154 WILD SCENES AND WILD HUNTERS. 
pressed against another, a creaking noise was produced, 
similar to that occasioned by the violent gusts which some- 
times sweep over the country. Turning instinctively towards 
the direction from which the wind blew, I saw to my great 
astonishment, that the noblest trees of the forest bent their 
lofty heads for a while, and unable to stand against the blast, 
were falling into pieces. First, the branches were broken 
off with a crackling noise; then went the upper part of the 
massy trunks; and in many places whole trees of gigantic 
size were falling entire to the ground. So rapid was the pro- 
gress of the storm, that before I could think of taking mea- 
sures to insure my safety, the hurricane was passing opposite 
the place where I stood. Never can I forget the scene which 
at that moment presented itself. The tops of the trees were 
seen moving in the strangest manner, in the central current 
of the tempest, which carried along with it a mingled mass 
of twigs and foliage, that completely obscured the view. 
Some of the largest trees were seen bending and writhing 
under the gale; others suddenly snapped across; and many, 
after a momentary resistance, fell uprooted to the earth. 
The mass of branches, twigs, foliage and dust that moved 
through the air, was whirled onwards like a cloud of feathers, 
and on passing, disclosed a wide space filled with fallen trees, 
naked stumps and heaps of shapeless ruins, which marked 
the path of the tempest. This space was about a fourth of a 
mile in breadth, and to my imagination resembled the dried- 
up bed of the Mississippi, with its thousands of planters and 
sawyers, strewed in the sand, and inclined in various degrees. 
The horrible noise resembled that of the great cataracts of 
Niagara, and as it howled along in the track of the desolating 
tempest, produced a feeling in my mind which it were im- 
possible to describe. 
The principal force of the hurricane was now over, although 
millions of twigs and small branches, that had been brought 
from a great distance, were seen following the blast, as if 
