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veral hackney coaches waited here from Louisville, expecting 
the arrival of the steam-boat George Washington, which was 
looked for every minute^ The country is highly romantic. We 
found ourselves on an eminence upon the bank, where a large 
substantial warehouse had been built jutting over the river. Be¬ 
fore us was the foot of the falls; opposite an island overgrown 
with wood, to the right the falls, and Louisville in the back 
ground; to the left on the other shore, New Albany, and all 
around in the rear, a green forest of the finest trees. 
On our return we passed by a large deserted brick building. 
It is called the Hope Distillery, and was established by a com¬ 
pany of speculators to do business on a large scale. After the 
company had invested about seventy thousand dollars, several of 
the stockholders stopped payment. One of them procured the 
whole at auction for three thousand dollars, and would now let 
any one have it for less. In the year 1817 , the desire to buy 
land and build upon it, had risen to a mania in this place. Dr. 
Croghan showed me a lot of ground, which he had then purchas¬ 
ed for two thousand dollars, and for which, at present, no one 
would hardly offer him seven hundred. He has hired a German 
gardener, who has laid out a very pretty vegetable garden on this 
spot, which will yield considerable profit by his industrious ma¬ 
nagement. 
Dr. Ferguson, a physician here, carried us to the hospital. 
This edifice lies insulated upon a small eminence. The building 
was commenced several years ago, and is not yet finished. 
The state of Kentucky gave the ground as a donation, and bears 
a part of the expenses of building. As the establishment is prin¬ 
cipally used for the reception of sick seamen, congress has given 
the hospital a revenue from the custom-house in New Orleans. 
The hospital consists of a basement story, three stories above, 
and wings, which each have a basement and two stories. In the 
basement of the centre building, are the kitchen, wash-house, the 
store-rooms, &c., and in the upper story, the chamber for the 
meeting of the directors, the apothecary’s room, the steward’s 
dwelling, and the state rooms for patients paying board and lodg¬ 
ing. In the third story a theatre for surgical operations will be 
arranged. In the wings are roomy and well aired apartments for 
the white patients, and in the basement, those for the negroes 
and coloured persons. Slavery is still permitted in Kentucky. 
There has been until now only one apartment habitable, in which 
twelve patients are lying. These have cleanly beds, but only 
wooden bedsteads. When the building is thoroughly finished, 
it will contain at least one hundred and fifty persons with com¬ 
fort. Such an establishment is extremely necessary for such a 
place as Louisville, which is very unhealthy in summer. 
