lxx 
LIFE OF 
To Mr Alexander Lawson. 
“ Lexington, April 4 , 1810 . 
“ My dear Sir, — Having now reached the second stage of my 
bird-catching expedition, I willingly sit down to give you some 
account of my adventures and remarks since leaving Pittsburgh : 
by the aid of a good map, and your usual stock of patience, you 
will be able to listen to my story, and trace ail my wanderings. 
Though 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 inconveniencies,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 lanched into the stream, and soon 
winded away among the hills that every where 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 jmurself 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 
