and rattle; and on the Ohio banks, the earth and trees rolled down in immense masses into the bed of the river. On the Mississipi too, the convulsive motion of the water was truly awful, running and rising mountains high, and in one part of that river a stream of fire rushed from and divided the water, while the solid land on the high mountainous banks was seen in an undulating agitation, like the waves of the sea. New Madrid sunk down several feet, without the earth opening her mouth to swallow. The land, however, in many parts round this town, is covered with water. It is frequently visited with a shock."
18th.—At nine this morning I left sweet Chilicothé and the squire, who called to take his leave of me, and who seemed to part from me with regret, and I with him, on account of his intelligent and communicative spirit.
A genteel young man was boarding here and had a room to himself. "Who is it?" "Why, it is Judge Grimpe."[52] A gentlemanly man, seeming, a recluse, of unsociable and steady studious habits, with a salary of 1,000 dollars a year, which surely cannot compensate such a man for such services.
The road from Wheeling in Virginia, through this town, to Louisville, Kentucky, 360 miles, was cut entirely by the father of the present Squire Zain, a rich citizen, to whom I was introduced, and who for such signal services had the power {183} of choosing the best land all along this road. Hence he became very rich. Mr. Zain is
