sion merchant in Pittsburg-and this broke the poor man up, and he died broken-hearted and unhappy.

A French gentleman, Louis Anastasius Tarascon, emigrated in 1794 from France, and established himself in Philadelphia as a merchant. He was a large importer of silks, and all kinds of French and German goods. Being very wealthy and enterprising, in 1799 he sent two of his clerks, Clarles Brugiere and James Berthoud, to examine the course of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, from Pittsburg to New Orleans, and ascertain the practicability of sending ships and clearing them from this port, ready rigged, to the West Indies and Europe. Those two gentlemen returned to Philadelphia, reported favorably, and Mr. Tarascon associated them and his brother, John Anthony, with himself, under the firm of “John A. Tarascon, brothers, James Berthoud, & Co.," and immediately established a large wholesale and retail store and warehouse, a shipyard, a rigging and sail loft, an anchor smith shop, a block manufactory, and in short everything necessary to complete vessels for sea. The first year, 1801, they built the schooner Amity, of one hundred and twenty tons, and the ship Pittsburg, of two hundred and fifty tons-and sent the former, loaded with flour, to St. Thomas, and the other, also with flour, to Philadel phia-from whence they sent them to Bordeaux, and brought back a cargo of wine, brandy, and other French goods, part of which they sent here in wagons at a carriage of from six to eight cents per pound. In 1802 they built the brig Nanino, of two hundred and fifty tons; in 1803 the ship Louisiana, of three hundred tons; and in 1804, the ship Western Trader, of four hundred tons.

A curious incident connected with this subject was mentioned by Mr. Clay on the floor of Congress. "To illustrate the commercial habits and enterprise of the American people, (he said) he would relate an anecdote of a vessel built and cleared out at Pittsburg for Leghorn. When she arrived at her place of destination, the master presented his papers to the custom-house officer-who could not credit him, and said to him, Sir, your papers are forged; there is no such port as Pittsburg in the world: your vessel must be confiscated.' The trembling Captain laid before the officer the map of the United States, directed him to the Gulf of Mexico, pointed out the mouth of the Mississippi, led him a thousand miles up it to the mouth of the Ohio, and thence another thousand up it to Pittsburg: There, sir, is the port from whence my vessel cleared out.' The astonished officer,

before he had seen the map, would as readily have believed this vessei had been navigated from the moon."

In or about the year 1796, three of the royal princes of Orleans came to Pittsburg, and stopped at a hotel situated on the bank of the Monongahela, where Jno. D. Davis's warehouse now stands. They were very affable and conversant, and remained for some time in the city at length they procured a large skiff, part of which was covered with tow linen, laid in a supply of provisions, and (having procured two men to row the skiff) proceeded on to New Orleans. One of these princes was Louis Phillippe, the late king of France-who, in his exile, visited our city, and spent his time very agreeably with Gen. Neville, Gen. James O'Hara, and several other respectable families who then lived on the bank of the Monongahela river. Louis Phillippe and his companions had previously descended the Susquehanna, to Harrisburg, where they embarked up the Juniata, and over the mountains to Pittsburg.

We remember well during the Embargo times and last war, when the internal trade and commerce of Pittsburg, by the Ohio, Western, and Southern rivers, brought us comparatively nigh to Wheeling, Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, St. Louis, Natchez, and New Orleans; but the slow process of keel-boats and barges was such that it consumed almost a whole summer for a trip down and up-when all was done by the hardy boatmen, with the pole or by warping; and when a barge arrived, with furs from St. Louis, cotton from Natchez, hemp, tobacco, and saltpetre from Maysville, or sugar and cotton from New Orleans and Natchez, it was a wonder to the many, and drew vast crowds to see and rejoice over it. And then the internal commerce during the war allied us closely with Richmond, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York-these cities getting much of their sugar, saltpetre, &c., by boats and wagons, through Pittsburg-which then did an immense carrying trade for the United States.

The first steamboat on the western waters was built in Pittsburg, in 1811, and was called the New Orleans. There were but six or seven built previously to 1817. From that period the number has rapidly been increasing, as well as improving in character, model, and workmanship. As late as 1816, the practicability of navigating the Ohio with steamboats was esteemed doubtful-none but the most sanguine regarded it favorably. In 1817, however, Capt. Shreve, an enterprising man, made a trip from New Orleans to Louisville in

twenty-five days. The event was celebrated by rejoicing, and by a public dinner to the daring individual who had achieved the miracle. Previous to that period, the ordinary passages by barges, propelled by oars and sails, was three months. A revolution in western commerce was at once effected. Every article of merchandise began to ascend the Mississippi, until we have seen a package delivered at the wharf at Cincinnati, from Philadelphia, via New Orleans, at one cent per pound. From the period of Capt. Shreve's celebrated Voyage till 1827, the time necessary for the trip has been gradually diminishing. During that year the Tecumseh entered the port of Louisville from New Orleans in eight days and two hours from port to port!

* *

We cannot better illustrate the magnitude of the change in everything connected with western commerce and navigation, than by contrasting the foregoing statement with the situation of things at the time of the adoption of steam transportation, say in 1817. About twenty barges, averaging one hundred tons each, comprised the whole of the commercial facilities for transporting merchandise from New Orleans to the "upper country." Each of these performed one trip down and up again to Louisville and Cincinnati, within the year. The number of keel-boats employed on the upper Ohio cannot be ascertained, but it is presumed that one hundred and fifty is a sufficiently large calculation to embrace the whole number. These averaged thirty tons each, and employed one month to make the voyage from Louisville to Pittsburg; while the more noble and dignified barge of the Mississippi made her trip in the space of one hundred days, if no extraordinary accident happened to check her progress. Not a dollar was expended for wood in a space of two thousand miles, and the squatter on the banks of the Ohio thought himself lucky if the reckless boatman would give the smallest trifle for the eggs and chickens which formed almost the only saleable articles on a soil whose only fault was its too great fertility. Such was the case only a few years ago-what is it now? What is it not? Of the 16,674 miles of steamboat navigation of the Mississippi and its branches, there was employed in 1851 an estimated aggregate steamboat capacity of 300,000 tons; 4,500 boats not propelled by steam, of 75 tons average each; making 337,500 tons; which, with the numerous descending flat-boats, making two or three trips per year, with an estimated tonnage of 700,000, gives the extraordinary total of 1,337,500 tons! The value of the merchandize thus annually transported, exceeds $100,000,000!

And this is but a commencement-a mere foretaste of what is to be done in the future; for we have just shown that only a few years since the first steamboat was built, and the trade of the rivers was then comparatively insignificant.

If Pittsburg enjoyed a clear pure atmosphere-that is, if the disa greeable consequences flowing from the use of its coal could be conveniently obviated, it would attract to a greater extent than it now does men of fortune and enterprise within its bounds. As it is, it will still increase and prosper; but we doubt if it will ever prove an interesting place for those who have it, to enjoy their wealth in its midst. Various attempts have been made to kill the effect of the smoke and soot, but they have thus far proved ineffectual. We repeat, this is an insufferable evil, which a stranger, accustomed to a clear atmosphere, cannot overcome.

Let us, in conclusion, accompany our kind reader to the river, where the tall and stately floating palaces are arranged along the shore. Here are generally lying to, from twenty to forty large and elegant steamboats, and the greatest rivalry exists amongst them for the conveyance of passengers, which even seizes the negro cooks and waiters, and firemen. Here is a specimen of their advertisements, set off in rhyme in good Ethiopian spirit:

PEDESTRIAN SKETCHES.

PART IV.

Sunbury to Lake Erie.

SUNBURY to Lake Erie, and on foot! This is a tremendous enter prize, requiring not only provisions, but courage, a rifle, and ammunition. Let us then, in imagination, arm and equip ourself-who's "afeerd?" The route, or a large portion of it, it is true, is comparatively an untamed wilderness-but what of that? This whole region —this vast, exhaustible region of coal and trade, of railway and canal, of population, wealth and enterprise-this broad expanse of mountain and valley, scarcely twenty-five years ago, was merely a magnificent wilderness! From the Susquehanna to the Lehigh, the deer roamed in undisturbed solitude-the valleys echoed the howls of the wolf, and the leaves of the forest sighed at the passing breeze, or trembled only beneath the tread of the stealthy fox. Where now is your wilderness? Is it on the shores of the Susquehanna?—is it on the banks of the Lehigh, the Lackawanna, or the Schuylkill? The boatman's horn proclaims the cheerful denial-its echoing strains fall upon the ear, at every turn, like the spirit-stirring clarion arousing its Highland warrior clans. Is it in the valleys, or on the mountain tops??—or in the tree-clad plains? No! The wilderness could not long stand against iron and steam-a few years of war has changed the whole aspect of the country. The woodman's axe still echoes its sturdy strokes, and gleams in triumph over the retreating forests; while the moccasin paths of the Indians, from the Delaware to the Ohio, are the iron-bound highways of the steam-horse.

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