ThenNo。3jumpedfortheboat，andfellagoodwayasternofit。ThenNo，4。jumpedfortheboat，andfellinthewaterawayastern。ThenevenNo。5madeajumpfortheboat——forhewasaCooperIndian。Inthematterofintellect，thedifferencebetweenaCooperIndianandtheIndianthatstandsinfrontofthecigarshopisnotspacious。Thescowepisodeisreallyasublimeburstofinvention;butitdoesnotthrill，becausetheinaccuracyofthedetailsthrowsasortofairoffictitiousnessandgeneralimprobabilityoverit。ThiscomesofCooper’sinadequacyasanobserver。
ThereaderwillfindsomeexamplesofCooper’shightalentforinaccurateobservationintheaccountoftheshooting—matchinThePathfinder。
\"Acommonwroughtnailwasdrivenlightlyintothetarget，itsheadhavingbeenfirsttouchedwithpaint。\"
Thecolorofthepaintisnotstated——animportantomission，butCooperdealsfreelyinimportantomissions。No，afterall，itwasnotanimportantomission;forthisnail—headisahundredyardsfromthemarksmen，andcouldnotbeseenbythematthatdistance，nomatterwhatitscolormightbe。
Howfarcanthebesteyesseeacommonhouse—fly？Ahundredyards？Itisquiteimpossible。Verywell;eyesthatcannotseeahouse—flythatisahundredyardsawaycannotseeanordinarynailheadatthatdistance，forthesizeofthetwoobjectsisthesame。Ittakesakeeneyetoseeaflyoranailheadatfiftyyards——onehundredandfiftyfeet。Canthereaderdoit？