135 
tains, is two hundred miles in length, one hundred and fifty of 
which are navigable. Its mouth is one hundred and sixty yards 
broad, and proves to be an excellent harbour for boats. The town 
occupies a very pretty situation; above its mouth, and farther 
down lies Prestonville. The flourishing town of Frankfort, the 
seat of government, is situated about sixty miles from the mouth 
of the river. The former is five hundred and twenty^four and a half 
miles distant from Pittsburgh, fifty-seven and a half from Cincin¬ 
nati, and fifty-five and a half from Louisville. Shortly after leaving 
Louisville, we were followed by another steam-boat called the Ge¬ 
neral Marion, towards evening it reached, and wanted to pass us; 
a race took place, which discomposed us considerably, and became 
dangerous to a high degree. The boilers, being soon over-heat¬ 
ed, might have burst and occasioned a great disaster ; during this 
time we were so close together, that the railing, as well as the 
roofs of the wheels knocked against each other. The danger 
increased as night drew on, and particularly so as there were 
a great number of ladies on board, who were crying in a 
most piteous manner*, One of them conducted herself most 
distractedly; she fell into hysteric fits, wanted to throw her¬ 
self in the water on the opposite side of the boat, and could 
scarcely be prevented by three strong men. The heating of the 
boilers of the General Marion had been so violent, that they ran 
short of wood, and to their great confusion, and our extreme 
satisfaction, they were not only left behindJ but were overtaken 
by the slow steam-boat Ohio: thus the Atlanta obtained a bril¬ 
liant victory. Ten miles above the mouth of the Kentucky river 
on the right shore, is the little town of Vevay, built and inhabited 
by Switzers. They planted vineyards, w r hich it is said give 
them a good revenue. I regretted very much that we passed 
them by night, and thus were deprived of the view of Vevay. 
On the left shore is a small village called Ghent, in honour of the 
treaty concluded in that city, in Flanders. I regretted not to 
have been able to visit that place, if only on account of the name. 
Without farther accident we went on the whole night, and next 
morning found ourselves opposite to the mouth of the Great 
Miami, which joins the Ohio from the right shore. This stream 
forms the boundary between the states of Indiana and Ohio, and 
the Western Navigator makes the following observation concern¬ 
ing it. “ The Great Miami is a considerable river, which takes 
its sources in Allen, Logan, Shelby, Merion, and Drake coun¬ 
ties. It runs southerly through Miami and Montgomery coun¬ 
ties, and receives in the last two considerable rivers, on the left 
the Mad river, and on the right the south-west fork. On enter¬ 
ing Butler county the Miami takes a south-westerly direction, and 
flows into the Ohio at the south-west corner of this state, and the 
north-east one of Indiana. Its course is one hundred and twenty 
