SWANS, HEliONS, AND HAWKS. 67 



known to liiin, and it is quite probable that lie 

 had enjoyed many a young flapper crow there at his 

 leisure. I must add that, far from sparing master 

 'coon in consideration of the hearty laugh which his 

 cunning dodge gave us, he died the death to which his 

 congeners are usually condemned. A shot through 

 the crow's nest, and down he came among the dogs, 

 who lost no time in worrying him. 



SWANS, HERONS, AND HAWKS. 



In 1844, about the Feast of Epiphany, I hap- 

 pened to be at Louisville, staying with some friends 

 who treated me very hospitably. The eldest son of 

 my host, who was a daring and successful sportsman 

 in every acceptation of the word, invited me to 

 accompany him on an expedition which he purposed 

 along the banks of the Ohio, to the point Avhere 

 that river joins the Mississippi. Our preparations 

 were soon made, and we set out in a keel boat, a 

 sort of shallop, with a little cabin aft, and a rudder 

 formed of the trunk of a tree. Tvfo rowers in the 

 fore part of this boat could impel it at the rate of 

 six miles in the hour. 



The banks of the Ohio were mournful enough to 

 look at. Winter had dried up all the herbage, and 



