MIGRATION. 273 



travelled on, and still met more the farther I pro- 

 ceeded. The air was literally filled with pigeons; the 

 light of noon-day was obscured as by an eclipse ; the 

 dung fell in spots, not unlike melting' flakes of snow; 

 and the continued buzz of wings had a tendency to 

 lull my senses to repose. 



" Whilst waiting for dinner at Young's inn, at the 

 confluence of the Salt-river with the Ohio, I saw, at 

 my leisure, immense legions still going by, with a front 

 reaching far beyond the Ohio on the west and the 

 beech- wood forests directly on the east of me. Not 

 a single bird alighted; for not a nut or acorn was 

 that year to be seen in the neighbourhood. They 

 consequently flew so high, that different trials to 

 reach them with a capital rifle proved ineffectual ; 

 nor did the reports disturb them in the least. I can- 

 not describe to you the extreme beauty of their aerial 

 evolutions, when a hawk chanced to press upon the 

 rear of a flock. At once, like a torrent, and with a 

 noise like thunder, they rushed into a compact mass, 

 pressing upon each other towards the centre. Jn 

 these almost solid masses, they darted forward in 

 undulating and angular lines, descended and swept 

 close over the earth with inconceivable velocity, 

 mounted perpendicularly so as to resemble a vast 

 column, and when high, were seen wheeling and 

 twisting within their continued lines, which then re- 

 sembled the coils of a gigantic serpent. 



" Before sunset I reached Louisville, distant from 

 Hardensburgh fifty-five miles. The pigeons were 

 still passing in undiminished numbers, and continued 

 to do so for three days in succession. The people 

 were all in arms. The banks of the Ohio were 

 crowded with men and boys, incessantly shooting at 

 the pilgrims, which there flew lower as they passed 

 the river. Multitudes were thus destroyed. For a 

 week or more, the population fed on no other flesh 



