RIVERS. 47 



miles, in a direct line, from lake Erie. The ponds in Portage 

 county, (from whence the Tuscarawas issues, southerly and the 

 Cuyahoga northerly,) are little more than thirty miles distant, 

 in a straight line, from lake Erie. The surface drained by the 

 Muskingum, may be fairly estimated, at about two hundred 

 miles from east to west. It passes wholly, through a hilly re- 

 gion, abounding in the minerals, most useful to man. Its cur- 

 rent is gentle, with few rapids in it, and these will soon contri- 

 bute to put in motion, the machinery of a great number of mills 

 and factories. 



On the banks of this river, from its utmost sources to its 

 mouth, fossil coal and iron ore are abundant. In Tuscarawas, 

 alone, these minerals exist in sufficient abundance, for this 

 state during a century to come. 



Next, lower down the Ohio river, the 



! 



HOCKHOCKING, 



Pours its tribute into its parental stream. The Hock-hock-uk, 

 [Bottle river] of the Indians, rises rather north of Lancaster, 

 and after meandering along eighty or ninety miles, finally en- 

 ters the Ohio river, in Meigs county, some distance below 

 Blannerhassett's island, and twenty-five miles below Marietta. 

 Its size, may be estimated from its valley, which is eighty 

 miles, from north to south, and averaging about fifteen or twen- 

 ty miles from east to west. Its only rapids are near the town 

 of Logan, called the falls of Hocking. 



This stream runs wholly through a mineral, hilly region, 

 where fossil coal, iron ore, and salt water abound. 



Into the Ohio river, at Portsmouth far to the west of the 

 Hockhocking, flows the beautiful, mild and gentle 



SCIOTO. 



It rises, on the high, marshy summit level, between the Erie 

 lake, and the Ohio river, in the counties of Hardin, Marion, 

 Crawford, Union, Delaware and Richland. Its branches 



