THE EAGLE AN OLD SETTLER. 85 



rocky height, when an eagle suddenly rose before me. 

 I fired. For a minute or two he floated motionless in 

 the air, then, flapping his wings, he mounted higher 

 and higher till I could hardly distinguish him. I con- 

 cluded that I must have missed him, and was re- 

 loading, when he turned in the air, and fell dead to the 

 ground. He was a large bird, measuring seven feet 

 from wing to wing. I was pleased with my shot, as it 

 w^as the first eagle I had killed. He was of a dark- 

 brown color, with white head and tail. In imitation 

 of the Indians, I ornamented my cap with one of his 

 feathers. 



On the evening of the 27th of January, as I was 

 occupied in breaking up a deer that I had shot, a lad 

 of about thirteen or fourteen, with a fowling-piece on 

 his shoulder, came to help me, and showed that he 

 was by no means an unskilled hand. We packed the 

 two legs and the back in the skin, and bore it between 

 us to the abode of the j^outh, only a few miles distant, 

 where I decided on passing the night. I have met, in 

 all parts of America, with a number of very worthy, 

 amiable people, as also with some very bad characters : 

 this is to be expected in a country with such a mingled 

 population ; but here, in this solitude, I found a 

 family not to be surpassed in worth and amiable quali- 

 ties in any part of the world. An old man, with 

 trembling hands, sat by the fire, and though many 

 winters had bleached his locks, his rosy cheeks showed 

 that he was still strong and hearty. Opposite sat a 

 noble-looking matron, considerably younger than her 

 husband, but still of great age. By her side was a 

 young and pretty woman of the neighborhood, whose 

 8 



