FLORIAN - The Most Traveled Man on Earth

Mr. and Mrs. Linton, with all the rest of their group, came by land from Baltimore to
Pittsburgh, almost the same road as the one from Philadelphia. <strong>The</strong>ir boat contains a
kitchen, two bedrooms, and another (room) for baggage (that is convenient as well as a
toilet). <strong>The</strong> chimneys are made of brick up to four feet in height and the rest of wood.
Our two boats are attached together, one against the other, so we can go from ours to
theirs without difficulty. We are letting ourselves descend with the current. <strong>The</strong> rudder
and the oars are used only from time to time to get us back in the middle of the river, or
to avoid islands and whirlpools. In this way we make about 3 or 4 miles per hour. A
boat like Mr. Linton’s costs 120 dollars.
It rained all day and the wind, which is contrary, is rising to the point that we shall go
ashore.
Wednesday morning, November 23 [1808]. We cast off during the night and continue
our trip. It is very cold. Water freezes on the oars and it is feared that the river will
freeze up or have ice floes. We are again going to tie up to the river bank for the night,
the wind being strong and always against us, and the weather too cold for our people to
stay on the bridge during the night.
Thursday, [November] the 24 th [1808]. En route again by day. Arrived about midday at
Wheeling, the first town of any importance since Pittsburgh. <strong>The</strong> distance by water 96
miles. Weather cold but fine. We will travel all night.
Friday, [November] 25 th [1808]. We didn’t stop at all, and about noon we arrived in front
of Marietta, 172 miles from Pittsburgh, which makes 76 miles of traveling in 24 hours.
<strong>The</strong>y untied the canoe (rowboat) to go buy milk and provisions from the small farms
scattered along the banks of the river. We bought 19 chickens for a half a piaster [and] a
deer killed during the night which weighs about 100 pounds, for two piasters. Cabbages
and onions are much more expensive in comparison. <strong>The</strong>se latter are sold for one piaster
a bushel (peck) [?]. Butter is scarce and (when one finds it) not less than 18 cents per
pound.
This evening, at nightfall, we are opposite Blannerhasset’s Island. This island, which at
most contains 3 to 400 acres, is in the middle of the Ohio River, about 200 miles from
Pittsburgh and consequently far from any company (because Wheeling and Marietta are
more truly market places, containing barely 150 homes each and inhabited by
storekeepers and little merchants). It is in the retreat that an Irishman with wife and
children are established. Being well off, each of them has many friends, [are] great
lovers of music, [have] a taste for all the arts, but are infatuated with romantic ideas. He
has spent 50 thousand piasters to embellish this island, which, after all, lacks views,
landscapes and everything that could make it an agreeable retreat. He educates his
children in the fashion of Jean Jacques [Rousseau] and they say that his oldest son is
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