This grim race was maintained until it became evident to Clark that his men could not much longer continue their arduous labor at the oars. The Indians, on the other hand, being subjected to much less strain, might have kept up the pursuit indefinitely. Realizing that the sole chance of success lay in bringing the journey to a speedy end, Clark called on his rowers for a supreme final effort with a view to getting beyond sight of the Indians for a short space of time. The men responded heartily. The boat was then at the mouth of Limestone Creek, near the present town of Maysville. It was headed into the small stream and shot up it with such swiftness that the pursuers were left far behind. At a favorable point the boat was run into the bank, the powder hastily brought ashore, and the craft turned loose to drift down the branch. The barrels were now quickly conveyed to a hiding place in the densest brush, the carriers carefully covering their tracks. This accomplished, the entire party struck across country for Harrodsburg. They arrived without mishap and Clark immediately returned with a sufficient guard for the powder, which was found safe and uninjured where it had been secreted. Thus, towards the close of 1776 the Kentucky settlers were assured of the means of defending their homes in the impending struggle. It must be remembered that the war of the Revolution was by this time in full swing, and, whereas Boone and his associates had entered Kentucky as British subjects, they were now rebels. It is not strange, therefore, that the authorities of the Crown dominions in the north treated them with hostility, nor that the Indian tribes friendly to the British were employed in the attacks upon the settlers. The practice of the times fully sanctioned the employment of savages and the colonists were not above accepting such aid when it was available. Clark, in fact, employed Indians in the defence of Vincennes, although he declined their aid in attacking the town. Several writers, in ignorance of the facts, or regardless of them, insist on attributing the worst barbarities to the higher officials in Canada, and the frontiersmen of the time were prone to credit them with the utmost cruelty. They believed, and quite recent writers have stated, that the Indians were urged by these officials to massacre the whites in Kentucky unsparingly, and that they offered rewards for scalps with the distinct understanding that they were preferable to prisoners. Now the most cursory examination of the records proves these statements to be utterly false and shows that Governor Hamilton and other officials rescued prisoners from the Indians and ransomed them whenever possible. Thus, Boone’s fellow captives in the year 1778 were secured from the Shawnees and kindly treated. Every effort was made to induce them to give up Boone, and when these failed, money and gifts were pressed upon them by the officers at Detroit.