19 June: At midday, eleven o’clock, we left the city of Cincinnati on the United States Mail boat Guyandotte. The weather was hot, and on the river [it was] pleasant. The steamboat Lady Scott [set out] at the same time as we did but soon [was] far behind our mail boat. The Guyandotte had about 20 beds in the gentlemen’s cabin. The ladies’ cabin was on the upper deck. It was a very fast boat and, like all these vessels at Cincinnati, had a mostly white crew, since there are no Negro slaves in the state of Ohio.

There are three of these mail boats that alternately carry government dispatches. They only [do this] occasionally, because they receive no more than 5 dollars in compensation for this service each time. However, only the fastest boats are chosen for [this duty], and [they] then can carry [display] the inscription U. S. Mail in red on their wheel cover. After lunch we reached New Richmond [Ohio]; soon, on the same side, [was] Point Pleasant, with some brick houses; and at nightfall we were near the town of Ripley [Ohio].