CXVl 
LIFE OF WILSON. 
bodies for the three following days. It has now begun in the Al- 
leghany, and, at the moment I write, the river presents a white 
mass of rushing ice. 
“ The country beyond the Ohio, to the west, appears a moun- 
tainous and hilly region. The Monongahela is lined with arks, 
usually called Kentucky-boats, waiting for the rising of the river, 
and the absence of the ice, to descend. A perspective view of the 
town of Pittsburg at this season, with the numerous arks and co- 
vered keel-boats preparing to descend the Ohio; its hills, its great 
rivers — the pillars of smoke rising from its furnaces and glass- 
works, would make a noble picture. I began a very diligent search 
in this place, the day after my arrival, for subscribers, and conti- 
nued it for four days. I succeeded beyond expectation, having got 
nineteen names of the most wealthy and respectable part of the in- 
habitants. The industry of Pittsburg is remarkable ; every body 
you see is busy ; and as a proof of the prosperity of the place, an 
eminent lawyer told me that there has not been one suit instituted 
against a merchant of the town these three years. 
^ ^ ^ 
“ Gentlemen here assure me that the road to Chilicothe is im- 
passable on foot by i‘eason of the freshes. I have therefore resolved 
to navigate myself a small skiff, which I have bought, and named 
the Ornithologist, down to Cincinnati, a distance of five hundred 
and twenty-eight miles ; intending to visit five or six towns that lie 
in my way. From Cincinnati I will cross over to the opposite 
shore, and, abandoning my boat, make my way to Lexington, where 
I expect to be ere your letter can reach that place. Were I to go 
by Chilicothe I should miss five towns, as large as it. Some say 
that I ought not to attempt going down by myself — others think I 
may. I am determined to make the experiment, the expense of 
hiring a rower being considerable. As soon as the ice clears out 
of the Alleghany, and the weather will permit, I shall shove oft', 
having every thing in readiness. I have ransacked the woods and 
