tern lakes. The ore has been found in small quantities in different places, and at one spot a solid mass weighing several tons, of remarkable purity, has attracted the attention of the curious; but all attempts to discover a sufficient body of the mineral, to render the manufacture productive, have failed. Salt is an important article of manufacture. Saline springs are distributed throughout the whole region, some of which are copious and strongly impregnated. On an average, one hundred and twenty gallons of the water will make sixty pounds of salt, but it is much stronger in some places than at others. Of the mineral waters the chalybeate is most frequently found," impregnations of pure sulphur are common; those of copperas, alum, and sulphate of magnesia, are occasionally met with.

In treating the subjects under consideration more in detail, we shall be under the necessity of dividing the region under consideration into two separate districts, and to speak occasionally of the valley of the Ohio, and that of the Mississippi; for although the whole forms, in fact, one great, and remarkably uniform plain, there are yet some striking peculiarities which distinguish each of these rivers, as well as the lands lying upon their margins. Of these peculiarities I propose to treat under the several heads into which this work will be divided.

CHAPTER II.

The River Ohio.

It may be well to commence our rapid sketch of this river, with an attempt to explain the etymology of its name. We shall, however, do no more than present the views of messrs. Duponceau and Heckewelder, two gentlemen who have bestowed great attention upon the

aboriginal languages of our country,as expressed in a paper in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society.

From this communication, it appears evident, that the idea, which has 'prevailed to some extent, that the word . Ohio is derived from the Iroquois language, is not correct. It has been said, that the Iroquois Indians called the Ohio the fine or beautiful and sometimes the bloody river. Mr. Duponceau examined the vocabularies of that language, for the words corresponding with these terms, and became satisfied that the word Ohio was not derived from them. Farther examination, satisfied his mind that the position taken by Mr. Heckewelder, is correct, which is, that the term Ohio is derived from a word or words in the Delaware language, which mean the white or the white foaming river..

Mr. Heckewelder expresses the opinion that the four letters composing the word Ohio do not comprise the whole of the Indian name. His reasons are the following: 1st, That the names given by the Indians to rivers, are invariably descriptive either of those streams or something about them.

2nd, That he had never heard the Indians call this river by the name of Ohio.

3d, Because the French and English, in using Indian names, are accustomed to drop a part of them, to render the pronunciation easy.

Mr. Heckewelder then gives a list of words from which he argues that this name has been derived; some of which, with their meaning in the English language, are here quoted.

O'hui-Ohi, very.

O'peu, white.

Opelechen, bright, shining.

Opeek, white with froth.

Ohîopéchen, it is of a white color.

Ohiopeek, very white, (caused by froth or white caps.) Ohiophanne, very white stream.

Ohiopeekhanne, very deep and white stream, (by its being covered over with white caps.)

Ohiopehhele, which signifies white frothy water.

Mr. Heckewelder then adds, “The Ohio river being in many places wide and deep, and so gentle, that for many miles, in some places, no current is perceivable: the least wind, blowing up the river, covers the surface with what the people of that country call white caps; and I have myself, for days together, witnessed that this has been the case, caused by southwardly and south-westwardly winds, so that we, navigating the canoes, durst not venture to proceed, as these white caps would have filled and sunk our canoe in a minute. Now in all such cases, when the river could not be navigated by canoes, nor even crossed with this kind of craft-when the whole surface of the water presented white foaming swells, the Indians would, as the case was at the time, apply one or other of the above quoted words to the state of the river; they would say 'juh Ohiopiechen,' Qhiopeek ohiopeekhanne;' and when they supposed the water very deep, they would say, 'Kitschi ohiopeekhanne,' which means, verily this is a deep white river.'

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Again recurring to the habit of abbreviating Indian words, so generally prevalent among the French and Americans, Mr. Heckewelder concludes his interesting remarks upon this subject, with the supposition that at an early day, the emigrants to the west, took the first syllable of the Indian name Ohiopekhanne,' because both easy to pronounce and to keep in the memory.

The river Ohio, for some distance below Pittsburgh is rapid, and the navigation interrupted in low water by chains of rock extending across the bed of the river. The scenery is eminently beautiful, though deficient in grandeur, and exhibiting great sameness. The hills, two

or three hundred feet in height, approach the river, and. confine it closely on either side. Their tops have usually a rounded and graceful form, and are covered with the verdure of an almost unbroken forest. Sometimes the forest trees are so thinly scattered as to afford glimpses of the soil, with here and there a mass, or a perpendicular precipice, of grey sandstone, or compact limestone, the prevailing rocks of this region. The hills are usually covered on all sides with a soil, which though not deep, is rich.

Approaching towards Cincinnati, the scenery becomes still more monotonous. The hills recede from the river and are less elevated. The bottom lands begin to spread out from the margin of the water. Heavy forests cover the banks, and limit the prospect. But the woodland is arrayed in a splendor of beauty, which renders it the chief object of attraction. Nothing can be more beautiful, than the first appearance of the vegetation in the spring, when, the woods are seen rapidly discarding the dark and dusky habiliments of winter, and assuming their vernal robes. . The gum tree is clad in the richest green; the dogwood and red-bud are laden with flowers of the purest white and deepest scarlet; the buckeye bends under the weight of its exuberant blossoms. The oak, the elm, the walnut, the sycamore, the beech, the hickory, and the maple, which here tower to a great height, have yielded to the sunbeams, and display their bursting buds, and expanding flowers. The tulip tree waves its long branches, and its yellow flowers high in the air. The wild rose, the sweet-briar, and the vine, are shooting into verdure; and clinging to their sturdy neighbors, modestly prefer their claims to admiration, while they afford delightful promise of fruit and fragrance.

The scenery still exhibits the same appearance, as we continue to descend the river, except that the hills gradually become less bold and rocky. The shores of the

Ohio do not any where present that savage grandeur, which often characterises our larger streams. No tall cliffs, no bare peaks, nor sterile mountains, impress a sentiment of dreariness on the mind. The hills are high, but gracefully curved, and every where clothed with verdure. There is a loneliness arising from the absence of population, a wilderness in the variegated hues of the forest, and in the notes of the feathered tribes; but the traveler feels none of that depression which results from a consciousness of entire insulation from his species, none of that awe which is inspired by those terrific outlines that display the convulsions of nature or threaten the existence of the beholder. It is impossible to gaze on the fertile hills and rich bottoms that extend on either side, without fancying them peopled; and even where no signs of population appear, the imagination is continually reaching forward to the period when these luxuriant spots shall maintain their millions.

The absence of population alluded to, is to be considered in a comparative sense. With Ohio, Indiana and Illinois on the one hand, and Kentucky and Virginia on the other, there can be no dearth of inhabitants; but their dwellings are less frequently presented to the traveler's eye than might be supposed. We continually pass villages, great or small, and farm houses are scattered along the shore; but we often float for miles without discovering any indication of the residence of human beings. Many of the river bottoms are inundated annually, and land has not yet become so scarce or valuable as to induce the owners to reclaim these spots from the dominion of the water. Such places remain covered with gigantic timber, which conceals the habitations beyond them. The commanding eminences are seldom occupied, because the settlers are farmers, who consult convenience, rather than beauty, in the location of their dwellings, and who generally pitch their tents in the vicinity of a spring, upon the low grounds.

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