ms CHARACTERISTICS. 181 



beard fell white and wavy down his breast; a 

 pair of hawklike eyes gleamed sharply out from 

 the frizzy shroud of cap and collar. The lookers 

 on drew near, with a thrill of irrepressible cu- 

 riosity. The moment their eyes beheld the 

 noble contour of that Roman face, they felt it 

 could be Ae, and no one else. Audubon it was, 

 in this wilderness garb, hale and alert with sixty 

 winters on his shoulders, like one of his old 

 eagles, " feathered to the heel." He looked, as 

 they had dreamed, the antique Plato, with his 

 fine classic head and lofty mean, the valorous 

 and venerable sage. 



The travellers, soon on intimate terms with 

 their admired c-ompanion, were delighted in 

 listening to the ever fresh relation of his ex- 

 ploits, discoveries, and experiences, instructive 

 from the singular stores of knowledge and pro- 

 found accuracy of information the naturalist dis- 

 played. Somewhat silent in general, his con- 

 versation was impulsive and fragmentary. A 

 mellow Gallic idiom marked his speech. 



When ashore the travellers found he out- 

 stripped in walking, with perfect ease, his con- 

 siderably younger companions ; while the clear- 

 ness and power of his vision showed how entirely 

 the vigour of his constitution was retained. One 

 clear, fme morning, when passing through a 

 particularly picturesque region, his keen eyes, 

 16 



