May 21, 1834
Nice morning; departure at seven o’clock. At seven thirty, 69°F [20.6°C]. Wind [from the] south. About nine thirty we reached Fire Prairie on the right bank, where only low woodlands grow now—the tall trees were cut down earlier. [At] about ten o’clock, [we saw] Fishing Creek flowing out from the forests to the right. We put ashore 300 to 400 paces farther ? [along] on the right and hunted a little. The forest was magnificent, [although] the trees [were] too high to shoot buckshot at [anything in] the tops. Old trunks [were] twined with Hedera quinquefolia, forming completely green columns. The ground [was] covered with plants and pawpaw bushes (Annona). Tanagra rubra were seen immediately, but they were too high in the treetops. After half an hour, we departed. Weather very hot. In the afternoon [we passed ongoing] forests [clad] in the magnificent green of May and excellently illuminated.
Toward three o’clock we had the Lexington ferry on the left [and], a little farther on the right bank, the steam mill. The sky clouded over; more wind rose, but not too much. In the evening we put in at the forest to the right, and [the crew] cooked. [There was a] magnificent forest full of Gleditsia triacanthos. Tall grass was standing on the nearby meadow, [where] a beautiful sky blue or light violet-blue iris [also] grew. There were not many birds here. However, the hour was already late.