KENTUCKY SPORTS. 295 



which in reality was only fifty yards from the spot on which we all stood. 

 One man was within a few yards of it, to watch the effects of the shots, 

 as weU as to light the candle should it chance to go out, or to replace it 

 should the shot cut it across. Each marksman shot in his turn. Some 

 never hit either the snuff or the candle, and were congratulated with a 

 loud laugh ; while others actually snuffed the candle without putting it 

 out, and were recompensed for their dexterity by numerous hurrahs. 

 One of them, who was particularly expert, was very fortunate, and snuf- 

 fed the candle three times out of seven, whilst aU the other shots either 

 put out the candle, or cut it immediately under the hght. 



Of the feats performed by the Kentuckians with the rifle, I could 

 say more than might be expedient on the present occasion. In every 

 thinly peopled portion of the State, it is rare to meet one without a gun 

 of that description, as well as a tomahawk. By way of recreation, they 

 often cut off a piece of the bark of a tree, make a target of it, using a 

 little powder wetted with water or saliva, for the buU's eye, and shoot in- 

 to the mark aU the balls they have about them, picking them out of the 

 wood again. 



After what I have said, you may easily imagine with what ease a 

 Kentuckian procures game, or dispatches an enemy, more especially when 

 I tell you that every one in the State is accustomed to handle the rifle 

 from the time when he is first able to shoulder it until near the close of 

 his career. That murderous weapon is the means of procuring them sub- 

 sistence duiing all their wild and extensive rambles, and is the source of 

 their principal sports and pleasures. 



