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 by a tornado. 
Everything 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. 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 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 
Yol. Y. 5 
