The writings of George Washington; being his correspondence, addresses, messages, and other papers, official and private, selected and published from the original manuscripts; with a life of the author, notes and illustrations. By Jared Sparks.

APPENDIX.] TOUR TO THE OHIO. 531
least, are composed of Shawanees, Delawares, and some of the Mingoes, who, getting but little part of the consideration that was given
for the lands eastward of the Ohio, view the settlements of the people
upon this river with an uneasy and jealous eye, and do not scruple
to say, that they must be compensated for their right if the people
settle thereon, notwithstanding the cession of the Six Nations. On
the other hand, the people of Virginia and elsewhere are exploring
and marking all,, the lands that are valuable, not only on the Redstone and other waters of the Monongahela, but along the Ohio as
low as the Little Kenhawa; and by next summer I suppose they will
get to the Great Kenhawa at least. How difficult it may be to contend with these people afterwards is easy to be judged, from every
day's experience of lands actually settled, supposing these settlements
to be made; than which nothing is more probable, if the Indians permit them, from the disposition of the people at present. A few settlements in the midst of some of the large bottoms would render it
impracticable to get any large quantity of land together; as the hills
all the way down the river, as low as I went, come pretty close, are
steep and broken, and incapable of settlements (though some of them
are rich), and only fit to support the bottoms with timber and woods
The land back of the bottoms, as far as I have been abler to judge,
either from my own observations or from information, is nearly the
same, that is, exceedingly uneven and hilly; and I presume there are
no bodies of flat, rich land to be found, till one gets far enough from
the river to head the little runs and drains, that come through the
hills, and to the sources of the creeks and their branches. This, it
seems, is the case with the lands upon the Monongahela and Youghiogany, and I fancy holds good upon this river, till you get into the
flat lands below the falls. The bottom land differs a good deal in
quality. That highest up the river in general is richest; though the
bottoms are neither so wide nor so long, as those below. Walnut,
cherry, and some other kinds of wood neither tall nor large, but covered with grape vines, with the fruit of which this country at this instant abounds, are the growth of the richest bottoms; but on the other
hand, these bottoms appear to me to be the lowest and most subject'
to floods. The sugar-tree and ash, mixed with walnut, compose the
growth of the next richest low grounds; beech, poplar, and oaks the
last. The soil of this is also good, but inferior to either of the other
kinds; and beech bottoms are objectionable on account of the difficulty of clearing them, as their roots spread over a large surface of
ground and are hard to kill.
18th. — Agreed with two Delaware Infdians to take up our canoe