280 LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY. [CHAP. XXXVI. 



ville, but for the existence of slavery, and a large 

 negro population in Kentucky. Besides the disad 

 vantages always arising from the partition of a 

 country between two races, evils which emancipation 

 cannot put an end to, Kentucky suffers from the 

 decided preference shown to the right bank of the 

 river by the best class of new settlers from the north 

 eastern States, who choose the Free State of Ohio 

 for their residence, instead of the Slave State on the 

 left bank. 



I made a geological excursion with Dr. Yandell, 

 one of the Professors of the University of this place, 

 into the neighbourhood, going to the summit of a 

 hill called Button-Mould Knob, so named from the 

 joints of encrinites with which the lower strata of the 

 carboniferous formation are charged. Here we en 

 joyed a wide prospect of the surrounding country, 

 which, if all the valleys were filled up, would form 

 an even table-land, the nearly horizontal strata having 

 been evidently planed off at a certain level by the 

 denuding action of the sea. The valley of the Ohio 

 forms the principal break in a region otherwise void 

 of any striking feature in its natural scenery. A 

 few spring flowers only were to be seen, the most 

 plentiful being the Houstonia and the Claytonia. 



We went to an evening party at the house of one 

 of the Professors of the University, and met many of 

 his colleagues, and some medical students. Two of 

 the latter informed me, that they had been sent to 

 London to finish their course of study, having been 

 brought up to feel great respect and veneration for 

 English educational establishments. They had been 



