Indians looked upon that portion of the western wilds as their own, and
abandoned the district only when forced to do so, moving with
disconsolate hearts farther into the recesses of the unexplored forests.
Doubtless the richness of its soil, and the beauty of its borders,
situated as they are along one of the most beautiful rivers in the
world, contributed as much to attract the Old Virginians as the desire,
so generally experienced in America, of spreading over the uncultivated
tracts, and bringing into cultivation lands that have for unknown ages
teemed with the wild luxuriance of untamed nature. The conquest of
Kentucky was not performed without many difficulties. The warfare that
long existed between the intruders and the Redskins was sanguinary and
protracted; but the former at length made good their footing, and the
latter drew off their shattered bands, dismayed 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 equipments 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 rice pasturage of these shores,
and occasion a delay of several days. To these troubles add the
constantly impending danger of being murdered, while asleep in their
encampments, by the prowling and ruthless Indians; while they had before
them a distance of hundreds of miles to be traversed, before they could
reach certain places of rendezvous called _Stations_. To encounter
difficulties like these must have required energies of no ordinary kind;
and the reward which these veteran settlers enjoy was doubtless well
merited.
[Illustration: VICTOR GIFFORD AUDUBON, 1853.]
Some removed from the Atlantic shores to those of the Ohio in more
comfort and security. They had their wagons, their negroes, and their
families. Their way was cut through the woods by their own axemen,
the day before their advance, and when night overtook them, the hunters
attached to the party came to the place pitched upon for encamping,
loaded with the dainties of which the forest yielded an abundant supply,
the blazing light of a huge fire guiding their steps as they approached,
and the sounds of merriment that saluted their ears assuring them that
all was well. The flesh of the Buffalo, the Bear, and the Deer soon
hung, in large and delicious steaks, in front of the embers; the cakes
already prepared were deposited in their proper places, and under the
rich drippings of the juicy roasts were quickly baked. The wagons
contained the bedding, and whilst the horses which had drawn them were
turned loose to feed on the luxuriant undergrowth of the woods--some
perhaps hoppled, but the greater number merely with a light bell hung to
their neck, to guide their owners in the morning to the spot where they
might have rambled--the party were enjoying themselves after the
fatigues of the day.
In anticipation all is pleasure; and these migrating bands feasted in
joyous sociality, unapprehensive of any greater difficulties than those
to be encountered in forcing their way through the pathless woods to the
land of abundance; and although it took months to accomplish the
journey, and a skirmish now and then took place between them and the
Indians, who sometimes crept unperceived into their very camp, still did
the Virginians cheerfully proceed towards the western horizon, until the
various groups all reached the Ohio, when, struck with the beauty of
that magnificent stream, they at once commenced the task of clearing
land, for the purpose of establishing a permanent residence.
Others, perhaps encumbered with too much luggage, preferred descending
the stream. They prepared _arks_ pierced with port-holes, and glided on
the gentle current, more annoyed, however, than those who marched by
land by the attacks of the Indians who watched their motions. Many
travellers have described these boats, formerly called _arks_, but now
named _flatboats_. But have they told you, kind reader, that in those
times a boat thirty or forty feet in length, by ten or twelve in
breadth, was considered a stupendous fabric; that this boat contained
men, women and children, huddled together, with horses, cattle, hogs and
poultry for their companions, while the remaining portion was crammed
with vegetables and packages of seeds? The roof or deck of the boat was
not unlike a farm-yard, being covered with hay, ploughs, carts, wagons,
and various agricultural implements, together with numerous others,
among which the spinning-wheels of the matrons were conspicuous. Even
the sides of the floating-mass were loaded with the wheels of the
different vehicles, which themselves lay on the roof. Have they told you
that these boats contained the little all of each family of venturous
emigrants, who, fearful of being discovered by the Indians under night
moved in darkness, groping their way from one part to another of these
floating habitations, denying themselves the comfort of fire or light,
lest the foe that watched them from the shore should rush upon them and
destroy them? Have they told you that this boat was used, after the
tedious voyage was ended, as the first dwelling of these new settlers?
No, kind reader, such things have not been related to you before. The
travellers who have visited our country have had other objects in view.
I shall not describe the many massacres which took place among 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 portion 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 Squirrels one after another, until satisfied with the
number procured. 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 purpose 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 is supposed to be sufficient for any distance within a
hundred yards. A shot which comes very close to the nail is considered
as that of an indifferent marksman; the bending of the nail is, of
course, somewhat better; but nothing less than hitting it right on the
head is satisfactory. Well, kind reader, one out of three shots
generally hits the nail, and should the shooters amount to half a
dozen, two nails are frequently needed before each can have a shot.
Those who drive the nail have a further trial amongst themselves, and
the two best shots out of these generally settle the affair, when all
the sportsmen adjourn to some house, and spend an hour or two in
friendly intercourse, appointing, before they part, a day for another
trial. This is technically termed _driving the nail_.
_Barking off Squirrels_ is delightful sport, and in my opinion requires
a greater degree of accuracy than any other. I first witnessed this
manner of procuring Squirrels whilst near the town of Frankfort. The
performer was the celebrated Daniel Boone. We walked out together, and
followed the rocky margins of the Kentucky River, until we reached a
piece of flat land thickly covered 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
moccasined, carried a long and heavy rifle, which, as he was loading it,
he said had proved efficient in all his former undertakings, and which
he hoped would not fail on this occasion, as he felt proud to show me
his skill. The gun was wiped, the powder measured, the ball patched with
six-hundred-thread linen, and the charge sent home with a hickory rod.
We moved not a step from the place, for the Squirrels were so numerous
that it was unnecessary to go after them. Boone pointed to one of these
animals which had observed us, and was crouched on a branch about fifty
paces distant, and bade me mark well the spot where the ball should hit.
He raised his piece gradually, until the _bead_ (that being the name
given by the Kentuckians to the _sight_) of the barrel was brought to a
line with the spot which he intended to hit. The whip-like report
resounded through the woods and along the hills, in repeated echoes.
Judge of my surprise when I perceived that the ball had hit the piece
of the bark immediately beneath the Squirrel, and shivered it into
splinters, the concussion produced by which had killed the animal, and
sent 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 procured as many Squirrels as we wished;
for you must know, kind reader, that to load a rifle requires only a
moment, and that if it is wiped once after each shot, it will do duty
for hours. Since that first interview with our veteran Boone I have seen
many other individuals perform the same feat.
The _snuffing of a candle_ with a ball, I first had an opportunity of
seeing near the banks of Green River, 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 reaching the
place, I was welcomed by a dozen of tall stout men, who told me they
were exercising, for the purpose of enabling them to shoot under night
at the reflected light from the eyes of a Deer or Wolf, by torchlight,
of which I shall give you an account somewhere else. A fire was blazing
near, the smoke of which rose curling among the thick foliage of the
trees. At a distance which rendered it scarcely distinguishable, stood a
burning candle, as if intended for an offering to the goddess of night,
but 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 well 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 snuffed the candle three times out of seven, whilst all
the other shots either put out the candle or cut it immediately under
the light.
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 bull's-eye, and
shoot into the mark all 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 despatches 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
subsistence during all their wild and extensive rambles, and is the
source of their principal sports and pleasures.
THE TRAVELLER AND THE POLE-CAT
On a journey from Louisville to Henderson in Kentucky, performed during
very severe winter weather, in company with a foreigner, the initials of
whose name are D. T., my companion, spying a beautiful animal, marked
with black and pale yellow, and having a long and bushy tail, exclaimed,
"Mr. Audubon, is not that a beautiful Squirrel?" "Yes," I answered, "and
of a kind that will suffer you to approach it and lay hold of it, if you
are well gloved." Mr. D. T., dismounting, took up a dry stick, and
advanced towards the pretty animal, with his large cloak floating in
the breeze. I think I see him approach, and laying the stick gently
across the body of the animal, try to secure it; and I can yet laugh
almost as heartily as I did then, when I plainly saw the discomfiture of
the traveller. The Pole-cat (for a true Pole-cat it was, the _Mephitis
americana_ of zooelogists) raised its fine bushy tail, and showered such
a discharge of the fluid given him by nature as a defence that my
friend, dismayed and infuriated, began to belabor the poor animal. The
swiftness and good management of the Pole-cat, however, saved its bones,
and as it made its retreat towards its hole, it kept up at every step a
continued ejectment, which fully convinced the gentleman that the
pursuit of such Squirrels as these was at the best an unprofitable
employment.
This was not all, however. I could not suffer his approach, nor could my
horse; it was with difficulty he mounted his own; and we were forced to
continue our journey far asunder, and he much to leeward. Nor did the
matter end here. We could not proceed much farther that night; as, in
the first place, it was nearly dark when we saw the Pole-cat, and as, in
the second place, a heavy snow-storm began, and almost impeded our
progress. We were forced to make for the first cabin we saw. Having
asked and obtained permission to rest for the night, we dismounted and
found ourselves amongst a crowd of men and women who had met for the
purpose of _corn-shucking_.
To a European who has not visited the western parts of the United
States, an explanation of this corn-shucking may not be unacceptable.
Corn (or you may prefer calling it maize) is gathered in the husk, that
is, by breaking each large ear from the stem. These ears are first
thrown into heaps in the field, and afterwards carried in carts to the
barn, or, as in this instance, and in such portions of Kentucky, to a
shed made of the blades or long leaves that hang in graceful curves from
the stalk, and which, when plucked and dried, are used instead of hay as
food for horses and cattle. The husk consists of several thick leaves
rather longer than the corn-ear itself, and which secure it from the
weather. It is quite a labor to detach these leaves from the ear when
thousands of bushels of the corn are gathered and heaped together. For
this purpose, however, and in the western country more especially,
several neighboring families join alternately at each other's
plantations, and assist in clearing away the husks, thus preparing the
maize for the market or for domestic use.
The good people whom we met with at this hospitable house were on the
point of going to the barn (the farmer here being in rather good
condition) to work until towards the middle of the night. When we had
stood the few stares to which strangers must accustom themselves, no
matter where, even in a drawing-room, we approached the fire. What a
shock for the whole party! The scent of the Pole-cat, that had been
almost stifled on my companion's vestments by the cold of the evening
air, now recovered its primitive strength. The cloak was put out of the
house, but its owner could not well be used in the same way. The
company, however, took to their heels, and there only remained a single
black servant, who waited on us till supper was served.
I felt vexed with myself, as I saw the good traveller displeased. But he
had so much good-breeding as to treat this important affair with great
forbearance, and merely said he was sorry for his want of knowledge in
zooelogy. The good gentleman, however, was not only deficient in
zooelogical lore, but, fresh as he was from Europe, felt more than uneasy
in this out-of-the-way house, and would have proceeded towards my own
home that night, had I not at length succeeded in persuading him that he
was in perfect security.
We were shown to bed. As I was almost a stranger to him, and he to me,
he thought it a very awkward thing to be obliged to lie in the same bed
with me, but afterwards spoke of it as a happy circumstance, and
requested that I should suffer him to be placed next the logs, thinking,
no doubt, that there he should run no risk.
We started by break of day, taking with us the frozen cloak, and after
passing a pleasant night in my own house, we parted. Some years after, I
met my Kentucky companion in a far distant land, when he assured me that
whenever the sun shone on his cloak or it was brought near a fire, the
scent of the Pole-cat became so perceptible that he at last gave it to a
poor monk in Italy.
The animal commonly known in America by the name of the Pole-cat is
about a foot and a half in length, with a large bushy tail, nearly as
long as the body. The color is generally brownish-black, with a large
white patch on the back of the head; but there are many varieties of
coloring, in some of which the broad white bands of the back are very
conspicuous. The Pole-cat burrows, or forms a subterranean habitation
among the roots of trees, or in rocky places. It feeds on birds, young
Hares, Rats, Mice, and other animals, and commits great depredations on
poultry. The most remarkable peculiarity of this animal is the power,
alluded to above, of squirting for its defence a most nauseously scented
fluid contained in a receptacle situated under the tail, which it can do
to a distance of several yards. It does not, however, for this purpose
sprinkle its tail with the fluid, as some allege, unless when extremely
harassed by its enemies. The Pole-cat is frequently domesticated. The
removal of the glands prevents the secretion of the nauseous fluid, and
when thus improved, the animal becomes a great favorite, and performs
the offices of the common cat with great dexterity.
DEER HUNTING
The different modes of Deer hunting are probably too well understood,
and too successfully practised in the United States; for,
notwithstanding the almost incredible abundance of these beautiful
animals in our forests and prairies, such havoc is carried on amongst
them that, in a few centuries, they will probably be as scarce in
America as the Great Bustard now is in Britain.
We have three modes of hunting Deer, each varying in some slight degree
in the different States and districts. The first is termed _still
hunting_, and is by far the most destructive. The second is called
_fire-light hunting_, and is next in its exterminating effects. The
third, which may be looked upon as a mere amusement, is named _driving_.
Although many Deer are destroyed by this latter method, it is not by any
means so pernicious as the others. These methods I shall describe
separately.
_Still hunting_ is followed as a kind of trade by most of our
frontier-men. To be practised with success it requires great activity,
an expert management of the rifle, and a thorough knowledge of the
forest, together with an intimate acquaintance with the habits of the
Deer, not only at different seasons of the year, but also at every hour
of the day, as the hunters must be aware of the situations which the
game prefers, and in which it is most likely to be found at any
particular time. I might here present you with a full account of the
habits of our Deer, were it not my intention to lay before you, at some
future period, in the form of a distinct work, the observations which I
have made on the various quadrupeds of our extensive territories.
Illustrations of any kind require to be presented in the best possible
light. We shall therefore suppose that we are now about to follow the
_true hunter_, as the "still hunter" is also called, through the
interior of the tangled woods, across morasses, ravines, and such
places, where the game may prove more or less plentiful, even should
none be found there in the first instance. We shall allow our hunter all
the agility, patience, and care which his occupation requires, and will
march in his rear, as if we were spies, watching all his motions.
His dress, you observe, consists of a leather hunting-shirt, and a pair
of trousers of the same material. His feet are well moccasined; he wears
a belt round his waist; his heavy rifle is resting on his brawny
shoulder; on one side hangs his ball pouch, surmounted by the horn of an
ancient Buffalo, once the terror of the herd, but now containing a pound
of the best gunpowder; his butcher knife is scabbarded in the same
strap; and behind is a tomahawk, the handle of which has been thrust
through his girdle. He walks with so rapid a step that probably few men,
beside ourselves, that is, myself and my kind reader, could follow him,
unless for a short distance, in their anxiety to witness his ruthless
deeds. He stops, looks to the flint of his gun, its priming, and the
leather cover of the lock, then glances his eye towards the sky, to
judge of the course most likely to lead him to the game.
The heavens are clear, the red glare of the morning sun gleams through
the lower branches of the lofty trees, the dew hangs in pearly drops at
the top of every leaf. Already has the emerald hue of the foliage been
converted into the more glowing tints of our autumnal months. A slight
frost appears on the fence-rails of his little corn-field. As he
proceeds he looks to the dead foliage under his feet, in search of the
well-known traces of a buck's hoof. Now he bends towards the ground, on
which something has attracted his attention. See! he alters his course,
increases his speed, and will soon reach the opposite hill. Now he moves
with caution, stops at almost every tree, and peeps forward, as if
already within shooting distance of the game. He advances again, but
how very slowly! He has reached the declivity, upon which the sun shines
in all its growing splendor; but mark him! he takes the gun from his
shoulder, has already thrown aside the leathern cover of the lock, and
is wiping the edge of the flint with his tongue. Now he stands like a
monumental figure, perhaps measuring the distance that lies between him
and the game which he has in view. His rifle is slowly raised, the
report follows, and he runs. Let us run also. Shall I speak to him, and
ask him the result of this first essay? Assuredly, reader, for I know
him well.