e earliest travelers note their presence in great flocks, and
to-day there are few vistas open to us, without from one to dozens of
them wheeling about in mid-air, seeking what they may devour. Public
opinion in the valley is opposed to the wanton killing of these
scavengers, so useful in a climate as warm as this.

Three miles below Letart's Rapids, is the motley settlement of
Antiquity, O., a long row of cabins and cottages nestled at the base
of a high, vine-clad palisade, similar to that which yesterday we
visited at Long Bottom. Some of these cliff-dwellings are picturesque,
some exhibit the prosperity of their owners, but many are squalid. At
the water's edge is that which has given its name to the locality, an
ancient rock, which once bore some curious Indian carving. Hall (1820)
found only one figure remaining, "a man in a sitting posture, making
a pipe;" to-day, even thus much has been largely obliterated by the
elements. But Antiquity itself is not quite dead. There is a ship-yard
here; and a sawmill in active operation, besides the ruins of two
others.

We also passed Racine (240 miles), another Ohio town--a considerable
place, no doubt, although only the tops of the buildings were,
from the river level, to be seen above the high bank; these, and an
enticing view up the wharf-street. Of more immediate interest,
just then, were the heavens, now black and threatening. Putting in
hurriedly to the West Virginia shore, we pitched tent on a shelving
clay beach, shielded by the ever-present willows, and in five minutes
had everything under shelter. With a rumble and bang, and a great
flurry of wind, the thunder-storm broke upon us in full fury. There
had been no time to run a ditch around the tent, so we spread our
cargo atop of the cots. The Boy engineered riverward the streams
of water which flowed in beneath the canvas; W----, ever practical,
caught rain from the dripping fly, and did the family washing, while
the Doctor and I prepared a rather pasty lunch.

An hour later, we bailed out Pilgrim, and once more ventured upon our
way. It is a busy district between Racine and Sheffield (251 miles).
For eleven miles, upon the Ohio bank, there are few breaks between the
towns,--Racine, Syracuse, Minersville, Pomeroy, Coalport, Middleport,
and Sheffield. Coal mines and salt works abound, with other industries
interspersed; and the neighborhood appears highly prosperous. Its
metropolis is Pomeroy, in shape a "shoe-str