, muscular, broad chested, of a firm
and animated countenance, keen and piercing eyes, and sparing of speech.
He gained himself an imperishable name in the annals of Kentucky, under
the extreme disadvantage of not knowing how to read or write! Obliging
and benevolent to his neighbors, he was brave and active in their
defence. A successful, because a persevering and intelligent hunter, he
was liberal to profuseness in the distribution of the spoils. Vigilant
and unerring with his rifle, it was at one time directed against the
abundant game for the sake of his friends rather than himself; and at
others, against the enemies of his country. Guided by the inexplicable
instinct of forest skill, he could conduct the wanderer in the woods
from point to point through the wilderness, as the needle guides the
mariner upon the ocean. So endowed, others equally illiterate, and less
gifted, naturally, and from instinct, arranged themselves under his
banner, and fearlessly followed such a leader.

If it was reported, that a family, recently arrived in the country, and
not yet acquainted with the backwood's modes of supply, was in want of
food, Harrod was seen at the cabin door, offering the body of a deer or
buffalo, which he had just killed. The commencing farmer, who had lost
his oxen, or plough horse, in the range, and unused to the vocation of
hunting them, or fearful of the Indian rifle, felt no hesitancy, from
his known character, in applying to Harrod. He would disappear in the
woods, and in the exercise of his own wonderful tact, the lost beast was
soon seen driving to the door.

But the precincts of a station, or the field of a farm, were too
uncongenial a range for such a spirit as his. To breathe the fresh
forest air--to range deserts where man was not to be seen--to pursue the
wild deer and buffalo--to trap the bear and the wolf, or beside the
still pond, or the unexplored stream, to catch otters and beavers--to
bring down the wild turkey from the summit of the highest trees; such
were the congenial pursuits in which he delighted.

But, in a higher sphere, and in the service of his country, he united
the instinctive tact and dexterity of a huntsman with the bravery of a
soldier. No labor was too severe for his hardihood; no enterprise too
daring and forlorn for his adventure; no course too intricate and
complicated for his judgment, so far as native talent could guide it. As
a Colonel of the militia, he conducted expedit