It will be perceived that the travels and researches of the Expedition, have been far less extensive than {5} those contemplated in the foregoing orders:—the state of the national finances, during the year 1821, having called for retrenchments in all expenditures of a public nature,—the means necessary for the farther prosecution of the objects of the Expedition, were accordingly withheld. [pg039]

EXPEDITION FROM PITTSBURGH TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
[PART I.]

CHAPTER I

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Early in April, 1819, the several persons constituting the exploring party had assembled at Pittsburgh. It had been our intention to commence the descent of the Ohio, before the middle of that month; but some unavoidable delays in the completion of the steam boat, and in the preparations necessary for a long voyage, prevented our departure until the first of May. On the 31st of March, the following instructions were issued by the commanding officer, giving an outline of the services to be performed by the party, and assigning to each individual[001] the appropriate duties:—

[pg040]

On the 3d of May we left the arsenal,[002] where the boat had been built, and after exchanging a salute of twenty-two[pg044] guns, began to descend the Alleghany, towards Pittsburgh. Great numbers of spectators lined the banks of the river, and their acclamations were occasionally noticed by the discharge of ordnance on board the boat. The important duties assigned the expedition rendered its departure a subject of interest, and some peculiarities in the structure of the boat attracted attention.

At evening we heard the cry of the whip-poor-will;[003] and among other birds saw the pelecanus carbo, several turkey vultures, and the tell-tale sand-piper. The spring was now rapidly advancing, the dense forests of the Ohio bottoms were unfolding their luxuriant foliage, and the scattered plantations assuming the cheering aspect of summer.

{5} A few weeks' residence at and near Pittsburgh, and several journies across the Alleghany mountains, in different parts, have afforded us the opportunity of collecting[pg045] a few observations relative to that important section of country, which contains the sources of the Ohio.

In the Alleghany river we found several of those little animals, which have been described as a species of Proteus, but which to us appear more properly to belong to the genus Triton. [004]

[pg046]

The north-western slope of that range of mountains, known collectively as the Alleghanies, has a moderate inclination towards the bed of the Ohio, and the St. Lawrence, which run nearly in opposite directions along its base. This mountain chain extends uninterrupted along the Atlantic coast, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence south-west to the great alluvial formation of the Mississippi. It crosses the St. Lawrence at the rapids above Quebec, and has been supposed to be connected as a spur to a group of primitive mountains occupying a large portion of the interior of the continent, north of the great Lakes.[005] An inspection of any of the late maps of North America, will show that this range holds the second place among the mountain chains of this continent. All our rivers of the first magnitude have their sources, either in the Rocky Mountains, or in elevated spurs, projecting from the sides of that range. The largest of the rivers, flowing from the Alleghanies, is the Ohio; and even this, running almost parallel to the range, and receiving as many, and, with a few exceptions, as large rivers from the north as from the south, seems in a great measure independent of it. From the most elevated part of the continent, at the sources of the Platte, and Yellow Stone, branches of the Missouri, the descent towards the Atlantic is at least {6} twice obstructed by ranges of hills nearly parallel, in direction, to each other. Erroneous impressions have heretofore prevailed respecting the character of that part of the country called the Mississippi Valley. If we consider attentively that extensive portion of our continent, drained by the Mississippi, we shall find it naturally divided into two nearly equal sections. This division is made by a range of hilly country, to be hereafter particularly described, running from near the north-western angle of the Gulf of Mexico north-eastwardly to Lake Superior. Eastward, from this range, to the summit of the Alleghanies, extends a country of forests, having usually a[pg049] deep and fertile soil, reposing upon extensive strata of argillaceous sandstone, compact limestone, and other secondary rocks. Though these rocks extend almost to the highest summits of the Alleghanies, and retain even there the horizontal position which they have in the plains, the region they underlay is not to be considered as forming a district of table lands. On the contrary, its surface is varied by deep vallies and lofty hills; and there are extensive tracts elevated probably not less than eight hundred feet above the Atlantic ocean. The north-western slope of the Alleghany mountains, though more gradual than the south-eastern, is, like it, divided by deep vallies, parallel to the general direction of the range. In these vallies, many of the rivers, which derive their sources from the interior and most elevated hills of the group, pursue their courses for many miles, descending either towards the south-west, or the north-east, until they at length acquire sufficient force to break through the opposing ridges, whence they afterward pursue a more direct course. As instances, we may mention the Monongahela river, which runs nearly parallel, but in an opposite direction, to the Ohio; the great Kenhawa, whose course above the falls forms an acute angle with the part below; also the Cumberland, and Tennessee, which run a {7} long distance parallel to each other, and to the Ohio. This fact seems to justify the inference, that some other agent than the rivers has been active in the production of the vallies between the subordinate ridges of the Alleghany. There appears some reason to believe that the rocky hills, along the immediate course of the Ohio and the larger western rivers, have received, at least, their present form from[pg050] the operation of streams of water. They do not, like the accessory ridges of the Alleghany, form high and continuous chains, apparently influencing the direction of rivers, but present groups of conic eminences separated by water-worn vallies, and having a sort of symmetric arrangement. The structure of these hills does not so much differ from that of the Alleghany mountains, as their form and position. The long chains of hills, which form the ascent to the Alleghany, on the western side, are based either on metalliferous limestone, or some of the inclined rocks belonging to the transition formation of Werner, and have their summits capped with the more recent secondary aggregates in strata without inclination, and greatly resembling those found in the plains west of the Ohio. It is not easy to conceive how these horizontal strata, unless originally continuous, should appear so similar at equal elevations in different hills, and hills separated by vallies of several miles in width. If that convulsion which produced the inclination of the strata, of the metalliferous limestone, the clay-slate, and the gray wacke, happened before the deposition of the compact limestone, and the argillaceous sandstones, why are not these later aggregates found principally in the vallies, where their integrant particles would be supposed most readily to have accumulated? On the other hand, if the secondary rocks had been deposited previous to that supposed change, how have their stratifications retained the original horizontal {8} position, while that of the transition strata has been changed?

Most of the rivers which descend from the western side of the Alleghany mountains are of inconsiderable magnitude,[pg051] and by no means remarkable, on account of the straightness of their course, or the rapidity of their currents. The maps accompanying this work, will, in the most satisfactory manner, illustrate the great contrast in this respect, between the district now under consideration and the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. The Tennessee, the Cumberland, the Kentucky, the Kenhawa and Alleghany rivers, though traversed in their courses by rocky dikes, sometimes compressing their beds into a narrow compass, occasioning rapids, and in other instances causing perpendicular falls, yet compared to the Platte, and the western tributaries of the Missouri generally, can be considered neither shoal nor rapid. Their immediate banks are permanent, often rocky, and the sloping beach covered with trees or shrubs, and the water, except in time of high floods, nearly transparent. The waters of the Ohio, and its tributaries, and perhaps of most other rivers, when they do not suspend such quantities of earthy matter as to destroy their transparency, reflect, from beneath their surface, a greenish colour. This colour has been thought to be, in some instances, occasioned by minute confervas, or other floating plants, or to result from the decomposition of decaying vegetable matter. That it depends on neither of these causes, however, is sufficiently manifest, for when seen by transmitted light, the green waters are usually transparent and colourless. Some rivers of Switzerland, and some of South America, which descend from lofty primitive mountains, consisting of rocks of the most flinty and indestructible composition, covered with perpetual snows, and almost destitute of organic beings, or exuviæ, either animal or {9} vegetable, and whose waters have a temperature, even in[pg052] summer, raised but a few degrees above the freezing point, which circumstance, together with the rapidity of their currents, render them unfit for the abode of vegetable life, and is incompatible with the existence of putrefaction, notwithstanding the transparency of their waters, and the reddish, or yellowish colour of the rocks which pave their beds, have a tinge of green, like the Ohio and Cumberland, at times of low water. It is well known that the water of the ocean, though more transparent than any other, is usually green near the shores; and on soundings, while at main ocean, its colour is blue. Perhaps the power which transparent waters have of decomposing the solar light, and reflecting principally the green rays, may have some dependence upon the depth of the stratum. If this were the case, we might expect all rivers, equally transparent and of equal depth, to reflect similar colours, which is not always the case.

This mountain consists principally of argillite and the several varieties of grey wacke, grey wacke slate, and the other aggregates, which in transition formations usually intervene between the metalliferous limestone and the inclined sandstone. The strata have less inclination than in the Cove, Sideling, and South mountains, and other ridges east of the Alleghany. The summit is broad, and covered with heavy forests. Something of the fertility of the Mississippi valley seems to extend, in this direction, to the utmost limits of the secondary formation. The western[pg053] descent of the Alleghany ridge is more gradual than the eastern, and the inclination of the strata in some measure reversed. It is proper to remark, that, {10} throughout this group of mountains, much irregularity prevails in the direction as well as of the dip and inclination of strata. If any remark is generally applicable, it is, perhaps, that the inclination of the rocks is towards the most elevated summits in the vicinity.

Chesnut ridge, the last of those accessary to the Alleghany on the west, deserving the name of a mountain, is[pg054] somewhat more abrupt and precipitous, than those before mentioned. This ridge is divided transversely by the bed of the Loyalhanna, a rapid, but beautiful stream, along which the turnpike is built. Few spots in the wild and mountainous regions {11} of the Alleghanies, have a more grand and majestic scenery than this chasm. The sides and summits of the two overhanging mountains, were, at the time of our journey, brown, and to appearance almost naked; the few trees which inhabit them being deciduous, while the laurels and rosebays gave the deep and narrow vallies the luxuriant verdure of spring.

In the deep vallies west of the Alleghany, and even west of the Laurel ridge, the metalliferous limestone, which[pg055] appears to be the substratum of this whole group of mountains, is again laid bare. In this part of the range, we have not observed those frequent alternations of clay-slate with this limestone, which have been noticed by Mr. Eaton and others in New England.[006] In its inclination, and in most particulars {12} of external character, it is remarkably similar to the mountain limestone of Vermont, and the western counties of Massachusetts. Many portions of the interior of the state of Pennsylvania have a basis of this limestone. When not overlaid by clay-slate, and particularly when not in connexion with sandstone, the soils resting on the transition limestone are found peculiarly fertile and valuable, having usually a favourable disposition of surface for agricultural purposes, and abounding with excellent water.

The transition limestone is not, however, of frequent occurrence westward of the Alleghany ridge. It appears only in the vallies,[007] and is succeeded by clay-slate and the old sandstone lying almost horizontally. The coal, with the accompanying strata of argillaceous sandstone and shale, are, as far as we have seen, entirely horizontal.

The country westward from the base of the Chesnut ridge has an undulating surface. The hills are broad, and terminated by a rounded outline, and the landscape, presenting a grateful variety of fields and forests, is often beautiful, particularly when, from some elevation, the view overlooks a great extent of country, and the blue[pg056] summits of the distant mountains are added to the perspective.

{13} About the sources of the Alleghany are extensive forests of pine, whence are drawn great supplies of lumber for the country below as far as New Orleans. On French Creek, and other tributary streams, are large bodies of low and rather fertile lands, closely covered with forests, where the great Weymouth pine, and the hemlock spruce, are intermixed with beech, birch, and the sugar maple. The great white or Weymouth pine, is one of the most beautiful of the North American species. Its trunk often attains the diameter of five or six feet, rising smooth and straight from sixty to eighty feet, and terminated by a dense conical top. This tree, though not exclusively confined to the northern parts of our continent, attains there its greatest magnitude and perfection. It forms a striking feature in the forest scenery of Vermont, New Hampshire, and some parts of Canada, and New York; rising by nearly half its elevation above the summits of the other trees, and resembling, like[pg057] the palms of the tropics, so beautifully described by M. De Saint Pierre, and M. De Humboldt, "a forest planted upon another forest."[008] The sighing of the wind in the tops of these trees, resembles the scarce audible murmurings of a distant waterfall, and adds greatly to the impression of solemnity produced by the gloom and silence of the pine forest. In the southern parts of the Alleghany mountains, pines are less frequent, and in the central portions of the valley of the Mississippi, they are extremely rare.

The coal formation, containing the beds which have long been wrought near Pittsburgh, appears to be of great extent; but we are unable particularly to point out its limits towards the north and east.[009] One hundred miles above Pittsburgh, near the Alleghany river, is a spring, on the surface of {14} whose waters are found such quantities of a bituminous oil, that a person may gather several gallons in a day. This spring is most probably connected with coal strata, as are numerous similar ones in Ohio, Kentucky, &c.[010] Indeed, it appears reasonable to believe that the[pg058] coal strata are continued along the western slope of the Alleghanies with little interruption, at least as far northward as the brine springs of Onondago. Of all the saline springs belonging to this formation, and whose waters are used for the manufacture of salt, the most important are those of the Kenhawa, a river of Virginia. Others occur in that country of ancient monuments, about Paint Creek, between the Sciota and the Muskinghum, near the Silver Creek hills in Illinois; and indeed in almost all the country contiguous to the Ohio river. Wherever we have had the opportunity of observing these brine springs, we have usually found them in connexion with an argillaceous sandstone, bearing impressions of phytolytes, culmaria, and those tessellated zoophytes, so common about many coal beds.[011] It appeared to us worthy of remark, that in many places, where explorations have been made for salt water, and where perpendicular shafts have been carried to the depth of from two to four hundred feet, the water, when found, rises with sufficient force to elevate itself several feet above the surface of the earth. This effect appears to be produced by the pressure of an aërial fluid, existing in connexion with the water, in those cavities beneath the strata of sandstone, where the latter is confined, or escaping from combination with it, as soon as the requisite enlargement is given, by perforating the superincumbent[pg059] strata. We have had no opportunity of examining attentively the gaseous substances which escape from the brine pits, but from their sensible properties we are induced to suppose, that carbonic acid, and carburetted hydrogen, are among those of most frequent occurrence.[012]

{15} The little village of Olean,[013] on the Alleghany river, has been for many years a point of embarkation, where great numbers of families, migrating from the northern and eastern states, have exchanged their various methods, of slow and laborious progression by land, for the more convenient one of the navigation of the Ohio. From Olean downward, the Alleghany and Ohio bear along with their currents fleets of rude arks laden with cattle, horses, household furniture, agricultural implements, and numerous families having all their possessions embarked on the same bottom, and floating onward toward that imaginary region of happiness and contentment, which, like the "town of the brave and generous spirits," the expected heaven of the aboriginal American, lies always "beyond the place where the sun goes down."

This method of transportation, though sometimes speedy[pg060] and convenient, is attended with uncertainty and danger. A moderate wind blowing up the river, produces such swells in some parts of the Ohio, as to endanger the safety of the ark; and these heavy unmanageable vessels are with difficulty so guided in their descent, as to avoid the planters, sunken logs, and other concealed obstructions to the navigation of the Ohio. We have known many instances of boats of this kind so suddenly sunk, as only to afford time for the escape of the persons on board.

On the 6th we arrived at Wheeling,[014] a small town of Virginia, situate on a narrow margin along the bank of the Ohio, at the base of a high cliff of sandstone. Here the great national road from Cumberland comes in conjunction with that of Zanesville, Columbus, and Cincinnati. The town of Cumberland, from which this great national work has received the appellation of the Cumberland road, lies on the north side of the Potomac, one hundred and forty miles E. by S. from Wheeling. The road between these two points was constructed by the government {16} of the United States, at a cost of one million eight hundred thousand dollars.[015] The bridges and other works of masonry, on the western portion of this road, are built of a compact argillaceous sandstone, of a light gray or yellowish white colour, less durable than the stone used in the middle and eastern sections, which is the blue metalliferous limestone, one of the most beautiful and imperishable among the materials for building which our country affords. A few miles from Wheeling, a small but beautiful bridge, forming[pg061] a part of this road, is ornamented with a statue of that distinguished statesman, Mr. Clay; erected, as we were informed, by a gentleman who resides in that neighbourhood.

In an excursion on shore, near the little village of Charleston,[016] in Virginia, we met with many plants common to the eastern side of the Alleghanies; beside the delicate sison bulbosum, whose fruit was now nearly ripened. In shady situations we found the rocks, and even the trunks of trees to some little distance from the ground, closely covered with the sedum ternatum, with white flowers fully unfolded. The cercis canadensis, and the cornus florida, were now expanding their flowers, and in some places occurred so frequently, as to impart their lively colouring to the landscape. In their walks on shore, the gentlemen of the party collected great numbers of the early-flowering herbaceous plants, common to various parts of the United States.[017] An enumeration of a few of[pg062] the species most commonly known, with the dates of their flowering, is given in the note.

The scenery of the banks of the Ohio, for two or three hundred miles below Pittsburgh, is eminently beautiful, but is deficient in grandeur and variety. The hills usually approach on both sides nearly to the brink of the river; they have a rounded and graceful form, and are so grouped as to produce a pleasing effect. Broad and gentle swells of two or three hundred feet, covered with the verdure of the almost unbroken {17} forest, embosom a calm and majestic river; from whose unruffled surface, the broad outline of the hills is reflected with a distinctness equal to that with which it is imprinted upon the azure vault of the sky. In a few instances near the summits of the hills, the forest trees become so scattered, as to disclose here and there a rude mass, or a perpendicular precipice of gray sandstone, or compact limestone, the prevailing rocks in all this region. The hills are, however, usually covered with soil on all sides, except that looking towards the river, and in most instances are susceptible of cultivation to their summits. These hilly lands are found capable of[pg063] yielding, by ordinary methods of culture, about fifty bushels of maize per acre. They were originally covered with dense and uninterrupted forests, in which the beech trees were those of most frequent occurrence. These forests are now disappearing before the industry of man; and the rapid increase of population and wealth, which a few years have produced, speaks loudly in favour of the healthfulness of the climate, and of the internal resources of the country. The difficulty of establishing an indisputable title to lands, has been a cause operating hitherto to retard the progress of settlement, in some of the most fertile parts of the country of the Ohio; and the inconveniences resulting from this source still continue to be felt.

On the 7th, we passed the mouth of the Kenhawa, and the little village of Point Pleasant. The spot now occupied by this village is rendered memorable, on account of the recollections connected with one of the most affecting incidents in the history of the aboriginal population. It was here that a battle was fought, in the autumn of 1774, between the collected forces of the Shawanees, Mingoes, and Delawares on one side, and a detachment of the Virginia militia, on the other. In this battle, Logan, the friend of the whites, avenged himself in a signal manner of the injuries of one man, by whom all his women {18} and children had been murdered. Notwithstanding his intrepid conduct, the Indians were defeated, and sued for peace; but Logan disdained to be seen among the suppliants. He would not turn on his heel to save his life. "For my country," said he, "I rejoice in the beams of peace; but, do not harbour a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. Who is there to mourn for Logan! Not one." This story is eloquently related by[pg064] Mr. Jefferson, in his "Notes on Virginia," and is familiar to the recollection of all who have read that valuable work.[018]

In the afternoon of the 8th, we encountered a tremendous thunder-storm, in which our boat, in spite of all the exertions we were able to make, was driven on shore; but we fortunately escaped with little injury, losing only our flag-staff with the lantern attached to it, and some other articles of little importance. On the following day we passed Maysville,[019] a small town of Kentucky. On our return to Philadelphia, in 1821, we were delayed some time at this place; and taking advantage of the opportunity thus afforded, we made an excursion into that beautiful agricultural district, south-east of Maysville, about the large village of Washington.[020] The uplands here are extremely fertile, and in an advanced state of cultivation. The disposition of the surface resembles that in the most moderately hilly parts of Pennsylvania; and to the same graceful undulation of the landscape, the same pleasing alternation of cultivated fields, with dense and umbrageous forests, is[pg065] added an aspect of luxuriant fertility, surpassing any thing we have seen eastward of the Alleghanies. Having prolonged our walk many miles, we entered after sunset a tall grove of elms and hickories; towards which we were attracted by some unusual sounds. Directed by these, we at length reached an open quadrangular area of several acres, where the forest had been in part cleared away, and much grass had sprung up. Here we found several hundreds of people, part sitting {19} in tents and booths, regularly arranged around the area, and lighted with lamps, candles, and fires; part assembled about an elevated station, listening to religious exhortations. The night had now become dark, and the heavy gloom of the forest, rendered more conspicuous by the feeble light of the encampment, together with the apparent solemnity of the great numbers of people, assembled for religious worship, made considerable impression on our feelings.

On the 9th May, we arrived at Cincinnati.[021] Since our departure from Pittsburgh, Dr. Baldwin's illness had increased, and he had now become so unwell, that some delay appeared necessary on his account; as we wished also for an opportunity of making some repairs and alterations in the machinery of the boat, it was resolved to remain at Cincinnati some days. Dr. Baldwin was accordingly moved on shore, to the house of Mr. Glen, and Dr. Drake was requested to attend him. Cincinnati is the largest town on the Ohio. It is on the north bank of the river, and the ground on which it stands is elevated, rising gradually from the water's edge.[022]

[pg066]

Compact limestone appears here, in the bed of the Ohio, and extends some distance in all directions. This limestone has been used in paving the streets, for which purpose its tabular fragments are placed on edge, as bricks are sometimes used in flagging. The formation of limestone, to which this rock belongs, is one of great extent, occupying a large part of the country from the shores of Lake Erie, to the southern boundary of the state of Tennessee.[023] It appears, however, to be occasionally interrupted, or overlaid by fields of sandstone. It abounds in casts, and {20} impressions of marine animals. An orthocerite, in the museum of the college[024] at Cincinnati, measures near three feet in length. Very large specimens of what has been considered lignite, have also been discovered and parts of them deposited in that collection. We saw here no remains of ammonites. Numerous other species appear to be similar to those found in the limestone of the Catskill and Hellebergh mountains.

The soil, which overlays the limestone of Cincinnati, is a deep argillaceous loam, intermixed with much animal[pg067] and vegetable matter. Vegetation is here luxuriant; and many plants unknown eastward of the Alleghany mountains, were constantly presenting themselves to our notice. Two species of æsculus are common. One of these has a nut as large as that of the Æ. hippocastanum, of the Mediterranean, the common horse-chesnut of the gardens.

These nuts are round, and after a little exposure become black, except in that part which originally formed the point of attachment to the receptacle, which is an oblong spot three-fourths of an inch in diameter; the whole bearing some resemblance to the eyeball of a deer, or other animal. Hence the name buck-eye, which is applied to the tree. The several species of æsculus are confined principally to the western states and territories. In allusion to this circumstance, the indigenous backwoodsman is sometimes called buck-eye, in distinction from the numerous emigrants who are introducing themselves from the eastern states. The opprobrious name of Yankee is applied to these last, who do not always stand high in the estimation of the natives of the south and west. Few of these sectional prejudices are, however, to be discovered in Ohio, the greater part of the population here having been derived from New England. Cincinnati, which in 1810, contained 2500 inhabitants, is now said to number about 12,000.[025] Its plan is regular, and most of the buildings are of {21} brick. The dwellings are neat and capacious, and sometimes elegant.

The site of the town was heretofore an aboriginal station, as appears from the numerous remains of ancient works still visible. We forbear to give any account of[pg068] these interesting monuments, as they have already been repeatedly described.[026]

On Tuesday, the 18th, the weather becoming clear and pleasant, Dr. Baldwin thought himself sufficiently recovered to proceed on the voyage; accordingly, having assisted him on board the boat, we left Cincinnati at ten o'clock.

During our stay at that place, we had been gratified by the hospitable attentions of the inhabitants of the town. Mr. Glen was unremitting in his exertions to promote the recovery of Dr. Baldwin's health; to him, as well as to Dr. Drake, and several other gentlemen of Cincinnati, all the members of our party were indebted for many friendly attentions.

Below Cincinnati the scenery of the Ohio becomes more monotonous than above. The hills recede from the river, and are less elevated. Heavy forests cover the banks on either side, and intercept the view from all distant objects. This is, however, somewhat compensated by the magnificence of the forests themselves. Here the majestic platanus attains its greatest dimensions, and the snowy whiteness of its branches is advantageously contrasted with the deep verdure of the cotton-wood, and other trees which occur in the low grounds.

The occidental plane tree is, perhaps, the grandest of the American forest trees, and little inferior, in any respect, to the boasted plane tree of the Levant. The platanus orientalis attains, in its native forests, a diameter of from ten to sixteen feet. An American plane tree, which we measured, on the bank of the Ohio, between Cincinnati and the rapids at Louisville, was fourteen feet in diameter.[pg069] One which stood, some years since, near the village of {22} Marietta, was found, by M. Michaux, to measure 15⁷⁄₁₀ ft. in diameter, at twenty feet from the ground.[027] They often rise to an elevation of one hundred and fifty feet. The branches are very large and numerous, forming a spreading top, densely covered with foliage. Many of those trees, which attain the greatest size, are decayed in the interior of the trunk, long after the annual increase continues to be added at the exterior circumference. The growth of the American plane tree does not appear to be very rapid. It was remarked by Humboldt, that in the hot and damp lands of North America, between the Mississippi and the Alleghany mountains, the growth of trees is about one-fifth more rapid than in Europe, taking for examples the platanus occidentalis, the liriodendron tulipifera, and the cupressus disticha, all of which reach from nine to fifteen feet in diameter. It is his opinion that the growth in these trees does not exceed a foot in diameter in ten years.[028] As far as our observation has enabled us to judge, this estimate rather exceeds than falls short of the truth. This growth is greatly exceeded in rapidity by the baobab, and other trees in the tropical parts of America; also by the gigantic adansonia of the eastern continent,[029] and equalled, perhaps, by several trees in our own climate, whose duration is less extended than that of those above mentioned. [030]

[pg070]

The sycamore, or occidental plane tree, has been cultivated for more than one hundred and eighty years in England, yet it does not appear to have become entirely naturalized there, as we are informed by President Smith,[031] that great numbers were killed by the severe frost of the winters of 1810-11. In America this tree is very widely distributed, and {23} extends northward beyond the forty-fifth degree of north latitude. In the fertile alluvial lands of Otter Creek, and other rivers which discharge into Lake Champlain, the sycamore attains more than one-half the magnitude which it is seen to reach in the most prolific portions of the Mississippi valley; it appears, therefore, that some other cause than the frigidity of the climate, must have occasioned the destruction of the plane trees in England, since it is well known that the winters of Vermont and Lower Canada far surpass in severity those of the island of Great Britain.

The fruit of the sycamore is the favourite food of the paroquet, and large flocks of these gaily-plumed birds constantly enliven the gloomy forests of the Ohio.

During the night of the 18th, the weather being clear, we continued on our voyage, as is customary with most of the steam-boats navigating the Ohio.

It was long since remarked by Mr. Schulz,[032] and considered by him as an inexplicable circumstance, that the reflection, by night, of the image of the banks of the Ohio, does not furnish an infallible guide to the middle of[pg071] the bed of the river. Nothing is more manifest than that the banks at different places, having different degrees of elevation, and being sometimes naked, and sometimes covered with very tall trees, must, of necessity, cast shadows of different lengths, upon the surface of the water; consequently that the luminous stripe along the middle of the river, from the surface of which the sky and the stars are reflected, must be greatly subject to irregularities in position and direction. This circumstance often proves very annoying to inexperienced pilots, who attempt to navigate the Ohio, or any other river of similar character, by night, as we have had occasion in many instances to experience.

On the morning of the 19th we arrived at Louisville[033] having passed, in the night, the boats containing {24} the sixth regiment of infantry, then on their way to the Missouri. At Louisville, we stopped to procure a pilot to conduct our boat over the rapids. Two or three pilots appointed pursuant to an act of the legislature of Kentucky, reside at Louisville, always holding themselves in readiness to go on board such boats as are about to descend the rapids, and leaving them again at Shippingsport; for which service they are entitled to receive two dollars for each ark or raft.

At these rapids, called usually the falls of the Ohio, the river descends about twenty-two feet, in a distance of less than two miles. At times of high water an acceleration of current, not usual in other parts of the river, is all that is perceived in passing down this descent: at other times the water is dashed and broken upon the rocky and uneven bed of the channel, called the Indian chute, through which[pg072] a great part of the water passes. The magnificence of a cataract is, however, at no time displayed here; and it is only in peculiar conditions of the atmosphere, that the noise of the fall can be heard at the distance of one-fourth of a mile from the bank of the river.

On this point stands the small town of Shippingsport,[pg073] at the foot of the rapids.[034] The proposed canal will traverse the point in the rear of this village. The obstacles to be encountered in opening a canal at this place are but trifling. The soil is firm and gravelly, being based on horizontal strata of compact limestone, and fine argillaceous sandstone.[035]

The sandstone, which is the rock of most common occurrence about the rapids, very closely resembles that of Pittsburgh. It is commonly of a compact texture, having an argillaceous cement, with a laminated structure. At Shippingsport, and at Clarksville,[036] in Indiana, it is succeeded by bituminous clay-slate. While we were waiting at the rapids, several of the party made an excursion to visit the boiling spring, at the foot of the Silver Creek hills, in Indiana, at a little distance from New Albany.[037] This spring is small, discharging no water above the surface of the ground. It is an artificial excavation in the clayey bank of a small stream, called Fountain Creek. It is filled to the level of the water in the creek, the spring itself evidently discharging very little, if any water. That which fills the basin is turbid, being kept in constant agitation by the bubbles of inflammable air which rise through it. The {26} smell of sulphuretted hydrogen is perceptible at considerable distance about the spring; and a piece of silver, held near the surface of the water, was quickly tarnished.[pg074] The Silver Creek hills are of argillaceous sandstone, and secondary clay-slate; and this spring seems to be placed near the meeting of the two strata.

In the bed of the Ohio, opposite Shippingsport, is a tabular mass of rocks, visible above water for great part of the year, and called Corn Island.[038] On the highest parts of this, are remaining some small portions of the limestone stratum, which appears in many places to have been worn through, and removed by the river. Five or six acres of the surface of this island are of the smooth compact argillaceous sandrock before mentioned, lying horizontally, and divided into squares and parallelograms by the natural fissures. These fissures contain some soil which supports, in the summer, a dense growth of herbaceous plants. Among these, we noticed the hypericum sphæcrocarpum of Michaux, (apparently not the plant mentioned by Nuttall, under that name, which has been noticed near Philadelphia, by Collins and others, but without doubt that originally described by Michaux). Two species of andropogon, the panicum virgatum, solanum nigrum, polygala verticillata, leplanthus gramineus, chenopodium botrys, &c. The lower part of the island is covered with loose sand; bearing some small cotton-wood and willow trees.

The unenclosed grounds, about Louisville and Shippingsport,[pg075] are extensive, and afford pasturage to great numbers of domestic animals. They are, however, much overrun with luxuriant weeds. The datura strammonium, which is common in every part of Ohio, is sometimes eaten by sheep; and the spiny capsules of the seed, when about half ripened, we have seen eaten with apparent avidity by cows. In addition to this loathsome plant, the common May-weed (anthemis cotula) has become abundant {27} in all the waste-grounds, to the exclusion of the native plants. A few of these, which keep their places with the greatest obstinacy by the road sides, are the sida abutilon and S. spinosa, and the verbena hastata; while the thistles, chrysanthemums and Johnsworts, so common about old fields in New England, are not to be met with. The eleusine mucronata, of Pursh, is one of the most frequent grasses along the streets.

The Silver Creek hills are elevated about one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet above the level of the country in the rear of Jeffersonville.[039] They form a continuous range, crossing the country from north to south. On the Kentucky side they constitute the commencement of a rugged and barren district, called the Knobs, and extending far to the south.[040] At some remote period this range may have formed a barrier, extending across what is now the immediate valley of the Ohio, and retarding the retreat of the waters from the tract above the falls.[041] Coal[pg076] occurs frequently in this range of hills, on the north side of the Ohio; quarries have been opened near the Blue river, in Indiana, about the two Pidgeons, opposite the mouth of Green river, and in various other places.[042]

The larger steam-boats which run on the Mississippi, and the Ohio, ascend usually no farther than Shippingsport; and several of them remain at this place, during several months of the summer, while the water is too low to admit their passing up and down the rivers. This time it is often necessary to spend in repairs of various kinds. The high steam-engines require frequent repairs, and in the difficult navigation of the Mississippi the hulks of vessels are often injured. It frequently happens that the boats built at Pittsburgh, and other places near the sources of the Ohio, are, within three or four years after they {28} are launched, in a condition to require the planking of the hulk to be replaced with new timber. These boats are usually planked with the upland white oak: we have been informed that such as are built lower down on the river, and of timber found in the low grounds, are more durable. [pg077]

{29} CHAPTER II

The Ohio below the Rapids at Louisville—Ascent of the Mississippi from the mouth of the Ohio to St. Louis.[043]

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Our small boat descended over the rapids without injury; and having taken on board some wood near New Albany, we proceeded on our voyage, with a pressure of steam equalling one hundred pounds to the square inch, upon all parts of the engine exposed to its immediate operation. This enabled us to descend, at the rate of ten miles per hour. A small island in the Ohio, about twenty-three miles below the rapids, is called Flint Island, from the great numbers of fragments of flints, broken arrow points, and various instruments of stone, heretofore used by the Indians, which are found there on turning up the soil. This island has probably been the favourite residence of some tribe, particularly expert in the manufacture of those rude implements, with which the wants of the aboriginal Americans were supplied. The stone employed in these manufactures appears to have been, in most instances, that compact flint, which occurs in nodular masses, in the secondary limestones. In one instance we met with a triangular prism, of a very hard and compact aggregate of felspar, and hornblende, unlike any rock we have seen in the valley of the Mississippi. This prism was about five inches long, with faces of about {30} an inch in width, and was perforated, from end to end, forming a complete tube, with an orifice about half an inch in diameter, and[pg078] smoothly polished, both within and without. We were never able to discover to what use this implement could have been applied; nor do we recollect to have met with accounts of any thing analogous to it, except, perhaps, those "tubes of a very hard stone" mentioned by the Jesuit Venegas, as used by the natives of California, in their treatment of the sick.[044] That it may have passed, by means of the intercourse of various tribes of Indians, from the primitive mountains of California to the rapids of the Ohio, is not, perhaps, improbable. Indirect methods of communication may have conveyed the productions of one part of the continent to another very remote from it. The savages of the Missouri receive an intoxicating bean from their neighbours on the south and west; these again must probably procure it from other tribes inhabiting, or occasionally visiting, the tropical regions.

In the Philadelphia museum are many Indian pipes of that red indurated clay, found only (as far as hitherto known) on the Pipe Stone branch of the Little Sioux river of the Missouri; one of these, however, was found on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, in South America: several were found in the territory now called New England, and in the north-eastern part of the continent.

On the 26th we passed the mouth of the Wabash, and[pg079] arrived at Shawaneetown,[045] ten miles below. Near the mouth of the Wabash, an accident happened to the engine, which rendered it necessary for us to drift down, until we should arrive at some place where repairs might be made. Some of the gentlemen of the party determined to go on shore, and walk to Shawaneetown. In swimming across a creek, {31} three miles above that place, Lieutenant Graham dropped his rifle in the water, and having spent some time in attempts to recover it, did not arrive at Shawaneetown until after the boat had reached that place.

On the 27th, several of the party went out to hunt in the forests and swamps, north-west of Shawaneetown. At about four miles' distance from the Ohio, they arrived at the banks of a small pond, three miles long, and only three or four hundred yards wide. Here they killed a turkey; and some small birds. On the bank of the pond, was found a specimen of the Lake Erie tortoise,[046] depositing its eggs in the sand, at about twenty yards' distance from the water. It had made, with its feet, a hole in the sand, two inches in diameter and four inches in depth, enlarging towards the bottom to three inches. This species occurs frequently in the pools and stagnant waters along the Ohio. We first met with it near the rapids at Louisville. Among other birds, we noticed about Shawaneetown, the pileated woodpecker, the minute tern, numerous flocks of the psittacus caroliniensis, two broods of young wood duck, some gulls, and semipalmated sandpipers. The terns appear to be attracted hither by great[pg080] numbers of a species of phryganea, with which we found the stomachs of some of them filled. The semipalmated sandpipers were in large flocks, and did not appear stationary.

We left Shawaneetown at twelve o'clock on the 28th, and stopped three miles below, to take in wood; then proceeding forward, at four P. M. we ran aground on a sand bar, seven miles above the "Cave Inn," or "House of Nature."[047] After much exertion, by means of anchors and poles, with the aid of the engine, and all the men, who were under the necessity of jumping into the river, we at length {32} succeeded in getting her off, and ran down to the cave, where we lay by for the night.

Early the next morning, we went to visit the cave, of the entrance to which two views were sketched by Mr. Seymour. It is a perpendicular fissure, extending about one hundred and sixty feet into the horizontal limestone cliffs, which here form the north bank of the river. At times of high water, the Ohio flows in, and fills the cave nearly to its roof. In this cave, it is said, great numbers of large bones were some time ago found, but we saw no remains of any thing of this kind. Impressions and casts of the shells of submarine animals are seen in the rocks, forming the sides of the cave, as in all the strata of compact limestone, in this region. The organic remains here, do not appear to be so numerous as those of the rocks at the falls, and at Cincinnati; and are much less distinct, and visible in the fracture; indeed the fracture generally exhibits to the eye no vestige of organic remains. It is upon the surface only, and more especially in such parts[pg081] of it as are in a certain stage of decomposition, that they are at all to be distinguished.

Near Shawaneetown are extensive salt manufactories, at a place heretofore called United States' Saline, affording employment and a source of trade to a part of the inhabitants of that village. Common salt, with the nitrates of lime, potash, &c. occur in great plenty, in connexion with the horizontal limestones and sandstones on the Ohio. Of these we subjoin some account, from the mineralogical report of Mr. Jessup. [048]

[pg082]

The Cumberland and Tennessee rivers are, for many miles, nearly parallel in direction, and at no great distance apart. Between them are some low sandstone hills; but, we believe, no lofty range of mountains, as has been[pg083] sometimes represented. About these hills, also, in the low ridges north of the Ohio, we found the sandstone, which appears to be the basis rock, often overlaid with extensive beds of a pudding-stone, wherein pebbles of white, yellow, and variously coloured quartz, are united in a cement highly tinged by oxide of iron; extensive fields of compact limestone also occur in the same connexion.

About half way between the mouth of the Cumberland and Tennessee, near the old deserted settlement originally called Smithland,[049] are several large catalpa trees. They[pg084] do not, however, appear to be native; nor have we here, or elsewhere, been able to discover any confirmation of the opinion, that this tree is indigenous to any part of the United States.

It is here called petalfra, which, as well as catalpa, {34} the received appellation, may be a corruption from Catawba, the name of the tribe by whom, according to the suggestion of Mr. Nuttall, the tree may have been introduced. Following the directions of the Pittsburgh navigator,[050] we kept near the left shore, below the Cave Inn; by which means we again ran our boat aground, on a sand-bar, where we spent a considerable part of the night in the most laborious exertions. These were at length crowned with success; and having the boat once more afloat, we proceeded with greater caution.

On the 30th, we arrived at a point a little above the mouth of Cash river, where a town has been laid out, called America.[051] It is on the north bank of the Ohio, about eleven miles from the Mississippi, and occupies the first heights on the former, secure from the inundation of both these rivers (if we except a small area three and a half miles below, where there are three Indian mounds, situated on a tract containing about half an acre above high-water mark). The land on both sides of the Ohio,[pg085] below this place, is subject to be overflowed to various depths, from six to fourteen feet in time of floods; and on the south side, the flat lands extend four or five miles above, separated from the high country by lakes and marshes. The aspect of the country, in and about the town, is rolling or moderately hilly, being the commencement of the high lands between the two rivers above mentioned; below it, however, the land is flat, having the character of the low bottoms of the Ohio. The growth is principally cotton-wood, sycamore, walnut, hickory, maple, oak, &c. The soil is first-rate, and well suited to the cultivation of all products common to a climate of 37 deg. N. lat. From the extensive flat, or bottom, in its neighbourhood, and the heavy growth of timber which here generally prevails, it is probable that the place will be unhealthy, till extensive clearings are made in its vicinity.

The Mississippi has, in like manner, two bars, called the Big and Little Chain, which appear to be a continuation[pg086] of the same range of rocks as that in the Ohio, extending across the point of land situated between the two rivers. These bars are situated a little above the Tyawapatia Bottom, about thirty miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and in low water have but a moderate depth of water across them; which, added to the rapidity of the current, occasions a serious obstacle to the navigation.

Any position on the Mississippi in the neighbourhood of the Ohio would be objectionable, for the following reasons:—First, The rapidity of the current, which renders it difficult to find a safe and commodious landing, there being no rocky-bound shore within thirty miles above and a far greater distance below the point. The Iron Banks,[052] seventeen miles below the mouth of the Ohio, have been thought by some an eligible position for the extensive business, {36} which, it is admitted by all, must centre in this neighbourhood. But at this place there is no safe landing; and besides, the banks are composed of layers of sand and clay alternating with each other, of an acclivity nearly perpendicular, and annually wearing away by the current of the river, which sets strongly against them. These banks are elevated about one hundred and thirty feet above the common level of the river, and are insurmountable, except by a circuitous route, leading from the river a considerable distance above and below them. [pg087]