OF  JOHN  SHERMAN.  43

All  went  smoothly,  the  boat  was  loaded  and  floated  as  far  as
Luke  Shute,  when  the  river  was  found  to  be  too  low  to  pro
ceed.  Consequently  the  boat  was  tied  up  and  placed  under  the
care  of  a  man  who  slept  aboard.  We  waited  for  the  river  to
rise,  but  it  did  not  come.  Both  the  Muskingum  and  Ohio
Rivers  were  very  low  that  season  and  finally  froze  up  before  the
freshet  came.  This  closing  of  navigation  created  a  great  de
mand  for  salt  in  Cincinnati,  as  that  article  could  not  be
obtained  from  the  up-river  country,  and  it  advanced  to  a  price
that  would  have  yielded  me  a  little  fortune  had  my  boat  not
been  among  those  thus  detained.  I  undertook  to  carry  some
of  the  salt  by  flatboats,  but  they  were  frozen  up.  The  pack
ing  season  in  Cincinnati  was  going  forward  and  salt  bore  a
high  price,  but  I  knew  it  would  fall  the  moment  the  river
opened.  It  was  apparent  that  I  would  lose  on  the  salt,  but  I
still  clung  to  my  purpose  to  go  down  the  river.  Finally  the
freshet  came,  some  time  in  January,  I  think,  and  then,  with
three  men  on  the  barge,  I  floated  down  the  river,  tying  up
at  nights  for  safety,  and  stopping  occasionally  to  sell  apples
to  the  Kentucky  farmers,  I  arrived  at  last  in  Cincinnati  and
soon  found  that  salt  had  greatly  fallen  in  value,  so  I  sold
the  salt,  boat  and  cargo  upon  the  best  terms  I  could  get.  The
result  was  a  loss  of  about  one  hundred  dollars.  However,  I
had  a  very  pleasant  visit  in  Cincinnati  with  my  brother
Lampson,  who  was  connected  with  the  "  Cincinnati  Gazette."
He  was  a  member  of  the  family  of  Mr.  Charles  Hammond,  his
daughter,  and  son-in-law  Mr.  L'Hommedieu.  Mr.  Hammond
had  been  a  warm  friend  of  my  father's  and  was  certainly  one
of  the  ablest  writers  of  his  day  and  generation,  as  well  as  an
accomplished  lawyer.  He  was  much  pleased  at  my  adventure
and  especially  with  my  rough  shoes  and  wTarm  Kentucky  jeans.
