French Island, Ohio River

Description

After breakfast on October 18, the steamer passed the settlements of Owensburg and Yellow Banks, where it stopped to take on wood. Later this same day it rounded French Island a few miles above Mount Vernon, Indiana, and Bodmer made this quick study. Toward eleven o'clock one of the ship's passengers died of cholera. A coffin was quickly constructed and, as the body was taken ashore for burial, Maximilian took advantage of the delay to wander along the shore in search of botanical specimens.