ossess all the best English breeds, both here and across the river in
Kentucky. They stall-feed very fat, no doubt; but though generally very
good, I have never, in any part of the States, tasted beef equal to the
best in England. All the fat is on the outside; it is never marbled as
the best beef is with us. The price is very moderate, being about
fourpence a pound.

Monongahela whisky is a most important article of manufacture in the
neighbourhood, being produced annually to the value of 560,000l. There
are forty-four foundries, one-third of which are employed in the
stove-trade; as many as a thousand stoves have been made in one day. The
value of foundry products is estimated at 725,000l. annually.

If commerce be the true wealth and prosperity of a nation, there never
was a nation in the history of the world that possessed by nature the
advantages which this country enjoys. Take the map, and look at the
position of this city; nay, go two hundred miles higher up, to Marietta.
From that port, which is nearly two thousand miles from the ocean, the
"Muskingum," a barque of three hundred and fifty tons, went laden with
provisions, direct to Liverpool, in 1845, and various other vessels have
since that time been built at Cincinnati; one, a vessel of eight hundred
and fifty tons, called the "Minnesota:" in short, there is quite an
active business going on; shipbuilders from Maine coming here to carry
on their trade--wood, labour, and lodging being much cheaper than on
the Eastern coast.

It is now time to continue our journey, and as the water is high enough,
we will embark on the "Ohio," and steam away to Louisville. The place
you embark from is called the levee: and as all the large towns on the
river have a levee, I may as well explain the term at once. It is
nothing more nor less than the sloping off of the banks of a river, and
then paving them, by which operation two objects are gained:--first, the
banks are secured from the inroads of the stream; secondly, the boats
are thereby enabled at all times to land passengers and cargo with
perfect facility. These levees extend the whole length of the town, and
are lined with steamers of all kinds and classes, but all built on a
similar plan; and the number of them gives sure indication of the
commercial activity of Cincinnati. When a steamer is about to start,
book-pedlers crowd on board with baskets full of their--generally
speaking--trashy ware. Sometimes these pedlers