74 IN THE DAYS OF AUDUBON 



light that he afterward loved to recall, especially amid the 

 crowded scenes of English cities. 



Over the flag floating in the blue of the Kentucky sum- 

 mer sky the eagle wheeled and screamed, as if all below 

 her wings were hers. The eagles of Rome and France 

 became emblems of American freedom before Audubon 

 immortalized the white-headed bird, but it is Audubon's 

 eagle that we find to-day in the new insignia everywhere. 



Audubon had a pen like Washington Irving in the de- 

 scription of forest scenes. One of his most perfect literary 

 papers is a description of an old Kentucky barbecue, or 

 Independence-day festival, in the early towns. It will for- 

 ever preserve the memory of the celebration of liberty 

 as it was in the days of the pioneers of the great river 

 countries. 



He says: 



" Beargrass Creek, which is one of the many beautiful 

 streams of the highly cultivated and happy State of Ken- 

 tucky, meanders through a deeply shaded growth of ma- 

 jestic beech-woods, in which are interspersed various species 

 of walnut, oak, elm, ash, and other trees, extending on 

 either side of its course. The spot on which I witnessed 

 the celebration of an anniversary of the glorious procla- 

 mation of our independence is situated on its banks near 

 the city of Louisville. The woods spread their dense tufts 

 toward the shores of the fair Ohio on the west, and over 

 the gently rising grounds to the south and east. Every 



