LIFE OF WILSON. 
CXXIX 
I was dubious whether I should be able to reach Louisville that 
night. Night came on and I could hear nothing of the Falls; 
about eight I first heard the roaring of the Rapids, and as it in- 
creased I was every moment in hopes of seeing the lights of Louis- 
ville; but no lights appeared, and the noise seemed now within 
less than half a mile of me. Seriously alarmed, lest I might be 
drawn into the suction of the Falls, I cautiously coasted along 
shore, which was full of snags and saxvyers, and at length, with 
great satisfaction, opened Bear Grass Creek, where I secured my 
skiff to a Kentucky boat, and loading myself with my baggage, I 
groped my way thi'ough a swamp up to the town. The next day 
I sold my skiflf for exactly half what it cost me ; and the man who 
bought it wondered why I gave it such a droll Indian name, (the 
Ornithologist) “ some old chief or warrior I suppose,” said he. 
This day I walked down along shore to Shippingport, to take a view 
of these celebrated Rapids, but they fell far short of my expectation. 
I should have no hesitation in going down them in a skiflf. The 
Falls of Oswego, in the state of Newyork, though on a smaller 
scale, are far more dangerous and formidable in appearance. 
Though the river was not high, I observed two arks and a barge 
run them with great ease and rapidity. The Ohio here is some- 
thing more than a mile wide, with several islands interspersed ; 
the channel rocky, and the islands heaped with drift wood. The 
whole fall in two miles is less than twenty-four feet. The town of 
Louisville stands on a high second bank, and is about as large as 
Frankford, having a number of good brick buildings and valuable 
shops. The situation would be as healthy as any on the river, but 
for the numerous swamps and ponds that intersect the woods in 
its neighbourhood. These from their height above the river might 
all be drained and turned into cultivation ; but every man here is 
so intent on the immediate making of money, that they have neither 
time nor disposition for improvements, even where the article 
health is at stake. A man here told me that last fall he had four- 
2 K 
VOL. IX. 
