Its fertility and beauty are unequaled; and its capacities of sustaining a dense population cannot be overrated.

Seven States border on its waters, and they are seven States which are destined to contribute no little part to the commerce, wealth, and power of the Union.

It is idle to talk of the well-cultivated and garden-like little rivers of Europe, of some two or three hundred miles in length, compared to the Ohio.

There is nothing like it in all Europe for its great length, uninterrupted fertility, and varied resources, and consequent power to support an immense population.
Yet its banks consist not of a dead level, like the lower Nile and Volga, but of undulating plains and hills, which afford a lively flow to its waters, and supply an amount of hydraulic power which is amazing.
The river itself is composed of some of the prime streams of the country.

The Alleghany, the Monongahela, the Muskingum, the Miami, the Wabash, the Cumberland, and the Tennessee, are rivers of the most noble proportions, and the congregated mass of water rolls forward, increasing in volume and magnificence, until the scene delights the eye by its displays of quiet, lovely, rural magnitude and physical grandeur.
Yet all this is but an element in the vast system of western waters.