the tree, and rushed upon the boar,
which met him at once, and, notwithstanding Bruin's great strength, he
proved to him that a ten years old wild boar, with seven-inch tusks, was
a very formidable antagonist. Bruin soon felt the tusks of the boar
ripping him up; ten or twelve streams of blood were rushing from his
sides, yet he did not give way; on the contrary, he grew fiercer and
fiercer, and at last the boar was almost smothered under the huge paws
of his adversary. The struggle lasted a few minutes more, the grunting
and growling becoming fainter and fainter, till both combatants lay
motionless. They were dead when Gabriel came up to them; the bear
horribly mangled, and the boar with every bone of his body broken.
Gabriel filled his hat with the persimmons which were the cause of this
tragedy, and returned to the camp for help and ammunition.

Finn, Boone, and I resumed our journey, and after a smart ride of two
hours we entered upon a beautiful spot, called "Magnet Cove." This is
one of the great curiosities of the Arkansas, and there are few planters
who do not visit it at least once in their lives, even if they have to
travel a distance of one hundred miles.

It is a small valley surrounded by rocky hills, one or two hundred feet
high, and forming a belt, in the shape of a horseshoe. From these rocks
flow hundreds of sulphuric springs, some boiling and some cold, all
pouring into large basins, which their waters have dug out during their
constant flow of so many centuries. These mineral springs are so very
numerous in this part of the country, that they would scarcely be worth
mentioning, were it not that in this valley, for more than a mile in
circumference, the stones and rocks, which are of a dull black colour
and very heavy, are all magnetic.

It is a custom for every visitor to bring with him some pieces of iron,
to throw against the rocks: the appearance is very strange, old
horse-shoes, forks, knives, bars of iron, nails, and barrels of pistols,
are hanging from the projecting stones, the nails standing upright, as
if they were growing. These pieces of iron have themselves become very
powerfully magnetic. I picked up a horse-shoe, which I afterwards found
lifted a bar of steel of two pounds weight.

Half a mile from this singular spot dwelt another old pioneer, a friend
of my companions, and at his cabin we stopped to pass the night. Our
host was only remarkable for his great hospitality and