Sketches of History Life And Manners in the West

into every navigable stream. Their inoffensive manners procured them every where a favorable reception; their cheerfulness and suavity conciliated even the savage warrior, whose suspicious nature discovered no cause of alarm in the visits of these gay strangers. Divided into small parties, having each a separate object, they pursued their several designs without concert, and with little collision. One sought wealth, and another fame; one came to discover a country, another to collect rare and nondescript specimens of natural curiosities; one traveled to see man in a state of nature, another brought the gospel to the heathen; while the greater number roved carelessly among those interesting scenes, indulging their curiosity and their love of adventure, and seeking no higher gratification than that which the novelty and excitement of the present moment afforded. The adventurers of no other nation have ever penetrated so far, or so fearlessly, into the interior of a newly discovered country. The fathers of New England were circumscribed to narrow boundaries, on the sterile shores of the Atlantic; the first settlers of Virginia were equally unfortunate. The gallant Raleigh barely effected a landing for his colony, on the shores of North Carolina; even the indefatigable William Penn, several years after the settlement of Pennsylvania, speaks of the Delaware as a "glorious river;" but is wholly unacquainted with its extent and character. The unsuccessful attempts ... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.