University of California Berkeley TRAVELS IK AMERICA, PERFORMED IN THE YEAR 1806, FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXPLORING THE RIVERS ALLEGHANY, MONONGAHELA, OHIO, AND MISSISSIPPI, AND ASCERTAINING THE PRODUCE AND CONDITION OF THEIR BANKS AND VICINITY. BY THOMAS ASHE, ESQ. LONDON: PRINTED FOR RICHARD PHILLIPS, BRIDGE STREET, BLACKFRIARS, BY B. M'MILLAN, BOW STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1809. ADVERTISEMENT, IT is universally acknowledged, that no descrip- tion of writing comprehends so much amusement and entertainment as we'll written accounts of voyages and travels, especially in countries little known. If the voyages of a Cook and his followers, exploratory of the South Sea Islands, and the travels of a Bruce, or a Park, in the interior regions of Africa, have me- rited and obtained celebrity, the work now presented to the public cannot but claim a similar merit. The western part of America, become interesting in every point of view, has been little known, and misrepre- sented by the few writers on the subject, led by mo- tives of interest or traffic, and has not heretofore been exhibited in a satisfactory manner. Mr. Ashe, the author of the present work, and who has now re- turned to America., here gives an account every way ? satisfactory. With all the necessary acquirements^ he went on an exploratory journey, with the sole view of examining this interesting country ; and his re- searches, delivered in the familiar style of letters, in which he carries the reader along with him, cannot fail to interest and inform the politician, the statesman, the philosopher, and antiquary. He explains the de- lusions that have been held up by fanciful or partial writers as to the country, by which so many indivi- B 2 o >--* 19 4 ADVERTISEMENT. duals have been misled ; he furnishes to the naturalist a variety of interesting information ; and to the anti- quary he presents objects of absolute astonishment ; the Indian antiquities of the western world, here first brought forward to the public, must create admiration. It will be seen that the fallen race who now inhabit America, are the successors of men who have been ca- pable of architectural and other work, that would do honour to any people or any age ; and the remarkable antiquities which he describes, cannot but induce a still more minute inquiry and investigation of objects of such great importance. TRAVELS IN AMERICA. LETTER I. General Character of the North-eastern States of Ame- rica: Of the Middle States: The Southern Town of Pittsburg Allerhany Mountains Lancaster The Susquehanna Harrisburg Shippensburg, and Stras- fyurg Interesting Account of a Tavern and its Occu- piers Bedford Sublimity and Horrors of a Night passed in a Forest Thoughts on Natural History : St. Pierre. Pittslurg, Pennsylvania, October, 1806* DEAR SIR, T THOUGHT that you knew my heart too well, to attri- A bute my silence to a decay of affection ; and I had hopes that you entertained too just an opinion of my head, to ex- pect from me extraordinary discoveries in philosophy or politics. At the same time, I hope to convince you that my supposed neglect has operated to the advantage of my correspondence. The American States through which I have passed, are unworthy of your observation. Those to the north-east are indebted to nature for but few gifts : they are better adapted for the business of grazing than for corn. The climate is equally subject to the two extremes of burning heat and ex- cessive cold ; and bigotry, pride, and a malignant hatred to the mother-country, characterize the inhabitants. The middle States are less contemptible : they produce grain for exportation ; but wheat requires much labour, and is liable to blast on the sea-shore. The national features here are not strong, and those of different emigrants have not yet 6 ASME'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. composed .a face of local deformity : we still see the liberal English, the ostentatious Scotch, the warm-hearted Irish,, the penurious Dutch, the proud German, the solemn Spa- niard, the gaudy Italian, and the profligate French. What kind of character is hereafter to rise from an amalgamation of such discordant materials, I am at a loss to conjecture* For the southern States, nature has done much, but man little. Society is here in a shameful degeneracy : an addi- tional proof of the pernicious tendency of those detestable principles of political licentiousness, which are not only ad- verse to the enjoyment of practical liberty, and to the ex- istence of regular authority, but destructive also of comfort and security in every class of society ; doctrines here found by experience, to make men turbulent citizens, abandoned Christians, inconstant husbands, unnatural fathers, and trea- cherous friends. I shun the humiliating delineation, and turn my thoughts to happier regions which afford contem- plation without disgust ; and where mankind, scattered in small associations, are not totally depraved or finally cor- rupt. Under such impressions, I shall write to you with pleasure and regularity ; trusting to your belief, that my propensity to the cultivation of literature has not been en- couraged in a country where sordid speculators alone suc- ceed, where classic fame is held in derision, where grace and taste are unknown, and where the ornaments of style are condemned or forgotten. Thus guarding you against ex- pectations that I should fear to disappoint, I proceed to en- deavour at gratifying the curiosity which my ramblings ex- cite in your mind. The town of Pittsburg* is distant rather more than 300 miles from Philadelphia; of which space, 150 miles are a continued succession of mountains, serving as a barrier against contending seas ; and as a pregnant source of many waters, which take opposite directions, and after fertilizing endless tracts, and enriching various countries, are lost in the immensity of the Mexican Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean. Knowing the road to be mountainous and stony, I preferred travelling on horseback to going in a stage-coach, that is seven or eight days on the road ; and the fare in w Inch, for the whole journey, is twenty-four dollars. The first sixty miles were a turnpike road ; and my horse, which cost me only eighty dollars, arrived tolerably fresh at the end of them in twelve hours. * Situated in latitude 40 26' north, and longitude 79o 48' west from London^ . DESCRIPTION OF HARRISBURG. 7 The place at which I stopped was Lancaster, the county- town of Pennsylvania. The inhabitants are chiefly Dutch and Irish, or of Dutch and Irish extraction : they manu- facture excellent rifle-guns and other hardware. The town is large, clean, and well built ; but in spite of these attrac- tions, I quitted it the next morning by sun-rise. Dr. John- son was never more solicitous to leave Scotland, than I was to be out of the Atlantic States. In hurrying along the next day, my career was interrupted by the rapid Susquehanna. The peevishness and dissatisfac- tion which before possessed me, were now compelled to yield to contrary sensations. The breadth and beauty of the river, the height and grandeur of its banks, the variation of scenery, the verdure of the forests, the murmur of the water, and the melody of birds, all conspired to fill my mind with vast and elevated conceptions. Harrisburg, a handsome Dutch town, stands on the east bank of this river. I did not stop, however, but pursued my course to Carlisle ; which has a college, and the repu- tation of a place of learning. This may be so, but I have the misfortune to dispute it ; for though indeed I saw an old brick building called the university , in which the scho- lars had not left a whole pane of glass, 1 did not meet a man of decent literature in the town. I found a few who had learning enough to be pedantic and impudent in the society of the vulgar, but none who had arrived at that degree of science which could delight and instruct the intelligent. Having thus no motive for delay here, I passed on to Shippensburg and Strasburg, both German or Dutch towns ; the latter at the foot of the stupendous mountains before alluded to, and which are called the Alleghany. During the first and second days, I met with no considerable objects but such as I was prepared to expect ; immense hills, bad roads, and frightful precipices : I drove, my horse before me most of the distance. On the evening of the third, about dusk, I arrived at the tavern where I meant to repose : it was a miserable log-house, filled with emigrants who were in their passage to the Ohio ; and a more painful picture of human calamity was seldom beheld : old men embarking in distant arduous undertakings, which they could never see realized : their children going to a climate destructive to youth ; and the wives and mothers partaking of all these sufferings, to become victims in their turn to the general calamity. This scene held out no very strong temptation to me for passing the night here, but there was no alterative; 8 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. for my horse* was tired, the wolves were out, and the roads impassable in the dark : the fire-side too, and ail the seats, were occupied, and the landlord was drunk. I was too much engrossed however with the distress round me, sensi- bly to Feel my own. I stood in fact motionless, with my arms folded, and fell into a reverie ; from which I was roused by a meteor crossing the room, or at least my surprise was as great as would have been occasioned by such a phenomenon. It was a beautiful young woman, -" Fitted or to shine in courts With unaffected grace ; or walk the plain, With innocence and meditation join'd In soft assemblage." She spoke to her father, and then addressed me with infi- nite gra^e : lamenting that their accommodation " was so bad for a gentleman ;" and offering to make a fire and serve supper up stairs, and strive to make me as comfortable as the situation and circumstances would permit. In a short time she was as good as her word ; and invited me to a small room, clean and warm, with supper already served. In all this proceeding ; in her conversation, actions, and manners ; there was a merit which could not be the result of a common mind. Her person was tali and elegant : her eyes were large and blue : her features regular and animated ; and expres- sive of a pride and dignity which the meanest clothing, and the strongest consciousness of her humble circumstances in life, could neither destroy nor conceal. I desired her to sit down, and then questioned her on local subjects : her answers were neat and sensible. I extended my inquiries to a wider range : talking of natural curiosities in the neighbourhood, the face of the country, manners, books, &c. and to these particulars also her replies were judicious, intelligent, and unassuming. She had read much; and the impression which this had made on her, appeared favourable to her re- tired life, to virtue, and to feeling : too much so to the lat-^ ter ; for when I exclaimed, " By what accident has one so lovely in person, so improved in understanding, and so de- licate in mind, become the inhabitant of these > vific moun- tains, these gloomy woods ?" she burst into tears, and left me. 1 then rose from table, called the ostler, and saw my horse fed ; and this man explained the mystery. The young lady's father, it seems, was an Irishman ; who, having been once opulent, gave his children the most refined education which his country could afford. He was respected and DESCRIPTION OF BEDFORD. 9 happy: they were admired and beloved. In an ev\l day, some jealous demon infused into his heart disaffection to his king : he associated with, misguided characters, was impli- cated in their guilt, and \vith them banished from his native land. His amiable and suffering family followed him to America ; where, soon after his arrival, some swindlers strip- ped him of most of his money. He took refuge in profli- gacy and drink; his wife died of a broken heart; his child is fading in unmerited misery ; and he is left to drag on a wretched existence, which in the moments of reason must be embittered to a degree too painful to hear, or almost to think of. I saw Eleanor (for that was the name of this interesting creature) the next morning, when she had returned to her usual duties and apparent serenity. I had an elegant edi- tion of Thomson in my pocket, which attracted her notice as it lay on my supper-table the night before. I now wrote a romantic but just compliment on a blank leaf in it, and then 'presented to her the book : after which I instantly mounted my horse, and resumed my journey ; deprecating the revolutionary politics which had brought this family, and thousands of others, into such ignominy and distress. The town of Bedford is next to Strasburg, and consists of about two hundred well built houses. It is natural to inquire into the motives which could tempt men to settle in a region so remote from commerce and the world : iron- mines, and some fine intervalland (as it is here called), were the original attractions. Bedford is but a short day's ride from the highest mountain of the prodigious cirain ; and which, by way of distinction, is called exclusively " the Alleghany :" the others having received names from local events, or something remarkable in their features ; as Co- neeocheque, or Bloody Mountains, the Three Brothers, the Walnut, and the Laurel Hills, &c. I travelled along so at- tentive to the objects round roe, and wasted so much time in visionary speculations, that I was overtaken by night on the summit of the mountain ; where the road was narrow and bounded by t frightful precipices. If 1 attempted to ad* vance, a^sflftj^h and rapid death was unavoidable ; or if 1 remained where I was, wolves, panthers, and tiger-cats, were at hand to devour me. I chose the latter ,nsk, as hav- ing less of fatal certainty in it : I thought 1 could effect something by resistance ; or that fortune might favour me by giving a more suitable supper, and a different hunting- ground, to the ferocious animals. ASHE.J C 10 ASHE's TRAVELS IN AMERICA. The progress of night was considerably advanced ; and the powerful exhalations of the preceding sun, for want of wind to disperse or waft them to other parts, were returning to their parent woods. They at first hovered, in the form of transparent clouds, over small creeks and rivulets in the intervals of the mountain : and then assumed a wider range, spreading over the entire valley, and giving to it the appear- ance of a calm continued sea. This beautiful transfigura- tion took place several hundred feet below me; while the summit of the hill had no mist, and the dew was not sensi- ble. The moon shone, but capriciously ; for though some places were adorned with her brightest beams, and exhibited various fantastic forms and colours, others were unaffected by her light, and awfully maintained an unvaried gloom ; a " darkness visible," conveying terror and dismay. Such apprehensions were gaining fast on my imagination, till an object of inexpressible sublimity gave a different di- rection to my thoughts, and seized the entire possession of my mind. The heavenly vault appeared to be all on fire : not exhibiting the stream or character pf the aurora- boreal is ; but an immensity vivid and clear, through which the stars, detached from the firmament, traversed in eccentric direc- tions, followed by trains of light of diversified magnitude and brightness. Many meteors rose majestically out of the horizon: and having gradually attained an elevation of thirty degrees, suddenly burst ; and descended to the earth in a shower of brilliant sparks, or glittering grins. This splendid phenomenon was succeeded by a multitude of shoot- ing-stars, and balls and columns of fire ; which, after as- suming a variety of forms (vertical, spiral, and circular), vanished in slight flashes of lightning, and left the sky in its usual appearance and serenity. " Nature stood checked" during this exhibition : all was }' A death-like silence, and a dread repose." Would it had continued so for a time ! for I had insensibly dropped on my knees; and felt that I was offering to the great Creatbr of the works which J witnessed, the purest tribute of admiration and praise. My heart was full : 1 could not suppress my gratitude, and tears gushed from my eyes. These pious, these pleasing sensations, were soon forced fa yield to others arising out of the objects and circumstances found me. Tlie profound silence maintained during th WILD ANIMALS OF THE INTERIOR. 11 luminous representation, was followed by the din of the demon of the woods. Clouds of owls rose out of the val- leys, and flitted screaming about my head. The wolves too held some prey in chace, probably deer: their howlings were reverberated from mountain to mountain : or, carried through the windings of the vales, returned to the ear au unexpected wonder. Nor was the panther idle; though he is never to be heard till in the act of springing on his victim, when he utters a horrid cry. The wolf, in hunting, howls all the time; certainly with the view of striking terror : for, being less fleet than many of the animals on which he sub- sists, they would escape him if he did not thus check their speed by confounding their faculties. This is particularly the case with the deer : at the hellish cry, the poor animal turns, stops, and trembles: his eyes fill ; his flanks heave* his heart bursts ; and he dies the moment before the mon- ster rushes upon him. The tiger-cat was busily employed close by me. Like our little domestic creature of the same species, he delights in tormenting, and is admirably skilled in the art. He had now caught an opossum, as I under- stood by the lamentations, but was in no haste to kill it. By the action ^ind noise, he must have let it escape his clutches several times, and as often seized and overpowered it again ; dropping it from the tree, and chasing it up the trunk, tilt the wretch being wcaiied at length with his vagaries and cruelty, he strangled and devoured it. The intervals between these cries and roarings, were filled by. the noise of millions of other little beings. Every tree,; shrub, plant, and vegetable, harboured some thousands of inhabitants, endowed with the faculty of expressing their passions, wants, and appetites, in different tones and varied modulations. The most remarkable was the voice of whip- poor-will : plaintive and sad, " Whip poor Will!" was his constant exclamation; nor did he quit his place, but seemed to brave the chastisement which he so repeatedly lamented. The moon, by this time, had sunk into the ho- rizon ; which was the signal for multitudes of lightning- flies to rise amidst the trees, and shed a new species of radi- ance round. In many places, where they rose and fell in numbers, they appeared like a shower of sparks ; and in others, where thinly scattered, they emitted an intermittent pleasing ray. At length the day began to dawn : both the noisy and tbe glittering world now withdrew, and left to Nature a silent solemn repose of one half-hour. This I employed iu refleo 12 ASIIE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. tions on the immensity and number of her works, and tue presumption of man, in pretending to count and describe them. Whoever dares to compose the history of Nature, should first pass a night \vhere 1 did : he would there be taught the vanity of his views, and the audacity of his in- tentions. He would there learn, that though gifted with a thousand years of life, and aided by ten thousand assistants, he still would be hardly nearer to his purpose ; neither the time nor the means would be sufficient for him to pourtray, with their properties, the herbs under his foot, and, with their affections, the insects that dwell among them. Yet every country has its natural historian ! A residence of three weeks, and a daily walk of two hours for that period, are deemed an ample qualification for the discovery and character of the productions of some of the finest regions on the globe. Snch was not the disposition of St. Pierre : after passing many years in the laborious search of natural objects, and many years more in investigating their laws and principles, as a preparation for writing the history of Nature, he abandoned the pursuit as impracticable and im- pious ; and favoured the world merely with his Studies, which are beautiful, intelligent, and unassuming. I conclude for the present ; again entreating you to ob- serve, that in my letters you are not to look for the graces of style, or peculiar accuracy of detail. I write from the heart ; from the impulse of the impressions made by real events; and this will, I hope, sufficiently gratify your ten- der and amiable feelings. T. A. TOWN OF PITTSBURG* 13 % LETTER II. Sun -rise in a deep Valley Breakfast at an Inn Ame- rican Forests generally free from Underwood The Au- thor kills a large Bear in the Forest: its deliberate precaution on being Shot An Indian Camp : gradual Expulsion of the Indians info the Interior, awl their near Extermination Grandeur and beautiful Tints of an Autumnal Scene Laurel-Hill Delightful Vale leading to Pittsburg Expences at the American Inns Comfort, a Term of very various Application. Pittslurg, Octoler, 1806. I AS day approached from the cast, I recommenced my journey. The sun soon after coloured " in gay attire" some of the summits of the mountains, but his luminous body was not visible for a considerable time ; and when it did appear in all its majesty, its rays were for several hours too oblique to penetrate the depths of the valley, and disperse the ocean of vapour which the preceding day had formed. It was interesting to observe with what reluctance the mists dissipated. Till touched by the magic beam, they were one uniform sheet : they then assumed a variety of forms ; clouds representing grotesque and lively figures, crowning some of the highest trees. Some descended to the bosom of the stream, and followed the windings of the waters ; others hovered over fountains and springs ; while the larger portion rose boldly to the mountain-tops, in defi- ance of the sun, to gain the higher atmosphere, and again descend to the earth in dew or showers. The birds, with the first dawn, left the recesses of the val- leys; and taking their elevated seats, " joined in orre uni- versal choir." At least, nothing had more the resemblance of a general thanksgiving, or oblation of praise, to the Author of life and light ; and though it might have been but a burst of exultation for the return of morn, I preferred thinking it a grateful expression of worship, which said to me: u Go thou and do likewise." It was near ten before I had descended the mountain, and reached a place of refreshment. You may conceive how much I was exhausted ; and how ranch I felt for my horse, 14 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMEKICA. who had fasted all night after a tedious journey. In recom- pense 1 now took good care of him, and resolved to let him rest the remainder of the day. Indeed I was pr possessed in favour of this inn : for it was clean, the landlady civil, and her husband sober ; three extraordinary circumstances, and which I little expected to meet on that road. My breakfast consisted of Indian bread, wild pigeons, and coflfee made of native pease; nothing could be more conformable to the place and to my appetite. During the repast I con- versed with my host on subjects which 1 supposed within the range of his information and capacity. I was mistaken: he was entirely unacquainted with the country round him. He never went west, because he had no business ; on the east, he was bounded by the mountain, which he was deter- mined never to ascend ; and on his right and left was a wil- derness which he feared to penetrate, as it abounded with \vild beasts, snakes, and reptiles of all kinds. I borrowed his gun and ammunition ; and having set the house with a pocket-compass, took a north-west course through the woods. The American forests have generally one very interesting quality, that of being entirely free from under or brush-wood. This is owing to the extraordinary height, and spreading tops, of the trees ; which thus pre- vent the snn from penetrating to the ground, and nourish- ing inferior articles of vegetation. In consequence of the above circumstance, one can walk in them with much plea- sure, and see an enemy from a considerable distance. I soon felt the advantage of this ; for I had not been long out, before a bear fell from a tree, and rose erect, about twenty yards before me. He was in the act of looking up to the branch from which he had slipped, when I fired, and lodged a ball in his groin. He staggered, and leant against a tree: but recovering a little from the pain and surprise, he deli- berately stooped to pick up a quantity of clean leaves; which with the utmost precaution he stuffed into the wound, and thus stopped the flood of blood. I was prepared to fire a second time, but my heart failed me : 1 was overcome by the firmness which he shewed on receiving the shot, and the means he employed to correct its injury. He tried to climb the tree once more, but could not : the vital stream again rushed out ; he fell to the ground, uttered a deep cry, and almost immediately expired. He was a very large animal; his tusks being five inches long, and his paw fifteen inches by five. I continued on my way, till I came to a wood of younger CHARACTER OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 15 growth, interspersed with spots entirely clear of timber and marked by traces of former cultivation. I examined the place with care : it was an Indian camp ; such as is often seen from the borders of the Atlantic to the great western waters, and even to the Pacific Ocean. Not that the In- dians originally took this situation, or any other inland one, from choice; on the contrary, their pursuits and their hap- piness lay on the coasts of the sea, and the banks of navi- gable rivers; where they could lead a life congenial to the climate, adequate to their few wants, and suitable to their propensities. Thus they lived, regardless of the wealth, and beauty of the interior, till the overflowing population of your country, and the religious and political tyranny of others, inspired a love of emigration, and brought on the shores a flood from which the native inhabitants were obliged to recede ; renouncing at once their habits, their accustomed aliments and pleasures, the burial-places of their fathers, and the residence of their gods. So great was their respect to " white men," that they retreated without making any opposition ; and with bleeding hearts began to settle in the back-grounds, to live on meat instead of fish, to build tu- muli tor their dead, and sanctuaries for the u Great Spirit" who they hoped had followed them into the wilderness. In- nocent intentions! unassuming views! yet these too were frustrated. Wave after wave followed the first inundation ; each gaining new ground, and forcing this devoted people into the plains ; where they were only permitted to4ive long enough to form habits, and improve the land, and then were driven to the mountains, to feel the vicissitudes of other climates, range amid barren rocks, and combat for food with beasts of prey. Even this state of miserable existence was still to be denied them. They were hunted from these dreary haunts, and compelled to descend the mountains : not on their own native eastern side, but on the western, which was the soil of their enemies, other savage nations who lived on the margins of the great waters, and who were at eternal war with the rest of mankind. The remainder of their history is obvious : mutual and repeated hostilities, the alteration of climate and mode of life, and disease and in- temperance introduced among them by the whites, have nearly annihilated the whole race. From the Atlantic to the Mississippi, a distance of two thousand miles, ten thou- sand Indians (out of twenty millions) do not at this day exist. The camp which I* was contemplating, therefore, was OQ- 16 ASIIE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. cttpied as a last refuge in the hour of melancholy and de- spair. It is hid in the depth of the valley, amidst the pro- foil ndest gloom of the woods; and at the period of its first establishment, must have been nearly inaccessible. 1 spent three hours in exploring it ; and found it to consist of, 1 . A regular circle, a hundred paces in diameter, the perpen- dicular rise of the circumference of which is at least four feet; 2. The site of about two hundred huts, placed at re- gular distances between (he circle and the foot of a steep Mil; and 3. The mounds of the dead. The space con- tained in the circle was used according to the exigencies of the times. In peace it was the forum where- their tvise men and elders met to deliberate on the affairs of the nation ; distribute impartial justice ; exercise their youth in various combats ; and instruct them in religious v/orship, of which dancing constituted a considerable part : in war it was the assembly of their fighting-men ; where they de- bated on measures of prudence, and stratagems of inge- nuity. If the enemy attacked them in the camp, the old men, the wives, and children, with their effects, were placed in the centre of the circle ; while the warriors surrounded them as an impenetrable barrier, guarding the wall entirely round, and shouting defiance to the assailants. Nearly two hundred years have now elapsed since England sent her fiery zealots and furious bigots to one part of America; \vhile France, regurgitating robbers and prostitutes, colo- nized another. Was this a means to improve a people and reclaim a country ; and can its original inhabitants be con- demned for not accepting even a gospel and laws offered them at the point of the sword ? Are they to be reproached for indolence, vice, and drunkenness, when most experi- enced instructors came among them to teach these baneful practices ? Mad the first settlers been animated by the prin- ciples of an enlightened humanity, how different would now be the face of society and nature here ! population would abound ; agriculture flourish ; the wide desert be a smiling plain, loaded with waving corn ; commerce would have opened extensive roads, the arts and the sciences following in her train ; and the cross, that holy emblem which is now disfigured by violence, blood, and corruption, would be seen elevated on myriads of temples, and glittering through all the parts of the new world. At 'four o'clock the sun had left the valley, and I had to hasten away, so as to reach my tavern before night. This I effected; to the surprise of my hosts j for ; from the length THE LAUREL-HILL. 17 of my stay, they began to imagine me to have lost myself, or been devoured by wild beasts. An American has no conception of a person's being able to derive pleasure frora a walk, or information from solitude; his sluggish faculties require palpable and active objects to give them exercise. I mention this ;o account for the astonishment of my land- lord at my delay, and his insensibility to the enjoyments which a contemplative walk would every day present. Finding that I could derive no information from such a man (who knew nothing of the camp, and, as his wife said, u did not heed such things not he")> I hastily took some refreshment, retired to rest, and departed next morning-, with a fine sun, and the promise of a delightful day. Autumn had already begun to shed a varied tint over the numerous subjects of her rich domain. I amused myself in endeavouring to count and classify the colours 'which she employs to diversify Nature, and distinguish her reign from that of the oilier seasons : but I made little progress ; for the scene was too grand, extensive, and sublime, to come under the confined controul of human calculation. 1 was on a vast eminence, commanding a view of a valley in which stood millions of trees, and from which many millions more gra- dually rose in the form of an immense amphitheatre. It appeared as if every tree, though many were of the same class, had shades, hues, and characters, peculiar to itself ; de- rived from individual attitude, growth, and soil ; and presen- tation to heavenly bodies, and the emanations issuing from them. It was one of those scenes on which the mind could dwell with infinite rapture; but which can never be de- scribed with justice and truth, except by one inspired by Him, " Whose breath perfumes them, and whose pencil paints," But ** Who can paint Like Nature ? Can imagination boast, Amidst her gay creation, hues like these ?'* THOMSON* Between this spot and Pittsburg I passed two flourishing little towns; first crossing the celebrated Laurel-hill, so called from its ridge being for several miles crowned with trees of that kind. This hill is remarkably steep and stony. Nothing- worthy of mention struck my notice till I arrived ASHE.] D 18 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. within three miles of Pittsburg, when I descended into the beautiful vale which leads into that town. It was impos- sible to behold any thing more interesting than this : it ex- tended three mifos on a perfect level, cultivated in the high- est degree; bounded by a rising ground on the left, and a transparent river on the right ; and leading to a well inha- bited town, where 1 meant to repose after a journey of 320 miles, 150 of them over stupendous mountains and barren rocks. Such a sight could not fail of gratifying and en- chanting me ; giving serenity to the mind, and gratitude to the heart ; and awakening in the soul its most amiable and distinguished affections. In sending you this sketch, I have not stopped to detail the inferior particulars of the journey. It is of little con- sequence where a traveller sleeps, where and what he eats, and whether he was comfortable, &c. In travelling along this and every other road in America, a stranger is furnished with a route indicating the best inns, and their distances from each other : as to the expence, it seldom varies ; being a quarter of a dollar for lodging, the same sum for every meal, and half a dollar a night for a horse. With regard to comfort^ that favourite British word is too vague for general explanation ; as it relates to comparison, habit, and sensibilities. If the English miss cleanliness, the French coffee, the Duch tobacco, the Germans beer, the Russians oil, the Italians chocolate, the Spaniards garlic, the Turks opium, the Tartars milk, the Indians rice, and so on through every nation, they never consider themselves com- fort able ; and hence we hear the same house praised by one guest, and vilified by another. LETTER III. Situation and Description of Pittsburg Its Manufacto- ries^ Ship-building, and Population State of Educa- tion here Character and Persons of the Ladies Reli- gious Sects Schools Market-house, and Prices of Provisions Price of Land-*- Amusements* Pittslurg, Octoler, 1806. I AM afraid I tire your patience : three letters from this place, and yet it remains imdescribed ! Excuse me : I now commence. DESCRIPTION OF PITTSBURG. 19 No inland town in the United States, or perhaps in the world, can boast of a position superior to this, both as to its beauty, and also the many advantages with which it is at- tended ; it being delightfully situated at the head of the Ohio, and on (he point of land formed by the junction of the AUeghany and the Monongahela rivers. The site of the old French garrison Duquesne, which was taken by ge- neral Forbes in the year 1758, is immediately at the conflu- ence of the two streams ; and commands a charming view of ach, as well as of the Ohio. The British garrison Fort Pitt (so called after the late earl of Chatham, and erected near the former post), higher up on the Monongahela, was once a place of some consequence as a frontier settlement, j but fell into decay on being given up by its founders. As it was included in one of the manors of the Penn family, it was sold by the proprietaries ; and now makes a part of the town of Pittsburg, and is laid out in town-lots. Fort Fay- ette, built a very few years since, is also within the limits of the town, on the bank of the AUeghany : a garrison is at present kept there ; and for the most part, it is made head- quarters for the army of the United States. The spot on which this town stands, is so commanding (in the military phrase) that it has been emphatically called the key to the western country : and its natural situation is peculiarly grand and striking. Blest as it is wi.h numerous advantages, there is nothing surprising in- its having in- creased rapidly within the last few years. It contains about four hundred houses, many of them large and elegantly built with brick ; and above two thousand inhabitants. It abounds with mechanics, who cultivate most of the diffe- rent manufactures that are to be found in any other part of the United States; and possesses upward of forty retail stores*, which all seem continually busy. To this place most of the goods conveyed in waggons over the mountains in spring and autumn, and destined for the Kentucky and Louisiana trade, are brought, to be ready for embarkation. Many valuable manufactories have been lately established here; among which are those of glass, nails, hats, and to- bacco. The manufacture of glass is carried on extensively, and that article is made of an excellent quality. There are two establishments of this sort; one for the courser, and the other for the finer kinds. * The common name for the places of sale in America and the colonies; dif- fering from shops in being generally larger, and always dealing in a vast variety of articles, including every thing that can be expected to be aked for. 20 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. Ship-building is practised to a considerable extent in and near this town, and several vessels of trom 10 to 350 tons are now on the stocks. They are frequently loaded here with flour, hemp, glass, and provisions; and then descend with the stream to the sea, a distance of 2300 miles; the only in- stance of such a length of fresh water inland navigation, for vessels of such burthen, known in the world. The principal inhabitants of Pittsburg are Irish, or of Irish origin : this accounts for the commercial spirit of the place, and the good breeding and hospitality which in ge r - neral prevail .throughout it. Colonel O'Hara, and majors Kirkpatrick and Grey, have been long distinguished for the liberality of their character, and their generous attention to strangers. 1 am indebted to them for much information and kindness ; and whenever my mind wants a subject ca- pable of affording it the most pleasing contemplation, i-t shall revert to the many happy hours which I enjoyed in. their society, and that of their amiable families. The in- fluence of these and many other gentlemen of similar senti- rnents, is very favourable to the town ; and has hindered the vicious propensities of the genuine American character, from establishing here the horrid dominion which they have assumed over the Atlantic States. Education is not attended to by the men, so much as by the ladies. The former enter into business so early, that they are obliged to abandon their studies before they are half completed ; but the latter, having no other view than the improvement of their faculties, pass many years in pur- suit of solid information and fashionable attainments. Hence they acquire a great superiority over the other sex. The ladies of jPittsburg manifest this superiority in a very high degree, but do not abuse it. Modest and unassuming, they conceal for a considerable time their embellishments; and -when they permit them to shine out, it is to please a husband, father, or acquaintance, and not for the gratifica- tion of ambition or the humiliation of friends. None of their sensations appear to be Tiolent: their character exhi- bits more of a serene repose than of a boisterous energy. Their form is slender, person tall, and voice melodious; the hair light ; the eye mild ; the gesticulation easy; and in a word, the whole of their manner, action, and appearance, denotes a temperate soul, an excellent heart, and an im- proved mind. I ani happy to say that those are the lead- ing features of many American women : it gives me great pleasure to render this justice to them ; and to assure you, RELIGIOUS VAGARIES. 21 that when I expressed the supreme disgust excited in me by the people of the United States, the ladies were by no means included in the general censure. Indeed it is a highly interesting fact, that the character of women is in every country more fixed and stable than that of men : the po- lished females of your court, the innocent ones of your fields and villages, and the females (cultivated or savage) of the most distant regions, have one universal indelible obligation impressed upon them: to be the entertaining companions, the charming associates, the bosom friends, and the faithful comforters, of man. This obligation they obey throughout the world. The vicissitudes ofJife, which cause a deplorable difference in the conduct of men, exercise no power over their affections ; except that their love is strength- ened by our adversity, and their friendship increased by our calamities. WIven the yellow fever is preying on the exanimate wretch ; when the vital stream urges a passage from every pore ; when his servants, and the nearest and dearest of his own sex, fly the dread contagion ; who stays to check the crimson effusion, to ofter the last sad remedy, ; to cool the burning tongue, to correct the putrid air, to re- ceive the solemn parting injunction, and the last agonizing embrace ? who but the wife of his bosom, or the favourite of his heart? Happily for this place, religion is not extinct, though the professors of it are employing the best possible means for effecting its destruction. They are frittering it into a thou- sand ceremonies; a thousand absurd and eccentric shapes. In fact, religious worship is expressed here by every vagary that can enter into a disturbed mind. Some sit still, and appear to commune with themselves in silence and solem- nity : others, on the contrary, employ themselves in violent gesticulation, and shouting aloud. Some, in mere obedi- ence to the letter of the apostle's instruction, to u become as little children," think it right to play and roll on the floor, tumble, dance, sing, or practise gymnastic and various other juvenile games. Others deny the necessity of at all frequenting the house of the Lord : and accordingly turn out into the wilderness ; where they fast, pray, and howl in imitation of the wolves. I did not inquire into the argu- ments by which the merits of these contradictory proceed- ings are supported : I was content on being assured that the better kind of people frequent the protestant church and the Romish chapel. I cannot omit mentioning, that even the ASIIES TRAVELS IN AMERICA. dress and the costume of the hair and beard, are made sub- servient to religious opinions. Yesterday, while walking with an intelligent acquaintance, there advanced toward us out of a wood, a being that appeared to me a bear in dis- guise, wrapped in an immense cloak ; and a hat like an umbrella unfurled, covering its head. Under this impres- sion, I could not help exclaiming : " What the deuce is that?" My friend laughed, and told me it was a Meno- nite: " a harmless creature," continued he, " belonging to a sect who never inhabit towns, nor ever cut their beard, hair, or nails; wash or clean themselves ; and whose dress, habits, and general mode of life, are at variance with those of the rest of mankind." Pity now succeeded the error which I at first entertained. I am sorry that I cannot make a favourable report of the scholastic establishments of this town. There is but one of a public nature; which is called an academy, and sup- ported by the voluntary munificence of the place. It is under the direction of a number of trustees ; who employ themselves so much in altercation whenever they meet, that they have not yet had time to come to any mutual under- standing on its concerns. There is, however, a master ap- pointed, who instructs about twenty boys in a sort of trans- atlantic Greek and Latin, something in the nature of what the French call patois, but which serves the purpose of the pupils as well as if their teacher were a disciple of Demos- thenes or Cicero. There are a few private schools where the principles of grammar, rhetoric, and a sound English education, may be acquired : the young ladies, while day-scholars, generally attend a master, and the present minister of the English church is principal of a school for the fair sex. His course of study is very liberal, philosophical, and extensive. Some of his scholars compose with ^reat elegance, and read and speak with precision and grace. He makes them acquainted with history, geography, and polite literature; together with such other branches of instruction as are necessary to correct the judgment and refine the taste. The market-house, which stands in a square in the centre of the town, is frequented almost daily, but more particu- larly on two stated days of the week, by vast numbers of country-people, who bring to it provisions of every descrip- tion. The beef is excellent, and is often sold as cheap as three CHEAPNESS OF ANIMAL FOOD. 23 cents a pound* ; good veal, at seven cents ; and pork at three dollars a hundred weight. Remarkably fine fowls cost about a shilling a couple. Quails, partridges, pigeons, and game of various kinds, are abundant, and sold at prices equally reasonable. Venison and bear-meat also are often brought to market ; a haunch of the former may be bought for half a dollar, and a flitch of the latter for about twice as much. Vegetables and fruit are plentiful, but rather higher in proportion than other- articles. Butter is gene- rally fourteen cents a pound ; eggs, five cents a dozen ; and milk, three cents a quart. From this statement you will readily perceive that living here must be extremely cheap: the best taverns charge half a dollar a day for three meals and lodging ; and there arc boarding-houses on the terms of only a hundred dollars a year for board, lodging, and washing. The great towns on the Atlantic are vastly dearer ; in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charlestown, the average price of decent accommodation being ten dol- lars a week. Those places however have the advantage in respect to foreign manufactures, wine, and liquor : for their Madeira is a dollar a bottle, but here it is a dollar and a half; and spirits of course are in the same rates. This is the natural effect of the dangerous, difficult, and expensive, land-carriage. As these latter are articles of luxury, their weight falls alone on the affluent : the other classes of so- ciety have excellent porter brewed in the town at a very cheap rate, and whiskey is to be had for two shillings a gallon. The price of land varies with the quality, the distance from the town, and other causes. Farms on the margins of navigable waters are 300 per cent, dearer than those lying behind them. Good land on the banks of a river, and near a market-town, is not to be had under ten dollars an acre; but land under contrary circumstances brings only from one to two, or five dollars. Such land yields from twenty .to thirty bushels of wheat, and from forty to sixty bushels of Indian corn. As for the amusements here, they are under the dominion of the seasons. In winter, carioling or sleying predomi- nates : the snow no sooner falls, than pleasure, bustle, and confusion, banish business, speculation, and strife; nothing is seen but mirth, and nothing is heard but harmony. All young men of a certain condition provide themselves witli * A Hundred cents make a dollar. 24 ASHK'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. handsome carioles and good horses, and take out their fa* vourite female friends, whom with much dexterity they drive through the streets ; calling on every acquaintance, and taking refreshment at many an open house. For the night, an appointment is generally made by a large party (for instance, the company of twenty or thirty cari- oles) to meet at a tavern several miles distant ; to which they go by torch-light, and accompanied by music. On arriv- ing there, the ladies cast off their fur pelisses, assume all their beauties, and with the men commence the mazy dance* This is followed by supper, son^s, catches and glees. When the voice of Prudence dispels the charm, they resume their vehicles, and return delighted with the moments which they have thus passed : this is repeated frequently during the snow. The summer amusements consist principally of con- certs, evening walks, and rural festivals held in the vicinity of clear springs, and under the shade of odoriferous trees. On the latter I shall dwell in some future letter ; at present I roust conclude with the usual sentiments of attachment and regard. LETTER IV. The Subject of Emigration from Britain considered History of an Emigrant Farmer Kentucky peopled by a puffing Publication Lord Selkirk's Colonizations District least pernicious for Emigrants. Pittsburg, November, 1806. AS the portrait which I gave you in my last, of this town and its vicinity, might dispose some minds on your side of the water to emigration, it will be but fair and ho- nest for me to consider that subject rather minutely, and shew you how far such a measure would tend to their hap- piness or otherwise. For this purpose, let us suppose an in- dividual determined to abandon the land of his nativity, and to break the chain of early attachments and "maturer friend- ships, to go whither? To a country of which scarcely any but unfaithful delineators have written ; to regions de- scribed by persons who meant to impose on the public, by giving lavish and flattering details of which they themselves PATRIOTIC SACRIFICE; C5 had only heard. One place is said to be " a paradise^ where man enjoys the felicities of the golden age:" and an- other is represented as " a fit residency for g *' Alas! these are the roper's either of UuveUus who conceive that, they must not speak the truth, or perhaps of indigent writers who never were out of London. Such compositions area kind of romance, intended to amuse* not to instruct ; to please, but convey no intellig.-nc ;: and this is the d inge^ rous effect of an opinion, th.rt the public taste would not endure a work destitute of false colouring an 1 meretricious embellishments; and that an author adhering to the simpli- city of truth, would be condemned as a gloomy pedant who represented nature in a dark disguise. To illustrate these observations, it may be useful to state a fact. Only a few years have elapsed since a gentleman farmer, residing within three or four miles of Lewes, in the county of Sussex, began to entertain unfavourable notions of his country; and to believe that he was a mere slave, subject to the caprice of an arbitrary government* Perhaps you will suppose that a course of unmerited adversity had re- duced him to poverty and distress, aiid thus given this un- happy turn to his thoughts; on the contrary, his farm was his own ; it enabled him to support a targe family, to enjoy the comforts and even luxuries of life, and the delight of performing acts of generosity among his relations and iiei^h* bours. Under what delusion then did he labour? That which arose from an extravagant admiration of the French revolution, and the French patricls! He extolled all that they did, and trusted to all they said. They declared that the people of England wore not tree, but in a state of infa- mous servitude: he believed this; and to amend his wretched condition, resolved to emigrate. lie fixed on America as )iis destination : and to obtain nil the necessary information for this purpose, bought up every publication which pro- fessed to describe that extensive country* He had before read every one that abused and censured his own ; and everi his children were familiar with Jefferson's flights on I ride* pendence* the blasphemies of Tom Paine, arid the political reveries of Priestley Thus equipped, thus admirably prc* pared for the completion of his project, he sold his "stock and all his possessions, and embarked without any other re- gret than what he patriot i cully felt for the calamities and degeneracy of his countrymen. You need not be told, that on leaving the land, a/id en- countering storms acd gangers of every kind, a variety of ASllfiJ 26 ASIlE's TRAVELS IN AMERICA. recollections must have recurred to the minds of our emi- grants, and torn their hearts with the anguish of recollected and endearing sympathies. Such must have been the state of their feelings till they arrived in sight of America, but these sensations were then diverted by a succession of new and unknown objects. They first saw land to the north-east of Portland, in the district of Maine- and then coasted along tile shore to Boston in Massachusets- Daring this period, the father was anxiously looking for that prospect of fields arid villages, that general shew of improvement and abundance, which his reading had instructed him to ex- pect ; but what was his surprise uhen lie found that he could observe nothing but immense forests, covering an endless succession of mountains which penetrated to the interior of the country* and lost their summits in the clouds! He was not aware, that from the vast extent of America, the indus- try of man cannot for centuries effect a visible change in the general and primitive face which it bears. The improve- ments are but as specks scattered here and there, and can only be perceived by particular researches J the survey from a distance represents a continued immeasurable tract of ivoods, apparently occupied by beasts of prey, and inca- pable of affording accommodation to man. This unexpected sight engaged and astonished him ; nor were his reflections on it interrupted till he arrived in Boston harbour, where other scetus gave him fresh cause for won- der. A sw'ir'm of custom-officers were in an instant on board; and began their work of search, extortion, and pil- lage. Having escaped from these, and landed, he found himself surrounded by a number of persons who, without any kind of ceremony, crowded on him with the most fami- liar and impertinent inquiries : such as why he left England, whether lie intended to settle among them, what were his means, what line ot life he meant to follow, &c. One of lhem could let mm have a house and store, if he turned his thoughts to merchandise: another could supply him at a low price, with the workshop of a mechanic, a methodist* meeting, or a butcher's shop, if either of these articles would suit him. Sonic recommended him to become a land-jobber / and to buy of them a hundred thousand acres on the borders- of the Geresst'c country, and on. the banks of extensive rivers and sitmpfttcjis lakes. This speculation was opposed by others, who offered him the sale of a parcel of town-lot*, Jfrom Wifch, by building- on them, he could clear 500 pen ; c* if he had m>t means to build for the present, he AMERICAN SPECULATIONS. 27 could cultivate the lots as cabbage-gardens, clear the first cost in a few years, and sell the whole at an advanced price! Finding, however, that none of tai'ir advice had any effect, these sordid speculators gradually dispersed; forming diffe- rent conjectures of the stranger's intention, and lamenting that he was not simple enough to be made their dupe. At length lie reached a tavern ; where he had not been long before a succession of swindlers and impostors intruded on his privacy, asked him a new set of questions, and ha- rassed him with proposals varying according to the particu- lar interests of the parties. If he had a desire to become a banker, he could purchase a share in a capital house; or he might buy a land-lottery ; take a contract for building a bridge ; place his funds in a manufactory of weavers' shut" ties; buy up unpaid for British goods, twenty percent. under prime cost ; sell them by auction, and then buy a pa- tent for making improved fish-hooks, and cut iron nails. As he did not approve of any of thjese plans, he was fortu- nately left to his little family : but not till his intruders gave liim to understand that they suspected him to be a poor fel- low without either money or spirit ; and who came among them to become a schoolmaster, lawyer, parson, or doctor. u These professions," they added, " already abounded among them, but in the interior of the country he could not fail to succeed ; and (hey hoped he would soon remove to those parts, as people of his kind were hardly held in repute among them. 9 '' When they were again alone, his wife and himself could no longer suppress their astonishment and horror. One short hour had dispelled the reveries in which they had so long indulged, and changed the liberal, independent, ami' able Americans, of whom they had read so much, into a race of impudent, selfish, sordid individuals, without either principle or common humanity. Still, however, he was not inclined to judge rashly of them ; but deliberately to examine the country, and act from his own observations. At last, after spending much of his time and property, his conclusions were these : that the high price of labour ren-" ders it impossible for a gentleman farmer to make any thing of land there ; that no man can succeed on a farm unless he himself attends the plough, and has a wife and children ca- pable of performing the other mean and hard work ; that the market prices are too low to defray the expence of hired labourers, and that one of his own flocks of sheep in Eng- 28 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. land yielded a greater profit than any farm which he had examined or seen here. Taxes too, he found, were nume- rous and increasing ; yet trade was unprotected, and persons and property were insecure. As to religion, he saw it in some parts established by a rigid ecclesiastical tyranny, compelling him to go to a church on a Sunday or pay a fine; and in others so much neglected and disregarded, that every house of worship was in a state of dilapidation and decay. Unwilling to renounce the prejudice which had led him io prefer America to his own country, he travelled south- ward, passing through the malignant ordeals of the middle States : through the burning fevers wfiicli annually claim their thousands ; and depopulate the gnat towns of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. He did not, it is true, find these dreadful scourges prevailing in the southern States, but he soon learnt thai they too were regularly visited by pe- riodical diseases. Slavery also reigricd here; and conse- quently tyranny, sloth, avarice, and licentiousness. He had now* visited the whole of settled America; and at length awoke from those dreams in which he had so long indulged, and which ruined a considerable part of his for- tune. His present reflections indeed were sound and salu- tary : they brought to his mind new ideas of his native land, and of its constitution. What he had seen in America, led him to recollect the undisturbed security and wraith which Le once so eminently enjoyed at home. To change his own mild and paternal government, for the wild principle* of the American federal system ; to renounce the honour of 'being a British subject, for the degradation of becoming a citizen of such States : now appeared to him absurd and contemptible: ho accordingly prepared with eagerness to return to his native home, and is at this moment the tenant on the farm which was originally his inheritance. And yet he is happy, because he now sees all the objects of his for- mer discontent in a rational view. Tithes, which formerly excited his disgust and uneasiness, he now owns to be neces- sary (till some equivalent can be substituted in their stead) for the support of religious worship ; the neglect of which, as he has strikingly seen in America, renders a country in- famously licentious. Taxes he allows .to be essential for se- curing public order, public wealth, and individual prospe- rity and happiness. He admits that commerce must be protected by a navy ; and that foreign possessiqns, which MISFORTUNES OF THE SELKIRK COLONISTS. S9 Supply that commerce, must be maintained by a standing army : and concludes, that to expect riches and prosperity without taxes, is to expect the return of the fabulous golden age ; a thing- that may be wished even by the wise, but which fools themselves can never hope for. Such is this gentle-man's history! You will ask me why others do not follow his example; and when they find Ame- rica contrary to their sanguine notions, return to their native homo. I reply, that they either want means, or are deficient in strength of mind ; that they either involve their fortunes in vague speculations from which they cannot retire, or fear to encounter the contempt and derision of their former ac- quaintance. Some are even so base as to write, in the midst of their disappointment, flattering letters for the purpose of enticing others to follow their steps (which must inevitably lead them into the same errors and calamities) only for the sake of having companions in misfortune and ridicule. .But a more powerful cause producing emigration is, that it becomes the business of those who make large purchases of land, to exert all their eloquence and other means for in viting people to settle on it. The first explorer of Kentuc key hired an author residing in Philadelphia, to write an ani- mated and embellished description of that country. The narrative was in a florid, beautiful, and almost poetical style: in short, the work possessed every merit except truth. However, the land speculator succeeded : in the course of seven years, the book drew forty thousand inhabitants into that State; but this instrument of their delusion is now read only as a romance. Such were the views also which accom- plished lord Selkirk's extensive colonizations : yet the first Settlers nearly perished from want, owing to the general de- vastation of vermin destroying the seed before it took root in the ground ; and the next fell victims to the flux and fevers, generated in the immense swamps on the lakes of the west. Priestley, under the same delusive influence, strengthened by his peculiar political and religious principles, settled in another inhospitable region; but he was soon obliged to draw a sad contrast between this and his native land : he &11 info a deep melancholy, and died of a broken heart. I cannot think it necessary to say much after this detail of facts. I ask you, could j/ou dream of coming to this coun- try, from so gloomj^ yet so true a representation of it ? Though many of these facts do not operate against this town and its neighbourhood, still there are enough to deter me from encouraging any person to remove hither. J3ut 1 do $0 ACHE'S TRAVELS IX AMERICA. fiot hesitate, however, to declare, that if a friend of mine were resolved ort emigration, I would recommend these ttrftters in preference to any place that I have seen east of the moii.itat.ls ; and as I have carefully travelled from Georgia to the district of Maine, you may depend on my opinion a* possessing the ad vantages of experience. LETTER V. Morgaritotin The Monongahela River- Cheat River, and George's Creek Neis Geneva, and Greensburg Brownsville Willianis Port Elizabeth Town j\i'uc- fcee's Port, and Braddock's Defeat An Indian forti- fied Camp described* and interesting Object discovered near it Ancient Indian Biirroz?s,^or Burial-places-^ Remain*- of Arms? Utensils ^ and Instruments. Morgan town, Pennsylvania, Nov. 18CK2. THIS, which is a flourishing town pleasantly situated 0ft the east bank of the Mononguhcla river, contains about sixty dwellings ; and is a county town for the counties of Harrison, Monongahela, and Randolph. As it may be con- sidered as at the bead, of the Monongahela navigation, I shall here give you a sketch of that river. The Monongahela takes its rise from the foot of the Lau- TeUmountain, in Virginia: thence meandering in a direction >vest by east, it passes into Pennsylvania ; receiving in its course Cheat and Yoiigheogheny rivers from the south south, 'past, and many other small streams. It unites with the Al kguany at Pittsbnrg : and the t\vo rivers, as I have before remarked, form the Ohio. The settlements on each side of it are extensive, and much of the land is good and well cul- tivated. The appearance of the rising towns and the regu- larly disposed farms on its banks, is truly delightful to pas- sengers. In autumn and spring it is generally covered with what are here called trading and family boats : the former, loaded with flour, whiskey, cider, apples, peach-brandy, bacon, iron, glass, earthen-ware, cabinet-work, &c. all be* ing the produce and manufacture of the country, and des- tined for Kentuckey and New Orleans ; and the latter carry- ing furniture^ utensils, and tools for the cultivation of the TOWNS ON THE MOXOXG AHELA. soil. No scone can be more pleasing to a philosophic miml I hah this: which presents to view a floating town, as it were, on the face of a river whose gentle rapidity and flow- ered banks add sublimity to cheerfulness; and the sweet harmony of the songsters of the woods, to the hoarseness of the falling cataract or tlie murmur of the quiet stream. Eight mites below this town is ('heat river, the mouth of which is obstructed by a long and difficult shoal : a pilot should always be taken to guide a stranger through this. Twelve mile's from this shoal, and on the east side, is George's creek: below the mouth of which is situated New Geneva, a thriving town, and distinguished for extensive manufactories in its vicinity, which make and export large quantities of good glass. Kentuckcy and other boats are built here. A little below, and on the opposite side of the river, lies Grecnsbnrg; a small village, of which nothing fa* vourable can be said. Thirty -one miles from this last place is Brownsville, for- merly called Redstone. This town is well known to those who 9/ii'rate down the rivers. It is handsomely situated, but somewhat divided : a part lying on the first bank, but more on a second and higher one; both the banks being formed by the gradual subsidence of the water. Jt is a place of much business, and contains about a hundred houses and six hundred souls. The settlement round it is excellent, having some of the best mills to l>e found in the country ; and among them an extensive paper-mill, which is the only one at .this side of the mountains except that lately erected in Kentuckey. A variety of boats are built here; and an ex- tensive rope- walk is carried on, with various other valuable manufactories. The inhabitants are principally German and Dutch; and this accounts at once for the wealth, morals, and industry of the place. Williams Port lies nineteen miles below Brownsville, The town is small, but well situated ; and is increasing in business ; as it has a fine settlement, and lies on the direct road from Philadelphia to Whulan on the Ohio, und other places of conveyance. Beautifully situated, eleven miles further down the stream, stands Elizabeth Town ; where considerable business is done in the boat and ship building way. A ship called the Mo- nongahela Farmer, and several other vessels of considerable burthen, were built here ; and, loaded with the produce of the adjacent country, passed from the midst of The moun- tains to the bosom of tie tea, through circuitous fresh-water 32 A SHE'S TRAVELS ix AMERICA* streams that enrich provinces for an extent of nearly 2400 miles. Mackee's Port, also pleasantly situated, lies eight miles still lower, and just beyond the junction of the Yougheog- heny and the Monongahela. Many boats are built here ; arid on that account, migrators to the lower country gene- rally choose this place for embarking-. It is increasing in business, and indicates a likelihood to rise to some import- ance. A spot on the east side of the river, and eight miles from Mackee's Port, is called Braddock's Defeat, in com- memoration of the melancholy destruction of that British general and his force by the Indians in the American war. Kine miles further down stands Pittsburg, which 1 have al- ready described. As 1 did not stop to interrupt my rapid sketch of this river by mentioning a variety of interesting particulars which occur on its banks, I shall now return to a few of them. The neighbourhood of Brownsville, or Redstone, abounds with monuments of Indian antiquity. They consist of for- tified camps, barrows for the dead, images and utensils, military appointments, &c. A fortified camp (which is a fortification of a very com- plete nature, on whose ramparts timber oi five feet in dia- meter now grow*) commands the town of Brownsville^ which undoubtedly was once an Indian settlement. This camp contains about thirteen acres, enclosed in a circle, the elevation of which is seven feet above the adjoining ground* Within the circle, a pentagon is accurately described ; hav* ing its sides four feet high, and its angles uniformly three feet from the circumference of the circle, thus leaving an unbroken communication all round. Each side of the pen- tagon has a postern, opening into the passage between it and the circle ; but the circle itself has only one grand gateway, which directly faces 1he town. Exactly in the centre stands a mound, about thirty feet high, hitherto considered as a repository of the dead ; and which any correct observer can perceive to have been a place of look-out. I confess that I examined these remains of the former power of man with much care and veneration ; nor could I resist reproaching those writers who have iguorantly asserted, u We know of no such thing existing as an Indian monument of respec- tability ; for we would not honour with that name arrow- points, stone hatchets, stone pipes, half-shapen images, &c." I ask those writers, w hut opinion they entertain of INDIAN ANTIQUITIES. 83 the object which I now describe : and I request them, when they are again disposed to enlighten the world with their lucubrations, to visit the countries which they profess to de- lineate; and diligently search for materials there, before they presume to tell us that such have no existence. At an inconsiderable distance from the fortification, was a small rising ground ; on the side of which I perceived a large projecting stone, a portion of the upper surface of which was not entirely concealed in the bank. If the per- ceptible portion of it had been marked with the irregular traces that distinguish the hand of Nature, I might have sat on this stone in silent meditation on the objects which it immediately commanded ; but I conceived that the surface had that uniform and even character which exhibits the re-* suit of industry and art. Animated by a variety of conjectures, I hastened to the town to engage assistance ; and quickly returned to clear away the earth ; which bore strong indications of having fallen on the stone, and not having primitively engendered it. In proportion as I removed the obstruction, I paused to dwell on the nature of the discovery : my heart beat as 1 proceeded, and my imagination traced various symbols which vanished before minute investigation. The stone was finally cleared in a rough manner, and represented to our view a polygon with a smooth surface of eight feet by five. I could not immediately form any conclusion, yet I persist- ed in the opinion that the hand of man had been busy in. the formation of this object; nor was I diverted fromlthis idea by the discouragement of the persons whom I employ- ed, and the laughter of the multitude that followed me from the town to gaze on my labour and delight in my disap- pointment. Though the earth was now cleaned from the general surface of the stone, small quantities of it remained in certain irregular traces ; and this I determined to remove before abandoning expectations which I entertained jvith so much zeal. I accordingly commenced this operation, to the no small amusement of the spectators, and with consi- derable anxiety : for none of the indentions traversed the stone in right and parallel lines ; but ^fhey lay scattered without any apparent order, and I cherished the hope of decyphering a systematic inscription. With a pointed stick I followed the nearest indention, and soon discovered that it described a circle which completed its revolution at the spot where I had commenced clearing it. A ray of triumph now shone in my countenance : the people no ASHE.J P 54 ASHE ; 'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. longer ridiculed me, but a silent expectation manifested a desire that I might be crowned with further success. On continuing, I cleared a right line which made a segment on the circle, though it did not touch the circumference at either end. I cleared in succession four other lines of this description ; and the general view then presented a circle .^'inclosing a regular pentagon, whose angles were two inches from the circumference. The multitude shouted applause : "some of them even entered into the spirit of my design, and returned to their homes for water and brushes to scrub the *Stone. When this task waselfected, there appeared a figure { of the head of an Indian warrior etched in the centre. Each side of the pentagon was intersected by a small bar, and the "circle was also cut by one bar immediately opposite to a right line drawn from the head of the man. Near eacb 'line were an equal number of little dots : and the circle was surrounded by many more; all uniform in their size, and in their distance from the circle and from each other. The deductions from this very interesting spectacle, did not however give me the pride and delight that 1 ought to liave felt ; for in reality they destroyed my most favourite conceptions, that the predecessors of the Indians were not only enlightened by the arts and sciences, but were a diffe- rent sort of men from the present race, superior both in cor- poreal structure and mental endowment, and equal in the latter respect to the inhabitants of polished Europe. I was obliged to allow that the fact before my eyes abolished my theory entirely, for the representation on the stone was nothing more than a rude sketch of the adjoining fort which I have just described. The bars on the lines in the etching-, designated the posterns and gateway; the dots denoted the length of the lines, and the extent of the circumference of the circle ; and the warrior's head justified the opinion which I had entertained, that the mound in the centre of the fort was a place for a sentinel of observation. The etching is deep, and executed with considerable accuracy ; yet the whole has an Indian air : the head is indelibly marked with savage features, and resembles many which the modern tribes carve on their pipes and tomahawks. Two barrows or burial-places lie contiguous to. the fort. 1 perforated them in many places, to discover whether the bones lay in positions which announced any particular reli- gious or customary injunction ; but could discover nothing on which to form an opinion with any certainty : though I influenced by a tradition extant among the native In- NATIVE BARROWS OR TOMBS. 35 dians, that when their ancestors settled in a town, the first person who died was placed erect, and earth put about him so as to cover and support him ; and that when another died, a narrow passage was dug to the first, against whom he was reclined, and (he cover of the earth then replaced ; and so on. Most barrows hitherto discovered have been of a spheroidical form, which favours tills tradition. The one which 1 here opened, might have been originally a paral- lelogram, sixfy feet by twenty, and thirty feet high, whose upper surface and angles have been rounded by the long in- iluence of time and accident ; for we are not to conceive that the form of ancient works is exactly similar to that which they first possessed. Such indeed as are built of stone, and have not been exposed to dilapidation, do not experience any material change : but all those monuments (and they are by far the most numerous) which are com- posed of earth, must have undergone considerable altera- tion and waste ; and therefore afford a very scanty evidence of their original dimensions, or (except where bones are found) of their purpose. The bones in the barrows of this neighbourhood were di- rected to every point, without any regard to system or or- der. This surprised me the more, as 1 am well convinced that in general, most of the ancient aboriginal nations and tribes had favourite positions for their dead, and even fa- vourite strata with which to cover them ; as I shall have occasion to explain to you when on the spot where the pri- mitive Indian tribes resided. Perhaps the irregularities in the barrows of this place may arise from the bones deposited in them, having been those of persons killed in battle, and collected by the survivors in order to be buried under one great mound. This conjecture is the more probable, as there is abundant testimony that Indians dying naturally have been always interred with great pomp, and certain rites and positions existing to this day among them, which. they are instructed to maintain by their most respected tra- ditions. At the same time and place I found in my researches a few carved stone pipes and hatchets, flints tor arrows, and pieces of earthenware. I cannot take upon me to say that the workmanship of any of these articles surpasses the efforts of some of the present race of Indians ; but it certainly de- stroys an opinion which prevailed, that the inhabitants ii* . the most remote times had the use of arms, utensils, and in- struments, made of copper, iron, and steel, The discovery 36 however of these objects mixed with the bones of the dead, proves the high antiquity of the custom of burying with deceased persons such things as were of the most utility and comfort to them in life. LETTER VI. Town of Erie Description of the Alleghany River Trade on itIts Rise and Progress Towns and other remarkable Places in its Course Waterford, and Jour- ney thence to Meadville Bigsugar Creek, and Frank' lin Montgomery's Falls Ewalt's Defeat Freeport Sandy Creek The Navigation of the Alleghany Dangerous Bituminous Well Alleged Virtues of the Water of the River Onondargo Lake, and Salt Springs round it Fondness of the Animals here for Salt Buf- faloes: interesting Narrative respecting the Destruc- tion of those Animals Destruction of Deer Birds frequenting the Saline Waters: Doves Unhealthi- ness of the Climate, and Cautions on that Subject The most Salubrious Situations Details of the Manner in which the Commerce of the two Rivers is conducted Immense Circuitous Journey performed by those chiefly engaged in it Every thing done without Money A Store described) and its Abuses : Anecdote. Erie,* Decemlery 1806. THIS town, at the head of a portaged communicating with the r/iver (the Allegbany) which I mean in the present letter to describe, was a few years since laid out by direc- tion of the legislature of the state of Pennsylvania. From a view of its important and commanding situation, it was planned on a very large scale ; and every encouragement was given to settlers, in order to advance its progress. It now enjoys an extensive trade through the lakes ; and this circumstance would render it of the highest consequence to the country, but for the fevers which check its population in a considerable degree. * Formerly called Presqu'isle. f An established communication by land, to a navigable water. TOWNS ON THE ALLEGHANY. 37 Few rivers exceed the Alleghany in clearness of water and rapidity of current. It seldom fails to mark its course across the mouth of the Monongahela, in the highest freshes or floods. This is easily observed by the colour of the water ; that of the latter being very muddy, and the others clear. In high floods the junction of these rivers presents a pleas* ing view : the Mbnongahela flowing sometimes full of ice, biil the Alleghany transparent and free. It is delightfully interspersed with cultivated farms and increasing towns on its banks, and bids fair to be settled from its mouth to its source. The trade up and down this river has become ari object of much importance to the lower settlements; there being a great demand for flour, whiskey, apples, cider, beer, bacon, glass, iron, &c. at the different ports on the lakes, and among the inhabitants of the surrounding countrjf. The quantity of salt which comes from Onondargo, in the state of New York, through the lakes, and thence down this river, is so immense as to be sufficient for the supply of all the western country. The Alleghany rises near Sinemahoning Creek ; a navi- gable stream that falls into Susquehanna, to which there is a portage of only twenty-three miles. Thence it mean- ders, receiving many tributary streams ; and in about a south-westerly direction joins Monongahela at Pittsburg; where these two rivers lose their names, and together form the Ohio. Waterford (originally called Le Bceuf) is fifteen miles from Erie: it was laid out by the state of Pennsylva- nia, and is now increasing. This is one of the western ports which were evacuated only a few years ago. In my way hence to Meadville, a distance of forty-two miles, I had to pass through the JLe .Bee?// Lake, Muddy Creek, and Dead-water : a passage void of any lively interest ; and dangerous in respect to shallows, rapids, and stagnated va- pours rising out of ponds near its banks and their imme- diate neighbourhood. Meadville is pleasantly situated on French Creek : it is in a prosperous condition ; and is a seat of justice for the counties of Erie, Warren, Venango, and Crawford, in the last of which it stands. This town carries on a conside- rable trade: it contains about fifty houses, and several stores. The distance from Meadville to Bigsugar Creek and Franklin, is thirty miles. From the mouth of the creek there is a considerable fall, all the way to Franklin. That SS ASJIt's TRAVELS IN AMERICA. iown is sealed just below the creek, where it joins the Alleghany ; is a post-town, containing about forty houses and several stores ; and is the principal place of Venango county. Twenty-five miles from it is a very dangerous spot called Montgomery's Falls. The channel of the river is on the left side of a large rock, directly in the middle of the /(ills ; by keeping this in view, there is no danger; though the descent is rapid, and the boat difficult to steer. Three miles lower 'is a very rocky place, called Ewalt's De- feat : the channel is on the east side, near the shore. Thence to Freeport, a distance of eighty miles, the river is full of eddies, ripples , rapids, rocks, and other dangers, which it requires the utmost attention to avoid. In some of the rip- ples, the water runs at the rate of ten miles an hour ; and a boat will go at the rate of twelve without any other assist- ance than the steering oar. Freeport lies at the mouth of Buffalo Creek, which falls into the river on the west; and opposite to it are received the waters of the Kiskeminetas. Sandy Creek is thirty-two miles from Freeport : at its mouth a vessel of 160 tons burthen was lately launched, filled with a cargo, and thence sailed for the West Indies. This creek is but ten miles distant from Pittsburg. The river is interspersed with several small islands, which have a very pleasing effect : though they interrupt the navigation, and render it particularly dangerous at night; as the current has a tendency at times to cast a boat on the points of islands, and on the sand-bars which project from thorn. I could hear of but few objects of curiosity worth observing : 1 visited indeed the seat of some old Indian set- tlements, but did not find them distinguished by the fine features which characterize the ruins near Brownsville. Not far from Pittsburg is a well which has its surface covered with a bituminous matter resembling oil ; and which the neighbouring inhabitants collect, and use in ointments and other medicinal preparations. This vapour rising from this well is inflammable; and lias been known to hang in a lam- >>errt state over the orifice, being fed by fresh exhalations, for several hours together. The medical men of Pittsburg- profess to have analyzed this oil ; and to have discovered in it a variety of virtues, if applied according to their ad* vice. They also extol the water of the Alleghany, and send their patients to bathe in it when the season permits ; to this water is ascribed the faculty of strengthening weak sto- machs, and aiding digestion. Those who are afflicted with habitual vomitings too (a complaint not uncommon LAKE ONONDARGO. 39 are said to find relief from drinking it. Such persons re- sort io Pittsburg for this purpose, and make a favourable report of the effects of their libations : though I am of opi- nion, that the amendment Yfhich they experience is to be at- tributed to their refraining from spirituous liquors, the pri- mitive cause of their malady ; and not to any peculiar vir- tue in this beautiful flood, which is supplied by effusions of melted snow from the mountains, and the waters of lakes, neither of which sources is by any means healthy. The Onondargo, which (as 1 observed) has a portage- communication with this river, is a fine lake of brackish water, surrounded by springs, from two to five hundred gallons of the water of which make a bushel of salt. It ap- pears as if Nature expressly intended this region to be po- pulated ; and, as a strong temptation, placed this treasure in the bosom of hills and woods. Had it not been for these, and similar springs dispersed through the western country, salt must have been at such a price as to deter persons from, settling there. Ail the animals of those parts have a great fondness for salt. The cattle of farmers who give this sub- stance to their stock, prove superior in value by 25 per cent, to such as are not supplied with an article so essential, not only to their general improvement, but their health. The na- tive animals of the country too, as the buffalo, elk, deer, &c. are well known to pay periodical visits to the saline springs and lakes, bathing and washing in (hem, and drinking the water till they are hardly able to remove from their vicinity. The best roads to the Onondargo from all parts, are the buf- falo-tracks : so called from having been observed to be made by the buffaloes in their annual visitations to the lake from their pasture-grounds : and though this is a distance of above two hundred miles, the best surveyor could not have chosen a more direct course, or firmer or better ground. L have often travelled these tracks with safety and admira- tion : I perceived them chosen as if by the nicest judgment ; and when at times I was perplexed to find them revert on themselves nearly in parallel lines, I soon found it occa- sioned by swamps, ponds, or precipices, which the ani- mals knew how to avoid : but that object being effected, t he- road again swept into its due course, and bore towards its destination as if under the direction of a compass. An old man, one of the first settlers in this country, built his log-house on the immediate borders of a salt-spring. He informed me that for the first several seasons, the buffa- loes paid him their visits with the utmost jegularity: they 40 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. travelled in single files, always following each other at equal distances; forming droves, on their arrival, of about three hundred each. The first and second years, so unacquainted were these poor brutes with the use of this man's house or with his nature, that in a few hours they rubbed the house completely down; taking delight in turning the logs off with their horns, while he had some difficulty to escape from being trampled under their feet, or crushed to death in his own ruins. At that period he supposed there could not have been less than ten thousand in the neighbourhood of the spring. They sought for no manner of food ; but only bathed and drank three or four times a day, and rolled in the earth ; or reposed, with their flanks distended, in the adjacent shades : arid on the fifth and sixth days separated into distinct droves, bathed, drank, and departed in single files, according to the ex.tct order of their arrival. They ail rolled successively in the same hole : and each thus car- ried away a coat of mud, to preserve the moisture on their skin; and which, when hardened and baked by the sun, would resist the stings of millions of insects that otherwise would persecute these peaceful travellers to madness or even death . In the first and second years this old man with some com- panions killed from six to seven hundred of these noble creatures, merely for the sake of the skins, which to them were worth only two shillings each : and after this " work of death," they were obliged to leave the place till the fol- lowing season : or till the wolves, bears, panthers, eagles, rooks, ravens, &c. had devoured the carcasses, and aban- doned the place for other prey. In the two following years, the same persons killed great numbers out of the first droves that arrived, skinned them, and left the bodies exposed to the sun and air; but they soon had reason to repent of this; for the remaining droves, as they came up in succession, stopped, gazed on the mangled and putrid bodies, sorrow- fully moaned or furiously lowed aloud, and returned in- stantly to the wilderness in an unusual run, without tasting their favourite spring, or licking the impregnated earth, which was also once their most agreeable occupation, nor did they, or any of their race, ever revisit the neighbour- hood, The%imple history of this spring, is that of every other in the settled parts of this western world : the carnage of beasts was every where the same. I met with a man who had killed two thousand buffaloes with his own hand; and INFECTIOUS STATE OF THE AIR. 41 fcthers, no doubt* have done the same. In consequence of such proceedings, not one buffalo is at this time to be found east of the Mississippi ; except a few domesticated by the curious, or carried through the country as a public show. The first settlers, not content with this sanguinary extermi- nation of the animal, also destroyed the food to which it was most partial ; which was cane, growing iit forests and brakes of immeasurable extent. To this the unsparing "Wretches set fire in dry seasons ; in order to drive out every living creature, and then hunt and persecute them to death. Deer, which also abounded in this country, have nearly shared the same fate as the buffaloes; and they too Would be entirely annihilated, if th'-y were not capable of subsist- ing in places almost inaccessible to mau. Tue small num- ber that remain, frequent the mountains t th. ir desire for the water of the saline springs, however, occasionally brings them iuto the plains, where they do not wa.it for enemies ; there being no settler who would not abandon the most im* portant business, in order to pursue this species of game. What was formerly common to all, in consequence of the multitude of herds daily passirtg backward and forward, can now only gratify a few ; for they esteem the death of this fine animal a triumph, and neglect no opportunity of thus distinguishing themselves over fheir associates. On killing a deer, he is immediately skinned, even while yet palpitating; nor are the bowels taken out, lest the hide should shrink. The haunches alone are valued as foods the rest is either given to the dogs* or left for beasts of prey or vermin, which every where abound. The salt lake and springs are also frequented by all the other kinds of beasts, and even by birds : and from the most minute inquiries, 1 am justified in asserting, that their visi- tations were periodical; except doves, which appear to de* light in the neighbourhood of impregnated springs, and to make them their constant abode. In such situations they are seen in immense numbers, as tame as domestic pigeons, but rendered more interesting by their solitary notes and plaintive melody. In descending the river y and traversing immense tracts of meadow and woodlands which are in a state of nature, I have found the atmosphere, after a hot day, so mephitic and offensive, as to give me vomitings and head-aches, which undoubtedly would have terminated in a yellow or intermit- tent fever, if I had not previously fortified my blood with bark and other preventives. I recommend the same precau- ASIIE.] o 42 -ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA* tion lo every person visiting this part of the world, and to avoi< stu Hourly the night air. I have been \vet with a dew so ..iron, an-1 palpable ;is to feel its effects for several days, in a general chill through my body, and a pain through particular bones. Yet in consequence of the vio- lent -at of the day, people frequently defer their jouniics and most of their pleasures till the night ; but a sad experi- ence exposes the danger of (he practice, in the strong lan- gutige of rheumatism, consumption, and mental debility and distress. You will ask me perhaps, what parts of the country in the neighbourhood of the rivers which I have described, are likely to secure (he blessings of health. I answer at once, though in direct contradiction to various writers, that no part of the western country is healthy ; and 1 have already detailed my motives for this assertion. For if the air is im- pregnated (as is undoubtedly the case) with a poisonous ex- halation, so offensive to the constitution of the brute creation as to compel them to rr ignite several hundred miles annually ia search of an antidote (which I conclude to be the real cause of their visits to the salt lake and springs), what must be its operation on man, whose organization is much more feeble; and whose blood, from the manner of his subsist- ence, is more subject to be polluted by the climate, and the various other elements of disease 1 I allow that there are sit nations less dangerous than others ; for hills and eminences are evidently more favourable (hart plains and valleys': yet the Americans universally build in valleys, and on bottoms,.as they call them ; which latter are plains formed by subsiding waters and from putrid ingre- cficnts, and subject to occasional overflows and partial slag- nation. But this too can be accounted for: the borders of rivers and navigable streams are the theatres of business ; and the Americans are too indolent to live on the high grounds, and to have the trouble of descending daily for the purpose of pursuing (heir avocations. They every moment see the consequences of this, conduct ; they see their friends. fall off, their wives and children languish, and their own constitutions fail : still they persist ; and prefer inactivity and disease to health and comfort, when the latter are to be purchased by exertion. Before 1 leave the subject of these two rivers, 1 mast give you 'some few particulars of the manner in which their com- merce is conducted. I do not conceive that I assert too much; though it may DIFFICULTIES OF TRADING. 43 b? surprising to yon, in saying, that the entire business of these waters is concluded without the use of money, I have already enumerated the produce; consisting chiefly of flour, corn, salt, cyder, apples, live hoars, bacon, glass, earthen- ware,- &c. f have also mentioned the little towns and set- tlements along- them. To such places persons come from Baltimore and Philadelphia with British goods, which they exchange for the above productions ; charging on their arti- cles at least 300 per cent, and allowing the farmer and ma- nufacturer but very low terms for theirs. Some of these prices are as follows : whiskey, two shillings a gallon ; live Loirs, two dollars an 1 a half a hundred weight ; bacon, three dollars a hundred weight ; flour, three; dollars a barrel; corn, a quarter-dolhr a bushel ; butter, an eighth of a dollar a pound ; cyder, four dollars a barn 1 ; native sugar, a six- teenth of a dollar a pound ; and so 0:1 in proportion, for any other produce of the country. The store-keepers make two annual collections of these commodities ; send them down the rivers to New Orleans; and there receive an immense profit; in Spanish dollars, or bills on Philadelphia at a short date, i f 'ey then purchase British and West Indian goods of all kin -'s r send them by waggons, over the mountains, to tb^ir stores i>i the western country, where they always keep clerks; and again m-ike their distributions and collec- tions ; descend the waters ; and refurn by the same circuitous mountainous route, of at least 5650 miles, as ji early as can be calculated on an average between the extreme head of the waters and"Pittsbu rg, thus : From each station to New Orleans, - - 230O From New Orleans to Philadelphia by sea, - - 300b From Philadelphia back 10 each station, by the way of the 7 OCQ Alleghany mountains, - - - Total, - 5650 A few, on receiving their cash at New Orleans, return by land through the wilderness, Tennasee, and Kcntuckey, to their stations at and above Pittsburg ; but this is seldom done. The distance which is thus performed is only 1300 miles, These storekeepers are obliged to keep every article which it is possible that the farmer and manufacturer may want. Each of their shops exhibits a complete medley : a maga- zine where are to be had both a needle and an anchor, a "tin pot and' a forge copper boiler, a child's whistle and a piano 4; AStfE's TRAVELS IN AMEEICA. forte, a ring-dial and a clock, a skain of thread and trim* mings of lace, a check frock and a muslin gown, n frieze coat and a superfine clolh, a glass of whiskey and a barrel ofbrandy, a gill of vinegar anu a hogshead of Madeira wine, &c. Hence you will perceive th:it money is riot always necessary as a circulating medium : however, as farmers and manufacturers advance in business, and find their produce more than equal to the wants of their families, they contract vviili the storekeeper to receive the annual ba- lance of the latter either in cash, or in land to an equal amount; for though no person cultivates a tenth part of the land that he possesses, every one is animated with the rage of making 1 further accessions. Thus the great landholders ultimately absorb all the hard roomy ; and as they princi- pally reside in the large towns iii the Atlantic States, the money finds its way back to thoi ^, and leaves many places ber,e without a single dollar. This is productive of distress- ing incidents to small farmers who supply the markets with provisions: for whatever they have to sell, whether trivial or important, thej receive in return nothing but an order on a store for the value in goods ; and as the wants of such persons are few, they seldom know what articles to take. The storekeepers turn this circumstance to advantage, and frequently force on the customer a thing for which he has no use ; or, what is worse, when the order is trifling, tell him to sit down at the door and drink the amount if he chooses. As this is often complied with, a market-day is mostly a scene of drunkenness and contention, fraud, cunning, and duplicity ; the storekeeper denying the possession of a good article, till he fails in imposing a bad one. I have known a person ask for a pair of shoes, and receive for answer, that there were no shoes in the store, but some capital gin that could be recommended to him. I have heard another ask for a rifle-gun, and be answered that there were no rifles, but that he could be accommodated with the best Dutch looking-glasses mid German Jlute s in the western qountry, Another was directed by his wife to bring her a warming- pan, smoothingrirons, and scrubbing-bru.sbes : hut these ivere denied ; and a wooden cuckoo-clock, which the chil- dren would not take a week to demolish, was sent home in their k stead. I could not help smiling at these absurdities, though I believe they deserve the name pf irn positions, till an incident reduced me to the condition of those whom I jave just described. I rode an excellent horse to the head qf the waters; and finding him of no further use, from my AMFUICAN ifrODE OP TRAFFIC. 45 Having to take boat there, I proposed selling him to the best bidder. I was offered in exchange tor him, salt, flour, hogs, land, cast-iron silt- pans, Indian corn, whiskey, in short, every thing but what I wanted, which was money. The highest otfer made, was cast-iron salt-pans to the amount of a hundred and thirty dollars. I asked the proprietor of this heavy commodity, how much cash he would allow me instead of such an incumbrana* : his answer was, without any shame or hesitation, forty do! Jars at most. I perferred the pans ; though they are to be exchanged again for glass bottles at Pittsburg, become tob'icco or hemp in Kentuckey, and dollars in New Orleans. These various commercial pro- cesses rnny occupy twelve months ; nor am 1 then certain of the amount, unless 1 give 30 per cent, to secure it. The words buy and sell are nearly unknown here; in business nothing is heard but the word trade. " Will you trade your watch, your gun, pistols, horses ? &c." means, 4 * Will you change your watch, gun, &c. for corn, pigs, cattle, Indian meal? &c." But you must anticipate all this from the absence of money. LETTER VII. Traces of a General Deluge Other great Natural Phe- nomena^ difficult to be accounted for Peculiar Won- ders of the Vegetable and of the Fossil Kingdom List of Nafive Plants* classed into Medicinal, Esculent, Or- namental, and Useful Vegetable Products' of the, Earth Important Inquiries and Suggestions concern- ing some of them Abundance of Vegetable and Mineral Productions here, which might be turned to great Ac- count ,if properly explored American Warriors: Slates- men : and Debates in Congress : Divines, Lawyers, Physicians, and Philosophers Buffon's Assertion cor- rect, that both Man and inferior Animals degenerate in America.. January, 1806. BEFORE I leave this place, it may be interesting and profitable to take a general survey of theVace of the country, and to describe some of its primitive productions. That Moses gave an account worthy of credit, of the 40 ASIIE's TRAVELS IN AMERICA, primeval state of the globe, this part of the world fully de- monstrates. It abounds in irresistible proofs of a general delude, of a miraculous effusion of water from the clouds and from the great abyss : or such an effusion may pnrsibly feave originated from the great Southern Ocean ; rumi;i2:, from interruptions, a soivth-east course, and driving every dbject before it to the north-west ; where it deposited re- mains now entirely unknown, or appertaining to regions at a distance of several thousand miles. Whether w;> inspect $!? plains, penetrate the cavernous mountains, or climb their broken sides, the remnants of organized bodies are every where found, buried in the various strata which form the external surface of the eartii. Immense collections of shells lie scattered or sunk around, and sonic on elevations of fifteen thousand feet above the 'present level' of the sea. Fishes are frequently found in the veins of slate, and all Jkinds of vegetable impressions occur at li ng ! its and depths equally astonishing. Trees of different sorts, and various plants, are found in the greatest depths or on the loftiest mountains, mixed with marine remains. Trees have also !*een deposited on the summits- of mountains, where, from the cfegree of cold which prevails, there, they could not now possibly grow ; therefore they must either have grown there at^a time when the temperature of these summits was warmer, fey being less elevated above the sea, or have been deposited there by its inundations. It appears by the general face of the country, that the retreat of the sea was gradual. Large plains of different and successive elevations, a uniformity and regularity in the strata, and a variety. of other circum- stances, indicate the departure of the waters to have been governed by a cause whose action was regular, uniform, and long continued. Hence numerous objects which are now viewed as curious exotics, might have been indigenous at Ihe period of a milder clime. This idea is justified by our knowledge of the effects of elementary conflicts in other situ- ations. The country near Ararat is now unfit to bear the filive-tree, as it did* when the Caspian and Enxine seas wen? joined; the soil having been since chilled by its dis tance from the sea, and having suffered from the absence of matter with which it was accustomed to be impregnated. independently of the appearance given to this portion of tfte globe, by the progress of the invasion of the waters from the great abyss, and their subsequent retreat, it presents *, Genesis, chap. 8, verse 11. PROOFS OF A DELUGE. 47 features which must have been the result of causes difficult to be accounted for. These features manifest themselves ia the extraordinary character and form of the mountains : in the beds of the rivers, which arc not excavated by the -con- stant flow of their water, but seem rent asunder (as it were) to give them instant passage ; and by other phenomena which must have proceeded from violent earthquakes ; ig- neous fusion; or elementary fire (the principle of heat coeval with the creation of matter) acting upon metals, sulphur, carbonic and bituminous substances, and thus occasioning vast eruptions which split the face of the earth, and gave it eccentric and new characters. Huge rocks cast from off tlif* summits of hills, make room for lakes ; entire ridges of stony mountain separate, and yield a passage to the pressing floods; immense caverns resound beneath the feet ; and Nature, lit disorder, chaos, and confusion, seems pleased to exhibit stu- pendous monuments of her power, the principles of which she has endowed us with faculties to comprehend. This country, in consequence of its high antiquity, the immensity of its mountains, and the impossibility of its be- ing affected by the violation and ravages of man, present* a field extremely favourable for the investigations of philo- sophy and the discoveries of truth. Here, free from any ar- tificial garment, Nature is exhibited in her primitive state* The first productions of the earth were probably the winter mosses : they are here in such variety of form, that they Lardly yield to herbs in number: and though extremely mi- nute, yet of so admirable a structure, that nothing can excel them in beauty or variety. These mosses are dried up in summer ; but in winter revive, and serve for the food of deer and other. animals. The widely disseminated herbs, flowers, and fruits, also decorate the earth in the most charming manner. Trees grow here to an excessive magnitude ; and by weaving their branches together, defend the ground from excessive heat and cold, and afford shelter to animals against the injuries of the weather. The hills, vales, and caverns, also supply numerous subjects for contemplation. There* maybe seen the laborious and unremitted industry of the fossil kingdom : the manner in which water deposits clay; how it is crystallized into sand near the shore : how it wears down shells and other substances into chalk, dead plants into vegetable mould, and metals into ochre; from all whick matter, according to certain laws of nature, stones are formed. Thus from sand originates whetstone; from mould, slate; from chalk, flint \ from shells and earth, marble; and from 4S ASHE'S TRAVELS i clay, talc. In the cavities of these are formed concrete pet lucid crystals; which, consisting of various sides opposed to each other$ compose a number of regular figures* arid emit brilliant and prismatic colours. Here also may be, in formation, ponderous and shi ting metnrls ; iron in abun- dance; some lead; silver ; and even the ductile gold, which eludes the Violence of fire, and can be extended in length and breadth to a most astonishing degree. It is said that the magnet too has been found here; the magnet, respecting' which io mortal has hitherto been a-Me to learn the secret law of its mm al -t -clion with iron, o of its constant in- clination to the pol's. None of these metals, fi M-ver, ex- cept iron, are foun I in such quantity, or are so common, as to be worth the hbimr of s"trc ! i ; but ' a:rer\l conl abounds i generally , iVit -ir opi: ion pn vata? thai the whol tract between the La'^r 'l-rnountiin, Mississi^p , and Ohio, would yield it in the greatest plemy. The mountain immediately opposite *o this to it Is pn*u ipally roinpo:- 1 of coal, from the bas" to the sii limit, Ii is worked -v.tli little compara- tive troi'bie, about h f-vvayup; itnd rolled down to boata which lie beiov for its recep "on. It f> .)* a very superior quality, and costs, the cr'izeni about twopence halfpenny bushel. As I da not conceive it mterr *'*g to you to receive a com- plete cologne of trees, pla,*'--, i v 'v't, to. I shall only sketch out those which principally a ct ,otice y as l>eing^ 1. Medicinal; 2. Esculent 3. ' % ,,!ini- lal U Useful; add- ing (from Mr. Jefferson's i ,t) UK L -an to the populu? name. 1 confine myself to native plantu* Medicinal. Ponutar Name. Linneait Name. Senna. Cassia Ligusiri;,a. Arsmart. Polygo'juni Sap:iUarum Clivers, or Goose-grass. Gahum Spurium. lobelia, several sorts* - Falma Christi. Kacinus* James's Town Weed. Datura Stramonium. Mallow. Malva Rotundifolia. Syrian Mallow. Hibiscus Moschentos-. JL , ^ Hibiscus Virginicus. Indian Mallow. Sida Hhombifolia. ^4. Sida Abutilon. Virginia Marshmallow. Napaea Hermaphrodita. * _ Napcea Dioica. ESCULENT PLA1S 7 TS. 49 Popular Name. Indian Physic. Euphorbia Ipecacuanha. Pleurisy Hoot. Virginia Snake Root. Seneca Rattle-snake Root, Valerian. Gentian. Ginseng. Angelica. Coin m bo Root. Tobacco. Linnectn Name. Spiraea Trifoliata. Asclepias Decumbens. Actaea Racemosa. Poly gala Senega. Valeriana locusta radiata. Gentiana, Saponaria, Vellosa, et Centaur ium. Panax Quinquefolium. Angelica Sylvestris. Nicotiana. Esculent. Tuckahoe. Jerusalem Artichoke. .Long Potatoes. Granadellas. Panic. Indian Millet. Wild Oat. Wild Pea. Lupine. Wild Hop. Wild Cherry. Cherokee Plumb. Wild Plumb. Wild Crab Apple. Red Mulberry. Persimmon. Sugar Maple. Scaly-bark Hickory. Common Hickory. Paccan, or Illenois Nut, Black Walnut. White Walnut, ' Chesnut. Chinquapin, Hazel Nut, Grapes. ASHE.] Lycoperdon Tuber. Hebanthus Tuberosns. Convolvulus Batatas. Passiflora Incarnata. Panicum, many species. Holcus Laxus. Zizania Aquatica. Dolichos of Clayton. Lupinus Perennis. Humulus Lupulus. Prunus Virginiana, Prunus Sylvestris fructn ma- jori. Prunus Sylvestris fructu mi* nori. Pyrus Coronaria. Morus Rubra. Diospyros Virginiana. Acer Saccharinum. Juglans Alba, cortice Lyu- moso. C. Juglans Alba, fructu minore rancedo. C. Unknown to Linnaeus. Juglans Nigra. Juglans Alba. Fagus Castanea, . Fagus Pumila. Corylus Avellana. Vitis, various sorts, ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. Popular Name. Scarlet Strawberries. W bortleberries. Wild Gooseberries. Cranberries. Black Raspberries. Blackberries. Dewberries. Cloudberries. Maize. Round Potatoes. Pumpkins. Cymlings. Squashes. Linnean Name. Fragraria Virginiana. Vaccineuin Uliginosiira, Ribes Grossularia. Rubus Oxycoecos. Rubus Occidentalis. Rubus Fruticosus. Rubus Caesius. Rubus Chamaimorus. Trea Mays. Solan urn Tuberosum. Cucurbita Pepo. Cucurbita Verrucosa. Cucurbita Melopepo. Ornamental. Plane Tree. Poplar. Black Poplar. Yellow Poplar. Aspin. Linden, or Lime. Bed flowering Maple. Horse Chesnut. Catalpa. Umbrella. Swamp Laurel. Cucumber Tree. Portugal Bay. Red Bay. Dwarf-rose Bay. Laurel of the western country. Wild Pimento. Sassafras. Locust. Honey ^locust. Dag wood. Snow Drop. Barberry. Red Bud, or Judas Tree, Holly. Cockspur Hawthorn. Spindle Tree. Evergreen Tree. Platanus Occidentalis. Lerisdendron Tulipifera. Popnlus Nigra. Populus Tremula. Tilia Americana. Acer Rubrum. xEsculus Pavia. Bignonia Catalpa. Magnolia Tripetala. Magnolia Glauca. Magnolia Acuminata. Laurus Indica. Laurus Barbonia. Rhododendron Maximum, V .Many species. Laurus Benzoin. Laurus Sassafras. Robinia Psuedo-acacil. Gleditsia. Corn us Florida. Chionanthus Virginica, J5uberis Yulgaris. Cercis Canadensis. Hex Aquifolium. Cratacgus Coccinea. Euonimus Europaeus. Euommus Aroericanus. PLANTS FOR MANUFACTURERS. 51 Popular Name. Elder. Papaw. Cancliebcrry Myrtle. Dwarf Laurel. Ivy. Trumpet Honeysuckle, Upright Honeysuckle. Yellow Jasmine. American Aloe. Sumach. Poke. Long Moss. Linnean Name. Itea Virginica. Sambucus Nigra. Annona Triloba. Myrica Cerifera. Kalmia Angustifolia. Hedera Quinquefolia. Lonicera Sempervirens. Azalia Nudiflora. . Begnonea Sempervirens. Caiy than thus Floridus. Agave Virginica. Rhus. many species. Phytoloca Decandra. Tellandsia Usneoides. Useful, for fabrication. Reed. Virginia Hemp. Flax. Black, or Pitch Pine. White Pine. Yellow Pine. Spruce Pine. Hemlock Spruce Fir. Arbor Vita?. Juniper. Cypress. White-Cedar. Red Cedar. Black Oak.- White Oak. Red Oak. Willow Oak. Chesnut Oak. Black Jack Oak. Ground Oak. Live Oak. Black Birch. White Birch. Beach. Ash, several species. Elm. Willow, several species, Sweet Gum, Arundo Phoagmitis. Acneda Cannabina. Lenum Virginianum. Pinus Taeda. Pinus Strobus. Pinus Virginica. Pinus Foliis Singularibus. C. Pinus Canadensis. Thuya Occidentalis. Juniperus Virginica. Cupussus Disticha. Cupussus Thyoides. Quercus Nigra. Quercus Alba. Quercus Rubra. Quercus Phellos. Quercus Prinus. Quercus Aquatica. Quercus Pumila. Quercus Virginiana. Betula Nigra. Betula Alba. Fagus Sylvatica. Fraxinus Americana, Ulmus Americana. Salix. Liquidarabar Styracifera, 52 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMEHIGA. There are numerous plants, flowers, &c. which I have omitted : you will find a scientific account of them in the Flora Virginica of the celebrated Dr. Clayton, published at Ley den 5 in 1762. After this enumeration, it is unnecessary to tell you that the farms of the country produce wheat, rye, barley, oats, buck-wheat, broom-corn, Indian corn, &c. This neigh- bourhood also cultivates hemp, flax, and hops ; but is not favourable to cotton, indigo, rice, or tobacco. Those -arti- cles, however, are to be hatl down the Ohio, and are brought hither at an expence of about * two-pence per pound. All kinds of vegetables and fruit grow iji great luxuriance ; the former especially are superior to those of Europe ; but in consequence of the high price of labour, and the little attention paid to so interesting a branch of rural economy, they are not quite so cheap. Much has been written and said respecting the arrack- tree : may it not be the same as the American cocoa ; or perhaps rather the sugar-maple; which for many years suc- cessively yields a large quantity of rich sweet sap, whence a fine sugar Is made and spirit is distilled ? It also might be worth inquiry, whether the cotton of the country, which is different from tjhat raised in the islands, be not the same as that of which the Chinese make their fine calicoes and mus- lins. It might be ascertained whether the common Indian hemp be not the same as the Chinese herba ; and whether the silk gathered on the trees in China, be any other than the cocoons which are to be found in great plenty in many situations here on trees and bushes. The manufactured silk of the Chinese appears to be of different sorts, from which it is likely that they have different species of silk- worms. In this country, more to the southward, various sorts of cocoons are found on trees and shrubs, but~rhose on the mulberry are the best : the cocoons of some of them, particularly such as feed on the sassafras, are large; and the substance which they produce, though not so fine, is much stronger than that of the Italian silk-worm. Thus, in my opinion, there is reason to believe, that if experiments were made with these indigenous silk-worms, and if such as are most usefitl were propagated, this country might pro- duce abundance of silk. Here are also many trees, plants, roots, and herbs,' -to the medicinal virtues and uses of which we are total strangers. It is perhaps true, that the fruit of the prcsemmon tree has been used in brewing of beer ; but it is hardly known MEDICINAL PLANTS. 53 that one bushel of this fruit -will yield above a gallon of proof spirit, of excellent qualify and flavour. To what other uses in pharmacy the gum, bark, and roots of this tree, which are very astringent, may be applied, the pub- lic is also ignorant. The virtues of the magnolia, ealalpa, and spices-wood, whose odours extend several miles, are not sufficiently ascertained, though they have been used by the Indians, who consider them as excellent remedies in several disorders. There is another tree called the zanthoxehun, the bark of which is of such a peculiar quality, that tin; smallest bit of it, on being chewed, stimulates the glands of the mouth and tongue, and occasions a flow of saliva equal to that of a salivation, while its action continues, and yet no rational experiments have been made to ascertain the ad- vantages to be derived from such extraordinary properties. A variety of other trees might be mentioned, such as the sassafras, the wild cinnamon, the magnolia altissima, whose fragrant smell and aromatic taste, prove that they possess medicinal qualities with which we are unacquainted. The sumack likewise requires examination. Perhaps its seed or berries, if not the wood itself, might be used in dying. The Indians mix its leaves with their tobacco, to render it odorih'c and pleasant in smoaking. There is a species of it which yields a gum, that nearly, if not exactly, resembles the gum copal. Indeed, there is reason to believe it is the very same. AVines and raisins are imported from foreign parts at an extravagant price, while nature points out that few coun- tries can be more proper than this for the production of the grape. Where lands are not cleared and the gVape- vines not extirpated, it is impossible to resist observing and ad- miring the quantity which those natural vineyards present to the view. Farther down the Ohio, in the Indian territory and elsewhere, hills, vales, and plains, exhibit them in lux- urious abundance. They grow spontaneously in every soil, and almost every climate in America ; yet they are neglected, or unskilfully encouraged on a small scale. It would be endless to recount all the other articles of the vegetable kingdom which are not investigated, though, with a little care and attention, they might become articles of com- merce, and be of infinite use to the country. I must men- tion one plant, a native of this place, and which grows in jnany places, known commonly by the name of Indian hemp. Its bark is so strong, that the Indians make use of it for bow-strings. Could a method be found for separating 54? ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. and softening its fibres, so as to render it ductile and fit to be spun into thread, it might serve as a substitute for flax and hemp. This plant deserves to be cultivated on another account: the pod it bears contains a substance, that, from its softness and elasticity, might be used instead of the finest down. Its culture is easyy inasmuch as its root, which pe- netrates deep into the earth, survives the \vinter, and shoots out fresh stalks every spring. With the roots of plants, nearly unknown to us, the Indians stain wood, hair, and skins, of a beautiful colour, and which preserves its lustre for years, though exposed to all extremes of the weather. With the juice^ of herbs they relieve many diseases, heal wounds, arid cure the bite of the most venomous snakes. A perfect knowledge of these simples, and of many others with which this country abounds, might be of great utility to mankind. Perhaps they are in as great abundance here as in China. The resemblance is manifest in the weather, the climate, and possibly in the soil and produce. Tobacco, phitolacca, the presemmon tree, the mulberry, with several others, are natives of China as they are also of most parts of America. Ginseng is gathered to the westward of Pekin, and has not been found in any other part of the world, ex- cept within the same degrees of latitude in this country, where ship-loads may be had at a short notice. These ob- servations give grounds to believe, that, if proper inquiries were made, many more of the native plants of China, and very possibly, the tea, so much in use, and now become so necessary a part of diet, might be found in America. N6r are the bowels of the earth sufficiently explored, notwithstanding the great encouragement received from the few experiments which have been made. There is here a great variety of clays, many of them so valuable as to in- 4 uce a hope that, in time, porcelain, equal to that brought from China, may be manufactured at home. The lands to the S. W. are so replete with nitre that, in various places, it appears like a hoar frost on the surface of the ground, and it is known that there are mines of saltpetre in the mountains. Besides the minerals I have mentioned, 1 have seen specimens of tin, antimony, bismuth ores, and many others, the nature, use, and properties of which are not suf- ficiently ascertained. What you have heard of the coun- try originates from the narratives of hunters, the reports of ignorant travellers, and the dreams of persons who never left their native homes. Whereas it richly merits, that a society of learned naturalists should visit it, under the pa- AMERICAN STATESMEN. 55 tronage of government, explore with care, analyze with skill, and return enriched with useful knowledge and pro- fitable erudition, derived from the great book of Nature, and not from uncertain information, or false hypotheses. From these remarks concerning the riches yielded by its soil, I shall make rather an abrupt transition to what should rank as the far nobler produce of America, its inhabitants: I now speak only of its civilized parts, the United States ; but on this subject, alas ! it may be said with the greatest truth: " Man is the only growth that dwindles here." You may perhaps have heard so much of great American warriors, statesmen, politicians, churchmen, lawyers, phy- sicians, astronomers, &c. that you are astonished to hear any one bold enough to dispute the fact. 1 say the fact, because in my correspondence with you, you may have already perceived my determination of making no general assertion, but such as I can establish by actual evidence and decisive testimonies. I know of no great warriors ia Ame- rica. J cannot honour by that name even the men who overwhelmed a handful of British, and after several years combat obtained an unprofitable victory. In like manner I have known a shoal of herrings run down a whale on the coast of Cornwall, but it did not follow that I was to attri-i bute this accident to the individual prowess of any of such contemptible animals, or to the absence of strength and capacity in the whale- This is so just a picture of the American war and its close, that I hasten to the statesmen of whom your papers speak so much : and who are they ? I admit there are two in the country ; the one, after many years of public life devoted to a democratic party, had the good sense again to become an apostate to monarchy, though he might have predicted that it would occasion his fall from the head of the government, and expose him to the most in- temperate abuse of the Jacobinical faction. He met these events soon after with a manly fortitude, and Mr. John Adams, now leads a private life, beloved by the admirers of food sense, and sound and practical political economy, 'here is no doubt but that he is the first statesman in Ame- rica, for 1 trust you do not mean me to distinguish by that name, the swarm of politicians who clog the wheels of the government, and who affect that they alone are competent *o the direction of national affairs. J he next statesman to 56 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. Mr. Adams, is Mr. Jefferson. This gentleman has more theoretical talent than sterling political ability. And yet, to shew some respect to the cry of the world, i call him a statesman, though he certainly has betrayed more derelic- tion and tergiversation than ought to be accorded to so high and eminent a name. During the .whole of his two presi- dencies, he has been fluctuating between the interests of his country and his prejudice and attachment to the French government. The remains of good sense and the loud ad- monitions of others, have at length prevailed, and though he continues his affection to the Gallic cock, still he ceases to hate and bully the British lion. There are in America no real politicians ; the speeches you see in papers are made by Irish ami Scotch journalists, who attend the congress and senate merely to take the spirit of their proceedings, and clothe it with a language interesting to read. Attending the debates of Congress on a day when a subject of consequence was to be discussed, I left the house full of contempt of its eloquence, and the paucity of talent employed for the sup- port or condemnation of the question. Notwithstanding this, 1 read in the next morning's gazette, u that a debate took place in the house last night, of the most interesting nature; that it was agitated by all the talent in the country, particularly by Messieurs Dayton, Morgan, Otty, and Dawson, whose brilliant speeches we lay before the public." Here followed certainly eloquent orations, a sentence of which never passed in the house. 1 had the misfortune to attend the congress at another time, when the scene was more noisy and turbulent than at any of your electioneering hustings. A Mr. Lyon, of Vermont, now of Kentuckey, not being able to disprove the arguments of 'an opponent, spit directly in his face: this the other resented, by running to the fire and catching up a hot poker, and in a short, time nearly killed his opponent, and cleared the house. I sup- pose this is sufficient on this head; from it you can readily learn that the congress is a violent, vulgar assembly, which hired .persons attend, to debate on state affairs, and that the public newspapers are conducted by foreign editors, who amplify such debates, and give them something of a polished and interesting character. Nor has the church any brighter ornaments than the state. The members of it have no conception of eloquence. Mr, Smith, of Prince Tower College, has the highest reputation as a divine .and orator. I went to hear Jiioi preach, and DEGENERATION OF SCIENCE. 5? liad the mortification to find a transposed sermon of Blair, delivered in a strain of dull monotony. As the exposition of all law, and pleading of all facts is .confined to the province of attornies, 1 was not surprized to find a want of ability and eloquence in that department. The late general Hamilton, a West Indian by birth, was the first attorney, and pleaded in America. The celebrated Mr. Burr was his rival at the bar ; and since the death of the former, and retreat of the latter, a Mr. Livingstone and a Mr. Emmet, alone enjoy repute. The physicians of eminence are very few. Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, and Wilson, of New York, monopolize all the character in the country, of a medical nature ; and yet the yellow fever rages and carries off their annual thousands, though these gentlemen have written themselves into the name of infallibility itself. There is no profession in Ame- rica, so shamefully neglected as that of physic, or more des- titute of able practitioners. As to the department of 'science, 1 am told that there has been a Franklin and a Rittenhouse ; the former shone in electricity, and the latter constructed an orrery on true prin- ciples. I will allow this ; 1 have no disposition to detract from the merits of such gentlemen, but I cannot admit that these two instances, after the mediocrity of genius, are suf- ficient to justify Mr. Jefferson, in saying that America is the most enlightened country in the world, and that M. Buffon was guilty of a gross error, when he asserted that man and beast degenerated in America, and became in time, inferior to those of Europe. M. Buffon was perfectly right in. his assertion and principle, but wrong in. the proof he adduced. Mr. Jefferson took advantage of this error; all his followers have taken his ground, and nothing is heard through the whole union, but " America is the most enlightened nation in the world." This cry has spread abroad ; is believed at home, and M. Buffon is condemned. This is the natural fate of flattery and truth Mr. Jefferson is held up as a great statesman and profound philosopher, while M. Buffon is held in contempt as a prejudiced reasoner, jealous of the pride and honour of the quarter of the globe which gave the former birth ! The reflections likely to arise in your mind out of this, I shall not interrupt. 58 ASHE'S TRAVELS .IN AMERICA. LETTER VIII. General Views of the River Ohio^ and its Beauties: its Advantages: its Course: its Islands: its Depth and Nm* viga'ion: its Obstructions might easily be removed. Advice to Persons wishing to descend the Ohio. 7F heeling, Virginia, on the Ohio, April, 1 806. YOU will perceive, much to your satisfaction, that I have left Pittsburg, whence I sent you so many tedious let- ters, and am about to descend the Ohio. Before, however, 1 commence that river's minute details, I must give you it's general description. The Ohio commences at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahcla rivers, and there also commences its beauty. It has been truly described as, beyond competition, the most beautiful river in the universe, whether it be con- sidered for its meandering course through an immense region of forests ; for its ejegant banks, which afford innumerable delightful situations for cities, villages, and improved farms; or for those many other advantages which truly entitle it to the name originally given it, by the French, of u La belle riviere."' This is the outline of a description given several years since, and it has generally been thought an exagge- rated one. Now, the immense forests recede, cultivation smiles along its banks ; numerous villages and towns deco- rate its shores; and it is not extravagant to suppose, that the day is not far distant, when its whole margin will form one continued series of villages and towns. The reasons for this gratifying supposition arc many: the principal ones are, the immense tracts of fine country that Jiavc communication with the Ohio by means of its tribu- tary navigable waters ; the extraordinary fertility, extent, and beauty of the river-bottoms, generally high, dry, and productive; and the superior excellence of its navigation^ through means of which the various productions of the most extensive and fertile parts of the United States must eventu- ally be sent to market. At its commencement at Pittsburg, it takes a north-west course for about twenty-five miles, then turns gradually to west-sou tli- west, and pursuing that course for about five hundred miles, winds to the south-west for nearly one hun- dred and sixty miles ; then turns to the west for about two ISLANDS IN THE OHIO. 59 hundred and sixty miles ; thence south-west for one hundred and sixty, and empties into the Mississippi in a south-east direction, about eleven hundred miles, below Pittsbur^, and nearly the same distance above New Orleans, in lat. 36 43^ north". It is so completely serpentine, that in several places a person taking observations^ of the sun or stars, will find that he sometimes entirely changes his direction, and ap- pears to be going directly back; but its general course is south, sixty degrees west. Its width is from live hundred to fifteen hundred yards ; but at the rapids, and near the mouth, it is considerably wider. The numerous islands that are interspersed in this river, add much to the grandeur of its appearance, bat they very much embarrass the navigation, particularly in low water, as they occasion a great many shoals and sand-bars. The soil of those islands is, for the most part, very rich, the timber luxuriant, and the extent of some of them conside- rable. Where fruit trees have been planted, they are found to thrive, to bear well, and seldom fail of a crop. Indeed this is the case wherever fruit trees have been tried on. the river bottoms, the soil of which is very similar to that of the islands, though not quite so sandy. Jn times of high freshes, and during the effusion of ice and snow from the Alleghany and other mountains, vessels of almost any tonnage may descend ; and it is never so low but that it may be navigated by canoes and other light craft, not drawing more than' twelve inches water. The highest floods are in spring, when the river rises forty-five feet; the lowest are in summer, when it sinks to twelve inches on the bars, ripples, and shoal?, where waggons, carts, &c. fre- quently pass. Many of the impediment*, however, which are to be met with when the water is low, might in a dry time be got rid of, and at no very considerable expence : at least the expence would be by no means beyond the advan- tages which would accrue from the undertaking, if properly managed. Hocks, that now during the dry season, obstruct or render dangerous the large flat bottomed, or what are called Kentuckey boats, might be blasted ; channels might be made through the ripples ; and the snags, and fallen timber along the banks, entirely removed, These improvements, together with many others that might be enumerated, must undoubtedly, sooner or later, be car- ried into effect, as they are a national concern of the first im- portance. Jn the mean time, some general instructions re- specting the present navigation, and which I have collected i 2 60 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. from the most experienced watermen, will be found useful to those \vlio may hereafter propose descending the river, and who are unacquainted both as to the manner this voy- age is to be undertaken, and with the nature and channel of the different rivers. l>o not let it be said notwithstanding, that J mean to encourage any person to follow my steps, or to reside on these waters. I repeat, that the parts of the river's banks, favourable for towns, villages, farms, &c. are without exception, unhealthy exposing all descrip- tions of inhabitants, especially new comers, to annual visi- tations of dysentery, flux, pleurisy, and various species of intermittent fevers. This is to be expected of rivers which experience such extraordinary and great vicissitudes ; at one period sufficient to carry a first rate man of war, and at an- other, barely capable of floating a canoe; at one period running at seven miles an hour, and at another nearly stag- nate in an unruffled bed. The first thing to be attended to by emigrants, or traders, wishing to descend the river, is to procure a boat, to be ready so as to take advantage of the times of flood, and to be careful that the boat be a good one ; for many of the accidents that happen in navigating the Ohio and Missis- sippi, are owing to the unpardonable carelessness and penu- riousness of the boat builder, who will frequently slight his work, or make it of injured plank; in either case putting the lives and properties of a great many persons to manifest hazard. This egregious misconduct should long before this time have been rectified, by the appointment of a boat in- spector at different places on the Monougahela. But as this has never been done, it belongs toevery person purchasingKen- tuckey boats, which is the sort I allude to, to get them nar- rowly examined before the embarkation, by persons who may know a little of the strength and form of a boat suitable to a voyage of this kind. He must also remember this, that a boat destined for the Mississippi, requires to be much stronger timbered, and somewhat differently constructed, from one designed only to descend the Ohio. Flat-bottomed boats may be procured almost every where along the Monongahela river, and in some places on the Youghiogheny ; very few are as yet built on the Alleghany, as the chief places of embarkation are confined to the Mo- nongahela and Ohio. Keel-boats and vessels of burden are also~built at Brownsville, Elizabeth's- town, and many other places on the two last mentioned rivers. The best reasons for navigating the Ohio are spring are MODE OF DESCENDING THE OHIO. 61 autumn. The spring season commences at the breaking up of the ice, which generally happens about the middle of February, and continues good for about three months. The autumn generally commences in October, and continues till about the first of December, when the ice begins to form. But the alternations of high water can scarcely be called pe- riodical, as they vary considerably, according to the wetness or dry ness of the season, or earliness or lateness of the setting in, or breaking ap of winter. The winter of 1802 was even an exception to every other, the Monongahela not having been closed at all with ice, so that there was nothing to im- pede the passage of boats into the Ohio, &c. This circum- stance is the niore extraordinary, the winters in general be- ing very severe, some of which a few years past, kept the rivers blocked up for more than two months at a time. The cause of these sudden and great changes may usefully oc- cupy the philosophic mind. Nor are freshes in the rivers entirely confined to the spring and autumn : it does not unfrequently happen that a consi- derable quantity of rain falls in the Apalachian ridges, whence the rivers and creeks that supply the Monongahela proceed, during the summer months ; a swelling of the cur- rents of the Alleghany and other rivers, sometimes also hap- pens, and occasions a sufficient supply of water during the same period to render the navigation of the Ohio perfectly eligible. These rains, or freshes, however, are not to be depended on, and when they occur, must be taken imme- diate advantage of, as the waters subside rapidly. When provided with a good boat and strong cable of at least forty feet long, there is little danger in descending the river in high freshes, using due precaution, unless at times when there is much floating ice. Great exertion with the oars is at such times, generally speaking, of no manner of use: in fact, it is rather detrimental than otherwise, by often throwing the boat out of the current in which she ought to continue, and which will carry her along with more rapidity, and at the same time always take her right. By trusting to the current there is no danger to be feared in passing the islands, as it will carry the boat by them in. saiety. On the other hand, if persons row, and by so doing happen to be in the middle of the river, on approach- ing an island, there is great danger of being: thrown on the upper point of it before they are aware, or have time to re- gam the true current* In case they get aground in such a situation, become entangled among the aquatic timber. 62 ASHE'S TRAVELS m AMERICA'. which is generally abundant, or be driven by the force of the water among the tops or trunks of other trees, they may consider themselves in imminent danger; and nothing but presence of mind and great exertion can extricate them from such a dilemma. Persons should contrive ta land as seldom as possible : they need not even lie by at night, provided they trust to the current and keep a good look out. When they bring to, the strength of their cable is their principal safeguard. A quantity of fuel, provisions, and other necessaries, should' be laid in at once, and every boat should have a skiff or canoe alongside, to land on shore when necessary. Though the labour of navigating this river in times of fresh is very inconsiderable to what it is during low water, when continual rowing is necessary, it is always best to keep a good look out, and be strong handed. The \vindu sometimes drive boats too near the points of the islands, or on projecting parts of the main shore, when considerable extra exertion is necessary to surmount the difficulty. Boats most commonly meet with head winds, as the river is so very crooked, that what is in their favour one hour will probably be against them in the next, and when a contrary wind contends with a strong current, it is attended with con- siderable inconvenience, and requires careful and circum- spect management, otherwise tha boats must be driven on shore in spite of all the efforts of their crews. One favourable circumstance is, that the wind commonly abates about sun- set in summer. Boats have frequently passed from Pittsburg tance of eleven hundred miles or thereabouts. The recapitulation of this is, that the right-hand side of the Ohio is bound by Pennsylvania, the Ohio state, and the Indiana territory : and these provinces, or their proper pro- portions of them, are bounded on the north by the lakes and by the British possessions in Canada ; on the south, of course, by the Ohio river : on the west by the Mississippi ; and on the east, by parts of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York. The left-hand side of the Ohio is bounded by Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentuckey ; and these provinces, or their proper proportion, are bounded on the south by the Caro- linas, Georgia, and Tenessee; on the north of course by the Ohio river ; on the west by the Mississippi ; and on the east by the Atlantic seas. On a map, these general boundaries would naturally have to undergo modifications, and be di- vided into particular bearings and points. By stating them as I have, I only mean to give you a general idea of them. This great river contains near one hundred islands, and re- ceives as many rivers, creeks, or navigable streams. In my next I sh?'!l examine them step by step. That they may afford you information and amusement, is my most ardent wish ; but you must be patient, and bear with my usual wide digression and extraneous matter. DESCENT OF THE OHIO. 05 LETTER IX. Proper Season to descend the Ohio A Monongahela, or Kentuckey Boat described Confluence of the 'Mononga- hela and Alleghany waters Sublime Scenery Hamil- ton s Island Irxins Island Difficulties in the Course --//OS's' and Crows* Islands Macintosh's Town War* rens Town Young's Town Grape Island: its Inha- bitants: Cause and Manner of their Settlement: its Grape-vines George Town A * Spring producing an Oil similar to Seneca Oil: Experiments to discover its Cause: Deductions from them. Wheeling, Virginia, April, 1806. T LEFT Pittsburg just before the waters had entirely subsided. The winter broke up about the tenth of February, since which time, the flood has been seeking the sea with .an. unwearied assiduity. I might have' taken advantage of its first force, but I declare to yon, fond as you may think me of diligence and enterprise, I have no fancy to be dragged by day down the river, by force, nor to bring to against the trunks and in the tops of trees, from night till morning: this is the fate of all those who depart on the immediate dissolution of the ice; on they mil st proceed, and often in spite of every exertion, or bring up in situations wild, dan- gerous, and inhospitable. Being conscious then of all the disagreeable circumstances attending those who hurry away \viih the earliest floods, I waited till this season, when the waters run a little more than three miles an hour, allowing a boat, with small exertion, and not meeting a head wind to make between forty and fifty miles in a day of twelve hours. This town, which is ninety miles from Pittsburg, I reached on the evening of the second day. The water in some places was very shallow, ai:d in others rocky and dangerous. But I believe 1 promised you to be minute: let me then make a complete beginning. I purchased for forty dollars on the Mdjttpngahela a Kentuckey boat. I must describe such a thing to you, for it is no more like an Eng- lish boat of any description than it is like a church. An. oblong frame is first made perhaps forty feet long by sixteen wide. The four pieces forming this frame are generally from fourteen to eighteen inches square, mortised" so as to receive a. number, of bars across, on which are fastened AWIE.J K. 8$ ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. thick planks with wooden pins this form ins; the flat bot- tom of the boat. From the solid beams of the Irvine ; se several uprights six feet high, to which boards are att ched to form the ends and sides; after which the boa is rooted over, except a small space through which the hinds can drop or enter. The whole represents an oblong apartment : both ends perfectly square, and nothing indicates the bow but the small open space in the roof, and holes in the sides, through which the oars work. Boats of this sort are sir* red by a large oar balanced on'a pivot, issuing from the middle uprights of the stern. This is preferred to a tiller, which, by sinking to'o deep in the water, would' risk being carried off by logs and shoals. I divided my boat into two apartments; that next the stern for my own accommoda- tion ; that next the head for my servants to cook, row, and keep a look out in: the root served for the helmsman, and us a quarter-deck, on which to parade. When 1 add to this, that 1 had a good chimney built in my boat; four windows made; that J laid in two coopful of chickens, other kinds of stores, spirits, coffee, sugar, &c. I need not tell you hovr comfortable 1 set off, and how able I was to endure the vi- cissitudes of my intended voyages. My servants were Min- deth, my old follower, and Cuff, a mestee, of the Bartdan nation ; the former a strong laborious creature : the latter a fellow without any other character than that he knew some- thing of the waters, was a good shot, and well acquainted "with haunts of wild turkies, game, and beasts. I could have got another hand, for fifteen dollars a month ; but as I was determined to steer myself, and be active in other re- spects, 1 departed with but two men. J cannot recommend this temerity to others: four hands are always necessary, and sometimes more. In turning into the stream from Pittsburg I found the scene instantaneously changed, and become peculiarly grand. In ten minutes I got into the confluence of the Mo- iiongahela and Alleghany waters. For half an hour I steered- my boat in this confluence, being able to dip up whitish water on one side and perfectly green on the other* The hills on the right hand were near twelve hundred feet high those on the .left something less lofty each clothed with sumptuous and unceasing timber from the base to the summit, the garb of many thousand years ; each tree pe- rishing in an imperceptible progression, and each as imper- ceptibly renewed ! The whole and the individual still ap- pearing the same, always conveying a grand idea of the DREADFUL CLIMATE OF NEW ORLEANS. 67 munificence of Nature, and the immutability of all her \vorks. This view was sufficient to lead the mind into a serious contemplation which assumed a character of melan- choly, when J reflected 0:1 the endless scenes of the same nature, only more pregnant with danger, vicissitude, and death, through which I h id to pass. The river, for nine hundred miles, with the exception of a few intervals, chosen, in general for the scats of town*;, villages, and farms, is bounded by lofty banks and high mountains, which shed a gloom on its surface, and convey less of pleasurable sen- sation than that of sublimity and surprize. I reflected, too, that 1 was lengthening the chain of all -my former friend- ships; that 1 was to pass through countries where death attacked man in a variety of new and alarming shapes ; that I was proceeding to New Orleans, a city two thousand two hundred miles off, where fate uniformly demands nine out of ten of every visitant ; and t-liat, should I escape this des- tiny, 1 should still be six thousand miles from home, and have, in that distance, to meet with other numerous dan- gers, presenting themselves under every form that could manifest a terrific appearance. A small immediate difficulty put a quick conclusion to these gloomy meditations. We Lad dropt down near three miles when an island appeared a-head the channel was on the right side, and the wind, from that quarter, had set me too much to the left. I instantly put the boat's head across the river, and with infinite exertion of oars gained the true current ; but not till the water changed colour, indicating soundings of three feet on the bar which stretched out of the head of the island. J had to learn from this the necessity of moralizing less, and of keeping a better look out. It was Hamilton's island, which I was passing at the rate of seven miles an -hour. The island, by contracting the breadth of the channel, gives more impetuosity to the current, and forces a boat along with double its rapidity in the ordinary and open parts of the river. Four miles from Hamilton's island, and seven from Pitts- burg, is Irwin's island. The channel is about one-third from the right hand shore. The first ripple is just below the head of the island, where I had to leave a lat^e breaker, or rock, close to my right hand. The second,, oHiorse- tail ripple, is a small distance below the first, and the channel, which is not twice the length of the boat, lies between a bar and some large breakers. The third ripple is within half a anile of the lower end of Irwin's islands tue channel is about 68 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. one-third of the width of the river from the right side, ami close to the upper end < f u!d not c-tsvy them the monarchy of their little island ; the tranquillity of their lives; and the innocence of their pursuits! The night advanced rapidly, and with it a pleasing im- pression ot seriousness, unknown to any but those who are exposed to dangerous events, and who like me are used to live and sleep under the open air. Cuff seemed determined to augment this disposition, by reciting various stories of ac- cidents happening on the waters; of murders committed; robberies perpetrated ; of whirlpools, cataracts, and rapid falls, &c. &c T lies?' dismal narrations had the good effect . of awaking in our minds a remembrance of obligation to heaven; a desire to merit a continuance of mercy; and a disposition to cast ourselves on the bounty of a Providence which had hitherto .accorded so many kind interpositions. If s ich sentiments as these have been found favourable to happiness in the bosom of society, and in the midst of safety and ease, you may judge how much more useful and neces- sary they are when exposed to danger on the surface of wa- ters, or in the depth and borders of gloomy woods. This efti'ct on me was a perfect composure, and an uninterrupted night's rest. 1 laid a bear-skin on the sand, put my saddle- bags under my head, and placing my feet to the fire, there remained till the morning; when the clamour of rooks, and mlodj of birds of various kinds, rebuked my sluggishness. Cheerful and refreshed, we cast off our fastening ; jumped into our boat; in ten minutes gained the strongest stream, and in ten more arrived at George town. George town is a small but flourishing place, just abov the month of Mill creek. Tt is pleasantly situated on a very high bank. A post-office has been lately established there. Nearly opposite to George town, and a few yards front the shore, .a spring rises from the bottom of the river, which. produces an oil nearly similar to Seneca oil. 1 conjecture that this must proceed from a large bed of mineral coal in the vicinity of the spring. On first hearing of this, from an intelligent Scotchman, the postmaster at George town, whoAi .'72 ASIIE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. I questioner! ns to the curiosities of his neighbourhood, [ immediately crossed over in my canoe to examine the well, and search tor grounds on which to establish some particu- lar conclusions; * 1 found none perfectly satisfactory. The x-e, about four feet in diameter, was covered over -with an olive-coloured slime, here and these rising in lob v>, filled, f>ut not agitated, with CoirBwed air. On a more minute in- spect ion, however, 1 perceived these globules burst and sub- side in gentle -undulations, enclosing in :i circle a matter vhose colour was less deep than that prevailing on the ge- neral face of the well. Oh discovering other globules to rise in succession, I gently dipt up a gourdfnl of water and glo- tmles, while in the act of rising through the surface. 1 spilt ihe whole on the blade of the paddle, and could distinguish very plainly the oil which had been exposed to the air from th- oil which just rose in search of it. On sounding I found the W( 11 to be sixty-five feet deep; that is, as deep as the l>;'d of the adjacent river. On examining the neighbour- liood it'was plain that coal abounded ; but 1 could not take upon me to assert that the well or Us sources had any com-< municatioii with that or any otjier mineral. As a last act, 1 -skimmed off a gourdful of oil, and agni'n crossing the river, 'went to the house of a doctor, whom J supposed capable of analyzing the subject forme. On -seeing my gourd i'ul of oil, and the interest 1 took in the investigation of its proper- ties, he very handsomely told me, that " fie had but just i ttr/itd -doctor ; and had not as yet zhii!am!("r ? s wife, I x posed the oil to slow fusion, ^a quick boil, and finally set it oj> fire. Its emotion ukile over *t tie fire was uncot? nonly great, and wli'en entirely separated 4Vom watery particles, it caught fire, it consumed in a blaze mi ore lively and smldeirihan ' tht which hovers over spirits of ordinary proof, when inflamed. During the progressive stages 1 of this operation 1 k pt the noses oi all the ublig ng family occupied over the fimse. Owinjg to a diflerence in. t'ie const rue; ion of that oi^n, or a variation in the sensibi- lity of the olfccfory nt rve, no two of them gave the same opinion as to their notion of the etlkhvia. Indeed their opi- w^ere-^viilc and discordant, agreeing but HI this essea* ANALYSIS OF WELL-WATER. 73 tial point that there was no smell of sulphur. This accord- ed with my idea, though it traverses that which I first gave, u that the oil proceeded from a bed of mineral coal." The effluviaB to me, not only appeared divested of sulphur, but to be impregnated with a vegetable aromatic smell. Though by no means content with the result of my researches, I still draw from these their deductions. 1st, The oil rising in a distinct intermittent globule from the bottom to the surface, proves, that it does not issue in a continued stream from any rock or mineral strata, but that it is emitted drop by drop, in the manner of slow and reluctant distillation. 2dly, The oil is not therefore generated by the sun from particles rising in the water, favourable to that liquid, though the sun changes its colour ou exposure of its rays. Sdly, This change of colour from a light yellow, to a dark olive, betrays a sulphurous quality, yet the absence of the smell and taste of that mineral, entirely discountenances the opinion that it exists in it. And, 4thly, From the spirit residing in the oil, the aroma- tic flavour and smell, it is not unreasonable to presume, that it possesses medicinal virtues, which, under a judicious administration, might be prod active of salutary effects. This latter deduction is strengthened by the testimony of the Scotchman, who says the well was much frequented by the Indians, previously to their retreat to the back coun- tries, and that the neighbouring whites used the oil as a friction when suffering with rheumatism, and as an unction when afflicted with sores. Much to the satisfaction of the good hostess and her fami- ly, who could not refrain from laughter at my zeal and ear- nestness, on a subject to them a signifying nothing," our gourd and nostrums were pitched out of doors, and they sat about preparing a repast, to which I got a most hearty and welcome invitation. This gives you a most favourable respite, and me another opportunity of persuading you how much I am, &c. ASUE.] ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. LETTER X. Course of the Ohio to Stubenville Custard Island Stu* benvillc Congress Lands Indian honourable Confede- racy Insidious means of ill disposed Whites to possess the Country, and exterminate its Inhabitants The Indians become undeceived, and resume the great Federal Toma- hawk Tha/ put to death many of their cruel Invaders, who place themselves under protection of Congress, and receive its support Events of an Indian War Peace ^restored its Terms Finesse of Congress to -possess the Indian Lands Hence arose the North-west Territory, now the Ohio State The subject of Congress Lands conti- nued Nature of their Sales, and priceof these Lands. Their great profit to Land-jobbers Increase of F*opufa~ lion of the State A Dutch Purchaser^ his Sentiments after Experience. Stulenville, Slate of Ohio, May, 1806. I LEFT Georgetown on the evening of the day I informed you I was to dine with the hospitable post-master, and gain- ed tli* place, nineteen miles, in four hours, but not without a good look-out and some exertion at the oars. I should liavetold you, that the Pennsylvania line crosses at the mouth of Mill creek, and a little below the mouth of another creek 'called Little Beaver. This line separates that state from Virginia on the left hand, and the Ohio state on the "right, when descending the river, and gives Pennsyl- vania a length of territory from the Atlantic to this line, of near five thousand miles J I passed this afternoon by five islands, lying from two to three, or four miles from each other ; covered with wood, and overrun with flowers and fine ' pasture'. One was called Custard Island, in consequence of * its-abounding with -the papaw, which is vulgarly known by ' the name of the Custard tree. The fruit of the papaw when ripe, exactly resembles in taste the flavour, composition, and colour, a custard of the best quality. It may be eaten in moderation without danger. There is one circumstance, however, attending this frn,it, of a very remarkable nature. Man, and many other animals, eat it with safety and plea- sure, whilst a hog, the most ravenous, arid least circumspect of all creatures, turns from it with antipathy, or a fear of AN INDIAN CONFEDERATION. 75 danger. This is one of those subjects whose depth is too great to be fathomed by human intelligence. Having amvcd late at Stubenville, 1 made secure my boat against a steep bank, and clean shore, and went up to the town with the view of passing the night, and gaining some knowledge of the surrounding country. The town is pleasantly situated on the right bank of the river, and in the Ohio state. A land office is kept here for sale of Congress lands, which brings a number of purchasers, and at times makes a considerable appearance of activity. I must explain the expression of" Congress Lands." Little- more than twenty years have elapsed, since the whole of the right bank of the Ohio was called the Indian Country, or the Indian Side. It was inhabited by the re- mains of several scattered aboriginal nations, who, driven from their former grounds, were in hopes of being left in the peaceable possession of this country. To this effect they buried the tomahawk of enmity which subsisted between each other ; the calumet of peace was sent from camp to camp, and from tribe to tribe. A social compact was the immediate consequence, and the world witnessed the new spectacle, of a savage association formed on political princi- ples, and organized with a wisdom and energy, which would honor the first states of Europe. Individual and national animosities were forgotten. A general and notional council was formed of warriors, and talkers, from the councils of the particutar tribes, and this council assumed the name of " The High Council of Confederated Indians." The de- bates of this instructive assembly, principally turned on the propriety of cultivating a warm friendship with the whiles, and on the necessity imposed on them, by the limits set to their hunting grounds, of learning the social arts, and of de- voting themselves to the pursuits of agriculture and com- merce. These were the intuitions of this primitive people. The discontented and vagabond part of the United States saw this confederacy with a malignant eye. The idea of- Indian policy, or savage association, productive of moral, and public happiness, was a thing too insufferable to be en- dured by those who were taught to believe the Indians little inferior to brutes, and who delighted in their extermination. Besides, it was whispered abroad, that "the Indian country" was the finest work in the world ; that Imley's dreams ap- plied to it alone, and that the French, who had visited it from the Canada border, considered it as the paradise of the new world. This was more than sufficient to inspire * 76 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. 'disposition to possess this charming territory, and to annihi- late its inhabitants. The whites in the adjacent parts of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentuckey, commenced this work of premeditation and death ; not by open violence, but by a means much more fatal, that of pro ifered friendship, and a shew of conciliation and amicable spirit. They set distilleries to work, and, backed by the destructive instrument of ardent spirits, and furnished with some coarse blankets, matchlocks, beads, and baubles, for sale, they visited their unsuspecting friends, who sold them their possessions in exchange for this poison and trumpery, and by degrees, retired from their fa- vorite waters, into the bosom of the deepest woods. So ig- norant were they of the value of their landed property, and so high an estimation did they set on the infamous spirits brought among them by their perfidious friends, that whole tribes have been known to sell the rights of their nations to lands, of upwards of two hundred thousand acres, for as much whiskey as could intoxicate them at one great public festival, or even feast, of warriors ajid chiefs. Seduced by the success of the first speculators, a host of adventurers crowded in from all parts, who, getting bold in proportion to their numbers, they began to seize on lands, without the shallow pretext of an impositions purchase, and drove the Indians from possessions they had begun to cultivate, and in consequence, to value and esteem. The High National Council became alarmed : the great federal tomahawk, with great solemnity was taken from the ground : red feathers were sent to every nation, and war against the cruel insatiable whites, was publicly declared. To the gratification of every man inspired by the honourable principles of humanity arid justice, tbis declaration was followed by the instant and sudden death of the greatest part of their cruel and blood-thirsty invaders. Those who escaped, and who wished for the continuance of a few j^ears, appealed for protection to Congress, and to its eternal disgrace and infa- my, the Congress afforded them both succour and approba- tion. An Indian war was the universal cry through the whole states : volunteers rushed from every quarter, and wretched was he whose parent's circumstance or situation denied him the glory of exterminating with his own hand, some forty, or fifty Indians. For the commissions of a troop of cavalry raised for this service, general Washington bad received upwards of four thousand memorials, issuing from comp- ting-houses, banks, farms, manufactures, and public and private schools. But God and Justice^ for a time resided CESSIONS BY THE INDIANS. 77 with the Indians. Such was their success, that the moral and the good cried out, u surely they are the armies of the 44 living God." They fought several pitched buttles vvitli the Americans, and reduced their array several times to the necessity of being renewed and recruited. One commander in chief, several staft' officers, and a multitude of privates were killed in one particular engagement, from the field of >vhich, the whites had to fly several miles ; on their return next day, they found the mouths and bodies of their generals and companions killed in battle, stuffed and crammed with earth, and stuck through with the boughs and blanches of trees. At This dreadful but just spectacle, they were struck with horror and remorse. What, said they, we came into this country in search of new acquisition and territory, and \ve now find by the lesson before us, that we are to purchase jt in this terrific way ; that, for a mouthful of it, we are to surrender our lives. For this in fact was precisely what the JUidian figure implied. Conciliation followed. Deputations passed. Boundaries were fixed, and peace was proclaimed with the Indian tribes throughout America, with much, more joy than that which was manifested at the conclusion of the war with the British. Congress ordained that no in- dividual should purchase Indian lands, whether from indi- viduals or from tribes ; that Indian life and property was under the aegis of the law, as firmly as though they were ap- pertaining to actual American citizens, and that commerce, dealings, and intercourse with them, should be conducted with a respect to their own regulations, and the regards and justice due to all people. This conduct in the Congress was highly satisfactory to the Indians, who did not see through its real and hidden motives. They did not perceive that Congress reserved to itself the right of legally robbing them. This was soon after done. A regular mission was sent to the Indians, proposing to give them some few thou- sand dollars, and a certain sum annually, and a few trinkets, if they would entirely sell their country and retire to near the lakes, the peaceable possession of which the Americans would inviolably secure to them. Dazzled by these merito* rious offers, their folly abandoned what their valour could have maintained, and they now reside and receive their an- nuity in the neighbourhood of Detrail, and along the waters of their far famed Ontario, whose beauties breathe through Iheir lungs, and whose wonders magnify all their tra- ditions. This purchase effected, the Indian country took tbe name 78 ASIIE'S TilAVELS IN AMERICA. of the North- West Territory, and, a few years since, on its determined increase of population, it assumed the title of the Ohio State, and bids fair, in a very short time, to rank high in the federal union. It is about five hundred square miles, bounded on the north, by the lakes and Canada; on the south by the Ohio river ; on the east, by part of Pennsyl- vania and New York, and on the west, by the Indian terri- tory, which in its turn, will soon become a state. This state is watered by several navigable rivers, running from, the north to the Ohio, and by numerous creeks and streams, "winding nearly the same course. Its banks on the Ohio are far more eligible for settlements, than the opposite Virginian and Kentuckey shore. Villages and settlements are within very few miles of each other, and the towns of Marcella, and Qincennall, are x large, and rising into commercial eminence. The principal town is Chilcothe, situated nearly in the cen- tre of the state ; there the government resides, and is held the principal land office, &c. &c. The land of the plains ; of the borders of rivsrs ; of the great meadows, and of all the tract lying between the two Miamis (two rivers so called) is without any exception the finest known in the world. The greatest part then of this land, being obtained by Congress from the Indians by an imposition, called by the fallacious name of a legal purchase, is known by the name of " Congress Lands," as stated in the early part of this letter, and exposed you to this long disser- tation on Indian war and topographical history. I resume, however, the subject of " Congress Lands." By virtue of the treaty of the aboriginal confederacy, and subsequent purchases, Congress has become the proprietor of nearly all the fine lands in the state. J have mentioned where such lands most abound, and should have stated, that nearly one-third of the country is mountainous and ridgy, bog and morass, to such a degree as not to be worth one cent, per acre. The principal part of the state, of this character, lies to the north-east, and east of the river Scioto. The best land is to the west of that river, and continues, with few ex- ceptions, to the boundary westward of the GreatMiarni. It is very necessary that purchasers at a distance should be awafte of this, as I have known several who bought in a dis- tant market, at a good price, come several thousand miles, to take possession of a sterile mountain, or an unreclaimable swamp. The truth is, that no person should buy, who is not on the spot, or who has not a confidential agent. The pro(le of sale adopted by Congress, is highly commendable. REMARKS ON THE VALUE OF LAND. 79 The entire country is surveyed, and divided into sections of six hundred and forty acres each. A certain number of these sections lying contiguous, compose a township, and a certain number" of townships forms a range. The sections are all numbered, and each number sixteen in every township is reserved for the purpose of education and the support of its professors. There are also reservations, which cannot- be ^sold under eight dollars an acre ; but every other acre of Congress land is sold at two dollars per acre for ever : and, to encourage settlers, the period of four years is allowed for the entire ""payment, which commences one-fourth at the bargain, and the remainder at three yearly instalments. -This indulgence on the part of government was most pro- ductive to a few sordid monopolizers, called land-jobbers, or land speculators, who made large contracts for twenty thou- sand to five hundred thousand acres of the best land and in the best situations, and have already sold the greatest part at from three to five dollats an acre. A meadow called the Rick-a-way plains, containing ten thousand acres free of wood, is advanced, by one of these gentlemen, from the two dollars an acre to be paid by his contract, to thirty dollars per acre, and a considerable part of it is already sold. The portion under cultivation has yielded one hundred and tea busjiels of corn, and fifty bushels of wheat, per acre. The land the most sought after is on the Scioto, the Ohio, and the Minmis : on which situations the title of Congress is for the most part bought up, and the present owners demand for it from six to twelve dollars per acre. But if the land should be on a mill seat, or place eligible for the site of a village or town, the price might possibly be raised to oue hundred dollars per acre. Many local circumstances sometimes also unite to raise the price of certain lands ; such as their vicinity to improving towns; their abundance of ship timber, the facility of con- veying it to builders' yards, and their possession of the sugar maple, cherry tree, sassafras, cotton, and other plants. On the whole, I know of no speculation so promising, as that of buying the remaining good lands, reservations, and all (ex- cept schools, reservations which a"re never to be sold) from Congress at two dollars per acre, and of holding them for the space of ten years ; after that period no moderate land will be sold under ten dollars per acre, and land of the first qualities and situation will fetch fifty in general, and much more in particular, per acre. The reasons for this are ob- vious j the lands of the Atlantic states are not to be com- SO ASIIE*S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. pared to these in point of fertility and every excellence; the climate here is not worse, and the state tolerates no slavery. This last circumstance has already given it the name of the independent country; the state where man is free but not licentious. In consequence, quakers, and other religious professors, enemies to intolerance and oppression, whether Christian or political, have settled in the state, and are daily followed by thousands who either admire, or affect to advo- cate their principles and doctrines. Such has been this rage, that the last ten years has added to the state one hundred thousand inhabitants, said to be the most peaceable, inoffen- sive, moral, and industrious citizens belonging to the Ameri- can nation. I have a very strong predilection for the state, I must own to you, and a presentiment, from what I observe and hear at present, that my future experience will justify all my hopes, and prove to you that I am more happy when a people permit me to say any thing in their favour, than when their vices and follies com pel -me to condemn them. I do not mean to be more particular on the subject just now, as I shall have to observe and say a vast deal more relating to the state during my voyage down its southern border along the river. I must notwithstanding remark, generally, that the climate is very relaxing from excess of heat in sum- mer, and very dangerous from the precarious and uncertain vicissitudes of it in winter. Those two seasons are however the most healthy. The spring and ///, as autumn is here called, are subject to visitations of diarrhoea and fever, but not in so great a degree as in the lower parts of the river. These facts might be sufficient to deter moderate minds from exposing themselves and families to such a climate and to such vicissitudes ; if they be not, there arc not wanting others sufficiently cogent and strong to cause reflection at least before steps of such consequence as emigrations are taken. 1 haveasserted, and have to maintain it, that land is to be had of the most superior quality at an extraordinary low price. But I ask you, who are a lover of reasoning and an advocate of common sense, whether the words good and cheap are not to be considered as relative terms, to be com- pared with those of moderateand dear, in order to distinguish their appropriate acceptations ? But to have done with this jargon, and speak a more comprehensive language, 1 will give you an honest Dutchman's opinion of the business, who has purchased experience, and qualified himself to give instruction and advice: Being dissatisfied with lands in Pennsylvania, which, with hard and unceasing industry, PRODUCE Otf LAND. 81 yielded but from seven to twelve bushels of -wheat per acre ; from twenty-five to thirty-five of .corn ; and so on in propor- tion with other produce, he came into the Ohio state and purchased a very fine section from Congress at two dollars per acre. This land was equal to his most sanguine expec- tations. Three years after it was cleared it produced him one hundred bushels of Indian corn, and from forty to fifty of wheat per acre. This-delisrhted the Dutchman; the ar- gument appeared strong, and the old Pennsylvania farm, began to be talked of only to be despised. This triumph was but of short duration. The Dutchman was near two thousand miles from the principal market; this he could not attend; storekeepers and itinerant merchants bought his produce at their own prices, in exchange, often for unneces- sary goods, and the profits of his most luxurious harvests \vere no more, saying the best, than those of his former farm, when in the vicinity of a market, where the price of produce always bore affinity to the quality of land and the labour em- ployed to render it prolific. The Dutchman had to com- pare but one article : at his former market 'he could get from ten to twelve dollars per barrel for his flour, in iiis present situation he can get but three. And, as he is occasionally visited by grubs, flies, and clouds of locusts, he cannot average his wheat crop at above thirty nett bushels per acre ; therefore, he and his family must in future speak in less dis- respectful terms of the old Pennsylvania farm, and recom- mend, as he tells me he always does, his former neighbours to enquire the price of produce before they pretend to fix a value on land, or leave their old settlements without the good grounds of unprejudiced calculations, and ample and liberal enquiries. I propose to leave this place to-morrow morning. I have not heard of any thing farther, of sufficient interest to im- prove or entertain, though you may be well convinced that I annoy every person whose countenance beams intelligence, and even those whose features manifest none. I make no doubt that I am considered a strange medley ; an interroga- tive animal passing through society merely to perplex i \vithquestions ; to gain all information, and to communicate none. Some stare at me with astonishment when I abruptly! address them, and others not knowing what to answer, turn, on their heel. What a foolish man, say all, to lose his time and go in such a manner through the world, merely to ask questions ! ASIIE.} M LETTER XL Chariest own Vicious Taste^ in building to the River Copied from Philadelphia Its Punishment Naviga- tion from Charlestown to WheelingThis Port-town described Its origin Sketch of the Inhabitants and their Propensities A Virginian Horse-race A Box- ing-match A Ball and Supper The Sequel A Pa- pathetic Story. Wheeling, Virginia, dpril, 1 806\ THE morning after my departure from Stubenville, I dropped seven miles lower down to breakfast at Charles- town, on the opposite shore. Charlestown is finely situated on the Virginia side, at the junction of Buffalo creek and the Ohio. It is a nourishing place, commanding* the trade of the surrounding rich settle- merit ; and having many excellent mills, is much resorted to by purchasers of flour. The boats can be purchased at the Pittsburg price, and articles of provision on very reasonable terms. The town, which contains about one hundred and fifty houses, was originally well laid out with the best row facing the river, and the intermediate space answered the purpose of a street, explanade, and water terrace, giving an air of health and cheerfulness gratifying to the inhabitants, and highly pleasing to those descending the stream. However, owing to the avarice of the proprietor of the terrace, and a disgraceful absence of judgment and taste, he has sold his title to the water side, and the purchasers are now building on it ; turning the back of their houses immediately close to the edge of the bank, and excluding all manner of view and communication from the best of the town. This violation of taste, it seems, is not to go unpunished. The bank is under- mining fast, and in a very few years, these obtruding edi- fices must fall unless removed. This vice of building to the high water mark, is not peculiar to Charlestown : Philadel- phia set the example. Philadelphia, which might have had an open airy explanade of four miles long, on a beautiful river, facing a delightful cultivated shore, has not now thirty feet of quay. The store-houses are absolutely built on piles in the water, and crowded on each other in such a manner, as to convey an idea of deficiency of land for the extension of TOWN OF WHEELING. 83 the city, and to carry on its commercial affairs. Philadel- phia has long suffered by these disgraceful erections. The yellow fever there maintains a perpetual residence, or an- nually issues from a crowded water side to pollute the whole town, and carry off its thousands* ! 1 could not resist apolo- gising thus much with the Charlestown citizens. They wished me good bye as 1 departed, and I previously wished them an improvement of reason and taste. The channel from Charlestown continued on the Virginia shore till I came to Beach Bottom, when it wore over to the right-hand side. The navigation then became intricate, being obstructed by a ripple ; Pike Island, Twin Islands, from being similar and close together, Glin's Run and Wheeling Island. From this last island to Wheeling, I beg you to observe how accurate one must be. These are the in- structions. Channel on the Virginia shore at the upper end keep near to the shore, thence across towards the island for about one hundred yards; when you. come in sight of the next ripple, make still more towards the island, and after you pass the ripple, keep down near the middle between the shore and the island, till you pull in for Wheeling. You may perceive from this, that a steersman has sufficient occu- pation, and that the oars must sometimes work. The town of Wheeling is well known as one of the most considerable places of embarkation to traders and emigrants, on the western waters. It is a port-town, healthfully and pleasantly situated on a very high bank of the river, and is increasing rapidly. Here quantities of merchandize design- ed for the Ohio country, and the Upper Louisiana, are brought in waggons during the dry seasons ; as boats can frequently go from hence, when they cannot from places higher up the river. Besides, as the navigation above Wheeling is more dangerous than all the remainder of the river, persons should undoubtedly give it the preference to Pittsburg. The dis- tance by water to Pittsburg is eighty-two miles ; by land only forty-five, by a good road. A coach runs from Phila- delphia also, to this town, for thirty dollars each passenger; and the waggons which daily arrive, charge little more per cent, than the Pittsburg price. On the whole, I give this * The great fire of London was eventually beneficial. The plague was fre- quent before that calamity, but since the improved airyness of the after-built streets, it has never occurred. 8-1 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. place a decided preference, and prognosticate, that it will ultimately injure and rival all the towns above its waters. *The town is formed of about two hundred and fifty houses ; ten of which are built of brick, eighteen of stone, and the re- mainder of logs. The plain on which it stands, containing about seven hundred acres, is surrounded by immense hills, except on the lowermost side ; where it is bounded by a fine creek of clear water, near the head of which are erected some fine mills for flour arid timber. This plain, although one hundred feet above low water, was originally formed by the river subsiding ; and there is a narrower place, or what is here called bottom, immediately flowing from the hills, which also was under water ; but, by the growth of its timber, and superior height, its submerge- ment must have been at a much more remote period than that of the plain on which the town is built. A part of the latter is now a very small but excellent race ground. The original settlers were not calculated to give import* ance to an infant establishment. Had they been so, had they attended to worthy commercial pursuits, and indus- trious arid moral dealings, in place of rapine on Indian pro- perty, drunkenness, horse-racing, and cock-fighting, their town would have rivalled Pittsburg long since, and have now enjoyed a respectable name. This part of Virginia was, at no very remote period, deemed the frontier^ not only of Virginia, but. of America. To this frontier all persons outlawed, or escaping from jus- tice, fied, and resided without the apprehension of punish- ment, or the dread of contempt and reproach . They formed a species of nefarious republic, where equality of crime con- stituted a social band, which might to this day have remain- ed unbroken, but for the effects of the conclusion of the Indian war, which extended the frontier across the river nearly to the Canada line, leaving the ancient boundary "within the jurisdiction of government, and under the imme* diate grasp of the law. Those who fled from the restraints of moral and political obligations, were exasperated at this unforeseen event, and felt hurt that a better sort of people came among them. The consequence previously assumed by thieves and swindlers, fled the presence of morals and justice. Such as were determined not to submit to an im- provement of life, and a daily comparison of character, left the country ; while others, who " repented of their ways,'* remained 3 arid are now blended with the better order of citi- AMEHICAN HORSE-RACING. 85 zens. Of these materials, the society of this town is now formed. But I have it from the good authority of aquakcrof high respectability, (hat the old settlers will all ov bought out in time, and the place become new and regenerated. He' founds his hopes on the belief that his friends, when backed by others of their profession, to settle in the town, will gain an ascendancy in the municipal affairs ; abolish cock-fight- ing, horse-racing, lighting, drinking, gambling, &c. and above all, enforce the observance of the Sabbath and other solemn days. I assured the quaker, that if ever lie saw his hopes realiz- ed, that he would not only clear the town of its original race, but of every profligate \\hatsoever, and deter others of similar description, from coming into it. He appeared much pleased at this assurance, though he deemed its con- summation as arduous as Herculean labour. I fear in this respect he is too well founded : indeed, my acquaintance 'with the place, convinces me that much time and unrcmit- ted assiduity must be employed to make it a tolerable resi- dence for any class of men, much less a society ofquakers. The majority of the present inhabitants have no means what- ever of distinguishing Sunday, but by a greater degree of violence and debauchery than the affairs of ordinary days will allow them to manifest. Even on occasion of bu- siness, the smallest occurrence will draw them from it, and expose it to total negligence. Yesterday two fellows drinking in a public-house, the conversation turned on the merit of their horses two wretch- ed animals they had ridden into town that morning, and which had remained fasting at a post. A wager, the conse- quence of every argument on this side the mountains, was made, and the poor brutes were gallopped off to the race- course. Two-thirds of the population followed : black- smiths, ship-wrights, all left work : the town appeared a de- sert. The stores were shut. 1 asked a proprietor, why the warehouses did not remain open ? He told me all good was done for that day : that the people would remain on the ground till night, and many stay till the following morn- ing. I was determined to see this Virginian recreation, -which caused such an abandonment of care and business. On my arrival on the ground, the original race had been won, and the price of a saddle was collecting to excite ano- ther course, and raise new opponents. This was soon effect- ed : the course was cleared^ and six poor devils were started for the saddle, and nuaierous bets laid by the owners and 86* ASIIE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. spectators. The number of persons interested in this affair, and some disputed points which occurred in the adjustment of it, gave rise to a variety of opinion : umpires were called in : their judgment was rejected, and a kind of general bat- tle ensued. This affray over, the quarrel took a smaller circle, confined to two individuals, a Virginian by birth, and a Kentuckeyman by adoption. A ring was formed, and the rftob demanded whether they proposed to Jight fair, or to rough and tumble. The latter mode was preferred. Perhaps you do not exactly understand the distinction of these terms. Fight fair, however, is much in the English manner; and here, as there, any thing foul requires interfe- rence ; but when parties choose to rough and tumble, nei- ther the populace nor individuals are to intermeddle or hin- der either combatant from tearing or Tending the other on the ground, or in any other situation. You startle at the words tear and rend, and again do not understand me. You have heard these terms, 1 allow, applied to beasts of prey and to carnivorous animals ; and your humanity can- not conceive them applicable to man: it nevertheless is so, and the fact will not permit me the use of any less expres- sive term. Let me proceed. Bulk and bone were in favour of the Kentuckeyan ; science and craft in that of the Vir- ginian. The former promised himself victory from, his power, the latter from his science. Very few rounds had taken place, or fatal blows given, before the Virginian con- tracted his whole form, drew up his arms to his face,, with his hands nearly closed in a concave, by the fingers being bent to the full extension of the flexors, and summoning up all his energy for one act of desperation, pitched "himself into the bosom of his opponent. Before the effects of this could be ascertained, the sky was rent by the shouts of the multitude; and 1 could learn that the Virginian had ex- pressed as much beaut?/ and skill in his retraction and bound, as if he had been bred in a menagerie^ and practised action and attitude among panthers and wolves. The shock received by the Kentuckeyan, and the want of breath, brought him instantly to the ground. The Virginian never lost his hold ; like those bats of the south who never quit the subject on which they fasten till they taste blood, he kept his knees in his enemy's body ; fixing his claws in his hair, and his thumbs on his eyes, gave them an instantaneous start from their sockets. The sufferer roared aloud, but ut trred no complaint. The citizens again shouted with joy. Doubts were no longer entertained ; and bets of three to qne HORRIBLE BRUTALITY. 87 >vrre offered on the Virginian. The Kentuckeyan not being able to disentangle his adversary from his face, adopted a new mode of warfare; and, in imitation of the serpent which crushes such creatures to death as it proposes for its food, he extended his arms round the Virginian, and hugged him into closer contact with his huge body. The latter dislike- ing this, cast loose the hair and convex eyes of his adversa- ry, when both, folded together like bears in an embrace, rolled several turns over each other. The acclamations in- creased, ami bets run that the Kentuckeyan ' would give out," that is, after being mutilated and deprived of his eyes, ears, and nose, he would cry out for mercy and aid. The public were not precisely right. Some daemon interposed for the biggest monster; he got his enemy under him, and in an instant snapt off his nose so close to his face, that no manner of projection remained. The little Virgin ran made one farther effort, and fastening on the under lip of his nni- tilator, tore it over the chin. The Kentuckeyan at length gare- out, on which the people carried off the victor, and he preferring a triumph to a doctor, who came to cicatrize his face, suffered himself to be chaired round the ground as the champion of the times, and the first rougher and tumbler. The poor wretch, whose eyes were started from their spheres, and whose lip refused its oflice, returned to the town, to hide his impotence, and get his countenance repaired. This spectacle ended, and the citizens, refreshed with whiskey and biscuit, sold on the ground, the races were re- newed, and possibly other editions of the monstrous history I have just recited ; but I had had sufficient of the sports of the day, and returned to my qunker friend, with whom I had engaged to take my dinner. lie was afflicted, but by no means surprised at the news 1 brought him, and informed me no farther, that such doings were common, frequently two or three times a week ; and that twice a year, or at the spring and fall races, they continued for fourteen days with- out interruption, aided by the licentious and profligate of all the neighbouring states. As to the savage practice of fighting in the manner of wild beasts, my host entertained no hopes whatever of ever seeing it put down. It might be called a national taste, which the laws appeared afraid to violate; and therefore it reared its head above authority. Few nights elapsed without the exhibition of this new t, and as 1 had brought no provision but biscuit, it might be well to look out for supper in time. Though this fare was not of a very inviting nature, or consistent with my feelings and habits, I gratified the fellow's whim, and assisted him to remove, first, all the leaves and rubbish and next the large stones, under which we expected to find a litter of wild pigs, or a nest of rattle-snakelings. The tings were too heavy to be removed by the mere power of hands. Two good oak poles were cut in lieu of leavers and crows. Clapping these into the orifice first discovered, ^ve weighed a large flag stone, and on tilting it over, we each assumed a guard, and waited a few moments', in silent expectation of hearing the hissing of vermin, or the rust- ling of beasts. Nothing was heard. We resumed our la- bour, cast out a number of. stones, leaves, and earth ; and cleared a surface seven feet by five, which had been covered upwards of fifteen inches deep, with flat stones, principally lying on each other with their edges pointing above the ho> Q 2 116 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. rizon. The surface we had cleared offered insuperable dif- ficulties. It was a plain superficies composed of but three stones of such apparent magnitude, that Cuff began to think we should find under them neither snake nor wild hog. u It we look for supper under those stones," says my humble companion, *' the moon will shine on an empty stomach, and that is not lucky the first night of a voyage." Having once begun, I was not to be diverted from the task. Sti* mulated by obstruction, and animated by other views than hogs, snakes, and supper, I had made a couple of pad- dles of hickory shovels, and setting to work, undermined the surface; and, after much toil and exertion, slid the stones off, and laid the space open to my view. I expected to find a cavern. In fact, my imagination was warmed by a certain design, I thought 1 discovered. The manner the stones were placed led me to conceive the existence of a vault filled with the riches of antiquity, or crowded with the treasures of the most ancient world. A bed of sand was all that appeared under the flags I cast off, and as 1 knew sand not to be nearer than the bed of the Muskingum, a design was again so manifest as to encourage my proceeding, and the sand, which was about a foot deep, was soon re- moved. The design and labour of man was now unequi- vocal. The space out of which these materials were taken, left a hollow in an oblong square, lined with stones, on the ends arid sides : and paved with square stones, on the apparent bottom or upper surface, exactly fitting together, in diameter about nine inches. I picked these up with the nicest care, and again came to a bed of sand, the removal of which left my vault, us it now evidently shewed itself, near three feet deep, presenting another bottom or surface ' composed of small square ctjt stones, fitted with such art, that I had much difficulty in discovering many of the places where they met. These displaced, I came to a sub- stance, which, on the most critical examination, I judged to be a mat or mats in a state of entire decomposition and decay. Reverence and care increasing with the progress already made, I took up this impalpable powder with my hands, a-',d fanned pff' the remaining dust with my hat. Great indeed \v as my recompesnc for this industry! Grand was the reward of my persevering labour and strengthened hopes! There appeared before me; there existed under my feet, a beautiful tesselated pavement of small coloured stones ; the colours and stones arranged in such a manner as to express harmony and shades^ and to pourtray the full* DISCOVERY OF A SKELETON. 117 length figure of a warrior, under whose feet a snake was exhibited in ample folds. To tread on a pavement of such exquisite beauty and workmanship, formed by hands centu- ries ago, and by the ancestors of a race of people now rejected and despised, could not be done without an awful emotion. Overcome by feelings I could neither combat or suppress, I remained fot some time silent and inactive, and at length rose out of the vault, to recover my usual energy and strength of mind. J had also spent the best part of the day; r veiling was fust approaching, and I had formed no plan tor the accommodation of the night. I resolved to remain where I was. A good fire being' made, I sent Cuff with the rifle into the woods, that is, into a part which appeared likely to harbour wild turkeys, and directed him to steer for my fire on his return, and not to remain after the fall of nurht. Overjoyed at the prospect of his excursion, ho had not left me two minutes before he commenced his notes. They at first appeared high and multifarious, or without any ultimate end, but before he had gone three hundred yards, they subsided into the proper modulation of a parent turkey calling around her tender young. From this he never varied while he could be heard. Left to myself I felt more at liberty. Like, a miser, I wished, uninterrupted to examine my treasure. 1 again de- scended into the vault, occupied with the desire of being able to separate the pavcmem in such a manner, and to im- print on every stone such marks as would enable me to put it together at any future period, and bring it home for the advantage and delight of the curious world. I had made but very little progress before I discovered the impractica- bility of my intention. No part of the pavement was ex- actly of the tesselate character, except the space between the outlines of the figures and the sides and ends of the entire space. The body of the figure was composed of dyed woods, bone, and a variety of small bits of terreous and testaceous substances, most of which crumbled into dust on being removed and exposed to (he open air. My regret and disappointment were very great, as I had flattered myself that the whole was stone, and susceptible of being taken up in high preservation. Liftle more than the actual pavement could be preserved ; it is composed of flat stones, one inch deep, two inches square, and the prevailing colours are white, green, dark-blue, and pale spotted red : all ?f which are peculiar to the lakes, and not to be had nearer. JIS ASHC'S TllAVELB IN AMERICA. They are evidently known and filled with a precision which proves (hem to have been but from one common example* The whole was affixed in a thin layer of sand, which cover- ed a large piece o beech-bark in great decay, whose re- moval exposed what i was fully prepared to discover from all the previous indications, the remains of a human skele- ton of uncommon magnitude, extended in a bark shell, which also contained, 1st. An earthen urn, or rather pot of <' icn ware, in which were several small broken bones, and some white sediment. The urn appears to be made of sand and flint vitrified, rings like a rummer glass, holds about tv>v -\dlons, has a top or cover of the same material, and re- sists irre as completely as iron or brass. 2. A stone hatchet ivith a groove round the pole, by which it was fastened with a withe to the handle. 3. Twenty-four arrow points made of*' : nt and bone, and lying in a position which betrayed their having belonged to a quiver. 4. A quantify of beads, round, oval, and square ; coloured green, black, white, blue, an 1 yellow. 5. A conch shell, decomposed into t substance like chalk. This shell is fourteen inches long and twenty -three in circumference: larger than any other I have seen or .heard of the kind. C. Under a heap of dust, and tenuous shreds of feathered cloth and hair, a parcel of brass rings cut, by an art unknown to me, out of a solid piece of that metal, and in such a manner that the rings are sus- pended from each other, without the aid of solder or any other visible agency whatever. Each ring is three inches in diameter, and has an horizontal circumference half an inch wide, on both sides of which are strongly etched, a variety of characters resembling Chinese, the decyphering of which, my scanty erudition has no pretensions to reach. Of the skeleton I have preserved a small part of the verte- bral column : a portion of the skull ; a part of the under jaw, inclosing two grinders of great size ; the hones. of the thighs and legs, and some inelecarpi of the hands and feet. The ribs, clavicles, vertebrae of the neck and spine, &c. were nearly an impalpable powder, or entirely consumed. Judging from comparison and analogy, the being to whom these remains belonged could not have been less than seven ftvt high. That he was a king, sachem or chief of a very remote period, there can be no manner of doubt. The dis- tinction, ingenuity, labour, and care, wieh which he was buried, and the mausoleum constructed for him alone, on an eminence above the multitude, and its disregarded dead, CONJECTURE?. 1 19 proclaims this beyond dispute; and, from the subjects found in the interments, the following (at least, and ncrhars m ny more) useful conclusions may be drawn. 1. Tue Iiidi- : ; s of the most remote antiquity possessed the art of maki p ..- .- ter's ware, in a perfection unknown to the present times, in as much as theirs is light, strong, transparent, and capable of enduring fires. 2. It does not appear tSiat tiiey were ac- quainted with the use of iron when they employed stone hatchets and flint, and bone arrow points. 3. That they had the science of impregnating stones, wood, and shells, with a variety of colours, is manifest from the pavement and beads, and figures, which have tints which we know they are by nature denied. 4. That they had a communication wi(!i the sea, though distant from them two thousand miles, or that the sea was once more in their vicinity, is implied by the conch, "which contained a marine animal, incapable of subsisting in any other than salt" water. 5. The tenuous shreds of feathered cloth, worked on woven hair, announce some intercourse with South America, and a knowledge of its manufactures, as the feathers of the northern birds are not Calculated for show, nor arc any nations north of Mexico acquainted with their fabrication. 6. That they knew the use and properties of brass is very clear, and that they could work it with skill, is equally evident. 7. If the characters on the rings be in fact Chinese, or if they bear a strong and significant analogy to them, it again justifies a suspicion, which formerly prevailed, that a communication early ex- isted between Asia and America, since destroyed 'by some violent agitation of the earth at the Straits of Becring, or by a reverse of climate which renders that passage inaccessible, and too difficult and cold for the powers and temperament now accorded to man. 8. If the characters on the rings be original, and unknown to any other of the nations of the earth, it must shew that the use of letters and the art of engraving were known to Ame- rican tribes r. any ages since, and also prove that when we; speuk of America as a new country, on which science never shone, and in which social arts, agriculture and commerce, never flourished} we arrogate to ourselves more information than we are entitled to, and betray a presumption and igno- rance for which we ought to blush. And 9. The remarka- ble size of the skeleton would signify that the Indians of every time were fond of associating in their chiefs, physical as well as mental endowments. That this king should unite a gigantic form to wisdom and intrepidity of heart, appears 120 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA* to have been ever their favourite principle. Even the scattered nations which still remain, and whose monarch? are elective, betray this passion in their choice, and pay much more deference to a prince of inordinate stature than to one of common magnitude. The present chief of the Osage, a warlike nation inhabiting the borders of the Mis- souri, is full seven feet high, and every way proportionate, a distinctive qualification well known of various other Ame- rican chiefs. It is true, at the same time, that the principal of the greatMiami tribe, living near the waters of Ant aria, is a poor diminutive creature, called by his people, the " Little Snake-" but his instance is a very honourable exception to a vulgar and general predilection. The " Little Snake," during l.Jie Indian war, was the first in the council, and se- cond to none in the field. In proportion as he became ter- rible to his enemies, he was the pride and praise of his friends ; the title of the u Little Snake" (implying his wis- dom and power to injure) was conferred upon him ; he was unanimously elected chief, and the world had to witness the fine spectacle of several thousand Indians casting off their prejudices, and doing homage to virtue and the endowments of the mind. There is no doubt but that this monument and these re- mains merit a more ample speculation than I have afforded them. Perhaps my fevf remarks may suggest to you and others ideas of a happier and more material nature. If they cause a brighter coruscation of genius to break from minds of stronger Cast than mine, or if they produce arguments and philosophy of a more judicious and less feeble charac- ter than themselves, formed as they were at the moment from the impulse of feelings and the tyranny of circum- stance, I shall be content, and in the place of imposing instruction, I shall be found solicitous to receive informa- tion. I returned (he particular objects nearly to their respective situations, and with the assistance of Cuff, who had but just returned, carried them in such a manner that they could not be injured by the weather or violated by other hands ; it being my intention on my return down the river to secure them with care and take them into my boat. Cuff had succeeded so well, that he had great hopes his residence among Christians had not entirely obliterated his savage virtues. His imitative powers were still in such per- fection, that the wild turkeys acknowledged his voice, and the life of one of them paid for their credulity. He brought POULTRY OF KENTUCKEY. 121 me a fine turkey of the last year, fat, and wei sixteen pounds. As the night was well i-et in, and the day had been laborious, no time was lost in preparing supper, that is, in broiling a part of the turkey on some bright em- bers, and laying it on some green leaves before us, with some good biscuit, and a bottle of water from an adjacent spring. I relished this primitive entertainment as well as any of the sumptuous banquets, it has at times fallen to my lot to par- take of in Europe. The wild turkey is excellent food, and has this remarkable property, that the fat is never offensive to the stomach. When Kentuckey was first settled, it abounded with tur- keys to such a degree, that the settlers said the light was often interrupted by them. Though this may be considered a figure, still it is well known that they were extremely nu- merous, so much so, that he was esteemed an indifferent sports- man who could not kill a dozen in a day. Even at this time they are sold in Lexington market for half a dollar a pair. They are, notwithstanding, becoming very scarce, and, addicted as all classes of people in that state are to an intemperate predilection for destroying every living abo- riginal creature, their total extinction must be near at hand. They yet abound in the Ohio state, and possibly will for many years; till it becomes more peopled. 1 cannot pretend that wild turkeys differ in any striking manner from the domestic ones I have every where seen, ex- cept the length of their wings: their superior plumage, their attitude, and lively expression in walking. The cock too has a beard composed of about one hundred hairs, which hangs like a streamer from under the bick. The hair is thicker than a pig's bristle, and the length accords with the age. In the young the beard is hardly perceptible, in the old it descends more than half a foot. I have killed a wild turkey cock which weighed thirty pounds, and whose beard was ten inches lomr : the flesh was execrable, nearly as hard as iron, and as black as jet. The young on the con- trary, are white and tender, delicate meat, ancf of exquisite flavour. Wild turkeys are gregarious, the flocks from fifty to six- ty. They are migratory: they winter to the southward, and return in the spring to the deepest recesses of the woods, where they construct their nests with such care and conceal- ment, that few instances ever occur of the eggs or young being found. -Where eggs have been obtained^and hatch- ed under a domestic turkey, the young shew great disoosi- ASUE.J II 122 tion to thrive, and remain about the house very contentedly ,, till their first spring, when they rise, without indicating a previous talent for flying, into the air, take a few circles round the heads of their old friends, and make for a wilder- ness whence they never more return. Having chatted with my Mandau associate for some time, on this, and other subjects, the hours were so much beguiled, that it was full time to make some kind of shade under which to rest. This was done in a few moments: two forked poles were cut and driven in the ground, six feet from each other. A third pole was cut, and placed on three forks : against this upper cross pole were laid branches so matted with shrubs, that by lying to leeward no wind could be felt, and, by making a bed of dry leaves of good depth, and keeping the feet towards the fire, no cold or inconvenience could be apprehended. For fear this preparatory business should expose you to too sleepy a visitation, and my letter to con- tempt, I close for the present, LETTER XV. Indian Incantations and Charms Priests Their extra- ordinary Knowledge and Gifts Interesting Explana- tion of the Cause Very remarkable Antiquities En- counter with a Rattlesnake, which is killed Deer Wild Turkeys Lanesville Farther very remote and grand Antiquities Golden Treasure found The Bub- ble bursts. Marietta, June, 1806. I PASSED the night near the mausoleum, without any other interruption than what proceeded from the howl of hungry wolves, exasperated on seeing a fire keep from them victims they durst not approach. I also had to renew the fire, and to suffer Cuff to perform certain rites and incanta- tions, in the manner of his country, and which had the fa- culty of checking the advances of snakes. He expressed these offices by stalking several times round our tent. His gesticulation was strong, and his cries horrible. He also uttered some barbarous words ; described a circle on each round with the end of a stick, and, after shedding cer- tain leaves on the circle, he concluded with three more infer- INDIAN PRIESTCBAFT. nal yells, and then, under a decided impression or strong conviction of safety, cast himself near roe oa his berth. It would seem, that priestcraft, connected as it is in the native ministers of this country, with an affectation of sorcery and supernatural power, gains great dominion over eve : y sa- vage mind, and disposes to the belief and practice of e very- absurdity. There are, therefore, no people more under the subjugation of superstition, or who exercise such a variety of charms and exorcisms as the Indians ; in the uses and particular terms and applications of which they are in- structed with the utmost precision, by their priests and physicians : those two professions being always united in one character. The priests, savage and untutored as they were, saw, at a very early period, that to establish their fame, and an ample sway over the public mind, it was ne- cessary for them on every essential occasion, to manifest in- finite skill ; and to prove that they were the favourite chil- dren of the Great Spirit, by his having endowed them with a portion of his power, and given them permission to display that power in public exhibitions of extraordinary miracles. Hence, from the most early ages, have they been going- about healing wounds, curing inveterate diseases, and giv- ing ocular demonstration of their dominion over all descrip- tions of envenomed and noxious reptiles, by suffering them to twine round their bodies, and passing through their fin- gers and hair, without inflicting on them any manner of in- jury. So complete is the tyranny they have established over rattlesnakes, and others armed with weapons equally dead- ly, that they lure them from their deepest retreats, and make them fly from or follow them by apparent command*. As this preternatural knowledge and powers are exhibited in the face of day, before multitudes, the respect shown to the priest, and the observance paid their instruction and precepts, cease to be the object of surprise ; and the mind fastens on a true ground for admiration and astonishment, and asks from what authority do the Indian priests derive the power or' curing disease, and of subjugating the most malignant creatures of the reptile world ? The question is very comprehensive, and no doubt, sufficient to invite the investigation of the learned. For my part, not having taste for elaborate discussion, or talent for metaphysical research, I am reduced to answer the question nearly in a word : u They * It is remarkable, that in Egypt, the sect of Sadi possess similar power over snakes. EDITOR. 124: ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. derive their knowledge and Iheir power from the great hook of Nature which a beneficent God has laid open before them." On assuming the united offices of physician avid priest, they soon became conscious thai any attribute or reve- rence to be accorded to their character of priest, was to be drawn from the skill and acquirements they could display in their profession of physician. To obtain that skill, and those acquirements, they have to study Nature, and that they do with the most unwearied assiduity and application. Their own particular saying is, " Nature produces no- thing for nothing :" implying 1 that whatever is, 'is for some particular end and purpose. This leads them to investigate the properties of things, the qualities of plants, an>i I he na- ture of simples, in order to make them subservient to tin ir will, and a p pi i cable to their exigencies. They were evi- dently conducted to these interesting inquiries, and to the useful knowledge resulting from them, by observing, that the animals of the forests and fields, with whom they in a manner associated, on eating any noxious herb, had im- mediate recourse to a salutary one, which counteracted the poison of the other. They also observed, that many plants and herbs were purgative, others astringent. To these, and many others, they perceived animals in a state of sickness drawn by a secret impulse, whilst those in health passed them by in disgust. Animals bitten by venomous reptiles, and impregnated by the strongest virus, were seen to seek a peculiar plant to recover their energy and strength ; and these reptiles in their turn have been known to betray violent apprehension at the approach of a hog, and to shew such antipathy to certain herbs, trees, and plants, as to suffer death sooner than avoid it by passing over them. Objects too have been discovered, to which snakes in particular, have such passion and attachment, that they abandon their secu- rity, and face every danger to enjoy them. Armed with all this knowledge, the priests come before the world as persons inspired. Knowing that their science would have little eclat if known to have been acquired in tiie fields, and from the animals in the forests and woods, they never display any part of it without wild cries, and horrid gesticulation. Hence, whenever they administer the sample applicable to the disorder, they express cabalistical ejaculations, shrieks, and contortions, to impress on the patient's and public mind, an idea that the cure is to proceed from their mysterious proceedings, which alone gives ope- ration and virtue to the remedies they administer. On heal- ANTIPATHY OF SNAKES TO ASH. 123 i n sores with warm medicaments ; on curing agues in baths of lint vegetable steam : on removing stitches, spasms, and piurisits '\y sue! or ill cs, and the diarrhoea by astringents, &c. &c. t'tey perform a multitude ol rites, and as their pa- tients tor the ii'ost part recover, tlie whole is ascribed to the charm, and the people adopt the words, spells, incanta- tions, and exorcisms of the priests, under every affliction and disease, whether proceeding from an unknown cause, or fro u the hue of venomous animals. From their habits of life, Indians are often exposed to this last calamity, and the pri'-sts in consequence, have to instruct e;ich individual to know the anfi.iote, and to give it efficacy by gesture and incantation. They also instruct the whole tribe in a man- ner of sleeping in the open air, and ;n the utmost safety, though surrounded by snakes, not one of which dare ap- proach them. The instruction consists in taking a stick and leaves from a certain tree; with the point of the stick describe a ring round the shaping ground ; place on the ring the leaves, and on dointr this perform certain ceremonies. This process to be renewed at intervals of waking. This is all the knowledge they impart to the tribe, and this is highly efficacious and valuable; for rejecting the folly of the use of words and exorcism, merely iven to convey a high no- tion of superior power, the antidotes and herbs pointed out, are certain cures, and the simple action of drawing a line -with a black as/i stick, and strewing on the line some leaves of the same tree, is known to be entirely sufficient to hinder any snake from crossing the line, and to deler him from in- terrupting any thing within side of it. So great is their terror to this timber, that they are never known to inhabit where it grows ; and if a branch of bl ick ash be suddenly cast before a rattlesnake, apprehension and fear instantly seize him; his rattle ceases; h;s passion subsides; and groveling, timid, yet disquiet, he takes a large circuit to pass the branch, or more probably entirely retires. The renewal of the operation of describing the circle, and strewing the leaves, is evidently for fear the smell should be faded, or the leaves driven off by the wind. As to the familiarity subsisting between the priests and the snakes, the principle of which they withhold from the multitude, it is to be accounted for in a way no doubt equally simple. They are, as I observed, acquainted with herbs arid other substances, for which the snakes entertain the most inordinate apprehension and antipathy, or else the most decided attachment and attraction. Alternately armed 126 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. with these, the priests make them fly from, or approach them ; and when their hands and bodies are washed with a decoction of the black aslj-leaves or trunk, the snakes will writhe about them in a kind of suffering and terror, but ne- ver attempt to bite. Making the snakes dance, and move in a variety of forms in a certain place, is nothing more than what I have so often stated, either marking or strewing the borders of the enclosure with the object for which they en- tertain the greatest antipathy, or, what is more likely, the greatest terror and apprehension. I need hardly tell you, that the stick and leaves employed by Cuff were of the black ash, which he purposely brought out of the low woods for our protection. His words, cries, and features, exactly accord to the instructions given his tribe ; and to them alone he attributes any virtue : the stick and leaves being only as a wand, or necessary instrument in the great work. J asked kim whether he would not the next time merely describe the circle arid strew the leaves ? he answered, he durst not, as the Great Spirit might be angry if he attempted to take from him the power and the praise." I saw it was in vain to make him think otherwise, and deemed it almost a crime to shake such firm belief; 1 therefore hastened my departure, and left the mausoleum by the first light, of day. On quitting the spot, a variety of appearances confirmed my original opinion, that it had been an advanced guard picket post, or place of look-out. That the oval and ram- part were not constructed >r a barrow, or for an individu* ai's monument, in the first instance, is very certain, as in either case the skeletons or skeleton would have been depo- sited at the base, this beingthe practice of all Indian tribes. Apprehending that a camp and Indian settlement of an- tiquity could not be far distant, I took a north -westerly di- rection, leaving on my right the river, whose course was N. E. by S. W. I had walked but one hour before I ar- rived at a place which bore strong indications of the object of my research. It was a small valley between two moun- tains, which suffered the waters of a clear creek to find a passage to the Muskingum. On exploring some time, f discovered the actual remains of a very ancient settlement. They consisted of, first, a wall or rampart of earth, of about nine feet, perpendicular elevation, and thirty feet across the base. The rampart was of a semicircular form ; its diameter one hundred paces, bounded by the creek. On crossing the creek, I found a similar rampart placed in sucli a position, that the work must have been a true circle inter* ANCIENT INDIAN SETTLEMENT. 12? cepted by the stream. After a minute examination, I could perceive very visible remains of elevated stone abutments of bridges, which served to connect the two semicircles in the centre, and at their divisions above and below the stream. The timber growing on the rampart, and within its circumference, is principally red oak of great age and magnitude, some of the trees in a state of decay, being not less than seven feet diameter. Second, higher up. and to where the creek runs in a very contracted channel, caused by the approach of the mountains, (he sides and passage through which appear entirely inaccessible, are several mounds of earth, standing at equal distances from each other, and forming three semicircular stnvts, which crossed the creek, or, perhaps 1 may be better understood by say- ing, that sixty mounds, placed so as to describe portions of a very large circle, and expressing the figure of a quadrant, lay at each side of the creek : aii* as these two quadrants were also united together by two bridges, whose remains are distinct, when taken in one point of view, they should re- present a semicircle, whose base would be exactly above the camp. On each side of the mountain, and parallel with the mounds, are two barrows nearly thirty feet long, twelve high, and seventeen wide at the base. These barrows are composed principally of stone taken out, of the creek not- withstanding here is produced timber of fine growth. The mounds hitherto discovered in America have been taken for tumuli, or mausoleums of the distinguished dead the barrows, for the common sepulchres of the multitude. The judgment on the latter subject is perfectly correct, that on the former I presume erroneous. That the mounds in question are not tumuli, there can be no manner of question. Their order, number, and arrangement, are such, as entirely to preclude an idea of the kind. In all probability they are the ruins of the houses of an Indian village, which, having fallen in on desertion, earth, leaves, and various substances, drifted on them by the winds of ages, filled up all inequalities, and gave them the conical figure they now possess. Their proximity to, and the protection a (lorded them by the circular fort, is another evidence of their hav- ing been the houses of a town, the dead of which were depo- sited in the adjacent barrows. Presuming it to have been a small town, I can conceive nothing more safe or romantic than its site. The country behind it inaccessible ; high mountains on each side, and a beautiful stream, valley, and fortification, in front, it is 128 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. more than probable, that the post at which I passed the night, was the advanced guard of the camp; (hat post could convey an alarm, if any thing important occurred on the Ohio side. Encouraging this idea, and seeing a very commanding eminence about three miles higher up, and near Ihe Muskingum, 1 directly tuade for it, and imme- diately discovered it to be nearly similar to the ground on which I had slept the night before. The appearances were too strong and as sudden Decline by a contagious Sick- nessDutch Ctfpidity and its Consequences Belleville Town and Island The DemVs Creek Letartfs Falls Danger of pas sing them , especially in the Night Cam- paign Creek Point Pleasant, a handsome little Town. Point Pleasant, Great Kenhaway River, July, 1806. THE morning after the golden vision I purchased a small canoe for two dollars, and descended the Muskingurn to Marietta, without any accident or incident worth re- VOYAGE ON THE OHIO. 135 cording. On my arrival at Marietta, I perceived means to remove the relics I had the good fortune to discover on the first day of my excursion, and having got them and some necessaries into my boat, cast loose, and turned once more into the current of the Ohio. In a run of ten miles I passed no less than four islands, and two miles more brought me up to the little Konhaway river on the left side. The little Kenhaway is one hundred and fifty yards wide at its month. It yields a navigation of ten miles only. Perhaps its northern branch, called Junius's Creek, which interlocks with the western branch of the Mo- nongahela, may one day admit a shorter passage from the latter to the Ohio. Opposite to this river is the town and settlement of Bellcprie, three miles from which is Bacchus's island. On leaving Marietta a lady and gentleman who had been on a visit there, desired a passage to the island. This re- quest was with much pleasure granted, and 1 had only to lament that the voyage was so short, which Was to terminate my acquaintance with persons so truly interesting and amia- ble. The island hove in sight to great advantage from the middle of the river, from which point of view little more appeared than the simple decorations of nature ; trees, shrubs, and flowers of every perfume and kind. The next point of view on running with the current on the right hand side, varied to a scene of enchantment; a lawn, in the form of a fan inverted, presented itself: the nut forming the cen- tre and summit of the island, and the broad segment the borders of the water. The lawn contained oue hundred acres of the best pasture interspersed with flowering shrubs and clumps of trees, in a manner that conveyed a strong conviction of the taste and judgment of the proprietor. The house came into view at the instant I was signifying a wish that such a lawn had a mansion. It stands on the imme- diate summit of the island, whose ascent is very gradual ; is snow white, three stories high, and furnished with wings which interlock the adjoining trees, confine the prospect, and intercept the sight of barns, stables, and out-offices, which are so often suffered to destroy the effect of the noblest views in England. The full front of the house being the signal for pulling in for the island, we did so immediately, and fell below a small wharf that covered an eddy, and made the landing both easy and secure. There was no resisting the friendly importunity of my passengers : no excuse would be taken : 136 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. to slop the, night at least, \vas insisted upon, and 'with a convincing expression that the desire flowed from hearts de- sirous not to be refused. There is something so irresistible in invitations of such a nature, that they cannot be denied. I gave instructions respecting my boat, and giving the lady my arm, we walked up the beautiful lawn, through which a winding path led to the house. It was tea time; that re- freshment was served and conducted with a propriety and elegance which I never witnessed out of Britain. The con- versation was chaste and general, and the manners of the lady and gentleman were refined without being frigid ; dis- tinguished without being ostentatious, and familiar without being vulgar, importunate, or absurd. Before tr.e entire decline of day we walked in the gardens, which were ele- gantly laid out in your country's style ; produced remarka- bly fine vegetables, and had a very favourable shew of standard peaches, and other fruit. We next turned into the woods. I soon perceived why the island was nam^d Bac- chus. It abounds with vines which grow 10 great height and strength, but never produce to any perfection. The path we had taken led to the water, the border of which brought us to the boat, where it seems all the servants of (he family had assembled to hear what news my people r have brought into their little world. We found them seated on the green around Mindeth, who, proud to be their histo- rian, related tales of such peril and affright, that they gazed .011 him with sensations ot Wonder and astonishment, or with the. softened emotions of pity and complaint. The poor Mandanean, excluded by his colour and aspect from partici- pating, in tiie social pleasures of the whites, had built hi:vi- . self .a good fire, made himself the section of a ten , and was preparing his rod and line to catch some fish for supper. I saw the lady so pleased with this scene, and so delighted in ,' particular, wilh Cuff's truly rural establishment, that I pro- posed supping on the shore, and by displaying a specimen y evenings on the river, give some idea of former times, and the innocent enjoyments of primitive life. The night being perfectly fine, and the moon out, and some light clouds hindering the dew r from falling, my proposition was joyfully acceded to, and instructions were given ' accord- , ingly. This determination gave life and interest to a scene which before was calm and pleasing. All was action and bustle: The historian no more attended. Every one assumed an occupation, and Cuff saw his fire and his tent surrounded by ..' NOCTURNAL FISHING. 137 twenty 'willing assistants. The lady being engaged in instructing the servants, and sending them to the house for a few necessary articles, I proposed to take the gentleman in my canoe across the current, and under the shade of the trees of the bank, with a lighted torch attract the fish to the surface, and spear them while gazing at the blaze. We crossed over, and met with the success of striking seven large cat and sun fishes in less than half an hour. We re- turned with the torch still burning, and the bands singing " The beauteous month of May," in cadence to the paddles, ivhich rose and struck with a preconcerted regularity. This mode of nocturnal fishing was quite novel to the inhabitants of this little insulated world. The lady was charmed with it, and declared that the view of the canoe by torch-light across the water, the conversation obscurely heard, the sad- den bursts of exultation announcing every success, and the cheerful return with mirth and song, was an improvement of the finest sort to a scene before she deemed incapable of augmentation ! After chatting some time on subjects imme- diately rising out of occurring incidents, and admiring the versatility of mind which atone time finds felicity in towns and midnight masquerades, and at another acknowledges happiness on the contrasted theatre of the fivers and wil- dernesses, we sat down to our repast, and" in a short time paid it the strong encomium of a satiated appetite. After '-which we returned to the house, wiiere over a bottle of wine one hour longer we conversed on the pleasures of out rural sports, and retired to rest with that heart-felt ease and serenity which. follows an innocent and well-spent day. Next morning, after breakfast, i with difficulty tore my- self from this interesting family. You will excuse me for omitting the names of the amiable couple. They were emi- grants of the first distinction from Ireland. Two hours after leaving the island, I reached the lower settlement of Belleprie, a rising place on the right hand side, three miles below which on the same side, I passed Little Hockhocking, Newbury settlement and Bar, Masta- phy island, and Big Hockhocking river, near the mouth of which 'I brought up, in order to make a few observations and enquiries. The Big Hockhocking is eighty yards wide at its mouth, and yields navigation for loaded bateaux,to the press place, wxty inilcs above its mouth. At the head of this navigation stands N -w Lancaster, a town formed of about one hundred and fifty WC U built houses, and inhabited chiefly by Ger- * ASH P..] T 1S8 ASHE's TRAVELS IN AMERICA. mans and Dutch, froni Old Lancaster in Pennsylvania, and the settlements in its vicinity < New Lancaster seven years ago was bnt emerging from the woods, where the industri- ous people I have mentioned from the east, were tempted by the reputation of the lands in its neighbourhood to settle in and around it, and to encourage all their friends to flock to the Ohio state, and follow the example they had set them, for the advancement of their comfort and promotion of their prosperity. You may judge with what eagerness the town and country were settled, when you learn that one hundred and fifty brick, frame, and log-houses were erected in less than seven years, and that land rose from one and two, to five, ten, fifteen, and even twenty dollars per acre. It has, notwithstanding, sustained a sad reverse within these two years. The last summer alone gave landed and other pro- perty a fall of one hundred and fifty per cent. This violent depreciation is to be attributed to a general sickness which attacked the settlement, and swept off two-thirds of the inha- bitants, before its progress was checked by the setting in of the frost. Very few of the first settlers now exist ! Seven years toil and labour concluded their reign, and in all pro- bability seven more will extinguish the generation now rising in their place! What a gloomy prospect ! what a melan- choly reflection I And from whence arose a change and cala- mity so unexpected and painful to a liberal mind ? Avarice', and an inordinate craving after gold, form the well knoNvn characteristic of the Dutch. With them every consideration dissolves before views of acquirement, or pros- pects. which hold out acquisitions of wealth. The first set- tlers of New Lancaster discovering the lands to be of the first quality* bought up several thousand acres at a reduced price, erected a few buildings, and sent emissaries to their countrymen to tempt them into their speculations, and allow them for certain advantages a participation of their views. Many* cnme, and by acting in a similar efficacious manner, to sell their purchase* and populate the place, a few years numbered from six K> seven thousand inhabitants, compos- ed of artisans, shop-keepers, mechanics and farmers. The head of the navigation being the most profitable place on which to erect a town, it was chosen for that purpose, and ils being healthy or Unhealthy made no part of the calcula- tion, or entered into the consultations on the business. Those who settled on farms chose the vicinity of creeks and springs for their habitations, for if they chose high grounds, time would be lost in looking after water, - u time is money ," UNHEALTHINESS OF THE SWAMPS. 13D bay the Dutch. Some intermittent fevers, and a few hun dred deaths in the first three or four years, began to spread suspicions that all was not right : that swampy spots were pernicious to life, that the money gleaned ofF them could neither purchase happiness or maintain health. To build a. iiew town, new houses and barns, and to clear new lands, were changes and expences too heavy to be endured ; things remained till two successive summers teeming with disease, consumed the bulk of the inhabitants of the settlement, and compelled the few remaining ones to abandon their avari- cious intentions, and learn in future how to live. So entirely was health cast out of all consideration at the time of erecting New Lancaster, that the settlers were not turned from their intention, though a swamp of great ex- tent, arid part of which immediately bounds the west of the town, lay directly before them, and emitted an effluvia so noxious as could hardly be withstood. Nor did they re- flect that another swamp of a still worse nature, called u the muddy prairie," lay contiguous, and cast out of its bowels an air so mephitic, that persons had to close their mouth and nose on crossing any part of it. Deer and other animals chaced into these swamps by hunters, sink, after a few struggles, and never more appear. The swamps will never be drained : their extent and character defy human indus- try ; the depth alone being much greater than any adjacent streams. The prevailing disorders they disseminate, are agues, fevers, and violent retchings. The latter complaint is nearly always fatal ; and is accompanied by all the symp- toms or yellow fever, such as derangement, convulsions, and a general effusion or' blood. Three miles below the big Ilockhocking, on the Virginia shore, I passed the town and settlement of Belleville, and two miles lower down I enjoyed the sight of a beautiful j land of the same name, covered with trees, shrubs, and verdure; and after a run of ten miles farther without impe- diment, I arrived at a very dangerous part of the river, dis- tinguished by the name of the Devil's Creek. In passing Ihe creek which issues from the Virginia shore, 1 found it necessary to keep close round the left hand point, to avoid being thrown by the current on dangerous rocks, which lie in the bend above and below the mouth of the creek. I succeeded well, but not without seeing the danger, which re- quired much exertion to shun. Having lost considerable time in my la!e excursions, I being seduced by the fineness of the evening, and promised 140 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. lightness of the night, determ'-ncd on not bringing to till 1 should reach this place. I therefore continued on, past Am* berson's Island, Goose Island, and by midnight came up to two islands -which I understood to he but half a mile above Letart's Falls, universally feared as one of the most terrific parts of the navigation-of theriver. The roaringof the fa Us had reached us sometime before we made the islands, and re- flections of propriety, safety, &c. were making such progress on ray mind, that I began to repent of my determination ^ and to feel a deposition not to proceed any farther till morn- ing. Prudence may arrive too late. The channel past the islands was close to tjje right hand shore, yet I dared not put tiie boat's head towards it, the current being impe- tuous, and the shore full of trunks of trees, breakers, and snags. Perceiving obstructions which were at once difficult and arduous to remove, 1 made preparations to shoot the falls. The men received my instructions with a silence which augured some fear ; the waters uttered the most tre- mendous sounds, and the mist of their dashing rising into the air, spread an apparent fog on their surface from side to side. The scene was awful : there was no alternative. I took the helm, and placing the hands on each bow with u pole to guard against rocks, followed the current to the se* cond island, from thence to about one third of the river from the right hand shore, and there held it to the falls. The boat took chute in the most capital manner, past through like the flight of a bird, and never once turned round. In taking the chute, 1 observed a sunken rock to my right, that formed a very large ripple, and several others to my left, which caused the water to boil, and make a grumbling dull noise. Instantly on dropping from the falls, it was necessary to take to the oars, to avoid an eddy of great power, which sucked in logs, and every thing else within its attraction, and east them up about two him* dred yards lotver down. I arrived at Point Pleasant to breakfast, and found it a handsome little town, weH situated on (he confluence of the Great Kenhaway wirh the Ohio, and commanding a very extensive view of the latter river. It contains about forty houses, frame and log, and lias not the aspect of ever feeing much augmented. The few disconsolate inhabitants who go up and down, or lie under trees, have adejected ap- pearance, and exhibit the ravage of disease in every feature^ and the tremor of the ague in every step. Their motive for settling the town jnustlvave been to catch -what they can from REMARKS ON THE GREAT KENHAWAY. 141 persons descending the river, and from people emigrating 1 from the S. W. parts of Virginia, with a view of settling lower down the river, and who must make Point Pleasant a place of deposit and embarkation. Were it not for the im- healthiness of the town, it would not be unreasonable to pre- sume that this circumstance would render it in time a place of considerable note. Point Pleasant is two hundred and se- venty miles from Piltsburg. LETTER XVII. Farther Particulars of the Great Kenhaway Kiver Lead Mines Atrocious Massacre of Indians, the Fa mil?/ of the celebrated Logan, the Friend of the Whites Its Consequences The Battle of Point Pleasant The Speech of Los: an Catalogue of Indian Birds > Character of the Mocking Bird and the Virginia Nightingale. Mouth cf the Great Kenhaivay, July, 1806. I FIND the Great Kenhaway to be a river of consider? able character for the fertility of ifs lands, and still more as leading towards the head waters of James's river. Neverthe- less it is doubtful, whether its great and numerous rapids will admit a navigation, but at an expencc to which it will require ages to render the inhabitants equal. The great oh* stacles begin at what are called the great falls, ninety miles above the mouth, beiow which are only five or six rapids, and three passable with some difficulty, even at low water. From the falls to the niouth.of Greenbrier River is one hundred miles, and from thence to the lead mines, one hundred and twenty. The lead is found mixed, sometimes with earth, and sometimes with rock, which requires the force of gunpow- der to open ; and is accompanied with a portion of silver^ loo small to be worth separation under any process hitherto attempted. The proportion yielded is from fifty to eighty pounds of pure lead, from one hundred potmds'of washed ore. The veins are at sometimes the most flattering, and at others they disappear suddenly and totally. They enter the side of the hill and proceed horizontally. Two of them are wrought by the public, the more valuable of which is one hundred yards uii-Jer the hills. These would employ ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. about sixty labourers to advantage. There are not, how- ever, in general, more than forty, and even these find time to cultivate their own corn. The veins have produced sixty tons of lead in a year ; the average is from twenty to twenty- five tons. The furnace is a mile from the ore-bank, and on the opposite side of the river. The ore is first conveyed in waggons to the Kenhaway, a distance only a quarter of a mile, then laden on board of canoes and carried across the river, which is there about two hundred yards wide ; and then again taken into waggons and carried to the furnace. From the furnace the lead is transported one hundred and thirty miles along a good road, leading through the peaks of Ottie and Lynch's ferry, whence it is carried by water about the same distance to Westham, where it finds its way by James river and the Potomac to the markets of the Eastern States. Very little of the lead ever descends the river, in consequence of the falls just below the mines, three of which have a perpendicular chute of four feet each. Three jailes above the mines is a rapid of three miles con- tinuance. Yet the obstructions might be . removed for so useful a navigation, as to reduce very much the portage to James river, and facilitate the descent to the Ohio, where the mouth is two hundred and eighty yards wide. The banks of the Great Kenhaway were once the favou- rite resort and residence of several Indian tribes. The ruins of their little empires every where abound. The towns from which they were banished, and the villages in which they were immolated at the shrine of insatiate avarice, am- bition, and pride, have yet remains which stand, and will ior ever stand, to perpetuate the memory of their sufferings and of our crimes. I visited several monuments of Indian antiquity up the river, and had I not so lately given you ample details on those I discovered on the Muskingum, I would describe them, and even under this impression would give them no- tice, but they do not sufficiently differ from what I men- tioned, to admit of remarks, without a tiresome tautology and repetition. I cannot leive the river, however, without telling you an old story, which took its origin on this water, and to which I feel satisfied your sensibility will not be denied. In the spring of 1774, a robbery and murder were com- mitted on an inhabitant of the frontiers of Virginia, by two Indians of the Shawanee tribe. The neighbouring whites, according; to their custom? undertook to punish this outrag/ INDIAN MAGNANIMITY. 143 in a summary way. Colonel Cresap, a man infamous for his numerous atrocities on this injured people, collected a p ar ty and proceeded down the Kenhaway in quest, of Indians. Unfortunately a canoe of women and children, with one man only, was seen coming from the opposite shore unarmed, and unsuspecting an hostile attack from the whites ; Cresap and his party concealed themselves on the h:\nkoftlie river, and the moment the canoe reached theshore, singled out their objects, and at one tire killed every person in it. This hap- pened to be the family of Logan, whey had long been dis- tinguished as a friend of the whites. This unworthy return provoked his vengeance. He accordingly signalized him* self in the war which ensued. In the autumn of the same year, a decisive battle was fought at the mouth of the Great Kenhaway (in history called the battle of Point Pleasant) between the collected forces of the Shawanecs, Mingoes, and Dclawares, and a detachment of Virginia militia. The Indians were defeated, and sued for peace. Logan, how- ever, disdained to be seen among the suppliants. Hut, teast the sincerity of a treaty should be distrusted, from which so distinguished a chief absented himself, he sent .by a messenger the following speech to be delivered to lord Dun- morc. " I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat: if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and blopdy war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed, arid said, * Logan is the friend of white men! 1 I had even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, tbe last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not sparing even my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for revenge. 1 have sought it : I have killed many : I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country T rejoice at the beams.of peace. But do not harbour a thought that mine is the joy of fear ! Logan never frit fear ! ' l not turn on his heel to save his life! Who is there to mourn for Logan ? Not one !" This affecting story and speech, actually delivered before lord Dunmore while governor of Virginia, are contained in Mr. Jefferson's Notes : the story as a preamble to the speech, which is given as a specimen of Indian eloquence, and 144 ASHE'S TJIAVELS.IN AMERICA. may vie with the most pathetic passages in the orations of Demosthenes or a Cicero. The tew remains of Logan's -tribe now live in a little village near the mouth of the Ohio. I shall certainly visit them on my way clown. I have been much engaged during my rambles here, in ascertaining 1 the number and character of the birds, which are of great variety in this part, and of much brighter plumage than those I noticed at the head waters -or in the Eastern States. Between ninety and an hundred American birds have been described by Catcsby, some stationary, others migra- tory. Brilliant plumage is the principal superiority which any of them can claim over those of Europe. Very few of them are remarkable for their song. I know of but two that can be presumed to vie with British warblers the mocking-bird and the Virginia nightingale. On these I shall make a few remarks. The mocking-bird is of the form, but larger than the Ihrush, and the colours are a mixture, black, white, and grey. What is said of the nightingale by its greatest ad- mirers, is what may with more propriety apply to this bird, who, in a natural state, sings with very superior taste. To- wards evening, I have heard one begin softly, reserving its breath to swell certain notes, which, by this means, had a most astonishing effect, and which defies all verbal descrip- tion. A gentleman residing in London had one of these birds for six years. During the space of a minute, he was heard -to imitate the wood-lark, chaffinch, black-bird, thrush, and sparrow. Jt' was also said that he could bark like a dog, and imitate every domestic animal about the house. In this country, J hn.ve frequently known the mock- ing-birds so engaged in their mimicry, that it was with much difficulty 1 could ever obtain an opportunity of hearing their own natural note. Some go solar as to say they have neither favourite note or imitations: this can be denied. Their few natural notes resemble those of the nightingale, and of infinite mellowness and strength. Their song has a greater volume and compass than the nightingale, and they have the faculty of varying all intermediate notes, in a succession which is truly delightful. Iri a word, to make u comparison perfectly intelligible to an English car ; the "V irginia nightingale's powers may be compared to the asto- nishing bravuras of a J-jillington or a Bra ham ; those of the natural bird to the fascinating native melodies of a Maun* tain or an Inckdon. LETTER XVIII. S) a Trench Settlement Histariral Account of its Rise, Progress, and Fall Its present miserable State. Galliopotis, State of Ohio, July, 160(5; THE distance from the mouth of the Great Kenhaway being but three miles, 1 dropt down to this place in about an hour. That time would not be required, if the naviga- tion were not interrupted by an island immediately in the middle channel, and several rocks which make it necessary to keep the Virginia shore till compelled to row hard across the river to gain the town. Gallirpolis being a French town and settlement which has made considerable noise in the vorld, I feel myself under a more immediate obligation to give you a correct and histo- rical account of its rise, progress, and fall. A land speculator who. explored this, western country a few years ago, took plans of the site of Galliopolis; sur- veyed two hundred thousand surrounding acres, and sub- mitted his labours o?i parchment, with all the embellish- ments of a draftsman, and all the science of a topographer. The site for the town was represented as on a high plane of great extent and beauty, commanding views up, down, and across the river for several niiles. Eminences were every where pointed out as eligible for the residerce of the wealthy, and comfortable secluded spots we re marked for the retreat of the more humble and indigent. Long extended and fer- tile tracts were noted as proper places tor the exertion of the most decidedly active and industrious, an 1 water-fulls, ca- taracts, and rapid streams descended and flowed for the be- nefit of mills, the promotion of commerce, and the diffu- sion of prosperity and happiness. Whfn tln.se advantages were magnified by the high coloured nu hinery of hanging woods ; ever verdant meads interspersed with clumps of the flowering magnolia arid odoriferous cata^ri; natural vine- -yards with purple clusters binding to the ground, and all the other interesting objects incident to sublime landscape, ;it may well be supposed that the gentleman's paper plans captivated the sanguine French, and formed an irresistible -lure to this celestial pa-tad be.-. His maps and surveys had ASHE.J V 146 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA* marginal notes illustrative of its natural history, and the bnf- falo, elk, deer, bear, birds, fish, and game of every descrip- tion, were stated to abound in Mich quantity, that for seve- ral years man could subsist without any other labour than the healthy and pleasant occupations of hunting and fish- ing. Furnished with testimonies of so flattering a nature, and with credentials of the first authority to the most respectable houses in Paris, he repaired to that capital, and met with all the hospitality and attention to which he was entitled by his manners, intelligence, and introductions. After associating with the great some months, he gave publicity to his views; opened, by permission of government, a regular land office; exhibited his plans and charts, and offered the lands they expressed for a French crown per acre. The troubles then existing in France were favourable to Lis intentions. Those who were compelled to stifle their re- sentment against the state, were rejoiced at an opportunity to abandon it, and the government at length, tired with the perpetual work of the guillotine, preferred to get rid of the disaffected by emigration, to the labour of compression in dungeons or the effusion of blood. Numerous emigrants were ready to repair to the extolled territory. Of these, a few of the most opulent, liberal, and enlightened, combined and purchased the speculator's \vhole right and title, and extinguished all his claim for one hundred thousand crowfis y and of course assumed to themselves the disposition of the lands, and the charge oi" settling thcmj but without any pecuniary advantage. A proceeding so honourable as this in the proprietors had the most auspicious effect : in a short time, five hundred fami- lies, previously well situated j embarked with the proprietors lor the United States, crossed the mountains, and descend- ed the rivet to their new possessions; to *' the promised land, flowing with milk and honey, and abounding with all the necessaries and luxuries of life." The lands were distributed araong them according to pri- ority of purehas^ and where it could with propriety, ac- cording to predilection and choice. Some went to subjugate the forests ; some to reside on the river's banks. S-ome weiit in pursuit of mill-seats, cataracts and falls, and others con- tented themselves to look for flowering meadows, and aro- matic groves. A considerable number remained to settle the town now called Galliopolis. Such a body of settlers soon effected a change in the face ORIGIN OF GALLIOPOLIS. 147 of nature. A very neat town quickly rose on a delightful plain, and a number of comfortable little houses adorned the best situations along the river. Having brought with them implements of husbandry and seeds of all kinds of fruit and vegetables from Europe, the colony appeared to flou- rish to an unprecedented degree, and to extend its fame to the widest bounds. This unexampled character and success \vas the operation of two years. On the third, the settlers who retired to the back country, and who did not suffer death, came in, and reported that the meadows and good Jands they went in search of, proved no more than swampy intervals between mountains, where man could not exist ; and that the mill-seats and water-falls were dry, except dur- ing the dissolution of the winter snows, which could only be calculated upon for the short period of about three weeks in the year. The return of these disappointed speculators alarmed the infant town, and the river settlements spread an apprehension of the want of bread and general distress. Small patches for the gardens, and vistas to the water, were all the cleared land in the colony, for none had gone to the drudgery of preparing ground heavily timbered, for the purposes of raising corn or producing the other necessaries, which are the result only of toil and unremitting industry. Unfortunate- ly, too, the settlers were for the most part artisans who had resided all their lives in Paris, Lyons, and other great towns in France. To labour in gloomy woods, and clear for agri- culture land crowded with trees several feet in diameter, was a task incompatible with their former habits and views. A contracted system of horticulture, was all they were equal to, and as such a mode could not provide for any supernu- merary mouths, the discontented were resolved to return home, and others to proceed to the Eastern states, sell their shares, and resume their ancient professions. From the sale of the possessions, however, very little trouble arose. On the fourth year, at a time when affhirs were progressing, and improvements going on with as much vigour as could be expected from emaciated mechanics and effeminated shop-keepers, a person arrived in the colony, claiming it as his own, and stating that the man who sold the property in France was an impostor. To a people al- ready under suffering and disappointment this was a dreadful blow, that could not be averted, and which involved in its fall the ruin of their hopes, and the labour and toil of the &ur previous years. The new claim was sanctioned by 148 A SITE'S TRAVELS IN AMEIUCA. Congress, and a proposition was made t*> the French i& abandon their improvements, or to re- pin chase a certain quantity of land, adjoining to, and including such im- provements, at the rate of two dollars more per acre. Many spurned at this proposition, however fair, and left the coun- try in disgust, while others with large families remained, again purchased, and persevered to give the settlement a rise, in despite of disappointment, imposition, cal unity, and a host of evils and difficulties which required all the, energies of human exertion to avoid and to remove. Suck strength of mind and perseverance merited a successful fate, and no doubt would have terminated in a happy ksue, but for ponds lying behind and near the town, which often in- fected the air, and predisposed to fever and ague, even from ihe commencement of the settlement, but on the fifth year they became so contagious that many died, and several be- came so seriously alarmed as to throw up their improve- ments, and sell their titles for the little they required for tra* veiling expences to Philadelphia or New York, where they might follow handicraft trades, and procure bread with more ease and security. Those who remained were principal- ly the infirm and the young children: few improvements went on, the place continued rapidly to -understand, nofwithsianviin.":, that some New Eng- lauders liave made purchase from the iu^ilive I^reuch at very reduced prices, and intend occupy ing i lie farms they de- serteJ. If they put tins inienlio:i into execution, the setde- jnent may again take an artificial risr, though ii is difficult lo conceive hov -t'e public can a second time be deceived in respect to a spot whose climate and properties have been so much condemned ami exposed. I am very happy It) have authority to account for seventy more of -l he families .who arrived from France, and which, seventy were -of those who. left GalhopcUs i:i .disguise on the springing up of the new proprietor, who required them to make a .new purchase or to quit tSie premises. Congress, much to its honour, made their case a national one, ar.d has granted them lands lower down the river, in lieu of those they had to abandon ,io this place. They report to their iriuuds that their new grounds are excellent, but that sick- ness and excess of unaccustomed labour keeps thinning them jby no very insensible degrees. 150 LETTER XIX. Rivers and CVee/s Saw-milh A fine Sad* spring and an Indian P offer?/ Great Sandy Creek' Central Situation of its Mouth Erroneous Accounts of KentvcLcy Corrected Extravagant Price of Lands An Excursion*- Vestiges of the Remains, of a Chief of uncommon Size Game IVild flogs Remains of an Indian Village An Alarm Explained Wolves hunting their Prey. Mouth of Great Sandy Riusr, July, 1 SOO". I LEFT Galliopolis with all tlie sensibility which the fate of its poor inhabitants could inspire. In my run to thi* place I passed a very beautiful island, several creeks, and ihe niouihs of the Little and tfig Gui- aridot. The latter river Ls sixty yards wide at its entrance into the Ohio ; is very rapid, and may be navigated seventy miles up. They both are on ihe Virginia shore, as well as Great Sandy river, which is between seventy and eighty yards wide at its mouth, and navigable for loaded bateaux sixty miles, till it reaches falls where saw-mills are erected, and which furnish the best cherry plank of America, in the greatest abundance. A few nules above the saw-mills a very fine salt-spring has been discovered in the mountains, whose waters are so strong, that it is said one hundred gal- lons couid yield one bushel of salt. This spring would, in all probability, have remained for ever in oblivion, had it not been for the incidental circumstance of a hunter stum- bling over a piece of earthen ware sticking in the ground of its vicinity. The piece evincing the remains of an Indian salt-pan, the hunter examined the nearest spring, and found it to be of the quality I have just described. It has been since explored, and an ancient furnace, and many pieces of antique pottery, have been brought to light. The spring is not worked, the proprietor of the land being unknown, and the distance to the market considerable. The discovery of earthen salt-pans strengt liens the opinion I before entertained, that the Indians possessed the art of making potter's ware in a higher perfection than is attempt* ed at the present day. They not only manufactured it to re- sist fire in ordinary culinary purposes, but to make it endure the violence of a furnace, a perpetual ebullition^ aud the ccr- rosion of mineral salts. FALSE DESCRIPTIONS Otf KENf UOXEY. 151 The head waters of Ibis river proceed from the immense Chain of the Appilachcan mountains, the fountains from the opposite side of which supply rivers that fall into the Mexi- can and Atlantic oceans. These head waters being- guard- ed by a country nearly inaccessible and terrific to man, is now the Hff controverted domain of wolves, bears, &c. Bears especially ii habit the head of this river in such num- bers, that their skins can be had by contract for one dollar each. Great Sandy is also remarkable for being the boundary "where Virginia subsides and Kentuckey commences. This commencement is exactly three hundred and thirty- four miles from Pittsburg, seven hundred and sixty-two from the Mississippi, and one hundred and ten from Lexington, the principal town of the Kentuckey state. From the point of land below the mouth of Great Sandy, the view is very extensive. Looking across *he Ohio, which is first seen to a considerable distance up and down, the rich and fertile state of Ohio reaches to the north, hundreds of in iles. To the right Virginia runs to the Alleghany's base, where it is separated from the eastern American world. To ihe left lies the state of Kentuckey. This point of land is eminently situated for a trading town. That denomination is already given to a few wretch- ed huts, occupied occasionally by hunters, and a few strag- glers undetermined as to their final establishment. Ihe authors who have given descriptions of Kentuckey, either never saw that state, or only would see a small por- tion of highly beautiful land which it contains in its centre, sixty miles long by about thirty miles broad. Of that sin- gularly fertile, romantic, and delightful spot, enough, per- haps, has not been said ; but of all ihe remainder of the state, whatever has been wrote or uttered in its favour, must have proceeded from a dangerous ignorance of facts, or at determination to delude and deceive both individuals find the public. 1 beg of you to judge from this simple survey. From this place to Lexington, which is one hundred and ten miles, the road is marked on the ridges of mountains to within fifteen miles of that city. From the city again to. Limestone, and to Cincinnati on the Ohio, a distance tt> each of seventy miles, the roads, with the exception of a few miles, are no more than Buffalo tiacts. From the com- mences, (nt of Kentuekey at Great Sandy, the body of eastern lurid is entirely mountainous for one hundred square miles. West it is a chain of mountain's for an extent of 152" ASHE'S TRAVELS ir* AMERICA. four hand red miles long by fKty broad, on nvprage from ffrg Ohio bank ; and the south side is principally composed of <: the Barrens," and ihe "('real SiarrMi," terms which de- note a country s<- sterile and inhospitable, that neither man nor beast can reside there for wa?il of water. 80 mountain** ous is the river shore on the Kent'; ;*, that in thv dis- tance of five hundred ri'iles, there is r.-ot snare for the erec- tion of a town oi ?ny -jxt-nt rxr^r? on the very plain from which I now write, nnd, in co'^qiienco of there being no road iilong the V f' banlr, t v :? rollers are compelled to proceed on the shore of tate and determined on settling <> ^ood lands and a somewhat com- fortable neighbourhood, have been often obliged to sink their whole capital in the purchase of a small farm, the produce of which, from the mediocrity of its price at mar- ket, could never return the capital, or enable tlvem to da any more than drag on a miserable existence. The price of the kinds on the state, taking Lexington fora meridian, are as follows : town lots in Lexington, in the market street, and other popular situations, bear as lit ^h a price as any lot in the city of London. Land immediately round the town is four hundred dollars per acre ; within one mile two? hundred ; within two or three miles one 'hundred ; five or six miles from sixty to seventy. A few miles more distant the price falls from forty to fifty dollars per acre, and decreases progressively to from thirty to twenty, fifteen, ten, and five', t which price it breaks otf at the mountains, where the land bears no price at all. There are circumstances also, which often contribute to set a local enhanced value on land- ed property. The most fertile part of Kentuckey, the very spot yet all vwed ta-.be an Eden, is very scarce of water. Xand therefore, \vhich possesses a? mill-seat capable of act- VIOLATION OF A GRAVE. 153 ing three months in a year, would fetch a very large sura of money. Salt-springs also, considerably raise the price of land surrounding them. River-bottoms and good places for landing, from their scarcity, situation, and superior excellence, have also a higher price attached to them than any other parts not under the same circumstances. Mr. Gardner, a sensible and civil man, who here keeps a tavern, having explored his neighbourhood in a conside- rable degree, I tempted him to take an excursion with me. We set off by dawn to observe the rising sun from a very high hill, about a mile to the south of the point. The eminence was gained in time to enjoy the finest spectacle in Nature. On the particular spot where I was, I might have re- mained a long time before I could perceive the various ef- fects of the sun on mountains, woods, valleys, and waters; The height was so great, that I calculated the rays of the sjun could not strike the surface of the floods till they darted from the sun's rise of four hours. Particular views of the river were various and beauti- ful from where I stood, though interrupted every mile by the sinuosities occasioned by its many windings. I found the time very favourable to form a judgment on the nature of the surrounding country. The sun shining only on the summits of hills, displayed their situation, course, and variety, while the dark intervals pointed out the few valleys and plains which lay commixed between them. The remarks I took accorded precisely with the observations 1 have made respecting the mountainous state of the country. Nor could I see any part of sufficient extent for a day's excursion, with any tolerable degree of possibility or ease, unless a strip of wood-land which foriru .1 the Ohio bank, and met with but little obstruction for several miles. I re- solved to bend that way, and was about to depart, when Mr. Gardner informed me that on his first coming to the Kenhaway he discovered an Indian grave on the summit on which we stood. He pointed it out to me immediately on the direct summit, but I had the mortification to perceive that it had undergone so rude a violation, that 1 could dis- tinguish nothing of its original form or character, or any remains, save two or three bones, which, judging by ana- logy, evinced a man far exceeding ordinary stature. Mr. Gardner could give me no satisfactory account, either in regard to the contents of the grave, or to the position and ASHE.] x 154: AIHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. appearances of the members of which it was composed : he did not even know the bearings of the head and feet ; in short, I understood that the violation was committed by a Kentuckcyan, in quest of plunder, and that Mr. Gardner did not see the ruin till the deed was done. The instant I understood a Kentuckeyan was concerned, I gave up every inquiry, and contented myself with this other recent evi- dence, that there formerly existed Indian nations who bu- ried their chiefs on the highest mountain tops, and distant from the living and the dead. Perhaps, too, such nations were worshippers of the sun, and by way of continuing to their princes the proud pre-eminence they allowed them in life, exposed their tombs to the first and last rays of their high and mighty luminary. This idea appears better grounded than on mere presumption : at present, however, 1 cannot back it by any testimony, and the fact is against me, that no Indian tribes east of the Mississippi, have ever in their worship or tradition, held out an evidence that their ancestors at any time worshipped the sun, or that they con- sidered their tribes ever to have been the descendants of that all-powerful body. The subject must remain for elucidation, till the discovery of other data and events. We proceeded down the hill, and along the strip of level woody bank I traced for our excursion from the summit. We met with excellent sport. Several flocks of wild turkeys crossed us from the mountains to the water-side; we killed two fine young birds, and could have killed forty had we been disposed to enter on the commission of unnecessary carnage. W^e also fell in with a great number of quails, re- markable for their size, and so fat and heavy, that they never attempted flight, but ran and hid themselves, among dry leaves and grass, to a very considerable distance from where we at first started them. Independent of what we killed, my dog ran down and caught several, two of which being perfectly white, were to me a great curiosity. The quails of this country arc very tractable, soon domesticated, and easily kept to be killed for family use. Our notice was frequently attracted by a number of hogs ranging in a wild state. They multiply to a great degree, notwithstanding that the wolves have no objection to their flesh, and that panthers consider them as their nicest diet. In this natural state they attain considerable courage and ferocity, to which, perhaps, their multiplication and safety may be attributed. The sows we met with were savage to such a degree 3 that they firmly stood between us and their AMERICAN WOLF-DOGS. 155 young, till the, latter scampered oft' and concealed themselves with a skill which baffled the minutest search. When a litter is discovered and attacked by a panther, the old sow stands all the brunt, and maintains a fight of sufficient du- ration to allow the young to disperse, though often at the expence of her own life. Hogs attract so many wild beasts about a house, that Mr. Gardner has given over keeping any in a domestic way. When he lays up his winter provision, lie selects hogs from the wood, and considers their flesh much more delicate than that of home-fed pork. Their food in the woods consists generally of acorns, nuts, berries, and roots, and occasionally on vermin, reptiles, and snakes, of which last they are extravagantly fond. Coming to a fine creek which descended from the moun- tains, we halted, and made preparations to forward an ex- cellent dinner, and repose during the violent heat of the day. We started again before six, and continued walking through a country interrupted with gullies, ridges, and creeks, till near ten. when we made fires, erected tents, and formed our establishment for the night. The place we had chosen was the site of an old Indian village, as was manifest from the number of mounds and other remains of ancient works ex- tant around us. I turned to rest under my small shed and near a good fire, full of the vague ideas, and wide and wan- dering notions which ihe place, situation, and circumstances irresistibly inspired. 1 slept in the midst of mounds, which, some thousands of years before were inhabited by men whose name and history were no longer on the face of the earth, and whose line and offspring f vainly sought for among existing nations. Overcome at length by toil, and weary of fruitless conjectures, I fell into the soundest sleep, and might have remained for hours in that oblivion, had I not been startled up by cries such as we are instructed to believe issue from spirits " confined fast in fire, to howl for ever in regions of eternal night." In an instant we were up and armed. The cry however approached, and increased to an alarming degree ; the shrubs rustled, the leaves flew, and the pursuing and the pursued, passed us in apparent hundreds. The whole uproar, however,! only was occa- sioned by a couple of wolves enjoying their nocturnal re- creation in the chase of a herd of deer. They hunt in the style of the best dogs, but give tongue with less melody. The Indians, who have the first-rate dogs, cross the breed with the wolf, and have this purpose effected by tying the female dog to a tree, in the haunt gf 156 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. wolves, when she is in season. Roused up again by a din not likely to quit the ears in a short time, we pursued our way to the Kenhaway, and having met with no very parti- cular event, I am again at liberty to conclude. LETTER XX. Settlement of the French Families removed from Gallio- polis Their mode of Life, and domesticated Animals A French Rural Repast and Dance Navigation to Alex- andria Account of the Town and its Vicinage Ports- mouth The Sciota River Chilicothe, principal Town of the Ohio State Difficult Access to it The Pecka- wee Plains A grand Situation for a Capital Antiqui- ties of ChUicothe, and barbarous Taste of the Inhabi- tants The Governor, his worthy Character Slavery entirely abolished Its benejicial Effects Salt Springs Run to Maysville. Maysville, or Limestone K'y, July, 1807. ON leaving the Great Kenhaway, I descended without interruption or stop twenty miles, when I made fast to the right hand shore, immediately opposite Little Sandy Creek. I brought to for the purpose of inquiring into the situation of the French families who abandoned Galliopolis in con- sequence of the imposition practised on them by the vender of the lands, and the ill health they enjoyed while on them. Opposite to the creek I have mentioned, and at the place I landed, is a tract of land of twenty thousand acres, ex- tending eight miles on the river, granted by Congress to these unfortunate settlers, as some indemnification for the losses an(J injuries they had sustained ; and four thousand acres adjoining, granted to M. rtervais, one of the princi- pals, for the same purpose. On this latter tract, I under- stand, M. Gervais laid out a town named Burrsburgh, but it yet has to get an habitation and an inhabitant. I found the settlers in something better health than at Galliopolis. They dwell altogether along the river bank ; they pursue a very mean system of agriculture. Their best exertion only extends to a few acres of Indian corn and garden-stuff to meet their rigid necessities. They appear to BEAUTIFUL TAME DBER. 157 liave no idea of farming, or to think, what I conceive per- fectly just, that the price of produce is too contemptible to yield an equivalent for the labour and health necessarily wasted in bringing it to growth and maturity. The manage- ment of peach orchards suits their talents and habits, and these they bring to profit and perfection. There are here two peach distilleries at work, that vend about three thou- sand gallons of peach brandy, the amount of which fur- nishes the settlement with coffee, snuff, knives, tin ware, and other small articles in demand among French emi- grants. I found the women constantly occupied in making an excellent strong cotton cloth, blue, for the men, and party-coloured for themselves and children. I took a walk down the entire settlement, and was much pleased with the simple and primitive manner of its residents. The [day is passed in the coarser industry, the evening sitting in the bouse, or under the most adjacent shade, the women spin- ning, sewing and knitting, the men making and repairing their nets, gins, traps, and the children playing around, and instructing their pet animals. The blue jay arrived at the art of speaking better than any other bird I perceived among them ; the paroquet also excelled in speaking ; and the summer duck exceeded any thing 1 ever saw in point of plumage and colour. At one habitation were two Ix'autilul tame deer, one as white as snow, and the other spotted like a leopard. They had each a collar and bell round the neck, went with the cows to pasture in the day-tune, and returned at the sound of a conch shell to the protection of the house for the night. I considered them such singularly interesting creatures, that I made a proposition to purchase them, but was turned from the intention by the clamour and lamentations of the young people, who would by no means consent to part with their Julie and Eveline. Racoons and opossums were common, and as tame as any animals could be. The opossums were not entertain- ed on a mere principle of curiosity and pleasure: they were kept for utility. They bred with great regularity, and were esteemed better. eating than a roasting pig of whose flavour and qualities they strongly partake. I also took no- tice of a small aboriginal animal, called the Ground or In- dian Hog whose sensibilities are so little refined, that no attention or caresses, can ever force from it a reciprocity of manners; or make it refrain from snapping at the hand ex- tended with its daily food. I was very much alarmed on approaching a house, at the door of which a large cub-bear 158 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMEIUCA. was hugging a child between his paws, and rolling and tumbling with it on the ground The mother perceiving my apprehensions, exclaimed, " O! Monsieur, ne craig- nes rien, its sont bans amis. 11 Jt was sun set when I returned to my boat. I found a number of persons directly on the bank above it, assembled to converse with my man and Cuff. The manners of the French towards the Indians, form a complete contrast to those of the Americans. The French are sociable and friendly to them ; the Americans rude, distant, and austere. In consequence, the Indians carry OH a profitable inter- course with the one, while they studiously avoid, and mani- fest contempt for the other. The French never receive any injury or outrage from wandering tribes, while the Ameri- cans stand in perpetual anxiety, if the Indian hunters are known to be within fifty miles of them. The French com- prehendn'g from the manner I addressed them, that I was not displeased with their appearance about the boat, proposed with all imaginable gaiete de ccei/r, to sup on the ground, and have a little dance. 1 entered into their views with a viva- city which shewed them I took an interest in their pleasures, and I furnished my portion of the intended fete in biscuit, which was of the highest estimation, as the settlement had been for several months vi\i\\o{\i flour-bread. The neighbour- ing houses soon provided their quota of milk, cheese, fruit, and various viandes, and three youths with a flute and two violins, were prepared to strike up after the rural repast. Never was supper more cheerful, never was society of so strange a melange seated on the banks of La Belle Riviere. Old Frenchmen, lively as youth, in large crimson caps ; their wives still more animated, dressed in the obsolete times of Louis XlVth the youth of both sexes habited suivant Vusage du pays, and mirthful, as if " fortune smiled upon their birth," formed the great outlines of the picture, while numbers of the domesticated animals I have mentioned fol- lowed their masters, and seemed " to crave their humble dole." Some without apprehension or restraint, came into the circle, while others maintained a cautious distance, and feared to commit themselves to the confidence of man. Supper over, and the remains carried off, dancing com- menced. Old and young at first joined with the utmost de- monstrations of felicity and mirth ; at length the aged and infirm sat down, while the youth danced cotillons for at feast two hours. The dancing was highly graceful, and in as perfect tuae and step as> if the performers had been the A CONTRAST OF ENTERTAINMENTS. 159 disciples of \ r estris. Our festive scene was closed by a per- formance of CufFs ho gave us in a grand style, a war, fu- neral, and marriage dance, which the French had' the com- plaisance to applaud, though the words, " queUe horreur! qitelle abomination! sacre Dieul le Sciuvage ! " were tit- tered from every mouth. At twelve o'clock we separated, and with as many adieus and souvenez vous de moi as it our intimacy had been for years, and our future friendship to be eternal. 1 left the settlement the following morning, much pleased with my visit, and the improved opinion it allowed me to entertain of a people whom I had to commiserate, from the accounts 1 heard of them at Galliopolis. I sincerely hope that the place may become healthy in time, and admit to their original views some small degree of realization and success. Twelve miles below the French grant, I came before the Little Sciota, a small rivulet on the same side, from the mouth of which a bar of rocks extends half across the Ohio. The channel at the upper end of the bar is near the Kcntuckey shore at the lower end it is close round the rocks. About half a mile lower down I came to another bar, extending more than half across the river. Opposite the bar, on the Kentuckey shore, T found the water so shal- low, that I was apprehensive of striking every moment. Working midway between the point of the bar and the Kentuckey shore, I recovered a good channel, and without sustaining any damage, though for some time my soundings wore but from two feet to eighteen inches. Running eight miles from the Little, I arrived before the Big Sciota, a fine river on the right hand shore, and drop- ped under Alexandria, a small town situated on the lower point, formed by the junction of the two rivers. Having secured the boat I went up to the town, intending to make from it some few excursions. 1 give you their result, with- out fatiguing you with their detail. Alexandria contains about forty houses, and three hun- dred inhabitants, Dutch, Germans, Scotch, and Irish. While it was the seat of justice, and only place of deposit for the merchandize of the extensive settlements of the up- per parts of fhe Sciota, it rose with great rapidity, and held out such demonstrations of success, that numbers settled in the town mid neighbourhood, and bought town lots at such an extragavant price and rahh avidity, that none remained on the hands of the original proprietors. The building of 160 ASIIE's TRAVELS IN AMERICA. a court-house ?ugmented the spirit of speculation and set- tlement, and all went on to admiration, till the state legis- lature decreed that the courts-, offices, &c. should be remov- ed across the mouth of the Sciota, to a new town called Portsmouth, being a situation more eligible for that pur- pose, and as a depot for merchandize and produce. In this manner did a stroke of the pen sign the ruin of Alexandria, and all the speculating forestallers of its adjacent lands and lots. A Dutchman who had purchased a number of excel- lent building grounds, proposed very seriously to "give me my choice for a strong pair of shoes.' 1 So sudden a fall is felt severely by the inhabitants in general ; they sunk their means in giving the town a phlethoric rise, and are now without the capacity of removing. They declaim sadly against the decree of the stale legislature, and say it was or- dained to flatter general Massey, who is a member of the state, and proprietor of the township of Portsmouth. On passing over to Portsmouth, in my canoe, 1 heard a more honest and probable story. Alexandria is insulated every spring, and from lying below the mouth of the river, is not calculated for a place of depot or business. Portsmouth is in its first infancy. As the citizens of Alex- andria must ultimately remove to it or perish, and as it com- mands numerous advantages both local and general, it is reasonable to conceive that it must become a place of conse- quence and resort. The Sciota is two hundred and fifty yards wide at its mouth, which is in the latitude, 38 22 ni and at the Salt-lick towns, two hundred miles above the mouth, it is yet one hundred yards wide.. To these towns it is navigable for loaded bateaux, and an eastern branch which it possesses, affords navigation almost to its source in the confines of Ca- nada, and the great northern lakes. The lands immediately on the Sciota are exceedingly rich and fertile, but subject to inundation, and consequently ca- pable of generating both fever and flux. Chilicothe, the principal town of the Ohio state, and the seat of government, lies about sixty miles up the Sciota. Haying heard so much of the town and government, I de- termined on passing a day or two there, and judging for myself. I suffered severely for my curiosity. My route lay through a wilderness so thick, deep, dark, and impene- trable, that the light, much less the air of heaven, was nearly denied access. We were, likewise, almost stung to madness by musquitoes. So numerous were these perse- DESCRIPTION OF CHILICOTHE. 161 cuiors, that \ve walked amidst them as in a cloud, and suf- fered to an excess not possible to describe. On encamping- in the evening, 1 was in hopes- tlje fire would drive them off, but was disappointed; they continued during 1 the night to hover over their prey, and remained buzzing about our ears, preventing the possibility of repose. Pursuing my route the next morning, I could discover the cause of such miriads of rnusketoes. The great body of the country, to a considerable distance west of the Sciota is a wood-swamp, a quality of land eminently favourable for the insect tribe, noxious reptiles, and inveterate disease. The evening of my second day's jour nej r I arrived at Chili* cotlie, where 1 put up at an excellent inn, and soon lost the impression of all my sufferings. Chilicothe is in appearance a flourishing little town, con- taining about one hundred and fifty houses, neat and well built, several of them occupied by the servants of the state, such as governor, attorney, solicitor, and surveyor generals, clerks of the treasury, judges of the supreme court, attor- neys, &c. I observe it to be in appearance flourishing, be- cause the principle of its rise is more fortuitous than perma- nent, and must in a year or two vanish entirely away. Like Alexandria, its fate is to be decided by a decree, or state act, which is shortly to fix on a more central situation for the de- liberations of the legislature, and for the removal of the officers, and offices of government. When this takes place Chilicothe will beat once abandoned, and the traveller who follows me will hardly find an inhabitant in it to tell him when it rose, and how it fell; when it flourished, and by what means it so soon decayed. This premature and speedy ruin must come upon it, as well from its being abandoned by the bulk of its present wealthy inhabitants, as from the situation being sickly, and the adjacent country not being so rich as to^invite emigrants to settle upon it in any num- bers. Why the state government do not name the Pickawee Plains for the seat of their capital, and the seat of their deli- berations, is a matter of surprise. I rode to these plains in about four hours from Chilicothe, and do not conceive that the world entire could furnish so grand, so great, or so sub- lime a position for a capital or great flourishing town. Though a plain, it inclines gradually from its centre to its side, and commands a view over wood-lands, and meadows of great magnificence and extent. It lies but three miles from the river, and has in its vicinity excellent water, and a num- ber of salt-licks. Returning *from this ride through some ASUE.J T ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. small meadows of great beauty overrun with flowers, I passed through a place called the Old Indian, town, the re- mains of which vvero too imperfect to merit investigation, and on entering Chilicothe I found an ancient mound was .til ;i< -red. to remain in the centre of the town, both as a mo- nument of former times, and of the taste of the present inha- bitants'. I was encouraging opinions highly flattering to the citizens* who appeared to honour antiquity so much, .as to build round the base of one of its most interesting subjects-, till, on taking the circumference of the mounds, I discovered that they h td begun to fell the timber from the sides and summit, and to carry off the mould to fill up holes in the streets,' or to throw upon their gardens and cultivated ground. The respect I had commenced to entertain for the inhabitants fled before this testimony of the depravity of their taste, and vulgarity of their minds. Never did art or nature before accord to a town so beautiful, so antique, or so interesting an ornament. An ornament connected with the history of the remotest times, with men, and events no longer known to posterity, and with feelings and circum- stances which ought tq have endeared it to the heart, and made it an object fit for ihe most sacred contemplation of the mind. Previously to my ride to the Pickawee's, 1 waited on the governor, (Mr. Tiffin) with a lettter recommending me to his attention- 1 was handed a card which desired my com- pany to dinner on the day of my return. J readily com- plied, , :and met at his house nearly all the officers of the state. They were mostly from eastern America, and of better man- ners and education than I had for some time met. The. go- vernor, very fortunately for the state, is nothing more than a plain, well-informed, honest man. Some out of derision, and others out of respect, call him a religious character. The latter class have all the honour and justice of the appel- lation, as no state in the union progresses more in prosperity, or is so distinguished for morals, integrity, and public \vorth. The simple and sophisticated principles of the go- vernor pervade the whole state. The first act of the Ohio legislature, advised by this ho- nest, man, was to abate the spirit of the master, and to al- low tjiat of the slave to rise from the dust: not to mollify his condition, as in other countries by gradual proceedings, but at once to declare him free and independent as them- selves, equally entitled to the auspices of heaven, and to the protection of the laws and immunities of their ernanci- LAND OF CillLICOTHE. 163 pated state. The act immediately destroyed the whole com- merce and distinction between master an;! slave, which was a perpetual exerci-c of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. To this benign and humane pro- ceeding may be attributed (lie rapid prosperity of the state. Many of tiiose who had ardently wished for the regeneration of the negro race, came and settled in the province which declared them free ; others followed men whose example and probity (hey admired, and the country possesses an indus- trious population, improved by the moral exercises of the body and the mind. Whereas in the Virginian, Kentuc- keyan, Tenessce, and Carolean states, the whole labour of the citizens is to storm, to give a loose to the worst of pas- sions, and get their work performed by exercising a tyranny over others, which they stamp with a variety of (torrid and painful peculiarities. I also learned while at table, where the conversation led on points on which 1 expressed a desire of information, that the governor has directed the attention of the legislature to the improvement of tbe penal code ; to Ihe more equal distribution of punishment, and the simpli- fication of the law, by casting out all extraneous expressions, and matter, and by rejecting every obsolete and technical word. The governor's notion is, that the people ought to understand the language of an act as well as the lawyers who benefit by its misconceptions and abuse, and that a law, in order to be useful, should be simple, and uttered in words intelligent to the vulgar and unlettered mind. I conceive that this conduct will be followed by a very salutary effect. It certainly promises to be productive of understanding, and to the discovery of truth without the interventions of learn- ing or the interference of many heads. The world wanted to see a trial of this enlightened kind ; a few years will de- cide its success, and 1 sincerely desire it may be in the pro- portion which the intentions of. the governor so decidedly merit. I understood from the gentlemen of our party who had explored the whole state, that the best land lay to the west of Chilicothe; that it was fitted to an incredible degree for all the purposes of agriculture, and grazing stock of every kind, except sheep, which c6uld not be Kept from panthers and wolves that were every where in great numbers. To annihilate this last grievance a premium or recompense is offered by the government for every panther's skin. J left the governor instructed and pleased with the time I ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. passed under his plain yet hospitable roof, and prepared a canoe to descent! the Sciota the succeeding morning. With much exertion, I got down by the noon of the second day. The principal salt-springs towards the head waters of the Sciota are the property of the United States. They yield a profit of twenty-five per cent, on capital laid out, and all other incidental expences. The remains of a few Indian na- lions inhabit the head of the river adjoining the lakes, and the banks from the lakes to the Ohio abound with Indian monuments to such a degree, that it is evident they were formerly the favourite resort and residence of numerous tribes. J left the Sciota with very little regret: the heat, the in- sects of the vermin annoyed me so much, that I was glad to push into the middle of the great current, and pursue my \vay to the town, at which I arrived in two easy days' run from the Sciota, a distance of sixty -t\vo miles, in which I passed three islands, and several creeks of no account, ex- cept Salt Lick Creek, just above the mouth of which is a town called Vanee Ville, where considerable salt works are carried on, and salt made of a good quality. This creek is on the Kentnckey shore. I should also have remarked, that ten miles above Maysville the town of Manchester stands on the right hand shore. It is not thriving, though it is plea- santly situated, and commands a delightful and extensive view down the Ohio. Immediately above it is a chain of islands, three in number, well timbered, but lying too low to be occupied by the fanner. LETTER XXI. or Limestone Town Liberty Town Interior of Kentuckey Deceitful Prospect Washington Mayslick, a Salt-spring Salt Licks, why so called The Blue Lick Millersburgh Paris. Maysville, or Limestone Key, July, 180(5. THIS is the oldest, and most accustomed landing- place in the whole state of Kentuckey, and. the termination of the main road from Lexington, and other interior towns. The distance from Lexington is sixty-three miles, and from ACCOUNT OP MAYSTJLLC. 165 Pittsburg four hundred and twenty-five. The creek just above called Limestone creek, is inconsiderable of ilself, but affords in high water a small harbour for boats. The laud- ing is a good one, lying in the bend of the river. The town contains about seventy houses, and supplies accommodation for the storage of gooJs deposited here before they ore re- ceived into waggons, which take them to Lexington, whence they are distributed through the entire state. It would ap- pear from the commanding situation of the town, from its being a place of deposit, and from the excellence of its land- ing, that it ought to rise into eminence, and become a pluce of mercantile importance, and it possibly would, if nature and circumstances had not otherwise determined. It is seated on the segment of a circle, circumscribed to a few acres, cut and intersected by ravines, and bounded by the river in front, and by stupendous mountains in the rear. The town has taken but fifteen years to arrive at the extent of its limits, and the acme of its vigour ; and ten more will close the history of its decline and fall. The cause of a de- clension so rapid is owing to a town being laid off by the state legislature, about a mile above Maysville, in a spa- cious and pleasant bottom of the Ohio, which possesses the advantages of extent, water, and excellent roads into the in- terior of the country. This new town, called Liberty, is progressing fast. Some of the most active and speculative inhabitants have removed to it from Maysville, and a ship yard under the direction of Messieurs Gallaghus is establish- ed, which has already turned off the stocks, and launched fit for sea, five vessels, the last of which was a fine ship of three hundred and fifty tons ! From Limestone, and of course from Liberty, to the mouth of the Ohio, and down the Mississippi, loaded boats can go at all seasons, unless in time of ice, without any dif- ficulty, except at the falls, and one or two other places. At this period, however, and at all times when the water is en- tirely low, the navigation is excessively tedious. I have just returned from a tour of ten days into the inte- rior of Kentuckey. I give you the substance of it in as few words as possible. My landlord at Maysville accommodated me with a tole- rable good horse, but the hill was so steep at the back of the town, that I had to lead him up it, for fear of blowing him in the early part of his journey. Arriving on the summit, I was struck with a prospect which has deceived and delud- ed many a one before me. It was a plain, thickly settled 166 with excellent well built farm-houses, and raising wheat and corn of a ^strength and luxuriance perhaps unknown to any other country than the opposite Ohio state. This prospect makes a n-ost infatuated impression on those poor emigrants ]est ined for Kent uckey, and who for seven hundred miles before had their view intercepted by mountains, and chains of mountains, extending through the country, or ele- vating their heads to the skies. Struck with the beauty and richness of the valley at length seen, they would think the land of promise at last obtained ; bless their fate, and pur- sue their journey to meet with other chains of mountains, and other endless succession of hills. The mountain de- scended, I lost sight of the valley, and gained the summit of a ridge which conducted me to Washington, a town four times as large as Maysville, and but four miles distance from that place. It appears that Washington was builf, and rose into mag- nitude at a period when the Kentuckeyans, terrified at the- warlike spirit and just depredations of the Indians, were afraid to dwell upon the river shores, where canoes could si- lently arrive in the night, and call upon them for a sudden retribution, or inflict upon them a severe revenge! Since that period it has retained its importance, and probibly improv- ed, owing to the necessary contraction of Maysville, and the antipathy of the former to the mountain lying between the cultivated grounds and that town. Mayslick is n salt-spring formerly worked, since abandon- ed in consequence of the discovery of less feeble waters. It is yet interesting, from having l>een the resort of millions of animals who came there to purify their blood at annual in- tervals, and return to the great b.mvns, swamps, wilder- nesses, and cane-breaks, in search of favorite pasture though pregnant with putridity and disease. I amused myself more than an hour in discovering vestiges of facts which oc- curred in the most remote antiquity. No vegetable what- ever grows near the Lick. The soil fit for vegetation being trampled down below the surface, and a blue clay trampled up, is perhaps the cause of this phenomenon. At all events it cannot be attributed to' the salt and sulphur of the ground, asother grounds are, known saturated with those qualities, to produce vegetation in a rich abundance, lu the vicinity of the spring a re several holes, marked in such a manner as to pro- claim at once that they were formed by Animals wallowing in them after they had ly.it lied and satiated. Some banks in the neighbourhood are hollowed out in a semilunar .manner from SINGULAR CAVITIES. 167 the action of beasts rubbing against them, ami carrying off quantities of the earth on their hides, wet, with the view of tempering the mould, and forming a coat of mail to resist the stings of wasps, and all the armed insect tribe. One ot" those scooped out hollow banks appeared like the side of a lull from which one hundred thousand loads of soil might have been carried off, and the height of the waste of the bank by friction was so great, that I could not reach it with- in ten feet v thoHgh aided by a pole seven feet long. I admit that some of the upper part might have washed down, and given the place a space not required by attrition, but the impression made on the mind from general appearances of the concavity, which cannot be described, was favourable to an idea tlmt the concave sweep was made in the'beritby- animals of uncommon height and magnitude; probably' by the mammoth, whose bones have been often found not far distant from the spot. Other substances within the area of the salt ground erince their having been licked, and worn by the action of the tongue. It was these indications which induced the first settlers to give thename of salt-licks to saline springs. They abound at Mayslick,and arc expressed on stones with more precision than on the banks or surface of the impregnated earth, the impressions of which diminish with the increascof time. The indention on one stone I found to be four inches deep, that is in its greatest concavity, and seven inches wide. On the same rock were several lesser indentions, and on other rocks, after more minute research; I discovered se- veral more concavities both larger and smaller, than what I have described. The stone appeared to me to be a blue limestone, either impregnated with salt, or receiving it on its surface, from the vapours issuing from the spring, and fall- ing to the earth from incapacity to rise in consequence of its density and weight. To me the taste of sulphur appeared to predominate in the spring more than that of salt ; and as the salt water rose and blended with the fresh, itiHfifused itself in black clouds through the surface, and discoloured it as far as the salt undulation could extend. Having made these few remarks, I mounted my horse, and continued the road to Lexington, till I arrived at a place called the Blue lick, both from the colour of the stone and the clay brought to the surface by the constant tramp- ling of thousands of animals which formerly frequented fche springs. Here also vegetation entirely ceases. The blue springs are now in operation ; the water has not much strength ; nine hundred gallons are required to make a 168 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. Inishel of salt, tlie price of which at (he furnace is two doJ<* lars and a hr.lf. The indications of rolling in the mire, at- trition of banks, and indentions in rocks, from licking their surface, are more numerous at the Blue than at Ma^ slick ; and an old s --tiler informed me, that on searching for the hest fountains of salt, bones were found which required from four to six men to remove. One entire deft nee , or mammoth's horn, was raised up, and lay on the bank till knocked to pieces by persons coming along, and \vho wish- ed is find out whqt it was. 1 pursued my journey for the remainder of the day without any particular occurrence to divert my attention, till I ar- rived late in the evening at a little town called Millers-burgh^ where I proposed passing the night. Millersburgh is thirty- seven miles from Limestone, and the road, without any es- sential exception, is a mere buffalo track, following skilfully the ridges oi hills and mountains, to avoid deep ravines and swamps, which occasionally occupy the few interstices and intervals which lie between them. Nothing like a plain did I see the whole day, save what I noticed in the morning, or any other prospect whatever, than one mighty scene of end* less mountains covered with ponderous and gloomy wood. 1 did not even meet with so much interval land as could suf- fice a single farm, and had J not refreshed at the licks, I might have fasted till my arrival at the town. And yet that part of the country is described by Imlay and others,, as a lawn producing shrubs and flowers, and fit for the abode of gods instead of man. Had such writers been aware that tlieir romance might occasion miseries in real life, I am wil- ling to think that they would have controuled the fancy which produced it, and have given the world plain and useful truths, which would have served the unfortunate emigrant as a faithful and honest guide, in the place of offering him flattering and fallacious images, the pursuit of which winds up his history of calamity, disappointment and destruction ; and he discovers the nature of romance at the price of his happiness and fortune. After. passing the night very uncomfortably atMillersburgh, a complete Kent uckey inn, I next morning set out and rode to: Paris,'which was but eight miles frornMillersburghjto breakfast, and had to notice a vast amelioration in the land, and a sensi- ble disposition in the mountains to subside into plains and val- leys of greater rangeand extent than any I had hitherto seen in the state. The ground about Paris, notwithstanding, was broken with several hills, and the towu itself stood on the A FEMALE OSTLER. 169 high bank of a considerable creek, which gave (he face of the country a si ill more interrupted appearance. On the whole, the situation \vas beautiful, and highly advantageous, as the creek supplied falls for two mills, and water of a good quality, for domestic and other purposes. Paris con- tains about one hundred and fifty houses, and, being the county town of Bourbon, has a court-house and other offices of justice. When I rode up to the inn, a negro girl took my horse to the stable, and said she was hostler ! I arrived at Paris at so early an hour that few of the fami- ly were stirring, and no breakfast appeared likely to be had lor some time. This reminded rne of a very disagreeable custom prevailing all through America. No individual traveller can get breakfast, dinner, or supper, at times of his own choosing. He must wait for the family hours, and till all the strangers assemble and sit down together. Those who arrive after this species of public breakfast, have to wait for dinner, and such as miss the dinner hour must fast till night. They have other customs calculated also to annoy ; for instance, on entering the Paris inn, I expressed a wish to have breakfast as soon as possible, as I had to reach Lexing- ton to dinner. And to expedite the breakfast, I begged to have nothing prepared but tea or coffee. These instructions availed me nothing. Children were dispatched after fowls, which took to the gardens and fields, in vain to prolong their minutes, which were numbered ; they were caught, plucked, and put on the fire, part of which was previously occupied baking bread, frying ham, &c. &c. After the expiration of two hours, a table was set out with knives, forks, pickles, c. &c. covered with several dishes of cold and hot meat, while the tea was held at a distance, to be handed at intervals for drink. I made my breakfast on tea and heavy hot bricks, and could not resist telling the landlady that she would have spared herself much trouble, and given me much time, had she made but a cup of tea in the first instance. She observed, that might be, but that she was always used to do as she had done, and altered her ways for nobody. I asked her what was to pay, and cast a dollar upon the table, en- raged at the low state of some minds, their attachment to wrong, and determination to persist in evil and dull habits, which they know to be adverse to their prosperity and im- provement. She took up the dollar, and pitching it to a ne- gro, desired him to chop it. "Chop it! ma'am I want it changed." She made no reply, but going to the man, de- sired him to chop out of the dollar one quarter and ono ASHE.J Z 170 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. eighth ; in oilier words, to cut out her charge of one shilling and threepence for my breakfast, and ninopence lor my horse. The man did this with great dexterity, and return- ed me the dollar with nearly one fourth cut out, with an angle running to the middle, which gave it the appearance of three fourths of a circle. Learning that this was the legal mode of procuring change, I got the same dexterous person to transform a couple more dollars with his chisel, into quarters, eighths, and sixteenths. He executed that service in a few moments; I received a handful of small change, which I found of advantage on the road. Supplied with change and fresh information, I left Paris, and arrived at Lexington, through a country for the most part fertile, and cultivated in the proportion of one enclos- ed acre to one thousand waste. A very great proportion in favour of agriculture above any part I have seen since my descent of the river, or since my arrival on the west side of the Alleghany mountains. Farewell, I shall resume this route in my next. LETTER XXII. JLexington described Churches University Amusements Concerts and Balls The Inhabitants, Male and Fe- male Trade The Merchants, their great Wealth The Market Expence of Boarding The Town likely to decrease Climate Fevers Their Causes Soil Farms, Produce, 8?c. -A Catacomb, with Mummies Manner of embalming. Maysville, Limestone, July, 3806. LEXINGTON stands in that portion of the state of Kcntuckey which has been so celebrated for its excessive fertility, pre-eminent beauty, and abundant advantages. It is the most flourishing, and with but one exception, the largest inland town in the United States. The site is a val- ley running between the rise of grounds, which undulate like the sea, and subside into plains whose inclination is merely sufficient to cast off the waters without confining the circulation of air, or circumscribing the prospect around. No situation could be more favourable^ except for the ab SCIICP. of water. EDUCATION AND AMUSEMENTS. 171 The town is composed of upwards of three Lund red houses, ranged into streets, intersecting each other at right angles, they are principally built of brick, in a handsome modern manner, and many of them arc furnished with some pretensions] to European elegance. The public buildings consist of a university, court-house, market, hall, bank, and four churches, if they can be so called, one Lutheran, one presbyteruni, and two sects of rnethodists. The inha- bitants shew demonstrations of civilization ; but at particu- lar times on Sundays and market days they give a loose to their dispositions, and exhibit many traits that should ex- clusively belong to untutored savages. Their churches have never been finished, and they have all the glass struck out by boys in the day, and the inside torn up by rogues and prostitutes who frequent them at night. The university is a good brick building, supported by public bounty, eleemosinary collections, and private munifi- cence. Some gentlemen in London have furnished it with books and mathematical instruments, It has a principal, two Latifi and Greek, and one English and mathematical professor. These gentlemen are appointed by the governors of the university, who are the head officers of state and ci- tizens of the town of Lexington. The university is not cal- culated to lodge the scholars who frequent it ; they amount to one hundred, and are boarded in the town for sixteen pounds each per annum, washing and lodging inclusive. The course of study and the plan of the university is after the manner of a good English grammar school, and turns out young men who are far from being contemptible scho- lars. The prevailing individual amusements of Lexington are drinking, and gambling at billiards and cards. Every idle hour is spent at taverns and billiard rooms. The public amusements consist of concerts and balls, which are well attended, and by a company not expected to be seen on a transmontane state. The ladies express in their opinions and manners a vast superiority over the men. They are in general better educated, and by leading a temperate life of serene repose, they preserve a tranquil and healthy appear- ance, which the men forfeit at an early period, by a pro- pensity to drinking, and by abandoning themselves at all times to turbulent and unruly passions. The women are fair and florid many of them might be considered as rude beauties, but none of them have any pretensions to that chaste and elegant form of person and countenance whicb z 2 172 ACHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. distinguish our countrywomen and other ladies of Europe. The absence of that irresistible grace and expression may be attributed to their distance from improved society ? and to the savage taste and vulgarity of the mtri. A small party of rich citizens are endeavouring to withdraw themselves from the multitude, or to draw a line of distinction between themselves as g'ew.v comnie it faid and the canaille. The public at large consider this a dangerous innovation; * hey wish men to continue all vagrants alike, and fear that the light of a few characters distinguished by a superiority of virtue and integrity, will exhibit general deformity in strong- er colours, and render public vice more great and flagitious than what their conduct could wish it to appear. The pre- sent better sort of persons consist of six or eight families, who live in a handsome manner, keep livery servants, and admit iio persons to their tables of vulgar manners or suspicious character; As wealth increases in Kcntuckey, the line of distinction will extend through Lexington to the minor com- mercial towns, and may possibly pervade the country after a lapse of some centuries. The principal business of the town and state is conducted by the heads of the houses emancipated from the vulgar bondage of the people. That business consists of ordering immense quantities of goods from Philadelphia and Balti- more, and in bartering the same through the state for pro- duce, wh/ch they forward 1o Frankfort and Lanesville by land, and from thence to New Orleans by water. The goods are all British of every kind, and the produce taken in -exchange consists of flour, corn, hemp, flax, cotton, tobacco, ginseng, &c. and of live hogs, pork, hams and bacon. The merchants of Lexington not only supply their own sate, butt hat of Tenessee, which lies to the southward of them, and part of the Indian territory, which lies to the north, in consequence they are becoming extremely wealthy, possessing from fifteen to forty thousand dollars a year, and are instrumental to the dissemination of wealth in the town, and all the collateral state settlements. The market is abundantly supplied with every article of provision found in the first markets of Europe, except fish. 1 cannot give you a belter idea of its cheapness, than by stating certain demands of publicans and others. The highest taverns charge half a dollar a day for lodging and three repasts, each of which consists of a profusion of meat and game, with vegetables of various sorts. The morning and evening meal has ii* addition, coffee and tea,, which avc IWBAL CLIMATE OF KENTtfCKET. ITS Landed when called for, being considered as no more than auxiliaries to the feast. Inferior taverns find every accom- modation foi- two dollars a week, and boarding houses fur- nish the same from fifty to one li and red dollars per year. Under these considerations it might be conceived, that Lexington must become a place of magnitude and impor- tance. There are, however, circumstances which refuse en- couragement to such an idea. The state of Kentuckcy is not likely to increase in population. I may even be nearer to truth in the assertion, that its numbers will decrease, and rapidly decline. There was a time when its reputation was so great, that the stream of emigration set into it from the east, and deposited here the riches and the people of nu- merous provinces. This people and others brought into the west by the same flood, in the process of a few years ex- plored other regions, and opened avenues to other coun- tries and climes more generally fertile and capable of sup- plying the comforts and necessaries of life. Many have gone north to the Ohio, some north and west to the Indian territory, and thousands have passed to the south, to people the Tenessee, and the remote forests of Louisiana. This spi- rit of emigration still prevailing, it is evident that the town and state are no longer susceptible of rising into eminence, and that their decline and degeneracy in wealth are reasona- bly to be apprehended. In regard to the climate, the winter is mild ; snow and frost seldom continue above three or four weeks; the spring is dry, interrupted only by the necessary refreshment of oc- casional showers; the summer is not violently hot, being tempered by a perpetual breeze; and the autumn is distin- guished by the name of the second summer. Controlled by these facts, the public cry is, that Kentuckey must be healthy, that, enjoying such a climate, it cannot be other- wise, and that no country of the globe can boast such salu- brity and such an atmosphere. It is my misfortune to have to dispute and to deny these facts which I too wished to cherish, but which vanish before investigation and enquiry. A spring, summer, and fall fever regularly visits the town of Lexington, and every settlement of the state; and at the moment I was in Lexington a malignant disease raged with such violence at the town of Frankfort, but twenty-Jour miles distant, that all intercourse and communication be- tween that town and country were suspended and cut off. Louisville, another town on the O(iio, has lost all its origi- nal settlers in the period of ten years ; an4 every other town ASIIE*S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. and portion of the state are affected with- periodical com* plaints. On reflection and conviction of the charms of the seasons, 1 am forced into the opinion that the climate itself is healthy, but subject to corruption from local circumstances and me- phitic vapour, introduced into the atmosphere from the southern and western swamps and stagnated waters. There is nothing more common in Kentuckey in the fine seasons, than to meet with bodies of warm air, which though they pass rapidly by, very forcibly strike the senses. Their heat is considerably beyond that of the human body. They iiave been calculated to be about twenty or thirty feet dia- fneter horizontally. Of their height there is no experience, but probably they are globular volumes rolled along with the Avind, and generated in the cypress swamps of the corrupt provinces of Louisiana. They are most frequent at sun-set, Tare in the middle parts of the day, and hardly ever met with in the morning. That they are noxious there can be but little doubt, from their oppressive heat, and the lan- guor they cause in those whom they strike, and on whose habitations they sometimes tarry. Their motion is very sluggish, except when accelerated by winds, at which times they move with so much velocity as not to afford time to the most sensible thermometer to seize their temperature. To these two causes, local corruptions and disease imported in large volumes of contagious air, I % ,ust result from, specula! ive fancy and wild conjectures. For my part, I am lost in the deepest ignorance. My readings afford me no knowledge, my travels no light. I have nei- ther rfficl, heard, nor known of any of the North Ameri- can Indians who formed catacombs for their dead , or who were acquainted with the art of preservation by embalm ing; The Egyptians, according to Herodotus, had three methods of embalming; but Diodorns observes, that the ancient Egyptians had a fourth method, of far greater superiority. Thut manner is not mentioned by Diodorus, it hns been ex- tinct three thousand years, and yet I cannot think it pre- sumptuous to conceive that the Indians were acquainted with it, or with a mode of equal virtue ami effect. The Kentuckeynns assert in the very words of the Greek, that the features of the face and the form an:l appearance of the whole body were so well preserved, that they must have been the exact representations of the livi?ig subjects. The Indians could not have the art of embalming in the methods made known by Herodotus, because they never could have had the necessary materials as evidence, let us review the three systems, to which, in Egypt, different prices were at- tached. In the most esteemed method, they extracted the brains by the nose with a crooked iron, and then poured in drugs, afterwards they opened the body, took out the bowels, washed the inside with palm wine, and having rub- bed into it pounded perfumes, filled the cavity with myrrh, cassia, and other spices, and then sewed it up. After this they washed the body with nitre, then let it lie seventy days ; and having washed it again, bound it up in folds of linen, besmearing it over with gums which they used instead of glue. The relations then took home the body, and en- closing it in the wooden figure of a man, placed it in the catacombs. Another method of embalming was injecting ASHE,] A a ITS ASHES TRAVELS IN AMERICA. turpentine of cedar with a pipe into the body, without cut- ting; it ; they then salted it for seventy days, and afterwards drew out the pipe, which brought along with it the intes- tines. The nitre dried up the flesh, leaving nothing but skin and bones. The third way was only cleansing the in- side with salt and water, arid salting it for seventy days. '. he jirst of these methods could not have been employed by the Indians, for want of palm wine, myrrh, cassia, and Other perfumes. The second could not be that practised by them, as it (ended to waste the tiesh and preserve the mere skin and bones and the third is inadmissible, from its inca- pacity to resist tiie unremitting destruction and ravages of time. . An argument may be adduced to favor an opinion of the remote antiquity of the Indian mummies, from the entire and complete consumption of their bandages, wrappers, and bands which on the Egyptian mummies continue to this day in higher preservation than the body they envelop. There is a .mummy in an English collection of curiosities, brought from Egypt by the French, and taken from them by one of our privateers, which is remarkable for contain- ing only the head and pnyt of the thigh and leg bor.es wrap- ped in foHs of fine linen to the consistence of three inches (hick. The linen in some parts was as white and .perfect as new, and 0:1 the legs there was some appearance of the flesh still remaining, although, from a moderate calculation, it 'must have been embalmed upwards of two thousand years. It may then again be repeated, that the Indian mummies are of higher antiquity than the Egyptian, as the ban- dages are consumed on the one though not on the other, except, as [ had occasion to remark, that the Indian ligatures were t:f a substance more susceptible of de- cay than the Egyptian. But this is a subject of too great magnitude, , and d illusion, for. my pur- pose. I submit the fact for the consideration of a better judgment, and an abler r,rii. and conclude by iuformingyou, .that I restored every article to the catacomb save some spe- cimens retained as objects of the first curiosity, and block- ing tip the entry \viih the huge stones which originally closed it up, left the spot wi'h the strongest emotions of ve- neration and displeasure ; ven- uition f;>r so sublime a monu- ment of antiquity, and dUpiea^ure against the men whose barbarous and brutal hands reduced it to such a sfate of waste and desolation. No other catacomb is known in the state, though barrows abound in various directions. 179 LETTER XXIII. Excellent Navigation bchceen Limeffone and Cincinnati Augusta '/'he L-l'le Miami of ihe Ohio Columbia 'JJ'ckwsr Riccr Cincinnati Details of this important Tozpn^-Inlercsling Anecdote of a Lady. Cincinnati, Slat? of Ohio, July, 1S06. THE navigation is so very good between Limestone and this town, a distance of sixty-fight miles, that I de- scended in two short days run, without meeting any obstruc- tion, there being but one island close to the Kentuckey shore in the whole course, and I understand that there is no other to be met with for seventy-two miles further down, which leaves a range of one hundred and fifty miles of free navi- gation a scope without example in any other of the west- ern waters. Leaving Limestone seven miles, the first object I came to was Eagle Creek, on the right hand shore. A little above it on the Kentuckey side is a small town called Charlestown, opposite to which place, in the middle of the river, is a very large sand bar, the channel part being on the left hand shore. Four miles from Eagle is Bracken Creek, on the Ken- tuckey sin, re. It gives name to (he county through which it runs. The -county town is fixed at the mouth of an ex- tensive bottom, and in a very handsome situation. It is yet small, n<;t being long laid out. Augusta is the name given to it. I am disposed to think very favourably of the taste of the inhabitants, from the judicious manner they have cleared the timber of their settlement. They have left on a very fine bank of gradual descent to the water, six rows of stately trees, which form several grand avenues, and afford shade from the sun, without obstructing the breeze or circu- lation of air. They have also left clumps of trees and small groves in the improvements, which have a pleasing effect, and strike the attention more forcibly, as Augusta is the only town on the river which has respected the ornaments of na- ture, or left a single shrub planted by her chaste yet prodi- gal hand. In ail other 'set tit -ments the predominant rage is to destroy the woods, and what the axe cannot overturn is left to the vigour of fire. This element is applied 1o a work " which mocks the labour of man, and in a short time con* ISO ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. verts the greatest forests and the richest scenes to a di e:\ry prospect of dissolution and \vaste. Between Augusta and the Little Miami of the Ohio, a distance of forty-two miles, I met with no circumstanc.3 -worth relating. The Little Miami of the Ohio is sixty or seventy yards wide at its month, is sixty miles to Us source, and affords no navigation. The lands on its banks are rec- koned among the richest on the continent of America: they lie low, are considerably settled, and sell for from three to twenty dollars per acre. The river abounds in fish, runs over a rocky channel, and is as clear as fountain water. Just below the junction of this stream with the Ohio is the town, of Columbia, which rose out of the woods a few years ago \vith great rapidity and promise, and now is on the decline, being sickly, and subject to insulation, when the waters of the Miami are backed up the country by the rise of the Ohio in the spring ; the current of the Ohio being so impe- tuous as to hinder the Miami from flowing into the stream. Directly on turning into Cincinnati, I saw Licking river on the Kentuckey shore. It is a large stream navigable for Canoes and bateaux a considerable way up. The town of Newport is situated on the point formed by the junctions of this river with the Ohio. Cincinnati is opposite the mouth of Licking on the right Jiand shore, It is four hundred and ninety-three miles from Pittsburg, was once the capital of the North Western ter- ritory, and is now the largest town of the Ohio state, though not the seat of government ; Chilicothe being the capital, and the residence of the governor and legislative body. The town consists of about three hundred houses, frame and log, built on two plains, the higher and the lower, each of which commands a fine view of the opposite shore, the mouth of Licking, the town of Newport, and the Ohio waters, for a considerable way, botli up and down. The public buildings consist of a court-house, prison, and two places of worship; and two printing presses arc established, which issue papers once a week. Cincinnati is also the line of communication with the chain of forts extended from Fort Washington to the westward, and is the principal town in what is called Symmes's Purchase. The garrison end of the town, is now in a state of ruin. A land of- fice for the sale of Congress lands at two dollars per acre, is held in the town, and made no less than seventeen thousand contracts last year, with persons both from Europe and all parts of the United States. So very great and extensive is PEOPLE OF CINCINNATI. 181 tbe character of the portion of the state of \\hich this town is the port and copital, that it absorbs the whole rc|/ut -h-.i.i of the country, deprives it of its topographical iMMK 1 , inrl is distinguished by tluit of the " Miamis." In HoM > I, Germany, Ireland, and the remote parts of America, j <.. sons intending to emigrate, declare that they will go to the " Miamis." . This reputation Drives considerable consequence to the town, by adding to its population, and still more by peo- pling the immense regions of its back country. These re- gions are already making rapid advances in agriculture, .1 as Cincinnati is the emporium, its trade must b;> soon consi- derable, and ultimately great. The commerce at pit sent is conducted by about the keepers of thirty stores, \vho iss;;- 10 farmers and settlers all manner of British goods, and foreign and domestic spirits, in return for which they receive pro- duce which is converted into cash on being- forwarded down the river to New Orleans and the West Indies. The produce isabuiidant, but simple. It consists chiefly of flour anJ pro- visions, in beef, butter, and pork. The prices can hardly be adequate to the labour. Flour is three dollars and a half per barrel. Pork two and a half per cwt. ; beef, two ; a:i.l butter sixpence per pound. I have no conception how the farmer succeeds. The merchants, however, make an ex- orbitant profit ; those of four years standing, who come "with goods obtained at Philadelphia and Baltimore on cre- dit, have paid their debts, and now live at their ease. Of the society of the town it is difficult to give you a just idea, as from its heterogeneous nature it does not admit of being described by leading and characteristic features. The town \VL\S originally settled by a few of tiie officers and niMi of the disbanded western army ; they and their offspring are known by certain aristocratic traits, a distinction in living, and a generous hospitality. These were followed by a number of Dutch and Germans, who are remarkable solely for domestic parsimony, industry, and morai con- duct. A body of Irish next settled, and they too have their particular walk, in which they exhibit many virtues Mend- ed with strange absurdities, the one making them estiu abi. , and the other rendering them ridiculous ; the one manifest- ing itself in acts of humanity, public spirit and b lievt,- lence, and the other in duelling, poinls of honour, rui ,, and iiagitiousness ! To complete the nations of this pt pul i- tion, some French emigrants took up their abode, in Cincin- nati, and their publicity consists in their introduction of 182 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN A MI: RICA. the dance, music, billiards, and the fabric of liqueurs, sweet- meats, and savoury patties. I believe you will allow, that until these contrasted materials amalgamate, there is no possibility of predicat- ing any fixed opinion of the society they compose. I am happy notwithstanding to affirm, that in general the people of Cincinnati make a favourable i repression ; they are or- derly, decent, sociable, liberal and unassuming, and were I compelled to live in the western country, I would give their town a decided preference. There are among the citizens se- veral gentlemen of integrity, intelligence, and worth. Gene- rals Gano and Finley. and Messieurs Dugari and Moore, would be respected in the first circles of Europe. I expe- rienced from them in my mere quality of stranger, attentions which it would be the blackest ingratitude to forget, and for which they shall ever have my respect and esteem. Nor can I omit telling you that I have been favoured with the friend- ship and notice of Doctor Goforth, a very skilful physi- cian, and a true lover of learning and science. 1 derive much pleasure, and glean much information from his so- ciety. He has lived in the western world twenty years, and employed the beginning of that period in the study of nature, from which he was turned by the scoffs of the vul- gar and the ridicule of. fools. The amusements consist of balls and amateur plays, the profits of which going to literary and humane purposes, disposes me to consider them both entertaining and good. But I cannot form any judgment, the winter being the season for such spectacles. 1 have met with several ladies of come- liness, instruction and taste. They are generally tall, slen- der, and graceful figures, with much animation and expres- sion. Their affability is very pleasing, being at once re- mote from a vulgar familiarity and a hypocritical restraint, One young lady in particular is ;>n object < f general admi- ration and regard, phy and commiseration. She is a beauty of the first order, of the most exquisite proportion, and inimitable grace, and was instructed at New York in every art fitted to improve the heart and embellish the mind. Her accomplish meats gave delight, her conversations wisdom, and her example instruction. So infinite was her excellence, that it put down' all com petition of beauty and talent, and the town considered their Clara as its pride and boast. On a water exclusion a few years ago, Clara and a small party were overtaken by a thunder storm. The first flash struck a friend dead at her feet, and the second nearly rent tile: SINGULAR AFFLICTION. 1S3 boat, and cast it on a rock, from which the remaining party providentially were saved. To the astonishment of all who had known the sensibility and refinement of Clara's mind, she betrayed no horror, uttered no lamentation, and shed no tear ! She walked home in silence, and so remains ever since. The flash whicii deprived her friend of life destroyed her utterance, her hearing and her speech. It destroyed the fa- culty of mental feeling, the recollection of the past ; and the- elegant, once instructive Clara, on my introduction to her, was a ivleutcian Venus, dumb, .dear', and inimitably beautiful, though entirely insensible and terrifically cold. Her countenance has lost the happy faculty of mental ex- pression, and has assumed a frigid, void, or a constant shew of vacant astonishment distressing to the feeling spec- tator. In other respects the injury done her senses extends no more than to the obliteration of all actions anterior to her sufferings. She reads, frequents society, and expresses her- self on her fingers and on paper with great facility, with re- ference to future, but never to past events. The young peo- ple of the town, of her acquaintance, from a spirit of gallan- iry and attachment, have all learnt to converse with her on their fingers : with the old, and with strangers, she is fond of using pen and paper. After my introduction, she made signs for a sheet of paper, &c. and wrote with uncommon precision and rapixUty a series of questions, leaving blanks for the appropriate answers. I answered the queries, which were generally common-place, and she wrote one more, which demanded, "I cannot comprehend why a man like you can live on waters and in wildernesses. Do tell me 'what is your motive?" . ;~t?-~Buift on the SV> of r> i mr'tent J :iinn $ettle-> ixentAn '-ft'nnishing Cmi-j-.m/ Jtiicr Antiquities J , Cincinnati, State of Ohio, July, 1 S06. T" T 8 tow*" is s't'Kifed on tlu si'e of an Indian settle- ment of great extent UTI \\ antifjtsity. 1 h^>d to remark in my last letter, that the modern b-..idi ^s occupied an upper am! lower level or plain ; the former Indb- v>n s however were solely confine ] to v he M^IK:;>{. liwn, at ! -' ' no tr 3 of ait have ever beon ii^cover. v. 0.5 ro bot'cnn land next the river, though they abound on that nbove it, and are so conspicu- ous as to catch the () . ' ;. ^ 'f the eye. ' jfndeexlj theri* iy cv r ery reason to suppose that at the remote period of ihr In- dian works, the lowest 1. vel formed ,vut of the bed of the Ohio. The retreat of fW waters is at this h;ur discernible, and the cultivator often turns up s^v--'!?,, fr>.'^ils, and petri- factions of aquatic subM.mccs, which place ;he fact beyond contradiction. Some of these arc :' ni.ir'inc productions^ A petrified lobster's claw ; a 'conch shell, and quantities of fine coral, elegantly wrought and varied by the richest co- lours! Surely these infer the nsidorscc of water at a distant time, and also I conceive they infer That that water must Lave been salt ! if so, what a vast chang'e must (he face of nature have undergone! What vicissitude's of climate ! What variations of vegetable produce ! W hat contrast in bulk, form, stature, and duration of animal character and life! The upper level possesses none of those marine produc- tions, but it has disclosed a curiosity \vh:ch fills me with greater wonder. A gentleman now living close to Cincin- nati, on the upper bank, where he built an excellent brick house, had occasion for a well, and perse vered in digging for water, though he met with none at the, depth of sixty feet : continuing on, his workmen found themselves at once obstructed by a substaace which resisted their labour, though it evidently was not stone. They cleared the sur- face, and soon made it appear to be the stump of a tree which had been cut down v/ith an axe ! The incisions of an axe were perfectly visible, and tlie chips made by it* ANTIQUITY OF AMERICA. 185 action lay scattered about its roots! The stump was three feet in diameter, and two in perpendicular above its knees. It was nearly of the colour and apparent character of coal, but divested of the friable and fusible quality of that mine- ral. I have these facts from rny very intelligent friend, Dr. Goforth, and twenty others of honour and veracity, \vho saw the chips cast out of the well before the men broke up the body to which they originally adhered. The roots and stump, from being turgid, tough, saturated, and in part petrified, took considerable time to remove. Ten feet be- neath water sprang up, and the well is now in constant sup- ply and high repute. After the most industrious search, I obtained a piece of the stump and an original chip, which 1 shall preserve with all the devotion becoming their rank, as relics of the most indubitable and remote antiquity. It would occupy volumes to submit the various speculations which traverse the mind while it indulges in reverie on this wide and multifarious subject. Those which strike me the most forcibly are : 1st, That the tree was undoubtedly antediluvian. 2nd, That the river now called the Ohio did not exist an- terior to the deluge, in as much as the remains of the tree were found firmly rooted, in their original position, several feet below the bed of that river. 3d, That America was peopled before the flood, as ap pears from the action of the axe, and the cutting down of the tree. 4th, That the antediluvian Americans were acquainted with the use and properties of iron, of the advantage and knowledge of which the flood deprived their descendants, and from which it would appear that the same flood swept off every individual from whom that knowledge might be derived. I have said in the first part of this letter, that the upper town is erected on the immediate site of an old Indian settlement. There is no such thing as forming an exact opinion as to its antiquity, though a strong judgment may be formed from the growth of the timber now in bloom and decay, on many parts of the remaining works. Several trees were found six feet in diameter, and some nine, hol- lowed out by the assiduity of time from the summi* to the base ! The remaining Indian works consist of, 1. A barrow, or funeral pile. 2. An enclosed or foitified camp. 3. Mounds. The barrow is seated in the centre of the uppar and lower ASKE.J IS b 186 ASHE'S TRAVELS ix AMERICA, fotvn, on the edge of the upper hank. Tfoe principal street leading from the water is cut through the barrow, and ex- po>Vs'_i's strata and remains to every person passing by. Chiliircn often nrnuse themselves in ifndermining the banks, till large quantities fall down, in which they starch -for, a,nd often find arrow points, beads, and ninny other curiosi- ties. I made a regula 1 .search myself and found the bar- row constructed precisely after the manner of that ! describ- ed to yon near the banks of the Muskingimu The dead repose in double horizontal tiers : between each tier are regu- lar layers of sand, flat surfaced atom?, gravel and earth. I counted seven tiers, n: d miii:ing, my hat full of heads, .-several arrow points, t.\vo stone hatchets, many pieces of pottery, aiul a Hate made of the great bone of the uuinaii leg 1 . It is a very curious instrument, wiih beautifully en- graved or carved figures representniir hvrds, squirrels, and small animals, and perforated holes in the old German man- ner. When breathed into it emits tones of great melody, But fails in qrtick and lively transit ions. The modern In- dians were foirml without any instrument of this nature. Such were the objects f obtained, but I am informed by Dr. Goforth,' that Avhen the street was formed through the bar- row, a great variety of- iiil-eresiing and valuable relics \\ere brought to light: among which were human grinders, tvliich on ;i moderate efltrwlutkm bespoke a man of four timrs the size of the modern human race,, some brass rings, and an ivory image eminently executed, denoting a female figu*ein the act of pressing a child to her naked bosom. Hipfrfag restored the bones and o' her substances to th Ivir- row, and closed up the* orifice 1 had ma (ley I went, full of anxiety and perturbation, which \ could neither stifle or conceal, from house to house, in pursuit; of an image, the imperial character and description of which differed so es- sentially from any object ever before discovered in the west- ern world. I was not so successful in my pursuit as to see or procure the image, I obtained, however, some gratifi- cation from its history, and ct knowledge of the hands in which' it is placed. It seems that the catholics availed them- selves of the image, and made it' a testimony of the anti- ACCOUNT OF .AX IDOL. 187 qnifyof their million mm the extensive range of tfceir wor- ship, by attempting to prove (hereby, that the Indian idol was nothing less than a Madonna and chi'd, and that (lie Roman catholic religion by .the command of God was the first which rose in the earliest Christian i'ge oi' Ili< cast, and the last which set in the west, where it suffered extinctions by a second delude, c account 1 Jiave i-iiiniie anxiety to hear. The account by tradition say? the u!i:i is seven inches liigh, the figure i'ull length, tho costmue a. robe iy niimbcr- less folds., well expressed, and tke \i:\it vlisplayed in uKiny rino-lets. The cuill n iked near ject ; they are dark and rnysierloii^ 1 allow, and yet I Ciiiiuot cast on them any ilium imitioK. I next visited the forti-Scd cnmp, winch is witliin five mj* nuti^s walk of the burrow. It lies close to the well from the bottom of which the remains of the tree were iiiro\vn up. Of the camp \hi re is notiiing whatever vivible bi?t a wall form- ing a true circle; which contains about three acres of per.- ieciiy level ground. The wrJl is of earth ; may be about seven feet high, and twenty broad at its base.. On its sur- face grew several trees, t'he -stumps f whic-h r.emain, and measure from six to sixteen feet iu circumference. The gen- tleman who sunk the well is the proprietor of ihejcamp, and he has been obliged, for the uniformity #f ; hrs oiherimprove- ments, to include segments of the great circle in his garden, and enclosed grounds. This necessity is nuich to bo lamentr ed, as it obstructs the coup (fecit of the i t ~irc work, and predicts in time its complete dissolution. A few years ago it was a correct uninterrupted circle of great beauty and or p nament to the town ; it is -now cut and in!erec(e i d.by walls and fences, but easily made out on looking (hem over, aijiJT foliowiiig the inclination of ilie ring. There is one remark- able circumstance attending this v.rtii, that it has no ditch. or dyke on either side; and as it is composed of materials. to bo biought from the bhore^ there remains #9 1S8 ASHE'S TRAYELS IN AMERICA. doubt of its being erected with great difficulty, and at the expence of much assiduity and time. This, andnu-< raerous other fortified camps, also prove that the Indians of a former period werenot wandering tribes, but a people associ- ated under a regular form of government ; acquainted with certain laws of nations, and having bounds to their own, which their camps and strongholds shewed a determination to value and to protect. In the eastern states, where land is sterile and poor, ancient fortifications are rarely met with, and there it is probable a wandering life was preferred to a permanent abode, where existence was to be maintained by perpetual industry and labour. The mounds are as far from the camp as the camp is from the town. There are two which are within pistol shot of each other. 1 1 appears evident that the largest of the two was erect- ed for a post of look-out and observation ; at least it is so ad- mirably calculated for that purpose, that the Americans dur- ing the Indian war, stationed on it a picqtict, and even level- led about twenty feet of its summit. It stands on a plain, is of a spheroidal form, sixty feet high, and one hundred and fifty through its longest horizontal base. I am informed by a continental officer who levelled the summit by order of Ge- neral St. Clair, that the view from the mound was very extensive when in its primitive state. He could see both up and down the river, across to the Kentuckey shore, and all the passes in the mountain, in the rear of the settlement and camp. He also observed that the mound ran nearly to a spi- ral point, which circumstance induced General St. Clair to conceive it a barrow of the dead, and when the twenty feet were struck off the top, he attended to examine the sub- stance, but could discover nothing on which to establish his opinion. However indisputably caculated it is for a place of observation, I am strongly inclined to meet the General in his conception, and to believe that the mound was origi- nally intended for the mausoleum of a single chief who lies interred immediately under the stupendous heap. My enqui- ries have enabled me to determine, that there were western na- tions who honoured their principal sachem and warrior with separate 1 sepulchres placecl on the highest grounds, therefore it cannot be rash to consider this the mausoleum of an indi- vidual, and also a place of look-out when necessity and circumstances shewed eligible for that intent. The mound adjacent to it, and which is less by twenty degrees, and per- fectly round, was certainly a sepulchre. It stands in a part of the plain which is occupied as a race-ground, and the REFLECTIONS ON TUMULI. 189 star ting-post rises from its centre. When the post was first sank, the workmen discovered human bones, and after much examination, traced the remains of one skeleton, and no more. At the back of the town, and near the foot of the hills which lie between the plain and back country, are two more mounds of an equal size, and about twenty feet high from the centre of their base. I explored one minutely, by cut- ting a trench from east to west four feet in diameter. At the depth of ten feet I came to some heavy stones, underneath which was a body of composition resembling plaster of Paris. This broke with great dUlicnlty, and exposed a few fragments of a human skeleton extended on a bed of a similar nature with the covering. Determined to ascertain whether the monument was erected in memory of one person, I broke through the bed, and found underneath a stratum of stones, gravel, and earth nearly to the bottom, mixed with bones appertaining to the human frame. The few fragments I care-- fullj r collected consisted of one tibia, two pieces of the thigh bone, and the right upper and the left under-jaw. Little ob- servation was necessary to shew that they were not the frag- ments of the skeleton of an adult ! This was a more impor- tant fact than I expected to establish, and though my en- quiry into the mound was attended with ex pence and trouble, I considered myself amply recompensed, by proving in the first instance, that mounds in general, are the sepulchres of eminent individuals ; and in the second, that the nation who erected the mound in which the child was buried, was go- verned by a line of hereditary chiefs, as is evident from the nature and distinction of the interment of an infant, who cer- tainly could not have been an elected chief. That the re- mains belonged to an infant is clear, both from their dimi- nutive size and want of sockets for the cutting- teeth of either jaw. Weary of grave-digging, bones, and skeletons, I shall say but two more words on the subject, and then fly to some other. I consider mounds as the tumuli of kings and chief- tains, and barrows as sepulchres of the vulgar dead. The former were subject to vary in size according to rank of the individual, or the estimation in which he was held ; and the latter varied according to the population of the nation, and increased with number of the interred. Mounds are spheri- cal figures, and barrows are oblong squares. Under parti- cular circumstances, mounds have been made to answer the purpose of a Iook-out 3 and in consequence, are often found IN AMERICA. distant from tli e camp, ami commanding the most extensive views ; but barrows, from having never received a varied purpose, are constantly discovered in the close vicinity of u town, or adjacent to a fort. There is no greater mistake than that which has so long prevailed, thai barrows Lave been erected on fields of battle, to cover and to distinguish the slain. This opinion arose from the circumstance of arrow-points arid other war instruments being promiscuously found with the bones. Jt is now weii ascertained that such objects, and many others, both of ornament and use, were always interred with the dead to whom they appertained ; and the construction of the barrows, the order, strata, and essential difference in the preservation and decay of the ske- letons, prove the whole to be the progressive work of iiniae- rous yens, and not the hasty production of :\ people lavish- ing honors on the slain in b-\i te The next relic ot atuiquiiy in Cincinnati, is a spherical stone, found a few years since oe the fall of a large portion of the bank of the river. It is a green stone, < \vc-lve inches in every diameter, divided into twelve sides, each side into twelve equal parts, and each part distinguished by charac- teristic engravings. What these engravings represented, none of my in formers -could describe, Seine told me they were irregular .etchings of \\hich nothing could bo made, and others affected to see in them the most scientific design, embracing a mystery, the clue of which it was impossible to find. '} he fate of this beautiful object, so interesting to sci- ence and the history of former times, is not to be traced with tiie precision to be desired. It is said, that a stranger ena- moured with its , characters, procured and took it down the river, and that it has since fiumd its way to the federal city, and to the cabinet of arts in. Philadelphia. From the ideaj alloy/ myself to form of it, I conceive the stone to have been formed tor astronomical calculation, and to convey a knowledge of the movements of heavenly bo- dies. When 1 connect this reasonable conjecture with the facts of brass circles haying been found impressed with figures, known in Europe by the term " Eastern/' I am again tempted to believe that a passage was once open be- tween this country and the north of China and the Indies. You may recollect in a former letter from Marietta, I mentioned the probability of obtaining some further infor- mation respecting the pyrite which I foiind in artificial balls in a fortified camp near the Muskinguni, from Colonel Lud- low of this place* He is dead a circumstance I regret the NATURAL CURIOSITIES, 191 more, as lie had the reputation of possessing the learning of a scholar and the manners of a gentleman. Doctor Goforth, who was liis particular friend, tells me, that no person was so veil versed in the ancient history of liis country, (America) that he sought after subjects "of antiquity, and data on. which to foiind certain and irrefragable conclusions, with great ardour and zeal, and that had he lived, he would have given the world his fund of interesting research and philo- sophic enquiries, to beat down the absurdity and errors it had been so long cultivating and acquiring. Accompa- nied bv the doctor, 1 went to the late colonel's country resi- dence, about five mils from town, and had the mortifica- tion to find that he had hardly been dead before the women of his household cleared the house of his rubbish, and burnt his manuscripts nml other useless papers. c\\ of the coii.'ctiou being thrown promiscuously into the yard, my friend and 1 commenced a search through courts, (lung-hills, stables, swineries, dove-cotes, c. &c. and had lite good fortune to find The horns of a pa'uiated elk The strait horns of the American elk The grinder of a mammoth, weighing seven pounds and a ball of mineral, weighing twenty pounds. The three first objects speak for themselves, the last is a l>ali of pyrites, which Dr. Goforth remembers the colonel to have told him lie took out of :\ heap of several hundred which he discovered near an old Indian settlement on the bank; of the Little Miami of the Ohio, and that he had also found another he;ip in an artificial cave on the banks of the Sciolu. The colonel \vas never heard to express an opi- nion on the rise or utility of the balls to the Indians, and the doctor and myself remained equally in the dark, con- ceiving merely and widely that they were for religious, grymnnsiic, or warlike purposes. The ball we obtained consisted of copper pyrites, or quartz, and on our return to town, Dr. Goforth had the goodness to present me with a very fine piece of calcareous spar with sulphureous pyrites from the lakes, which makes my specimens more complete and valuable. I was about to close this letter, from a conviction that I had related every thing of interest in the place from which it is dated, till my very intelligent friend, the doctor, told me thnt he was often struck with the beauty of some pic- tures, the properly of an acquaintance in the town, and he recommended me strongly to visit them before my depar- ture. I went, and to iny great surprise, found, in the very 192 ASIIE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. mean apartments of a small frame bouse, inhabited by an old family descended from English origin, the following 1 pictures, which 1 have no doubt are the works of the great painters whose names I have set after the descriptions. A Dutch family at a repast Vandyke. Two Flemish landscapes, including sheep, cows, and other cattle, admirably expressed Vandervelt. A monk in the act of private devotion Anon. A nun recluse in her cell Anon. Group of dancing boys, and female muscecenne Cor~ rcggio. Two naval views; the style ancient, the ships and costume Roman. These valuable paintings are in excellent preservation, be- ing executed on copper and oak, except the group of danc- ing boys, which is on canvas, and much worn. LETTER XXV. An Excursion to the Country of the Miamis Lebanon Town Interesting Sect of Quakers Continuance of the Excursion Horses of the Western Country State of Farming in the Neighbourhood. Cincinnati, Aug. 1806. AFTER dispatching my last letter to you from hence, J went on an excursion through the celebrated country called the Miamis, \vhich is a portion of the Ohio state, divided into counties, ranges, and townships, in the man- ner of every other place under the administration of the fe- deral government. Being acquainted with the lands adjoin- ing the Sciota, and as high up as the Pickawee Plains, 1 limited my view of the Miamis to the territory thus bound- ed by the Ohio on the south, the mountains of the lakes on the north, the Little Miami on the east, and the Great Mia- mi and Mad River on the west ; and I directed my excur- sion accordingly. Furnished with good horses for myself and Cuff, and a pack-horse for carrying a small tent and provisions, I set off on a north course for a town called Le- banon, thirty miles distant, and lying exactly central between the two Miamis. The first five miles were hilly, but afford- ed fine rich intervals for farms, and on a creek which I passed in that distance, were two mills that had 4 done much ACCOUNT OF LEBANON. 193 business that season, and had excellent flour on band, at four dollars per barrel, and Indian corn meal for one shil- ling and sixpence per bushel, of the best quality. For ten miles further on, the land was broken, heavily limbered, and but little cleared. The remaining fifteen; miles (o Lebanon were nearly the Ixv I ever viewed, and settled considerably for so new a country. The farms were numerous, well improved, and the houses and barns on them built with great care and industry. Lebanon contains about two hundred inhabitants, dwell- ing in- about forty neat log and frame houses. A place of worship and school-house are also erected, and the town in every respect bids fair to prosp r and inctrrtac \viih unprece- dented success. Seated in the midst of the finest tract of land in the world, and thai tract already thickly settled by a har- dy and industrious people, it cannot fail to succeed, if not re- duced to a premature ruin by the sudden and violent visi- tations which have trampled under foot the aspiring hopes of other settlements of the same state. The tov/n is not con- sidered unhealthy, nor L the immediate vicimty poisoned by ponds or. swamps. The inhabitants, though few, are scorn posed of several nations, who unite in forming a charac- ter of a laborious and religious cast. Their industry is ma~ iiifcst in the extensive improvements and comfortable abodes, all effected within the space of five years, and their reli- gion is displayed iw the fashion of their hats and clothes, i)ut more respectably in their decent and moral conduct. One sect has made itselr so conspicuous, that I cannot pass it over in silence. A- number of families, several years ago, withdrew from, ^hequakers in the eastern states, in whose tenets they had been. i)red and instructed, and followed a woman, Jemima Wil- kinson, whom they accepted as their religious leader, into the Genessee country, soon after its establishment by Sir William Pulteney. Disgusted with the immoral conduct of that woman, several of the principals apostatized a se- cond time, returned to the great towns of the state, promul- gated an entirely novel system of religion, ^recruited their numbers, and repaired to the western country, where they purchased conjointly the fine and extensive tract of land on which Lebanon now stands. This purchase they vested in tlie hands of an individual, who holds it in trust, and for the use of "the poor and humble followers of the Lord;" the grand tenet of the society being the renunciation of worldly wealth, the total abandonment of riches^ and Ui ASHE.J C ASIIE 5 S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. strict and rigid adherence to the doctrine of cc take up the cross and follow me." In consequence the individuals of the sect hold nothing as their own, not even the fruit of their Jabour; every dollar not required by their necessary wants is turned over to the person holding the land in trust, who is their treasurer and hi^li- priest, and in whom every thing is vested as for the service of the Lord. As their present 'high-priest has been the principal author of the system, I will give you his proceedings in the literal way they oci- curred since his coming into the western country, from, 'which you can learn a correct idea of so singular a society. On the completion of the purchase he had the whole sur- veyed and located into sections of six hundred and forty acres, and into half and quarter sections for the use of small families. He then ordered his flock to assemble beyond the boundary of the purchase, where they formally abjured all worldly wealth, and literally falling up crosses prepared for the purpose, followed their leader to the particular sec- tions lie had marked for their respective use. The unnp* propriated sections he disposed of to persons joining the so- ciety, by receiving in trust for the Lord all their wealth, and by giving them the use of land in proportion to the sa- crifice. None of his followers are allowed to live in towns. He settled Lebanon with mechanics and tradesmen for the accommodation of the society, but not as a residence for any of its members. The produce of the sale of town lots, and the profits on all farms he receives into his treasury for the mse of the contrite in heart, the meek and lowly followers of the Lord ; and that money he disposes of, according to the primitive regulations of the society, in this manner. Hemaintains teachers for the instruction of both sexes. He provides them on their marriage with a house, farm, imple- ments of husbandry, cattle, and stock of all kinds, to be held by them in trust for similar benefits to be conferred on their children, and those of others. He maintains the sick and supports the needy, and sees that there is no want in the land. His province also extends to the administration of justice, and to the settlement of all private differences without the interference of the public law. What a strange association ! How wild in theory and ab- surd in practice! must be the cry of every person endowed with sense. To renounce propeity and still to retain the advantages of riches : to give up all, and still to be placed beyond the apprehensions of want ; to abandon children to the care of Providence, and strll to find them secured both EXTRAORDINARY ASSOCIATION, 195 lh instruction and wealth ; to lay by not li ing against ca- sualties and sickness, and yet to know there is ever aid at hand, are paradoxes which must stagger the mind, and reduce it to a state of confusion and unbelief. Astonishing 1 as it may appear, the facts admit of no paradox; expe- rience banishes the necessity even of a philosophic doubt. The society is flourishing to the highest degree ! public and individual" happiness every where resound ; want, misery, and ignorance are entirely unknown, and the treasury of the high-priest overflows. Such is the actual state of the society ! They have no particular place of worship. Their law is, that God resides and is to be worshipped every where. In order that two or three may be gathered together, theyassoci- ateaccordingtothesituation and con vcnienceof a few families, and receive instruction from whoever present is able and wii* ling to give it. Like the sect near Pi(tsburg,theyafFect the style of little children , and often sit and play on the ground. From this re iigio us exercise they have acquired the name of shakers and tremblers, which they allow to be a vulgar term of de- rision, in lieu of their own title, which is no more than the simple one of The Children. And where that term might imply infants in fact, they add Children of the Lord. Their high-priest they call their leader : he is elected for one year, or during pleasure ; and is eligible to be re-elected from year to year ; he has the assistance of two persons, the oneasan accomptantand the other asan itinerant, whose duty- consists in. visiting every settlement, and examining into the conduct moral and economical, of each individual member, which conduct he reports to his superior, and he, on dissatisfaction, convenes a meeting of the society, whose vote excludes any person from their sect, against whom profanity, idleness, or any species of vice is proved. This vote also excludes the branded person from all participatiou in the goods of the Lord ; and exposes him to the forfeiture of all the funds he might have given their leader, to be at the Lord's disposal. This one law has more force in its operation, than all the volumes of penal law now extant. It exercises a complete dominion over religion and morality, and makes it the decided interest of every person of the sect to pursue an unblemished and industrious life. In summer, I should have observed, they meet their leader on Sundays,, in some open space shaded by trees, and as they bring pro- visions and remain long on the ground, the day is spent in the manner of a religious feast. 186 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA, On leaving Lebanon, I took the Chilicothe road, if thai can be called a road which is no more than a patli through-. a woody the trees marked with an axe to indicate the di- rection. The first seven or eight miles from Lebanon con- sisted of remarkably fine wood land checquered with im- provements made by * c the children." The remainder of my day's journey, seventeen miles to the borders of the Little Mi- ami, was-forthe most part through a forest swamp swarming with snakes and insects, and emitting a sickening and nau- seous stench. The soil was deep and black, and cast ui> flowers of extreme richness and beauty considerably above my horse's head. When population increases, this swamp will afford the most productive farms in the state. It can be purged and sweetened with very little labour, as it \& intersected by creeks and streams in every direction, and needs nothing more than clearing off the heavy timber to give access to wind and sun, and forming drains of coin* munication with the creeks and streams, which in their turn communicate with the two Miamis, and the Ohio river. The road is so miry and deep, that I found it impossible to travel above two miles an hour. It was sun-set when I arrived at the Little Miami, on the banks of which, and on a fine open spot to which the air had access, I encamped for the night. As night advanced, the noise of vermin, reptiles, and in- sects was so great, particularly the clamour of thegreat bull- frog, that I felt very little disposition to lie down, though the labour of the day had considerably fatigued me. The uproar which proceeded from the swamp through which I had that day travelled, is indescribable. The voices were too discordant, too numerous, varied and mixed, to submit to verbal description. Let it suffice that the din was horrid and unceasing, and so loud, that it obstructed conversation, and appeared to defy the languor of lassitude or the strong dominion of an oppressive sleep. Nature, however, becom- ing more faint I got some repose, and lay on a tent of dry leaves till near day light. I was not a little surprised to hear immediately on waking, and before there was any strength of dawn, both the warble and the song of the nightingale. I supposed it to proceed from the Virginia red bird, or from the mocking-bird, but on attention to the voice minutely and attentively, 1 found it express more judgment and skill than I ever knew such birds to exercise, and to have all the variation and compass of the real nightingale. I must believe it was the POWERS OF THE MOCKING BIR1>. 197 mocking-bird commencing 1 with his own native powers and natural song, before be stooped to copy the less exqui- site airs of -others. He began with a low and timid voice, and prepared for tbe hymns to nature, by essaying hi powers and attaining his organs; by degrees the sound opened and swelled ; burst it into vivid flashes ; flowed with smooth volabiiity ; sunk into murmurs, and shook \vitb ra- pid and violent articulations, pouring the soft breathings of love, gratitude or joy from its inmost soul. For fear such continued richness might satiate the ear, the strains were, at intervals, relieved by powers which shed elevation and dig* Jiity throughout the song. It is not a little singular too, that like the nightingrdc this fascinating bird chooses the silent hour of night for his ehaunt, wbtqh heightens the general effect, and hinders any rival or any noise from disturbing the charming and solemn scene. } could not discover the songster; his notes reached nic from the opposite side of the stream. The day soon after appeared, and I pursued my journey, after having- given the horses a few ears of corn, which were carried on tlie pack-horse for that purpose. I must stop to observe a great singularity in the character of the horse -of the western country. However wild he may be at bis home, and when turned into enclosed pastures, he never wanders from his rider in the woods. He will graze about, and pick up shrubs and provender from the roots of trees, but never loses sight of his camp or the cheering light, of its fire. He too is sensible of fear, and protection: lie trembles in the gloom of tiie woods, and on the most distant howl of the wolf, .approaches the fire, and often draws up, and looks into the tent of his master ! Determined not to penetrate the woods till the sun had the power of exhalation, I rode along the river bank, which I found extravagantly rich and beautiful. The shrubs and flowers grew to a great size; and for the first time since my arrival in the country, I met with the Magmola - altissima, which I considered a testimony of a change of soil and cli- mate, ^as it requires both of a very prolific nature. Having rode about two hours the country began to open, and I passed several well improved plantations ; fields teeming with an abundant harvest ; houses neatly built, and cattle and stock of an excellent quality grazing in large meadows, the hay of which had been long carried ofF tbe ground.- I rode up to a cheerful looking farm house, and met with a 198 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. rery hearty reception from its proprietor, an Englishman; who came into the Miamis on the strength of their high repu- tation, and his dislike to the eastern states, where he had first settled. During a breakfast, prolonged by a most interest- ing conversation, I learned from Mr. Digby (so was he call- ed) that the best he could do in the western country, or that any farmer could do, was just not to starve. The price o produce was so low, and that of labour so high, that very little profit attended the most laborious exertions of indus- try. Indian corn, in particular, carried a value so mean, that lie never offered to sell it, and for his wheat he made info flour, he could not get but about three dollars per bar- rel, and even that had for the most part been taken in goods for which he had not always consumption or use. In consequence he was about to abandon a system so little ad- vantageous, and take to grazing cattle, breeding hogs, and rearing horses for distant markets and foreign use, where money was to be obtained, and profit equal to the extent and importance of the business : he had already reaped the benefit of this plan, having sent his son in the spring of the year with a boat carrying two hundred live hogs to New Orleans, where they sold all round at the rate of twelve dol- lars per cwt though they cost him nothing but the expence of the voyage and some small attendance in the woods, where they breed and maintain themselves all the year round. Before the winter, Mr. Digby proposes taking a drove of cattle and horses over the mountains to the great eastern marts of Baltimore and Philadelphia. Thus from the nature of the country, and the tyranny of circumstances, \ve find an industrious, intelligent, active man, abandons a heavy course of agriculture, and turns liis views to a system of farming from which immense wealth is to be derived, though his nearest market, Balti- more, is at the distance of eleven hundred miles ; and New Orleans from sixteen to seventeen hundred ! He did not consider the spot he was on unhealthy, but there were swamps in the rear of his plantation which emit- ted infectious smells, and caused a nausea when he had oc- casion to remain in or near them. His fine meadows were wood swamps till he cleared off the trees, and drained them into creeks communicating with the low country and with the river. He has no other fault with the land than that it is too rich forcing every thing into a stalk like timber^ and making the hay so coarse, that he often destroys the first UNCOMMON HIGHNESS OF LAND. 1D0 growth, and only saves the after-grass when a foot Ingh or under. The Indian corn produces one hundred bushels per flcre, and grows on a stem of such strength, thit cattle, \vhen it spreads its tossel, and has shed or received its fari- naceous impregnation, are allowed to rove among it without being capable of rendering it any injury. The land must be weakened and reduced by successive and heavy crops of .corn, before it be fit for wheat. Put into unreduced Ian I, wheat rambles ten or twelve feet high, and bears little fruit. Fifty and sixty bushels to an acre is a common crop ! Ve- getables succeed remarkably well, and fruit-trees bear at times in too great profusion, and at other times do not bear at all. The depth of (he soil was never ascertained. Where drains were made twelve feet deep, nothing but a rich black mould appeared a compost of decayed vegeta- jble substance accumulating some thousand years ! Furnished with this information, and refreshed with a good breakfast, I took leave of Mr. D. and pursued my journey, the particulars of which you will have in my next. LETTER XXVI. )ayton Town, its fine Situation A Snake, or Snapping Tortoise Timber of this Country The Sugar Maple An Indian Camp. Cincinnati, August, 1805. ON leaving Mr. Digby's I continued my journey up the Little Miami for about ten miles, when I arrived at some hilly and broken land which deterred me from pursuing a northern route any longer, especially as I understood that the ground held similar features as high up as the Pickawee Plains, and other prairies, with the locality and nature of which I was previously acquainted. Accordingly I bent a west by north course, by compass, which 1 judged would strike the Great Miami, near Dayton, a small town lately built on the confluence of that and the Mad River. The distance from the Little Miami, from whence I turned to that part of the Great Miami, for which I made, I con- jectured to be between forty-five and sixty miles. The sur- face in the first instance swelled into the hills and sunk into dales of great fertility and richness, and was much more <200 ASHE'S TRAVELS isr AMEIUOA. sound and less noxious than that I traversed the preceding day. One particular part contained a greater variety of advantage and beauty than I ever beheld embraced in the .same compass. Entering an opening between the feet of two hills, through which rushed a rapid transparent stream, 1 had a view of a circular piece of ground, so thinly wooded, that the hill by which it was girt was distinctly seen crowned Vfiil} sum-ptuotis trees, representing a fine amphitheatre, which met the eye in every direction around. The water was visible in many places, and traversed the plain numerous limes in search of the sortie through which J entered, and through which it dashed with as much exulting violence as if sensible of the liberty it regained. It entered the plain from the north west, in which situation it possessed several falls of sufficient power for any over-shot and grist-mills. This advantage, connected with a variety of others, ren- tiers the spot the most eligible imaginable for all the pur- poses of rural economy and contracted desires of. primitive life. The plain contains perhaps twelve hundred acres ; the land could *easHy be cleared ; the soil a rich black mould, could be cultivated with little labour ; from the facility of being drained, no offensive vapours could arise, and a house seated in the declivity of the hill, from which the stream de- scended in quick and rapid falls, could command an unin- terrupted view of an abundant and enclriMting prospect. . From the thin state and growth of the wood tiscre re- mained no doubt of the plain having been formerly under cultivation. No traces of Indian settlements notwithstand- ing appeared. 1 journeyed xw for the remainder of the day through a wilderness of melancholy gloom and endless ex- tent. I stopped to refresh at a fine creek, and while my travel- ling and faithful companion was occupied in making a fire, I took my gun to range for something for dinner. 1 had not -advanced twenty yards before my dog barked with conside- rable irritation, and ran round an object which on a nearer approach 1 discovered to be a snake-tortoise. lie was as large as a turtle of sixty pounds weight, and in disposition appeared excessively fierce and. mischievous. Whenever he snapt at the dog, which he frequently did with great pre- meditation and venom, his jaws fell together with much vio- lence and noise. Well convinced that CuiT was acquainted with the natural history oflhcanimal. and all his various at- tributes, 1 called him up 3 and took the dog oiY, fearful every TURTLE STEAKS! 201 moment of his losing his life in so unequal a conflict. I xvas perfectly li.uht iji my conjecture; the Maudanean knew alt his habits. While ex posed to the dog the creature never presented a vulnerable part ; nothing was to be seen but a strong coat of mail, into which he dr*sv his head and legs till prepared to bite, v/hen lie nrolongated his jaws, or ra- ther neck, which appeared to have great agility, and snapt >vitli a clangour to be heard one huiulred yards round. iiut xvhen t!ie man came up and pfooed oa his back a large flat stone, he exposed his head and fret, and began to move, to- wards the water with more rapidity than 1 presumed attribu- table to his nature, or consistent with his magnitude and form. On turn ing him from the water he seized the stick I made use of in his mouth, and retained his hold, though the man and 1 raised him from tiie ground in our efforts to dis- cnu-me it. It appeared that nothing but fire. could induce liim to move or to qviit his hold. I held a fire-brand near his back, and notwithstanding tire extraordinary thickness of the shell, his sensibility took an immediate alarm, and he ; by a name which implies the snapping, tortoise, from its remaining perfectly tranquil till the object is within its reach, on which it makes one sudden snap, and sinks nnder water. The weight which the one that was the immediate subject of my investigation carried on his back, was inconceivably great, and still he moved without any apparent einlnrrassnient or difticulJy. To turn him on his back was very arduous. He resisted with great power and strong manifestations of despair and passion : turning and snapping at the stick whenever he found it acting as a lever upon him. After being upset he made s'o farther resistance, and died without much struggle. The body was very plump and fine ; i cut from it several steaks, and enjoyed a dinner of exquisite richness and flavour. During the n- jv.ibt I \\as entertained by the chattering of a flock of paro- quets, who had taken up their abode in ths" trees a round 'me. Tftefe were the green and the red neck, that very particular species which are held the most rare in Kurope, and which were once highly valued by the Greeks anil Romans. Perfect ly refreshed, J again pursued my journey towards the Great Miami, and travelled for four hours over the finest tract of woodland I ever beh< Id, It was nearly a level, but healthy and dry, in consequence of being intersected by a number of rapid little streams, which carried off rains, and left no ponds for the ereuti^ir of noxious and putrescent nmt- ASIitf.J 1> d ter. The soil was deep and black, and Hie following timber grew in great magnitude, beauty, and abundance : Maple Sycamore Black Mulberry White ditto Black Walnut White ditto White Oak Black ditto Red ditto Spanish ditto Ohesnut ditto Butter Nut Chesnut Hickory, three species Cherry Buck wood, or Horse Chcsmit. Honey Locust Elm, two species Cucumber Tree Lynn Tree Gum Tree Iron Wood Ash, three species A spin Sassafras Crab Apple Tree Pa paw Plum Tree, several kinds, Besides these there were nine species of bark, spice, and leather wood bushes; the judas tree, the dog wood, and many others whose names and properties I had not capacity to ascertain. The land in every direction produced vast quantities of grapes of various sorts, and cotton, growing in j*reat perfection, shewed itself to be the natural production of the country. The sugar maple is the most valuable tree for an inland state. One tree can yield about ten pounds of sugar a year, and the labour is very trifling. The sap, which is extracted about February and March, is received in a vessel placed at the foot of a tree, under an incision made for the purpose, and into which apiece of cane is in* serted, and through which the sap, on a warm day after a frosty night, often flows in a continued stream for several hours. The collected sap o several trees tapped on the same day, is granulated, by the simple operation of boiling, to a sugar very near equal in flavour and whiteness to the best muscovado. This valuable tree, like every other valuable gift of nature to this western world, is hastening to dissolution and de- cline. In the spring of the year sugar camps extend through the whole country ; and the persons employed give the trees such great and unnecessary wounds, that their whole virtue runs out, and they perish perhaps in a season. So violent has been the prodigality of the people of Kentuckey, that they have nearly annihilated the maple altogether, by hack* AN INDIAN FAMILY. 03 Ing the trees with an axe, and never closing the wounds from which they drew the sap, though they well knew that the timber would perish from such treatment. Persons of better regulated minds tap the trees with an auger, insert a cane, draw off the liquor, and then stop up the flowing and the wound, by which means the trees recover their vigour, and afford fresh supplies from three to twelve years. I soon came up to a small Indian camp of three tenfs, and a fire already prepared. I alighted, and advanced with affability and confidence to the oldest man of the party, "who gave me his hand with much courtesy, and afterwards offered me his pipe with an expression of great kindness. I received it as the calurcet of peace, and entered into an alli- ance of friendship, the violation of which, on either side, according to the Indian's own rule, " would be deserving the wrath of the Good Spirit, and the immediate puaish- rnent of Heaven." Having fallen into such excellent company, I resolved to remain among them for the night, and, with permission, 1 pitched my tent, and made my fire immediately in the vici- nity of the spring which the Indians had chosen for their camp. I soon discovered that the party I fell in with was a family of the Mingoes a nation formerly powerful, inha- biting the banks of the Scioto, and now attached to that river, though reduced to the small number of fortv-five I- The family consisted of a father, a married son and daugh- ter, and fiveof their children, one of which was at the breast, and another but three years old. They manifested no man- ner of surprise on rny arrival, and expressed no curiosity at the sight of the objects with which I was furnished, though they differed so entirely from any they had ever before be- held. Nor was I asked from whence I came; whither I was going; or, any other question whatever. This little appetite to curiosity has exposed almost all Indian nations to the charge of stupidity and insipience of character. Never was charge more ill-founded and unjust. Their apparent want of curiosity is the result of habit growing out of maxims, and the first instructions of their youth which tend to sup- press idle enquiries. After a very interesting conversation with Onanio, the head, I retired to rest, and reposed with the utmost peace, security, pnd confidence. LETTER XXVII. Jbtrf/'ox-tt rick awl fine Country Trees, S-krv^s, an& ]r lower**-- Humming Birds Mad /;VvY-> Situation of the Inhabitants on its Banks The Great Hamilton To&n. CindnKGti, August, NfiXT morning, after passing through a delightful fan,e of country, I reached the to-writ 4" I) .iyton, which is com- posed of about forty houses, standing ligh' bunk, and returned 1 on the left to Dayton ; -and must candidly confess, 1 never beheld a tract of land so favoured by nature, and so susceptible -of ? improvement by art, Near- ly the whofc tract is a chain of pn;lries, partly obscured from each other by groves of ma^uificeut trees, and shruh* beries diOusin^ every species of perfume, nnd exhibiting; thcr and rudianco of fvery 'iia>\cr. AtriOng tbo trees lb CHARACTER OP THE HUMMING BIRD. 0> splendid magnolia and tulip are found, nnd among the shrubs arc seen, the alihea, arbutus, honey-locust, and various other aromatics. The uncultivated portions of the prairies abound in flowers of such luxuriance and height, (hat, in riding* through, it is often necessary to turn them from the face with the whip ; and the jrcnefal herbage, plants, and flowers, rise to the saddle skirls. Hie most conspicuous flowers were t he geranium, holy oak, and passiou-Hower, to which the sweet pea, and many blossoming creepers, ran up and closely adhered. These prairies were, formerly the favourite resort of buffaloes, but the wanton carnage commit- ted among their droves,.' has made them retreat, and pass indignant to less savage lands. Some few herds of doerstiii linger in their favourite haunt, and at this season browse in safety under tfee projection of the pasture.- which efk'ctualUr covers them from sight. The hi tie hamming birds alone retain their empire over the flowery waste ; like bees, they fly from blossom to blossom, nor heed the traveller who stops to admire their burnished plumage and diminutive structure, displaying iri their nature the utmost harmony in expression, and the greatest chastity in taste. At the moment they in- sert their hill into a blossom, arid hum with delight, and strong manifestations of passion, there is no difficulty ia catching them ; hut the common practice is to shoot them "with sund through a trunk gun. Thev seldom, however, survive; I met but one instance where they brooked llie harsh confinement of the cage. In that instance a Ffencli .lady had several ; she fed them wi.'h honey impregnated with scents, lodged in a sponge covered with lace, and disguised in forms and colours which imitated the buds and flo \yers oil which she perceived them, in a state of nature, most partial to dwell. The little creatures repaid her .kindness by the most affecting endearments. On freeing them from the cage they generally roved round her for several turns, und then fondly clustered in her extended hand or breast, in .which she commonly put ?ome inviting sweds or tempting flowers, She had kept them for fifteen months, during which time they had shewn no disposition to become .dull or torpid, though some naturalists aliedge, that during the winter sea- son they remain so, suspending themselves by the bill to the bark of a tree; and are awakened info life from that state- when the flowers begin to blow, and nature herself as- the greatest degree of beauty and bloom. There is one fact of more importance, which their existence in pjuticilur places proclaims,' that is, the fertility of the soil, and lha 208 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA, salubrity of the climate. They never inhabit swamps Of '); nfries exposed to a severity of season. Therefore, in fix~ jtjg hi the western world, I know 'no better guide than the ikummiiig bud, who is sure to direct to a sound soil, a short winter, and a long delightful spring. The Mad River, which meanders through this tract of country, is remarkable for the fine quality of the water, and the great purity of the stream. It received its name in con- sequence; of '''s perpetual impetuosity, it being tlie only rivet in (he westerp. country, which does not subside in the sum- mer and fall oi the year. All the of her rivers owe their great periodical voli: . e to the effusion of ice and mountain snows, whereas the Mad River issues out of Lake Huron, which affords it an qual supply without variation or end. It abounds with fish, and is so transparent, that they arc driven with great facility into nets and snares; and are besides, often speaml. The banks of the river are settling with unparalleled suc- cess, and the title of all the adjacent lands is already bought up from Congress by individuals, and by speculators, who propose selling again at an advanced piice. Most of the Erairie-gronnds are now as high as from twenty to fifty dol- irs per acre, and the wood-land adjoining the rivrr, sells at from five to sixteen dollars per acre. 1 visited at least one hundred farms, and found the inhabitants in the posses- sion ot abundance of every common necessary, and every ab- solute comfort essential to a modest and unassuming life. Kor does their situation or temptations suggest any desires but what may be gratified by the humble means within their reach. There appeared :io manner of discontent among them, and no material difference of ranker fortune to excite it. You, who have been always accustomed to the refine- ment of luxury, will scarce be able to conceive how these settlers, with no other clothing than coarse home-made ap- parel, with no other shelter but a log house constructed with the rudest art, and with no food but of the coarsest kind, and destitute of coffee, tea, wine, and foreign spirits^ can enjoy any happiness; and yet, as I observed, to judgt; from their manners, language, and external appearance, their state may be envied by the wealthy of the most refined nations, because their forget fulness or ignorance of extragavant desires and vicious pursuits, excludes every wish beyond their present situation, and leaves them virtuous and happy. They are composed of ail nations, and live as yet in a kind of native freedom and independence ; in a kind of equality of HOAD TO HAMILTON. 207 which banishes all distinctions but those of age and merit > for the old controul the parochial administration, and the learned govern the legal and ecclesiastical. However, as po- pulation increases, and as towns and villages abound, vice, which appears the propensity of man, will erect its power, and call for the influence of the general regulations of the state, and destroy the innocent and primitive characters which now distinguish the republic of the Mad River. No- thing intruth can be more primitive. Justice is administered with decency, but no form ; in the open air, and on Sunday, the people gather together in appointed groves, and silently attend to any person endowed with the grace and talent of instruction. On returning to Cincinnati, I pursued the Miami to the town of Hamilton for forty miles. The Great Miami is a very fine river, uninterrupted by falls. Its navigation, as well as that of the Scioto and Muskingum, approaches very near to the navigable waters of the lakes; and like them, the banks towards the source are furnished with springs, coal mines, white and blue clay, and various metallic and i liueral productions. It is abi-ut two hundred yards \vide at its mouth, and is reduced to thirty at the Pickawee towns, notwithstanding which it is navigable fifty miles higher up. The portage from its west- ern branch into the Miami of Lake Eric, is five miles; that from its eastern branch into Sanduskey river, is nine miles. From Dayton to Hamilton there is an excellent beaten public road, the borders Of which are sprinkled with settle- ments and neat improved farms. The forest trees and lands were of a very superior quality. Hamilton was a fort and garrison during the Indian war, it is now a smart little town' on the banks of the Miami, and does conside- rable business, in collecting the produce of the settlers of the back country, and giving in return ^oods of every description furnished by the merchants of Cincinnati. Hamilton being but thirty miles from this, I reached it in another day's ride, and met with no occurrence worth re- rnarking-. LET i'Lll XX VIII. *Tttdge St/iTMKcs's Residence An elegant charming Situation -Ills Family, fyc. Indian Terri- tory Big-bone Lick Grant's Zfc&, its excellent Salt Nitre, Cave*, and Hills Frankfort, the Capital of Kentuckey Kenlm-key River Its magnificent Batiks jdniiquities Louisville l*as$age of ihe Falls A terrific Scene. Lwi\vilh*, Fulls rf the Ohio, Lut. SB. 8 N. Aug. 1606. I LEFT Cincinnati with an impression very favoura* hie to its inhabitants, and with a higher opinion of ils bite It country than I entertain of any oilier. 8cven miles below roy departure, at a place called the North Bend,. I stopped to take breakfast with the hospitable judge Symmes r the original proprietor, after the extinction of the irfdian title, of the TfvLole of tlie country lying between the two Miamis.- The situation which the judge has chosen for his residence, cannot be eq nailed for the variety and elegance of iJs pros* .pects. Improved farms, villages, seats, and the regains of ancient and modern military works, decorate the banks of the finest piece of water in the world, and present themselves to view from the principal apartments of the house, \\hicb is a noble stone mansion, erected at great expence, and on a plan which does infinite honour to the artist, and to the table of the proprietor. Differing from other settlers, Mr. inmmes has been studious to give the river sides a pastoral effect, by preserving woods, .planting orchards, and diversi- fying these with cmn-fK'l(!s 7 sloping pastures, and every other rilect incidental both to an improved ?;nd rural life. 'From t??is expression of elevated judgment, you m-:y be prepared to know that the proprietor iornieHy resided in England, and alter in New York, where he married his present wile, a lady distinguished by deganeeof mind, and a general and cor- rect information. They jhave no children, but there resules with them a. Miss Livingston, on whom they iix their affrc* tions ; and whom they treat with parental kindness and res- pectful urbanity, the one being due to her intrinsic merit, and the other to her family, which is eminent for bhlhj p fjj and talent, in the state of New York, A PftACTlCAL FEMALE BOTANIST. 209 The judge passes his time in directing his various works, and the ladies read, \valk, and attend to various birds and animals, which they domesticate both for entertainment and use. Miss L. is much of a botanist a practical one. She collects seeds from such plants and flowers as are most con- spicuous in the prairies, and cultivates them with care on the banks, and in the vicinity of the house. She is forming a shrubbery also, which will be entirely composed of mag- nolia, calalpa, papaw, rose, and tulip trees, and all others distinguished for blossom and fragrance. In the middle is erected a small Indian temple, where this young lady pre- serves seeds and plants, and classes specimens of wood, which contribute much to her knowledge and entertainment. When the beauties of the fine season fade, and the country becomes somewhat inert and insipid, the judge and the la- dies remove to Cincinnati, and revolve in its pleasures till fatigued; when they again return to their rural economy, to the prosecution of happy and inoffensive designs. I could with difficulty tear myself from persons so amiable. Fourteen miles from the North Bend, and twenty-one from Cincinnati, I passed the mouth of the Great Miami; on the right hand shore from it is the western boundary of the Ohio state, and the eastern commencement of the In- dian territory, which, in a short time, and with the increase of population, will receive the title of a state, and become the brightest star. in the galaxy of the union. The land is for a great part richly wooded, fertile, and applicable to all the purposes of agriculture, and extensive and productive improvement. The territory is upwards of six hundred miles square, and is thus copiously watered : on the north by the Lakes ;. on the south by the Ohio ; and on the west by the Mississippi. Through it also runs, generally in a south, course, the Wabash, the Ilinois, arid a variety of creeks and streams. Knowing of no obstacles in the river, and find- ing it to increase in grandeur and safety, I determined on flouting all night. I met with no alarms or accident, and arrived in the morning early at Big Bone Lick, thirty-two miles from the Miami. The salt spring is very weak at the Big Bone Lick. One thousand gallons of water yield but a bushel of salt. About twenty miles back of the Big Bone, is Grant's Lick, one hundred gallons of which make a bushel of salt of a very strong and fine quality. I should think there could be no great difficulty in ascertaining whether the water of Grant's L^ck does not issue from a salt rock in its A'SKE.] E 210 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. immediate vicinity. It is to be regretted that no person of leisure and intelligence has yet investigated a subject of such public utility and importance ; as I make no doubt that at the same springs which are now worked with little advan- tage and great labour, water could be found of tenfold strength, and possibly the rock from which it undoubtedly issues. There are other springs in the neighbourhood of the Big Bone Lick, and through several parts of Kentuckey, which are said to be medicinal, and to have the property of relieving various disorders incident to the spring and fall of the year. All fiat 1 have met with are strongly impreg- nated with sulphur, and some so hot as to be within twenty- degrees of boiling water. A sulphur spring near the Big Bone Lick turned a dollar black in less than five minutes. Nitre caves, and hills impregnated with nitre,arealso com- mon throughout the state, and are worked to great profit, every bushel of earth yielding, on an average, three pounds of nitre. In the course of another day and night's navigation, I dropped forty-four miles lower down, and put into the mouth of the Kentuckey river, which gives name to the state it intersects nearly inequal halves. It flows in innumer- able meanders, and through a very extensive body of good land, except within fifty or more miles of the Ohio, where it is too mountainous for the purposes of a profitable agri- culture. It is navigable for loaded boats during a consider,- able part of the year upwards of one hundred and fifty miles. Frankfort, the capital of the state, is situated on the west bank, about seventy miles from its confluence with the Ohio. The legislature and the supreme courts hold their sessions there. The state house is a large stone building. The si- tuation is so unhealthy, that the town must eventually be abandoned. There is also a mean little town on one side of the confluence, called \Villiam's Port, and another on the other side, of equal insignificance. They are subject to periodical inundation, inductive of fever, and every spe- cies of lassitude and sickness. Were it not for this, the towns would rise into eminence, and obtain importance from the growing commerce of the country and the navigation of the river. The Kentuckey is about ninety yards at its mouth. Its banks, or rather precipices, ought to be reckoned among the grandest natural curiosities of the country. There the astonished eye beholds three hundred, and often five hun- dred feet of solid perpendicular rock, in some parts of lime- ANCIENT INDIAN FORTS. 211 stone, and in others of fine white marble, chequered with strata of extraordinary beauty and regularity, which srives the river the appearance of an immensely deep and artificial canal, whose rocky banks are crowned with sumptuous ce- dar, and other trees, of a perpetual verdure. While exploring (he banks, I fell in with some antiqui- ties peculiar to the country. They consist of old forts, not circular, like the many 1 have pointed out, but oblong, and situated on strong well-chosen grounds, and always contiguous to the best landings of the riVer. When, by whom, and for what purpose thrown up, is,; most unfor- tunately uncertain. They are undoubtedly very ancient, as there is not the least visible difference in the age or size of the timber growing on or within those forts, and that which grows without ; and I never yet could obtain any satisfactory tradition respecting them. Doctor Cutler, who has accurately examined the trees in those forts, and which he thinks, from the appearances are the second growth, is of opinion that they- must have been built up- wards of one thousand years. One fact is also clear ; they must have been the efforts of a people acquainted with some science, and capable of infinite labour : and it is difficult to conceive how they could be constructed without the use of iron tools, and the instruments we are competed to em- ploy in works of much less magnitude and character. At a small distance from each fort there stands a mound of earth, thrown up in the manner of a pyramid. The water, owing to its low state, beginning to flow in a very sluggish manner, it took two days and two nights to bear me along to Louisville, from which I now write. The distance seventy-seven miles ; in which run the river pre- sented nothing very remarkable, though 1 observed it in- crease in breadth, grandeur, and sublimity, and to ap- pear mo're awful from the height of its banks, and the si- lence which prevailed from the distance of the habitations of man, and the absence of population and society. I amus- ed myself each day by going ashore with my gun, and walking along for hours together, while the boat dropped down with the stream. I killed several dozen of fine ducks, and one deer, in the act of swimming across the water to elude the pursuit of a wolf that had been long chasing Ijirn. Late in the year, and in the spring season, the river is co- vered with wild geese, swans, and ducks of various de- scriptions. In the summer, and at this season, they visit the E e2 212 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. lakes, where they breed, and bring u.p their young in great multitudes. One species of duck alone remain permanent- ly on the river, and that is the worst of the whole kind. I killed a few young turkeys, which were exquisite in taste and flavour. The shores abound in subjects of speculation and interest. Animal and vegetable petrifactions may be picked up nearly at every step, and in the highest state of purify and perfection ; so much so, that the characters of each object are distinct and visible, and nothing wanting in the one but sense, softness, and colour, and in the other, the active principle of life, all the waters of the Ohio and of its tributaries are gifted with the powers of petrifaction. The first intimation I had of the approach to Louisville was the roaring of the falls, which reached me at the dis- tance of fifteen miles. Four miles farther on s^ive me a fine view of the town, which stands about two mdes above the falls, on the Kentuckey shore. The entire coup cTocil is vcrv S r - an( ^5 but the disposition to admire is drowned in the murmur of the waters, and the danger it announces to the mind. As the falls cannot be passed without a pilot, and a number of extra hands to govern the helm and the oars, it is always necessary to look out within five or six miles, and pull in for the left shore before there is a possibility of getting in- to the suction of the fall stream, and from thence into the vor- tex of the flood. By my not attending to this in time I was very near perishing. The velocity of the water increased ; the uproar of the falls became tremendous, and nothing but the continued and vigorous exertion of the oars saved us from sudden and violent perdition. We rowed one hour across the stream, and got into dull water but five minutes before our deaths must have been certain ; whereas had 1 pulled in on seeing the town, 1 might have dropped quietly down along the bank, and enjoyed the grandeur and sublimity of the general scene, in the place of experiencing so much la- bour and apprehension. Having secured the boat in the mouth of Bear Grass Creek, I walked up to the town of Louisville, which is si- tuated on a high and level bank of the Ohio, about two hundred poles above the commencement of the rapid de- scent of the water, and contains about eighty dwellings, be- sides the court house of Jefferson county, and other public buildings. The prospect from the town is very extensive, commanding a % view up the river, for some distance above what is called Six Mile island ; and on the opposite shore, >yhich is the distance of one raile and a quarter, the eye i* ACCOUNT OF LOUISVILLE. 213 carried over an extent of level country, terminated by the hills of Silver Creek, which are live miles distant, and down the river to Clarkesville, about two miles below. Here the magnificence of the scene, the grandeur of tfye falls, the unceasing brawl of the cataract, and the beauty of the surrounding prospect, all contribute to render the place truly delightful, and to impress every man of obser- vation who beholds it, with ideas of its future importance, till he inquires more minutely, and discovers a character of unheallhiness in the place, which forbids the encouragement of any hope of its permanency or improvement. A ship yard is erected below the rapids by the company of Tavascon, Brothers, and James Berthand, the latter of whom now resides here. This certainly is the most eligible place on the rjver Ohio ; and a greater prospect of the ad- vantages of such an establishment now opens, since the vast territoty of Louisiana has become the property of the United States. Louisville is a port of entry. It is about nine hundred and thirteen miles by way of the river to Philadelphia, and by land about seven hundred. It is seventy miles from Lexington, and forty from Frankfort, in Kentuckey, of which state it forms a part, and conducts all its export, which principally consists of the articles before named, and which are taken in exchange for foreign spirits and British goods, brought into the country by the way of Pittsburg. The inhabitants are universally addicted to gambling and drinking. The billiard rooms are crowded from morning to night, and often all night through. I am the more con- cerned to see the prevalence of these vices, as I experience A liberality and attention in the town, which has given me an interest in the general weliare of its people. I visited the falls of the Ohio on the sand side, and found them occasioned by a ledge of rocks which extend quite across the river, and are hardly to be perceived by the na- vigator in times of high freshes, unless by the superior velocity of the vessel. When the water is low, as it is at this period, the greater part of the rock becomes visible, and then the passage becomes highly dangerous. There are three channels in the rock through which the water passes. The rapids descend about thirty feet in the length of a mile and a half. The rise of the waters does not exceed twelve or fourteen fect ? and has at times suni; to ten inches. A part of the rock remains in the middle of the river, and has never been overflowed, though it wastes every day by ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. Ihe constant action of the waters, and attrition of pebble stones cnst up by the impetuosity of the current. It com- mands the settlement of Louisville. The fort, however, is situated nt the head of the falls. A pilot for the safe conduct of boats through those falls, has bren regularly appointed by the state ; lie is answerable for all damages sustained through his neglect or bad ma- nagement. The prices for pilotage of all kinds are regulated by the same authority. A light boat can pass at all times when flirected by a skilful pilot; and if it should be found neces- sary to unload at Bear Grass, and re-load below the rapids, the portage is very inconsiderable, being only two miles. Notwithstanding the low state of the water, and immi- nent peril of the passage, I determined on taking the chute without farther delay, and lay ray boat up below the falls, while I returned to the town, and made a short excursion through the country. 1 accordingly sent for the head pilot. He informed me that he feared a thunder gust was collecting. The late violent heats, and the prognostics de- clared by the noise of the falls, and the vapour suspended over them, were strong portentions of a storm, and made the passage too hazardous to be undertaken at the pilot's risk. Whenever I 4)ave determined on acting, I have not easily been turned from my intentions. This habit or obsti- nacy made me persist in going, and I told the pilot to pre- pare immediately, and that I would take the consequences of any loss on my own head. He agreed, and repaired to my boat with six additional hands, and 1 shortly followed Mm, accompanied by two ladies and gentlemen, who had fall to take the fall out of mere curiosity, notwithstand- ing the great peril with which the act was allied. We all embarked. The oars were manned with fovir men each; The pilot ami I governed the helm, and my passengers sat on the roof of (he boat. A profound silence reigned. A sentiment of awe and terror occupied every mind, and urged the necessity of a fixed and resolute duty. In a fevv minutes we worked across the eddy, and reached the cur- rent of the north fall, which hurried us on with an awful swiftness, and made impressions vain to describe. The water soon rushed with a more horrid fury, and seemed to threaten destruction even to the solid rock which opposed its passage in the centre of the river, and the terrific and incessant din wi>. which this was accompanied, almost over- mine and unnerved the heart. At the distance of half a mile a thick mist, like volumes of smoke, rose to the skies, DREADFUL THUNDER-STORM. 515 and as we advanced we heard a more sullen noise, which. soon after almost stunned our ears. Making as we proceed- ed the north side, we were struck with the most terrific event and awful scene. The expected thunder burst at once in heavy peals over our heads, and the gust with which it was accompanied raged up the river, and held our boat in agi- tated suspense on the verge of the precipitating Hood. The lightning, too, glanced and flashed on the furious cataract, which rushed down with tremendous fury within sight ot" the eye. We doubled the most fatal rock, and though the storm increased to a dreadful degree, we held the boat in the channel, took the chute, and following with skilful helm its narrow and winding bed, filled with rocks, and confined by a vortex which appears the residence of death, we float- ed in uninterrupted water of one calm continued sheet. The instant of taking the fall was certainly sublime and aw- ful. The organs of perception were hurried along, and partook of the turbulence of the roaring water. The powers of recollection were even suspended by the sudden shock: and it was not till after a considerable time that 1 was ena- bled to look back and contemplate the sublime horrors of the scene from which I had made so fortunate an escape. When in smooth water, and my mind somewhat collect- ed, I attended to the ladies who had the temerity to honour me with their company through the hazard of the falls, f found them in a very exhausted state. The thunder had entirely unnerved them. I must do them the justice, how- ever, to say, that they shewed great magnanimity : they suppressed their feeling, and never uttered a cry, for fear of intimidating or interrupting the hands. On getting on shore they quickly recovered^ and we enjoyed a pleasant walk back to the town, and passed the evening with that serene delight which is only known to those who have expe- rienced an equally extraordinary and eventful day. Very shortly there will be no necessity of boats encoun- tering such recks. A canal is now constructing on each side of the Ohio, by which means vessels may descend at all seasons, and without the possibility of accident or danger. For some time back from eight to twelve boats have beeit lost annually, and many have been detained for want of wa- ter. Therefore the canal must prove a grand acquisition, and extend benefit far and wide. It is to be finished in two years, and will be about three miles in length. LETTER XXIX. Excursion from Louisville View of the Country and Us Productions Kcntuckeyan mode of Life Medicinal Herbs Birds Snakes Remarkable Mocking Bird A rich Vale Beardstown. Louisville, Aug. 1806. 1 HAVE just returned from an excursion, of which I transmit you my notes. Accommodated with two excellent saddle and one good pack-horse for the conveyance of my tent and a few com- mon necessaries, 1 took a south course with the intention of reaching Beardstown, a rising settlement, about fifty miles oii. I was very glad to iiml that the hills were neither so rugged nor numerous as I had previously experienced in most other parts of the state ; but I passed several swamps and ponds, which emitted a most noxious smell, and aiiect- ed for a moment both the stomach and the head. I found the country exceedingly well timbered. Sugar maple, the coffee, the papaw, the hackberry and the cucumber tree every where abounded. The coffee tree resemble the black oak, and bears a pod, which encloses a seed, of which a drink is made, thought by inferior tastes to be as good as coffee. Besides these, I met with the honey locust, black mulberry, and wild cherry of a very large size, and the magnolia, bearing a beautiful blossom, and shedding an exquisite fragrance. Numerous farms chequered this rich scene, producing wheat, corn, oats, flax, hemp, tobacco, cotton, and vegetables of all kinds, common to a mild cli- mate, and which appeared to yield abundantly. The wheat promising sixty, and the corn one hundred bushels per acre, in many well cultivated plantations. The fruit made no appearance. The trees bear too much at a season, and perish untimely. Some peach brandy is manufactured, but no cyder is made in the country. I rode about fifteen or seventeen miles through this kind of mingled scenery, when 1 stopt at the house of a cutivator whom I had fallen in with on the road, and took such refreshment as we found prepared. J shall mention it to you, because it conveys a LOG-HOUSE SOCIALITY. 311 general idea of the mode of living through the state. On entering the house, which was a log one, fit fed up very well, the Kentuckeyan never exchanged a word with his wife or his children, who were worrying a kangaroo on the floor before him, notwithstanding he had been absent several days. No tender enquiry, no affection or sentiment, but a contemptuous silence, and a stern brutality, which block up all the avenues to the heart. The poor woman, whom 1 pitied (for 'tis a fact that the women do not degenerate in proportion to the men, but continue to this day amiable) made a large bowl of drink, called toddy, composed of sugar, water, whiskey, and peach-juice, and handed it to her husband with all the servility of a menial; he drank, and handed it to me, who followed his>example, and found the liquor excellent. The dinner consisted of a large piece of salt bacon, a dish of homslie, and a tureen of squirrel broth. I dined entirely on the last dish, which I found incomparably good, and the meat equal to the most delicate chicken. The Ken- tuckeyan eat nothing but bacon, which indeed is the favou- rite diet of all the inhabitants of the state, and drank nothing but whiskey, which soon made him more than two thirds drunk. In this last practice he is also supported by the public habit. In a country then, where bacon and spirits form the favourite summer repast, it cannot be just to attri- bute entirely the causes of infirmity to the climate. No people on earth live with less regard to regimen. They eat salt meat three times a day, seldom or never have any vege- table, and drink ardent spirits from morning till night ! They have not only an aversion to fresh meat, but a vulgar prejudice that it is unwholesome. The truth is, their sto- machs are depraved with burning liquors, and they have no appetite for any thing but what is highly flavoured and strongly impregnated with salt. Disgusted with the subject of these reflections, 1 rose from table, cast a dollar on it for my entertainment, and hastening Guff to prepare my horses, rode off, determined to pay no more such visits, and to want convenience and information sooner than seek them at such a source. I had advanced but a few miles, when I left the ridgy regions which confine the Ohio, and travelled through a delightful country, presenting to view one extended plain, interspersed with trees, and covered with herbs and blossoms "which embalmed the air with the sweetest odours, and added tothe^luxury of the charming scene. Many spots were en- ASHE.] F f SIS ASHE'S TRAVELS JN AMERICA. richedbysrmdv groves, and many enlivened wiht, or stops the fountain of the worst cataract. The next was that extraordinary herb call- ed the efcursoYicra, which is an antidote against all sorts of poison, and a remedy for the bite of the worst vipers. It 'is also said to be serviceable in the yellow fever ; in fits, pa- roxysms and vapours, and capable of dispelling gloom and melancholy. There was also another vegetable whose flower was very beautiful, and which the Jndians used in all cases of fever and flux. The same exists in Portugal, and is known by the name of anagris. Birds of every description, plumage, and sons', were met with. Quail and partridge held the vicinity of culti- vated grounds; pheasants and black cocks abounded in the deepest woods, and the blue linnet, red bird, purple finch, and hundreds of such others, claimed the protection of smaller detached bouquets and rural bowers. -On the approach of evening, I chose for my encamp- ment one of those favoured -spots which nature had exerted herself to adorn. It was the bank of a small stream finely wooded, interspersed with shrubs and flowers, and resorted to by many birds, which gave life and harmony to the em- bellished scene. The rapid little creek forced its way through the rocky channel beneath, and the trees that over- hung the stream exhibited an assemblage truly picturesque. On such a spot I encamped with my faithful follower, and soon prepared a supper out of the fortune of the day. I had killed a very fine black cock, and several quails. The flesh of the black cock was of the most exquisite relish. This bird is known in the highlands of Scotland. He is not commonly found in so southern a latitude as this. In the winter of 1788, these birds were taken plentifully about Quebec. Whenever the winter of the arctic region sets ia with rain, so as to cover the branches and leaves of trees with a glaze of ice, they are deprived of their food, and obliged to flv to a milder climate. Tliey differ much from those of Europe in colour, the feathers being mostly white, and a coronet of a dark grey displayed on the head. After the repast, I began to prepare for the night. To DESCRIPTION OF THE MOCKING -BlflD. 319 prevent t he robberies frequently perpetrated in Kentucky, I charged my rifle and pistols, >>. pi. ufaau& ffinsse where I intended laying n.y In--:!. v > next car/, wis to guard against wild cais., . oh-cs and pa and <*.*> all, against niy most bated < new;-, the cr;i\v MI^ ami vie; !y snake. In all my wander n;-; they hove cos: ie th:* great- est portion of pain and u "^--ess; ami I hav: u ver en- camped hut when my f r.i nd ^uff has led p;y ;n.< < f<> the contemplation, by rela 5 .^ stories of serpents sunici^ut to; appal the stoute/t hv;i \Ve calh.d to recollection at least forty ditierent sr cU'> which i'lftst thes. , s On taking every precA .no;i which ivjr couUl suggest against such ''a host of e!,e ^, I at length, lay down, and from excessive fatigue passt- : a mght ^ l- n< * ' 1!OS *rco- nery and rural perfection. No doubt, this vale r- \ one other nearly similar to it, have been the cause of the extra- ordinary and extravagant reports which have b;vn ^o im. >- triously circulated in favour of Kent uckey. The authors of such reports, filled with enthusiasm by the abundant beau- ties of such spots, lost sight of the general deformity of the Ft' 2 320 ASIIE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. country, and led the world astray by publishing the im- pjes-ions marie on thorn by a local and particular place. Having conversed with a planter of some civilization and intelligence, 1 learned thai the vale had been the favourite residence of a nation of Indians, called from tradition, Pono Cognorago, or the Vale of Spirits which bears an exact analogy to our Garden of Eden, or Paradise, such places as have been deigned worthy the care and the walks Of God. Beardstown is situated on the southern verge of the Vale of Spirits, and where the ground is diversified by easy ris- ings, and enriched with noble forests and in, proved land, abo inding in domestic cattle, and all manner or wild game; the prodigality of the inhabitants not as yet having been equ'il to the accomplishment of its ruin. The town consists of ibout fifty houses, frame, log, and brick, and derives mu -h of its consequence from receiving the ro<>d through it fvh;ch leads from the eastern states, through Pittsburg, Chilicothe, and Lexington, to New Orleans, and stations en I he Mexican Gulph : a route of about eighteen hundred miles, for the most part over mountains, and through swamps and wildernesses ; but which have now small ta- verns placed at convenient distances through its whole length. Jt is also the great post road to Tenessee, Georgia, and the Carolinas. Its market is extraordinarily cheap, as may be judged from the terms of board and lodging, being but from a dollar 10 a dollar and a half per week. Of the inha- bitants 1 have already said enough to make humanity shud- der. They irample on all the advantages spread before thi in. by nature, and live in a brutal ignorance of "the chaims and luxuries which surround them. The principal part of the produce of the country about Beardstov,r> is conveyed to the Ohio by means of the Green River, which ri^es near the head of Salt Kiver, and pursu- ing a wt surly course, empties itseli into the Ohio, about fill v miles i.bove the Wabash River. To the S. E. lie the Great Ban ens several million of acres, of no utility to man or beast, being entirely destitute of water. To the \vest, a considerable wav, tiow the two great rivers called Cumberland and Tenessee. The \vhole country, as far as has been explored, is found to lie on a bed of him stone, which generally lies six feet be- low the burface, except in valleys where the soil is much thinner. VIEWS ON THE GREEN RIVER. 321 I remained but one night at Beardsfown: The following 1 day I returned here by a dihVi cut direction, but met with nothing to be described'without a dull tautology. LETTER XXX. Jefferson's Tozcn and Canal Clarksville General View 'of the River Two Hundred and Seventy-two Miles down 11 endtr sorts Town Diamond Island. Mouth of the Wabash, Indiana Territory, September, 1806. PREVIOUSLY to leaving Louisville, 1 crossed the river and visited the town of Jefferson, which is also seated about two miles above the falls. It is yet very small, but the inhabitants appear determined to add to its character and opu- lence, being now employed in forming a canal, by which navigators may avoid all dangers, and proceed down the river at all seasons of the year. I surveyed the line of the canal, and think it much more practicable than that mark- ed off on the opposite shore. 1 entertain no doubt of the commerce of the river being adequate to the support of both undertakings, and that the proprietors will be hereafter amply remunerated. 1 descended the falls by the shore, and once more enjoyed their grandeur, though from a different point of view. I then crossed over to my boat which lay at Ciarksville, a small settlement lying near the eddy formed by the recoiling flood, it is as yet a village of no importance, however, it" jt form the mouth of the intended canal its rise is certain. Twenty-five miles from Louisville 1 passed the mouth of Salt River, on the Kentuckcy shore. All I could learn respect- ing it, was, that it received its name from the number of ^alines on its banks, which impregnate its waters when in a low state, and fifty seven miles farther down I put into Blue River, on the Indiana side, which takes its name from its colour being a fine azure. In the whole run to the Wabash, of two hundred and seventy-two miles, effected in six days, and I made little or no stop, and met with no event to be called interesting; I very strongly perceived that occurrences capable of afford- ing information and anecdote were ceasing. Above the falls, the banks of the river are enlivened by plantations, the knowledge of the truths intended for instruction. .AH their divinity,, philosophy, and their greatest secrets, were comprehended in these ingenious characters, for tear they should be profaned by a familiar acquaintance with thecom-< monality. The learned of antiquity seem not willing to make them share in any part of the profound sciences ; there- fore Alexander was displeased at Aristotle for publishing in a vulgar language, some of his treatises which contained an account of the curiosities of nature* > I shall now proceed to shew you that the same -knowkdgc- of hieroglyphics flourished in America for the same design, and with as much ingenuity and art. It requires but a rapid and cursory view of the hierogly- phics above enumerated, to convince you of their intention, and also that the vault wherein they arc found engraven, was originally a place of worship and sanctuary of Indian priests. I make a brief review. 1. The sun, the most glorious of all visible beings, repre- sented their chief God, and received their adoration for causing all the fruits of their earth to bring forth their increase. 2. The moon denoted the next most beautiful object in the creation, and was worshipped for her own peculiar useful- ness, and more particularly for supplying the place of the departed sun. 3. The snake, in the form of an orb, biting his tail, pointed out the continual mutation of creatures, and the change of one being into another; or it represented the per- petual motion of the world itself. If so, this construing- agrees with the Greek figure of the same kind, which implies that the world feeds upon itself, and receives from itself in return, a continual supply for renovation and nourishment. Claadian .was acquainted with this hieroglyphic, -which be beautifully describes : ** Perpetuurnque vlrens sqtiammis caudamque reducto ** Ore voraas, tacito relegens exordia." INDIAN SYMBOLIC TITLES. Perhaps the same symbol designated the year, "which re- volves round and ends where it at first began. I believe the ancients gave it this import or meaning. 4. The viper, the most venomous of all creatures, was the emblem of the devil, or wicked angel : for, as its poison is quick and powerful, so is the destroying spirit in bringing on mankind evils which can only be opposed by the grace and power of God. 5. The vulture ; I am at a loss to give this hieroglyphic a just interpretation. I am persuaded it will bear the one given it by the Greeks, who made it express nature. 6. The buzzard's tearing out the bowels of a prostrate man, seems a moral intending to reprove fierceness and cruel- ty, and to inculcate compassion and peace. 7- The panther held by the ears by a child, was meant to impress a sense of the dominion of innocence and virtue over oppression and vice, or perhaps it bore the Greek meaning of a wretch encompassed with difficulties which he vainly attempts to avoid. 8. The crocodile, from its power and might, was another symbol of the Great Spirit ; or its being the only creature \vithout a tongue, might have given it a title to the same ho- nour, as all Indian nations concur in representing their God> beholding and doing all things in heaven and earth in a pro- found silence. 9. The several trees and shrubs were undoubtedly emble- matical of particular virtues, or represented in the. temple from a veneration for their aromatic and healing properties. Among the ancients, we know that the palm and the laurel were emblems of victory and deserved honour ; the myrtle, of pleasure; the cedar, of eternity; the oak, of strength; the olive-tree, of fruitfulness ; the vine, of delight and joy ; and the lilly, of beauty, &c. But what those in the cave imply, it is not possible to determine, as nothing of their character can be deduced from the manner they were sketch- ed on the surface of a rough wall, where the design is ob- scured by smoke, or nearly obliterated from the effect of damp and the gradual decay of time. 10. The fox, from every authority, was put to denote subtilfy and craftiness. Even now, an entire nation, goes by the name of the Fox Nation, a title their ancestors as- sumed at a remote period, Avhen they subdued their enemies more by the use of cunning and art, than by the force of combat or dint of arms. 1 1 . The hydra serpent possibly signified malice and envy : A*HE.] H h 231 ASflE's TRAVELS 1H AMERICA. passions which the hieroglyphic taught mankind to avoid \ or it 'may have implied an unsatisfied desire and thirst which nothing could assuage, and which ought never to be suffered fo reside in the human breast. It may bear some other sig- nification also, which I have not divination to find out. 12. The two doves were hieroglyphic of continency, and were represented to recommend chastity, and mutual and conjugal love. All nations agree in this, and admire the attachment of doves, and their extreme effect 5 on for each other. They might also convey a moral to suppress choler, the dove having none ; and to impose a love of meek ness and good temper in the mind of man. 13. The bears. There is a difficulty in ascertaining the intent of this hieroglyphic* I apprehend it means to imply labour and assiduity, as an Indian opinion prevails, that the cubs come into the world in mishapen parts, and that their eyes, ears, and other members are licked into form by the mother, who passes several days in that anxious and un- ceasing employ : therefore they may have been considered the emblem of labour, \\hich gives beauty and perfection in return for perseverance and toil. 14. The scorpions were calculated to inspire a detestation for malignity and vice. The present race of Indians hold these animals in great disgust. They are well acquainted with their fierce and venomous nature, and heal wounds in- flicted by them by a preparation of their own blood. They might from this circumstance embrace considerable meaning in their hieroglyphic, and more than I here note. 15. The eagle was represented, and is held to this day, as the emblem of a great, noble, and liberal mind. When the Indians speak of a warrior who soars above the multi- tude in person and endowments, they say, " he is like the eagle, who destroys his enemies and gives protection and abundance to the weak of his own tribe." If). The owl must have been set up to deter men from de- ceit and hypocrisy. He cannot endure the light of the sun, nor can hypocrites bear that of truth ai.d sincerity. He may have been the emblem of death and wretchedness, as among the Egyptians, or of victory and prosperity, when in a fly- ing attitude, as among the Greeks : I conceive my first con- clusion, however, to be the most admissible. 17. The quails afford no clue to their hieroglyphic. Pro- bably they denoted the corn season, and pointed out the time for the usage of some particular rites and ceremonies. With the Greeks they were emblematical of impiety, from a ON THE ANTIQUITY OF THE INDIAN DRESS. 235 belief that they enrage and torment themselves when the cres- cent of the new moon first appears. J8. The representations of the large animals were indica- tive of the power and attributes of the Great Spirit. The mammoth might have been emblematical of his greatness, justice, resolution, and mercy ; the tyger of his strength, authority, and capacity of inflicting injuries; the wild boar of his wrath and vengeance ; the sloth of his patience and forbearance, and the non-descript figure of his hidden vir- tues, which they knew themselves incapable to find out. 19. The human figures give a wider range for conjecture than any of the other objects 1 have named. The men may represent chiefs, princes, or warriors, who had made them- selves eminent in the government, in the council, or in the fiold ; or who had manifested lhat bravery of disposition, which contemns the difficulties of the world and sets the dis- graces of fortune at defiance. One fact, however, results from the" costume of the figures, which is of great interest and moment. The dress resembles the Roman, and the figures would be taken for European antiques, were it not for the character and manner of the brads, which resemble those of the Indians of the present time. The dress consists of 1. A carbasus, or rich cloak. 2. A sabucula, or waistcoat, or shirt. 3. A supparum, or breeches open at the knees. 4. Solea, or sandals tied across the toes and heels. 5. Tbehead embraced by a bandeau and crowned with high feathers. 20. What the females w i re meant to represent, is as du- bious as that of the men ; the head dresses have a Grecian cast; the hair encircling the crown and confined by a bod-- kin. The remaining costume is Roman. 1. The .garment called stola, or perhaps the toga pura, flowed from the shoul- ders to the ground. 2. An indusium appeared underneath. 3. The indusium was confined under the breast by a zona or cestus. And 4. sandals in the manner of those of the men. I fear not then to declare my mind and again to. assert, that the Indians possessed habits and manners similar to other nations of antiquity. In common they were the un- sophisticated children of nature. In common they adopted the religion of nature, which is nothing more than the ac- knowledgment of God in his works, and worshipping those objects to which he is pleased to impart the most manifest degree of his character and power. It is not the individual thing itself that is adored, but the attribute of the Supreme Being, which its dispositions and capacity figuratively unfolds. nh 2 236 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. The similitude in Indian and Grecian hieroglyphic is too natural ;o require authority to account for it. All nations have made use of thi?: species of science, and nearly for the same purpose, and after the same manner. There are seve- ral nations distant from eacli oilier on the continent of Asia, whose languages are as different as the Greek and Hebrew, and yet they understand the writings of one another, which cannot be but by certain hieroglyphics, or universal charac- ters, representing the shapes of things known to men of -all nations, and of all tongues. Therefore the hieroglyphics of the Americans not only agree with those of ancient Europe, but bear-a vast resemblance to the symbols made use of by Asian, African, and South-Sea tribes. 1 shall illustrate this subject for you by an historical fact, which proves the existence of hieroglyphics in America upwards of one hun- dred yeais back ; and shews how they were employed in the place of written characters as in former Egypt, Greece, &c. Soon after Canada was invaded by the French, the Iro- quois, ,with whom they had many combats of various suc- cess, etched the following characters on a plane-tree plunk, after the decision of an engagement, and sent it in the nature of a dispatch to their different and distant tribes. 1. The arms of France and a hatchet erect above them. The hatchet being the symbol of war, shewed that the French had tak< ri it from the ground and declared vengeance against them. Round this figure were eighteen characters, each re* presenting the number of ten, which implied that the French TV ere one hundred and eighty strong. 1 2. In a line underneath are designated, a bird in the act of springing from the top of a mountain, which was well de- picted. The mountain denoted Montreal, and the bird, that it was the place from which the Indians took their departure. 3. On the same line are seen a deer with a moon expressed on his back, shewing that they started on the first quarter of the moon in the month of July, called by them the Deer's month. 4. Under this is a canoe and twenty-one dots, which im- ply that they travelled by water one and twenty days. 5. On another line is a man's foot and seven dots, shewing that they marched by land seven days. 6V These are succeeded by a hand and three cabins, to note that they bad arrived within three days' journey of the village of the Isonontonans, which is expressed on the same line by a cabin with a tree at each end, which is the people of that Uibe ; and the sun is represented at the east end of the RESULT OF AN INDIAN COMBAT. 237 cabin, to mark the direction on which they arrived at the village. ' 7. On another line tlie arms of the same people are exhi- bited together, w tli t \velve marks of i'.-f figure of ten, and a man extended in (he act of sta'pinT, which proves ihat tlie village contained one 1'UnJred and iwerify \varriors who \verc taken by surprise, as appears from the man in a recumbent posture, and deprived by sleep of his vigilance and senses. 8. Then follows a 4 tomahawk and eleven -deads, to testify- that eleven were killed : and on the same line are five men. standing on a (i-rue representing ten, indicating that fifty were taken prisoners. 9. In the space of a bow are nine he?\ds, meaning that nine of the agjjr's&orc of the vanquished party were put to deaih, and on the same line are twelve marks, to shew that that number werr' wounded. 10. On a separate space are two flights of arrows opposed to each other in tlie air, which express that both parlies fought with vigour, and met with powerful resistance. 11. The dispatch closes .viih a night of arrows all in one direction, to make known that the enemy were at length put to flight, or beat in disorder and confusion. 12. Recapitulation. One hundred and eighty Iroquois left Montreal the first quarter of the moon in the month of July, and navigated one and twenty days: after which they travelled ten days, and surprised o:-e hundred and twenty Isonontouans ; eleven of whom lost their lives in battle, fifty \vere taken prisoners, nine were put to death as principals, twelve were wounded, and the combat was fought with courage on both sides. From the length of my communications from this cele- brated place, and the extent, of what will probably be call- ed, my idle speculations, you will understand that I got fa- miliarized to the horrors of the vault, to which I have (o add that 1 took up my abode in it. The fact is, I thought but right to unload and overhawl my boat before I reached the Mississippi, and where could I be better accommodated, during that process, than in the cave, where I had abundant space for my baggage, and ample amusement for my leisure hours ? The apprehensions which first seized me soon wore off, though I cannot say my first night's lodging in the rock \vas altogether sound and free from restraint : we held aa alternate watch every two hours, and kept up large fires to preserve ourselves from reptiles and beasts. Nor can I say ihat we were comfortable; the place was too immense, and too 238 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. much connected with tragical events, to allow the mind to sink into indifference, or to relax into that disengaged state which alone is favourableto comfort and tranquil happiness. The days past more equal and serene. In the morning I fish for my breakfast; before dinner I amuse myself in a ramble with my gun, and the evening is devoted to writing, and visiting the works of my servants. I must not leave this without giving you an opportunity of participating a pleasure of a very grateful nature whicb this desolate place has but just now afforded me. 1 descended the river this morning (Sunday) about a mile, to explore a spot which presented indications of lead ore. I succeeded in discovering a very fine vein, and was returning with a specimen, when my steps and attention were arrested by the sudden and extraordinary sound of church- music at one time swelling in the breezy and at another dying on tin? stream. I stood in the attitude of one doubting the exist- ence of a fact, and falling into the belief of genie and en- chanted ground. It was a mystery I could by no means solve, and 1 advanced agitated with contending ideas of su- pernatural agency, and of the moral and ordinary laws of the world, which deny encouragement to absurdity and cer- tain impossibilities. As I approached, the sound designed an anthem, swelled to a great pitch by numerous voices. Filled with awe and reverence, I hastened to the month of the cave whence the divine melody issued, and entered it at the moment that a devout multitude were casting them- selves on their knees, and supplicating for the mercy and protection of a great and benevolent Providence. Without wasting a time so precious in frigid speculations of so sub- lime a spectacle, 1 followed the bright example ; nay more, I prostrated myself in the dust, poured out an effusion of praise to God, and implored him aloud to accept in this splendid tabernacle built by his own hands, the only tribute 1 had to offer, not the words from my lips, but the blood which emotion ejaculated from my heart, and the tears which gratitude impelled from my eyes. Hurried away by fervid and holy passions, I never perceived thai my instan- taneous worship had no relation to the general service of the place. The congregation indulged me in so sacred an error. They were silent, and remained so till I recovered serenity, and cast off my surprise. They then continued, and final- ly concluded their devotion with an excellent prayer, and sound though simple discourse 1 . I have to tell you, that the congregation which caused me so much astonishment and SINGULAR HURRICANE. 239 reverential delight, was composed of about forty religious families who have lately formed a settlement a few miles back, and v.ho have chosen the cave as their place of wor- ship. I had known nothing of this, therefore my delusion was at once grand and enthusiastic. On casting my eye over what I have just written, I find I have given you a very faint idea of the impression made on me on first hearing the sacred hymn. At 'times the sounds were wafted in their full quire of melody to the ear, and again, melting like tlie notes of the Eolian harp, they reached it in tremulous, and almost imperceptible vibration. There was a transport in the mysterious and simple music, of which I did not con- ceive myself susceptible. It touched the most sympathetic chord of my heart, and awakened recollection the most sub- lime and beautiful. LETTER XXXIII. Hurricane Island A violent Hurricane Cumberland Ri-cer The Tcnessce State Its Produce, Commerce, $c. Indian Tribes Tenessee River The Whirl Shaw aw ee Village, an Indian Settlement Its Inhabi- tants Interesting Characteristics and Habits Indian Gallantries So??g of Logan Shawanee Practice of Physic Jugglers Various Customs Marriage and Divorce Other Habits and Trails of the Shawanee Character. Shaw anee Village, River Ohio, Sept. 1806. 1 HAVE at length left the cave. Three miles below is Hurricane Island, notorious for hav- ing been the place of residence of a party of Wilson's gang. It was chosen for that purpose from this circumstance: in consequence of the contraction of the river, the current runs V/ith great force : I calculated at six miles an hour. The island is clothed with fine trees, and the opposite banks arc level, and capable of high cultivation. But since I left the village of Henderson, I have not seen twenty settlements, and I understand the last three hundred miles have been little more than an uninterrupted wilderness. The river also is more dangerous than above. It abounds in sand bavs, and is subject to violent and tempestuous winds. 'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. On leaving the island I was struck by an hurricane* which came so unexpectedly that I had not time to pull in shore, it rushed up the river, and raised a sea in which all our art was required to preserve us from foundering. When the boat was first stni; M slie backed against the body of the current, and remain* a few moments in the situation of a ship that had missed her stays. The water began to bear her down. 1 clapt the helm about, and succeeded in put- ting her head up stream, whither she went with as much velocity as I ever knew her descend: My situation was still perilous, and was rendered more so by the storm which sud- denly chopped round, and made it necessary for me again to put about in a dangerous channel, and amidst contending waves. This done, I made an effort to gain the windward shore, which I soon found a very rash attempt. The hurri- cane tore the trees up by the roots, or laid them prostrate with dreadful force in the water ; the smallest touch of one of which would have sent my boat to the bottom. Hearing the tremendous noise of the falling woods, 1 had to keep the open river, bale out the water I had taken in, and keep steady in the suck of the current. When the storm abated, and the river fell, you can hardly conceive the elating effect it had on me. 1 profited by a gentle breeze, into which the tempest subsided, and ran without intermission for sixteen hours. That time brought me to the mouth of Cumberland river, into which I put to repair my damages. Cumberland, or Shawanee river, intersects the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina, sixty miles from the Mississippi, and again one hundred and ninety-eight miles from the same river a little above the entrance of Obey's ri- ver into Cumberland. Jts clear fork crosses the same boun- dary about three hundred miles from the Mississippi. Cum- berland is a very gentle stream; navigable for loaded ba- teaux for eight hundred miles without interruption ; then intervene some rapids of fifteen miles in length, after which it is again navigable for seventy miles upwards, which is within two miles of trfe great Cumberland mountains. Jt is about one hundred and twenty yards wide through its whole course. This river waters the country called Tenessee, ly- ing to the south of Kentuckey, and has on its banks the principal towns of that state. The Tenessee state bears a very high character. It is bounded north by Kentuckey and part of Virginia ; east by Korth Carolina ; south by South Carolina and Georgia ; and west by the Mississippi. The climate is very tempe- PRESENT STATE OF THE CIIEROKEES. rate, '-and said not to be unhealthy. It is watered by seve* navigable rivers, the Cumberland and Tenessee, which emp- ty into the Ohio ; and the Wolf, Hatch ie, Deer, Obion, and Reelfoot, which empty into the Mississippi. The Cumberland, or great laurel ridge of mountains, is the most stupendous pile in the United States. It abounds \vith gin- seng and physical plants, and contains sloun coal in a vast abundance. A few years since Tenessee abounded with herds of wilcj cattle and buffaloes. Elk are still seen in some places, chiefly among the mountains. The deer are become compa- ratively scarce. Bears and wolves yet remain, beavers and otters are caught on the upper branches of all the rivers. The mammoth, that stujiendous animal., formerly inha- bited the Tenessee : his remains are often found. Very valuable articles are exported from the state. Fine waggon and saddle horses, beef, cattle, ginseng, deer skins and furs, cotton, hemp and (lax ; also iron, timber, porkj and flour. The state government have very judiciously erected pub- lic schools and places of worship in the principal towns, and from all accounts the country is likely to prosper and flourish. There are still two Indian tribes within and in the vicini- ty of the state: they are the Chcrokees and Chickasaws. The Cherokees have been a warlike and numerous nation ; but by continual wars in which they have been engaged with the northern Indian tribes, they are now reduced, and be- come dejected and pusillanimous. The Chickasaws, of all the Indian tribes within the limits of the United States, merit the most from Americans, hav- ing at all times maintained a friendship toward* them. They glory in saying that they never shed the blood of an Anglo-American. There is so great an affinity between the Chickasaw and the Choetaw language, that the people can converse together, each speaking his own dialect. They are a personable race of men, and have an openness in their countenance and behaviour uncommon among savages. These nations say, they are a remnant of a great nation that once lived far to the west, which was discharged by the Spaniards, for whom they stdl retain an hereditary hatred. The banks of the Tenessee for more than two hundred miles up are nothing more than a wilderness; they are-sub* ject to inundation, which forms an atmosphere unfavourable to health. I had no temptation to tarry 10 such situation,. ASHE.] I 1 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMEHICA. and dropped down to the mouth of the Tencssee riyer, which is but twelve miles to that of the Cumberland. Per? haps the world does not afford a similar fact, that of thre rivers, one thousand miles each in length, and separated one thousand miles each at their source, conjoin within th$ space of a few miles. The Tenessee river, called also the Cherokee's, is the targ ? est tributary of the Ohio. Jt rises in the mountains of Vir? ginia, and pursues a course of more than one thousan4 miles, south and south-west, receiving from both sides a number of large and navigable streams. Jt then turns to the north, in a circuitous course, and mingles with the Ohio about sixty miles from its mouth. From its entrance into the Ohio, to the muscle shoals, two hundred and fifty miles, its current is very gentle, and the river deep enough pn. all occasions for the largest row-boats. The muscle shoals are about twenty miles in length. At this place the Driver spreads to the width of three miles, forms a number of islands, and is of very Difficult passage. From these shoals to the whirl or suck, the place where the river breaks through the great ridge of Cumberland mountains, is twq hundred and fifty miles; the navigatipn all the way is ex? fcellent for boats of forty or fifty tons. The whirlpool or whirl, as it is called, is reckoned a great curiosity. The river, which a few miles above is half e mile wide, is here compressed within one hundred yards. Just as it enters the mountain a large rock projects from the Northern shore, in an oblique direction, which renders the feed of the river still narrower, and causes a sudden bend ; the water of the river is of course thrown with great rapidity tigainst the southern shore, whence it rebounds around the point of the rock, and produces the whirl, which is about eighty yards in circumference. Canoes have been often car- tied into the whirl, and escaped by the dexterity of the row- ers without damage. But several boats not so readily work* ed, have been sucked in and lost beyond redemption, or vo- mited up in the wreck together with trees and stumps about ft mile below. It is avoided by keeping close to the bank on the south side. There are but a few miles portage be- tween a navigable branch of this river and the waters of the Mobile, which runs into the Gulph of Mexico. This river is subject to inundations. I quitted its mouth in haste to avoi$ vermin and putrid exhalations from ponds, swamps, find mud, exposed to the action of the sun, on the subsid* of the waters. CHARACTER OF THE NATIVES. After leaving the Tenessec, a short day's run brought me abreast of the Shawanee village, mentioned in a former letter from the mouth of the Great Kenlmway. My boat was quickly surrounded by canoes, containing men, women, and children. The village, consisting of about thirty huts, stood in a beautiful bend of the river, and commanded a delightful view of great extent. I put to shore with a view of passing the night with the real proprietors of the soil of America, My determination gave the natives great satisfaction ; many of them jumped into my boat, and worked her to land in a few minutes. Their behaviour was very orderly, even marked with studious propriety and cor- rect manners. I was affected notwithstanding, to perceive that their only motive for approaching me was to beg or purchase whiskey. Finding that I had none, they went off to their different pursuits, and left me to my own medita- tions. I walked about the village unnoticed, and contem- ptated the scene before me without any kind of molestation/ The evening was fine, the situation rural, and the inhabi- tants employed ; their men in repairing canoes and fishing tackle, their women in preparing supper, and making mo- casons, and the children in exercising their bows and ar- rows, and dancing in groups under the shadow of the neighbouring trees. All these occupations and amusements were carried on out of doors, and in a manner as simple and artificial as before the introduction of European wares. They remain to this day the same primitive people, and are in no measure altered, except in the vices they have acquired in trading with us, and a passion for drink which acknow- ledges no bounds or moderation. It would have been diffi- cult to contemplate this ruin of the Shawanee nation, with- out contrasting their present with their former situation. A few years back they consisted of several thousand souls, and possessed an extent of territory of one hundred square miles. They were famous in battle, and often drove the Americans to the Alleghany hills. They were the first nation who raised the hatchet, and the last who buried it with bleeding; reluctance in the ground. And what is now (heir history ? The whole nation has passed a way as the effusion of the snow* It has wasted down to about thirty families, who live on the bounty of their invaders, and on a spot of land limited to a certain extent. This melancholy fact leads to another reflection. Forty years ago it was ascertained that four million Indians inhabited the banks of the Ohio and her tributary streams. The sword, the 'small pox, and the poi- son of ardent spirits, have wasted them down to about two ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. thousand, who live in places allotted oth sexes sit on the ground. The Kouses are constructed of logs, and have more of the Ameri- can than the Indian taste. They keep out the elements, but *re not comfortable or cleanly. The diet consists of roast und boiled mefats, soups and iish of various sorts. I could itot discover that they employed, either salt or spices in their dishes. They are very healthy, and are exempt from many diseases afflicting those who use salt and spices immoderate- ly. They are never troubled with the palsy, dropsy, gout s asthma, gravel, or stone. There were two men at least ninety years old among them. It is common for the old and infirm to retire from their tribe, and liberate life with their own hands. The entire village supped together at the same time. The prelude to it was a dance of an hour. The dancers chatint- ing singly their own exploits, and jointly those of their, an- cestors. Those who did not dance sat round in a circle, and marked each cadence with a tone resembling he he he*".. Immediately after supper, dancing was renewed, and conti- nued till a late hour, with infinite festivity arid good hu- mour. On descending to the river side after my evening's amuse- ment, 1 was very agreeably surprised by some Indian boys playing on reeds at a distance. They were delightfully ivild and liiramonic, and plaintive to an affecting degree. Nor \v,".s this, music played in vain. It was for the pur- pose of seducing the young women out of the village, and SINGULAR MODE OF GALLANTRY. * * 'A of giving their favourites an opportunity of telling their loves in the silence of the woods, or on the borders of the murmuring stream. On the subject of love no persons have been less understood than the Indians. It is said of them that they have no affection, and that the intercourse of the sexes is sustained by a brutal passion, remote from tender- ness and sensibility. This is one of the many gross errors which have been propagated to calumniate the^e innocent people ; and it has arisen from its being remarked by all ob- servers, that no expressions of endearment or tenderness ever escape the Indian sexes towards each other. They have been always seen to maintain a rigid distance, and to be. equally strangers to love and amity. But these observers ought to have known that such reserve is only practised in the day time, and that, in compliance with a political and religious law, which stigmatizes youth wasting theirtime in female dalliance, except when covered with the veil of night and beyond the pry ing eye of man. In consequence of this law, gallantry is strictly avoided during the day time. And were a young savage to tell his mistress before the sun was yet set, that he loved her better than he did its light, ehe would run from- or look upon him. with disdain. For my part, 1 never saw gallantry conducted with much more mystery or refinement," than l"did , during my stay with the Shawanee nation. I returned to the village, where I found all the fires put out, and every object under the shadow of night and myste- ry. I went to the tent of .Vdario, the chief of the tribe, with whom I had much previous conversation, and took him through the settlement to acquire some further know- ledge of its interesting inhabitants. \Ve had gone but a few steps when wo perceived an Indian with a lighted calu- met in his hand. I learned from Adario that he was going a calumeting ; that is, a practice of gallantry among the Indians. To comprehend it well, vou must know that as the savages have no distinction of property, superiority, or subordination, they live on a footing of equality,, and with- out the fear of thieves or of cnnrity from one another. Con- sequently they Wve their doors open day and night, and fear no interruption whatever* The lover takes ad vantage of tin's liberty ; lights his calumet, enters the cabin of his mistress, and gently presents it to her. If she extinguishes it, she a '">ts him to her anus; but if she suffers ii to burn unnoiuvd he sf Indian gratitude. KkS LETTER XX.XIW fort^-The ComtnandtwCs successful Means of ctntinp Disease Entrance of Ike Mississippi-^-A Vitwof that immense A'irer $t. ( 7iarlcs 9 Hon-howme^ and Neio Versailles Villages Osage, KCIKOUS, and other Indian Nations Kttsltasfcia JR-fc-er and Tozcn Kaholia VillagerIllinois Hfcer -Other Rivers joining the Mississippi. Mouth of the Okh, Sept. 1806. A FEW hcmii after I left tin? Shawanee village I ar- rived at Massae, a fort garrisoned by a .company of regu- lars of the United States, ami commanded by a captain, from whom 1 received much attention and intelligence. Massar stands on a high bank in the bend of the river, and commands a .very extensive view of hill, dale, and water. It is composed of about twenty houses, the offices, dwelling, and this soldiers' barracks, which give it a novel appear- ance. Some years a^o Massae was as nnhealt?>y as the worst island in the West Indies, the garrison perished for several successive seasons, and the reputation of the place became so bad that (he soldiers deserted, and officers threw up their commissions, when ordered on its service/- Now out of one hundred men there are but seven on the doctor's list, and only twenty tyave died within thre^ years, A circumstance so uncommon excited all my curiosity, and brought me to the knowledge of a fact, that the unwholesomenessof Ame* rica is .to be attributed to local causes, and not to a delete- rious climate. "When captain R., a philosopher and a man of science, came to fort Massae about three years ago, be took a view of (he vicinity of the town, and sought the principles of that malignant disease which had been so destructive to all who ,bad before garrisoned the fort. He soon discovered that the back of the town was subject to inundation, and that a chain of ponds received the waters of the flush, and retained them till exhausted by evaporation, a gradual process effected principally by the action of a burning sun ? water stagnated, or drawn into the atmosphere iu a state * ACCOUNT OF M'ASSAE. 255 sufficient to 'impregnate it with foetid smells, and fatal poi- son. Having satisfied himself of these causes of the pre* vailing disorders of the fort, ca plain. It. resolutely resolved to remove them. With (his intent he employed the whole of his garrison in opening cosnmuriicat ions between one pond and another, and in making canals to the ponds both from the -upper and lower part of the river. The first spring flush entered by the upper channel, passed like a mill-course through the ponds, and as the water subsided, carried all their foul and putrid contents through the lower channel into the river. The following season saw this la- bour crowned with the happiest success ; the vernal fever was suppressed, the summer flux was gone, and the autiim- nal vomit and haemorrhage entirely disappeared. Nothing remained but the com plaints common to all parts of the ri- ver ; such iiitenmUi'iils, pleurisies, and aspeciesof slow dis- ease which consumesthc body, extinguishes the natural heat of the blood, and changes t lie complexion into a livid pale. The particular regulations which captain H. sees observ- ed in the garrison, contribute much to the preservation of its health. The consumption of whiskey is limited, clean- liness is insisted on, and industry rewarded : the men em- ployed according to their original professions, and paid ten- , pence txrr day over and above their pay as soldiers of the United States. .As ihe gentlemen are fond of sport, they find much amusement in the adjacent country, which abounds with game of every sort. The fishing is also good immediately tinder the battery, Nor is sporting a mere act of pastime but of necessity. The garrison b ing furnished by govern- ment with nothing more than rations of bread ami salt pork, is compelled to seek for fresh provisions in the woods, or to procure them from fndians in exchange for spirits, powder, and toys. The Indians are a few Illinois settled in the rear of the fort. There are about twenty American plantations around Massae, who furnish the inhabitants with corn, poultry, and hogs, and at a much dearer rate than I have as yet heard on the river Iwmks. This is owing to there being such few settle- ments, and also to the number of boats which put in for re- freshment, causing a greater demand than the supply can at all times meet. I left Massae with the sentiments which ought ever to oe- cupy the mind of a stranger, after experiencing a generous and courteous reception from persons OD whose hos pita lifj 2M ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. and kindness he had no manner of claim, and gained tfrn? position in a short day's run of twenty-five miles, which afforded me no matter fit to advance your information or en tertainment. I had to be sure to observe that the river in- creased in width and beauty, and that the current, though entirely contrary to my expectations, became so sluggish y that 1 was forced to have recourse to my oars to make any kind of way. On approach riig within a few miles of the Louisiana shore I discovered this strange effect : it was the Mississippi, which in awful grandeur crossed the mouth jpf the Ohio, and backed the water up against the stream. The contention of the floods, .the dreadful accounts I had heard of the navigation of the Mississippi, the magnificence of the objects around me, and the general impression, cre- ated an inexpressible sensation of a view of nature on a scale of such sublimity, diversity, and magnitude. Under these influences I lay by here under the point of land formed by the intersection of the two rivers, and sprang ashore on the right bank of the Ohio. *"" No river in the world can vie with the Mississippi fo? 1 jraagnificence and utility. Its source is ascertained tot>e three thousand miles from the sea, following its windings. From nearly opposite the Illinois river, the western bank of the Mississippi is generally higher than the eastern. From Miner-a-fu to the Ibcrville, the eastern is the highest. It is so remarkably crooked, that from the mouth of the Ohio to New Orleans, in a direct line, which does not exceed six hundred miles, the distance/ by water is more than one thou- sand miles. Jn common seasons it generally affords fifteen feet of water from the mouth of the Messauri to that of the Ohio. In time of flushes a first rate man of war may de- scend with safety. The mean velocity of its current may be computed to be four miles an hour. Its length is various, from one and a half to two miles. Its mouth is divided into ;;3veral channels, which continually change their direction and depth, Front the mouth of the Ohio to that of the Messanri is two hundred and thirty miles by water, and one hundred and forty by land. The Mississippi below the Messauri is always muddy. The current is so rapid, that it never can be stem- med by the force of the wind alone acting on sails. A bateaux passes from the mouth of the Ohio to the month of the Mis- sissippi in three weeks, and takes three months to return, with the help of the wind and the constant labour of sixteen oars, During its floods, which are as periodical as those of the DESCRIPTION OF THE MESSAURI. 255 Nile, the largest vessels may descend. The inundations extend farther, and rather on the western than on- the eastern side, covering the lands in some places for more than one hundred miles from its banks. These floods begin in April, and do not entirely subside till the end of August- Above the mouth of the Messauri, the Mississippi is as clear and gentle as the Ohio, and nearly as wide: the period of hs Jloods are nearly the\same, but not rising to so great a height. The Mississippi yields turtle of a peculiar sort, perch, trout, gar, pike, mullets, herrings, carp, spatula, a fish, of fifty-six pounds weight, cat-fish of one hundred pound weight, bu fl'alo fish and sturgeon. Alligators abound, and 'have been seen as high up as the Acanas. It also has a pro- digious quantity of herons, cranes, ducks, brants, geese, swans, and water-pelicaus swimming on its surface, and breeding in its vicinity. The Messauri is in fact the principal river, contributing more to the common stream than does the Mississippi, even after its junction with the Illinois. It is remarkably cold, muddy, and rapid. Its overflowings are considerable. They happen during the months of June and July. Six miles above the mouth it is brought to the compass of a quar- ter of a mile's width, and yet is navigable two thousand jniles upwards. It heads far westward of the Rio Norte. The mouth of the Ohio from Santa Fe on the river Norte, is one thousand miles. From Santa Fe to its mouth in the Gulph of Mexico is one thousand two hundred miles. The road from New Orleans to Mexico, the Rio Norte at a post called by the same name, eight hundred miles below Santa Fe : and from this post to New Orleans is about one thousand two hundred miles ; this making two thousand miles between Santa Feand New Orleans, passing down the North River, Red River, and Mississippi ; whereas it is two thousand two hundred and thirty miles through the Messauri and Mississip- pi. From the same port ot Rio Norte, passing near the mines of La Sierra and Larguana, which are between the north river and the rivtr Salina, is three hundred and seventy-five miles ; and thence passing the mines of Charsas, Zaccatieas, and Pofosi, to the city of Mexico, is three hmuircd and se- venty-five miles more, making in all one thousand five hun- dred and fifty from Santa Fe to the city of Mexico. From New Orleans to the city of Mexico is then about one thou- sand nine hundred and fifty miles: the roads, after setting- put from the Red River, near Natch itoches, are generally 3C A811L*5* TRAVELS IK AMERICA. parallel with the const, and about two hundred miles from it, till it enters the city oi' Mexico. Thirty miles up, and on the north side of theMvssauri, is a village called St. Charles. It is or' a tolerable size, ami the principal trade is with the Indians. About eight miles above (Jjis, the village and settlement of .Bon homine opens to view ; twenty-six miles farther up is the village of New Versailles; and about seven hundred and fifty miles above, a little oil from the- river, is the Grand vSors, a principal In- dian trading town. The Osage nation of Indians reside on the banks of a river of the same name, eighty leagues from where it enters the Messauri on the right. They consist of about one thousand warriors of a gigantic stature, being seldom under six feet, and frequently between six and seven in height. They are accused of being a cruel and ferocious race, and are fear- ed and hated by all the other Indian tribes. From the mouth of the jVlcbsaurj to thai of the Osage river is computed at eighty leagues. The river Knnous empties in about sixty leagues farther up on the same side, and eighty leagues up it reside the Kauous nation, consisting of about three hundred warriors. Sixty leagues above the Kanous, and (wo hundred from the mouth of the Messauri, stiil on the right bank, is the Itivierc Platte, or Shallow Kiver, remarkable for its quick-sands ; near its confluence dwell the Octatodas, a nation of Indian* of about two hundred warriors. Forty leagues up Riviere Platte, and far distant from Santa Fc, is a nation of Indians called Panis, in number about seven hundred warriors, who reside in four villages, hunt but little, and seem disposed to follow agricultural pursuits. The villages of the M oh os nation are three hundred leagues from the Mississippi, and one hundred from the LtivieTfC Platte. Tiiis nation consisted, in 1791, of five hundred warriors : 1 am now- informed that the small pox has almost entirely cut them off. The Paucas nation (hvcll about fifty leagues above the Mohos Indians, on the* left bank of the iMes&auri, in num>>cr near two hundred warriors. About four hundred and fifty leagues from the Mississippi, on ihe right bank of the Mes- sauri, reside the Aricaras irifion, to the number of seven Lund red warriors. This nation is friendly towards the whites ; its members have been continual victims of the Sioux and M'andawessees, who, being, belter provided with fire- Sinus thai* themselves, have always taken advantage of the PRODUCTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS. 257 helpless situation of the friends of white men, and murdered them on all occasions without mercy. Farther up the Mrssnnri there are many other nations of Indians; the Mandan, Cahego, &c of whom very little is as yet known, either of their numbers, manners, or customs. But the Manduessees, who frequent the country between the north bank of the Messauri and Mississippi, 4ake every me- thod to prevent all communication bet ween the nations high- er up and those below them ; and when this is attempted they massacre all who fall into thrir hands. Kaskaskias river enters on the east side thirty miles above, and the town of Kaskaskia is situated six miles up it in a beautiful plain. At present many of the buildings arestand- ' ing vacant, and the place has a dreary and forsaken appear- ance. It was settled more than one hundred years ago by emigrants from Lower Canada. Sixty miles farther up is the village of Kahokia, situated at the mouth of a river of the same name. It is a consider? able and pleasant place, and courts of justice are held there for that part of the Indiana territory. Seventeen miles above on the west side is the Messauri^ and twenty miles above the Messauri on the east or right hand side, the Illinois river enters. Up the Illinois are coal mines and salt ponds, a stone called fliche, from which the Indians make their flints and arrow points ; and on the high banks of the river, one hundred and ninety miles up, are red and white cedar and pine trees ; and it is said that an alum hill is on a branch emptying into it, called Mine river, about two hundred and twenty miles up. Mulberry trees are there large and numerous ; indigo has been raised with success, and tobacco, hemp, and flax can be cultivated with little labour. The sugar maple grows to great perfection. Fruit trees of all kinds succeed admirably, and dying and medicinal plants every where abound. About one hundred and sixty miles above the Illinois, Riviere a la Roche empties itself into the Mississippi, on the same side as the Illinois. Farther up, two hundred and ten miles. Riviere a la Mene enters, and is navigable for fifty niiKs. Ouiconson river is one hundred and twenty miles above, navigable near two hundred miles. Black river empties in further up, one hundred and fifty miles, and is navigable one hundred miles. Buffalo river flows in sixty. five- miles above; navigable near one hundred miles. ASHE.J L I 258 Sotaux river is fifteen miles above; navigable eightj miles. St. Croix river, with numerous lakes, sixty miles; these are navigable nearly two hundred miles. The above rivers all enter the Mississippi on the east or right hand side. From the mouth of St. Croix to the falls of St. Anthony is about ninety miles. These falls are in latitude 45 N. and from the mouth of the Mississippi are two thousand two hun- dred and eighty miles. Boats may pass over these falls in safety in high water, but when the water is low they are very dangerous. Above the falls are numerous small lakes which communicate with each other; and into a principal one on flie N. W. side empties the Blue river, which is very con- siderable, and has been navigated by French traders three hundred miles up ; so that the Mississippi, in fact, loses its name at the falls of St. Anthony, and from thence north- ward takes the name of the Blue river. Admitting that the Mississippi still retains its name above the falls, it is said to take its source in the White Bear Lake, in lat. 48. J5. long. 23. 17. west. LETTER XXXV. Louisiana Its History Progress through the Country Cape Farida -Hopple Creek St+ Genevieve Lead- Mines St. Louis Town The Valley of Bones Con- fluence of the Messauri and Mississippi. St. Louis, Upper Louisiana, September, 1806. ON landing on the Louisiana or west side of the Mis- sissippi, for the first time I felt a very proud and pleasing emotion. I had successfully explored a vast extent of country, and I then arrived in one to me more perfectly new than any other, and consequently more interesting. The country east and west of the Mississippi was called Florida, by Sebastian Cabot, who visited that part of America, by order of Henry VII. of England, about the year 1497. John Pontio de Leon , a Spaniard, arrived on the coast, anno 1512, attempted a settlement, and erected a small fort. HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. The subjects of Charles X. of France, seem to have made several attempts to settle in the country, but were always defeated by the Spaniards, until the year 1684, when M. do la Sale discovered the mouth of the Mississippi, and built on the bay a fort which he called Fort Louis. The founder having been assassinated, the fort was abandoned, until auno 1698, when captain Iberville penetrated up the Mississippi, and, having planted a few settlers, called the country Loui- siana. Until thrs time the Spaniards had a few forts on the coast, of which Pensacola seems to have been the principal ; fourteen .leagues east of the Isle of Dauphin. About the year 1720, M. la Sueur navigated the river seven hundred and sixty leagues up, and asserted that he had not arrived at its source. From that time it remained in the hands of France, whose monarchs made several grants to its- traders," in particular to M. Crossat, in 1712, and some years after to the well known projector, M. Law, \vho relinquished it in 1731. By a secret convention, 3d. of November, 1762, the French government ceded so much of the province of Loui- siana as li( j s beyond the Mississippi, as well as the island of New Orleans, to Spain. In 1763, it was ceded by France and Spain to Great Bri- tain, from whom it was conquered by Spain during the American revolutionary war, and confirmed to Spain by treaty, 1783. By the treaty of St. Ildefonso, 1st October, 1800, which was confirmed by that of Madrid, of the 21st March, 1801, the whole province was ceded by Spain to France, and from France it passed by treaty and sale to the Ameri- can Government, who took possession of it 011 the 20th of December, 1803. It now goes by the name of the Upper and Lower Loui- siana ; St. Louis being the chief town of the former, and New Orleans that of the latter province. Each has a go- vernor residing in the respective principal places, and the laws and administrations are changed from the Spanish to the American. The eastern boundary is the Mississippi, the western is not ascertained. The southern is the Gulph of Mexico, and the northern is the country of Hudson's, Bay and the Lakes. I no sooner landed on the Louisiana shore, than I made for the onlv house I could perceive in. sight. I reached it 260 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. in a few minutes, and was very courteously received by dori Castro, the proprietor. He also keeps a ta>veni, or house of entertainment, as it is called, adjoining Ins own dwelling, and furnishes travel- lers, merchants, and boat men, with every accommodation during their stay, and with the provisions, &c. When Louisiana belonged to the king of Spain, the Spanish cultivators valued their improved lands at from twenty to one hundred dollars per acre. Now that it apper- tains to the United States, they offer the same settlements for one dollar per acre: in many instances for a quarter of a dollar, and some families of a high sense of honour and ria* ticnal pride, abandon their possessions and go into Mexico without receiving any benefit from their former pursuits, or the many years they consumed in the application and toil attending agricultural improvement. I passed but one night at don Castro's. In the morning lie provided me with a guide and horses for myself and ser- vant. I departed very early, as it was my intention to reach Cape Jarido, a distance of forty-five miles, by night* I found the country very much broken, hilly, and so thick of wood, that the prospect was every where intercepted. After a toilsome ride, and an indifferent accommodation during the night at a Louisiana inn, on turning out with the sun in the morning, I discovered Cape Jarido to be a small settlement inhabited by a few French Canadians. Se- veral Spanish families resided in it a few years ago ; they abandoned it when it became subject to the laws of the American government. J pursued my journey, and arrived at H apple Creek, twenty^fjve miles from Jarido^ in time for dinner. The country through wUich I passed was hilly, wooded, and un- inhabited. Happlc Creek is also a small French settlement. The inhabitants, as well as those of Jarido, live in the manner of Indians, that is, by hunting, and in bartering the furs for powder, ball, arms, blankets, and spirits. They cultivate very little ground, and build houses which are neither wind nor water-proof. On the same afternoon I rode fifteen miles farther dn, and stopped at the house of an Arcadian for the night. I found him a plain hospitable man. He was a Scotchman by birth, a Frenchman by education, a Spaniard by adoption, and an American par force. Hig name originally was Gordon, but having served in the army of Spain, Ms comrades conferred on him, according to their DESCRIPTION OF ST. GENEVIEYE. 261 practice, a nomme de guerre^ since when lie lias been known, as don Gordano. The evening of the clay I left don Gordano's I arrived at St. Genevieve ; and vvliat was very interesting, I heard the bells of the catholic church ring for vespers, long before I entered the town. I did not wander from the peal, but rode on with speed and animation, and put up at an inn which had strong in- dication of comfort. J was by no means disappointed : the landlord, a lively Frenchman, looked after my horses, and his wife made me a cup of coffee with as much perfection as J ever drank il at the Palais Roy ale, or at the root of Pont Neuf. After which 1 lounged through the village, and chatted en passant with the inhabitants, who were all in groups outside their doors : the women at work, the chil- dren at play, and the men performing music, singing songs, or telling stories. It needed but a coup d'ceil to discover in this the vestige of Spanish customs. A little more observa- tion soon convinced me of the justice of (he conjecture. St. Genevieve was once principally inhabited by Spaniards ; a disgust to an American connection has driven them nearly all. off ; but their manners and habits remain with the French settlers who originally resided among them. Hence I have heard theguittar resound soon after sun-set, with the complaints and 'amorous tales of the village swains, and heard the same hand which toiled all day in the wilderness and in the waste, strike the tender notes of love in the even- ing. The custom seemed to pervade all ranks. Nearly every house had its group, and every group its guittar, fidler, story-teller, or singer* As the evening advanced and the heat diminished, walking commenced, and towards mid- night the music of the village united, the little world crowd- ed to the spot, and danced with infinite gaiety and mirth till past one in the morning. The waltz had most votaries ; the pas de deux next, and the fandango was the favourite of the few remain ing Spaniards of the village. St. Genevieve stands on the west bank of the river, is formed of about sixty neat low houses, and contains about four hundred souls. The present population principally consists of Canadian, French, and Anglo-Americans. There are three public buildings, a church, federal court, and market-house. The church is a Spanish structure de- corated and improved by the French. At the upper end there is a beautiful altar, the fronton of which is brass, gilt ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. aud enriched in mediC'rclievo, representing ied on the view from a very favourable point. In the dis<-u)ce the principal Bluff forms a noble object. Its front is s'.a'/iry and broken, and the interstices of soil are filled \vit-i trees and shrubs. On its siruaiit stands a lonely \v-jfcii-l -w.r ; on its brow tin* garrison and fort mounted .with guns. Tlic garden* and improvements are elevated 270 ASHE'S TRAVELS iw AMERICA. and extensive ; and the offices and commissioners* building* add greatly to the general effect. You may not conceive highly of a view of this nature, but I can assure you, after a long and dreary voyage, it has charms for the mind which cannot be described. In compliment to me, the governor invited all the gentle- men of the establishment to dine ; and a very sumptuous dinner we had ; it consisted of fish, venison, squirrels, and bear's meat, with a profusion of wine and dessert of Illi- nois nuts, a forest fruit. It was one in the morning before we parted. Some of the party reposed under the i able an, hour before : for my part, the dangers and fatigues I had gone through made me too dull to get drunk ; at least I could not have been so, or I would have broken my neck in scrambling down one hundred and fifty feet of a steep de- clivity which led to roy boat, in which I lay till roused by the garrison reveille in the morning. There having been no, ladies at dinner the day before, I naturally concluded there were none at the fort. I was de- ceived. On going to breakfast, by appointment, with the governor, I was introduced to his daughter, a very interest- ing and fine girl of sixteen years of age. She had lost her mother a twelvemonth before ; and was left in so desolate a place without a single friend or companion of her own sex to mitigate her sufferings created by so irreparable a loss. These unhappy circumstances have given her countenance an ex- pression of sorrow and modest confusion, which moves the heart of every beholder. 1 was much pleased to discover from her conversation, which was luminous and elegant, that her father takes great pains to improve and cultivate her mind. She has read much, and, I fear, of books which excite more refinement and sensibility than are necessary for the kind of world in which she is destined to live. When the discourse turned on the virtues and decease of her mother, her fine eyes filled with tears and she silently left the hall. The father and J soon followed, and found her reclining on a little mausoleum* erected on a tumulus of earth, planted with cypress and yew trees. " This," said the father, " is the work of her own hands : the poor girl's mother lies buried here, and we often visit it when disposed to sorrow, or when events bring her strongly to our recollection." I respected such an evidence of affliction and tenderness to<* inuch to give it interruption ; and, therefore, turned through the garden, and made preparations to depart. lu a short EXTRAORDINART HURRICANE. 271 time I took a friendly leave of the gentlemen of the garrison, _and pursued my voyage, much pleased and refreshed by my stay at the fort. 1 had not passed some islands which lie immediately below the Blviffs ten minutes, betore very strong demonstrations of a hutricane appeared. The wind sud- denly died away ; the sun assumed a deep red, and glowed with unusual fury ; the atmosphere was sensibly discompos- ed ; the spring of the air relaxed to cause a difliculty of breathing ; and Nature reposed in a calm, in order to gather strength for some intended work of desolation and ruin. 1 benefited by the fortunate interval, and pulled into the eastern shore, where I secured my boat, and waited, with deep emotion, the event of the approaching storm. A small cloud announced its intention of coming from the west. That cloud soon dilated its volume to an immense expanse, and moved with astonishing velocity towards me. The noise it made in the woods was like that of the sea in its utmost rage; and the havoc it made was dreadful. The beasts of the forest rushed howling to the water's edge; and the birds flew agitated and screaming over it. The trees were heard to crackle and fail ; and as the storm reached the river, I could plainly perceive that it travelled in a diiect Jine, leaving atter it a strait avenue of several miles extent, in which nothing could be seen but prostrate trees, and the stumps and scattered limbs of those it had broken. On striking the water, into which it hurled every tree on the banks, it made it labour like a vortex in commotion ; and as it passed over the eastern shore, it again renewed its dreadful operation, driving all before it, rending up the heaviest timber by the roots, and carrying in its convulsed bosom birds, plants, and shrubs. The effect on my boat was terrible; it drove her, into the mud banks, half way across her breadth, filled her with water, and covered her over with branches and wood, propelled from the opposite side ; in fine, she appe'ared no better than a wreck. During the action of the tempest on the river, the men and 1 had to jump into Ihe water, not being able to hold on to the boat. The cloud, rapidly moving, having arrived at its destination, or having performed its office of decomposing the air of such places as occasioned it to possess most gravity, varied its course, and rushed to the south%ard with increased violence and velocity, yifter vary ing from point, to point, it ascended the river, and forced its way northwardly, in which direction I perceived another cloud tunning, of equal magnitude, and as capable of filling the mind witli solicitude and terror. This latter cloud 275 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. descended the river. However, as the first hurricane had restor- ed to the air between the two clouds its elastic and repulsive power, and true gravity, they could not approach each other but by very slow degrees, subject to pauses of considerable length, silence, and terrible solemnity. Two hours elapsed be- fore they came into contact. The awful event was announced by vivid flashes of lightning, unceasing peals of thunder, and the precipitation of the watery parts in streams and tor- rents of rain. But when the two clouds rushed into the same circle, and formed but one immense globe in the dark bosom of which the electric fluid began its direful operation, >y reason stood appalled, and 1 thought the gales of chaos, h li, and confusion were opened wide above me. The lightning, which before flashed in fine lambent flames and intermittent flakes, now took eccentric, hostile, and -zigzag shapes, which perpetually traversed and opposed each other, or else it formed balls of fire, which shot in all directions through the air, rolled along the ground, or hissed over the surface of the water ; and the thunder, which commenced by single peals, continued with constant and dreadful clamour. The explosions never died, and the reverberations appeared to vie with them in impetuosity and power. After an hour's contest, disputed in a style of sublime greatness, the north- crn cloud proved .victorious, and descended the river, ferti- lized its burning banks, and reanimated a drooping people "with the refreshment afforded by its accumulated fluid, When the storm was over, I found I had sufficient to dp without investigating meteorological appearances. My boat "was water-logged, and so sunk in the mud, that I despaired lor a long time of ever righting her. I at length succeeded, Imt not without a labour which rendered us incapable to de- part : independent of fatigue, \ve had abundance to do to dry and clean our clothes and provisions, great part of which was entirely spoiled. Fortunately the gum-tree and cotton-tree are inflammable, and soon made an excellent fire, notwithstanding the late drenching wet. 1 found the storm productive of one good consequence; it annihilated the mosquitoes within its range, and allowed me to pass the re- mainder of the day in comfort and ease. 273 LETTER XXXVIL River St. Francis-r-Mule River Effects of Thunder Storms Attack of an Alligator Orkansas River Ozdrk Village Indians Their Adoration to the Sun * Their Hymns. Mouth of the Ozark, or Orkansas River, October, 1806. FROM the situation in which I was last left, I made a run of one hundred miles without meeting any remarkable event. The whole course was destitute, nor had it on either side as much dry ground as was eligible for the safe and com- fortable residence of a single individual. At the conclusion of this dismal range I passed the mouth of the river St. Fran- cis, and came to a beautiful prairie a little below it, on which I found one solitary dwelling, inhabited by a family who traded with the Indians up the rver, and occasionally dealt with llie boats which descended the Mississippi. The St. Francis enters on the right, or Louisiana side; is about three hundred yards wide at its mouth, and is navi- gable two hundred miles upwards. Near its confluence with, the Mississippi, it is subject to inundations, but towards the head of its navigation it has high and fertile b;mks, which are thickly occupied by Indian nations, of whom nothing is known, as there are no white settlers among them, &nd as they have never been visited by any person disposed to discover their character and history. I purchased some dried venison, and a few fowls, at hnlf a dollar a piece, from the solitary settler at the prairio, four miles below St. Francis, and proceeded for three days more without objects to amuse or interrupt, to the mouth of the White River, which is one hundred and twenty-two miles from that .of the St. Francis. The whole of that run is also destitute of man, and exhibits nature in disorder, on a large and gloomy scale. It appears to be a favourite theatre for the exhibition of hurricanes and storms. The woods ar3 perforated in a hundred places by their destructive career, and present avenues whose termination is far beyond the sight. The avenues made by such sweeping currents of air are so very direct, perfect and narrow, th r thny ipp< ',- effect of art, and made as a road of comiriuiacation from ASHE.J JC n 274 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. town (o town, or state to state. Some are so narrow as twen- ty yards, and others as broad as two hundred. They are very magnificent, and produce sensations of astonishment and terror. The long portion of water to which I allude, also exhi- bits certain characteristics which distinguish it from the ri- ver above the Chicknssnw Bluffs, and particularly from the Ohio, and all its tributary streams. The trees, plants, and shrubs, are for the most part different, and consequently pre- sent a figure, foliage, and coup (fa-il, which not merely strike the sense as a change' of decoration and scene, but as another theatre and country. Cypress-swamps of several miles extent, oak of great beauty and magnitude; cotton- trees embellished with their rich produce festooned from, bough to bough, floating in the air, or drooping to the ground ; quinces, hazels, bending under a profusion of fruit anil catalpas, cedars and magnolias, diffusing perfume over immense wastes, are common to the Mississippi from below St. Francis, rare between that river and the Bluffs, and are seldom to be met with further north. The animal as well as the vegetable kingdom in the same situation, experiences a change. This was announced to me in a very remarkable manner : 1 was steering down the river in a water extremely deep, and free of all impediment whatever, \\hcn all of * sudden the boat refused to obey the helm, heeled considera- bly, and turned her head to the right shore. At the same moment, some ducks which were confined in a coop, firmly attached to the outside head of the boat, close to the water's odge, made an uncommon noise, and fluttered in the ex- treme of agitation. Though much alarmed and perplexed, 1 opposed the helm and one oar to the resistance, whatever it might be; but in vain, the boat wheeled entirely round, and *tood down the cm-rent, stern foremost. Hearing the ducks I'onlinue their clamour, I passed to the bow, and stooping suddenly over, nearly thrust my head into the mouth of a monster, who held on to the boat with one paw, \vhilehe, *\vas employed in rending off the coop with the other. 1 started back with precipitation, yet soon recovered, seized a boat hook, and followed up by my two men, attacked the monster before he carried off his prize. 1 struck him several times without making the smallest impression on his ,e---ses, or in any manner injuring his frame. The iron glanced from him, as if resisted by polished steel, but on one of she men craving the claw with which he sustained f> lie mauv u dreadful flounce, ulteied a tremendous AN ALLIGATOR. 275 ry, beat in the upper plank of the boat, knocked us all three from our situation, and carried oft' the coop as the re- ward of his victory. The whole of this was effected in a manner so instantaneous, that it renders it completely inde- scribable. When recovered from our consternation and fall, I again took the helm, nnd ordered the men to back water with all their might, to afford me an opportunity of seeing the mon- ster that occasioned us so much alarm and difficulties. Jle soon rose about fifty yards from me, and made into shore with the coop across his mouth, and his head of more than four feet length, considerably out of the water. 1 steered as near as I could with safely, after him, and fired several balls, which struck and glanced off his bodv along the ri- ver. He landed, and to appearance, in one crush mashed the coop in pieces, and gobbled up my favourite ducks, one after another, as fast as he could catch them ; for on breaking the coop J could j>erceive that several birds escaj>- ed abroad, and even took to the wafer, out of which he soon drew them. During his repast T had full leisure to examine him. He was a huge alligator, at least twenty feet longf, of proportionate circumference, and with a head containing one fourth of the length of the body ! The White river, which also empties in on the right or Louisiana side, is navigable two hundred miles up, and is said to wind through a fertile and delightful country. At its mouth there is an excellent landing, where boats may be moored in safety. It is but thirty-five miles from the mouth of the White river to the post of Ozark on the Orkansag river. The best and nearest route is to go up the White ri- ver about four miles, then across to the Orkausns, through a navigable creek between the two rivers, and to keep up it about thirty miles, which brings to the village of Ozirk. Being encumbered with too heavy a boat, I could not pursue this route, but dropped down twenty miles lower, and moor- ed at the mouth of the Orkansas, whence I date this and a former letter. 1 here had the good fortune to get a passage in a trader's canoe to the village of Ozark, where i passed two days with much satisfaction nnd advantage. 1 shaU give you the substance in a few words. The Orkansas is on the same side with the St. Francis and the White river; that is, on the Louisiana, right, or western side. It is said to be navigable eight hundred miles up, and to water a country of great fertility and beauty. These accounts must be received with muck faution, 276 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA, ought to be qualified by the facts of an unbiassed observer. For the truth is, tint the immediate banks of the Loul- sinean western rivers from half a ftiiL;, to from two, threej and four miles buck, are alone the parls which merit to be described as delightful, and eligible for agricultural pur* suits. All the vast remainder is nothing more than a swamp, subject to periodical inundations, which supply ponds and lakes, and send forth exhalations so malignant and active, that they contaminate the climate of the whole region, and shed over the most distant parts the seeds of disease and d -nth. The reason that the banks alone are profitable and pleas ' ng, is, that the western wafers flow in a ridge above the level of tin* country, and remain dry when the general face of the r,--" 1 joining land is flooded through the means of the bay vu and sluices, \vhich are formed in the banks of all the river** by the periodical excess of their water. I reached th< vilbge of the Oznrk on the second day. I found the current of the river very gentle, and ihe banks clothed with a profusion of the finest timber and shrubs, but so chocked with cane, that there was no possibility of ascending ibem, or of ascertaining their extent, except through buffalo-paths, and avenues made by thunder gusts and partial currents of air, as before described. Through thcs it was easy to discern that the river, like the Mississip- pi and others, flows through a ridge, and that the banks, for the most part, subside in a swamp on either side. The village consists of sixty houses inhabited by persons of several nations, and who reside there for the purpose of conducting a very lucrative trade with the Indians, who resort to the village from the high country, and from the Mexican plain, with furs, for which they take in return, arms, ammunition, spirits, blankets and fools, and utensils of every kind which the traders bring from New Orleans with great difficulty and ex pence, the distance being six hundred miles, arid the current not allowing a boat to gain more than twelve or sixteen miles a day, though worked with sixteen oars. 1 arrived at the village at a very fortunate period ; at a time when it was filled with Indians, and surrounded with their camp. They amounted to about nine hundred, and were composed of the remnants of various nations, differing in dress, habits, and manners, so little from those 1 have al- ready mentioned, that I have no occasion to go into any te- dious detail, but confine myself to a subject of high interest, find in which they differed the Indians assembled at Ozarjt INDIAN OFFERINGS AND ADDKESS TO THE STTJT. 277 worshippers of the sun ; and the second day of my arrival being a gram! festival among them, I had the most favourable opportunity of witnessing their adorations at the Ihree remarkable stages of the sun's rise, meridian, and set. Take the proceedings as they occurred. The morn in was propitious, the air serene, the horizon clear, the weather calm. The nations divided into classes ; warriors, young men and women, and married women with their children. Each class stood in the form of a quadrant, that each individual might behold the rising luminary, and each class field npa particular offering to the sun the instant he rose in his glory. The warriors presented their arms, the young men and women offered ears of corn and branches of trees, and the married women held up to his light their infant children. These a cfs were performed in silence, till the object of adoration visibly rose, when, with one impulse, tlic x nations burst into prnise, and sing an hymn in loud chorus. The lines, which were sung with repetitions, and marked by pauses full of sublimity and judgment, have been construed by an excellent interpreter into these: " Great Spirit ! Master of our lives ! u Great Spirit ! master of every thing visible and invisi- ble, and who daily makes them visible and invisible! u Great Spirit! master of every other spirit, good or bad, command the good to be favourable to us, and deter the bad from the commission of evil I " Oh! Grand Spirit ! preserve the strength and courage of our warriors, and augment their number, that they may resist the oppression of their Spanish enemies, and recover the country arid the rights of their fathers! " Oh! Grand Spirit! preserve the lives of such of our old men, as are inclined to give council and example to the young ! "Preserve onr children, multiply their number, and let them be the comfort and support of declining age ! " Preserve our corn and our animals, and let not famine desolate the land ! " Protect our villages, guard our lives! O Great Spirit! when you hide your light behind the western hills, protect us from the Spaniards, who violate the night, and do evil tvhich they dare not commit in the presence of thy beams! " Good Spirit ! make known to us your pleasure, by send- ing to us. the Spirit of Dreams. Let the Spirit of Dreams proclaim your will in the night, and we will perform it through the day ! And if it say the time of some be closed, JTS ASE*S TRAVELS IV AMBR'IGA. end them, Master of Life! to the great country of soufa, v litre they may meet their fathers, mothers, children, and wives, and where you are pleased to shine upon them with a bright, warm, arid perpetual blaze! " Oh Grand, Oh Great Spirit! hearken to the voice of nations, hearken to all thy children, and remember us always, for we arc descended from thee!" Immediately after this address, the four quadrants formed one immense circle of several deep, and danced, and sang hymns descriptive of the powers of the sun, till near ten o'clock. They then amused and refreshed themselves in the village and camp, and assembled precisely at the hour of twelve by my chronometer, and having formed a number of circles, commenced the adoration of the meridian sun. The following is the literal translation of the mid-day address. u Courage ! nations, courage ! the Great Spirit looks down upon us from his highest seat, and by his lustre, ap- pears content with the children of his own power and great- ness. u Grand Spirit ! how great are his works, and how beau* tifu! are they ! " Me is good ; is the Great Spirit, he rides high to behold tis. 'Tis he who causes all things to augment and to act; He even now stands for a moment to hearken to us. " Courage! nations, courage! The Great Spirit now above our heads, will make us vanquish our enemies ; he will cover our fields with corn, and increase the animals of our woods. He will see that the old be happy, and that th$ young augment. He will make the nations prosper, make them rejoice, and make them put up their voice to 'him while he rises and sets in their land, or while his heat and his light can thus gloriously shine out." This was followed by dancing and hymns, which coniU fined from two to three hours, at the conclusion of which, dinners were served and eaten with great demonstrations of mirth and hilarity. I dined in a circle of chiefs on a bar- becued hog and venison, very well stoned, and was perfectly pleased and gratified with the rural repast. The dinner and repose after it continued till the sun was on the point of Inv ing set. On this being announced by several who had been on the watch, the nations assembled in haste, and formed themselves into segments of circles in the face of the sun, presenting their offerings during the time of his descent, and crying aloud, u The nations must prosper ; they have t>een beheld by THE GRAND LAKE. the Groat Spirit. What more can they want ? Is not that happiness enough ? See how he retires, great and content, si filer having visited his children with light, heat, and uni- versal good ! 44 Oh, Grand Spirit ! sleep not long in the gloomy West, but return and call thy people once again to light and life; (o light and life ; to light and life !" This was also succeeded by dances and songs of praise, which lasted till eleven o'clock, at which hour they repaired to rest, some retiring to the huts that formed their camp, and o tilers to the vicinity of fires made in the woods and along the river's banks. I took up my abode with a French, settler in the village. I could understand that the Indians have four similar festivals in the year ; one for every season. They distinguish them by the name of " Days of Adora- tion." When the sun does not shine or appear on the ado- lution-day, an immense fire is erected, around which the ceremonies are performed with equal devotion and care. I must conclude this long letter with observing, that I left the Ozark village, much interested in the people whose adoration gave birth to these reflections, and arrived here alter a passage down the stream of ten hours. To-morrow I proceed, and bhali write to you from the Natchez. LETTER XXXVIII. The Grand Lake Islands of the Mississippi A remark- able Alarm produced by the Cries of a Host of Altiga* tors Interesting Particulars respecting these Anim interrupt the navigation of the Mississippi, till I c-'Me to a place known by the name of 4t The Grand Xjiikc," v eli is niiu-ty lailes from tlic Orkansas, the point ol my hist 280 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMI/RICA. The Grand Lake, to my astonishment, I found destitute of water. It was formerly the bed of the rivrjr ; but, being abandoned by it from some iucpmprehensible cause, it is now filled with willows; makes a very extraordinary appear- ance, whicli is considerably heightened by an island stand- ing in the centre, urn a 'uentcd with trees. The island :nd trees stand so much above the wi.Ho* \s growing in the bed of the lake, that the character of the Like and island are as conspicuous as if (he one still received the contents of the river, and the other was actually surrounded by water. The willows mark all the limits of the old flood ; discover: all the ancient insinuosities and heads of the banks, and shew the figure, extent, and height of the island to the most minute perfection. Before the morning fog was dis- sipated, I was witness of a very fine phenomenon. The willows not being higher than the surface of the former water, perhaps not so high, retains the fog in the original channel, giving it the exact resemblance of (he New River, and making it doubtful what course to take. The entry to " The Grand Lake" is now a sand-bar, in which are firmly fixed, trees, beams, stumps, and logs, and the sortie is in like manner chunked up and covered with willows and shrubs. It is several miles in circumfe- rence, and three directly across. Below the Grand Lake, and after passing several islands clothed with cotton wood, I found the river perfectly straight for a stretch of thirteen miles, and of a very majestic appearance. At the extremity is an island \vorn to the com- pass of a few acres, by the constant attrition of the current against both its sides. It is ornamented by about a dozen trees. The time cannot be far remote when this little in- teresting miniature will be obliterated from the face of the earth, and sink under the surface of the water which it once embellished with so much grace and picturesque beauty. Throughout this great water, this Father of Floods, as the Indians call it, in some places islands are seen sinking into annihilation ; and in others they are exhibited through all the stages of their rise, expanse, verdure, and formation. Of the three hundred islands in tli Mississippi, fifty have been created by Nature since its first discovery by ,M. La Salle, and others are forming in a manner as perceptible as any work can be to the eyest The system pursued is simply this : when the river is in a low state, the Land-bars take up and retain the trees, logs, roots, branches, and shrubs, which float continually down the current. Among these, DANGEROUS NAVIGATION. 2S1 the water deposits a quantity of mild, in which seeds wafted by the wind, and plants conveyed by the stream, germinate? and assist in binding the infant soil. Succeeding years pef^ form the same operations with similar effects, till the bars assume the rank of islands, and grow to several hundred acres extent. The river then contains islands of two dis- tinct kinds, and formed from different intentions, and in a widely different manner. The first J have just described, and the second owe their origin to the sudden convulsions which rent upon the bed of the river, and k>ft insulated spots every here and there standing, or else to their being sepa- rated from the main land by a division of currents which often occur, to force a passage through the land, and thereby form islands, and effect their own union. The meanest ob- server can distinguish the one description of islands from the other. Those that proceed from the gradual deposit of foreign matter on sand-bars, have a deep mould, composed of river sediment and decayed vegetable substances, which, seldom produce wood of any other growth than cotton 9 aspin, poplar, and willows; whereas, those which have been suddenly rent from the main land, or separated from it by the continued action of the water, or successive inunda- tions, have a fine soil over a stiff blue clay, and are richly clothed with forest timber of the greatest magnitude and most valuable character ; these latter islands are sensibly wasting away, while the others are increasing in extent. A few miles below the little island, at the sortie of the Jong reach, I passed a cypress-bend of sixteen miles sweep. Such is the disposition of the river to find a passage through, some portion of it, that 'my boat had to be worked the whole way to keep her from dragging along the shore. It is the most laborious piece of navigation I have yet expe- rienced on the river. Weary with excess of toil, I had to put too under a willow bank before the day was quite ex- pired, as I durst not cross the mouth of a bayeau, the vortex of which I heard roaring at no great distance, till we- were all refreshed and restored. Having moored the boat in security, taken a repast, and guarded ourselves as well as we could against the attack of mosquitos, bugs, ants, spiders, and flics, we lay down to rest soon after sun-set, and fell into a sound refreshing sleep. I had enjoyed it for two or three hours, when I was started up by the most lament- able cries that ever assailed the human ear. The men and I instantly assembled on the roof of the boat, to distinguish whence the accents came, and to afford assistance if in our ASHE.] o o ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. power. But they issued from so many directions, and ex> pressed such a variety and number of persons afflicted with the deepest grief, that our reason and judgment were clissU pated iii wild conjecture, and we remained ignorant of the. wretched sufferers, and of the dreadful cause of their com- plaint. It could not be Indians affecting distress, to seduce us on shore* and there to be put to death : it could not be the crew of wrecked boats weeping and wailing their forlorn fate! repeatedly we demanded of each other what it then could be ? We hearkened. At times the cries sunk into the feeble plaints of expiring infancy, and again gradually rose into the full and melancholy swell of an adult tortured by fiends destitute of mercy and humanity. The lamentations turn by turn touched every string capable to vibrate excess of misery, and denoted the variety of sorrow incident to indivi- duals from the loss of health, friends, fortune, and relatives. Above all, they denoted calamity in the act of supplicating relief in the strong language of sobs, sighs, and tears, and moans of inexpressible anguish and length. What were we to judge of such proceedings? How were we to act? No assistance could be afforded to distress so unknown, and so diffuse. To fly the place was impossible, and toTemain in it as tremendous as death. To attempt to sleep still more absurd. We walked on the roof of the boat till the cries multiplied and increased in a manner at once to shock the senses and deafen the ears. This violent outcry was fol- lowed by plunges in the water and a rustling among the trees, which at length explained the objects of our dismay and apprehension. They were a host of alligators. We discovered them plainly, swimming along-side the boat, and running along the shore, where they uttered the pierc- ing cries and heart-rending moans which originally excited tny attention and terror. Having given up all thoughts of -rest, 1 prepared arms, and watched for a favourable pur- pose of killing one of the creatures. It soon presented it- ^elf. A large animal, attracted by the scent of the living ob- jects irr the boat, s\\am repeatedly round it, as if search- Ing for means of access, and had the audacity to raise Jiis head con iderably above the water, in order to make iiis observations more true. At that propitious juncture we all three fired in the direction of his underjavv and throat. He made an immediate flounce in the water, roared as loud is thunder, and rushed ashore directly below my boat. He there expired in (hendful agony, as could be understood and the violence with wlacji lie DESCRIPTION OF AX ALLIGATOR. 283 beat himself against the banks. After his monstrous death, the noise of the other animals ceased, and I heard none but very low and plaintive cries, issuing from several voices in deep distress ; so low, that they with difficulty reached the ear, and so plaintive, (licit they could not but .reach the heart. The dawn disclosed the cause of this lamentation, which never ceased throughout tiki night. On going on shore, 1 found the alligator J had killed attended by sixteen or se- venteen young ones, who were solicitously engaged about the dead body, running over and around it in great agita- tion, and whining and moaning, because they discovered it without animation, and destitute of all symptoms of life. .Though somewhat affected by such a spectacle, I or* dered the men Jo assist, and to secure me, if possible, some of the young ones, and convey them into my boat. \\ T e succeeded in taking three. Tlu\y are about two feet long- each, and have beautiful blue eyes, with an expression ex- freraeiy soft and sensible. The mother, for it seems it is ;> female we killed, is nineteen feet in length, counting the Itcad, which is throe feet long, an*} five feet in circumfer- ence. The jaws, which extend the whole length of the head, are furnished with two large conical tusks as white as ivory. The upper jaw only moves. The scales are as hard as iron. The shape is that of a lizard. Speaking generally, and from the best authority, the alli- gators of the Mississippi are from twelve to twenty-four feet in length ; their bodies are covered with horny plates 01 scales, which are impenetrable to a rifle ball, except about (heir heads, and just behind their fore-legs, where they arp vulnerable. The head of a full grown alligator js more than three feet long. The eyes are email, and the wholp head ir^the water, appears at a distance like a piece of rof ten floating wood. The upper jaw only moves, and this they raise t*/ as to form a rjght angle with the lower one. They open their mouths while they lie basking in the sum on the banks of rivers and creeks, and when filled with all manner of insects, they suddenly let fall their upper jaw with surprising noise, and thus secure their prey. The tusks, which are not covered by any skin or lips, give the animal a frightful appearance. }n the spring, which is their season for breeding, they make a most hideous and terrifying roar, resembling the sound .of distant thunder, The alligator is an oviparous animal : their nests, which are commonly built on the margin of some lake, creek, or river, at tbe distance of from fifteen tp twentv vajrd? from. ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA, the high water, are in the form of an obtuse cone, about four feet high, and from four to five in diameter at their ba- sis. They are constructed with a sort of mortar, blended with grass and herbage. First they lay a floor of this com- position, on which they deposit a layer of eggs ; and upon this a stratum of their mortar, seven or eight inches thick, then another layer of eggs ; and in this manner one stratum upon another, nearly to the top of the nest. They lay from one hundred to two hundred eggs in a nest. These are hatched by the heat of the sun, assisted by the fermenta- tion of the vegetable mortar in which they are deposited. The female carefully watches her own nest of eggs till they are all hatched. She then takes her brood under her care, and leads them about the shores as a hen does her chickens, and is equally courageous in defending them in time of danger. When she lies basking on the warm banks with her brood around her, the young ones may he heard whining and crying in the manner of young infants. The old feed on the young alligators till they get so large that they can- not make a prey of them ; so that fortunately but few of the brood survive the age of a year. They are fond of the flesh of dogs and hogs, which they devour whenever they have an opportunity. Their principal food is fish. They retire into their dens, which they form by burrowing far in- to the ground, commencing under water, and working up- wards, and there remain in a torpid state during the winter. The carrion vulture also destroys multitudes of young alli- gators, which would otherwise render the country uninha- bitable. Much has been said of the crocodile lacrymoC) or deceit- ful tears. Returned to my boat and departed, I carefully watched to discover whether the melancholy eric* of my young alligators Were accompanied with tears. 1 can as- sert they are not nor does any moisture whatever fill the eye, though the plaints are piteous to the most distressing degree. Food appeases their distress. When they lameiit aloud I give them the entrails and livers of fowls, which they are most fond of, and they immediately cease. They are very vicious : they at times make a sudden snap at my fingers, and once bit the leg of my dog, since which time, he keeps at a distance from them. Perhaps he sets an ex- ample which I ought to imitate ; but I am determined to Tear them up, and bring them with me to England. The Yazaus' river is the next important object, and is ninety-three miles from the Grand Lake. J put into it as a PASSAGE OF THE GRAND GULPH. place of rest, and was not disappointed, having passed a night undisturbed, except by the complaints of ray new companions, who were not entirely reconciled to their abode. The Vazaus is on the eastern or left hand side of the Mississippi, going down. It is a very beautiful river. It rises in the country of the Chickassaws, runs through the state of Georgia, and falls into the Mississippi in a S. by "W. direction ; computed to be four hundred miles from Nc\v Orleans; it is navigable but one hundred miles up wards. Thirteen miles below the Yazaus speculation or river, are the Walnut Hill and Fort M'Henrv. The Walnut Hill is without exception the most beautiful eminence on the Mis- sissippi, or perhaps on any other river. It is on the east side, commanding an extensive land and water view of se- veral miles in every direction. In the time of the Spa- niards the fort was mounted with guns, manned, and kept in repair ; and there were houses for the accommodation of the men, officers, and commandant. At present the public institutions are in ruins, and the whole place is occupied by but five or six settlers, who cultivate cotton, indigo, wheat, and N Indian corn. The settlers are wealthy, keep a number of negro slaves each, and appear content with their situation, though they are every man, woman, and child, in a wretch- ed state of health. And if the Walnut Hill be not healthy, every other part of the Mississippi must in truth and of ne- cessity be indisputably unwholesome and bad. Fruit comes to great perfection at the hill, and fig trees introduced by the Spaniards grow to great excellence and height. The soil is as rich as that of the best garden about London. The hill in ihe rear is bounded by a swamp. From the Walnut Hill to the Grand Gulph is a distance of forty-eight miles. I arrived in its vicinity towards even- ing, but was deterred from passing it till morning, in consequence of the frightful reports often made to me re- specting its difficulty, and the many boats it annually swal- lows up. I put up within hearing of its ripple, and was again interrupted by the cries of crocodiles, and the deep toned sighs they emit. I should tell you that my own little ones thrive well, and take on all the airs of a pet. They take their food out of my hand, and by their voice express much satisfaction whenever they are bathed. There is little doubt but that they will survive." Early in the morning I explored the passage of the prand Gulph iu my canoe. The river is more than a mile 86' ASI1E*S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. 'wide. The channel occupies (he centre, and (he sides r-ist of (wo immense gu I phs, which contract the channel (o a very diminutive space, not four feet broader than an ordi- nary lx>at. It must be passed notwithstanding. Stimulated by this necessity, 1 returned to my boat, crtid steered her for the gulpb, in a stream of extraordinary impetuosity and Strength. In a few moments I run into the mam channel, and held it secure by the dint of steering 1 and rowing-, while J saw several large trees and logs sucked into the vortex on cither side, whirled round and round, and drawn to the bot- tom. At one instant the stern of the boat swung into the eddy of the gulph I Tfie power of the oars restored her to the channel, and twenty minutes placed us in safe water, and a more gentle current. It is by far the most dangerous part of the Mississippi, and is full of hazards, which can never be pointed out or described. The hospitable and comfortable residence of Col. Bruin is at Payeu Pierre, eleven miles below the Grand Gulph. The colonel, to whom I had a letter fropi his friend Burr,, received me with very great kindness and cordiality, ami I spent a pleasant afternoon at his house. There is no settle- ment so extensive as the colonel's above him on the river. He keeps one bund red negroes, and makes by their labour ten thousand dollars a year. lie principally cultivates cot- ton. The wheat, corn, &c. which he raises are only for his domestic use. There is a settlement on the east side, just above colonel Bruin's, occupied by about twenty New Eng- land families, which is also doing well. They raise great quantities of cotton, and, make some portion of it into thread, whicji they manufacture ipto cotton cloth, and sell for a dollar per yard. On the whole, I was glad to see au appearance of civilization and industry, and I understood from the colonel, that from his house to New Orleans, set* tlements and villages ? at very short intervals, are to be ifoumJ, Nine miles from ttic colonel's is the < Petite Gulph/' the navigation of winch requires nearly as much attention as the Grand Gulph : and twenty -seven miles bfv low is tlie city of Natchez, LETTER XXXIX. hez City Its Trade and Luxury Tef ritory of the Mississippi Natchez Indians Their Adorations. City of Natchez, Mississippi Territory, October, 18OO*. TFIIS city is pleasantly situated on a considerable emi- nence on the east side of the river. It contains about three hundred houses, arid two thousand five hundred inhabi- tants, including blacks, who are very numerous. There is a prinjtrnjj-offtcc, and several very extensive mercantile stores. There is also a Roman catholic church, but the Americans have stripped it of its Spanish possessions, shut up the church, and have not yet erected one of their own- There is a great number of mechanics in the city, whose wages are very high, as is labour of every kind. The mar* fcet is proportionably extravagant. Every article, except venison and game, is as dear as in London. The citizens, however, are enabled to endure the high price of provisions, by their trade between New Orleans and the back and upper country. Cotton is cultivated in the neighbourhood to such perfec- tion, and with such advantages, that many of the citizens Lave been induced to purchase farms, an^l turn all their at- tention to rearing and preparing that article for exportation. Their profit is so considerable, that both in town and country they live in the style of eastern luxury. I dined in, several places where! he dinner consisted of three courses and a dessert, where the service was of solid plate, where a negro magnificently dressed stood behind every chair, and where the air was kept in circulation by little girls employed in pull- ing variegated fans suspended from the centre of the room r Ai one of those houses of sumptuous entertainment, the pro- prietor informed me that his crop of cotton of that year was estimated at forty thousand dollars. There many of the cot- ton plantations yield from five thousand to twenty thousand, dollars a year. The owners indulge in every luxury, ahd set an example of dissipation which at this moment jx?r- vadre the city and territory. The vice of the Natchez is proverbial through America. But dreadfully are the \vrctclicd citwejua to suiil-r iur their prwfligacy ami Uec TRAVELS IN AMERICA. ness. A confirmed and hereditary venereal disease, con- tracted by an unrestrained intercourse with Africans, In- dians, and Mestizoes, has established its malignant empire in the city, and several other parts of the territory ; and all the arts of medicine have hitherto proved unequal to coun- teract its effects, or to restrain its progress. Therefore, when I tell you of people living in the nibst affluent profu- sion, you are not to encourage a belief that they are happy. In the midst of that profusion, at the very table loaded with delicacies, and provided with a variety of the richest wine, I liave seen appetite wanted, and the seeds of debility and the clouds of disease casting a gloom over every Countenance, and sallow in every face. Blinded by the prospect of speedy ac- quirements of wealth, persons come to this place, without considering that it is unhealthy to a dangerous excess ; ou making the discovery, the passion for riches subdues the ter- rors of disease, and they remain exanimate for a time, or fall early victims to their avarice and imprudence. Not- withstanding the prevalence of sickness through the terri- tory, there are not wanting persons to recommend it as " the most benign and healthy climate in the world." y The principal persons of wealth send their children for instruction, and to avoid such pestilence, to the New Eng- land states a distance of three thousand miles., There is an academy here, but it is much neglected. Gambling and horse-racing are the prevailing amusements. I-n winter there are' balls and concerts 1 cannot say how elegant or chaste, not having seen many of the ladies by whom they are frequented, they, for the most part, being at their sum- mer residences scattered around the city. The men drink profusely. It is difficult to escape from their parties under three bottles of wine a man. The territory of the Mississippi is of the following general description : Miles. Length 384 > R . $ 31 and 32 23' N. Lat. Breadth 100 $ . n 9 52' and 16 20' W. Long. Bounded north by a line running due east from the mouth of the Yazaus river, at its junction with the Mississippi, to the Chatahoocha or Appalachicola river : east by this last mentioned river; south, by the 31 of north latitude; (which is the boundary between the United States and West Florida) ; and west, by the river Mississippi, which sepa- rates it from Louisiana. ON THE MISSISSIPPI. This territory is well watered by a number of small rivers and their branches, and several large streams which mostly run through its whole extent. The Black, or LittlcYazaus, empties into the Mississippi, about fifty miles below the Walnut Hills, near the south side of the Great Yazaus. Stony Creek, or Bia Pierre, and Cole's Creek, empty into the Mississippi : the former ten miles below Black III* ver, and the latter twenty-five miles above the Natchez. Hamichitta and Buffalo, near Loftus's Heights, are the most southern waters in this territory that empty into the Mississippi. Arnite rises in about the thirty-third degree in north lati- tude, and pursuing a southerly course, empties into Lake Pontchartrain, being a part of what was formerly called Iberville. Pearl extends through the whole territory from north to south, and discharges itself near the entrance of Pontchar- train. Pascagoola has its source near the northern parts'of the territory, and empties into the bay or Gulph of Mex- ico. Mobile, or Tombeckbe, is a very considerable river, whose source is about the 35 of north latitude* It abounds with numerous branches, watering fine intervals of land, where the Chickassaw Indians have many towns. About sixty* five miles from the boundary line up the Mobile, are Walk- er's shoals, the head of tide water. Alibama, or Tallapoosa, is a considerable river, and unites .with the Mobile about ten miles north of the line, and receives the waters of the Abacoocha or Cohawba, whose sources interlock with the waters of Tenessee. Escamhia and Concugh, or Pensacola rivers, which unite in West Florida, empty into the bay of Pensacola. Chatalioocha, or Appalachicola, takes its rise at the foot of the great range of mountains in the north-east part of Georgia. The whole territory is low and flat, interspersed, however, with rising grounds, at some distance from the rivers, which are generally bounded by swamps and cane grounds. These, together with numerous 'ponds, lakes, and marshes, render the climate unhealthy. In the months of August, Septem- ber, and October, the fevers become predominant and con- tagious. The soil is sandy. The chief productions are cot- ton, rice, Indian com, and iudigo. The produce of these ASHE.J * p TRATEL8 IV AMERICA. k abundant and of high quality. The culture of indigo is nearly renounced. After several years of sad experience^ the planters at length found out, that, on an average, it killed every negro employed in its culture in the short space of five years. Notwithstanding this monstrous discovery, there are still a few who pursue the murderous traffic. The poor slaves they employ are reduced to mere skeletons, and exhibit the number of their days in a poisoned aspect, and the melancholy expression of languor and debility which mark their countenance and frame. So well assured are the indigo planters of the number of days their slaves have to Jive, that it is a common practice with them to send them to New Orleans market for sale, before the expiration of the average period of five years, and there buy new wretches to undergo the same toil, and be destined the same short space to live. But it is now *>o generally understood at New Or- leans, and elsewhere, that indigo slaves have the fountain of hie irrevocably corrupted, that little or no price can be obtained for them, and for the future it is probable they will fce permitted to die on the spot where they are poisoned, without being exposed to the degradation of being dragged through the country, and put up to sale at publiq auction toefore an insulting and unfeeling multitude. 1 took a ride into the interior to .visit the remains of the nation of the Natchez Indians, once the most powerful and enlightened people of all the continent of America. Their tradition says, they came from South America, and indeed their habits, customs, and manners, say the same tiling. They are now reduced to a few hundreds. When the An- glo-Americans first became acquainted with them, the/ pourted their alliance, and dreaded their enmity more than that of any other tnbe. The ravage of war, the small-pox, And spirituous liquors, have since reduced their number and character, and they are now slighted and despised. I shall I>.I!F remark them for one particular : they are nations of Indians east of the Mississippi, who worship the sun, and who used to offer to that luminary human sacrifices, which they consumed in fires, attended by priests, whose office it ivas to renew nod keep them up perpetually. Human sacri- fice being forbidden by the United States, the Indians now* make offerings of the most valuable articles, and often burn property to some thousand dollars amount. Their manner is, on the adoration-day to assemble round the eternal fire, as they call it, light a calumet, and present it to the sun. Then persons, called Children of the Sun, cast the sacrifice THE GOOD SPIRIT AND THE EVIL SPIRIT. 2&L into the fire, and while it consumes, the warriors, and youn^ men, women, and children, in separate circles, dance and sing around. Missionaries and others strive to turn them from this destructive kind of devotion, but all in vain: Ihey still persist, and on the day answering to our. first of May, in particular, they are known to destroy nearly all the property they possess, and which they acquire by hunt- ing and trading wit!) the States. It is not true, that their fires are constantly alive. Seve- ral years have elapsed since they were suffered to extinguish- They are now only illumined on particular festivals and state days. On my arrival at their village on a western branch of the AlUaaroa, I made very minute inquiries oa the subject; but could gather up information more interest- ing than what I communicated to you from the Mouth of the Ozark. Every tlting which surpasses the understanding and capa- city, every thing whose cause cannot be comprehended by Indians, is called by them u Spirit." There are two orders of Spirits : the good and the bad. The good is the Spirit of Dreams, and all things innocent and inconceivable. The bad is the thunder, the hail which destroys their corn, a tempest, and in short all things capable of indicting dis- tress and injury, and the cause of which they are not ac- quainted with. Hence, when the gun of a savage bursts nd wounds him, he says the Evil Spirit was confined within it; when a tree falls and hurts a limb, he attributes the act v ay of distinction and eminence Kilchi Manitou, or Great Unknown Spirit ; and one superior Bad Spirit, is called Match i Mauiton, or Wicked Being. From a system like this, the nu.tivbcr of Good and Evil Spirits must be innume- rable, and tbe olajpcts. of love and apprehension beyond all bounds. The Choetaw Indians inhabit tlie western, and the lower creeks the eastern part of this territory ; and the Muscogees inhabit from the fjhatahoocha to the Alibama, and extend into West Florida, These tribes of Indian* are more nu- xierous than any other past of the Mississippi, and are i$* ASIIE'S TRAVEL? IN AMERICA. rnarkable for their aversion and contempt to the people of the United States, and the hostile disposition they manifest .-towards them on every occasion that presents. 1 would fcave visited these nations were it not for the advance of the season. I therefore returned to this city, which I leave to- morrow by dawn. The river here is about one mile and a quarter broad ; and as the city is advantageously seated on a bank one hun- dred feet above low water mark, the view from it is delight- ful. The waters begin to rise in April, and subside in Au- gust, overflowing the grounds for many miles on each side; the western side being the lowest, the inundations there ex- tend forty or fifty miles. There is a fcrrt here as well as at the Walnut Hills, and one at Loftus's Heights, about seven miles above the boundary line, and another at Bond's Bluif and St. Stephen's ; these, two last are in the Mobile river. LETTER XL, JFort Adams General Wilkinson Riviere Rouge Sevc* , ral Settlements, with their Trade and ProduceChaf- .- falis Bayeau Tunica Bayeau and Villages Point Coupee Church A rich SettlementBay eau Sacra Thompsons Creek Baton Rouge Bayeau Manchee Bayeau de la Fourche Alacapas and OpeJousas Settle- ments line Breed of Horses and Cattle Healthy Climate Sugar Plantations Bon a Cara Settlement Account of the River from New Orleans to the Sea. $ona Cara, Mississippi Bank, November, 18OO. I HAD not left the Natchez many hours before I found a, sensible improvement in the river : the current preserving the centre and the sides free of snags, sawyers, and rocks. This appearance was very pleasing, as it dispensed with la- bour and attention, and shewed it practicable to float al! niffht, a thing entirely rash to attempt after leaving the Ohio. The first object that attracts notice is the white cliffs on 4he east side, and which are thirty-nine miles from the Nat- chez \ the second; the mouth of the Harnochello river, on SETTLEMENTS ON IlED RIVER. 203 4hcsarae side; and the third, Loftus's Heights and Fort Adams, al<-o on the east side. The fort is garrisoned. Ge- neral Wilkinson is at present there, collecting troops to drive? the Spaniards beyond the Louisiana line, from limits of which the domains of the United States would extend to the Florida gulph and the isthmus of Da wen. General Wilkinson is also a governor of the Upper Loui- siana, though contrary to a law of the State, which says, " that functions civil and military are not to be vested in any one person, or in any sue place." The regular force under general Wilkinson does not ex- ceed one thousand men. In case of necessity, he has the militia, of the Natchez, Orleans, Fin as see, and Kentuckey, to call out. He proposes shortly to leave Fort Adams, and to stretch the American boundary to its utmost extent. Five miles below Fort Adams is the line of dcmarkation, ?truck before the purchase between Spain and the United States. It is in latitude 31 north, and ten miles below that line on the west side is Red river, or Riviere Rouge, This river derives its name from the colour of its water, which is perpetually red or reddish. It mixes with the Mississippi with great reluctance, and is seen in blotches UK! in a separate current for a considerable extent. On the banks, and in the vicinity of the Red river, are the rich settlements of Rapide, Avoycllos, and Natchiloches, all thriving and populous. The latter is situated seventy-five leagues njx the Red river. On the north side of the Red river, a few leagues from its junction with the Mississippi, is the Black river, on one of whose branches, a considerable :< \v ay up, is the infant settlement of Ouachita, which, from, the great richness of the soil, may be made a place of im* portance. Cot toy is the cjjicf produce of those settlements; but they have likewise a considerable fur or Indian trade. The Red river cotnmumcates with the frontiers of North Mex ico . On a retrospect, there is no other settlement on the west side of the Mississippi, above the Red river, till you come to the mouth of the Orkansas, seven hundred and fifty miles fro n New Orleans, and there, as I observed, there are but few families, who are more attached to the Indian trade (by which they chiefly live) than to cultivation. Nor is there any settlement r'rosn the Orkansas to New Madrid, \vhich is in itself considerable ; and from New Madrid there is none till you reach Cape Guarde.au, above the mouth of the Oliip, ASUE'i TRAVELS IN Below the Red river, ftverniles, is one of the most dan- gerous bayeaus on (he Mississippi ; it is call;*! Chaftalis, and to avoid being sucked into its vortex,, it is absolutely necessary to keep the middle of the river, and to row with great force. Several islands occur between the Cha Balis and the bay- eau Tunica, a distance of forty -nix miles, and the Tunica villages are ten miles from the bay eau, and are seated ou the east side. A little above these villages, Uie Mississippi forms almos a complete circle, leaving a narrow peninsula of about one mile and a half across, which if cut through, a distance of about thirty miles would be saved. The cut could be made for a mere trilling ex pence, there not being a single stone of a morsel of clay on the entire course. On the west side, twelve miles below tliq Tunica villages, is Point Cou pee churcb. it is one hundred and fifty mile* from New Orleans, awl is die commencement of ihe richest and best settlement on the river, along which it extends eight leagues. Its produce is cotton. Behind ii, on mi old bed of the river, now a lake, whose outlets are closed .up, is the settlement of Fausse Riviere, which is populous and well cultivated. From this settlement to the sea are contained three-fourths of (he population, and seven-eighth* of the riches of all Louisiana. From Con pee church to Cape Guardcnn, above the mouth of the Ohio, there is no land on the west side that is not overflowed in.lhe spring, to the distance of eight or ten leagues from the river, wiih frowt two to twelve feet water, except the small prairie at New Madrid; so that in. -the whole extent of near wine hundred miles, there is. no possibility of forming a considerable settlement conti- guous ta the river on tfrat &ide> The eastern bank has iii this respect a decided Advantage over the western, as there are on it many situations winch effectually command th having little or no timber, and no settlement whatever; Tfie whole lower part of the country, even from the En* glish Bend downward, is subject to overflow in hurricanes, either by the recoiling of the river, or reflux of the sea on each side ; and, on more than one occasion j it has been co vered from the depth of two to ten feet, according to the descent of the river, whereby many lives were lost, horses and cattle swept away, and a dreadful scene of destruction laid. The last calamity of this kind happened in 1794 ; and in the preceding year the engineer who superintended the construction 0f the Fort Plac<^Jemines, was drowned irt bis house iiear the fort, and the workmen and garrison es- caped only by taking refuge on an elevated spot in the fort, On whicli there were not withstanding three feet water. These hurricanes h'aye generally been felt in the month of Augusts Their greatest fury lasts about twelve hours. They com- mence in the south east; veer about to* all points of. the compass, are felt more severely below, and seldom extend taore than a few leagues above New Orleans. In their ASHE.J Q q 298 ASIIE's TRAVELS IN AMERICA. whole course they are marked with ruin and desolation, They are not very frequent : until that of 1793, there had been none felt from the year 1780. About eight leagues below the Placquemines, the Missis- sippi divides itself into the channels, viz. the east, south, and 'south- west. Their course is from five to six leagues to the sea. The space between is a marsh, with little or no timber in it ; but from ifs siluation.it may hereafter be ren- dered of importance. The east pass, which is on the left hand going down the river, is divided into two branches about two leagues below, viz. the Pass a la Lantre, and that known by the name of the Balize, at which there is a small block-house, and huts for the accommodation of pilots. The first of these secondary channels contains at present but eight feet water; the latter from twelve to sixteen, according to the seasons. The south pass, which is directly in front of the Mississippi, has always been considered as entirely choaked up; it has ten feet water. The south-west pass, -which is on the right, is the longest and narrowest of all the passes, and a few years ago had eighteen feet water ; and was that by which the lars^e ships alwaysentered and sailed from the Mississippi. It lias now but eight feet water, and will probably decline in depth still more. In speaking of the quantity of water in the passes, it must be understood of what is on the bar of each pass, for immediately after pass- ing the bar, which is very narrow, there are ifrom five to seven fathoms at all seasons. Ships bound for the Mississippi must strive to keep exact- ly in the latitude of its mouth, as the land is not to be seen at the distance of five leagues ; they must bring the block- house to bear W. N. W. three degrees north, and run di- rect for it. When in, and bound up, the safest method is to run from point to point before a leading wind, taking care to keep out of the bends. When obliged to anchor, ships should come to on the close of a point. As may well be expected, the mouths of the river present a frightful sight. Wrecks of vessels, and piles of timber fastened in the bars, are seen by the%iariner before he can see the land ! and he finds.himself in ten fathoms water before he can make the log-house or any manner of guide! Few vessels come up the river without the loss of an anchor. From the mouth to New Orleans, a distance of one hundred miles, vessels have been known six and eight weeks on the passage, stemming the current, or waiting a favourable wind. It seldom occupies more than two days in the descent. To return. Of the settlements of CLapitoulas; first and A PROSPEROUS COUNTRY AND HAPPV PEOPLE, 299 second German coasts, Catahanose, Fourche, and Iberville, the best and most improved are above the city- of New Orleans ;' and comprehend, what is there known by the Parisse de Chapitoulas, Premier and second C6tes des Allemandes, extending sixteen leagues. Above these begins the parish of Calahanose, or first Acadian settlement, of eight leagues-extent ; adjoining which, and still ascending, are thesecond Acadian settlement, or parish of the Fourche, extending about six leagues. The parish of Iberville then commences, and is bounded by a river of the same name, which, though dry a great part of the year, yet, when the Mississippi is raised, it communicates with the Lakes Mau- repas and Pontchartrain, and through them with the sea, and thus forms what is called the island of New Orleans. Before I conclude, I shall take a rapid retrospect of my proceedings since' I left the Natchez. The voyage hither consumed eight days ; had I had leisure, I would readily have allowed it to employ an entire year. It is perhaps the most interesting stretch of fresli water navigation in the world, and the most abounding in objects calculated to ex- tend the information and gratify the senses. Except from the point just below the Iberville, the country to New Orleans is settled the whole way along the river, and presents a scene of uninterrupted plantations in sight of each other, whose parts to the Mississippi are all cleared, and occupy on that river from five to twenty-five acres, with a depth of forty ;- so that a plantation of five acres front, contains two hun- dred. A few sugar plantations are formed -in the parish of -Catahauose, but the remainder are devoted to cotton and provisions ; and the whole is an excellent soil, incapable of being exhausted. The plantations are but one deep on the island of New Orleans, and on the opposite skle of the river as far as the mouth of the Iberville, which is thirty-five leagues above New Orleans. Every parish from Baton Rouge down, has a church, o?i which a cross, that sacred emblem of Christianity, glitters from the top of a spire, which raises its picturesque head above the summit of walnut, ma%nolia, and cypress trees. The houses of a parish, which are built with all the embel- lishments of the French, in the West-India style, are not crowded together, but are separated by groves and gardens, which give them a charming effect, and an extent to one settlement of several miles. The inhabitants, who, for the most part are French, live perfectly at their ease. To min- gle piety with mirth, recreation with labour, aud activity 800 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. with repose ; is the only object they pursue ; and this they attain to a perfection unknown to any other people wit h whom I am acquainted. The navigation being good between the Natchez and New- Orleans, I had no apprehension of leaving my bo?tt in charge of the two men, and taking 1 rny caiioe ?shore fop }iours together. On going to the habitations of *hc phnt- ers or settlers, I always experienced the most hospitable and kind reception ; and uniformly, on offering to pay fo milk, fruit, and vegetables, the answer was, " N'importe mon- sieur, cela ne vaut new." The Spaniards are retiring fast into Mexico. There are not a dozen respectable Spanish fa- milies above New Orleans ; those who suhir.it, -reside below that city, and are of the lowest order, otherwise they also would ere this have departed. After a passage of such length and solitude, I cnn never describe to you the pleasure that is experienced on arriving in that part of the Mississippi, w(iere the sounds of popula- tion strike the ear, where a hearty welcome is always expe- rienced, where danger is no longer thought of, and where information is readily procured. I often continued floating along shore in the evening, hearkening to the distant tones of the village bells, to the herds lowing on their pasture, to the watchful dog guarding the premises of his master, tq the cheerful song chaunted by content and innocence, to the conversation of love and friendship, to the whistle of the vacant mind, and the long loud laugh of content and hap- piness. And on going ashore and walking up to a neat white 'Louse, nearly intercepted by groves of oranges, I have been greeted by the family /seated out of doors, with, u Ah I bien venue , monsieur Vetranger ; prenez une chaise si vous plait ; TOUS riavez pas soupez ; ma femme, faire appre- tez quelque chose pour monsieur ; mes enfans^ allez 'coir le bateau dc monsieur ; at/ez soin quc c'est bien attache^ ft menez ses gens qu'ils ant quelque chose a mangerS* In this manner have the good people gone on where 1 have stopt, and on my departure, ail I was ever permitted to do, was de donner un petit present aujc enfans, and in some fa- milies even that was not allowed, as you may judge, when they possessed from five to twenty thousand dollars a year. Along the river from Baton Rouge 4o New Orleans, float between one thousand and thirty thousand dollars annually. The local manner of calculating wealth is very singular : it is said, such a msn is worth ten negroes a year? and another ope hundred 5 and it is understood to a dollar : to how ciucli SINGULAR MANNER OP ESTIMATING INCOME. 301 the income amounts. One negro can cultivate two acres of cotton, the produce of which is two hundred dollars : the deduction from which ratio is, that he who has ten negroes is worth two thousand dollars per annum ; and he who has one hundred is worth twenty thousand. The sugar is very abundant and profitable. Much to the credit of the French s/'tljers, they have abandoned the cultivation of indigo from principles of humanity. It is now confined to Ame- ricans. The inhabitants of the river banks enjoy a tolerable state of health. Those who live temperate look strong and hearty. There are no markets ,at any of the villages or parishes. Every settler provides his own family. His grounds abound with stock ; the woods with game; and the river with fish. Where is the necessity of a market? The river, also, at certain seasons is covered with water-fowls ; and all the summer, duck and pelican. The river, too, has inhabitants not so desirable. It swarms with alligators of extraordinary ferocity and force. The French believe that they have a decided predilection for negro flesh. This idea prevails so much, that negroes dare not venture into the water ; and a fact is now current which gives strength to this prejudice. Two men, one black and the other white, had occasion to go into the water to endeavour to push off a boat which had got fast on a bar. An alligator attacked the African, and drew him under water by the leg ; he extricated himself, r,ose, and rushed to the boat, over the side of which he was clambering, assisted by the white, when the alligator re- newed the combat, again drew him off by the leg he had before mangled, and crushed his bones in the presence of stjjtj w bite man 3 whom he neither attacked nor regarded. 502 LETTER XLI. New Orleans Particulars of this important City, and its Environs New Madrid, an intended City^ on an excel' lent and salubrious Situation. New Orleans, Lat. 30. 2. North. Lon. 0.0. West. Nov. 1806. I HAVE at length arrived at this very important and flourishing city, the interesting particulars of which I s!tall communicate according as they strike my attention during my stay. It is the capital of Louisiana, a country of immense ex- tent, boundea by the Mississippi, east; by the Gulph of Mexico, south ; by New Mexico, west ; and runs indefi- nitely north. By referring to the maps, to my own experience, and examining the position of Louisiana, it appears that the lower part projects considerably into the sea. It has in all probability been formed by the sediment brought down by the current, and deposited on the flat coast. There is, there- fore, on the east but a very narrow slip along the bank of the river from the sea to the Iberville. The land is not ge- nerally susceptible of cultivation more than a mile back from the river, the rest is low and swampy to the lakes and the sea, and abounds with cypress, which is often cut down, and sawed by mills that are worked by artificial streams from the Mississippi in the time of floods, which often con- tinue five months in the year. What I observe of the east, equally applies to the west side of the river. The soil and situation are nearly the same. After leaving the bank of the river, there is an immense swamp intersected by creeks and lakes, extending to the high land of Alacapas, and oc- cupying a space of forty leagues. In a country such as this, on the east bank of the Missis- sippi, one hundred miles from the Balize, is seated the city of New Orleans. It extends nearly a mile along the river, from the gate of France, on the south, to, that of Chapi- toulas above, and is a little more than one-third of a mile in breadth from the river to the rampart; but there is an exten- sive suburb on the upper side. The houses in front of the town, and for a square backwards, are mostly of brick, co- , DESCRIPTION OP NEW ORLEANS. SOS vered \\ith slate or tile ; the remainder are of wood, covered "with shingles. They run cross each other at right angles, and are thirty-two French feet wide. The squares between the intersections of the streets have a front of three hundred French feet. There is in the middle of the front of the city, a square, o? place des armes, facing which the church and town-house are built. There are about fifteen hundred houses in the city and suburbs. The population may be estimated at fifteen thousand, including the garrison and Africans. It was fortified in 1793; but the works being originally defective, could riot be defended, and are rv>w in ruins. The powder magazine is on the opposite bank of the river. In the city there are twelve public structures. The church, town-house, jail, convent, bank, theatre, and go- vernor's palace, would, in any country, be esteemed large and handsome buildings. The front, or side next the river, is open, and is secured from the inundations by a raised bank, called the leve'e, which extends from fifteen miles be- low the city to fifty miles above it, forming a good road all the way. The city is considerably under the level of high water, inconsequence of which, and the swampy nature of the ground on which it is built, there can be no subterrane- ous building. Where they have been attempted, they have uniformly fallen in and filled with water. Most of the houses have open galleries, and gardens abounding with flowering shrubs and rich bearing orange trees. These give the city a cool and lively appearance, and convey to my mind very pleasurable sensations, after a voyage so desti- tute of the comforts and elegancies of life as I lately experi- enced. Immediately behind the city is a canal, about a mile and a half long, called the Canal of Carondelet, which commu- nicates with a creek, called the Bayeau St. Jean, flowing into Lake Pontchartrain . At the head of the bayeau is a handsome village, and at the mouth, about eight miles from the city, is the small fort of St. Jean, which commands the entrance from the lake. By this bayeau -the communication is kept up through the lake and the Rigolets to the Mobile and settlements in West Florida. Craft drawing from six to eight feet water, can navigate to the mouth of the creek; but, except in particular swells of the lake, cannot pass the bar without being lightened. On the road from the city to 'the road bayeau are several beautiful country seats and rich gardens. '.The banks of the river on the east side, as far down as the English Bend, and 304: ASHE*& THAVEtS IN as high up as Bona, Cara, are also embellishecl witli nfetft country residences, whither the citizens retire during (he sickly season, which happens between the months of August and November. From the favourableness of the climate of the Lower Louisiana, especially as low down as the city, two crops of Indian corn may be annually produced ; and the soil, with little cultivation, would furnish grain of every kind in abun- dance. The timber is as fine as any in the world ; and the quantities of oak, ash, mulberry, walnut, cherry, cypress^ and cedar, are astonishing. The banks of the Mississippi; besides, furnish the richest fiuits in variety ; and the soil 15 particularly adapted for hemp, flax, and tobacco : indigo yields the planter three or four cuttings a year. In a word^ whatever is rich and rare in the most desirable climates in Europe seems to be the spontaneous production of the neighbourhood of this city, and of the country in general; Oranges thrive to the highest perfection, and mulberry, lo- cust, sassafras, hickory, dog-wood, &c. are the most abun- dant natives of the soil. Grape-vines run up almost every tree, and yield a red wine of a very tolerable quality. The game of the savannahs and woods is not yet destroyed, and the Mississippi and the neighbouring lakes furnish, in great plenty, several sorts of fish, particularly perch, pike, cat, buffalo, sturgeon, and eels. Accounts similar to this, perhaps higher coloured and still true, lead thousands into this country in search of a pa-* radise, and they find a grave. The climate is horrid. On an average nine strangers die out of ten, shortly after their arrival in the city, and those who survive are of shattered constitution and debilitated frame. The entire country is not subject to rmrlignant disease. It is generated by the lakes, swamps, and marshes, conti- guous to the sea, and gradually diffuses itself up the river, till checked by high lands and a higher latitude. It merely glances over the habitations of the settlers, whom it slightly attacks, aad tarries only in Orleans and the Natchez, where an overflowing population, and the various circumstances incident to cities, which favour disease, render it powerful and contagious. The present partial population and wealth of the country is to be attributed to the flattering accounts disseminated by interested individuals, of its- climate, riches, and general productions. The first intention of settling New Madrid ? that vile^ wretched spot, which I described to you in # RECRUITING FOR A NEW CITY. 305 former letter, -was announced to the public in these terms, by colonel Morgan, a Kentuckeyan adventurer : In a country abounding with the richest productions of nature, and enjoying the most wholesome climate known to the world, a ciltj is about to be established, under the im mediate sanction and patronage of the king of Spain ; who, to encourage settlers purchasing town-lots, will grant lands in any quantity, and of the most superior kind, at the rate of sixpence per acre. In honour to his majesty, the city is to be named New Madrid, after the capital of his European possessions, and is to extend four miles south and two miles west from the Mississippi ; so as to cross a beautiful, living, deep lake, of the purest spring water, one hundred yards wide and several miles in length, emptying itself by a constant and rapid narrow stream through the centre of the citv ; the banks of the lake, called St. Annis, high and delightful; the water .deep, clear, and sweet, and well stored with fish. On each side of this unparalleled lake streets are to be laid out,, one hundred feet wide; a road to be continued round it of the same breadth ; and the streets are directed to be preserved for ever, for, the health and pleasure of the citi- zens. A street one hundred and twenty feet wide is to be laid out on the banks of the' Mississippi, and the trees now ornamenting it are to be preserved tor the same purpose. Twelve acres, in a central part of the city, are to be re- served in like manner, and embellished and regulated by tiie magistracy for public walks ;. forty half-acre lots for other public purposes ; and one lot of twelve acres for the king's use. As the vicinity of this city is rich beyond description, and abounding will every advantage required by man to render his life luxuriant and comfortable, there can be no doubt but that it will possess a wealtljy population, espe- cially as colonel Morgan, the proprietor under the king, is liberal in making free grants to mechanics, and intends dis- posing of the whole of the forty thousand city lots at a rate that will be but equal to ten dollars per acre. ASHE.] R r * 306 LETTER XLII. The Religion and Commerce of New Orleans. New Orleans, November, 180& MY last conveyed to you general kleas of the city, and of the climate of Lower Louisiana. I confine myself now ' to the religion and commerce of this place. The religion is Roman catholic : that is, the religion of the French and Spanish is caUiolic ; as for the Americans they have none. They disregard the Sabbath entirely ; or, if they go to the catholic church, there not being any o timber, flour, In- dian corn, iron, and pottery-ware ; sassafras, ginseng, and various medicinal plants, roots and herbs ; also oil of snakes, animals, and vegetables, hemp, flax, sail-cloth, cordage, twist, twine, paper, spirits manufactured in the country. Kentuckey, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, also send down their boats, sadlery, and artificers' tools made in the country. From the lakes and the Illinois, it receives furs, dying stuffs, earths, and minerals. From the Messauri it receives lead and furs. * From the west it receives furs, cattle, horses, and hogs. From New Mexico it receives silver and gold for goods clandestinely introduced. And from the Mississippi territory, and the banks of the river, where cultivated to an extent of three hundred miles up and down, it receives cotton, indigo, and sugar, and timber in bulk, and plank in great abundance. From this it appears that the city is the depot of all thf various wealth and productions of countries extending from it from two to three thousand miles in many directions, and as such wealth and productions must slop at the city, which contracts the navigation of the river, His not unreasonable to assert, as I have done, that the city must flourish in spite of the t diseases by which it is periodically ravaged. Beside becom- ing the necessary depot of such extravagant wealth, it has strong advantages from its own situation ; it stands on the very bank of the most perfect course of fresh-water naviga- tion in the world ; it is but one hundred miles from the sea, within a few days sail of Mexico, of the French, "Spanish, and British islands in the West Indies, and lies open to, and trades with Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Hamburgh, United Provinces, Great Britain, Austria, Netherlands and Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Morocco/ and several parts of Africa ; China, and various Asiatic coun- tries, and the north west coast of North, and the east coast of South America. There are upwards of four hundred ships of all nations now in the river, moored three deep along the Levee. The trade of New Orleans has undergone am entire change since the soil of Louisiana became the property of the states. Before that period, it was conducted, exclusively, by indi- viduals purchasing the rights of monopoly from the king of Spain, or of his viceroys and governors. They, of course made immense fortunes, as the instance of don Andre, who was enabled to expend 2,000,000 dollars in public works, and to leave his widow the enormous fortune of 100,000 dollars u year. At that period, therefore, wealth circulated in a very partial manner, and unbounded riches and penury and distress must have marked the general feature; but at present, when toleration and competition prevail, things have taken a widely different turn, and that wealth which, before preserved one certain stream, now overflows, and dif- fuses itself to all around. For one merchant that acted for himself (I say for himself, because in the time of the ancient regimen, the few exclusive merchants sold licenses to others to pursue the same trade, and thereby increased the number of merchants) six years ago, there are now fifty!. Though this toleration in the American commercial system is much to be approved of, still, that peculiar vice of mad specula- tion, which is manifest in all their dealings, in the case of this city already betrays an evil consequence: for, if formerly there were too many poor in Orleans, there will' shortly be too few rich. The fountain of wealth now 310 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. femjtfies itself through siich numberless channels, that the supply must be trifling td all, and flow with much less velo* city than when it rushed through but one or two mouths. The influx of American speculators was so great in the first instance, that the character of commerce instantaneously- changed, and violence and competition, which in America means contention, reigned triumphantly abroad. This forced kind of proceeding, this ardent com petition, gave an artificial value to things, and an immense profit was re- quired on imported and exported goods : it lasted two years : commerce has now sunk to its natural level, and in consequence of the rivals in trade multiplying in a propor- tion beyond the capacity of the trade, every article is re- duced considerably in value. British goods may be bought as clieap as in London, and the produce of (he country, at least some part of it, is reduced two hundred per cent. Flour, which but one year ago sold for twelve dollars a bar- rel, has fallen to four, and every other article in its due proportion. As this level and diffusion of commerce can afford no more than an honest and reasonable profit, the Americans begin to be dissatisfied, and many of them have already become bankrupts, and returned to their own parti- cular state. The great body who now remain, are commis- sion merchants ; to whom the settlers of the upper and ad* jacent countries consign their produce. Their demand is four and a half per cent. They make also charges for stor- age, wharfage, and labour, which give them a clear ad* vantage in all of about ten per cent. ; and in too many in- stances, they keep the property altogether to themselves, and depart j or remain, and stand the issue of a suit at law, which must ultimately prove in their favour, the American judicature being so lax that it encourages, instead of pu- nishing and preventing its offence. Th trade of the city is conducted for the most part by- four classes of men. Virginians and Kentuckeyans reign over the brokerage and commission business ; the Scotch and Irish absorb all the respectable commerce of exporta- tion and importation ; the French keep magazines and stores ; and the Spaniards do all the small retail of grocers' shops, cabants, and lowest order of drinking bouses. Peo- ple of colour and free negroes, also keep inferior shops, and sell goods and fruits. There is no exchange, nor any other general place of mer* cantile resort. After sun-set, the inhabitants promenade on the Levee. The place is very favourable for the purpose^ STYLE AND RATE OF LIVING AT NEW ORLEANS. 311 the shipping extending along the bank, and the captains and others employed within sight. Ships have race-boards to the bank, which gives them an access so easy, that they are often visited from the shore ; and it is no uncommon thing to see the sprightly dance on the deck, or the bottle circu- late under the awning, while the whole town promenade the Levee, or repose under the orange-trees which decorate it in partial spots. The shipping at present extends the entire length qf the Levee, and for the most part are moored three abreast, It is composed of all nations. The merchandise for the Mis- sissippi is exactly similar to that of the West-India trade the race of people being nearly the same, and the climate not essentially differing. The prices are as high as in any of the English markets. Fruit and vegetables alone are cheaper. There are no good taverns. The custom among strangers is to live in boarding-houses, which charge from ten to fif- teen dollars per week, for board and lodging, and an infe- rior kind of French claret for drink. Persons of good taste* and who respect their health, find their own wine. The ta- ble is excellent, being covered with fish, soup, fowls, roasted, boiled, and stewed meats, with vegetables. The dinner-hour is three. Coifre is served soon after dinner, after which it is customary to enjoy a siesto. The instant the luminary sets, animation begins to rise, the public walks are crowded ; the billiard rooms resound, mu- sic strikes up, and life and activity resume their joyous ca- reer. LETTER XLIII. Farther Particulars of New Orleans Its Amusements and Inhabitants. New Orleans, November, 1806. AS the amusements of the ladies and gentlemen of thi* city are generally distinct, I must give you a sketch of each under separate heads. The Americans, since their arrival here, have been so oc- cupied by politics and legislation, that their minds have ne- 312 ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. ver been sufficiently unbent to form a course of pleasures for themselves ; therefore the indulgence of the table, cards and billiards are the principal fountain of the enjoyments of the men. It is not so with theFrench gentlemen ; their pleasures are for* 4 ver varied, and of a nature to be participated by the most delicate of the female sex. This casts over them a consi- derable degree of refinement, and the concert, dance, prome- nade, and petit souper, are conducted with as much atten- tion as at Paris or Rome. At times, the limits of the French entertainments extend from a partial circle, and pervade the whole town. Besides the French and American amusements of the men, I can still trace some old Spanish recreations. On returning to my lodging late at night, 1 have more than once heard the guitar under the windows of a sleeping beauty, or the harp delicately touched under a corridor, over which some charming girl attentively reclined. Songs too are often heard in the silence of the night. They sometimes assume the form of a duct, and are repeated by the lover and the confidential friend who accompanies him as a guard. If could be wished that the Spanish character were only to be discerned by their empassioned songs and innocent amours: unfortunately it often breaks out in sanguinary stabs of the stiletto, and frequent assassinations. Several Americans who have interrupted their midnight serenades, have already fallen. The remainder go armed, and have also learned to correct their conduct towards the Spaniards, whom they now find they cannot trample upon with impu- nity or scorn. The first class of Spaniards, who could not submit to any other government or religion than their own, have retired into Mexico : those who remain are es- teemed degraded by their countrymen, and are called Cata- lons, by way of contempt. The women, who in point of manners and character have a very marked superiority over the men, are divided into two ranks the white and the brown. They have two se- parate ball-rooms in the city. At the white ball-room no lady of colour is admitted. Those called the whites are principally brunettes, with deeptlack eyes, dark hair, and good teeth. Their persons are eminently lovely, and their movements indescribably graceful, far superior to any thing I ever witnessed in Eu- rope. It would seem that a hot climate " calls to life each latent grace." With you the movements are rigid and the muscles unrelaxed; whereas, here the action is unre- CHARAOTEn OF THE LADIES Of NEW ORLEANS. 313 strained, the muscles elastic, and t^he frame as supple as if destitute of buue. Yv^ith you the form alone is fine and beautiful : but here the various charms of grace and sym- metry are heightened by the most enchanting expressions of joy and elegance of motion. In the dance these fascinating endowments are peculiarly displayed. The dress of the white Indies is very plain and simple. The robe white, fastened under the breast with a diamond pin, and the hair in the form of a coronet, connected by small bands of precious stones and pearls. The principal amusement of the young women of this class is to ride out after sun-set in small cabriolets, which they drive them- selves, with great ease and dexterity, a negro boy or girl, elegantly dressed, standing behind. In these excursions they are never attended by gentlemen, the loss of reputation being dreaded here beyond the loss of every thing else. Their public amusements are balls and conceits, which are generally well attended ; their private consist of music-par- ties at home and conversations around the door. The ladies have much more reserve than French women ; they are even distant in their manners ; and it is not till they take a fantasie for a gentleman, that they rise into friendship, and descend into familiarity with him ; after that period they kindle into love without much difficulty, and give that passion more dignity and embellishment thail you conceive it susceptible of in Europe. A Spanish Ame- ricaine in. love soars above her former excellence, and be- comes a new object ia the creation : so seusib;'} is her lover to her attractions, that he too changes his nature, and for* getting that the idol of his soul is human, looks up to her us a divinity, and oilers at her shrine a suite of the most profound adorations. Custom has made the church the theatre for the creation, discovery, and progress of lirst loves,' He who would gain the inestimable heart of a Spanish girl, must attend her through a series of fervid devotions; gaze on her in reverential silence, or, at the most,- in tender Ian,- guishment, express, " thy image steals between my God and me." If, in the course of an atlair of the heart, conducted under the sanctuary and evidence of the church, the lover "were to be guilty of any one act of meanness and de-pravity, or sully his reputation in any possible way, his mistress would tear him froin her heart. The women of colour stand next to tile white in society. They are very beautiful, of a light copper colour, and tail and elegant persons. Their dress is widely different in gene- ASHE. 1 8 s j / ASIIE*S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. ral from that of the white ladies ; (heir petticoats arc orna- mented at the bottom with gold lace or fringe richly tas- selled ; their slipper* are composed of gold embroidery, and theirstockings imerwo7:. l u with the same metal, in so fanci- ful a manner, as to display -tlio shape of the leg to the best advantage. A kind of ;,ack3t made of velvet, fitted tight to the shape, j; ;d laced or buttoned in front, with long points hanging down quite round the petticoat, and trim- med at the end with pearl tassels, is also worn ; and on the shoulders of the jacket is fastened a cloak made of gauze, or some such light material, which hangs as a loose train to the ground, or is occasionally fastened to I he side by a clasp of jewels. Their most general head-dress is either a handkerchief of gold gauze braided in with diamonds, or else chains of gold and pearls twisted in and out through a profusion of fine black hair, which produces a pleasing 'effect. The bosom is covered with solitaires, composed of "every different kind of jewels. Notwithstanding the beauty and wealth of these women, they are not admitted, as I before remarked, to the white assemblies. They have there- fore a ball-room of their own, which is well attended, and "where as beautiful persons and as graceful dancing is wit- nessed, as in any other assemblies of the sort whatever. A distinction subsists between ladies of colour of a very singu- lar sort ; those who are but one remove from the African tast, are subordinate to those who are from two to three, or more, and arc interdicted, by custom, from intermarrying 'with the whites; but they are allowed, by the same autho- rity, to become mistresses of the whites, without being dis- honoured in the eyes of society: that is, they are esleemed honourable and virtuous while faithful to one man; but if, in their amours, they at any time become indiscriminate, they lose the advantage of ranking among the virtuous, and ?re classed in the city books among prostitutes and slaves. This, or a native disposition to continence, lias such a do- minion over them, that the instances of their infidelity are very rare, though they are extremely numerous, and are. mis- tresses to the married and unmarried, and nearly to all the strangers who resort to the town. For, though infidelity is punished among them, they are no sooner disengaged from . one attachment than they are at liberly to form another. The introduction of strangers to them is attended with some ceremony, and must always be through the means of the mother, or female adopted .to supply her place. The inha- bitants of the town never break down tbeir regulations, or FORMS OF COURTSHIP. treat them abruptly, and strangers are instructed by their acquaintance how 10 proceed. The Le i ee at sun-set is the principal market for all this traffic de cceur. There all the beauties, assemble ; and there all those who need the kind companion joyfully repair: all walk up and down for a con- siderable time, or sit under orange-trees occasionally, with the objects of their separate choice. Such an expression of reserve, morals, and deccncv, reigns over the women of every sort, that a stranger passes and repasses, before he can assume sufficiently to tell the oe he admires the most qu'elle est belle comme une {wye, and so forth. To an .English- man, this timid, bashful, silent ;'<-: .-neanour, opposes diffi- culties which require hits utmost r- -solution to surmount, and lie walks (he Levee many a pensive evening before the sense, of virtue is sufficiently consumed by the new passion of his breast, to permit him to speak, or lo ofler terms to a parent, from which his soul shrinks, from the conviction of their being base and dishonourable. Some mothers now, on be- coming acquainted with the English timidity, begin to alter their line of conduct, and suffer their daughters to remove their veil en passcwt mi Anglois, or flirt their fan, or drop a handkerchief, which they receive with such gracious ac- cents of gratitude, that a conversation may ensily succeed. The mothers always regulate the terms and make the har- fain. The terms allowed the parents are generally fifty dol- irs a month ; during which time the lover has the exclu- sive right to the house, where fruit, coffee, and refresh- ments may at any time be had, or where he may entirely live with tiie utmost safety and tranquillity. Many do live in this manner, notwithstanding which, J have never heard a complaint against these interesting females. In propor- tion as they advance in age they enter into service, &c. and are respected as much as when in their virgin state. Negresses and female 'Mestizos next follow; the first are principally employed as servants, of which every family has a conisderable number ; the second perform all kinds of laborious work, such as washing, and retailing fruit through (he city in the hottest weather ; and being considered as a cast too degraded to enter into the marriage state, they fol- low a legal kind of prostitution, without deeming it an/ disparagement to their virtue or to their honour. Though the places of amusement are separate in the city for the distinctions in society, still there is an assembly held every Sunday evening at the Bayou, about two miles out of towu, where all the beauty of the country concentrates, Mi Agile's TRAVELS IN AMERICA. without any regard to birth, wealth, or colour. The place of entertainment is called Tivoli. The room is spacious and circular ; well painted and adorned, and surrounded by orange trees and aromatic shrubs, which diffuse through it a delightful odour. 1 went to Tivoli, and danced in a very brilliant assembly of ladies. The Spanish women ex- cel in the waltz, and the French in cotilions. Thus, my dear- friend, have I run over every subject of interest which this place can afford : you may,, perhaps, remark, that I have of late been silent on the subject of cu- riosities. This country is destitute of them ; or, at least, possesses none of any distinction, or, only such as are in- ferior to what J have already described . Reptiles are very common. Large lizards are about every yard ; and snakes ctmie into the houses from the river side. It is not a little strange, but alligators do not come near the town. Though extremely numerous above and below, they avoid the Le- vee, and pass always on the opposite shore. The country swarms with grasshoppers ; they are very large, not le>s than three inches long ; the body jet black, the head red. > The French call them " che'oaux du Diable." There are so many descriptions of the natural produc- tions of the Floridas, which are exactly similar to those of the Lower Louisiana, that it would be idle of me to go into their history, and therefore, I conclude correspondence for the present, as 1 am about to embark for England* END OF ASHE's TRAVELS* INDEX TO ASHE'S TRAVELS IN AMERICA. ALLEGHANY, description of the ri- ver, 36. towns on the borders of, 37. AMeghany and Onondargo, immense circuitous, journey performed by persons chiefly engaged in the com- merce of those two rivers, 43. Alexandria, some account of the town of, 159. Alligator, attack of an, 274, 275. America, character of the north-east- ern states of, 5. antiquity of, 185. Americans, their custom of building iu valleys, 42. Anecdote, curious one, 114. Animals, imitation of, by an Indian servant of the Author, 100, 101. , their fondness for salt, 39. Anthony, St. Falls of, 258. Antiquities, Indian, 33, 113. Association, extraordinary, 194, 195. Ash, antipathy of snakes to, 125. Augusta, some account of the town of, 179. B Bacchus, fine view of an island so called. 135. i , elegant mansion on, 135. , its interesting- inhabitants, 236. Ball, description of a, 88, 89. , confusion at a, 89. Banks, chalk, description of, 966. Barrows, description of bones in, 35. Bear, the Author kills one, 14. t -,'its precaution to stop the flow- ing of the blood from the wound, 13. T , innr. ease size of, 13, Bcardstown, some account of the towa and people of, 220. Bedford, 'description of that town, 9. Belleprie, settlement of, 137. Belleville, beautiful island of that name, 139. Bird, humming, the character of, 205. , mocking, its extraordinary pow- ers, 144, 197. description of, 219. Birds, Indian, account of, 146. Bluffs, Chickassaw, description of that bank, 2G9. Boat, a Kentuckey, description of one, 65. Bones, valley of, 263. Botanist, a practical female one de- scrib ed, 2' 9. Boxing- match, horridly brutal one de- scribed, 86, 87. , frequency of them, 87, Breakfast, an interesting American one, 105. Britain, emigration from, considered, 24, 25. Brownsville, account ,of the town of, SI. .. Buffaloes, vast number of, killed, 40. Camp, a fortified, some account of, 188. , Indian, description of one, T6. Carlisle, university of, its wretched state, .7. Catacomb, Indian one described, 176. Cave, description of a remarkable, 225. Cavern, entrance into, and description of its hieroglyphics, 227,-8, 9. , a singular one described, 265. . , curious productions in, 265. Ceremony, . marriage, ludicrous one, 240. INDEX. Charles, St. village of, 25S. Chilicothe', antiquities and lands of, 162. i i -, town of described, 161. Cincinnati, town of in a scale of ruin, 180. , amusements, &c. 1S2. '" ' , built on the site of an an- cient English settlement, 1G4. Country, western, singularity in the character of the horse of, 197. Charlestown, description of the town of, 82. Chief, vestiges of the remains of one, 153. Clarkesville, some account of, 21" 1. Cock, black, some account of, 18. Colonists, the Selkirk, misfortunes of. 29. Cooandanaga, history of the first set- tlement of, by Irish emigrants, 93 its judicious regulations, 94 - Mr. Fitzpatrick at its head, 95 effects of the vast heat at, 97 manner of passing Sunday there, 93. Combat, Indian, result of one, 236, 237. Creek, Great Sandy, some account of, 151. Cumberland river, description of, 240. Curiosties, natural, some account of, 191. Deer, destruction of, considered as an amusement, 41. . i. , description of some, 129. Deluge, traces of a, 45, 46. Diamond fsland, description of, 223. Divorce, curious procced ; r.gs for, 2-J9. Drayton, town of, described, 04. Dress, Indian, on the antiquity of, ii35. Duelling, fatal effects of, 90. Dutch, cupidity of tlie, 1C8. ' Embalming, on the art of, 177. Encampment, E.U American one de- scribed, 69, Erie, infectious state of the air of, 41. Fails, Letart's, danger of passing them, especially in the night, 140. Family, Indian, account of one, 203. Farmer, emigrant, lustcry of an, 25, 26, 27, 2$. Farmer, emigrant, his opinion of Ame- rica, 27. Fishing, nocturnal, novelty of, 137, Fitzpatrick, Mr. benevolent acts of that misguided' emigrant, 'Ju, 9P, Fle.h, negro, predilection of alligator* for, 301. Fogg, description of, 101, 102. Forest, sublimity and horrors of a night past in ?, 9, 1C, 1). Forests, American, free from under- wood, 14. Forts, anc : ent Indian ones, 211. Fossils, some account of, 47. Francis, St. river some account of, 273. Fn nkfort, account of the town of^ 210. G Gallantry, singular mode of, 245. Galliopolis, account of the town of, 145. Gang, Wilson's, description of, 226. Genevieve, St., description of, 261. , its public buildings, 261. -, price of lands at, 262, Gcorge-iown, some account of, 71. Grapes Island, description of, 223. Grave, rude violation of one, 153. Green river, views on, 221. Gulph, the Grand, some account of the passage of, 280. H Henderson, town of, described, 223, Hieroglyphics, Indian, 231, 232. Hill, Laurel, the, account of, 17. History, natural, thoughts on, 12. Hors,e-racing, American, described, 85. Hog, Indian, its propensity to snap even at its feeders, 157. Hogs, wild, some account of their sa- vagencss, 154-5. Hurricane island described, 239. Hurricane, singular, 240. , extraordinary one describ- ed, 271. Idol, an account of, 1ST, Illinois, vengeance of, against thfr Kentuckeyahs, 226'. Income, singular manner of estimat* iii, 301, INDEX. Indians, American, the character of, 15 cessions by the, 77 incanta- tions and charms of, 122 atro- cious massacre of, 142. Indians, Natchez, described, 290. Irish, patriotism of the, 97. Jefferson's town described, 221. Jugglers, Indian, description of, 2-17\ Kenhaway, the great fertility of its lands, 141. Kentuckey, remarks on the poultry of, 121. . -, false descriptions of, cor- rected, 152. . , interior of, described, 165. L Lady, interesting anecdote of a, 183. Lake, the Grand, majestic appearance of, 280. Lanesvitle, magnificence of the ruins of, 131. ' ' , antiquities at, 131. Lancaster, manufactures of the inha- bitants of, 7. , New, ^some account of the town of, 133. Lands, the congress, some account of them, 76, 78. Land, remarks on the value and pro- duce of, 79-81. Lawn; a delightful one described, 135. Lexington, town of, described, 170. , amusements of, 170. , its inhabitants, 172. , its trade, 1 72. Lebanon, town of, described, 153. - , state of farming in the neighbourhood of, 199. Limestone, town of, described, 165. Logan, curious account of that chief, 1>46. Log-house, the Author's description of, and its inhabitants, 69, 70. "' - , sociality in one of, 217. London, fire of, advantages of, 83. Long-reach, settlement oa banks of; 106. Louisiana, history of, 259. , progress of that; country, 259. , the capital of, described, 302. J ouuvilie, town of, 21 U Louisville, its houses and public build* ings, 212. , productions of, 216. Ludlow, Col. death of, 190. M Macintosh, description of the town Of, t;8. Mad river, some account of, 20(7. Madrid, New, description of, 267. , , insensibility of the in- habitants of, 268. Marietta, description of the town of. 109. Mayslick, account of a salt-spring so called, 166. Maysville, account of the town of 165. Men, Kentuckey, their depredations. 69. Menonite, curious character of, 22. - Messauri,. the, description of, .255. Miami, Little, richness of the lands on the banks of, 180. Millersburgh, account of the town oL 166. Mines, lead, interesting account of 141. Mississippi, entrance to that vast ri- ver, 250. , territory and settlements on-the, 294, 295, 296. Music, ancient, effects of, 238. Mummies, Indian, antiquity of, 173. Morganto^vn, some account of, 30. Moaongahela, some account of that river, 3