368 The Winning of the West 



shielded the far-off fastnesses where dwelt the Erati. 

 Nothing shows his daring, adventurous nature more 

 clearly than his starting on such an expedition ; and 

 only a man of strong will and much power could 

 have carried it to a successful conclusion. For a 

 hundred and fifty miles he led his horsemen through 

 a mountainous wilderness where there was not so 

 much as a hunter's trail. They wound their way 

 through the deep defiles and among the towering 

 peaks of the Great Smoky Mountains, descending 

 by passes so precipitous that it was with difficulty the 

 men led down them even such surefooted beasts as 

 their hardy hill-horses. At last they burst out of 

 the woods and fell like a thunderbolt on the towns 

 of the Erati, nestling in their high gorges. The 

 Indians were completely taken by surprise; they had 

 never dreamed that they could be attacked in their 

 innermost strongholds, cut off, as they were, from 

 the nearest settlements by vast trackless wastes of 

 woodland and lofty, bald-topped mountain chains. 

 They had warriors enough to overwhelm Sevier*s 

 band by sheer force of numbers, but he gave them 

 no time to gather. Falling on their main town, he 

 took it by surprise and stormed it, killing thirty war- 

 riors and capturing a large number of women and 

 children. Of these, however, he was able to bring 

 in but twenty, who were especially valuable because 

 they could be exchanged for white captives. He 

 burnt two other towns and three small villages, de- 

 stroying much provision and capturing two hundred 

 horses. He himself had but one man killed and one 



