But on the way he missed the trail and wandered for a fortnight in the mountains.

The heavy rains ruined his powder so that he could not hunt; for food he had only berries and nuts.

At one place, where steep bluffs opposed him, he was obliged to abandon his horse and scale the mountain side on foot.

He was in extremity when he chanced upon two huntsmen who gave him food and set him on the trail.

If this experience proves his lack of the hunter's instinct and the woodsman's resourcefulness which Boone possessed, it proves also his special qualities of perseverance and endurance which were to reach their zenith in his successful struggle to colonize and hold western Tennessee.