Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 V13.djvu/82

 further unloading, a lever placed under the bow, set us readily afloat {45} in one minute; so much had these kind gentlemen deceived us, as to our real situation. They now also refused to fulfil the bargain of assisting us to reload, until brought to some sense of duty by remonstrance.—I shall not indeed soon forget Wolf's island, and its harbour of sharpers.

20th.] The day was far advanced when we got off, and after floating 10 miles we moored for the night, taking care to have deep water.

The land appears low and uninhabited on every side, except at the Iron-banks[54] (called Mine au Fer by the French) we passed yesterday, and which are cliffs of friable and argillaceous earth, the upper bed being ferruginous, beneath which occurs a very conspicuously-coloured band of pink clay about 12 inches thick, and below are white beds of the same material, improperly considered chalk.

The Cyprus (Cupressus disticha) which continues some distance along the Ohio above its estuary, is here much more common, and always indicates the presence of annual inundation and consequent swamps and lagoons, but we do not yet meet with the long moss (Tillandsia usneoides), a plant so characteristic of the prevalence of unhealthy humidity in the atmosphere.

21st.] We commenced our voyage at the dawn of day, and continued to float along without interruption. The river here appears truly magnificent, though generally bordered by the most gloomy solitudes, in which there are