A very inferior breed of cows and horses are to be seen almost every where by the river. This may be partly imputed to the want of proper fodder, and of shelter in the winter. Cattle are not housed in the season, when every plant is withered to whiteness. Grass is not sown to succeed the crops. A growth of tall weeds takes immediate possession of the soil. Hay, therefore, is a scarce article. Indian corn is resorted to as a substitute, but it appears to be too hard for mastication. Butter and cheese sell at 25 cents (13¹⁄₂d. sterling) per pound. _February 17._ This morning was clear and frosty. Temperature 32° in the morning. Snow fell to the thickness of an inch in the forenoon. In the afternoon it disappeared. _18._ The morning was clear; temperature 20°. In the afternoon the ice melted. _19._ Temperature 29° in the morning. In the forenoon, snow fell to the thickness of an inch and a half. In the evening it became liquid. There is much wet ground in the vicinity of the falls. Intermittent fevers afflict the inhabitants toward the end of summer and in autumn. Last season an unusual degree of sickness was experienced. New settlers continue to descend the river. Family boats are almost continually in sight. In a {138} boat lying ashore to-day, a man was busy in making shingles. He has brought with him pine timber from Allegany river. Shingles give a good price here, where pine trees do not grow, and they furnish him with employment at intervals. This is a good specimen of the provident habits and the industry of New Englanders, a people admirably adapted for taking possession of the woods. _March 1._ To-day the people of Jeffersonville elected a Squire, (Justice of the Peace.) Two young men disagreed, and fought a furious battle. In justice to the election, it is admitted that the fight was in consequence of an old quarrel. I have met with no less than eight Scotsmen to-day. We are said to be the most national of all Europeans in America, and the most loyal to old monarchy. The weather is mild and clear, with the aspect of spring. Birds begin to chirp in the woods; their plumage is fine, but they are not songsters. Jeffersonville contains about sixty-five houses, thirteen stores (shops,) and two taverns; the land office for a large district of Indiana, and a printing office that publishes a weekly newspaper, and where the American copy of the most celebrated of all reviews is sold. A steam-boat is on the stocks, measuring 180 feet long, and forty broad; estimated to carry 700 tons. There are now thirty-one steam-boats on the Mississippi and Ohio. Twenty-nine more are building, and in a forward state.