278 AUDUBON 



asleep on the grass, Mr. Rose looking at his sore toes, and 

 S. just finishing a jug of monongahela. Here we resolved 

 that, instead of going by Henderson, we should take a cut 

 across to the right, and make direct for Smith's Ferry, by 

 way of Highland Lick Creek. 



Next day we trudged along, but nothing very remarkable 

 occurred excepting that we saw a fine black Wolf, quite 

 tame and gentle, the owner of which refused a hundred 

 dollars for it. Mr. Rose, who was an engineer, and a man 

 of taste, amused us with his flageolet, and frequently spoke 

 of his wife, his children, and his fireside, which increased 

 my good opinion of him. At an orchard we filled our 

 pockets with October peaches, and when we came to Trade 

 Water River we found it quite low. The acorns were 

 already drifted on its shallows, and the Wood Ducks were 

 running about picking them up. Passing a flat bottom, we 

 saw a large Buffalo Lick. Where now are the bulls which 

 erst scraped its earth away, bellowing forth their love or 

 their anger? 



Good Mr. Rose's feet became sorer and sorer each suc- 

 ceeding day ; Mr. S. at length nearly gave up ; my son had 

 grown brisker. The 20th was cloudy, and we dreaded 

 rain, as we knew the country to be flat and clayey. In 

 Union County, we came to a large opening, and found the 

 house of a justice, who led us kindly to the main road, and 

 accompanied us for a mile, giving us excellent descriptions 

 of brooks, woods, and barrens ; notwithstanding which we 

 should have been much puzzled, had not a neighbor on 

 horseback engaged to show us the way. The rain now fell 

 in torrents and rendered us very uncomfortable, but at 

 length we reached Highland Lick, where we stumbled on 

 a cabin, the door of which we thrust open, overturning a 

 chair that had been placed behind it. On a dirty bed lay 

 a man, a table with a journal or perhaps a ledger before 

 him, a small cask in a corner near him, a brass pistol on 

 a nail over his head, and a long Spanish dagger by his 



