On the afternoon of October 15, Maximilian's party prepared to embark once again on the Ohio at Portland, about half an hour from Louisville. Near Portland an island provided docking facilities for river craft. Among these was the Water Witch on which the travelers departed downriver. Bodmer's sketch of an Ohio riverboat at Portland, possibly the Water Witch itself, was made on October 16, the morning of their departure.

With stopovers at Huntington and Ebensburg, where they stayed several days waiting for Bodmer and Saynisch to catch up with them, Maximilian and Dreidoppel reached Pittsburgh around midnight on September 26. Securing accommodations at the Exchange Hotel, they were soon joined there by Bodmer and Saynisch.