Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 4).djvu/220

 sole cause of their journey.[138] I listened with much amusement to their dashing conversation, knowing tolerably well how to estimate it, in a country where vanity in the young and ambition among the more advanced in life are predominant features. I do not confine this remark to the state of Ohio, where probably there is less of either than in the older states, in which, particularly to the southward of New England, they seem to be national characteristics.

We supped together and were then shewn to our beds by the landlord, who probably thought that the custom of two in a bed was general in America, by his shewing the whole four into a room with two beds: I followed him however down stairs, and soon had a good bed prepared for me in a room by myself.

On Wednesday morning the 12th August, I proceeded through a wilderness of fine land well adapted for cultivation, and finely timbered to Bainbridge, a hamlet of eight cabins, a large stone house building, a blacksmith shop, a post-office, and a store kept by William Daly for Humphrey Fullerton of Chilicothe. Daly told me that he had a good deal of business for the five months he had been here, there being a populous and well cultivated country in the neighbourhood on Buckskin and Paint creeks, at the falls of the latter of which, about a mile to the northward of Bainbridge are some of the best mills in the state, owned by Gen. Massey, who is also proprietor of Bainbridge, which he laid out for a town about a year ago, selling the lots at about thirty dollars each.

{191} The reason assigned for the lands being generally so badly settled along the roads, is, that they belong to wealthy proprietors, who either hold them at a very high price, or will not divide them into convenient sized farms.