After passing below the Wabash, the Ohio assumed a truly majestic flow.
Its ample volume, great expanse, and noble shores, could not fail to be
admired. As we neared the picturesque Cavein-Rock shore, I took the
small boat, and, with some others, landed to view this traveler's
wonder. It recalled to me the dark robber era of the Ohio River, and the
tales of blood and strife which I had read of.
The cave itself is a striking object for its large and yawning mouth,
but, to the geologist, presents nothing novel. Its ample area appears to
have been frequently encamped in by the buccaneers of the Mississippi.
We were told of narrow and secret passages leading above into the rock,
but did not find anything of much interest. The mouth of the cave was
formerly concealed by trees, which favored the boat robbers; but these
had been mostly felled. As the scene of a tale of imaginative
robber-life, it appeared to me to possess great attractions.
Our conductor steered for Smithfield, I think it was called, at the
mouth of the Cumberland River, Tennessee, which was thought a favorable
place for transferring the cargo from an ark to a keel-boat, to prepare
it for the ascent of the Mississippi River; for we were now drawing
closely towards the mouth of the Ohio.
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