There is extreme beauty in the Ohio river. As may be supposed, where
the rise and fall are so great the banks are very steep; and, now that
the water is low, it appears deeply embedded in the wild forest scenery
through which it flows. The whole stream is alive with small
fresh-water turtle, who play on the surface of its clear water; while
the more beautiful varieties of the butterfly tribe cross over from one
side to the other, from the slave States to the free--their liberty, at
all events, not being interfered with as, on the free side, it would be
thought absurd to catch what would not produce a cent; while, on the
slaves', their idleness and their indifference to them are their
security.

Set off, one of nine, in a stage-coach, for the Blue Sulphur springs.
The country, which is very picturesque, has been already described. It
is one continuation of rising ground, through mountains covered with
trees and verdure. Nature is excessively fond of drapery in America. I
have never yet fallen in with a naked rock. She clothes every thing;
and although you may occasionally meet with a slight nudity, it is no
more than the exposure of the neck or the bare feet of the
mountain-nymph. This ridge of the Alleghanies is very steep; but you
have no distinct view as you climb up, not even at the Hawk's Nest,
where you merely peep down into the ravine below. You are jammed up in
the forests through which you pass nearly the whole of the way; and it
was delightful to arrive at any level, and fall in with the houses and
well-tilled fields of the Virginian farmers, exhibiting every proof of
prosperity and ease. The heat was dreadful; two horses fell dead, and I
thought that many others would have died, for two of the wheels were
defective, and the labour of the poor animals, in dragging us constantly
up hill, was most severe.

The indifference of the proprietors of public conveyances in America as
to the safety of their passengers, can only be accounted for by the
extreme indifference of the passengers themselves, and the independent
feeling shewn by every class, who, whatever may be their profession,
will never acknowledge themselves to be what we term the servants of the
public. Here was an instance. The coach we were put into was defective
in two of its wheels, and could only be repaired at Louisburg, about a
hundred miles distant. Instead of sending it on to that town empty, as
would have been done by our coach pro