June 23, 1834
When the sun had risen a little, we reached a town on the canal called Hebron that was founded in November 1825 it may amount to about 20 houses. It is located in Union Township on the major, so-called National Road from Zanesville to Columbus, which begins at Hagerstown [Maryland], comes from Cumberland on the Potomac, and [passes] through the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. There was much construction on the road, and many stones were brought in flat, large, square boats on the canal. About nine o’clock we passed the first three downward locks; the canal descends from Licking Summit to Lake Erie.
Here we noticed again the Unio species mentioned earlier. The region is beautiful: the canal, crossed by many bridges, cuts through alternating fields, woodlands, and meadows, but one can instantly perceive that the whole area was once covered with primeval forest. The forest in the area of the third lock has been cleared more. We reached the Licking River and, soon after, the significant and considerable marketplace (town) of Newark; the canal goes through the center. The [town] is located in Newark Township in Licking County and is the seat of the court. At the last count, it was supposed to have had almost 1,912 inhabitants, now significantly more, surely. and had 999 inhabitants in 1830; therefore, (it has) significantly more now. [It] has a large square and wide streets. We stayed here for just an hour and bought books about the area in a bookstore that was fairly well stocked for this part of the country. All plantations and fields were surrounded by fences, even in the [town] itself. In the fields we frequently saw redheaded woodpeckers sitting on [fences]. Newark had several churches that were rather nice.
The canal empties into the Licking River 7 miles from this place. [The Licking is] a very small, charming river [that] flows through a beautiful, rocky forest valley overgrown with conifers and deciduous trees. Some of the rocks, which consist of graywacke, have a singular stratification. [We noticed] overhangs [and] caverns where cattle rested in the cool air. In one place [the rock] was blasted off and a railing [was] installed on the [tow]path below. [The distance] through this beautiful wooded hill chain [is] about a mile to a mile and a half and is really romantic; the mixture of deciduous trees and conifers offers the landscape artist interesting points [of view]. Later on, [there were] open areas with settlements. We left the Licking River [where] the canal turns to the left. Icterus phoeniceus were visible again in [the] marshes adjoining [the canal]. Later the canal approaches the river [again]. In the lowlands between [the canal and the river], many tall trees grow—mainly Platanus and poplars, some draped with nice creepers. We reached a small village of a few houses.
Sixteen miles from Newark [is] the town of Nashport in Licking Township, Muskingum County. [It is] a small place where some large old Indian mounds are said to still exist. The canal banks were covered with Verbascum. Below to the right, we saw a bird of prey that was being avidly pursued by a few kingbirds. The partridge called and the kingfisher was frequent everywhere. On the canal we noticed traces of ironstone and coal. The region is said to [have much of these]. On [each] side we always had forest, [but] no longer as tall and upright as that on the Ohio [River]. Occasionally there were picturesque areas, several locks, and a great many bridges [with] boats shipping through below them. The canal often went for some time in a straight direction through tall forests [with] many beech trees. The settlements usually had flocks of European geese. The fields were all surrounded by fences that were just as decorative here as in Pennsylvania and the rest of the states. [On] a lock gate, I found a tree frog (Hyla squirella) sitting on the damp wood [and] caught it easily.
About 23 miles from Newark, the canal runs across Tomaka Creek on a fairly high aqueduct.25 In this region, [the canal] cuts through yellowish red clay; before that, [one saw] also some sandy soil, but rarely. Beautiful Quercus phellos grew in the forest in front of a small town or village by the name of Frazeysburg in Jackson Township, Muskingum County. [The] scattered houses were mostly built of wood; some of stone. On the canal [banks, there were] many witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) bushes. [Branches] of this shrub were formerly used in America to make divining rods [——] like [those made from] Corylus in Europe. This superstition traveled with the emigrants across the Atlantic Ocean. The cows and [other] livestock that could be seen grazing everywhere were nice. However, the hogs [here] did not seem to be as heavy as in Europe or in other areas of the United States. The evening was very pleasant.
During the night we passed the small villages of Webbsport and Roscoe. One mile from the latter, [the] White Woman and Tuscarawas rivers merge to form the Muskingum, which we did not see because [it was] night.29 We followed the Tuscarawas, which flows beside the canal from time to time. It was still night when we reached the village of Newport.