ally 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 b