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Seated on the "gaunclears" with my companions a stiff breeze rendering the atmosphere of a delightful temperature & unoccupied but by the pleasures of the passing moment, no lack of amusement & instruction was to be found - as a succession of beautiful views was presented to us, the wild & uncleared hills, the towns just emerging into existence -- then a gradual transition to a more cultivated country where man & nature strive to vary the surface of the earth with every variety of foliage -- Occasionally a steamer passes & is hailed with a rude shout by the rough denizens of the "deck" which is returned with one equally uncouth from the rival boat. - A shout from a flat boat or raft is usually treated with dignified silence -- With the exception of an occasional canoe or dug-out crossing the river, the steamer, the raft & the flat boat are the only craft seen upon the Ohio's surface -- no sail is ever seen, the current being too strong & the course of the stream too tortuous for such mode of propulsion — The scenery of the Ohio is peculiarly beautiful, its upper portion passing the richly wooded mountain country the