_Voyage from St Louis to Cincinnati—Mississippi—Ohio—Falls
of the Ohio—Passengers—Details of the Voyage—Notices
in Natural History—Vessels on the
River—Louisville—Hotel—Steam-boats—Inquisitive
Irishman—Tobacco-squirting American—Advantages of Shabby Attire to
Travellers—Mr Hamilton’s Account of Men and Manners in the Western
Steam-boats—Cincinnati—Agricultural Notices._
Having made up my mind to pay a second visit to Upper Canada before
returning to Britain, and wishing to take Cincinnati in my way, I
hesitated whether to proceed by stages, through Illinois and Indiana to
Louisville, or by a steam-boat down the Mississippi, and up the Ohio.
Having more than once experienced the deceitfulness of information
obtained from stage-office people in Britain, and disliking the
information got at the offices of St Louis, I determined on travelling
by water, and, learning the Helen Mar was to sail in a few hours
afterwards, I immediately secured a berth.
The Helen Mar was a boat of the smallest size, and on this account well
suited for the voyage at this season of the year, when there is a want
of water in the Ohio for vessels of the second class. She proceeded at a
rapid rate down the current, and made the first stop at Jefferson
Barracks, ten miles below St Louis, on the west side of the river, where
we were detained until nightfall, by receiving on board some officers of
the United States army, with their families and luggage. In course of
the night, one of the shafts broke, and the vessel continued her voyage
with one paddle.
I found the Mississippi a very different looking stream from what it was
at Alton. Instead of being a placid river, gliding gently between
beautiful banks, it had assumed the character of the Missouri,
impetuosity, muddiness, and devastated margins. In sailing down the
Mississippi below St Louis, we were said to have passed the most
interesting scenery in the night, and there was little seen by me
calculated to impart pleasure or relieve the eye. The dense, and at this
season, gloomy vegetation on the banks and islands, reminded me of the
Lake of the Thousand Isles, at the opening of the St Lawrence. The
turbid torrent, boiling and whirling in a thousand directions, was
washing away the banks at one place, and leaving depositions at another.
Indian corn was seen falling with masses of earth, and mingling with the
stream, and uprooted trees, suspended from the banks with their branches
under water, as if experiencing suffocation. Everything suggested to the
mind desolation, and led me to think this such a river as despairing man
might choose for his last plunge. The whole day was spent on deck, and I
felt my spirits sinking when we approached the mouth of the Ohio, which
forms a striking contrast to the Mississippi. The Ohio at its junction
with the Mississippi, called by the Indians “the Father of Waters,” is
broader than the parent stream, and after the junction of three such
rivers as the Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio, their mingled streams do
not appear larger to the eye than any of them singly, which arises from
the depth and rapidity of the united current. The same difference of
colour in the waters which I had remarked at the confluence of the
Ottawa and St Lawrence, and of Missouri and Mississippi, were here
perceptible. The limpid and placid Ohio, dammed up by the larger stream,
and resting without motion between smooth and verdant banks, resembled
the stillness of sleep. The Mississippi was like maddened intoxication.
Well might the French of old, after traversing the death-like
Mississippi, and becoming acquainted with the Ohio, term it _La Belle
Rivière_, the beautiful river, a title it justly merits. For some time
the winding course and full stream reminded me of sailing on a lake, yet
the banks are monotonous, being thinly settled, with the background hid
from view, and but for the lovely tints which autumn had imparted to the
foliage, would have been without much interest. On advancing up the
Ohio, the channel became bound by sand plains, which are covered when
the water is high, and many of the banks of the numerous islands showed,
by the size of the trees, the successive depositions that are made to
them, and I was enabled to count six rows of the same species rising in
different gradations.
We at last reached what are termed the Falls of the Ohio, a name given
to a succession of rapids, caused by a stratum of rocks crossing the
channel of the river, and form the only obstruction to navigation in the
whole course of the Ohio. The falls are about two miles in length, and
the descent in that distance twenty-four feet. When the river is high,
vessels pass up and down the falls, and when low, through a canal lately
opened on the south side of the river, commencing a little below
Louisville, and extending nearly two miles. The Helen Mar had some
difficulty in getting over a bar and rapid below the entrance to the
canal; on reaching which I walked forward to Louisville, over a verdant
smooth turf, which I enjoyed greatly, after so long an absence from
nature’s best carpeting.
The water in the Ohio was still low, although our captain had often been
told on the voyage the river had risen eighteen inches in course of a
few days. The rising of the Ohio and most of the western rivers in
autumn is observed to take place annually, without a considerable fall
of rain occurring in the lower part of their courses. This is generally
accounted for by the diminished temperature of the atmosphere lessening
evaporation on the earth’s surface. In all probability it is more owing
to suspended vegetation, the falling leaves and decaying herbage ceasing
to throw off moisture.
In the course of our voyage from St Louis to Louisville, a distance of
six hundred and thirty miles, passengers were received and landed at
many intermediate places, but the majority of them continued the whole
distance. My time being spent chiefly in viewing the different objects
on the rivers and their banks, I did not become intimate with any
individual, except one, Mr Gemble, with whom I afterwards travelled by
stage to Columbus in Ohio, and met at the Washington Hotel, on my return
to New York. In course of conversation I learned he resided at St Louis,
had travelled in the Rocky Mountains, and was on his way to the eastern
shore to visit an aged parent. We spent a considerable part of fourteen
days in close conversation, without making the slightest enquiry into
each other’s birth, parentage, or past and present pursuits in life. On
leaving St Louis, I observed him reading several books which he took
from his portmanteau, and left exposed on his berth, as if to court
others to read them. My only companion of this kind at the time was a
small volume, entitled, “a View of the Valley of the Mississippi,” which
I often referred to, and found useful, and which Mr Gemble asked me to
allow him to look at, although travellers in American steam-boats
generally seize on every book within reach, without obtaining the
consent of the owner to peruse it. I had thus an opportunity of asking a
return of the civility of Mr Gemble, which he readily granted, adding,
“I would be happy to allow every person on board to read my volumes.”
The first that I opened was one of small dimensions, entitled, “_The
Times of Christ_,” which the preface stated to be from the pen of the
gifted Harriet Martineau, which appeared in England as the “Traditions
of Palestine,” and had been reprinted with a more suitable title, and
the omission of some matter which the publisher did not consider in good
taste with the rest of the work. The other volumes were of a religious
nature, which might have led me to suppose Mr Gemble a spiritual
teacher; but there was nothing in his conversation or deportment marking
or violating this character. He was a tall, thin gentlemanly-looking
person, well informed, and apparently possessing as much real
philanthropy as any individual I ever met.
The other passengers consisted of both sexes, of all ages, and of
different professions. The ladies were never seen but at meals, keeping
their own cabin at other times. The gentlemen were well dressed, and
invariably civil to each other, General A—— being the least polished in
manners and appearance of any of the company. The captain was an
unassuming person, whose voice was seldom heard, and never in connexion
with an oath, either in the cabin or amongst the crew. There was only
one cabin passenger addicted to swearing, who had formerly been captain
of a steam-boat on the Mississippi, and was now engaged in trade at St
Louis. The officers of the army, and one or two others, passed part of
the evenings in playing cards, at a game which I did not understand, and
at which they did not seem to hazard high stakes. On such occasions, I
was sometimes amused at the group assembled around the table. Military
men of the highest rank, when eagerly intent on the game, were joined by
the steward boys without their coats, familiarly seating themselves at
table, and looking on the hands of cards. The chewing and spitting of
tobacco were incessant, the carpet serving as a receptacle for the
moisture, when boxes were not within immediate reach; and on some cold
evenings the fire in the cabin was almost overcome by squirting of
tobacco juice.
The comfort of the passengers was little attended to in the general
arrangements of the vessel. Three times a-day, at breakfast, dinner, and
supper, which also includes the repast known in the Eastern States, and
in Britain, by the name of tea, the table was stored with supplies of
animal food and vegetables, so very ample, that on one occasion I
numbered thirty-one dishes placed on the supper-table for twenty-two
passengers, and, perhaps, in no instance was there ever less than one
dish for each individual. The food was coarsely prepared, and all placed
on the table at once, and nearly cold before the company sat down. There
was always a second company, consisting of part of the boat’s
establishment, and such deck passengers as chose to pay for their food;
and sometimes a third company collected, independent of the people of
colour, servants or slaves to the passengers, and who satisfied their
hunger on the veranda. The succession of companies received no additions
to the fare originally placed on the table, and such an injudicious
arrangement was the means of rendering it less palatable to all. The
vessel called three or four times a-day at different places, yet, on one
occasion, bread could not be had for breakfast, and milk or cream were
more than once awanting without any notice being taken of it at table.
There was no water for drinking or washing but what the rivers supplied,
and this was even the case on the turbid Mississippi, the water of which
was allowed to separate from the sediment before being presented at
table. The inhabitants of the Western States are considered by those of
the Eastern ones as wanting in refinement, and the table being loaded
with the substantialities of life, while good water and milk, two of the
most desirable of liquids, and which might at all times have been
obtained on shore, were awanting, appeared a strong indication of
coarseness. The passengers drank in the greatest moderation in my sight,
only taking a tumbler of spirits and water occasionally when playing at
cards, and never tasting wine or any kind of spirits at table at other
times. I did not observe a person of any description on board, during
the voyage, that appeared in the least degree intoxicated. The water for
washing was always fresh drawn from the river, and I thought the
Mississippi more likely to stain than clean any face. Many of the
gentlemen attempted to clean their teeth and mouths with such mud, which
I did not pass within my lips. My dressing-case did not contain soap,
which I thought an article likely to be had everywhere, but on
application to the steward, I was told there was none on board. An
application to the captain, or some of the passengers, would have
procured me this commodity, at least for shaving with, but there was
something so ungracious in the steward’s refusal, that I was unwilling
to hazard another denial. From necessity I had learned to shave without
a mirror, while in the northern parts of Illinois, and now attempted the
operation without soap, which I found so easy, that I continued the
practice until reaching New York.
The cabin being in the stern of the vessel, I spent much of my time in
the forecastle, for the purpose of seeing the scenery, which brought me
in contact with the crew, and many of the deck passengers. In this class
of people I found a considerable change of manner from any I had
formerly come in contact with. Many of them swore disgustingly, and
possessed a general levity and coarseness of manner, but in no instance
did I experience incivility.
I had witnessed a great many cases of fever in course of my journey, and
the accounts received in Michigan, Illinois, and Missouri, represented
the season as unhealthy, and the population suffering considerably from
its effects. On reaching the Mississippi I learned cholera had scourged
the inhabitants in a dreadful manner, in the course of summer, and had
now subsided. Several cases of fever occurred amongst the deck
passengers during the voyage, and a poor child sunk under its attack. A
rude coffin was prepared by a person on board, and the remains of the
little innocent were interred at Smithland, on the mouth of Cumberland
river, Kentucky. On the third day of the voyage, one of the firemen, a
man of colour, became unwell, and I observed him rolling about near the
furnace, and suffering much, unheeded by those around him. At last the
attention of the captain was called to him, and the services of a
medical gentleman, who was a cabin passenger, were requested. He
pronounced it a bad case of cholera, and the poor fellow was carried on
shore soon afterwards in the agonies of death. The consternation on
board was great, and many of the passengers deserted the vessel.
Towards the mouth of the Ohio, vast numbers of geese were seen sitting
on the extensive sand bars. The deck passengers often fired rifles at
geese and other birds without effect. Two or three bald-headed eagles
were seen quite near the vessel, and on Diamond Island five or six wild
turkeys were observed running from the side of the river into the
forest, and was the only time this bird was seen in a live state by me.
The vessels on the waters in the valley of Mississippi burn wood, and
supplies are found everywhere on the banks of the rivers, which are
speedily conveyed on board, with the assistance of the deck passengers,
who are bound to aid in the operation. During the time of taking in
wood, I almost universally examined vegetation on the banks, and
obtained many new seeds by so doing. I also had an opportunity of
conversing with the inhabitants, who, in such situations, depend chiefly
on this trade for the means of subsisting. I was surprised at the
vessels not using coal, which is very abundant in many places on the
banks, and could be easily transported to places where it is not. I am
satisfied coal would be found cheaper than wood, and if depots were
formed, and provided with a crane to put the coal on board, the saving
of time would be considerable in course of the voyage. None of the
furnaces are, however, at present constructed for burning coal, and a
considerable time is likely to elapse before it gets a fair trial.
In coming up the Ohio, I observed a great number of boats, or rather
boxes or arks, of various sizes and shapes, floating down the river
towards New Orleans, filled with farm produce, including sheep. These
arks are built of strong timbers, fitted up with apartments for the
navigators, and sold on reaching New Orleans, the crews returning by the
steam-boats. The numerous steam-boats do not seem to have diminished
this mode of conveying farm produce, and probably many of them are built
on shallow streams in the interior of the country, where steam-vessels
never can have access. These arks are simply kept in the current, which
floats them down, and in this country, where the farmer has so much
leisure time in autumn and winter, must be a cheap mode of conveying
produce to market.
Louisville is situated on the south bank of the Ohio, at the mouth of a
small stream called Bear Grass, in the State of Kentucky. It consists of
several streets running parallel to the river, and the houses are
composed of brick. There are many steam-engines employed in sawing wood,
grinding wheat, and other purposes. Louisville is the most thriving
place on the waters of the coast connected with the Mississippi, and
contains about 14,000 inhabitants; it is 1448 miles distant from New
Orleans by the river, and 590 from Washington.
On arriving at Louisville I could not obtain admittance into either of
the two principal hotels, and afterwards had sufficient evidence to
satisfy me the denial was entirely owing to my shabby appearance. My
third application was at the American Hotel, a large and excellent
establishment; and feeling somewhat annoyed at the manner of my previous
refusals, I asked the bar-keeper if he would accommodate me for the
night, and he answered in a smart tone of voice, “Certainly, sir; we are
servants of the public, but I hope you will eat something.” The inmates
of the house were assembling for supper in the Exchange room, and on
ringing the bell, the rush up stairs into the banqueting apartment was
excessive, there being nearly two hundred individuals assembled. The
company were settled down at two large tables, and every thing passed
off well, but not in the same quiet way I had observed at other large
establishments.
The gentlemen were fashionably dressed, and several of them swore and
stormed at the waiters in a manner I never witnessed elsewhere in
America, which was perhaps owing to this being a slave state, and the
individuals themselves slave owners. The waiters were chiefly people of
colour; and much as I did feel disgusted at the language which in two or
three instances was directed to them, yet I had often heard waiters in
Britain similarly addressed.
My bed was in a small apartment, indifferently lighted, in which were
two bedsteads. The Exchange-room was as well filled in the morning with
expectants for breakfast as it had been in the preceding evening; and
although Louisville is in a slave state, and the establishment of the
hotel chiefly composed of such beings, a white person, well dressed and
of good appearance, stood at the entrance of the house with the room,
and brushed every gentleman’s coat and hat who required his services.
Having seen the town before nightfall, I at one time thought of visiting
the theatre, for the purpose of seeing Mr Forrest, a celebrated native
actor, of whom the people of the States are extremely proud. On
referring to the playbill in the Exchange-room, I observed a line in
small type at the bottom, intimating that people of colour were not
admitted. This appeared to me so absurd, to distinguish human beings at
a place of public amusement by their complexion, and so illiberal, that
I altered my intention. In walking through the streets in the evening, I
was surprised at seeing so few people, and so many rats. These creatures
were swarming, and I saw more of them in half an hour than I had seen in
the previous course of my life.
Next morning, I embarked on board the Champlain for Cincinnati, where I
found Mr Gemble and another passenger from the Helen Mar. The Champlain
was an excellent vessel, with the cabin in the bow, which is much more
agreeable than when it is in the stern, by allowing objects to be seen
when approaching, instead of receding from them. The steam-boats on the
eastern waters of the United States, and the Canadas, have their cabins
in the hull of the vessel like those of Britain, and a deck above where
passengers sit or walk. A different arrangement is followed on the
western rivers. The lower part of the vessel is allotted for stowing
away heavy freight, and the boilers are placed in the bow, with a cabin
for the gentlemen behind, and one immediately above, for the ladies. The
fore-part of the second deck is for the deck passengers. In other cases,
the place for deck passengers is in the stern of the first deck, and the
second one is divided, forming the ladies’ and gentlemen’s cabins. The
Helen Mar was of the first arrangement, and the Champlain of the second.
The size of the steam-vessels varies from eighty to five hundred tons,
the smallest size being best suited for the summer months, when the
rivers are low, and the largest can only be used from November to July.
They are narrow, and stand so much above the water, as to resemble a
floating-house. Almost all of them use high pressure engines, and are
considered worn out in five or six years, except those made of live oak
which last from eight to ten years. The perishable nature of the western
steam-boat property is, no doubt, in part owing to the materials of
which it is composed, and the navigation, which, from currents,
sand-bars, and sunken trees or snags, is the most trying and dangerous.
In passing from Louisville to Cincinnati, a distance of 132 miles, the
Champlain was well-filled with passengers, who landed and embarked at
many intermediate places. The table was by no means so lavishly stored
as that of the Helen Mar, and could not contain all the passengers, some
of whom, after dinner, filled the berths of others without ceremony,
stretching themselves at full length, with their boots on, and sleeping
for hours. The deck passengers, being in the stern of the lower deck,
were not seen, and the cabin ones exhibited a great diversity of
character. I got into conversation with an Irishman, who resided in
Kentucky, which had become his adopted country. He was plainly but
respectably dressed, and evidently without much education. After stating
the advantages of the States in many respects, and how determinedly all
the inhabitants would fight in their defence, he asked me where I came
from? On answering St Louis, he rejoined, “where were you _raised_?” It
was my practice, while in the Western States, to answer readily every
question that was put to me, for the purpose of ingratiating myself with
the people, by which alone I could obtain information from them, and
ensure personal comfort; and I must do them the justice to say, they
seldom, in this respect, exceeded the people of my native country. On
the present occasion there was something so prying in the Irishman’s
expression of countenance and tone of voice, that I resolved to tease
him a little, and to his second question answered, “in the East.”
“What part of the East?”
“Europe.”
“What part of Europe?”
“Mungoswells.”
“Where is that?”
“Near Haddington.”
“In what country is that?”
“Scotland.”
Here he told me that he was a native of Ireland; and I answered his
language had made me aware of that the moment he entered into
conversation.
“Where do you stay?”
“I am a wanderer on the face of the earth.”
“What are you doing?”
“Following the course of the river.”
“What would you do if you were on shore?”
“Follow my nose.”
“What would you like to be employed at?”
“In moving from place to place.”
“Where do you reside?”
“He had been told I was a wanderer, and might rely on what had been
stated.” During this conversation, he did not seem to feel the import of
my answers, and continued in conversation sometime afterwards.
While standing on deck, near the chimney, around which many gentlemen
were assembled, for the heat it afforded, a person who was chewing
tobacco, sprinkled a mouthful of juice on the tails of my surtout, which
happened to be waving in the wind. As soon as the accident occurred, he
pulled out his handkerchief, and when wiping off the filth, apologized
for his conduct. There was something so sincere in the gentleman’s
manner, and in his anxiety to remove the stain, that induced me to say,
he could not have spit on any thing more worthless; and notwithstanding
the nature of our introduction, we continued on intimate terms for the
remainder of the voyage. There was nothing in America to which I was so
long of getting reconciled, as the copious spitting, and my repugnance
was chiefly overcome by the accident to my surtout. The use of tobacco
in every shape is, to a certain extent, an abomination, and the
preference or dislike given to one mode of consumption over another,
arises from habit. The smoking Dutchman, chewing American, and snuffing
Scotchman, may be objects of disgust to each other, and all of them
perhaps abhorred by a fastidious person who dislikes the use of tobacco
in any shape.
I have already alluded to the shabbiness of my attire on leaving
Montreal, and after having travelled so long and so roughly, often not
unrobing for the night, my clothes had become literally threadbare. My
hat was originally of white silk-web of bad quality, and now almost
without wool. My appearance would have betokened mendicity in Britain,
and procured pecuniary assistance from the humane; but in the countries
through which I had latterly travelled, charity is never asked nor
bestowed, yet my garb had its advantages: It brought me in contact with
all classes of the inhabitants, without exciting suspicions of any kind,
and enabled me to see them in their real character. My unpretending
appearance and deportment could not call forth the democratic rudeness
which assumed or presumptuous superiority seldom fails to experience, in
almost every portion of the United States; and the sycophant, if such
exists in the valley of the Mississippi, had nothing to attract his
notice.
The safety of my person and property may have been aided by the meanness
of my dress, which possessed no allurement to the robber, thief, or
swindler. My position as a traveller in the Western United States, and
Upper Canada, differed from that of many British travellers who have
visited the countries, and I shall leave others to judge if it was
calculated to promote the object of my journey.
In passing up the Ohio, the temperature of the atmosphere became so
cold, that I deliberated on the propriety of adding to my clothing,
which was the more necessary from having left my flannel shirt in
Michigan. The matter was decided by my shoulders and elbows making holes
in my coat; after leaving Louisville, and on reaching Cincinnati, I
adopted winter clothing, and concealed my external infirmities with a
coarse great-coat, which hath since amused my friends in Scotland, by
the queerness of its shape, and passed by the name of Mrs Trollope.
The scenery of the Ohio above Louisville, possesses more interest than
the lower part of the river, the hills on the banks being higher, and
the country better settled. Some beautiful villas are seen on
approaching Cincinnati, which we reached before noon.
When walking about Cincinnati, I observed, in several booksellers’
windows,—“Men and Manners in America, by the author of Cyril Thornton,”
printed in large characters, and purchased the volume. Mr Stewart’s
“Three Years’ Residence in America,” and Mrs Trollope’s “Domestic
Manners of the Americans,” had been sent to New York with my trunks, but
as the walking part of my journey was over, Cyril Thornton’s work was
not expected to incommode me. I had heard of the publication being in
the press before leaving Britain, and on opening the book, I naturally
turned to the account of the country in which I was then situated. The
description of the company in the steam-boats of the Ohio, was so
different from what I had experienced, that I shall quote the author’s
remarks in passing down from Wheeling to Cincinnati:—“These western
regions are undoubtedly the chosen abode of plenty. Provisions are so
cheap, that no one ever dreams of economy. Three times a-day was the
table literally covered with dishes, wedged together as closely as a
battalion of infantry in solid square. Though the passengers were only
twenty in number, there was always dinner enough for a hundred. Joints,
turkeys, hams, and chops, lay spread before us in admired confusion.
Brandy bottles were located at judicious intervals, and porter was to be
had on paying for it. I had asked for wine, but in vain. So, being at
the luxurious city of Cincinnati, and tolerably tired of the poison
called brandy, I sent for a bottle of champagne from the inn. The bottle
came, but on being opened, the contents were much more like sour cider
than champagne. In short, the stuff was decidedly too bad for drinking,
and was accordingly pushed aside. But the appearance of this
anomalous-looking flask evidently caused some commotion among the
passengers. The wine was probably one which few of them had tasted, and
many of them were evidently determined to seize the earliest opportunity
of enlarging their experience. ‘I should like a glass of your wine, sir,
if you have no objections?’ said my old enemy the Virginian doctor. I
immediately pushed the bottle to him, and he filled his tumbler to the
brim. Observing this, the persons about him, without ceremony of any
kind, seized the bottle, and its contents incontinently disappeared.
“In regard to the passengers, truth compells me to say that any thing so
disgusting in human shape I had never seen. Their morals and their
manners were alike detestable. A cold and callous selfishness, a
disregard of all the decencies of society, were so apparent in feature,
word, and action, that I found it impossible not to wish that their
catalogue of sins had been enlarged by one more—hypocrisy. Of hypocrisy,
however, they were not guilty. The conversation in the cabin was
interlarded with the vilest blasphemy, not uttered in a state of mental
excitement, but with a coolness and deliberation truly fiendlike.
“There was a Baptist clergyman on board, but his presence did not seem
to operate as a restraint. The scene of drinking and gambling had no
intermission. It continued day and night. The captain of the vessel, so
far from discouraging either vice, was one of the most flagrant
offenders in both. He was decidedly the greatest gambler on board, and
was often so drunk as to be utterly incapable of taking command of the
vessel. There were few female passengers; but with their presence we
were only honoured at meals. At all other times they prudently confined
themselves to their own cabin.
“One circumstance may be mentioned, which is tolerably illustrative of
the general habits of the people. In every steam-boat there is a
_public_ comb and hair-brush suspended by a string from the ceiling of
the cabin. These utensils are used by the whole body of the passengers,
and their condition the pen of Swift could alone adequately describe.
There is no tooth-brush, simply, I believe, because the article is
entirely unknown to the American toilet. A common towel, however, passes
from hand to hand, and suffices for the perfunctory ablutions of the
whole party on board. It was often with great difficulty that I procured
the exclusive usufruct of one, and it was evident that the demand was
not only unusual but disagreeable.”
There is so much discrepancy between this account and what I
experienced, that it may be difficult for some people to believe the
same part of the world is alluded to. The time which elapsed between Mr
Hamilton’s visit and mine was a little more than three years, and in
course of that time the manners and customs of the people must either
have undergone an extraordinary change, or we must have viewed things
through a different medium. It is far from my intention to charge that
gentleman with exaggeration or intentional misrepresentation, but
objects are so well known to be affected by circumstances, that it may
be worth while to enquire how he was situated to enable him to see and
judge impartially. With his career in life and the place he occupied in
British society, I am utterly unacquainted, and unless be is something
immeasurably above ordinary humanity, both would influence his opinions.
But it appears to me unfortunate that a man of such powers, as he has
proved himself to be possessed of, should have sought information
regarding “Men and Manners,” in a part of the world, accompanied by a
servant, where he was ashamed to avail himself of his services. This
circumstance of itself was sufficient to sour him with all the country
contained, as well as to create in others an unfavourable impression
towards himself. It was surely an odd proceeding to send “for a bottle
of champagne from the inn,” when he was on board a steam-boat. The
reason assigned for having done so—“tolerably tired of the poison called
brandy”—perhaps accounts for much he has written regarding America—a
potation of this liquid, followed by “champagne,” being one of the most
deceptious mediums which things can be viewed through, and I shall leave
future visitants of the United States to determine whether much he has
described was reality, or the fantasies of his imagination.
My situation was different from Mr Hamilton’s, not having tasted any
liquid but water and tea since my departure from Montreal, with
exception of half a glass of spirits amongst water at Detroit, and the
glass of wine at St Charles, formerly mentioned. I do not recollect of
seeing brandy on the dinner-table of any steam-boat in America; and feel
quite certain that neither wine nor spirits of any kind were on the
table of those of the Ohio and Mississippi. I did not see or hear of an
intoxicated person on board of any steam-vessel but those of Lake
Ontario. “A _public_ comb and hair-brush, suspended by a string from the
ceiling of the cabin,” or placed in any other position in the vessel,
was not observed by me in the steam-boats of America, and I am sure they
did not exist in the vessels I sailed with. Afterwards, I observed a
hair-brush suspended by a string in a passage-boat on the Erie Canal,
and they are occasionally found in the bar-rooms of inferior hotels.
People are not, however, compelled to use them, and they are certainly
an accommodation to some individuals. A tooth-brush was used by almost
every passenger in the Helen Mar, and I remarked dozens of storekeepers
at Detroit washing their teeth in the mornings at the door, and in one
or two instances narrowly escaped being soused with superfluous water
from tumblers they had been using.
The manners of the people at St Louis, and from that place to
Cincinnati, are unquestionably different from the inhabitants on the
shores of the Atlantic, being rougher in all respects, but I did not
witness any thing approaching to rudeness or disgusting vulgarity
amongst cabin passengers. The firemen, engineers, and many of the crew
of the steam-boats were habitual swearers, and so were many of the
stage-drivers and passengers in travelling through Ohio. But this bad
habit did not pervade the inhabitants generally with whom I came in
contact.
On landing at Cincinnati, I entered an excellent hotel in a square
fronting the river, the name of which I have forgotten. On applying at
the bar I was requested, as usual, to enter my name; and on asking for a
bedroom to wash, a bell was rung, and a man of colour, who answered it,
was desired to conduct me to No. 23, and to see that I got every thing I
wanted. This was before any alteration had been made in my dress, and
water, towel, and soap, were supplied me. Indeed, water in my bedrooms
was furnished everywhere in the United States, with the exception of
that part of my tour from Detroit to Louisville.
I had time to examine the greater part of the town before dinner, after
which I walked to the top of the hills on the east side of the city, and
then to the west end. The situation of Cincinnati, as seen from the
height, is singularly fine, being in the midst of a circle of hills,
through the centre of which the beautiful Ohio flows. The diameter of
the circle is about three miles, and the river is not seen beyond the
circle. The city is on the north side of the stream, and on the south,
or Kentucky side, stand the thriving villages of Newport and Covington,
divided by the river Licking, which joins the Ohio. Cincinnati contains
about 30,000 inhabitants, the buildings are of brick, and many streets
run parallel and at right angles with the river. I found the market
plentifully supplied with every commodity, in stalls and waggons, and
the bustle and activity of the place was much greater than I expected to
find in a city so remotely situated. The streets were clean at the time
of my visit, and the general appearance of the place indicated
considerable advancement in luxury. Coals sell at ten cents, wheat at
fifty-six, Indian corn at twenty-five, and oats at twenty-two cents per
bushel. I shall quote a few particulars relating to Cincinnati, from a
recent Philadelphia publication, entitled, a “View of the Valley of the
Mississippi.”
“There are _ten founderies_, including a brass and bell foundery, and
one for casting types.
“There are three or four _cotton factories_, about fifteen _rolling
mills, and steam engine factories, and shops_.
“There are _five breweries_.
“There is a _button factory_, and a _steam coopering establishment_.
“Two _steam flour-mills_, and five or six _steam saw-mills_.
“There are probably not less than forty different manufacturing
establishments driven by steam-power.
“The imports, of which dry goods are a principal item, exceed
$5,000,000. The exports, consisting of various articles of produce, of
which pork is the chief, and of manufactures, of which iron articles,
and cabinet furniture, are the chief, probably exceed the imports in
value.
“There are two banks, and a savings’ fund association; two museums, very
interesting to strangers; and two hospitals.
“There is a company which supplies the city with water, which is
elevated by steam power from the Ohio.
“There are several literary and scientific institutions, of which the
Lyceum, Athenæum—established by the Catholics, and which is really a
college, and cost about $20,000—Medical College, having seven or eight
professors, Academy of Medicine and Law, and Theological Seminary are
the chief.
“In 1831, there were eighteen public schools, embracing 2,700 scholars,
at an expense of $6,610 for teachers’ wages. This city is imitating the
noble example of Boston, in establishing free-schools for the whole
population. The number of private schools and academies is great.
“There are three library companies, which have, in all, nearly 10,000
volumes of books.
“There are thirty-four charitable associations, and twenty-five
religious societies.
“There are six Presbyterian churches, five Methodist, four Baptist, two
Episcopal, one Lutheran, one Associate, one Catholic, one Unitarian, one
Friends’ Meeting, one Swedenborgian, one Jewish Synagogue, one African,
one Christian.
“There are three daily, two semi-weekly, six weekly, (four of which are
religious,) two semi-monthly, two monthly, and one quarterly, (medical,)
publications—sixteen in all, issued in this city.”
In four months, during 1831, there were issued from Cincinnati press,
86,000 volumes, of which 20,300 were of original works. In the same
time, the periodical press issued 243,200 printed sheets.
Cincinnati is generally said to be in a declining state, but I could not
discover evidence of decay. Houses were building, and bricks
manufacturing in all directions. Streets and roads were undergoing
extensive improvement in and around the city, while villas were being
erected on the surrounding heights. The ship yards were full of bustle,
and craft of various kinds were rising into existence. At the close of
the year 1832, one hundred and thirty steam-boats had been built at
Cincinnati.
The city is built on the site of some Indian tumuli, one of which I saw,
near the western extremity, in tolerable preservation. I hope the
inhabitants will protect this monument of a former race, by enclosing it
with an iron railing, and adorning the foreground with flowers.
I attended the theatre in the evening. Amongst the players were
Sinclair, Thorne, Mrs Knight, and Miss Clara Fisher. The audience were
numerous, and somewhat noisy in their plaudits.
The agriculture, seen from the waters of the Mississippi and Ohio, is
very limited, and which I cannot well describe. Cultivation becomes
extended on approaching Cincinnati, and fields of wheat were seen on the
sloping banks. The hills, three or four hundred feet high, which I
ascended, to the east of the city, were covered with verdant pasturage
of grasses and clovers, on which excellent cattle and sheep were
browsing. Waggon loads of pumpkins were passing into the town, and I
observed many working oxen eating this vegetable in courts.