re
finds himself of some importance in the scale of society, and endeavours
to show that he is fully qualified to be seated at the same table, _en
passant_, with the most wealthy citizen. No doubt the higher classes have
some of that high polish rubbed off by these occasional contacts with
their less-civilized fellow citizens; but the humbler classes decidedly
gain what _they_ lose. All dress well, and are _American_ gentlemen.

The Ohio is formed by the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers
at Pittsburg, that town being seated in the fork--its breadth there, is
between eight and nine hundred yards. From the mouths of those two rivers
it narrows and deepens for some distance; but afterwards, from the
accession of the many tributary streams by which it is supplied, gradually
becomes wider and deeper, until it empties itself into the Mississippi.
The length of the Ohio, following its meanders, is about 950 miles, and it
may be said to be navigable almost the entire year, as the water must be
unusually low when the smaller steam-boats cannot ply to Pittsburg. The
character of this river is somewhat peculiar. But for the improvements on
the banks, when you have seen six or eight miles of this stream, you are
acquainted with the remainder as far as the Falls--that is to say, any
variety that may be in the scenery will occur in any given six miles from
Pittsburg to that point. Below Louisville there are one or two rocky
bluffs, and the face of the country is somewhat different. The channel of
the Upper Ohio lies between hills, which frequently approach the
_mamelle_ form, and are covered with a heavy growth of timber. Where the
hills or bluffs do not rise immediately from the river, but recede some
distance, the space between the river and the hill is called bottom land,
from the circumstance of its being overflown annually; or having at some
former period formed part of the river's bed, which is indicated by the
nature of the soil. The bluffs and bottoms invariably alternate; and when
you have bluffs on one side, you are sure to have bottom on the other. The
windings are extremely uniform, with few exceptions, curving in a
serpentine form in so regular a manner, that the Indians always calculated
the distance by the number of bends.

"The Falls" are improperly so termed, as this obstruction is nothing more
than a gradual descent for a distance of about a mile and a half, where
the water, forcing its way over a rug