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North - Carolina Chronicle ; or, FayettevilleGatette
Uo- C, cf Vol. II- .;
M O N D A Y, 0 C T O B E R i 8, 1790.
Total Nc- 58.-
77
CARVEIVs THAVJLLS.
: (CirMnird.)
riTT T?;,i!c nF Sr. Amhonv received
'Ui. it--- - . '
tlCr name from rather l,cues iien
, a Fr.-nch mitTlonnry, who travelled'
j it i': - - pts about the year i6so,ad
vi'tb-dift European cvsrY.eu by ih
,'.;.;v;s. rpiisa2in2: body ef waters
MH-Vare abote to hundred and fiity
vir.iscvcrfifoini amaft plea ng cat ar-
. ar.d the ra-il below, in rue fjvJce
cf -b ce hundred yards more, rendered
t'- c!erent:rarndciabW greater ; fothut
whm viewed at a Jillr.ncc they appear to
h much higher than they really src.
T c above-mentioned traveller has AA
ihsricWnat abaut fixtv feet; but he
.stride a jjrMter enor in cilcul.nmg
V- h-iht of the fills of Niagar r which
i.e Visits to be U.k ImndrrU feet ; whereas
frcm later obervaioris, accurately mad;-,
iJ; will kwwn that it does no: exceed
or? hundreJ and forry feet. But the
r- vl father I fear too often had r.o
o-ber iour.da-ion for his accounts than
repo.t, or, albeit, a flight mipeflien.
the middle of the falls (lands a fmall
:r,-j ,!!tr f.mv feet broad and fome-
i what longer, on which grow a lew crag-.
ircd her..lW:k and fpruce trees ; and
about halfway between ibis iiLmd and
IthVtla fiern laore.ii a rockj lying at ;he
vcry pj,r; of the f ill, in anj oblique pofi
tirin, that appeared to be about five or
f- :n: broiid, and thirty or forty long.
Thtfe fall VJlrY niach from ail thi
oihers I have fren, as you may approach
cV:'-r ihnnwitlicut finding th.c le: ft ob
t(!iv.5iion im ar.y. in'-erven'u hill or
p-e:! e. ; " j
The country arwir.J th-m i extreme
ly brn! iful. 'itiiiwt un:i.:erit:pred
ph'ri, v hee the eye iinds no relief, but
cimprvcd of iy ;;a!e a'fecnts, which
i . jn:n -er ere covered v.-'nh the lined ver
t'. rr, and ir.teifoerfed with liltie rvocst
;;U-- ; pie r.fin variety to the proi
j t' Cn whole, when the fills arc
i: .cl-jricd, vnch may bs.fccn rt the dif
tacc cficur miles, a m 2: 2 plcafmi; and
ptfNrfvfqiie view cannrt, I believe, be
ioud hi ou;hout' the m.iverfe. I co'nld '
liHve 'iihea that r had happendxo einjoy
tliii fniht at -a more feafonablc time of
the year, whilft the trcs and hilidcks
were chid in nature's gayeft livery, as
this nvift have greatly added to the plea
furc 1 received '7 hdwever, even then it
e:c-eJcd my armeil: expectations. I
have endeavoured to give the reader as
jud anidsacfthis enchanting foot as pof-llLle,-in
the plan annexed ; but alt def
criptlon, whetiier cf the pencil or the
pen, muic fall infiaitely Ihort of the ori
ginal. ? I ' '
At a little di (lance below the. falls
dan as -a fmall ifl irid, of about an acre
and an half, ca which grow a great num
ber of oak trees, every branch of which,
able to iuoport the wejght, was full cf
cag'e's ncfls. The reaibn that this kind
-f bii ds refort in fuch numbers to this
fpot, Sy that they are here fecure from
the attacks ehhcriof man or beaft, thefr
ret! cat beinpj guarded by the rapids,
whi.hthe Indians never attempt to. pals, -An
iher reafon is, that they find a con
flint fupply of f.iod for themfclves and
their ounr, from the animals and fifh"
which are d'aflicd to pieces by ths t:ul5,
and driven on the adjacent fhore.
- Having fatisfied my enriofity, as tar
as ih-e eye of man can be fatished, I pro-ceedd-on
Ri'l accompanied by my youlng
frier.d, till I had reach -d the. lliver St.
Francis, near fix ty miles above the falls.
To this :;7er father ilenrdpin gave the
r.ame of St. Francis, and tl is was the ex
lent of his travels, as well as mine, to
wards the North-Weft As the frafon
wai fr adranced, and the weather er
trcmxly cole!, I v.s net able to make fo
m.my oh!;i vafions on thefe parts -as I
olherwife f:ouid hare done.
It might however, perhaps, be neccf
f.iry to ebferre that in a 11: tie tour I
jr 'de about, tlfs falls, after travelling
fom-teen miles, by the fide o! 'thi MhTifiip
ji, I came to a river really twejy. yards
wiJe, which ran fiom he Niirth-Eafl,
called Hum Rive'. And--t on ths
2D'h of November csme to J a ether
termed Gocfe Ri-er, about twelve yards
Tidc. Cn 'he 2 1 il-1 ar-jved at the t.
Franc:, which is a''ut ihirty yards
vide. 'Hers the MiftiSppi xtfelf crews
narrowi. beinrr not mere than hn-2 vard
over ; and appears to b-2 chiefly cornpofed
; of .fmall branches! 1 'The ice prevented
me from noticing the depth' cf any of
: thefe three rivers. " s ., -
The cow n try hi fo me places is hilly,
but wiihout largel mountains, and
land is tolerably good. I obfervei here
many deer and carntbdes, fone.-clk, wiifi
abpndar.ee of beavers?, oitcr?, and other
fars. A Ibtle abof e tins, to! the. north-.
; cad, are a honibei f fmall lakes, called
thc Thoufand Lals, the parts about
which, though but Utile frequented, ar
the bed; within maliy miles for hunting,
as the huntdr nc?er fails of returning
; loaded beyond his expectations.
1'he ,M:!li;hppi Its, never .been explor
ed higher up than the River Si. Francis,
and only by father Hehnipin and myfelf
thus far. So that re are obliged fokly
to the Indians for all the intelligence
vrc are able, to give relative to th more
Northern parts. As this river U not na
vigable! from the fe'a for vefiVls of any
: conhdcrable burthen, much higher up
' than the Forks' of the Ohio, and even
that is 4fcmpli(he4tithgfeat dicjtfhy,'i
owing td tlie rapidly of the current, and
the winding of the rifer, thoeiettkments
that may be made on the interior bran
ches of it, mud hi indifputably fecure
frorrithe attacks of .any maritime power.
Hut at the fame time the fettlers will
have;- jhe.j adyantagc . pf being able
to conyey their produce to the; feaporu
with gjeatf facility; the,; current of the
river, from! its iburre to its entrance into
. the gulph jof Mexico, beingj exiemely
faTourable for doing-this in fmall crafti
This mif?ht alfo in jrhae lse fabilitated by
canals or flmrter etits, and a; corrinymt
caticn opened by W iter with New-York,
Fnrk of "the Ohio, 'are about nine lnm
dred mih s above thrJe. ! From rhf lat
ter it is about twrn'y miles to the IFinbis
River, at d from that to the Ouifconfm,
nhirh I have given an account of, about
eigh: hundred rrore.
On thff 2 5'h 1 returned to my can,
which I liad left ah the month of the
Rirer jSt.' -:Pi-rre. ; and here I partei
vwrh regret from my yung friend, the
prince of the Winntbagoes. Thi ! liver
being char cf ice byjreafbri ef its ibuth.