128 
had acquired so many of the habits of the savages, that his com- 
pany was in no wise an acquisition. I was also, as well as all the 
other gentlemen who had been in that unlucky Mount Vernon, 
tormented with constant pains in the limbs, and our coarse food 
was so bad, that it was hardly possible to consume it. There was 
neither wine nor beer on board, nor any acids, so that water and 
whiskey, were the beverages to which we were reduced. For 
many years I had never undergone such gastronomic privations, 
as in the western parts of America. The Ohio appears to con¬ 
tain many good and well tasted fish, but it seems that the people 
here prefer the eternal hog meat, and that mostly salted, to every 
thing else, for until now I had seen no fish in these regions, at 
least none procured for eating. In the night, we advanced on 
our voyage without stop or accident. 
On the morning of the 26 th of April, we saw the mouth of 
Salt river, which, as the Western Navigator says, is a consider¬ 
able river of Kentucky, about one hundred and thirty yards wide 
at its mouth, and navigable one hundred and fifty miles. Twenty 
miles above this, the little town of New Albany lies on the right 
bank, which promises to be a flourishing place. It has a factory 
of steam-engines, which finds good employment here. On the 
bank, a newly-built steam-boat was lying, waiting for her engine. 
These engines must be built very strong, proportionably too 
powerful for the tonnage of the vessel, on account of the stiffness 
of the current. They of consequence suffer a violent shock from 
it, and can only be used about three years. An island in the river 
divides it into two narrow channels, in which there are rapid 
currents. Above the island is the foot of the Falls of Ohio. At 
the present high stage of water, the descent does not strike the 
eye, and vessels are able to pass up or down the river over the 
falls. Ours, which went no farther up, stopped on the left bank 
at Shippingport, opposite New Albany, two miles below Louis¬ 
ville. 
Shippingport, is an insignificant place, which is supported by 
the lading and unlading of vessels. We found several hack¬ 
ney coaches, which carried us and our baggage by land to Louis¬ 
ville, where we took up our abode in a large and respectable inn, 
called Washington Hall, kept by a Mr. Allen. The Western 
Navigator has the following remarks upon this neighbourhood: 
u The rapids of the Ohio are, in a natural as well as a political re¬ 
gard, a point well deserving of attention. In low states of the 
water, they are the termination of navigation by steam-boats, and 
the last place in the descent of the Ohio, where any considerable 
impediment occurs in its course. A number of infant towns have 
already sprung up on both shores of the Ohio, in the neighbour¬ 
hood of this point, Jefferson, Clarksburg, and New Albany, in 
