234 LIFE OF AUDUBON. 



against its centre, while the ends of these abutments were 

 secured by wedges, which could be knocked off when necessary. 

 The temporary dam was now finished. Little or no water 

 escaped through the barrier, and that in the creek above it 

 rose in the course of three weeks to its top, which was about 

 ten feet high, forming a sheet that extended upwards fully a 

 mile from the dam. My family were invited early one morn- 

 ing to go and witness the extraordinary effect which would be 

 produced by the breaking down of the barrier, and we all 

 accompanied the lumberers to the place. Two' of the men, on 

 reaching it, threw off their jackets, tied handkerchiefs round 

 their heads, and fastened to their bodies a long rope, the end of 

 which was held by three or four others, who stood ready to 

 drag their companions ashore, in case of dangef or accident. 

 The two operators, each bearing an axe, walked along the abut- 

 ments, and, at a given signal, knocked out the wedges. A 

 second blow from each sent off the abutments themselves, and 

 the men- leaping with extreme dexterity from one cross Tog to 

 another, sprung to the shore with almost the quickness of 

 thought. Scarcely had they effected their escape from the 

 frightful peril that threatened them, when the mass of waters 

 burst forth with a horrible uproar. All eyes were bent to- 

 wards the huge heaps of logs in the gorge below. The tumult- 

 uous btirst of the waters instantly swept away every object that 

 opposed their progress, and rushed in foaming waves among the 

 timber that everywhere blocked up the passage. Presently a 

 slow heavy motion was perceived in the mass of logs ; one 

 might have imagined that some mighty monster lay convul- 

 sively writhing beneath them, struggling, with a fearful energy, 

 to extricate himself from the crushing weight. As the waters 

 rose this movement increased ; the mass of timber extended in 

 all directions, appearing to become more and more entangled 

 each moment ; the logs bounced against each other, thrusting 

 aside, submerging or raising into the air, those with which they 

 came in contact. It seemed as if they were waging a war of 

 destruction, such as the ancient authors describe the efforts of 

 the Titans, the foaming of whose wrath might, to the eye of 

 the painter, have been represented by the angry curlings of the 

 waters, while the tremulous and rapid motions of the logs. 



