Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 9).djvu/302



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 8-1/2 miles per hour, supposing that it proceeded in