THE PASSENGER PIGEON. 29 



I repeatedly visited. It was, as is always the case, in a portion of the forest 

 where the trees were of great magnitude, and where there was little under- 

 wood. I rode through it upwards of forty miles, and, crossing it in different 

 parts, found its average breadth to be rather more than three miles. My 

 first view of it was about a fortnight subsequent to the period when they 

 had made choice of it, and I arrived there nearly two hours before sunset. 

 Few Pigeons were then to be seen, but a great number of persons, with 

 horses and wagons, guns and ammunition, had already established encamp- 

 ments on the borders. Two farmers from the vicinity of Russelsville, 

 distant more than a hundred miles, had driven upwards of three hundred 

 hogs to be fattened on the pigeons which were to be slaughtered. Here 

 and there, the people employed in plucking and salting what had already 

 been procured, were seen sitting in the midst of large piles of these birds. 

 The dung lay several inches deep, covering the whole extent of the roost- 

 ing-place. Many trees two feet in diameter, I observed, were broken off at 

 no great distance from the ground; and the branches of many of the largest 

 and tallest had given way, as if the forest had been swept hy a tornado. 

 Every thing proved to me that the number of birds resorting to this part of 

 the forest must be immense beyond conception. As the period of their 

 arrival approached, their foes anxiously prepared to receive them. Some 

 were furnished with iron-pots containing sulphur, others with torches of 

 pine-knots, many with poles, and the rest with guns. The sun was lost 

 to our view, yet not a Pigeon had arrived. Every thing was ready, and all 

 eyes were gazing on the clear sky, which appeared in glimpses amidst the 

 tall trees. Suddenly there burst forth a general cry of "Here they come!" 

 The noise which they made, though yet distant, reminded me of a hard gale 

 at sea, passing through the rigging of a close-reefed vessel. As the birds 

 arrived and passed over me, I felt a current of air that surprised me. 

 Thousands were soon knocked down by the pole-men. The birds continued 

 to pour in. The fires were lighted, and a magnificent, as well as wonderful 

 and almost terrifying, sight presented itself. The Pigeons, arriving by 

 thousands, alighted everywhere, one above another, until solid masses were 

 formed on the branches all round. Here and there the perches gave way 

 under the weight with a crash, and, falling to the ground, destroyed 

 hundreds of the birds beneath, forcing down the dense groups with which 

 every stick was loaded. It was a scene of uproar and confusion. I found 

 it quite useless to speak, or even to shout to those persons who were nearest 

 to me. Even the reports of the guns were seldom heard, and I was made 

 aware of the firing only by seeing the shooters reloading. 



No one dared venture within the line of devastation. The hogs had been 

 penned up in due time, the picking up of the dead and wounded being left 



Vol. V. 5 



