258 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



so far have been made by Europeans in the actual 

 western country are confined almost wholly to the 

 south and east sides of the Ohio. Beyond, that is to 

 say on the northern and western banks of the Ohio 

 and the Alleghany, and as far as the neighborhood of 

 the Canadian lakes, the Mississippi, and the Illinois, 

 there are (or were) no fixed establishments as yet. 

 All that country is still regarded as in the possession 

 of several Indian nations, and as such is stubbornly 

 claimed by them and murderously defended against 

 any actual or prospective encroachments. They were 

 willing to sell absolutely none of this land, so as to 

 preserve their hunting range from any further cur- 

 tailment than is already the case.* The land lying to 



Lake Michigan 10,368,000. The total of the waters found 

 within the limits of the 13 United States amounts to 7,960,000 

 acres, therefore the total water surface of the country is 

 51,000,000 acres. Lake Ontario alone contains 2,390,000 acres. 

 Hamb. Polit. Journal, October, 1786. An acre of land contains 

 43,600 English feet in the square. An English square mile 640 

 English acres. 



* However, at the time of my visit there were already sev- 

 eral land-surveyors at Pittsburg who were making prepara- 

 tions to go down the river in order to take up land partly on 

 the east side of the Ohio, and partly on the west or Indian 

 side. Their business is to seek out good land at the expense 

 of adventuring companies, survey it, mark the lines, and make 

 notes. These companies or private speculators buy the land 

 of the state of Virginia, expecting to sell it or lease it to in- 

 dividuals. The land-surveyor has his travelling expenses paid, 

 and receives besides a certain portion of the land surveyed. 

 Mr. Van Deering has commissions to survey 300,000 acres, of 

 which, as he says, 6000 fall to him. All who go out surveying 

 or looking for land on the west side of the Ohio must be care- 

 ful to avoid meeting any Indians, who forbid absolutely all 

 land-surveying on this side, and would kill any one they found 



