d stones, of a greyish colour, which M. Michaux
observed, in an extent of ten or twelve miles, below Wheeling: the
remainder of the country seems wholly covered with vegetable earth. A
few miles before this gentleman reached Limestone, he observed a chalky
bank, the thickness of which, being very considerable, left no room to
doubt that it must be of great extent. The Ohio abounds in fish, some of
which are of great size and weight.

Till the years 1796 and 1797, the banks of the Ohio were so little
populated, that there were scarcely thirty families in the space of four
hundred miles; but, since that time, a great number of emigrants had
settled here, from the mountainous parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia;
consequently the plantations had, at this time, so much increased, that
they were not further than two or three miles asunder; and, when M.
Michaux was on the river, he always had some of them in view.

The inhabitants of the banks of the Ohio employ the greatest part of
their time in stag and bear-hunting, for the sake of the skins, which
are important articles of traffic. The dwellings of this people are, for
the most part, in pleasant situations; but they are only log-houses,
without windows, and so small that they hold no more than two beds each.
A couple of men, in less than ten days, could erect and finish one of
them. No attention is here paid to any other culture than that of Indian
corn.

The favourable situation of the Ohio entitles this river to be
considered as the centre of commercial activity, between the eastern and
western states; and it is the only open communication with the ocean,
for the exportation of provisions, from that part of the United States,
which is comprised between the Alleghany Mountains, the lakes, and the
left bank of the Mississippi.

All these advantages, blended with the salubrity of the climate and the
general beauty of the country, induced M. Michaux to imagine that, in
the course of twenty years, the banks of the Ohio, from Pittsburgh to
Louisville, would become the most populous and the most commercial part
of the United States. _Limestone_ consisted only of thirty or forty
houses, constructed with wood. This little town had been built upwards
of fifteen years. It was for some time the place where such emigrants
landed as came from the northern states, by way of Pittsburgh: it was
also the mart for merchandise, sent from Philadelphia and Baltimore to
Kentucky.

M. Mich