iver by seeing large ash,
basswood and sugar trees beautifully festooned with wild grape vines.
Watchful as Argus, his restless eye catches everything around him.

"In an unknown region and surrounded with dangers, he is the sentinel of
his own safety and relies on himself for protection. The toilsome march
of the day being ended, at the fall of night he seeks for safety some
narrow sequestered hollow, and by the side of a large log builds a fire
and, after eating a coarse and scanty meal, wraps himself up in his
blanket and lays him self down for repose on his bed of leaves, with his
feet to the fire, hoping for favorable dreams, ominous of future good
luck, while his faithful dog and gun rest by his side.

"But let not the reader suppose that the pilgrim of the wilderness could
feast his imagination with the romantic beauties of nature, without any
drawback from conflicting passions. His situation did not afford him
much time for contemplation. He was an exile from the warm clothing and
plentiful mansions of society. His homely woodman's dress soon became
old and ragged. The cravings of hunger compelled him to sustain from day
to day the fatigues of the chase. Often he had to eat his venison,
bear's meat, or wild turkey without bread or salt. His situation was not
without its dangers. He did not know at what moment his foot might be
stung by a serpent, at what moment he might meet with the formidable
bear, or on what limb of a tree over his head the murderous panther
might be perched, in a squatting attitude, to drop down upon him and
tear him in pieces in a moment.

"Exiled from society and its comforts, the situation of the first
adventurers was perilous in the extreme. The bite of a serpent, a broken
limb, a wound of any kind, or a fit of sickness in the wilderness
without those accommodations which wounds and sickness require, was a
dreadful calamity. The bed of sickness, without medical aid, and above
all to be destitute of the kind attention of a mother, sister, wife, or
other female friends, was a situation which could not be anticipated by
the tenant of the forest, with other sentiments than those of the
deepest horror."[D]

[Footnote D: Doddridge's Notes.]

There are no narratives of more thrilling interest than those which
describe the perils and hair-breadth escapes which some of these bold
hunters encountered. Immediately after the purchase of Louisiana, an
expedition under Lewis and Clark was fitted