There was perpetual novelty and
freshness in this mode of wayfaring. The scenery was most enchanting.
The river ran high, with a strong spring current, and the hills
frequently rose in most picturesque cliffs.
1818. I do not recollect the time consumed in this descent. We had gone
about three hundred miles, when we reached Pittsburgh. It was the 28th
of March when we landed at this place, which I remember because it was
my birthday. And I here bid adieu to the kind and excellent proprietor
of the ark, L. Pettiborne, Esq., who refused to receive any compensation
for my passage, saying, prettily, that he did not know how they could
have got along without me.
I stopped at one of the best hotels, kept by a Mrs. McCullough, and,
after visiting the manufactories and coal mines, hired a horse, and went
up the Monongahela Valley, to explore its geology as high as
Williamsport. The rich coal and iron beds of this part of the country
interested me greatly; I was impressed with their extent, and value, and
the importance which they must eventually give to Pittsburgh.
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