THE 



AMEKICAN 

 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. 



Art. l.-^Ten Days in Ohio ; from the diary of a Naturalist. 



Introductory Remark. 



The following observations are taken from a diary, kept while on 

 a journey from Marietta to Circleville, with my family, in May 1832; 

 some facts, in relation to the canal, have been since added. As all 

 cannot visit Ohio, these remarks may be interesting to those whose 

 duty or inclination confines them at home. As Marietta is embraced 

 in the first day, it would be unfair to leave it without a passing re- 

 mark. 



MARIETTA. 



This town, where the diary commences, is located at the conflu- 

 ence of the Muskingum with the Ohio river. The scite of the town 

 is partly on the river bottoms, and partly on an elevated plain. The 

 Muskingum river divides it into two unequal parts, the larger of 

 which is on the east side. On the verge of the plain, near the Musk- 

 ingum, and half a mile from its mouth, was seated " Campus Mar- 

 tins," a strong stockaded fort, built by the Ohio Company ; and the 

 residence of the early settlers during the Indian war, which soon fol- 

 lowed the occupation of the country. On the west side of this beau- 

 tiful river, was seated Fort Harmar ; so named in honor of Gen. 

 Harmar, the builder and commander of the fort. Drawings of both 

 these interesting structures are in the possession of the writer, and 

 will at some future day be published, as valuable memorials of for- 

 tresses long since crumbled into dust. Back of the elevated plain, 

 the country rises into hills, two hundred and fifty feet above the bed 

 of the river ; they are formed of an argillaceous earth, based on 

 sandstone rocks ; they are clothed near their tops with beautiful for- 

 est trees, and surround the town on the north and west like a Roman 

 amphitheatre. The plain is about a mile in length, and half a mile 

 in breadth, and at least one hundred feet above low water ; affording 



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