AUDUBON AND BOONE. 149 



he had to spear them, fearing that " the gentleman" might at 

 one dart cut off his legs, or some other nice bit, with which 

 he was unwilling to part. 



Having filled our cask from a fine well long since dug in 

 the sand of Cape Sable, either by Seminole Indians or pirates, 

 no matter which, we left Sandy Isle about full tide, and pro- 

 ceeded homewards, giving a call here and there at different 

 keys, with the view of procuring rare birds, and also their 

 nests and eggs. We had twenty miles to go " as the birds 

 fly," but the* tortuosity of the channels rendered our course 

 fully a third longer. The sun was descending fast, when a 

 black cloud suddenly obscured the majestic orb. Our sails 

 swelled by a breeze that was scarcely felt by us, and the 

 pilot, requesting us to sit on the weather gunwale, told us 

 that we were "going to get it." One sail was hauled in and 

 secured, and the other was reefed, although the wind had not 

 increased. A low murmuring noise was heard, and across 

 the cloud that now rolled along in tumultuous masses, shot 

 vivid flashes of lightning. Our experienced guide steered 

 directly across a flat towards the nearest land. The sailors 

 passed their quids from one cheek to the other, and our pilot 

 having covered himself with his oil-jacket, we followed his 

 example. "Blow, sweet breeze," cried he at the tiller, and 

 "we'll reach land before the blast overtakes us, for, gentle- 

 men, 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 !" 



Reader, persons who have never witnessed a hurricane, 

 such as not unfrequently desolates the sultry climates of the 



