Virginia side, not far below Milwood. From the head, where our tent
is pitched on a sandy knoll thick-grown to willows, a long gravel
spit runs far over toward the Ohio shore. The West Virginia channel is
narrow, slow and shallow; that between us and Ohio has been lessened
by the island to half its usual width, and the current sweeps by at
a six-mile gait, in which the Doctor and I found it difficult to keep
our footing while having our customary evening dip. Our island is two
long, forested humps of sand, connected by a stretch of gravel beach,
giving every evidence of being submerged in times of flood; everywhere
are chaotic heaps of driftwood, many cords in extent; derelict trees
are lodged in the tops of the highest willows and maples--ghostly
giants sprawling in the moonlight; there is an abandon of vegetable
debris, layer after layer laid down in sandy coverlids. Wild grasses,
which flourish on all these flooded lands, here attain enormous size.
Dispensing with our cots for the nonce, we have spread our blankets
over heaps of dried grass pulled from the monster tufts of last year's
growth. The Ohio is capable of raising giant floods; it is still
falling with us, but there are signs at hand, beyond the slight
sprinkle which cooled the air for us at bedtime, of rainy weather
after the long drouth. When the feeders in the Alleghanies begin to
swell, we shall perch high o' nights.

* * * * *

Near Cheshire, O., Wednesday, May 16th.--The fine current at the
island gave us a noble start this morning. The river soon widens, but
Letart's Falls, a mile or two below, continue the movement, and we
went fairly spinning on our way. These so-called falls, rapids
rather, long possessed the imagination of early travelers. Some of
the chroniclers have, while describing them, indulged in flights of
fancy.[A] They are of slight consequence, however, even at this
low stage of water, save to the careless canoeist who has had no
experience in rapid water, well-strewn with sunken boulders. The
scenery of the locality is wild, and somewhat impressive. The Ohio
bank is steep and rugged, abounding in narrow little terraces of red
clay, deeply gullied, and dotted with rough, mean shanties. It all had
a forbidding aspect, when viewed in the blinding sun; but before we
had passed, an intervening cloud cast a deep shadow over the scene,
and, softening the effect, made the picture more pleasing.

Croghan was at Letart (1