South-west of Zanesville, instead of steep hills of yellow clay, the country assumes a more gently undulating surface; but it is sufficiently varied both for health and ornament, and has an absorbent, gravelly, or sandy soil, of moderate fertility.
Lancaster is on the edge of a marsh, or fen, which, at present, should seem to be a source of disease; though its bad effects, on the inhabitants of that town, are not by any means obvious.
The three towns, Zanesville, Lancaster, and Chillicothe, were founded by a sagacious man of the name of Zane, one of the earliest of the settlers. They are admirably placed, geographically, but with little regard to the health of their future inhabitants. The local advantages of Zanesville might have been equally secured, had the site of the town been on the higher, rather than the lower bank of the Muskingum: and the Sciota might have afforded equal facilities to the commerce of the inhabitants of Chillicothe, had they viewed it flowing beneath them, from those lovely eminences which adorn its opposite banks. Chillicothe is surrounded by the most charming elevations, but is itself in a bottom; and Lancaster is on the brink of an extensive marsh.
Seven miles north-west of Chillicothe the traveller enters on a tract of river bottom, the first rich land, for which this state, and indeed the whole western country, is so justly famous. It is agreeably varied in surface, occasionally rises into hills, and is never flat.
At Chillicothe there is an office for the several transactions regarding the disposal of the public lands of this district; and, on Mr. Birkbeck's arrival, he repaired to this office, for the purpose of inspecting a map of the district; and he found a great quantity of unentered lands, comprehending many entire townships, of eight miles square, lying about twenty miles south of Chillicothe; and, in several parts, abutting on the Sciota. Though it appeared certain that substantial objections had deterred purchasers from this extensive tract, in a country so much settled, yet Mr. Birkbeck, accompanied by his son, determined to visit it. They rode over twenty miles of fertile country, on the bank of the Sciota, and crossed that river to Pike Town; not far from which place was the land they were seeking.
Near Pike Town was a small cultivated prairie, the first Mr. Birkbeck had seen. It contained about two hundred acres of rich land, and was divided by a road, which ran through the middle; and nearly the whole of it was covered by fine Indian corn, neatly cultivated. The surrounding hills were crowned with woods. Nothing that Mr. Birkbeck had before seen in America at all resembled this delightful spot; but, from its low situation near the Sciota, it was unhealthy.
Pike Town was laid out, and received its name, about the year 1815. When Mr. Birkbeck was here, it contained a tavern, a store, and about twenty other dwellings.
The land of which Mr. Birkbeck came in quest was, as he supposed, of inferior quality. But though he found it unfit for his purpose, he had been repaid his trouble by the pleasure of his ride, through a fine portion of country. In leaving Chillicothe, to proceed towards Cincinnati, he and his party travelled through about seven miles of rich alluvial land, and over fertile uplands. But, as they proceeded, the country became level, with a cold heavy soil, better adapted to grass than tillage. Much of this tract remained in an unimproved state. They had passed some hills which were covered with the grandest white oak-timber imaginable. Within view from the road there were thousands of these magnificent trees, each of which measured fourteen or fifteen feet in circumference: their straight stems rising, without a branch, to the height of seventy or eighty feet, not tapering and slender, but surmounted by full, luxuriant heads.
For the space of a mile in breadth, a hurricane, which had traversed the entire western country in a north-east direction, about seven years before Mr. Birkbeck was here, had opened itself a passage through the forests, and had left a scene of extraordinary desolation. The trees lay tumbled over each other, like scattered stubble; some torn up by the roots, others broken off at different heights, or splintered only, and their tops bent over, and touching the ground. These hurricane tracts afford strong holes for game, and for all animals of savage kind.
As Mr. Birkbeck approached the Little Miami River, the country became more broken, much more fertile, and better settled than before. After crossing this rapid and clear stream, he had a pleasant ride to Lebanon, which is not a mountain of cedars, but a valley, so beautiful and fertile that, at its first opening on the view, it seemed rather a region of fancy than a real back-settlement scene.