SETTLEMENT IN THE WEST 187 
Ferdinand Rozier kept a record? of this journey, 
the formidable nature of which will be best appreciated 
by reading his matter-of-fact narrative composed from 
notes daily jotted down. In these easy-going times, 
when oceans and continents are crossed with ever in- 
creasing ease and speed, this simple chronicle of early 
travel in America is worth preserving, if only for its 
historical contrasts. 
On the thirty-first day of August, 1807, in company with 
Audubon, I left Mill Grove for Louisville, Kentucky, where 
we anticipated engaging in the mercantile business. 
Leaving Philadelphia by stage we traveled to Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania, a distance of sixty-one miles, where we arrived 
at four o’clock in the afternoon; we dined, and proceeded to 
Big Chickers, distant nine miles farther, where we spent the 
night. The roads from Philadelphia to Lancaster were in ex- 
cellent condition, and at about every two miles we found good 
taverns. The only remarkable thing we noticed in agriculture 
was hemp, there being little else of interest. The city of Lan- 
caster was attractive, but the short duration of our stay pre- 
vented us from having more than a casual view of it. The 
tavern where we slept was not very good; from our chambers, 
2 This diary was first brought to my attention by Mr. Ruthven Deane, 
and for permission to reproduce it I am indebted to the kindness of a 
great-grandson of Ferdinand, Mr. Welton A. Rozier, of Saint Louis. Mr. 
Rozier writes that the original French notes have been mislaid or lost, 
but that they were closely followed in this translation, whenever com- 
plete. Though numerous verbal changes have been made in the present 
draft, these have not altered the meaning in any respect. Ferdinand 
Rozier’s narrative begins as follows: 
“T left Nantes, France, in company with John James Audubon, on 
Saturday, the 12th day of April, 1806, bound for the city of New York, 
U. S. A., on an American ship named the Polly, commanded by Captain 
Sammis, and arrived at New York on Tuesday, the 27th day of May. 
While on the voyage across the ocean our vessel was stopped, overhauled, 
searched, and robbed by an English privateer, named the Rattlesnake, which 
detained us a day and a night. 
“We remained in New York City for a few days, and then removed 
to Mill Grove, on Pickering [Perkioming] Creek, in Pennsylvania, a tract 
of land owned by our fathers, and at that time thought to contain valu- 
able minerals.” 
