tory of that attempt, written by our
distinguished countryman Mr. Irving. As the party, bound for the far
west, moved up the Missouri, Boone stood upon the banks of the stream,
looking anxiously after them. It was just the adventure to please him.
There the old man stood, leaning upon his rifle, his dim eye lighted up
as he gazed upon them, and his heart heavy with sorrow, because he was
too old to press with them, beyond the mountains.[5]

[5] See Irving's Astoria.

Other sorrows than those of age, now crept upon him. His wife, who had
been to him all that was good, was now taken from him, and the old man
was left widowed. With a sad heart he now went to the home of his son,
Major Nathan Boone.

The last war with England now broke out, too, and penetrated even the
wilds of Missouri. It was the worst of all warfare--the savages were let
loose upon them. Boone was too old to act the part of a soldier, but he
sent off many substitutes in his sons.

When peace returned, the spirit of the old man rallied; his ruling
passion was still with him. The woods were again his home, his rifle his
companion; and thus he lived on, through a vigorous old age, with a
passion as strong as ever, a hunter almost to the very day of his death.
For when, in 1818, death came upon him, he had but little notice of its
approach. With no disease but old age, which had seemed comparatively
vigorous almost to the day of his departure, he died in his eighty-fourth
year. His mind was unclouded and he passed from this world calmly and
quietly.

I have but one thing more to say. You remember Daniel Boone's schoolboy
days, of which I have spoken. He left school a perfectly ignorant lad.
Some say that he afterward learned to write, and produce as an evidence,
a little narrative of his wanderings in Kentucky, supposed to be written
by himself. I believe, however, that to the day of his death, he could
not write his name. The narrative spoken of, was, I think, dictated in
some degree by him, and written by another. At all events, the story is
interesting and curious, and, as such, I have placed it for your benefit,
as an appendix to this volume.

APPENDIX.

THE ADVENTURES OF COLONEL DANIEL BOONE,

FORMERLY A HUNTER;

CONTAINING A NARRATIVE OF THE WARS OF KENTUCKY, AS GIVEN BY HIMSELF.

Curiosity is natural to the soul of man, and interesting objects have a
powerful influence on our affections. Let these influencing powers
actuate, by