VISIT TO PICTOU. 155 



At each pause of the musicians, refreshments 

 were handed round, not the slightest surprise 

 being manifested at the evident alacrity with 

 which glasses of pure rum were swallowed by 

 the robust ladies of that inclement clime. 



To the surprise of Audubon, who naturally 

 supposed them to be entirely free from mauvaise 

 honte^ some of them whom he and his compan- 

 ions afterwards met in their rambles, fled from 

 them like " gazelles before jackalls." One bear- 

 ing a pitcher of water, dropped it, and ran to 

 the woods. 



Another in search of a cow, took to the water, 

 and waded through it more than waist deep, and 

 then made for home with the speed of a fright- 

 ened hare. So marvellous is the transformation 

 effected by the genial iDfluence of that extraor- 

 dinary occurrence — a ball in that portion of 

 Newfoundland. 



After a few days of delightful wanderings 

 over the mossy hills, and many a pleasant row 

 up the indentures of the beautiful bay of St. 

 George, he bade adieu to the rude, but most 

 hospitable English and French of that isolated 

 port, and a few days of easy sailing saw the 

 Ripley at anchor a few miles from Pictou, and 

 a boat, containing all the party but the captain 

 and crew of the schooner, was pulled cherrily 

 on to the beach, where Audubon, followed by 



