ror or the anticipation of a rich repast, we could not tell which.
These voracious creatures, with great audacity, often descended to
within a few feet of the heads of our horses, which seemed
terror-stricken at their near approach. I took aim at one of the largest
of them with my rifle, and it fell a little to my left, with an impetus
I can only compare to the fall of a human being. Directly it touched the
ground, it vomited carrion and died. It was many feet in breadth from
tip to tip of wing, but we were too perturbed to stop and measure it.
When I discharged the rifle, the report was unusually faint, owing to
the state of the air; so much so, that my companions, who were not fifty
yards behind, scarcely heard it. The wild animals in the jungle which
skirted the road, and which, in general, skulk in silence and secresy in
their haunts, rent the air with their howlings. The very order of nature
seemed about to be reversed, while the long streamers of grey moss
swayed backwards and forwards mournfully from the trees, adding to the
solemnity of the scene. As the party slowly wended its way through the
wilderness, each individual looked round with suspicion, exchanging
furtive glances, or now and then uttering some exclamation of
alarm--their manner and bearing indicating minds ill at ease.

This dismal state of things lasted nearly an hour, after which time
nature seemed to recover herself by a sudden throe, for a brisk breeze,
which was highly refreshing to our senses, and which was attended by the
loud hollow subterranean sound I have before referred to, unexpectedly
sprang up, and swept off, as if by magic, the inertia of nature. What
made the phenomenon more extraordinary, was the total absence of thunder
or lightning. My companions shouted for joy when the hollow moan of the
embryo tempest was heard to move off to the eastward (for, as they
informed me, it told of deliverance from peril); I felt a sensation of
delight I cannot describe, and heartily responded to the noisy
demonstration of satisfaction raised by my companions.

Our horses, apparently participating in our delight, pricked up their
ears, and snorted, fairly prancing with pleasure, tired and jaded as
they were after thirty miles' travel through sand, into which they sank
at every step fetlock deep, often groaning pitifully.

I noticed that, during the impending storm, they hung down their heads
in a listless manner, and sighed heavily, a circumstance