Thus you see that the art and ingenuity of man have converted these great prisons on the water into so many magnificent hotels. Some inconveniences and even privations there are, and must be. As a general rule, the traveler may be very comfortable in them, and, if he chooses, quite self-indulgent. This word self-indulgent refers to the articles of food on the tables. These are just what is to be expected when it is considered what the far greater part of our travelers place their chief happiness in--what they most think of and talk of, at least when they have little else to do. In this respect, the steamboat is about on a par with the hotel. If there be any difference, it seems to me to consist in this: that the dishes at the table on board the steamboat are more complicated and more costly, and at the same time more unhealthy, than those of the hotel. But enough of description, for the present. We will now return to the narration of my adventures. CHAPTER III. BEGINNING THE VOYAGE. The distance from Cincinnati to Pittsburg, following the course of the river, is four hundred and seventy-seven miles; the distance by land being, as I suppose, on the shortest road, about three hundred and fifty. The Ohio River is very crooked. It turns to nearly every point of the compass. In one instance, in going up it, for example, I well remember that after going for some time in a northerly and then in a north-westerly direction, we suddenly turned to the west, as if we were going back again to Cincinnati. The hour at which the steamer was to sail, according to the advertisement in the papers, was ten o'clock. Most of the passengers were on board before this time. There was, however, a large amount of freight to come on board afterward. There was also delay from another and very different cause. Just opposite to Cincinnati, on the Kentucky side, are the villages of Newport and Covington. In one of the houses, in one of these places, a thief had entered, during the night, and taken away considerable money and other property. The officers of justice were in pursuit of him. They came to the Pittsburg, and asked permission to search that. This being granted, they went in company with one of the officers, and made diligent search everywhere, especially among the emigrants. The thief, however, was not found, and the search was discontinued. At about twelve o'clock we were under weigh, and slowly proceeding up the river, which is here, as I judged, about a quarter of a mile wide, and pretty deep. Every passenger, or nearly every one, was now on deck enjoying the prospect. The Pittsburg sailed about eight or ten miles an hour. We were soon out of sight of Cincinnati. The last portion of it which we saw was Fulton--which is the name given to a long arm of the city, extending several miles along in a north-eastern direction.