198 



PASSENGER PIGEON. 



heard of their being seen. According to Mr Hutchins, they 

 abound in the country round Hudson's Bay, where they 



seize 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. 

 Everything 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 polemen. The current of birds, how- 

 ever, still kept increasing. The fires were lighted, and a most magni- 

 ficent, as well as a wonderful and terrifying sight, presented itself. 

 The pigeons, coming in by thousands, alighted everywhere, one above 

 another, until solid masses, as large as hogsheads, were formed on every 

 tree, in all directions. 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 me. The reports, even, of the nearest guns, were seldom heard ; 

 and I knew 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 for 

 the next morning's employment. The pigeons were constantly coming ; 

 and it was past midnight before I perceived a decrease in the number of 

 those that arrived. The uproar continued, however, the whole night ; 

 and, as I was anxious to know to what distance the sound reached, I 

 sent off a man, accustomed to perambulate the forest, who, returning two 

 hours afterwards, informed me that he had heard it distinctly when three 

 miles from the spot. Towards the approach of day, the noise rather 

 subsided ; but, long ere objects were at all distinguishable, the pigeons 

 began to move off in a direction quite different from that in which they 

 had arrived the evening before ; and at sunrise, all that were able to fly 

 had disappeared. The howlings of the wolves now reached our ears ; 

 and the foxes, lynxes, cougars, bears, racoons, opossums, and pole-cats, 

 were seen sneaking off from the spot, whilst eagles and hawks, of differ- 

 ent species, accompanied by a crowd of vultures, came to supplant 

 them, and enjoy their share of the spoil. It was then that the authors 

 of all this devastation began their entry amongst the dead, the dying, 

 and the mangled. The pigeons were picked up, and piled in heaps, 

 until each had as many as he could possibly dispose of, when the hogs 

 were let loose to feed on the remainder." — Ed. 



