CXXXVlll 
LIFE OF WILSON. 
then the mother with one child behind her, and another at the 
breast; ten or twelve colts brought up the rear, now and then pick- 
ing herbage, and trotting ahead. The father, afresh good looking 
man, informed me, that he was from Washington county in Ken- 
tucky, and was going as far as Cumberland river ; he had two 
ropes fixed to the top of the wagon, one of which he guided him- 
self, and the other was entrusted to his eldest son, to keep it from 
oversetting in ascending the mountain. The singular appearance 
of this moving group, the mingled music of the bells, and the 
shoutings of the drivers, mixed with the echoes of the mountains, 
joined to the picturesque solitude of the place, and various reflec- 
tions that hurried through my mind, interested me greatly ; and I 
kept company with them for some time, to lend my assistance if 
necessary. The country now became mountainous, perpetually 
ascending and descending ; and about 49 miles from Danville I 
passed through a pigeon roost, or rather breeding place, which 
continued for three miles, and, from information, extended in length 
for more than forty miles. The timber was chiefly beech; every 
tree was loaded with nests, and I counted, in different places, more 
than ninety nests on a single tree. Beyond this I passed a large 
company of people engaged in erecting a horse-mill for grinding 
grain. The few cabins I passed were generally poor ; but much 
superior in appearance to those I met with on the shores of the 
Ohio. In the evening I lodged near the banks of Green river. 
This stream, like all the rest, is sunk in a deep gulf between high 
perpendicular walls of limestone; is about thirty yards wide at this 
place, and runs with great rapidity, but, as it had fallen consider- 
ably, I was just able to ford it without swimming. The water was 
of a pale greenish colour, like that of the Licking, and some other 
streams, from which circumstance I suppose it has its name. The 
rocky banks of this river are hollowed out in many places into 
caves of enormous size, and of great extent. These rocks abound 
with the same masses of petrified shells so universal in Kentucky. 
