1753 the family again changed their place of residence, and settled upon the river Yadkin in North Carolina. Here Boone was married, and employed himself in farming for several years. About this time explorations began to be made into the wild country to the westward of Virginia, and glowing accounts were given of the abundance of the game, and the fertility of the soil. Boone's desire for the life of a hunter and explorer could no longer be resisted, and in 1767 he set out for Kentucky, in company with six others. For two years his life was one of constant excitement, privation, and danger. The party divided; and Boone, with a single companion, first a man named Stewart, and afterwards his younger brother, Squire Boone, devoted himself to a hunter's life. They were constantly engaged in hostilities with the Indians, by whom Stewart was shot and scalped; and for the two years of their absence, Boone never tasted bread or salt. Finally convinced of the fertility of the soil, and the practicability of a settlement in the country, Boone returned to the Yadkin for his family. After two years spent in preparation, he set out with five other families; but being attacked by the Indians, and several of the party killed, they returned to the settlement on Clinch river. During the next year a company was formed in North Carolina for the purchase of lands from the Cherokees. After considerable difficulty, their claim to a certain tract of land was established, and Boone was sent out at the head of a small party to begin a settlement. They built a fort upon the Kentucky river, and called it Boonesborough; and to this place Boone removed his family.
The revolutionary war had now begun, and the attacks of the Indians threatened destruction to Boonesborough and the other new settlements which had been formed. The title of captain had been conferred upon Boone some years before, and under his command the little garrison at Boonesborough maintained a successful defence. Finally, however, in 1778, while he was engaged with about thirty others in making salt at the Blue Licks, he was surprised by the Indians, and compelled to surrender with all his men. They promised to treat him with kindness, however, and this promise was literally fulfilled. He was taken to Detroit, and then to an Indian town in Ohio, where he was formally adopted as a son of the tribe, and where he remained several months. But his fears for the garrison left behind were soon aroused by the discovery, that a large number of warriors were preparing to march against Boonesborough. With great difficulty, and only by the aid of his unparalleled sagacity and skill, he contrived to make his escape, and reach home in time to give the alarm, and prepare the garrison for defence. The Indians, together with a number of Canadians commanded by Captain Duquesne, soon made their appearance before the fort. They proposed a capitulation on the most liberal terms, and requested a number of the garrison to meet the besiegers without the fort, where an ancient custom should be revived, and, as a sign of amity, two Indians should shake hands with each white man. Boone perceived the treachery concealed under this proposal, and a number of men with loaded rifles were placed in a position to command the place of meeting. The Indians endeavoured to secure their antagonists, but they were knocked down or tripped up, and the Kentuckians fled to the fort, under cover of their friends' fire. A violent attack was then made, but it was successfully repulsed, and the siege was soon afterwards raised. Some blame had attached to Boone in consequence of the surrender of his men at the Blue Licks, and his friendly conduct to the Indians while a prisoner. He was summoned before a court-martial, but was honourably acquitted, and soon afterwards promoted to the rank of major. During his captivity, his family had returned to North Carolina, whither Boone now went, and again removed them to Boonesborough. In this journey he was robbed of a large sum of money, partly belonging to himself, partly to a number of friends. Some suspicions, if not of dishonesty, at least of carelessness, seem to have rested on him in consequence of this transaction; but his nearest friends never doubted his truth and honour.
While the Indian hostilities continued, numerous attacks were made on the various settlements, which generally resulted in the defeat of the Indians. In the summer of 1778 an unsuccessful attack was made on Bryan's Station, near Boonesborough. The Indian force, which was large, having retreated, a number of the militia were called out to pursue them, and Boone commanded the party from Boonesborough. Colonel Logan, with a large detachment, did not reach the rendezvous in time, and Boone, with several others, strongly advised the party to await his arrival. But they were overruled by the impetuosity of the other officers, and the little army proceeded to the banks of the Licking, where deep ravines and thick woods formed a covert for the enemy. Boone again advised a halt, but in vain. They crossed the river, and after advancing a short distance, found themselves in the midst of the Indians, who were lying in ambush. A complete rout followed. Many were killed, and among them Boone's eldest son. After this defeat, several successful expeditions in which Boone joined, generally as a volunteer, were fitted out, and finally, in 1783, the peace with Great Britain put an end to hostilities. The settlement of Kentucky now proceeded with great rapidity. Towns sprang up in the wilderness, and agriculture and trade flourished. Boone had applied himself to farming; but, ignorant of the law, he had not taken proper measures for securing his title to the land which he had cleared and defended. In his old age, he found himself without an acre of land, and indignant at the treatment which he had received, he resolved to leave Kentucky. One of his sons had emigrated to Upper Louisiana, now Missouri, and thither Boone resolved to follow him. Accordingly, in 1795, he removed to the Femme Osage settlement, forty-five miles west of St. Louis. Louisiana then belonged to Spain, and Boone's life and misfortunes being known to the Spanish governor, he conferred upon him the office of syndic or commandant, together with a large tract of land. Here Boone spent the rest of his life, residing with his son and a son-in-law by turns. His duties occupied but a small portion of his time, and his leisure hours were passed in hunting. In 1803, Louisiana was ceded to the United States, and when the claims for land were brought before the government, Boone's was not confirmed. Under these circumstances he sent in a petition to the general assembly of Kentucky. This was successful. Application was then made to congress, and the land in the Femme Osage district, where he first settled, was confirmed to him. He passed the rest of his life among his descendants, universally loved and respected, and died in 1820, in the 86th year of his age.—F. B.
BOONEN, Arnold, a portrait painter, born at Dort in 1669. He studied under Verbuis and Schalcken. At the end of six years the blunt candle-light painter drove him out into nature, saying he could teach him nothing more (how much better had he sent him to nature sooner), as he was already thought a great painter of a small age. He was quick, faithful, sweet in colour, neat in touch, and, above all, he drew well, and caught the likeness flying as it shot across the face. As for his candlelight pieces, "delicate and natural," he had more applications for them than he could supply. He painted all the triflers and lions of the day—Peter the Great (the tamed savage), the elector of Mentz, the landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt, Frederick of Prussia, the duke of Marlborough, the prince and princess of Orange, besides large pictures for the halls of companies at Dort and Amsterdam. He died in 1729, killed partly by overwork. His son, Gaspard, became a portrait painter, and A. Pilkington mentions also Arnold's brother.—W. T.
BOORHAN, Nizam Shah I., king of Ahmednugger in the Deccan, at the beginning of the sixteenth century. His reign of forty-five years was full of contests with the neighbouring princes, in the course of which he was tributary for five or six years to Bahadoor, shah of Guzerat. In his later years he embraced the heresy of the Sheahs, which embittered the hostilities between him and the other rulers of the Deccan. He died of cholera in 1553.—W. B.
BOORHAN, Nizam Shah II., grandson of the former, was for many years a refugee at Delhi, and had reached an advanced age before he obtained, in 1589, the throne of Ahmednugger, to which his son Ishmael had been raised by the nobility. His reign contained no events of importance, but was followed by civil wars, which prepared the way for the conquest of the kingdom by the emperors of Delhi.—W. B.
BOOT, Arnold van, a Flemish physician who practised for some time in London, and afterwards in Dublin, where he was attached to the court of the earl of Leicester, was born at Gorcum in 1606. He was a scholar of considerable mark, and besides a number of professional treatises, published some works on subjects of philology, criticism, and history. His brother, Gerard Boot or Boate, is the author of a work on the natural history of Ireland, in which he was assisted by Arnold. Died in 1650.—J. S., G.
