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324 



AUDUBON 



with a sorrowful heart, pursued a course which he thought 

 might lead him to some familiar object, although, indeed, 

 he scarcely knew what he was doing. No longer had he 

 the trace of a track to guide him, and yet, as the sun rose, 

 he calculated the many hours of daylight he had before 

 him, and the farther he went, the faster he walked. But 

 vain were all his hopes; that day was spent in fruitless 

 endeavors to regain the path that led to his home, and 

 when night again approached, the terror that had been 

 gradually spreading over his mind, together with the ner- 

 vous debility produced by fatigue, anxiety, and hunger, 

 rendered him almost frantic. He told me that at this 

 moment he beat his breast, tore his hair, and, had it not 

 been for the piety with which his parents had in early life 

 imbued his mind, and which had become habitual, would 

 have cursed his existence. Famished as he now was, he 

 laid himself on the ground, and fed on the weeds and 

 grasses that grew around him. That night was spent in 

 the greatest agony and terror. "I knew my situation," 

 he said to me. " I was fully aware that unless Almighty 

 God came to my assistance, I must perish in those unin- 

 habited woods. I knew that I had walked more than fifty 

 miles, although I had not met with a brook, from which 

 I could quench my thirst, or even allay the burning heat 

 of my parched lips and bloodshot eyes. I knew that if I 

 should not meet with some stream I must die, for my axe 

 was my only weapon, and although Deer and Bears now 

 and then started within a few yards, or even feet of me, 

 not one of them could I kill ; and although I was in the 

 midst of abundance, not a mouthful did I expect to pro- 

 cure, to satisfy the cravings of my empty stomach. Sir, 

 may God preserve you from ever feeling as I did the 

 whole of that day." - .» 



For several days after, no one can imagine the condi- 

 tion in which he was, for when he related to me this 

 painful adventure, he assured me that he had lost all 



