AUDUBON AND BOONE. 157 



from their very roots, the ground rose and fell in successive 

 furrows, like the ruffled waters of a lake, and I became be- 

 wildered in my ideas, as I too plainly discovered that all 

 this awful commotion in nature was the result of an earth- 

 quake. 



I had never witnessed anything of the kind before, although, 

 like every other person, I knew of earthquakes by description. 

 But what is description compared with the reality ? "Who 

 can tell of the sensations which I experienced when I found 

 myself rocking as it were on my horse, and with him moved 

 to and fro like a child in a cradle, with the most imminent 

 danger around, and expecting the ground every moment to 

 open, and present to my eye such an abyss as might engulf 

 myself and all around me ? The fearful convulsion, however, 

 lasted only a few minutes, and the heavens again brightened 

 as quickly as they had become obscured ; my horse brought 

 his feet to their natural position, raised his head, and gal- 

 loped off as if loose and frolicking without a rider. 



I was not, however, without great apprehension respecting 

 my family, from which I was yet many miles distant, fearful 

 that where they were the shock might have caused greater 

 havoc than I had witnessed. I gave the bridle to my steed, 

 and was glad to see him appear as anxious to get home as 

 myself. The pace at which he galloped accomplished this 

 sooner than I had expected, and I found, with much pleasure, 

 that hardly any greater harm had taken place than the appre- 

 hension excited for my own safety. 



Shock succeeded shock almost every day and night for 

 several weeks, diminishing, however, so gradually as to dwindle 

 away into mere vibrations of the earth. Strange to say, I for 

 one became so accustomed to the feeling as rather to enjoy the 

 fears manifested by others. I never can forget the effects of 

 one of the slighter shocks which took place when I was at a 

 friend's house, where I had gone to enjoy the merriment that, 

 in our western country, attends a wedding. The ceremony 



