Some parts of this neighbourhood were purchased twelve or fourteen years ago. Then proximity to Chillicothe was little regarded. The increased population and trade of the town has now made it the market of almost every disposable product. The lands near that place are consequently much increased in value, and town lots sell at high prices.
November 23. I again resumed my way for Limestone. By the road side are many conical mounds of earth, called Indian graves. About a mile east of Bainbridge is a large camp.[62] The ditch is in every part visible. One side is inclosed by a bend of Paint Creek, where the opposite bank forms high and strong ground. I conjectured that the fort contained nearly one hundred acres. It is not understood that the aborigines have constructed any such works since Europeans became acquainted with them. It is therefore a natural inference, that the country must have been antecedently inhabited by a more civilized and more powerful people.
From Bainbridge to Middletown the land is hilly; a small portion of it is cleared, and it is much less {102} fertile than the grounds by the river Scioto, and Paint Creek.
November 24. The ground west of Middletown is of clay, with a mixture of siliceous particles, and the oxide of iron. Wheat is the most prevalent crop. The health enjoyed on these high lands, is an ample compensation for the lack of a few bushels. Wheat sells at a dollar per bushel; Indian corn at thirty-three one-third cents; beef and pork at four cents a-pound; labourer’s wages, fifty cents; joiners, a dollar, with provisions.
25th. At ten miles from Limestone, the soil is good, but broken with irregularities of surface. There was a little frost in the morning, but the forenoon was warm. I observed several insects of the genus Vanessa, (painted butterflies,) flying about in full vigour. The autumn is said to be fine, almost beyond former example.
Near the river Ohio the soil is light, but much broken on the surface by funnel-shaped hollows, not unlike those where the sides of coal-pits have fallen in. These inverted cones are evidently excavated by the infiltration of water, and indicate that the strata abounds with large fissures or caverns.
In travelling over the last forty miles, limestone is the only stratified mineral that I have seen. It lies in a position nearly horizontal, and is literally conglomerated with organic remains. Amongst these, the most remarkable is a species of terebratula, which is very abundant, and varies from the size of a walnut to that of a pin’s head. In addition to the concentric striated character, so frequent amongst bivalve shells, it has large radiated grooves; the grooves on one valve opposite to ridges on the other. The superior margin is, of course, a zig-zag line, resembling the base of {103} polyhedral crystals, where the sides of one pyramid are set on the angles of another.
For some days past I have found the expense of travelling to be uniformly three shillings and elevenpence farthing per day.
Limestone, sometimes called Maysville,[63] is a considerable landing place on the Kentucky side of the river Ohio. The houses stand above the level of the highest floods. There is a rope-walk, a glass-house, several stores and taverns, and a bank, in the town.