2o6 



Alexander Wilson. 



"A perspective view of the town of Pitts- 

 burgh at this season with the numerous 

 arks and covered keelboats, preparing to 

 descend the Ohio— its hills, its great rivers, 

 the pillars of smoke rising from its furnaces 

 and glass works — would make a noble 

 picture. I began a very diligent search in 

 this place the day after my arrival for 

 subscribers, and continued it for four days. 

 I succeeded beyond expectation, having 

 got nineteen names of the most wealthy 

 and respectable part of the inhabitants. 

 The industry of Pittsburgh is remarkable; 

 everybody you see is busy; and as a proof 

 of the prosperity of the place an eminent 

 lawyer told me there has not been one suit 

 instituted against a merchant of the town 

 these three years. 



''Gentlemen here assure me that the 

 road to Chilocothee is impassable on foot by 

 reason of the freshets. I have therefore 

 resolved to navigate myself in a small skiff, 

 which I have bought and named the ' Or- 

 nithologist ' down to Cincinnati, a distance 

 of five hundred and twenty-eight miles, in- 

 tending to visit five or six towns that lie in 

 my way. . From Cincinnati I will cross over 

 to the opposite shore, and, abandoning my 

 boat, make my way to Lexington, where I 

 expect to be ere your letter can reach that 

 place. Were I to go by Chilocothee, I 

 should miss five towns as large as it. 



" Some say that I ought not to attempt 

 going down by myself — others think I may. 

 I am determined to make the experiment, 

 the expense of hiring a rower being con- 

 siderable. As soon as the ice clears out of 

 the Alleghany, and the weather will permit, 

 I shall shove off, having everything in readi- 

 ness. I have ransacked the woods and 

 fields here without finding a single bird 

 new to me, or indeed anything but a few 

 snowbirds and sparrows. I expect to have 

 something interesting to communicate in 

 my next. 



" February 23. My baggage is on 

 board; I have just to dispatch this and set 



off. The weather is fine, and I have no 

 doubt of piloting my skiff in safety to Cin- 

 cinnati. Farewell, God bless you." 



These solitary wanderings of Wilson as 

 described in his letters are deeply interest- 

 ing, not alone from their bearing on his 

 own fortunes, but still more for their vivid 

 pictures of the life of the time. His next 

 letter from Lexington, dated April 4th, to 

 the address of Mr. Alexander Lawson, ap- 

 pears to be a compilation from a well-kept 

 diary, and takes up his adventures from 

 the date of his leaving Pittsburgh and 

 records them in one unbroken narrative 

 down to the date of writing, but it is so 

 long, that we can give only a portion of it 

 in this number: 



"My Dear Sir: Having now reached 

 the second stage of my bird-catching ex- 

 pedition, I willingly sit down to give you 

 some account of my adventures and re- 

 marks since leaving Pittsburgh; by the aid 

 of a good map and your usual stock of 

 patience you will be able to listen to my 

 story and trace all my wanderings. Though 

 generally dissuaded from venturing by my- 

 self on so long a voyage down the Ohio in 

 an open skiff, I considered this mode, with 

 all its inconveniences, as the most favor- 

 able to my researches, and the most suitable 

 to my funds; and I determined accordingly. 

 Two days before my departure the Al- 

 leghany River was one wide torrent of 

 broken ice, and I calculated on experienc- 

 ing considerable difficulties on this score. 

 My stock of provisions consisted of some 

 biscuit and cheese, and a bottle of cordial, 

 presented me by a gentleman of Pittsburgh; 

 my gun, trunk, and great coat occupied one 

 end of the boat; I had a small tin occasion- 

 ally to bail her and to take my beverage 

 from the Ohio with; and, bidding adieu to 

 the smoky confines of Pitt, I launched into 

 the stream, and soon winded away among 

 the hills that everywhere enclose this noble 

 river. The weather was warm and serene, 

 and the river like a mirror except when 



