ALEXANDER WILSON. 1 X J X 



generally dissuaded from venturing by myself on so long a voyage 

 down the Ohio in an open skiff, I considered this mode, with all its 

 inconveniences, as the most favourable to my researches, and the most 

 suitable to my funds ; and I determined accordingly. Two days 

 before my departure, the Alleghany river was one wide torrent of 

 broken ice, and I calculated on experiencing 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 greatcoat occupied one end of the 

 boat ; I had a small tin, occasionally 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 

 where floating masses of ice spotted its surface, and which required 

 some care to steer clear of ; but these, to my surprise, in less than 

 a day's sailing, totally disappeared. Far from being concerned at 

 my new situation, I felt my heart expand with joy at the novelties 

 which surrounded me ; I listened with pleasure to the whistling of 

 the red bird on the banks as I passed, and contemplated the forest 

 scenery, as it receded, with increasing delight. The smoke of the 

 numerous sugar camps, rising lazily among the mountains, gave great 

 effect to the varying landscape ; and the grotesque log cabins, that 

 here and there opened from the woods, were diminished into mere 

 dog-houses by the sublimity of the impending mountains. If you 

 suppose to yourself two parallel ranges of forest-covered hills, whose 

 irregular summits are seldom more than three or four miles apart, 

 winding through an immense extent of country, and enclosing a 

 river half a mile wide, which alternately washes the steep declivity 

 on one side, and leaves a rich, forest-clad bottom on the other, of a 

 mile or so in breadth, you will have a pretty correct idea of the 

 appearance of the Ohio. The banks of these rich flats are from 

 twenty to sixty and eighty feet high ; and even these last were 

 within a few feet of being overflowed in December 1808. 



" I now stripped with alacrity to my new avocation. The current 

 went about two and a half miles an hour, and I added about three 

 and a half miles more to the boat's way with my oars. In the 

 course of the day, I passed a number of arks, or, as they are usually 



