they do not contain altogether one hundred inhabitants. It is, however, pleasantly situated at the foot of the Indian chute, and immediately opposite Shippingport. It is said to be very unhealthy, which is more than probable from the number of marshes that are in the vicinity.

JEFFERSONVILLE.

Jeffersonville is seated on a high bank of the Ohio, nearly opposite Louisville, from which it affords a charming prospect, and immediately above the Falls. The town was laid out in 1802, and has increased considerably since that period, but it does not seem to progress, in the same ratio at present. It contains a market house, (which is never attended, the inhabitants procuring their beef, &c. from Louisville,) a land office, court house, and a private bank, named the "Exchange Bank of Indiana," J. Bigelow, president. About a mile from the town are several valuable springs, mineralized by sulphur and iron, where a large and commodious building has lately been erected, by the proprietor, for the reception of

those who seek relief either from physical indisposition, their own thoughts, or the disagreeable atmosphere of cities, during the summer season; in a word, he is preparing it for a fashionable watering place, to which there is nothing objectionable but its proximity to Louisville; its being so near, requires neither equipage nor the expenses of a journey to arrive there, things absolutely required to render every place of the kind perfectly a la mode. It is, however, one of the most powerful natural chalybeate waters I have ever seen or tasted, and will, no doubt, prove very serviceable in many complaints, particularly in that debility attended with profusely cold sweats, which are constantly experienced by the convalescent victim of a bilious fever, so common to the inhabitants of this neighbourhood. Jeffersonville contains about 500 souls, and should a canal be cut there, in despite of the many natural obstacles that are opposed to it, its population must inevitably have a rapid increase.

CANAL.*

CHAP. VII.

WHEN we consider the rapidly increasing population, the rising importance, and the vast extent of fertile country above the Falls, a country containing from ninety to a hundred thousand square miles, the united lengths of whose navigable water courses may be estimated at five thousand miles, all of which lead to this dangerous pass; when we consider that this pass is the only one through which the inhabitants of that country can seek a market for their produce, and that the loss experienced by them in attempting to descend it, has been avcraged at 20,000 dollars per annum! When, in addition to these circumstance, we consider the many public advantages and private gain to be derived from cutting a canal, we are astonished that it is not already completed.

* To acknowledge my obligations to the notes and surveys of Mr. Brooks, in this articles is, perhaps, superfluous, as it must appear, prima facie, that I have in several instances made free, not only with his ideas but with his language also.

That such a work is of great national importance, no one will pretend to deny, who, for a moment reflects upon the connexion and relative situation of the high and low countries, west of the Allegheny, with each other, and with those of the northern and eastern states.

Owing to a great variety of moral as well as physical causes, New Orleans and her surrounding territory always will be weak, and incapable, by themselves, of expelling an invader; their security, in time of war, will greatly depend upon the strong arm of the upper country, whose people are, and ever must be, agriculturalists, and who consequently never will permit a foreign power to conquer or hold possession of a spot, that would enable it to command the passage to their great natural outlet, the Gulf of Mexico, whose undisturbed possession is of the utmost importance to their prosperity, and to secure which the latter must place the trident of the Union in the hands of their eastern brethren and maintain it there! Thus mutual dependence will secure a bond of union between them all.

Celerity in military affairs is universally ac

knowledged to be a great and important point, and the delay of a single day, sometimes of but a few hours, is often productive of the most disastrous consequences. The difficulty and danger, and, during a considerable portion of the year, the absolute impracticability of conveying over the rapids, troops from above, might, in case of war, occasion a loss of time fatal to the successful operations of a whole campaign, and be the means of delivering to the sword of the enemy, one of our most valuable possessions, an event which could never happen, were the obstacles which might retard the arrival of forces sent to its relief, removed by a canal.

Another great advantage arising to the public from such an undertaking, would be the convenient and spacious site it would afford for a great military depot, a foundry and armoury.

From hence, arms, provisions, and all other necessary and indispensable munitions of war, can be conveyed with ease, safety, and despatch, by means of steam boats, to almost any given point; and it certainly is a desideratum for those who, by their situation are destined to become the repellers of foreign aggressions, to