246 Life of Audubon. 



blast overtakes us ; for, gentlemen, it is a furious cloud 

 yon.' A furious cloud indeed was the one which now, like 

 an eagle on outstretched wings, approached so swiftly, 

 that one might have deemed it in haste to destroy us. 

 We were not more than a cable's length from the shore, 

 when with imperative voice the pilot calmly said to us, 

 ' Sit quite still, gentlemen, for I should not like to lose 

 you overboard just now ; the boat can't upset, my word 

 for that, if you will but sit still ; here we have it ! ' Read- 

 er, persons who have never witnessed a hurricane, such 

 as not unfrequently desolates the sultry climates of the 

 south, can scarcely form an idea of their terrific grandeur. 

 One would think that, not content with laying waste all 

 on land, it must needs sweep the waters of the shallows 

 quite dry to quench its thirst. No respite for a moment 

 does it afford to the objects within the reach of its furious 

 current. Like the scythe of the destroying angel, it cuts 

 every thing by the roots, as it were, with the careless ease 

 of the experienced mower. Each of its revolving sweeps 

 collects a heap that might be likened to the full sheaf 

 which the husbandman flings by his side. On it goes, 

 with a wildness and fury that are indescribable ; and when 

 at last its frightful blasts have ceased, nature, weeping 

 and disconsolate, is left bereaved of her beautiful off- 

 spring. In instances, even a full century is required be- 

 fore, with all her powerful energies, she can repair her 

 loss. The planter has not only lost his mansion, his 

 crops, and his flocks, but he has to clear his lands anew, 

 covered and entangled as they are with the trunks and 

 branches of trees, that are everywhere strewn. The bark 

 overtaken by the storm is cast on the lee-shore, and if 

 any are left to witness the fatal results they are the 

 ' wreckers ' alone, who, with inward delight, gaze upon the 

 melancholy spectacle. Our light bark shivered like a leaf 

 the instant the blast reached her sides. We thought she 



