circumstances which would have passed unnoticed by a less sagacious
woodsman, that, although the country was not actually inhabited by
Indians, it was not the less a scene of strife and combat for the
possession of such rich hunting grounds by a great number of tribes. He
discovered that it was a common park to these fierce tribes; and none
the less likely to expose them to the dangers of Indian warfare, because
it was not claimed or inhabited by any particular tribe. On the
contrary, instead of having to encounter a single tribe in possession,
he foresaw that the jealousy of all the tribes would be united against
the new intruders.

These fearless spirits, who were instinctively imbued with an abhorrence
of the Indians, heeded little, however, whether they had to make war on
them, or the wild beasts. They felt in its fullest force that
indomitable elasticity of character, which causes the possessor, every
where, and in all forms of imagined peril, to feel sufficient to
themselves. Hence the lonely adventurers continued fearlessly to explore
the beautiful positions for settlements, to cross and name the rivers,
and to hunt.

By a happy fatality, through all the summer they met with no Indians,
and experienced no impediment in the way of the most successful hunting.
During the season, they had collected large quantities of peltries, and
meeting with nothing to excite apprehension or alarm, they became
constantly more delighted with the country.

So passed their time, until the 22d of December. After this period
adventures of the most disastrous character began to crowd upon them. We
forthwith commence the narrative of incidents which constitute the
general color of Boone's future life.