AUDUBON AND BOONE. 157 
from their very roots, the ground rose and fell in successive 
furrows, like the ruffled waters of a lake, and I became be- 
wildered in my ideas, as I too plainly discovered that all 
this awful commotion in nature was the result of an earth- 
quake. 
Thad never witnessed anything of the kind before, although, 
like every other person, I knew of earthquakes by description. 
But what is description compared with the reality? Who 
can tell of the sensations which I experienced when I found 
myself rocking as it were on my horse, and with him moved 
to and fro like a child in a cradle, with the most imminent 
danger around, and expecting the ground every moment to 
open, and present to my eye such an abyss as might engulf 
myself and all around me? The fearful convulsion, however, 
lasted only a few minutes, and the heavens again brightened 
as quickly as they had become obscured; my horse brought 
his feet to their natural position, raised his head, and gal- 
loped off as if loose and frolicking without a rider. 
I was not, however, without great apprehension respecting 
my family, from which I was yet many miles distant, fearful 
that where they were the shock might have caused greater 
havoc than I had witnessed. I gave the bridle to my steed, 
and was glad to see him appear as anxious to get home as 
myself. The pace at which he galloped accomplished this 
sooner than I had expected, and I found, with much pleasure, 
that hardly any greater harm had taken place than the appre- 
hension excited for my own safety. 
Shock succeeded shock almost every day and night for 
several weeks, diminishing, however, so gradually as to dwindle 
away into mere vibrations of the earth. Strange to say, I for 
one became so accustomed to the feeling as rather to enjoy the 
fears manifested by others. I never can forget the effects of 
one of the slighter shocks which took place when I was at a 
friend’s house, where I had gone to enjoy the merriment that, 
in our western country, attends a wedding. The ceremony 
