Page:A Topographical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana.djvu/33

This page has been validated.

27

the county of Gallia. Before these people left Galliopolis they made a considerable quantity of wine, mostly from the native grape. Some of the wine made here, when improved by age, is said to have been of an excellent quality.

From Galliopolis to the mouth of the Great Scioto are few settlements, excepting the new French settlement: on a tract of 20,000 acres given by Congress to the original French settlers at Galliopolis. This tract extends eight miles on the Ohio river, and is situated nearly opposite the Little Sandy river. Adjoining this land is a grant of 4000 acres, made to Man. Gervis,who has laid out a town upon it, to which he has given the name of Burrsburgh.

Above the mouth of the Great Scioto is the town of Portsmouth and below it the town of Alexandria, both of which are favourably situated for becoming places of much business. The Scioto is a large and beautiful river. When overflowed, the waters extend but a small distance from its natural banks. Both sides are bordered with rich bottoms and a great extent of excellent land for culture. It is navigable for keel boats to a great distance, and for small craft to a portage within four miles of Sundusky lake.

Having gone down the Ohio to the Scioto river, we will now return to Zanesville, on the Muskingum, and on the great road leading from Wheeling to Limestone, in Kentucky. Zanesville is situated on the east bank of the Muskingum, about eighty-five miles by water from