PART III.] JOURNAL. 457 



soil, and beauty upon the face of it, from one 

 end to the other. The ridges of mountains 

 called the Allegany, and forming the highest 

 land in North America between the Atlantic 

 and Pacific oceans, begin here and extend 

 across our route nearly 100 miles, or, rather, 

 three days, for it was no less than half the 

 journey to travel over them; they rise one 

 above the other as we proceed Westward, till 

 we reach the Allegany, the last and most lofty 

 of all, from which we have a view to the West 

 farther than the eye can carry. I can say 

 nothing in commendation of the road over 

 these mountains, but T must admire the drivers, 

 and their excellent horses. The road is every 

 thing that is bad, but the skill of the drivers, 

 and the well constructed vehicles, and the capi 

 tal old English horses, overcome every thing. 

 We were rather singularly fortunate in not 

 breaking down or upsetting ; T certainly should 

 not have been surprized if the -whole thing, 

 horses and all, had gone off the road and been 

 dashed to pieces. A new road is making, how 

 ever, and when that is completed, the journey 

 will be shorter in point of time, just one half. 

 A fine even country we get into immediately 

 on descending the Allegany, wilfe very little 

 appearance of uneven-ness or of barrenness all 

 the way to Pittsburgh; the evidence of good 



