I believe the number of inhabitants exceeds twenty thousand.
We arrived in Cincinnati in February, 1828, and I speak of the town as it was then; several small churches have been built since, whose towers agreeably relieve its uninteresting mass of buildings.

At that time I think Main street, which is the principal avenue, (and runs through the whole town, answering to the High street of our old cities), was the only one entirely paved.

The _troittoir_ is of brick, tolerably well laid, but it is inundated by every shower, as Cincinnati has no drains whatever.

What makes this omission the more remarkable is, that the situation of the place is calculated both to facilitate their construction and render them necessary.

Cincinnati is built on the side of a hill that begins to rise at the river's edge, and were it furnished with drains of the simplest arrangement, the heavy showers of the climate would keep them constantly clean; as it is, these showers wash the higher streets, only to deposit their filth in the first level spot; and this happens to be in the street second in importance to Main street, running at right angles to it, and containing most of the large warehouses of the town.