23d.—Decamped about five in the morning, and arrived at Big Guyondott, twenty miles from our last encampment: the country as of yesterday; from hence we proceeded down to Sandy River being twenty miles further; thence to the mouth of Scioto, about forty miles from the last mentioned river. The general course of the river from Great Conhawa to this place inclines to the south-west. The soil rich, the country level, and the banks of the river high. The soil on the banks of Scioto, for a vast distance up the country, is prodigious rich, the bottoms very wide, and in the spring of the year, many of them are flooded, so that the river appears to be two or three miles wide. Bears, deer, turkeys, and most sorts of wild game, are very plenty on the banks of this river. On the Ohio, just below the mouth of Scioto, on a high bank, near forty feet, formerly stood the Shawnesse town, called the Lower Town, which was all carried away, except three or four houses, by a great flood in the Scioto. I was in the town at the time, though the banks of the Ohio were so high, the water was nine feet on the top, which obliged the whole town to take to their canoes, and move with their effects to the hills. The Shawnesse afterwards built their town on the opposite side of the river, which, during the French war, they abandoned, for fear of the Virginians, and removed to the plains on Scioto. The Ohio is about one hundred yards wider here than at Fort Pitt, which is but a small augumentation, considering the great number of rivers and creeks, that fall into it during the course of four hundred and twenty miles; and as it deepens but very little, I imagine the water sinks, though there is no visible appearance of it. In general all the lands on the Scioto River, as well as the bottoms on Ohio, are too rich for any thing but hemp, flax, or Indian corn.[102]
24th, 25th, and 26th.—Stayed at the mouth of Scioto, waiting for the Shawnesse and French traders, who arrived here on the evening of the 26th, in consequence of the message I sent them from Hochocken, or Bottle Creek.[103]
27th.—The Indians requested me to stay this day, which I could not refuse.
28th.—We set off: passing down the Ohio, the country on both sides the river level; the banks continue high. This day we came sixty miles; passed no islands. The river being wider and deeper, we drove all night.
29th.—We came to the little Miame River, having proceeded sixty miles last night.
30th.—We passed the Great Miame River, about thirty miles from the little river of that name, and in the evening arrived at the place where the Elephants’ bones are found, where we encamped, intending to take a view of the place next morning. This day we came about seventy miles. The country on both sides level, and rich bottoms well watered.
31st.—Early in the morning we went to the great Lick, where those bones are only found, about four miles from the river, on the south-east side. In our way we passed through a fine timbered clear wood; we came into a large road which the Buffaloes have beaten, spacious enough for two waggons to go abreast, and leading straight into the Lick. It appears that there are vast quantities of these bones lying five or six feet under ground, which we discovered in the bank, at the edge of the Lick. We found here two tusks above six feet long; we carried one, with some other bones, to our boats, and set off.[104] This day we proceeded down the river about eighty miles, through a country much the same as already described, since we passed the Scioto. In this day’s journey we passed the mouth of the River Kentucky, or Holsten’s River.[105]
June 1st.—We arrived within a mile of the Falls of Ohio, where we encamped, after coming about fifty miles this day.