Ten Days in Ohio. 235 



their industry and their power in the west. Numerous tumuli, of 

 various dimensions, are seen near the road side ; the sacred reposi- 

 tories of the dead, and lasting mementoes of the affection of the sur- 

 vivors for these silent tenants of the tomb. 



Cattle — their food. 



We met, to day, several large droves of fat cattle, on their way to 

 ■an eastern market ; some of them going as far as New York. They 

 are collected in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, and are herded for a season 

 or two on the rich praries of the west. During the winter months, 

 they are fed on hay and Indian corn cut up with the stem and foliage 

 before the grain has become hard, and placed upright in moderate sized 

 shocks ', it dries without mouldiness, and makes one of the most suc- 

 culent and nutritious articles of food for cattle. In Ohio, thousands 

 of acres are cultivated for this express purpose. 



Western Emigration — great thorough-fare. 



We met many emigrating families, on their way to " the St. Jo- 

 sephs," a celebrated district in the Michigan Territory ; and the 

 present " land of promise," to all who, from the northern and middle 

 states, are seeking a better country. The road we are now travel- 

 ling, was for many years, from 1800 to 1815 or 16, the great thor- 

 oughfare between the states of Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and the 

 eastern states ; or until steam boat navigation created a new era in 

 the history of travellers — a perpetual stream of emigrants rolled west- 

 ward along its course, giving constant occupation to hundreds of tav- 

 ern keepers, seated at short distances on its borders, and consuming 

 all the spare grain raised by the inhabitants for many miles north and 

 south of its line. Groups of merchants, on horseback, with led 

 horses, laden with Spanish dollars, travelled by easy stages, every 

 spring and autumn, along its route ; congregated in parties of ten or 

 twenty individuals, for mutual protection, and armed with dirks, 

 pocket pistols, and pistols in holsters ; as robberies sometimes took 

 place, in the more wilderness parts of the road. The goods, when 

 purchased, were wagoned to Pittsburgh, and sent in large flat boats, 

 or keel boats to their destination below, and while the merchant re- 

 turned on horseback to his home, occupying eight or ten weeks in 

 the whole tour. 



, Steam Boats and Stages. 



The introduction of steam boats and stages has made an entire 

 change in the manner of travelling. The trader now takes a boat, at 



