On entering the state of Ohio by this route we find little to interest;
a wild uncleared hilly country,[22] which with little alteration
continues {59} till you approach St. Clairsville: the soil then is clay;
the town well placed and its buildings good and neat; land hereabouts, a
good grazing soil, is worth about twenty dollars per acre. We bought
here, out of a waggon load, half a peck of peaches for six cents, (3d.)
the peach and apple orchards are literally breaking down with fruit;
every morning we stop at the first orchard to take in as many apples as
we want for the day.
My man experienced an accident, in coming down one of these steep
hills, which might have proved worse in its consequence than it did; not
seeing him behind as usual I waited sometime for his coming up, and
began to feel uneasy about him, when we heard his waggon wheels
approaching: one of the horses had broke the hame-strap, which, throwing
the pole on one side, had precipitated the waggon and driver into some
brush-wood on the road side;--while in this situation, unable to
extricate himself, a country waggon luckily came past, and he applied to
the fellows with it for aid, which the human brutes refused without
_first_ being paid for their trouble.--From such contemplations let us
turn for relief to the variety of foliage so highly pleasing in this
part of the wilderness; we now see the Tulip tree for the first time;
the Sassafras grows thickly, and a great variety of other plants and
shrubs of which, {60} for want of botanical knowledge, I know not the
names.
Several people clothed something like Jews with long beards have passed
us at different times on horseback; these, I was told, are a Christian
sect of charitable pilgrims styling themselves Dunkards.[23]
30th. The weather has been for some days past cooler owing to the
falling of some rain, but is again becoming warm. The sudden and violent
changes of temperature are at least as frequent on this side of the
mountains as on the eastern shores, whatever may have been asserted to
the contrary, and rain is almost always succeeded by cold. On the 24th
of August in the early morning the thermometer of Fahrenheit was at 46°,
it has since been above 80°, but again this morning has sunk to 56°.
31st. The road is covered with dust arising from the great number of
horses, waggons, &c. conveying people from a methodist camp-meeting just
held in the neighbourhood, at which it was calculated that nearly four
thousand attended; the convocation had continued for several days,
during which these people had slept upon the ground in the intervals
between praying and preaching.
_September_ 2d. At Chillicothe,[24] Ohio. Watson's {61} hotel; the wit's
mode of spelling it (Hothell) is more significant, for the beds swarm
with bugs, and the thermometer is at 86° in the shade. I called at the
land office and was shewn the map of the district; most of the sections,
except those south-east of the town, (a poor mountainous tract,) are
entered, and to my surprize, in general paid for; so this considerable
part of the state is in the hands of land speculators, under whose
baneful influence a chief part of the country remains a wilderness,
which otherwise would have been under cultivation, if open to real
settlers at the government price per acre. The British government have
in Canada acted more wisely, in offering the lands only to those who
will build, clear, and settle upon them.
5th. At Col. Woods' Log tavern, nine miles east of the town of West
Union, Ohio. The road has lately led us through a fine fertile tract of
vale, beautifully skirted by the high rocky woodland, from whence is
quarried a good hard granite for building and other purposes. The town
in this tract called Bainbridge is a new settlement,[25] but already
possesses some neat and good houses; the value of land of the district
may be estimated by the price of town lots, containing sufficient space
for a house and garden, which are as high in best situations as two
hundred dollars (forty-five {62} pounds;)--the out-field lots are from
twenty to twenty-five dollars per acre. This tract throughout appears
well watered; the only objection I heard of to it, and that perhaps no
small one to a settler, is, there being many disputed titles.
Among the growth in the wood we have lately noticed the _Papaw_, a bushy
elegant shrub with large leaves; its fruit not yet ripe. The Tulip tree
becomes more common, also more Elm and Beech, Sycamore and Buttonwood;
all these are found here of immense size, towering high in air with
stems perfectly straight. Near to Chillicothe, which is in north
latitude about 39° 15´, we saw the first tobacco cultivation; it
looked well notwithstanding the drought which now begins to be felt
every where.
Upon admiring a large strong dog the other day, his owner told me he was
very necessary on account of the wolves which are yet numerous: the dogs
here are as mixed a breed as the people, and a thorough-bred is not to
be seen. Deer are plentiful, also rackoons and squirrels; the wild
Turkey we saw yesterday, which seemed to resemble exactly our dark tame
breed.
[Illustration: Ferry at Maysville, on the Ohio]
5th. Several parties on horseback have passed us on the road, making
inquiries of the way to a methodist _preachment_, and to judge from the
{63} immense numbers that collect on these occasions fanaticism seems
to have taken deep root here.
6th. Started with my host on an expedition through the woods to visit a
farm belonging to him. We took our guns uselessly for we saw no game of
any kind, but, on arriving at the farm, got some good peaches and drank
the pure water of a fine spring; being warm, he directed me to let the
water run upon my wrists for some time before drinking, to prevent the
effects of suddenly taking cold water while heated; these sort of
cautions have probably been handed down from the native hunters. We
passed a kind of vine which has a poisonous quality,[26] the leaves
being rubbed on the skin will raise irritating blisters. The Poplar
tree, my host observed, made better shingles for covering roofs, if
painted, than the Cedar, which is commonly used unpainted; perhaps any
of the poplar tribe may do, and where a light covering is required might
be advantageously employed in England.
A large party of settlers from the state of Illinois came by, they are
returning to that of New York, to the same spot they quitted a year and
a half ago. The account they give is that a fine fertile tract of land
about forty miles from the river Illinois, and not far from its
confluence with the Mississipi, was purchased by them, and they {64}
settled upon it last summer; since which period they had lost eight of
their party by dysentery, fever and ague, and that the remainder had
determined to quit the purchase, and return with the loss of all their
time and nearly all their money. These are facts much lessening our
sanguine expectations as to the western paradise; however, I am resolved
to proceed and endeavour to ascertain the truth on all the points for
which I undertook the journey. One of the above party told me, that
when ill he had paid a fee of twenty-five dollars for one visit of a
Physician, the distance being about twenty miles; if this be true the
medical science at least must meet with sufficient encouragement.[27]
The state of Ohio took a rough leave of us down a rocky precipitous
hill, at the foot of which we found ourselves safe on the bank of the
river; and driving down to the water's edge into a _team-boat_ lately
established, were, about dark landed on the other side, and comfortably
received at a good family inn at Maysville kept by Mr. Chambers, a
sensible clever man, who came to it from Jersey State about seventeen
years ago, and {65} who has, by judgment in the purchase of land &c.,
made a good fortune for himself and family: some lots about the town,
which he bought for four hundred dollars six years since, are now worth
some thousands; such is the rapid increase in the value of property in
this country when a man makes a _good hit_.
* * * * *
On quitting this State, through which we have travelled from Wheeling in
a south-west direction to Maysville or Limestone, (Kentucky,) the
impression it has made is not so favourable as I had been led to expect;
though our course comprehended but a small part of it, yet we passed
through the most populous districts, if we except that around
Cincinnati. Instead of a garden, I found a wilderness; land speculators
have got a considerable part in their baleful clutches to make their
market on the wants of the poor settler; but I am apt to think have been
themselves outwitted, owing to the superior attraction of the more
distant western country: yet is Ohio a desirable one, as it contains
within itself most articles of the first necessity and perhaps more;
coals in abundance, lime, stone for building, iron and other metals,
with fine rivers for transporting commodities of all kinds. The face of
{66} that part which I saw, is exceedingly hilly, in some places
approaching to mountains; but the soil in general well adapted to
grazing, and the whole strongly resembling our county of Derby upon a
gigantic scale. The northwest part of the State, an immense tract of
country, has been lately ceded by the natives to the United States,[28]
and I believe has been surveyed, allotted, and is now offering to the
public at one and a quarter dollar per acre ready money: of its
fertility much is reported, and its communication with Lake Erie, and by
it with the other lakes and the eastern markets, will render it perhaps
more desirable than the part we have travelled over.
The roads at present are altogether in a state of nature, the trees only
just chopped off about a foot from the ground, and rocks, and stones,
and gullies left to be got over as we can; no wonder then, that you see
a blacksmith's shop every two or three miles, and tavern by the side of
it to put up and spend your money while the repairs are doing; for
which, however trifling, Vulcan cannot form his mouth to any word less
than a dollar, and his friend the tavern-keeper charges an "_elevenpenny
bit_" if you have but two cents _worth_ of whisky.
As to the general want of cleanliness in the {67} taverns, of which so
much has been said _and so justly_, though the keepers of them have no
doubt a large share of the blame, yet much may be said in their defence;
the fact is, their customers are of so filthy habits that to have a
house clean is almost impossible; and though bugs swarm it is true in
the bed-rooms, beyond an English imagination, it is extremely difficult
in this warm climate to keep free from them, particularly at inns, as
they are constantly carried in the cloaths, luggage, &c., from one house
to another until many a bug, it may happen, has been as great a
traveller as Mr. Birkbeck himself. Yet do the people deserve
reprehension, for while "such things are," and sundry other unseemly
appearances are constantly, in their bed-rooms and other parts, existing
in full force; while their gardens (ill deserving the name) are over-run
with weeds, and cropped in the most slovenly manner; while a thousand
disagreeables are around them, these--what shall I call them?--slaves to
sloth, and worshippers of an idle deity of independence, will sit
lounging against the wall with arms across smoking cigars; or you shall
see the female part, lolling out of their windows gazing at nothingness.
{68} KENTUCKY MAYSVILLE, OR LIMESTONE
Here at Mr. Chamber's, we staid two days, received more like guests than
as travellers at an inn; his conversation was amusing and his anecdotes
conveying much information: in his garden which is spacious and
well-managed, we ate the first ripe grapes we had met with. The town,
which seems to be fast increasing in size and importance, stands high
from the level of the river, and is screened by towering hills,
affording in the immediate neighbourhood and also up the river
situations for building that few places can surpass: the view from above
the town looking down the river is beautiful and extensive; a
considerable part of the buildings are of brick; glass works are
established, and other manufactories requiring machinery. All these
advantages however will hardly compensate with most people for its being
within the territories of a slave state. Of the determined obstinacy and
turpitude of a black boy we were here witnesses; a silver fruit-knife
had been left upon the table, and he had secreted it, the knife was soon
missed, and search made for it in vain; at length, suspicion falling
upon him, he was sent for and {69} questioned, but denied all knowledge
of the knife with an air of the greatest innocency; he was offered half
a dollar and to be screened from punishment if he would give it up, but
continued to deny that he had taken it, wishing, "his flesh might rot if
he had"--his pockets were at length examined; and the knife and an apple
dropt together from one of them, upon which the young rogue declared
that the person who searched him had put it there, and a terrible
beating which I fear he got, did not in the least make him prevaricate.
[Illustration: Maysville, on the Ohio, Kentucky]
We took leave of our host and hostess not without some regret, and, as
we slowly paced up the long hill which rises immediately from the town,
looked back frequently to view the beautiful river scenery from the
different points it offered: a turn at the top suddenly presented on all
sides a cleared, well cultivated, and inclosed country; the road was
good, the day beautiful, and we bowled along through plentiful crops of
Indian corn, rejoicing that we had escaped the wilderness, and thinking
we had really entered upon the garden of the United States. After a few
miles of good road however these pleasant ideas were shaken out by an
absolute rock, upon which with but little intermission we rattled for
near twenty miles, passing through a place called Blue Licks.[29] At its
salt springs {70} the deer and buffaloe used formerly to be found in
immense herds; it is now a watering place, the resort of invalids: yet
let not the English reader here picture to himself either Bath,
Cheltenham, or Tunbridge Wells, but a few dispersed log huts and two
taverns of the same description. Many of the men here wear, instead of a
coat, a short cloak, a little resembling that part of the old English
dress, which if they knew how to carry with any grace would look well.
The drought is now exceedingly great, and we have reports of much stock
dying to the south of this state for want of water; we therefore see the
country at as unfavourable a time as possible; yet, under these
disadvantages, the grass is really green, a circumstance which proves
the strong natural fertility of the soil, also shewn by the spontaneous
growth of the white clover among the trees of the uncleared forest land
where it has been grazed. Of this grazed forest the farmers assert that
it will not, when cleared, broke up and sown, produce so much corn by
one third per acre as that which has not been grazed, and many of them
consequently shut up their forest land from all cattle and even from
pigs.
{71} AN ODD MISTAKE
A little black boy was playing upon the ground, at the tavern-door with
a dog; I pointed to them and said to the landlord, (a very civilized
man,) "Do you make christians of these?" "Oh no."--"You name them
without the clergyman?" "Oh yes; we sometimes give them one name and
then alter it for another:"--"And does not your church find fault with
you sometimes for such neglect?"
"No, they never think of such things."
"And when they die you throw them into the ground without further
ceremony?"
_Answer_,--Always let them lie just where it happens--I suppose, you do
not do so in your country; do you?
_Self_,--Certainly not; we think very differently upon the subject; that
child would there be free, the moment it set foot upon our shores.
_Landlord_,--"Oh, you mean the _negre_; I thought you were speaking of
the dog all the time. Yes; we christen _them_; but we do not let them
eat with us, only the Quakers let them eat with them!"
This man's kitchen presented a picture which is general with some
exceptions throughout the {72} slave country, a description of it will
therefore serve for all the rest. Behold, a dark log building with a
floor of mud, upon which a number of little black children are at all
times to be seen crawling, while others are perhaps lying without the
door sunning themselves; all mostly without any covering whatever: these
are the progeny of the cook and other slaves, and are destined for sale
or to supply the places of others. A quick lively little black girl, of
about nine years of age, waited here with such spirit and so cleverly
upon the guests that she attracted our notice; and upon praising her
dexterity to her master he told us, that he had more than once refused
three hundred dollars which had been offered for her.--The kitchen,
besides being made the daily black-nursery, is also their general
dormitory: at night, they creep round the warm embers and huddled
together sleep in the contaminated atmosphere of this Augean stable, in
the midst of the dirt and abominations of which the traveller's meat is
prepared, and served more decently than might be expected; after
escaping (_perhaps_) the fingers of the poor little creatures, who,
watching their opportunity, rise from under the dressers, pilfer the
meat and dip their fingers in gravies.
The ovens are, very conveniently for this warm {73} climate, built apart
from the house in the open air. Mine host, notwithstanding the above
mistake, was a man of very respectable manners, and his wife, a
lady-like woman, presided at the supper which was even elegantly set out
to a company most heterogeneous. Opposite to me, a young fellow seated
himself, without his coat and in his dirty shirt sleeves of at least
seven days' wear, and, not shewing the least of that shyness which such
a man would experience in England, played away with his knife and fork
perfectly at his ease: indeed, the clumsy gait and bent body of our
peasant is hardly ever seen here, every one walks erect and easy; a
plainness of dress and coarseness of the texture amounting to vulgarity,
blunt discourse, in short, the manners of the herd, are _affected_ by
the few, and all mix without any seeming distinction. To have objected
to the company of the dirty fellow just mentioned would have probably
ended in a "_rough and tumble_," and the loss of an eye, as it is not an
uncommon accomplishment to be a good hand at "_gouging_." This brings to
mind a story of a fellow who had been so terribly mauled at a "rough and
tumble" that a man, compassionating his condition, said, "you have come
off badly this time I doubt?" "Have I," says he; triumphantly shewing
from his pocket {74} at the same time an eye, which he had extracted
during the combat, and preserved for a trophy.