 and fifty houses, and being the county town of Bourbon, 
 has a court-house and other oirlces of justice. When I 
 rode up to the inn, a negro girl took my horse to the sta- 
 ble, and said she was hostler ! 
 
 I arrived at Paris at so early an hour that few of the \ 
 family were stirring, and no breakfast appeared likely to ' 
 be had for some time. This reminded me of a very disa- 
 greeable custom prevailing all through America. No in- 
 dividual traveller can get breakfast, dinner or supper, at 
 times of his own choosing. He must wait for the family 
 hours,, and till all the strangers assemble and sit down to- 
 gether. Those who arrive after this species of public 
 breakfast, have to wait for dinner, and such as miss the 
 dinner hour must fast till night. They have other customs 
 calculated also to annoy ; for instance, on entering the 
 Paris inn, I expressed a wish to have breakfast as soon as 
 possible, as I had to reach Lexington to dinner. And to 
 expedite the breakfast, 1 begged to have nothing prepared 
 but tea or coffee. These instructions availed me nothing. 
 Children were dispatched after fowls which took to the 
 gardens and fields in vain to prolong their minutes, which 
 ■were numbered, they were caught, plucked, and put on 
 the fire, part of which was previously occupied baking 
 bread, frying ham, &c. &:c. After the expiration of two 
 hours, a table was set out with knives, forks, pickles, SiCo 
 &c. covered with several dishes of cold and hot meat, 
 while the tea was held at a distance, to be handed at in- 
 tervals for drink. I made my breakfast on tea and heavy 
 kot bricks, and could not resist telling the landlady that 
 
ISO TRAVELS IN 
 
 she vvonld have spared herself much trouble and given me 
 much time, had she made but a cup of tea in the first in*- 
 stance. She observed, that might be, but that she was 
 always used to do as she had done, and altered her wayi 
 for nobody. I asked her what was to pay, and cast a dol- 
 lar upon the table, enraged at the low state of some minds^ 
 their attachment to wrong, and determination to persist in 
 evil and dull habits, which they know to be adverse to 
 their prosperity and improvement. She took up the dol- 
 lar, and pitching it to a negro, desired him to chop it, 
 ^' Chop it ! ma'am I want it changed." She made no re- 
 ply, but, going to the man desired him to chup out ol the 
 dollar one quarter and one eight ; in other words, to cut 
 out her charge of one shilling and threepence for my 
 breakfast, and ninepence for my horse. The man did this 
 with great dexterity, and returned me the dollar with 
 nearly one fourth cut out, with an angle running to the 
 middle, which gave it the appearance of three fourths of a 
 circle. Learning that this was the legal mode ot procur- 
 ing change, 1 got the same dexterous person to. transform 
 a couple more dollars with his chissel, into quarters, 
 eighths, and sixteenths. He executed that service in a few 
 moments ; 1 received a handful of small change, which I 
 found of advantage on the road. 
 
 Supplied with change and fresh information, I left Paris, 
 and arrived at Lexington, through a country for the most 
 part fertile, and cultivated in the proportion of one enclos- 
 ed acre to one thousand waste. A very great pro})ortion 
 in favour of agriculture above any part I have seen since 
 my descent of the river, or since my arrival on the west 
 side of the Alleghany mountains, farewell, 1 shall resuaie 
 this route in my next. 
 
AMERICA, jgt 
 
 LETTER XXr. 
 
 Lexington described — Churches — University — Amusements 
 — Concerts and balls — The inhabitants, male and female 
 — Trade — The merchants, their great wealth — The mar- 
 ket — Expence of boarding — The town likely to decrease — 
 climate— fevers — their causes — soil — farms, produce, S^c, 
 — A catacomb with mummies — manner of embalming, 
 
 Maysville, or Limestone, July, 1806. 
 
 LEXINGTON stands in that portion of the state of 
 Kentucky which has been so celebrated for its excessive 
 fertility, pre-eminent beauty, and abundant advantages. 
 It is the most flourishing, and with but one exception, the 
 largest inland town in the United States. The site is a 
 valley running between the rise of grounds, which undulate 
 like the sea, and subside into plains whose inclination is 
 inerely sufficient to cast off the waters without confining 
 the circulation of air or circumscribing the prospect a- 
 round. No situation could be more favoujable, except 
 for the absence of water. 
 
 The town is composed of upwards of three hundred 
 houses ranged into streets intersecting each other at right 
 angles, i'hey are principally built of brick, in a hand- 
 some modern manner, and many of them are furnished 
 with some pretentions to European elegance. The pub- 
 lic buildings consist of a University, Court-house, iMaiket, 
 liull. Bank, and four Churches, it they can be so called, 
 one Luthcrean, one Presbyterian, and two sects of Method- 
 ists. The inhabitants shew demonstrations ol civilization ; 
 but at particular times, on Sundays and market-days, they 
 give a loose to their dispositions, and exhibit many traits 
 that should exclusively belong to untutored savages. Their 
 churches have never been finished, and they have all the 
 ^lass struck out by boys in the day, and the inside torn up 
 .^y rogues ajui prostitutes who frequent them at night. 
 
 The university is a good brick building, supported by 
 public bounty, elumosinary collections, and private mu- 
 nificence. Some ;2cntlei:ien in London have furnished it 
 
392 TRAVELS IN 
 
 with books and mathematical instruments. It lias a prii^- 
 cipal, two Latin and Greek, and one English and Mathe- 
 matical Proiessor, These gentlemen are appointed by the 
 governors ot the university, who are the head officers of 
 *^tate and citizens of the town ot" Lexington, The univer- 
 sity is not calculated to lodge the scholars v ho frequent it ; 
 they amount to one hundred, and are boarded in the town 
 for sixteen pounds each per ani.um, washiiig and lodging 
 inclusive. The course of study and the plan oi the uni- 
 versity is after the manner of a good English grammar 
 school, and turns out young men, who are far from being 
 contemptible scholars. 
 
 The prevailing individual amusements of Lexington are 
 clrinkingBnd gambling, at billiards and cards. Every idle 
 hour is spent at taverns and billiard-rooms. The public 
 anuisernents consist of concerts and balls, which are well 
 attended, and by a company not expected to bu seen on a 
 transmontane state. 'I'he ladies -x})res.s in their appear- 
 ance and manners a va^t superiority over the men. They 
 are in general better educated, anti by leading a temperaie 
 life ot serene repose, they pr-'i^e^ve a tranquil a;ia healthy 
 appearance, which the men tbrteit at an early pe* io.i, by a 
 propensity to drinking, and by .i.baiidoning themsrives at 
 all times to turbulent and unruly passions. The women 
 arc tair and florid — many of theni mii^ht be considered as 
 rude beauties, but none of them have any pretensions to 
 that cha>te and' elegant form of person and countenance 
 which distmguish our country women and other ladies of 
 Europe. The absence of that irresistible grace arid ex- 
 pression may be attributed lo their dist.ince from improved 
 society, and to the savage taate and vvilsarity of the men. 
 
 A small party of rich citizens are endeavouring to with- 
 draw tlicmselves from the multitude, or to draw a line of 
 distinction between themselves as gens comrne ilfaut and 
 the canaille. The public at idvge conceive this a danger- 
 ous innovation ; they wish men to continue all vagrants a- 
 like, and tear that the light of a tVw characters distinguish-' 
 ed by a superiority of virtue and integrity, will exhibit ge- 
 neral deformity in stronger colours, and render public vice 
 more great and flagitioui than what their conduct could 
 wish it toapjiear. The present better sort of persons con- 
 sist of six or eight famdies, who live in a handsome man-. 
 ner,'keep livery servants, and admit no persons to their ta-i 
 
a:vi ERICA. m 
 
 h\e of vulgar manners or suspicions cliaracter. As wealth 
 encreases in Kentucky, the line of distinction will extend 
 through Lexington to the minor commercial towns, and 
 may possibly pervade the country after a lapse of some 
 centuries. 
 
 The principal business of the town and state is conduct- 
 ed by the heads of the houses emancipated from the vulgar 
 bondage of the people. That business consists of ordering 
 immense quantities of goods from Philadelphia and Balti- 
 more, and in bartering the same through the State for pro- 
 duce, which they forward to Frankfort and Lanesville by 
 land, and from thence to New Orleans by water. The 
 goods are all British of every kind, and the produce takeh 
 in exchange coubists of flour, corn, hemp, flax, cotton, to- 
 bacco, ginsang, &c. and of live hogs, pork, hams, and ba- 
 con. The merchants of Lexington not only supply their 
 own state, but that of Tenassg, which lies to the southward 
 of them, and part of {'he Indian territory, which lies to the 
 north. In consequence they are becoming extremely 
 wealthy, possessing from fifteen to forty thousand dollars a 
 year, and are instrumental to the dissemination of wealth 
 in the town, and all the collateral state settlements. 
 
 The market is abundantly supplied with every article of 
 provision, found in the first markets of Europe, except fish ; 
 I, cannot give you a better idea of its cheapness, than by 
 stating certain demands of publicans and others. The 
 highest taverns charge half a dollar a day for lodging and 
 three repasts, each o( which consists of a profusion of meat 
 and game, with vegetables of various s-'Tts. The morning 
 and evening meal has in addition, cofiee and tea, which are 
 handed wlien called for, being considered as no more than 
 auxiliaries to the least. Interior taverns find every accom- 
 modation for two dollars a week, and boarding houses fur- 
 nish the same from fifty to one hundred dollars \ev year. 
 Under these considerations it might be conceived, that 
 Lexington must become a place of magnitude and import- 
 ance. There are however, circumsta'nces which relume en- 
 couragement to such an idea. The State of Kentucky is ' 
 not likely to increase in population. I may even be nearer 
 to truth in the assertion, that its uunibcrs will decrease and ' 
 rapidly decline. There was a time when its reputation 
 "was so great, that the stream of emigration set into it from 
 the tlftst, anil deposited here the riches and the people of 
 R 
 
J9^ THAVELS IN 
 
 numerous provinces. This people and others brouglit into 
 the west by the same flood, in ihe process of a tew years 
 ^explored other regions, and opt^ned avenues to other coun- 
 tries and climes more generally lertile and capable of sup- 
 plying the comforts and necessaries of life. jNlany have 
 gone north to the Ohio, some North and West to the In- 
 dian territory, and thousands have passed to the South to 
 people the Tenasse, and the remotest forests of Louisiana. 
 ^This spirit of emigration still prevailing, it is evident that 
 the town and state are no longer susceptible of rising into 
 eminence, and that t^eir decline and degeneracy in wealth 
 are reasonably to be apprehended. 
 
 In regard to the climate the winter is mild ; snow ami 
 frost seldom continue above .three or four weeks ; the 
 spring is dry, interrupted only by the necessary refresh- 
 ment of occasional showers ; the summer is not violently hot, 
 being tempered by a perpetual breeze; and the autumn is 
 distinguished by the name of the Second Summer. Con- 
 trouled by these facts, the public cry is that Kentucky must 
 be healthy, thatenjoying such a climate, it cannot be other- 
 wise, and that no country of the globe can boast such sa- 
 lubrity and such an atmosphere. It is my misfortune to 
 have to dispute and to deny these facts — which I too wish- 
 ed to cherish, but which vanish before investigation and en- 
 quiry. A spring, summer, and fall fever regularly visits 
 the town of Lexington, and every settlement of the State; 
 and at the moment I was in Lexington a malignant disease 
 raged with such violence at the town of Frankfort, but 
 twenty-four miles distant, that all intercourse and commu- 
 nication between that town and country were suspended 
 and cutoff. Louisville, another town on the Ohio, has lost 
 all its original settlers in the period of ten years ; and eve- 
 ry other town and portion of the Slate are affected with 
 periodical complaints. 
 
 On reflection and conviction of the charms of the sea- 
 sons, I am forced into the opinion that the climate itself is 
 healthy, but subject to corruption from local circumstan- 
 ces and mephitic vapour, introduced into the atmosphere 
 from the southern and westei*. swamps and stagnated wa- 
 ters. There is nothing more common in Kentucky in the 
 fine seasons than to meet with bodies of warm air, which, 
 though they pass rapidly by, very forcibly strike the senses. 
 Their heat is considerably beyond that of the human body. 
 
AMERICA. 195 
 
 "ihey have been calculated to ha about twenty or thirty 
 feet diadieter horizontally. Of their height there is no 
 experience, but probably they are globular volumes rolled 
 along with the wind, and generated in the cypress swamps 
 of the corrupt provinces of Louisiana. They are most fre- 
 quent at sun-set, rare in the middle parts of the day, and 
 hardly ever met with in the morning. That they are nox- 
 ious there can be but little doubt, from their oppressive 
 heat, and the langour they cause in those whom they strike, 
 and on whose habitations they sometimes tarry. Their mo- 
 tion is very sluggish except when accelerated by winds, at 
 which times they hiove with so much velocity as not to af- 
 ford time to the most sensible thermometer to seize their 
 temperature. To these two causes, local corruptions and 
 disease imported in large volumes of contagious air, I am 
 incliried to attribute the unhealthiness of the country. 
 
 Lexington' was formerly the capital of the State. That 
 title has been transferred to Frankfort, in consequence, I 
 presume, of that town standing on the head of the naviga- 
 tion of a river of the same name. From the dreadful pe- 
 riodical sickness of that town the legislature is again ex- 
 pected to return to Lexington, where a large court house 
 is now buiMing, and some other public works going on If 
 this event does take place, it will add considerably to 
 the consequence of the town, by augmenting its population 
 and increasing its opulence. 
 
 Thesoil round Lexington is from one to thfrty feettleep— 
 the bottom throughout the whole State a solid bed of lime- 
 stone. The beds of creeks and streams are solid limestone ; 
 and the Kentucky river runsthrough a natural canal, whose 
 perpendicular sides of one hundred teet high are composed 
 of limestone rock. The farms in the vicinity of Lexingtoi> 
 are very neat, and many of them affect the English manner. 
 The produce is great, the price low. Flour three dollars 
 per barrel — Corn one shilling per bushel. The distribu- 
 tion of water is very unequal through the State. The great- 
 est part of the farms have none but wliat they procure fron-\ 
 wells cut through the limestone rock, several feet thick, 
 and through strata of clay and gravel of infinite hard la- 
 bour. The wells, in general, descend sixty feet. Gardens 
 produce with great and excellent abundance. Melons, 
 cucumbers, &c. grow in the open air, without manure or 
 attention. Grapes cluster in the woods, and peaches and 
 pomgranates flourish in the corn fields. 
 
Iptf . TOAVELS IN 
 
 ^ Lexington stands nearly on the site of an old Indian town, 
 which must have been of great extent and magnificence, 
 as is amply evinced by the wide range of its circumvallato- 
 ry works, and the quantity of ground it once occupied. 
 Tim?, and the more destructive ravage of man have near- 
 ly levelled these remains of former greatness with the dust, 
 and would possibly allow them to sink into an entire ob- 
 livion, were they not connected with a catacomb, formed 
 in the bowels of the limestone rock, about fifteen feet be- 
 low the surface of the earth, and lying adjacent to the town 
 of Lexington ! This grand object, so novel and extraordi- 
 nary in America, was discovered about twenty years ago 
 >>3'Some of the first settlors, whose curiosity was excited by 
 something remarkable in the character of stones which 
 struck their attention while hunting in the woods. They 
 removed these stones, and came to others of singular work- 
 manship ; the removal of which laid open the mouth of a 
 cave — deep, gloomy, and terrific. With augmented num- 
 bers, and provided with cordage and light, they descended, 
 and entered without obstruction a spacious apartment ; the 
 sides and extreme ends were formed into nitches and com- 
 partments, and occupied by figures representing men! 
 When alarm subsided, and the sentiment of dismay and sur- 
 prise permitted further research and enquiry, the figures 
 were found to be Indian mummies, preserved by the art of 
 embalming to great preservation and perfection of state! 
 
 Unfortunately for antiquity, science, and every thing else 
 held sacred by the illumined and learned, this inestimable 
 discovery was made at a period when a bloody and invete- 
 rate warfare was carried on between the Indians and the 
 whites, and the power of the former was displayed in so 
 formidable a manner, that the latter were filled with ter- 
 ror and a spirit of revenge, which manifested itself both on 
 contemptible and important occasions. Animated by this 
 worthless and detestable spirit, the discoverers (^f the cata- 
 comb delighted to wreak their vengeance even on the In- 
 dian dead. They dragged the mummies to the day, tore 
 the bandages open, kicked the bodies into dust, and made 
 a general bonfire of the most ancient remains antiquity 
 could boast: of remains respected by many hundred re- 
 volving years, held sacred by time, and unsusceptible of 
 corru))tion, if not visited by profane and violating hands! 
 
 What these despoilers did not accomplish, their follow- 
 
AMERICA. m 
 
 crs in the course of time took care to effect, I have ex- 
 plored the catacomb, and can bear testimony to the indus- 
 try and determination of the curious who resort to it to ef- 
 face every mark of workmanship, and to destroy every evi- 
 dence of its intention or original design ! — The angles and 
 ornaments of the nitchesare mutilated; all projections and 
 protuberances are struck off; every mummy removed, and 
 so many fires have been made in the place, either to warm 
 .the visitors or to burn up the remains, that the shades, dis- 
 positions, and aspects, have been tortured into essential dif- 
 ference and change. 
 
 The descent is gradually inclined, without a rapid or 
 flight of stairs. — The widthjour feet, the height seven^ — 
 The passage but six feet long, is a proportion larger, and 
 the catacomb extends one hundred paces by thirty-five. 
 It is about eighteen feet high ; the rOof represents an ir- 
 regular vault, and the floor an oblong square nearly level. 
 From the nitches and shelvings on the sides, it might be 
 conjectured, that the CiUacomb could contain in appropri- 
 ate situations about two thousand mummies. I could ne- 
 ver learn the exact quantity it did contain, the answer to 
 my enquiries being " Oh ! they burned up and destroyed 
 hundreds." Nor could [ arrive at any knowledge of the 
 fashion, manner, and apparel of the mummies in general, 
 or receive any other information than that " they were 
 well lapped up, appeared sound and red, and consumed in 
 the Are with a rapidity that baffled all observation and 
 description." 
 
 Not content with such general and traditionary remarks^ 
 I employed several hinds, and brought to light forty or 
 fifty baskets of rubbish gleaned throughout the vault, both 
 from the sides and iroin the floor. The dust of the heap. 
 was so light, impalpable and pungent, that it rose into 
 the atmosphere and affected the senses so much as to 
 cause effasion of the eyes and sneezing, to a troublesome- 
 degree. 1 still proceeded on a minute investigation, and 
 separated i'rom the general mass, several pieces of human 
 limbs, fragments of bodies, solid, sound, ai^id apparently 
 capable of eternal duration ! with much violence they 
 broke into parts, but emitted no dust, or shewed any in- 
 clination to putrization. The impalpable powder arose 
 from the bands and ligatures with which they were bound, 
 R ^ 
 
19» TRAVELS IN 
 
 the pungency of which denoted their composition to b& 
 vegetable matter. 
 
 In a cold state the subjects had no smell whatever, bufe 
 when submitted to the action of fire they consumed with 
 great violence, emitted no smoke, and diifused an agreeable 
 effluviag which scented the air, but with no particular flag- 
 rance to which it could be assimilated. 
 
 How these bodies were embalmed,, how long preserved ;. 
 by what nation, and trom what people descended, no ideas 
 can be formed, nor any calculation made, but what must 
 result from speculative fancy and wild conjectures. For 
 my part, I am lost in the deepest ignorance. My readings 
 affords me no knowledge ; my travels no light. I have 
 neither read, heard nor known of any of the North Amer- 
 ican Indians who formed catacombs for their dead, or who 
 were acquainted with the art of preservation by embalm- 
 ing. The Egyptians, according to Herodotus, had three 
 methods of embabning ; but Diodorus observes that the 
 ancient Egyptians had a fourth method, of far greater su- 
 periority. That manner is not mentioned by Diodorus, it 
 has been extinct three thousand years, and yet I cannot 
 think it presumptuous to conceive that the Indians were 
 acquainted with it, or with a mode of equal virtue and 
 effect. . 
 
 The Kentuckyans assert in the very words of the Greek 
 that the features of the face and the form and appearance 
 of the whole body were so well preserved, that they must- 
 have been the exact representations of the living subject.. 
 The Indians could not have the art of embalming in the 
 methods made known by Herodotus, because they never 
 could have had the necessary materials — as evidence let 
 us review the three systems, to which, in Egypt, different 
 prices were attached. In the most^esteemed method, they 
 extracted the brains by the nose with a crooked iron, and 
 then poured in drugs : afterwards they opened the body, 
 took out the bowels, washed the inside with palm wine, 
 and having rubbed into it pounded perfumes, filled the 
 cavity with m}'rrh, cassia, and other spices, and then sewed 
 it up. After this they washed the body with nitre, then 
 let it lie seventy days ; and having washed it again, bound 
 it up in folds of linnen, besmearing it over with gums 
 which they used instead of glue. The relations then took 
 home the body, and enclosing it in the wyodcn iigutxj of a 
 
AMERICAi 1^9 
 
 xaan, placed it in the catacombs. Another method of em- 
 balming was, injecting turpentine of cedar with a pipe into 
 the body, without cutting it : they then salted it for seven- 
 ty days, and afterwards drew out the pipe, which brought 
 along with it the intestines. The nitre dried up the flesh 
 leaving nothing but skin and bones. The third way was 
 only cleansing the inside with salt and water, and sailing 
 it for seventy days. 
 
 The first of these methods could not have been employ- 
 ed by the Indians for want of palm wine, myrrh, cassia^ 
 and other perfumes. The second could not be that prac- 
 tised by them, as it tended to waste the flesh and preserve 
 the mere skin and bones — and the third is inadmissible, 
 from its incapacity to resist the unremitting destruction and 
 ravages ot time. 
 
 An argument may be adduced to favour an opinion of 
 the remote antiquity of the Indian mummies, from the en- 
 tire and complete consumption of their bandages, wrappers, 
 and bands — which on the Egyptian mummies continue to 
 this day in higher preservation than the body they envelop.. 
 There is a mummy in an English collection of curiosities, 
 brought from Egypt by the French, and taken from them 
 by one of our privateers, which is remarkable for contain- 
 ing only the head and part of the thigh and leg bones 
 wrapped in folds of fine linnen to the consistence of three, 
 inches thick. The linnen in someparts was as white and per- 
 fect as new, and on the legs there was some appearance of 
 the flesh still remaining, although, from a^moderate calcula- 
 tion. It must have been embalmed upwards of two thou- 
 sand years. It may then again be repeated, that the In- 
 dian mummies are of higlTer antiquity than the Egyptian, 
 as the bandages are consumed on the one though not oa 
 the other ; except, as I had occasion to remark, that the 
 Indian ligatures were of a substance more susceptible of 
 decay than the Egyptian. But this is a subject of too great 
 magnitude, variety and diff'usion, for my purpose. 1 sub- 
 mit the fact for the consideration of a better judgment and 
 an able pen, and conclude by informing you that I restor- 
 ed every article to the catacomb — save some specimens 
 retained as objects of the first curiosity, and blocking up 
 the entry with huge stones which oiiginally closed it up, 
 left the spot with the strongest emotions of veneration and 
 displeasure : veneration for so sublime ^ monument of an- 
 
S0€ TRAVELS IN 
 
 tiquity, and displeasure against the men whose barbaroui 
 and brutal hands reduced it to such a state of waste and 
 debolalion. 
 
 No other catacomb is known in the State, though bar- 
 rows abound in various directions. 
 
 LETTER XXIL 
 
 Excellent navigation between Limestone and Cincinnati — 
 Augusta — The Little Miami of the Ohio — Culuinbia — 
 Licking River — Cincinnati— details oj this important^ 
 toxvn — Interesting anecdote oJ a lady. 
 
 Cinemnati, State of Ohio, July, 18O6. 
 THE navigation is so very good between Limestone 
 and this town, a distance of sixty-eight miles, that 1 de- 
 scended in two short days run, without meeting any ob- 
 struction, there being but one island close to the Ken- 
 tucky shore in the whole course, and 1 understand that 
 there is no other to be met with for seventy-two miles fur- 
 ther down, which leaves a range of one hundred and fifty 
 miles of free navigation —a scope without example in any 
 other of the western waters. 
 
 Leaving Limestone seven miles, the first object I came 
 to was Eagle Creek on the right hand shore. A little 
 above it on the Kentucky side is a small town called 
 Charlestown, opposite to which place, in the middle of 
 the river is a very large sand bar, the channel past being 
 on the left hand shore. Four miles Irom Eagle, is Bracken 
 Creek on the Kentucky shore. It gives name to the coun- 
 ty through which it runs. The county-town is fixed at 
 the mouth of an extensive bottom, and in a very hand- 
 some situation. It is yet small, not being long laid out. 
 Augusta is the name given to it. 1 am disposed to think 
 very favourably of the taste of the inhabitants from the 
 judicious manner they have cleared the timber of their 
 settlement. I'hey have left on a very fine bank of'graHual 
 descent to the water, six rows of stately trees, which 
 form several grand avenues and afford shade from the sun 
 
AMERICA. 20J 
 
 without obstructing the breeze or circulation of air. They 
 have also left clumps of trees and small groves in the im- 
 provements which have a pleasing effect, and strike the 
 attention more forcibly, as Augusta is the only town on 
 the river which has respected the ornaments of nature oi- 
 left a single shrub planted by her chaste yet prodigal hand.- 
 In all other settlements the predominant rage is to destroy 
 the woods, and what the axe cannot overturn is left to 
 the vigour of fire. This element is applied to a work which 
 mocks the labour of man, and in a short time converts 
 the greatest forests and the richest scenes to a dreary pros- 
 pect of dissolution and waste. 
 
 Between Augusta and the Little Miami of the Ohio, a 
 (distance of forty-two miles, I met with no circumstance 
 worth relating. The Little Miami of the Ohio is sixty or 
 seventy yards wide at its mouth, is sixty miles to its source, 
 and affords no navigation. The lands on its banks arfe 
 reckoned among the richest on the continent of America ; 
 ihey lie low, are considerably settled and sell for from 
 three to twenty dollars per acre. The river abounds in 
 fish, runs over a rocky channel, and is as clear as foun- 
 tain water. Just below the junction of this stream with, 
 the Ohio is the town of Columbia, which rose out of the 
 woods a few years ago with great rapidity and promise, and 
 now is on the decline, being sickly and subject to insula- 
 tion, when the waters of the Miami are backed up the 
 country by the rise of the Ohio in the spring ; the current? 
 of the Ohio being so impetuous as to hmder the Miami 
 from flowing into the stream. 
 
 Directly on turning into Cincinnati, I saw Licking River 
 on the Kentucky shore. It is a large stream navigable for 
 canoes and batteux, a considerable way up. The town 
 of Newport is situated at the point formed by the junc- 
 tions of this river with the Ohio. 
 
 Cincinnati is opposite the mouth of Licking on the righ^ 
 hand shore. It is four hundred and ninety-three miles 
 from Pittsburgh, was once the capital of the North Wes- 
 tern Territory, and is now the largest town of the Ohio 
 State, though not the seat of government ; Chilicothe 
 being the capital, and the residence of- the governor and 
 legislative body. The town consists of about three hun- 
 dred houses, frame and log built on two plains, the higher 
 and the lower, each of which commands a line view o^ 
 
202 TRAVELS IN 
 
 the opposite shore, the mouth of Licking, tlie towii of' 
 Newport, and the Ohio waters for a considerable way botb 
 up and down. The public buildings consist of a court-' 
 house, prison, and two places of worship ; and two 
 printing-presses are established which issue papers once a 
 week. Cincinnati is alto the line of communication with 
 the chaiii of lorts extended from Fort Washington to thd 
 Westward, and is the principal town in what is called 
 Symmes's Purchase. The garrison end of the town- 
 is now in a state of ruin. A land office for the sale of 
 Congress lands at two dollars per acre is held in the town, 
 and made no less than seventeen thousand contracts the 
 last year, with persons both from Europe and all parts of 
 the United States. So very great and extensive is the 
 character of the ])ortion of the State of which this town 
 is the port and capital, that it absorbs the whole reputa- 
 tion of the country, deprives it of its topographical name, 
 and IS distinguished by that of the " Mianiis." In Hol- 
 land, Germany, Ireland, and the remote parts of Ame- 
 rica, persons intending to emigrate declare that they will 
 go to the " Miamis.'' 
 
 This reputation gives considerable consequence to the 
 town, by adding to its population, and still more by peo- 
 pling the immense regions ot its back countr3^ These 
 regions are already making rapid advances in agriculture, 
 and as Cincinnati is the emporium, its trade must be con- 
 siderable, and ultimately great. The commerce at pre- 
 sent is conducted by about the keepers of thirty stores, 
 who issue to farmers and settlers all manner of British 
 goods, and foreign and domestic spirits, in return for 
 which, they receive produce which is converted into cash 
 on being forwarded down ihe river to New Orleans and the 
 West-Indies. The produce is abundant, but simple. It' 
 consists chiefly of flour and provisions, m beef, butter^- 
 and pork. The prices can hardly be adequate to the la- 
 bour. Flour is three dollars and a half per barrel. Pork 
 two and a half per cwt. ; beef two ; and butter sixpence 
 per pound. I have no conception how the farmer suc- 
 ceeds. The merchants, however, make an exorbitant 
 profit ; those of four years standing, who come with goods 
 obtamed at Philadelphia and Baltimore on crcditj have 
 paid their debts, and now live at their ease. 
 
AMERICA. 203 
 
 Of the society of the town it is ditTicult to give you a • 
 /just idea, as from its heterogeneous nature, it does not ad* 
 mit of being described by leading and characteristic fea- 
 tures. I'he towH was originally settled by a lew of the 
 officers and men of the disbanded western army ; they and 
 their offspring are known by certain aristocratic traits, a 
 distinction in living, and a generous hospitality. These 
 were followed by a number of Dutch and Germans, who - 
 ^re remarkable, solely for domestic parsimony, industry, 
 and moral conduct. A body of Irish next settled, and 
 they too have their particular walk in which the^ exhibit 
 many virtues blencled with strange absurdities, the one 
 making them estimable, and the other rendering them ri- 
 diculous ; the one manifesting itself in acts of humanity, 
 public spirit and benevolence, and the other in duelling, 
 points of honor, ruin, and flagitiousness ! To compleat 
 the nations of this population, some French emigrants 
 took up their abode in Cincinnati, and their publicity 
 consists in their introduction of the dance, music, billiards, 
 and the fabric of liquors, sweet-meats and savory patties, 
 
 I believe you will allow that until these contrasted ma- 
 terials amalgamate, there is no possibility of predicating 
 any fixed opinion of the society they compose. I am hap- 
 py notwithstanding to affirm that in general the people of 
 Cincinnati make a favourable impression ; they are order- 
 jy, decent, sociable, liberal and unassuming, and were I 
 compelled to live in the western country, 1 would give 
 their town a decided preference. There are among the 
 citizens several gentlemen of integrity, intelligence and 
 worth. Generals Gano and Finley, and Messieurs Dugan 
 and Moore would be respected in the first circles of Eu- 
 rope. I experience from them in my mere quality of stran- 
 ger, attentions which it would be the blackest ingratitude 
 to forget, and for which they shall ever have my respect 
 and esteem. Korean I omit telling you that I have been 
 favoured with the friendship and notice of Doctor Goforth, 
 a very skilful physician, and a true lover of learning and 
 science. I derive much pleasure, and glean much infor- 
 mation from his society. He has lived in the western 
 world twenty years, and employed the beginning of that 
 period iu the study of nature, Irom which he was turned 
 Ly the scofi's of the vulgar and the ridicule of fools. 
 
204 TRAVELS IN 
 
 1'he amusements consist of balls and amateur plays, the 
 former of which going lo literary and humane purposes, 
 disposes me to consider them both entertainiBg and good. 
 But I cannot form any judgment, the winter being the 
 season for such spectacles. I have met with several ladies 
 ©f comliness, instruction and taste. They are generally 
 tall, slender, and graceful figures, with much animation 
 and expression. Their affability is very pleasinij, being at 
 once remote from a vulgar familiarity and a hypocritical 
 restraint. One young lady in particular is an object of 
 general admiration and regard, pity and commisseration. 
 She is a beauty of the first order, of the most exquisite 
 proportion, and inimitable grace, and was instructed at 
 ^lew-York in every art fitted to. improve the heart and 
 embellish the mind. Her accomplishments gave delight, 
 her conversations wisdom, and her example instruction. 
 So infinite was her excellence, that it put down all com- 
 petition of beauty and talent, and the town considered 
 iheir Clara as its pride and boast. On a water excursion 
 a few years ago, Clara and a small parly were overtaken 
 by a thunder storm. The first flash struck a friend dead 
 at her feet, and the second nearly rent the boat and cast 
 it on a rock from which the remaining party providentially 
 were saved. To the astonishment of ah who had known 
 the sensibility and refinement of Clara's mind, she be- 
 trayed no horror, uttered no lamentation, and shed no 
 tear ! She walked home in silence, and so remains ever 
 since. The flash which deprived her friend of life de- 
 stroyed her utterance, her hearing, and her speech. It 
 destroyed the faculty of mental leeling, the recollection 
 of the past, and the elegant once instructive Clara, on my 
 introduction to her was a medician Venus, dumb, deaf, 
 and inimitably beautiful, though entirely insensible and 
 terrifically cold. Her countenance has lost the haj)py fa- 
 culty of mental expression, and ha^ a: sumed a frigid, void, 
 or a constant shew of vacant astonishment distressing to 
 the feeling sj)eclator. In other respects the injury done 
 lier senses extends no more, than to the obliteration of all 
 anterior actions to her sufferings. She reads, frequents 
 society, and expresses herself oii her fin5i,ers, and on pa- 
 per with great felicity, and with reference to future, but 
 never to past events. The young people of the town oi' 
 her acquaintance from a spirit of gallantry and attach- 
 
AMERICA. 205 
 
 Blent have all learned to converse with her on their fin- 
 gers ; with the old and with strangers she is fond of using 
 pen and paper. After my introduction, she made signs 
 for a sheet of paper, &c. and wrote with uncommon pre- 
 cision and rapidit}^ a series of questions, leaving biouks 
 for the appropriate answers. I answered the queries which 
 were generally common plnce, and she wrote one more, 
 which demanded, " I cannot comprehend why a man like 
 you can live on waters and in wildernesses. Do tell me, 
 what is your motive ?" " To study nature and to obtain 
 knowledge," was my reply. She paused for a considera- 
 ble time, and again wrote a number of queries which oc- 
 cupied a conversation of two hours, and struck some 
 bright corruscations from a mind, I am happy to find yet 
 lovely, bright, energetic and strong. How strange to 
 think that the entire recollection of the past could be ob- 
 literated without impairing the sense of the present -ind 
 future mode of action and reasoning is a matter of equal 
 novelty and importance. A subject too abstruse to dwell 
 upon, to your sensibility and intelligence 1 therefore 
 commit it. 
 
 There is a good market held twice a week ; the pric^ 
 of provisions very nearly the same as at Lexington, and 
 at Pittsburg. 
 
 LETTER XXIIL 
 
 Cincinnati — built on the site of an ancient Indian settlement 
 — an astonishing curiosity — other antiquities— Jine paint-' 
 
 Cincinnati, State of Ohio, July, 1806. 
 
 TUTS town is situated on the site of an Indian set- 
 lement of great extent and antiquity. I had to remark 
 in my last letter, that the modern buildings occupied an 
 upper and lower level or pluin ; the former Indian ones 
 however were solely confined to the highest lawn, at least 
 no traces of art have ever been discovered on the bottom 
 land next the river, though thev abound on that above it/ 
 
206 TRAVELS IN 
 
 and are so cons])icuous as to catch the first range of the 
 eye. Indeed, there is every reason to suppose that at the 
 remote period of the Indian works, the lowest level form- 
 ed part of the bed of ihe Ohio. The retreat of the wa- 
 ters is at this hour discernable, and the cultivator often 
 turns up shells, fossils, and petrefactions of aquatic sub- 
 stances, which place the fact beyond contradiction. Some 
 of these arc marine productions ! A petrified lobster's 
 claw ; a conch shell, and quantities of fine coral, ele- 
 gantly wrought and varied by the richest colours ! Sure- 
 ly these infer the residence of water at a distant time, and 
 also I conceive they infer that that water must have been 
 .salt ! If so, what a vast change must the face of nature 
 have undergone ! What vicissitudes of climate ! What 
 variations of vegetable produce ! What contrast in bulk, 
 form, stature, and duration of animal character and life ! 
 The upper level possesses none of those marine produc- 
 tions, but it has disclosed a curiosity which fills me with 
 greater wonder. A gentleman now living close to Cincin- 
 nati, on the upper bank, where he built an excellent brick- 
 liouse, had occasion for a well, and persevered in digging 
 for water, though he met with none at the depth of sixty 
 feet ; continuing on, his workmen found themselves at once 
 obstructed by a substance which resisted their labour, 
 though it evidently was not stone. They cleared the sur- 
 face, and soon made it appear to be the stump of a tree 
 ■which had been cut down with an axe ! The incisions of 
 an a^e were perfectly visible, and the chips made by its 
 action lay scattered about rts roots ! The slump was three 
 feet in diameter and two in perpendicular above its knees. 
 It was nearly of the colour and apparent character of 
 coal, but divested of the friable and fusible quality of 
 that mineral. I have these facts from my very intelligent 
 friend Dr. Goforth, and twenty others of honor and vera- 
 city, who saw the chips cast out of the well before the 
 men broke up the body to which they originally adhered. 
 Ihe roots and stump from being turgid, tough, saturated^ 
 and in part petrified, took considerable time to remove. 
 Ten feet beneath water sprang up, and the well is now in 
 constant su[)ply and high repute. After the most industri- 
 ous search, I obtained a piece of the stump and an origi- 
 nal chip, which I shall preserve with all the devotion be- 
 coming tlicir rank as relics of the most undubitable and 
 
AMERICA. 207 
 
 teTYiote antiquity. It would occupy volumes to submit 
 the various speculations which traverse the mind, while it 
 indulges in reverie on this wide and multifareous subject. 
 Those which strike me the most forcibly are , 
 
 1st. That the tree was undoubtedly antediluvian. 
 
 2nd. That the viver now called the Ohio did not exist 
 anterior to the deluge, in as much as the remains of the 
 tree were found firmly rooted, in their original position, 
 several feet below the bed of that river. 
 
 3xi. That America was peopled before the flood, as ap- 
 pears from the action of the axe, and the cutting down of 
 the tree. 
 
 4th. Thut the antediluvian Americans were acquainted 
 with the use and properties of iron, of the advantage and' 
 knowledge of which the Bood deprived their descendants, 
 and from which it would appear that the same flood swept; 
 off every individual from whom that knowledge might be 
 derived. 
 
 I have said in the first page of this letter that the up- 
 per town is erected on the immediate site of an old In- 
 dian settlement. There is no such thing as forming an 
 exact opinion as to its antiquity, though a strong judgment 
 may be formed from thei growth of the timber now iu 
 bloom, and decay, on many parts of the remaining works. 
 Several trees were found six feet in diamter, and some 
 nine, hollowed out by the assiduity of time from the sum- 
 mit to the base ! The remaining Indian works consist of; 
 
 1. A barrow or funeral pile. 
 
 2. An enclosed or fortified camp. 
 
 3. Mounds. 
 
 The barrow is seated in the centre of the upper and 
 lower town on the edge of the upper bank. The princi- 
 pal street leading from the water is cut through the bar- 
 row, and exposes its strata and remains to every person 
 passing by. Children often amuse themselves in under- 
 mining the banks, till large (juantities fall down in which 
 they search for, and often find arrow points, beads, and 
 many other curiosities. 1 made a regular search myself, 
 and found the banow constructed precisely after the man- 
 ner of that I described to you near the banks of the Mus- 
 kingum. The dead repose in double horizontal tiers ; be- 
 tween each tier are regular layers of sand, flat surfaced 
 stones^ gravel and earth. I counted seven tiers, and might 
 
208 TRAVELS IN 
 
 have discovered more, but was compelled to desist from 
 the annoyance of the multitude gathering about me. — 
 Three out of seven skeletons were in great preservation, 
 and in a progressive stale of petrefaction. With the dead 
 were buried their ornaments, arms and utensils, as ap- 
 pears from my having turned up, in less than three hours 
 scrutinizing, my hat full of beads, several arrow points, 
 two stone hatchets, many pieces of pottery, and a flute 
 made of the great bone of the human leg. It is a very- 
 curious instrument, with beautifully engraved, or carved 
 iigures representing birds, squirrels, and small animals, 
 nnd perforated holes in the old German manner. When 
 breathed into it emits tones of great melody, but falls 
 in quick and lively transitions. The modern Indians were 
 found without any instrument of this nature. Such were 
 fhe objects I obtained, but I am informed by Doctor Go- 
 forth, that when the street was formed through the bar- 
 row, that a great variety of interesting and valuable re- 
 lics were brought to light ; among which were human 
 grinders, which on a moderate calculation bespoke a man 
 of four times the size of the modern human race, some 
 "brass rings, and an ivory image eminently executed, de- 
 noting a female figure in the act of pressing a child to her 
 naked bosom. 
 
 Hlaving restored the bones and other substances to the 
 barrow and closed up the orifice I had made, I went full of 
 anxiety and perturbation, which I could neither stifle or con- 
 ceal, from house to house in pursuit of an image, the ma- 
 terial character and description ot' which dilfeied so essen- 
 tially from any object ever before discovered in the west- 
 ern world. I was not so successful in my pursuit as to see 
 or procure the image. I obtained, however, some grali'.- 
 cation from its history, and a knowledge of the hands in 
 which it is placed. It seems that the Catholics availed 
 themselves of the image, and made it a testimony of tHe an- 
 tiquity of their religion and the extensive range of their 
 worship by attempting to prove thereby, that the Indian 
 idol was nothing less than a Madonna and C/iild, and that 
 the Roman Catholic religion, b) the command of God, was' 
 the first which arose in the earliest Christian age of the 
 east, and the last which set in the west, where it suff'ered 
 extinctions by a second deluge, of which all allow the traces 
 evidently appear. The exultation of these enthusiasts spread 
 
AMERICA. 20g 
 
 the reputation of the '* graven image," far and near, when 
 an officer under the general government descending the O- 
 hio, obtained it by purchase from the proprietor and sent 
 it to INlr. Jetferson, who, no doubt has made a communi- 
 cation to the American Philosophical Society, and whose" 
 account I have infinite anxiety to hear. 
 
 The account by tradition says, the idol is seven inches 
 high, the figure full length, the costume a robe in number- 
 less folds, well exoressed, and the hair displayed in many 
 ringlets. The OTild naked near the left breast, and the 
 mother's eyes bent on it with a strong expression of affec- 
 tion and endearment. Thus I give you the facts as they 
 came to my knowledge on this extraordinary subject ; they 
 are dark and mysterious 1 allow, and yet i cannot cast ou 
 them any illumination. 
 
 I next visited the fortified camp which is within five mi- 
 nutes walk of the barrow. It lies close to the well from 
 the bottom of which the remains of the tree was thrown up. 
 Of the camp there is nothing whatever visible but a wall 
 forming a true circle, which contains about three acres 
 of perfectly level ground. The wall is of earth ; may be 
 about seven feet high, and twenty broad at its base. On 
 its surface grew several trees, the stumps of which remain^? 
 and measure from six to sixteen feet in circumference. The 
 gentleman who sunk the well is the proprietor of thecamp,- 
 and he has been obliged, for the uniformity of his other 
 improvements, to include segments of the great circle in 
 his garden and enclosed grounds. This necessity is muclv 
 to be lamented, as it obstructs the coup d'ctil of the entire 
 v>ork, and predicts in time its complete dissolution. A few 
 years ago it was a correct uninterrupted circle of great 
 beauty and ornament to the town ; it is now cut and in- 
 tersected by walls and fences, but easily made out on look- 
 ing them over and following the inclination of the ring. 
 There is one remarkable circumstance attending this wall, 
 that it has no ditch or dyke on either side; and as it is com- 
 posed of materials supposed to be brought from the shore, 
 there remains no doubt of its being created with great difli- 
 culty, and at the expence of much assiduity and time. 
 This, and numerous other fortified camps, also prove that 
 the Indians of a former period were not wandering tribes, 
 but a people associated under a regular form of govern- 
 Hient 5 acquainted with certain laws of nations; and havin*; 
 S 2 
 
21d TRAVELS IN 
 
 bounds to their own, which their camps and strons; holdsi 
 shewed a detcrraiuation to value and protect. In the EasC- 
 ern States, where land is sterile and poor, ancient tortifi- 
 cationsare rarely met with, and there it is probable a wand- 
 ering life was preferred to a permanent abode, where ex- 
 istence was to be maintained by perpetual industry and la- 
 bour. 
 
 The mounds are as far from the camp as the camp is from 
 the town. There are two, which are within pistol hhot of 
 each other. It appears evident, that the ftrgest of the two 
 was erected for a post ol look-out and observation ; at least 
 it is so admirably calculated for that purpose, that the A- 
 mcricans, during the Indian war, stationed on it a piquet, 
 and even levelled about twenty feet of its summit. It stands 
 on a plain, is of aspheriodical lorm sixty feet high, and one 
 hundred and fifty through its longest horizontal base. I 
 am informed by a continental officer who levelled the sum- 
 mit by order of general St. Clair, that the view from the 
 mound was very extensive when in its primitive state. He 
 could see both up and down the river, across the Kentucky 
 shore, and all the passes in the mountain in the rear of the 
 settlement and camp. He also observed, that the mound 
 run nearly to a spheral point, which ciicumstance induced 
 General St. Clair to conceive it a barrow of the dead, and 
 when the twenty feet were struck oft' the top, he attended, 
 to examine the substance, but could discover nothing on 
 Hvhich to establish his opinion. However indisputably cal- 
 culated it is for a place of observation, I am strongly in- 
 clined to meet tiie General in his conception, and to be- 
 lieve that the mound was originally intended for the mau- ' 
 soleum of a single chief who lies interred immediately un- 
 der this stupendous heap. My enquiries have enabled me"^ 
 to determine that there v.ere Western nations who honour- 
 ed their principal Sachem and warrior with separate se- 
 ))ulchres placed on the highest grounds ; therefore it can- 
 not be rash to consider this the mausoleum of an individu- 
 al, and also a place of look-out when necessity and cir- 
 cumstances shewed eligible for that intent. 1 he mound 
 adjacent to it, and which is less by twenty degrees, and per- 
 fectly round, was certainly a sepulchre. It stands in a part 
 of the plain which is occupied as a race ground, and the 
 btarting-poit rises from its centre. When the post was first 
 fcuakp the weikmcn discovered human bones, and aitci: 
 
AMERIfA. 211 
 
 jnucli examination, traced the remains of one skeleton, and 
 no liiore. 
 
 At the back of the town, and near the foot of the hills 
 which lie between the plain and back country, are two 
 more mounds of an equal size, and about twenty feet high 
 from the centre of their base. I explored one minutely, 
 by putting a trench from east to west four feet in diame- 
 ter. At the depth of ten feet I came to some heavy stones, 
 underneath which whs a body of composition resembling 
 plaster of Pans. 'I'his broke with great difficulty, and ex- 
 posed a few fragments of a human skeleton extended on a, 
 bed of a similar nature with the covering. Determined to- 
 ascertain whether the monument was erected in memory 
 of one person, I broke through the bed, and found under- 
 neath a stratum of stones, gravel, and earth nearly to the 
 bottom, mixed v/ith bones appertaining to the human frame. 
 The few fragments I carefully collected consisted of one 
 tibia, two pieces of the thigh bone, and the right upper and 
 the left under-javv. Little observation was necessary to 
 shew that they were not the fragments of the skeleton of 
 an adult ! I'his was a more important fact than 1 expected 
 to establish, and though my enquiry into the mound was 
 attended with exjjence and trouble, I considered myself 
 amply recompensed, by proving in the first instance, that 
 niounds in general, are the sepulchres of eminent mdividuals ; 
 and in the second, that the nation who erected the mound 
 in which the child was buried, was governed by a line of 
 hereditary chiefs, as is evident from the nature and distinc- 
 tion of the interment of an infant, who certainly could not 
 have been an elected chief. That the rc'mains belonged to 
 an infant is clear, both from their diminutive size and want 
 ot sockets for the cutting-teeth of either jaw. 
 
 Weary of grave-digging bones, and skeletons, I shall say 
 hut few words more on the subject, and then fly to some 
 ather. I consider mounds as the tumuli of kings and chief- 
 tains, and barrows as the sepulchres of the vulgar dead. 
 The former were subject to vary in yze according to rank 
 of the individual, or the estimatjon in which he was held : 
 and the. fatter varied according to the population of the 
 nation, and encreased with number of the interred. Mounds 
 are spherical figures, and barrows are oblong squares. Un- 
 der particular circumstances, mounds have been made to 
 answer the purpose of a look-out, and in consequence, are 
 
2'i^ TRAVELS IN 
 
 often found distant from the camp, and commanding the 
 most extensive views ; but barrows, from having never re- 
 ceived a varied purpose, are constantly discovered in the 
 close vicinity of a town, or adjacent to a fort. There is 
 no greater mistake than that which has so long prevailed, 
 that barrows have been erected on fields of battle, to cover 
 and to distinguish the slain. This opinion arose from the 
 circumstance of arrow-points and other war instruments, 
 being promiscuously found with the bones. It is now well 
 ascertained that such objects and many others, both oB 
 ornament and use, were always- interred with the dead to 
 whom they appertained ; and the construction of the bar- 
 rows, the order, strata, and essential difference in tjje pre- 
 servation aiid decay of the skeletons, prove the whole to 
 be the progressive work of numerous years, and not the 
 hasty production of a people lavishing honours on the slain 
 in battle. 
 
 The next relic of antiquity in Cincinati, is a spherical 
 stone, found a few years since onthe fall of a large portion- 
 of the bank of the river. It is a green stone, twelve inches 
 in every diameter, divided into twelve sides, each side into 
 twelve equal parts, and each part distinguished by charac- 
 teristic engravings. What these engravings represented, 
 none of my informers could describe. Some told me they 
 were irregular etchings of which nothing could be made^. 
 and others effected to see in them the most scientific de- 
 sign, embracing a mystery, the clue of which it was im-^ 
 possible to find. The fate of this beautiful object so inter- 
 esting to science and the history of former times is not to 
 be traced with the precision to be desired. It is said, that 
 a- stranger enamoured with its characters, procured and 
 took it down the river, and that it has since found its way 
 to the federal city, and to the cabinet of arts in Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 From the idea I allow myself to form of it, I coiiceive 
 the stone to have been formed for astronomical calculati(>n, 
 and to convey a knowled^^e of the movements of heavenly 
 bodies. When 1 conned this reasonable conjecture with 
 the facts of brass circles having been found impres * I with 
 figures, known in Euroj^e by the term " Eastern," 1 am- 
 again tcmj)ted to believe thi.t a pri^sag(^ was once open be- 
 tween this country and the north ot China and ihe Indies. 
 
} AMERICA. 213 
 
 You may recollect in a former letter from jNIarielta, I 
 inentioned the probability of obtaining some furtiier in- 
 formation respecting the py rite which I found in artificial 
 balls in a fortified camp near the iMuskingum, from Colo- 
 nel Ludlow of this place. He is dead — a circumstance 1 
 regret the more, as he had the reputation of possessing the 
 learning of a scholar and the manners of a gentleman. 
 Doctor Goforth, who was his particular friend, tells me, 
 that no person was so well versed in the^ ancient history of 
 his country, (America) that he sought after subjects ot an- 
 tiquity, and data on which to found certain and irrelraga- 
 ble conclusions, with great ardour and zeal, and that had 
 ie lived, he would have given the world his fund of inter- 
 esting research and philosophic enquiries to beat down the 
 absurdity and errors it had been so long cultivating and 
 acquiring. Accompanied by the Doctor, 1 went to the 
 late Colonel's country residence, about five miles from town, 
 and had the mortification to find that he had hardly been 
 dead before the w^om&n of his household cleared the ktnise of 
 his ruhbishj and burned his manuscripts and other uaelc^^ 
 papers. 
 
 Much of the collection being thrown promiscuously into 
 the yard, my Iriend and 1 commenced a search through 
 courts, dung-hiils, stables, swineries, dovecots, &c. &c. and 
 had the good fortune to find 
 
 The horns ot a palmated Elk — The strait horns of the 
 American Elk — The grinder of a mammoth, weighingseyen 
 pounds — and a ball of mineral, weighing twenty pounds. 
 
 The three first objects speak for themselves, the last is a 
 ball oil pyrites, which Doctor Goforth remembers the Col- 
 onel to have told him he took out of aheap of several hun- 
 dred which he discovered near an old Indian settlement on 
 the banks of the Little iNIiama of the Ohio, and that he 
 had also found another heap in an artificial cave on the 
 banks of the Sciota. The Colonel was never heard to ex- 
 press an opinion on the rise or utility of the balls to the 
 Indians, and the Doctor and myj-elf remained equally in 
 the dark, conceiving merely and widely that they were for 
 religious, gymnastic or vvailike purposes. The ball we ob- 
 tained consisted of copper pyrites, or quartz, and on our 
 lelurn to town. Doctor Goforth had the goodness to pre- 
 sent me with a very fine i^iece of calcarioius spar with 
 
21^ TRAVELS W 
 
 sulphurous pyrites from the Lakes, which makes my speci-* 
 mei>s more complete and valuable. 
 
 I was about to close this letter from a conviction that f 
 had related every thing of interest in the place from which 
 it is dated, till my very intelligent friend, the Doctor, told 
 me that he was often struck with the beauty of S(une pict- 
 ures, the property of an acquaintance in the town, and he 
 recommended me strongly to visit them before my depar- 
 tuie. 1 went, and to my great surprize found, in the very 
 mean apartments of a small frame house, inhabitad by an 
 old family descended from English origin, the following 
 pictures which I have no doubt are the works of the great 
 painters, whose names I have set after the descriptions. 
 
 A Dutch family at a repast — Vandyke. 
 
 Two Flemish landscapes, including sheep, cows, and 
 other cattle admirably expressed — VandervcU. 
 
 A monk in the act of private devotion — Anon. 
 
 A nun recluse in her cell — Anon. 
 
 Groupe of dancing boys and female muccecefine — Corr'S" 
 §io. 
 
 Two naval views; the stile ancient, the. ships and cos- 
 tume Roman. 
 
 '!hese valuable paintings are in excellent preservation, 
 being executed on copper and oak, except the group oC 
 dancing boys, which is on canvass and much worn,' 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 An excursion to the country of the Miamis — Lebanon toun 
 — Interesting sect of Quakers — continuance of the excur" 
 
 - iion — Horses of the Western country— State of Jarming 
 in the neighbourhood. 
 
 Cincinnati, August 1 806. 
 
 AFTER dispatching my last letter to you from hence, 
 I went on an excursion through the celebrated country 
 called the Miamis, which is a ))ortion of the Ohio State^ 
 divided into counties, ranges, and townships, in the man- 
 ner of every other place under the adminis^tration of the 
 
AMERICA. 2J5 
 
 fed(;!ral goveminent. Being acquainted with the lands ad- 
 joining the Sciota, and as high up as the Pjckawee Plains, 
 J limited my view of the Miajnis to the territory thus bound- 
 ed by the Ohio on the south, the mo.untains of the lakes on 
 ^be north, the Little Miami on the east, and the Great Mi- 
 ama and Mad River on the west; and I directed my ex- 
 cursion accordingly. — Furnished with good horses tor my^ 
 self, and Cuff, and a pack-horse for carrying a small tent 
 and provisions, 1 sett off on a north course for a town call- 
 ed Lebanon, thirty miles distant, and lying exactly cen- 
 tral between the two Miamis. The first five miles were 
 hilly, but afforded fine rich intervals for farms, and on a 
 creek which I passed, in that distance, were too mills that 
 had done much business that season, and had excellent 
 Hour on hand, at four dollars per barrel, and Indian corn 
 meal for one shilling and sixpence per bushel, of the best 
 quality. 
 
 For ten miles further on, the land was broken, heavily 
 timbered, and but little cleared. The remaining fifteen 
 miles to Lebanon were nearly the best I ever viewed, and 
 settled considerably for so new a country. The farms were 
 numerous, well improved, and the houses and barns on 
 them built with great care and industry. 
 
 Lebanon contains about two hundred inhabitants, dwell- 
 ing in about forty neat log and frame houses. A place of 
 ■worship and school-house are also erected, and the town in 
 every respect bids fair to prosper and encrease with unpre- 
 cedented success. Seated in the midst of the finest tract 
 of land in the world, and that tract already thickly settled 
 by a hard^ and industrious people, it cannot fail to succeed, 
 if not reduced to a premature ruin by the sudden and vio- 
 lent visitations which have trampled under foot the aspir- 
 ing hopes of other settlements of the same State. The town 
 is not considered unhealthy, nor is the immediate vicinity 
 poisoned by ponds or swamps. The inhabitants, though 
 i'ew arc composed of several nations, who unite in forming 
 a character of a laborious and religious cast. Their indus- 
 try is manitest in the extensive improvements and comfort- 
 able abodes; all effected within the space of tive years, 
 and their religion is displayed in the fashion of their hats 
 and cloaths, but more respectably in their decent and 
 moral conduct. One sect has made itself so conspicuous, 
 t^at I cannot pass it over in silence* 
 
215' TRAVELS 11^ 
 
 A number of families, several years ago, withdrew from 
 the quakers in the Eastern States, in whose tenets they had 
 been bred and instructed, andlolhwed a w(/nian, Jemima 
 Wilkinson, whom they accepted as their religions leader, into 
 the Genessee country, soon after its establishment by Sir 
 William Pulteney. Disgusted with the Immoral conduct 
 of that woman, several of the principals apostatized a SC' 
 cond time, returned to the great towns of the State, pro- 
 mulgated an entirely novel system of religion, recruited 
 their numbers and repaired to the Western country, where 
 they purchased conjointly the fine and extenstve tract of 
 land on which Lebanon now stands. This purchase they 
 vested in the ha»ids of an individual who holds it in trust, 
 and ior the use ol " the poor and humble followers of the 
 Lord." The grand tenet of the society being the renunci" 
 ation of worldly wealth ; the total abandonment of riches, 
 and the strict and rigid adherence to the doctrine of '* take 
 up thq cross and follow me." In consequence, the indivi- 
 duals of the sect hold nothing as their own, not even the 
 fruit of their labor; every dollar not required by their ne- 
 cessary wants is turned over to the person holding the land 
 in trust wh , is their Treasurer aiul High-Priest, and in 
 whom every thing is vested as for tlie service of the Lord, 
 As their present High-Priest has been the principal author 
 of the system, 1 will give you his proceedings in the literal 
 way thev o( cnried since his coming into the Western coun- 
 try, -froiij which you can learn a correct idea of so singular 
 a society. 
 
 On the completion of the purchase he had the whole 
 sUTvey<*d and located into sections of six hundred and forty 
 acres, and into half and quarter sections for the use of 
 small families. He then ordered his flock to assemble be- 
 yond the boundfiiy of the purchase, where they formally 
 abjured all worldly wt'alth, and lit<?rally taking up crosses 
 prepared for the puipose followed their leader to the par- 
 ticular sections he had marked for their respective use. The 
 unappropriated sections he (lis])ose(l of to persons joining the 
 society, by receiving in trust for the hordixW iheir wealth, iind 
 by giving them the use of land in proportion to the sacrifice. 
 None of his followers are allowed to live in towns. He 
 settled Lebanon with mechanics and tradesmen for the 
 accommodation of the society, but not as a residence for 
 any of its members. The produce of the sale of town lots, 
 and the profits on all farms he receives into his trcasur/ 
 
AMtniCA. 217 
 
 for the use of the contrite in heart, the meek and lowly 
 followers of the Lord ; and that money he disposes of, ac- 
 cording to the primitive regulations of the society in this 
 manner. 
 
 lie maintains teachers for the instruction of both sexes, 
 -lie provides them on their marriage with a house, farm, 
 implements of husbandry, cattle, and stock of all kinds, to 
 be held by them in trust for similar benefits to be conferr- 
 ed on their children and those of others. He maintains 
 -the sick and supports the needy, and sees that there is no 
 want in the land. His province also extends to the ad- 
 ^ninistration of justice, and to the settlement of all private 
 differences without the intjerference of the public law. 
 
 What a strange association ! How wild in theory and ab- 
 surd in practice ! must be the cry of every person endow- 
 ed with sense. To renounce property and still to retain 
 the advantages of riches ; to give up all and still t& be 
 placed beyond the apprehensions of want ; toabandon chil- 
 dren to the care of providence, and still to find them se- 
 cured both in instruction and wealth; to lay by nc'thing 
 against casualties and sickness, and yet to know there is 
 <^ver aid at hand, are paradoxes which must stagger the 
 jnind and reduce it to a state of confusion and unbelief. 
 Astonishing as it may appear, the facts admit of no para- 
 dox ; experience banishes the necessity even of a philo.^O'- 
 phic doubt. The society is flourishing to the highest a- 
 gree ! public and individual happiness every where a- 
 bound ; want, misery, and ignorance, are entirely unknown, 
 and the treasury of the High-Priest overflows. Such is 
 the actual state of the society ! 
 
 They have no particular place of worship. Tlicir law " 
 is that God resides and is to be worshipped every where.. 
 In order that two or three may be gathered together, they 
 associate according to the situation and convenience of 
 a few families, and receive instruction from whoever pre- 
 sent is able and willing to give it. Like the sect near 
 Pittsburg, they atTect the style of little children, and often 
 sit and play on the ground. From this religious exercise 
 they have acquired the name of S/ia/.crs and TrcmhlerSy 
 which they allow to be a. vulgar term of derision, in lieu 
 of tlK.'ir ovvji title, which is no more than the simple one o(r 
 The childir/i. And where that term might im|)ly infants 
 in fact; they add Children ol the Lord. Their High-Piic?t 
 
CI 8 TRAVELS IN 
 
 Hipy call their Leader ; he is elected for one year, or dur* 
 iiig pleasure ; and is eligible to be re-elected tiom year to 
 year ; he has the assistance of two persons, the one as an 
 acconiptant, and the other as an itinerant, whose duty 
 consists in visiting every settlement, and exairining into 
 the conduct, moral and economical, of each individual 
 member, which conduct he reports to his superior, and he, 
 on dissatisfaction, convenes a meeting of the Society, whose 
 vote excludes any person from ther sect against whom 
 profanity, idleness, or any sj)ecies of vice is proved. This 
 vote also excludes the branded person from all participa- 
 tion in the goods ol the Lord ; and exposes him to the 
 forfeiture of all the funds he might have given their Leader 
 to be at the Lord's disposal. This one law has more force 
 in its operation than all the volumes of penal law now ex- 
 tant. J t exercises a complcat dominion over religion and 
 morality, and makes it the decided interest ot every person 
 of the sect to pursue an unblemished and industrious life. 
 In summer, I should have observed, they meet their Lead- 
 er on Sundays in some open space shaded by trees, and 
 as they bring provisions and remain long on the ground, 
 the day is spent in the manner of a religious feast. 
 
 On leaving Lebanon, I took the Chilicothe road, if that 
 can be called a road which is no more than a path through 
 a wood, the trees marked with an axe to indicate the di- 
 rection. 1 he first seven or eight miles from Lebanon con- 
 sisted of remarkably fine wood land, checquered with im- 
 })rovements made by " The Children \' the remainder of 
 my day's journey, seventeen miles, to the borders of the 
 Litlc iNliami, was for the most part through a forest swamp 
 swarming with snakes and insects, and emitting a sickening 
 and nauseous stench. The soil was deep and black, and 
 cast up flowers of extreme richness and beauty considera- 
 bly above my horse's head. ^^ hen population encreases, 
 this swamp will afford the most productive larms ni the 
 State. It can be purged and sweetened with very little 
 labour, as it is intersected by crtcks and streams in every 
 direction, and needs nothing more than clearing otl the 
 heavy limber to give access to wind and sun, and torming 
 drains of communication with the creeks and streams 
 which in thtir turn communicate v/ith the two JNiiamis and 
 the Ohio ri\er. 
 
AMERICA. sig 
 
 The road is so miry and deep, that I found it impossible- 
 to travel above two miles an hour. It was sun-set when I 
 arrived at the Little Miami, on the banks ot' which, and 
 on a line open spot to which the air had access, 1 encamp- 
 ed for the night. 
 
 As night advanced, the noise of vermin, reptiles, and 
 insects was so great, particularly the clamour of the great 
 bull-frog, that I felt very little disposition to lie down, 
 though the labour of the day had considerably fatigued 
 mc. The uproar which proceeded Irom the swamp through 
 which I had that day travelled, is undescribable. Tho 
 Toices were too discordant, too numerous, varied and mix- 
 ed, to submit to verbal description. Let it suffice, that 
 the din was horrid and unceasing, and so loudy that it ob- 
 structed conversation, and appeared to defy the langour of 
 lassitude to the strong dominion ot an oppressive sleep. 
 Nature, however, becoming more faint, I got some repobc/ 
 and lay on a tent of dry leaves till near day light. 
 
 I was not a little surprised to hear immediately on wa- 
 king, and before there was any strength of dawn, both 
 the warble and the song of the nightingale. I supposed it 
 to proceed from the Virginia red bird, or from the mocking 
 bird, but on attention to the voice minutely and attentively, 
 I found It express more judgment and skill than I ever 
 knew such birds to exercise, and to have all the variation 
 and compass of the real nightingale I must believe that 
 it was the mocking bird commencing with his own native 
 powers and natural song before he stooped to copy the 
 less exquisite airs of others. He began with a low and 
 timid voice, and prepared for the hymns to nature, by es- 
 saying his powers and attuning his organs ; by degrees the 
 sound opened and swelled ; burst it into vivid flashes ; 
 flowed with smooth volubility ; sunk into murmers, and 
 shook with rapid and violent articulations, pouring thesolt 
 breathings of love, gratitude or joy from its inmost soul. 
 For fear such continued richness might satiate the ear, the 
 strains were, at intervals, relieved by powers, which shed 
 elevation and dignity through the song, 
 
 It is not a little singular too, that like the nightingale 
 this facinating bird chooses the silent hour of night for his 
 chaunt, which heightens the general effect, and hinders 
 any rival or any noise from disturbing the charming and 
 solemn scene, 1 could not discover the songster ; his 
 
€29 TRAVELS IN 
 
 notes reached me from the opposite side of the strearo. 
 The day soon after appeared, and I pursued my journey, 
 after having given the horses a few ears of corn, which 
 were carried on the pack horse for that purpose. 
 
 I must stop to observe a great singularity in the char- 
 acter of the horse of the Western country. However wild 
 Jie may be at his home, and when turned hito enclosed 
 pastures, he never wanders from, or quits his rider in the 
 Avoods. He will graze about, and pick up shrubs and pro- 
 vender from the roots of trees, but never lose sight of his 
 eamp or the cheering light of its fire. He too is sensible 
 ®f fear and protection : he trembles in the gloom of the 
 broods, and on the most distant howl of the wolf, ap- 
 proaches the fire, and often draws up and looks into the 
 tent of his master ! 
 
 Determined not to penetrate the woods till the sun had 
 the power of exhalation, I rode along the river bank, which 
 ,i found extremely rich and beautiful. The shrubs and 
 flowers grew to a great size ; and, for the first time since 
 my arrival in the country, I met with the MagnioUa Altis- 
 sima, which I considered a testimony of a change of soil 
 and climate, as it requires both of a very prolific nature. 
 J laving rode about two hours, the country began to open, 
 and I passed several well-improved plantations ; fields 
 teeming with an abundant harvest ; houses neatly built^ 
 and cattle and stock of an excellent quality grazing in 
 large meadows, the hay of which had been long carried 
 oft' the ground. I rode up to a cheerful looking farm-house, 
 and met with a very hearty reception from its proprietor, 
 an Knglishman, who came into the Miamis on the strength 
 of their high reputation and his dislike to the Eastern 
 States, where he had first settled. During a breakfast., 
 ])rolonged by a most interesting coaversation, I learned 
 Jrom I\lr. Digby (sO was he called) that the best he could 
 do in the Western country, or that any farmer could do, 
 •il'as just not to starve. The price of produce was so low 
 and that of labour so high, that very little profit attended 
 the most laborious exertions of industry. Indian corn, in 
 particular, carried a value so mean, that he never offered 
 to sell it, and for his wheat, he made it into flour, he could 
 get but about three dollars per barrel, and even that had, 
 for the most part, to be taken in goods for which he had 
 not always consumption or use. In consequence, he was 
 
AMERICA. 221 
 
 about to abandon a system so little advantageous, and take 
 to grazing cattle, breeding hogs, and rearing horses, tor 
 distant markets and foreign use, where money was to be 
 obtained, and profit equal to the extent and importance of 
 the business. He had always reaped the benefit of ihi^i 
 plan, having sent his son in the spring of the year with a 
 boat carrying two hundred live hogs to New Orleans, where 
 they sold all round at the rate of twelve dollars per cwt. 
 though they cost him nothing but the expence of the voy- 
 age and some small attendance in the woods, where they 
 breed and maintain themselves all the year round. 
 
 Before the winter, Mr. Oigby proposes taking a drove of 
 cattle and horses over the mountains, to the great Eastern 
 marts of Baltimore and Philadelphia. 
 
 Thus, from the nature of the country, and the tyranny 
 of circumstances, we find an industrious intelligent, active 
 man, abandons a heavy course of agriculture, and turn hi*- 
 views to a system of farming, from which immense wealth 
 is to be derived, though his nearest market, Baltimore, is at 
 the distance of eleven hundred miles ; and new Orleans 
 from sixteen to seventen hundred ! 
 
 He did not consider the spot he was on unhealthy, but 
 there vvere swamps in the rear of his plantation which 
 emitted infectious smells, and caused a nousea when he had 
 occasion to remain in or near them. His fine meadows 
 were vv'ood-swamps till he cleared off the trees and drained 
 tliem into creeks communicating with the low country and 
 with the river. He finds no other fault with the land than 
 that it is too rich — forcing ev; ry thing into a stalk like tim- 
 ber, and making the hay so course, that hj often destroys 
 the first growth ; and only saves the after-grass when a 
 foot high or under. The Indian- corn produces one hun- 
 dred bushels per acre, and grows on a stem of such strength^, 
 that cattle, when it spreads its tossel, and has shed and re-' 
 ceived its farinacious impregnation, are allowed to rove 
 among it without being capable of rendering it any injury. 
 The land mubt be weakened and reduced by successive 
 and heavy crops of corn, before it be fit for wheat. Put 
 into unreduced land, wheat rambles ten or twelve feet 
 high, and bears little fiuit. Fifty and sixty bushels to an 
 acre is a commo.i crop ! Vegetables succeed remarkable 
 well, and fruit-trees bear at limes in too great profusion, 
 and at other times do not bear at all. The dept cf the 
 S 2 
 
^^^ TRAVELS IN 
 
 soil was neverascertained. Where drains were made twelve 
 feet deep, nothing but a rich black mould appeared— a 
 compost of decayed vegetable substance, accumulating 
 some ihousand years ! 
 
 Furnished with this information, and refreshed M'ith a 
 good breakfast, I took leave of Mr. D. and pursued my 
 journey, the particulars of which you will have in my 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 a 1/ton foxvn, its Jinc situation — A snake or snapping tor^ 
 toise — Timber of this country — The sugar maple — An In' 
 (lian Ca?pp. 
 
 Ginclnnati, August, 1306. 
 
 On leaving P>Ir. Digby's, I continued my journey up 
 the Lutle Miami for about ten miles, when I arrived at 
 .«>ome hilly and broken land, which deterred me from pur-^ 
 «uing a northern route any longer, especially as I under* 
 vtood that the ground held similar features as high up a* 
 the I'ickawee Plains, and other prairies with the locality 
 and nature of which I was previously acquainted. Accord- 
 ingly I bent a west by riorth course by compass, which I 
 judged would strike the Great Miami near Dayton, a small 
 town lately built on the confluence of that and the INIad 
 Jliver. The distance Irom the Littfe Miami, from whence 
 3 turned to that part of the Great Miami, lor which I 
 made, I conjectured to be between jorty-five and sixty 
 miles, 'J he surface in the first instance, swelled into 
 hUU, and sunk into dales of great fertility and richness, 
 and was much more sound and less noxious than that I 
 rraversed the preceding day. One particular part con- 
 tained a greater variety of advantages and beauty than I 
 ever beheld embraced in the same compass. 
 
 Entering an opening between the feet of two bill*, 
 through which rushed a rapid transparent stream, I had a 
 view of a circular piece of ground so thinly wooded, that 
 the hilJ l>y which it was girt was distinctly seen crowned 
 
AMERICA. 2^h 
 
 with sumptuous trees, representing a fine amphitheatre, 
 which met the eye in every direction around. The water 
 was visible in many places, and traversed the plain nume- 
 rous times in search of the sortie through which I entered, 
 and through which it dtished with as much exulting vio- 
 lence as if sensible of the liberty it regained. It entered 
 the plain from tho north west, in which situation it possess- 
 ed several falls of suflficient power for any over-shot and 
 grist mills. This advantage connected with a variety of 
 others, renders the spot the most eligible imaginable for all 
 the purposes of rural economy and contracted desires of 
 primitive lite. The plain contains perhaps twelve hundred 
 acres ; the land could easily be cleared, the soil a rich 
 black mould, could be cultivated with little labour; from 
 the facility of being drained no offensive vapours could 
 arise and a house seated in the declivity of the hill Irom 
 which the stream descended in quick and rapid falls, could 
 command an uninterrupted view of an abundant and en- 
 chanting prospect. 
 
 From the thin state and growth of the wood, there re- 
 mained no doubt of the plain having been formerly under 
 cultivation. No traces of Indian settlements notwithstand- 
 ing appeared. I journeyed on lor the remainder of the 
 day through a wilderness of melancholy gloom and end- 
 less extent, 
 
 I stopped to refresh at a fine creek and while my travell- 
 ing and faithful companifui was occupied in making afire, 
 I took my gun to range for something for dinner, I had" 
 not advanced twenty yards before my dog barked with con- 
 siderable irritation, and ran round an object which on a 
 nearer approach I discovered to be a snake-tortoise. He 
 was as large as a turtle of sixty pounds weight, and in dis- 
 position appeared to be excessively fierce and mischievous. 
 ^Vhenever he snapt at the dog, which he frequently did 
 with great premeditation and venom, his jaws fell together 
 with much violence and noise. Well convinced that Cuflr 
 was acquainted with the natural history of the animal, and 
 all his various attributes, I called him up and took the dog 
 off, feartul every moment of his losing his life in so une- 
 qual a conflict. I was perfectly right in my conjecture ; 
 the Mandanean knew all his habits. While exposed to the 
 dog the creature never presented a vulnerable part; noth- 
 ing was t© be seen but a strong coat of mail, into which he 
 
2^4t l^RAVELS IN 
 
 drew his head and legs till prepared to bite, when he pro- 
 longated his jaws, or rather neclt, which appeared to have 
 great agility, and snapt with a clangour to be heard one 
 hundred yards round. But when the man came up and 
 placed on his back. a large flat stone, he exposed his head 
 and feet, and began to move towards the water with more 
 rapidity than I presumed attributable to his nature, or con- 
 sistent with his magnitude and form. On turning him from 
 the water he seized the stick I made use of in his mouth, 
 and retained his hold, though the man and 1 raised him 
 from the ground in our efforts to disengage it. It appear- 
 ed that nothing but fire could induce him to move or to 
 quit his hold. 1 held a fire-brand near his back, and not- 
 Avithstandmg the extraordinary thickness of the shell, his 
 sensibility took an immediate alarm, and he again advanc- 
 ed with much speed and precipitate action. The Indians 
 call this by a name -which implies the snapping tortoise, 
 from its remaining perfectly tranquil till the object is with- 
 in its reach, on which it makes one sudden snap and sinks 
 under water. The weight which the one that was the im- 
 mediate subject of my investigation carried on his back, 
 was inconceivably great, and still he moved without any 
 apparent embarrassment or difficulty. To turn him on 
 his back was very arduous. He resisted with great power 
 and strong manitestations of despair and passion : turning 
 and snapping at the stick whenever he found it acting as 
 a lever upon him. After being upset he made no further 
 resistance, and died without much struggle. The body 
 was very plump and fine; — I cut from it several steaks, 
 and enjoyed a dinner of exquisite richness and flavour. 
 Buring the repast I was entertained by the chattering of a 
 flock of panxpiets, svho had taken up their abode in th# 
 trees around me There were the g«'een and the red neck, 
 that very particular species which are held the most rare in 
 Europe, and which were once highly valued by the Greeks 
 and Romans. 
 
 Perfectly refreshed, I again pursued my journey towards 
 the Great iMiami, and travelled for four hours over the 
 finest tract of wood land I ever beheld. It was nearly a 
 level, but healthy and dry, in consequence of being inter- 
 sected by a number .of rapid little .■^tiw-ims, which carried 
 off rains, and left no ponds for the creation of noxious and 
 
AMERICA. 2|p 
 
 putrissent matter. The soil was deep and black, and the 
 following timber grew in great magnitude, beauty^ and 
 abundance : — 
 
 Maple • Aspin 
 
 Sycamore I Chesnut Oak 
 
 Black Mulberry ! Butter Nut 
 
 White ditto ; Cliesnut 
 
 Black Walnut- I Hickory, three species 
 
 White ditto ', Cherry 
 
 White Oak I Buckwood,or llorseChcsnut 
 
 Black ditto ; Honey Locust 
 
 Bed ditto * Elm, two species 
 
 Spanish ditto I Cucumber Tree 
 
 lynn Tree I Sassafras 
 
 Gum Tree * Crab Apple Tree 
 
 Iron Wood ; Papaw 
 
 Ash, three species I Plum Tree, several kinds- 
 
 Besides these there were nine species of bark, sj^ice, and 
 leather wood bushes ; the judas tree, the dog wood, and 
 many others whose names and properties I had not capa- 
 city to ascertain. The land in every direction produced 
 vast quantities of grapes of various sorts, and cotton, grow- 
 ing in great perfection, shewed itself to be the natural 
 production of the country. The sugar maple is the most 
 valuable tree for an inland state. One tree can yield a- 
 bout ten pounds of sugar a year, and the labour is very 
 ' trifling. The sap, which is extracted about February and 
 iMarch, is received in a vessel placed at the foot of a tree, 
 under an incision made tor the purpose, and into whicK 
 apiece of cane is inserted, and through which the sap, on 
 a warm day after a frosty night, otten flows in a continued 
 stream fo» several hours. The collected sap of several 
 trees tapped on the same day, is granulated, by the simple 
 operation of boiling, to a sugar very near equal in flavour 
 and whiteness to the best Muscovado. 
 
 This valuable tree, like every other valuable gift of na- 
 ture to this western world is hastening to dissolution and 
 decline. In the spring of the year sugar camps extend 
 through the whole country ; and the persons employed 
 give the trees such great and unnecessary wounds that their 
 whole virtue ryns out, and they perish perhaps in a seasoii. 
 
Sie TOAVELS^ IN 
 
 So violent has been the prodigality of the people of Ken- 
 tucky, that they have nearly annihilated the maple aiio-' 
 gether, by hacking the trees with an axe and never closing 
 the wounds from which they drew the sap, though they 
 well knew that the timber would peri.sh from such treat- 
 ment. Persons of better regulated minds, tap the trees 
 ^irh an aui^ur, insert a cane, draw off the liqut)r, and then 
 stop up the fl()wing and the wound, by whicli means the 
 trees r<?cover their vigour, and atford fresh supplies from 
 three to twelve years. 
 
 I soon came up to a small Indian camp of three tents, 
 and a fire already prepared. I alighted, and advanced 
 with affability and contidcncc to the oldest man of the par- 
 ty, who gave me his hand with much courtesy, and after- 
 wards offered me his pipe with an expression of great kind- 
 ness. 1 received it as the calumet of peace, and entered- 
 into an alliance of friendship, the violation of which, oiv 
 either side, according to the Indian's own rule, '* would 
 be deserving the wrath of the Good Spirit, and the imme- 
 diate punishment of Heaven." 
 
 Having taken into such excellent company, I resolved 
 to remain among them for the night, and, with permission, 
 I pitched my tent and made my lire immediately in the vi- 
 cinity of the spring which the Indians Imd chosen for their 
 camp. I soon discovered that the party I fell in with was 
 a family of the l^Iingoes — a nation formerly powerful, in- 
 habiting the banks of the Sciota, and now attached to that 
 river, though reduced to the small number of forty-five! 
 The family consisted of a father, a married sonand daugh- 
 ter and live of their children, one of which was at the 
 breast, and another but three years old. They manifested 
 no manner of surprise on my arrival, and expressed no cu- 
 riosity at the bight of the objects with which I was furnish- 
 ed, though they dift'ered so entirely from any they had 
 ever before beheld. Nor was I asked from whence I came; 
 At hither I was going; or, any other question whatever, 
 'i'his little appetite to curiosity has exposed almost all In- 
 dian nations to the charge of stuj)idity and insipience of 
 character. Never was charge more ill founded and un- 
 just. Their apparent want of curiosity is the result of 
 iiabit growing out of maxims, and the first instructions of 
 tueir youth — which tend to suppress idle enquiries. 
 
AMERICA, 22r 
 
 After a very interesting conversation with Onamo, the 
 head, I retired to rest, and reposed with the utmost peace, 
 security, and confidence. 
 
 LETTER XXVr. 
 
 Dayton — A rich and fine country — Trees, &Iiruhs, and Hol- 
 ers — Humming Birds — Mad Hirer — situation of the in-- 
 habitants on its banks — The Great Miami — Hamilton 
 tx)wn, 
 
 Cincinnati, August, 1806. 
 
 NEXT morning after passing through a delightful 
 range of country, I reached the town of Dayton, which 
 is composed of about forty houses, standing on a point of 
 land formed by the junction of the Mad and the Great 
 Miami Rivers. I put up at an excellent inn, kept by a 
 Dutch family, whom I found well disposed and assiduous 
 in business. The site of the town is more favourable to 
 commerce than to health. On the rise of the Miami, the 
 waters of the Mad River are subject to back and to inun- 
 date its bank in the vicinity of the town, and consequently 
 to spread the seeds of j)estilence and fever, ihe inhabi- 
 tants principally Dutch and Irish, had lost the florid fea- 
 ture of their own country, and the children looked pale, 
 ematiated and languid. These unfavourable appearances 
 are entirely to be attributed to the local cause I have men- 
 tioned — for the inhabitants of high prairies, or meadows, 
 and of other parts distant from the inundations look per- 
 fectly cheerful and as fresh and high complexioned as can 
 be expected in persons, who, for nine months in the year, 
 are in a constant state of copious perspiratioi], owing as 
 well to the excessive heat of the sun as to the perpetual 
 toil imposed by necessity on all new settlers. 
 
 The principal stream of em.igration has for a few years 
 flowed towards the Mad River. After a variety of lolly, 
 disappointment, and error, the unfortunate and the per- 
 turbed in siprit, have at length lound and fixed upon a 
 truly rich and distinguished abode. I rode tony miles up 
 the right bank and returned on the leit to Dayton ; and 
 
228 TRAVELS IN 
 
 must candidly confess, I never beheld a tract of land so 
 favoured by nature, and so succeptible of improvement by 
 art. Nearly the whole tract is a chain of prairies par- 
 tially obscured from each other by groves of magnificent 
 trees, and shrubberies diffusing every species of perfume, 
 and exhibiting the bloom and radiance of every flower. 
 Among the trees the splendid magnolaand tulip are found, 
 and among the shrubs are seen, the althea, arbutus, hon- 
 ey-locust, and various other aromatics. The uncultivated 
 portions of the prairies abound in flowers of such luxuri- 
 ance and iieight, that in riding through, it is often ne- 
 cessary to turn them from the face with the whip ; and the 
 general herbage, plants, and flowers, rise to the saddle 
 skirts. The most conspicuous flowers were, the geranium^ 
 holy-oak, and passion-flower, to which the sweet pea and 
 many blossoming creepers ran up and closely adhered. 
 These prairies were formerly the favourite resort of bufla- 
 loes, but the wanton carnage committed among their 
 <iroves, has made them retreat and pass indignant to less 
 savage lands. Some few herds of deer still linger in their 
 favourite haunt, and at this season browse in safety un- 
 der the protection of the pasture which effectually covere 
 ihem from sight. The little humming birds alone retain 
 their empire over the flowery waste ; like bees, they fly 
 from blossom to blossom, nor heed the traveller who stops 
 to admire their burnished plumage and diminutive struc- 
 ture, displaying in their nature the utmost harmony io 
 expression, and the greatest chastity in taste. At the mo- 
 ment they insert their bill into a blossom, and hum with 
 delight and strong manifestations of passion, there is no 
 difficulty in catching them ; but the common practice is 
 to shoot them with sand through a trunk gun. They sel- 
 dom, however, survive ; I met but one instance where they 
 brooked the harsh confinement of the cage. In that in- 
 iytancc a French lady had several ; she fed them with ho- 
 i-ey impregnated with scents, lodged in a sponge covered 
 with lace, and disguised in forms and colours which imi- 
 tated the buds and flowers on which she perceived them, 
 in a state of nature most partial to dwell. The litlte crea-^ 
 lures repaid her kindness by the most afTecting endear- 
 ments. On freeing them from the cage they generally roved 
 round her for several turns, and then fondly clustered ii> 
 h«r extended hnnd or breast, in which she comjjionly put 
 
AMERICA. 2J9 
 
 seme inviting sweets or tempting flowers. She had kept 
 them for fifteen months, during which time they had shewn 
 no disposition to become dull or torpid, though some nat- 
 uralists alledge, that during the winter season they remain, 
 so, suspending themselves by the bill to the bark of a tree; 
 and are awakened into life from that state when the flow- 
 ers begin to blow, and nature herself assumes the greatest 
 degree of beauty and bloom. There is one fact of more 
 importance, which their existence in particular places pro- 
 claims, that is the fertility cf the soil and the salubrity of 
 the climate. They never inhabit swamps or countries ex- 
 jposed to a severity of season. Therefore, in fixing in the 
 Western world, I know no better guide than the humming 
 bird, who is sure to direct to a sound soil, a short winter,, 
 and a long delightful spring. 
 
 The Mad River, which meanders through this tract of 
 country, is remarkable for the fine quality of the water 
 and the great purity of the stream. It received its name 
 in consequence of its perpetual impetuosity, it being the 
 only river in the Western country which does not subside 
 in the silmmer and fall of the year. All the other rivers 
 owe their great periodical volume to the effusion of ice and 
 mountain snows, whereas, the Mad River issues out of 
 Lake Huron, which affords it an equal supply without va- 
 riation or end. U abounds with fish, and is so transparent, 
 that they are driven with great facility into nets and snares ; 
 ARd arc besides, often speared. 
 
 The banks of the river are settling with unparalelled 
 success, and the title of all the adjacent lands is already 
 bought up from Congress by individuals and by specula- 
 tors, who propose selling again at an advanced price. 
 Most of the prairie-grounds are now as high as from twenty 
 to fifty dollars per acre, and the wood-land adjoining the 
 river, sells at from five to sixteen dollars per acre. I vis- 
 ited at least one hundred farms, and found the inhabitants 
 in the possession of abundance of every common necessary, 
 and evtry absolute comfort essential to a modest and un- 
 assuming life. Nor does their situation or temptations 
 suggest any desires but what may be gratified by the hum- 
 ble means within their reach. There appeared no manner 
 of discontent among them, and no material difference of 
 rank or fortune to excite it. You who have been always 
 as^tistonied t« the refiiicmc<it oi luxurv» will scarce be 
 
230 TRAVELS IN 
 
 able to conceive how these settlers, with no other clothing 
 than coarse home-made apparel, v/ith no other shelter but 
 a log house constructed with the rudest art, and with no 
 food but of the coarsest kind, and destitute of coffee, tea, 
 wine, and foreign spirits, can enjoy any happiness ; and 
 yet as I observed, to judge from their manners, language, 
 and external appearance, their state may he envied by the 
 wealthy of the most refined nations, because their forgets* 
 fulness or ignorance of extravagant desires and vicious 
 pursuits, excludes every wish beyond their present situa- 
 tion, and leaves them virtuous and happy. They are 
 composed of all nations, and live as yet in a kind of native 
 freedom and independence ; in a kind of equality of rank 
 which banishes all distinctions but those of age and merit — 
 for the old controul the parochial administration, and the 
 learned govern the legal and ecclesiastical. However, fis 
 population encreases, and as towns and villages abound, 
 vice, which appears the propensity of man will erect its 
 power and call for the infiuence of the general regulations 
 of the Stase, and destroy the innocent and primitive char- 
 acters which now distinguish the republic of the Mad Ri- 
 ver. Nothing in truth can be more primitive. Justice 
 is administered with decency, but no form ; in the open 
 air and on Sunday the people gather together in appointed 
 groves, and silently attend to any person endowed with the 
 grace and talent of instruction. 
 
 On returning to Cincinnati, I pursued the Miami to the 
 tov/n of Hamilton for forty miles. 
 
 The Great Miami is a very fine river, uninterrupted by 
 falls. Its navigation, as well as that of the Scioto and Mus- 
 kingum, approaches very near to the navigable waters of 
 the Lakes ; and like them, the banks towards the source 
 is furnished with springs, coal mines, white and blue clay, 
 and various mctalic and mineral productions. It is about 
 two hundred yards wide at its. mouth, and is reduced to 
 thirty at the Pickawec towns nothwithstanding which, it is 
 navigable fifty miles higher up. The portage from its 
 western branch into the Miami of the Lake Erie, is five 
 miles ; that from its eastern bra:nch into Sandusky River, 
 is nine miles. 
 
 P'rom Dayton to Hamilton there is an excellent beateit 
 public road, the borders of which arc sprinkled with set- 
 'laments, and neat improved farms. The forest trees and 
 
AMERICA. 23i 
 
 lands were of a very superior quality. Hamilton was a 
 fort and garrison during the Indian war ; it is now a smart 
 little town on the banks of the Miami, and docs consider- 
 able business, in collecting the produce of the settlers of 
 the back country, and giving in return goods of every de- 
 scription, furnished by the merchants of Cincinnati. Ham- 
 ilton being but thirty miles from this, I reached it in 
 another day's ride, and met with no occurrence wor^h 
 remark i no;. 
 
 LETTER XXVTL 
 
 Judge Sy?7ime*s residence — an elegant maimon in a cfiarmhg 
 situation — Ms family, SfC. — Indian territory — Big-bone 
 hick — Granfs Lick, its excellent salt — Nitre, caves and 
 kills — Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky — Kentucky Ri- 
 'ver — its magnificent banks — Aiitiquities — Louisville — 
 Fassage of the Falls — A terrifc scene. 
 
 Louisville, Falls ©f the Ohioj Lat. 38. 8 N. Aug. 18O6. 
 I LEFT Cincinnati with an impression very favoura*- 
 ble to its inhabitants, and with a higher opinion of its 
 hack country than 1 entertain of any other. Seven miles 
 below my departure, at a place called the North Bend, 1 
 stopped to take breakfast with the hospitable Judge Symmes, 
 the original proprietor, after the extinction of the Indian 
 title, of the whole of the country lying between the two 
 Miamis. The situation which the Judge has chosen for 
 his residence, cannot be equalled for the variety and ele- 
 gance of its prospects. Improved farms, villages, scats^ 
 and tlie remains of ancient and modern military works, 
 decorate the banks of the tine^st piece of water in the world, 
 and present themselves to view from the principal apart- 
 ments of the house, which is a noble stone mansion, erect- 
 ed at great expence, and on a plan which does iMfinite 
 honour to the artist, and to the taste of the proprietor. 
 Differing from other settlers, Mr. Symmes has been studi- 
 ous to give the river-sides a pastoral effect, by preserving, 
 woods, planting orchards, aiid divcrsiiying these with ccnv 
 
^:i2 TRAVELS IN 
 
 ^ekis, slopeing pastures, and everj other effect incidental 
 both to an improved and rural lile. From this expression 
 of elevated judgment, you may be prepared to know that- 
 the proprietor formerly resided in England, and after in 
 New York, where he married his present wife, a lady dis- 
 tinguished by elegance of mind and a general and correct 
 informati(}[>. They have no children, but there resides wrth 
 them a Miss Livingston, on whom they iix their atfeetions ; 
 and whom they treat with parental kindness and respectful 
 "urbanity, the one being due to her intrinsic merit, and the 
 other to her family, which is eminent lor birth, property, 
 and talent, in the State of New York. 
 
 Tlie judge passes his time in directing his various works, 
 and the ladies read, walk, and attend to numerous birds 
 and animals, which they domesticate, both for entertain- 
 ment and use. INIissL. is muciiof a botanist — a practical 
 fewie. She collects seeds from such plants and tlowers as 
 are most conspicuous in the prairies, and cultivates them 
 with care, on the banks, and in the vicinity of the house. 
 She is forming a shrubbery also, which will be entirely 
 composed of magnolia, catalpa, papaw, rose and tulip 
 trees, and all others distinguished for blossom and frag- 
 rarice. In the middle is erected a small Indian temple, 
 where this young lady preserves seeds and plants, and 
 classes specimens of wood which contribute much to hcf 
 knowledge and entertainment. When the beauties of the 
 line season fade, and the counN^ becomes somewhat inert 
 and insipid, the judge and the ladies remove to Cincinnati, 
 and revolve in its pleasures till fatigued ; when th^y again 
 return to their rural economy, and to the prosecution of 
 Imppy and inorlensive designs. I could with great difficulty 
 tear mysclt fr.»m persons so amiable. 
 
 F.ouiteen miles from the North Bend, and twenty-one 
 from Cincinnati, I passed the mouth of the great Miami ; 
 on the right hand shore from it is the Western boundary 
 of the Ohio S ate, and the Eastern commencement of the 
 Indian territory, which, in a short time, and with the in- 
 crease of population, will receive the title of a State and 
 becdBfe the brightest star in the galaxy of the Union. The 
 land is for a great part richly wooded, fertile, and appli- 
 cable to all the purposes of agriculture and extensive and 
 pre luctive improvement. 'I'he territory is upwards of six 
 liundred miles scjuare, and is thirs copiously watered : -on 
 
AMERICA-. ^^ 
 
 tlie north by the Lake§ ; on the south by the Ohio ; and 
 on the west by the Mississippi. Through it also runs, 
 generally in a south course, the Wabash, the Illinois, and 
 Variety of creeks and streams. 
 
 Knowing of no obstacles in fhe river, and finding it to 
 encrease in grandeur and safety, I ctetermined on floating 
 all night. I met with no alarms or accident, and arrived 
 in the morning early at the Big Bone Lick, thirty-two miles 
 from the Miami. 
 
 The salt spring iS very weak at the Big Bone Lick. One 
 thousand gallons of water yield but a bushel of salt. A- 
 bout twenty miles back of the Big Bone, is Grant's Lick^ 
 one hundred gallons of which make a bushel of salt of a 
 Very strong and fine quality. I should think there could 
 be no great difficulty in ascertaining whether the water of 
 Grant's Lick does not issue from a salt rock in its imme- 
 diate vicinity. It is to be regretted that no person of leis* 
 ure and intelligence has yet investigated a subject of such 
 public utility and importance; as I make no doubt that 
 at the same springs which are now worked with little ad- 
 vantage and great labour, water could be found of ten-fold 
 strength, and possibly the rock from which it undoubtedly 
 issues. There are other springs in the neighbourhood of 
 the Big Bone Lick, and through several parts of Kentucky, 
 which are said to be medicinal^ and to have the property 
 of relieving various disorders incident to the spring and 
 fall of the year. All that I have met with are strongly 
 impregnated with sulphur, and some so hot as to be within 
 twenty degrees of boiling water. A sulphur spring near 
 the Big Bone Lick turned a dollar black in less than five 
 minutes. Nitre caves, and hills impregnated with nitre, 
 are also common throughout the State, and are worked to 
 great profit, every bushel of earth yielding on an average, 
 three pounds of nitre. 
 
 In the course of another day and night's navigation, I 
 dropped forty-four miles lower down, and put into the 
 mouth of the Kentucky River, which gives name to the 
 State it intersects nearly in equal halves. It flows Jn in- 
 numerable meanders, and through a very extensivenBody 
 of good laml, except within fifty or more miles of the Ohio 
 where it is too mountainous for the purposes of a profita- 
 ble agriculture. It is navigable for loaded boats during a 
 U 2 ■ • 
 
^34 TRAVELS IN 
 
 considerable part of the year, upwards of one hundreJCi 
 and fifty miles. 
 
 Frankfort, the capital of the State, is situated in the west 
 bank, about seventy miles from its contluence with the 
 Ohio. The legislature and the supreme courts hold their 
 j^essious there. 'I'he Slate-house is a large stone buildmg. 
 This situation is so unhealthy, that the town must eventu- 
 ally be abandoned. Tiiere is also a mean little town oii^ 
 one side of the confluence, called Williams Port, and ano- 
 ther on tlie other side of equal insignificance. 'Ihey are 
 subject to periodical inundation, inductive of fever and 
 every species of lassitude and sickness. Were it not for 
 this, the towns would rise into eminence and obtain impor- 
 tance from the growing commerce of the country and the 
 Davigation of the river. 
 
 The Kentucky is about ninety yards at its mouth. Its 
 banks, or rather precipices, ought to be reckoned among, 
 the grandest natural curiosities of the country. There the 
 astonished eye beholds three hundred, and often five hun- 
 dred feet of solid perpendicular rock, in some parts of lime 
 stone, and in others of fine white marble, chequered with 
 .strata of extraordinary beauty and regularity, which gives 
 the river the appearance of an immensely deep and artifi- 
 cial canal, whose rocky banks are crowned with sumptuous 
 Lcdar, and other trees, of a perpetual verdure. 
 
 While exploring the banks, 1 fell in with some antiqui- 
 ries peculiar to the country. They consist of old torts, 
 jiot circular like the many I have pointed out, but oblong, 
 und situated on strong, well chosen grounds, and always 
 contiguous to the best landings of the river. When, by 
 whom, and for what purpose thrown up, is, most unfurtu- 
 ijalely uncertain. T hey are undoubtedly very ancient, as 
 there is not the least visible ditierence in ihe age or size of 
 the timber growing on or within those forts, and that which 
 j^rows without ; and I never yet could obtain any satis- 
 Uctory tradition respecting them. Doctor Cutler, who 
 has accurately examined the trees in those forts, and which 
 lie thinks from ajjpeaiances are the second growth, is of 
 opinion, that they must have been built upwards of one 
 thousand years. One lact is also clear ; they must have 
 been the cfibrts of a people acquainted with some science, 
 and capable of infinite labour ; and it is difficult lo con- 
 ceive how thcv cQuUl be cuuiU-u:;cd withui:: tiit use of 
 
AMERICA. n& 
 
 Iron tools and the instruments we are compelled to employ 
 in works oF much less magnitude and character. At a. 
 small distance trom each tort there stands a mound of 
 earth thrown up in the manner of a pyramid. 
 
 The water, owing to its low state, beginning to flow in 
 a very sluggish manner, it took me two days and two nights' 
 to bear me along to Louisville, from which I now write^ 
 the distance seventy-seven miles; in which run the river 
 presented nothing very remarkable, though I observed it 
 increase in breadth,, grandeur, aad sublimity, and to ap- 
 pear more awful from the heighth of its banks, and the si- 
 lence which prevailed from the distance of the habitations 
 of man, and the absence of population and society. I 
 amuse<l myself each day by going ashore with my gun, and 
 walking along for hours together,vvhile the boat dropped down 
 uilh the stream. 1 killed several dozen of tine ducks, and 
 one deer,, in the act of swiming across the water to elude 
 the pursuit of a wolf that had been long chasing him. 
 
 Late in the year, and in the spring season, the river is 
 covered with wild geese, swans, and ducks of various de- 
 scriptions. In the summer, and at this season they visit 
 the Lakes, where they breed and bring up their young in 
 great multitudes. One species of duck alone remain per- 
 manently on the river, and that is the worst of the whole 
 kind. I killed a few young turkeys, which were exquisite 
 in taste and flavor. The shores abound in subjests of spe- 
 culation and interest. Animal and vegetable petrifactions 
 may be picked up nearly at every step, and in the highest 
 state of purity and perlection ; so much so, that the char- 
 acters ol each object are distinct anxi visible, and nothing 
 wanting in the one but scent, softness, and colour, and 
 in the otlier, the active principle ot life. All the waters 
 of the Ohio and its tributaries are gift-ed with the powers 
 of pet refaction. 
 
 The first intimation I had of the approach to Louisville 
 was the roaring of the falls, which reached me at the dis- 
 tance of fiiteen miles. Four miles farther on gave me a 
 iine view of the town which stands about two miles above 
 the falls on the Kentucky shore. The entire coup d'ctil is- 
 very grand, but the dispo'siiion to admire is drowned in the 
 murmur of the waters, and the danger it anrvf)U;ices to the 
 mind. As the fails cannot be passed without a pilot and 
 Sk number of extra hands to govtrn the helm and the cars, 
 
23t) TRAVELS IN 
 
 it is always necessary to look out within five oi*^ six mil^s? 
 and pull in for the left shore before there is a possibility of- 
 getting into the suction of the fall stream, and from thence 
 into the vortex of the flood. By my not attending to thiy 
 in time I was very near perishing. The velocity of the wa^ 
 ter increased ; the uproar of the falls became tremendous,- 
 and nothing but the continued and vigorous exertion of 
 the oars saved us from sudden and violent perdition. We 
 rowed one hour across the stream and got into dull water, 
 but five minutes before our deaths must have been certain j 
 whereas, had 1 pulled in on seeing the town, I might have 
 dropped quietly down along the bank, and enjoyed the gran- 
 deur and sublimity of the general scene, in the place of ex- 
 periencing so much labour and apprehension. 
 
 Having secured the boat in the mouth of Bear Grass 
 Greek, I walked up to the town of Louisville, which is situ- 
 ated on a high and level bank of the Ohio, about two hun-' 
 dred poles above the commencement of the rapid descent 
 of the water, and contains about eighty dwellings, besides, 
 the court-house of Jefferson county, and other public build- 
 ings. The prospect from the town is very extensive, com- 
 manding a view up the river, for some distance above what 
 is called Sty Mile Island; and on the opposite shore, wliich 
 is the distance of one mile and a quarter, the eye is carried 
 over an extent of level country, terminated by the hills of 
 Silver Creek, which are five miles distant, and down the 
 river to Clarksville, about two miles below. 
 
 Here the magnificence of the scene, the grandeur of the 
 falls, the unceasing brawl of the cataract, and the beauty 
 of the surrounding prospect, all contribute to render the 
 place truly delightful, and to impress every man of obser- 
 vation who beholds it with ideas of its future importance, till' 
 he enquires more minutely, and discovers a character of 
 unheakhiness in the place, which forbids the encourage- 
 ment of any hope of its permanency or improvement. 
 
 A ship yard is erected below the rapids, by the company 
 of Tavnscon, Brothers, and James Berthand, the latter of 
 whom now resides here. This certainly is the most eligi- 
 ble place on the river Ohio ; and a greater prospect of the 
 advantages of such an establishment now opens, since the- 
 vast territory of Louisiana has become the property of the 
 United States. 
 
AIMERICA. i3% 
 
 Louisville is a port of entry. It is about nine hundred 
 and thirteen railes by way of the river and mountains td 
 Philadelphia, and by land about seven hundred. It is seven- 
 ty miles from Lexington, and forty from Frankfort, m Ken- 
 tucky, of which State it forms a part, and conducts all its 
 export, which principally Consists of the articles betore 
 named, and which are taken in exchange for foreign spirits 
 and British goods, brought into the country by the way of 
 Pittsburg, 
 
 The inhabitants are universally addicted to gambling 
 and drinking. The billiard rooms are crowded from morn- 
 ing to night, and often all night through. I am the more 
 concerned to see the prevalence of these vices, as I expe- 
 rience a liberality and attention in the town, which has 
 given me an interest in the general welfare of its people. 
 
 J visited the falls of the Ohio on the sand side, and 
 found them occasioned by a ledge of rocks which extend- 
 ed quite across the river, and are hardly to be perceived 
 by the navigator in times of high freshes, unless by the su- 
 perior velocity of the vessel. When the water is low, £ts 
 it is at this period, the greater part of the rock becoms 
 visible, and then the passage becomes highly dangerous. 
 There are three channels in the rock through which the 
 water passes. The rapids descend about thirty feet in the 
 length of a mile and a half. The fise of the waters doe^ 
 not exceed twelve or fourteen feet, and has at times sunk 
 to ten inches. A part of the rock remains in the middle 
 of the river, and has never been overflowed, though it 
 wastes every day by the constant action of the waters, and 
 attrition of pebble stones cast up by the impetuosity of the 
 current. It commnnds the settlement of Louisville. The 
 fort, however, is situated at the head of the falls. 
 
 A pilot, for the safe conduct of boats through those falls, 
 has been regularly appointed by the State ; he is answera- 
 ble for all damages sustained through his neglect or bad 
 management. The price for pilotage of all kinds are re- 
 gulated by the same authority. — A light boat can pass 
 at all times when directed by a skiliul pilot; and if it 
 should be found necessary to unload at Bear Grass, and re- 
 load below the rapids, the portage is very inconsiderable, 
 being only two miles. 
 
 Notwithstanding the low state of the water, and the im- 
 minent peril of the passage, i deierinmed ou taking the 
 
^!13^ TRAVELS IK 
 
 e7iute without farther delay, and lay my boat up below th« 
 falls, vhile 1 returned to the town, and made a short ex- 
 cursion through the country. I accordingly sent for the 
 feead pilot. He informed me that he feared a thunder gusf 
 was collecting. The late violent heats, and the prognos- 
 tics declared by the noise of the falls, and the vapour sus- 
 pended over them, were strong portentions of a storm, and 
 made the passage too hazardous to be taken at the pilot's 
 risk. Whenever f have detennined on acting, I have not 
 easily been turned from my intentions. This habit or ob- 
 stinacy made me persist in going, and I tohi the pilot to 
 prepare immediately, and that I would take the conse- 
 tijuencG of a.ny hjss on my own head. He agreed and re- 
 paired to my boat with six additional hands, and I shortly 
 followed him, accompanied by two ladies and a gentleman,- 
 ■who had courage to take the fall out of mere curiosity, 
 notwithstanding the great peril with which the act was al- 
 lied. We all embarked. The oars were manned with 
 our men each. The pilot and I governed the helm, and 
 my passengers sat on the roof of the boat. A profound 
 silence reigned. A sentiment of awe and terror occupied 
 every mind, and urged the necessity of a fixed and resolute 
 duty. In a few minutes we worked across the eddy and 
 reached the current of the north fall, which hurried us on 
 with an awful swiftness, and made impressions vain to de^- 
 scribe. The water soon rushed with a more horrid fury, 
 and seemed to threaten destruction even to the solid rock 
 which opposed its passage in the centre of the river, and 
 the terrific and incessant din with which this was accom-- 
 panied almost overcome and unnerved the heart. At the 
 distance of half a mile a thick mist, like volumes of smoke, 
 rose to the skies, and as we advanced we heard a more sul- 
 len noise, which soon after almost stunned our ears. Mak- 
 ing as we proceeded the north side, we were struck with 
 the most terrific event and awful scene. The expected 
 thunder burst at once in heavy peals over our heads, and 
 the gusts with which it was accompanied raged up the ri- 
 ver, and held our boat in agitated suspense on the verge 
 of the precipitating flood. The lightening, too, glanced and 
 flashed on the furious cataract, which rushed down with 
 tremendous fury within sigh' of the eye. We doubled the 
 most fatal rock, and though the storm encreased to a 
 dreadful degree, we iaeld the boat in the channel, took^ 
 
AMERICA. 23^ 
 
 die chute., and following with skilful helm its narrow and 
 winding bed, filled with rocks, and confined by a vortex 
 which appears the residence of death, we floated in unin- 
 terrupted water of one calm continued sh«eet. The instant 
 of taking the fall was certainly sublime and awful. The 
 organs of perception were hurried along, and partook of 
 the turbulence of the roaring water. The powers of re- 
 collection were even suspended by the sudden shock ; and 
 it was not till after a considerable time that I was enabled 
 to look back and contemplate the sublime horrors of the 
 scene from which I had made so fortunate an escape. 
 
 When in smooth water and my mind somewhat collect- 
 ed, I attended to the ladies who had the temerity to hon- 
 our me with their company through the hazard of the 
 falls. I found them in a ver}^ exhausted state. The thun- 
 der had entirely unnerved them. I must do them the 
 justice, however, to say that they shewed great magnani- 
 mity: — they suppressed their feeling, and never uttered a 
 cry, for fear of intimidating or interrupting the hands. On 
 getting on shore they quickly recovered, and we enjoyed 
 a pleasant walk back to the town, and passed the evening 
 with that serene delight which is only known to those who 
 have experienced an equally extraordinary and eventful 
 day. 
 
 Very shortly there will be no necessity of boats encoun- 
 tering such rocjks. A canal is now constructing on each 
 side the Ohio, b}^ which means vessels may descend at all 
 seasons, and without the possibility of accident or danger. 
 For some time back from eight to twelve boats have been 
 lost annually, and many have been detained for want of 
 water. Therefore the canal must prove a grand acquisi- 
 tion, and extend benefit far and wide. It is to be finish- 
 ^ in two years, and will b^ about three miles in length. 
 
^& TRAVELS IN 
 
 LETTER XXVIH. 
 
 Excursion from Louisville — view of the country and its prO' 
 ducHons — Kentuckyan mode of life — medicinal herbs — 
 birds — list of snakes — remarkable mockingbird — a rich 
 vale — Beardstown, 
 
 Loaisville, August, 1806. 
 I HAVE just returned from an excursion, of whicli 
 I transmit you my notes. 
 
 Accommodated with two excellent saddle and one gooi 
 pack horse for the conveyance of my tent, and a few com- 
 mon necessaries, I took a south course with the intention 
 of reaching Beardstown, a rising settlemert about fifty 
 miles off. I was v^ry glad to find that the bills were neither 
 so rugged nor numerous as I had previously experienced 
 in most other parts of the State ; but 1 passed severai 
 swamps and ponds, which emitted a most noxious smell, 
 and effected for a moment both the stomach and the head. 
 I found the country exceedingly well timbeied. Sugar 
 maple, the coffee, the papaw, the hackberry, and the cu- 
 cumber tree every where abounded. The cofl'ee tree re- 
 sembles the black oak, and bears a pod, which encloses a 
 seed, of which a drink is made, thought by inferior tastes 
 to be as good as coffee. Besides these, I met with tlie 
 honey locust, black mulberry, and wild cherr}' of a large 
 size, and the magnolia, bearing a beautiful blossom and 
 shedding an exquisite fragrance. Numerous farms che- 
 quered this rich scene, producing wheat, corn, oats, flax, 
 hemp, tobacco, cotton, and vegetables of all kinds, com- 
 mon to a mild climate, and which appeared to yield abun- 
 dantly. The wheat promising sixty, and the corn one 
 hundred bushels per acre, in many well cultivated planta- 
 tions. The fruit made no appearance. The trees bear 
 too much at a season and perish untimely. Some peach- 
 brandy is manufactured, but no cider is made in the .coun- 
 try. I rode about fifteen or seventeen miles through this 
 kind of mingled scenery, when I stopped at the house of a 
 cultivator whom I had fallen in with on the road, and took 
 !?uch refreshment as we found prepared. I shall mention 
 n to you because it conveys a general idea of the mode 
 
AMERICA. 24i 
 
 of living thi^ough the State. On entering the house, which 
 was a log one, fitted up very well, the Kentuckyan never 
 exchanged a word with his wife or his children, who were 
 worrying a kangaroo on the floor before him, notwithstand- 
 ing he had been absent several days. No tender enquiry, 
 no atfection or sentiment, but a contemptuous silence, and 
 *a stern brutality, which block up all the avenues to the 
 beart. The poor woman, whom I pitied (for 'tis a fact 
 that the women do not degenerate in proportion to the men, 
 but continue to this day amiable) made a large bowl of 
 drink called toddy, composed of sugar, water, whiskey, and 
 peach-juice, and handed it to her husband with all the ser^- 
 yility of a menial ; he drank and passed it to me, who fol- 
 lowed his example, and found the liquor excellent. 
 
 The dinner consisted of a large piece of salt bacon, a 
 dish of homsjie, and a turreeen of squirrel broth. I dined 
 entirely on the last dish, which 1 found incomparably good, 
 and the meat equal to the most delicate chicken. The 
 Kentuckyan ate nothing but bacon, which indeed is the fa- 
 vourite'diet of all the inhabitants of the State, and drank 
 nothing but whiskey, which soon made him more than two 
 thirds drunk. In this last practice he is also supported by 
 the public habit. In a country then, where bacon and spir- 
 its form the favourite summer repast, it cannot be just to 
 attribute entirely the causes of infirmity to ihe climate. No 
 JDCople on earth live with less regard to regimen. They 
 eat salt meat three times a day, seldom or never have any 
 vegetable, and drink ardent spirits fromraorning till night! 
 They have not only an aversion to fresh meat, but a vulgar 
 prejudice that it is unwholsome. The truth is, their sto- 
 machs are depraved by burning liquors, and they have no 
 appetite for any thing but what is high flavoured and 
 s^trongly impregnated with salt. Disgusted with the subject 
 of th>ese reflections, I rose from taljle, cast a dollar on it 
 for my entertainment, and hastening ('ufl to prepare my 
 horses, rode otli', determined to pay no more such visits, and 
 to want convenience and information sooner than seek tiiem 
 at such a source. 
 
 I had advanced but a few miles, when I left the ridgy 
 regions which confine the Ohio, and travelled thror^di a 
 delightful country, presenting to view one cxteiuled plain, 
 iaterspersed with trees and covered with herbs and blos- 
 !i1ais \ybich embalmed the air with the swectcist cdours. 
 
24^ TRAVELS IN 
 
 and added to the luxury of the charming scene. Many 
 spots Avere enriched by shady groves, and many enlivened 
 "with lillies, roses, gilly-flowers, and jessamines, and a thou- 
 sand other flowers, joined to the finest and most aromatic 
 violets in the world. My servant, who is far a better bot- 
 anist than myself, presented to my notice several herbs 
 made use of by the wise men of his nation. I knew one 
 to be the eustracia, which, by being soaked in warm water, 
 and applied moist to the eye, restores a weak sight, or 
 stops the fountain of the worst cataract. The next was 
 that extraordinary berb called escursonera, which is an 
 antidote against a:ll sorts of poison, and a remedy for the 
 bile of the worst vipers. It is also said to be serviceable 
 in the yellow fever ; in fits, paroxysms and vapours, and 
 capable of dispelling gloom and melancholy. There was 
 .'\lso another vegetable whose flower was very beautiful, 
 and which the Indians used in all cases of fever and flux. 
 1 he same exists in Portugal, and is known by the name of 
 (ijiagris. 
 
 Birds of every description, plumage, and song, were met 
 with. Quail and partridge held the vicinity of cultivated 
 grounds ; pheasants and black cocks abounded in the 
 deepest woods, and the blue linnet, red bird, purple finch^ 
 and hundreds of such others, claimed the protection of 
 smaller detached bouquets and rural bowers. 
 
 On the approach of evening, I chose for my encampment, 
 one of those lavourite spots which nature had exerted her- 
 self to adorn. It was the bank of a small stream, finely 
 wooded, interspersed with shrubs and flowers, and resorted 
 to by many birds, which gave life and harmony to the em- 
 bclished scene. The rapid little creek forced its way 
 through the rocky channel beneath, andthe trees that over 
 hung the stream, exhibited an assemblage \x\\\y picturesque. 
 On such a spot I encamped with my faithful follower, and 
 soon prepared a supper out of the fortune of the day. I 
 had killed a very fine black cock and several quails. The 
 jlesh of the black cock was of the most exquisite relish. 
 This bird is known in the High-lands of Scotland. He is 
 not commonly found in so southern a latitude as this. In 
 liie winter of 1788, these birds were taken plentifully a- 
 bout Quebec. Whenever the winter of the Arctic region 
 sets in with rain, so as to cover the branches and leaves of 
 trees with a glaze of ice, they arc deprived of their food. 
 
AMERICA. 
 
 343 
 
 land obliged to fly to a milder climate. They differ much 
 from those of Europe in colour, the feathers being mostly 
 white, and a coronet ol dark grey displayed oii the head. 
 After the repast I began to prepare for the night. To 
 prevent the robberies frequently perpetrated in Kentucky, 
 I charged my riflle and pistols, and placed a couteau dc 
 chasse where 1 intended to la} my head. ]\ly next care 
 was to guard against wild cats, wolves, and panthers; and, 
 above all, against my most hated enemy, the crawling and 
 deadly snake. In all my wandering they have cost me the 
 greatest portion of pain and uneasiness ; and I have never 
 encamped, but when my friend Cuff had led my mind to 
 the contemplation, by relating the stories of serpents, suf- 
 ficient to appal the stoutest heart. Our repast ended, and 
 our arrangements made, the conversation as usual, turned 
 on the serpent tribe, and we called the following at IciKst 
 (o our recollection. 
 
 Rattle Snake 
 
 Yellow Ditto 
 
 Small Ditto 
 
 Bastard Ditto 
 
 Moceasm Snake 
 
 Grey spotted Ditto 
 
 Water Viper, with a sharp 
 thorn tail 
 
 Black Viper 
 
 Brown Ditto 
 
 White bodied, brown eyed 
 Snake 
 
 Black Snake, with lineal 
 Rings 
 
 A Snake with 152 Scutae, 
 and 135 Scutillce 
 
 Bluish green Snake, with 
 a stiTtched-out triang- 
 ular snout. 
 
 Copper bellied Snake 
 
 Black Snake 
 
 White neck Ditto 
 
 Sn^all brown Adder 
 
 House Ditto 
 Water Ditto 
 Brown Snake 
 tittle bead Ditto 
 Coach-whip Ditto 
 Corn Ditto 
 Green Ditto 
 Wampum Ditto 
 Ribbon Ditto 
 Pnie-Hoi-n,orBull Skakf,> 
 Jowith a spear in his tail 
 
 int Snake 
 Garter Ditto 
 Striped Ditto 
 Chicken Ditto 
 Glass Ditto 
 Brown spotted Ditto 
 Yellow and white Ditto 
 Hissing Ditto 
 Ring Ditto 
 Two Headed Ditto 
 Copper Headed Ditto 
 
,244 TRAVELS IN 
 
 On taking every precaution which fear could suggest 
 against such a host of enemies, 1 at length lay down, and 
 from excessive fatigue, passed a night of the most tranquil 
 and undisturbed repose. I was waked in the morning be- 
 fore the sun rose by an extraordinary fine mocking bird. 
 He began by natural notes, musical and solemn, and then 
 assumed the tones of numerous other animals, whether 
 «juadrupeds or birds. He seemed to divert himself alter- 
 nately with alluring or terrilying other birds, and to sport 
 with their hopes and fears. Sometimes he enticed them 
 witii the call of their mates, and on their approach terrifi- 
 ed them with the screams of the eagle, or some other bird 
 «f prey. After this, he again took up his own native mel- 
 4>dy. and rising to the top of the highest tree, poured forth 
 tiie sweetest and most various strains that imagination 
 could conceive, and more than any other creatu-re is en- 
 dowed with the faculty to perform. This enchanting bird 
 continued while T prepared and sat at my breakfast, and ( 
 heard his notes long after I left the place of his rest. 
 
 The remainder of my ride to Beardstown, was highly 
 interesting. It lay through an enchanting vale, in many 
 places cultivated to the summit of the hills that formed it, 
 and in all others covered with luxuriant timber and aro- 
 matic plants and shrubs. The vale is t-venty miles in length, 
 ruid fifteen in breadth ; and as the splendid productions of 
 nature, with which it abounds, are mingled with neat farm- 
 houses, and settlements of considerable improvement, I 
 know of no ]iluce that can vie with it for richness of scene- 
 ry and rural perfection. No doubt, this vale and one 
 other nearly similar to it, have been the cause of the ex- 
 traordinary and extravagant reports which have been so 
 industriously circulated in favour of Kentucky. The au- 
 thors of such reports, tilled with enthusiasm by the abund- 
 ant beauties of such spots, lost sight of the general defor- 
 mity of the country, and led the world astray by publishing 
 the impressions made on them by a local and particular 
 place. 
 
 Having conversed with a planter of some civilization and 
 intelligence, I learned that the vale had been th« favourite 
 residence of a nation of Indians, called, from tradition, 
 Pono Cognorago, or the Vale of Spirits — which bears an 
 exact analogy to our Gardenof Eden, or Paradise, such 
 
AMERICA. 245 
 
 places as have been deigned worthy tbe care and the walks 
 of God. 
 
 Beardstown is situated on the southern verge of the Vale 
 of Spirits, and where the ground is diversified-by easy ris- 
 ings, and enriched with -noble forests and improved land, 
 abounding in domestic cattle and all manner of wild game. 
 The prodigality of the inhabitants not as yet having been 
 equal to the accomplishment of its ruin. The town con- 
 sists of about fifty houses, frame, log, and brick, and de* 
 rives much of its consequence from receiving the road 
 through it whfch leads from the Eastern States, through- 
 Pittsburg, Chilicothe, and Lexington, to New Orleans, and 
 stations on the Mexican Gulph : a rout of about eighteen 
 hundred miles, for the most part over mountains and 
 through swamps and wilderness ; but which have now 
 small taverns placed at convenient distances through its 
 whole length. It is also the great post road to Tenesee, 
 Georgia and the Carolinas. Its market is extraordinary 
 cheap, as may be judged from the terms of board and 
 lodging, being but from a dollar to a dollar and a half per 
 week. Of the inhabitants I have already said enough to 
 make humanity shudder. They trample on all the advan- 
 tages spread before them by nature, and live in a brutal 
 ignorance of the charms and luxuries v;hich surround 
 them. 
 
 The principal j)art of the produce of the country about 
 Beardstown is conveyed to theOhio by means of the Greer. 
 River, which rises near the head of Salt River, and pursu- 
 ing a westerly course, empties itself into the Ohio about ' 
 fifty miles above the Wabach River. To the S. E. lie the 
 Great Barrens — several million of acres of no utility to 
 man or beast, being entirely destitute of U'ater. To the 
 west a considerable way, flow the two great rivers, called 
 Cumberland and Tennessee. 
 
 The whole country, as far as has been explored, is found to 
 He on a bed of limestone, which generally lies six feet be- 
 low the surface, except in valleys, where the soil is much 
 thinner, 
 
 I remained but one night at Beardstown. The follow- 
 ing day I returned here by a difli^rent direction, but met 
 with nothing to be described without a dull tautology, 
 
 W 2 
 
246 TRAVEL^ IN 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 Jcferson Toti-n and Canal — Clarksville — general ticto of the 
 river two hundred and seventy-two miles doivn — Henderson 
 ToTvn — Diamond Island. 
 
 Mouih of the Wabash, Iiidiana Territor}'. 
 September, 1806. 
 
 PREVIOUSLY to leaving Louisville, I crossed the 
 fiver and visited the town of Jefferson, which is also seated 
 about two miles above the falls. It is yet very small, but 
 the inhabitants appear determined to add to its character 
 and opulence, being now employed in forming a canal, by 
 ^vhich navigators may avoid all dangers, and proceed down 
 the river at all seasons of the year. I surveyed the line of 
 the canal, and think it much more practicable than that 
 marked ofi' on the opposite shore. I entertain no doubt of 
 the commerce of the river being adequate to the support 
 of both undertakings, and that the proprietors will be 
 hereafter amply remunerated. 
 
 I descended the falls by the shore, and once more en- 
 joyed their grandeur, though from a ditTerenl point of view. 
 i then crossed over to my boat, which lay at Clarksville, a 
 flmall settlement lying near the eddy formed by the recoil- 
 Ting flood. It is as yet a village of no importance, howe- 
 ver, if it forms the mouth of the intended canal its rise is 
 certain. Twenty-five miles from Louisville, 1 passed the 
 mouth of Salt River on the Kentucky shore. All I could 
 learn respecting it, was, that it received its name from the 
 number of salines on its banks, which impregnate its waters, 
 M-hcn in a low state, and fifty-seven miles farther down I 
 put into Blue River on the Indiana i^'nle, which takes its 
 name from its colour being of a fine azure. 
 
 In the whole run to the Wabash of two hundred and 
 seventy-two miles, effected in six days, and 1 made little 
 or no stop, and met with no event to be called interesting. 
 I very strongly perceived that occurrences capable of af- 
 fording information and anecHote were ceasing. Above 
 the falls, the banks of the river are enlivened by planta- 
 tions, towns, and villages ; below, nothing is seen but the 
 state'of nature, broken at vast dist^vnces, of Irom twenty to 
 
AMERICA. U7 
 
 thirty miles, with wretched huts, the residence of solitude" 
 and misfortune, Most of the settlers on the lower parts 
 of the waters are criminals who either escaped from, or 
 were apprehensive of, public justice. On descending the. 
 river, they fix on some inviting spot without ever looking^ 
 after the proprietor of the soil, erect a log-hut, plant a lit- 
 tle corn, make salt at a neighbouring saline ; coffee from 
 the wild pea ; and extract sugar from the maple tree. In 
 time they extend their labours, and embrace all the ne- 
 cessaries of life. Some do more — from living in habits of 
 industry they lose the practise of vice, and learn the con- 
 sequence of virtue ; while unhappily, some others pursue 
 their former crimes, and live by the means of murder and 
 the plunder of various boats. 
 
 The aspect and banks of the river in the late run I have 
 made, areTlearly similar to those above the falls, and from 
 below Pittsburg. The banks are formed of a chain of 
 mountains ; some rising up and above the rest ; and some 
 are so low, interwoven, and contrasted, that they form an 
 agreeable diversity of hills and dales. From several points 
 of view, the opposite bank looks like an immense amphi- 
 theatre, which has all the charms that can be produced by 
 an infinite variety of the most sumptuous trees and shrubs, 
 reflecting uncommon beauties on each other, and on the 
 bosom of their favourite flood. Twenty miles below Blue 
 River I crossed the mouth of another river on the same 
 side. I believe it has not been named. 1'he navigation 
 of the three last rivers I have mentioned, is very trifling. 
 Their waters are low, and broken by rocks and rapids. 
 
 About ninety miles below the Blue River, and eight 
 hundred and thirty-nine from Pittbburg, is Yellow-bank 
 Creek ; so called from the banks changing its general col- 
 our and quality of a black mould to a bright yellow clay. 
 In the space of eight miles below this creek, I passed a 
 chain of islands, six in number, which added much to the 
 effect and beauty of the water, and gave more variety to 
 the general scene. The islands were richly wooded, as 
 are all others on the river. Between a creek called Hac- 
 den's and the Yellow-bank, which maintains its colour for 
 the distance of a mile, the low lands commence. The high 
 hillf, which up the river are uniformly to be met with, now 
 entirely disappear, and there is nothing to be seen on ei- 
 ther hand but an extensive level country. It is remaika- 
 
248 TRAVELS IN 
 
 ble, that the hills should subside on each shore exactly ar 
 equal distances down, and in a similar distinction and 
 manner twenty-five miles from the Yellow-bank. Icrossed 
 the mouth of Green River on the Kentucky shore. It is 
 the fine water which I mentioned in my last. It is navi- 
 gated by a bateaux at one season, and by flat bottomed 
 boats through the year. The lands are healthy, and in- 
 habited by a stout race of people. Nearer the Ohio it is 
 subject to inundation, is sickly, and thinly settled. Lower 
 down, twenty-five miles more, I came to a place called the 
 Red Bank, in consequence of its varying from the general 
 colour, and assuming a deep red. I could not learn that 
 any rainerial or any ore had ever been discovered in the 
 Red or Yellow-bank. This colour would encourage a be- 
 lief that they contain something analagous to its distinction 
 from that of the common and adjoining soil. The Unitecll 
 States should order such appearances to be analized and 
 explored. At the Red Bank, which is included in a grant 
 by Congress to one Henderson, of two hundred thousand 
 acres ! a town is laid off. Owing to a remarkable bend iii 
 the river, though the distance from the mouth of Green 
 River to Henderson, by water is twenty-five miles, yet by 
 land it is only about seven. Henderson consists of about 
 twenty houses, and inhabited by a people whose doom is 
 fixed. I never saw the same number of persons look so 
 languid, emaciated and sick. The whole settlement waa - 
 attacked in the spring by the ague, which subsided in a 
 nervous fever, and is now followed by a violent and wasting 
 flux. 
 
 I left Henderson with the commisseration due to the 
 sufferings of its inhabitants, and after a run of fifteen miles, 
 came in view of Diamond Island, which is by far the finest 
 in the river, and perhaps the most beautiful in the world. 
 It is higher than the adjoining main land, containing twen- 
 ty-thousand acres ; and is of the exact form of a- diamond, 
 whose angles point directly up and down, and to each side 
 of the expanded river. The shades, views, and perspective 
 of an island so situated, clothed with aromatic shrubs, 
 crowned with timber, surrounded by water, bounded by an 
 extensive and delightful country, are too numerous, varied, 
 and sublime, to come under the controul of written de- 
 s<;ription. 
 
AMERICA. U9 
 
 I visited the island in several directions, and found es- 
 tablished on it a few French tamihes, who hve nearly in 
 the original Indian state and bestow very little labour on 
 the ground They have planted a rew peech-orchards which 
 thrive well, as do every other exotic introduced. Native 
 grapes abound, and I tasted wine expressed trom them, 
 which was as good as any inferior Bourdeaux. Fish are 
 innumerable in the water, and swans, ducks, and geese re- 
 side eight months in the year around the island. It also 
 abounds with game of every description, and is often visit- 
 ed by herds of deer, which swim from the main land to 
 <jnjoy its fragrant herbage and luxuriant pasture. 
 
 The Wabash enters on the Indian or N. \V. side. It is 
 nine hundred and forty-nine miles from Pittsburg, and is 
 bne of the most considerable rivers between that town and 
 the mouth of the Ohio. It is very beauritul, four hundred 
 Vardb wide at its mouth, and three hundred at St. Vine- 
 Conne's, which is one hundred miles above the mouth in a 
 direct line. Within this space there are two small rapids 
 which give very little obstruction to the navigation. In the 
 spring and autumn it is passable for bateaux, drawing three 
 feet water ; four hundred and twelve miles to Ouiatona, a 
 small French settlement on the west side of the river ; and 
 for large canoes it is vavigable for one hundred and nine- 
 ty-seven miles further, to the Miami carry ing-place,> which 
 is nine miles from the Miami village. This village stands 
 on Miami River, which empties into the S. W. part of 
 Lake Erie. The communication between Detroit and the 
 Illinois and Indiana country, is up Miami River to Mia- 
 mi village ; thence, by land, nine miles through a level 
 country to the Wabash, and through the various branches 
 of the Wabash to the respective places of distinction. 
 
 A silver mine has been discovered about twenty-eight 
 miles above Ouiatonan, and salt-springs, lime, free-stone, 
 blue, yellow and white clay, are found in abundance oti 
 this river's banks. 
 
.25a TRAVELS IHT 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 RemarJcable cave — Vengeance of the Illinois on the Kenfut- 
 kyans — Wilson's gang — f articular description of the cave^^ 
 ■—hyeroglyphics^ 
 
 Cave in the Rock, Ohio Bank, Sept. 1806* 
 
 I HAD descended but twenty-two miles from the Wa- 
 bash when 1 came too on the Indiana shore to examine a 
 very grand and interesting natural curiosity. It is a cave 
 in a rock which presents itself to view a little above the 
 water when high, and close to the bank of the river, and 
 is darkened by the shade of some Catalpa trees standirtg 
 before the entrance, which adds much to the sublimity ol 
 its character. On each side the gently ascending copses of 
 Wood, and the extensive view of the water, profound, wide 
 and transparent, tend to render the cave an object truly 
 delightful and worthy of the most minute attention. I re- 
 solved to explore it, though it bore the reputation of being 
 the residence of a band of robbers who for many years have 
 infested the river. But I find the cavern at iirst became 
 an object of terror and astonishment fn^i having been the 
 retreat of the remains of an Indian nation exasperated a- 
 gainst the Americans, and resolved to put as many of them 
 as possible to death, to revenge the injuries and insults 
 they and their friends had experienced from them since 
 their coming into the country. It was a party of the Illi- 
 nois who adopted this fatal resolution, and who carried it 
 on for several years with the most bloody effect, till a large 
 party of Kentuckyans resolved to attack and endeavour to 
 exterminate them. With this intent fifty well armed men ■ 
 descended to the cave-and attacked the Illinois who were 
 double that number. Several fell on both sides, and the 
 victory being doubtful till the Illinois, annoyed by the dis- 
 tance and length of the combat, rushed upon the enemy 
 with lifted tomahawks and horrid cries, and drove them to 
 the mouth of the cave into which they entered, and made 
 a long and terrible resistance. In an instant the Illinois- 
 changed their mode : they cast up a heap of dry wood, 
 reeds and cane, immediately belore the entrance which 
 they undoubtedly guarded, and setting iire to the p.iles^ 
 
AMERICA. 55JL 
 
 ^suffocated all those who had not resolution to rush through 
 the flame and brave death in another eftbrt with their suc- 
 cessful enemy. Some had vigour to make this desperate 
 attempt. It was fruitless. The life of one man alone was 
 ■ spared. The rest perished by the fire, or fell under the 
 Jiatchet. The man, whose life was given him, was sent 
 back to the Government of Kentucky with this message ; 
 " Tell your wise men, that the Illinois have glutted their 
 vengeance, and that their spirit is satisfied and appeased. 
 On the borders of the lake, we will bury the hatchet." — ■ 
 Woe to those who make us take it from the ground,"— 
 Soon after this act they departed, and reside tu this time 
 on the spot they mentioned for their intended retreat. The 
 iirst who visited the cave witnessed a dreadful spectacle. — 
 The putrid bodies of the Americans werestrewed all around. 
 And as wolves, panthers, buzzards, and vultures, had 
 made them their prey for several days, it must be difficult 
 to form an idea of their mangled and terrible appearance. 
 The remains were gathered together and buried under some 
 sand at the far end of the cave, where they are frequently 
 disturbed to gratify the curiosity of the river navigators. 
 
 About three years after this distinguished act of nation- 
 al and Indian vengeance, -the cave became possessed by a 
 party of Kentuckyans, called " Wilson's Gang." Wilson, 
 in the first instance, brought his family to the cave, fitted 
 it. up as a spacious dwelling, and erected a sign post on the. 
 water side, on which were these words : " Wilson's liquor 
 vault and house for entertainment." The novelty of such 
 a tavern induced almost all boats descending the river to 
 call and stop for refreshment and amusement. Attract- 
 ed by these circumstances, several idle characters took up 
 their abode at the cave, after which it continually resound- 
 ed with the shouts of the licentious, the clamour of riot, 
 and the blasphemy of gamblers. Out of such customers 
 as these Wilson found no difficulty in forming a band of 
 robbers, with whom he formed the plan of murdering the 
 crews of every boat that stopped at his tavern, and send the 
 boats, manned by some of his party to New Oileans, and 
 there sell their lading for cash, which was to be conveyed 
 to the cave by land through the states of Tenessee and 
 Kentucky ; the party returning with it beir.g instructed to 
 murder and rob, on all good occasions, presented by the 
 road. After a lapse of some time, the merchants of tlie 
 
S55 TRAVELS IN 
 
 upper country began to be alarmed, on Ending their pro- 
 perty make no return, and that their people never came 
 back. Several families and respectable men who had gone 
 down the river were never more heard of, and the losses 
 became so frequent that it raised at length a cry of indivi- 
 dual and general distress. This naturally led to enquiry, 
 and large rewards were offered for the discovery of the per- 
 petrators of such unparalleled crimes. It soon came out 
 that Wilson, with an organized party of forty-five men, was 
 the cause of such waste of blood and treasure ; that he 
 had a station at Hurricane Island to arrest boats that pass- 
 ed by the mouth of the cavern, and that he had agents at 
 the Natchiz and New Orleans, of presumed respectability, 
 who converted his assignments into cash, though they 
 knew the goods to be stolen, or obtained by the commis- 
 sion of murder ! The publicity of Wilson's transactions 
 soon broke up his party ; some dispersed, others were ta- 
 ken prisoners, and he himself was killed by one of his as- 
 sociates, who was tempted by the original reward otl'ered 
 for the head of the captain of the gang. 
 
 These facts, which I had heard before, came direct to 
 my memory on my arrival at the cave, and I confess to 
 you, that I hesitated some moments before I resolved to ex- 
 plore it. My men had also heard accounts of the cavern 
 which made them tremble, and recommended me strongly 
 to depart, for fear of any dreadful accident. I was not to 
 be turned from my purpose. 1 ordered light and arms, 
 and entered the gloomy and spacious fabric of nature. Al- 
 ter meditating a few momenta on the general outline and 
 grandeur of the scene, I descended to particulars, and 
 found the cave to measure two hundred feet long, and for- 
 ty feet high : the entrance forming a semicircular arch of 
 ninety feet at its base, and forty-five in its perpendicular. 
 The interior walls are smooth rock stained by tire and mark- 
 ed with names of persons and dates, and other remarks, 
 etched by former inhabitants and nearly by every visitor. 
 ^I'he floor is very remarkable ; it is level through the whole 
 length of its centre, and rises to the sides in stone grades 
 in the manner of seats in the pit of a theatre. On a dili- 
 gent scrutiny of the walls, I could plainly discern that the 
 Indians, at a very remote period, made use ot the cave as 
 a house of deliberation and council. The walls bear many 
 hyeroglyphics, well executed in the. Indian man-iier ; anal 
 
AMERICA. .2^3 
 
 ^ome of them represei>te(l animals which bear no resem- 
 blance to any I have ever heard of or seen. While occu- 
 pied in this research, I discovered an orifice in the roof of 
 the cave, which appeared to work up a iunnel to the sur- 
 face of the earth. It was as large as an ordinary chimne}^, 
 and placed directly in the centre of the rool. The access 
 was very difficult, and yet an encrease of curiosity deter- 
 mined me to find cut whither the passa<:;e led. In conse- 
 quence 1 ordered a long bit kory to be cut down, to be 
 notclied for the feet, and reared up against the mouth of 
 the opening. My men seemed to think the passage might 
 lead to the lurking plac<? of a banditti. They were much 
 alarmed and used ever} peisuasion to turn me from my 
 design. It was to no purpose. With a dirk at my breast, 
 and a pair of pistols in my girdle, 1 mounted by means of 
 the tree, and received a light from my servant, who insist- 
 ed on following me, while Cufl" remained as a ccntir.el be- 
 low, ready to fiie a signal on any person's approa<'h. — 
 With much difficulty 1 strained through the aperture, 
 which appeared to form a perpendicular passage of four- 
 teen feet ; and to my great astonishment arrived in an a- 
 partment of greater magnitude than that from which I had 
 immediately ascended, and of infinitely more splendor, mag- 
 nificence and variety. It expanded on all sides of the or- 
 ifice, through which I mounted, and at first gave no deter- 
 minate ideas. The mind on the contrary was confused and 
 «tupified by so vague and incomprehensible a scene of 
 gloom, diversity and vastness. As 1 advanced, by the as- 
 sistance of the lights, I began to discover the outlines ofa 
 large vault of great height and proportionate extent. The 
 roof, whicii was arched, the sides and natural pillars that 
 supported it, seemed atfirst sight to be cut out and wrought 
 into innumerable figures and ornaments, not \inlike those 
 of a gothic cathedral. These were formed by a thousand 
 perpetual distillations of the coldest and most ])etnfying 
 -quality imaginable, and which besides, exhibited an infinite 
 number of objects that bore somc.imperlect resemblarce to- 
 many different kinds of animals. At the farther end of 
 this large vault was an opening, which }-erved as a descent 
 to another vault of very great depth, as I judged from a 
 stone ciist in, wh^se reverberation was not returned for the 
 space of several seconds. The descent was too rapid to 
 he practicable, and can never be attempted but by some 
 X 
 
254 , TRAVELS IN 
 
 rash adventurer, careless whether he survives or perishes. 
 "While contemplating the frightful chasm, my servarii ap- 
 proached me with some agitation and recommended me to 
 descend. On demanding the cause, he conducted me to a 
 part ot the cave he had been examining, and there 1 had 
 the horror to discover the objects of his apprehension.: 
 they consisted of human bones, some in a promiscuous 
 heap, and some forming a complete skeleton. These v\ere 
 the skeletons of very recent subjects ; and five others, by 
 their ditference in preservation, appeared to belong to a 
 very remote period. Two of the skulls were beaten in, 
 and several bones were fractured and broken, from which 
 I inferred that murder had been committed, and that the 
 dreadful reports respecting the cave were neither fabulou« 
 nor exaggerated. I met with a number of other fragments 
 of skeletons, and some bones of deer and other animals, 
 from which I presume that the banditti who infested the 
 river sometimes dwelt in the upper as well as in the lower 
 cave, and that most of their victims were immolated there- 
 in, to save appearances and avoid detection. From the re- 
 mains- it would appear that upwards of sixty persons must 
 have periihed in the cav-e, either by the hand of the assas- 
 sin, or from want, as it is possible that some unfortunate 
 beings-might have taken shelter there from pursuit, and 
 jiot being able to extricate themselves again from the laby- 
 rinth : for with the assistant light, of %vhich the persecu- 
 ted could not have been prepared, I found it extremely 
 difficult to find the aperture which I entered. Perhaps 
 half an hour uas occupied in the painful search. I fired 
 a pistol off,' which I knew would bring my faithful Miin- 
 danean to our relief, but I did not know that its effect 
 would be terrific and its iinort tremendous. I'he oper- 
 ation was too rapid to submit to description, and the facts 
 too glaring to invite belief. No thunder could exceed the 
 explosion, no echo return so strong a voice. My man fell 
 as insensible at my feet, and I staggered severrj paces be- 
 fore 1 could recover my equilibrium. The light extin- 
 guished ; the echo of the shot again rebounded, *' through 
 the long sounding aisle and fretted vault," and all the dae- 
 mons of the place, awoke at once to appal and confound 
 me. Owls screamed in their retreats, bats iluttercd through 
 the air, and a direful contention of sounds and cries vied 
 wi.th each other to scare the heart and fill the sou! Mith 
 
AMERICA. 2t5 
 
 horror and dismay. Before the tumult ceased, I discov- 
 ered beams oilight issuing from the lower cave, and in a 
 moment after appeared my trusty Indian rising through 
 the oritice with a torch in one liand and a sabre in the oth- 
 er, and exclaiming okima, okima sanguiteht ; '* my chief, 
 my chief, have a strong heart." 1 he tears which had 
 been fastening upon me instantly fell off, and I had com- 
 posure to contemplate a subject for a sombre picture, too 
 grand and various to be expressed by hum^yi art. The 
 gloom visibly receded from the rising light ; the columns 
 displayed their ponderous magnitude : the roof exhibited 
 its ample dome, a".d the whole glittered witli distillations, 
 like the firmament, when studded with stars, and embellish- 
 ed with falling meteors. We found here, to my astonish- 
 ment, abundance of shells, principally of the muscle kind. 
 They were all open and lay scattered on the floor and 
 shelving sides of the cave, in a manner that fully convin- 
 ced me they were there originally concreted and inhabited 
 by fish, at a period when the place in which I found them 
 uas a sub-marine vault. Fvy.r,. this tact it would appear 
 that this country lay for ages under a flood, and that the 
 wyters retired from it from other causes than those ascribed 
 to ihe general and universal deluge, which we are instructed 
 to believe rose and retreated in a space and manner that 
 entirely checked every other proceeding of nature, and 
 made an awful pause in her operation and works. That: 
 the shells were introduced into the cave by a rising deluge, 
 or by man, to live on their contents, is completely inad- 
 missible from what I have already observed respecting the 
 situations in which they are found, and the certain cha- 
 racter, mctho.d and number they exhibit through the whole 
 place. Surely this fact is worth the future speculations of 
 the learned. 
 
 At the instant of a disposition to descend to the lower 
 ay>artment of the rock, and to the light of heaven, which I 
 ardently longed to see, a persisting curiosity led me to visit 
 a recess in the side of the cave, the opening to which was 
 so low that 1 had to stoop considerably, and advance with 
 care, to avoid the rugged walls of the passage, and the 
 roof hung with christalizations, as pointed and bright as 
 the most polished spear. 
 
 I had advanced, however, but a few steps when the 
 scene changed, I entered an apartment of an indefinite 
 
'^1^6 , vTRAVELS IN 
 
 space of glo6m. No pillars supported the dome ; nochrys'- 
 tal btars illumined the dismal firmament. It was a black 
 domain, a dead-like assylum. I might have contemplated 
 the forbidding scene sometime longer had 1 not been warn- 
 ed to collect my thoughts and employ them quickly against 
 au approaching danger. JMy torch grew dim, a smell of 
 ^:ulphur aftected my senses, the air of the place becamfe 
 inflammable, the expanse instantaneously lighted up, and 
 iiell and all its fire and furies, satellites and inhabitants sud* 
 flenly burst on and around me. I made but one spring' 
 -to the passage through which I entered, and escaped 
 through it mangled and bruised. Notwithstanding the im- 
 ]s)resiiion of danger which remained on my mind, I could 
 not resist looking back on the orifice from which I emerged : 
 the lightning broke through it with such inconceivable ra- 
 pidity and eclat, that expecting to hear the crack and rat* 
 tie of thunder every instant, 1 ordt^red my people to fol- 
 I'ow me, and descended to th;3 lower cave with the preci* 
 |»i?atioii of a coward. 
 
 An apprehension that the rock and caverns would ex-^ 
 plode, induced us to retire to some dibtance ; that idle feai^ 
 soon wore off, and I returned to the cave to examine '\W 
 walls and trace out some of its hieroglyphics. 
 
 I have, before this day, remarked an existing analogy 
 in Indian and Greecian customs and practices. And it rc^ 
 mains for me to give you a more ample and certain proof 
 (*f a direct affinity and strong resemblance. 
 
 The hieroglyphics of the cave consist of — The Sun in 
 different stages of rise and declension — the Moon under 
 Various phases — a Snake, representing an orb, biting its 
 rail — a Viper — a Vulture — Buzzards tearing out the bow- 
 els of a prostrate m-an — a Panther held by the ears by a 
 child — a Crocodile — several Trees and bhrubs — a Fox — a 
 <:urious kind of Ilydiu Serpent — two Doves — many Bears 
 — i>everal Scorpions — an Eagle — an Owl — some Quails — 
 eight representations of animals which are now unknown, 
 but whose former existence I before asserted, from the 
 character and number of bones I have already described 
 to have been found. Three out of the eight are like the 
 elephant in all respects except the tusk and tail. Two 
 more resemble the tyger, one a wild boar, another a slotk, 
 and the la^t appears a creature of fancy, being a quadru.- 
 maue instead of a quadruped ; the claws being aliki^, 
 
AMERICA. 257 
 
 and in the act of conveying something to the mouth, which 
 lay in the centre of the monster ; and several fine repre- 
 sentations of men and women, not naked, but clothed in 
 a manner which, bespoke in the Indian, much of the cos- 
 tume of Greece and Rome. 
 
 You must at once perceive, that a person of the mean- 
 est judgment and most confined reading, is compelled to 
 allow that these objects, with an exception or two, were 
 employed by the Greeks to display the nature of the world, 
 the omnipotence of God, the attributes of man, and the 
 utility ot reiidering his knowledge immortal and systema- 
 tic. Suppose we enter into a short enquiry ot" the science 
 of conveying instruction from several kinds of hieroglyphics, 
 drawn from the works of nature, asd the dispositions of 
 living anmials. It may be interesting, and cannot be en- 
 tirely irrelevant to our subject. 
 
 All human sciences flourished among the Egyptians long 
 before they were common to any other people. 
 
 The Greecians, in the days of Solon, Pythagoras, He- 
 rodotus, and Plato, acquired in Egypt all that knowledge' 
 of nature which rendered them so eminent and remarka- 
 ble. But the Egyptian priests did not divulge their doc- 
 trines without the aid of signs and figurative emblems. — - 
 Their manner was to discover to their auditors the myste- 
 ries of God and of Nature in hieroglyphics, which werQ 
 certain visible shapes ami forms of creatures, whose incli- 
 nations and dispositions led to the knowledge of the truths 
 intended for instruction. All their divinity, philosophy, 
 and their greatest secrets were comprehende-<l in these in- 
 genious characters, for feir tney should be profaned by a 
 familiar acquaintance with the commonality. The learn- 
 ed of antifjuity seem not willing to muke them shdre in any 
 part of the profound sciences ; therefore, Alexander was 
 displeased at Aristotle for publishing, in a vulgar language, 
 some of his treatises which contained an account of the 
 curiosities of nature. 
 
 1 shall now proceed to shew you that the same knowledge 
 of hieroglyphics flourished in America for the same design, 
 and witLas much ingenuity and '■.'■t. 
 
 It requires but a rapid and cuibory view of the Iiiero- 
 glyphics above enumerated, lo convince you of their in- 
 tention, ^iu\ also that the vault wherein they arc foun<i 
 
 X '2 
 
238 TRAVELS IN 
 
 ^^ngraven, was originally a place of worship and san-'Hiary 
 of" Indian priests. 1 make a brief review. 
 
 1. The Sun, the most glorious oi all visible beings, re- 
 presented their chiet God, and received their adoration 
 for causing all the fruits of the earth to bring forih theil" 
 increase. 
 
 2. The Moon denoted the next most beautiful object ia 
 tlie creation, and was worshipped for her own pec'utiar 
 lasefulness, and more particularly for supplying the place 
 of the departed sun. 
 
 3. The Snake, in the form of an orb, biting his tail, 
 pointed out the continual mutation of creatures, and the 
 change of one being into anc^ther ; or it represented the 
 perpetual motion of the world itself. If so, this constru- 
 ing agrees with the Greek figure of the same kind, which; 
 implies that the world feeds upim itself, and receives from- 
 itself in return, a continual supply lor renovation and. 
 nourishment. Claudian was acquainted with this hiero- 
 glyphic, which he beautifully describes : 
 
 " Perpetuumgue virens sqnammis caudamque reducto 
 " Ore voram, tacito rclegens exordia." 
 
 Perhaps the same symbol designated the year, vvhiclt. 
 xevolvss round and ends where it at first began. 1 believe 
 rhe ancients gave it this import or meaning. 
 
 4. The Viper, the most venomous of all creatures, was- 
 the emblem of the Devil, or wicked Angel ; for, as it9 
 poison is quick and powertul,.so is the destroying spirit in 
 bringing on mankind evils which can only be opposed by 
 the grace and power of God. 
 
 5. The Vulture ; 1 am at a loss to give this hieroglyphic 
 a just interpretation. 1 am persuaded it will bear the one 
 given it by the Greeks, who made it express Nature. 
 
 0". The Biuijard's tearing out the bowels of a prostrate 
 man, seems a moral intending to reprove fierceness and 
 cruelty, and to inculcate compassion and peace. 
 
 7. The Panther, held by the ears by a child, was meant 
 to impress a sense ot the dominion of innocence and vir- 
 tue over oppression and vice, or perhaps it bore the Greek 
 meaning of a wretch encompas^^ed with difficulties which 
 he vainly attempts to avoid. 
 
 8. 'i'he Crocodile, from its power and might, was ano- 
 ther syinbol of the Great Spirit; or its being the only 
 c-redlire wilhuut a tonguC; jniglu have given it a title to 
 
AMERICA. Shf- 
 
 the ?^me honour, as all Indian nations concur in represent- 
 ing thtir GoJ, beholding and doing all things in heaven 
 and earth in a profound silence. 
 
 9. I'he several Frees and 8hrubs were undoubtedly em- 
 blematical ot" particular virtues, or represented in the tem- 
 ple from a veneration for their aromatic and healing pro- 
 perries. Among the ancients we know, that the palm and 
 the laurel were emblems of victory and deserved honour;, 
 the myrtle, of pleaj^ure — the cedar, of eternity — the oak, 
 of strength — the olive-tree, of fruitfulness — the vine, of 
 delight and joy — andrhelilly, of beauty, &c. But what 
 th(»•^e in the cave imply, it is not possible to determine, as- 
 nothing of their character can be deduced from the man- 
 ner they were sketched on the surface of a rough wall^ 
 where the design is obscured by smoke, or nearly oblite- 
 rated from the efi'ecl of damp and the gradual decay o£ 
 time. 
 
 10. The Fox, from every authority, was put to denote 
 subtility and craftiness. Kven now, an entire nation, goes 
 by the name of the Fox Nation, a title their ancestors as- 
 sumed at a remote period, when they subdued their ene- 
 mies more by the use of cunning and art, than by the 
 force of combat or dint of arms. 
 
 11. The Hydra Serpent possibly signified malice and 
 envy ; passions which the hieroglyphic taught mankind ta^ 
 avoid ; or it may have implied an unsatistied desire and 
 thirst which nothing could assuage, and which ought ne- 
 ver to be su file red to re^ide in the human breast. It may 
 bear some other hignitication also, which 1 have not divi-^ 
 nation to find out. 
 
 12. The two Doves were hieroglyphic of continency, 
 and were represented to recommend chastity, and mutual, 
 and conjugal love. All nations agree in this, and admire- 
 the attachment of doves, and their extreme affection foe 
 each other. They might also convey a moral to suppress 
 eholer, the dove having none ; and to impose a love of 
 meekness and good temper in the mind ol man. 
 
 13. The Bears. 'I'hcre is a difficulty in ascertaining the 
 intent of this hieroglyphic. I apprehend it means to im- 
 ply labour and assiduity, as an Indian opinion prevails, 
 that the cubs come into the world in mishapen parts, and 
 that their eyes, ears, and other members are licked into 
 ^brin by the mother, who passes stveriul days Id that an.^i^* 
 
26*a TRAVELS IN 
 
 ious and^nceasing employ; therefore they may have beea 
 considered the emblem of labour, which gives beauiy and 
 perfection in return for perseverance and toil. 
 
 l-l-. The Scorpions were calculated to inspire a detesta- 
 tion for malignity and vice. The present race of Indians 
 hold these animals in great disgust. They are well ac- 
 quainted with their fierce and venomous nature, and heal 
 wounds inflicted by them by a preparation of their own 
 blood. They miizht from this circumstance embrace con- 
 siderable meaning in their hieroglyphic, and more than I 
 here note. 
 
 15. The Eagle was represented, and is held to this day, 
 as the emblem of a great, noble, and liberal miml. When 
 the Indians speak of a warrior who soars above the multi- 
 tude in person and endowments, they say, " he is like the 
 eagle, who destroys his enemies and gives protection and 
 abundance to the weak of his own tribe." 
 
 16. The Owl must have been set up to deter men from- 
 deceit and hypocrisy. He cannot endure the light of the 
 sun, nor can hypocrites bear that of truth and sincerit}'. 
 He may have been the emblem of death and wretchedness, 
 as among the Egyptians, or of victory and prosperity, 
 when in a flying attitude, as among the Greeks ; 1 con- 
 ceive ray first conclusion, however, to be the most admis- 
 sible. 
 
 17. The Quails aff'ord no clue to their hieroglyphic. — 
 Probably they denoted the corn season, and pointed out 
 the time for the usage of some particular rites and cere- 
 monies. With the Greeks they were emblematical of im- 
 piety, from a belief that they enrage and torment them- 
 selves when the crescent of the new moon first appears. 
 
 18. The representations of the large animals were indi- 
 cative of the power and attributes of the Great Spirit. — 
 The mammoth might have been emblematical of his great- 
 ness, justice, resolution, and mercy ; the tyger of his 
 strength, authority, and capacity of inflicting injuries ; 
 the wild boar ot his wrath and vengeance; the sloth of 
 his patience and forbearance, and the non-doscript figure 
 ot his hidden virtues, which they knew themselves inca- 
 pable to find out. 
 
 19. The human figures give a Avider range for conjec- 
 ture than any of the other objects I have named. The 
 raen may reprei>ent chiefs, princes, 4>i>» warriors, who had 
 
AMERICA. S^:i 
 
 Tnade themselves eminent in the government, in the coun- 
 cil, oi- in the field ; or who had manifested that bravery of 
 disposition, which contemns the ditficulties of the world 
 and set the disgraces of fortune at defiance. One fact, 
 however, results from the costume of the figures, that rs 
 of jrreat interest and moment. The dress resembles the 
 Romany and the figures would be taken for European an- 
 tiques, were it not for the character and manner of the 
 heads, which resemble those of tlie Indians of the present 
 times. J'he dress consists of— ^J. A carbasus, or rich cloak. 
 2. A jfabucuia, or waistcoat, or shirt. 3. A supparunx, 
 ©r breeches open at the knees. 4. Solea, or sandals tied 
 across the toes and heels. 5. The head embraced by a 
 bandeau and crowned with high feathers. 
 
 20. What the females were nieant to represent, is as du- 
 bious as that of the men ; the head dresses have a Grecian 
 east ; the hair ennrcling the crown and confined by a bdd- 
 kin. The remaining costume is Roman. 1. 1 he garment' 
 called stolla, or perhaps the toga pura, flowed from the 
 shoulders to the ground. — 2. An indusium ajjpeared un- 
 derneath — 3. The indusium was confined under the breast 
 by a zone or cestus — And 4. sandais in the manner of 
 those of the men. 
 
 1 fear not then to declare my mind and again to assert, 
 that the Indians possessed habits and manners similar to 
 ©ther nations of anti(]uity. In common tht^y vveiethe un- 
 sophisticated children of nature. In common they adv)pt- 
 cd nie religion of nature, which is nothing more than the 
 acknowledgment of God in his works, and won.luping (hose 
 objects to which he is pleased to impart the most manliest 
 degree of his character and power. It is not the individu- 
 al thing itself that is a<lored, but the attribute ot the Su- 
 preme i3(Mng which its dispositions and capacity figurative- 
 ly untolds. 
 
 1 he similitude in Indian and Grecian hieroglyphic is too 
 natural to require authority to account for it. All nations 
 have made use of this species of science, and nearly for 
 the same purpose, and after the same manner. There are 
 several nations distant from each otlier on the continent of 
 Asia, whose languages are as diflerent as the Greek and 
 Hebrew, and yet they understand the writings of one anoth- 
 er, which cannot be but by cerLam hieroglyphic^, or uni- 
 versal characters, representing the shapes, ot things known 
 
26t TRAVELS IN 
 
 to men of all nations, and of all tongues. Therefore tKe 
 hieroglyphics of the Americans not oniy agree with those 
 of ancient Europe, but bear a vast resemblance to the sym- 
 bals made use of by Asian, African, and Souih-Sea tribes. 
 I shall illustrate this subject for you by an historical fact, 
 which proves the existence of hieroglyphics in America 
 ■upwards of one hundred years back ; and shews how they 
 were employed in the place of written characters — as in 
 former Egypt, Greece, &c. 
 
 Soon after Canada was invaded by the French, the Iro- 
 quois, with whom they had many combats of various suc- 
 cess, etched the following characters on a plane-tree plank^ 
 after the decision of an engagement, and sent it in the na- 
 ture of a dispatch to their ditt'e rent and distant tribes. 
 
 1. The arms of France and a hatchet erect above them. 
 The hatchet being the symbol of war, shewed that the 
 French had taken it from the ground and declared venge^ 
 ance against them. Round this figure were eighteen char- 
 acters, each representing the number of ten, which impli- 
 ed that the French were one hundred and eighty strong. 
 
 2. In a line underneath, are designated, a bird in the 
 act of springing from the top of a mountain, which \vas- 
 well depicted. The mountain denoted Montreal, and the 
 bird that it was the place from which the Indians took theit 
 departure. 
 
 3. On the same line are seen a deer, wiih a moon ex- 
 pressed on his back, shewing that they started on the firsi 
 quarter of the moon in the month ot July — called by them 
 the Deer's month, 
 
 4. Under this is a'canoe and twenty-one dots, which im- 
 ply that they travelled by water one and twenty days. 
 
 5. On another line is a man's foot and seven dots, shew- 
 ing that they marched by land seven days. 
 
 6". These are succeeded by a hand and three cabins, to 
 note that they had arrived within three days journey of 
 the village of the isonontouans, which is expressed on the 
 same line by a cabni with a tree at each end, which is the 
 people of that tribe, and the sun is represented at the east 
 end o!" the cabin, to mark the direction on which they ar- 
 rived at the villiige. 
 
 7. On another line the arms of the same people are ex-* 
 hibited together, with twelve marks of the tigure of ten, 
 and a man extended in the act of sleeping, which proves 
 
AMERICA. 2^3 
 
 that the village contained orte hundred and twenty warriors 
 wlio were taken by surprise, as appears from the man in a 
 recumbent posture, and deprived by sleep of his vigilence 
 and senses. 
 
 8. Then follows a tomahawk and eleven heads, to testify 
 that eleven were killed — and on the same line are five men 
 standing on a figure, representing ten, indicating that fifty- 
 were taken prisoners. 
 
 9. In the space of a bow are nine heads — meaning that 
 nine of the aggressors of the vanquished party were put to 
 death, and on the same line are twelve marks, to shew that 
 that number were wounded. 
 
 10. On a separate space are two flights of arrows oppos'* 
 ed to each other in the air— which expresses that both 
 ])arties fought with vigour, and met with powerful resist- 
 ance. 
 
 1 1. The dispatch close* with a flight of arrows all in one 
 direction — to make known that the enemy were at length 
 put to flight, or beat in disorder and confusion. 
 
 12. Recapitulation. One hundred and eighty Iroquois 
 left Montreal the first quarter of the moon in the month of 
 July, and navigated one and twenty days: after which they 
 travelled ten days, and surprised one hundred and twenty 
 Jsonontouans ; eleven of whom lost their lives in battle^ 
 fitty were taken prisoners, nine were put to death as prin- 
 .cipals, twelve were wounded, and the combat was fought 
 "with courage on both sides. 
 
 From the lent^th of my communications from this cele- 
 brated place, and the extent, of what will probably be call- 
 ed, my idle speculatictn*, you will understand that I got 
 familiarized to the horrors of the vault, to which 1 have to 
 add that I took up my abode in^it. The fact is, I thought 
 but right to unload and overhaul my boat before I reached 
 the Mississippi, and where could I be better accommodat- 
 ed, during that process, than in the cave, where I had a- 
 bundant space tor my baggage, and ample amusement for 
 my leisure hours ? The apprehensions which first seized me 
 soon wore off, though I cannot say my first night's lodg- 
 ing in the rock was altogether sound and free from re- 
 straint : we held an alternate watch every two hours, and 
 kept up luTiic fires to preserve ourselves Irom reptiles and 
 bc<;:sts. Nor can I say that we were comfortable : the 
 place was too immense, and too much connected with tragi- 
 
2:54 TRAVELS IN 
 
 cal events, to ^liow the mind to sink into indifference, or 
 to relax into that disengaged state which alone is iavourar 
 ble to comfort and tranquil happiness. The days pas.t 
 more equal and serene. In the morning I fish tor my 
 breakfast; before dinner I amuse myself in a ramble with 
 my gun, and the evening is devoted to writing and visiting 
 the works of my servants. 
 
 I must not leave this without giving you an opportunity 
 ©f participating; a plea•^u^e of a very grateful nature which 
 this desolate phice has but just now ati'orded me. 
 
 I descended the river this morning (Sunday) about a 
 mile, to exphtre a spot which portended indications of lead 
 ore. I succeeded in discovering a very fine vein, and was 
 returnin:^ with a specimen, when my steps and attention were 
 -arrested by the sudden and extraordinary sound of xrhurch 
 music, at one time swelling in the breeiie, and at another 
 dying on the streiim. I stood m the attitude of one doubt- 
 ing ihe existence of a fact, and falling into the beliet of 
 genii and enchanted ground. It was a mystery I could by 
 no means solve, and I advanced, aijitated with contending 
 ideas ot supernatural agency, and ot the moral and ordina- 
 ry laws of the world, which deny encouragement to ab- 
 surdity and certain impossibilities. As I approached, the 
 sound designated an anthem, swelled to a great pitch by 
 numerous voices. Filled with awe and reverence, 1 hast- 
 ened to the mouth of the cave whence the divine melody 
 issued, and entered it at ihe moment that a devout multi- 
 tude were casting themselves on their knees and supplicat- 
 ing for the mercy and protection of a great and benevo- 
 lent Providence. Without wasting time so precious in 
 frigid speculations of so sublime a spectacle, I followed the 
 bright example ; nay more, I prostrated myself in ihedustj 
 poured out an effusion of praise to God, and implored him 
 aloud to accept, in tnis splendid tabernacle, built by his 
 own hands, the only tribute I had to (jffer, not the words 
 from my lips, but the blood which emotion ejaculated from " 
 my heart, and the tears which gratitude impelled from my 
 eyes. Hurried away by fervid and holy passions, I never 
 perceived that my instantaneous worship had no relatioa 
 to the general service of the place. The congregation in- 
 dulged me in so sacred an error. They were silent, and 
 remained so till I recovered serenity, and cast off my sur- 
 prise. They then continued and finally concluded their 
 
AMERICA. 2(>j 
 
 devotion with an excellent prayer, and sound though bim- 
 ple discourse. 1 have to tell you that the coiiJivgrrtion 
 which caused me so much astonishment and reveicntiui de- 
 light was com{n)sed ol about ibity religious lamilies, who 
 have lately formed a settlement a lew miles back, and who 
 have chosen the cave as their place ol worship. 1 had 
 known nothing of this, thert^iore my delusion wa.s ai once 
 grand and enthusiiistic. On casting u\j eye over what I 
 have just written, 1 lind I have given you a very faint idea 
 of the impression made on me on hist hearing the satied 
 hymn. At times the sounds were wafted in their luii quire 
 of melody to the ear, and again, mc-lting like the notes of 
 the Eolian harp, they reached it in tremulous ana almost 
 imperceptible vibration. 1 here was a tran.spori in the 
 inyfeterious* and bimpje music of which 1 did not conceive 
 myselt suscepliblr. It touched the most sympathetic chord 
 of my heart, and awakened recollection, the most sublime 
 and pleasing. 
 
 LETTER XXXII. 
 
 Hurricane Island—a violent hurricane— Cumberland River, 
 the Tenassce State— its ptoduce, vommerce, Sft.— Indian 
 tribes— Tenassce Hirer— the whirl— SAaxcamee Til/we, 
 an Indian settlement— its inhabitants— interesting char- 
 acteristics and habits— Indian gallantries— Sung of l^ooan 
 —Shatcauce practice of physic— jugglers— xarious cus- 
 f07ns— marriage and divorce— other luibits and traits of 
 the Shawance character, 
 
 Shawaimee Village, River Ohio, September 1806. 
 I FIA VE at length left the cave. 
 Three miles below is liurncane Island, notoivus for 
 having been the place of residence of a party <^f \Viis,=n's 
 gang. It was chosen for that puipose from this circum- 
 stance. In consequence of the C(.ntraction of the river the 
 current runs with great lorce : I calculated at six miles an 
 hour. The island i. clothed with tine trees, and the or.po- 
 site banks are level and capable of high cultivation. l>ut 
 since 1 lelt the village of lienderson, I have liotscen twen- 
 
0G6 TRAVELS IN 
 
 ty settlements, and I understand, the last three hundred 
 miles has been little more than an uninterru[)ted wilderness. 
 The river also is more dangerous than above. It abounds 
 in sand- bars, and is subject to violent and tempestuous 
 \vinds. 
 
 On leaving the island, I was struck by an hurricane, 
 which came so unexpectedly tfiat I had not tmie to pull 
 in shore. It rushed up ihe river and raised a sea in which 
 all our art was required to preserve us from Ibundeiing. 
 When the boat was first struck ; she backed against (he 
 body of the current, and remained a few moments m the 
 situation of a ship that had missed her stays. The water be- 
 gan to bear her down. 1 clapt the helm about, and suc^ 
 ceeded in putting her head up stream^ whether she went 
 with as much velocity as 1 ever knew her descend. INIy 
 situation was still perilous, and was rendered more so by 
 the storm which suddenly chopped round and made it ne- 
 cessary for me again to put about in a dangerous channel, 
 and amidst contending waves, 'ihis done, I n»ade an cfiort. 
 to gain the windward shore which I soon found a very rash 
 attempt. The hurricane tore the trees up by the roots, or 
 laid them prostrate with dreadlul force in the water; the 
 snmllest touch of one of which would have sent my boat 
 to the bottom. Hearing ttie tremendous noise of the fall- 
 ing woods, 1 had to keep the open river, bale out the wa- 
 ter 1 had taken in, and iceep steady in the suck of the cur- 
 rent. When the storm abated and the river fell, you can 
 hardly conceive the elating ettect it had on me. 1 profited 
 by a gentle breeze, into which the tempest subs^ided and 
 ran without intermission tor sixteen hours. ihat time 
 brc^ughtme to the mouth of Cumberland river, into wuich 
 i put to repair my damages. 
 
 Cumberland, or Shawance river int.ev^ects the boundary 
 between Virginia and North ('arolina, sixty miles from the 
 Mississippi, and again one hundred and ninety-eight miles 
 from the same river, a 'ittle above the entrance of Obey's 
 river into Cumberland. Its clear tork crosses the same 
 boundary about three hundred miles from tiie Mississippi. 
 Cumberland is a very gentle stream, navigable for loaded 
 Ipntteaux tcreight hundred miles without interruption; then 
 intervene some rapids ot fittcen miles in length, alter which 
 iit is again navigaole for seventy miles upwards, unich is 
 v'ithi!! two miles of the srcat Cumberland mountains. Jn 
 
AMERICA. m 
 
 is at)Out one hundred and twenty yards wide through its 
 whole course. This river waters the country called Te- 
 iiassee, lying to the South of Kentucky, and has on its 
 banks the principal towns ol'that State. 
 
 'I he Tenassee State bears a very high character. It is 
 bounded north by Kentucky, and part of Virginia ; east by 
 North Carolina ; south by South Carolina and Georgia ; 
 and west by the Mississippi. The climate is very temper- 
 ate, and said not to be unhealthy. It is watered by seven 
 I navigable rivers; the Cuinberiand and Tenassee which en- 
 teriiuo the Ohio ; and the Wolf, llatchie, Deer, Obion 
 J and llcelfoot:, which empty into the Mississippi. The Cum- 
 ' berland or Great Laural ridge of mountains, is the most 
 stupendous pile ui the United States. It abounds with 
 ginseng and physical ])lants, and contains sloan coal in a, 
 ^ast abundance. 
 
 A few yi'ars bince Tenassee abounded with herds of wil ri 
 cattle and buh'aloes. Elk are still seen in some places, 
 chiefly among the mountains. The deer are become com- 
 . paratively scarce. Bears and wolves yet remain, beavers 
 and oUeri are caugiit on the Uj)per branches oi' all the ri- 
 vers. 
 
 The mam mouth, that stupendous animal formerly in- 
 habited the Tenassee : his remains are often found. 
 
 .Very valuable articles areexjxorted from the State. Fine 
 waggon and saddle horses, beef, cattle, ginseng, deer-skins 
 and furs, cotton, hemp and flax ; also iron, timber, pork 
 and flour. 
 
 The" State Government have very judiciously erected 
 pul)lic schools and places of worship in the principal towns, 
 and from all accounts the country is likely to prosper and 
 fTouribh. 
 
 There are still two Indian tribes within and in the vici- 
 nity of the State : they are the Cherokees and Chicka- 
 saws. The Cherokees have been a warlike and numerous 
 nation; but by continual wars in which they have been 
 engaged with the northern Indian tribes, they are now re- 
 duced and become dejected and pusilanimous. 
 
 The Chickasaws, of all the Indian tribes within the lim- 
 its oi the United States, merit the most from Americans, 
 having at all times maintained a friendship towards them. 
 They glory in saying that they never shed the blood of an 
 Anglo-A-mcrJcan. There is so great an ailinity between 
 
2()S TRAVELS m ' 
 
 Chickasaw and Choetaw language, that thepeople can eoft- 
 verse together, eacii speuking his own dialect. They are a 
 personable race of men,- and have an openness in their coun- 
 tenance and behaviour uncommon amono; savages. These 
 nations say, they are a remnant of a great nation, that once 
 lived far to the west, which was destroyed by the Spani- 
 ards, for whom they still retain an hereditary hatred. 
 
 The banks of the Tenassee, for more than two hundred 
 miles up are nothing more than a wilderness: they are sub- 
 ject to inundation, which forms an atmosphere 'unfavour- 
 able to health. 1 had no temptation to tarry in such a si- 
 tuation, and dropped down to the mouth of tlie Tenassee 
 river, which is but twelve miles to that of the Cumber- 
 lantl. Perhaps the world does iKjt afford a similar fact, 
 that of three rivers, one thousand niilcs eacii in length, 
 and separated" one thousand miles each at their source,, 
 conjoin within the space of a {v\v miles. 
 
 The Tenassee river, called also the Cherokee, is the 
 largest tributary of the Oiiio. It rises in the mountains of 
 Virginia, and pursues a course of more than one thousand 
 miles, south and south-west, receiving from both sides a 
 number of large and navigable streams. It then turns to 
 the north, in a circuitous course and mingles with the Ohio 
 about -sixty miles from its mouth. From its enirance into 
 the Ohio, lo the muscle shoals, two hundred and fifty miles, 
 itscurient is very gentle, and the river deep enough on all 
 occasions, for the largest row boats. ,, The muscle shoal* 
 are about twenty miles m length. At this place the river 
 spreads to the width of three miles, forms a number of 
 islands, and is ot very difficult passage. From these shoals 
 to the whirl, or suck, the place were the river breaks 
 through the great ridge of Cumberland mountains is two 
 liundred and iiity miles; the navigation ail the way is ex- 
 cellent for boats of forty or fifty tons. 
 
 The whirlpool or whirl, as it is called, is reckoned a greafe 
 curiosity. The river, which a few miles above is half a 
 mile wide, is here compressed within one hundred yards. 
 Just as it enters the mountain, a large rock projects from 
 the northern shore, in an oblique direction, which renders 
 the bed of the river still narrower, and causes a sudden 
 bend ; the water of the river is of course thrown with great 
 rapidity against the southern shore, whence it rebounds a- 
 iound the point of the rock, and produces the u/iirlf which 
 
AMERICA. 269 
 
 IS about eighty yards in circumference. Canoes have been 
 often carried into the whirl, and escaped by the dexterity 
 of the rowers, without damage. But several boats, nut so 
 readily worked, have been sucked in and lost beyond rc- 
 ' demption, or vomitted up in the wreck, togefher with trees 
 and stumps,, about a mile below. It is avoided by keeping 
 close to the bank on the south side. There are but a few 
 miles portage between a navigable branch of this river 
 and the water? of the Mobile which run into the Gulph of 
 INIexico. This river is subject to inundations. 1 quilted 
 its mouth in haste to avoid vermin and putrid exhalations 
 from ponds, swamps, and mud, exposed to the action ofe 
 the sun on the subsiding of the waters. 
 
 After leaving the Tenassee, a short day's run brought 
 me abreast of the Shawanee village mentioned in a former 
 letter from the mouth of the Great Kenhaway. My boat 
 was quickly surrounded by canoes, containing men, women, 
 and children. The village, consisting of about thirty huts, 
 stood m a beiuitiful bend of the river and commanded a 
 ' delightful view of great extent. I put to shore with a view 
 of passing the night with the real proprietors of the soil of 
 America. My determination gave the natives great satis- 
 faction : many of them jumped into my boat and worked 
 her to land in a few minutes, 'i'heir behaviour was very 
 orderly, even marked with studious propriety and correct 
 manners. I was affected, notwithstanding, to perceive that 
 ' their only motive for approaching me was to beg or pur- 
 *! chase- whiskey. Finding that I had none, they went off to 
 their different pursuits and left me to my own meditations^ 
 ., I walked about the village unnoticed, and contemplated 
 the scene before me without any kin<l of molestation. The 
 evening was fine, the situation rural, and the inhabitants 
 employed : their men in repairing canoes and fishing tackle, 
 the women in preparing supper, and making mocasons,. 
 and the children in exercising their bows and arrows, and 
 dancing in groups under the shadow of the neigh bourin«T 
 trees. All these occupations and amusements were carried 
 on out of doors, in a manner as sinaple and artificial as be-- 
 fore the introduction of liuropean wares. They remain ta 
 this day the same primitive people, and are in no measure 
 altered, except in the vices jhey have acquired in trading- 
 With us, and a passion for drink, which acknowledges no 
 bounds ov- moderation. It would have hecu dif'ficutt ta 
 
 y 2 
 
i>70 TRAVELS UN 
 
 contemplate this ruin of the Shawanee nation wiihoiU con- 
 trabtiiig their present with their former situation. A few 
 years back they consisted of several thousand souls, and 
 possessed an extent of territory of one hundred square 
 miles. They, were famous in battle, aud often drove the 
 Americans to the Alleghany Hills. They were the first 
 nation who raised the hatchet, and the last who buried it 
 with bleeding reluctance in the ground. And what is now 
 their history ? Tlxe whole nation is passed away as the et- 
 tusion of the snow. It has wasted down, to about thirty 
 families, who live on the bounty of their invaders, and on 
 a spot of land limited to a certain extent. This melan- 
 clioly fact leads to another reflection. Forty ye*ars ago it- 
 was asceitaincd that four million Indians inhabited tbe 
 banks of the Ohio and her tributary streams. The sword, 
 the small-pox, and the poison of ardent spirits, have wast- 
 ed them down to about two thousand, and who live in 
 places allotted them by the States, aiid in habits between 
 savage and civilized. 
 
 The men are tall and well made, and are endowed with 
 considerable strength and agility. They, together with the 
 women are of a darker copper colour than 1 have hitherto 
 liecn. The women's faces are handsome, and their hands 
 beautifully small : their eyes arc larg'C and black : the 
 hair also black : their teeth as white as ivory, and their 
 i;ieath as pure as the air they imbibe. They do- not appear 
 as athletic as Europeans, but they possess great activity , 
 are indefatigable in rheir pursuits ; inured to hardship, and 
 taught to brave all the severities of heat and cold, and every 
 privation and inconvenience. The women wear their hair 
 in a broad plat down to the small of the back, and never 
 cut it on any account — whereas the men wear theirs short 
 and cut itevery month. Their dress consisted of but as 
 much as is absolutely necessary for decency. In winter 
 the men add to this a blanket, and the wt-men a kind of 
 garment which descends below the knees, and is fiustcned 
 round the waist with a girdle. Bolh sexes sit on the ground. 
 The houses are constructed of logs, and have more of the 
 American than the Indian taste. They keep out the ele- 
 ments, but are not comfortable or cleanly. The diet 
 consists of roast and boiled meats, soups and fish of various 
 sorts. I could not discover that they employed either salt 
 <fr spices in ihdr tlbiK?i Tl-"7 aic \ery bealihy. end are 
 
AMERICA, 571 
 
 exempt from many diseases afflicting those who use salt 
 and spices immoderately. They are never troubled wilK 
 the pals)., dropsy, gout, asthma, gravel, or stone. There were 
 two men at least ninety years old among them. It is com- 
 mon for the old and infirm to retire from their tribe and lib= 
 erate life with their own hands. 
 
 The entire village supped together at the same time. 
 The prelude to it was a dance of an hour. The dancers 
 chaunting singly their own exploits, and jcMutly those of 
 their ancestors. Those who did not dance sat round in a 
 circle, and mark each cadence with a tone resembling he 
 he he. Immediately alter supper dancing was renewed 
 and continued till a late hour with infinite festivity and 
 good humour. 
 
 On descending to the river side after my evening's amuse- 
 ment, I was very agreeably surprized by some Indian boys 
 playing on reeds at a distance. They were delightfully 
 
 ^wild and harmonious, and plaintive to an affecting degree. 
 Nor was thi^ music played in vain. It was for the pur- 
 pose of seducing the young women out of the village, and 
 ot giving their favorites an opportunity of telling their loves 
 in the silence of the woods, or on the borders of the mur- 
 muring stream. On the subject of lov^ no persons have 
 been less understood than the Indians. It is said of them 
 that they have no affection, and that the intercourse of the 
 sexes is sustained by a brutal passion remote from tender- 
 ness and sensibility. This is one of the many gross errors 
 which have been propagated to calumniate these innocent 
 people ; and it has arisen from its being remarked by all 
 observers, that no expresi^ions of endearment or tenderness 
 ever escape the Indian sexes towards each other. They 
 have been always seen to maintain a rigid distance, and tc 
 be equally strangers to love afvd amity. But these observ- 
 ers ought to have known that such reserve is only practised 
 in the day-time, and that in compliance with a political- 
 and religious law, which stigmatizes youth wasting their 
 time in female dalliance, except when covered with the vale 
 ©f night and beyund the pryingeye of man. In consequence 
 ©f this law, gallantry isstrictly avoided during the day time. 
 And were a young savage to tell his mistress before the 
 sun was yet set, that he loved her better than he did its 
 light, she would run from — or look upon him with disdain. 
 
 ■K-^r my part, I never saw gallantry cond4.icted with much- 
 
272 TRAVELS IN 
 
 more mystery or refinement, than I did during my stay 
 with the Shawanee nation. 
 
 I returned to the village, where I found all the fires put 
 out, and every object under the shadow of night and mys- 
 tery. I went to ihe tent of Adario the chief of the tribe, 
 with whom I had much previous conversation, and took 
 him through the settlement to acquire some further know- 
 ledge of its interesting inhabitants. We had gone but a 
 few steps, when we perceived an Indian with a lighted caK 
 umet in his hand. 1 learned from Adario that he was 
 going a calumeting. That is a practice of gallantry among 
 the Indians. To comprehend it well, you must know, 
 that as the savages have no distinction of property, superi- 
 ority, or subordination, they live on a footing of equality, 
 and without the fear ®f thieves or of enmity from one a- 
 nother. Consequently they leave their doors open day and 
 night, and fear no interruption whatever. The lover takes 
 advantage of this liberty ; lights his calumet, enters the 
 cabin of his mistress, and gently presents it to her. If she 
 extinguishei it, she admits him to hei' arms ; but if she 
 suffer it to burn unnoticed, he softly retires with a disap- 
 pointed and throbbmg heart, knowing that while there was 
 light she never could consent to his wishes. 
 
 This spirit of nocturnal amour and intrigue is attended 
 with one dreadful practice : the girls drink the juice of a 
 certain herb which prevents conception, and often renders 
 them barren through life. They have recourse to this to 
 avoid the shame of having a child — a circumstance in 
 which alone the disgrace of their conduct consists, and 
 which would be thought a thing so heinous, as to deprive 
 them forever from respect, and religious marriage rites. 
 The crime is in discovery. 
 
 The day following I made some enquiries about Logan, 
 a former chief of the Shawanee nation. He still lives in 
 their memory, anil they often sing his praise in a funeral 
 song, the literal substance oi which 1 have procured trom- 
 Adario, but without any knowledge of its time or measure. 
 You will be more pleased with it verbatim : 
 
 " This is the song of the mighty Logan ; the conqueror 
 of white men ; the prid'e of his nation, and the beloved of 
 the Author ot life, lie was good, valorous, and warlike ;- 
 the sMul of his army, and the executor of vengeance, life 
 was the light of oui' campi; and villages. His hatchet war 
 
AMERICA. 273 
 
 always raised up in their defence, and his bosom glowed 
 with the love of his brethren. 
 
 *' Logan, valiant and triumphant chiettain, may the 
 Great Spirit, in whose defence you often warred, account 
 with you in the Land of JSuuIs, and give you a garden of 
 beauty and harmony, and a pond of water like the moon 
 in her full, on which the sun reflects his light, and round 
 which the birds and beasts may delight to play ! ^ 
 
 " Young warriors of Logan's tribe, bear in view the bon- 
 ers he reaped when living, and rlie glorious recomj.ense 
 which awaits him dead ! May the Great Spirit prosper 
 his work, and never permit his enemies to be avenged of 
 him ! May his gardens flourish beyond theirs, and may 
 the fountain of his waters have flavour and brightness, - 
 when theirs are putrid and dried up ! 
 
 " Friends of Logan, mitigate your sorrow j remember hi» 
 
 actions ; improve jjy them; and. let this song go down troin 
 
 child to child, to commemorate his virt'.ies and his worth !" 
 
 I know nothing which merits more serious investigation 
 
 than the Shawanee practice of physic. 
 
 Such disorders as are common among them they treat 
 with infinite skill. 1 saw a subject who had neglected 
 taking remedies for a veneral complamt, which ha<l made 
 such a ravage on parts of his body, that his flesh was fall- 
 ing to pieces, and yet he was in a fair way of recovery, by 
 drinking repeated draughts of a decoction made from cer- 
 tain roots, capable of efl'ectually annihilating that dreadful 
 distemper. The diet made use of in illness always consists 
 in meat or fish-soup. The Shawanessc betray no fear of 
 the loss of life from illness. They prefer death to a linger- 
 ing sickness. When ill, their first object is to promote 
 sleep and transpiration : if these fail, their friends visit and 
 dance around them, or bring a priest and juggler, to en- 
 deavour to effect a cure, or to amuse the remains of life, 
 if it refuses to be prolonged. 
 
 A juggler is a mixed character representing a mamae, 
 physician, and priest ; or, to speak more properly, he is a 
 mountebank, who, having escaped a dangerous infirmity 
 supposes himself immortal, and professes to cure every 
 species of disease by powers delegated to him by good and 
 evil spirits. When in health, the Shawaneese laugh at the 
 jugglers, and esteem them fools deprived of reason in par- 
 oxism of some malady j but when they themselves ai'e 
 
274. TRAVELS IN 
 
 violently attacked, and find their own remedies ineffectuaiy 
 they send for the ju^<ilers, who dance, tell extraordinary 
 stories, make horrid contorsions a-ud grimaces, leap, jump, 
 and howl and raar, in the manner of wolves and other 
 beasts of prey, in order to appear possessed and under the 
 influence of supernatural operations. After this prelude 
 a feast is ordered, of which the juggler and friends partake, 
 witho_ut much feeling for the patient, who silently pines in 
 tile midst of their uproar and enjoyment. 
 
 Alter the repast, the sick man is carefully examined by 
 the juggler, who exclaims aloud, " U the Evil Spirit be 
 here, he is commanded by the Great Manitou'to depart !'* 
 He then goes into a separate tent, dances, sings, and re- 
 peats the howls of the wolf, and returns to tha ^ick, whose 
 leg or arm he sucks, and casting from his mouth some sub- 
 stance he had previously put into it, says, " There ! take 
 courage, the F^vii Spirit has lost his charm, you now can 
 be cured !" On thrs, he gives the patient the juice of 
 some plants, which act as purgatives or sudoriflcs. When 
 the j)rocess was attended with success, the juggler was again 
 feasted and treated with high distinction ; but if it failed,^ 
 and that the person died, it was a tormer practice to kill 
 the physician on the spot and send him to the shades with 
 him whom he had murdered. This custom no longer prevails 
 among the Shawaneese : they only banish the jugglers for 
 a time when the patient dies, to assuage the sorrow of his 
 friends. 
 
 Purges and sweats caused by vegetable decoctions, are 
 the favourite remedies for all Indian disorders. 
 
 The Shawaneese seldom pass ten days without enduring 
 an artificial sweat, whether they be in good or bad health, 
 and in summer, when in the highest state of perspiration, 
 they pitch themselves into the coldest water they can meet. 
 1 partook of their steam bath, but dare not follow their ex- 
 ample in jumping into the river till perfectly free from 
 heat. 
 
 The village has a public bath in which six may perspire 
 at a time. It is a hut, the floor of which is an oven heated 
 from the outside with ceder, gum, and spice woods. The 
 floor is perforated with two small holes to admit the heat, 
 and is covered with furs to give it the convenience of a 
 couch or a seat. When I flrbt went in, the warmth was so 
 inlcube, and the odour so strong, that I could with diflical- 
 
AMERICA. 275 
 
 t 
 ty endure the situation ; but in a few moments I recovered 
 resolution to remain, and fell into the most copious perspi- 
 ration It was possible to create in the same space of time. 
 It was so abundant, that it appeared more like a dissolution 
 than a sweat, and caused me to remain two or three hours 
 
 ' in a state of supirie relaxation. I found its effects soon 
 after salutary and beneficial, and am determined to repeat 
 the sudation whenever the opportunity is afforded me. On 
 leavmg the steam-bath, I went to the house of Adario and 
 dined on squirrels and fish, which his daughter had careful- 
 ly prepared. 
 
 Wounds and dislocations they cure by the application 
 of herbs, with whose properties they are well acquainted ; 
 and, what is more remarkable, gangrene and mortificdtion 
 never have been known to seize the parts to which such 
 simple remedies have been applied. 
 
 When one of the nation dies, he is washed and dressed 
 with the utmost care possible, but no tears are shed over 
 him. Parents, sisters, or brothers, in place of mamfeslmg 
 affliction, rejoice that their relative is beyond the p-.nver of 
 suffering, and that he has left a world which is only con- 
 sidered as a passage to another and a better lite. When 
 dressed, he is placed on a mat or bear's skin, and addressed 
 by all his relations in turn, who recount his exploits and 
 those of his ancestors, and then shut him up for twenty 
 hiUirs in a small public building, called, " The Cabin of 
 Death." During this period, the nation celebrate a dance 
 and least ; and on its expiration, the Cabin of Death is 
 opened, the corpse is put into a bark coffin, together with 
 his hunting instruments and arms, and carried to the grave, 
 followed by dancers, and the parents and friends chaunting 
 hymns an«J songs. 
 
 The marriages are so simple, that they hardly deserve 
 the name, i witne.^sed no ceremony ot the kind, but I 
 understand from Adario, that when two young pei-sons a- 
 gree on the subject, they make kno^n their intentions to 
 their parents, who are not at liberty to refuse their con- 
 sent, it being a Shawanee law that the father and mother 
 have no dominion over the person ot a child. All the 
 
 ^friends assemble at the cabin of the most ancient branch 
 of the family, without respect to nearness of kinilred, and 
 there, dance and enjoy a feast ot great profusion and i-x- 
 tcnt. After this icstivAlJ all the friends of the party re- 
 
^76 * TRAVELS IN 
 
 tire, except four of the oldest of each side, who require (he 
 couple to stand on a mat and there attend to a discourse 
 on conjugal affectioji and the charms of a chaste and ho- 
 nest mind. On which the lovers break a small stick in 
 pieces and give the fragments to thtir friends, who keep 
 them as evidence of the marriage, which cannot, while the 
 stick can be put together, be denied. This ceremony is 
 followed by inviting the nation to dance, sing, and amuse 
 themselves till a late hour. The n\'edding over, the bride 
 is conducted to her parents' home, where she is visited by 
 her husband till she bears a child ; and it that event do not 
 take place in the ordinary course of time, the parents as- 
 semble, collect the bits of broken sticks, see that they fit 
 together, and then dissolve the marriage by committing the 
 testimcny to the flames. Independent of this cause of dis- 
 solution, both men and women are permitted to separate 
 at any time they think proper, giving eight days notice, in 
 order that the bits of sticks may be collected and consum- 
 ed. It is worthy of remark, that these kind of separations 
 are attended with no kind of dispute, quarrel, or contra- 
 diction whatever. The women are at liberty as well as 
 the men to re-marry whom they may think proper, but in 
 general they seldom enter into a second engagement till 
 after the expiration of three and six months. On separa- 
 tion the children are equally divided : if the number be 
 odd, the wte is allowed one more than the husband. 
 
 Motwilhstanding this facility to change, I learn from 
 Adario, that advantage is seldom taken of it — in his na- 
 tion not once in ten years. And an inviolate fidelity is 
 maintained on both sides, durinii marriajie. As soon as a 
 wiie IS announced in a statt; of pregnancy the mairimtmial 
 rights are suspended, and continency preserved with a re- 
 ligious and mystical scrupuiarity till nine weeks alter the 
 accom-heinent. When a woman is on the eve of that e\ent, 
 she retires to a private cabin, /row uhirli men are excluded^ 
 and delivers herself without any assistance whatever. She 
 remains there, attended by a few female relatives, while 
 undergumg a purification, which lasts thirty days U-x a 
 girl, and continues torty for a boy ; after which she re- 
 turns to the cabin ot her hu^!)an(!. The i)Oor child no 
 sooner appears in the world than he is plunged into ().<;d- 
 erateiy w^trm water, and then bandaged gently to a } i.-.nk 
 lined witli cotton, and on wluch he is carried with great 
 
^ AMERICA. 277 
 
 ease from place to place ; or suspended from trees, in the 
 open air. The women always nur?e their own children. 
 That mother would be la--)idate(l by them a^ a monskr 
 who would separate herseit from her new born child. 
 When mothers lobe children before tliey are weaned, they 
 have recourse to a very afleciing- and melanclioly expedi- 
 ent : they search the woo.ds for some young opossnni, kan- 
 garoo, or other wild beast, and rear it with their niiliv wiih 
 the utmost care and tenderness. 
 
 The husband or wife dyini]:, the widowhood continues six 
 months. Mourning is not in u-e. In a single state the 
 Shawaneese are susceptible of jealousy ; m a married one 
 they are ignorant of that passi^.n ; the inei\conceiving that 
 n'^ person could be found huilicienily infamous to injure 
 his neighbour's honor, and the women w<7uld uiti'er death 
 sooner^han inflict on their husbarjds so flagitious a wound. 
 ^ A married woman made this beautiful reply to a person 
 who met iier in the woods, and implored her to love and 
 look on him : " Oulamar, u7/o isjor ever before my eyes, 
 hinders me from seeing you or any other person." 
 
 The children always take the name of the mother. On 
 asking Adario the reason, he replied, that as the child re- 
 ceived Its substance from the mother, it Avas but reasona- 
 ble it should transmit her name to posterity^ and be a re- 
 compense for attentions and trouble. 
 
 VVh n a woman has lost her husband, if he has left any 
 
 ' brothers, it is expected that she should marry one of them 
 
 after the cust^^mar^ period of vyidowl cod ; nnd when a wife 
 
 dies and leaves any sisters 'lis understood that tliC husband 
 
 shouhl, marry one. \ 
 
 Amolig the Shawanees there are a few who observe CC' 
 lebicy. They are treated with great consideration: — I 
 could not learn why. Idiots are also treated with great 
 re pect. Of the motive of this .' am also ignorant. 1 ha\e 
 r (narked that when once a single woman bears a dhild, 
 she can never after get married ; and I ^hould have added, 
 that, th(jugli many take drugs to prevent this misfortune, 
 there are many who prefer pregnancy, which entilles them 
 to lead, without reproach, a future life, of freedom and dis- 
 sipation. This^ass of wtimen are called Tckoue ne Ke- 
 .oii.ssa, nymplhs of the woods, because they ate addicted to 
 hunting, and associate with the men in all the perils and 
 Z 
 
^78 TRAVELS IN 
 
 hardbhips of the chase. The parents never restrain them 
 from this conduct : on the contrary, they> appear to ap- 
 prove of it, saying, that their daughters are mistresses of 
 theirown persons — that they have a right to disposeoi them, 
 and to act as they think proper. The children are reck- 
 oned legitimate, and enjoy ail the privileges of those born 
 in wedlock, with this difl'erence, that the chiefs and the eld- 
 ers of council are not allowed to make them their heirs, 
 nor are they suffered to intermarry into certain families, 
 remarkable in the nation for military valour or political 
 wisdom. 
 
 Such are the particulars I have obtained respecting the 
 Shawance people, in whose history I am persuaded you 
 take an interest. 
 
 The people of the village carry on a considerable trade 
 with the boats which descend the river. They sell them 
 furs and horn tips, and receive in exchange ball, powder, 
 whiskey, tobacco, beads, ornaments and olankets. 
 
 The land around the village is not of the best quality, 
 and if it were, it would remain neglected. Indians seldom 
 cultivate more than^ little corn tor their own immediate 
 want. They have a very line breed of dogs, and domesticat- 
 ed fowls abound about their settlements. As the Mississippi 
 furnishes nothing, no boat should leave the Ohio without 
 six weeks provision at least. I took advantage of this know- 
 ledge, and tilled ray coops with fowls, and bought a couple 
 of live pigs, 1 had no occasion to procure any thing more, 
 for Adariosent me twenty haunches of vension, excellently 
 preserved, and some bears meat well dried, in lieu of a 
 little tobacco I had given him — an agreeable trait of In- 
 ,dian gratitude. ^ 
 
AMERICA. 279 
 
 LETTER XXXIII. 
 
 Massae fort — -the commandant's successful means of prevent- 
 ing disease — Entrance o/." the Mississippi — a view of that 
 immense river — St. Charlee^ Bon-hommei and N^ew Ver- 
 saiiles villages — Osage, Kanovs, and other Indian nations — 
 Kaskaskia river and town — Kahokia village — Illinois ri- 
 Tcr— -other rivers joining the Mississippi, 
 
 Mouth of the Ohio> September, 1806. 
 A FEW hours after I left the Shawanee village I ar- 
 rived at Massae, a fort garrisoned by a company ot regu- 
 lars of the United States, and commanded by a captain, 
 from whom I received much attention and intelligence'. 
 Massae stands on a high bank in the bend of the river, 
 and commands a very extensive view of hill, dale and wa- 
 ter. It is composed of about twenty houses, the ofticers' 
 dwellings and the soldiers barracks, which give it a novel 
 appearance. 
 
 Some years ago Massae was as unhealthy as the worst 
 island in the West Indies, the garrison perished for several 
 successive seasons, and the reputation of the place became 
 so bad, that the soldiers deserted, and officers threw up 
 their commissions when ordered an its service. Now, out of 
 one hundred men there are but seven on the doctor's list, 
 and only twenty have died within three years. A circ^jm- 
 stance so uncommon excited all my curiosity, and brought 
 me to the knowledge of a fact, that the unwholesomeness of 
 America is to be ait 
 delcteriousiclimaie. 
 
 \Vnen captain 11. a philosopher and man of scienc*, came 
 to Fort Massae about three years ago, he took a view of 
 the vicinity of the town, and sought the principles of that 
 malignant disease which had been so destructive to all who 
 had before garrisoned the fort. He soon discovered that 
 the back of the town was subject to inundation, and that a 
 chain of ponds received the waters of the flush, and re- 
 tained them till exhausted b}?- evaporation, a gradual pro- 
 cess eftecred principally by the action of a burning sun, 
 water stagnated, or drawn into the atmosphere, in a state 
 sufiicient^co impregnate it with foetid smells and fatal poi- 
 
280 TRAVELS IN~ 
 
 son. Having "satisfied himself of the causes of the pre- 
 vailing disorders of the fort, Captain R. resolutely deter- 
 mined to remove them. With this intent he employed the 
 ^vhole garrison in opening communications between one 
 pond and another, and in making canals to the ponds both 
 from the upper and lower part of the river. The first 
 spring flush entered by the upper channel, passed like a 
 nnll-coursc through the ponds, and as the waters subsided, 
 carjicd all their foul and putrid contents through the low- 
 er channel into the river. 'J'he following season saw this 
 labour crowned with the happiest success; the vernal fever 
 \vas suppressed, the summer liux was gone, and the autum- 
 nal vomit and hoemorhage entirely disappeared. Nothing | 
 remained but the complaints common to all parts of " 
 the river ; such asintermittents, plcurasies, and a species of 
 slow disease which consumes the body, extinguishes the 
 natural heat of the jDlood, changes the complexion into a 
 livid pale. 
 
 The particular regulations which Captain R. sees observ- 
 ed in the garrison contribute much to the preservation of 
 its health. The consumption of whiskey is limited ; clean- 
 Hncvss is insisted on, and industry rewarded. The men be- 
 ing employed according to their original professions, and 
 paid ten pence per day, over and above their pay as sol- 
 diers of the United States. 
 
 As the gentlemen are fond of sport, they find much a- 
 jnuscment in the adjacent country, which abounds with 
 game of every sort. The fishing is also good immediately^ 
 Under the battery. Nor is sport a mere act of pastime but 
 of necessity. The garrison, being furnished by government 
 with nothing more than rations of bread and salt pork, is 
 compelled to seek for fresh provisions in the*||v'oods, or to 
 procure them from the Indiansin exchange for spirits, pow- 
 der and toys. The Indians are a i^w Illinois settled in the 
 rear of the fort. 
 
 There are about twenty American plantations around 
 Masae who furnish the inhabitants with corn, poultry, and • 
 hogs, and at a much dearer ra.e than 1 have yet heard of on 
 the'river banks. This is ov\ing to there being such tew set- 
 tlements, and also to the number of boats who put in for 
 refreshment, causing a greater demand than the supply c^n 
 at all times meet. 
 
AMERICA. 281 
 
 I left Massae with the seatiments which ought ever to 
 occupy the mind of a stranger after experiencing a gener- 
 ous and courteous reception from persons on whose hospi- 
 tality and kindness he had no manner of claim, and gained 
 this position in a short day's run of twenty -five miles, 
 which afforded me no matter fit to advance your informa- 
 tion or entertainment. 1 had lo be sure to observe that 
 the river encreased in width and beauty, and that the cur- 
 rent, though entirely contrary to my expectations, became 
 so slujjgish, that I was forced to have recourse to my oars 
 to make any kind of way. On approaching within a few 
 miles of the Louisina shore, I discovered this strange eff-ct : 
 it was the Mississippi, which, in awful grandeur crossed the 
 m-'Uth of the Ohio, and, backed the water up a..Li;ainst the 
 stream. The contention of the floods, the dreadlul ac- 
 counts I had hearii of the navigation of the Mississippi, the 
 magnificence of the objects around me, and the general 
 impression created an inexpressible hensation of a view oif 
 nature on- a scale of su<:h sublimity, diversity and magni-^ 
 tude. 
 
 Under these influences I lay by here under the point of 
 land formed by the intersection of the two rivers, and 
 sprang ashore, on the right bank of the Ohio. 
 
 No river in the world can vie with the Mississippi for 
 Magnificence and utility. Its source is ascertained to be 
 three tk-iusand miles from the sea, following its windings. 
 From nearly opposite the Illinois river, the wesisrn bank 
 of ihe Mississippi is generally higher than the eastern. 
 From Miiier-a-fu to the Iberville, the eastern is the high- 
 est. It is so remarkably crooked, that from the mouth of 
 the Ohio to New-Ork^ans, in a direct line, which does not 
 exceed six hundred miles, the distance by water is more 
 than one thouyand miles, in common seasons it generally 
 affords fifteen feet of water from tiie mouth of the Ales- 
 sauri to that of the Ohio. In time of flushes a first rate 
 man of war may descend with safety. The mean velocity 
 of its current may be computed to be four miles an hour. 
 Its lengtli is various, fron) one and a half to two miles. 
 Its mouth, is divided into several channels which continu- 
 ally change their direction and depth. 
 
 From the mouth of the Ohio to that of the Alessauri is 
 two hundred and thirty miles by water, and one hundred 
 and forty by land. The JNIississippi below the Messauri is^ 
 '^ Z 2 
 
i.>S2 TRAVELS IN 
 
 always muclrly. The current is so rapid, that it never can 
 be steinined by the force of the wind alone acting on sa.ls. 
 A bat;eaLix passes fronn the moiuh ot the Ohio to the moutli 
 ot the Mississippi in three weeks, and takes three months 
 to return with the help ot the wind ami the c<.nstant labor 
 of sixteen oars. During its fl.^ods, which are as periodi- 
 cal as those of the Nile, the largest vessels may descend. 
 The inundations extend farther, and rather on the v\estern 
 than on the eastern side, covering the lands in some placea 
 ior more thon one hundred miles from its banks.. These 
 floods begin in April, and do not entirely subside till th& 
 v;t'. of August. Above the mouth of the Messauri, the 
 iNlis^issippi is as clear and gentle as the Ohio, and nearly 
 as wide: the period of its fl<3ods are nearly the same, but 
 not rising to so great a heighth. 
 
 'llie Mississippi \ields turtle of a peculiar sort, perch, 
 trout, gar, pike, mullets, herrings, carp, spatula, a lisU of 
 fifty-six pounds weight, cat-Msh of one bundled pounds 
 weight, buiiaiije fish and sturgeon. Allegators abound, 
 and h ive been seen as high up as the Acansas. It also has 
 a prodigious quantity of hercns, cranes, ducks, brants, 
 geese, swans, and watejjj^- pelicans swimming on its surface, 
 and breefling in its Ticinity. 
 
 • 'J'he Messauri is in iact the principal river, contributing 
 more to the common stream than does the Mississippi, 
 even after its junction with the Illinois It is remarkably 
 cold, muddy, and rapid Its overflowings are considera- 
 ble. They happen during the months of June and July. 
 S;x miles above the mouth it is brought to a compass of 
 aquirterof a mile's width, and yet it is navigable twa 
 thousand miles upwards. It heads far westward of the Rio 
 Nort'.'. The mouth of the Ohio from Santa Fe on the ri- 
 ver Norte, is one thousand miles. From Sante Fe to its 
 mouth in the Gulph of Mexico is one thousand two hun- 
 dred miles. The road from New Orleans to Mexico the 
 Rio Norte at a post called by the same name, eight hun- 
 dred miles below Santa Fe : and from this post to New 
 Orleans is about one thousand two hundred miles ; this 
 making two thousand miles between Santa Fe Jiiid Nevz 
 Orleans, passing down the North River, Red R,iver,. and 
 iMississij)pi ; whereas it is two thousand tv\o hundred and 
 thirty miles through the Messauri and Mississippi. From 
 the Siiine port of liio NortC; j)assing-neur the mines of La 
 
AMERICA. 283 
 
 Sierra and Larguana, which are between the north river 
 aiui the river ISalina, is three hundred and seventy-five 
 miles ; and thence passing the mines of Charsas, Zacca- 
 tieas, and Potosi, to the Cit^ ot Mexico is three hundred 
 and seventy-five miles more, makino; in all one thousand 
 five hundred and fitty from Santa Fe t<» the city of Mexi- 
 co. From New Orleans to the city of Mexico is then a- 
 bout one thoUNand nine hunired au'l fifty miles: the roada, 
 after setting out from the Red River, near Natchitoches, 
 are generally parallel with the coast, and about two hun- 
 dred miles rrom it, till it cnrers the city of Mexico. 
 
 Thirty mjles up and'on the north side of the Messauri, 
 is a vilhigc called St. Charles. It is of a toleraiile size, and 
 the principle trade is with th*^ Indians. About eighs miles 
 above this, the villa.;e and seitlement of B n-homme opens 
 to view; twenty-six miles taither up is the village ot New 
 Versailles; and about seven hundred and fifty miles above, 
 a little off from the river, is the Grand Sors, a principal In- 
 dian trading town. 
 
 The Osage nation of Indians reside on the banks of a 
 liver of the same name, eighty leagues from where it en- 
 ters the Messauri on the right. They consist of al3out one 
 thousand warriors, of a gigantic .stature, being seldom un- 
 der six feet, and fretpientiy between six and seven in height. 
 They are accused of being a cruel and lerocious race, and 
 ar tea red and hated by all the other Indian tribes. From 
 the mouth of the Messauri to that of the Osage river is 
 computetl at eighty leagues. 
 
 I'he river Kanous empties in about sixty leagues farther 
 up on the same side, and eighty leagues up it, reside the 
 Kanous nation, consisting of about three hundred warri- 
 ors. 
 
 Sixty leagues above the Kanous, and two hundred from 
 the mouth ot tffe Messauri, still on the right bank, is tli© 
 Kiviere Plattee, or Shalhjw River, remarKable for its 
 quick-sands; near its continence dwell the Octatoetas, a 
 nation of Indians ot abi)ut two hundred warriors. Forty 
 leagues up Riviere Plattee, and far distant Irom Santa Fe, 
 is a nation of Indians called Panis, in number about seven 
 hundred warriors, who reside in tour villages, hunt but 
 little, and seem^dispohed to foil av agricultural pursuits. 
 
 1 he villages of the Moh^)S natjon are three hundred 
 leagues from the Mississippi, and one hundred from the 
 
281^ ^ TRAVELS IN 
 
 Riviere Plattee. This nation consisted, in 1791) of fivehun-. 
 dred warriors. — I am now informed that tiie small pox has 
 almost entirely cut them off. 
 
 The Poncas nation dwell about fifty leagues above the 
 Mohos Indians, on the left bank of the Messauri, in num- 
 ber near two hundred warriors. About tour hundred and 
 fifty leagues from the Mississippi, on the right bank of rhe 
 Messauri, reside the Aricaras nation, to -the number of se- 
 ven hundred warriors. This nation is friendly towards rhe 
 whites ; its members have been continual victims of the 
 Sioux and Mandawe>sees, who, being belter provided with 
 fire-arms than themselves, have always taken advantii^e o$ 
 the helpless situation of the friends oi white men^ and mur- 
 dered them on all occasions without mercy. 
 
 Farther up the Messauri there are many other nations 
 of Indians — the Maiidan, Caheg), he. of \\hom very little 
 is as yet known, either of their numbers, manners or cus- 
 toms. But the Manduesses, who frequent the country be- 
 tween the north bank of the Messauri and Mississippi, take 
 every method to prevent all communication between the 
 nations higher up and those below them; and when this 
 is attempted they massacree all who tall into their liands. 
 
 Kaskaskias River enters on the east side ihirty miles a- 
 bove, and the town ot Kaskaskia is situated six miles up it 
 in a beautiful plain. At present many of the buildings are 
 standing vacant, and the place has a dreary and torsakeu 
 appearance. It was s<^ttled more than one hundred years 
 ago by emigrants from Lower Canada. ' 
 
 Sixty milvs fiirther up is the village of Kahoki, situated 
 at the mouth of the river of the «ame name. It is a con- 
 siderable and pleasant place, and courts oi justice are held 
 there for that part ot the Indian territory 
 
 Seventeen miles above on the west side is the Messauri, 
 and twenty miles above the Messauri on the east or right 
 ha. id side the Illinois river enters. Up the Illinois are coal 
 mines, and salt poi^h, a stone called fliche, Irom which the 
 Indians make their flint and arrow pornts ; and on the high 
 banks of the river, one hundred and ninety miles up, are 
 red and white ce(iar and pine trees : and it is said that an 
 allum hill is on a branch emptying into it, called Mine 
 River, about two hundred and twenty miles up. Mulberry 
 trees are t'ik-re large and numen)us ; Indigo has been rais- 
 ed with success, and tobacco, hemp, and flax can be culLi- 
 
A1MERICA. 285 
 
 vated with little labor. The sugar maple grows to great 
 perfection. Fruit trees of all kinds succeed admirably, 
 and dying and medicinal plants every where abound. 
 
 About one hundred and sixty miles above the Illinois, 
 Riviere a la Roche empties itself into the Mississippi, on 
 the same side as the Illinois. 
 
 Farther up, two hundred anri ten miles, Riviere a la Me- 
 «c enters, and is navigable for fifty miles. 
 
 Ouic(»nson River is one hundred and twenty miles above 
 — navigable near two hundred miles. 
 
 Black river empties in further up, one hundred and fifty 
 miles, and is navigable one hundred miles. 
 
 Buffalo River flows in sixty-five miles above — -navigablfc 
 Kear one hundred miles. 
 
 Sotau River is fiiteen miles above — navigable eighty 
 miles. 
 
 St. Croix River, with numerous lakes, sixty miles; these 
 are navigable nearly two hundred miles. 
 
 The above rivers all enter the Mississippi on the east or 
 right hand side. 
 
 From the mouth of St. Croix to the falls of St Anthony 
 is about ninety miles. These falls are in latitude 45 N. 
 and from the mouth of the Mississippi are .two thousand 
 two hundred and eighty miles. Boats n^ay pass over these 
 tails in safety in high water, but when the water is low they 
 are very dangerous. Above the falls are numerous small 
 lakes wliich communicate with each other ; and into a 
 principal one on the N. W. side empties the Blue River, 
 Avhich is very considerable, and has been navigated by 
 French traders three hundred miles up ; so that, the Mis- 
 sissippi, in fact, loses its name at the falls of St. Anthony, 
 and from thence northward takes the name of the Blue Ri- 
 ver. Admitting that the Mississippi still retains its name 
 ab;jve the falls, it is said to take its source in the White 
 Bear Lake, iu iat. 48. 15. long. 23. 17. west 
 
286 TRAVELS IN 
 
 LETTER XXXIV. 
 
 ZiGuisiana — its history — progress through the country — Cape 
 Florida — Happle Creole — St, Genevieve — Lead- Mines — 
 5^. liouis Town — -The Valley oj Bones — Confluence oj tht 
 Messauri and Mississippi, 
 
 St. Louis, Upper Louisiana, September, 1806. 
 
 ON landing on the Louisiana or West side of the 
 jMissibbippi tor the firfet time, I telt a ver}' proud and |)leas- 
 ing emotion. I had successfully explored a vast extent of 
 country, and I then arrived in one, to me, more perfectly 
 new than any other, and consequently more interesting. 
 
 The country East and West ot the Mississippi was called 
 Florida by Sebastian Cabot, who visited that part of Ame- 
 rica by order of Henry Vllth of England, about the year 
 
 John Pontio de Leon, a Spaniard, arrived on the coast. 
 Anno 1512, attempted a settlement, and erec'ed a small 
 fort. The subjects of Charles X. of France, seem to have 
 made several attempts to settle in the country, but were 
 always defeated by the Spaniards, Until the year 1684, 
 when M. de la Sale, discovered ttie mouth of the Mississip- 
 pi, and built on the bay a fort which he called Fort Louis. 
 The founder having been assassinated, the fort ,vas aban- 
 doned until Anno 1(>9^8, when Captain Iberville penetrated 
 up the Mississippi, and having planted a few settlers, call- 
 ed the country Louisiana. Until this time, the Spaniards 
 had a few forts on the coast, of which Pens.icbla seems to 
 have been the principal ; fourteen leagues east of the lie 
 of Uauphin. About the year 1720, M. la Sueur navi- 
 gated the river seven hundred and sixty leagues up, and as- 
 serted that he had not arrived at its source. From that 
 time it remained in the hands of France, whose monarchs 
 made several grants to its traders, in particular to M. Cros- 
 sat, in I? 12, and some years after to the well known pro- 
 jector, M. Law, who relinquished it in 1731. 
 
 By a secret convention, 3d of November, l76'2, the 
 French government ceded so much of the province oi Lou- 
 isinani as lies beyond the Mississippi, as well as the island 
 of New Orleans, to Spain, 
 
AMERICA. 287 
 
 In 1763, it was ceded by France and Spain to Great Bri- 
 tain, from whom it was conquered by Spain during the 
 American revolutionary war, and conlirmed to Spain by 
 treaty, 1783. 
 
 By the treaty of St. Ildefonso, 1st October, 1800, which 
 was confirmed by that of Madrid, of the 2 1st March, 1801, 
 the whole province was ceded by Spain to France; and 
 from France it passed by treaty and sale to the American 
 Government, who took possessiori of it on the 20th of De- 
 cember, 1803. 
 
 - It now goes by the name of the Upper and Lower Loui- 
 siana ; St. Louis being the chief town of the former, and 
 New Orleans that of the latter province. Each has a Gov- 
 ernor residing in the respective principal places, and the 
 laws and administrations are changed from the Spanish to 
 the American. 
 
 The Eastern boundary is the Mississippi, the Western is 
 not ascertained. The Southern is the Gulph of Mexico, 
 and the Northern is the country of Hudson's Bay and the 
 Lakes. 
 
 J no sooner landed on the Louisiana shore, than I made 
 for the only house I could perceive in sight. I reached it 
 in a few minutes, and was very courteously received by 
 Don Castro, the proprietor. 
 
 He also keeps a tavern or house of entertainment, as it 
 is called, adjoining his own dwelling, and furnishes travel- 
 lers, merchants, and boatmen, with every accommodation 
 during their stay, and with provisions, 6cc. 
 
 When Louisiana belonged to the King of 3pain, the 
 Spanish cultivators valued their improved lands at from 
 twenty to one hundred dollars per acre. Now that it ap- 
 pertains to the United States, they offer the same settle- 
 ments for one dollar per acre ; in many instances for a 
 quarter of a dollar, and some families of a high sense of 
 honour and national pride, abandon their possessions and 
 go into Mexico without receiving any advantage from their 
 former pursuits, or the many years they consumed in the 
 application and toil attending agricultural improvement. 
 I passed but one night at Don Castro's. In the morning 
 he provided me with a guide, and horses for myself and 
 servant. 1 departed very early, as it was my intention to 
 reach Cape Jarido, a distance of forty five miles by night. 
 1 found the country very much broken, hilly, and so thick 
 
288 TRAVELS IN 
 
 of wood, that the prosjJect was every Avhere intercept- 
 ed. 
 
 After a toilsrme ride, and an indifferent accommodation 
 during the night at a Louisiana inn, on turning out^ with 
 the sun in the morning, 1 discovered Cape Jarido to be a 
 small settlement inhabited by a iew French Canadeans. 
 Several Spanish families resitled in it a few years ago : 
 they abandoned it when it became siabject to the laws of 
 the Aaifr.can government. 
 * I pur-sued my journey, and arrived at Happie Creek, 
 / twenty-fi\e miles from Jando, in time for dmner. Ihe 
 ! countiy through which 1 passed was hilly, wooded, and un- 
 inhabited. Hupple Creek is also a smal> French setile- 
 mi nt. The inhabitants, as well as those ot Jarido, live in 
 the manner of Indians, rliat is by hunting, and in bartering 
 the furs for powder, ball, a?Tns, biarikets, and spirits. They 
 cultivate very little ground, ana build houses which are 
 neither wind nor water-proof. On the same afternoon I 
 rode fifteen miles farther on and stopped -at the house of 
 an Acadiap for the night. 1 found him a plain ho^pltabIc 
 man. He was a Scotchman by birth, a Frenchman by 
 education, h Spaniard by adoption, and an American par 
 force, V His name originally wis Gordon, but having .serv- 
 ed in the array oi Spain, his comrades conferred on him, 
 according to their practice, a nnmme dt giicrrt, sincf when 
 . he has been kn.wn as Don Goidaho. 
 
 The evening of the day I iett Don Gordano's, I arrived 
 at St. Genevieve; and what was very interesting, I heard 
 the bells of the Catholic church ring for vespers long be- 
 fore I entered the town. 
 
 i did not wawder irom the peal, but rode on with speed 
 and animation, and put up at an iiiri which had strong in- 
 dicati<jiis of comfort. 1 was by no means disappointed : 
 tlie landlord, a lively Frenchman, looked after my horses, 
 and his wife made nie a cup t)f coftee with as much per- 
 fection as ever I drank it at the Palais Royale, or at tlic 
 foot of Pont Keiif. After which, I lounged through the 
 village and chatted en passant whh the inhabitants, who 
 were all in groups outside their doors. The women at; 
 work, the children at play, and the men performing music, 
 iinojug songs or ^telling stoiies. It needed but a conp 
 d'ail to discover in this the vestige of Spanish customs. A 
 Tittic more observation soon convinced mc ot the justice of 
 
AMERICA. 2«S^ 
 
 the conjecture. "St. Genevieve m'as once principally inliabited 
 by Spaniards ; a discust to an American connection has 
 driven them nearly all off; but their manners and habits 
 remain with the French settlers, who originally resided a- 
 inong them. Hence I have heard the guitar resound soon 
 after sun-set, with the complaints and amorous talcs of the 
 village swains, and heard the same hand, which toiled all 
 day in the wilderness and in the waste, strike the tender 
 'Botes of love in iJie evening. 
 
 The custom seemed to pervade all ranks. Nearly every 
 ^house had its group, and every group its guitar, (idler, sto- 
 -ay-teller, or singer. As the evening advanced and the 
 .heat diminished, walking commenced, and towards mid- 
 iiight the music of the village united, the little world 
 crowded to the sj3ot and danced with infinite gaiety and 
 mirth till past one in the morning. 7'he Waltz had most 
 Totaries ; the Pets de deux next, and the Fandango was the 
 favorite o( the few remaining Spaniards of the villa<ie. 
 
 St. Genevieve stands on the West bank of the river, is 
 formed of about sixty neat low houses, and contains about 
 four hundred t^ouls. The present population principally 
 consists of Canadean, French, and Anglo-Anjericans. — 
 There are three public buildings, a church, federal court 
 and market house. The church is a Spanish structure de- 
 corated and improved by the French. At the uj^per end 
 there is a beautiful altar, Xhc fronton of which is brass, gilt 
 and enriched in mcdio-ve/ievo, representing the Religious 
 of the Old, diffusing the benefits of the Gospel over ttie 
 New World. In the middle of the altar there is a Crucifix 
 of brass gilt, and underneath a picture, well copied from 
 Ilaphael, representing the JNIadona and Child, St. Eliza- 
 beth and St. John. In a second group there is a St. Jo- 
 seph ; all perfectly well drawn and coloured. The action, 
 beauty and grace of the Virgin are beyond expression, and 
 the little Jesus and St. John are charming. 
 
 The Genevieseans' commerce is tolerably extensive for 
 their numbers and isolate situation. I hey export lead to 
 4 great amount, and import fiour, British goods, French 
 and West-India produce. Their profit or floating wealth 
 is employed in the purchase cf land. l\\eiy Genevicteaii 
 j>. a land nroprietcr. 
 
 Aa- 
 
290 TRAVELS TN ' 
 
 .Lands in the vicinity of wealthy settlements fetch five 
 dollars per acre ; at a distance or near any Indian con- 
 nection, they may be had for about two pence, and often 
 less. 
 
 The country about St. Genevieve, for a little distance, 
 is well adapted for settlements, and has a few scattered 
 ones, which make some shew of opulence and improve- 
 ment. 1 rode fifteen miles vest of the village to visit a 
 lead furnace, where any quantity of lead may be had from 
 three to five half-pence per pound. The country abounds 
 in lead-mines. Mines of antimony are also said to have 
 been found in the bowels of the earth. Ihis.idea has ob- 
 tained so far, as to induce a company of gentlemen of Phi- 
 ladelphia, to send an agent in pursuit of so useful an arti- 
 cle. I am not able to ascertain his success. I found the 
 face of the land around the lead-mine very broken and bar- 
 ren. The hills appeared cast together as in some convul- 
 sion of nature, and exhibited rugged projecting clifts and 
 deep yawning caves. 
 
 This town, St. Louis, called by some Pain Cone, is the 
 capital of the Upper Louisiana. It contains about three 
 hundred houses, eighteen hundred souls, and several ex- 
 tensive mercantile stores. Before its possession by the U- 
 nited States, which took place on the 20th December, 1803, 
 it was the risidence of the Spanish Governor. 
 
 St. Louis was settled about the year 1765, by a number 
 of French families from tlic East side of the river, and 
 contained, in 1769) one hundred and twenty families, 
 reckoned at eight hundred souls ; and there belonged to 
 the village two hundred negro slaved, eight hundred black 
 cattle, and swine and poultry in abundance. 
 
 The town and settlement arc said to be very healthy. I 
 believe, from my own observations, that the Messauri is 
 more favorable to health and longevity than Irlre Ohio and 
 Mississippi. 
 
 About twenty miles above St. Louis, the Messauri emp- 
 ties itself into the Mississippi on the West side. 
 
 This place had formerly the reputation of being extreme- 
 ly agreeable, and the inhabitants to be as virtuous as the 
 people of St. Genevieve ; but since the arrival of a host of 
 Americans, the conduct, the manners, and the pursuits of 
 the inhabitants a^ changed. Billiards and gaming of all 
 sorts, are carriccfon Xn a shameful excess ; and drunken- 
 
r AMERICA. 2^y 
 
 ij«3% fighting, violence, and rapine are pursued with as 
 much zeal as iliey are in the Virginian and Kentuciiyan 
 States. 
 
 The environs are full of gardens and fruit trees, which 
 in the proper season must perfume the air and be highly 
 pleasing. One of the entertainments of the inhabitants is 
 to rove in the fields and gardens after sun set, and enjoy 
 the delightful odours of the flowers, or refresh themselves 
 with fruits of exquisite taste and flavor. The hills which 
 lie to the south and west of the town, branch off in so' 
 happy a manner, that they form a great number of charm- 
 ing vales, enlivened and enriched by numberless rills of 
 water. 
 
 I passed on through these vales, and to the back of tlie/ 
 hills in search of a quantity of bones said to cover a large 
 space of ground in that direction. 
 
 'J\vo leagues brought me to the Valley of Bones. It is 
 three hundred paces long, and not quite so many wide. — ■ 
 They lie in the same promiscuous manner, and are of the 
 same numerous and extraordinary species I have before 
 described. I dug up several bonces of immense magnitude, 
 and some entire skeletons of non-descript animals. 
 
 Returned from this expedition, I struck across the coun- 
 try to the Messauri, to a place about thirty miles above 
 its confluence with the Mississi|)pi. Having sent my horses 
 back, I embarked in a skiff and descended by water to this 
 place. The Messauri, at that distance from its mouth, 
 passes through a vale, which it enriches and adorns to so 
 wonderful a degree, that it scarcely can be equalled ; for 
 the situation through which il passes and sports, are so pic- 
 turesque, so various and surprising, that the senses may 
 rather be said to be ravished than simply to be pleased. In 
 some places the river f)rces its way through cliirs, and 
 bursts impetuous through all impediments, and rages and 
 dashes against the sides and rocks, and in others it spreads 
 out into a liquid plain, grows smooth and gentle, and forms 
 meanders through the verdure which it creates and nour- 
 ishes. The junction of the two rivers is very beautifuU 
 The waters of the Messauri being white, and those of the 
 Mississippi a transparent green. They do not mix for a 
 considerable time, but repel each other and preserve their 
 particular colours for iive or six miles at least. The water 
 of. the Messauri is so thick, that one third of a tumbler iS' 
 
5^92 TRAVELS IN 
 
 always a strong sediment. The sediment, which precipir 
 Cates very fast, leaves a water palatable and pleasant. On 
 turning out of the mouth ot the Messauri into the Missis- 
 sippi, 1 found the current running four miles an hour, and 
 •iescende^ T^iih it to this place in less than six houw. 
 
 HETTIiR XXXV, 
 
 ,3Iiii&ii6ippi Ricer—Aii evcr-grecn species of Plane Tr€'«-^ 
 A curious Cavern— Chalk 5a;iA--~-Bayeau dc iShe — Ndo 
 Madrid. 
 
 New Miidridi or Lance le Grass, Bank of the Mississippi, 
 
 Oct. 1806. 
 
 IN many respects the ^Mississippi is far inferior to th'e 
 <i)hio. The Mississippi is one continued scene of terrific 
 grandeur; of unmixed sublimity, impressing a veneration 
 iind awe, which are adverse to satisfaction and enjoyment^ 
 whereas the general magnificence of the Ohio is chequer- 
 (^l every here and there by a profusion of local beauties,. 
 ^w which the mind can relax and repose in safety and com* 
 lort. However, I am too far advanced to recede ; and 
 ^rhall continue on to the end of my destined voyage, though 
 ] see it pregnant with sufferings and danger. 
 
 On the Indiana side, above the Ohio, 1 discovered a re- 
 markably line planetree, not of the common species, as I 
 perceived from the certain characteristics it possessed, and 
 trom being iaformed that it never in winter sheds its leaves. 
 This tree has never been noticed as a native of America, 
 that I know of, noiwith^tanding its utility, being of great 
 bulk, and permanent beauty and foliage. 
 
 I went in pursuit of a cave which I heard much cele- 
 brated by the hunters, I had met with in the upper coun- 
 try. 1 found it after infinite labor, for there is no pene- 
 trating the woods without groping the way through reeds 
 and vines, and hesitating at every step for fear of vipers 
 iMid snakes. I was only accompanied by Cuf!, having to 
 le*ive the other man to guard the boat, and ward off float- 
 ifig trees, which would othcrwifje make her drift froi^i tkc 
 
AMERICA. sm 
 
 b^nk. On discovering the mouth of the cavern we each 
 lighted a large flcimbeau ot gum-wood, and entered a pas- 
 sage which wound about like a labyrinth tor more than fif- 
 ty yards, and at length led to a spacious apartment of one 
 hundred and fifty paces in length, and upwards of one 
 hundred feet high ; the form irregular, and the flo^i'^n- 
 commonly rough ; the roof arched, and in several places 
 rising out into large round knobs, some bristling with bright 
 points, and others regularly dented, representing bunches 
 of grapes, festoons of flowers, and lances of considerable 
 length. The vaull, and sides also, were covered with in- 
 numerable productions which represented the roots, branch- 
 es, and heads of various shrubs, executed with as much 
 perfection as if nature meant to shew the extent of her 
 power, by operating m the vegetation of stones. The iig- 
 ii^'es are all white, transparent, cristalized, and generally a- 
 slant, and in different beds like the Judaic stone. The 
 splendour of the place, when illuminated by torches, is in- 
 describable. At the extremity of the cave 1 entered ano- 
 ther passage, which had so many turnings and intricate 
 wimlings, that 1 leared to be entangled, and made the best 
 of my way out. In the mouth or entrance, which is six 
 teet high and nine wide, my attention was istruck by seve- 
 ral names and dates engraven ou the sides. Two ot the 
 dates were very far remote, tliey were H^99 ^'^d l/l^. I 
 had no conception that the river had been explored at such 
 periods. The engravingS'are made out with great facility, 
 though the letters are no longer sunk, but swelled out, ei- 
 ther from the vegetation uf the rock, or from some adven- 
 titious or external cause. When the persons were engrav- 
 ing their names on the- walls of the passage to the cavern, 
 little did they imagine that the furrowing wrought by their 
 knives, would be insensibly tilled up, and in time advan- 
 ced with a kind ol embroidery, about a line high in some 
 places, and near three lines in others ; so that the charac- 
 ters, instead of being hollow and concave, as they were at 
 first, are now turned convex, and come out of the ri^ck 
 like basso-relievo, or embossed work. The matter of theia 
 is white, though the stone they issue fnjm is grey. Per- 
 haps this basso-relievo may be a kind of callosity formed 
 by the nutritious juice of the stone, extravasated inseiir 
 sibly into the channelings made by the engxaver, . 
 A. a 2 
 
29^^ TRAVELS IN 
 
 Two miles belovr the rron red-banks, I carae abreast of 
 a large island, called WoU Island, and pui ia shore to ejc- 
 amine a place called The Chalk Baitks: I am of opinioti 
 that the baiyk is for.ned of a substance highly esteemed by 
 the a,ncients, and known to us by the name of Terra Ci- 
 molia. The substance is a white chalk, very heavy, with- 
 out taste, and abounds with a small grit, v;hich sets the 
 teeth on edge ; it' is easily crumbled, but it does not fer = 
 ment, nor has it the iea'^t effervescence when put into wa- 
 ter; it only melts away and becomes soapy and adhesive. 
 Being much at a loss for soap, I took several pieces of the 
 chalk into my boat, and found it answer all the purposes- 
 of that necessary article. It is veryclesnsing and pleasant 
 to the hand, and my man has made a lye from some of it, 
 with which he washes the linen, and esteems it preferable 
 to soap. There is one good use of it, and I believe the an- 
 cients employed the same material (if it be the Terra Ci- 
 violiaj medicinally, and attributed to it the virtue of dis- 
 persing tumours and assisting to remove other sources of 
 disease. I believe Pliny mentions it, and says that it is 
 successfully employed in cleaning silks and stuffs. 
 
 Four miles below the Chalk Banks, I passed by ihemoutb' 
 <ni Bayeau dc She, on the left hand shore. As there is no- 
 ihing more formidable to the navigator than a hayeaiiy I 
 must endeavour to give you some faint idea of its charac- 
 ter and power.- 
 
 As the Mississippi for the most part, flows through an 
 excavated ridge, like an artificial canal, whose banks are 
 elevated above the adjacent country, it is subject to ex- 
 traordinary inundations, when in the highest ^tatej which 
 form those exterisive swamps, that occasion the nuisance of- 
 jnyriads of mosquitoes and otlter insects, and also supply 
 streams called bayeaus with a body of water, which, issu- 
 ing from the main river with astonishing rapidity, causes- 
 a violent vortex, whose action extends a considerable way 
 into the river. Boats once dragi^ed into a bayeau arc next' 
 to lost, it being almost impossible to force so unwieldy a 
 machine as a flat-bottonuHi boat agaiivst -so powerful acur-- 
 fent. 
 
 After a run of four miles, I put into a cove in a small 
 wiljOw-island for the night, and a dreary one I passad at it. 
 The moscjuitocs attacked me with unusual fcrosity, and 
 the sail v/us toQ rvUcu lo suffer in^ to sleep on shore. M^ 
 
AMERICA. 59*^ 
 
 efl1y amusement was fishing, and firing at some pelican*- 
 which floated past me in the stream. I could get no man- 
 ner ot rest from the mosquitoes,, till weary with their re- 
 peated attacks, I lay down on the roof of my boat covered 
 close over with bears'' skins. This expedient succeeded^, 
 but caused as violent a sudation as 1: experienced in the 
 Shawanee bath. It relaxed me so much that I had. to 
 throw myself into the river to recover strength and energy 
 suflficieilt to steer my boat. I left this- island by dawn of. 
 day, and after having passed three other islands in th^ 
 course of sixteen miles, arrived hereto breakfast. 
 
 This town, which is situated on the AV^est bank of the ri- 
 ver, and in lat> 36. 30 norths contains about forty log and 
 frame houses, a prison,, and a church. It owes its origin 
 to a Colonel George Morgan, who conceiving the site fa- 
 vorable for the establishment of a town, applied for a grant, 
 and obtained it from the King of Spain, then Lord of the 
 soil. Furnished with the grant, the Colonel repaired to 
 the Eastern States, and there propagated so exalted an o- 
 pinion of his new possessions, that he soon prevailed oa 
 numbers to embark with him in the speculation, and to 
 erect a town and dignify it with the name of New Madrid. 
 In the first instance the society were delighted with the 
 situation, in a beautiful rich plain ; but experience soon, 
 taught them that it did not run two miles back, that the 
 front was limited to a mile, and that the vicinity of the 
 SM'amp would render it periodically unhealthy. Add t0 
 this, that an inundation occurred, which swept off th©:. 
 greatest part of the new town, carried off the government- 
 house, and laid a foundation for a belief that the entire 
 plain will, in process of time,, be consumed by tlie river. 
 In the last ten years the plain has lost one hundred yards 
 iilong its front, and in ten years more, there is no moral 
 })robabdity that the town will be in existence ; the bank 
 on which it stands being a fine mould, of fifty feet deep, 
 can make no resistance to the body of water which beats a- 
 gainst it. It every hour gives way, and thougli the inhab- 
 itants recede, and build their houses nearer the swamp, 
 they find the river gain on them, and that they must one 
 day perish in some untimely flood, or abandon the estab- 
 lishment of the town according to their original intention- 
 It would aj)pear to me, that as soon as the river subsides^ 
 Ihe bauks; against which, it now beats with such unrenait- 
 
S^ TRAVELS IN 
 
 tmg impetuosity, that it must change its bed, and water 
 the immeuse regions of North Mexico* 
 
 I must give you an uniavorable account of the inhabi- 
 tants. A i^upifi insensibility makes the tounaation vl their 
 ciiarj^cter. Averse to labor, inditierent to any motive of 
 honorV occupied by mean associations without solicitude 
 for the future, and iivcapable of foresight and reflection, 
 they j)ass their lives without thinking, .and are growing old 
 without getting out ot their infancy, all the taults of which 
 they studiously attain. Gaming and drinking ai times 
 rouze them from this supine slate into a depravation of 
 manners, and furious spirit of outrage, which debase still 
 niore the distorted features ot their muid. They are com- 
 posed of the dregs of Kentucky, France and Spain, and sub- 
 sist by hunting and trading with the Indians, who exchange ^ 
 with them rich turs tor whisky, blankets, ammunition and 
 army. Gardens succeed well : there are several about the- 
 town, and some peach-orchards of great promise. Agri- 
 culture is entirely neglecttd. 1 could not get a loaf of 
 bread in the town, nor any kind of provisions whatever, 
 though 1 otfered any price. 
 
 The Romanchurch is yet sustained and service perform- 
 ed, though the revenue allotted it by the Government of 
 Spain is withheld by the United Stales. 
 
 LETTER XXXVI. 
 
 JJttle Prairie — Chickasaw Bluffs — A Jmrricane. 
 
 Mouth of tlie Ozark, or Orkansas River, October, 1806.' 
 THE Mississppi affords so little subject tor anecdote- 
 or interesting description, that I have made a run of three 
 hundred and fifty miles since I last wrote to you, in search 
 materials for your information. 
 
 On leaving New Madrid, the first settlement I perceiv- 
 ed was that of Little l*rairie : it consists of from twenty 
 to thirty houses, built on an elevated plain, whose extent 
 is limited by a swampy boundary. It is a wretched sickly 
 place, and would be evacuated, were the inhabitants not - 
 
AMERrCA. 297 
 
 G^couraj^eci to remain by the trade with the IiiJians, which 
 they fiivi piotitaule, though atiended by periodical, oa 
 Father perpetual attacks ot sickness. 
 
 The next and only settlement after the Prairie, is the 
 third Chickasaw Biufts, making a distance of nearly one 
 hundred miles without a habitation. The Chickasaw 
 Bluffs are one huiulred and titty- one miles from the mouth 
 ®t' the Ohio. I should have found it a very lonesome 
 stretch, had I not been incessantly employed in jxreserving 
 the boat from danger ; from rocks, sawyers, and snags ; 
 and from the eddies, gulphs, bayaus, points, and bends 
 1»n the river. 
 
 The attention is also kept awake by the necessity of 
 looking out for islands, in order to choose the proper chan- 
 Rel, and to pull for it in time, or before the boat falls in- 
 to the race of a wrong one. Num'>'jrs of boats are lost 
 annually on account of not paying attention to thi§ im- 
 portant point. 
 
 The Chickasaw Bluff is a very high red bank on the eas- 
 tern side of the river. On it are erected a fort, barracks 
 for a company of soldiers and a few artillery men, and 
 houses and stores for two State commissioners, who reside 
 there for the purpose of conducting the public trade ex- 
 isting between the American government and the Choo- 
 taw and Chickasaw nations, who live, by permission, in 
 the country cast of the fort. The high plain on whick 
 the buildings are erected, is very beautiful ; but, like th6 
 other settlements on the Mississipj)i which I have mention- 
 ed, is limited, and subsides into ponds and swamps. Ifr 
 maintains about a dozen families, who raise corn, breed 
 poultry and pigs, and supply boats descending the river 
 with what common provisions they may want. Neither 
 the settlers nor the garrison consider the bluffs unhealthy, 
 though they are visited by intermittent fevers, and various 
 other periodical attacks. The land is as rich as possible ; 
 and in a gi\rrien beloaging to the garrison, all kinds of 
 fruits and vegetables succeed to a perfection seldom at- 
 toined elsewhere. The view from the fort is one of those 
 grand ones which nature occasionally gives to excite admi- 
 ration and wonder. Over the Louisiana shore, the sight 
 has no limit ; but rushes unrestrained over an immense 
 expanse of forests. To the right it is arrested by a fan- 
 tastic bead in the river^^ where the banks are erabeUishe^ 
 
2p.» TRAVELS IN 
 
 with uncommon beauty ; to the left it strays amid a clus* 
 ter ot i^lalKls, through the channels of which the water 
 meanders; and in the rear it rambles over cultivated iields 
 and pasture lands, of much rural character and extent. — 
 The view of the fort, on approaching it from the opposite 
 side, has a very fine and picturesque effect. In consequence 
 ofthe bend in ihe river, it is hurried on the viv'w from a ve- 
 ry favourable point. In the distance, the principal bluff 
 forms a noble object. Its Iront is shaggy and broken, and 
 the interstices of soil are filled with trees and shrubs. On 
 its summit, stands a lonel}' watch-tower ; on itS' brow, the 
 garrison and fort mounted with guns. The gardens and 
 improvements are elevated and extensive ; and the offices, 
 and commissioners' buildings add greatly to the general ef- 
 fect. You may not conceive highly of a view ot this na- 
 ture ; but I can assu.« you, atter a long and dreary 
 voyage, it has charms for the mind which cannot be des- 
 cribed. - ^ 
 
 In compliment to me, the governor invited all the gen- 
 tlemen of the establishment to dine ; and a very sumptu- 
 ous dinner we had ; it consisted of lishj venison, squirrels^ 
 and bear's meat, with a profusion of wine and desertof 
 Illinois nuts, a forest fruit. It was one in the morning be- 
 fore we parted. Some of the party reposed under the ta- 
 ble an hour before ; for my part, the dangers and tatigue*^' 
 Ihad gone through made me too dull to get drunk ; at^ 
 least, I could not have been so, or 1 must have broken my 
 Deck in scrambling down one hundred and fifty leet of a 
 steep declivity which led to my boat, in which I lay till 
 roused by the garrison reveille in the morning. 
 
 There having been no ladies at dinner the day before, I 
 naturally concluded there were none at the fort. I was 
 deceived. On going tb breakfast, by appointment, with 
 the governor, I was introduced to his daughter, a very 
 interesting and fine girl of sixteen years of age. She had 
 lost her mother a twelve-month before ; and was left, in so 
 desolate a place, without a single friend or companion of 
 her own sex to mitigate her sutleiings, created by so irre- 
 parable a loss. These unhappy circumstances ^have giv- 
 en her countenance an expressK^n of sorrow, aiul modest 
 confusion, which moves the heart of every beholder. 
 
 I was much pleased to discover from her conversation,. 
 vnhj^rwas luminous and elegant, that her father tak^ 
 
AMERICA. 1299 
 
 •great pains to improve and cultivate her mind. She. has 
 read much, and, I fear, of books which excite more re-* 
 finement and senybility, than are necessary for the kind 
 of worhl in which she is destined to live. When the dis- 
 r course turned on the virtues and decease of her mother, 
 her tine eyes filled with tears, and she silently left the hall. 
 The father and I soon tollowed, and lound her reclining 
 -on a little mausoleum, erected on a tumulus of earth, 
 planted with cypress and yew trees. "This," said the 
 father, "is the work of her own hands; the poor girl's 
 mother lies buried here, and we often visit it when dispo- 
 sed to sorrow, or when events bring her strongly to our 
 rrecoUection." 
 
 I respected such an evidence of affliction and tenderness 
 too much to give it interruption ; and, therefore, turned 
 through the garden, and made preparations to depart. In 
 a short time I took a friendly leave of the gentlemen of the 
 garrison, and pursued my voyage, much pleased and re- 
 freshed by my stay at the fort. I had not passed some isl- 
 ands which lie immediately below the bluffs ten minutesj 
 before very strong demonstrations of a hurricane appeared* 
 The wind suddenly died away ; the sun assumed a deep 
 red, and glowed with unusual fury ; the atmosphere was 
 sensibly discomposed ; the spring of the air relaxed to 
 cause a difficulty of breathing : and nature reposed in a 
 calm in order to gather strength for some intended work 
 of desolation and ruin. I benefited by the tortunate in- 
 terval, and pulled into the eastern shore, where I secured 
 my boat, and waited, with deep emotion, the event of the 
 approaching storm. A small cloud announced its inten- 
 tion of coming from the west. That cloud soon dilated it3 
 volume to an immense expanse, and moved with astonish- 
 ing velocity towards me. The noise it made in the woods 
 was like that of the sea in its utmost rage; and the havoc 
 it made, was dreadful. The beasts ot the forest rushed 
 howling to the water's eL\g,e ; and the birds flew agitated 
 and screaming over it. The trees were heard to crackle 
 and fall ; and as the storm reached the river, I could plain- 
 ly perceive that it travelled in a direct line, leaving alter 
 it a strait avenue of several miles extent, in which nothing 
 could be seen but prostrate trees, and the stumps and 
 scattered limbs of those it had broken. On striking the 
 water, into which it hurled every tree on the banks, it 
 
3W) ' TRAVELS IN 
 
 made it labour like a vortex in commotion : and as it pas- 
 sed over the eastern shore, it again renewed its dreadful 
 ©peration, driving all before it, rending up the heaviest 
 timber by the roots, and carrying in its convulsed bosom 
 birds, plants, and shrubs. The eflect on my boat was 
 terrible ; it drove her into the mud-banks, half way across 
 }ier breadth, filled her with water, and covered her over 
 ivith branches and wood, propelled from the opposite side ;; 
 in fine, she appeared no better than a wreck. During the 
 action of the tempest on the river, the men and I had t© 
 jump in the water, not being able to hold on to the boat. 
 The cloud, rapidly moving, having arrived at its destinar 
 tion, or having performed its office of decomposing the 
 air of ^uch places as occasioned it to possess most gravity, 
 varied its coarse, and rushed to the southward with in- 
 ca-cased violence and velocity. After varying from point 
 to point, it ascended the river, and forced its way north- 
 \?ardly ; in which direction, I perceived another cloud 
 farming of equal magnitude, and as capable of filling the 
 mind with solicitude and terror. This latter cloud de- 
 scended the river. However, as the first hurricane had 
 restored to the air, between the two clouds, its elastic and 
 repulsive power, and true gravity, they could not approach 
 each other but by very slow degrees, subject to pauses of 
 ponsiderable length, silence, and terrible solemnity. Two 
 hours elapsed before they came into contact, Ihe awful 
 event was announced by vivid flashes of lightning, un- 
 ceasing peals of thunder, and the precipitation of the 
 watery parts in streams and torrents of rain. But when 
 the two clouds rushed into the same circle, and formed 
 but one immense globe, in the dark bosom of which the 
 electric fluid began its direful operation, my reason stood 
 apalled, and 1 thought the gates of chaos, hell,- and con- 
 fusion were opened wide above me. The lightning which 
 before flashed in fine lambent flames and intermittent flakes, 
 now took eccentric, hostile, and zigzag shapes, which per- 
 petually traversed and opposed each other, or else it form* 
 ed balls of fire which shot in all directions through the air, 
 rolled along the ground, or hiss(>d over the surface of the 
 jvater : and the thunder, which commenced by single peals, 
 continued with constant and dreadful clamour. 1 he ex- 
 plosions never died, and the reverberations appeared to vie 
 'vVijib t4iera ia. impetuosity and po'Acr. After aw haur'v"* 
 
AMERICA. . 301 
 
 contest, disputed in a stile of sublime greatness, tlie north- 
 fern cloud proved victorious, and descended the river, fer- 
 tilized its burning banks, and reanimated a drooping peo- 
 j)le with the refreshment afforded by its accumulated fluid. 
 When the storm was over, I found I had sufficient to 
 "do without investigating meteorological appearances. My 
 boat was water logged, and so sunk in the mud, that I 
 despaired for a long time of ever righting her. I at length 
 Succeeded, but not without a labour which rendered us 
 incapable to depart ; independent of fatigue we had abun- 
 dance to do to dry and clean our clothes and provisions, 
 ;great part of which was entirely spoiled. Fortunately the 
 gum-tree and cotton-tree are inflammable, and soon made 
 an excellent fire, notwithstanding the late drenching wet. 
 I found the storm productive of one good consequence ; 
 ,^t annihilated the mosquitoes within its range., and allowed 
 ^e to pass the remainder of the day in comfort and eaie. 
 
 LETTER XXXVII. 
 
 'Bdver St. Francis — Mule River — efecfs of thunder stofms 
 -—attack of an alligator — Orkansas river — Ozark village 
 — Indians — their adoration to the sun — their hymns. 
 
 Mouth of the Ozark, or Orkansas River, October, 1806. 
 FROM the situation in which I was last left, I mad<i 
 a run of one hundred miles without meeting any remark- 
 able event. The whole course was destitute, nor had it 
 on either side as much dry ground as was eligible for the 
 safe and comfortable residence of a smgle individual. At 
 the conclusion of this dismal range I passed the mouth 
 of the river St. Francis, and came to a beautiful prairie 
 a little below it, on which I found one solitary dwelling, 
 inhabited by a family who traded with the Indians up the 
 river, and occasionally dealt with the boats which descend- 
 ed the Mississippi. 
 
 The St. Francis enters on the right or Louisiana side ; 
 is about three hundred yards wide at its mouth, ajid is nav- 
 i^ble two hundred miles upwards^ Near its confluence - 
 
302 TRAVELS IN 
 
 uith the IMississippi, it is subject to inundations, but tc- 
 wards the head of its navigation, it has high and fertile 
 banks, which are thickly occupied by Indian nations, of 
 whom nothing is known, as there are no white settlers a- 
 mong them, and as they have never been visited by any 
 person disposed to discover their character and history. 
 
 I purchased some dried venison, and a few fowls, at half 
 a dollar a piece, from the solitary settler at the prairie, 
 fourmiles below St. Jrancis, and proceeded for three days 
 iBore without objects to amuse or interrupt, to the mouth 
 of the White River, which is one hundred and twenty-two 
 miles from that of St. Francis. The whole of that run 
 is also destitute of man, and exhibits nature in.disorder, 
 on a large and gloomy scale. It appears to be the favour- 
 ite theatre for the exhibition of hurricanes and storms. 
 The woods are perforated in a hundred places by their de- 
 structive career, and present avenues whose termination is 
 far beyond the sight. The avenues made by such sweejjing 
 currents of air are so very direct, perfect, and narrow, that 
 they appear the efl'ect of art, and made jas a road of com- 
 munication from town to town, or from state to state. Some 
 are so narrow as twenty yards, and others are broad as two 
 hundred. They are very magnificent, and produce sensa- 
 tions of astonishment and terror. 
 
 The long portion of water to which I allude, also exhib- 
 its certain characteristics which distinguish it from the 
 river above the Chickasaw Bluffs, and particularly from 
 the Ohio, and all its tributary streams. The trees, plants, 
 and shrubs are for the most part difierent, and consequent- 
 ly piesent a figure, foliage, and coup (Tiril which not 
 merely strike the sense as a change of decoration and scene, 
 but as another theatre and country. Cypress-swamps of 
 several miles extent, oak of great beauty and magnitude ; 
 cotton trees embellished wiih their rich produce festooned 
 from bough to bougii, tloating in the air, or drooping to the 
 ground ; quinces, hazels, bending under a prolusion ol' 
 fruit, and catalpas, ceders and magnolias, diftu^ing perfume 
 over immense wastes, are common to the Mississippi Ironi 
 "below St. Francis ; rare between that river and the BlutlSj 
 and are seldom to be met with further north. The animal 
 as well as the vegetable kingdom in the same situation, 
 experiences a change. 'J his was announced to me in a 
 very remarkable manner ; Iwa^ steering down the livcr in. 
 
AMERICA. 303 
 
 a water extremely deep, and free of all impediment what- 
 ever, when all of a sudden the boat refused to obey the 
 helm, heeled considerably, and turned her head to the 
 right shore. At the same moment some ducks, which were 
 confined in a coop, tirmly attached to the outside head of 
 the boat, close to the water's edge, made an uncommt)n 
 noise, and fluttered in the extreme of agitation. Though 
 inicli alarmed and perplexed, I opposed the helm and one 
 oar to tile resistance, whatever it might be, but all in vain; 
 the boat wheeled entirel}' round, and stood down the cur- 
 rent, stern toremost. Hearing the ducks c(mtinue their 
 clamour, I passed to the bow, and stooping suddenly over, 
 nearly thrust my head into the mouth of a monster whu 
 held on the boat with one paw, v/hile he was employed in 
 rending off the coop with the other. I started back with 
 precipitation, yet soon recovered, seized a boat hook, and 
 followed up by my two men, attacked the monster betore 
 he carried off his prize. I struck him several times with'- 
 out making the smallest impression on his senses, or in any 
 manner injuring his frame. The iron glanced from him 
 as if resisted by polished steel, but on one of the men cleav- 
 ing the claw with tvhich he sustained himself, he made a 
 dreadful flounce, uttered a tremendous cry, beat in the 
 upper plank of the boat, knocked us all three from our 
 situation, and carried off the coop as the reward of his 
 victory. The whole of this was atfected in a manner so 
 instantaneous, that it renders it completely indescribable. 
 When recovered from our consternation and tall, I again 
 took the helm, and ordered the men to back water with alf 
 their might, to afford me an opportunity of seeing the 
 monster that occasioned us so much alarm and difficulties. 
 He soon rose about fifty yards from me, and made into 
 shore with the coop across his mouth, and his head, of 
 more than four feet in length, considerably out of the wa- 
 ter. I steered as near as I could with safety after him, and 
 fired several balls, which struck and glanced off his body 
 along the river. He landed, and to appearance, in one 
 crush mashed the coop in pieces, and gobbled up my fa- 
 vourite ducks, one after another, as fast as he could catch 
 them ; for on breaking the coop I could perceive that sev- 
 eral birds escaped abroad, and even took to the water, out 
 of whicii he soon drew them. During his repast, I had 
 full leisure to examine him. lie was a huge alligator, at 
 
^®* TRAVELS INT 
 
 least twenty feet long, of proportionate circumference, an*^ 
 with a head containing one fourth oi the length of the 
 body ! 
 
 'ihe White River, which also empties in on the right 
 ©r Louisiana side, is navigable two hundred miles up, and 
 3-5 said to w^nd through a fertile and delightlul country. 
 At its mouth there is aji excellent landing, where boats 
 may be moored in satety. It is but ihuty-tive miles irom 
 ihe mouth of the White River to the poist ot Ozark on the 
 ©rkansas River. The best and nearest route is to go up 
 the White River about four miles, then across to the Or- 
 kansas, through a navigable creek between the two pivers, 
 and to keep up it about thirty miles, which brings to the 
 vilhige of Ozark. Being encumbered with too heavy a 
 l>oat, I could not pursue this rout->, but dropped down.- 
 twcjity miles lower, and moored at the mouth of the Or- 
 liansas, whence I date this and a former letter. 1 here 
 had the good fortune to get a passage in a trader's canoe to, 
 the village of Ozark, where I passed two days with much 
 satisfaction and advantage. 1 shall give you the substance 
 in a few words. 
 
 llie Orkansas is on the same side with the St. Francis 
 and the White River ; that is on the Louisiana, right, or 
 western side. It is said to be navigable eight hundred" 
 miles up, and to water a country of great feitility and 
 beauty. These accounts must be received with much cuu- 
 lion, and ought to be qualified by the facts of an unbias- 
 secl observer. For the truth is that the immediate banks 
 of the Louibiahiian western rivers from half a mile, to from 
 two, three, and four miles back, are alone the parts which 
 merit to be described as delightlul and eligible for agricul- 
 tural pursuits. All the vast remainder is nothing more 
 than a swamp, subject to periodical inundations, which 
 supply ponds and lakes, and. send forth exhalations so ma- 
 lignant and active, that they contaminate the climate of 
 the whole region, and shed over the most distant parrs the 
 seeds ol disease and death. The reason that the banksr 
 alone are [Jiohrable and pleasing, is that the Western wa- 
 ters flovv i;i a ridge above the level of the country, and re- 
 Mmin dry, when the general face of the adjoining land is 
 flund-ed through the means of the baycau and sluices, \shich 
 are formed in the banks of all the rivers by the periodical 
 excess of their water. 
 
AMERICA, ^> 
 
 r readied the village of the Ozark on the second day. 
 rfourid the current of the river very gentle, and the banks'' 
 clothed with a profusion of the finest timber and shrubs, 
 but sa choaked with cane that there was no possibility of 
 ascending them, or of ascertaining their extent, except' 
 through butFalo-paths, and avenues made by thunder gusts^ 
 and partial currents of air, as before described." Through 
 these it was easy to discern that the river, like the Missis- 
 sippi and others, flows through a ridge? and that the ban-ksr 
 for the most part, subside in a swamp on either side. 
 
 The A^illage consists of sixty houses, inhabited by persons 
 of several nations, and who reside there for the purpose of 
 Conducting a very lucrative trade with the Indians, who 
 resort to the village from the high country, and from the 
 Mexican plain, with furs, for which they take in return, 
 arms, ammunition, spirits, blankets, and tools and utensils 
 of every kind, which the traders bring from New Orleans 
 with great difficulty and expense, the distance being six 
 hundred miles, and the current wot allowing a boat to gain 
 more than twelve or sixteen miles a day, though worked 
 with sixteen oars, 
 
 I arrived at the village at a very fortunate period ; at 
 a timevvhen it was filledvvith Indians and surrounded with 
 their camp. They amounted to about nine hundred, and 
 were composed of the remnants of various nations, differing 
 in dress, habits, and manners so little from those I have 
 already mentioned, that I have no occasion to go into any 
 tedious detail, but confine myself to a subject of high in- 
 terest, and in which they ditfered — the Indians assembled 
 at Ozark were worshippers of the Sun. And the second 
 day of my arrival^ being a grand festival among them, I 
 had the most favourable opportunity of witnessing their 
 adorations at the three remaTkable stages of the Sun's rise, 
 meridian and set. Take the proceedings as they occurred. 
 
 The morning was propitious, the air serene^ the horizon 
 cWar, the weather calm. The nations divided into classes; 
 warriors, young men and women, and married women with 
 their children, liach class stood in the form of a quadrant, 
 that each individual might behold the rising luminary, 
 and each class held up a particular offering to the Sun the 
 ins-tant he rose in his glory. The warriors presented their 
 arms, the young men and women offered ears of corn and 
 bFanches of trees, and the married women held up to his 
 B b 2 
 
306 TRAVELS IN 
 
 light their infant children. These acts were performed' im 
 silence, till the object of adoration visibly rose, when, with 
 one impulse the nations burst into praise and sung an hymn- 
 in loud chorus. The lines, which were sung with repeti- 
 tions, and marked by pauses full of sublimity and judgment, 
 have been construed by an excellent interpreter into these : 
 
 " Great Spirit ! master of our lives ! 
 
 *' Great Spirit ! master of every thing visible and invis'- 
 ible, and who daily makes them visible and invisible ! 
 
 " Great Spirit ! master of every other spirit, good or 
 bad, command the good to be favourable to us, and deter 
 the bad from the commission of evil ! 
 
 " Oh ! Grand Spirit 1 preserve the strength and cour- 
 age of our warriors, and augment their number, that they 
 may resist the oppression of their Spanish enemies, and re- 
 cover the country and the rights of their fathers ! 
 
 " Oh ! Grand Spirit ! preserve the lives of such of our 
 old men, as arc inclined to give council and example to 
 the young ! 
 
 " Preserve our children, multiply their number, and let 
 them be the comfort and support of declining age ! 
 
 *' Preserve our corn and our animals, and let not famine 
 desolate the land ! 
 
 " Protect our villages, guard our lives 1 O Great Spirit t 
 when you hide your light behind the Western hills, protect 
 -Tis from the Spaniards, who violate the night, and do evil. 
 which they dare not commit in the presence of thy beams F. 
 
 " Good Spirit 1 make known to us your pleasure by 
 sending to us the Spirit of Dreams. Let the Spirit of 
 Dreams proclaim your will in the night, and we will per- 
 form it through the day : And if it say the time of some 
 be closed, send them, ]\Lister of Lite ! to the great coun- 
 try of souls, where they may meet their fathers,, mothers,, 
 children: and wives, and where you are pleased to shine 
 upon.ihem with a bright, warm, ^nd peipetual blaze ! 
 
 " Oh Grand, oh Great Spirit ! hearken to the voice of 
 Rations,, hearken to all thy children, and remember us al- 
 ways, for we are descended from thee !"' 
 
 Immediately after this address, the four quadrants form* 
 rd one immense circle of several deep, and danced, and. 
 sung hymns descriptive of the powers of the Sun, till near 
 ten o'clock. They then amused and refreshed themselves 
 in the yillage and camp, and abbeinbied precisely at the 
 
AMERICA. 30^ 
 
 hour of twelve by my chronomeler, and formed a number 
 of cncies, cotnmenced the adoration of the meridian Sun. 
 The following is the literal translation of the mid -day 
 address. 
 
 " Courage ! Nations, courage ! the Great Spirit looks^ 
 down upon us from his» highest seat, and by his luistre, ap- 
 pears content with the children of his own power and 
 greatness. 
 
 " Grand Spirit ! how great are his works, and how beau^ 
 tiful are they ! 
 
 *' How good is the Great Spirit ; He rides high to be- 
 hold us. 'Tis he who causes all things to augment and to 
 act. He even now stands for a moment to hearken to us, 
 
 ** Courage ! nations, courage I. The Great Spirit now 
 above our heads, will make us vanquish our enemies ; he 
 will cover our fields with oorn, and increase the animals 
 of our woodsv He will see that the old be made happy, 
 and that the young augment. He will make the nations 
 prosper, make them rejoice, and make them put up their 
 voice to him while he rises and sets in their land, or while 
 his heat and his light can thus gloriously shine out.'' 
 
 This was followed by dancing and hymns, which contin- 
 ued from two to three hours, at the conclusion of which^ 
 dinners were served and eaten with great demonstrations 
 of mirth and hilarity. 1 dined in a circle of chiefs on a 
 barbecued hog and venison, very well stewed, and was per- 
 fectly pleased and gratified with the rural repast. Th^' 
 dinner and repose after it ontinued till the Sun was on 
 the point of being set. On this bemg announced by seve- 
 sal who had been on the watch, the nations assembled in 
 feastc, and formed themselves into segments of circles in 
 the face of the Sun presenting their olfernigs during the 
 time of his descent, and cr^^ing aloud 
 
 *' 'I he nations must prosper ;. they hav.- been beheld by 
 the Great Spirit. What mure can they want } Is not that, 
 ha|>piness enough ^ See how he retires, great and content, 
 alter having visited his children with lights heat and uni- 
 yersal good I 
 
 " Oh Grand Spirit ! sleep not long in the gloomy West, 
 but return and call thy people once again to light and life; 
 to light and life ; to light and life !" 
 
 This was hUo succeeded by dances and songs of prais«, 
 ^hich lasted till eleven o'clock, at which hour ibey repair- 
 
368 ^RAVFXS IN 
 
 cd to rest, some retiring to the huts that formed their camp^ 
 and others to the vicinity of fires made in the woods and 
 along the river's banks. I took up my abode with a Freiich 
 settler in the village. I could understand that the Indians 
 have four similar festivals in the year; one for every sea- 
 son. They distinguish them by the name of " Days of 
 Adoration." When the sun does not shine or appear on , 
 the adoration-day, an immense fire is erected, around 
 which the ceremonies are performed with equal devotioa 
 and care. 
 
 I must conclude this long letter with observing that I 
 left the Ozark village, much interested in the people whose 
 adoration gave birth to these reflections, and arrived here 
 after a passage down the stream of ten hours. To-morrow^- 
 t_ proceed, and shall write to you from the Natchez, 
 
 LETTER XXXVIir. 
 
 The grand Lake — Islands of the Mississippi — a remarkable' 
 alarm produced hy the cries of a host of alienators — inter" 
 esting particulars respecting these animals — Zazaus river 
 — the IValnut hills andFort Macenry — the Grand Gulph — 
 Bayeau Pierre, the residence ofCoL Bruin. 
 
 The Natchez. Mississippi Left Bank, 
 October, 1806. 
 
 AFTER leaving the mouth of the Orkansas, I had 
 Slothing lo remark but the great number of islands which 
 continued to interrupt the navigation of the Mississippi, 
 till 1 came to a place known by the name ot '* The Grand 
 Lake," which is ninety miles from the Orkansas, the point 
 ot my last departure. 
 
 The Grand Lake, to my astonishment, I found destitute 
 of water. It was formerly the bed of the river ; but, be- 
 ing abandoned by it from some incomprehensible cause, it 
 is now tilled with willows, makes a very extraordinary ap- 
 pearance, which is -considerably heightened by an island 
 standing in the centre, ornamented with trees. Ihe island 
 and trees stand »o much above the willows growing in the 
 
bed of the lake, that the character of the lake and island 
 are as conspicuous us it ihc one slili received tlie cuntents 
 of the river, and the other was actually surrounded l)y wa- 
 ter. The willows mark all the limits ot the old Hood ; dis- 
 cover all the ancient sinuo-^ities uiid heads ot the banks, 
 and shew the tigure, extent, and height of the island to the 
 most minute perfection, Betore tlie morning tog was dis- 
 sipated, i was witness ot a very tine phenomenon. The 
 willows not being higher than thesurtace of the former wa- 
 ter, perhaps not so high, retains the fog in the original 
 channel, giving it the exact resemblance of the NewKiver, 
 and making it ddubitul what course to take. 
 
 The entry to " The Grand Lake" is now a sand-bar, in 
 which are firmly fixed, trees, beams, stumps, and logs, and 
 the sortie is in like manner choaked up and covered with 
 willows and shrubs, it is several miles in circumfereuLe, 
 and three directly across. 
 
 Below the Grand Lake, and after passing several islands, 
 clothed with cotton wood, I found the river perfectly strait 
 for a stretch of thirteen miles, and of a very majesiic ap- 
 pearance. At the extremity is an island \ \>rn to the com- 
 pass oCa few acres, by the constant attrition of the- current 
 against both its sides. It is ornamented by about a dozen 
 trees. The time cannot be far remote when this little in- 
 teresting miniature will be obliterated from the face of the 
 earth, and sink under the surface of the water which it' 
 once embellished with so much grace and picturesque beau- 
 ty. Throughout tlus great water, this Father of Floods, as 
 the Indians call it, in some places, islands are seen sinking 
 into annihilation, and in others they are exhibited through 
 *ll the stages of their rise, expanse, verdures and formation. 
 Of the three hundred islands in the Mississippi, fitty have 
 been created by nature since its first discovery by M. La 
 Salle, and others are forming in a manner as perceptible 
 as any work can be to the eyes. The system pursued is 
 simply this : when the river is in a low state, the sand-bars 
 take up and retain the trees, logs, roots, branches and 
 shtubs which float continually down the current. Among 
 these, the water deposits a quantity of mud, in which seeds 
 wafted by tiie wind, and plants conveyed by the stream, 
 germinate and assist m binding the infant soil. Succeed- 
 ing years perfcjrm the same operations with similar efiectsr, 
 ^U the. bars a&suiue the rank gf islands, and gro\i to seye- 
 
310 TRAVELS I ^ 
 
 ral hundred acres extent. The river then contains island*' 
 of two distinct kinds, and form^^d tromdttferent intentions, 
 *fid in a widely ditferenr manner. The rirst I have just de- 
 scribed, and the second owe their origin to the'sudden con- 
 vulsions which rent up the bed of the river, and left in- 
 sulated spots every here and there standing, or else to their 
 being separated from the mam land by a division of cur- 
 rents which often occur, to force a pasage through the 
 land, and thereby form islands, and eft'ect their own union. 
 The meanest observer can distinguish the one description 
 of islands from the other. Those that proceed from the 
 gradual deposit of foreign matter on sand-bars, have a deep 
 m "uld, composed of river sediment and decayed vegetable 
 substances, which seldom produce wood of any other growthf 
 than cotton, aspin, poplar and willows ; whereas, those 
 which have been suddenly rent from the main land, or se- 
 parated from It by the continued action of the water, or -. 
 successive inundations, have a fine soil over a stiff blue clay, 
 and are richly clothed with forest timber of the greatest 
 magnitude and most valuable character ; these latter islawds 
 are sensibly wasting away while the others are encreasing 
 in extent. 
 
 A few miles below the little island, at the sortie of the 
 long reach, I passed a cypress-bend of sixteen miles sweep. 
 Such is'the disposition of the riv^ertofind a passage througli. 
 some portion of it, that my boat had to be worked the 
 whole way to keep her from dragging along the shore. It- 
 is the most laborious piece of navigation I have yet ex- 
 perienced on the river. Weary with excess of toil, 1 had 
 to put too under a willow bank before the day was quite 
 expired, as I durst not cross the mouth of a bayeau, the 
 vortex of which 1 heard roaring at no great distance, till 
 we were all refreshed and restored. Having moored the 
 boat in security, taken a repast, and guarded ourselves as 
 well as we could against the attack of mosquitoes, bugs, 
 ants, spiders, and (lies, we lay down to rest soon after sun- 
 set, and fell into a sound refreshing sleep. I had enjoyed 
 it for two or three hours, when I was started up by the most 
 lamentable cries that ever assailed the human ear. The 
 men and f instantly assembled on the roof of the boat, to 
 distinguish whence the accents came, and to afford assist- 
 ance if in our power. But they issued from so many di- 
 rections, and expressed such a variety aiid number of pei*» 
 
AMERICA. 311 
 
 8©HS afflicted with the deepest grief, that our reason and 
 judgment were dissipated in wild conjecture, and we re- 
 mained ignorant of the wretched sutferers, and of the 
 dreadful cause of their complaint. It could not be Indians 
 affecting distress, to seduce us on shore and there be put to 
 death : it could not be the crew ol wrecked boats weeping 
 and wailin» their forlorn fate ! repeatedly we demanded 
 of each other what it then could be? We hearkened. At 
 times the cries, sunk into the feeble plaints of expiring in- 
 fancy, and again gradually rose into the full and melancho- 
 ly swell of an adult tortured by fiends destitute of mercy 
 and humanity. The lamentations, turn by turn, touched 
 every string capable to vibrate excess of misery, and de- 
 noted the variety of sorraw incident to individuals from 
 the loss of health, friends, fortune, and relatives. Above 
 all, they denoted calamity in the act of supplicating relief 
 -in the strong language of sobs, sighs, and tears, and moans 
 of inexpressible anguish and lengths What were we to 
 judge of such proceedings? How were we to act? No as- 
 sistance could be afforded to distress so unknown, and so 
 diffuse. To fly the place was impossible, and to remain in 
 it as terrible as death. To attempt to sleep still more ab- 
 surd. We walked on the roof of the boat till the cries mul- 
 tij)lied and e4icreased in a manner at once to shock the 
 senses and deafen the ears. This violent outcry was follow- 
 ed by plunges in the water and a rustling among the trees, 
 which at length explained the objects of our dismay and 
 apprehension. They were a host of allegators. We dis- 
 covered them plainly, swimming along-side the boat, and 
 running along the shore, where they uttered the piercing 
 cries and heart-rending moans which originally excited my 
 attention and, terror. Having given up all thoughts of rest, 
 1 prepared arms, and watched for a favourable opportunity of 
 Jiilling one of the creatures. It soon presented itself. A 
 large animal, attracted by the scent of the living objects in 
 the boat, swam repeatedly round it, as if searching for 
 means of access, iind had the audacity to raise his head 
 considerably above the water, in order to make his obser- 
 vations more true. At that propitious juncture we all 
 three tired in the direction of his underjaw and throat. He 
 juade an immediate flounce in the water, roared as loud as 
 thunder, and rushed ashore directly below my boat He 
 then expired in dreadlul agony, as could be understood 
 
312 TRAVELS IN 
 
 from hideous bellowings and the vioknc€ with ^hlch he 
 heat himself against the banks. After his monstrous death, 
 the noise of the other animals ceased, and I heard non« 
 but very low and plaintive cries issuing frora several voices 
 in deep distress ; so low, that they with difficulty reached 
 the ear, and so plaintive, that they could not but reach 
 the heart. The dawn disclosed the cause of this lamenta- 
 tion which never ceased throughout the night. On going 
 on shore, I found the alligator I had killed attended by 
 sixteen or seventeen young ones, who were solicitously en- 
 gaged aboHt the dead body, running over and around it 
 in great agitation, and whining and moaning, because they 
 discovered it without animation and destitute of all syjiip- 
 toms of life. Though somewhat affected by such a specta- 
 cle, I ordered the men to assist and secure if possible^ 
 some of the young ones, and convey them into my boat. 
 We succeeded in taking three. ' They are about two feet 
 long each, and have beautiful blue eyes with an expression 
 extremely soft and sensible. The mother, for it seems it 
 was a female we killed, is nineteen feet in length, counting 
 the head, which is three feet long, and five feet in circum- 
 ference. The jaws, which extend the whole length of the 
 head, are furnished with two large conical tucks as white 
 as ivory. The upper jaw ©nly moves. The scales are as 
 hard as iron. The shape is that of a lizard. 
 
 Speaking generally, and from the best authority, the Al- 
 ligators of the Mississippi are from twelve to twenty-four 
 feet in length; their bodies are covered with horny plates 
 or scales, which are impenetrable to a rifle ball, except a- 
 bout their heads, and just behind their forelegs, where they 
 are vulnerable. The head of a full-grown alligator is more 
 than three feet long. The eyes are small, and the whole 
 head in the water appears like a piece of rotten floatllig 
 wood. The upper jaw only moves, and this they raise so 
 as to form a right angle with the lower one. They open 
 their mouths while they lay basking in the sun, on the 
 banks of rivers and creeks, and when filled with all man- 
 ner of insects, they suddenly let fall their upper jaw with 
 surprising noise, and thus secure their prey. The tusks, 
 which are not covered by any skin or lips, give the animal 
 a frightful appearance. In the spring, which is their sea- 
 son for breeding, they make a most hideous and teni.lying 
 roar, resembling the sound of distant thunder. 
 
AMERICA. 313 
 
 The alligator is an oviparous animal : their nests, which 
 aj*e commonly built on the margin of some lake, creek, or 
 river, at the distance of from fifteen to twenty yards from 
 the high water, are in the form of an obtuse cone, about 
 four ftet high, and from four to five in diameter at their 
 basis. They are constructed vvith a sort of mortar, blend- 
 ed with grass and herbage. First they lay a floor of this 
 composition, on which they deposit a layer of eggs ; and 
 upon this a stratum of their mortar, seven or eight inche» 
 thick, then another layer of eggs; and in this manner one 
 stratum upon another, nearly to the top of the nest. They 
 lay from one hundred to two hundred eggs in a nest. 
 These are hatched by the heat of the sun, assisted by the 
 fermentation of the vegetable mortar in which they are de- 
 posited. The female carefully watches her own nest of 
 eggs till they are all hatched. She then takes her brood 
 under her care, and leads them about the shores as a hen 
 does her chickens, and is equally courageous in defending 
 them in time of danger. When she lies basking on the 
 warm banks vvith her brood around her, the young ones 
 may be heard whining and crying like young infants. The 
 old feed on the young aligators till they get so large that 
 they cannot make a prey of them ; so that, fortunately, 
 but few of the brood survive the age of a year. They are^^ 
 fond of the flesh of tlogs and hogs, which they devour 
 whenever they have an opportunity. Their principal food 
 is fish. They retire itito their dens, which they form by 
 burrowing far into the ground, commencing under water 
 and working upwards, and there remain in a torpid state 
 daring the winter. The carrion-vulture also destroys mul- 
 titudes of young alligators, which would otherwise render 
 the country uninhabitable. 
 
 Much has been said of the crocodile lacrimXf or deceit- 
 ful tears. Returned to my boat and departed, I carefully 
 watched to discover whether the melancholy cries of my 
 young alligators were accompanied with tears. I can as- 
 sert they are not — nor does any moisture whatever fill t!i© 
 eye, though the plaints are piteous to the most distressing 
 degree. Food appeases their distress. When they lament 
 aloud I give them the entrails and livers of fowls, which 
 they are most fond of, and they immediately cease. They 
 are very vicious : tiiey at times m;ike a sudden snap at my 
 Angers, and once bit the leg of my dog, since which time, 
 C c 
 
314 TRAVELS IN 
 
 he keeps at a distance from them. Perhaps he sets an ex- 
 ample which I ought to imitate; but I am determined to 
 rear them up and bring them with me to England. "■ 
 
 The Yazous River is the next important object, and is 
 ■ninety-three miles from the Grand Lake. 1 put into it as 
 a place of rest, and was disappointed, having passed a 
 'iiight undisturbed, except by the complaints of my new 
 companions, who were not entirely reconciled to their a- 
 bode. 
 
 The Yazous is on the eastern, or left hand side of the 
 Mississippi going down. It is a very beautiful river. It 
 rises in the country of the Chickasavvs, runs through the 
 State of Georgia, and falls into the Mississippi in a S. by 
 W. direction ; computed to be four hundred miles from 
 New Orleans, It is navigable but one hundred miles up- 
 wards. 
 
 Thirteen miles below the Yazous speculation, or rirer, 
 are the Walnut Hill, and Fort -M'Henry. — The Walnut 
 Hill, is without exception, the most beautiful eminence 
 on the Mississippi, or perhaps on any other river. It is on 
 the east side, commanding an extensive land and water 
 view of several miles in every direction. In the time of 
 theSpaniards, the fort was mounted with guns, manned, and 
 J*kept in repair; and there were houses for the accommoda- 
 tion of the men, officers^ and commandant. At present th« 
 public institutions are in ruins, and the whole place is oc- 
 cupied but by five or six settlers, who cultivate cotton, in- 
 digo, wheat, and Indian corn. The settlers are wealthy, 
 keep a number of negroe slaves each, and appear content 
 with their situation, though they are every man, woman, 
 and child in a wretched state of health. And if the Wal- 
 nut Hill be n®t healthy, every other part of the Mississippi 
 must, in truth and of necessity, be indisputably unwhole- 
 some and bad. Fruit comes to great perfection at the Hill? 
 and fig trees, introduced by the Spaniards, grow to great 
 <?xcellence and heigh th. I'he soil is as rich as that of the 
 best garden about London. The Hill in the rear is bound- 
 ed by a swamp. 
 
 From the Walnut Hill to the Grand Gulph is a distance 
 of forty-eight miles. I arrived in its vicinity towards 
 evening, but was deterred from passing it till morning, in 
 consequence of the frightful reports often made to me re- 
 specting its difhculty, and the many boats it annually swal- 
 
AMERICA, 315 
 
 lows up. I put up within hearing of its ripple, and was a- 
 gain interrupted at night by the cries of crocodiles, and 
 the deep toned sighs they emit. 1 should tell you that my 
 own little ones thrive well, and take on them all the airs 
 of a pet. They take their food oiit of my hand, and by 
 their voice express much satisfaction whenever they are 
 bathed. There is little doubt but that they will survive. 
 Early in the morning I explored the passage of the Grand 
 Gulph in my canoe. The river is more than a mile wide. 
 The channel occupies the centre, and the sides consist of 
 two immense gulphs, which contract the channel to a very 
 diminutive space, — not four feet broader than an ordinary^ 
 boat. It' must be passed notwithstanding. Stimulated by 
 this necessity I returned to my boat, and steered her for 
 the gulph, in a stream of extraordinary impetuosity and 
 strength. In a few moments I run into the main channel, 
 and held it secure by the dint of steering and rowing, while 
 I saw several large trees and logs sucked into the vortex on 
 either side, whirled round and round, and drawn to the 
 bottom. At one instant the stern of the" boat swung into 
 the eddy of the gulph ! The power of the oars restored her 
 to the channel ; and twenty minutes placed us in safe wa- 
 ter, and a more gentle current. It is by far the most dan- 
 gerous part of the Mississippi, and is full of hazards, which 
 can never be pointed out or described. 
 ' The hospitable and comfortable residence of Coloiiel 
 Bruin, is at Fayeau Bierre, eleven miles below the Grand 
 Gulph. The Colonel, to whom I had a letter from his 
 friend Burr, received me v.ith great kindness and cordiali- 
 ty, and I spent a pleasant afternoon at his house. There 
 is no settlement so extensive as the Coloners above him on 
 the river. He keeps one hundred negroes, and makes, by 
 their labor, ten thousand dollars a year. He principally 
 cultivates cotton. The wheat, corn, &c. which he raises 
 are only for his domestic use. There is a settlement on 
 the east side, just above Colonel Bruin's, occupied by a-^ 
 bout twenty New England families, which is also doing 
 well. They raise great quantities of cotton, and make some 
 portion of it into thread, which they manufacture into cot- 
 ton cloth, and sell for a dollar per yard. On the whole, 
 I was glad to see an appearance of civilization and industry,- 
 and 1 understood from the Colonel, that from his house to 
 -Kew Orleans, settlements and villages; at very short inter- 
 
Jl6 TRAVELS IN 
 
 vals, are to be found. Nine miles from the Colonel-s n 
 the " Petite Giilph," the uavigation of which requires 
 nearly as much attention as the Grand Gulph ; and tweiyty 
 sevin miles below is the city of Natchez. 
 
 LETTER XXXIX. 
 
 Siilchcz cilij — its trade and luxury — territory of the Missis- 
 sippi — Natchez Indians — their adorations. 
 
 City of Natchez, Mississippi Territory, October, 1806. 
 
 THIS city is pleasantly situated on a considerable 
 eminence on the east side of the river. It contains about 
 three hundred houses, and two thousand five hundred in- 
 Labitajits, including blacks, vi'hoare very numerous. There 
 is a j5rinting-oiIice and several very extensive mercantile 
 stores. There is also a Roman Catholic Church, but the 
 Americans have stripped it of its Spanish possessions, shut 
 xip the church, and have not yet erected one of their ov/n. 
 ^ihere is a great num.ber of mechanics in the city, whose 
 wages are very high, as is labour of every kind. The mar- 
 ket is proportionably extravagant. Every article, except 
 venison and game, is as dear as in London. 1 he citizens,, 
 however, are enabled to endure the high price of provi- 
 «ions, by their trade between New Orleans and the back 
 and upper country. 
 
 Cotton is cultivated in the neighbourhood to such per- 
 fection, and with such advantages, that many of the citizens 
 have been induced to purchase farms, and turn all their 
 attention to rearing and preparing that article for exporta- 
 tion, 'i heir profit is so considerable, that^. both in town 
 and country, they live in the style of eastern luxuiy. I 
 dined in several places where the dinner consisted of three 
 courses and a desert, where the service was of solid plate, 
 where a negro, magnificently dressed, stood behind every 
 chair, and where tlie air was kept in circulation by little 
 girls employed in pulling variegated fans suspended from 
 the centre of the room. At one of those houses of sump- 
 tuous entertainment, the proprietor infuimed me^ that his 
 
AMERICA. 317 
 
 crop of cotton of that year was estimated at forty thou* 
 sand dollars. There, many of the cotton plantations yield 
 from tive thousand to twenty thousand dollars a year. The 
 owners indulge in every luxury, and set an example of dis- 
 sipation, which at this moment pervades the city and ter- 
 ritory. The vice of the Natchez is proverbial through , 
 America. But dreadfully have the wretched citizens to suf- * 
 fer for their profligacy and licentiousness. A confirmed 
 and hereditary venereal disease, contracted by an unre- 
 strained intercourse with Africar/, Indians, and Mestizoes, 
 has established its malignant empire in the city and seve- 
 ral other parts of the territory ; and all the arts of medi- 
 cine have hitherto proved unequal to counteract its effects, 
 or to restrain its progress. — Therefore, when Itell you of 
 people living in the most affluent profusion, you are not to 
 encourage a belief that they are happy. In the midst of 
 that profusion, at the very table loaded with delicacies and 
 provided with a variety of the richest wines, 1 have seen ap-- 
 petite wanted, and the seeds of debility and the clouds of 
 disease casting a gloom over every countenance, and sal- 
 lowing every face. Blinded by the prospect of speedy ac^- 
 quirements of wealth, persons come to this place without 
 considering that it is unhealthy to a dangerous excess; on 
 making the discovery, the passion for riches subdues the 
 terrors of disease, and they remain exanimate for a time, 
 or fall early victims to their avarice and imprudence. Not- 
 withstanding the prevalence of sickness through the terri- 
 tory, there are not warning persons to recommend it as 
 *' the most benign and healthy climate in the world.'' 
 
 The principal persons of wealth send their children for 
 instruction, and to avoid such pestilence, to the New Eiig- 
 land States — a distance of three thousand miles. There is 
 an academy here, but it is much neglected. Gambling 
 and horse-racing are the prevailing amusements. In win- 
 ter there are balls and concerts — 1 cannot say how elegant 
 or chaste, not having seen many of the ladies by whom 
 they are trequented, they, lor the most part, being at their 
 summer residences, scattered around the city. The men 
 drink profusely. It is difficult to escape from their pariies" 
 under three bottles of wine a man. 
 
 ..; c M 
 
^18 TRAVELS IN 
 
 The territory of the Mississippi is of the following gene- 
 ral description : 
 
 Miles 
 Length 384 ) -f> ^ jl*' and 32" 23 ' North Latitude. 
 
 Breadth 100 \ ^erween ^ ^„ ^^, ^^^ ^^^ ^q, y^,^ Longiinde. 
 
 Bounded north by a line running due east from the mouth 
 of the Yazous river^ at its junction with the JNJississippi, 
 to the Chatakoocha or Appalachicola river ; east, by this 
 last mentioned river; south, by the 31^ of north latitude; 
 (which is the boundary between the United States and 
 West Florida;) and west, by the river Mississippi, which 
 separates it from Louisiana. 
 
 This territory is well watered by a number of small ri- 
 vers and their branches, and several large streams, wiiich 
 mostly run through its whole extent. 
 
 The black, or Little Yazous, empties into the INIissii^sippi, 
 about fifty miles below the Walnut Hills, near the south 
 side of the Great Yazous. 
 
 Stony Creek, or Bia Pierre, and Cole's Creek, empty in- 
 o the Mississippi : the former ten miles below Black River, 
 and the latter twenty-five miles above the Natchez. 
 
 Ilamichitta and Butfaloe, near Loftus's Heights, are the 
 most southern waters in this territory that empty into the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 Amite rises in about the thirt3r-third degree in nortli 
 latitude, and pursuing a southerly course, empties into lake 
 Pontchartrain, being apart of what was formerly called 
 Iberville. 
 
 Pearl extends through the whole territory, from north 
 to south, and discharges itself near the entrance of Pont- 
 4'hartrain. 
 
 Pascagoola has its source near the northern parts of the 
 territory, and empties into the bay or gulph of Mexico. 
 
 ISIobile, or Tombeckbe, is a very considerable river, 
 whose source is about the 35° of north latitude. It a- 
 bounds with numerous branches^ watering fine intervals of 
 land, where the Chickasaw Indians have many ttnvns. ' 
 About sixty niiles from tlie boundary line, up the Mobile, 
 ;ire ^Valker's shoals, the head of tide water. 
 
 Alibama, or 'I'allapoosa, is a considerable river, and '■ 
 unites with the ]^,Iobile about ten miles north of the line, 
 and receives the waters of the Abocoocho or Cohawba, 
 whojc- sources interlock with the waters of the Tcna.see. 
 
AMERICA. 3}9:^ 
 
 Esca-mbla and Concugh, or Pensacola rivers, which 
 unite in West Florida, empty into the bay of Pensacola. 
 
 Chatahoocha, or Appalachicola, takes its rise at the foot' 
 of the great range of mountains in the north-east part of' 
 Georgia. 
 
 The whole territory is low and flat, interspersed however 
 with rising grounds, at some distance from the rivers, which 
 are generally bounded by swamps and cane grounds. 
 These, together with numerous ponds, lakes and marshes, 
 render the climate unhealthy. In the months of August, 
 September and October, the fevers become predominant 
 and contagious. The soil is sandy. The chief productions 
 are cotton, rice, Indian corn and indigo. The prx)duce of 
 these is abundant and of high quality. The culture of in- 
 digo is nearly renounced. After several years of sad cx= 
 perience, the planters at length found out, that, on an aver- 
 age, it killed every negroe employed in its culture in the 
 short space of five years. Notwithstanding this monstrous 
 discovery, there are still a few who pursue this murderous 
 trafitic. The poor slaves they employ are reduced to mere 
 skeletons, and exhibit the number of theirdays in a poison- 
 ed aspect, and the melancholy expression of langour and 
 debility which mark their countenance and frame. So well 
 assured are the indigo planters of the number of days their 
 slaves have to live, that it is a common practice with them 
 to send them to New Orleans market for sale, before the 
 expiration of the average period of five years, and there 
 buy new wrelches to undergo the same toil, and be des- 
 tined the same short sp^xe to live. But it is now so gene- 
 rally understood at New Orleans, and elsewhere, that In- 
 digo slaves have the fountain of life irrevocably corrupted, 
 that little or no price can be obtained ior them, and for the 
 future it is probable they will be permitted to die on the 
 spot where they are poisoned, without being exposed to ^ 
 the degradation of being dragged through the cour-try, and 
 put up to sale at public auction before an insulting and 
 unfoeling multitude. 
 
 1 took a ride into the interior to visit the remains of the 
 nation of the Natchcii Indians, once the most powerful and 
 enlightened people of all the continent of America. Their 
 tradition says, they came from South America, and indeed 
 their habits, cuftoms, and manners, say the same thing. 
 They arc now reduced to a few huiuivcds. When the An- 
 
3SG TRAVELS IN 
 
 glo- Americans first became acquainted witli thera., they 
 courted their alliance, and dreaded their enmity more than 
 that of any other tribe. The ravage of war, the small-pox, 
 and spiritous liquors, have since reduced their number and 
 character, and they are now slighted and despised. 1 shall 
 only remark them for one particular : they are nations of 
 Indians east of the Mississippi, who worship the sun, and 
 who used to offer to that luminary human sacrifices, which 
 they consHjmed in fires, attended by priests, whose office it 
 was to renew and keep them up perpetually. Human sa- 
 crifice being forbidden by the United States, the Indians, 
 now make offerings of the most valuable articles, and often 
 burn property to some thousand dollars amount. Their 
 manner is on ihe adoration-day, to assemble round the eter- 
 nal fire, as they call it, light a calumet, and present it to- 
 the sun. Then certain persons, called Children of theSun^ 
 cast the sacrifice into the fire, and while it consumes, the 
 warriors, and young men, women and children, in separate 
 circles dance and sing around. Missionaries and others, 
 strive to turn them from this destructive kind of devotion, 
 but all in vain: rhey still persist, and on the day answer- 
 ing to our first of May, in particular, they are known to 
 destroy nearly all the property they possess^ and which 
 they acquire by hunting and trading with the States. 
 
 It is not true, that their fires are constantly alive. Sev(»T 
 ral years have elapsed since they were snfiered to extin- 
 guish. They are now only illumined on particular festi- 
 vals and state days. On my arrivalat their village, on a. 
 western branch of the Alibama, I made very minute en- 
 quiries on the subject, but could gather no information 
 more interesting than what I communicated to yo a from 
 the mouth of the Ozark, 
 
 Every thing which surpasses the understanding and ca- 
 pacity, every thing ^vho^e cause cannot be comjirehendcd 
 by Indians, is called by them " Spirit." There are two or- 
 ders of Spirits : the good and the bad. The good is the 
 Spirit of Dreams, and all things ifinocent and inconceiva- 
 ble. The bad is the thunder, the hail which destroys their 
 corn, a ten)p(n3t, and in short all things capable ol inflict- 
 ing dl^tress and injury, and the cause of which they are 
 not ac(juainted with. Hence, when the gun of a savage 
 bursts and wounds him, he says the Evil Spirit was con- 
 fined wiihin it ; when a tree fails and huit$ » limb, he jvl- 
 
AMERICA. 381 
 
 tributes the act to the Evil Spirit; when crossing the river 
 in his canoe, and upset by tlie wind, bethinks the Evil 
 Spirit agitates the air and raises the storm ; when one of 
 his tribe is deprived ot reason by a shock of sickness, or 
 dispensation of Heaven, he says the Evil Spirit torments him. 
 Several nations call the Good Spirits, Michi Lichi ; and 
 the bad ones, Matchi Manitous. And one superior Good 
 Spirit they call by way of distinction and eminence Kil- 
 chi Manitou, or Great Unknown Spirit ; and one Superior 
 Bad Spirit is called Matchi Manitou, or Wicked Being. 
 From a system like this the number of Good and Evil Spi- 
 rits must be innumerable, and the objects of love and ap- 
 prehension beyond all bounds. 
 
 The Choctaw Indians inhabit the Western, and the lower 
 Creeks the Eastern part of this territory; and the Musco- 
 gces inhabit from the Chalahocho to the Alebama, and ex- 
 tend into West Florida. These tribes of Indians are more 
 numerous than any other East of the Mississippi, and are 
 remarkable for their aversion and contempt to the people 
 ot the United States, and the hostile disposition they ma- 
 nifest towards them on every occasion that presents. I 
 would have visited this nation were it not for the advance 
 of the season. — 1 therefore returned to this city, which I 
 leave to-morrow by dawn. 
 
 The river here is about one mile and a quarter broad ; 
 and as the city is advantageously seated on a bank, one 
 hundred feet above low water mark, the view from it is 
 delightful. The waters begin to rise in April, and subside 
 in August, overflowing the grounds for many miles on each 
 side ; the Western side being the lowest, the inundations 
 there extend forty or fifty miles,: — There is a fort here as 
 well as at the Walnut HUls, and at Loftus's Heights, aboUt 
 seven miles above the boundary line, and another at Bond's 
 Bluff and St. Stephen's j these two last are oathe Mobile? 
 River, 
 
322 TRAVELS IN 
 
 LETTER XL. 
 
 Fori Adams — General JVilkinson —Riviere Rouge — Several 
 Settlements with their trade and produce —Chaff alis Bu- 
 yean — Tunica Bayeau and Villages — Point Covpice church ' 
 — a rich settlement— Bayeuu Sacra — Thompson's Creek — 
 Baton Rouge — Bayeau Manchee — Bayeau de la Fonrchi 
 — Alacapas and Opelousas settlements— fine treed of horses 
 and cattle — healthy climate — Sugar Pla7itations — Bona^ 
 Cara settlement — account of the river from New Orleans- 
 to the sea» 
 
 Bona Cara, Mississippi Bank/ November, 1806. 
 
 I HAD not left the Natchez many hours before I 
 fpund a sensible improvement in the river: the current 
 preserving the centre and sides free of snags, sawyers and 
 rocks. This appearance was very pleasing, as it dispensed 
 with labour and attention, and shewed it practicable to 
 float all night: a thing entirely rash to attempt after leav- 
 ing the Ohio. 
 
 The first object that attracts notice is the white cliffs on 
 the East side; and Avhich arc thirty-nine miles from the* 
 Natches ; the second, the mouth of the Homochello River 
 OH the same side; and the third, Loftus's Heights and Fort 
 Adams, also on the East side. The fort is garrisoned. 
 Genera! Wilkinson is at present there, collecting troops to 
 drive the Spaniards beyond the Louisiaija line, from limits 
 of which the domains of the United States would extend to 
 the Florida Gulph and the Isthmus of Dawen. 
 
 General Wilkinson is also a Governor of the Upper Lou- 
 isiana, though contrary to the law of the State, which says 
 **" that functions civil and military are not to be vested in 
 any one person, or in any one place." 
 
 The regular force under General Wilkinson does not ex- 
 ceed one thousand men. In case of necessity he has the 
 militia of the Natchez, Orleans, Finassee, and Kentucky to 
 call out. He proposes shortly to leave Fort Adams, and 
 to stretch the American boundary to its utmost extent. 
 
 Five miles below Fort Adams is the line of Demarkation, 
 struck before the purchase between Spain and the United 
 
AMERICA. ,323 
 
 -States. It is in latitude 31 north, and ten miles below 
 
 that line, on the west side, is Red River, or Reviere Rouge, 
 
 This river derives its name from the colour of its water 
 
 -which is perpetually red or reddish. It mixes with the 
 Mississippi with great reluctance, and is seen in blotches 
 and in a separate current for a considerable extent. On 
 the banks and in the vicinity of the Red River, are the 
 rich settlements of Rapide, Avoyellos, and Natchiloches, 
 
 , all thriving and populous. The latter is situated seventy- 
 iive leagues up the Red River. On the north side of the 
 Red River, a few leagues from its junction with the Missis- 
 sippi, is the Black River, on one of whose branches, a consi- 
 derable way up, is the infant settlement of Ouachita, which 
 from the great richness of the soil may be made a place of 
 importance. Cotton is the chief produce of these settle- 
 
 . ments ; but they have likewise a considerable fur or Indian 
 
 , trade. The Red River communicates with the frontier 
 of North Mexico. 
 
 On a retrospect, there is no other settlement on the west 
 side of the Mississippi, above the Red River, till you come 
 to the mouth of the Orkanzas, seven hundred and fifty 
 miles from New Orleans, and there, as I observed, there 
 are but few families, who are more attached to the Indian 
 trade (by which they chiefly live) than to cultivation. Nor 
 is) there any settlement from the Orkanzas to New Madrid, 
 which is in itself inconsiderable ; and from New Madrid 
 
 .there is none till you reach Cape Guard eau, above the 
 mouth of the Ohio. 
 
 Below the Red River, five miles, is one of the most, dan- 
 gerous bayeaus on the Mississippi ; it. is called Chaifalis, 
 
 :.and to avoid being sucked into its vortex, it is absolutely 
 necessary to k^ep the middle of the river and to row with 
 great force. 
 
 Several islands occur between the Chaffalis and the Ba- 
 yeau Tunica, a distance of forty-six miles, and the Tunica 
 Villages are ten miles from the bayeau, and are seated on 
 
 ^ the East side, 
 
 A little above these villages, the Mississippi forms almost 
 a complete circle, leaving a narrow ])eninsula of about one 
 mile and a half across, which if cut through, a distance of 
 about thirty miles would be saved. The cut would be made 
 for a mere trifling cxpcnce, there not being a single stone 
 or a morsel of clay on the entire course. 
 
534. TRAVELS IN 
 
 On the West side, twelve miles below the Tuaica Viila- 
 ges, is Point Coupee church. It is one hundred and fifty 
 miks from New Orleans, and is the commencement of the 
 richest and best settlement on the river, along which it ex- 
 tends eight leagues. Its prod^ice is cotton. Behind it, on 
 an old bed of the river, now a lake, whose outlets are clos- 
 ed up, is the settlement of Faussee Ileviere, which is popu- 
 lous and well cultivated. From this settlement to the sea 
 are contained three fourths of the population, and seveu 
 eights of the riches of all Louisiana. 
 
 From Point Coupee church to Cape Guardeau, above 
 the mouth of the Ohio, there is no land on the West side 
 that is not overflowed in the spring, to the distance of eight 
 or ten leagues from the river, with from two to twelve feet 
 water, except the small prairie at New Madrid ; so that in 
 thewholeextentofnearninehundred miles, there is no possi- 
 bility of forming a considerable settlement contiguous to the 
 river on that side. The Eastern bank has in this respect a 
 decided advantage over the Western, as there are on it ma- 
 ny situations which effectually command the river. 
 
 Bayeau Sara, lies fifteen miles below Point Coupee 
 church. This stream is on the East side, and about nine 
 miles up it is a very fine settlement, in which resides a Mr. 
 Bradford, formerly of Washington, Pennsylvania, a gen- 
 tleman of immense possessions, and an intelligent worthy 
 character. 
 
 Point Coupee is on the West side, five miles below Ba- 
 yeau Sara. Thompson's Creek is on the East side, three 
 miles below Point Coupee. On this creek are fine cotton 
 plantations, the soil of which is remarkably good. 
 
 Baton Rouge is thirty miles lower down, and Bayeau 
 Manchee fifteen. 
 
 Baton Rouge is remarkable as being the first place were 
 the high land is contiguous to the River, and there it forms 
 a bluff from thirty to forty feet above the greatest rise of 
 the water. There also the settlements extend a consider- 
 able way back on the East s»ide. The parish of Baton 
 Rouge has that of Thompson's Creek and Bayeau Sara sub- 
 ordinate to it. The mouth of the first of these creeks is 
 about forty-five leagues from New- Orleans, and tJiat of the 
 latter two or three higher up. They run from North-East 
 to South-West, and their head waters are North of tiie 31 
 degree of latitude. Their banks have the bc^t soil, and tli'j 
 
j^MERICA. S2!^ 
 
 greatest number of rich cotton plantations of any ])art of 
 Louisiana, and of which they are universally allowed to 
 be the garden. 
 
 Immediately above the Iberville, and on both sides of 
 the Mississippi, lies the parish of Manchee, which extends 
 four leagues on the river, and is highly cultivated. 
 
 Baycau de la Fourche is on the West side, thirteen miles 
 from IManchee, and four miles froni the settlement oi one 
 ■Baillie, a rich and noted cotton planter. 
 
 The Creek, or Bayeau de la Fourche, is about twenty- 
 ;five leagues from New Orleans. In old maps it is called 
 ia Riviere des Chitamachcs. It flows from the IMissi^sippi 
 ■and communicates with the sea to the westward of the Ba- 
 lise. The settlers on the banks talk of deepening the 
 mouth of the Fourche, and of turning the whole volume 
 of the Mississippi into it, thereby to enrich their country 
 to the sea, to the entire ruin of New Orleans and all the 
 settlements along the river's banks below the Fourche. 
 The entrance of the Fourche is navigable only at high wa- 
 ter, but v;ill then admit of craft of from sixty to seventy 
 tons burthen. On both banks of this creek are settlements, 
 one plantation deep, for fifteen leagues, and they are divid- 
 ed into two parishes. The settlers are numerous, and the 
 culture is universally cotton. On all creeks making from 
 the Mississippi, the soil is the same as on the bank of the 
 river, and the border is the higheiit part of it, from whence it 
 descends gradually to a swamp. In no place is there depth 
 on the low lands more than sufiices for one plantation, be- 
 fore j-ou come to grounds too low for cultivation. 
 
 This creek affords one of the communications to the tw(» 
 populous and rich settlements of Atacapas and Opelousas, 
 formed on and near the small rivers Tiche and Vermillion', 
 which flow into the Bay of Mexico. But the principal 
 and swiftest communication is by the Bayeau, or the Creek 
 of Plaquemines, whose entrance into the Mississippi is se^eH 
 leagues higher up on the same side, and thirty-two above 
 New Orleans. These settlements abound in cattle and 
 horses, have a large quantity of good land in their vicinity, 
 and are likely to become of vast importance. A part of 
 their produce is sent" by sea to New Orleans, but the great- 
 est part is carried in batteaux, by the creeks 1 have men- 
 tioned. The Opelousas is remarkable for a breed of hortes 
 and cattle not to be oxcclkd in the world, and yet uny 
 I) d 
 
5?6 TRAVELS; IN 
 
 quantity may be bought up for only a guinea a head. In 
 the tinie of the Spaniards, one dollar was the price of a 
 horse, and half a dollar for an ox or cow ! The country 
 h for ever under verdure ; the climate moist but serene. 
 1 have seen more healthy and strong individuals come from 
 it after a residence' of several years, than I ever met with 
 -oji the. Ohio or Mississippi. The inhabitans live in a genu- 
 ine primitive way : they do little else than tend flocks. I 
 am assured from the best authority, that there is not such 
 -acountry in all America as the Opelousas. I am fully in- 
 clined to believe this. It is the first high ground between 
 Louisiana and North INIexico. I am sorry I have not lei- 
 sure to visit it. 
 
 Between the Fourche and Bona Cara, from whence I 
 write, I passed by Arnold's and Baronges', two eminent 
 sugar plantations. The seat of Baronges is the handsom- 
 est on the river. It is eleven miles from the I'ourche, and 
 on the east side below it, is Cartrelle church. Very little 
 sugar is cultivated above virnold's nor are orange-groves 
 common higher up — therefore, on approaching liis house 
 and settlement, the country assumes new features, and the 
 frigid character of North America is disguised under the 
 drapery of the West-Indies. 
 
 The settlement of Bona Cara is \*ery delightful ; it has 
 a neat church, and the_ houses which strike from it, up and 
 down the river, are also separated by plantations and 
 orange- groves. The following places lie between it and 
 New Orleans, in the upper space of forty-eight miles. Red 
 Church on the east side; Forteus's sugar plantations and 
 the orange-grove, which is but three miles above New Or- 
 leans. 
 
 Before I proceed to, an account of New Orleans, I shall 
 conclude the description of the river from that city to the 
 sea, from authority on which you may copiidently rely. 
 
 The conspicuous places are, the English Bend ; Fort 
 Placquemines and the Passes; -and the Mouths of the 
 ^lississippi : the latter of which are in Latitude 29" 6' 
 North. 
 
 On the cast side, about five leagues below New Orleans, 
 and at the head of the English Bend, is a settlement known 
 by the name of the Poblacion de St. Bernando, or the 
 Terre aux Beaut^s, extcnd^'ug on both sides of a creek or 
 ^rkain, whose head is contiguous to the JMississippj, aad 
 
AMERICA. SIT 
 
 which, flowing eastward, after acourso of eighteen leagues, 
 and dividing itself into two branches, falls into the sea and 
 Lake Borgne. This settlement consists of two parishes, 
 almost all the inhabitants of which are Spaniards from thu 
 Canaries, who content themselves with raising fowls, corn, 
 and vegetables, for the market of New Orleans. Ths 
 lands cannot be cultivated to any great distance from the 
 banks of the creek, on account of the vicinity of the marsh 
 behind them ; but the place is susceptiblo of great improve* 
 raent, and of affording another communication for small- 
 craft, from eight to ten feet draught, between the sea and 
 the Mississippi. 
 
 The settlements below the English Bend, or from sixteen 
 leagues from New Orleans are of no importance. Between 
 them and the Fort of Placquemines, the country is over- 
 flowed in the Spring, and in many places is incapable of 
 cultivation at any time ; being a morass almost impassible 
 by man or beast. This small tongue of land extends con- 
 siderably into the sea, which is visible on both sides of the 
 Mississippi from a ship's masti 
 
 From Placquemines to the sea is twelve or thirteen 
 leagu'es. The counlr}/^ is low, swampy, chiefly covered with 
 reeds, having little or no timber, and no settlement what- 
 ever. The whole lower part of the country, even from 
 the English Bend downwards, is subject to overflow in hur- 
 ricanes, either by the recoiling of the river, or reflux of the 
 sea on each side ; and, on more than one occasion, it has 
 been covered from the depth of two to ten feet, according 
 to the descent of the river, whereby many lives were lost, 
 horses and cattle swept away, and a dreadful scene of de- 
 struction laid. The last calamity of this kind happened 
 in 179-1' > iind in the preceding year, the engineer who su- 
 perintended the construction of the Fort Placquemines, 
 was drowned in his house near the fort, and the workmen 
 and garrison escaped only by taking refuge on an elevated 
 spot in the fort, on which there were, notwithstanding, 
 three feel water. These hurricanes have generally been 
 felt in the month of August. Their greatest fury lasts a- 
 bout twelve hours. They commence in the South East ; 
 veer about to ail points of the compass, are felt more se- 
 verely below and seldom extend more than a few leagues 
 above New Orleans, In their whole cour^ic they are mark- 
 
S'AS TRAVELS IN 
 
 c(l with ruin and tlesolation. They are not very frequcBt" ? 
 ujitil that of 1793, there had been none felt from the year 
 J 780. 
 
 About eight leagues below the Placquemines, the Missi- 
 fjppidivjdes itself into the channels, viz. the East, South, 
 iuuj Soulh-West. Their course is from five to six leagued 
 to the sea. The space between is a marsh with little or no 
 timber in it ; but, from its situation, it may hereafter be 
 rendered of importance. The East Pats, which is on the 
 left hand going down the river,-'is divided into two branch- 
 es about two leagues below, viz. the Pass a la Lantre, and 
 That known by the name of the Balize, at which there is a 
 small block-house, and huts for the accommodation of Pi- 
 lots, The lirst of these secondary channels, contains al 
 present but eight feet water ; the latter from twelve to 
 sixteen, according to the seasons. The South Pass, which 
 is directly in fiont of tUe Mississippi, has always been, 
 considered as entirely chcaked up ; it has ten feet water. 
 The South-West Pass, which is on the right, is the longest 
 and narrowest of all the Passes, and a few years ago had 
 eighteen feet water, and was that by which the large ships 
 always entered and sailed from the Mississippi. It has 
 ■ROW but eight fet< water, and will probably decline in 
 (depth still more. In speaking of the quantity of water in 
 the Passes, it must be understood of what is on the bar of 
 «ach Pass, for immediately after passing the bar, which is 
 very narrow, there are from live to seven fathoms at all 
 »easons. 
 
 Ships bound for the Mississippi must strive to keep ex- 
 actly in the latitude of its mouth, as the land is not to bo 
 seen at the distance of five leagues ! They must bring the 
 block-house to bear W. N. VV. three degrees north, and 
 lun direct for it. When in and bound up, the safest methrd 
 h to run from point to point before a leading wind, taking 
 care to keep out of the bends. When obliged to anchor, 
 ;^hips, should come too on the close of a point. As may 
 well be expected, the mouths of the river present a fright- 
 ful sight. Wrecks of vessels, and piles ot timber fastened 
 in the bars, are seen by the mariner before he can see the 
 land! and he finds himself in ten fathoms water before he 
 can make the log-house or any manner of guide ! Few ves- 
 sels, come up tiie river without the loss of an anchor. From 
 the mouth to New Orleans, a distance of one hundred 
 
AMERICA. 5'Q9 
 
 miles, vessels have been kiiowti six and eiglit weeks (?n the 
 passage, stemming the current, or waiting a favourable 
 wind. It seldom occupies more than two days in the de- 
 scent. 
 
 To return. Of the settlements of Chapitoulas, first and 
 second German coasts, Catahanose, Fourche, and Iberville, 
 the best and most improved are above tiie City of New- 
 Orleans; and comprehend, what is there kivjwn by the 
 Parissee de Chapitoulas, Premier and Second C6tes dcs Al- 
 lamandes, extending sixteen leagues. Above these begins 
 the parish of Catahanose, or first Acadian settlement, of 
 eight leagues extent; adjoining which, and still ascending^ 
 is the second Acadian settlement, or ])arish of the Fouche, 
 extending about six leagues. The parish of Iberville then, 
 commences, and is bounded by a river of the same name, 
 which, though dry a great part of the year, yet when the 
 Mississippi is raised, it communicates with the lakes Mau- 
 repas and Pontechartrain, and through them with the sea 
 and thus forms what is called the island of New Orleans^ 
 
 Before I conclude, 1 shall take a rapid retrospect of my 
 pi*oceedings since I left the Natchez, • The voyage hither 
 consumed eight days : had I had leisure, I would readily 
 have allowed it to employ an entire year. It is, perha})Sj 
 the most interesting stretch of fresh water navigation in 
 the world, and the most abounding in objects calculated 
 to extend the information and gratify t!ie senses. Except 
 from the point just below the Iberville, the country to 
 New Orleans is settled the whole wa}/ along the river, and 
 presents a scene of uninterrupted plantations in sight of 
 each other, whose parts to the Mississippi are all cleared, 
 and occupy on that river from five to twenty-five acres, 
 with a depth of forty; so that a plantation of five acres 
 front, contaiifl two hundred. A few sugar plantations arc 
 formed ii\ the-parish of Catahanose, but the remainder are 
 devoted to cotton and provisions : and the whole is an ex- 
 cellent soil, incapable of being exhausted. The planta- 
 tions are but one deep on the island of New Oilcans, and 
 on the opposite side of the river as far as the mouth of the 
 Iberville, which is thirty-five leagues above New Orleans. 
 
 Every ])arish from Baton Rouge down has a church, on 
 
 which a cross, that sacred emblem of Christianity, glitters 
 
 from the top of a spire, which rises its picturesque head a- 
 
 bove the suinmit of walnut, magnolia, and cypress trees, 
 
 'Dd2 
 
330 TRAVFXS IN. 
 
 The houses of a parish, which are built wuh all the em- 
 bellishments of the French,^ in the West- India style, are 
 not crowded together, but are separated by groves and. 
 gardens, which give them a charming eft'ect, and an extent 
 to one settlement of several miles. The inhabitants who, 
 for the most part, are French, live perfectly at their ease. 
 To mingle piety with mirth ; recreation with labour; and 
 activity with repose ; is the only object they pursue; and 
 this they attain to a perfection unknown to. any other peo- 
 ple with whom I am acquainted. 
 
 The navigation beiag good between the Natchez and 
 New Orleans, 1 had no apprehension of leaving my boat 
 in charge of the two men, and taking my canoe ashore for 
 hours together. On going to the habitations of the planters 
 or settlers, I always experienced the most hospitable and 
 kind reception ; and uniforml}^, on offering to pay for milk, 
 fruit, and vegetables, tlu; answer was, " N'imporfe, monsieury 
 cela lie vaut rlen." The Spaniards are retiring fast into 
 ^lexico. Tliere are not a dozen respectable Spanish fami- 
 lies above New Orleans; those who submit, reside below 
 that city, are of the lowest order, otherwise they also would 
 ece npv; have departed. 
 
 After a passage of such length and solitude, I can never 
 describe to you the pleasure that is experienced on arriving 
 in that part of the Mississippi where the sounds of popula- 
 tion strike the ear, where a hearty welcome is always ex- 
 perk^nced, where danger is no longer thought of, and where 
 information is readily procured. I often continued floating 
 along shore in the evening, hearkening to the distant tones 
 of the village bells, to the herds lowing on their pasture, to 
 the watchful dog guarding the premises of his master, to 
 the cheerful song chaunted bycontent and innocence, to 
 the conversation of love and friendship, t6 the whistle of 
 the vacant mind, and the long loud laugh ^ of content 
 -and happiness. And on going ashore and walking up to a 
 neat white house, nearly intercepted by groves of oranges, 
 I have been greeted by the family seated out of doors, with 
 ** Ah ! bitn venue. Monsieur I'cstranger ; prenez itne chaise 
 &i vous plait ; vans navez pas soupez ; mafcmme, {aire ap- 
 prclez quclque chose, pour Monsieur ; mes enfans, allez voir 
 le hatteau de Monsieur ; ayes soin que cest hien attache, et 
 mcnez scs gens quils ont qutlque choses d mangtr." In this 
 i^a.nner have the good people gone on where 1 have stopt, 
 
AMERICA. 331 
 
 and on my tleparture all I was ever permitted to do, was 
 de donner un petit present aux enfans, and in some families 
 not even that was allowed, as you may judge, when they 
 possessed from five to twenty thousand dollars a year. A- 
 long the river from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, float, be- 
 tween one thousand and thirty thousand dollars annually. 
 The local manner of calculating wealth is very singular : 
 it is said such a man is worth ten negroes a year, and anoth- 
 er one hundred ; and it is understood to a dollar how muck 
 the income amounts. One negroe can cultivate two acres 
 of cotton, the produce of which is two hundred dollars: 
 the deduction from which ratio is, that he who has ten ne- 
 groes is worth two thousand dollars per annum; and he 
 who has one hundred is worth .twenty thousand. The su- 
 gar is very abundant and profitable. Much to tho credht 
 of the French settlers, they have abandoned the cultiva- 
 tion of indigo- from principles of humanity. It is now con- 
 fined to Americans, The inhabitants of the river banks 
 enjoy a tolerable state of health* . Those who live tempo* 
 rate look strong and hearty. 
 
 There are no markets at any of the villages or parishes. 
 Every settler provides his own family. His grounds abound 
 with stock ; the woods with game ; and the river with fish ; 
 where is the necessity of a market? The river, also, at 
 certain seasons is covered with water-fowls ; and all the 
 summer duck and pelican. The river, too, has inhabitants 
 not so desirable* It swarms with aligators of extraordinary 
 ferocity and force. The French believe that they have a 
 decided predilection for negro flesh. This idea prevails so 
 much, that negroes dare not venture into the water ; and a 
 fact is novj current which gives strength to this prejudice. 
 Two men, one black and the other white, had occasion to 
 go into the water to endeavour to push of a boat which 
 had got fast on a bar. An alligator attacked the African, 
 and drew him under water by the leg: he extricated him*--" 
 self, rose and rushed to the boat, over the side of which he 
 was clambering, assisted by the white, when he again re- 
 newed the combat, again drew him oif by the leg he had 
 before mangled, ami crushed his bones in the presence of 
 the. white nian, whom he neither attacked nor regarded. 
 
'3S2 TRAVELS IN 
 
 LETTER XLL 
 
 New Orleans — particulars of this important city, andits ew 
 virons — New Madrid, an intended city on an excellent and 
 salubrious situation. 
 
 New Orleans, Lat. 30. 2. North. 
 Lon. 90. West. Nov. 1806. 
 
 I HAVE at length arrived at this very important and 
 fTourishing city, the interesting particulars of which I shall 
 communicate according as they strike my attention during 
 my stay. 
 
 Jt ib the capital of Louisiana, a country of immense ex- 
 tent, bouruled by the Mississippi, East ; by the Gulph of 
 Mexico, South ; by New Mexico, West ; and runs indefi- 
 nitely North. 
 
 By referring to the Maps, to my own experience, and 
 examining the position of Louisiana, it appears that the 
 lower part projects considerably into the sea. It has in all 
 probability been formed by the sediment brought down by 
 the current, and deposited on the flat coast. There is, 
 therefore, on the East bank but a very narrow slip along the 
 bank of the river from the sea to the Iberville. The land 
 is not generally susceptible of cultivation more than a mile 
 back from the river, the rest is low and swampy to the 
 lakes and the sea, and abounds with cypress, which is oft- 
 en cut down, and sawed by mills that are worked by arti- 
 ficial streams from the Mississippi in time of floods, which 
 often continue five months in the year. Wliat I observe of 
 the East, equally applies to the West side of the river, 'i'he 
 ^?-.jil and situation are nearly the same. After leaving the 
 bank of the river there is an immense swamp intersected 
 by creeks and lakes, extending to the high land of Ataca- 
 pas, and occupying a space of forty leagues. 
 
 In a country such as this, on the East bank of the Mis- 
 sissippi, one hundred miles from the Balize, is seated the 
 city of New Orleans. It extends nearly a mile along the 
 river, from the Gate of France, on the south, to that of 
 Chdpitaulas above, and is a little more than one-third of a 
 Mile in breadth from the river to the rampart ; but there 
 
AMERICA. S53i 
 
 IS an extensive suburb on the upper side. The houses in 
 front of the town, and for a square backwards, are mostly 
 of brick, covered with slate or tile ; — the ranainder are of 
 wood, covered with shingles. They run cross each other 
 at right angles, and are thirty-two French feet wide. The 
 squares between the intersections of the streets have a 
 front of three hundred French feet. There is in the mid' 
 die of the front of the city, a square, or place des anneSj 
 facing which the church and town-house are built. There 
 are about fitteen hundred houses in the city and suburbs,. 
 The populativ)n may be estimated at fifteen thousand, in- 
 cluding the garrison and Africans. It was fortified in 
 1793, but the works being originally defective could not 
 be defended, and are now in ruins. The powdcr-msgazine 
 is on the opposite bank of the river. In the city there ara 
 twelve public structures. The church, town-house, jail, 
 convent, bank, theatre, and governor's palace, would, in 
 any country, be esteemed large and handsome buildings. 
 The front, or side next the river, is open, and is secured 
 from the inundations by a raised bank, called the levee,, 
 which extends from fifteen miles below the city to fifty 
 miles above it, forming a good road all the way. The city 
 is considerabi}' under the level of high water, in conse- 
 quence of which, and the swampy nature of the ground 
 on which it is built, there can be no subterraneans build? 
 ing. Where they have been attempted they have uniform- 
 ly fallen in and filled with water, Most of the houses have 
 open galleries, and gardens abounding with flowering shrubs 
 and rich bearing orange-trees. These give the city a cool 
 and lively appearance, and convey to my mind very plea- 
 sureable sensations, after a voyage so destitute of the com- 
 forts and elegancies of life as I lately experienced. 
 
 Immedialely behind the city is a canal, about a mile and 
 a half long, called the Canal of Carondelet, which commu- 
 nicates with a creek called the Bayau St. Jean, flowing in- 
 to Lake Pontchartrain. At the head of the Bayeau is a 
 handsome village, and at the mouth, about eight miles from 
 the city, is the small fort of St. Jean, which commands 
 the entrance from the lake. By this Bayeau the commu- 
 nication is kept up through the lake and the Rigolets to the 
 Mobile and i^ettlements in West Florida. Craft drawing 
 ib-uni six to eight feet water can navigate to the mouth, of 
 
■%34s TRAVELS IN 
 
 the creek, but, except in particular swells of the lake, 
 cannot pass the bar witliout being lightened. 
 
 On the road from the city to the road Bayeau are seve- 
 ral beautiful country seats and rich gardens. The banks 
 of tlie river on the east side, as far down as the English 
 Bend, and as high up as Bona Cara, are also embellished 
 with neat country residences, whither the citizens retire 
 during the sickly season, which happens between the months 
 of August and Nov<?mber. 
 
 P'rom the favourableness of the climate of the Lower 
 I^ouisiana,^ especially as low down as the city, two crops of 
 Indian corn may be annually -produced ; and the soil, with 
 little cultivation, would furnish grain of every kind in a- 
 bundance. The timber is as line as any in the world ; and 
 the quantities of oak ash, mulberry, walnut, cherry, cy- 
 press, and cedar are astonishing. The banks of the JNlis- 
 sissippi, beside*!, furnish the richest fruits in variety; and 
 the soil is particularly adapted for hemp, flax, and tobac- 
 co : indigo yields the planter three or four cuttings a year. 
 In a word, whatever is rich and rare in the most desireable 
 climates in Europe seem to be the spontaneous production 
 of the neighbourhood of this city, and of the country in 
 gentral. Oranges thrive to the highest perfection, and 
 mulberry, locust, sassafras, hickory, dog-wood, &c. are the 
 most abundant nsj^es of the soil. Grape-vines run up 
 almost every tree, and yield a red wine of a very tolerable 
 quality. ' The game of the savannas and woods is not yet 
 destroyed, and the Mississippi and the neighbouring lakes 
 furnish in great plenty, several sorts of fish, particularly 
 perch, pike, cat, buffalo, sturgeon, and ells. 
 
 ~ Accounts similar to this, perhaps higher coloured and 
 still true, lead thousands into this country in search of a 
 }>aradise, and they find a grave. The climate is horrid. 
 On an average nine strangers die out of ten, shortly after 
 their arrival in the city, and those v/ho survive are of shat- 
 tered constitution and debilitated frame. 
 
 The entire country is not subject to malignant disease. 
 It is generated by the lakes, swamps, and marshes contigu^ 
 ous to the sea, and gradually diffuses itself up the river, till 
 checked by high lands, and a higher latitude. It merely 
 glances over the habitations o( the settlers, whom it slight- 
 ly attacks, and tarries only in New Orleans and Natches, 
 ^bere an overflowing population, dud the various ciscum- 
 
AMERICA. 335 
 
 stances incident to cities, which favor disease, render it 
 powertul and contagious. 
 
 The present partial population and wealth of the coun- 
 try is to be attributed to tiie flattering accounts dissemmi- 
 
 .natf'd by interested individuals, of its climate, riches, and 
 general productions. The first intention of settling NewMad- 
 rid, that vile wretched spot, which I described to you in a 
 
 .' former letter, was announced to the public in these terms, 
 by Colonel Morgan, a Kentuckyan adventurer. 
 
 " In a country abounding with the richest productions of 
 
 iiiature, and enjoying the most v/holesome climate known 
 to the worlds a city is about to be establi!)hed, under the 
 immediate sanction and patronage of the King of Spain ; 
 who, to encourage settlers, purchasing town-lots, will grant 
 lands in any quantity, and of the most superior kind, at 
 the rate of six pence per acre. 
 
 In honor to his Majesty, the city is to be named. New 
 Madrid, after the capital of his European possessions, and 
 is to extend four miles South and two miles West from 
 the Mississippi ; so as to cross a beautiful, living, deep 
 lake of the purest spring water, one hundred yards wide 
 and several miles in length, emptying itseJf by a constant 
 and rapid narrow stream through the centre of the city ; 
 
 ; the banks of the lake, called St. Annis, high and delightful ; 
 the water deep, clear and sweet, and Xi^ell stored with fish. 
 
 . On each side of this unparalleled lake, streets are to be 
 laid out, one hundred feet wide; a road to be continued 
 round it of the same breadth,; and the streets are directed 
 to be preserved forever for the health and pleasure of the 
 
 , citizens. A street one hundred and twenty feet wide is to 
 be laid out on the banks of the Mississippi, and the trees 
 now ornamenting it arc to be preserved ior the sarae pur- 
 pose. Twelve acres, in a central part of the city, are to 
 be reserved in like manner, and embellished and regulated 
 by the magistracy for public walks ; forty half-acre lots 
 for other public purposes; ^nd one lot of twelve acres for 
 the King's use. 
 
 As the vicinity, of this city is rich beyond description, 
 and abounding with every advantage required by man to 
 render his life luxuriant and comfortable, there can be no 
 doubt but that it will possess a wealthy population, espe- 
 cially as Colonel Morgan, the proprietor under the King, is 
 .liberal in making ivQO. grautsio meglianics, and intend* 
 
336 TRAVELS IN 
 
 disposing of the whole of the forty thousand city-lots at a 
 rate that will be but equal to ten dollars per acre.'"' 
 
 LETTER XLIL 
 
 The re ligion and commerce of New Orleans — its (inmsemenU 
 and inhabitants. 
 
 New Orleans, November, 1 806. 
 
 MY last conveyed to you general ideas of the city, 
 and of the climate of Lower Louisiana. I confine myself 
 «ow to the religion and commerce of this place. 
 
 The religion is Roman Catholic : that is, the religion of 
 the French and Spanish is Catholic : as for the Americans 
 tliey have none. They disregard the Sabbath entirely ; 
 or, if they go to the Catholic church, there not being any 
 other, they go as to a spectacle^ where line \yomen are to 
 be seen, and where fine music is to be heard ! 
 
 The Catholic church, as well as the town-house, thejail, 
 and the palace of the priests, were all built by the once 
 celebrated merchant, Don Andre, on condition that he 
 should be made a Noble of Spain. He lived to expend 
 two millions of dollars on these and other public works, 
 but died before the ambitious honors were lavished oa 
 him ; and his wife has the mortification still to be called 
 ^Madame Andre. 
 
 The church is a very large structure, built of brick, and 
 plastered and painted in front, to give it the appearance of 
 marble. 
 
 The altar is magnificent for the western world, and is 
 adorned with paintings and sculpture of considerable taste. 
 — Queen Esther, fainting away in the presence of Ahasu- 
 eras is fine; for though she is lost to sense, and in u swoon, 
 her majesty and beauty still remain. She is dressed in her 
 royal ro^es, and as she sinks, she leans to the right side, 
 aiid is supported by one of the ladies who attend her: they 
 are six in number, elegantly dressed, and handsome. — 
 There is another lady and a youth, who do their utmost 1» 
 keep the Queen froqji falling. Her nock is bare, and her 
 
AMERICA. 33T 
 
 ^rms Iiang motionless ; and her body is as weak and help- 
 less as if the soul had left it : the retiring of the blood, th© 
 falling of the muscles, and the natural and graceful man- 
 
 •ner in which she dies awaj, are expressed with the greatest 
 skill and propriety. The King seems surprized, and rises 
 from his throne with his sceptre in his hand, as giving hi's 
 assistance. The persons that attend upon the King, both 
 by their actions and countenances, appear to be under the 
 same concern. Haman, who is the cause of this distress, 
 stands in the presence chamber, wearing a gold collar, be- 
 hind the throne, and appears to be affected, and to share 
 in the calamity. There stands a spirited figure of an officer, 
 in rich armour, with one of the ensigns of war in his hand ; 
 his attention seems to be taken up with what passes. At a 
 distance are other soldiers that belong to the guard. There 
 is a youth also near the throne, dressed in scarlet, with a 
 white shock dog in his arms, which has a very good effect. 
 In the sacristy there are several relics ; among which 
 is a thorn of our Saviour's crown, tinged with his blood ; 
 a cloth of Santa Veroneca, enriched with his image, and a 
 caoss, of Indian workmanship, said to have been found on 
 the bank of the Riviere Noir, on the very spot where the 
 famous Ferdinand de Loto ended his discoveries and his 
 life, and where his remains now lie buried. The priest 
 who exhibited the altar and the relics, appeared much dis- 
 pleased with the little belief afforded them by the Ameri- 
 cans, and informed me that orders had arrived from th© 
 bishops of Cuba and Mexico to forward all the pictures and 
 relics from the churches of Louisiana to New Spain, wheref 
 the honours of belief and admiration, in anxious solicitude 
 
 .await them. 
 
 Besides the church, there is another place of religious 
 ■worship — A convent, for the instruction and accommoda- 
 tion of fifty nuns. They have a very neat chapel, where 
 mass is celebrati^d twice every day, during which, the nuns 
 join in the melody of the service from a situation separated 
 from the audience by close iron bars. I could just distin- 
 guish that they were dressed in black robes, with the same 
 coloured veil Mowing from their head to the feet. They 
 are not allowed to take in novices ; as on the death of the. 
 ■present nuns, the American goYcrnment purpose seizing oai 
 
33S TRAVELS IN 
 
 their possessions and lands, which are very considerable,^ 
 both in the city and neighbourhood. 
 
 Jt is now time to touch on the subject of commerce. 
 
 Notwithstanding the periodical visitations which devas- 
 tate the city, still 1 have every reason to believe that it 
 will rival every other in America, in wealth, power ai\d 
 prosperity. This belief is not founded on vague surmises, 
 but on the following view of its situation and relative cir- 
 cumstances with other countries. 
 
 1. By the canal of the • Carondolet ; the Lake Pont- 
 chartrain, and the Mobile it receives the cich productions 
 of the two Floridas and the Tenassec State. 
 
 2. All the wealth of the Western parts of Pennsylva- 
 ilia ; of the back parts of, the entire of the, Kentucky and 
 Ohio States and the Indiana Territory, are conveyed to it, 
 by means of the Ohio and her tributaries, which jftow into 
 the Mississippi as before described. 
 
 3. A proportion of the trade of theLakes iinds its way 
 to it by the Illinois River and bateaux navigating below 
 St. Anthony's Falls. 
 
 4. The furs and produce of the North- West descend to 
 it by the Messauri, and reach the city after a. course of 
 two thousand five hundred miles. 
 
 5. The property of the West has various avenues to ap- 
 proach it, viz. the White, the Red, and the Black Rivers ; 
 the St. Francis, the Atakasses and the Bayeaus of the Four- 
 che and others. 
 
 6. It receives various rich productions from New Mex- 
 ico, through means of Indian communication and naviga- 
 ble streams falling into the gulph. 
 
 From the Floridas it receives skins, logwood, dying stuff 
 and silver dollars ; from Tenassee, and the back part of 
 Georgia, cotton, tobacco, and other produce. 
 
 From the upper parts of the Ohio it receives provisions, 
 timber, boats, flour, wheat, Indian corn, tobacco and pot- 
 ash ; and from the lower parts, that is Kentucky and the 
 Indiana Territory, live and dead stock, timber, flour, In- 
 dian corn, iron and pottery-ware ; sassafras, ginseng, and 
 various medicinal plants, roots and herbs ; also oil of 
 snakes, animals, and vegetables, hemp, flax, sail-cloth, cor- 
 dage, twist, twine, paper, spirits manufactured in the coun- 
 try. Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania, also send down 
 tti§ir boats, saddlery and artificev's tools made in thecountry. 
 
AMERICAi 33!r 
 
 Pi'om the Lakes and tlie Illinois, it receives furrs, dying 
 Stutfs, earths, and minerals. 
 
 From the Messauri it receives lead and furs. 
 • From the West it receives furs, cattle, horses and hogs. 
 
 From New Mexico it receives silver and gold, for goods 
 clandestinely introduced. 
 
 And from the Mississippi Territory and the banks of the 
 river, where cultivated to ah extent of three hundred miles 
 lip and down, it receives cotton, indigo, and sugar, and 
 timber in bulk and plank in great abundance. 
 
 From this it appears, that tiie city is the depot of all the 
 various wealth and jiroductions of countries extending from 
 it from two, to three thousand miles in many directions, and as 
 such wealth and productions must stop at the city, beforb 
 they can find their way to the city, which contracts the 
 navigation of the river, it is not unreasonable to assert, as 
 I have done, that the city must flourish in spite of the dis-- 
 eases by which it is periodically ravaged. Beside becom- 
 ing the necessary depot of such extravagant wealth, it has 
 strong advantages from its own situation ; it stands on the 
 very bank of the most perfect course- of freshwater navi- 
 gation in the world ; it is but one hundred miles from the 
 sea, within a few days sail of INIcxico, of the French, Span- 
 ish and British Islands in the West-Indies, and'liesopen to, 
 and trades with, Russia, Sweeden, Denmark, Hamburgh, 
 United Provinces, Great Britain, Austria, Netherlands, and 
 Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Morocco, and 
 several parts of Africa; China, and various Asiatic coun- 
 tries, and the North-Wcst coast of Isorlh, and the East 
 coast of South America. 
 
 There are upwards of four hun»lred ships of all nations 
 now in the river, moored three deep along the Levee. 
 
 The trade of New Orleans lias undergone an entire 
 change since the soil of Louisiana became the property of 
 the States. Before that period, it was conducted, exclu* 
 sively, by individuals purciiasing the rights of monopoly 
 from the King of Spain, or of his Viceroys and Governors. 
 They, of course, made immense fortunes, as the instance 
 of Don Andri;, who was enabled to expend 5,000,000 dol-- 
 lars in public works, and to leave iiis widow the enormous 
 foitune of 100,000 dollars a year. At that period, there- 
 fore, wealth circulated in a very partial manner, and un- 
 bounded riches penury and distress, must have ruarked ih?- 
 
540 TJRAVELS IN 
 
 general feature; but at present, when toleration and com-- 
 petition prevail, things have taken a widely different turn,, 
 and that wealth which before preserved one certain stream, 
 jiow ovei flows and dillubes itself to all around. For one 
 Bicrchant that acted for himself (I say for himself, because 
 ■jn the time of the ancient regimen, the few exclusive mer- 
 chants sold licenses to others to pursue the same trade, and 
 thereby encreased the number of merchants) six years ago 
 there are now fifty ! Though this toleration in the American 
 Commercial system is much to be approved of, still, that 
 peculiar vic€ of mad speculation which is manifest in all 
 their dealings, in the case of this city, it already betrays an 
 evil consequence ; for, if formerly there were too many 
 poor in Orleans, there will very shortly be too few rich. 
 The fountain of wealth now empties itself through such 
 ^jiumberless channels, that the su})ply must be triHing to 
 all, and flow with much less velocity Uian when it rushed 
 through but one or two mouths. 1 he influx of American 
 Speculators -^was so great in the first instance, that the cha- 
 lactcr of commerce instantaneously changed, and violence 
 and competition, which in America means contention, 
 .jeigned triumphantly abroad. This forced kind of pro- 
 ceeding, this ardent competition, gave an artificial value 
 to things, and an immense profit was required on imported 
 and exported goods: it la&ted two years : commerce has 
 now sunk to its natural level, and in consequence of the 
 rivals in trade multiplying in a proportion beyond the ca- 
 pacity of the trade, every article is reduced considerably 
 iji value. British goods may be bought as cheap a« in Lon- 
 don, and the produce of the country, at least some paKfe 
 «1^ it, is reduced two hundred per cent. Flour, which but 
 one year ago, sold for twelve dollars a barrel, has fallen to 
 four, and every other article in its due proportion. As this 
 level and diffusion of commerce can afford no more than 
 an honest and reasonable profit, the Americans begin to be 
 ^iissatisfied, and manyof them have already become bank- 
 rupts, and returned to their own particular State. The 
 ^reat body who now remain, are ccmnHssit)n merchants, 
 to whom the settlers of the upper and adjacent countries 
 consign their produce. Their demand is lour and a half 
 per cent. They make also charges for storage, wharfage, 
 and labour, which gives them a clear advantage, in all of 
 about ten. per cent.; and in two many instances, they kevp 
 
AMERICA, S4i 
 
 tlie-property all together to themselves, and depart or re- 
 snain, and stand the issue of a suite at law, which must 
 ultimately prove to their fiwour, the American judicature ' 
 being so lax that it encourages, instead of punishing and 
 preventing its offence. 
 
 The trade of the city is conducted, for the most part, 
 by four classes of men. Virginians and Kentuckyans reign' 
 over the brokerage and commission business ; the Scotcli' 
 and Irish absorb all the respectable commerse of exporta- 
 tion and importation; the French keep magazines and 
 stores; and the Spaniards do all the small retail of grocers' 
 shops, cabants, and lowest order of drinking- houses. Peo- 
 ple of colour, and free negroes, also keep inferior shops, 
 and sell goods and fruits. 
 
 There is no exchange, nor any other general place of - 
 mercantile resort. Atter sun-set the inhabitants prome- 
 nade on the Levee. The place is very favourable for the ' 
 purpose, the shipping extending along the bank, and the 
 captains and others employed within sight. Ships have 
 race-boards to the bank, which gives them an acccess so 
 easy, that they are often visited from the shore; and it is 
 no uncommon thing to see the sprightly dance on the deck, or 
 the bottle circulate under the auning, while the whole 
 town promenade the Levee or repose under the orange- 
 trees which decorate it in partial spots. ■ 
 
 The shipping at present extends the entire length of the 
 Levee, and for the most part are moored three a-breast. 
 It is composed of aH nations. The merchandize for the 
 Mississippi is exactly similar to that of the West-India trade 
 — the race of people being nearly the same, and the cli- 
 mate not essentially differing. 
 
 The prices are as high as in any of the English markets. 
 Fruit and vegetables alone are cheaper. 
 
 There are no good taverns. The custom among stran- 
 gers is to live in boarding-houses, which charge from ten 
 to fifteen dollars per week, for board and lodging, and an 
 inferior kind of French claret for drink. Persons of good 
 taste, and who respect their health, find their own wine. 
 The table is excellent, being covered with fish, soup, fowls, 
 roasted, boiled, and stewed meats, with vegetables. The 
 dinner-hour is three. Coffee is served soon after dimier, 
 after which it is customary to enjoy a sicsto, 
 Ee 2 
 
342 TRAVELS IN 
 
 The instant the luminary sets, animation begins to rise>, 
 the public walks are crowded ; the billiard rooms resound ; 
 music strikes up, and life- and activity resume their joyous 
 career. 
 
 As the amusements of the ladies and gentlemen of this 
 city are generaljy distinct, I must give you a sketch of each. , 
 under separate heads. . | 
 
 1 he Americans, since iheir arrival here, have been so . 
 occupied by politics and legislation, that their minds have 
 never been sufficiently unbent to form a course of pleasures 
 for themselves ; therefore the indulgence of the tabic, 
 cards and billiards, are the principal fountain of the enjoy- 
 ments of the men. It is not so with the French gentkmen : 
 their pleasures are forever varied, and of a nature to be 
 participated by the most delicate of the female ec.x. This 
 casts over them a considerable degree of refinement, and 
 the concert, dance, promenade, and petit aouper^ are con- 
 ducted with as much attention as at Paris or Home. At 
 times, the limits of the French entertainments extend from 
 a partial circle and pervade the whole town. 
 
 Besides the French and American amusements of the 
 men, I can still trace some old Spanish recreations. On 
 returning to my lodging late at night, I have more than 
 once heard the guitar under the windows of a sleeping 
 beauty, or the harp delicately touched under i\ corridore 
 over which some charming girl attentively reclined. Songs 
 too are often heard in the silence of the night. 'J'hey some- 
 times assume the form of a duet, and are repeated by the 
 lover and the confidential friend who accompanies him as ^ 
 a guard. ^ 
 
 It could be wished that the Spanish character were only 
 to be discerned by their empassioned songs and innocent 
 amours : unfortunately it often breaks out in sanguinary 
 stabs of the stillrto, and frequent assassinations. Several 
 Americans who have interrupted their midnight serenades, 
 have already fallen. The remainder go armed, and have 
 also learned to correct their conduct towards the Spaniards^ 
 whom they now find they cannot trample upon with impu- 
 mity or scorn. The first class of Spaniards, who could not 
 submit to any other government or religion than their own, 
 liave retired into Mexico : those who remain, are esteemed 
 degraded by their countrymen; and arc called Caialons^ by 
 way of contempt. 
 
AMERICA. 54S 
 
 The women, who in point of manners and character have e^ 
 very marked superiority over the men, are divided into two 
 ranks — the white and the brown. They have two separate 
 ball-rooms in the city, . At the white ball-room no lady of 
 colour is admitted. 
 
 Those called the whites are principally brunettes with, 
 deep black eyes; dark hair and good teeth. Their persons - 
 are eminently lovely, and their movemenis indescribably 
 graceful, far superior to any thing I ever witnessed in Eu- 
 rope. It would seem that a. hot climate *' calls to life 
 each latent grace.*' With you the movements are rigid and 
 the muscles unrelaxed ; whereas, here the action is unre« 
 strained, the muscles elastic, and the frame as supJe as if 
 destitute of bone. With, you the form alone is fine and 
 beautiful ; but here the various charms of grace and sym- 
 etry are heightened by the most enchanting expressions of 
 joy and elegance of motion. In the dance, th«se fascinat- 
 ing endowments are peculiarly displayed. 
 
 The dress of the white ladies is very plain and simple. 
 The robe is white, fastened . under the breast with a dia- 
 mond pin, and the hair, in the form of a coronet, connect- 
 ed by small bands of precious stones and pearls. The prin- 
 cipal amusement of the young women of this class, is to 
 ride out alter sun-set, in small cabriolets, which they 
 drive themselves, with great ease and dexterity, a negro 
 boy or girl, elegantly dressed, standing behind. In these 
 excursions they are never attended by gentlemen ; the 
 lt)ss of reputation being dreaded here, beyond the loss of 
 every thing else beside. Their public amusements are balls 
 and concerts, which are generally well attended ; their 
 private, consist of music parties at home, and conversations 
 around the door. 
 
 The ladies have much more reserve than Frenchwomen; 
 they are even distant in their manners ; and it is not till 
 they take a fantasie for a gentleman that they rise into 
 friendship, and descend into familiarity with him ; alter 
 that period they kindle into love without much difficulty, 
 and give that passion more dignity and embellishment than 
 you can conceive it susceptible of in Europe. A Spanish 
 Americaine in love, soars above her former excellence, and 
 becomes a new object in the creation : so sensible is her 
 lover to hor attractions, that he too changes his nature, 
 and forgetting that the idol of his soul is hunian^ looks up. 
 
SU TRAVELS IN 
 
 to her as a divinity, and offers at her shrine a suite of the 
 most profound adorations. Custom has made the church 
 the theatre for the creation, discovery, and progress of first 
 loves. He who would gain the inestimable heart of a Span- 
 ish girl, must attend her through a series of fervid devo- 
 tions ; gaze on her in reverential silence, orat the most, 
 in tender languishment, express " thy image steals between 
 my god and me.'' If, in the course of an affair of the 
 heart, conducted under the sanctuary and evidence of the 
 church, the lover were to be guilty of any one act of mean- 
 ness and depravity, or sully his reputation in any possible 
 way, his mistress would tear him from her heart. 
 
 The women of colour stand next to the white in socie- 
 ty. They are very beautiful, of a light copper colour, and 
 tall and elegant persons. Their dress is widely different in 
 general from that of the white ladies; their petticoats are 
 ornamented at the bottom with gold lace or fringe richly 
 tasselled ; their slippers are composed of gold embroidery, 
 and their stockings interwoven with the same metal, in so 
 fanciful a manner, as to display the shape of the leg to the 
 best advantage. A kind of jacket made of velvet, fitted 
 tight to the shape, and laced or buttoned in front, with 
 long points hanging down quite round the petticoat, and 
 trimmed at the end with pearl tassels, is also worn ; and on 
 the shoulders of the jacket is fastened a cloak made of 
 gauze, or some such light material, which hangs as a loose 
 train to the ground, or is occasionally fastened to the side 
 by a clasp of jewels. Their most general head-dress is 
 either a handkerchief of gold-gauze braided in with dia- 
 monds, or else chains of gold and pearls twisted in and out 
 through a profusion of fine black hair, which produces a 
 pleasing ef!'ect. The bosom is covered with solitaries, com- 
 posed of every different kind of jewels. Notwithstanding 
 the beauty and wealth of these women, they are not ad- 
 mitted, as I before remarked, to the white assembliies. 
 They have therefore a ball room of their own, which is well 
 attended, and where as beautiful persons and as graceful 
 dancing is witnessed, as in any other assemblies of the sort 
 whatever. A distinction subsists between ladies of colour 
 of a very singular sort ; those who are but one remove frona 
 the African cast, are subordinate to those who are trom two 
 to three, or more, and are interdicted, by custom, from in- 
 termarrying with tiae whites ; but they are allowed, by the 
 
AMERICA, 345 
 
 s^me authority, to become mistresses of the whites, with- 
 out being dishonoured in the eyes of society, that is, they 
 are esteemed honorable and virtuous while faithful to on® 
 man ; but if, in their amours, they at any time become in- 
 discriminate, they lose the advantage of ranking among 
 the virtuous, and are classed in the city books among pros" 
 titutes and slaves. This, or a native disposition to conti- 
 nence, has such a dominion over them, that the instances 
 of their infidelity are very rare, though they are extremely 
 numerous, and aj'e mistresses to the married and unmarri- 
 ed, and nearly to all the strangers who resort to the town. 
 For, though infidelity is punished among them, they are 
 no sooner disengaged from one attachment than they ar« 
 at liberty to form another. The introduction of strangers 
 to them is attended with some ceremony, and must always 
 be through the means of the mother, or female adopted to 
 supply her place. The inhabitants of the town never break, 
 down their regulations, or treat them abruptl)', and stran- 
 gers are instructed by their acquaintance how to proceeds 
 The Levee, atsun-set, is the paincipal market for ailthis traf- 
 fic de cccnr. There all the beauties assemble, and there all. 
 those who need the kind companion, joyfully repair : all 
 ■walk up and down for a considerable time, or sit under 
 orange-trees occasionally, with the objects of their separata 
 choice. Such an expression of reserve, morals and decen- 
 cy reign over the women of every sort, that a stranger 
 passes and repasses, before he can assum* sufficiently to 
 tell the one he admires the most quelle est belle comme un€, 
 uge, and so forth. To an Englishman, this timid, bash- 
 ful silent demeanour, opposes difficulties which require hi?^ 
 utmost resolution to surmount, and he walks the Levee 
 many a pensive evening before the sense of virtue is suffi- 
 ciently consumed by the new passion of his breast, to per- 
 mit him to speak, or to offer terms to a parent, from which 
 his soul shrinks, from the convictionof their being base and,- 
 dishonourable. Some mothers now, on becoming acquaint- 
 ed with the English timidity, begin to alter their line of 
 conduct, and suffer their daughters to remove their veil e»- 
 passant rni A?igluis, or flirt their fan, or drop a handker- 
 chief, which they receive with such gracious accents of 
 gratitude, that a conversation may easily succeed. 
 
 The mothers always regulate the terms and make the. 
 !?argain. The terms allowed the parents are generally. 
 
34& TRAVELS IN 
 
 fifty dollars a month; during which time thelover has thfe 
 exclusive right to the house, where fruit, coftee, and re- 
 freshments may at any time be had, or where he may en- 
 tirely live with the utmost safety and tranquility. Many 
 do live in this manner, notwithstanding which, 1 have never 
 heard a complaint against tliese interesting females. In 
 proportion as they advance in age they enter into service, 
 &c. and are respected as much as when in their virgin 
 state. 
 
 Negresses and female INIestises next follow : the first are 
 principally employed as servants, of which every family 
 has a considerable number ; the second perform all kind of 
 jaboriouswork, such as washing, and retailing fruit through 
 the-city in the hottest weather; and being considered as a 
 cast too degraded to enter into the marriage state, they 
 follow a legal kind of prostitution, without decerning it any 
 disparagement to their virtue or their honor. 
 
 Though the places of amusement are separate in the city, 
 for the distinctions of society, still there is an assembly, 
 held every Sunday evening at the Bayou, about two miles 
 out of town, where all the beauty of the country con-- 
 centrates, without any regard to birth, wealth, or colour. 
 The place of entertainment is called Tivoli. The room is 
 spacious and circular; wetl painted and adorned, and sur- 
 rounded by orange trees and aromatic shrubs, which dif- 
 fuse through it a delightful odour. I went to Tivoli, and 
 danced in a very brilliant ajrsembly of ladies. The Spa- 
 nish women excel in the walta, and the French in cotilions. 
 
 Thus, my dear friend, have I run over every subject of 
 interest which this place can aftbrd : you may, perhaps, 
 remark, that I have of late beem^ilent on the subject of 
 curiosities. This country is destitute of them ; or, at least, 
 possesses none of any distinction, or, only such as are in- 
 ferior to what I have already described. Reptiles are ve- 
 ry common. Large lizards are about every yard ; and 
 snakes come into the houses from the river side. It is not 
 a little strange, but alligators do not come near the town. 
 'J'hough extremely numerous above and below, they avoid 
 the Levee and pass aKvays on the opposite shore. The 
 country swarms with grasshoppers ; they are very large, 
 not less than three inches long ; the body jet black, the 
 hca.d red. — The French call them *' clicxaux du Viable," 
 
AMERICA. 3i7 
 
 There are so many descriptions of the natural produc* 
 ^ons of the Floridas, which are exactly similar to those of 
 the Lower Louisiana, that it would be idle of me to go into 
 their history, and therefore, I conclude; correspondence for 
 the present, as 1 am. about to embark for England, by di- 
 recting your attention to the annexed : paper, which is a 
 correct survey of the rivers,! have descended, and from 
 the accounts of which I sincerely hope you have received 
 *5omc information and entertainment. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 MONONGAHELA RIVER. 
 
 Mil-es. 
 .VI BflBimence at Mergantown,— This is » flourishing tovrn, {-.Icasantl^ 
 situated on the East s^de of Monungahela River, and may be con- 
 sidered tlic head of the navigation. 
 <:heat River — At the raoiith of this river is a long shoal, and the 
 channel somewhat difficult— Here a person may be got to convey 
 the boat past the danger • 
 
 Dunkard Creek, West side, a small shoal -2 
 
 George's Creek, East side ^^ 
 
 Big Whiteley Creek, West side . 4 
 
 -Little Whiteley, same side—Channel near the middle of the nvcr. 
 
 Brown's Run ^ 
 
 East side. — Channel in tlie middle of the rivci, Middle Run 2 
 
 JEast sido. — Chiumel near the West shore ^ 
 
 Cat's Run. — Channel in the middle 2 
 
 Muddy Creek, West side. — Here are two old Fish Dams ; the chan- 
 nel of the first is near the middle, and of the other near the East 
 shore 4 
 
 Ten Mile Creek, West side.— Channel close to the East shore 7 
 
 Fredericktovvn, West side.— A sni«il town, pleasantly situated 1 
 
 James Crawford's Ripple. — Channel near the middle 3 
 
 -Dunlap's Creek, East side — Immediately above its mouth is situated 
 Bridgeport, a small thriving town, in a pleasant silud'.ion; and be- 
 ' low the mo'-ith of this creek lies 13rownsviIle (or Red^lone) 3 
 
 Redstone Creek, East side.— Cluinnel near the middle, there being 
 
 a smart ripple near the mouth of the creek 1 
 
 Pigeon Creek, West side. — Immediately below the mouth lies Wil- 
 
 liamsport 18 
 
 Parkerson's Mill, East side. — Channel in the middle S 
 
 M'Farlane's and Perry's Ferry 6 
 
 Elizabelhtown 2 
 
 Peter's Creek, East side. — Here is a smart ripple ; channel near the . 
 
 West shore 3 
 
 M Keesport 6 
 
 Mouth Turtle Creek, or Perrystown. — ■Tie.rv is a long difficult ripple, 
 just at the AJoulh-chanue!, at the iietid of the ripple, near the East 
 side for a small distance, thence zihuut the middle ol Ue ripple, 
 runs to the West shore, and returns to the East shore near the foot 
 of it ry 
 
 Braddock's Defeat, East side. — A ripple : channel East side .S 
 
 Nine Mile Run, M'Dowel 1 
 
 Gordon's Ferry. — Cliaunel in the middle of the river t 
 
 .Four Mile Bar, mouth Four Mile Run 3 
 
 Channel on the E;ist>side of the rirer, which, from iki? place, ought 
 t» be kept all the way to Piltsbarg 4 
 
 Ff 
 
350 APPENDIX^ 
 
 Navigation of the River ALLEGIJANY, 
 Including the carr^'ing-place from the town of Erie. 
 
 Watcrford (Le Eceuf.) — This town was also laid out by the State of 
 Pennsylvania, and is increasing. — Here was a Wesiern post, which, 
 but a tew yt'cirs sinccwas evacuated.— A postctfice is also kept 
 
 l;ere "^ 15 
 
 French Creek, tlirough Le Bceuf Lake 4 
 
 jMuddy Creek 12 
 
 End of the Dead.Water 1 4 
 
 Meadville • ,18 
 
 Wilson's Bend 6 
 
 Little Sugar Creek ' 8 
 
 Big Sugar Creek — 12 
 At the rnouth of tliis creek is a considerable fall all the way to the 
 
 town of Franklin ^ 
 
 Sandy Creek, West side of the Alleghany , 10 
 
 Scrub Grass Creek, West side 8 
 
 Falling Springs 3 
 Montgomery's Falls. — Channel on the left hand side of a large rock 
 
 in ihc middle ol the iails. 4 
 
 Ew all's. Defeat (a \cr\ rocky plr.ce) — Channel on the East side. 3 
 
 I'atterson's Falls 4i 
 
 jS'icholson's Eddy ("a strong ripple)— Channel on the West side 2 
 
 Stump Creek, East side. — .Chainiel on the East side S 
 
 Parker's, or Ainbcrson's Falls. — Channel on the East side 3 
 
 vCat-fish Falls.— Chaiu;el in the East side 10 
 
 Kcd bank Creek. — Channel on the East side 9 
 
 Cummin's rock. — Channel on the West side 6 
 
 jMahorney Creek, East.— rChannel on the West side 3 
 
 Slone's Ferry * - 15 
 
 Crooked Creek, East side 5 
 
 Nicholson's Falls. — Channel on the West side 4 
 Freeport. — Tliis town lies at the mouth of -Buffalo Creek, vhi^^'h 
 
 joins the Alle|zhany on the West, and opposite to it conies in Kis- 
 
 keminetas 8 
 
 Owing's Island. — Channel on the West side 5 
 
 Bull Creek, West — Channel on the East side , 4 
 Logan's Ferry, mouth of Buckety Creek— Channel on the East side, 
 
 but narrow 4 
 
 Uuland's Island. — Channel on the East side '4 
 
 Plumb Creek 3 
 Sandy Creek, East side. — Channel on the East side of the island. 
 
 At the moulh ol this creek a vessel of 160 tons burlhen was i»telv 
 
 launched — took in her cargo, and sailed lor the islands, ikv. ? 
 
 Pine Creek, West side . ' 5 
 
 AVilson's Island, — Clranncl on U;e East side 4 
 
 Pitisbiu^jh 1 
 
APPENDIX. 351 
 
 OHIO. 
 
 I.now commence the navigai.iori of the Oliio, wLicli commences at 
 
 Piilsburg. 
 
 NUcs, 
 From Pittsburgh to Hamilton's Island, is /-3 
 
 Channel on the jV. VV. side, or what was formerly' called the Indian 
 
 Side, close to the lower point of the island. 
 Irvin's Island. — Channel about 1-3 from tiie N. W. shore 4 
 
 1st Ripple — Just below the upper end of the I'.land : Here yon 
 
 must leave the B;g Breaker (a Uirge rock) close to the right, 
 5d, or Hijrse Tail Ripple — A small distance below the, first. — Chaa- 
 
 ne! between the bar and some large breakers. 
 Sd Ripple— Within half a mile of the lower end of Irwin's Island.— 
 Ciianne! about one-third of fiie width of the river from the N. VV. 
 side close to the upper end of the bar. 
 Hog island, lower end of — 5 
 
 Channel N,\V. side, ciose round the lower point of the island, towards 
 the left hand shore for about fiffy ro>'f, thence direct to the N.W. 
 shore, which will put 3'ou clear of ^Vook•^y's Hippie - 1 
 
 Dead Ripple.— Channel close to the N.W. shore 4 
 
 L'jggstown.— Channel N.W. side tiil you pass the bar 4 
 
 Crow's Island. — Channel N.W. side ciose to the Island _ "-i 
 
 Beaver Creek, comes in on the N.W side. — On a})prcaching this 
 creek you must keep on the N.W. side, till you come within sight 
 of the raouih of Beaver,thea make to the left hand shore, and keep 
 close to it, when vfMi will soon pass the town of M'Intosh 5 
 
 1st Island below M'Intosh.— Channel N.W. side, close to the Island 4 
 ,S4 Is- raid. —Channel ciose to the N.W. shore 2 
 
 Grape Island. — Channel left hand side, close to the Island 2 
 
 Little Beaver Creek, on the N.W. side, and Mill Creek opposite the 
 , town of G'?orgetown ^ 
 
 Custard Island.— Channel on the Virginia side, close to the lower 
 
 point of the Island 4 
 
 Baker's Islr.nd. — Channel on both sides ; the deepest but narrowest 
 
 on the Virtjinia shore 4 
 
 Yellow Creek, N.W. side. — Channel on the N.W. side 1 
 
 Neasley's two Islands. — Channel N VV. side 2 
 
 Tumbleton's Island. — Channel close to the N. shore 1 
 
 Brown's Island. — Channel close to the Virgmia shore for about fifty 
 
 yards, thence directly towards the island , 5 
 
 Steubenville — is pleasantly situated, on the N.W. bank of tlie river 5 
 Mingo Bottom Island. — Chamiel N.W side S 
 
 ChaHcston. — The channel past this town is on the Virginia shore. 
 Beach Bottom Bar. — Channel on the N.W. side 3 
 
 Short Creek. — A ripgiie just below the mouth of Short Creek — The 
 best channel is near Vuginia side •^^ 
 
 Pike Island Channel N.W. shore. Twin Islands, at the lower 
 
 point of the lowermost of them ^ 
 
 Glenn's Run — Channel past both on the N.W. shore 1 
 
 Wljeeling Island. — Channel on the Vnginia shore, at the upper end 
 keej) near to the shore, thence across towards the island, lor alwut one 
 hundred yards ; when you come ir. sij.'hr of the ne.M vijjple, make 
 still more towards the island, and after you pass the ripple, keep 
 down near ibc middlebetweeu the ^lore and island, WUeeling, 
 
Sot APPENDIX. 
 
 Mtles. 
 K.W. Just below the town stands an old forf, at the point of land 
 formed by the junction of Big Wiieeling Creek and the Ohio 
 Kiver . 4i 
 
 llr. Mtihon's Island — Channel at the upper end near the Virginia 
 
 sliore, at the lower end near the island 5 
 
 Sand bar about half a mile above Little Grave Creek. — Channel N. 
 
 VV. side, close to the shore 8 
 
 Big Grave Creek. — Channel N.W. side. — Grave Creek Ripple is 
 jiist below the moulh of the creek, channel I-3 breadth of the ri- 
 ver from N.\V\ sh.ore 1 
 Captinah Island. — Channel Virginia shore, Captinah Creek puts in 
 
 1-2 a mile below on the north west shore 6 
 
 Bakers Station. — Channel Virginia side 2 
 
 i'ish Creek comes in on the Virginia side ; here is an sland.— Chan- 
 nel on N.W. side 4 
 Sunfish Creek, on the N.W. shore 5 
 Oppossum Greek, same shore 3 
 Proctor's Run, on the Virginia shore, a sand-bar just below the 
 
 mouth — Channel clo^e to the bar, leaving it to the left 4 
 
 Fishing Creek, Martin's Station. — Virginia shore ; a sand-bar is here. 
 
 —Best channel on the Virginia shore 5 
 
 Upper end of Long Reach 3 
 
 The first island in the reach commences at the upper-end of it, and 
 
 is in length nearly 5 
 
 Second Island 1 
 
 Third Island 3 
 
 Fourth Island ' 2 
 
 Fifth and last Island in the reach little more ihan 1 
 
 The channel past a!l these islands is or the N.W. side. 
 Lower end of Long Reach, a sand'bar near the Virginia shore- 
 Channel on the N'.W. side 8 
 Liule Island. — Chanufl on the N.W. side. Stony creek puts in on 
 
 the N.W. shore, opposite the upper end of this island 2 
 
 Bat 01 Grape Island. — Channel close to the N.W. shore 1 
 
 Middle Island.— iMiddle Inland creek puts in on the Virginia shore, 
 opposite the middle of this island, which is two miles in length.— 
 Main channel on the N.W. side 8 
 
 French creek, on the Virginia shore " 3 
 
 The first island of the Tiiree Brothers 5 
 
 Seccjiid island of do. nearly 1 
 
 Third island of do. 1 
 
 Channel on the N.W, side of all three, State creek puts in on the 
 s:\me side, opposite the second island. There is a larye sand-bar 
 one mile and an half below the Brothers— Ciianuci on tiie N.W. 
 side. 
 Pull crefk, on the Virginia shore 4 
 
 Little Muskinp^uni, on the N.W. shore. 5 
 
 JDewall's Island, near » 1 
 
 Best channel on the Virginia shore. 
 Duck creek, N.W. shore, nearly 3 
 
 "Muskingum P.irer g; 
 
APPENDIX. 355 
 
 MARIETTA, 
 
 The principal town in the Ohio Company's purchase. 
 
 Miles. 
 Mile creek on the N.W. shore 1 
 
 Muskiajuin Island. --Chaitnel on the N.W. side, close lo the island SJ 
 Second island, a small one.— Channel,Virginia side 4 
 
 Third island, — Channel N.W. side. Congress creek puts in a little 
 below it on ihe N.W. side. There is a town and a settlement, 
 eight miles below Muskingum, on the Virginia shore, called \ ienna. 
 Liltle Kenhaway, Virtjinia shore, opposite to this is the town and up- 
 per settlement of Belleprie 2 
 Bacc! us's Island and middle settlement of Belleprie— Channel N. 
 
 W. side, close lo the shore. S 
 
 Lower settlement ot" Belie|irie, at the bottom of" the island 3 
 
 Little Hockliockini;, on tlie N.W. shore. — Below this the channel is 
 
 close to the N.W. shore 2 
 
 Newbury Seitlenient and Sand bar. — Channel on the N. W. side 2 
 
 Muslaphy Island X 
 
 Big Hpckhocking. — This is a considerable river, not very long, but 
 of a good navigation, on the head of which stands the town of iSevy 
 Lancaster, n promising little town, just tnierging from the woods 
 Lee's creek, Virgirua shore. Ik-lte-Ville* a town and seil!en>ent on 
 the Virginia shore. From Lee's creek lo Belle-Viile, the channel 
 is close to the Virginia shore, the other pari of the river being 
 rovky S 
 
 Belie-Ville Island.— Channel N.W. side 2 
 
 Pond creek, below the island.— Cluinnel N.W. shore- 2 
 
 Devil's Hole creek, Virginia side. — Channel on the N.W. shore. 
 Passing this crec k in high water, it is necessary (o keep prett\' close 
 round the leli hand point to avoid the current throwing the boat on 
 daiiLjerous rocks that lie in the bend, above and bcluw the mouth 
 of the creek 8 
 
 A Sand-l)ar. — Channel on tiie upper- end, near the N.V*'. shore, at 
 
 the lower end, near the nfiddle of the river 1 
 
 Another large Sand-bar in the middle of the river 4 
 
 Amberson's I^land. — The channel is on the Virginia iide, and begins 
 in the middle of the river at the upper end of the island, bears to- 
 wards the upper house on it, thv^nce run-> close by it (or a liltle 
 dislanc?, and ihciicc a^jain takes the middle of the river. — Litile 
 Sandy creek, on the Virginia shore, puts in about the middle of 
 the island 3 
 
 Big Sandy creek, on the VirtiWiia shore — one mile below this creek ' 
 the channel is close round a [)oiiit on the N.W. side, opposite 
 which point is a low ledge of rocks, extending^ at least, one mile 
 in length, and roaches half across the river ^ 4 
 
 Old Town creek, on the iN.W. shore 5 
 
 Goose Island and Sand bar. — The channel runs near the upper point 
 of the island, thence towards live N.W. shore until it passes the 
 bar 5 
 
 Mill creek, a large creek on the Virginia shore, Little Mill creek 
 
 comes in about two hundred yards beiow it 1 
 
 Two islands ai)out a half a mile above Letarl's Fall's. — The channel 
 past those islands is close lo ibe N.W. shore, thence IcwaiUs l^e 
 F f 2 
 
354 APPENDIX. 
 
 ^^oncl island imtil yov. pass it, and thence runs about one third of 
 the breadth of he river from the N.W. shore, iiiitii it passt-s the 
 Falls, In takuiiT the cliute through the Falls, observe to leave 
 oae large rock that lies under water, but makes a great ripple to 
 the riglit, and all others to the left. This channel is supposed to 
 be about eighty yards from the N.W. shore. There is another 
 about forty yards from it, but not sa good. About two miles below 
 those fal's there is a Sand-fear on the N.W. side of the river, some 
 snags below rhe bar ■ 4 
 
 West creek — Channel near the Virginia shore 4 
 
 A Ripp'e. — Channel near the middle of the river 4 
 
 Sec;>nd Ripple. — Channel N.W. shore ' 1 
 
 Sliding liiil, on the Virginia shore < 1 
 
 Slidnig-Hill creek, same shore 1 
 
 ]Vailor's Branch, or the N.W. shore 5 
 
 Leading creek, on the same shore, and a coal bank on the Virginia 
 
 shore, oppo-ite 4 
 
 Ttw Mile creek, on the Virginia shore ; this is tea miles above the 
 ' Bit! Kenhaway £ 
 
 Eight^ Mile Waild.— Channel N.W. side 2 
 
 Six Mile Islansl. — Channel on the N.W.. side, Cyger's creek on the 
 
 sani.: shore, puts in h ilf a niile below it 2 
 
 Campaign creek, so called from General Louis carrying on a cam- 
 paign into the Indian country after the battle of Pojnt Pieaiant £ 
 George's creek on tlic N.W. shore i^ 
 
 Great Kenhaway, on the Virginia shore, immediately above th« 
 
 mouth of which stands the (own of Point Pleasant. 
 Galliopolis Island. — Channel on the Virginia side, and near to the 
 island at the upper end, and near to the main shore at the lower 
 end; thence it bends over towards the town of Galliopolis. At 
 (lie lower end of the first point below Galliopolis, on the right- 
 hand, are a number of snags extending half across the river 3 
 Pirst inland below G illiopolis. — .Tlie channel past this island begins 
 in the middle of the river, between it and tlie Virginia shore, and 
 bears towards the lower point of the island. I'here are rucks and 
 snacs in the mddle, opposite the lower end of the island 7 
 A creek on the Virginia shore 7 
 A creek on the same. — .Shallow in the middle of the river. — Channel 
 
 N.W. shore 3 
 
 A R'.n ort the Virginia shore 1 
 
 A R'ui on the N.W. shore nearly 8 
 
 Little Guiandot, on thr V'irginia shore, nearly 1 
 
 The strait Ripple. — Channel near tlie Virginia shore 5 
 
 A creek on the Virginia shore ; at the mouth of this creek is Green- 
 bury botlfun Bar.— Chinnel Viriiinia shore 3 
 Guiandot, on f!i:i Virginia shore ; here is a very long, difficult, and 
 rocky ripple.— The channel begins near the Virginia shore, above 
 the mouhol Guiantiol ; continuei)-\vith it until y<> i comealnv).«t in 
 full sight ot the moutli ot it ; then lack across she river at nearly 
 right angles, tuitil it reaches near the \. W. shore, when it b^'urs 
 towards the middle ol' (he river. The npple contmucs to 3 crock, 
 <mc miic b.clow Guiandot ^3 
 
. /'■ ..APPENDIX, ;•' . " 355 
 
 Ii*3iaa creek, on't^e^.W.'slJIp? ' 3 
 
 Ten Pole Cicekjjtm^the Virginia shore 3 
 
 Twelve J^ole creek, on tlie same shore 3 
 
 Gioat SanJy River, same shore — There is a Sand-bar jnst above 
 Sandy ; Uie channel is in the m ddle ot (he river through the bar. 
 At Gre.it Sandy, the Staie of Kentucky vomniences, A considera- 
 ble seltleme.it is now formed some distance up it. I'here is a 
 lar;e ij,iithaif a mile b.ilow Great Sandy, on the Kentucky siiore 4' 
 A cieek on the Kentucky shore 4 
 
 A creek on each side of the river . 7, 
 
 A creek on the a . VV. sliore . > . 3-' 
 
 Pei<:usoirs Sand Bar. — A good channel on the N.W. shore,^he water 
 
 fr.nn this bnr to on. mile below l^ittle Sandv, is very slwllow 2 
 
 Littlo Sandy Creek. — Here keep tlie nwddle wt the river. In the N. 
 W.. rcrritory, opposite this creek, is the French settjemeut of 
 Burrsburg 5 
 
 A creek on the N.W. shore 11 
 
 Little Sciota, on the same shore — A^bar of rocks makes out at Little 
 Sciota, and ext. nds half across the river. The cliannel at (he up- 
 per end of ilie bar near Kentucky shore— at the lower end close 
 round the rocks, fhere is anoiher bar about hall a mile below, 
 •xtending more than half across the river. Oppos te to the bar, 
 ©n the Kentucky shore, the water is shallow, but there is a good 
 channel midway between the point of the bar and Kentucky 
 shore 1 
 
 Tyger's creek, on the Kentucky shore _ 4 
 
 Big Sciota River, oa the N.W. shore. , Alexandria is situated at the 
 
 naouih of this river 4 
 
 •Chillicoihe about 60 miles up this river 5 
 
 Turkey creek, on the N.W. sliore 7- 
 
 Canocoun.^que creek, on the Kentucky shore— Here is a large Sand- 
 bar or Island on the N,W. shore. Tlie chan.iel begins in the 
 middle between the island and Kentucky shore, bears a little olF 
 from the main shore round a bar at the month of the creek, then 
 turns jhort into tbo, Kentucky shore 4,0 avoid the bar of the island 
 which reaches nearly acr )ss the river, runs a little way wiih the 
 main shor-e, and then again takes the middle ol the nver, the shore, 
 being full of rocks and sunk trees. 
 Ne\t Sandbar.— Chan.ie! near the Kentucky shore. 
 Salt Lick creek, on the Kentucky shore. The best water here in the 
 middle of the river, the beach on eac'i side is ver^' rocky, but there 
 i? a good landmg in an edds, abjut 400 _yards ab(»ve the nioulh of 
 tht creek. In hitrh water the rocks and eddy (orm a whirlpool. 
 Just above and on the creek is a town called V'auceville, where 
 considerable sult-v^orks are carried on and salt ruade of a good 
 quality ^ • 5 
 
 PoiicJ Run, on the Kentucky shore ; and Stout's Run opposite it on 
 
 the N.W. shore S 
 
 Preston or Graham's Station, in what is called Kentucky's Bottom, 
 
 on tlie Kentucky shore; sntne lii uuice above this is Adam'»> Ville,^ vl^ 
 
 the county-town of Ada(u's, N.W. feljjre 4 
 
 Ykfii of the three islaads— Channel close to ihe N.W. shore S 
 
$56 APPENDIX. 
 
 mus. 
 
 Sycamore creek, on the Kentucky shore. — Channel from this creek 
 to the o!her islands, is near the N.W. sliore 2 
 
 Donals -ii's creek, on tlie N.W. shore £ 
 
 Lower end af the three islands. — Channel past the two islaiid^ is on 
 the Kentucky shore, midway between it and the islands ; alter you 
 pass them, bear towards the lower eiwl of Manchester, to avoid a 
 sand-bar that lies on the KentHck3' shore, opposite Isaac's creek, 
 which puts in a mile below. Manchester is a thrivinij and pleas- 
 antly situated towo, on the bank of the river, just at the boltum of 
 ihc three islands, and commands a charming view ot the Uhio 4 
 
 Crooked creek, on the Kentucky shore S 
 
 Cabin creek, same shore 2 
 
 William Brook's, same shore, a sand bar on the N.W. side ; best wa- 
 ter near, but not close, to the Kentucky shore 3 
 
 Limestone creek and lown of Maysville,whlch is the oldest and most 
 accustomed ianding-place in tlie whole State of Kenlucky. A'r-.he 
 navigation is very good below Limestone, there is little need of en- 
 tering into a minute detail of the islands, creeks, &c. From thence 
 down, with the exceptions already alluded to, boats may at ail 
 times pass with ease on either side of the islands, and the current, 
 if attended to, will always shew where the swiitest water is. The 
 rivers and principal places are noticed, in (-rder to mark the dist- 
 ances from place to place, except one island, and that nnt a very 
 perceiveable one, opposite Columbia, there is not anotht r until you 
 approach within twelve miles of the Kentucky River, a distance 
 Irom Limestone, of upwards of one hundred and fifty raiks, where 
 you meet with two together 3 
 
 Eagle creek. This is on the N. W, shore, and the first water of any 
 couicquence below Limestone. A little above it, on the Kentucky 
 shore, is a small town called Charleston ; opposite to which place, 
 in the middle of the river, is a large sand-bar, the chainiel past 
 which, is on the Kentucky shore , 7 
 
 Bracken creek, on the Kentucky shore, and gives name to the county 
 through which it runs : The county town is ti\ed at the mouih of 
 it, on an extensive bottom and very handsome situation ; it is, a3 
 yei, small, being very recently laid out — Augusta is the name 
 given it 11 
 
 Little Miami, onthe N.W. shore, just below thejunction of this stream 
 with the Oiho, is the town of Columbia 48 
 
 lacking River, Kentucky shore. A large s'reani, and navigable a 
 considerable way up it. The town of Newport is situated at the 
 point formed by the junction of this river with theO.'iio 5 
 
 Cmciunali. — Which town is op[)osite the mouth of Licking, on the 
 N.W. shore. 
 
 Miami river, IV.W. shore. — This is a fine river ; its navigation, as 
 well as that of Sciota and Mii>kingum, approaching very near to 
 the navigable waters of the lakes 21 
 
 Big-Bouc Lick 38 
 
 Kentucky River. - This river gives name to the State it inter.srcts ; 
 (lows in innumerable mtauderinLS, through, perhaps, the most ex- 
 tensive bod^' of good land in the world, li is navigable for load- 
 ed boats, during a considerable part of the year, for upwards of a 
 
APPENDIX, 337 
 
 MiUs, 
 fenndred and fifty miles. There is a town on one side of the mouth, 
 called Williaiiisport, and another.on the other side, both of them 
 small at present, but they have a good prospect of deriving, «t a 
 future day, considerable importance from the growing navigation of 
 the Kentucky 44 
 
 The Falls of Ohio.— The rapids situated in 38 degrees 8 minutes N. 
 latitude, and are occasioned by a ledge of rocks which extend quite 
 across the river 77 
 
 The Town of Louisville.— As the rapids, is situated on Bear-grass 
 creek, on a high and level bank of the Ohio, about two hundred 
 poles above the commencement of the rapid descent of the water. 
 
 Salt River, enters on Kentucky shore 25 
 
 Blue River, on N.W. shore — Immediately above the mouth of this 
 river are two islands. — Channel past the first ou the Kentuckj 
 side, past the second on N.W. side 67 
 
 A River, below Blue River, N.W. side, about 20 
 
 Harden's creek, Kentucky shore 10 
 
 Yellovv-Baiik Creek. — About three miles above this creek are two 
 islands. — Cliannel, Kentucky side ; four miles below are two isl- 
 ands, five miles below are two more islands, keep S. side. Between 
 Harden's creek and Yellow-Bank creek, the low-lands commence. 
 The hilis which hii^her up the river are uniformly to be met with; 
 either on one side or the other, now entirely disappear ; and there 
 is nothing to be seen on either hand, but an extensive level country 60 
 
 Green River, a large water of Kentucky, one mile below is an island j 
 keep Kentucky side Sp-- 
 
 Red Bank. — At this place, which is included in Henderson's grant of 
 two hundred thousand acres, a town is laid otf, called Henderson 
 
 ' — Owiuj, to a remarkable bend in the river, though the distance 
 from the mouth of Green River to this place by water is twenty five 
 miles, by land it is called eight. Two, below Henderson is an inland 
 —Channel N.W, .Mde ; a large bar extends above the head of ihis 
 island, the cliaunel, after you clear this bar, is near the island, to 
 avoi.l H bar which j»ut8 out from the t'hore to your right, extending 
 a considerable distance down the river §5 
 
 Diamond Island. — This island contains several thousand acres of ex- 
 cellent land. About twenty-seven miles below this, and eighteen 
 above the month of Wabash, are two islands near together, the 
 passdije by which is dangerous at low water. — Channel is on the N. 
 W. side ')f the upper one, and then takes through between it and 
 (he other island 15 
 
 Wabash River, enters on the N.W. side. This is one of the most 
 considerable rivers between Pilt>hurg and the mouth of Ohio, is 
 four hundred yards across it^ mouth, and interlocks with liie waters 
 tributary to the lakes 4.5 
 
 Saline, a Salt creek, N W. side 18 
 
 TlieCave in Rock, N.W. side. — This cavern presents itself to view 
 a little above the level ol the waier when hiyh, and close to the 
 bank of the river, a fttle darkened by the shade of some treea 
 standing before its mouth 4 
 
 A creek, Kentucky side 18 
 
 Trade water, Kentucky $id« 16 
 
35S APPENDIX, 
 
 Cumberland River, Kentucky side ; opposite the raouth of this river 
 is an island.— Channel N.W. side. Cumberland rises in mountains 
 of the same name, navigable ap to jMashville, in Tena'see 39 
 
 Tenassee River. This is fhe largest river that empties into the Oliio- " 
 is navigable as Jar as the mascle .vliuals, which are about two hund- 
 red and filty miles ironi its moulh, above these, it is again navigable 
 near the same distance 11 
 
 Port Massack. About six miles below this is the head of a big sand- 
 bar in (he middle of the river, channel N.W. side IS 
 
 Little Chain of Rocks 2 
 
 WilkinsonviJle, formerly called Cedar Bluffs. — Channel three-fourths 
 over froni N.W. shore 9 
 
 Big Ciiain of Rocks. This is a bid of rocks running across the river 
 in a direct line.— Channel three-fourths o'ver from N.W. shore until 
 you are past the two last rocks in tlie middle of the river, thence 
 to the N.W. shore to avoid a sand-bar just below 4s 
 
 Gassavvay creek and Island. — Channel on the N.W. side, about half- 
 way between the island and shore; about one mile above this 
 island keep in the middle of the river, until witiiin a smsil diitaaca 
 of its point 7 
 
 Moulh oi Ohio 7 
 
 MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 I now cominence tit;; navigaiion of the IMississInihi. from tKe Tnbiith of 
 Oino downward, taking notice of the Rivers, Creeks, Bayeaus, 
 Forts. Towns, Settlements, &c. the Islands, Sand-Bars and the 
 channel of the River, from the latter river to the oily of New-Or- 
 leans, thenee to the raouth of the former. 
 
 I have distinguished the principal Islands by numbers. 
 
 Island No. 1, below the raouth of Ohio. It lies close to the S. side 
 of the River, but must be passed on the N. side. Fort Jefferson 
 stands at the- mouth of INIayiield creek, opposite the island, S. side i 
 
 Kos. 2, 3, 4, these arc pretty close together ; raa^ pass on either side 
 in high water, in low N. side 10 
 
 Iron Banks ; lirst bluff, South side, keep close to the banks until vou 
 are past 2 
 
 Wolf Island, No. !y, this is a large island, and at the upper end a 
 sand-bar extends towards the S. shore, must hutr S. sliore in low 
 water ; when high, the bar can be passed over without danger, S. 
 side of this island is three miles nearcsi, pass on either 2 
 
 Chalk Banks, are opposite Wolf Island, and two miles below, a sand- 
 bar extends two hundred yards from South shore, at low water 
 keep to tlie North, oc right of the bar. 
 
 Island N. 6, lies nearest tiie North side. — Channel S. side, Bayeau 
 de She is opposite No. 6 4 
 
 No. 7, is a willow island,— Channel South side, and No. 8, begins 
 immediately bt.l.)w No. 7, in low water.— Channel North side, may 
 go either in high or low 4 
 
 No. 9, lies ou S. side. North cbaaael Vest ) and about three m'lies bc" 
 
APPENDIX. 305 
 
 Milrs. 
 Uv is No. 10, nearest S. sliore, here the river turns to the right, 
 and a bar puis out from North side. — Chauiiel close to South side, 
 until yovL are near the upper point ot the island, thence to the 
 North side, between it and the bar Ai 
 
 Kevv Madrid, or Lance le Grass, West side 12 
 
 l^'o. 1 1, lies on the North side, passit on the S. ,4 
 
 No. 12, is close on the South side, pass it on North, three miles down 
 is a sand-bar. — Channel good on either side ft 
 
 No. IS, near South side ; passit on the North ; immediately below 
 is No. 14, on North sidei and Jiere is a cluster of small willow isl- 
 ands ; pass on the South 6 
 
 No. 16, on South side, pass it oh the North ; just below this, is a 
 small settlement 5 
 
 No. 16, North side, and on the South is No. I7, pass both on the 
 South when the water is. low. No. 18, is near two n)iles below, ou 
 the North side. No. 19, is nearly' opposite on South side — best 
 channel between them. No. ^'), is a little below, pass it on the 
 'North. No. 21, is nearl}' opposite lower point of No. 20, pass 
 North side m low water. Nos. 22, '23, 24, are all in sight of each 
 other, and just below No. 21, pass No, 24, on North side, a Uttle 
 below tlic last island 5 
 
 A Bayean sixty yards wide makes its appearance, just below is a 
 cluster of small islands : pass on the S. 40 
 
 N 0. 25, is in the middle of the river, which is straight for several miles 
 down 8 
 
 No. 26, 27, pass both on North side 5 
 
 !No. 28, pass on South side, No. 29, pass on North siale, No. 30, pass 
 
 on North side, No. 31, channel good on either side, No. 32, is two 
 
 Tuiles below, close to the North shore ; pass it on the South shore. 
 
 ■Island No. 33, in llie middle of the river ; may pass ou either side, 
 
 river winds to the light. 
 '^^Chickasaw Bluff, Upper, South side ; commence just below. No. 33, 
 keep close to the Bluff i 
 
 No. 34, middle of river, pass on either side ; close by are two small 
 islands, pass on South side 3 
 
 Chickasaw Bluff, second, South side ; the river turns to the right, 
 keep pretty close lo the bluff', after you pass it, pull over to the 
 South shore, and pass No. 35, three jniles below the bluff', on the 
 South side : in very low water, however. North channel is deepest. 
 No. 36, is near North shore, channel crooked, narrow, and full. of 
 iawyers ; keep a good look out, and with timely exertion, you can 
 pass without danger 6 
 
 Chickasaw BlulF, third, S. side, and Fort, may keep close to the bluff, 
 river narrow, and winds to the right 11 
 
 No. 37, is two miles below ; best channel South side ; here »ire some 
 outlets, keep pretlv close to No. 37, when lugh water. 
 
 No. 38, is five miies below, near South shove. 
 
 'Ko. 39, is a little above, near North shore, best channel between 
 ! tlicm, tliose two islands lie in a large bend of the river. 
 
 No. 40, is three miles below, nearest South shore ; pass it on the 
 
 it North side. 
 
 One mile below is No. 41, it re a small willow LlAini ; bfst cJiaimel 
 SoiUh hide. 
 
350 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mm 
 
 About three and a half miles below are four islands. Nos. 4?, 43, 
 44, 45 5 befct channel between the two Jjing nearest the North 
 shore, leaving the first to the left. 
 
 Wolf River, S. side, one mile below four islands. Fort Pickering is 
 • contigious to, and below tlffe' mouth of this river, and about two 
 miles below Pickering, is another fort, erected bj Capt. Pike 1( 
 
 Opposite the mouth of Wolf River, is an old Spanish garrison. 
 
 Half a mile below Capt. Pike's post, is No. 46, nearest South shore, 
 S. passage best. 
 
 l\o 4.-J, is nearly opposite, on North side, in high water may pass 
 between them, in low take North passage of both. 
 
 Nos. 48, 49, are in sight. North passage of both is best. 
 
 N. 50, two miles, South passage ; a sand-bar two and a half milesj 
 middle of river. Souili side.in low water. 
 
 lS"o. 51, two miles, middle of river, is large ; pass it on either side. 
 
 No. 52, four and a half miles. North shore ; pass on S. side ; between 
 the two last is a small one, which pass on the North. 
 
 No, 53, or Council Island, one and a half miles ; river turns to the 
 left. — Channel good on either side, S. much nearer. 
 
 No. 54, is five and a half miles, nearest South shore, North passage 
 best. 
 
 No. 55, is just below. North sjde ; South channel safest. 
 
 No. 56, is two and a half miles, near S. shore, and has an appear- 
 ance of three. islands connected ; take North channel. 
 
 No. 57, three miles, and just below it is 
 
 No. 58, North passage of both is best. 
 
 No. 59, in middle of river, four miles ; pass on either side, here St. 
 Francis River enters on >.orlh side, and is about three hundred 
 yards wide at its mouth, and navigable for two hundred miles up- 
 wards. About four miles below is a handsome prairie. 
 
 No. 60, two miles, middle of river. — Channel good on either tide ; 
 in very low water, South side safest. 
 
 No. 61, twenty miles, close to S. shore. North channel best, a willow 
 island on each side. 
 
 No. 62, two hundred and twelve miles, close to North .shore, some 
 cotton wood on it. 
 
 No. 63, is a little below, ncnr middle of River, is large, either side 
 good, between them nearest, and generally preferred j here th« 
 river is very wide, extending either way. 
 
 No. 64, four miles, near North side. South passage best. 
 
 No. 65, is three and a half miles, on North side, in a bend, South 
 channel best ; from here a little island is seen rather above No. 6b. 
 
 No. 66, is three and a half miles below, lies on North shore, is large, 
 full of cotton wood and willows ; on the South are seen more small 
 islands, wliich are covere<i with drift-wo©d, pass all those on South 
 channel. 
 Nos. 67, 68, are six miles, these may be called the Two Brothers, 
 Ihey stand opposite each other, the cue on the North, the oilicr on 
 the'South side of river, in low water N. passage best, when water 
 is high, may go b(!tween them. ; 
 
 No. 69, i- three miles, small on N. side, S. passage at sll tiroes. 
 Ni». 7O, is lour attd a half miles, on S. shore, sniaU, tyic N^ passage 
 
A!>PENDlX. b€i 
 
 II Miles, 
 
 No. ^1, Is large, just below, near N. side ; S. channel safest. About 
 five miles a creek enters from N. side, 
 
 No. 72, is about five miles below the month of the creek, lying close 
 to North side, passage on South side, opposite No. yg. 
 
 White River, N. side, below St. Francis, and opposite upper end of 
 No. 7^ ^ 128 
 
 At the mouth of the fiver is a good landing, boats may moore m safe- 
 ty. This river is navigable two hundred miles up, winds through 
 a fertile and delightful country ; it is about thirty-five miles from 
 the mouth of the river to the post of Ozark, on the Arkansas river. 
 
 The best and nearest foute is to go up White River about four miles* 
 then across to the Arkansas, and keep up it about thirty miles, 
 when you arrive at the Ozark Village ; this route is nearer by six.- 
 
 • teen miles than that up the Arkansas. 
 
 No. 73, h four miles below White River, lies close to North shore, 
 pass it on the S. 
 
 No. 74, 6 & 1-2 miles, a large willow island close to North shore ; 
 in high water it is cut into several small ones, take S. passage. 
 From White River to tlie mouth of the Arkansas, North side •. 20 
 
 This river is said to be navigable about eight hundred njiles up, and 
 is culled by some, Ozark River. 
 
 No. 7.5, is four miles below the Arkansas.— -Best channel North sude. 
 
 No. 76, ten miles below it, is large, middle of river.— Channel good 
 on both sides ; you see a small island close to North shore, pass it 
 on the South, and lour miles below the river is very wide, a sand- 
 bar appears in a very low state of the water, may pass on either 
 side. , ^ 
 
 No. 77, is large, seven miles below, close to South shore.— N. chan- 
 nel best, river turns to the left, opposite the island is a cypress 
 ,bend on North side. 
 
 No. 78, is four miles, close to North shore, take S. passage. North ik 
 closed up. 
 
 No. 79, about a mile, is large, and .to the North you will see fouc 
 small islands* pass between them and No. 79, or otherwise South 
 of 79, leaving a small island to your left, lying close to the South 
 
 J shore. 
 
 Ko. 60, is large] four tniles, lies cld^e to North shore j a little belov? 
 it on S. side is No. 81, — pass both on S. side. 
 
 No, 82, is nine miles. North side ; South channel best. 
 
 No. 83, about nine miles, is large, in a bend, river winds to the right * 
 tal' North channel. 
 
 No, 84, is 4 & 1-2 miles. South shore ; North passage best. 
 
 No. 85, about eleven miles, lies close to North shore, oii a point, is 
 covered with willows ; South channel best. 
 
 No^ 86, and 87, are seven miles, middle of rivt^ ; either side of 
 these channels is good — don't go between them. 
 
 No. 88, is two miles below, on South shore, is large ; North <;hannel 
 
 , best. 
 
 No. 89, about five miles further down. — Channel S. sid^. 
 
 About 1 & 1-2 mile below No. 89, and 90, below Ozark, is Grand 
 Lake, North side ; this was formerly the bed of the river, cow 
 filled with willow trees. 
 
,m APPENDIX; 
 
 >Seary's Island, which we will call No. 90, is on the South side, in the 
 old bed of the river, pass it .on the North, the present channel. 
 
 No. 91, near five miles, near the middle of the river. — Channel safe 
 either side. 
 
 No. 92, about .seven miles, is large, nearest North shtjre. — In low 
 water, South channel best. 
 'Ko. 93, is four miles, when water is high, eiiher side will do, when 
 low, South best — Here the river is straight for several miles, and 
 has a beautiful appearance. 
 
 No, 94, about seven miles below, is small, middle of river.— Either 
 channel good t)y kt^ping close to the bank of the river. 
 
 No. 95, is 6 & 1-2 miles, on North side. — South channel best ; there 
 is a small island close to 95, on the South, pass it on the South. 
 
 No. 96, is nine miles below, lies near South shore, leave it to the leff. 
 
 No. 97, two miles. South side ; North passage best. — ^This island ap- 
 pears as if divided in Uvo. 
 
 No. 98, is about seven miles, is large, middle of river ; may pass on 
 either side. 
 
 No, 99, lies nearly opposite No. 98, on Nojth shore; go between 
 them. 
 
 "No. 100, about fourteen miles, is large, full of cotton wooB, neai: 
 Nprll) shore ; South channel safest. 
 
 No. 101, is four miles. South shore, and nearly opposite is 
 
 No. 102, North passage is said to be the safest in low water 
 
 No. 103, about eleven miles. North shore j North channel goodi 
 
 Four miles below enters the 
 
 Yazous River, South side. — This is a handsome river; rises in the 
 country of the Chickasaws,ruiv> through the State of Georgia, and 
 jails into the Miss-issippi in aS.ty W. direction ; computed to be 
 four hundred miles above New Orleans ; and is navigable one 
 hundred miles upwards. The lands on this river are famous for 
 having been the object of a deep speculation of the Legislature of 
 the State of Geogja ; who passed a law for the sale of large bodies 
 of those lands, on principles, which were proved to the satisfaction 
 of the following legislature, the most unprecedented, and villain- 
 ous ; and who, to shew their pointed disapprobation, enacted. 
 That the said law is null, void and of no etFect ; and that all re- 
 cords relating thereto, be consumed by fire 9S 
 
 Thirteen miles below are the Walnut Hills, and Fort M 'Henry. — 
 
 The Fort is on a beautiful eminence, on the South side of the river, 
 commanding a handsome view of it, and the adjacent country for 
 several miles around 1-f 
 
 No. 104, is eleven miles below the Walnut Hills, South shore, pass 
 it on the North. 
 
 No. 105, four miles, near North shore.— Chartnel South side. 
 
 No. 106, is about four miles, is large, lies nearest South shore ; may 
 pa6S on either side. 
 
 No. IO7, two miles, near middle of river; chher channel good. 
 
 No. 108, two miles, near South shore ; North passage preferred at j 
 low water. 
 
 No. 109, three miles, is small, cbse to South shore ; N. passage best | 
 iSt all times. 
 
 Nov 110, sevea miles, is large, near North side ; in low water Soutb 
 
APPENDIX. S6S 
 
 ehannel best. 
 
 Six miles below. Big Black Creek enters from South side. 
 
 Grand Gulf, river very wide "1 
 
 Bateau Pierre, — the residence of Col. Bruin is a short distance be- 
 low, on South side. 
 
 Petite Gulf a 
 
 No. 113, is about 1 & 1-2 mile, is large, close to North shore ; South 
 channel best. 
 
 No, 112, is seven miles below, lies in abend, on North side ; and 
 opposite it, on South side is 
 
 No. 1 13 ; this is a large island ; in low water the channel between 
 them is ^a(est. About six miles. 
 
 Cole's Creek, empties on South side 15 
 
 No. 114, about nine miles, nearest South shore ; pass in the North 
 channel. About 13 miles below you see the city of Natchez, in 
 the Mississippi territory 22 . 
 
 Island 115, is about seven miles below Natchez ; it is large nearthe 
 middle of the river ; in high water either side may be passed, 
 ■when low take the West passage. About ten miles below No. 115. ■. 
 
 St, Catharine Creek enters on the East side ^^' 
 
 White Cliffs, East side. . 1 
 
 About SIX miles below tliese are Nos. 116 and ll7, between which 
 you may pass in h.gh water, but in low take the East side. 
 
 No. 118, is near twelve mtles lower down, lying near the West shore, 
 13 but small ; take the East passage. 
 
 Homochitto, 2 6c 1-2 miles below No. 118. This river empties in from 
 the East side, is but small. 
 
 Buffaloe Creek, East side 10 
 
 Loftus's Heights and Fort Adams, East side. A few troops are kept 
 here by the United States 4 
 
 Line of Demarkation between the United States and Spain, in lat. 
 31, N. 5 
 
 Tied River, or Riviere Rouge, West side 1(). 
 
 ChalFalio, an outlet or bayeau. This current runs out on the West 
 side, in a considerable bend of the river ; to avoid being sucked, 
 into it you must keep near the mid ile of the river 5 
 
 Islands, Nos. 119 and 120, are about ciglit miles below ; one to the 
 ri^ht, the other to the left ; may go between them in high water, 
 but in low take the East side of both ; vou will see No. 121 lying 
 close to the West shore, and these threa islands are frequently call- 
 ed the Three Sisters. 
 
 Bayeau Tunica, below ChalTalio. On this ctr^am are considerable 
 settlements, cotton farms, &c. 45 
 
 AboTit SIX miles below, is island, No. 122, near the middle of the 
 river ; may pass on either side. 
 
 Tunica Villages, East side. — A little abj?ye these villages the river 
 forms almost a complete circle, leaving a liarrow peninsula of a- 
 bout o-ie mile and a half across, which if cut through, a distance 
 of nearly thirty miles would be saved 10 
 
 Pointe Coupee Church. West side 1% 
 
 Bayeau Sara, the stream is on the East side ; and about nine miles up 
 % is a fm.e settlement, in whiyh resides David Bradford, Esq. 
 
5^4 APPENDIX. 
 
 JVfi/cs, 
 formerly of Washington 15 
 
 Opposite Bayeau Sara, is island No. 123. — Channel East side. 
 Pointe Coupee, or Point Cut-off, West side. — Some Canadian trad- 
 ers, a few years sirijce, cut through a neck of land, by which the 
 distance was shortened about forty-five miles. The old bed is now 
 called Fausse Riviere, and on which is a considerable settlement 5 
 Thompson's Creek, East side, — On this creek are fine cotton planta- 
 tions, whose soil is remarkably rich 3 
 Chffs, — and about tour miles below these, are ' 52, 
 ^os. V24i snd 125, which are larjje, and near the middle of the river, 
 
 the one a little below the other. East side. 
 Baton Rouge, below the Cliffs '28 
 
 Bayeau Manhae, East side 15 
 
 Bayeau Plaqueraine, this outlet is large, and runs out from the West 
 
 side ■ a 
 
 ;^Ianhae Church, East bank of the liver 10 
 
 Baylay's, a noted cotton planter. West side 4 
 
 About seven miles below Baylay's, is island No. 126, lying nearest 
 
 Westshore.— Channel East side. 
 Bayeau de la Fourche, West side 9 
 
 i)e la Fourche Gharch, same side 1 
 
 Arnold's, a noted sugar pUntpr 5 
 
 Baronge's, another noted sugar planter. East side, whose seat is said 
 
 to be the handsomest on the river " 6 
 
 Contrelle Church, West side • 5 
 
 Bona Cara Church, West side 18 
 
 3Red Church, East side 18 
 
 Torteus's a sugar planter. East sid^ 15 
 
 The Orange Grove, East side 12 
 
 Ciiy of New Orleans, East side "3 
 
 English Bend, below New Orleans • I7 
 
 Fort Placquemines 48 
 
 From thence to the Passes of the Mississippi, is about 24: 
 
 Here the river branches out in three parts, which are called the 
 
 Passes. 
 Mouths of the Mississipi 19 
 
 Note. — The navigator will observe, that from below Natchez, we have 
 called the left hand side of the river, in descending, the East side, and 
 the right the West,— -The course of the livcr from Natchez, downwards 
 is generally ^ S. E. direction ; thus, the side that we have hitherto 
 called the South, now becomes nearly the N. E. 
 
 Boats des'ined for the Mississippi, should, as I observed in tlie intro- 
 duction to the Ohio navigation, in every respect be stronger and better 
 roofed than those intended for the Ohio only ;— the Mississippi being of 
 much heavier and stronger current, and presenting by far the most ob- 
 stacles and dangers in the way of the boat. 
 The most imminent of those dangers, are^ 
 First. The instability of the banks. 
 
 Second. Current, rushing out of the river in a state of its high 
 ^arater ; — and 
 
 Third. Planters, sawyers, and wooden islands, 
 
 "We shall endeavour to instruct the unexperienced navigator hov/ to 
 
APPENDIX. 3<>5 
 
 avoid tkc^ra. the instability of the banks proceeds from their being, 
 composed of a loose sandy soil ; and (he impetuosity of the currcut 
 against their prominent parts (points) which, by undermniing thcni un- 
 ceasingly, causes them to tumble into the river, taking with llicm every 
 thing that m&y be above. And if, when llie event happciis, boats should 
 be moored there, they must necessarily be buried in the comniou ruin, 
 which unforninately has been several times the case. 
 
 For which reason, navigators have made it an inTariable rule never to 
 land at or near a point, but always in the sinuosity or cave below it, 
 which is generally lined with small willows, oi tlie weeping species, 
 whence some call "ihem, although improperly, willow points ; and which, 
 beini; generally clear of logs and planters, the landing is easily eftected, 
 by running directly into them, the resistance of the willows destroying a 
 part of the boat's Velocity, and the rest is overcome without much exer- 
 tion, by holding fast to the limbs which surround you. 
 
 The banks of this river, liom where it receives the Messauri to its 
 ninuth, being, with a lew exceptions, below high water mark, an immense 
 country is inundated, when the river is in its highest state, by which 
 those extensive swamps are formed and supplied, that prove the nurse- 
 ries of myriads of mus(>iel<jes and other insects (to lio small inconven- 
 ience of tlie traveller^ and the never tailing source ol grievous diseases 
 to the inhabitants. There are also streams, which ai all times sally forth 
 from the main river with astonishing rapidity, and whose vortex extends 
 some distance into the stream. Boats once sucked into such a bayeau 
 are iiext to lost, it being almost impossible to tbrce so unwit Idly a niii- 
 chine, as a flat biittomed boat, against so powerful a CTirrent. It will, 
 therefore, be safest for boats never to keej) too close to the shore, but to 
 kceji some distance out in the river. To avoid planters and sawyers 
 requires nothing more than attention, for they always occasion a small 
 breaker wherever ihey are, and if your boat seems to be hurried towards 
 ,fhem, you must, the moment you perceive tlrem, row the boai from them, 
 else if you be dilatory you must abide by the consequence. 
 
 Wooden islands are more dangerous than i^al ones, lound along litnft 
 ago — the lormer oeing an obstacle lately thrown in the \j'ay of the cur- 
 vent, and the bed of the river not having luid sufficient time to lorm that 
 bar or gradual ascent from the bottom of the river to the island, which 
 divides the current at some distance from the point ol the island above 
 water, the current will hurry ^((ii against them, unless you use timely 
 exertions ; from ail this, it must be evident, how imprudent it is attomp- 
 ing to go in the night, even when assiaed by a clear moon ; but after 
 you are once arrived at Naicliez, you may safely proceed day and ni"ht, 
 the river from that place to its mouth being clear, and opposing nothing 
 to your progress, but a few eddies, into which you may occasionally be 
 drawn and detained tor a short time. 
 
 - Planters arc large bodies of trees firmly fixed by their roots in the 
 bottom of the river, in a per|)€ndicular manner, and appawirig no more 
 than about a loot above the surface of the water in its middl-n-r slat- • 
 so firmly are they rooted, that the largeM boat running againn tl^em w'il! 
 Hot move them, but they frequently in;ure the boat. 
 
 Sawyers are likewise bodies ot iVees fixed less perpendicularly in f:iie 
 mer, and rather ot a less size,yieldmg lo the pressure ol the current 
 disappearing and appealing by turns above water, similar to the malion- 
 Tl a ^P->Y-m]ll saw, Irotn \vhich Ihey have taken their uarae. 
 
see - APPENDIX. 
 
 Wooden Islands, are places, wlicre, bj some cause or other, largc^ 
 {quantities of driit wood, have, throujih time, been arrested and matted 
 togeU'er in different parts of the river. 
 
 In those places the river generally deposits the surplus of soil, with 
 which it n. charged from the contnuial carryings of the points, and so 
 forms new land on one side by destro^'ing some on the other. 
 
 On comparing the American <.:otton- wood tree, (which grows in large 
 quantities on the banks of (his river) with the Lombardy Poplar, they 
 have been found to be the same, although some doubt thei' identity. 
 
 In the Mississippi, from below ihe mouih of the Ohio, there are up- 
 wards of three hundred islands, all ot which arc easily avoided; b^ 
 keeping a geod look out. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 
a