Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 V13.djvu/70

 demand. Several gentlemen of science, wealth, and patriotism in Kentucky and Mississippi Territory, are now also beginning to devote their attention to this important and neglected subject, and are commencing by the cultivation of improved varieties of the native species of vine, which promise, above those of Europe, every requisite of fertility, hardihood, and improved flavour.

20th.] To-day I passed the rising town of Madison,[39] and the outlet of Kentucky river.—The sun was setting when I arrived, and just served to disclose the beauty of the surrounding scenery. On one side of the river rose a lofty fascade of calcareous rocks, fretted like net-work; on the opposite extended the low alluvial lands of Kentucky, thickly lined with an almost unbroken rank of tall poplars, (Populus angulisans,) resembling a magnificent vista planted by the hand of man.

21st.] Late in the evening I arrived at Bethlehem, a miserable little hamlet in speculation, containing about half a dozen houses.

22d.] To-day I came within 11 miles of Louisville, and lodged with a hospitable and industrious Irishman, who had emigrated from Belfast about 17 years ago.

23d.] At length I arrived at the large and flourishing town of Louisville, but recently a wilderness. Labour and provision rated here much above the value which they commonly bore in the state and the surrounding country. The markets were very negligently supplied, and at prices little inferior to those of New Orleans. In fact, the vortex of speculation, this commercial gambling, absorbed the solid interests of the western states, and destroyed all mercantile confidence. The whole country was overrun with