320 



AUDUBON 



n* 



Turkey, the Pheasant, and the Grouse, are also tolerably 

 abundant, and as to trout in the streams — ah, reader, if 

 you are an angler, do go there and try for yourself. For 

 my part, I can only say that I have been made weary 

 with pulling up from the rivulets the sparkling fish, al- 

 lured by the struggles of the common grasshopper. 



A comical affair happened with the Bears, which I shall 

 relate to you, good reader. A party of my friend Irish's 

 raftsmen, returning from Mauch Chunk one afternoon, 

 through sundry short-cuts over the mountains, at the sea- 

 son when the huckleberries are ripe and plentiful, were 

 suddenly apprised of the proximity of some of these ani- 

 mals by their snuffing the air. No sooner was this per- 

 ceived than, to the astonishment of the party, not fewer 

 than eight Bears, I was told, made their appearance. 

 Each man, being provided with his short-handled axe, 

 faced about, and willingly came to the scratch ; but the 

 assailed soon proved the assailants, and with claw and 

 tooth drove the men off in a twinkling. Down they all 

 rushed from the mountain; the noise spread quickly; 

 rifles were soon procured and shouldered ; but when the 

 spot was reached, no Bears were to be found ; night forced 

 the hunters back to their homes, and a laugh concluded 

 the affair. 



I spent six weeks in the Great Pine Forest — Swamp it 

 cannot be called — where I made many a drawing. Wish- 

 ing to leave Pennsylvania, and to follow the migratory 

 flocks of our birds to the South, I bade adieu to the excel- 

 lent wife and rosy children of my friend, and to his kind 

 nephew. Jediah Irish, shouldering his heavy rifle, accom- 

 panied me, and trudging directly across the mountains, 

 we arrived at Mauch Chunk in good time for dinner. 

 Shall I ever have the pleasure of seeing that good, that 

 generous man again? ^ 



1 Audubon and Mr. Irish met many times afterwards, the last being, I 

 believe, in Philadelphia, on the eve of Audubon's departure for his Missouri 

 River trip. 



