The Passenger Pigeon 33 



of persons, with horses and wagons, guns and ammu- 

 nition, had already established encampments on the 

 borders. 



Two farmers from the vicinity of Russelsville, dis- 

 tant more than a hundred miles, had driven upwards 

 of three hundred hogs to be fattened on the pigeons 

 which were to be slaughtered. Here and there, the 

 people employed in plucking and salting what had 

 already been procured, were seen sitting in the midst 

 of large piles of these birds. The dung lay several 

 inches deep, covering the whole extent of the roosting 

 place, like a bed of snow. Many trees two feet in 

 diameter, I observed, were broken off at no great dis- 

 tance from the ground ; and the branches of many of the 

 largest and tallest had given way, as if the forest had 

 been swept by a tornado. Everything proved to me 

 that the number of birds resorting to this part of the 

 forest must be immense beyond conception. As the 

 period of their arrival approached, their foes anxiously 

 prepared to receive them. Some were furnished with 

 iron pots containing sulphur, others with torches of pine 

 knots, many with poles, and the rest with guns. The 

 sun was lost to our view, yet not a pigeon had arrived. 

 Everything was ready, and all eyes were gazing on the 

 clear sky, which appeared in glimpses amidst the tall 

 trees. Suddenly there burst forth a general cry of 

 "Here they come!" The noise which they made, 

 though yet distant, reminded me of a hard gale at sea 



