46 AUDUBON THE NATURALIST. 
man in the state is used to handle the deadly 
weapon from the time he can shoulder it, it will 
be evident that the Kentuckians are no con- 
temptible antagonists. 
But yet more formidable than to contest with 
such a foe is to encountér that terrible pheno- 
menon known in the State where it is so fre- 
quent as a hurricane. Audubon, surprised by 
one on his journey from Henderson, appears to 
have retained as vivid an idea of its awful 
grandeur as of that of the earthquake. It is 
preceded also by a thick haze in the atmosphere, 
from which he would have inferred a recurrenee 
of the same catastrophe, but that his horse ex- 
hibited this time no inclination to stop and pre- 
pare for it. Having arrived at the verge of a 
valley, Audubon dismounted to quench his 
thirst from a brook close at hand, and while 
leaning on his knees, close to the earth, he heard 
a strange murmuring sound, far in the distance. 
Raising his head, he observed towards the south- 
west, an extraordinary phenomenon, of a yellow- 
tinged oval spot on the horizon, Before he had 
time to reflect upon it, a sharp breeze agitated 
the trees, increasing rapidly, till the smaller 
branches were soon falling to the ground. 
In two minutes more the whole forest was in 
fearful commotion. The creaking noise of the 
huge trunks pressing against each other from the 
