ACCOUNT or THE VALLEY OF THE OHIO. 1S5 



produced by combinino; two propoitions in the same deline- 

 ation, it is supeifluous for nio to apprise you. 



You arc, Sir, already apprised, from personal observation, 

 that the alluvial formation of which I have heie given you 

 the profile, is divided near its middle by the Ohio river, and 

 extends about a mile from either shore, exclusively of the 

 valley of Licking; river to the south, and that of Mill creek 

 to the noi th-west. When viewed from any of the surround- 

 ing hills, this hollow, or expansion, appears nearly of a 

 rhomboidal figure, and its area is equal, by estimation, to 

 eight square miles, i have seen several places, particularly 

 at the junction of other rivprs with tlie Ohio, where its val- 

 ley is dilated to the same extent ; but, in general, it does not 

 exceed half tliis widtli; and the current, instead of traversing 

 the alluvial grounds in the centre, meanders frotn side to 

 side, alteriiately approaching the hills of Ohio and Kentucky. 

 Thus the earthy j)lains of one side are generally opposed to 

 the rocky slopes of the other. Many of the former (in our 

 provincial dialect termed bottoms) arc so low as to suffer 

 frequent inundation ; but at Cincinnati and various other 

 places, some of them rise fifty or even a hundred feet above 

 the highest level of the river. The ascent to this elevation 

 is generally over two or three successive terraces, mounting 

 between twenty and fifty feet above each other, so as to ex- 

 hibit, when viewed from tlie stream, the elevations of a vast 

 amphitlieatre. The alluvial platforms along many of the 

 smaller rivers on the north side of the Ohio, are arranged 

 on the same plan ; but the ascent from one to the other is 

 generally less than that stated for tlie principal valley. Very 

 few of the slopes, or taluse.t, which we see in descending the 

 Ohio, are entirely covered with vegetables, and most of 

 them, towards their summits, exhibit naked perpendicular 

 cliffs, which are yet suffering disintegration, and sufficiently 

 indicate, that the last retreat of the sea was not at a verjf re- 

 mote period. From an inspection of these precipices, and of 

 the strata which are exposed to view in the bed of tlie river 

 at low water, it appears probable that the fleets shell limestone 



