Travels in North America, From Modern Writers: With Remarks and Observations; Exhibiting a Connected View of the Geography and Present State of that Quarter of the GlobeBingley, William
History
Travels in North America, From Modern Writers: With Remarks and Observations; Exhibiting a Connected View of the Geography and Present State of that Quarter of the Globe
Bingley, William
Canada -- Description and travel; Mexico -- Description and travel; United States -- Description and travel
The inhabitants of Marietta were the first, in the interior of America,
who entertained an idea of exporting, directly to the Caribbee Islands,
the produce of their country. This they did in a vessel, built in their
own town. The vessel was sent to Jamaica, and the success which crowned
this first attempt, excited great emulation among the inhabitants of the
western country. The ship-yard at Marietta is near the town, on the
great Muskingum. When M. Michaux was there, the inhabitants were
building three brigs, one of which was of two hundred and twenty tons
burden.
On the 21st of July the voyagers set out from Marietta, for Gallipoli,
distant about a hundred miles. On the 23rd, at ten in the morning, they
discovered _Point Pleasant_, situated a little above the mouth of the
_Great Kenaway_, and on a promontory which is formed by the right bank
of that river. Its situation is peculiarly beautiful. The Ohio, into
which the Kenaway falls, is here four hundred fathoms wide, and
continues of the same width for four or five miles. Its borders, sloping
and elevated from twenty-five to forty feet, are, in the whole of its
windings, overgrown, at their base, with willow, from fifteen to
eighteen feet in height, the drooping branches and foliage of which form
a pleasing contrast to the sugar-maples, red-maples, and ash-trees,
which are seen immediately above. The latter are overhung by palms,
poplars, beeches, and magnolias, of the highest elevation; the enormous
branches of which, attracted by a more splendid light and an easier
expansion, extend towards the borders, overshadowing the river, at the
same time that they completely cover the trees that are beneath them.
This natural display, which reigns upon the two banks, forms, from each
side, a regular arch, the shadow of which, reflected by the stream,
embellishes, in an extraordinary degree, the magnificent _coup
d'oeil_.
_Gallipoli_ is on the right bank of the Ohio, four miles below Point
Pleasant. It was, at this time, composed of about sixty log-houses, most
of which, being uninhabited, were falling into ruins; the rest were
occupied by Frenchmen, two only of whom appeared to enjoy the smallest
comfort.
On the 25th of July, M. Michaux and his friend set out, in their canoe,
for _Alexandria_, about a hundred and four miles distant; and they
arrived there in three days and a half. The ground designed for this
town is at the mouth of the _Great Scioto_, and in the angle which the
right bank of this river forms with the north-west border of the Ohio.
Although the plan of Alexandria had long been laid out, few people had
settled there: the number of its edifices was not, at this time, more
than twenty, and the major part of these were constructed of wood. The
inhabitants are subject, every autumn, to intermittent fevers, which
seldom abate till the approach of winter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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