After a pleasant passage of four or five days, the packet arrived at the river junction; and taking passage at once in a steamer which was waiting its arrival in the Ohio river, I was soon rapidly on my way to that fairy city of the west, Cincinnati.  This is the largest city in the state of Ohio, and is the capital of Hamilton county.  Fort Washington, a defence of some renown during the war, is two miles above, and opposite to the mouth of the Licking river.  The broad bosom of the Ohio was here covered with steam-boats, employed in the Virginia, Missouri, and New Orleans trade.  The wharves are commodious, and a broad inclined plane, from the city to the water’s edge, gives the former a fine appearance, as it rests majestically in the background.

As I was anxious to proceed to the State of Missouri, with as little delay as possible, I at once engaged a passage to St. Louis, and the following morning was steaming in the direction of the falls of St. Anthony.  The passengers in this boat employed themselves nearly the whole of the route at games of cards, faro being the favourite.  This predilection for gambling, which is generally carried to great extremes on board southern boats, was not, however, confined to the cabin, for I noticed the crew, at every spare interval, sitting about on deck, with packs of cards, completely absorbed in the game.  The negro hands were particularly addicted to this vice, and a gentleman who was proceeding in the boat informed me that but a trifle of the earnings of boat-hands in general was spared from their devotedness to this ruinous practice.  The effect of association with, and the example set by, white men given to gambling, will account, perhaps, for the habit.  This moral pestilence is in vain prohibited by the state, and is pursued by all classes in the south with frenzied avidity.

After twice running on shore, and meeting with sundry other stoppages and minor mishaps, through the mismanagement of the two engineers, we reached the city of St. Louis, to the gratification of myself and fellow-passengers.  This is a place of considerable extent, although awkwardly built, and for the most part irregularly laid out.  It is a considerable fur depot of the Hudson Bay Company; and there is a recruiting station, from whence start expeditions of trappers to the Rocky Mountains.  I saw a large party of these adventurers, who were about to start on an expedition to these remote confines.  It consisted entirely of young Frenchmen and Hollanders, who are preferred for the service by the company.  They were of slight make, and little calculated, from their appearance, to encounter the hardships of such a life; but I was told they soon become hardened, and return strong, athletic men.  The employment is, however, beset with danger, from the hostile dispositions of the various tribes of Indians in the western wilds, who view their intrusion with vindictive feelings, and seize every opportunity of attacking and annihilating