AUDUBON AND BOONE. 177 
amoug 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. Let us, therefore, turn 
our attention to the sports still enjoyed in that now happy por- 
tion of the United States. 
We have individuals in Kentucky, kind reader, that even 
there are considered wonderful adepts in the management of 
the rifle. To drive a nail is a common feat, not more thought 
of by the Kentuckians than to cut off a wild turkey’s head, 
at a distance of a hundred yards. Others will bark off squir- 
rels one after another, until satisfied with the number pro- 
cured. Some, less intent on destroying game, may be seen 
under night snuffing a candle at the distance of fifty yards, 
off-hand, without extinguishing it. I have been told that 
some have proved so expert and cool, as to make choice of 
the eye of a foe at a wonderful distance, boasting beforehand 
of the sureness of their piece, which has afterwards been fully 
proved when the enemy’s head has been examined! 
Having resided some years in Kentucky, and having more 
than once been witness of rifle sport, I shall present you with 
the results of my observation, leaving you to judge how far 
rifle-shooting is understood in that State. 
Several individuals who conceive themselves expert in the 
management of the gun, are often seen to meet for the pur- 
pose of displaying their skill, and betting a trifling sum, put 
up a target, in the centre of which a common-sized nail is 
hammered for about two-thirds of its length. The marksmen 
make choice of what they consider a proper distance, which 
may be forty paces. Each man cleans the interior of his 
tube, which is called wiping it, places a ball in the palm of 
his hand, pouring as much powder from his horn upon it as 
will cover it. This quantity re supposed to be sufficient for 
t 
