142 
THE PASSENGER PIGEON. 
has introduced into his description, have only 
been known as animals of nocturnal movements, 
and of very skulking and suspecting habits. In 
general, the flash of a gun, the crackling of a flame, 
or the shout of a huntsman, will scare any one 
of them, even when concealed in the lonely re- 
treat; but, on this ever-memorable occasion, the 
nerves of the animals, both large and small, were 
strung up to an astonishing degree of intensity. 
The day had already dawned, unheeded by them ; 
and it was only at sunrise that they seemed aware 
of being in dangerous company, and found that 
it was high time to sneak off from a place where 
Mr. Audubon tells us, " there was little under- 
wood;" where "the uproar continued the whole of 
the night;'* where men had assembled "with iron 
pots, containing sulphur;" and " with torches of 
pine-knots, with poles and with guns ; " where 
" fires were lighted, and a magnificent as well as 
wonderful and almost terrifying sight presented 
itself ; " where, in fine, the auditory faculties of 
Mr. Audubon himself became so completely use- 
less, on account of the stunning noise, that, ab- 
solutely, he was " only aware of the firing by 
seeing the shooters reloading." " O judgment ! 
thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost 
their reason," if they can bring themselves to be- 
lieve that into this sulphureous, torch-lighted, de- 
tonating, yelling, roaring, and terrific attack on 
the passenger pigeons, there came up a motlev 
herd of wolves, foxes, cougars, lynxes, bears, rac 
coons, opossums, and polecats, to share the plun 
