340 



WESTERN STATES. 



shot, would subject a sportsman to derision. " Luck is like a shot-gun mighty uncertain," is 

 a proverb in general circulation. Various kinds of hunting and athletic sports, form a part of 

 the amusements ; which are, however, substantially the same in all parts of the United States. 



18. Education. All that is practicable is done for education in the Western States. The 

 importance of the subject is properly estimated by every legislator, and the number of native 

 inhabitants who cannot read or write, is not large. A common education is within the reach 

 of all. 



19. Religion. In none of the Western States do the laws provide for the support of any 

 form of worship. Religion receives little other aid from legislation, than the granting of incorpora- 

 tions ; and by most of the constitutions clergymen are i-ncapable of holding offices of honor or 

 trust, in the gift of the people. There are, however, stationary clergymen in the towns, espe- 

 cially in Ohio, and there are so many missionaries and traveling preachers, that there is gene- 

 rally no want of religious instruction. The court-house is the general place of meeting, and 

 there is no lack of the rude eloquence, that is most effectual among a new people. The prin- 

 cipal sects are Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Catholics. In Arkansas, and in fact 

 in some other Western States, billiards are j)layed, and races performed, on Sunday, in the vi- 

 cinity of the places of worship, and persons will sometimes step across from one to the other. 

 This, however, is chiefly in districts where the population is thin. The camp meetings are 

 numerously attended and impressive.* • ■ ■ . 



other. I first witnessed this manner of procuring squir- 

 rels wliilst near to tlie town of Franlifort. The performer 

 was the celebrated Daniel Boone. We walked out to- 

 gether, and followed the rocky margins of the Kentucky 

 River, until we reached a piece of tlat land thickly cov- 

 ered with black walnuts, oaks, and hickories. As the 

 general mast was a good one that year, squirrels were seen 

 gambolling on every tree around us. My companion, a 

 stout, hale, and athletic man, dressed in a homespun 

 hunting shirt, bare legged and moccassined, carried a long 

 and heavy rifle, which, as lie was loading it, he said liad 

 proved efficient in all his former undertakings, and which 

 ho hoped would not fail on this occasion, as he felt proud 

 to show nie his skill. The gun was wiped, the powder 

 measured, the ball patched with GOO thread linen, and the 

 cliarge sent home with a hickory rod. We moved not a 

 step from the place, fur the squirrels were so numerous 

 that it was unnecessary to go after them. Boone poinled 

 to one of these animals which had observed us, and was 

 crouched on a branch about 50 paces distant, and bade me 

 mark well where the ball should hit. He raised his piece 

 gradually, until the Itciid (that being the name given by 

 the Kentuckians to the sight) of tlie barrel was brought 

 10 a line with the spot he intended to hit. The wliip-like 

 report resounded through the woods, and along the hill in 

 rei>eated echoes. Judge of my surprise, when I perceiv- 

 ed that the ball had hit the piece of the baik immediately 

 beneath the squirrel, and shivered it into splinters, the 

 concussion produced by which had killed the animal, and 

 simt it whirling through the air, as if it had been blown 

 up by the explosion of a powder magazine. Boone kept 

 up his firing, and before many hours had elapsed, we had 

 procurred as many squirrels as we wished ; for you must 

 know, that to load a rifle only requires a moment, and 

 that if it is wiped after each shot, it will do dutv for hours. 

 Since that adventure with our veteran Boone, 1 have seen 

 many other individuals perforin the same feat. The 

 sniiffinir of a candle with a ball, I first had an opportunity 

 of seeing near the banks of Green R.iver, not far from a 

 large pigeon roost, to which I had previously made a visit. 

 I heard many reports of guns during the early part of a 

 dark night, and knowing them to be those of rifles, I 

 went towards the spot to ascertain the cause. On reach- 

 ing the place, I was welcomed by a dozen tall, stout men, 

 who told me they were exercising, for the purpose of en- 

 abling them to shoot by night at the reflected light l-rom 

 the eyes of a deer or wolf, by torch light, of which I shall 

 give you an account somewhere else. A fire was blazing 

 near, the smoke oi^ which rose curling among the thick 

 foliage of the trees. At a distance that rendered it scarce- 

 ly distinguishable, stood a burning candle, as if intended 

 as an oflrering to ths goddess of night but which in fact 



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

 One man was within a few yards of it, to watch the ef- 

 fects of the shots, as well as to light the candle should it 

 chance to go out, or 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 reconipen.sed for their 

 dexterity by numerous hurrahs. One of them who was 

 particularly expert, was very fortunate, and snuffed the 

 candle 3 times out of 7, whilst all the other shots either 

 put out the candle, or cut it immediately under the 

 light." — Audubon. 



^ " None but one who has seen, can imagine the inter 

 est excited in a district of country perhaps .50 miles in ex- 

 tent, by the awaited approach of the time for a camp 

 meeting; and none but one who has seen, can imagine 

 how profoundly the preachers have understood what pro- 

 duces effect, and how well they have practised upon it. 

 Suppose the scene to be, where the most extensive excite- 

 ments and most frequent camp meetings have been, dur- 

 ing the two past years, in one of the beautiful and fertile 

 valleys among the mountains of Tennessee. The notice 

 has been circulated 2 or 3 months. On the appointed day, 

 coaches, chaises, wagons, carts, people on horseback, and 

 multitudes traveling from a distance on foot, wagons with 

 provisions, mattresses, tents, and arrangements for the 

 stay of a week, are seen hurrying from every point to- 

 wards the central spot. It is in the midst of a grove of 

 those beautiful and lofty trees, natural to the valleys of 

 Tennessee, in its deepest verdure, and beside a spring 

 branch, for the requisite supply of water. 



" The ambitious and wealthy are there, because in this 

 region opinion is all-powerful ; and they are there, either 

 to extend their influence, or that their absence may not 

 be noted, to diminish it. Aspirants for office are there, to 

 electioneer, and gain popularity. Vast numbers are there 

 from simple curiosity, and merely to enjoy a spectacle. 

 The young and beautiful are there, with mixed motives, 

 which it were best not severely to scrutinize. Children 

 are there, their young eyes glistening with the intense in- 

 terest of eager curiosity. The middle aged fathers and 

 mothers of families are there, with the sober views of 

 people, whose plans in life are fixed, and waiting calmly 

 to hear. Men and women of hoary hairs are there, with 

 such thoughts, it may be hoped, as their years invite. — 

 Such is the congregation, consisting of thousands. 



"A host of preachers of different denominations, are 

 there, some in the earnest vigor and aspiring desires OT 

 youth, waiting an opportunity for display ; others, who 

 have proclaimed the Gospel, as pilgrims of the cross, from 

 the remotest north of our vast country to the shores oi 



