174 WILD SCENES AND WILD HUNTERS. 



and protracted ; but the former at length made good their 

 footing, and the latter drew off their shattered bands, dis- 

 mayed by the mental superiority and indomitable courage of 

 the white men. 



This region was probably* discovered by a daring hunter, 

 the renowned Daniel Boone. The richness of its soil, its 

 magnificent forests, its numberless navigable streams, its salt 

 springs and licks, its saltpetre caves, its coal strata, and the 

 vast herds of buffaloes and deer that browsed on its hills and 

 amidst its charming valleys, afforded ample inducements to 

 the new settler, who pushed forward with a spirit far above 

 that of the most undaunted tribes, which for ages had been 

 the sole possessors of the soil. 



The Virginians thronged towards the Ohio. An axe, a 

 couple of horses and a heavy rifle, with store of ammunition, 

 were all that were considered necessary for the equipment 

 of the man, who, with his family, removed to the new State, 

 assured that, in that land of exuberant fertility, he could not 

 fail to provide amply for all his wants. To have witnessed 

 the industry and perseverance of these emigrants, must at 

 once have proved the vigor of their minds. Regardless of 

 the fatigue attending every movement which they made, they 

 pushed through an unexplored region of dark and tangled 

 forests, guiding themselves by the sun alone, and reposing at 

 night on the bare ground. Numberless streams they had to 

 cross on rafts, with their wives and children, their cattle and 

 their luggage, often drifting to considerable distances before 

 they could effect a landing on the opposite shores. Their 

 cattle would often stray amid the rich pasturage of these 

 shores, and occasion a delay of several days. To these trou- 

 bles add the constantly impending danger of being murdered, 

 while asleep in their encampments, by the prowling and 



* We have given the trnc account of the "Discovery" in the preceding 

 sketch ot Boone. 



