34 The Passenger Pigeon 



passing through the rigging of a close-reefed vessel. As 

 the birds arrived and passed over me, I felt a current 

 of air that surprised me. Thousands were seen 

 knocked down by the pole-men. The birds continued 

 to pour in. The fires were lighted, and a magnificent, 

 as well as wonderful and almost terrifying sight pre- 

 sented itself. The pigeons, arriving by thousands, 

 alighted everywhere, one above another, until solid 

 masses as large as hogsheads were formed on the 

 branches all round. Here and there the perches gave 

 way under the weight with a crash, and, falling to the 

 ground destroyed hundreds of the birds beneath, forc- 

 ing down the dense groups with which every stick was 

 loaded. It was a scene of uproar and confusion. I 

 found it quite useless to speak, or even to shout to those 

 persons who were nearest to me. Even the reports of 

 the guns were seldom heard, and I was made aware of 

 the firing only by seeing the shooters reloading. 



No one dared venture within the line of devastation. 

 The hogs had been penned up in due time, the picking 

 up of the dead and wounded being left for the next 

 morning's employment. The pigeons were constantly 

 coming, and it was past midnight before I perceived a 

 decrease in the number of those that arrived. The 

 uproar continued the whole night; and as I was anxious 

 to know to what distance the sound reached, I sent off 

 a man, accustomed to perambulate the forest, who, re- 

 turning two hours afterwards. Informed me he had 



