WET AND WEARY. G3 



set off along the canal tliat goes to Portsmouth, on the 

 river Ohio, intending to visit my fellow passenger by 

 the " Constitution," the apothecary Vogel, ut the village 

 of Canton. I shot several wild-fowl and a few hares 

 as I went along, and found a hed at a New Englander's, 

 who gave me a hospitable reception. I was much 

 amused by a little German maid, who had only lately 

 left her home, and understood very little English, but 

 as she spoke Low German, they managed to make out 

 what each party wanted ; they had a great regard for 

 her, as she was very industrious. 



It was the 17th of November when I arrived at the 

 agreeable little town of Canton, situated in the middle 

 of the forest. Some of the buildings were in very 

 good taste. My friend was not here, and I learned that 

 he lived in Cincinnati ; so I decided on seeking him 

 there, and, having nothing to detain me in Canton, I 

 set off again the same evening. 



Ohio is very extensively cultivated, and the journey 

 through such a succession of fields was rather mono- 

 tonous; there was a farm-house to be seen nearly every 

 half hour, yet here and there was a pretty bit of forest, 

 as I found rather too soon. About a hundred miles 

 from Cincinnati I was overtaken one evening by a 

 heavy penetrating rain, and was soon wet through 

 and through. I \v;is anxious to find shelter, and was 

 travelling a well-frequented road, when all at once it 

 divided into three; I chose the most beaten, and 

 pushed on through mud and mire, till I came to a 

 wood, where all further traces of a road vanished, 

 leaving me cold and wet in the forest. A lire was out 

 of the question. I was not inclined to return, as the 



