cxxx 
LIFE OF WILSON. 
teen sick in his own family. On Friday the 24th, I left iny bag- 
gage with a merchant of the place to be forwarded by the first 
wagon, and set out on foot for Lexington, seventy-two miles dis- 
tant. I passed through Middletown and Shelbyville, both incon- 
siderable places. Nine-tenths of the country is in forest ; the sur- 
face undulating into gentle eminences and declivities, between each 
of which generally runs a brook over loose flags of limestone. The 
soil, by appearance, is of the richest sort. I observed immense 
fields of Indian corn, high excellent fences, few grain fields, many 
log houses, and those of the meaner sort. I took notice of few ap- 
ple orchards, but several very thriving peach ones. An appear- 
ance of slovenliness is but too general about their houses, barns, 
and barn-yards. Negroes are numerous ; cattle and horses lean, 
particularly the former, who appear as if struggling with starvation 
for their existence. The woods are swai'ining with pigs, pigeons, 
squirrels and woodpeckers. The pigs are universally fat, owing 
to the great quantity of mast this year. Walking here in wet wea- 
ther is most execrable, and is like travelling on soft soap ; a few 
days of warm weather hardens this again almost into stone, A¥ant 
of bridges is the greatest inconvenience to a foot traveller here. 
Between Shelbyville and Frankfort, having gone out of my way to 
see a pigeon roost, (which by the by is the greatest curiosity I have 
seen since leaving home) I waded a deep creek called Benson, nine 
or ten times. I spent several days in Frankfort, and in rambling 
among the stupendous cliffs of Kentucky river. On Thursday 
evening I entei'ed Lexington. But I cannot do justice to these sub- 
jects at the conclusion of a letter, which, in spite of all my abridg- 
ments, has far exceeded in length what I first intended. My next 
will be from Nashville. I shall then have seen a large range of 
Kentucky, and be more able to give you a correct delineation of 
the country and its inhabitants. In descending the Ohio, I amused 
myself with a poetical narrative of my expedition, which I ha-ve 
called “ The Pilgiim,’ an extract from which shall close this long 
and I am afraid tiresome letter.’’ 
