volume iii, p. 33 and note 15.--ED.

After breakfast we entered into an agreement with Messrs. Knox and Pemberton, of Wheeling, for the conveyance of ourselves and luggage to Louisville, in Kentucky, 600 miles, for 50 dollars, on condition we should help to navigate the boat down the river. We hired a horse and dray, for a dollar and {75} a half, to convey our luggage on board, and paid one dollar for the room where our goods were lodged. We laid in some provisions for our voyage, as we expected to sail in the afternoon, but a thunder storm coming on, we stopped till the next morning: we slept in the ark or flat boat. There were twelve tons of store-goods, for Cincinnatti and Louisville, besides our luggage of about three tons. The ark was about 36 feet long and 10 feet wide, with a fire-place in the centre; it was covered with boards, as a protection from the weather.

Wheeling is a thriving place, with some iron-works. As the national road is to terminate at this place, it bids fair to rival Pittsburg in the trade of the western country. In a dry time it has greatly the advantage of Pittsburg, being nearly a 100 miles lower down, and below the shallowest parts of the Ohio. At any rate, the great road for all the western country, crossing the Ohio at this place, will always add much to its importance. The country round {76} Wheeling is very fine, and I have seen no part of America I should like better than the valley above it. But all the land is taken up, and sells for a high price; and, what is still worse, it is situated in a slave-state, where every thing is done by the negroes, while the whites look on.

8th. At break of day we sailed, or rather floated, from Wheeling; Mr. Pemberton went part of the way with us, and a Mr. Ferris had the charge of the boat and the store-goods: these two gentlemen boarded with us. The wind being against us, we made but little progress, although we rowed the greater part of the day. We passed several islands in the river: the banks were steep and high, the country very hilly, and mostly covered with timber; the flats of the river generally cleared, and planted with Indian corn. The land would be too rich for wheat, were it not flooded in the winter and spring. We passed many small cabins, several of them were on the banks. We only advanced 20 miles this day, {77} and anchored on the Ohio side: the right, or north-west side of the river, is the state of Ohio; the state of Virginia lies on the left, or south-east side. The weather very warm.

9th. The land much as yesterday, except that the hills lay farther back. In the evening we anchored on the same side, 46 miles from Wheeling. We landed, and went to a cabin for some milk, where we purchased five chickens for fifty cents.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[109] For further information on this point, see Flint's _Letters_,