that stretches across the river, which is upwards of a mile in breadth.
At the head of the falls, the river is about a mile broad, including
a small island, but in dry seasons of the year the waters are much
contracted in breadth, leaving a great portion of the rocky bottom
entirely dry. The interruption to the navigation is not a precipitous
cascade, as the name would imply, but a rapid, which is extremely
shallow at the head in dry weather, and runs over an uneven bottom, at
the rate of about fourteen miles an hour. After passing the upper, or
principal shoot, nearly the whole of the waters are collected into a
deep but narrow channel, close by the Indiana shore, leaving some small
islands toward the opposite side; {261} the second, or lower shoot, is
less violent, having deeper water, and is always navigable for loaded
boats passing downward. The lives of a number of strangers have lately
been lost, by venturing down without pilots. The whole fall, at the
lowest known stage of water, is nearly twenty-four feet; but in floods
the declivity is distributed over a large portion of the river, and is
imperceptible to the eye. The rocks contain vast quantities of organic
remains, as madrepores, millepores, favocites, alcyonites, corals,
several species of terebratulæ, trilobites, trochites, &c. &c. These
remains being harder than the water-worn rocks, appear prominent, as
if in relief, and many of them almost entirely detached. They are so
numerous, that the surface is literally studded with them. Volney, who
visited this place, has represented the rocks to be destitute of such
subjects. It must have been at a time when they were covered by water.
The inhabitants in the neighbourhood of the Falls have been visited by
attacks of bilious fever and ague. A considerable number of persons
have been carried off by the former of these complaints, and the
convalescent of both are much debilitated. A surmise lately appeared
in a Louisville newspaper, that many poor people had suffered from
the want of medical assistance, and hazarded the opinion, that a
number had died in cases where seasonable applications might have been
efficacious. Accounts from Vincennes [141] say, that about a third part
of the people there are confined to bed by sickness, and that much
of the Wabash country, both in Indiana and Illinois, are now subject
to the same evil. Reports from the settlements on the lower parts of
White river represent that sickness prevails there and along other
water courses. There are many {262} people who act as if they were not
sufficiently sensible of the disadvantages resulting from settling
in unhealthy situations. Fertility of soil and commercial advantages
are the great attractions, but men who look to these as primary
considerations, obviously undervalue some of the strongest checks to
population and public prosperity. The endemical distempers of this
country, so far from being chiefly confined to the weak and the aged,
seem to commit their greatest devastations amongst the young and the
strong. Surviving sufferers are frequently rendered unfit for labour
for a third or fourth part of the year, and receive an irreparable
injury to their constitutions; regimen and medicine become almost as
indispensable as food; productive labour is thus diminished, and an
additional cost imposed on life.
Tavern-keepers observe that travellers are not nearly so numerous as
they were last year. The change is to be imputed solely to the decline
in trade, and to depression in the price of lands. The fact shows
that a proportion of the populace remains at home through necessity
or economical motives. Happy it is for them, that the pressure of the
times does not, as in certain other countries, turn out a numerous
class in the condition of houseless poor. Travellers, however, are
still so numerous, that a stranger, not fully aware of the rapidity
with which new settlements are forming, and of the great populace of
eastern States, might be apt to imagine that Americans are a singularly
volatile people.
In the whole of my correspondence with the unlettered part of the
people of the western country, I have observed a brevity of language,
that seems to be occasioned by their not being acquainted with {263}
an extensive vocabulary. Their manner of speech is grave, apparently
earnest, and adapted to business more than to intellectual enjoyment.
It is seldom that any thing jocular, or any play of words, or
circumlocution, or repartee, is uttered by them. If a question is put,
it is usually answered in the shortest manner possible. Sometimes
abridgments are made that render expressions inconclusive, and give
them the form of the inuendo, even where ambiguity is not intended, and
by people who, if they were accosted in ironical terms, would make no
other reply than an astonished gaze. Technical language is, for obvious
reasons, much limited. I have had opportunities of seeing a number of
Americans and Irish, who were engaged in the same sort of employment,
and could not omit noticing the contrast formed. Where work was let by
the piece, the Irish (although previously strangers to one another)
uniformly joined in working together in large groupes, and amused
themselves by conversation, occasionally introducing the song, the pun,
and the bull; while Americans, under similar conditions, preferred
working alone, or in parties not exceeding three, and attended to their
business in silence. The conversation of those whom _you_ would call
the lower orders, shows that they have a very considerable knowledge
of the institutions of their country, and that they set a high value
on them. Their discourse is usually intermixed with the provincialisms
of England and Ireland, and a few Scotticisms. This might be expected,
since America has been partly peopled by the natives of these
countries. They also use some expressions the original applications of
which I have not been able to discover. These I must call Americanisms,
and will subjoin some examples.
{264} Movers _for People in the act of removing
from one place to another._
Fresh --_Flood in a river._
Bos --_Master._
Hired Girl --_Servant Girl._
Hired Man --_Servant Man._
Reach --_A part of a river that continues for a
considerable distance nearly in a
straight line._
Raised --_Bred or reared, the participle passive
of to breed, (frequently applied to
the human species.)_
Tot --_Carry. This is said to be of negro
origin._
Carry the horse to water --_To take or lead the horse to the
water._
Chores --_Probably derived from chars; little,
odd, detached or miscellaneous
pieces of business._
Rowdy --_Blackguard._
Truck --_Culinary vegetables; sometimes applied
to baggage._
A Machinery --_A Machine._
Floy --_Dirty or foul._
Clever --_Honest, or of good disposition._
Creature --_Horse._
Rooster, or he-bird --_Cock, the male of the hen._
FOOTNOTES:
[134] Charlestown, first settled in 1808, is near the centre of Clark
County, twelve miles north of Jeffersonville, and has always been the
county seat.--ED.
[135] This was Benjamin Parke, a leading man in Indiana under both
territorial and state governments. Emigrating from his native state,
New Jersey, in 1797, he came first to Lexington, where he studied law,
then removed to Vincennes in 1801. He was chosen the first territorial
delegate to Congress, but resigned (1808) to become a territorial
judge. Upon the admission of Indiana to the Union, he was appointed
by President Madison United States district judge with circuit court
powers, a position held until his death in 1835. He took part in the
battle of Tippecanoe, and was for several years an Indian agent.--ED.
[136] The capital of Indiana Territory was moved from Vincennes to
Corydon in 1813, and remained there until 1825 (see _ante_, note 100).
Corydon is near the center of Harrison County, twenty-five miles west
of Louisville.--ED.
[137] Mammoth Cave, about ninety-five miles south-west of Louisville,
was accidentally discovered by a hunter in 1809. At the present time
two hundred and twenty-three of its avenues have been explored, making
a total length of one hundred and fifty miles. During the War of
1812-15, salt was manufactured from the nitrous earth in its caverns,
and transported across the mountains to Philadelphia and Baltimore. The
close of the war rendering this industry unprofitable, the cave has
since been used only for exhibition.--ED.
[138] A description of this cave was written by John H. Farnham, Esq.,
and by him transmitted to the American Antiquarian Society, instituted
by the legislature of Massachusetts.--FLINT.
_Comment by Ed._ “Extract of a letter .... describing the Mammoth Cave,
in Kentucky,” in American Antiquarian Society _Transactions_, i, p. 355.
[139] Since the above was written, a notice of blind fishes has
appeared (if I mistake not) in the memoirs of the Wernerian Society of
Edinburgh.--FLINT.
_Comment by Ed._ This was a Scottish Society composed of the followers
of the German geologist, Abraham Gottlob Werner (1750-1817), who
promulgated the doctrine of the aqueous origin of rocks. His followers
were known also as Neptunists.
[140] It was common for early Western travellers to mention large trees
as indicative of the richness of the soil. Among others, the following
mention the great trees of the West: Washington, Harmar, William Brown,
Cutler, Harris, Baily, Hildreth, and Birkbeck. Most of these trees were
sycamores, such as that monster which Washington measured on his tour
in 1770. Some very large apple-trees are also mentioned.--ED.
[141] For the early history of Vincennes, see Croghan’s _Journals_,
volume i of our series, note 113.--ED.
LETTER XXII
Miscellaneous Remarks on the Manners and Habits of the People
_Jeffersonville, (Indiana,) Sep. 11, 1820._
In your letter of the 15th of May last, you mention your apprehension
that I am living amongst a half civilized people. Perhaps this is
partly occasioned by my having, in former letters, mentioned a
considerable number of disagreeable incidents. {265} Matters of public
notoriety always attract attention, while the more gratifying affairs
of private life, as the most pleasant family scenes, the strictest
integrity, and even acts of the most disinterested generosity, are,
from their more frequent occurrence, omitted as less interesting. Hence
it is, that the stories of travellers, however authentic they may
be, and however amusing to their readers, are often more calculated
to promote prejudices then to convey accurate information regarding
society and morals. It is the energy and the tendency of public
institutions that form the best index to national character.
I have at different times called your attention to the disadvantages
here in respect of opportunities of education, and the influx of
immoral strangers. In these respects the back-woods are mere colonies
in comparison with the better state of society in the eastern country.
Had I lived in Connecticut or Massachusetts, instead of Indiana, I
might have met with fewer irregularities to relate. My acquaintance
with many persons from the older communities of the Union, causes me to
entertain the highest opinion of the attainments there, and convinces
me that it would be nearly as unfair to collect the ingredients
for forming the character of the British people in their foreign
possessions, as it is to infer the state of American society from the
habits and manners of people in new settlements. Adopting this view
of the matter, it may be asked, in which of the British colonies is a
thirty-sixth part of the soil set apart for the support of schools?
which of them make their own laws, and appoint their own governors? or
which has produced such an example of availing themselves of the lights
of the age, as has the new State of Alabama, in rejecting usury laws.
{266} There is no course of conduct that would belie my feelings more
than attempting to misrepresent the character of the American people.
From the time of my first landing in the country till the present,
I have enjoyed intercourse with people of eminence in society, and
have uniformly met with the most polite receptions, and, on many
occasions, with such marks of kindness that I can never have sufficient
opportunities to requite. Names would be altogether uninteresting
to you, but there are many here that I cannot recal to recollection
without associating them with those of the personages whom I most
admire, and of the friends whom I most esteem.
The American community is not, like that of Britain, divided or
formed into classes by the distinctions of title and rank, neither
does political party seem to form such a complete separation amongst
men, and the unequal distribution of property operates much less. The
effects of these conditions are, that the individuals who compose our
society are less mutually repellent to one another than with you, and
the distinctions formed here are of a more natural kind, such as those
founded on public services and talents, and the more uninterrupted
associations that proceed from the sympathies of human nature. I am
almost of opinion that the more extended bonds of American society are
much strengthened by universal suffrage, and the frequent recurrence
of elections, for this reason, that the candidates having no boroughs
to be treated with in the wholesale way, and the constituents being
too numerous, and coming too often in the way, to admit of their being
bought over, expectants are obliged to depend on their popularity,
and do not find it their interest to repulse any one. It is only from
these causes that I could attempt {267} to account for the affability
of manners which are almost universal. The inhabitants of American
towns are not, like some of the people of your cities, ignorant of the
names of the persons who live in the nearest adjoining houses, or who
perhaps enter by the same outer door, and the new settler in the woods
is soon so well known, among a wide circle of neighbours, that almost
any person, within ten miles of him, can direct the stranger to his
residence. The civilities exchanged by people who meet on the roads, or
in taverns, and the readiness amongst strangers to converse together,
are matters of surprise to natives of Britain.
A short time ago I went on business to the residence of a gentleman
of high military rank, who has made a distinguished figure in Indian
warfare, in the late war on the Canadian frontier, and by his eloquence
in Congress. His hospitality and the urbanity of his manners are not
less conspicuous than his other great qualities. His house, from the
numbers of his visitors, has a great resemblance to a tavern. He has
on his property a great number of people who rent land _on shares_,
(a term formerly explained to you.) When one of these tenants, or
when almost any other stranger of respectable appearance, happens to
come to his house about the time of dinner, he usually invites him to
table. Amongst his party at dinner I observed an old man, who joined
in conversation for about half an hour after the cloth was removed. On
his rising to depart the host politely accompanied him to his horse.
It was not till after mounting that the stranger intimated the object
of his call.--“I have,” (said he,) “for a long time wished to see
General ----, and now I am satisfied.” In the afternoon he walked over
his farm, and gave directions to some people making hay, {268} and to
others employed in a distillery, in which he uses the corn paid to him
as rents. That article now sells at twenty-five cents per bushel, but
when converted into spirits, it yields him at the rate of a dollar per
bushel. In the evening two itinerants, a presbyterian preacher and
his wife, arrived with an introduction from an acquaintance. After
some conversation, the preacher performed worship in the family. In
the morning, after breakfast, the General contributed a few dollars to
the support of religion, and held the horses while the two travellers
mounted. It would be of little use to multiply facts showing that
people of the first consequence, in the free States of this country,
do not keep numerous hordes of menials, and that they know how to help
themselves, as the high price of labour might alone lead you to infer
this as a consequence. I shall only relate an example in point. The
gentleman with whom I board keeps a tavern; he is an officer who fought
for the liberties of his country, during the revolutionary war, and is
now adjutant-general of the militia of this State.[142] One morning I
found him engaged in cleaning his own shoes, in the absence of a boy
who usually does work of this kind for him.
The laws and the usages of America in respect of foreigners, reflect
the highest honour on the country. The stranger is not only protected
in his person and property on his first arrival, but it is in his
power to become an elector, and eligible to situations of honour and
trust. He may depend on being here esteemed according to his behaviour
and usefulness, without regard to his former condition or his former
country. I have in various instances seen men enjoying the benefits of
the free institutions of the United States, and the respect of their
neighbours, who, a few years ago, invaded {269} the country with
British arms in their hands. You may contrast this liberality with the
Alien laws, and with the spirit of the corporations and privileged
orders of your country, and ask yourself, Who are the semi-barbarians?
Who are the “half-civilized people?”
The comforts that I enjoy here are perhaps somewhat greater than you
suppose. I board with a respectable family, the members of which
do every thing in their power to render my situation agreeable. In
our small town and neighbourhood, there is a considerable number of
accomplished people, amongst whom I have much of that sort of enjoyment
which consists in hearing elegant conversation, and the reciprocation
of those little civilities and services that give a relish to social
life. The situation of this place at an important point on the river,
and on the line of an extensive communication by land, renders it a
very considerable thoroughfare. This of itself, has been the means
of making me extensively acquainted amongst the public characters of
the State, and many interesting individuals from other parts. We have
abundance of newspapers, some of which are judiciously conducted, and
in which many excellent original articles are to be found; and all
of them devote a part of their columns to the public occurrences of
Britain. I occasionally read some of the latest publications from your
country, and have frequent opportunities of seeing the Reviews, and
Literary and Scientific Magazines. At short intervals, I have commonly
letters from Scotland, and frequently communications from friends in
different parts of this country. In short, were I discontented with the
society amongst which I live, I might occasion a suspicion that I am
unworthy of mixing in it.
FOOTNOTES:
[142] Henry P. Coburn was adjutant-general of Indiana from December,
1819, to December, 1822. A native of Massachusetts and graduate of
Harvard College (1812), he came to Indiana in 1816 and practised law
in the southern part of the state until 1820. In that year he was made
clerk of the supreme court, holding the position until his death in
1852.--ED.
{270} LETTER XXIII
Passage from the Falls of the Ohio to
Cincinnati--Drought--Banks--Militia--Journey to Lake
Erie--Reading--Shakertown--Lebanon--Little Miami--Wood
Pigeons--Insects--Clarkville and Leesburg--Greenfield and
Oldtown--Large quantities of Grain raised by Individuals--The
Great Sciota--Pickaway Plains--Wet Prairies--New
Lancaster--Lebanon--Newark--Mount Vernon--Owl Creek--Clear
Fork--Roads--Mansfield--Trucksville--Summit of the Country
between the Ohio and Lake Erie--Munro--Sickness--The Great
Prairie--The former Beach of Lake Erie--Bloomingtown--Bank--Mineral
Strata--Portland--Venice--Sickness--Indians--Tavern Keepers--People.
_Portland, (Ohio,) Oct. 13, 1820._
I left the Falls of the Ohio on the 12th ult. and took my passage in a
steam-boat which plies between that place and Cincinnati.--There was no
other passing on the Ohio at that time, on account of the lowness of
the water.
From the difference of time occupied in ascending and descending the
river, it appeared that the mean velocity of the stream was reduced to
one mile per hour. In several ripples, the deepest part of the channel
measured only three feet. The vessel repeatedly ran aground, so that
an anchor was put out, and it became necessary that every man on board
should work at the capstane. The boat was the same in which I ascended
the river in June last, and of which I noted down the dimensions in my
letter of the 26th of that month. {271} She is here considered to be a
small vessel, and the best for navigating the river in dry seasons. On
computing the velocity of the water wheel, I found that the boat would
move at the rate of 8¹⁄₂ miles per hour, supposing that it proceeded
in the manner of wheel carriages, and that the actual velocity through
still water was seven miles per hour. This gives a very good measure of
the _vis inertiæ_ of the fluid.
We did not arrive at Cincinnati till the 15th, being obliged to stop
during the night, as it was impossible to keep in the proper channel in
the dark, at the present low stage of the river. The vessel returned
downward nearly empty, to be laid up till the next rise of water.
The hills in the neighbourhood of Cincinnati, which were beautifully
verdant in June last, are now withered to whiteness, by the scorching
drought.[143]
The trade of Cincinnati continues to be dull. Two of the banks have
given up business altogether, and two others are struggling for
existence. Their money is 33¹⁄₂ and 60 per cent under par. One of
these establishments has been in the habit of giving in exchange for
its own notes, those of another paper shop at a considerable distance;
when the paper so obtained is presented at the second, it is taken in
exchange for the money of a third bank still farther off. At the third,
the bills are exchanged for the money of the first. This is in reality
making banks “_equally solvent with their neighbouring institutions_.”
Some of the stockholders, {272} _who are themselves the debtors of the
banks_, procure a part of the money, which is either much depreciated,
or entirely sunk to satisfy for the same debts.
Females of a certain description are not to be seen in the streets
of Cincinnati after dusk. This is attributed, not so much to police
regulations, as to the boys, whose practice it is to chase them.
On the 23d, a regiment of Militia was reviewed. The state of discipline
is so bad that every movement is accompanied with disorder. The time
occupied in training is short, and the practice of privates electing
their own officers is not considered conducive to subordination,
especially in time of peace. They are, however, armed with good rifles,
and are formidable troops in the woods.
The last number of the Edinburgh Review, Peter’s Letters to his
Kinsfolk,[144] _Blackwood’s Magazine_, and the Monastery,[145] are
the current works of the day. When lately at Louisville, I found an
acquaintance reading Ivanhoe; during my stay with him, which was only
about an hour, two persons applied for a loan of the book. He told me
that there were seven or eight copies of it in that town, and that they
are no sooner read by one than they are lent to another. Two copies of
the Monastery had just then arrived in town, and were, if possible,
more in request than the former. The natives of Britain, in America,
have the satisfaction of mixing with a people who are descended from
the same ancestors, who speak the same language, who are instructed by
the same standard books, who are amused by the same novels, and who
sing the same songs.
In giving you details of my journey from the Ohio to Lake Erie, I shall
confine myself almost {273} entirely to a transcript of notes taken by
the way.[146]