1 86 Life of Audubon, 



at some noise proceeding from the woods, but hoped they 

 would soon stop. Immediately after we heard a crash , 

 then for a few moments all was silent ; but the neighing 

 of the horses presently assured us that they had broken 

 loose. On reaching the spot we found the waggon up- 

 set, and a few yards further on were the horses quietly 

 browsing by the road-side. 



" The first dawn of morn in the Jerseys, in the month 

 of June, is worthy of a better description than I can fur- 

 nish ; and therefore I shall only say that the moment the 

 sunbeams blazed over the horizon, the loud and mellow 

 notes of the meadow lark saluted our ears. On each side 

 of the road were open woods, on the tallest trees of 

 which I observed at intervals the nest of a fish-hawk, far 

 above which the white-breasted bird slowly winged its 

 way as it commenced its early journey to the sea, the 

 odor of which filled me with delight. In half an hour 

 more we were in the centre of Great Egg Harbor. 



" There I had the good fortune to be received into 

 the house of a thoroughbred fisherman-gunner, who, be- 

 sides owning a comfortable cot, only a few hundred yards 

 from the shore, had an excellent woman for a wife, and a 

 little daughter as playful as a kitten, though as wild as a 

 sea-gull. In less than half an hour I was quite at home, 

 and the rest of the day was spent in devotion. Oysters, 

 though reckoned out of season at this period, are as good 

 as ever when fresh from their beds, and my first meal was 

 of some as large and white as any I have eaten. The 

 sight of them, placed before me on a clean table, with an 

 honest industrious family in my company, never failed to 

 afford more pleasure than the most sumptuous fare under 

 different circumstances, and our conversation being sim- 

 ple and harmless, gayety shone in every face. As we be- 

 came better acquainted, I had to answer several ques*j 

 tions relative to the object of my visit. The good manl 



