BEGINNING THE VOYAGE.
The distance from Cincinnati to Pittsburg, following the course of the
river, is four hundred and seventy-seven miles; the distance by land
being, as I suppose, on the shortest road, about three hundred and
fifty.
The Ohio River is very crooked. It turns to nearly every point of the
compass. In one instance, in going up it, for example, I well remember
that after going for some time in a northerly and then in a
north-westerly direction, we suddenly turned to the west, as if we were
going back again to Cincinnati.
The hour at which the steamer was to sail, according to the
advertisement in the papers, was ten o'clock. Most of the passengers
were on board before this time. There was, however, a large amount of
freight to come on board afterward. There was also delay from another
and very different cause.
Just opposite to Cincinnati, on the Kentucky side, are the villages of
Newport and Covington. In one of the houses, in one of these places, a
thief had entered, during the night, and taken away considerable money
and other property. The officers of justice were in pursuit of him.
They came to the Pittsburg, and asked permission to search that. This
being granted, they went in company with one of the officers, and made
diligent search everywhere, especially among the emigrants. The thief,
however, was not found, and the search was discontinued.
At about twelve o'clock we were under weigh, and slowly proceeding up
the river, which is here, as I judged, about a quarter of a mile wide,
and pretty deep. Every passenger, or nearly every one, was now on deck
enjoying the prospect.
The Pittsburg sailed about eight or ten miles an hour. We were soon out
of sight of Cincinnati. The last portion of it which we saw was
Fulton--which is the name given to a long arm of the city, extending
several miles along in a north-eastern direction.
I was almost sorry to leave Cincinnati, for it is, in many respects, a
beautiful place. The central or business part is not peculiarly
handsome, I admit; but the Walnut Hills, Mount Auburn, and other places,
forming a semicircle, and inclosing it on all sides except on the
south-east and south, are, for the beauties of nature and art, almost
unrivaled.