1 42 Audubon s Birds ()f America, 



have been rent asunder by some convulsion of the eartli. The fissure is 

 about 200 feet deep, and above 80 in width under the arch, narrowing to 40' 

 or so at the bottom. The thickness of the arch probably exceeds 30 feet, and 

 increases at either end. At the bottom is seen the water of what is called 

 Cedar Creek, gently meandering in its rocky channel. The place, when I 

 saw it, was graced by handsome trees, and in some positions there was a plea- 

 sing view of the ' Blue Ridge' and the ' North Mountain.' Tradition reports 

 that General Washington threw a dollar over the bridge from the creek be- 

 low. I may mention, that I passed it under peculiar circumstances connect- 

 ed with my ornithological pursuits, as you will find detailed in another page 

 of this volume. 



" I have already stated that some Ravens breed as far south as the Caro- 

 linas. The place to which they resort for this purpose is called the Table 

 Mountain, which is situated in the district of Pendleton, and of which I ex- 

 tract an account from Drayton's views of South Carolina. ' The Table 

 Mountain is the most distinguished of all the eminences of the State. Its 

 height exceeds 3000 feet, and thirty farms may be discerned at any one view 

 from its top by the unaided eye. Its side is an abrupt precipice of solid rock, 

 300 feet deep, and nearly perpendicular. The valley underneath appears to 

 be as much below the level as the top of the mountain towers above it. This 

 precipice is called the Lover's Leap. To those who are in the valley, it looks 

 like an immense wall stretching up to heaven, and the awe which it inspires 

 is considerably increased by the quantities of bones which lie whitening at its 

 base, — the remains of various animals which had incautiously approached too 

 near its edge. Its summit is often enveloped in clouds. The gradual ascent 

 of the country from the sea-coast to this western extremity of the State, add- 

 ed to the height of this mountain, must place its top more than 4000 feet 

 above the level of the Atlantic Ocean ; an eminence from which vessels cross- 

 ing the bar of Charleston might be seen with the aid of such improved glasses 

 as are now in use. Large masses of snow tumble from the side of tliis moun- 

 tain in the winter season, the fall of which has been heard seven miles. Its 

 summit is the resort of deer and bears. The woods produce mast in abun- 

 dance ; wild pigeons resort to it in such numbers as sometimes to break the 

 limbs of trees on which they alight.' 



" A friend of mine, who is an excellent observer of the habits of birds, has 

 told me that he saw a Raven's nest in the high lands of New York placed in 

 a deep fissure of a rock, in the immediate vicinity of that of a Golden Eagle. 

 I chanced one day, while in the Great Pine Forest of Pennsylvania, to stop, 

 for the purpose of resting and refreshing myself^ at a camp of the good Jediah 

 Irish, with whom I have already made you acquainted during my former 

 rambles in that remarkable district. We had seen some Ravens that day, 

 and our conversation returning to them, the person employed in preparing 

 the food of the woodcutters told us, that whenever she chanced to place a salt 

 mackerel or other fish in the brook running from the spring near the camp, 

 ' the Raven was sure to carry it away in less than an hour.' She firmly be- 

 lieved that it had the power of smelling the fish as she carried it from the 

 hut to the water. We went to the spot with her, and, leaving a fish there, 



