:

more annoyed, however, than those who marched by land, by the attacks of the Indians, who watched their motions... In those times a boat thirty or forty feet in length, by ten or twelve in breadth, was considered a stupendous fabric this boat contained men, women, and children, huddled together, with horses, cattle, hogs, and poultry, while the remaining portion was crammed with vegetables and packages of seeds!...The roof or deck of the boat was not unlike a farm-yard, being covered with hay, ploughs, carts, waggons, and various agricultural implements, together with numerous others, among which the spinning-wheels of the matrons were conspicuous.

I shall not describe the many massacres which took place among the different parties of white and red men, as the former moved down the Ohio; because I have never been very fond of battles, and, indeed, have always wished that the world were more peaceably inclined than it is; and shall merely add, that, in one way or other, Kentucky was wrested from the original owners of the soil. Forest and Prairie Life.

AN ADVENTURE OF BOONE.

"I was once," Boone related to Audubon, the naturalist, on a hunting expedition on the banks of the Green River, when the lower parts of this State (Kentucky) were still in the hands of Nature, and none but the sons of the soil were looked upon as its lawful proprietors. We Virginians had for some time been waging a war of intrusion upon them, and I, amongst the rest, rambled through the woods in pursuit of their race, as I now would follow the track of any ravenous animal... The Indians outwitted me one dark night, and I was as unexpectedly as suddenly made a prisoner by them. The trick had been managed with great skill; for no sooner had I extinguished the fire of my camp, and laid me down to rest, in full security, as I thought, than I felt myself seized by an indistinguishable number of hands. I was immediately pinioned, as if about to be led to the scaffold for execution... To have attempted resistance would have proved useless and dan

gerous to my life; and I suffered myself to be removed from my camp to theirs, a few miles distant, without uttering even a word of complaint.

"When we reached the camp, great rejoicings were exhibited. Two squaws appeared particularly delighted at the sight of me, and I was assured, by very plain gestures and words, that, on the morrow, the mortal enemy of the Redskins would cease to live. I never opened my lips, but was busy contriving some scheme which might enable me to escape before dawn... The women immediately began searching about my hunting-shirt for whatever they might think valuable; and, fortunately for me, soon found my flask filled with whisky. A terrific grin was exhibited on their murderous countenances, while my heart throbbed with joy at the anticipation of deliverance...The crew immediately began to beat their bodies and sing, as they passed the bottle from mouth to mouth. I observed that the squaws drank more freely than the warriors; and again my spirits were about to be depressed, when the report of a gun was heard at a distance. The Indians all jumped on their feet... The singing and drinking were both brought to a stand, and I saw with inexpressible joy the men walk off to some distance and talk to the squaws. I knew that they were consulting about me, and I foresaw that in a few moments the warriors would go to discover the cause of the gun having been fired so near their camp. I expected that the squaws would be left to guard me. Well, sir, this was precisely the case... The men took up their guns, and walked away. The squaws sat down again, and in less than five minutes had my bottle up to their dirty mouths, gurgling down their throats the remains of the whisky.

"The liquor soon took such hold of them, that it was quite impossible for these women to be of any service. They tumbled down, rolled about, and began to snore: when I, having no other chance of freeing myself from the cords that fastened me, rolled over and over towards the fire, and, after a short time, burned them asunder...I rose on my feet, stretched my stiffened sinews, snatched up my rifle, and, for once in my life, spared that of Indians.

"I felt determined to mark the spot, and walking to a thrifty ash sapling, I cut out of it three large chips, and ran off. I soon reached the river, soon crossed it, and threw myself deep into the cane-brakes. I imitated the tracks of an Indian with my feet, so that no chance was left for those from whom I had escaped to overtake me.'

Ibid.

JAMES HARROD OF HARRODSBURG.

ONE of those men of nature, whose hard hands and giant thews best fit them to cope with desert freedom, was James Harrod, the founder of Harrodsburg, Kentucky.

The name of Harrod, the stalwart young hunter, was familiar along the borders, and associated with that of Boone in many a feat of self-denying hardihood and generous chivalry. He was tall, strong, modest, and simple. He had read no book but that of Nature, knew no art but wood-craft, and never said "Boys, you do it!" but "Boys, come on! "

The unwritten history of that time tells many a touching narrative of the deeds of this young hunter: his skill on the war-trail, his vigilance, and his wonderful powers of endurance, soon made him one of the chief supports of the feeble settlements, which then dared to hold and occupy this wide land. The hardiness and simplicity of his habits, his fresh and unbroken constitution, his great frame, endowed with a remarkable natural strength, everywhere gave him supremacy even over those border sons of Anak.

Such were his habits of incessant activity, and so cool his self-reliance, that he never waited for companions, on the longest and most dangerous of his expeditions. He would often be gone for weeks and even months together, no one knew whither or for what end, and the first thing heard of him would be his sudden appearance, to put the settlements on their guard against the approach of some Indian war-party.

The benevolence of Harrod seems to have been equal to his energy. His hut, one of the first erected in the country,

became at once the nucleus* of a station. Thither the surveyors, the speculators, the hunters and emigrants, flocked for shelter and protection, and the names of Harrodsburg and Boonesborough became the first identified, in the minds of weary adventurers of every grade to this dangerous region, with the prospect of rest and the hope of security. Other huts had rapidly grown up around his, until more secure defences had become necessary, and a fort was built. Thus, under the shelter of these two names-Boone and Harrod the permanent occupation of Kentucky by the white race commenced. These men, though both comparatively young, seem to have perfectly reproduced in themselves the original type of the ancient patriarchal character, which was so much needed in the elementary condition of the society they were organising...All newcomers were their children; they were received as such with open arms; they were watched over, guarded, and guided, until they learned to stand alone and take care of themselves; and, what was still more remarkable, were allowed, without a murmur or a thought, to avail themselves of nearly all of the extraordinary labors and sufferings of their noble and unselfish guardians.

For example, Boone, who might have been the richest man in the whole West, had he been as grasping as he was good and wise, died in wandering poverty, with no claim to one spot in that paradise into which he had led his countrymen. Harrod exhibited the same unselfish traits, as we shall see.

When a new settler came, he inquired for a locality. Harrod's knowledge of the surrounding country was at his service; he shouldered his axe, and helped the new-comer to run up a hut. The family out of meat, Harrod, by some trick peculiar to himself, found it out. He was off to the woods, and soon a fine deer, or fat bear, or the quarters of a buffalo, were placed at their disposal.

An extraordinary love of solitary adventure was one of

* Nucleus, the kernel of a nut; the germ of an animal or vegetable cell, forming the embryo of an organism; a prolific centre, as a hut round which others cluster

indeed, the

the marked characteristics of James Harrod Indians christened him the "Lone Long-Knife," and dreaded his mysterious prowess very greatly.

He on several occasions entered their villages in the night to ascertain their plans; and once, when discovered by a young warrior, struck him to the earth with his huge fist, and then threw himself into the neighbouring forest, though not without being seen and pursued; twenty o thirty warriors followed him, and so close were they upon his heels at the start, that their rifle balls showered like hail about him...The swiftness of Indian runners has passed into a proverb, but they had a man before them more swift than themselves. He gained so much upon them, that by the time they reached the Miami, which was ten miles distant, there were only three warriors who seemed to be continuing the chase.

Harrod swam the river without hesitation; as he reached the opposite bank they came up, and fired at him as he climbed the bank: the river was wide here, and the balls fell short. He now took to a tree upon the edge of the forest, and removing the waterproof cover of deer's bladder from the lock of his rifle, prepared for them, should they attempt to cross the river... The Indians hesitated a moment, for it had now been some time full daylight, and they seemed to have some apprehension that he might make a stand, but hearing at this instant the coming yells of those who had fallen behind, they replied, and plunged into the stream.

Harrod waited until they were more than half across, when at the crack of his rifle the foremost sank; the other two paused, then turned to go back; but before they could get out of range, he wounded a second desperately, who gave himself up to the current, and was swept down. The third, by a series of rapid dives, after the manner of a chased wild duck, succeeded in getting out of range.

Harrod heard the furious howl of the main body of his outwitted pursuers, who had reached the river as he was making off again through the forest: the chase was not continued further.

Two hours afterwards, Harrod struck the bank of the Miami again, he saw upon a pile of driftwood, which had