moderation at table by discussing gin sling, sherry cobbler,
&c.; but of course I know nothing of this, excepting from hearsay. The
utmost extent of Papa's excesses on the rare occasions when he went into
these bars, was to get a glass of Saratoga water; but he has failed to
give me any description of what he saw. The breakfasts are going on
usually from seven till nine. The general dinner-hour is one; but there
is sometimes a choice of two hours, one and three. Tea, consisting of
tea, coffee, and sweet cakes and preserves, takes place at six; and
there is a cold meat supper at nine. Meals are charged extra if taken in
private. It is a good plan in travelling never to reserve oneself at
the end of the day's journey for the hotel dinner, as there is a chance
of arriving after it is over, when the alternative is to go without; the
railway dinners are quite as good, find often better, than those at the
hotel. The use of the ladies' drawing-room is restricted to ladies and
gentlemen accompanying them; no single gentleman, is allowed to sit in
it unless invited by a lady; but there is a separate reading-room for
gentlemen, supplied with newspapers, and there is generally another room
reserved for smoking, but the accommodation in these rooms is, in
general, very inferior to those set apart for the ladies. In the hall of
the hotel there is frequently a counter for the sale of newspapers,
books, and periodicals, and all hotels have a barber's shop, which is a
marvellous part of the establishment. The fixed charge at the hotels is
generally from 8s. to 10s. per day for each person.

We have just settled to sail for England on the 1st December, so I shall
have only one more journal letter to write to you, and shall be myself
the bearer of it.

FOOTNOTE:

[13] The account referred to was written as far back as 1839, and is so
much more accurate a description of the Falls, and of the canal, than
that given in the Railway Guide, that I must here extract it.

"The falls of the Ohio are occasioned by an irregular ledge of rock
stretching across the river. They are only perceptible at low water, the
whole descent being but twenty-two feet, while the difference of level
between the highest and lowest stages of the water is about sixty feet.
When the river is full, they present, therefore, no serious obstruction
to the navigation. To obviate the inconvenience, however, at low water,
a canal, called the Louisville and Portland Canal,