Citation
Delineations of American scenery and character

Material Information

Title:
Delineations of American scenery and character
Creator:
Audubon, John James, 1785-1851
Herrick, Francis Hobart, 1858-1940
Audubon, John James, 1785-1851
Place of Publication:
New York
Publisher:
Baker
Publication Date:
Language:
English
Physical Description:
xlix, 349 p. : front. (port.) ; 25 cm.

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Frontier and pioneer life -- United States ( lcsh )
Description and travel -- North America ( lcsh )

Notes

Bibliography:
"Brief bibliography of the works of John James Audubon": p. vii-viii.
General Note:
"Large paper copy, with mezzotint portrait by F. Cruickshank. Of only 42 copies printed this is no. 35".
General Note:
"Essays, which extended through the first three volumes of the Ornithological biography to sixty in number are here collected, with the omission only of the last, Remarks on the form of the toes of birds,' for the first time in a single volume".
Statement of Responsibility:
With an introd. by Francis Hobart Herrick.

Record Information

Source Institution:
University of Florida
Holding Location:
University of Florida
Rights Management:
All applicable rights reserved by the source institution and holding location.
Resource Identifier:
020935267 ( ALEPH )
01135190 ( OCLC )
AAL8267 ( NOTIS )

Full Text




















DELINEATIONS

AMERICAN SCENERY
and


CHARACTER







DELINEATIONS

of


AMERICAN SCENERY

and

CHARACTER


BY


JOHN


JAMES


AUDUBON


FRANCIS H
Professor
Author


WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BT
OBART HERRICK, PH.D., Sc.D.
of Biology in Western Beserve University
of "Audubon, the Naturalist: A History
of His Life and Time."


G. A. BAKER & COMPANY


NEW YORK












































r


JOHN


AMES


Avu


BON


Painted from Life in 183 by Henry Inman









































Copyright, 1926, by
G. A. BAKER & CO., INC.


































PRINTED AND BOD B BY THe VAIL-BALLOU PRESS


BINGHAMTON AND NEW YORK. U.


S. A.
















CONTENTS


INTRODUCTION .
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
AUTHOR'S PREFACE, PART II
THE OHIO
THE GREAT PINE SWAMP
THE PRAIRIE
THE REGULATORS
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE NAVIG
A FLOOD .
MEADVILLE


THE COUGAR
THE EARTHQUAKE
THE HURRICANE
KENTUCKY SPORTS
THE TRAVELLER AND
DEER HUNTING


NIAGARA.
HOSPITALITY IN THE WOODS
THE ORIGINAL PAINTER
LOUISVILLE IN KENTUCKY
THE ECCENTRIC NATURALIST
SCIPIO AND THE BEAR
COLONEL BOON .
THE RUNAWAY .
THE LOST ONE
THE FORCE OF THE WATERS
THE SQUATTERS OF THE MISSIS
THE SQUATTERS OF LABRADOR
DEATH OF A PIRATE
A BALL IN NEWFOUNDLAND
THE LIVE-OAKERS ..
SPRING GARDEN ., t.i r. r-,


*. I ;.i


ATION OF THE ISSISSIP
ATION OF THE MISSISSIP)


*- r.


THE POLE-CAT


.1 r'.


** r* r*i1

SIPPI I.
* r.I I*
* t.' I.!


PA0E
ix
.. xxi

,. 1
. 6
. 14
. 19
PI 23
. 29
S36
. 41
,. 48
,. 5%
,. 56
. 64
.68
76
. 79
,. 86

. 97
.105
.111
.117
.124
.130
. 17
. 14
.150
. 156
.162
. 168







CONTENTS


ST. JOHN'S RIVER, IN FLORIDA
THE FLORIDA KEYS .
THE FLORIDA KEYS
THE TURTLERS
THE BURNING OF THE FORESTS
A MOOSE HUNT
JOURNEY IN NEW BRUNSWICK AND
THE BAY OF FUND
COD-FISHING IN LABRADOR
THE MERCHANT OF SAVANNAH
KENTUCKY BARBECUE ON THE FOi
THE AMERICAN SUN PERCH
THE EGGERS OF LABRADOR


MAINE


URTH OF JULY


FISHING IN THE OHIO .
THE WRECKERS OF FLORIDA .
THE WHITE PERCH AND ITS FAVOURITE BAIT
A RACOON HUNT IN KENTUCKY
A WILD HORSE .
REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS BEWICK .
PITTING OF THE WOLVES .
A TOUGH WALK FOR A YOUTH
BREAKING UP OF THE ICE
A MAPLE-SUGAR CAMP .
THE OPOSSUM .
A LONG CALM AT SEA .
STILL BECALMED .
NATCHEZ IN 1820 .
THE LOST PORTFOLIO .
LABRADOR . .
GREAT EGG HARBOUR .


PABE
. 174
.181
.188
. 194
. 203
. 10
. 17
. 2294
. 230
. 237
. 241
. 246
. 253
. 259
. 267
. 275
. 281
. 287
. 298
. 299
. 304
. 310
. 314
.318
. 323
. 328
. 332
. 336
. 341
. 46





ERRATA

Page xi, third line from bottom: read 1889 instead
of 1898.
Audubon's spelling of personal names such as "Boon"
has been followed throughout.













BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WORKS OF
JOHN JAMES AUDUBON


THE BIRDS OF
435 plates
double elej
ORNITHOLOGICJ
of the Bir
panied by


AMERICA, from Original Drawings. With
showing 1,065 life-sized figures. 4 Volumes,


phi
AL
ds
d


"The Birds


ant folio. London, 1827-1888.
BIOGRAPHY ; or, An Account of the Habits
of the United States of America; accom-
escriptions of the Objects represented in
of America," etc. 5 Vols., Royal 8vo.


Edinburgh, 1881-1889.
Text to the plates noted above.
A SYNOPSIS OF THE BIRDS OF AMERICA.
& London, 1889.


Edinburgh


THE



THE


THE


THE


THE

THE


BIRDS OF AMERICA, from Drawings made in the T
States and its Territories. With 500 plates. I
in 100 parts, Royal 8vo. New York and Philadel
1840-1844.
BIRDS OF A RICA, from Drawings made in the U
States and its Territories. With 500 plates. 7
Royal 8vo. New York and Philadelphia, 1840-
VivIPous QUADRUPEDS OF NORTH AMERICA
John Bachman). With 150 plates. Issued i
parts. Imperial folio. New York, 1845-1846.
VIVIPAROUS QUADRUPEDS OF NORTH AMERICA.
to the plates noted above. 8 Vols., Royal 8vo.
York, 1846-1854.


United
issued
lphia,


united
Vols.,
1844.
(with
n 80

Text
New


QUADRUPEDS OF NORTH AMEnICA. With 155 plates.
8 Vols., Royal 8vo. New York, 1849-1854.
BIRDS OF AMERICA. Second Edition of the Octavo
form. 7 Vols., Royal 8vo. New York, 1856.
vii






BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY


THE


BIRDS OF


AMERICA.


With


106 plates.


Partial


issue of the large folio edition, never completed.
York, 1860.


New


THE BIRDS OF


AMERICA, etc.


7 Vols


., Royal 8vo.


Text


issued to the above. Ne
THE BIRDS OF AMERICA, etc.


w York, 1861.
Third Edition of the Octavo


form.


7 Vols.


, Imperial 8vo.,


New York, 1861.


THE


BIRDS OF


AMERICA, etc.


Re-issue of


the above.


Vols.


THE BIRDS OF


, Imperial 8vo.,


AMERICA,


New York, 1863.
etc. Re-issue of the Third Edi-


tion, arranged into 8 Vols., Imperial 8vo., New
1865.


York,


THE BIRDS OF


Vols.


AMERICA, etc.


, Imperial 8vo.,


Re-issue of the above.


New York, [1870.]


For the fullest Bibliography of the
see "Audubon the Naturalist:


Writings of Audubon,
A History of His Life


and Time,"
York, 1917.


Francis


Herrick.


2 Vols.


New


Vol. II, pages 401-456.












INTRODUCTION

Beyond a doubt John James Audubon was one of the most
versatile and striking characters that has ever appeared in
our history. In ardor and enthusiasm for the study of
nature perhaps no one has ever surpassed him, and no one
can measure the influence which his talents and devotion
have exerted upon his favorite pursuits.
Until recent years Audubon had been regarded as the
Melchizedek of American natural history, nothing having


been certainly known
his parentage and e


up to
early lif


that time concerning his birth,
.e. Then the personal letters


and family documents of his father, Lieutenant Jean Audu-
bon, were suddenly discovered in surprising abundance at
Coueron in France, where, in a villa on the right bank of the
Loire, they had lain unnoticed for nearly an hundred years.
The veil of mystery which had so completely enveloped the
life of his illustrious son was suddenly lifted and we were
enabled to form a more just estimate of his character and
work.
"America, my country," whose life and scenery Audubon
never tired of celebrating, has not forgotten him. A lofty
peak in the Rocky Mountains, American counties and towns,
as well as parks and streets in American cities now bear his
name; and the far-famed and beneficent National Associa-
tion of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds
and Animals in recent years has made his name a household
word throughout the land which he loved and whose bird and
wild life he has depicted in unfading colors.
Notwithstanding AudiLbon's great fame and success as an
animal painter and descriptive writer, the public has never
had access to his work in cheap editions. It should be no-
IX






x INTRODUCTION
ticed that his accounts of the birds were much more detailed
than those of his famous contemporary, Alexander Wilson,
and that his publications were projected on a large and ex-
pensive scale. It is therefore hardly surprising that no re-
print of even the smaller edition of his Birds has been made
for half a century.
Audubon's greatest monument in the fields of natural his-
tory and the graphic arts is the series of four-hundred and
thirty-five double elephant folio plates that was published
in Edinburgh and London from 1826 to 1838 and called
The Birds of America, together with the five volumes of text
entitled Ornithological Biography, which accompanied this
and were issued at Edinburgh in 1831-39. Audubon had


represented on his plates 1,065 life-size figures of
posedly distinct species of American birds, besides
of examples of American plants, insects and other
To relieve the tedium of descriptive ornithology
introduced articles of a general nature into his Bio
and called them "Episodes," or "Delineations of 1
Scenery and Character," one such following every


cles which described the
responding "part" of
extended through the fir
ical Biography to sixty
the omission only of the
Toes of Birds," for the f
These off-hand sketch


species of birds
his plates. Th
st three volumes
in number, are h
last, "Remarks o


depicted


489 sup-
hundreds
animals.
Audubon
graphics,
American
five arti-
in a cor-


ese essays, which
of the Ornitholog-
iere collected, with
in the Form of the


first time in a single volume.
ies mainly relate to events between


1808 and 1834, and as sidelights on pioneer life in America,
particularly of the Ohio and Mississippi Vallies, they have a
perennial interest. The reader will find numerous tales of
adventure in the wilderness and on the frontier, particularly
in Kentucky, which for local coloring, vivid presentment and
personal charm have seldom been equalled. Audubon was a
keen observer of men and things as well as of birds and ani-
mal life, and when writing down his experiences on the spot,
as was his invariable custom after 1820, he was as truthful






INTRODUCTION


with his pen as with his pencil and brush. There is a wild
and placid beauty in this description of the Ohio, his favor-
ite river,-La Belle Riviere as the compatriots of his an-
cestors had called it at an earlier day :-"As night came,
sinking in darkness the broader portions of the river, our
minds became affected by strong emotions, and wandered
far beyond the present moments. The tinkling of bells told
us that the cattle which bore them were gently roving from
valley to valley in search of food, or returning to their dis-
tant homes. The hooting of the Great Owl, or the muffled


noise of its wings as it sailed smoothly over
matters of interest to us; so was the sound
horn, as it came winding more and more s
When daylight returned, many songsters
echoing notes, more and more mellow to t
Here and there the lonely cabin of a squ
eye, giving note of commencing civilization
of the stream by a deer foretold how soon t


the stream, were
of the boatman's
;oftly from afar.
burst forth with
he listening ear.
latter struck the
i. The crossing
;he hills would be


covered with snow."
With wonderful vividness also can we see the interior of
the log-cabin in Kentucky, where he and his young son
sought refuge on a stormy night in the forest, and to which
the hospitable young woodsman had just brought his bride;
the coon-hunter loading his rifle, or the belles with their
beaux at "A Ball in Newfoundland." When returning from
St. Genevieve in what is now Missouri, in the spring of 1811,
with his knapsack, gun and dog as his only baggage and
companions, and when following the old Indian trails, he met
with an adventure which he thought had nearly cost him his
life; and that, he said, was the only instance, during up-
wards of twenty-five years in which his wanderings extended
to every part of the country, that he felt his life to have
been in danger from his fellow man. "Will you believe,"
he said when writing in 1893, "that not many miles from the
place where this adventure happened, and where fifteen
years ago no habitation belonging to civilized man was to be






INTRODUCTION


expected, and very few ever seen, large roads are now laid
out, cultivation has converted the woods into fertile fields,
taverns have been erected, and much of what we Americans
call comfort is to be met with. So fast does improvement
proceed in our abundant and free country."
Audubon foresaw with great concern the alteration which
cultivation would produce along the delightful banks of his
favorite stream, as he beheld "the surplus population of
Europe coming to assist in the destruction of the forest"
then "fast disappearing under the axe by day and the fire


by night"; and he lc
adequately protraye
late and when, as he
ator's own hand. I


rnged
id by
wouli
[e, at i


to have his incomparable country
competent hands ere it was too


d say
least,


portray the birds of his adopted
attitudes and environments, whe


appropriate
mirror to na


foliage, flowers an
ture in the accuracy


well. These "Delineations" wei
work a more intimate and huma
the reader. Such an ambition
the man's ardent enthusiasm, res
ity of purpose; but the canvass


was obliged
make way f
ornithology,
When Au
knocks, had


, it was fresh from the Cre-
would do all in his power to
d land in their characteristic
ether moving or at rest, amid
1 fruits,-all holding up the
:y of truth and in beauty as
re to be added also to give his
in touch as well as to beguile
was enough to call out all of
sourcefulness and iron tenac-
was too large, and Audubon


to give up his intercalated sketches in order to
or the new materials relating more directly to
which were constantly growing under his hand.
dubon, through dint of many failures and hard
come to the full realization of his mission, and


when, at the age of thirty-five, his serious travels over the


New and later
experience to g(
the forest or in
home and there
work. At corn
failure, but in
nature" he had


over the Old World began, he turned every
Dod account. Wherever he slept, whether in
the settlements, there for the time he was at
his "observatory nerves" and pencil were at
mercial book-keeping he had proved a total
the care with which he posted his "books of


few equals.


Every night, in spite of bodily






INTRODUCTION


fatigue or the many plausible excuses which are ever ready
at hand, he would write out in pen and ink a full and careful
record of his experiences of the day. Audubon was always
the observer and the doer, and perhaps at times the actor as
well, rather than the thinker, but he kept an honest record
of himself, and the power of expression which he thus at-
tained stood him in good stead when at the age of forty-six


he came to produce his Bird-Biographies
One hundred years from the day and


in Europe.
date on which this


is written John James Audubon was at sea, aboard the
schooner Delos, captain Joseph Hatch, of Kennebunk,
Maine, which had sailed from New Orleans on the seventh of
May and was bound for Liverpool with a cargo of cotton.
Though he had then attained his forty-first year he was
known to but few of his countrymen, yet his handsome face
and French accent, aside from his flowing hair and nether
garments of liberal dimensions, would have marked him any-
where as an unusual character. He had fortified himself
with valuable letters, but his most important credentials were
the fruits of a life's campaign,-his original paintings of
American birds, contained in sundry large portfolios that
constituted his principal baggage. Having been denied the
encouragement and recognition which he craved in the land
of his adoption mainly through the jealousy of a few in-
dividuals at Philadelphia, who could not brook a rival to the
fame of Alexander Wilson, Audubon had now resolutely
turned his face to the Old World, and in London or Paris
he hoped to find an engraver of his drawings as well as
patrons through whose aid he could bring his labors to the
light of day.
The story of this unknown foreigner's struggles and
eventual success in the Europe of that period, which in an
economic sense still belonged essentially to the eighteenth
century, is one of the strangest romances in the history of
science and literature of the past hundred years. In less
than a week after his landing in Liverpool, unheralded and







INTRODUCTION


not over supplied with funds, he was invited to exhibit his
pictures at the Royal Itntitution and was immediately pro-
claimed as a great American genius. It was not long before
this artist-naturalist from the woods of the New World be-
came the social lion of the day. At Edinburgh he attracted
the ablest scientific and literary characters of the British
Athens and he was liberally patronized by the aristocracy.
There Lizars engraved the first of his mammoth plates,--,
the American Turkey Cock,-and showed him a proof of it
on the twenty-eighth of November, 1826. Good copies of
this, the most sought after, and possibly the rarest, of all
Audubon's plates, together with number eleven, the "Great
American Hen and Young," which was engraved by Lizars
also, have brought upwards of five hundred dollars in Amer-
ica in recent years. Audubon was compelled to transfer his
publication to London, where under the Havells, father and
son, it took a fresh start in the spring of 1827, and where
under the skilful hands of Robert Havell, Junior, it was
brought to a successful completion eleven years later.
After Audubon had weathered the critical summer of 1827
his prospects brightened and honors came to him in rapid
succession. In 1828 he was elected a member of the Lin-
naean Society, and a fellow of the Royal Society in 1830.
In the latter year he brought his wife to England, and in
1832 his elder son, Victor, took charge of his publication
in London. Audubon's return with his wife, who was Eng-
lish born and bred, marked one of the happiest periods of
his life. For ten years she had worked for the support and
upbringing of their children in order that her husband's
hands might be free to follow his true vocation: never for a


moment had she doubted his genil
ment now vindicated before all th<
that without the sterling quality
husband's name would not have
scenes of his trading ventures of


as, and was
e world? I
es of Lucy


not her judg-
t is safe to say
Audubon her


reached far beyond
the South and West.


Audubon learned much from his early experience in writ-






INTRODUCTION


ing for publication in 1827, when he was bitterly assailed,
as many thought, by those who hW poured cold water on
his plans at Philadelphia in 1824; but this and other attacks


which followed probably helped him in the end.
events, in his powers of expression, Audubon was not
time the illiterate novice that certain antagonists i
timated, as his journalizing will amply testify.
Wilson, or "Christopher North," who recognized Auc
great talents from the first, and gave him much
literary advice, devoted fifty pages of Blackwood's
zine to eulogistic reviews of the first volume of the 4
logical Biography. "Audubon," he said, "who had
but little even in his native tongue, under a powerful
took to writing English; and he was not long in le
to write it well, not only with fluency, but eloquenc


At all
at this
had in-
John
dubon's
needed
Maga-
Ornith-
written
motive
airing
e.


Not a particle of jealousy is in his composition; a sin, that,
alas! seems too easily to beset too many of the most gifted
spirits in literature and science."
Wilson was essentially right in his estimate of Audubon
with whom, as with every one else, more than genius was
needed for good writing; his checkered career had been rich
in experience; he had gone to nature, the fountain-head, for
his materials, and once his mission was clearly seen the spur
to fulfil it was never lacking; but having been denied an
education in either the sciences or the classics, he stood in
need of aid as well as advice. Both he later received in full
measure from William Macgillivray, who in addition to cor-
recting his letterpress supplied the anatomical details of the
Ornithological Biography; and the aid thus received was
acknowledged in a way satisfactory to both.
In the course of an interrupted residence of thirteen years
in the British Isles Audubon made three extended journeys
through the United States, which occupied nearly five years
(1829-30, 1831-34 and 1836-37) in search of new birds
and subscribers. In 1833 he chartered his own vessel and
sailed for Labrador with five assistants, while the spring of






xvi INTRODUCTION
1837 found him aboard a Government vessel bound from
New Orleans for Galveston in the newly established Republic
of Texas.
In the earlier and more critical years of his undertaking
Audubon constantly resorted to his palette and brush and
painted his way to liberty, or to what was then its equivalent,
freedom from debt. "There are moments," he said in 1835,


"and they are not far between, when, thinking of my
enormous undertaking, I wonder how I have been
support the extraordinary amount of monies paid
work alone, without taking cognizance of my family
expeditions, which ever and anon travelling as we a
place to place and country to country are also very


Yet Audubon supported himself and his family
long residence aboard, met all the obligations in'
publication of a work which cost upwards of
thousand dollars to produce, a sum that meant
tune in the first third of the last century, an


present
able to
for the
and my
re from
great."


during their
curred in the
one hundred
a large for-
d with fame


and a modest competence returned to the land of his ch
in 1839.
Audubon's great work was now accomplished and he
ticipated a well earned leisure at home; but his restless
ergy still drove him on and he entered at once upon
formidable tasks, the bringing out of his "small" or oci
revised edition of The Birds, and the beginning of the
lineation of The Quadrupeds, in which he was aided by


two sons, and the accompanying text
by his friend Bachman. In 1842 he
in what is now the portion of New Ye
bon Park, which he deeded to his wi:
"Minnie's land"; the name, said his g
from the fact that her father and i
Scotch name "Minnie" for mother.


loice

an-
en-
two
tavo
de-
'his


of which was written
settled upon his estate
ork City called Audu-
fe and named for her
granddaughter, coming
incle always used the
This was in Carmans-


ville, later known as Washington Heights, where he pur-
chased between thirty and forty acres of land which extended
a thousand feet along the Hudson River from the present






INTRODUCTION


One hundred and Fifty-fifth
eighth Streets, and reached
village at the old Bloomingdal
sterdam Avenue.
Though feeling the weigh
discouraged by his family, wha
1843, Audubon set out with f
one of his greatest journeys,
Missouri and Yellowstone Riv
though unable to attain his


to One hundred and Fifty-
to the easterly limits of the
Le Road, near the present Am-

t of his laborious years and
3 felt for his safety, in March,
our friends and assistants for
to the region of the Upper
ers, then little known; and al-
long contemplated goal, the


Rocky Mountains, he returned in the autumn with many
new birds and mammals. To judge from his portraits,
Audubon aged greatly between 1848 and 1850, when at the
age of sixty-five he had the appearance of a broken and
feeble man; and he died at "Minnie's Land" on January 27,
LS8, before the completion of his sixty-sixth year. His
grave, now in Trinity Cemetery, New York, is marked by
a beautiful Runic cross in white marble which was erected


by popular subscription and dedicated in 1898.
To revert to the mystery that was so successfully spread
over the early life of John James Audubon that probably
not a single member of his family in America ever learned
ht e facts : Audubon at one time declared that he belonged


to every
birth wa
*


country, at another that
s a complete enigma to h
V 3 1 1


the precise period of his
tim, and, stranger yet, he
1 11 1


was not adverse to Demg considered mucn older than ne
really was. The first definite date which he gave of his own
history was that of his marriage to Lucy Bakewell on June
12, 1808. His granddaughter, Maria R. Audubon, ac-


cepted the late tradition, without a
dence in support of it, that he was


shred of historical evi-
a Louisianian by birth


and first saw light on a certain plantation on the north side
of Lake Pontchartrain about 1780. Fables, like traditions
are commonly of slow growth, but when they have become
entrenched in the popular mind by a process of gradual
absorption their tenacity of life is remarkable. No doubt


[






xviii


INTRODUCTION


the false halo of mystery and tradition which has gathered
about the life of this remarkable man will be cherished and
repeated by the uninformed for many years to come.
Fougere,-in English, Fern,--Jean Rabin, or Jean
Jacques Fougbre, to give his baptismal name, was born at
Les Cayes, Santo Domingo, in what is now Haiti, on April
26, 1785, the natural son of Lieutenant Jean Audubon and
a French creole woman, named Rabin.
The most important records concerning Audubon's early


life have now been
the physician who
of his birth, the rec
the second year of
commanded a sloop


recovered and include the curious bill of
attended Audubon's mother at the time
ord of his adoption at Nantes in 1794,-
the Republic, when his father as ensign
of war,-the certificate of his baptism at


Nantes in his sixteenth year, and the


Coueron by Jean A
tween May 20, 181
ous other pertinent
Life of the nature
fullest manner the
Jean Audubon's so
probably never be
and enterprising i
energy, his versatile
that inherent capa


wills executed at


Ludubon and his wife, Anne Moynet, be-
2 and July 16, 1821. These and numer-
documents, which are reproduced in the
ralist published in 1917, contain in the
statements repeated here. How much
n owed to his French creole mother will
known, but to his capable, self-taught


rather we can surely
e mind and mercurial
city for taking pains


trace
tempe
which


his restless
r, as well as
father and


son possessed in a marked degree.
Audubon's life offers a striking example of the power
which circumstance and environment can exert in awaken-
ing dormant capacity and in calling into action every talent
which heredity has supplied. Long thought to be indolent
by some of his neighbors because he did not stick behind the
counter or follow their pursuits, and also "suthin' peculiar-
some," as Dennis Hanks said of young Abe Lincoln, Audu-
bon at the age of forty suddenly emerges from obscurity and


1 Herrick, Francis H.: Audubon the Naturalist:
Life and Time. Two volumes. New York, 1917.


A History






INTRODUCTION xix

is soon recognized as one of the great workers of the world.
Who can say whether his success in the end was not due as
much to a winning personality and enthusiasm as to his
remarkable talents ?
FRANCIS H. HERRICK.
Western Reserve University,
June 80, 1926.
















AUTHOR'S PREFACE

WHEN, for the first time, I left my father, and all the dear


friends of my youth, to cross
my native shores from those
sunk within me. While the


ship that


the
of t
bree.


from La Belle France conv


land of my birth, the lingering hour
sorrow or melancholy musing. Even
waters that heaved around me excite
affections were with those I had left I
seemed to me a great wilderness. At
country in which my eyes first opened
with rapture upon its noble forests,
landed, than I set myself to mark ev
sented itself, and became imbued with
discover the purpose and import of t


great ocean that separates
he eastern world, my heart
zes wafted along the great


eyed me towards the
s were spent in deep
the mighty mass of
id little interest: my
behind, and the world
length I reached the


to the light; I gazed
and no sooner had I


rery object
i an anxious
hat nature


t


spread around me in luxuriant profusion. But
anon the remembrance of the kind parent, from
had been parted by uncontrollable circumstances,


that pre-
desire to
vhich lay
ever and
whom I
filled my


mind, and as I continued my researches, and penetrated
deeper into the forest, I daily became more anxious to re-
turn to him, and to lay at his feet the simple results of my
multiplied exertions.
Reader, since I left you, I have felt towards you as to-
wards that parent. When I parted from him he evinced
his sorrow; when I returned he met me with an affectionate
smile. If my recollection of your kind indulgence has not
deceived me, I carried with me to the western world your
wish that I should return to you; and the desire of gratify-
ing that wish, ever present with me as I wandered amidst


the deep


forests,


or scaled


the rugged


rocks,


in regions







PREFACE


which I visited expressly for the purpose of studying nature
and pleasing you, has again brought me into your presence:
I have returned to present you with all that seems most
interesting in my collections. Should you accept the offer-
ing, and again smile benignantly upon me, I shall be content
and happy.
Soon after the engraving of my work commenced, I bade
adieu to my valued friends in Edinburgh, whose many kind-
nesses were deeply impressed on my heart. The fair city
gradually faded from my sight, and, as I crossed the dreary
heaths of the Lammermoor, the mental prospect became
clouded; but my spirits revived as I entered the grounds
of Mr. Selby, of Twizel House, for in him I knew I pos-
sessed a friend. The few days spent under his most hos-
pitable roof, and the many pleasures I enjoyed there, I shall
ever remember with gratitude.
I was then on my way to London, which I had never yet
visited. The number of letters given me to facilitate my
entry into the metropolis of England, and to aid me in pro-
curing subscribers to my work, accumulated during my
progress. At Newcastle-upon-Tyne I made my next halt.
There the venerable Bewick, the Adamsons, the Turners,
the Donkins, the Buddies, the Charnleys and others, re-
ceived me with great kindness, and helped to increase my
list of subscribers. The noble family of the Ravensworths I
also added to my friends, and from them I have since re-
ceived important benefits, narticularlv from the Honourable


Thomas Liddell, whose partiality for my pursuits induced
him to evince a warm interest in my favour, which I shall
ever acknowledge with feelings of affection and esteem.
It was there, reader, that, as my predecessor Wilson had
done in America, I for the first time in England exhibited
some engravings of my work, together with the contents of


my portfolios. I cannot say that the employment was
a pleasant one to me, nor do I believe it was so to him;
but by means of it he at the time acquired that fame, of


!


I






PREFACE


xxmi


which I also was desirous of obtaining a portion; and, know-
ing that should I be successful, it would greatly increase
the happiness of my wife and children, I waged war against
my feelings, and welcomed all, who, from love of science,
from taste, or from generosity, manifested an interest in the
"American Woodsman."
See him, reader, in a room crowded by visitors, holding


at arm's
varied ol
and then
one placid
was conti
don; but
where I
Phillips,
fessor of


Minster.


length each of his large drawings, listening to the
)servations of the lookers-on, and feel, as he now
did, the pleasure which he experienced when some
ed his sign manual on the list. This occupation
inued all the way until I reached the skirts of Lon-
the next place to which I went was the city of York,
formed acquaintance with a congenial spirit, Mr.
who is now well known to you as an eminent Pro-
Geology. There also I admired the magnificent
within whose sacred walls I in silence offered up


my humble prayer to heaven.
At Leeds, the Gotts, the
Marshalls, the Davys, were a]
I found a fine museum belongir


amiable family of the Cal
were chiefly spent.
On my second visit to
twenty subscribers in one
persons whose friendship
particularly mention the
shires, and the Sowlers.
Having once more rei


Rathbones, at
and I poured
favours which
to my friends
to my "Birds c
My journey


Liverpool, I felt my
forth my thanks to
I had in so short a
the names of more
)f America."
was continued throu


Bankses, the Walkers, the
[ extremely kind to me, and
ig to the most interesting and


verts, in whose society my evenings


Manchester I obtained upwards of
week, and became acquainted with
has never failed. Of them I may
Dyers, the Kennedys, the Darbi-


ached


the hospitable home


heart expand within me,
my Maker for the many
period received. I read
than seventy subscribers


gh Chester, Birmingham,


and Oxford, and I passed in view of the regal and magnifi-






PREFACE


cent Castle of Windsor.
the day I reached the ver;
describe. Suffice it, kind
the alternations of hope


metropolis.
horror or
pallid pove
almost in
monument
the power
thronging


I cannot gi
of my admiral
!rty groping in
despair, beheld
ever raised to


grandeur


The impression made on my mind
y heart of London I am unable to
reader, to tell you that many were
and fear as I traversed the vast
ve you an adequate idea of my
ion, when on the one side I saw
filth and rags, and turning away
I the huge masses of the noblest
St. Paul, which reminded me of


man ;-and


along


with


crowds I moved, like them intent on making my


way through the world.
Eighty-two letters of introduction were contained in my
budget. Besides these I was the bearer of general letters
from Henry Clay, Speaker of the House of Congress, Gen-
eral Andrew Jackson, and other individuals in America, to
all our diplomatists and consuls in Europe and elsewhere.
Thus, reader, you will perceive that I had some foundation
for the hope that I should acquire friends in the great city.
In May, 1827, I reached that emporium of the produc-
tions of all climes and nations. After gazing a day on all
that I saw of wonderful and interesting, I devoted the rest
of my time to visiting. Guided by a map, I proceeded along
the crowded streets, and endeavoured to find my way
through the vast labyrinth. From one great man's door to
another I went; but judge of my surprise, reader, when,
after wandering the greater part of three successive days,
early and late, and at all hours, I had not found a single
individual at home!
Wearied and disappointed, I thought my only chance of


getting
post, an
cepting
British
delight
friends


my letters delivered was to consign them to the
d accordingly I handed them all over to its care, ex-
one, which was addressed to "J. G. Children, Esq.,
Museum." Thither I now betook myself, and was
d to meet with that kind and generous person, whose
ip I have enjoyed ever since. He it was who


XXiv






PREFACE


XXV


pointed out to me the great error I had committed in hav-
ing put my letters into the post-office, and the evil arising


from this step is perhaps st
probably deprived me of tl


persons
a week,
my lett
became
of the


to whom
about halt
ers, left tl
acquainted
Museum ii


they wen
a dozen
heir cards
I with a fe
itroduced


acquaintance with the benevole
came known to other noblemen,


ill hanging over
he acquaintance
e addressed. In
of the gentlemen
at my rooms.
ew of them, and r
me to others.


nt Lord S
liberal like


me, for it h
of half of t
the course
who had re
By degrees


ny good friend
I renewed my
anley, and be-
himself. Soon


after I was elected a Member of the Linnaean and Zoological
Societies.
About this time, the Prince of Musignano, so well known


for his
in Lond
learned
had the
by that
I felt 1
ornithol
friend,
until a
and sin
several


successful cultivation of Natural History, arrived
ion. He found me out through the medium of the
geologist, Featherstonhaugh, and one evening I
pleasure of receiving a visit from him, accompanied
; gentleman, Mr. Vigors, and some other persons.
happy in having once more by my side my first
logical adviser, and that amiable and highly talented
with the accomplished geologist, remained with me
late hour. Their departure affected me with grief,
.ce that period I have not seen the Prince. For


mo


inths I occupied


attending to the progress
quainted with that emine
Lawrence, through a kine
delphia; from both of wi
ceived advice with refers
morning I had the good
Swainson, whose skill as
who has ever since been


i

C

2


d myself with painting in oil, and
s of my plates. I now became ac-
it and amiable painter, Sir Thomas
Hired spirit, Thomas Sully, of Phila-
Lom, at different periods, I have re-
rnce to their enchanting art. One
fortune to receive a visit from Mr.
a naturalist every one knows, and
my substantial friend. M. Tem-


minck also called, as did other scientific individuals, among
whom was my ever-valued friend Robert Bakewell, whose
investigations have tended so much to advance the progress


:E







xxvi PREFACE
of geology; and as my acquaintance increased I gradually
acquired happiness. Having visited those renowned seats
of learning, Cambridge and Oxford, I became .acquainted at
the former with the Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Davie, Professors
Sedgwick, Whewell, and Henslow, the Right Honourable
Wentworth Fitzwilliam, John Lodge, Esq., Dr. Thackery,
and many other gentlemen of great learning and talent; at
the latter, with Dr. Buckland, Dr. Kidd, and others.
These Universities afforded me several subscribers.
In the summer of 1828, my friend Swainson and I went to
Paris, where I became acquainted with the great Cuvier,
Geoffroy St. Hilaire, his son Isidore, M. Dorbigny, and
M. Lesson, as well as that master of flower-painters, M.
Redoute, and other persons eminent in science and the arts.
Our time in Paris was usefully and agreeably spent. We
were gratified at the liberality with which every object that
we desired to examine in the great Museum of France was
submitted to our inspection. Many of our evenings were
spent under the hospitable roof of Baron Cuvier', where
the learned of all countries usually assembled. Through
the influence of my noble-spirited friend, M. Redout6, I
was introduced to the Duke of Orleans, now King of the
French, and to several Ministers of State. The hour spent
with Louis Phillippe and his Son, was, by their dignified
urbanity, rendered one of the most agreeable that has fallen
to my lot; and in consequence of that interview I procured
many patrons and friends.
Returning to England, I spent the winter there, arid in
April, 1829, sailed for America. With what pleasure did
I gaze on each setting sun, as it sunk in the far distant west!
With what delight did I mark the first wandering American
bird that hovered over the waters! and how joyous were
my feelings when I saw a pilot on our deck! I leaped on
the shore, scoured the woods of the Middle States, and
reached Louisiana in the end of November. Accompanied
by my wife, I left New Orleans on the 8th of January, 1830,







PREFACE


xxvii


and sailing from New York on the 1st of April, we had the
pleasure, after a voyage of twenty-five days, of landing in
safety at Liverpool, and finding our friends and relations
well. When I arrived in London, my worthy friend, J. G.
Children, Esq., presented me with a Diploma from the
Royal Society. Such an honour conferred on an American
Woodsman could not but be highly gratifying to him. I
took my seat in the hall, and had the pleasure of pressing
the hand of the learned President with a warm feeling of


esteem. I believe
more particularly
And now, kind
period when I pre


I am indebted
to Lord Stanley
reader, having
sented you with


for this mark of favour
and Mr. Children.
traced my steps to the
my first volume of Illus-


trations and that of my Ornithological Biographies, allow
me to continue my narrative.
Previous to my departure from England, on a second
visit to the United States, I had the honour and gratification


of being


presented


Sussex, who
recommendat
With others
Noble Lords
We sailed
York, where
Philadelphia


to his


Royal


graciously favored me
ion to the authorities


Highness the Duke of
with a general letter of
in the British colonies.


of a similar nature I was also honoured by the
Stanley, Palmerston, Howick, and Goderich.
on the 1st of August, 1831, and landed at New
I spent a few days only, and proceeded to
. There I found my old and firm friends


Harlan, Wetherell,
others, a few subsc
two assistants, one
highly talented Swi


Pickering, Sully, Norris,
ribers, and some diplomas.
from London, Mr. Ward,
iss, Mr. George Lehman.


Walsh, and
I had now
the other a
At Washing-


ton I received from the heads of our Government letters of
assistance and protection along the frontiers, which it was
my intention to visit. For these acts of kindness and en-
couragement, without which my researches would have been
more arduous and less efficient, I am much indebted, and
gratefully offer my acknowledgments, to Major-General
M'Comb, General Jessup, General Gratiot, the Honourable


I


t
*fi


I






xxviii


PREFACE


Messrs. M'Lean, Livingston, and Woodbury, to Colonel
John Abert, and others, whose frank and prompt attentions
will never be forgotten by me. I need not say that towards


our President and the enlightened members
military, and naval departments, I felt the deep


for the facilities which they thu
me in the kindest manner, and
desired of their hands. How o
committed by Wilson, when, in
ton, and presenting himself to
warded his application through


(
e


s afforded me.
accorded to me
ften did I think


)f the civil,
.st gratitude
All received
whatever I
of the error


stead of going to Washing-
President Jefferson, he for-


an uncerta


in


like myself, would doubtless have been receive
and obtained his desire. How often have I
impression his piercing eye would have made (
nating and learned President, to whom in


necessary fo
as much as
presenting h
received by


medium. He,
ed with favour,
thought of the
on the discrimi-
half the time


r reading a letter, he might have said six times
it contained. But, alas! Wilson, instead of
himself, sent a substitute, which, it seems, was not
the President, and which, therefore, could not


have answered the intended end. How pleasing was it to
me to find in our Republic, young as she is, the promtitude
to encourage science, occasionally met with in other coun-


tries. Methinks I am now bidding adieu to the excellent
men who so kindly received me, and am still feeling the
pressure of their hands indicative of a cordial wish for the
success of my undertaking. May He who gave me being
and inspired me with a desire to study his wondrous works,
grant me the means of proving to my country the devoted-
ness with which I strive to render myself not unworthy
of her!
We now proceeded swiftly down the broad Chesapeake
Bay, reached Norfolk, and removing into another steamer
bound to the capital of Virgina, soon arrived at Richmond.
Having made acquaintance, many years before, in Ken-
tucky, with the governor of that State, the Honourable
John Floyd, I went directly to him, was received in the


f
^







PREFACE


xxix


kindest manner, and furnished with letters of introduction;
after which we proceeded southward until we arrived at
Charleston, in South Carolina. It was there that I formed
an acquaintance, now matured into a highly valued friend-
ship, with the Rev. John Bachman, a proficient in general
science, and particularly in zoology and botany, and one
whose name you will often meet with in the course of my


biographies.
my first inte
a few of the
roof, and in
connections.
It was lal
in Charlestoi
stance of m'
to the Rev.


But I cannot refrain from describing to you
review with this generous friend, and mentioning
many pleasures I enjoyed under his hospitable
the company of his most interesting family and


n
It


in the afternoon when we
. Being fatigued, and havil
journey to my family, and
Mr. Gilman, I retired to ]


took our lodgings
ng written the sub-
delivered a letter
rest. At the first


glimpse of day the following morning, my assistants and
myself were already several miles from the city, commen-
cing our search in the fields and woods, and having pro-
cured abundance of subjects, both for the pencil and the
scalpel, we returned home, covered with mud, and so ac-
coutred as to draw towards us the attention of every person
in the streets. As we approached the boarding-house, I
observed a gentleman on horseback close to our door. He
looked at me, came up, inquired if my name was Audubon,
and on being answered in the affirmative, instantly leaped


from
there
of the
I for


his saddle,
is much to
hand-and
a while felt


desire, I removed


shook me most cordially by the hand--


be expressed and understood by
questioned me in so kind a mann
doubtful how to reply. At his
to his house, as did my assistants.


able apartments were assigned to us, and once


intj


to the lovely and interesting group that composed his
I seldom passed a day without enjoying their society.


a shake
er, that
urgent
Suit-
roduced
family,
Serv-


ants, carriages, horses, and dogs, were all at our command,
and friends accompanied us to the woods and plantations,







XXX


PREFACE


and formed parties for water excursions. Before I left
Charleston, I was truly sensible of the noble and generous


spirit of the hos1
Having sailed
occasioned by ac


ditable Carolinians.
I for the Floridas, we, after some delay,
diverse winds, put into a harbour near St.


Simon's Island, where I was so fortunate as to meet with
Thomas Butler King, Esq., who, after replenishing our
provision-stores, subscribed to the "Birds of America." At
length we were safely landed at St. Augustine, and com-
menced our investigation. Of my sojourn in Florida, dur-
ing the winter of 1881-32, you will find some account in
this volume. Returning to Charleston, we passed through
Savannah, respecting my short stay in which city you will
also find some particulars in the sequel. At Charleston
we lived with my friend Bachman, and continued our oc-
cupations. In the beginning of April, through the influence
of letters from the Honourable Lewis M'Lean, of the Treas-
ury Department, and the prompt assistance of Colonel J.


Pringle, we went on board the
commanded by Robert Day,
tion I am greatly indebted
with in my pursuits, during 1
coast of East Florida, and
where rise from the surface of
lilies. At Indian Key, the De
afforded me important aid; a:


revenue cutter, the "Marion,"


Esq., to
for the
his cruize
amongst


whose frie,
success wl
along the


ndly
which
dan


the islets that


the ocean, like gigantic


atten-
I met
gerous
every
water-


!puty-Collector, Mr. Thruston,


nd at Key


hospitality of Major Glassel, his officers
as well as of my friend Dr. Benjamin
inhabitants of that singular island, to all
cerely offer my best thanks for the pleas


Nest I enjoyed the
and their families,
Strobel, and other
of whom I now sin-
ure which their so-


city afforded me, and the acquisitions which their ever
ready assistance enabled me to make.
Having examined every part of the coast which it was the
duty of the commander of the Marion to approach, we re-
turned to Charleston with our numerous prizes, and shortly
afterwards I bent my course eastward, anxious to keep






PREFACE


XXXfl


pace with the birds during their migrations. With the
assistance of my friend Bachman, I now procured for my
assistant, Mr. Ward, a situation of ease and competence,
in the Museum of the Natural History Society of Charles-
ton, and Mr. Lehman returned to his home. At Phila-
delphia I was joined by my family, and once more together
we proceeded towards Boston. That dreadful scourge the
cholera was devastating the land, and spreading terror
around its course. We left Philadelphia under its chastis-
ing hand, and arrived at New York, where it was raging,
while a heavy storm that suddenly burst over our heads


threw an additic
bereft of a great
spending a day p
tinued our journ
Boston! Ah!
the estimable fr
pleasure in that
World. Never,


mnal
par
vith
ey,


gloom over the devoted city,
t of her industrious inhabitants.
our good friends and relatives,
and arrived at Boston.


already
After
we con-


reader, my heart fails me when I think of
ends whose society afforded me so much
beautiful city, the Athens of our Western


I fear, shall I have it


turn a tithe of the hospitality which
wards us, or of the benevolence and


in my pc
was there
generosity


iwer to re-
shewn to-
which we


experienced, and which evidently came from the heart,
without the slightest mixture of ostentation. Indeed, I
must acknowledge that although I have been happy in
forming many valuable friendships in various parts of the
world, all dearly cherished by me, the outpouring of kind-
ness which I experienced at Boston far exceeded all that I
have ever met with.
Who that has visited that fair city, has not admired her
site, her university, her churches, her harbours, the pure
morals of her people, the beautiful country around her,
gladdened by glimpses of villas, each vying with another
in neatness and elegance? Who that has made his pilgrim-
age to her far-famed Bunker's Hill, entered her not less
celebrated Faneuil-Hall, studied the history of her infancy,
her progress, her indignant patriotism, her bloody strife,






xxxii
*
XW11I


PREFACE


enced, as
and amia
tion and


peaceful prosperity-that has more
I have done, the beneficence of her wa
ble sons-has not felt his bosom glow w
love? Think of her Adamses, her F


ver experi-
irm-hearted
ith admira-
'erkins, her


Everetts, her Peabodys, Cushings, Sturgis, Appleton,
Quincys, Storys, Bowditch, Shattuck, Jacksons, Paines,
Greens, Tudors, Davises and Pickerings, whose public and
private life presents all that we deem estimable, and let
them be bright examples of what the citizens of a free land
ought to be. But besides these honourable individuals
whom I have taken the liberty of mentioning, many others
I could speak of with delight; and one I would point out in
particular, as him to whom my deepest gratitude is due,
one whom I cannot omit mentioning, because of all the good
and the estimable, he it is whose remembrance is most dear
to me:-that general friend is -- -- .
About the middle of August we left our Boston friends,
on our way eastward; and, after rambling here and there,
came in sight of Moose Island, on which stands the last fron-
tier town, boldly facing one of the entrances of the Bay of


Fundy. The climate was cc
tants of Eastport were war


me acqu
Captain
obliging
to mine;
early feel


ld, but the hearts of the inhabi-


m.


One day sufficed to render


ainted with all whom I was desirous of knowing.
Childs, the commander of the garrison, was most
to me, while his wife shewed the greatest kindness
and the brave officers received my sons with broth-
ings. Think, reader, of the true pleasure we en-


joyed when travelling together, and every


there


greeted


with so cc
me in the
sions into
shores, an
a general


rdial a welcome, while every facility was afforded
prosecution of my researches. We made excur-
the country around, ransacked the woods and the
d on one occasion had the pleasure of meeting with
officer in his Britannic Majesty's service, who,


on my presenting to him the official documents with which
I had been honoured by the Home Department, evinced the
greatest desire to be of service to me. We removed for






PREFACE


mrill


some weeks to Dennisville, a neat little village,


where the


acquaintance of Judge Lincoln's family rendered our stay
exceedingy agreeable. We had, besides, the gratification of
being joined by two gentlemen from Boston, one of whom
has ever since remained a true friend to me. Time passed
away, and having resolved to explore the British provinces
of New Brunswick, we proceeded to St. John's, where we
met with much politeness, and ascending the river of that
name, a most beautiful stream, reached Frederickton, where


we spent a week.
ceived us with all
nature. We then
the "Great Falls,"
the United States
spot we proceeded


will find detailed in
Journey in New Bru
Soon after our ar
set sail for England


"Birds of America,"
frequent excursions
I was a witness to
Spurzheim, and was
illness, which great
Providence, and my
Shattuck, I was soo
A sedentary life an<
assigned for my indi


quest of fresh
directing me


mater
to La


Here Si
the urba:
ascended
parallel
' territory
to Bango


one of
nswick
rival ii


ir Archibald Campbell, Bart. re-
nity and kindness of his amiable
d the River to some miles below
to Mar's Hill, and again entered
*y near Woodstock. From this
)r, on the Penobscot river, as you
my short narratives entitled, "A
and Maine."
n Boston, my son Victor Gifford


, to superintend the publication of my
and we resumed our pursuits, making
into the surrounding country. Here
the melancholy death. of the lamented
myself suddenly attacked by a severe
y alarmed my family; but, thanks to
medical friends Parkman, Warren, and


n enabled
1 too close
disposition,
ials for my
brador, I


to proceed with my labours.
application being the cause
[I resolved to set out again in
pencil and pen. My wishes
returned eastward with my


youngest son, and had the pleasure of being joined by
four young gentlemen, all fond of Natural History, and
willing to encounter the difficulties and privations of the
voyage,-George C. Shattuck, Jr., Thomas Lincoln, William
Ingalls, and Joseph Cooledge.
At Eastport, in Maine, I chartered a beautiful and fast-






PREFACE


sailing schooner, the "Ripley," under
Henry W. Emmery, and, through the
ernment letters, was enabled to visit,
Revenue Cutters, portions of the Bay (
of the thinly inhabited islands at its
the day of our departure for Labrador
was crowded with all our friends and


the command of Mr.
medium of my gov-
in the United States'
of Fundy, and several
entrance. At length
arrived. The wharf
acquaintance, and as


the "star-spangled banner" swiftly glided to the mast-head
of our buoyant bark, we were surprised and gratified by
a salute from the fort that towers high over the bay. As we
passed the Revenue Cutter at anchor, her brave commander
paid us the same honour; after which he came on board, and
piloted us through a very difficult outlet.
The next day, favoured by a good breeze, we proceeded
at a rapid rate, and passing through the interesting Gut of
Cansso, launched into the broad waters of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, and made sail for the Magdalen Islands. There
we spent a few days, and made several valuable observa-
tions. Proceeding thence, we came in view of the famous


"Gannet Rock," v
sat on their eggs
sped with reefed sa
next morning cam
fallen to a modern
eye was directed t
we perceived what
sails sporting over
to be the barks of


here countless numbers of Solan Geese
. A heavy gale coming on, away we
ils, towards the Coast of Labrador, which
Le in view. The wind had by this time
Lte breeze, the sky was clear, and every
owards the land. As we approached it,
we supposed to be hundreds of snow-white
* the waters, and which we conjectured
fishermen; but on approaching them, we


found them to be masses of drifting snow


and ice,


which


filled every nook and cove of the rugged shores. Our cap-
tain had never been on the coast before, and our pilot proved
useless; but the former being a skilful and sagacious sea-
man, we proceeded with confidence, and after passing a
group of fishing boats, the occupiers of many of which we
had known at Eastport, we were at length safely anchored


xxxiv






PREFACE xxxv
in the basin named "American Harbour," where we found
several vessels taking in cured fish.
But few days had elapsed, when, one morning, we saw a
vessel making towards our anchorage, with the gallant flag
of England waving in the breeze, and as she was moored
within a cable-length of the Ripley, I soon paid my respects
to her commander, Captain Bayfield, of the Royal Navy.
The politeness of British Naval officers is proverbial, and
from the truly frank and cordial reception of this gentleman
and his brave "companions in arms," I feel more than ever
assured of the truth of this opinion. On board the "Gul-
nare" there was also an amiable and talented surgeon, who
was a proficient in botany. We afterwards met with the
vessel in several other harbours.
Of the country of Labrador you will find many detached
sketches in this volume, so that for the present it is enough
for me to say that having passed the summer there, we sailed
on our return for the United States, touched at Newfound-
land, explored some of its woods and rivers, and landed at
Pictou in Nova Scotia, where we left the Ripley, which pro-
ceeded to Eastport with our collections. While at Pictou,
we called upon Professor MacCulloch, of the University,
who received us in the most cordial manner, shewed us his
superb collections of Northern Birds, and had the goodness
to present me with specimens of skins, eggs, and nests. He
did more still, for he travelled forty miles with us, to intro-
duce us to some persons of high station in the Province, who
gave us letters for Halifax. There, however, we had the
misfortune of finding the individuals to whom we had intro-
ductions, absent, and being ourselves pressed for time, we
remained only a day or two, when we resumed our progress.
Our journey through Nova Scotia was delightful, and,
like the birds that, over our heads, or amidst the boughs,
were cheerfully moving towards a warmer climate, we pro-
ceeded gaily in a southern direction. At St. John's, in







zzvin


PREFACE


New Brunswick, I had the gratification of meeting with my
kind and generous friend, Edward Harris, Esq., of New
York. Letters from my son in England, which he handed
to me, compelled me to abandon our contemplated trip
through the woods to Quebec, and I immediately proceeded
to Boston. One day only was spent there, when the husband
was in the arms of his wife, who with equal tenderness em-
braced her beloved child.
I had left Eastport with four young gentlemen under my


care, some of whom were strangers to me,
responsibility of my charge, being now and
terror lest any accident should befall them,


adventurous as they were young
to the Almighty, who granted us
satisfaction of restoring them in
And so excellent was the dispose
panions, that not a single instance
curred on the journey to cloud ou
perfect cordiality was manifested


and activ
his prote


1 safety ti


i
e
r
I


and I felt the
then filled with
for they were as
e. But, thanks
action, I had the
o their friends.


tion of my young com-
of misunderstanding oc-
enjoyment, but the most
by each towards all the


rest. It was a happy moment to me when I delivered them
to their parents.
From Boston we proceeded to New York, where I ob-


trained a goodly n
much kindness. M
the winter in the si
out immediately.
cess in this vast u
prompt decision in
I owe partly to my
lin. We arrived


umber


subscribers,


[y work demanded that I
outh, and therefore I dete
I have frequently thought
mdertaking was in part
every thing relating to it.
father, and partly to Ben
at Charleston in Octobe2


Columbia I formed an acquaintance with Th


I experienced
should spend
rmined to set
that my suc-
owing to my
This decision
jamin Frank-
r, 1833. At
omas Cooper,


the learned President of the College there. Circumstances
rendered impracticable my projected trip to the Floridas,
and along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, for which reason,
after spending the winter in keen research, aided by my
friend Bachman, I retraced my steps in March, in company


rE






PREFACE xxxvii
with my wife and son, to New York. At Baltimore, where
we spent a week, my friends Messrs. Morris, Gilmore, Skin-
ner, and Drs. Potter, Edmonston, Geddings, and Ducatell,
greatly aided me in augmenting my list of subscribers as
did also my friend Colonel Theodore Anderson. My best
acknowledgments are offered to these gentlemen for their
polite and kind attentions.
Taking a hurried leave of my friends, Messrs. Prime,
King, Stuveysant, Harris, Lang, Ray, Van Ransselaer,
Low, Joseph, Kruger, Buckner, Carman, Peal, Cooper, and
the Reverend W. A. Duer, President of the College, we em-
barked on board the packet ship the North America, com-
manded by that excellent man and experienced seaman, Cap-
tain Charles Dixey, with an accession of sixty-two sub-
scribers, and the collections made during nearly three years
of travel and research.
In the course of that period, I believe, I have acquired
much information relative to the Ornithology of the United
States, and in consequence of observations from naturalists
on both continents, I embraced every opportunity of form-
ing a complete collection of the various birds portrayed in
my work. Until this journey I had attached no value to a
skin after the life which gave it lustre had departed: in-
deed, the sight of one gave me more pain than pleasure.
Portions of my collections of skins I sent to my friends in
Europe at different times, and in this manner I parted with
those of some newly discovered species before I had named
them, so careless have I hitherto been respecting "priority."
While forming my collection, I have often been pleased to
find that many species, which, twenty-five years ago, were
scarce and rarely to be met with, are now comparatively
abundant ;-a circumstance which I attribute to the increase
of cultivated land in the United States. I need scarcely
add, that the specimens here alluded to have been minutely
examined, for the purpose of rendering the specific descrip-
tions as accurate as possible. And here I gladly embrace







xxxviii
the op]
Profess
which h
tion of
Of this
mens ii
United
Ever
efforts


PREFACE


portunity offered of presenting my best thanks to
>or Jameson, for the kindness and liberality with
ie has allowed me the free use of the splendid collec-
birds in the museum of the University of Edinburgh.
privilege I have availed myself in comparing speci-
i my own collection with others obtained both in the
States and in other parts of the world.
- anxious to please you, and lay before you the best


of my pencil, I carefully examined all my unpub-


lished drawings before I departed from England, and since
then I have made fresh representations of more than a hun-
dred objects, which had been painted twenty years or more
previously. On my latter rambles I have not only pro-
cured species not known before, but have also succeeded in
obtaining some of those of which Bonaparte and Wilson had
met with single specimens only. While in the Floridas and
Carolinas, my opportunities of determining the numerous


species o
I lived a
One moti'


f Herons, Ib
rmong them,
ve for my jou


summer plumage and r


ises, Pigeons, &c., were ample, for
and carefully studied their habits.
rney to Labrador was to ascertain the
node of breeding of the Water Birds,


which in spring retire thither for the purpose of rear
their young in security, far remote from the haunts of mu
Besides accomplishing this object, I also met there with
few species hitherto undescribed.
It has been said by some, that my work on the Birds
America would not terminate until I had added to those
the United States, the numerous species of the southern p


tion of our con
refutation of tl
is stated that n
In whatever ot]
will adhere to
change will be,
ened, and that
which were not


Ltinl


Allow me, reader,


to refer you in


his assertion to my prospectus, in
ny work will be completed in four
her enterprise I may engage, rely
my original design in this; and
that the period of publication will
there will be added landscapes a
promised in the prospectus.


which it
volumes.
upon it I
the only
be short-


views,


ng
an.
i a






PREFACE


XXXIX


From my original intention of publishing all the Land


Birds first, I have
of letters from my
clusion of the sec
mediately appear.
subscribers occasion
to the "American
and to adhere to
ment of the work.
Water Birds, will
lished, or that ma'


been induced to deviate, in consequence
patrons, requesting that, after the con-
ond volume, the Water Birds may im-
Indeed, the various opinions which my
nally express, are not a little perplexing
Woodsman," ever desirous to please all,
the method proposed at the commence-
In the fourth and last volume, after the
be represented all that remain unpub-
v in the mean time be discovered, of the


Land Birds.


AsI


[ cannot, in the fourth volume,


proportion


the plates in the same manner as in the other three, the
number of large drawings will be much greater in it; but
the numbers will still consist of five plates, and I trust my
patrons will find the same careful delineation as before,
with more perfect engraving and colouring. These last
numbers will of course be much more expensive to me than
those in which three of the plates were small. The fourth
volume will conclude with representations of the eggs of
the different species.
You have perhaps observed, or if not, I may be allowed
to tell you, that in the first volume of my Illustrations, in
which there are 100 plates, 240 figures of birds are given;
and that in the second, consisting of the same number of
plates, there are 244 figures. The number of species not
described by Wilson, are, in the first volume twenty-one, and


in the


second twenty-four.


Having had but one object in view since I became ac-
quainted with my zealous ornithological friend, the Prince
of Musignano, I have spared no time, no labour, no ex-
pense, in endeavouring to render my work as perfect as it
was possible for me and my family to make it. We have
all laboured at it, and every other occupation has been laid
aside, that we might present in the best form the Birds of
America, to the generous individuals who have placed their






xl PREFACE
names on my subscription list. I shall rejoice if I have in
any degree advanced the knowledge of so delightful a study
as that which has occupied the greater part of my life.
I have spoken to you, kind reader, more than once of my
family. Allow me to introduce them :-my eldest son, Vic-
tor Gifford, the younger, John Woodhouse.-Of their nat-
ural or acquired talents it does not become me to speak;
but should you some day see the "Quadrupeds of America"
published by their united efforts, do not forget that a pupil
of David first gave them lessons in drawing, and that a mem-


her o
To
in my
than
prese
died.
on a
able


f the Bakewell family formed their youthful minds.
England I am as much as ever indebted for support
r hazardous and most expensive undertaking, and more
ever grateful for that assistance without which my
nt publication might, like an uncherished plant, have
While I reflect on the unexpected honours bestowed
stranger through the generous indulgence of her valu-
scientific associations, I cannot refrain from express-


ing my gratitude for the facilities which I have enjoyed
under the influence which these societies are spreading over
her hospitable lands, as well as in other countries. I feel
equally proud and thankful when I have to say that my
own dear country is affording me a support equal to that
supplied by Europe.
Permit me now to say a few words respecting the persons
engaged about my work. I have much pleasure in telling
my patrons in Europe and America, that my engraver, Mr.
Havell, has improved greatly in the execution of the plates,
and that the numbers of the "Birds of America" have ap-
peared with a regularity seldom observed in so large a pub-
lication. For this, praise is due not only to Mr. Havell, but
also to his assistants, Mr. Blake, Mr. Stewart, and Mr.
Edington.
I have in this, as in my preceding volume, followed the
nomenclature of my much valued friend, Charles Lucian
Bonaparte, and this I intend to do in those which are to






PREFACE


come, excepting always those alterations which I may deem


absolutely necessary. I
present a general table,
bution of the different
plates have been publish
ranging the species in a
deemed expedient to en
affinity and grouping,


[t is my intention, at the close, to
exhibiting the geographical distri-
species. The order in which the
ed, precluding the possibility of ar-
systematic manner, it has not been
ter into the critical remarks as to


which


might


otherwise


have


been


made; but at another period I may offer you my ideas on this
interesting subject.

And now, reader, allow me to address my excellent friend
the Critic. Would that it were in my power to express
the feelings that ever since he glanced his eye over my pro-
ductions, whether brought forth by the pencil or the pen,
have filled my heart with the deepest gratitude;-that I
could disclose to him how exhilarating have been his smiles,
and how useful have been his hints in the prosecution of my
enterprise! If he has found reason to bestow his com-
mendations upon my first volume, I trust he will not find the
present more defective. Indeed, I can assure him that the
labour bestowed upon it by me has been much greater, and
that I have exerted every effort to deserve his approbation.

JoHN J. AUDUBON.


EDINBURGH,
1st December, 1834. J















AUTHOR'S PREFACE, PART II

TEN years have now elapsed since the first number of my
Illustrations of the Birds of America made its appearance.
At that period I calculated that the engravers would take


sixteen years in
nounced in my p
the latter not a


hope of
abandon


my suc
my pla


my country. I


accomplishing their task; and this I an-
rospectus, and talked of to my friends. Of
single individual seemed to have the least
cesss, and several strongly advised me to
ns, dispose of my drawings, and return to
listened with attention to all that was urged


on the subject, and often felt deeply depressed, for I was
well aware of many of the difficulties to be surmounted, and


perceived that no small sum of money would be
defray the necessary expenses. Yet never did
think of abandoning the cherished object of
When I delivered the first drawings to the engr
not a single subscriber. Those who knew me
me rash; some wrote to me that they did not exp
second fasciculus; and others seemed to anticipa
failure of my enterprise. But my heart was ner
reliance on that Power, on whom all must deper
bright anticipations of success.
Having made arrangements for meeting the
culties, I turned my attention to the improve
drawings, and began to collect from the pages c


required to
I seriously
my hopes.
aver, I had
best called
kect to see a
,te the total
red, and my
id, brought


i first diffi-
uent of my
)f my jour-


nals the scattered notes which referred to the habits of the
birds represented by them. I worked early and late, and
glad I was to perceive that the more I laboured the more I
improved. I was happy, too, to find, that in general each
succeeding plate was better than its predecessor, and when
those who had at first endeavoured to dissuade me from
xliii







PREFACE


undertaking so vast an enterprise, complimented me on my
more favourable prospects, I could not but feel happy.
Number after number appeared in regular succession, until
at the end of four years of anxiety, my engraver, Mr.
Havell, presented me with the First Volume of the Birds of
America.
Convinced, from a careful comparison of the plates, that
at least there had been no falling off in the execution, I
looked forward with confidence to the termination of the next


four years' labour.
the forests and wil
my friend Havell,


Time passed on, and I returned from
ds of the western world to congratulate
just when the last plate of the second


volume was finished.
About that time,


a nobleman


family, and requested me to shew
drawings, which I did with th<
visitors possessed a knowledge
course of our conversation, I was
until the work should be finished.
years more, the nobleman shrugg


ing, said,
and you
scribers."
sion of jo
the cloud


called upon me with his
them some of the original
e more pleasure that my
of Ornithology. In the
asked how long it might be
When I mentioned eight
ed his shoulders, and sigh-


"I may not see it finished, but my children will,
may please to add my name to your list of sub-
The young people exhibited a mingled expres-


y and sorrow, and when I with them
that seemed to hang over their fa


smiled, bade me be sure to see that the wh
punctually delivered, and took his leave.


ole
T


strove
their's
work
he sole


to dispel
mind, he
should be
imnity of


his manner I could not forget for several days; I often
thought that neither might I see the work completed, but at
length I exclaimed "my sons may." And now that another
volume, both of my Illustrations and of my Biographies is
finished, my trust in Providence is augmented, and I cannot


but hope
mitted to
I have
you, and


that myself and my family together may be per-
see the completion of my labours.
performed no long journey since I last parted from
therefore I have little of personal history to relate


I
I






PREFACE


to you. I have spent the greater part of the interval in
London and Edinburgh, in both which cities I have contin-
ued to enjoy a social intercourse with many valued friends.
In the former, it has been my good fortune to add to the list
the names of William Yarrell, Esq., Dr. Bell, Dr. Boott,
Captain James Clark Ross, R. N., and Dr. Richardson.
From Mr. Yarrell and the two latter gentlemen, both well
known to you as intrepid and successful travellers, I have
received much valuable information, as well as precious
specimens of birds and eggs, collected in the desolate regions
of the extreme north. My anxiety to compare my speci-
mens with those of the Zoological Society of London, induced
me to request permission to do so, which the Council freely
accorded. For this favour I now present my warm acknowl-
edgments to the Noble Earl of Derby, the Members of the
Council, their amiable Secretary Mr. Bennett, and to Mr.
Gould, who had the kindness to select for me such speci-
mens as I wanted. Mv friend Professor Jameson of Edin-


burgh has been


equally kind in allowing me the means of


comparing specimens. From America I have received some
valuable information, and many interesting specimens of
birds and eggs, for which I am indebted to the Rev. John
Bachman, Dr. Richard Harlan, Dr. George Parkman, Ed-


ward Harris, Esq. and others.
The number of new species described in
ume is not great. Among them, however,
largest true Heron hitherto discovered in t
I have corrected some errors committed
have added to our Fauna several species
described by European writers, had not


I the present vol-
you will find the
he United States.
by authors, and
which, although
been observed in


America. The habits of many species previously unknown
have also been given in detail.
Having long ago observed, in works on the Birds of the
United States, the omission of the females and the different
appearances produced by the change of season in most water
birds, I have represented the male accompanied by his mate,






PREFACE


and, in as many instances as possible, the young also. The
technical descriptions have been given at greater length than
in the former volumes, with the view of preventing error


even m company
descriptions. I
the eggs, which
volumes; an er:
senting you, in
figures of all th


The figures


ng dried skins with either the figures or the
have also given the average measurement of
I regret I had omitted to do in the other
ror which I purpose to atone for by pre-
the last number of my Illustrations, with
ose which I have collected.
in the third volume of my Illustrations


amount to one hundred and eighty-two, and are thus much
fewer than those in either of the preceding volumes. This,


however, was rendered n
size of the originals, the
ceeding the terrestrial
fact are so large that
and that not always in
wished. For this reason
give the figure of the yu
shall in a few cases con


necessary by the comparatively large


aquatic
in this


only a si
so good
in I hav
young in
itinue to


species of Birds greatly ex-
respect. Many of them in
ingle figure could be given,
an attitude as I could have
e sometimes been obliged to
a separate plate; and this I
do. in order to correct the


errors
prove
in th(
there
Th


f authors respe


d


acting


to be merely nominal.


e three volumes being s
are more than two to eac
e engraving and colourix


certain species, which
Still the number cc
ix hundred and seven
ch species.
ig of the plates of this


I have
stained
ty-four,

volume


have generally been considered as much superior even to
those of the second. Indeed, some of my patrons, both in
Europe and America, have voluntarily expressed their con-
viction of the superiority of these plates. This is the more
gratifying to me, that it proves the unremitted care and
perseverance of Mr. Havell and his assistants, of whom I
mention with approbation Messrs. Blake and Edington.
The Ornithology of the United States may be said to have
been commenced by Alexander Wilson, whose premature
death prevented him from completing his labours. It is un-
necessary for me to say how well he performed the task






PREFACE


xlvii


which he had imposed upon himself; for all naturalists, and


many
merits
ing a
species
sought
sons w


who do not aspire to the name, acknowledge his great
. But although he succeeded in observing and obtain-
rery great number of our birds, he left for others many
s which he was unable to procure. These have been
t for with eagerness, and not without success, by per-
rho have engaged in the pursuit with equal ardour.


The Prince of Musignano,
judgment matured by long


full of enthusiasm,
observation, and his


with useful learning, collected in our woods and
our great rivers, and along our extended shore
sufficient for four superb volumes, intended as
tion of Wilson's work. Thomas Nuttall, equi


and enthusiastic, ne3
our Birds contains a
the most part excellent
endeavoured to exten
with the exception o
their discoveries in
given to the world ar


various works on Mollusca
Dr. Holbrook of Charleston
count of our Reptiles.
Along our extended front


having his
mind stored
prairies, by
s, materials
a continua-
lly learned


Lt entered the field. His Manual of
mass of useful information, and is for
t. Many others have, in various ways,
d our knowledge on this subject; but
hf Thomas Say, none have published
a connected form. Dr. Harlan has
i excellent account of our Mammalia;


have appeared, and at present
is engaged in publishing an ac-


iers I have striven to observe and


gather


whatever 'had escaped


e notice


collectors; and now, kind Reader, to pro
not so fortunate as I had wished, I yet hav
in my power, I present you with a third v
logical Biographies, in which you will fin
about sixty species of Water Birds not inc
of Wilson. These, at one season or other,
along the shores or streams of the United


Sof the different
ve to you that if
e done all that was
'olume of Ornitho-
d some account of
luded in the works
are to be met with
States. Some of


them are certainly very rare, others remarkable in form and
habits; but all, I trust, you will find distinct from each other,
and not inaccurately described.
The difficulties which are to be encountered in studying


!






xlviii


the habit
the feath
rough or
objects o
thusiasm
to bush,


yond t
Water
above
cessibli
you se


PREFACE


's of our Water Birds are great. He who follows
ered inhabitants of the forest and plains, however
tangled the paths may be, seldom fails to obtain the
f his pursuit, provided he be possessed of due en-
and perseverance. The Land Bird flits from bush
runs before you. and seldom extends its flight be-


he range of your vision. It is very diffe:
Bird, which sweeps afar over the wide (
the surges, or betakes itself for refuge
e rocks on the shore. There, on the smoo
'e the lively and active Sandpiper; on


promontory
yon cypress
floats the Pc
billows scour


rent with the
ocean, hovers
to the inac-
th sea-beach,


rug


the Dusky Cormorant; under the dark shad
the Ibis and Heron; above you in the still
elican or the Swan; while far over the an
the Fulmar and the Frigate bird. If you


ged
e of
air
gry
en-


deavour to approach these birds in their haunts, they betake
themselves to flight, and speed to places where they are


secure from your intrusion.
But the scarcer the fruit, the more prized it
have I experienced greater pleasures than
Florida Keys, under a burning sun, after pu
for miles over a soapy fiat, I have striven all
mented by myriads of insects, to procure a he
and have at length succeeded in my efforts.
amply are the labours of the naturalist comp


after observing the wildest and most
their remote and almost inaccessible b


distru
reeding


is; and seldom
when on the
shing my bark
day long, tor-
ron new to me,
And then how
,ensated, when,
stful birds, in
r places, he re-


turns from his journeys,
interested and friendly a
I look forward to the
hope that I may then be
plate of my Illustrations,
Biographies. To render


and relates his adventures to an
audience.
summer of 1888 with an anxious
able to present you with the last
and the concluding volume of my
these volumes as complete as pos-


sible, I intend to undertake a journey to the southern and
western limits of the Union, with the view of obtaining a
more accurate knowledge of the birds of those remote and


J


L






PREFACE xlix

scarcely inhabited regions. On this tour I shall be accom-
panied by my youngest son, while the rest of my family will
remain in Britain, to direct the progress of my publication.
In concluding these prefatory remarks, I have to inform
you that one of the tail-pieces in my second volume, entitled
"A Moose Hunt," was communicated to me by my young
friend Thomas Lincoln of Dennisville in Maine; and that it
was at his particular request, and much against my wishes,
that his name was not mentioned at the time. I have now,
however, judged it proper to make this statement.
JOHN J. AUDUBON.
EDINBURGH, 1st December 1835.





i
















THE OHIO


To render more pleasant the
upon yourself, of following al
descriptive ornithology, pern
the tedium which may be ap
you, by presenting you with
scenery and manners of the


objects 1
of that 1
of her ir
which to
the colle
When
self wer
found it


vide o
abode
and lij
tress,
viands


task which you have imposed
n author through the mazes of
lit me, kind reader, to relieve
t now and then to come upon
occasional descriptions of the
land which has furnished the


that engage your attention. The natural features
and are not less remarkable than the moral character
ihabitants; and I cannot find a better subject with
begin, than one of those magnificent rivers that roll
cted waters of her extensive territories to the ocean.
my wife, my eldest son (then an infant), and my-
e returning from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, we
expedient, the waters being unusually low, to pro-


ourselves with a skiff, to enable us to proceed to our
at Henderson. I purchased a large, commodious,
ght boat of that denomination. We procured a mat-
and our friends furnished us with ready urenared


. We had two stole


ut Negro


rower


we left the village of Shippingport, in ex]
ing the place of our Aestination in a ve]
It was in the month of October. The
ready decorated the shores of that queen
Every tree was hung with long and flowi
ferent species of vines, many loaded with
varied brilliancy, their rich bronzed carm
tifully with the yellow foliage, which now
the yet green leaves, reflecting more liv'
clear stream than ever landscape painter
imagined.


s, and in this trim
pectation of reach-
ry few days.


autumnal tints al-
of rivers, the Ohio.
ng festoons of dif-
clustered fruits of
ine mingling beau-
predominated over
ely tints from the
portrayed or poet







THE OHIO


The days were yet warm.


The sun had assumed the rich


and glowing hue, which at that season produces the singular
phenomenon called there the "Indian Summer." The moon
had rather passed the meridian of her grandeur. We glided
down the river, meeting no other ripple of the water than
that formed by the propulsion of our boat. Leisurely we
moved along, gazing all day on the grandeur and beauty


of the wild scenery
Now and then, a
water in pursuit of


ously
produ
seized
pearec
neath


around us.
large cat-fish rose to the surface of the
a shoal of fry, which starting simultane-


from the liquid element, ]
ced a shower of light, while
the stragglers, and, with
d from our view. Other
our bark a rumbling noise


we discovered to proceed from tl
our net from the bow we caught
the noise ceased for a time.
Nature, in her varied arrange


partiality


towards


portion


like so many silvery arrows,
e the pursuer with open jaws
a splash of the tail, disap-
fishes we heard uttering be-
, the strange sounds of which
ie white perch, for on casting
several of that species, when

:ements, seems to have felt a


country.


traveller ascends or descends the Ohio, he cannot help re-
marking that alternately, nearly the whole length of the
river, the margin, on one side, is bounded by lofty hills and
a rolling surface, while on the other, extensive plains of the
richest alluvial land are seen as far as the eye can command
the view. Islands of varied size and form rise here and
there from the bosom of the water, and the winding course
of the stream frequently brings you to places, where the idea
of being on a river of great length changes to that of floating
on a lake of moderate extent. Some of these islands are of


considerable size and
nificant, seem as if in
enhance the general


value; while others, small and insig-
tended for contrast, and as serving to
interest of the scenery. These little


islands are frequently overflowed during great freshets or
floods, and receive at their heads prodigious heaps of drifted
timber. We foresaw with great concern the alteration that







THE OHIO


cultivation would soon produce along those delightful banks.


As night cam'
of the river, our
and wandered
tinkling of bells
gently roving fr
turning to their
Owl, or the muff
over the stream,


sound of
more sof
songsters
mellow t
cabin of
menacing
deer fore
Many
laden wil
small rivc
others, o
distant p
never fel


e, sinking in darkness the br
minds became affected by st
far beyond the present r
told us that the cattle which
om valley to valley in search
distant homes. The hootin
led noise of its wings as it s


were matters o:


the boatman's horn, as


*oader portions
;rong emotions,
moments. The
bore them were
of food, or re-
g of the Great
failed smoothly


---- .. .. .. ---- -v ---
f interest to us; so was the
it came winding more and


tly from afar. When daylight returned, many
burst forth with echoing notes, more and more
o the listening ear. Here and there the lonely
a squatter struck the eye, giving note of corn-
civilization. The crossing of the stream by a
told how soon the hills would be covered with snow.
sluggish flat-boats we overtook and passed: some
th produce from the different head-waters of the
ers that pour their tributary streams into the Ohio;
if less dimensions, crowded with emigrants from


arts, ii
t; nor


search of a new home.


Purer pleasures I


have you, reader, I ween, unless indeed you


have felt the like, and
The margins of the


season amply
Grouse, or a B
moments; and
landed, struck


supplies
lue-winj
we fare
up a fil


in such company.
shores and of the river were at 1
d with game. A Wild Turkey
ged Teal, could be procured in a
.d well, for, whenever we pleased,
re, and provided as we were with


necessary utensils,
Several of these
home, when, one e
small stream which
Indiana), a loud a
yells of Indian warj
for the opposite s
The sounds increase


procured a good repast.
happy days passed, and we neared our
evening not far from Pigeon Creek (a
i runs into the Ohio, from the State of
nd strange noise was heard, so like the
Fare, that we pulled at our oars, and made
ide as fast and as quietly as possible.
led, we imagined we heard cries of "mur-


h


t






THE OHIO


der ;" and as we knew that some depredations had lately
been committed in the country by dissatisfied parties of Ab-
origines, we felt for a while extremely uncomfortable. Ere
long, however, our minds became more calmed and we plainly
discovered that the singular uproar was produced by an
enthusiastic set of Methodists, who had wandered thus far
out of the common way, for the purpose of holding one of
their annual camp meetings, under the shade of a beech
forest. Without meeting with any other interruption, we
reached Henderson, distant from Shippingport by water
about two hundred miles.
When I think of these times, and call back to my mind the
grandeur and beauty of those almost uninhabited shores;
when I picture to myself the dense and lofty summits of the
forest, that everywhere spread along the hills, and overhung
the margins of the stream, unmolested by the axe of the set-
tler; when I know how dearly purchased the safe navigation
of that river has been by the blood of many worthy Vir-
ginians; when I see that no longer any Aborigines are to be
found there, and that the vast herds of elks, deer and buf-
faloes which once pastured on these hills and in these valleys,
making for themselves great roads to the several salt-
springs, have ceased to exist; when I reflect that all this
grand portion of our Union, instead of being in a state of
nature, is now more or less covered with villages, farms, and
towns, where the din of hammers and machinery is constantly


heard; that the woods
by day, and the fire by
are gliding to and fro,


are fast disappearing under the axe
night; that hundreds of steam-boats
over the whole length of the majestic


river, forcing commerce to take root and to prosper at every
spot; when I see the surplus population of Europe coming to
assist in the destruction of the forest, and transplanting civ-
ilization into its darkest recesses ;-when I remember that
these extraordinary changes have all taken place in the short
period of twenty years, I pause, wonder, and, although I
know all to be fact, can scarcely believe its reality.






THE OHIO


Whether these changes are for the better or for the worse,
I shall not pretend to say; but in whatever way my conclu-
sions may incline, I feel with regret that there are on record
no satisfactory accounts of the state of that portion of the
country, from the time when our people first settled in it.
This has not been because no one in America is able to ac-
complish such an undertaking. Our Irvings and our
Coopers have proved themselves fully competent for the task.
It has more probably been because the changes have suc-
ceeded each other with such rapidity, as almost to rival the
movements of their pen. However, it is not too late yet;
and I sincerely hope that either or both of them will ere long
furnish the generations to come with those delightful
descriptions which they are so well qualified to give, of the
original state of a country that has been so rapidly forced
to change her form and attire under the influence of increas-
ing population. Yes; I hope to read, ere I close my earthly
career, accounts from those delightful writers of the prog-
ress of civilization in our western country. They will speak
of the Clarks, the Croghans, the Boons, and many other men
of great and daring enterprise. They will analyze, as it
were, into each component part, the country as it once ex-
isted, and will render the picture, as it ought to be, immortal.













THE GREAT PINE SWAMP

I LEFT Philadelphia, at four in the morning, by the coach,


with no other accoutrements than I knew
necessary for the jaunt which I intended
consisted of a wooden box, containing a sm
drawing paper, my journal, colours and
with 25 pounds of shot, some flints, the
cash, my gun Tear-jacket, and a heart as
ever.
Our coaches are none of the best, nor d
the velocity of those of some other country
and a dark night. when I reached Mauc


to be absolutely
to make. These
all stock of linen,
pencils, together
due quantum of
true to nature as


o they move with
es. It was eight,


h Ch


celebrated in the Union for its rich coal mines,
eight miles distant from Philadelphia. I
through a very diversified country, part of which
cultivated, while the rest was yet in a state of
consequently much more agreeable to me. On
was shewn to the traveller's room and on asking
lord saw coming towards me a fine-looking yo


unk, now so
and eighty-
had passed
h was highly
nature, and
alighting, I
for the land-
ung man, to


whom I made known my wishes. He spoke kindly, and of-


fered to lodge and board me f
ellers who go there for the
dragged on the railway. In
minutes, and that most comfo
No sooner had the approa
the cocks of the little village
gun and note-book, to judge
country. After traversing
many steep hills, I returned,
disappointed at the extraord


It a much lower rate than trav-
very simple pleasure of being
i a word, I was fixed in four
irtably.
ich of day been announced by
, than I marched out with my
for myself of the wealth of the
much ground, and crossing
, if not wearied, at least much
inary scarcity of birds. So I


bargained to be carried in a cart to the central parts of the
6






THE GREAT PINE SWAMP


Great Pine Swamp, and,
ordered my conductor to
a mountain, and at last
had become tremendous,


but my resolution
tinue his driving.
miles or so, we left
bad road, that see
of the Swamp to
village which I hai


being


f


although a heavy storm was rising,
proceed. We winded round many
crossed the highest. The weather
and we were thoroughly drenched,
fixed, the boy was obliged to con-


Having already travelled about fifteen
the turnpike, and struck up a narrow and
med merely cut out to enable the people
receive the necessary supplies from the
d left. Some mistakes were made, and it


was almost dark, when a post directed us to the habitation of
a Mr. Jediah Irish, to whom I had been recommended. We
now rattled down a steep declivity, edged on one side by al-
most perpendicular rocks, and on the other by a noisy
stream, which seemed grumbling at the approach of
strangers. The ground was so overgrown by laurels and
tall pines of different kinds, that the whole presented only a
mass of darkness.
At length we got to the house, the door of which was al-
ready opened, the sight of strangers being nothing uncom-
mon in our woods, even in the most remote parts. On enter-
ing, I was presented with a chair, while my conductor was
shewn the way to the stable, and on expressing a wish that I
should be permitted to remain in the house for some weeks,
I was gratified by receiving the sanction of the good woman
to my proposal, although her husband was then from home.
As I immediately fell a-talking about the nature of the
country, and inquired if birds were numerous in the neigh-
bourhood, Mrs. Irish, more au fait to household affairs than
ornithology, sent for a nephew of her husband's, who soon
made his appearance, and in whose favour I became at once
prepossessed. He conversed like an educated person, saw
that I was comfortably disposed of, and finally bade me
good-night in such a tone as made me quite happy.
The storm had rolled away before the first beams of the
morning sun shone brightly on the wet foliage, displaying







THE GREAT PINE


all its richness and beauty.


SWAMP


My ears were greeted by the


notes, always sweet and mellow, of the Wood Thrush and
other songsters. Before I had gone many steps, the woods
echoed to the report of my gun, and I picked from among
the leaves a lovely Sylvia, long sought for, but until then
sought for in vain. I needed no more, and standing still
for awhile, I was soon convinced that the Great Pine Swamp


harboured many other objects
The young man joined me,
to accompany me through the
knew. But I was anxious to tr
beauty of the little bird I had


him to
house, s
of the


break a
speaking
country


as valuable
bearing his
woods, all
ansfer to pa
in my hand


twig of blooming laurel,
of nothing else than the
around.


to me.
rifle, and offered
of which he well
per the form and
; and requesting


we returned to the
picturesque beauty


A
with


few days passed, during which I became acquainted
my hostess and her sweet children, and made occasional


rambles, but
ing. One n
I remarked
loose the gir
pass the bri
and move to
to the little 1
room below,
the mills an
In America,
and right it
entered my
to whom, as
to describe
vain; you sh
such men in


; spent the greater portion of my time in draw-
lorning, as I stood near the window of my room,
a tall and powerful man alight from his horse,
*th of the saddle, raise the latter with one hand,
die over the head of the animal with the other,
,wards the house, while the horse betook himself
brook to drink. I heard some movements in the
and again the same tall person walked towards
d stores, a few hundred yards from the house.
business is the first object in view at all times,
is that it should be so. Soon after my hostess
room, accompanied by a fine-looking woodsman,


Mr. Jedia
to you the
lould know
our seques


welcome, but promised


Ih Irish, I was introduced. Reader,
qualities of that excellent man were
him, as I do, to estimate the value of
tered forests. He not only made me
all his assistance in forwarding my


views.
The long walks and long talks we have had together I







THE GREAT PINE SWAMP


never can forget, or the many beautiful birds which we pur-
sued, shot, and admired. The juicy venison, excellent bear


flesh, and delightful trout that daily formed my


thinks I can still
listening to him
while my pencil
the drawing of th
recall to my mind


enjoy. And then, what pleasure
as he read his favourite Poems
was occupied in smoothing and
'e bird before me! Was not this
1 the early impressions that had 1


food, me-
e I had in
of Burns,
softening
enough to
been made


upon it by the description of the golden age, which I here
found realized?
The Lehigh about this place forms numerous short turns


between the mountains, and afford


below th
valuable
this date
Coal con
down th


e falls deep pools, whi
one for mills of any k
my host was chosen
ipany, as their mill-wri
e fine trees which cov


He was young,
He marched to


robust, active,
the spot where


workmen, and by dint of I
mentioned above, and reach
bend, where he fixed on e
here is so narrow that it l1
asunder of the mountain,
so that the place where thn


lard
:hed
recti
)oks


ch
ind
by
gh


is frequent falls, as well as
render this stream a most
. Not many years before
the agent of the Lehigh
t, and manager for cutting


'ered the mountains around.
industrious, and persevering.
his abode now is, with some
labour first cleared the road
the river at the centre of a
ng various mills. The pass
as if formed by the bursting


both sidds ascending


abruptly,


e settlement was made is in many


parts dificu
sufficient to
Jediah and


It of


access, and the road then newly cut was


permit men and horses to come to t
his men were at work. So great,


the difficulties of access, that, as he told me,
spot about 150 feet above us, they for many ]


cI


;he spot v
in fact,
pointing
months sli


only
here
were
toa
pped


from it their barrelled provisions, assisted by ropes, to their
camp below. But no sooner was the first saw-mill erected,
than the axemen began their devastations. Trees one after
another were, and are yet, constantly heard falling, during
the days; and in calm nights, the greedy mills told the sad
tale, that in a century the noble forests around should exist






THE GREAT PINE SWAMP


no more. Many mills were erected, many dams raised, in
defiance of the impetuous Lehigh. One full third of the
trees have already been culled, turned into boards, and
floated as far as Philadelphia.
In such an undertaking, the cutting of the trees is not all.
They have afterwards to be hauled to the edge of the moun-
tains bordering the river, launched into the stream, and led
to the mills over many shallows and difficult places. Whilst


I was in the Great Pine Swamp,
the principal places for the launch
tumbling from such a height, to
rough angle of a projecting roc
the elasticity of a foot-ball, and
crash into the river, forms a sigh
degree, but impossible for me to
that I have seen masses of these lo
to the number of five thousand?
I have seen. My friend Irish as
sons, these piles consisted of a


river becoming in those places


When freshets (or
chosen for forwarding
is called a Frolic. Jec


proceeds
a strong
all take


floods)


CO!
tal


the logs tc


I frequently visited one of
thing of logs. To see them
uching here and there the
ck, bouncing from it with
at last falling with awful
t interesting in the highest
describe. Shall I tell you
Igs heaped above each other
I may so tell you, for such


sured me that at some
much greater number,
mpletely choked up.
ke place, then is the
the different mills.


sea-
the

time
This


liah Irish, who is generally the leader,


to the upper leap with his men, each provided with
wooden handspike, and a short-handled axe. They
to the water, be it summer or winter, like so many


Newfoundland spaniels.


The logs are gradually detached,


and, after a time, are seen floating down the dancing stream,
here striking against a rock and whirling many times round,
there suddenly checked in dozens by a shallow, over which
they have to be forced with the handspikes. Now they ar-
rive at the edge of a dam, and are again pushed over. Cer-
tain numbers are left in each dam, and when the party has
arrived at the last, which lies just where my friend Irish's
camp was first formed, the drenched leader and his men,






THE GREAT PINE SWAMP


about sixty in number, make their way home, find there a
healthful repast, and spend the evening and a portion of the
night in dancing and frolicking, in their own simple man-
ner, in the most perfect amity, seldom troubling themselves


with the
That
of the s
work.


Side of the labour
morrow now come,
tore-house, at the
The sawyers, the i


are all immediately busy. T]
logs, which a few months before
and leafy tops, are now in tl
The boards are then launched
formed of them for market.


prepared for
one sounds
call of which
millers, the r


he mills a


a
S
)
I


e were the
he act of
into the s


them


on the morrow.


L horn from the door
each returns to his
afters and raftsmen
re all going, and the
supporters of broad
being split asunder.
Stream, and rafts are


During the summer and autumnal months, the Lehigh, a
small river of itself, soon becomes extremely shallow, and
to float the rafts would prove impossible, had not art man-
aged to provide a supply of water for this express purpose.
At the breast of the lower dam is a curiously constructed
lock, which is opened at the approach of the rafts. They
pass through this lock with the rapidity of lightning, pro-
pelled by the water that had been accumulated in the dam,
and which is of itself generally sufficient to float them to
Mauch Chunk, after which, entering regular canals, they
find no other impediments, but are conveyed to their ulti-
mate destination.
Before population had greatly advanced in this part of


Pennsylvania, game
range was extremely


of all descriptions found within that
abundant. The Elk itself did not dis-


dain to browse on the shoulders of the mountains, near the
Lehigh. Bears and the Common Deer must have been plen-
tiful, as, at the moment when I write, many of both kinds are
seen and killed by the resident hunters. The Wild Turkey,
the Pheasant and the Grouse, are also tolerably abundant;
and as to trout in the streams--Ah, reader, if you are an
angler, go there, and try for yourself. For my part, I can






THE GREAT PINE SWAMP


only say, that I have been made weary with pul
the rivulets the sparkling fish, allured by the
the common grasshopper.
A comical affair happened with the bears,
relate. A party of my friend Irish's raftsme
from Mauch Chunk, one afternoon, through
cuts over the mountains, at the season when
berries are ripe and plentiful, were suddenly
the proximity of some of these animals, by theii
air. No sooner was this perceived than, to the
of the party, not fewer than eight bears, I wa


their appearance. Each man
handled axe, faced about and
but the assailed soon proved
and tooth drove off the men i
rushed from the mountain;


rifles


were


soon


procured


ling up from
struggles of

which I will
in, returning
sundry short
the huckle-
apprised of
r snuffing the
astonishment
s told, made


, being provided with his short-
willingly came to the scratch;
the assailants, and with claw
n a twinkling. Down they all
; the noise spread quickly;
id shouldered; but when the


spot was reached, no bears were to be found; night forced
the hunters back to their homes, and a laugh concluded the
affair.
I spent six weeks in the Great Pine Forest-Swamp it
cannot be called-where I made many a drawing. Wishing
to leave Pennsylvania, and to follow the migratory flocks of
our birds to the south, I bade adieu to the excellent wife and
rosy children of my friend, and to his kind nephew. Jediah
Irish, shouldering his heavy rifle, accompanied me, and
trudging directly across the mountains, we arrived at Mauch
Chunk in good time for dinner. Shall I ever have the


pleasure of seeing that good,
At Mauch Chunk, where
White, the civil engineer, visi
ings which I had made in the
he gave me of my sons, then i:
anxious to move in their di:


that generous man again?
we both spent the night, Mr.
ted me, and looked at the draw-
Great Pine Forest. The news
n Kentucky, made me still more
reaction, and, long before day-


break, I shook hands with the good man of the forest, and
found myself moving towards the capital of Pennsylvania,


!






THE GREAT PINE


SWAMP


having as my sole companion a sharp frosty breeze.


Left


around them, or even in i
their Peale's Museum,
ranged? But alas! no:
richness of the Great P
share the hospitality to
Night came on, as I


procuring some d
rnce so valuable
they are none of
ine Swamp, nor
be found there.


was t


was turned out of the coach
just as the clock struck ten.
were much rested, but not a
desired a porter to take up
him towards the nearest whi
gliding across the Delaware,
the Jerseys. The lights w


I

a
e


esired specimen
and so finely
them aware of 1
are they likely


thinking of such things, and I
in the streets of the fair city,
I cannot say that my bones
moment was to be lost. So I
ny little luggage, and leading
rf, I found myself soon after


tow
re


ards my former lodgings in
shining from the parallel


streets as I crossed them, all was tranquil and serene, until
there came the increasing sound of the Baltimore steamer,
which, for some reason unknown to me, was that evening
later than usual in its arrival. My luggage was landed, and
carried home by means of a bribe. The people had all re-
tired to rest, but my voice was instantly recognized, and an
entrance was afforded to me.


to my thoughts, I felt amazed that such a place as the Great
Pine Forest should be so little known to the Philadelphians,
scarcely any of whom could direct me towards it. How
much is it to be regretted, thought I, that the many young
gentlemen who are there so much at a loss how to employ
their leisure days should not visit these wild retreats, valu-
able as they are to the student of nature. How differently
would they feel, if, instead of spending weeks in smoothing a
useless bow, and walking out in full dress, intent on display-
ing the make of their legs, to some rendezvous where they
may enjoy their wines, they were to occupy themselves in
contemplating the rich profusion which nature has poured














ON my return from
obliged to cross one c
tion of the United S
try. The weather w
blooming as if it had
My knapsack, my gu
gage and company.
moved slowly along,
ers, and the gambols


THE PRAIRIE

the Upper Mississippi, I found myself
)f the wide Prairies, which, in that por-
tates vary the appearance of the coun-
'as fine, all around me was as fresh and
I just issued from the bosom of nature.
in, and my dog, were all I had for bag-
. But, although well moccasined, I
attracted by the brilliancy of the flow-
of the fawns around their dams. to all


appearance as thoughtless of danger as I felt mys
My march was of long duration; I saw the sun
beneath the horizon long before I could perceive any
ance of woodland, and nothing in the shape of ma
met with that day. The track which I followed was
old Indian trace, and as darkness overshadowed the


I felt some
lie down to
around me,
which form


desire
rest.
attra
their


to reach at least a copse, in which


elf.
sinking
appear-
n had I
only an
prairie,
I might


The Night-hawks were skimming over and
cted by the buzzing wings of the beetles
food, and the distant howling of wolves


gave me some hope that I should sooi
some woodland.
I did so, and almost at the same
tracting my eye, I moved towards it,
it proceeded from the camp of some
was mistaken :-I discovered by its !
the hearth of a small log cabin, and t
and repassed between it and me, as
household arrangements.
I reached the spot, and presentin
asked the tall figure, which proved to
14


1 arrive at the skirts of


instant a fire-light at-
full of confidence that
wandering Indians. I
glare that it was from
hat a tall figure passed
iif busily engaged in


.g myself at the door,
be a woman, if I might


_ ~___


L






THE PRAIRIE


take shelter under her roof for the night.


Her voice was


gruff, and her attire negligently thrown about her. She
answered in the affirmative. I walked in, took a wooden
stool, and quietly seated myself by the fire. The next object
that attracted my notice was a finely formed young Indian,
resting his head between his hands, with his elbows on his
knees. A long bow rested against the log wall near him,
while a quantitv of arrows and two or three raccoon skins lay


at his feet. He
Accustomed to th


moved nc
e habits o


they pay little attention
strangers (a circumstance
sidered as evincing the ap
dressed him in French,
partially known to the pec
raised his head, pointed to
and gave me a significant
was covered with blood. T
this, as he was in the act oi
coon in the top of a tree, th


and sprung back
destroy it for ever
Feeling hungry
1 ml


pect. Sucn a tu
large untanned be
I drew a fine time-
that it was late, a
my watch, the ric]
feelings with elect


It


; he apparently breathed not.


f the Indians, and knowing that
to the approach of civilized
which in some countries is con-
athy of their character), I ad-
a language not unfrequently
ople in that neighborhood. He
one of his eyes with his finger,
glance with the other. His face
'he fact was, that an hour before
f discharging an arrow at a rac-
le arrow had split upon the cord,


with such violence into his right eye as to

r, I inquired what sort of fare I might ex-
.ng as a bed was not to be seen, but many
!ar and buffalo hides lay piled in a corner.
-piece from my breast, and told the woman
6nd that I was fatigued. She had espyed
hness of which seemed to operate upon her
ric quickness. She told me that there was


plenty of venison and jerked
moving the ashes I should fir
struck her fancy, and her ct
an immediate sight of it. I
secured it from around my
She was all ecstasy, spoke of


[ buffalo meat, and that on re-
id a cake. But my watch had
iriosity had to be gratified by
[ took off the gold chain that
neck, and presented it to her.
its beauty, asked me its value,


and put the chain round her brawny neck, saying how happy






THE PRAIRIE


the possession of such a watch should make her. Thought-
less, and, as I fancied myself, in so retired a spot, secure, I


paid little attention to her ta
my dog to a good supper o
satisfying the demands of m:
The Indian rose from his
He passed and repassed me
me on the side so violently,
forth an exclamation of ang
met mine; but his look was
chill into the more nervous
seated himself, drew his butc


lk or her movements. I helped
f venison, and was not long tin
y own appetite.
seat, as if in extreme suffering.
several times, and once pinched
that the pain nearly brought


;er. I loc
so forbid<
part of m
.her-knife


bard, examined its edge, as I would d
pected dull, replaced it, and again
from his back, filled the pipe of it witi


ked at him. His eye
ding, that it struck a
ly system. He again
from its greasy scab-
o that of a razor sus-
taking his tomahawk
i tobacco, and sent me


expressive glances whenever our hostess chanced to have her
back towards us.
Never until that moment had my senses been awakened to
the danger which I now suspected to be about me. I re-
turned glance for glance to my companion, and rested well
assured that, whatever enemies I might have, he was not of
their number.
I asked the woman for my watch, wound it up, and under
pretence of wishing to see how the weather might probably
on the morrow, took up my gun, and walked out of the cabin.
I slipped a ball into each barrel, sDZeefh~~eyei
flints, renewed tharimEin-s, and returning to the hut, gave
a favourable account of my observations. I took a few bear-
skins, made a pallet of them, and calling my faithful dog to
my side, lay down, with my gun close to my body, and in a
few minutes was, to all appearance, fast asleep.
A short time had elapsed, when some voices were heard,
and from the corner of my eyes I saw two athletic youths
making their entrance, bearing a dead stag on a pole. They
disposed of their burden, and asking for whisky, helped
themselves freely to it. Observing me and the wounded


ki






TIHE PRAIRIE


Indian, they asked who
(meaning the Indian,
word of English) was in
proved to be, bade them


I[
wh
th
S]


ras, and why the devil that rascal
Lo, they knew, understood not a
Le house. The mother-for so she
peak less loudly, made mention of


my watch, and took them to a corner, where a conversation
took place, the purport of which it required little shrewdness
in me to guess. I tapped my dog gently. He moved his
tail, and with indescribable pleasure I saw his fine eyes al-
ternately fixed on me and raised towards the trio in the
corner. I felt that he perceived danger in my situation.
The Indian exchanged a last glance with me.
The lads had eaten and drunk themselves into such condi-


tion, that I already looked upon them as hours de combat;
and the frequent visits of the whisky bottle to the ugly mouth
of their dam I hoped would soon reduce her to a like state.
Judge of my astonishment, reader, when I saw this incarnate
fiend take a large carving-knife, and go to the grindstone to
whet its edge. I saw her pour the water on the turning
machine, and watched her working away with the dangerous
instrument, until the sweat covered every part of my body,
in despite of my determination to defend myself to the last.
Her task finished, she walked to her reeling sons, and said.
"There, that'll soon settle him! Boys, kill yon --, and
then for the watch."
I turned, cocked my gun-locks silently, touched my faith-
ful companion, and lay ready to start up and shoot the first
who might attempt my life. The moment was fast ap-


preaching, and that night might have 1
world, had not Providence made prepare


All was ready.
probably conte
whilst her sons
several times o


The infernal hag wa!


Implating the
should be en
n the eve of


i best way
gaged with
rising and


been my last in this
Ltions for my rescue.
s advancing slowly,
of despatching me,
the Indian. I was
shooting her on the


spot:-but she was not to be punished thus. The door was
suddenly opened, and there entered two stout travellers, each


with a long rifle on his shoulder.


I bounced up on my feet,







THE PRAIRIE


and making them most heartily welcome, told them how well


it was for me that they should hi
The tale was told in a minute,
secured, and the woman, in spite
tions, shared the same fate. Th
joy, and gave us to understand
for pain, he would watch over
slept much less than we talked.
me an account of their once ha
somewhat similar situation. Da
with it the punishment of our cap
They were now quite sobered.
but their arms were still secure
into the woods off the road, and
lators were wont to use such del
cabin, gave all the skins and imp]


warrior, and proceeded,


ive arrived at that moment.
. The drunken sons were
of her defence and vocifera-
te Indian fairly danced with
that, as he could not sleep
us. You may suppose we
The two strangers gave
giving been themselves in a
ry came, fair and rosy, and
)tives.
Their feet were unbound,
y tied. We marched them
having used them as Regu-
linquents, we set fire to the
elements to the young Indian


well pleased, towards the settlements.


During upwards of twenty-five years, when my wander-
ings extended to all parts of our country, this was the only
time at which my life was in danger from my fellow creatures.
Indeed, so little risk do travellers run in the United States,
that no one born there ever dreams of any to be encountered
on the road; and I can only account for this occurrence
by supposing that the inhabitants of the cabin were not
Americans.
Will you believe, reader, that not many miles from the
place where this adventure happened, and where fifteen
years ago, no habitation belonging to civilized man was ex-
pected, and very few ever seen, large roads are now laid out,
cultivation has converted the woods into fertile fields, taverns
have been erected, and much of what we Americans call com-
fort is to be met with. So fast does improvement proceed
in our abundant and free country.













THE REGULATORS


THE population of many parts of America is derived from
the refuse of every other country. I hope I shall elsewhere
prove that even in this we have reason to feel a certain de-
gree of pride, as we often see our worst denizens becoming
gradually freed from error, and at length changing to use-
ful and respectable citizens. The most depraved of these
emigrants are forced to retreat farther and farther from the
society of the virtuous, the restraints imposed by which they
find incompatible with their habits and the gratification of
their unbridled passions. On the extreme verge of civiliza-
tion, however, their evil propensities find more free scope,
and the dread of punishment for their deeds, or the infliction
of that punishment, are the only means that prove effectual
in reforming them.
In those remote parts, no sooner is it discovered that an


individual has
manner, or has
a conclave of th
of investigating
result could be
from among the
vested with pow
on the frontiers
son is arrested,


conducted himself in a notoriously vicious
committed some outrage upon society, than
e honest citizens takes place, for the purpose
the case with a rigour without which no good
expected. These honest citizens, selected


most respectable persons
ers suited to the necessity
are named Regulators.
his conduct laid open,


in the district, and
of preserving order
The accused per-
and if he is found


guilty o
and go
Should
sentence
new cri


f a first crime, he is warned to leave the country,
farther from society, within an appointed time.
the individual prove so callous as to disregard the
,, and remain in the same neighbourhood, to commit
nes, then woe be to him; for the Regulators, after


proving him guilty a second time, pass and execute a sen-
19







THE


REGULATORS


tence, which, if not enough to make him perish under the
infliction, is at least forever impressed upon his memory.
The punishment inflicted is generally a severe castigation,
and the destruction, by fire, of his cabin. Sometimes, in
cases of reiterated theft or murder, death is considered neces-
sary; and, in some instances, delinquents of the worst species
have been shot, after which their heads have been stuck on
poles, to deter others from following their example. I will
give you an account of one of these desperadoes as I received
it from a person who had been instrumental in bringing him
to punishment.


The name of Mason is still familiar to many of the
gators of the Lower Ohio and Mississippi. By dint
dustry in bad deeds he became a notorious horse-s
formed a line of worthless associates from the eastern
of Virginia (a State greatly celebrated for its fine br
horses) to New Orleans, and had a settlement on
Island, not far from the confluence of the Ohio and
sippi, from which he issued to stop the flat-boats, an
them of such provisions and other articles as he and his
needed. His depredations became the talk of the


J.


Western Country; and to
be dreaded than to anchor
horses, the negroes, and the
sold. At last, a body of


pass Wolf Island was not i
under the walls of Algiers.
! cargoes, his gang carried o
Regulators undertook, at


navi-
of in-
tealer,
parts
reed of
Wolf
Missis-
d rifle


party
whole
less to
The
ff and
great


peril, and for the sake of the country, to bring ti
punishment.
Mason was as cunning and watchful as he was
daring. Many of his haunts were successively
and searched, but the numerous spies in his emp
him to escape in time. One day, however, as he
a beautiful horse in the woods, he was met by
Regulators who immediately recognized him, but
as if an utter stranger. Mason, not dreaming


ie villian to

active and
found out
loy enabled
was riding
one of the
passed him
of danger,


pursued his way leisurely, as if he had met no one. But he
was dogged by the Regulator, and in such a manner as







THE REGULATORS


proved fatal to him. At dusk, Mason having reached the
lowest part of a ravine, no doubt well known to him, hoppled
(tied together the fore-legs of) his stolen horse, to enable
it to feed during the night without chance of straying far,
and concealed himself in a hollow log to spend the night.
The plan was good, but proved his ruin.
The Regulator, who knew every hill and hollow of the


woods, marked the ph
perienced hunter, and
efficiently armed, he g
he knew he should find
and the party proceed
tacked, defended him,
proved impossible to si


ground with
on the end oa
to the place
dispersed, in
infliction of


ice and the log with the eye of an ex-
as he remarked that Mason was most
alloped off to the nearest house, where
assistance. This was easily procured,
led to the spot. Mason, on being at-


self
ecu


with
re hin


a rifle ball. His
f a broken branch
where the affray
consequence of the
merited punishmei


desperate valour; and
i alive, he was brought t
head was cut off, and
of a tree, by the nearest
happened. The gang


e


asit
o the
stuck
road
soon


loss of their leader, and this


nt proved beneficial in deter-


ring others from following a similar predatory life.
The punishment by castigation is performed in the follow-
ing manner. The individual convicted of an offence is led
to some remote part of the woods, under the escort of some-


times
chosen


forty or fifty Regulators. When
spot, the criminal is made fast to a


arrived at the
tree, and a few


of the Regulators remain with him, whilst the rest scour
the forest, to assure themselves that no strangers are within
reach, after which they form an extensive ring, arranging
themselves on their horses, well armed with rifles and pistols,
at equal distances and in each other's sight. At a given
signal that "all's ready," those about the culprit, having
provided themselves with young twigs of hickory, administer
the number of lashes prescribed by the sentence, untie the
sufferer, and order him to leave the country immediately.
One of these castigations which took place more within my
immediate knowledge, was performed on a fellow who was







THE


REGULATORS


neither a


thief nor


a murderer,


but who had misbehaved


otherwise sufficiently to bring himself under the sentence
with mitigation. He was taken to a place where nettles
were known to grow in great luxuriance, completely stripped,
and so lashed with them, that although not materially hurt,
he took it as a hint retto be neglected, left the country, and
was never again heard of by any of the party concerned.
Probably at the moment when I am copying these notes
respecting the early laws of our frontier people, few or no
Regulating Parties exist, the terrible examples that were
made having impressed upon the new settlers a salutary
dread, which restrains them from the commission of flagrant
crimes.












IMPROVEMENTS IN THE NAVIGATION
THE MISSISSIPPI


I HAVE so frequently spoken


Mississippi,


that an


account of progress of navigation on that extraordinary
stream may be interesting even to the student of nature. I
shall commence with the year 1808, at which time a great
portion of the western country, and the banks of the Missis-
sippi River, from above the city of Natchez particularly,
were little more than a waste, or, to use words better suited
to my feelings, remained in their natural state. To ascend
the great stream against a powerful current, rendered still
stronger wherever islands occurred, together with the thou-
sands of sand-banks, as liable to changes and shifting as
the alluvial shores themselves, which at every deep curve or
bend were seen giving way, as if crushed down by the weight
of the great forests that everywhere reached to the very edge
of the water, and falling and sinking in the muddy stream,
by acres at a time, was an adventure of no small difficulty


and risk,
able logs,
their head
truders.
its shores,


and which was rendered more so by the in


called


I,

I


s abo
Few
and


lumer-


1 sawyers and planters, that everywhere raised
ve the water, as if bidding defiance to all in-
white inhabitants had yet marched towards
these few were of a class little able to assist


the navigator. Here and there a solitary encampment of
native Indians might be seen, but its inmates were as likely
to prove foes as friends, having from their birth been made
keenly sensible of the encroachments of the white men upon
their lands.
Such was then the nature of the Mississippi and its shores.
That river was navigated principally in the direction of the
current, in small canoes, pirogues, keel-boats, some flat-
23










NAVIGATION


OF MISSISSIPPI


boats, and a few barges. The canoes and pirogues being
generally laden with furs from the different heads of streams
that feed the great river, were of little worth after reach-
ing the market of New Orleans, and seldom reascended, the
owners making their way home through the woods, amidst
innumerable difficulties. The flat-boats were demolished


and used as fire-wood. The
played in conveying produce
such as lead, flour, pork, and


keel-boats and barges
of different kinds besi
other articles. These


were em-
des furs,
returned


laden with sugar, coffee, and dry goods suited for the
markets of St. Genevieve and St. Louis on the Upper Mis-
sissippi, or branched off and ascended the Ohio to the foot
of the Falls near Louisville in Kentucky. But, reader,
follow their movements, and judge for yourself of the fa-
tigues, troubles and risks of the men employed in that navi-
gation. A keel-boat was generally manned by ten hands,
principally Canadian French, and a patroon or master.
These boats seldom carried more than from twenty to thirty
tons. The barges frequently had forty or fifty men, with a
patroon, and carried fifty or sixty tons. Both these kinds
of vessels were provided with a mast, a square-sail, and coils


of cordage, known by the name of cordelles.


barge carri
these boats
upon what
Wherever a
bend below
turning cu
of the mid<
fore rowed
to keep wal
a planter o
and there ti
and right a
minutes, ar


Each boat or


ed its own provisions. We shall suppose one of
underway, and, having passed Natchez, entering
were called the difficulties of their ascent.
L point projected, so as to render the course or
it of some magnitude, there was an eddy, the re-
rrent of which was sometimes as strong as that
ile of the great stream. The bargemen there-
up pretty close under the bank, and had merely
tch in the bow, lest the boat should run against
r sawyer. But the boat has reached the point,


ie current
against it.
e ordered


is to all appearance of double strength,
The men, who have all rested a few
to take their stations, and lay hold of


their oars, for the river must be crossed, it being seldom pos-






NAVIGATION


OF MISSISSIPPI


sible to double such a point and proceed along the same
shore. The boat is crossing, its head slanting to the cur-
rent, which is however too strong for the rowers, and when
the other side of the river has been reached, it has drifted
perhaps a quarter of a mile. The men are by this time ex-
hausted, and, as we shall suppose it to be twelve o'clock,
fasten the boat to the shore or to a tree. A small glass of
whisky is given to each, when they cook and eat their dinner,
and after repairing their fatigue by an hour's repose, recom-
mence their labours. The boat is again seen slowly advanc-
ing against the stream. It has reached the lower end of a
large sand-bar, along the edge of which it is propelled by


means of long poles, if the bottom be hard. Two men c
bowsmen remain at the prow, to assist, in concert wit]
steers-man, in managing the boat, and keeping its head
against the current. The rest place themselves on the
side of the footway of the vessel, put one end of their
on the ground, the other against their shoulders, and
with all their might. As each of the men reaches the s
he crosses to the other side, runs along it, and comes for
arain to the landward side of the bow. when he recomm


operations.
rate not ex
The bar
straight on
strong, the
those on th


Th
ceedin
is at
both
poles
Le rive


land side lay hol
and thus slowly
the trunk of a


ailed
h the
right
land
poles
push
itern,
ward
ences


e barge in the mean time is ascending at a
ig one mile in the hour.
length passed, and as the shore in sight is
sides of the river, and the current uniformly
are laid aside, and the men equally divided,
r side take to their oars, whilst those on the
d of the branches of willows, or other trees,
propel the boat. Here and there, however,
fallen tree, partly lying on the bank, and


partly projecting beyond it, impedes their
quires to be doubled. This is performed b;
the iron points of the poles and gaff-hooks.
quite low, and the barge is again secured in
within reach. The navigators cook their


progress, and re-
y striking it with
The sun is now
the best harbour
supper, and be-


take themselves to their blankets or bear-skins to rest, or


I







NAVIGATION


OF MISSISSIPPI


perhaps light a large fire on the shore, under the smoke of
which they repose, in order to avoid the persecution of the


myriads of
mer along
boat may h
well. The
set, the boa


moschettoes which
the river. Perhap
lave advanced fifteen
next day, the wind
t takes all advantage


occur during the whole sum-
s, from dawn to sunset, the
en miles. If so, it has done
proves favourable, the sail is
'es, and meeting with no acci-


dent, has ascended thirty miles, perhaps double that dist
The next day comes with a very different aspect. The
is right a-head, the shores are without trees of any
and the canes on the bank are so thick and stout, tha
even the cordelles can be used. This occasions a halt.
time is not altogether lost, as most of the men, being
vided with rifles, betake themselves to the woods, and si
for the deer, the bears, or the turkeys, that are gene


abundant there
changes, and th
are forgotten.
over a shallow
but hangs fast,
for the poles!
At length towa


is again
another n
I shall


Three


days


pass


before


ance.
wind
kind,
t not
The
pro-
earch
rally
wind


ie advantages gained on the previous fine day
Again the boat proceeds, but in passing
place runs on a log, swings with the current,
, with her leaside almost under water. Now
All hands are on deck, bustling and pushing.
rds sunset, the boat is once more afloat, and


taken to the shore, where the wearied crew pass
light.
not continue this account of difficulties, it having


already become pa:
the crew abandonir
accidents and peril
ing in this tardy m
the first of March,
until the month of
and after all this
bags of coffee, and
was the state of th
that period did nol


inful in the extreme. I could
ig the boat and cargo, and of
Is; but be it enough to say, th
manner, the boat that left New
often did not reach the Falls
July,-nay, sometimes not unl
immense trouble, it brought
[ at most 100 hogsheads of suj
ings in 1808. The number o


tell you of
numberless
at, advanc-
Orleans on
of the Ohio
til October;
only a few
gar. Such
f barges at


t amount to more than 25 or 30, and the


largest probably did not exceed 100 tons burden.


To make








NAVIGATION


the best of
saying, that
wonders, for
time.


If
out


OF MISSISSIPPI


this fatiguing navigation, I may conclude by
a barge which came up in three months had done
*I believe, few voyages were performed in that


SI am not mistaken, the first steam-boat that went down
of the Ohio to New Orleans was named the "Orleans,"


and if I remember right, was commanded by Captain Ogden.
This voyage, I believe was performed in the spring of 1810.
It was, as you may suppose, looked upon as the ne plus ultra
of enterprise. Soon after, another vessel came from Pitts-
burg, and before many years elapsed, to see a vessel so pro-
pelled became a common occurrence. In 1826, after a lapse
of time that proved sufficient to double the population of
the United States of America, the navigation of the Missis-
sippi had so improved both in respect to facility and quick-


ness, that I know no
than by presenting y


better way of giving you an idea of it,
ou with an extract of a letter from my


eldest son, which was taken from the books of N. Berthoud,
Esq. with whom he at that time resided.


"You ask me in your last letter foi
partures here. I give you an abstrac
ing the number of boats which plied
trips which they performed, and the
from New Orleans and intermediate


r a list of the arrivals and de-
It from our list of 1826, show-
each year, their tonnage, the
quantity of goods landed here
places.


"1823,
1824,
1825,
1826,


from Jan. 1 to
do. 1
do. 1
do. 1


boats, measuring
do.
do.
do.


7,860 tons. 98 trips. 19,453 tons.
6,393 do. 118 do. 20,291 do.
7,484 do. 140 do. 24,102 do.
9,388 do. 182 do. 28,914 do.


"The amount for the present year will be much greater than any


of


the above.


nation.
much
every
hours.
New


The
about,
day.
The
Orleans


The number of flat-boats and k(
number of steam-boats above the
except that one or two arrive at
Their passage from Cincinnati is
Tecumseh, a boat which runs bet
;, and which measures 210 tons,


eels is beyond calcu-
Falls I cannot say
and leave Louisville
commonly 14 or 16
ween this place and
arrived here on the


10th instant, in 9 days 7 hours, from port to port; and the Phila-







NAVIGATION


OF MISSISSIPPI


delphia, of 300 tons, made the passage in 9 days 91/ hours, the
computed distance being 1650 miles. These are the quickest trips
made. There are now in operation on the waters west of the Al-
leghany Mountains 140 or 145 boats. We had last spring (1826),
a very high freshet, which came 41/ feet deep in the counting-
room. The rise was 57 feet 8 inches perpendicular."

The whole of the steam-boats of which you have an ac-


count did not
all points on
into it. I am
has increased,
When stean
New Orleans,
a hundred an


perform voyages to New Orleans only, but to
the Mississippi, and other rivers which fall
certain that since the above date the number
but to what extent I cannot at present say.
n-boats first plied between Shippingport and
the cabin passage was a hundred dollars, and
id fifty dollars on the upward voyage. In


1829, I went down
twenty-five dollars, an
the Philadelphia, in
sixty dollars, having 1


myself.


On that voj


a


n. S


to Natchez from bhippmg
d ascended from New Orleans
the beginning of January 1
taken two state-rooms for my
'age we met with a trifling 4


port


(
I

I


which protracted it to fourteen days; the computed
being, as mentioned above, 1650 miles, although
distance is probably less. I do not remember to ha
a day without meeting with a steam-boat, and some
met several. I might here be tempted to give you a


on board
330, for
wife and
accident,
distance
the real
ve spent
days we
descrip-


tion of one of these steamers of the western waters, but the
picture having been often drawn by abler hands, I shall
desist.


--


v












A FLOOD

MANY of our larger streams, such as the Mississippi, the
Ohio, the Illinois, the Arkansas and the Red River, exhibit
at certain seasons the most extensive overflowings of their


waters, to which t
the term freshets
smaller streams.
through which an
failing supply of


he name of floods
, usually applied
If we consider ti
inland navigation
water furnished I


we cannot suppose them exceeded in
in the known world. It will easily
derful spectacle must present itself


is more appropriate than
to the sudden risings of
ie vast extent of country
i is afforded by the never-
,y these wonderful rivers,
i magnitude by any other
be imagined what a won-
? to the eye of the travel-


ler, who for the first tim
collected from the vasi
booming along, turbid
broad channels of the


which
forme
To


e views the enormo
t central regions
and swollen to o'
Mississippi and C


has a course of more I
r of several thousands.
give you some idea of


us mass of waters,
of our continent,
overflowing, in the
Ihio, the latter of


than a thousand miles, and the

a Booming Flood of these gi-


gantic streams, it is necessary to state the causes which give
rise to it. These are, the sudden melting of the snows on
the mountains, and heavy rains continued for several weeks.
When it happens that, during a severe winter, the Alleghany
Mountains have been covered with snow to the depth of sev-
eral feet, and the accumulated mass has remained unmelted
for a length of time, the materials of a flood are thus pre-
pared. It now and then happens that the winter is hurried
off by a sudden increase of temperature, when the accumu-
lated snows melt away simultaneously over the whole coun-
try, and the south-easterly wind which then usually blows,
brings along with it a continued fall of heavy rain, which,
29







80 A FLOOD
mingling with the dissolving snow, deluges the alluvial por-
tions of the western country, filling up the rivulets, ravines,
creeks, and small rivers. These, delivering their waters to
the great streams, cause the latter not merely to rise to a
surprising height, but to overflow their banks, wherever the
land is low. On such occasions, the Ohio itself presents a
splendid, and at the same time an appalling spectacle; but
when its waters mingle with those of the Mississippi, then,
is the time to view an American flood in all its astonishing
magnificence.
At the foot of the Falls of the Ohio, the water has been
known to rise upwards of sixty feet above its lowest level.
The river, at this point, has already run a course of nearly


seven
sylvar
numb4
or val
have 1
dreds
effects
by the
a cow
feet f
mark.


hundred miles, from its origin at Pittsburg, in
lia, during which it has received the waters
erless tributaries, and overflowing all the bottom
leys, has swept along the fences and dwellings
been unable to resist its violence. I could relate
of incidents which might prove to you the dr<
of such an inundation, and which have been wit,
)usands besides myself. I have known, for exam]
swimming through a window, elevated at least
rom the ground, and sixty-two feet above low-


The house was the


1


Ohio, which runs in front of
try was overflowed; but the


Penn-
of its
lands
which
hun-
eadful
nessed
pie, of
seven
-water


surrounded by water from the
it, while the neighboring coun-
family did not remove from it,


but remained in its upper portion, having previously taken
off the sashes of the lower windows, and opened the doors.
But let us return to the Mississippi.
There the overflowing is astonishing; for no sooner has the
water reached the upper part of the banks, than it rushes
out and overspreads the whole of the neighboring swamps,
presenting an ocean overgrown with stupendous forest-trees.
So sudden is the calamity, that every individual, whether
man or beast, has to exert his utmost ingenuity to enable him
to escape from the dreaded element. The Indian quickly


___n


_ ...







A FLOOD


removes to the hills of the interior; the cattle and game swim
to the different strips of land that remain uncovered in the
midst of the flood, or attempt to force their way through the
waters until they perish from fatigue. Along the banks of
the river, the inhabitants have rafts ready made, on which
they remove themselves, their cattle and their provisions, and
which they then fasten with ropes or grape-vines to the
larger trees, while they contemplate the melancholy specta-
cle presented by the current, as it carries off their houses
and wood-yards piece by piece. Some who have nothing to
lose, and are usually known by the name of Squatters, take
this opportunity of traversing the woods in canoes for the
purpose of procuring game, and particularly the skins of
animals, such as the deer and bear, which may be converted
into money. They resort to the low ridges surrounded by
the waters, and destroy thousands of deer, merely for their
skins, leaving the flesh to putrefy.
The river itself, rolling its swollen waters along, presents a


spectacle of the most imposing
vessel, unless propelled by ste
against the current, it is seen
produce, which running out f:
float silently towards the City
meanwhile not very well assure


even there
pumice, the
of the nort.
than ever.
dermined,
the stream
attempting
and boiling
Eagle is ol
in pieces,


nature. Although no large
!am, can now make its way
covered by boats, laden with
rom all the smaller streams,
of New Orleans, their owners
;d of finding a landing-place


The water is covered with yellow foam and
latter having floated from the Rocky Mountains


e
h


-west.


The eddies are larger and more powerful


Here and there tracts of forest are observed un-
the trees gradually giving way, and falling into
Cattle, horses, bears and deer are seen at times
g to swim across the impetuous mass of foaming
g water; whilst here and there a Vulture or an
)served perched on a bloated carcass, tearing it up
as regardless of the flood, as on former occasions


it would have been of the numerous sawyers and planters,
with which the surface of the river is covered, when the water







32 A FLOOD
is low. Even the steamer is frequently distressed. The
numberless trees and logs that float along break its paddles
and retard its progress. Besides, it is on such occasions diffi-
cult to procure fuel to maintain its fires; and it is only at
very distant intervals that a wood-yard can be found which
the water has not carried off.
Following the river in your canoe, you reach those parts


of the shores that
the waters, and are
population of the
ing those artificial
level of the fields.
ing of a crevasse,
fields. In spite of
the water bursts in
waste the crops wh
uriance of spring.


are protected against the overflowing of
called Levees. There you find the whole
district at work repairing and augment-
barriers, which are several feet above the
Every person appears to dread the open-
by which the waters may rush into his


all
npet
ich
I.


exertions, however, the crevasse opens,
tuously over the plantations, and lays
so lately were blooming in all the lux-
t opens up a new channel, which, for


aught I know to the contrary, may carry its waters even to
the Mexican Gulf.
I have floated on the Mississippi and Ohio when thus
swollen, and have in different places visited the submersed
lands of the interior, propelling a light canoe by the aid of
a paddle. In this manner I have traversed immense por-
tions of the country overflowed by the waters of these rivers,
and, particularly whilst floating over the Mississippi bottom-
lands, I have been struck with awe at the sight. Little or no
current is met with, unless when the canoe passes over the


bed of a bayou.
the mournful blea
ear, or the dismal
as the foul bird ri,
carcass on which
Bears, Cougars, L
ascend the trees.


branches.


Hung


All is silent anm
ting of the hem
scream of an E


ses,
6 it
'ynx
are
ry i


disturbed bj
was allayi
:es, and all (
observed c
n the midst


1 melancholy, unless when
mned in Deer reaches your
.agle or a Raven is heard,
y your approach, from the
ng its craving appetite.
other quadrupeds that can
rouched among their top
t of abundance, although







A FLOOD


they see floating around them the animals on


which they


usually prey, they dare not venture to swim to them.
Fatigued by the exertions which they have made in reaching
the dry land, they will there stand the hunter's fire, as if to
die by a ball were better than to perish amid the waste
waters. On occasions like this, all these animals are shot
by hundreds.
Opposite the City of Natchez, which stands on a bluff of
considerable elevation, the extent of inundated lands is im-
mense, the greater portion of the tract lying between the
Mississippi and the Red River, which is more than thirty
miles in breadth, being under water. The mail-bag has
often been carried through the immersed forests, in a canoe,


for even a greater
Natchitochez.


distance, in


order to be forwarded to


But
again
waters


now, observe this great flood gradually subsiding, and
see the mighty changes which it has effected. The
have now been carried into the distant ocean. The


earth is everywhere covered by a deep deposit of muddy
loam, which in drying splits into deep and narrow chasms,


presenting
the weather


a reticulated appearance,
becomes warmer, disagree


and from which, as
ble, and at times noxi-


ous, exhalations arise, and fill the lower stra
atmosphere as with a dense fog. The banks
have almost everywhere been broken down in a
less degree. Large streams are now found to
none were formerly to be seen, having forced t
direct lines from the upper parts of the bends.
by the navigator called short-cuts. Some of
proved large enough to produce a change in the
of the Mississippi. If I mistake not, one of t
by the name of the Grand Cut-off, and only a
length, has diverted the river from its natural
has shortened it by fifty miles. The upper j
islands present a bulwark consisting of an enorn


,turn of the
of the river
t greater or
exist, where
heir way in
These are
them have
e navigation
hese, known
few miles in
course, and
aarts of the
nous mass of







A FLOOD


floated trees of all kinds, which have lodged there. Large
sand-banks have been completely removed by the impetuous


whirls of
Some ap
to mark
trees on


the waters, and have been deposited in other places.
pear quite new to the eye of the navigator, who has
their situation and bearings in his log-book. The
the margins of the banks have in many parts given


way. They are see
grounded arms of an
where are heard the 1
whilst their servants


n bending over


overwhelmed army of
amentations of the far
and themselves are bu


repairing the damages occasioned by the


crevasse an old ship or two, dismantled
sunk, to obstruct the passage opened
waters, while new earth is brought to
The squatter is seen shouldering his r
way through the morass, in search of h
the survivors home, and save the skins of
fences have everywhere to be formed; e


for
by
fill
ifle,
is lc


stream, like the
giants. Every-
mer and planter,
sily employed in
floods. At one
the purpose, are
the still rushing
up the chasms.
and making his
ist stock, to drive


? the drowned. New
ven new houses must


be er
place
made
anew
corn
pects
in his
up tl
bank


*ected,


to save which from a like disaster, the settler


is them on an elevated platform supported
; of the trunks of trees. The lands must be
, and if the season is not too far advanced,
and potatoes may yet be raised. But the :
of the planter are blasted. The traveller i


h


journey, the creeks and smaller streams havin
eir banks in a degree proportionate to their


by pillars
ploughed


t crop of
ich pros-
impeded
g broken
size. A


of sand, which seems firm and secure, suddenly gives


way beneath the traveller's horse, and the next moment the
animal has sunk in the quicksand, either to the chest in front,
or over the crupper behind, leaving its master in a situation
not to be envied.
Unlike the mountain-torrents and small rivers of other
parts of the world, the Mississippi rises but slowly during
these floods, continuing for several weeks to increase at the
rate of about an inch a day. When at its height, it under-






A FLOOD 85
goes little flunctuation for some days, and after this subsides
as slowly as it rose. The usual duration of a flood is from
four to six weeks, although, on some occasions, it is pro-
tracted to two months.
Every one knows how largely the idea of floods and
cataclysms enters into the speculations of the geologist. If
the streamlets of the European Continent afford illustrations
of the formation of strata, how much more must the Missis-
sippi, with its ever-shifting sand-banks, its crumbling shores,
its enormous masses of drift timber, the source of future beds
of coal, its extensive and varied alluvial deposits, and its
mighty mass of waters rolling sullenly along, like the flood of
eternity!













MEADVILLE

THE incidents that occur in the life of a student of nature
are not all of the agreeable kind, in proof of which, I will
present an extract from one of my journals.
My money was one day stolen from me by a person, who
perhaps imagined that to a naturalist it was of little im-
portance. This happened on the shores of Upper Canada.
The affair was as unexpected as it well could be, and as
adroitly managed as if it had been planned and executed
in Cheapside. To have repined when the thing could not be


helped, would not
told my companion]
that Providence hi
amount of cash 1<
miles from home,
passage across the


have been acting manfully. I therefore
n to keep a good heart, for I felt satisfied


ad some
eft with
was jus
lake ha<


embarked and soon got to


relief in store for us. The whole
two individuals fifteen hundred
t seven dollars and a-half. Our
d fortunately been paid for. We
the entrance of Presque Isle Har-


bour, but could not pass the bar, on account of a violent gale
which came on as we approached it. The anchor was
dropped, and we remained on board during the night, feel-
ing at times very disagreeable, under the idea of having
taken so little care of our money. How long we might have
remained at anchor I cannot tell, had not that Providence,
on whom I have never ceased to rely, come to our aid.


Through some
of the United
Presque Isle, s
on the 29th of
morning. My
greatest care.


a


means to me quite unkna
States Navy, then probal
ent a gig with six men to
August 1824, and never
drawings were put into


own, Captain Judd
bly commandant at
our relief. It was
shall I forget that
the boat with the


We shifted into it, and seated ourselves ac-


cording to directions politely given us.
36


Our brave fellows


4






MEADVILLE 37

pulled hard, and every moment brought us nearer to the
American shore. I leaped upon it with elated heart. My
drawings were safely landed, and for any thing else I cared
little at the moment. I searched in vain for the officer of
our navy, to whom I still feel grateful, and gave one of our
dollars to the sailors to drink the "freedom of the waters ;"
after which we betook ourselves to a humble inn to procure
bread and milk, and consider how we were to proceed.
Our plans were soon settled, for to proceed was decidedly
the best. Our luggage was rather heavy, so we hired a cart
to take it to Meadville, for which we offered five dollars.
This sum was accepted, and we set off. The country
through which we passed might have proved favourable to


our pursuits, had
night we alighted
conductor's father.
had not yet return
grandmother of ou
the premises. Wa
stirred herself as
blazing fire to dry


it not rained nearly the whole day. At
and put up at a house belonging to our
It was Sunday night. The good folks
rned from a distant meeting-house, the
ir driver being the only individual about
e found here a cheerful dame, who be-
actively as age would permit, got up a
our wet clothes, and put as much bread


and milk on t
sides ourselves
Being fatig
place in whici
were several
paint her port
My companion
in which state
ing, had we n
to be carried
where we lay,
As we had no
sound asleep,
would be to ha
grandmother.


:he


table as might have sufficed for several be-


s.


rued by the jolting of the cart, we asked for a
i to rest, and were shown into a room in which
,eds. We told the good woman that I should
trait next morning for the sake of her children.
n and myself were soon in bed, and soon asleep,
we should probably have remained till morn-
lot been awakened by a light, which we found
by three young damsels, who having observed
blew it out, and got into a bed opposite ours.
it spoken, it is probable the girls supposed us
and we heard them say how delighted they


ve their portraits taken, as well as that of their
My heart silently met their desire, and we


L






MEADVILLE


fell asleep, without farther disturbance.
it is frequently the case that one room
sleepers of a family.


In our back woods
suffices for all the


Day dawned, and as


we were dressing


we were alone in the apartment, the good
ing dressed in silence and left us before
We joined the family and were kindly g:
had I made known my intentions as to the
young folks disappeared, and soon after
their Sunday clothes. The black chalk


we discovered that
country girls hav-
we had awakened.
reeted. No sooner
portraits, than the
returned attired in
was at work in a


few minutes, to their great delight, and as the fumes of the
breakfast that was meantime preparing reached my sensitive
nose, I worked with redoubled ardour. The sketches were


soon finished, and soon too was the break
a few airs on my flageolet, while our gu
horses to the cart, and by ten o'clock we
der way towards Meadville. Never shl
Randell and his hospitable family.
as pleased as myself, and as the weather
we enjoyed our journey with all that ha
best suited to our character. The couni
ered with heavy timber, principally ev
and the Cucumber trees loaded with bril
Spruces throwing a shade over the land


fast over.


I played


ide was putting the
were once more un-
all I forget Maxon
My companion was
r was now beautiful,
ppy thoughtlessness
try now became cov-
ergreens, the Pines
liant fruits, and the
in good keeping for


a mellow picture. The lateness of the crops was the only
disagreeable circumstance that struck us; hay was yet stand-
ing, probably, however, a second crop; the peaches were
quite small and green, and a few persons here and there, as
we passed the different farms, were reaping oats. At length
we came in sight of French Creek, and soon after reached
Meadville. Here we paid the five dollars promised to our
conductor, who instantly faced about, and applying the
whip to his nags, bade us adieu and set off.
We had now only a hundred and fifty cents. No time
was to be lost. We put our baggage and ourselves under the
roof of a tavern-keeper known by the name of J. E. Smith,






MEADVILLE


at the sign of the Traveller's Rest, and soon after took a
walk to survey the little village that was to be laid under


contribution for our further support. Its appearance was
rather dull, but thanks to God, I have never despaired while
rambling thus for the sole purpose of admiring his grand
and beautiful works. I had opened the case that contained
my drawings, and putting my portfolio under my arm, and
a few good credentials in my pocket, walked up Main Street,
looking to the right and left, examining the different heads
which occurred, until I fixed my eyes on a gentleman in a
store who looked as if he might want a sketch. I begged
him to allow me to sit down. This granted, I remained pur-
posely silent until he very soon asked me what was "in that
portfolio." These three words sounded well, and without


waiting another instant, I opened it to his view. This was
a Hollander, who complimented me much on the execution
of the drawings of birds and flowers in my portfolio. Show-
ing him a sketch of the best friend I have in the world at
present, I asked him if he would like one in the same style of
himself. He not only answered in the affirmative, but as-
sured me that he would exert himself in procuring as many
more customers as he could. I thanked him, be assured,
kind reader; and having fixed upon the next morning for
drawing the sketch, I returned to the Traveller's Rest, with


a hope
ready,
Table
upon
which


that to-morrow might prove propitious. Supper was
and as in America we have generally but one sort of


d'h6te, we sat down,
me as a Missionary
in those days flowed


asked to say grace, which I
Daylight returned. I


when, every individual looking
priest, on account of my hair,
loosely on my shoulders, I was
did with a fervent spirit.
visited the groves and woods


around, with my companion, returned, breakfasted, and
went to the store, where, notwithstanding my ardent desire to
begin my task, it was ten o'clock before the sitter was ready.
But, reader, allow me to describe the artist's room. See me
ascending a crazy flight of steps, from the back part of a


t


k
tf








MEADVILLE


storeroom into a large garret extending over the store and
counting room, and mark me looking round to see how the
light could be stopped from obtruding on me through no
less than four windows facing each other at right angles.
Then follow me scrutinizing the corners, and finding in one
a cat nursing her young, among a heap of rags intended for
the paper-mill. Two hogsheads filled with oats, a parcel of


Dutch toys carelessly
a bassoon in another


and the
a hamm
leather,
closing
painter'


portable
ock near
made up
the extra
s light.


bed
the
the i
win


thrown on the floor, a large drum and
part, fur caps hanging along the wall,
of the merchant's clerk swinging like
centre, together with some rolls of sole
picture. I saw all this at a glance, and
.dows with blankets, I soon procured a


A young gentleman sat, to try my skill. I finished his
phiz, which was approved of. The merchant then took the
chair, and I had the good fortune to please him also. The
room became crowded with the gentry of the village. Some


laughed, while others express
went on notwithstanding the
My sitter invited me to spend
did, and joined him in some mi
returned to my companion witi


d their wonder;
observations thi
the evening wit]
isic on the flute
1 great pleasure


but my work
at were made.
h him, which I
and violin. I
; and you may


judge how much that pleasure was increased, when I found
that he also had made two sketches. Having written a page
or two of our journals, we retired to rest.
The following day was spent much in the same manner.
I felt highly gratified that from under my grey coat my
talents had made their way, and I was pleased to discover
that industry and moderate abilities prove at least as valu-
able as first-rate talents without the former of these qualities.
We left Meadville on foot, having forwarded our baggage by
wagon. Our hearts were light, our pockets replenished, and
we walked in two days to Pittsburg, as happy as circum-
stances permitted us to be.












THE COUGAR

THERE is an extensive Swamp in the section of the State of
Mississippi which lies partly in the Choctaw territory.
It commences at the borders of the Mississippi, at no great
distance from a Chicasaw village, situated near the mouth of
a creek known by the name of Vanconnah, and partly inun-
dated by the swellings of several large bayous, the principal
of which, crossing the swamp in its whole extent, discharges


its waters not far from the mouth of t]
famous bayou is called False River.
I am speaking follows the windings <
latter branches off to the north-east, u
the stream named Cold Water River,
receives the draining of another ba


the north-west, and intersecting
False River, at a short distance


that
froi


he Yazoo River.


This


The swamp of which
)f the Yazoo, until the
md at this point forms
below which the Yazoo
you inclining towards
known by the name of
n the place where the


latter receives the waters of the Mississippi. This tedious
account of the situation of the Swamp, is given with the view
of pointing it out to all students of nature who may chance
to go that way, and whom I would earnestly urge to visit its
interior, as it abounds in rare and interesting productions:
birds, quadrupeds and reptiles, as well as molluscous ani-
mals, many of which, I am persuaded, have never been
described.
In the course of one of my rambles, I chanced to meet with
a squatter's cabin on the banks of the Cold Water River.
In the owner of this hut, like most of those adventurous set-
tlers in the uncultivated tracts of our frontier districts, I
found a person well versed in the chase, and acquainted with
the habits of some of the larger species of quadrupeds and


birds.


As he who is desirous of instruction ought not to
41







THE


COUGAR


disdain listening to any one who has knowledge to com-
municate, however humble may be his lot, or however limited
his talents, I entered the squatter's cabin, and immediately
opened a conversation with him respecting the situation of
the swamp, and its natural productions. He told me he
thought it the very place I ought to visit, spoke of the game
which it contained, and pointed to some bear and deer skins,
adding that the individuals to which they had belonged
formed but a small portion of the number of those animals
which he had shot within it. My heart swelled with delight,
and on asking if he would accompany me through the great
morass, and allow me to become an inmate of his humble but
hospitable mansion, I was gratified to find that he cordially
assented to all my proposals. So I immediately unstrapped
my drawing materials, laid up my gun, and sat down to par-
take of the homely but wholesome fare intended for the sup-
per of the squatter, his wife, and his two sons.
The quietness of the evening seemed in perfect accordance


with the gentle demeanour of the
children, I more than once thought,
as a strange sort of person, going
was, in search of birds and plants; a


family. The
seemed to look
about, as I tol
nd were I here


wife and
upon me
d them I
to relate


the many questions which they put to me in return for those
which I addressed to them, the catalogue would occupy sev-
eral pages. The husband, a native of Connecticut, had


hear
own
have
whale
spot,
in N
some


d of the exist
country and
me under his
t had induced
"The peop]
ew England,"


h


ence of such m
abroad, and si
roof. Supper
him to remove
[e are growing tV


-7 C-,


was his answer.


parts of Europe, and calcula


population compared with that of
to myself, "How much more diflic


en as
seemed
over, I]


myself, both in our
greatly pleased to
[ asked my kind host


to this wild and solitary
oo numerous now to thrive
I thought of the state of
ting the denseness of their
New England, exclaimed
;ult must it be for men to


thrive in those populous countries !" The conversation then
changed, and the squatter, his sons and myself, spoke of







THE


COUGAR


hunting and fishing, until at length tired, we laid ourselves


down on pallets of bear ski
floor of the only apartment <
Day dawned, and the sq
being almost in a wild state,
portion of their food in th
ready dressed, I was not lont
their young came grunting
owner, who threw them a fey
but told me that for some


greatly
a large
in Amer
himself
off one c
had mad
it, had o
to these
feats of
idea of t
his desc.
enemy, a
unless sc
and his (


dimi]
Pan
ica,
with
if his
e to


ns, and reposed in peace
of which the hut consisted.
uatter's call to his hogs,
were suffered to seek the E
ie woods, awakened me.


g in joinin
at the we
r ears of cc
weeks th


nished by the ravages coi
other, by which name the
and that the ravenous a
the flesh of his pigs, but
calves, notwithstanding
shoot it. The Painter,


on the

which,
greater
Being


g him. The hogs and
11ll known call of their
orn, and counted them,
ieir number had been
emitted upon them by
Cougar is designated


animal did not content
* now and then carried
the many attempts he
as he sometimes called


in several occasions robbed him of a
exploits the squatter added seven
audacity which it had performed,


he formidi
ription, I
It which h
me of his


)wn


mounting a
whom lived
of meeting.
The hunt


able character of the beast
offered to assist him in
e was highly pleased, but
neighbours should join us


dead deer; and
sral remarkable
to give me an
. Delighted by
destroying the
assured me that
with their dogs


, the attempt would prove fruitless. Soon after,
horse, he went off to his neighbours, several of
at a distance of some miles, and appointed a day

;ers, accordingly, made their appearance, one fine


morning,
ing from
and fully
which in
but which
pursuing
than any


at the door of the cabin, just as
beneath the horizon. They w
equipped for the chase, being
some parts of Europe might a
in strength, speed and bottom,


the sun was emerg-
ere five in number,
mounted on horses,
appear sorry nags,
are better fitted for


a cougar or a bear through woods and morasses
in that country. A pack of large ugly curs were


already engaged in making acquaintance with those of the







COUGAR


squatter. He and myself mounted his tw
whilst his sons were bestriding others of infer
Few words were uttered by the party until
the edge of the Swamp, where it was agreed
disperse and seek for the fresh track of the P
previously settled that the discoverer should
and remain on the spot until the rest should
less than an hour, the sound of the horn was


and, sticking close to the
thick woods, guided only
of the distant huntsman.
in a short time the rest of
was sent forward to track
the whole pack were obse


termined to shock
The dogs soo
their pace. M
on the ground,
we followed the
the dogs increase


ft at no other gar
n began to mout
y companion con


and putting our
curs, guided by
ed. when all of a


became altered, and the squall
me that the beast was treed,
got upon some low branch i
w moments, and that should
when thus situated, we might


o best horses,
ior quality.
we had reached
that all should
ainter, it being
blow his horn,
join him. In
clearly heard,


f
i


me
h,


rr, and in a few moments
intly trailing, and bear-
'the Swamp. The rifles
the party followed the
sight of each other, de-
than the Panther.
and suddenly quickened


Included that
horses to a
their voices.
sudden their
tter, urging r
by which he
of a large tr
we not succec


the beast was
gentle gallop,
The noise of
mode of bark-
ne to push on,
meant that it
Cee to rest for
ed in shooting


t expect a long chase of it.


As we approached the spot, we all by degrees united into a
body, but on seeing the dogs at the foot of a large tree, sep-
arated again and galloped off to surround it.
Each hunter now moved with caution, holding his gun
ready, and allowing the bridle to dangle on the neck of his
horse, as it advanced slowly towards the dogs. A shot
from one of the party was heard, on which the Cougar was
seen to leap to the ground, and bound off with such velocity


THE


squatter, off we went through
by the now and then repeated
We soon reached the spot,
the party came up. The best


the Couga
rved dilige


ing in their course for the interior o
were immediately put in trim, anc
dogs, at separate distances, but in


ing


?






THE


COUGAR


as to show that he was very unwilling to stand
longer. The dogs set off in pursuit with great a


our fire
eagerness


and a deafening cry. The hunter who had fired came up
and said that his ball had hit the monster, and had probably
broken one of his fore-legs near the shoulder, the only place
at which he could aim. A slight trail of blood was dis-
covered on the ground, but the curs proceeded at such a
rate that we merely noticed this, and put spurs to our
horses, which galloped on towards the centre of the Swamp.
One bayou was crossed, then another still larger and more
muddy; but the dogs were brushing forward, and as the


horses I
pedient
mined h
shortly
would r
easy to
off the
horses'


began
to le


to pant at a furious ri


ave them and advance


Lunters knew that the Cougar
ascend another tree, where
emain for a considerable tim
follow the track of the dogs.
saddles and bridles, set the


necks at libe


rty


to jingle,


ate,


we judged it ex-


on foot. These deter-
* being wounded, would
in all probability he
e, and that it would be
We dismounted, took
* bells attached to the


hopp


left them to shift for themselves.
Now, reader, follow the group ma
swamp, crossing muddy pools, and mak
way over fallen trees and amongst the
now and then covered acres of ground.
yourself, all this will appear nothing to


led the animals, and

rching through the
ing the best of their
tangled rushes that
If you are a hunter
you; but if crowded


assemblies of "beauty and fashion," or the quiet enjoyment
of your "pleasure-grounds," alone delight you, I must mend
my pen before I attempt to give you an idea of the pleasure
felt on such an expedition.
After marching for a couple of hours, we again heard the
dogs. Each of us pressed forward, elated at tBe thought of
terminating the career of the Cougar. Some of the dogs
were heard whining, although the greater number barked
vehemently. We felt assured that the Cougar was treed,
and that he would rest for some time to recover from his
fatigue. As we came up to the dogs, we discovered the fero-


__







THE


cious animal
of a cotton-w
eyes were at
neath and ar
his side, and
his head, as
Three balls w
sprang a fey


COUGAR


lying across a large branch, close to the trunk
ood tree. His broad breast lay towards us; his
one time bent on us and again on the dogs be-
ound him; one of his fore-legs hung loosely by
he lay crouched, with his ears lowered close to
if he thought he might remain undiscovered.
rere fired at him, at a given signal, on which he
r feet from the branch, and tumbled headlong


to the ground. Attacked on all sides by the enraged curs,
the infuriated Cougar fought with desperate valour; but
the squatter advancing in front of the party, and almost in


the midst of the
neath the left she
in agony, and in
The sun was ni
separated from
squatter's sons v
home, to be rea<
rest of the party
was despoiled of
dogs. Whilst e
the report of a
turned with a sm
ter displayed his
The deer was-ak
before the fire.


dogs,
older.
anoth


shot him immediately behind and be-
The Cougar writhed for a moment
er lay dead.


ow sinking in the west. Two of the hunters
the rest, to procure venison, whilst the
rere ordered to make the best of their way
ly to feed the hogs in the morning. The
agreed to camp on the spot. The Cougar
its skin, and its carcass left to the hungry
engaged in preparing our camp, we heard
gun, and soon after one of our hunters re-
all deer. A fire was lighted, and each hun-
pone of bregaalong with a flask of whisky.
d a trice, and slices placed on stjiks
These materials afforded us an excellent


meal, and as the night grew
round, until my companions,
close under the smoke of the
I walked for some minutes
the beauties of that nature,
rived my greatest pleasures.
of the day, and glancing


darker, stories and songs went
fatigued, laid themselves down,
fire, and soon fell asleep.
round the camp, to contemplate
from which I have certainly de-
I thought of the occurrences
my eye around, remarked the


singular effects produced by the phosphorescent qualities of
the large decayed trunks which lay in all directions around
me. How easy, I thought, would it be for the confused and






THE COUGAR


agitate
imagine
fearful
stand
placed
hasten


.d mind of a person bewildered in a swamp like this, to
e in each of these luminous masses some wondrous and
being, the very sight of which might make the hair
erect on his head. The thought of being myself
in such a predicament burst over my mind, and I
ed to join my companions, beside whom I laid me


down and slept, assured that no
without first rousing the dogs, wl
dispute over the remains of the (
At daybreak we left our camp,
shoulder the skin of the late des4


traced our steps
strayed far from
we soon saddled,
guided by the sun


enemy could app
which were growling
cougar.


the squatter
troyer of his


until we found our horses,
the place where we had left
and jogging along, in a
i, congratulating each other 4


C
[}


roach us
in fierce


bearing on his
stock, and re-
rhich had not
them. These
direct course,
n the destruc-


tion of so formidable a neighbour as
we soon arrived at my host's cabin.
partook of such refreshment as the h
dispersing, returned to their homes,
my favourite pursuits.


the panther had been,
The five neighbours
house could afford, and
leaving me to follow













THE EARTHQUAKE


TRAVELLING through the Barrens of Kentucky


I shall give you an account elsewhere)
November, I was jogging on one afternoon,


a sudden and strange dart
zon. Accustomed to our ]
I took no more notice of


;ness rising from
heavy storms of 1
it, as I thought


(of which


in the month of
when I remarked
the western hori-
thunder and rain,
the speed of my


horse might enal
an acquaintance,
come up. I had
I imagined to be


)le me to get under shelter of the roof of
who lived not far distant, before it should
proceeded about a mile, when I heard what
the distant rumbling of a violent tornado,


on which I spurred my steed, with a wish to gallop as fast
as possible to the place of shelter; but it would not do, the
animal knew better than I what was forthcoming, and, in-
stead of going faster, so nearly stopped, that I remarked he
placed one foot after another on the ground with as much
precaution as if walking on a smooth sheet of ice. I thought
he had suddenly foundered, and, speaking to him, was on
the point of dismounting and leading him, when he all of
a sudden fell a-groaning piteously, hung his head, spread
out his four legs, as if to save himself from falling, and stood
stock still, continuing to groan. I thought my horse was
about to die, and would have sprung from his back had a
minute more elapsed, bit at that instant all the shrubs and
trees began to move from their very roots, the ground rose
and fell in successive furrows, like the ruffled waters of a lake,
and I became bewildered in my ideas, as I too plainly dis-
covered that all this awful commotion in nature was the re-
sult of an earthquake.
I had never witnessed any thing of the kind before, al-
though, like every other person, I knew of earthquakes by
48






THE EARTHQUAKE


description.


But what


is description


compared


with


reality ? Who can tell


of the sensations which I experienced


when I found myself rocking as it were on my horse, and
with him moved to and fro like a child in a cradle, with the
most imminent danger around, and expecting the ground
every moment to open, and present to my eye such an abyss
as might engulf myself and all around me? The fearful
convulsion, however, lasted only a few minutes, and the
heavens again brightened as quickly as they had become ob-
scured; my horse brought his feet to the natural position,
raised his head, and galloped off as if loose and frolicking
without a rider.
I was not, however, without great apprehension respecting


my family, from which I was
that where they were the sh
havoc than I had witnessed.


and was
myself.
sooner th
ure, that
appreher


glad to see him apl
The pace at which
lan I had expected,
hardly any greater
vision excited for my


yet many miles distant, fearful
ock might have caused greater
I gave the bridle to my steed,
pear as anxious to get home as
he galloped accomplished this
and I found, with much pleas-
harm had taken place than the
r own safety.


Shock succeeded shock almost every day or night for sev-
eral weeks, diminishing, however, so gradually as to dwindle
away into the mere vibrations of the earth. Strange to say,
I for one became so accustomed to the feeling as rather to
enjoy the fears manifested by others. I never can forget
the effects of one of the slighter shocks which took place


when
the m
ding.
the fi
This
retire
priet
const


I


I was at a friend's house, where I had gone to enjoy
erriment that, in our western country, attends a wed-


The ceremony being performed, supper
ddles tuned, dancing became the order of th
was merrily followed up to a late hour, when
id to rest. We were in what is called, with
y, a Log-house, one of large dimensions, a
ructed. The owner was a physician, and in


over, and
e moment.
the party
great pro-
nd solidly
one corner


were not only his lancets, tourniquets, amputating-knives,