Ixxvi LIFE OP WILSON. 



replied tliat it had not. Logan, he said, had been misinformed ; he detailed 

 to me all the particulars, which are too long for repetition, and concluded by 

 informing me that his father died early in the revolutionary war, of the camp 

 fever, near New York. 



" Marietta stands on a swampy plain, which has evidently once been the 

 ancient bed of the Muskingnm, and is still occasionally inundated to the depth 

 of five or six feet. A Mr. Putnani, son to the old general of Bunker's Hill 

 memory, and Mr. Gillman and Mr. Fearing, are making great exertions here, 

 in introducing and multiplying the race of merinos. The two latter gentlemen 

 are about establishing works by steam, for carding and spinning wool, and 

 intend to carry on the manufacture of broadcloth extensively. Mr. Gillman 

 is a gentleman of taste and wealth, and has bo doubts of succeeding. Some- 

 thing is necessary to give animation to this place, for since the building of 

 ships has been abandoned here, the place seems on the decline. 



" The current of the Muskingum is very rapid, and the ferry boat is 

 navigated across in the following manner. A strong cable is extended from 

 bank to bank, forty or fifty feet above the surface of the river, and fastened 

 tight at each end. On this cable are two loose running blocks; one rope from 

 the bow of the boat is fastened to the first of these blocks, and another from 

 the after part of the boat to the second block,, and by lengthening this last a 

 diagonal direction is give to the boat's head, a little up stream, and the current 

 striking forcibly and obliquely on her aft, she is hurried forward with amazing 

 velocity without any manual labor whatever. I passed Blannerhasset's island 

 after night, but the people were burning brush, and by the light I had a dis- 

 tinct view of the mansion house, which is but a plain frame of no great dimen- 

 sions. It is now the property of a Mr. Miller from Lexington, who intends 

 laying it chiefly in hemp. It is nearly three miles long, and contains about 

 three hundred acres, half of which is in cultivation ; but like all the rest of 

 the numerous islands of the Ohio, is subject to inundations. At Galliopolis, 

 which stands upon a high plain, and contains forty or fifty scattered houses, I 

 found the fields well fenced and well cultivated, peach and apple orchards nu- 

 merous, and a considerable appearance of industry. One-half of the original 

 French settlers have removed to a tract of land opposite to the mouth of Sandy 

 river. This town has one shop and two taverns ; the mountains press in to 

 within a short distance of the town. I found here another Indian mound 

 planted with peach trees. On Monday, March 5th, about ten miles below the 

 mouth of the great Sciota, where I saw the first flock of paroquets, I encoun- 

 tered a violent storm of wind and rain, which changed to hail and snow, blow- 

 ing down trees and limbs in all directions ; so that for immediate preservation 

 I was obliged to steer out into the river, which rolled and foamed like a sea, 

 and filled my boat nearly half full of water; and it was with the greatest diffi- 

 culty I could make the least headway. It continued to snow violently un^il 

 dusk, when I at length made good my landing at a place on the Kentucky 

 shore, where I had perceived a cabin ; and here I spent the evening in learning 

 the art and mystery of bear-treeing, wolf-trapping, and wild-cat hunting, from 

 an old professor. But notwithstanding the skill of this great master, the 

 country tere is swarming with wolves and wild-oats, black and brown ; accord- 



