volume ix of our series, note 128.--ED.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[127] For the early history of Shippingport, consult Cuming's _Tour_,