sallow men arid pale ladies. To some of the
latter I was formally presented by a communicative
gentleman, who had previously introduced
himself as the editor of the Chillicothe
Argus: a journal of which I was ashamed to
own that I had never heard.

"Allow me, sir, to be the means of making
you known to Mrs. Pook, a leader of fashion at
Cincinnati. Gives soirées of a splendour which
whips anything the down-easters can manage,
and unites all the beauty, elegance, intellect,
and natural nobility, to be found in the Queen
of the West. Major Elijah Pook, not at present
on board, is an eminent citizen. Dry goods.
Supplies many village stores. Is part proprietor
of the Argus, and can give you most valuable
information about the country."

I found myself making my bow to a lady of drab
complexion and Parisian costume, who glared at
me through a pair of blue spectacles, while her
three daughters tittered a more cordial greeting
to the Englishman.

"Welcome to Columbia, sir; welcome west,"
said Mrs. Pook, in a deep voice. "I shall be
happy, sir, to see you at my receptions, if you
make any stay in Cincinnati."

I expressed my acknowledgments, but could
hardly help laughing, since it was the first time
that my ears had listened to that strange peculiarity
of New England pronunciation, confined
to some districts of the coast, which throws an
undue emphasis on humble pronouns and
adverbs, careless of sense. But Mrs. Pook,
although in her own judgment and that of
others a strong-minded personage, was really a
kind good woman. When she learned that I
was quite new to the country, had no friends or
relatives there, and was stranded, on an unknown
continent, an innate hospitality softened her
usually didactic tone, and she patronised me in a
gentle, motherly way.

I passed three or four very pleasant days in
Cincinnati, before any communication reached
me from my distant employers. The hotel to
which I had been recommended was a large and
splendid one, and its dining-hall and drawing-room
filled daily with a numerous company, while I
made many acquaintances in the city. On the
second evening, I was duly invited to one of
Mrs. Pook's receptions; was introduced to the
major; and had the honour of dancing a quadrille
with the youngest daughter, Miss Abigail, who
asked me for more information about the
aristocracy and court of Great Britain than I
could have imparted, had my sole reading
consisted of Burke's Peerage and the Gotha
Almanack.

On the fourth day of my stay, the major asked
me to dinner, and volunteered any assistance in
his power towards effecting whatever business
had brought me to the Queen City—with one
reservation.

"Onless," said the worthy man, "your errand
is dry goods. There, I can't help you. My
own line, you perceive. And I have dealt
consistently with Philadelphia jobbers these twelve
years, and find them far more easy to trade with
than your New York uppish merchants; begging
pardon, Mr. Hill, if you are in that groove."

I hastened to reassure the major. I knew
nothing of dry goods, and it so happened that
the padlock was taken off my lips. For, that
very afternoon, a heavy parcel of bank-notes,
accompanied by urgent instructions to lose no
time, had reached me from New York, and Mr.
Petter expressly advised that I should ask some
independent citizen to point out the best localities
for investing in raw pro-duce. Major Pook
proved valuable in this capacity. Both as a
wholesale linendraper and as part owner of a
country newspaper which had a wide circulation
among the farmers of Ohio and Indiana, he knew
a great deal about the rural population.

"Sir," said he, "I'll be happy to accompany
you, per boat, on Monday, down river a bit, and
introduce you to some of the mammoth
pig-dealers and most respectable farmers in the west
of our state. No trouble, I assure you. I want
to call at Madison, Tenedos, Amelia, and
elsewhere, about business of my own—a new
assortment from the old country, that makes Lowell
Mills sing small, I guess."

Thereupon the major proceeded to give me
some useful hints about the Western character.

"Our folks are main good grit," said he;
"but they stroke ugly when you rub agin the
grain. In a bargain with them, you needn't
double and twist as you must with the
down-easters, who think themselves robbed if their
tongues don't ache afore a trade's effected.
Strike quick and sharp, with no appearance of
hurry, look 'em bold in the face, and be downright.
Our folks hate tricks. Soft-sawdering Yankees
get a queer lesson, whiles and again, when they
come playing off their cunning dodges on our
rough hoosiers and corn-crackers, they do."

The major's introduction smoothed the way
for me immensely. Fine fellows, certainly,
were many of the Ohio and Indiana farmers to
whom he took me in the course of a couple of
days spent in short trips up and down the river;
but there was something rugged and stern in
their bearing, and I could easily guess that they
were quick to take umbrage. Their wives and
daughters, too, were strong in person and
decided of speech, quite unlike the languid ladies
of the towns. The whole population reminded
me much more of the first hardy settlers in New
England than the people of the Atlantic States
had done.

My task was comparatively of a simple
character. I had to buy, and with ready money.
My kind adviser gave me a verbal tariff of prices,
and before the thick pocket-book was emptied of
its notes, I was master of more grunting herds of
swine, of more casks of pickled pork, more barrels
of flour, apples, peaches, and Illinois pears, more
sacks of maize, wheat, and buck-wheat, than
seemed enough to feed the people of a starving
city. My next business was to arrange for sending
these up-stream. On this score I had my
instructions, duly forwarded by Petter, Latch, and
Jarman. I was to hire as many flats as might
be necessary, and a tug-boat to tow them against