214 THE GEE AT NORTH-WEST 



State. Many of them have escaped from captivity, and 

 are hving wild in the woods ; but many also, bred wild, 

 join the tame herds, and find their way into the pork 

 and sausage factories of Chicago and other large towns ; 

 and in the early days of the city there were ownerless 

 pigs wandering about the streets like pariah dogs. These 

 were the property of anybody who could catch them ; 

 and some were made pets of by the citizens, and children 

 might be seen riding about on their backs. Bacon, or 

 salt pork, is sometimes the only meat tasted by the out- 

 lying settlers and backwoodsmen from year's end to year's 

 end, and there can be no better food for men living a 

 rough and exposed life. Fat pork is not only a pre- 

 ventive, but a cure also for muscular rheumatism brought 

 on by hard work and exposure. 



The marshes and swamps in Ohio are rather extensive 

 in places, the principal being in the neighbourhood of 

 Lake Erie and along the River Ohio. Many of the 

 marshes are old beaver-meadows, but the beavers have 

 long since disappeared, for Ohio is one of the most thickly 

 peopled of the States. The beaver-meadows contain the 

 richest soil in the entire region. 



The mountains commence abruptly on the east, and 

 are very steep, but none of them seem to attain a great 

 height. Judging by the eye, I should say none of 

 them exceed twelve or thirteen hundred feet in height. 

 Of course a reference to a gazetteer would settle the 

 point ; but I set down my impressions, whether they be 

 right or wrong, without consulting books. The book may 

 be right, and I wrong, or the reverse : in any case, bor- 

 rowed information can be of no value. 



There are portions of the plains that look to be 

 absolutely flat. The eye cannot detect the slightest 

 undulation. In a ride of many miles I did not see a 

 hillock of a foot in height, nor could I perceive a hollow 

 that would contain a bucketful of water. This district, I 

 think, must formerly have been a portion of the bed of 



