^0 Mr Audubon''s Account of' a 



uprooted to the earth. The mass of branches, twigs, foliage, 

 and dust that moved through the air, was whirled onward Hke 

 a cloud of feathers, and on passing disclosed a wide space filled 

 with fallen trees, naked stumps, and heaps of shapeless ruins, 

 which marked the path of the tempest. This space was about 

 a fourth of a mile in breadth, and to my imagination resembled 

 the dried up bed of the Mississippi, with its thousands of plant- 

 ers and sawyers, strewed in the sand, and inclined in various de- 

 grees. The horrible noise resembled that of the great cataracts 

 of Niagara, and as it howled along in the track of the desolating 

 tempest^ produced a feeling in my mind which it were impossi- 

 ble to describe. 



The principal force of the hurricane was now over, although 

 millions of twigs and small branches that had been brought 

 from a great distance were seen following the blast, as if drawn 

 onwards by some mysterious power. They even floated in the 

 air for some hours after, as if supported by the thick mass of 

 dust that rose high above the ground. The sky had now a 

 greenish lurid hue, and an extremely disagreeable sulphureous 

 odour was diffused in the atmosphere. 1 waited in amazement, 

 having sustained no material injury, until nature at length re- 

 sumed her wonted aspect. For some moments I felt undeter- 

 mined whether I should return to Morgantown, or attempt to 

 force my way through the wrecks of the tempest. My business, 

 however, being of an urgent nature, I ventured into the path of 

 the storm, and, after encountering innumerable difficulties, suc- 

 ceeded in crossing it. I was obliged to lead my horse by the 

 bridle, to enable him to leap over the fallen trees, whilst I 

 scrambled over or under them in the best way I could, at times 

 so hemmed in by the broken tops and tangled branches as almost 

 to become desperate. On arriving at my house I gave an ac- 

 count of what I had seen, when, to my surprise, I was told that 

 there had been very little wind in the neighbourhood ; although 

 in the streets and gardens many branches and twigs had fallen 

 in a manner which excited great surprise. 



Many wondrous accounts of the devastating effects of this 

 hurricane were circulated in the country after its occurrence. 

 Some log-houses, we were told, had been overturned, and their 

 inmates destroyed. One person informed me that a wire sifter 



