28^ T Pv A V E L S THRbuGM 



It happened to me as I was going up the river 

 of "fombekhcy that I was in want of provifions, 

 but Providence fupplied it vifibly. The In- 

 dians, who are like ferrets in the woods, came 

 to give me advice that they had made a good 

 difcovcry , they found the nefl of a great eagle, 

 called the royal eagle * ; as the tree on which this 



neft- 



* The eagle here called the royal, is called in Englifh the 

 Oolden Eagle, Penn. Br. Zool. p. 6i. tab. A. and ipSvo vol.i, 

 p. 121. Falco chryfaetos, Linn, and Le grand aigle royal. 

 Planches enluminces, tab. 410. Mr. Pennant relates, from 

 Smith's hiitory of Kerry, ** That a poor man in that county 

 *' got a comfortable fubfiltence for his family, during a fum- 

 •* mer of famine, out of an eagle's nell, by robbing the ea- 

 ** glets of the food the old ones brought." This in fome 

 meafure confirms our author's account. " M. Buffon, ift his 

 Hifi, naturelle des olfeaux, i2mo. edit, vol.i. p. 117. at- 

 tack^ M. Salerne, for having related the account he got from 

 a friend, nvho found three firong eaglets of this kind in a neft^ 

 fixed between tm)Q rocks. M. de Bit^on, though a great natu- 

 ral hiftorian, is frequently fubjedl to have his peculiar opi- 

 nions, which he defends againft all fads proving the con- 

 trary : and, by his eloquence, he expl'ains away the firong* 

 eft arguments ; and invalidates even fafts, in fo much, that 

 their ftrength in proving againft him dwindles quite away. 

 Our author had no peculiar opinion to favour ; hs muft have 

 known the bird, which is not uncommon in France, and 

 may be feen in the menageries of the K.Tig and the nobility, 

 and in various cabinets ; and therefore I think our author's 



account 



