17. Dickens returned to Cincinnati to begin a journey across Ohio
After he inspected St. Louis and its environs, which included a trip to Illinois to view an example of the American prairie, Dickens returned to Cincinnati. Along the way he visited Cairo, Illinois, which was later used for the basis of the fictional American town of Eden in his novel Martin Chuzzlewit. His intentions were to travel to Sandusky on Lake Erie, then by water to Niagara, and thence to New York. The first leg of the journey from Cincinnati was to Columbus, a distance of about 120 miles, all of which were over a macadamized road. Such a road for such a length was relatively rare in 1842 America.
Macadamizing was a process invented by a Scotsman, John McAdam, only two decades earlier. It consisted of several layers of pulverized stone being packed down upon each other, the stone dust binding the layers together. Macadamized roads were less liable to being cut into ruts from wheeled traffic when wet from heavy rains. Dickens left Cincinnati in a large stagecoach, which was forced to stop frequently to either water or change the horses, and which traveled at about six miles per hour, on average. Often the coachmen changed as well, though according to Dickens, “He is always dirty, sullen, and taciturn”.
