Part 9 (1/2)
On the 1st of April the voyagers arrived at _Limestone_ in Kentucky, fifty e on the Ohio terminated They had floated, in their canoe, three hundred and fortythe ten days which their voyage had occupied, they had been obliged, al This labour, although in itself painful to persons who are unaccustomed to it, was, in the present instance, still more so, on account of the intense heat which prevailed They also sufferedable to procure any thing to drink, but by stopping at the plantations on the banks of the river; for, during suree of heat, that it is not fit to be drunk till it has been kept twenty-four hours
At Limestone M Michaux relinquished an intention which he had for further down the Ohio; and here he took leave of Mr Craft, who prosecuted the ree alone
The banks of the Ohio, though elevated from twenty to sixty feet, scarcely afford any hard substances, betwixt Pittsburgh and Lireyish colour, which M Michaux observed, in an extent of ten or twelve : the reetable earth A few entleman reached Limestone, he observed a chalky bank, the thickness of which, being very considerable, left no rooreat extent The Ohio abounds in fish, soht
Till the years 1796 and 1797, the banks of the Ohio were so little populated, that there were scarcely thirty families in the space of four hundred rants had settled here, froinia; consequently the plantations had, at this time, so much increased, that they were not further than two or three miles asunder; and, when M
Michaux was on the river, he always had some of them in view
The inhabitants of the banks of the Ohio e, for the sake of the skins, which are is of this people are, for the -houses, without s, and so small that they hold no more than two beds each
A couple of men, in less than ten days, could erect and finish one of them No attention is here paid to any other culture than that of Indian corn
The favourable situation of the Ohio entitles this river to be considered as the centre of commercial activity, between the eastern and western states; and it is the only open communication with the ocean, for the exportation of provisions, from that part of the United States, which is cohany Mountains, the lakes, and the left bank of the Mississippi
All these advantages, blended with the salubrity of the clieneral beauty of the country, induced M Michaux to iine that, in the course of twenty years, the banks of the Ohio, froh to Louisville, would become the most populous and the most commercial part of the United States _Limestone_ consisted only of thirty or forty houses, constructed ood This little town had been built upwards of fifteen years It was for sorants landed as cah: it was also the mart for merchandise, sent from Philadelphia and Baltimore to Kentucky
M Michaux resolved to travel on foot, froton The distance is sixty-five miles, and he performed the journey in two days and a half In his journey he passed through _Mays Lick_, where there is a salt-work The wells that supply the salt-water are about twenty feet in depth, and not more than fifty or sixty fatho the summer, are sos are usually found in places which are described by the name of _Licks_; and where, before the arrival of Europeans, the bisons, elks, and stags, that existed in Kentucky, went, by hundreds, to lick the saline particles; hich the soil is inated
In the country around Mays Lick the soil is dry and sandy; and the road is covered with large, flat, chalky stones, of a bluish colour within, and the edges of which are round The only trees that M Michaux observed here, hite oaks and hickory; and the stinted growth and wretched appearance of these, clearly indicated the sterility of the soil
In the year 1796, _Lexington_ consisted of only eighteen houses; but it now contained more than a hundred and fifty, half of which were of brick This town is situated on a delightful plain, and is watered by a s seemed to announce the coular plan
The streets are broad, and cross each other at right angles The want of pavement, however, renders it very ton, two printing-offices, at each of which a newspaper was published twice a week Two extensive rope-walks, constantly in e, the shi+ps that were built upon the Ohio
Independently of other manufactories which had been established in this town, there were several counpowder-mills The sulphur for the latter was obtained from Philadelphia, and the saltpetre was rottos, or caverns, that are found on the declivity of lofty hills, in the mountainous parts of the state The soil of these is extremely rich in nitrous particles
[About fifty ton, on the bank of the Ohio, and near the falls of that river, is the town of _Louisville_ This place for link between New Orleans and the whole western parts of the United States Mechanics can here obtain full employment, and they are able to earn fros a week Every article of clothing is excessively expensive; and the rents of houses are very high This place was for subject to fevers, agues, and other co in healthiness Mr Fearon, who visited this place in the year 1817, does not speak favourably of the character of the Kentuckians He says they drink a great deal, swear a great deal, and gareat deal; and that even their amusements are someti goods, by water, fros per hundred weight; and down the streas The boats usually e upward in about ninety days; and doard in twenty-eight days Steae in thirty-six, and the latter in twenty-eight days
There are in Louisville, two great hotels, one of which has, on an average, one hundred and forty, and the other eighty boarders A person, on going to either of them, applies to the bar-keeper for admittance: and the accolish hotel The place for washi+ng is not, as with us, in the bed-rooe cistern, several towels and a negro in attendance The sleeping-roo mattresses and not feather-beds; sheets of calico, two blankets, and a quilt: the bedsteads have no curtains The public rooms are, a news-roo-rooenerally surrounded by parties of about six persons The usual custom with Americans is to pace up and down the news-roo the deck of a shi+p at sea Sars is practised by all, and at every hour of the day Argument or discussion, in this part of the world, is of very rare occurrence; social intercourse seeeneral topics, or taking enlarged and enlightened views of things, rarely occurs: each man is in pursuit of his own individual interest At half past seven, the first bell rings for the purpose of collecting all the boarders, and, at eight, the second bell rings; breakfast is then set, the dining-rooeneral rush commences, and some activity, as well as dexterity, is necessary to obtain a seat at the table The breakfast consists of a profuse supply of fish, flesh, and fohich is consumed with a rapidity truly extraordinary At half-past one, the first bell rings, announcing the approach of dinner; the avenues to the dining-roos, the doors are thrown open, and a repetition of the breakfast-scene succeeds At six, tea, or what is here called supper, is announced, and partaken of in the same manner This is the last meal, and it usually affords the same fare as breakfast At table there is neither conversation nor drinking: the latter is effected by individuals taking their liquor at the bar, the keeper of which is in full ee tub of water, with a ladle, is placed at the bar; and to this the custoo and help themselves When spirits are called for, the decanter is handed; the person calling for thee is sixpence-halfpenny The life of boarders at an American tavern, presents a senseless and co tied to excess; and few of the persons who frequent the and s
In the state of Kentucky there are several subterraneous _caverns_, which have attractedthe most extraordinary natural curiosities in the world They are also of considerable importance in a coreat cave, near Crooked Creek, is supposed to contain a million pounds of nitre This cave has two mouths or entrances, about six hundred and fifty yards from each other, and one hundred and fifty yards from the creek]
Tenth Day's Instruction
UNITED STATES CONTINUED
_Narrative of the Journey of M Michaux, froton to Charleston in South Carolina_
On the tenth of August, M Michaux set out froton to Nasheville, in the state of Tenessee; and, as an establish the vine in Kentucky, was not very far out of his road, he resolved to visit it Consequently, about fourteen ton, he quitted the road, turned to the left, strolled through so It was, at this time, under the superintendance of a M Dufoux, the principal person of a small Swiss colony, which had settled in Kentucky some years before The vines had been selected chiefly from the vicinity of New York and Philadelphia
Many of them had failed; but those of the kinds which produce the Madeira wines, appeared to give considerable hopes of success The whole of the vines occupied a space of about six acres; and they were planted and fixed with props similar to those in the environs of Paris
Froh the woods, to a ferry over the _Kentucky River_ The borders of the river at this ferry are formed by an enormous mass of chalky stones, reh
Near _Harrodsburgh_ M Michaux visited the plantation and residence of General Adair A spacious and coes: every thing announced the opulence of the general
Magnificent peach-orchards, and immense fields of Indian wheat, surrounded the house The soil was extreeness of the blades of corn, their extraordinary height, and the abundance of the crops
About forty eneral's plantation, M Michaux passed over _Mulder Hill_, a steep and lofty mountain, that for country presents the aspect of an immense valley, covered with forests of i but a gloomy verdant space is seen, forh which, not even the vestige of a plantation can be discerned The profound silence that reigns in these woods, uninhabited by savage beasts, and the security of the place, forms an _ensemble_ rarely to be seen in other countries