Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1827-08-15

yet not pigeon had yet arrived but all of a
sudden, heard cry Of 4" Here Meg con. 30
| The noise which they made, though distant,
reminded me of hard gale at sea >. passing
| through the rigging Of a close-rgged vessel.
! As the birds arrived, and passed over me,
| felt current of air that surprised me. Thou
| sands were soon knocked down by the pole
men. The current Of birds, however, kept
still increasing. The fires were lighted, and
most magnificent, as well as wonderful and
! terrifying sight was before me. The pigeons,
coming IN by millions, alighted every where,
one on the top of another, until masses ofthen
resembling hanging swarms of bees, as large as
hogsheads, were formed on every tree in all
directions. These heavy clusters were seen TO
give way us the supporting branches, breaking
down with a crash, came to the ground, kill
ing hundreds of hose which obstructed their
fall, forcing down other equally large and
heavy groupes, and rendering the whole Il
scene of uproar and of distressing confusion
l found it quite useless to peak, or even TO
shout TO those persons nearest to me. The
reports even of the different guns were seldom
heard, and knew only Of their going oil by
seeing the owners reload them.
No person dared venture within the line Of
devastation, and the hogs had been penncd up
in due time, the picking up of the dead and
wounded sufferers being left for the next morn
ing. Still the pigeons were constantly com
ing, and it was past midnight before perceiv-
ed decrease III the number OF those that ar
| rived. The uproar continued, however, the
whole nights and as | was anxious TO know TO
what distance the sound reached, | sent a
man, who, by his habits in the woods, was
able to tell me, two hours afterwards, that as
three miles he heard 1t distinctly. Towards
the approach Of day, the noise rather subsid-
ed; but long ere objects were at all diStin-
guishable, the pigeons began to move oil in "a
direction quite different from that in which
they arrived the day before, and at sun-rise
none that were able 10 fly renamed. The
howlngs of the wolves now reached our ears,
and the foxes, the lynx, the cougars, bears,
rackoons, oppossums, and polc-cats, were seen
| snodhing Oil the spot, whilst the eagles and
hawks of different species, supported by a
| horde of buz1ards ana carrIon crows came 10
= supplant them, and reap the benefits of this
/ night of destruction.
| II was then that |, and all those present,
| began our entry among the dead and wounded
sufferers. They were picked up in great nlm-
| bers, until each had as many as could possibly
be disposed Of; and afterwards inc hogs and
! dogs were let loose feed on the re!nalnGeg." ."
| we SnOulu nave Deen as slOH 10 LcileEc tHe
| foregoing account, as others may be, If it had
not so happened, that during long residence
in Western America, We Witnessed the ap-
pearance Of rL.,itudes OF tLese binds, equal
TO those described by the very able writer,
from whose interesting work, the foregoing l..
extracted; and we feel perfectly at liberty to
assure our readers, that it IS correct Having
on numerous occasions, in private circles, re-
lated accounts of the Wild Pigeons Of the
West, and having been invariably laughed at
and ridiculcd, we are gratiiied III no small de-
gree, i'll being enabled to corroborate our state
ments, by the writings and assertions OF dis
tingushed writer and scholar. The work &c
which we allude, is worthy Of the particuaI
perusal of the attentive inquirer after th.
wonders Of natural history.