The Good Dame Had Remained Sulky Ever Since, Whereupon
Pierre, Seeing No Other Mode Of Exorcising The Evil Spirit Out
Of
her, and being, perhaps, a little inspired by whiskey, had
resorted to the Indian remedy of the cudgel, and
Before his
neighbors could interfere, had belabored her so soundly, that
there is no record of her having shown any refractory symptoms
throughout the remainder of the expedition.
For a week they continued their voyage, exposed to almost
incessant rains. The bodies of drowned buffaloes floated past
them in vast numbers; many had drifted upon the shore, or against
the upper ends of the rafts and islands. These had attracted
great flights of turkey-buzzards; some were banqueting on the
carcasses, others were soaring far aloft in the sky, and others
were perched on the trees, with their backs to the sun, and their
wings stretched out to dry, like so many vessels in harbor,
spreading their sails after a shower.
The turkey-buzzard (vultur aura, or golden vulture), when on the
wing, is one of the most specious and imposing of birds. Its
flight in the upper regions of the air is really sublime,
extending its immense wings, and wheeling slowly and majestically
to and fro, seemingly without exerting a muscle or fluttering a
feather, but moving by mere volition, and sailing on the bosom of
the air, as a ship upon the ocean. Usurping the empyreal realm of
the eagle, he assumes for a time the port and dignity of that
majestic bird, and often is mistaken for him by ignorant crawlers
upon the earth.
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