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Title: Audubon the Naturalist (Vol. II of II)
       A History of his Life and Time

Author: Francis Hobart Herrick

Release Date: February 28, 2019 [EBook #58984]

Language: English

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AUDUBON
THE
NATURALIST

AUDUBON
THE
NATURALIST

A HISTORY OF HIS LIFE AND TIME

BY
FRANCIS HOBART HERRICK, Ph.D., Sc.D.
PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY IN WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY;
AUTHOR OF "THE HOME LIFE OF WILD BIRDS," ETC.

IN TWO VOLUMES
ILLUSTRATED

VOLUME II

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
NEW YORK                  LONDON
1917

Copyright, 1917, by
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS OF VOLUME II

	PAGE
CHAPTER XXVI
Explorations in Florida and the South Atlantic
Obituary published in London on day of his arrival in New York—Assistance from the Government—John Bachman becomes his friend—Winter in Charleston—His folios as gifts—To Florida with two assistants—Letters to Featherstonhaugh—St. Augustine—Misadventures in the mud of East Florida—Audubon on Florida's future—At the sources of the St. John's—Aboard the Marion—Return from Key West—A merchant of Savannah—Disbanding of party at Charleston	1
CHAPTER XXVII
Eastern Visit and Explorations in the North Atlantic
Bachman's success as a canvasser—Boston visit—Journey to Portland—Ascent of the St. John's—Return overland—Victor Audubon becomes his father's agent—Winter in Boston—The Golden Eagle—Stricken with illness—Expedition to Labrador planned—American support—Sails from Eastport with five assistants—Discoveries and adventures on the Labrador—Safe return—Another winter in Charleston—Sued for old debts—Experience with vultures—Advice and instruction to a son—Working habits—Return to England	26
CHAPTER XXVIII
Thorns on the Rose
Contributions to magazines—Attacked in Philadelphia—Statement to Sully—The rattlesnake episode—Behavior of a Philadelphia editor—Mistaken identity in account of the reptile—Lesson of the serpent's tooth—Audubon's long lost lily rediscovered—"Nosarians and Anti-Nosarians"—Bachman and Audubon on vultures—Aim of the critics—Authorship in the Biography—His most persistent heckler—Pitfall of analogy	67 vi
CHAPTER XXIX
Sidelights on Audubon and His Contemporaries
What was a Quinarian?—Controversy over the authorship of the Ornithological Biography—Audubon's quaint proposal—Swainson's reply—Friendship suffers a check—Species-mongers—Hitting at one over the shoulders of another—Swainson as a biographer—His career—Bonaparte's grievance—A fortune in ornithology—Labors of John Gould and his relations with Audubon—The freemasonry of naturalists	93
CHAPTER XXX
Audubon and MacGillivray
In London once more—MacGillivray's assistance continued—Return to Edinburgh—MacGillivray's character and accomplishments—Audubon's acknowledgments—Tributes of "Christopher North"—Results of overwork—Fusillades from "Walton Hall"—Progress of the large plates	125
CHAPTER XXXI
Third American Tour, 1836-1837
In New York harbor—Collections from the Far West—Audubon's efforts to secure them—Return to Boston—Friendship of Daniel Webster—Renewed efforts to obtain the Nuttall-Townsend collection—Expedition to the west coast of Florida—Deferred governmental aid—Another winter with Bachman—Overland journey to New Orleans—On board the Crusader—Mistaken for pirates—With Harris and his son explores the Gulf coast—The Republic of Texas—Visit to its capital and president—Meeting in Charleston—Marriage of his son—Their return to England	146
CHAPTER XXXII
Audubon's Greatest Triumph
Extension of his work—Financial panic and revolt of patrons—New western collections—His "book of Nature" completed—Work on the letterpress in Edinburgh—Vacation in the Highlands—Commissions vii to Harris—Parting address to the reader—Dissolution of the Havell engraving establishment—The residuum of The Birds of America—Robert Havell, engraver, and his family—Lizars' first edition and the Havell reissues of plates—Brief manual for collectors—Appreciations—Total edition of The Birds of America—Past and present prices—The Rothschild incident	168
CHAPTER XXXIII
New Enterprises and Life at "Minnie's Land"
Settlement in New York—The Birds in miniature, and work on the Quadrupeds—Marriage of Victor Audubon—Coöperation of Bachman in the Quadrupeds secured—Prospectuses—History of the octavo edition of the Birds—Baird's enthusiasm and efficient aid—Parkman's Wren—Baird's visit to Audubon in New York—"Look out for Martens," and wildcats—New home on the Hudson—Godwin's pilgrimage to "Minnie's Land" in 1842	208
CHAPTER XXXIV
Expedition to the Upper Missouri
Ambitions at fifty-seven—Plans his last expedition in the rôle of naturalist—Credentials from public men—Canvassing tour in Canada described—Baird's plans to accompany Audubon west frustrated—Western expedition begun—Ascent of the Missouri and Yellowstone—Discoveries of new birds—A wilderness that howls—Buffalo hunting—Passing of the great herds—Return from Fort Union—Incident on the canal boat—Completion of the octavo edition of the Birds	239
CHAPTER XXXV
Final Work Days
Painting the Quadrupeds—Assistance of Bachman and Audubon's sons—Copper plates of the Birds go through the fire in New York—Audubon a spectator at the ruins—Bachman's ultimatum—Success of the illustrations of the Quadrupeds—Bachman's letterpress—Recommendation of Baird—J. W. Audubon in London—Bachman's assistants—His life and labors—Decline of Audubon's powers—Dr. Brewer's visit—Audubon's last letters—His death at "Minnie's Land"	261 viii
CHAPTER XXXVI
Afterword: Audubon's Family in America
Bachman completes his text on the Quadrupeds—Victor Audubon's success in canvassing—John Woodhouse Audubon's family—New houses at "Minnie's Land"—Second octavo edition of the Birds—Victor Audubon's illness and death—Attempt to reissue The Birds of America in America—The residual stock of this imperfect edition—Death of John Woodhouse Audubon—His career and work as an artist and field collector—Mrs. Audubon resumes her old vocation—Fate of "Minnie's Land"—Death of Mrs. Audubon—Her share in her husband's fame—Story written on Audubon's original drawings—Fate of the original copper plates of the Birds—A boy comes to the rescue—"Minnie's Land" today—The "Cave"—A real "Audubon Park"	291
APPENDIX I
Original Documents
1. Copy of the original bill rendered by Doctor Sanson, physician at Les Cayes, Santo Domingo, to Jean Audubon, containing the only existing record of the birth of his son, Jean Jacques Fougère Audubon, on April 26, 1785; Les Cayes, December 29, 1783-October 19, 1785	314
1a. Translation of the Sanson Bill	315
2. Copy of the Act of Adoption of Fougère (John James Audubon) and Muguet (Rosa Audubon), Nantes, March 7, 1794	328
3. Copy of the Act of Baptism of Jean Jacques Fougère Audubon, Nantes, October 23, 1800	329
4. Copy of a bill of sale of Negroes rendered by Monsieur Ollivier to Monsieur Audubon, Les Cayes, Santo Domingo, 1785	330
5. Statement of Accounts of Messrs. Audubon, Lacroix, Formon & Jacques in the purchase of Negroes from M. Th. Johnston, Les Cayes, Santo Domingo, 1785	331
6. Copy of bill of sale of Negroes to Monsieur Audubon, and a Statement of his account with Messrs. Lucas Brothers & Constant, Les Cayes, Santo Domingo, August 7, 1785-June 9, 1788	334
7. Accounts of William Bakewell of "Fatland Ford" as protégé of his future son-in-law, and as attorney or agent for Audubon & Rozier, giving certain exact indications of the naturalist's early movements and personal relations, before and after finally leaving "Mill Grove," January 4, 1805-April 9, 1810	336
8. Concerning a Power of Attorney issued by Lieutenant Audubon and Anne Moynet Audubon to Ferdinand Rozier and John Audubon, ix the Younger, at Couëron, France, in 1805; parts in French translated by a Philadelphia notary; signatures of original document authenticated by the Mayor of Couëron, October 21, 1805; his attest of the legality of Anne Moynet Audubon's signature at Couëron, October 27, 1805; authentication of the signature of the Mayor of Couëron by the Subprefect of Savenay, November 27, 1805; attest of the Subprefect's signature by the Prefect	340
9. Articles of Association of Jean Audubon and Ferdinand Rozier to govern their partnership in business; drawn up at Nantes, March 23, 1806	344
9a. Translation of the Articles of Association of Jean Audubon and Ferdinand Rozier	346
10. Power of Attorney issued by Lieutenant Jean Audubon, Anne Moynet Audubon and Claude François Rozier, to their respective sons, Jean Audubon and Ferdinand Rozier, at Nantes, France, April 4, 1806, eight days before the latter embarked to America to enter upon their partnership in business	350
10a. Translation of the Power of Attorney issued by Jean Audubon, Anne Moynet Audubon, and Claude François Rozier to Jean Audubon and Ferdinand Rozier, April 4, 1806	351
11. Account current of John Audubon and Ferdinand Rozier with the estate of Benjamin Bakewell, late commission merchant in New York, showing their dealings and standing with this house during the first sixteen months of their business experience in the West. Covers the period August 1, 1807, to December 13, 1808	354
11a. Final Account of Francis Dacosta, rendered July 25, 1807, to Lieutenant Jean Audubon, his partner in the unfortunate mining enterprise at "Mill Grove"; later contested and settled by arbitration	356
12. Quit Claim or Release given by John James Audubon to Ferdinand Rozier on the Dissolution of their Partnership in Business, at Sainte Geneviève, Upper Louisiana (Missouri), April 6, 1811	359
13. Copy of a portion of the first Will of Lieutenant Jean Audubon, Couëron, May 20, 1812	360
14. Copy of the second and last Will of Lieutenant Jean Audubon, March 15, 1816	361
15. Copy of a portion of the first Will of Madame Anne Moynet, wife of Lieutenant Audubon, December 4, 1814	363
16. Copy of a portion of the second Will of Madame Jean Audubon, May 10, 1816	364
17. Copy of the third Will, "No. 169, of Madame Anne Moynet, widow of M. Jean Audubon, living at his house called "La Gerbetière," and situated near the village of Port-Launay, not far from Couëron," December 26, 1819	366
18. Copy of a portion of the fourth and last will of Madame Jean Audubon, living at the house of "The Turtle Doves" ("Les Tourterelles"), at Couëron, July 16, 1821	367 x
19. Notice of the death of Lieutenant Jean Audubon, from the official registry of Nantes, Nantes, February 19, 1818	369
20. Letter of Lieutenant Jean Audubon to Francis Dacosta, his American agent and attorney, relating to the conduct of his son, and to the lead mine at "Mill Grove" farm, transliterated from photographic copy of duplicate (Letter No. 4) in Jean Audubon's letter-book. Nantes, March 10, 1805	370
21. Letters of John James Audubon to Claude François Rozier, father, and to Ferdinand Rozier, son, immediately preceding and following his active partnership in business with the latter, 1807 and 1812	372
APPENDIX II
Audubon's Early Dated Drawings Made in France and America
Drawings now in the collections of Mr. Joseph Y. Jeanes of Philadelphia, and formerly belonging to Mr. Edward Harris, of Moorestown, New Jersey; of Mr. John E. Thayer, Lancaster, Massachusetts, and of Harvard University	375
APPENDIX III
"The Birds of America"
1. Final Lists of Subscribers to The Birds of America, folio edition, as published by Audubon in 1839	380
2. Prospectus of The Birds of America, as issued in 1828, when ten Numbers of the original folio were engraved	386
3. Prospectus of the Second (partial) Edition of The Birds of America, issued by John Woodhouse Audubon, through Messrs. Trubner & Company, London, 1859	389
APPENDIX IV
Authentic Likenesses of Jean Jacques Fougère Audubon	392
APPENDIX V
Bibliography
Containing a fully annotated list of Audubon's writings, biographies, criticism, and Auduboniana	401
Index	457 xi

ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME II

Audubon. After a portrait by George P. A. Healy, 1838. Photogravure	Frontispiece
	PAGE
"Beechgrove," William Garrett Johnson's plantation house near St. Francisville, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, where Mrs. Audubon lived and taught from 1827 to 1829	Facing 6
John Bachman's house in Charleston, South Carolina	Facing 6
Early drawing in water color of the Carolina Parrot on branch of the hickory, 1811, hitherto unpublished	Facing 20
John Bachman at thirty-two. After an engraving by Charles C. Wright of a portrait by A. Fisher	Facing 32
Robert Havell at eighty-five. After a photograph taken shortly before his death in 1878	Facing 32
Letter of Dr. George Parkman to Audubon, May 25, 1833	43
Pileated Woodpeckers on the "Raccoon Grape," The Birds of America, Plate CXI. After the original engraving by Robert Havell, 1831. Color	Facing 46
Letter of Robert Havell to Audubon, June 15, 1833	51
John George Children	Facing 64
Edward Harris	Facing 64
John Bachman	Facing 72
George Ord	Facing 72
Samuel Latham Mitchell	Facing 72
Charles Waterton	Facing 72
Dr. Thomas Cooper, President of South Carolina College. After a contemporary silhouette	78
Vindication of Audubon's representation of the fangs of the southern rattlesnake as recurved at their tips. Detail from The Birds of America, Plate XXI, and photograph of the skull of a recent Florida specimen	Facing 80
Bluebirds on a stalk of the "great Mullein," The Birds of America, Plate CXIII. After the original engraving by Robert Havell, 1831. Color	Facing 100 xii
William Swainson	Facing 118
Thomas Nuttall	Facing 118
Charles Lucien Bonaparte	Facing 118
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque	Facing 118
Audubon. After an engraving by H. B. Hall of a portrait painted by Henry Inman in 1833	Facing 126
Letter of William MacGillivray to Audubon, October 22, 1834	Facing 131
Part of the original draft of Audubon's manuscript for the Introduction to Volume II of the Ornithological Biography, giving list of names of persons to whom Audubon carried credentials on his first visit to London in 1827	Facing 133
Audubon's inscription in a copy of the Ornithological Biography, which he presented to William MacGillivray in 1839	Facing 138
Early drawings of American birds, 1807-12, hitherto unpublished: the Whippoorwill and the American Robin, with details	Facing 144
Bust of Audubon by William Couper, in front and profile views. After the original in the American Museum of Natural History, New York	Facing 160
Life mask of Audubon, hitherto unpublished, in front and profile views. After the original made by Robert Havell in London, now in possession of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy of Harvard University	Facing 178
Canvas-backed Ducks, with distant view of the city of Baltimore, Maryland, The Birds of America, Plate CCCI. After the original engraving by Robert Havell, 1836. Color	Facing 196
Victor Gifford Audubon	Facing 210
John Woodhouse Audubon	Facing 210
Title page of the paper covers in which parts of the first American (octavo) edition of The Birds of America were originally issued	213
Audubon. After a portrait painted by John Woodhouse and Victor Gifford Audubon about 1841	Facing 226
"Minnie's Land," Audubon's home on the Hudson River, as it appeared in 1865. After a lithograph in Valentine's Manual	Facing 236
"Minnie's Land," as it appears to-day from the river front protected by the retaining wall of Riverside Drive	Facing 236
Audubon, with gun, horse, and dog. After a painting by John Woodhouse Audubon about 1841	Facing 244
Letter of Edward Harris to Audubon, January 31, 1843	251 xiii
Drawings for The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America: the American or Canada porcupine and rabbits. After the originals in water color in the American Museum of Natural History, New York	Facing 264
Title page of Volume I of the English edition of the text of The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America	275
John W. Audubon's inscription in a copy of Volume I of the text of the Quadrupeds (English edition), presented to John Edward Gray	280
Audubon. After an engraving by Nordheim of a daguerreotype possibly earlier than 1849	Facing 280
Audubon. After his last portrait, a daguerreotype made in New York about 1850	Facing 280
Letter of John Bachman to George Oates, November 7, 1846	282
Audubon's last (?) letter to Edward Harris, February 22, 1847	287
House formerly belonging to Victor Gifford Audubon, east front, as it appears to-day	Facing 294
House formerly belonging to John Woodhouse Audubon, south front, as it appears to-day	Facing 294
Lucy Bakewell Audubon. After a miniature painted by Frederick Cruikshank in London, about 1831	Facing 304
Lucy Bakewell Audubon. After an unpublished photograph of 1871	Facing 304

AUDUBON
THE
NATURALIST

SONNET

TO J. J. AUDUBON, ESQ., ON BEHOLDING HIS DRAWINGS.

J. E. R. [Jane Elizabeth Roscoe].

The Winter's Wreath, 1832.

AUDUBON
THE
NATURALIST

CHAPTER XXVI
EXPLORATIONS IN FLORIDA AND THE SOUTH ATLANTIC

Obituary published in London on day of his arrival in New York—Assistance from the Government—John Bachman becomes his friend—Winter in Charleston—His folios as gifts—To Florida with two assistants—Letters to Featherstonhaugh—St. Augustine—Misadventures in the mud of East Florida—Audubon on Florida's future—At the sources of the St. John's—Aboard the Marion—Return from Key West—A merchant of Savannah—Disbanding of party at Charleston.

In the summer of 1831 Audubon felt that he must again return to America and extend his researches to the north, south and west, as well as begin a campaign for subscribers in the United States. His large folio was now running into its second volume, and the first installment of his text had been published; the time was favorable to his plans, and he hoped to remain in the country two or three years.

For the second time the publication of his plates was entrusted to friend Children, and with Mrs. Audubon he set sail for New York on August 2, 1831. From the American metropolis he wrote to Joseph B. Kidd on September 7 as follows:[1] 2

What Audubon actually did was to proceed to Philadelphia, where Mrs. Audubon left him to visit her sons in Louisville, and where he laid his plans for exploring the Southern States, especially the islands and eastern coast of the Florida peninsula. For this expedition he engaged two assistants, one of whom was Henry Ward, the "young man" mentioned above, an Englishman who had come with him to America as taxidermist, while the other was George Lehman, a Swiss landscape painter whom he seems to have found at Philadelphia. With them he soon started for Washington to obtain assistance from the Government.

On the very day that Audubon landed in New York, there appeared in the London Literary Gazette a serio-comic notice under the title of "Wilson the Ornithologist," who, it may be remembered, had died in Philadelphia eighteen years before. Said the editor of the Gazette: 3

When on September 8 the Edinburgh Caledonian Mercury had called attention to this egregious blunder regarding Wilson, the Gazette explained that his name had been confused with that of Audubon, whose obituary presently appeared in its issue of October 29, the editor remarking that this naturalist's death was equally, if not more, to be deplored than that of Wilson. Captain Brown then sent to the Caledonian Mercury Audubon's letter to Kidd, quoted above, which was written from New York four days after the naturalist's death was announced in England. "What is the editor of the Literary Gazette about," exclaimed a writer in the Edinburgh paper; "he first resuscitates a man who has been dead 18 years, only to kill him again, and then, by way of correcting his error, kills another, who is now clearly proved to have been alive and well several days after the date of his obituary in London."

As was often the case, Audubon's ambitious hopes for exploring the continent far outran his means and powers of accomplishment. Colonel John James Abert, whose counsel he sought in Washington at this time; said:[2] "His plan is first to examine the peninsula 4 of Florida; then the regions west of the Mississippi, Mexico, and if possible penetrate into California. He also contemplates crossing the Rocky Mountains and pursuing the Columbia River to its mouth, and thinks that he will be absent from us about two years." In November G. W. Featherstonhaugh, the geologist, also made this announcement in his Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural Science:

The "distinguished gentlemen" at Washington who particularly aided Audubon at this time, besides Colonel 5 Abert, were Edward Everett, Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Navy, and Lewis McLane, Secretary of the Treasury. He was particularly anxious to obtain accommodation for his party aboard a government vessel, but it was some time before a suitable one was available. They left Washington about October 15, 1831, and went by steamer to Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia, where the Governor, John Floyd, whom Audubon had known in his Kentucky days, gave him numerous letters of introduction. At Charleston, their next stopping-place, he had hardly begun work in the field when he was sought out by the Rev. John Bachman, by inclination a naturalist of the old school and by profession a Lutheran minister, who at once took the whole party under his hospitable roof, where they remained a month. Thus began a life-long and almost ideal friendship between these two men, so unlike in character, in temperament and in training, which was quite as important to the modest German-American divine as to the impulsive Franco-American painter and student of birds. It was Audubon's infectious enthusiasm which kindled to an ardent flame that love of nature which was innate in Bachman, and which eventually brought his name and work to the attention of the scientific world.

Audubon remained at Charleston with the Bachmans until November 15, when the opportunity which they had awaited came suddenly, and they sailed for St. Augustine, Florida, on the government schooner Agnes. On that day Bachman wrote to Mrs. Audubon, in compliance "with a request of your kind and worthy husband, who laid an injunction on me this morning":[3] 6

On December 23 Bachman wrote to Audubon: "Your visit to me gave me new life, induced me to go carefully over my favorite study, and made me and my family happy." His sister-in-law, Miss Maria Martin, 7 who possessed considerable artistic talent, became one of Audubon's enthusiastic helpers, and not only drew birds for him but painted many of the flowers and insects which were later used for the embellishment of his plates. John Bachman's serious contributions to natural history also date from this visit. To repay him and his family for their hospitality, Audubon presented them with the first volume of The Birds of America, but the folio was not received until some time later; he was referring to this when he wrote to Bachman, just before sailing from New York, on April 5, 1834, and asked him to accept "the superbly bound book" from "your old Friend, in part atonement for the troubles I have given you, and the leatherings you may yet receive at my hands at chess." In a letter to Miss Martin, written also from New York on the following day, he said: "The Great Volume which Maj. Glassel did fortunately return into your hands, I give with all my heart to my valued friends, the Bachmans, and shall try to furnish them the sequel in like binding."[4]

Audubon scattered detached plates and numbers of his large work freely among his friends, and sometimes spoke of a gift of the whole. The costly nature of such a present in most cases, no doubt, led to a change of mind if not of heart, but not in all, for a number of his presentation copies still exist. One was given to David Eckley[5] of Boston, a noted sportsman who had aided 8 Audubon in collecting materials for his work. In a letter written at Charleston, January 1, 1837, to young Thomas M. Brewer, Audubon said: "Please to call on my good friend David Eckley, Esq., present to him and to his family my very best regards, and ask of him whether he has collected any hawks or owls for me. If so, take them from him, and place them in the general receptacle of 'pale-faced rum.'" Another copy is said to be in possession of the Public Library of Manchester, England, and to have been bequeathed to that institution by the Earl of Crawford. A complete set of the Birds was also presented to his friends, the Rathbones of Liverpool, and is still in possession of the family.

We shall now return to our narrative and fulfill our promise of reproducing Audubon's own account of his journey from Richmond to Florida:[6]

Audubon to G. W. Featherstonhaugh

Although the weather was "shockingly hot," they prepared three hundred specimens, embracing about 10 sixty land and water birds, and sent all the "pickled specimens to our mutual friend H——" [Dr. Harlan, of Philadelphia] for safe keeping until their return.

On the following day, December 8, 1831, Audubon sent the following request to Dr. Harlan of Philadelphia: "I wish you also to send me—to Key West—, 20 more pounds of powdered arsenic from Friend Wetherell's shop,[10] and also a double barelled gun of usual length, as good as you can procure for 30 dollars; probably a second hand one may be procured; it must be percussion and, if possible, back action." Dr. Richard Harlan, who often transmitted to Mrs. Audubon any news which came direct from her husband, wrote to her on December 10, 1831, as follows:[11]

15

The winter season at St. Augustine proved unfavorable for the naturalist's work, and he anxiously awaited the coming of the government vessel, the Spark, to the commander of which he bore letters from Washington. After spending about three weeks in the neighborhood of the city, the party proceeded through the inlet which divides Anastasia Island from the mainland, to the plantation of General Hernandez, thirty-five miles distant, where they were entertained for ten days. On Christmas morning they set out afoot for the plantation of John Bulow, of Bulowville, fifteen miles away. To follow the naturalist's account:

On December 28 their host proposed that they should descend the Halifax River in search of new and valuable birds to a point about forty miles from that place and eighty miles from St. Augustine.[12]

They reached a spot, called "Live Oak Landing," where a schooner from New York was then anchored, and there passed the night.

After shooting more birds, and pushing or pulling their boat "over oyster banks sharp as razors," they 17 made the schooner at the landing again. "The birds, generally speaking," he continues, "appeared wild and few—you must be aware that I call birds few, when I shoot less than one hundred per day."

Such remarks as we have just quoted might convey the impression that the American woodsman, with whose name the cause of bird protection is now associated in this country, was a reckless destroyer of all bird life, but this was far from the case. It must be remembered that this was over eighty years ago, when the unrivaled abundance of our birds was such that the necessity of their conservation had hardly entered the dreams of the most discerning. Audubon no doubt had gradually yielded to the prevalent mania for describing and figuring new species, and to make out all the minute specific differences a large series of specimens was necessary; still more were needed for the detection of individual variation, which did not escape him, and much less his assistant, William MacGillivray, who demanded large numbers for his anatomical studies. Furthermore, Audubon counted upon defraying a part of his expenses by collections of skins of American birds, which were then desiderata among the museums of Europe.[13]

When it was proposed that they should return,

Their predicament, however, was still serious, for, to continue the narrative, they were

Their pleasure in being afloat was short-lived, for "the northeaster had well nigh emptied the creek of its usual quantum of water," and they were again obliged to wade to effect a landing, their object being to gain the east Florida coast and thus make their escape. This was finally attained after abandoning their boat, when began a long tramp on the beach, in the teeth of the wind,

Readers of the following account who have visited eastern Florida may conclude that Audubon was not a good prophet, but probably at that early day no one could have made a better forecast of the future:

On January 6, 1832, the party started to visit a famous spring near the sources of the St. John's River, which was described in his third letter to Featherstonhaugh as well as in a later "Episode."[14] There his host, Colonel Rees, who utilized the abundant flow from this curious spring for grinding the whole of his sugar cane, took them down the Spring Garden Creek to a series of muddy lakes which emptied into the St. John's. The mud on this occasion was the cause of great disappointment to the naturalist, for it made it impossible for him to recover what he believed to represent a new species of Ibis, which was shot in one of those bottomless pits. "Being only a few yards distant from us," to quote from Audubon's third letter,[15] "and quite near enough to ascertain the extent of my loss, I submitted to lose a fine pair of a new species, the which if I ever fall in with it again, I shall call Tantalus fuscus."

When they had reached the borders of Woodruff's Lake, after noon, fatigued and hungry, he continued:

Early in February, 1832, Lieutenant Piercy took Audubon and his assistants aboard the government schooner Spark at St. Augustine, and sailed for the mouth of the St. John's River, which he had orders to ascend in the interests of the Revenue Service. On February 12, when they had reached a point one hundred miles from the mouth of the river, the vessel, being in need of repairs, was suddenly recalled. Audubon, with 23 two men, thereupon engaged a boat and attempted to return to St. Augustine across country, by a short cut to the eastward. They were soon stranded and the party divided. Audubon with his dog and one companion then endeavored to make their way by land to the town, eighteen miles distant, but they were overtaken by a terrific gale and thunder-storm, and in order to keep to the trails were often obliged to grope their way on hands and knees.[16]

At about this time the publishers of the Journal of Geology and Natural Science, from which we have quoted, failed, and Featherstonhaugh, who assumed their debts to all subscribers, was obliged to bring it to a close with the completion of the first volume; Audubon's third and last letter appeared in the valedictory number for June, 1832.

Again the naturalist applied to the government officials at Washington for assistance, and, as the following letter shows, Edward Everett again came to his aid, as did also Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Navy, to whom Audubon later received a personal introduction from Chief Justice Taney of the Supreme Court:

24

Finally, on April 15, 1832, Audubon and his party were able to board the revenue cutter Marion, commanded by Robert Day, and the opportunity thus afforded for exploring the dangerous east Florida coast amply repaid them for their long and vexatious delays. They visited the islands from St. Augustine to Key West, and examined every part of the shore which it was the duty of the Marion to approach. At Indian Key the deputy collector, Mr. Thurston, gave Audubon the services of his pilot, a veteran sailor and hunter, who accompanied him on the Marion for a number of weeks and led many boat journeys to lonely islands, where vast colonies of sea fowl then dwelt in undisputed possession. The leisurely movements of the vessel also enabled the naturalist to produce many finished drawings, and to obtain materials for fresh "Episodes."[17] At Key West Audubon was hospitably received by Major Classel,[18] and by Dr. Strobel, who was of great assistance both to him and to Bachman in procuring new birds from that little known point.

The unexpected delays experienced in Florida, and the expense which the presence of his assistants necessarily 25 entailed, in all probability, deterred the naturalist from the more hazardous and uncertain enterprise of attempting to reach the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Coast, which for years had been the great object of his ambition. At all events, after their work was finished at Key West, the party returned to St. Augustine, and on the fifth day of March again boarded the packet schooner Agnes, which was to bear them with their collections to Charleston. Audubon, however, left the vessel at Savannah, in order to deliver letters from the Rathbones of Liverpool to a number of their rich merchant friends in the former city. One of these, named William Gaston,[19] at first declined to subscribe to The Birds of America, on the ground of its great expense and the demands made upon his purse by charity, but his indifference was quickly overcome: not only did he write his name on Audubon's list, but he immediately went out and obtained three other subscribers; he even insisted on becoming Audubon's agent at Savannah, and saw to it that none of those subscriptions was ever allowed to lapse in after years. Savannah eventually gave him six subscribers, which was more than were credited to either Philadelphia or Baltimore.

At Charleston the party disbanded. Lehman returned to Philadelphia, whither Audubon later followed him, but Henry Ward obtained a position with the Museum of Natural History, in which Bachman was interested, and he appears to have been of much assistance both to Bachman and to his friend in procuring for them specimens of new or desirable birds and mammals; at a later day, however, he seems to have fallen into disesteem on account of unpaid debts. 26

CHAPTER XXVII
EASTERN VISIT AND EXPLORATIONS IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC

Bachman's success as a canvasser—Boston visit—Journey to Portland—Ascent of the St. John's—Return overland—Victor Audubon becomes his father's agent—Winter in Boston—The Golden Eagle—Stricken with illness—Expedition to Labrador planned—American support—Sails from Eastport with five assistants—Discoveries and adventures on the Labrador—Safe return—Another winter at Charleston—Sued for old debts—Experience with vultures—Advice and instruction to a son—Working habits—Return to England.

Foiled in his attempt to see the Florida coast at the season best suited to his purposes, and disappointed in his ambition to penetrate to the Far West, Audubon now turned his attention to the East and determined to follow the migratory birds to their summer homes in the North Atlantic. He left Charleston in early June, 1832, and went to Philadelphia,[20] where he remained about a month, waiting, it seems, for his wife and two sons to join him. In a letter to Edward Harris, dated at Philadelphia, June 9, 1832, he said that he had left the "National hotel, on account of the too high price, I found I would have to pay there, and removed to Camden, at a Mr. 27 Armstrong's, where I formerly boarded"; he asked Harris to send him "a pair of fine woodchucks," as he wished to secure a drawing of those animals.

It is interesting to notice that while Audubon had been absent in Florida, his friend Bachman had busied himself in his behalf and eventually succeeded in placing three copies of The Birds of America in public institutions in Charleston. On December 23, 1831, he wrote to Audubon, who was then at St. Augustine:

Audubon wrote to Bachman from Philadelphia, July 1, 1832: "G. Ord has caused a most violent attack on my veracity to be inserted in a London journal; how will he stand mine eye, on Tuesday next at the Society, is more than I can at present tell.... Mr. Berthoud will ship you 3 volumes of the Birds of America, and the succeeding numbers; he will send a bill of sale of those."

His plan was now to visit Boston and Maine, and he left Philadelphia with his family in early August; they traveled by stage to New York, but upon finding that the city was then suffering from a periodic scourge of the cholera, tarried but a day and hastened on. The following letter which Richard Harlan sent after his 28 friend in August of this year shows that his own city did not escape the pest:

Richard Harlan to Audubon

Audubon's visit to Boston in the summer of 1832 was a red-letter period in his career. So warmly was he then welcomed by the leading public and professional men of the city that he could never say enough in praise of the Bostonians. Dr. George Parkman, Dr. George C. Shattuck, and Col. Thomas H. Perkins,[21] who was already one of his subscribers, were among his most enthusiastic supporters. Of Parkman Audubon said: "He it is, whose memory is most dear to me." It was doubtless Parkman, then a professor in the Medical School, who introduced Audubon to the president of Harvard University, Josiah Quincy, whose name was added to his list.

On August 14, shortly after reaching Boston, Audubon wrote to his friend Harris: 30

The Audubon family now traveled by carriage and mail-coach along the entire coast of Maine, but made no prolonged stay until they reached Eastport, where excursions were taken into the surrounding country, and the woods and shores were thoroughly ransacked. At Dennisville they made the acquaintance of Judge Lincoln's family, which rendered their stay of a number of weeks "exceedingly agreeable"; as will appear later,[22] it was this agreeable family that furnished Audubon with a valuable recruit for his expedition to Labrador. Towards the end of September they entered New Brunswick and began to ascend the St. John's River. A week was passed at Fredericton, where they were hospitably received by Sir Archibald Campbell. Thence they continued in a small boat, which was towed upstream by mules, to Woodstock, Maine. There a cart was procured, in which they proceeded overland to Houlton, in Aroostook County, then "A neat village, 31 consisting of some fifty houses," and after a few days passed at this garrison town in looking for new birds, they started for Bangor, following the old military road which led along the Penobscot River to Old Town. Said the ornithologist of this journey:

Audubon felt that he ought to remain in America for at least another year, and decided to send his son, Victor, to England to take charge of his publication. This work had now become a paramount family interest, and for the nineteen years of life that remained to the elder Audubon, his two sons virtually became his assistants, John as an active collector and companion in the field, and Victor as his business agent and secretary. In writing again to Edward Harris, from Boston, November 1, 1832, Audubon noted that they had found the Canada Grouse in abundance, and that he was assured of its breeding commonly within the Union; Victor, he added, had sailed to England, "on the tenth of last month" on the packet ship South America.

The autumn of 1832 and the following winter were spent in Boston, where the naturalist was busily engaged in drawing and in laying plans for the now famous expedition 32 to the coast of Labrador. Meantime Bachman, who was keenly interested in his success, was urging him to return to Charleston; on October 20, 1832, he wrote: "A month in your society would afford me greater pleasure than the highest prize in a lottery. I cannot, I find, feel myself at home with new birds without having the skins to refer to. My cabinet is enlarging every day. Henry Ward now prepares the skins—a pair of each.... What ducks, that are not likely to be obtained for you in Boston, would you like Maria to draw for you?" Writing again on the 26th of October, he said:[24]

Under date of December 20, 1832, his friend "had nothing to write but bad news," and hoped "to see our political atmosphere a little brighter. Do not ask me about birds; I do not know a Buzzard from a King Bird.... Oh, what an enjoyment it would be for me to escape, just for one week, from the hydra-headed 'Nullification,' and sit by your side and talk birds!"

Audubon was anticipating his third volume of plates, devoted mainly to water birds, which was begun with Number 45, in 1834, when the following letter was sent to his son in London:

Audubon to his Son, Victor

While at Boston in the winter of 1833, Audubon obtained from the proprietor of the New England Museum, 35 in Court Street, a superb specimen of the Golden Eagle, which had been caught in the White Mountains in a trap set for foxes. Possessed with a desire to depict this noble bird, he worked so hard at the drawing that, as he said, it nearly cost him his life; he was suddenly seized with "a spasmodic affection," which prostrated him for a time and greatly alarmed his family, but thanks to a strong constitution and to the aid of his medical friends, Doctors Parkman, Warren and Shattuck, the crisis was averted, and he was soon able to continue his labors. "The drawing of this Eagle," said the naturalist, "took me fourteen days, and I had never before laboured so incessantly excepting at that of the Wild Turkey." He was at work on this painting when the following letter[26] was dispatched to his eldest son:

Audubon to his Son, Victor

In the spring of 1833 Audubon was determined to carry out a long cherished desire to explore the coast of Labrador, where he hoped not only to discover many new birds, but to ascertain the summer plumages and breeding habits of a host of water fowl that were known to resort in the milder season to that stern and rock-bound shore. Accordingly, he set about with characteristic energy to organize and finance an expedition upon his own responsibility. The number of his American subscribers was steadily increasing, and at that moment he felt a degree of confidence in the future of his work to hazard almost any undertaking. In April, when his plans were fixed, he went to New York to consult with his wife's brother-in-law and agent, Nicholas A. Berthoud, and to settle his business affairs before leaving the country. While there he wrote the following long letter[28] to his son, Victor, filled, as usual, with careful instructions and interesting personal details. It will be noticed that when he took pen in hand the number of his American subscribers stood at 51, but before he laid it down it had risen to 54; his belief that his efforts in the cause of natural science would receive a hearty response in his own country was fully justified. 37

Audubon to his Son, Victor

Audubon was particularly anxious to enlist a number of enthusiastic young men in the Labrador enterprise, and had hoped that his friend, Edward Harris, would join the party. Upon his return to Boston he started at once for Eastport, Maine, where he expected to charter a vessel and complete his preparations. On May 9, 1833, he wrote to Harris from that point:

To this friend he wrote again from Eastport on the 14th of the same month:

The National Gazette of Philadelphia for May 2, 1833, devoted an editorial to Audubon and his prospective Labrador journey, in which the writer said: "We wish him a degree of success and prolongation of vigor equal to his great merits: indeed, for the past at least, success is fully assured." He added that between fifty and sixty subscribers to The Birds of America had then been obtained in the United States; Boston had furnished eighteen; New York, eleven; Philadelphia, four; Baltimore, eight; Savannah, seven; Louisville, two, and New Orleans, three; moreover, the legislatures of Massachusetts, New York, Maryland and South Carolina and the Congressional Library were subscribers for one copy each. The writer continued:

While Audubon was still at Eastport, and looking anxiously for young recruits, the following letter was received from Dr. George Parkman:[30]

Dr. George Parkman to Audubon

43

Edward Harris was unable to accompany his friend, and the four young men eventually chosen were Joseph Coolidge,[31] William Ingalls, of Boston, Thomas Lincoln, of Dennisville, Maine, and George Cheyne Shattuck,[32] the son of Dr. George C. Shattuck of Boston; these, with John Woodhouse Audubon and the naturalist, made up the party. The schooner Ripley, a staunch new vessel of 106 tons, was chartered at Eastport, and the expedition was ready to start by the latter part of May. During his stay at Eastport Audubon visited Grand Manan Island, a favorite resort for sea birds in the Bay of Fundy, and cruised about the coast in a revenue cutter. On May 31, he wrote to Victor:[33] 44

After repeated delays the Ripley sailed from Eastport for Labrador on June 6, 1833, and the journey proved arduous and hazardous enough. Although disappointing in respect to the number of new species of birds discovered, Audubon's visit was well timed; he was aided by a band of devoted and energetic youth, and they spent two months on the coast of a wild country, then but little known save to a nefarious crew of egg robbers and a few enterprising fishermen. His published journal of the voyage shows that he worked to the full limit of his physical powers in studying and portraying the wonderful bird life which the party encountered. Despite the miseries of seasickness, an incompetent pilot, tempestuous weather, and the cramped quarters of a small schooner, where all his drawings had to be done under an open hatch, he accomplished wonders, considering the shortness of his stay. By rising at three o'clock in the morning and working for seventeen hours, he succeeded in completing many large drawings of birds, as well as studies of characteristic flowers; he also journalized voluminously and saw much of the coast and its adjacent islands.

From Eastport they passed through the Gut of Canso and steered for the Magdalen Islands, where they 45 landed and made collections. On June 14 they approached the famous Bird Rock, which at a distance seemed to be covered with a mantle of new-fallen snow, an illusion soon dispelled as their vessel bore them nearer and a vast concourse of Gannets rose in great clouds from the rock; "all stood astonished and amazed," said Audubon, and he felt that such a sight had of itself fully repaid them for their journey. On June 17, the twelfth day out from Eastport, they passed Anticosti Island, and soon began to see what appeared like white sails on the horizon; these proved to be snow drifts on the Labrador, and on the 18th they landed at the mouth of the Natashquan River. Ducks, Geese, Auks and Guillemots were there in great multitudes, as well as Gulls and Terns; many were breeding, and all seemed wilder than at points farther south, a circumstance which was explained as soon as they discovered the astounding proportions which the traffic in eggs of sea fowl had attained even at that time.[34]

On June 27 they procured a new bird[35] which Audubon named after his young companion, Thomas Lincoln of Dennisville, Maine, and which is still known as "Lincoln's Finch." This reference is found in his journal for the 4th of July: "I have drawn all day, and have finished the plate of the Fringilla lincolnii, to which I have put three plants of the country; to us they are very fitting to the purpose, for Lincoln gathered them."

The Ripley left its anchorage at American Harbor or Natashquan on June 28, and stood out to sea, their usual recourse to avoid the intricacies of the coast. After proceeding fifty miles or more they touched at numerous 46 islands, where Guillemots, Puffins, and Black-backed Gulls were breeding in vast numbers, and managed to anchor safely, in spite of that "ignorant ass" of a pilot, at a wild and desolate point which a recent traveler has identified as the harbor of Wapitagun.[36] July the second was such a beautiful day for Labrador that Audubon went on shore, where he drew this vivid picture of that desolate land in sunshine:[37]

On the 6th of July he wrote:[38]

48

On the seventh there is this note:

On July 14 the Ripley took the party forty-three miles farther east to Little Maccatina, or Hare Harbor, as it is called today, where they remained until July 21, proceeding thence to Baie de Portage. Here they were able to enter their small boats, and visited the captain of a whaling schooner from New Brunswick, a Canadian trapper, and a Scotchman, Samuel Robertson by name, who was engaged in the sealing industry at Sparr Point, all of whom Audubon pumped for information on the country and its products. On July 25, they started for "Chevalier's Settlement," but were caught in a storm, and came to in Bras d'Or (Bradore) Bay; there they found the Labrador Duck, which in 1875, but forty-two years later, had become totally extinct.

At the approach of August the brief Labrador summer, of barely one month, was drawing to a close, and Audubon was exerting his utmost efforts to accomplish his purposes. Under date of August 10 he wrote:[39]

On the 11th of August all hands parted with Labrador without regret, and the captain of the Ripley steered for Newfoundland, where they landed in St. George's Harbor on the 13th. That region was searched for five days, when a fresh start was made for Pictou, Nova Scotia, but when they encountered head winds, Audubon and his party were landed on the nearest shore and made their way overland to the town. Thence they proceeded to Truro and Halifax, and after three days went on to Windsor, where they watched the famous tides in the Bay of Fundy—emptying and filling a broad river, and rising, in course, to a height of sixty-five feet. From that point a steamboat was taken to St. Johns, New Brunswick, where the faithful Harris awaited the naturalist with tidings of his wife and elder 50 son;[40] this intelligence induced him to abandon his contemplated course through the woods of Quebec and hasten back to the United States. The party finally reached Eastport on August 31, after being out nearly twelve weeks. When the Ripley had docked and their collections were securely packed, all but Coolidge and Lincoln returned to Boston, and on September 7 Audubon was again in New York.

The Labrador experience was in a measure disappointing, but the naturalist brought back twenty-three large drawings of birds, complete or nearly so, and seventy-three bird skins, as well as considerable collections of marine animals and plants. The expenses of the journey had been heavy, amounting, as he told his son, to "about $2,000," but one fine morning when they had flushed a Black Poll Warbler from its nest, Audubon felt that he was amply "refunded in the sight," though this bird was later found to have a much wider breeding range than he then supposed.

The National Gazette of Philadelphia[41] published a long editorial upon Audubon's return, as well as an extended account of his journey, extracted from the Boston Patriot. To quote the editor's comment:

While at Halifax Audubon received a congratulatory letter from Bachman, who urged him to visit Charleston and to bring his family. The invitation was accepted, and early in September Audubon returned to New York, where he immediately prepared the new drawings for dispatch to London; thirteen of the land 52 birds were for the completion of his second volume, and seventeen, representing water fowl, were to form the initial series of the third; all, as usual, were heavily insured.

Audubon left New York with his wife on September 25 and spent nearly a month en route to Charleston, while John, who intended to accompany his father to Florida, went direct by water. Dr. Thomas L. McKenney, of Philadelphia, in a letter to Lewis Cass, Secretary of War, said:[42]

As a contrast to the warmth of Audubon's greeting in Philadelphia, while in that city he was arrested for debt, and was on the point of being taken to jail when he was offered bail by a friend. "This event," he said, "brings to my mind so many disagreeable thoughts connected with my former business transactions, in which I was always the single loser, that I will only add I made all necessary arrangements to have it paid."

Four new subscribers were obtained at Baltimore, but when the naturalist applied to Secretary Cass at Washington for the privilege of accompanying an expedition to the Rocky Mountains under the patronage of the Government, he met with a cool reception, and 53 though he had forgotten his letter from Dr. McKenney, he was resolved not to trouble that official further. At this juncture he met Washington Irving, who did his best to save the situation, and thought that Audubon had been mistaken in his judgment of the Secretary; "I might have been," he said, "but those eyes of mine have discovered more truth in men's eyes than their mouths were willing to acknowledge." Irving accompanied him to the offices of Mr. Taney, the Secretary of the Treasury, who at once gave the naturalist the privileges of the revenue cutter service on the southern coast.

At Richmond Audubon met Governor Floyd, who promised to try to induce the legislature of his State to subscribe for a copy of the Birds. From that point to Charleston we shall follow their itinerary as given in his journal under date of October 16:[43]

54

For a number of years Audubon's snake stories had subjected him to no little ridicule in certain quarters, and this notice of a climbing rattlesnake pleased him so much that he asked the venerable president to put his statement in writing; he willingly complied, and his interesting letter on the subject will be given in a later chapter.[44]

When Audubon and his wife reached the Bachman home on October 24, he was prepared to push on to the South, but changed his plans, on account, he said, "of the removal of my good friend Captain Robert Day from his former station to New York, and I did not like to launch on the Florida reefs in the care of a young officer unknown to me." The winter of 1833-4 was passed under the hospitable rooftree of his friend, in the usual occupations of painting, writing and hunting birds. At this time an attachment sprang up between his younger son, John Woodhouse Audubon, and Maria Rebecca, the eldest daughter of the Bachman household. Here Audubon wrote the first drafts of many of the bird biographies contained in the second volume of his letterpress, and with Bachman conducted a series of careful experiments on the power of smell in vultures, in order to settle a question which had then become acute among naturalists.[45] This subject is referred to in the following intimate letter,[46] which reveals the confidence which Audubon felt in his sons and in their united ability to bring his great undertaking to a successful issue, as well as the infinite pains which he bestowed upon every part of it. Audubon, who was now in his forty-ninth year, felt that he was aging very fast, and declared 55 that one year then would be equal to three, three years from that time.

Audubon to his Son, Victor

Honest John Bachman, who had lived and worked 63 with Audubon for months at a time, and who probably knew him better than did any one in America outside of the naturalist's own family, gave this account of his habits in 1834, when, at the age of forty-nine, he was still working at his best:

64

Early in March, 1834, Audubon left his friends in Charleston, and with his wife and son passed northward to Washington and Baltimore. From the latter city, on March 9, he wrote to Edward Harris, in part as follows:

Audubon was still in Baltimore on March 15, for on that day he gave Harris a letter of introduction to Edward Everett. New York was reached in April, when he wrote to Bachman that they had secured berths in "that fine packet ship the North America," which was to sail on the tenth of that month.

Toward the close of Audubon's Charleston visit he had an unpleasant experience; he was sued for an old debt, which no doubt dated from his Henderson period and the failure of his mill in 1819.[52] Apparently the case was carried into court, where the naturalist was defended by a lawyer named Dunkin, who, if my inference is correct, later became a distinguished judge and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court[53] of South Carolina. The incident was referred to by Audubon in letters written from New York at this time; on 65 April 6, he wrote to Miss Maria Martin as follows:

In the letter just quoted Audubon said also that he had spent all of the morning of the previous day in going from shop to shop with friend Harris to procure some models for "the dear girls," but in vain; New York with its two hundred and fifty thousand souls, possessed but two drawing masters; "these instruct in 3 months," he added, "and starve for the nine of the year." In reference to financial matters, he said that he had managed to collect about £600 sterling, and had sent 500 to Victor in bills of exchange, so that when they reached London, they would be tolerably well off, considering that they were "naturalists from the wilds of America." "Nothing starts the blues so effectually," he continued, as "constant unemployment; for myself who have done next to nothing since I left you, have had horrors all around me; dreams of sinking and burning ships at night, fears of lost drawings, & failures of subscribers by day, have ever and anon been my companions." "Victor," he added, "has sent 6 boxes of pills, which will be divided into 3 parts, the largest for G. Ord."

The Audubons finally sailed from New York on April 16, 1834. On the preceding day the naturalist sent his friend, Edward Harris, a parting letter, in which he said: 66

Audubon took with him to England all the collections which he had accumulated during nearly three years of travel and search in different parts of the United States and the British possessions. During this eventful period he had renewed one hundred of his older drawings, executed many new ones, discovered new birds, extended his acquaintance, and added sixty-two names to his list of patrons.

After they had reached Liverpool, he wrote to Bachman, May 8, 1834, that they had returned on the "superb packet of 650 tons, called the North America, commanded by an admirable gentleman, named Dixie of Philadelphia"; the voyage was made in not quite twenty days. A little later they joined their son, Victor, in London. 67

CHAPTER XXVIII
THORNS ON THE ROSE

Contributions to magazines—Attacked in Philadelphia—Statement to Sully—The rattlesnake episode—Behavior of a Philadelphia editor—Mistaken identity in account of the reptile—Lesson of the serpent's tooth—Audubon's long lost lily rediscovered—"Nosarians and Anti-Nosarians"—Bachman and Audubon on vultures—Aim of the critics—Authorship in the Biography—His most persistent heckler—Pitfall of analogy.

We have seen that John James Audubon had attended the school of adversity many years before he was known to the public in either America or Europe. The difficulties inseparable from such colossal undertakings as that in which he engaged were well nigh insuperable; but to these were added others which perhaps might have been avoided but which could hardly have been foreseen. From the moment he began to write for publication, he was bitterly and persistently assailed by a number of detractors, who seemed bent upon ruining his reputation and thus undermining the work to which he was devoting his life and upon which he depended as a means of support.

Were no worthy purpose to be served, it would be folly to resurrect the animosities of a past generation, but since a few "fed fat the ancient grudge they bore him," and since this hostility, handed down through the years, is occasionally echoed at the present day, the impartial historian is left no choice; he must weigh the merits of the case to the best of his ability. The reader, I think, will find that the law of compensation has 68 worked fairly well in respect to all these matters, for if Audubon possessed faults, he was not lacking in merits; if he was assailed by a few bitter enemies, he was supported by a host of judicious friends.

As soon as Audubon became known in England, he was importuned to contribute to the scientific magazines, and in response to this demand wrote five articles, which were published in Edinburgh and London in 1827. Some of these papers, which dealt with the habits of the Turkey Vulture, the Alligator, the Carrion Crow or Black Vulture, the Wild Pigeon, and the Rattlesnake,[54] were roundly scored in the Philadelphia press, and Audubon was called a romancer of the first order. Thomas Sully, the artist, who was then living in that city and who had taken a deep interest in the naturalist since their meeting in 1824, wrote in November, 1827, and told him what had occurred. Since Audubon's reply was practically the only answer which he ever made to attacks of this sort, and since his friend was given permission to make such use of it as he saw fit, we shall reproduce this letter nearly entire.[55] In writing to his wife on the same day Audubon said: "Now my Lucy, I am going to answer Sully's letter; it is no difficult task, so far as truth be connected with my answer, but as regards my feelings it is perhaps the severest one I have had to encounter for many years."

Audubon to Thomas Sully

The attack referred to in the letter just quoted was called forth by Audubon's unfortunate paper on the 72 Rattlesnake,[56] which was read before the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh in the winter of 1827 and published by Robert Jameson in the New Philosophical Journal in April of that year. The controversy then started was long and bitter, while the merits of neither side were ever fully established; in the history which follows we shall see that the naturalist was, on the whole, more sinned against than sinning.

In July, 1828, Dr. Thomas P. Jones[57] appropriated Audubon's Rattlesnake article, and published it without acknowledgment in the Franklin Journal and American Mechanics' Magazine at Philadelphia. It should be noticed that at the close of 1827 Audubon's famous plate of the Mocking Birds defending their nest against the sinister designs of this formidable reptile had also been published in London. In this remarkable picture the rattlesnake was represented coiled about the nest, at the fatal moment when ready to strike its bold defenders, and in a tree. The anomaly was apparent, for the climbing habits of rattlesnakes were not then generally understood. This circumstance, together with some of Audubon's notes, repeated in certain cases from stories current in rural communities, furnished his detractors with a powerful lever, which they seized with avidity; snakes coiled in trees seemed suddenly to have produced a brood of another order which lurked in the grass, and it was many years before Audubon heard the last of his snake stories. The attack in the American press was laid to the door of George Ord, and it was not long before it was renewed with great vigor by his friend and correspondent 73 in England, Charles Waterton, who proclaimed Audubon as a new and greater Münchhausen.[58]

Dr. Jones immediately repudiated the article which he had unceremoniously appropriated, and under the title of "The Romance of the Rattlesnake" inserted the following notice in the August number of his magazine:[59]

This was rather a stiff charge to be made flatly against the reputation of any one without the most 74 careful investigation, even upon the authority of "a scientific friend." Let us see, then, what basis, if any, really existed for such sweeping charges. In the paper which caused the trouble Audubon had described in great detail how he had seen a large rattlesnake pursue, capture, kill by constriction, and devour a gray squirrel. Before quoting his description of this singular encounter, we shall recall a passage which Audubon wrote in his journal at the time when it occurred,[60] when he was at "Oakley," the plantation of James Pirrie at St. Francisville, Bayou Sara, in the summer of 1821: "August 25. Finished drawing a very fine specimen of a rattlesnake, which measured five feet and seven inches, weighed six and a quarter pounds, and had ten rattles. Anxious to give it a position most interesting to a naturalist, I put it in that which the reptile commonly takes when on the point of striking madly with its fangs." After describing a rough dissection which he made of the rattlesnake's dental arsenal and poison apparatus, he added: "The heat of the weather was such that I could devote only sixteen hours to the drawing." The drawing thus referred to was undoubtedly used in the composition of his celebrated plate.

To revert now to a mooted passage in Audubon's published paper:

Audubon then described the appearance that the snake presently assumed, which suggested "a rouleau of money, brought from both ends of a purse towards its centre," and its ineffectual attempts to move off; "when having cut a twig," he continued, "I went up to it, and tapped it on the head, which it raised, as well as its tail, and began for the first time to rattle."

Now every careful reader of this remarkable story, provided he is at all conversant with the habits of snakes, will perceive that it could not possibly have been invented, for it is strictly and minutely in accord with facts, except in one important particular; the snake whose behavior Audubon watched and so accurately described was not the rattlesnake, but the blue racer or black snake (Bascanion constrictor); substitute "blue racer," for "rattlesnake," and this record is photographically correct.[61] The black snake does all the things which are here so minutely described—pursuing its prey with astounding agility, constricting about it as a prelude to swallowing it, ascending trees readily, coiling when brought to bay as if about to strike, and even vibrating the tip of its tail on the ground or leaves, as if in emulation of the genuine rattler, a kind of behavior which was looked upon by Darwin as a case of protective mimicry. No one could have known the rattlesnake better than Audubon from his constant encounters with it in the field; he made drawings of it, dissected its poison apparatus, and had kept it for months in confinement in 77 order to study its habits; but by some curious twist of his notes or his memory, or led astray by the record made of the rattling habit, the species became confused in his published account. His error was gross and he paid dearly for it, but it certainly does not prove him to be the king of nature fakirs.

Audubon's critics were probably right in affirming that the rattlesnake never ascends trees for the purpose of destroying birds, but some overshot the mark by denying that the reptile was able to climb at all. Nor could it have been said with greater justice that the brilliant but sluggish coral snake (Elaps fulvius), which Audubon had also placed in a tree,[62] really never aspires to this distinction. When the snake controversy was waxing warm in America, a number of Audubon's friends, including Colonel John J. Abert[63] and Richard C. Taylor,[64] investigated the question and proved that the rattlesnake was a ready climber at certain times of the year and under certain conditions, a fact which is now better known. Mr. Taylor's party in the course of explorations in the Alleghanies killed forty-one large rattlesnakes during the month of August on a single ridge bordering the Lycoming Valley, and in rendering his report, this geologist said: "I have repeatedly endeavored to verify Mr. Audubon's account of the rattlesnake ascending trees, which has been confirmed."

We have already referred to Audubon's meeting with Thomas Cooper at Columbia, South Carolina, in October, 1833. This versatile man, sometime English lawyer, revolutionist in France, friend of Priestley, judge in the Court of Common Pleas of Pennsylvania, 78 professor of chemistry in Dickinson College as well as in the University of Pennsylvania, and at this time president of South Carolina College at Columbia, was able to confirm Audubon's account of the climbing habit of the rattlesnake, and probably wrote this statement at his request:

Thomas Cooper to Audubon

79

Waterton maintained that Audubon's drawing of the rattlesnake, to which we have referred, was a monstrosity, "a fabulous Hydra, with its eyes starting out of their sockets," and a point repeatedly ridiculed was his representation of the fangs as slightly recurved, or bent up at their tips. Who had ever heard of such an anomaly? Certainly not the doughty lord of "Walton Hall," who declared that the fangs of poisonous snakes were always curved like a scythe, with their points bent downwards. Waterton prided himself on his knowledge of these reptiles, and certainly was not lacking in self-confidence. According to his own account, he went eleven months in the forests of Brazil without shoe or stocking to his foot, and on a certain occasion in London secured with his hands and removed from its cage a live rattlesnake; but, like so many sophisticated writers on natural history, he took to analogy like a duck to water.

Waterton's statement sounds plausible enough, but obviously could be proved only by extensive observations and comparisons. When Audubon was proceeding up Galveston Bay to Houston, Texas, in the spring of 1837, with his son, John, and Edward Harris, they stopped at the plantation of Colonel James Morgan, near Red Fish Bar. "There, among other rarities," said he, "we procured a fine specimen of the climbing rattlesnake with recurved fangs, which with several others of the same kind, is now in my possession."[65] In writing to Thomas M. Brewer, from Charleston, on June 12 of this year, he alluded to this subject as follows: "I must not forget to say to you that I had the good fortune to procure specimens of my 'Climbing Rattlesnake with DOUBLE recurved fangs' which, I am told, will prove a new genus! and therefore the 80 Messrs. Ord and Waterton—good souls!—will be perfectly delighted at the sight of this strange reptile."[66] Unfortunately a large part of Audubon's collections made upon this expedition were lost. I have seen no other reference to this extraordinary peculiarity, and there the matter seems to have rested until the present time.

Audubon's judgment or memory might play him false, but his pencil, in such a matter, could be relied upon to tell the truth. It is therefore a pleasure to be able to confirm his accuracy in reference to the serpent's tooth, for the true representation of which he was roundly abused during his lifetime. The reader will perceive the point by examining the accompanying photograph, which represents the skull of a large diamond-backed specimen from Florida.[67] In the prairie rattlesnake, and probably in some others, the fangs are sickle-shaped, as Waterton maintained, but upwards of eleven species of rattlesnakes have been found on the continent of North America, and, true to Audubon's disputed drawing and account, in this Florida specimen the fangs are slightly, but very distinctly, bent upwards at their tips! Let nature writers, inclined to the easy path of analogy, remember the rattlesnake's fang, for it teaches a salutary lesson.

As I have not hesitated to speak of Audubon's real or supposed mistakes, I will give another and more striking instance of his tardy vindication. In his plate of the American Swan (No. ccccxi), which was published in 81 1838, there is represented a yellow water lily, under the name of Nymphaea lutea. Since this lily was then quite unknown to botanists, it was ignored and treated as a fable, or as an extravagant vagary of the naturalist's imagination, until the summer of 1876, when it was rediscovered in Florida by Mrs. Mary Treat. Audubon's long lost lily was then identified and acknowledged by Professor Asa Gray, the botanist, who, with poetic justice, proposed to rename it after the discredited enthusiast, in view of the fact that it had been originally discovered and faithfully depicted by him a generation before.

While the snake controversy was acute in America, another of a purely academic character, which assumed even wider proportions, was started on the smelling powers of the vulture. We have already seen a reference to this in the naturalist's letter to his son, Victor, written at Charleston, where he was conducting with Bachman a new series of experiments to settle the question.[68] The idea, commonly accepted, that the scavengers of the Southern States were possessed of a keenness of scent comparable with that of a beagle hound, had been vigorously combated by Audubon, who showed by numerous experiments[69] that they were guided to their prey 82 by the sense of sight only; thus it was found that they would come readily to the effigy of a calf or sheep painted on canvas and set up in plain view, or to a skin stuffed with straw, but failed to detect their quarry when the dead bodies of these animals were placed on the ground and screened from their eyes, if only by the thinnest cover, though the carrion was calling loudly to the nose but a fraction of an inch away. An attack by Waterton,[70] who hurried to the fray whenever a statement in his jealously guarded Wanderings was called in question, led to a lively tilt, in which the advocates of the nose and the eyes were sometimes humorously referred to as the "Nosarians" and the "Anti-Nosarians," some of the most eminent anatomists of the day eventually taking part.

Bachman felt keenly the aspersions which were cast upon his friend, and in the winter of 1833 he undertook with Audubon the series of experiments to which we have referred. The tests which were then made supported Audubon's statements in every particular, and the faculty of the Medical College of South Carolina were invited as a body to witness them; this they did 83 willingly, and the following memorial signed by all the witnesses present was published by Bachman in 1834.[71]

In a letter written to Ord, on March 4, 1834, Waterton said:

When anatomists came to consider the question and found that well developed olfactory lobes and nerves were present in these birds, they favored the theory of smell,[72] and Edinger has more recently expressed the opinion that this consideration renders the possession of 84 an olfactory sense in such birds highly probable. His contention is weakened, however, by the fact that granivorous and insectivorous birds also possess true olfactory nerves, and yet are proved by experiment to have little or no effective sense of smell. It is a problem for students of behavior to solve, and so far as the American vultures are concerned, Audubon's and Bachman's experiments, I believe, have never been repeated or extended with sufficient care to settle the question. The little that has been done, however, suggests that while the vulture in its daily and never ending search for food is mainly guided by its keen eyes, the nose, possibly, may be a coöperating factor when the wind and other conditions are favorable.

While critics were driving the pen, Audubon was hard at work in the field, but his friends did not long remain silent. Favorable notices of his work, actual or prospective, had appeared in the scientific and literary press of England, by David Brewster, Robert Jameson, William Swainson, and "Christopher North" of Blackwood's Magazine. The first American notice appeared in the American Journal of Science for 1829, and this was followed by G. W. Featherstonhaugh, the English geologist, in his recently established but short-lived Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural Science, to which we have already referred.[73] A little later the London Athenæum gave the first of eleven extended articles on Audubon's work; in reviewing his second volume of letterpress, which appeared in 1834, the writer said: "There is amply sufficient remaining in Audubon's pages for fully a dozen more notices, were we disposed to follow the exhausting system. We have admired Audubon's gorgeous drawings, but our 85 interest in them has been increased a thousand fold, in knowing that they are the spoils of a life's campaign."[74] Again a series of able articles was started by a just critic, W. B. O. Peabody, in the North American Review for April, 1832.[75] Featherstonhaugh deserves credit for having given Audubon a fair hearing at a critical time, when baiting the American Woodsman was a popular pastime in certain circles at Philadelphia; in reviewing the Ornithological Biography in 1832, this plain spokesman gave what he called "a true history of a conspiracy, got up to utterly break down and ruin the reputation of one of the most remarkable men America ever produced."[76]

Audubon's silence under fire of hostile criticism tempted someone in the capacity of a reporter to call on him in London to obtain, if possible, a personal statement, but his lips were then sealed and he would only say: "Had I wished to invent marvels, I need not have stirred from my garret in New York or London." However, in writing to Featherstonhaugh from Bulowville, East Florida, December 31, 1831, Audubon made this comment:[77]

Audubon's most persistent heckler was Charles Waterton,[78] who during two of his most prolific years, 1833 and 1834, published no less than fourteen lucubrations against the "foreigner," and "stranger" as the American was called; all were characterized by quizzing interrogatories, shallow criticism and personal vituperation, for the most part unworthy of serious consideration. Long noted for his eccentricities, Waterton had little or no standing among English zoölogists, against many of whom, from time to time, he issued broadsides or breezy polemics, whenever their statements cast a 87 shadow on his Wanderings. Some of these accusing articles were answered by Victor Audubon and other friends of the naturalist, but they never drew his own fire; probably they benefited him in the end, for when it appeared that the charges brought against him were in large measure the work of envious calumniators, a strong current set in his favor on both sides of the Atlantic.

When Audubon's name was first proposed for membership in the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia, it was rejected, according to report, through the influence of George Ord and a few of his partisans, while Waterton, who was Mr. Ord's close friend and correspondent, affirmed that Audubon was rejected by the Society on the strength of Alexander Wilson's personal diary,[79] a statement which appears to be utterly incredible.[80]

In 1833, two years after the first volume of Audubon's "Biography of Birds" had made its appearance, Waterton raised another controversy, in this instance with ammunition supplied by his friend, George Ord of Philadelphia. He boldly proclaimed[81] that Audubon was not the author of the work which bore his name, a charge similar to that which had been brought to the door of the French ornithologist, Le Vaillant, whose history resembled Audubon's in many ways. "I request the English reader," said Waterton, "to weigh well in his own mind what I have stated, and I flatter myself that he will agree with me, when I affirm that the correct 88 and elegant style of composition which appears through the whole of the Biography of Birds cannot possibly be that of him whose name it bears." Waterton maintained that, while Audubon's earlier papers were the work of an illiterate person, his Biography betrayed the hand of a finished scholar from beginning to end. In a reply to Victor Audubon, written July 6, 1833,[82] Waterton declared, upon the authority of George Ord, whom he quoted, that William Swainson had been importuned to write Audubon's work for him, but declined when Audubon insisted upon his own name being given to the world as author. This direct accusation called forth an immediate explanation from Swainson, who said:[83]

The controversy thus started did not reflect much credit on Audubon's detractors, but reverberations of the charge were heard at a much later day.

Robert Bakewell, the geologist, who was a relative of Mrs. Audubon, then living at Hampstead, entered 89 this controversy, and in June, 1833, replied[84] to one of Waterton's fulminations, which he attributed to envy and jealousy, saying that posterity would regard Audubon as "the most distinguished ornithologist of the present age."

Charles Waterton began his travels at eighteen, but early settled down to a life of leisurely independence on his ancestral estate in Yorkshire, where he studied birds to little purpose and wrote extensively on natural-history subjects; he is best known for his Wanderings,[85] which has passed through numerous editions and is still read. From youth Waterton enjoyed exceptional advantages, and according to one of his biographers, "lived to extreme old age without having wasted an hour or a shilling." He was the twenty-seventh "lord of Walton Hall," the manor house of the family, which stood on an island in a lake; the estate of 260 acres was mainly converted into a preserve for wild birds. His young wife died in 1829, after having given birth to a son, and he lived on his paternal acres in semi-retirement ever after. It was said that Waterton would never don evening clothes or a black coat, but insisted on wearing a blue frock with gold buttons until an anxious policeman in the neighboring village of Wakefield persuaded him to make a change; he told the Reverend J. G. Wood in 1863 that he had been bled 160 times, mostly by his own hand. When, in his sixty-ninth year, he had the misfortune to fall from a pear tree and break an elbow joint, the first remedy tried was the extraction of thirty ounces of blood; shortly after this a careless servant withdrew a chair as he was seating himself at table, and 90 thirty more ounces were immediately required. The wage of one of his laborers is said to have sufficed for his personal needs, and his sleeping apartment had neither bed, chair, nor carpet; he lay on bare boards, wrapped in a blanket, with an oaken block for pillow; and he is said to have never tasted fermented liquor and to have eaten but sparingly of meat. His daily habit was to retire at eight and rise at three o'clock in the morning, and he was always dressed by four; an ardent Roman Catholic, he would spend an hour at devotion in his private chapel; he then read Latin and Spanish authors, wrote his polemics against Audubon or any others with whom he came in conflict, and received the reports of his bailiff, all before breakfast, which was at eight o'clock; the remainder of the day was mostly devoted to his birds and other animals, to preserve which he surrounded his entire estate with a high rampart of stone, said to have cost, all told, $50,000.

Though a devout Romanist, as someone has remarked, Waterton never hesitated to adopt the same mode of reasoning which Hume had employed in his argument against miracles. Thus he rejected with scorn Edward Jenner's account of how the young parasitic Cuckoo, when but a day old and hardly able to stand, turned out of their nest its rightful occupants. This account, which was generally accepted then, and has been repeatedly verified and recorded by the camera since, "carries," said Waterton, "its own condemnation, no matter by whom related, or by whom received." Trusting to analogy again, he maintained that Audubon's description of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird gluing bits of lichen to the surface of its nest with saliva was false, because "the saliva of all birds immediately mixes with water," and the first shower of rain 91 would immediately undo the work of the bird. No account was taken of the Chimney Swift, which not only glues together the twigs of its nest but secures the whole to a support through an abundant salivary secretion, although this habit had long been known. In the instance of this hummingbird, however, both Audubon and Waterton were partly right and partly wrong, as a careful examination of the nests of five species of hummingbirds, including the Ruby-throat, has clearly shown.[86] It proved that saliva was only casually used on the surface of the nest, the lichens in the case referred to being adherent by means of spiders' silk and fine vegetable fibers of various sorts; the saliva of the Ruby-throat, when dry, moreover, was found to be practically insoluble in cold water, even after an immersion of several days; but more interesting than this is the fact that the nest itself is glued to its supporting twig by a large salivary wafer, which represents this hummingbird's first step in the work of nest construction.

Shortly after his arrival at Edinburgh, and before he had published anything, Audubon wrote in his journal on November 5, 1826: "I returned home early and found a note from Mr. John Gregg, who came himself later, bringing me a scrubby letter from Charles Waterton," so it would appear that the lord of "Walton Hall" had been warned to keep an eye on the dangerous American, and Waterton's American correspondent was Mr. Ord, of Philadelphia. Later on Waterton wrote to Swainson an extraordinary letter of some four thousand words,[87] afterwards published in his Essays on Natural History, which for petty vanity and personal animosity 92 has seldom been surpassed, but with this effort his ammunition seems to have been exhausted.

Charles Waterton, who lived to his eighty-third year, and who wrote nineteen polemics against Audubon and his friends, was probably sincere in his attacks upon the American Woodsman, whom he seems to have regarded as a dangerous charlatan. Waterton was a curious compound of fearless independence, kindness, credulity, pedantry, vanity, and intolerance. He should be given credit, however, for having done much to spread abroad a love of natural history and for his attitude towards an artificial system of classification, then much in vogue, which, though only an amateur, he had the good sense to reject. 93

CHAPTER XXIX
SIDELIGHTS ON AUDUBON AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES

What was a Quinarian?—Controversy over the authorship of the Ornithological Biography—Audubon's quaint proposal—Swainson's reply—Friendship suffers a check—Species-mongers—Hitting at one over the shoulders of another—Swainson as a biographer—His career—Bonaparte's grievance—A fortune in ornithology—Labors of John Gould and his relations with Audubon—The freemasonry of naturalists.

Few, probably, ever attain marked success in their chosen field without exciting jealous rivalry or misrepresentation on the part of some of their contemporaries. Audubon was no exception to the rule, but in this respect he has been subject to so much misunderstanding that the reader is entitled to know the truth, whenever it can be ascertained. An instance of this sort was furnished by the English naturalist, William Swainson, whose relations with Audubon have been touched upon in earlier chapters.

In April, 1828, Swainson published an eulogistic account of some of Audubon's plates, and shortly after they became good friends, as their familiar letters already reproduced amply testify;[88] in the autumn of that year, as we have related, they visited Paris together, and they kept up a correspondence for a number of years. At this time Swainson was known as a systematic zoölogist of merit and an excellent draughtsman, having 94 published a series of "Zoölogical Illustrations" that seem to have been well received. Moreover, as early as 1824, he had adopted the notorious "Circular System" of the classification of animals, and at this time was its most zealous advocate in England. The tenets of this curious doctrine, often called "Quinarianism" from the recurrence of the number 5, was confused in a mystical jargon which conveys little meaning to a reader of today; it was derived from William Sharp MacLeay, who had advocated a similar system in his Horae Entomologicae, published in 1821. According to Swainson's creed, "all things that have life have been created upon one plan, and this plan is founded on the principle of a series of affinities returning into themselves; which can only be represented by a circle." "This sublime discovery," which, as Swainson thought, was sufficient "to immortalize a name," was duly attributed to his "illustrious countryman."[89]

In the summer of 1830, when Audubon was ready to prepare the letterpress of his mammoth plates and needed assistance in its technical details, he applied to his friend Swainson, who, as we have seen, was then living at a farmstead in the Hertfordshire country, not far from St. Albans.[90] Some of the letters which passed between the two naturalists after the return of the former to England, in the spring of that year, will now be given, without amelioration or change of any sort. It should be remembered that Swainson at this time was in an overwrought state, since he was dependent mainly 95 upon his scientific writings for the support of a family of five children, oppressed by pecuniary difficulties, and, no doubt, irritated by lack of success and the rebuffs which a leading part in the Quinarian movement was certain to entail. Audubon's letter[91] which follows served to answer that of Swainson, bearing date of January 30, 1830,[92] had been received in America but too late for the fulfillment of its commissions. References to Audubon's "book," which unfortunately proved a stumbling block in the path of friendship, are noticed here and in Swainson's reply for the first time.

Audubon to William Swainson

William Swainson to Audubon

As already noticed, Audubon started on a canvassing tour late in July, 1830, as announced in the following letter to Swainson, but he changed his plans, and instead of returning to London, went to Edinburgh, and again settled there for the winter.

Audubon to William Swainson

[The following note is written up the side of the page across the main letter:]

It should be noticed that the revolution in France which upset the Bourbon dynasty occurred just as Audubon was leaving London, and that the House of Orleans, in the person of Louis Philippe, was seated on the throne the day the following letter[95] was written; very likely Audubon was not reluctant to change his plan of visiting Paris after hearing of these events, although he had enjoyed an interview with the new king, who was his patron.

William Swainson to Audubon

From Manchester Audubon sent Swainson this letter, in which he makes a quaint proposal regarding the text of his projected work, suggesting that they combine their resources and their families, he to provide the ideas, as well as his own wine or ale, while Swainson furnished the science.

Audubon to William Swainson

In Swainson's clear and candid reply,[96] which followed at once, all was figured "to a nicety"; he would supply his share of the matter at the rate of three dollars and seventy-eight cents per printed page, with an extra charge for corrections; he would follow his own ideas, but strive to avoid any conflict of opinion, and would expect his name to stand on the title.

William Swainson to Audubon

Audubon's next letter, which was written from Manchester on August 29, must have been distinctly provocative, to judge from the following caustic reply[99] which it drew forth; this is dated, "Tittenhanger Green, 2d October, 1830":

William Swainson to Audubon

The letter just quoted naturally served as a check to their intimacy, but Audubon did not withdraw his friendly hand, as shown by his letters to follow later, though his answer to this has not been preserved.[101]

Audubon reached Edinburgh early in October, soon after receiving Swainson's decisive reply, and immediately made an arrangement with MacGillivray, as already related.[102] It is evident from Swainson's letter that when Audubon called upon him for editorial aid, 109 he was by no means ready to defer to him wholly in the matter of naming his birds, a subject in which Swainson regarded himself as the first of living authorities. Swainson's pride was also wounded at Audubon's apparent lack of appreciation of the weight which his name would carry if allowed to grace the title pages of his works, and he speaks of Audubon as if he were ready to bargain for scientific information but determined to withhold that credit which is every writer's just due. It is only fair to say that Swainson's vanity seems to have outrun his candor, for when the controversy over the authorship of Audubon's Biography of Birds was started in 1833, he publicly denied that any such proposal had been made.[103] According to Swainson's own statement, quoted earlier, Audubon was ready to grant him whatever credit was due, but it is evident that he was not then disposed to adopt Swainson's peculiar ideas upon the classification of birds or to enter upon a thoroughgoing arrangement of joint authorship. Though no philosopher himself, it seems clear that the American woodsman was by no means disposed to swallow all the vagaries of the "Circular System" to which his friend was committed, and which was later held up to ridicule.

The craze for describing new species of animals was all too common in both England and America at the time of which we write; the chief aim of many naturalists seems to have been to attach their names to as many of nature's forms as possible. Swainson, who "never went to bed without describing a new species," as Audubon said at a later time, had admonished his friend above all else to hasten to publish descriptions of every new bird which he had obtained in America, lest he lose 110 credit for the discovery; but Audubon, who had not hesitated to poke fun at the species-mongering Rafinesque, was still inclined to look with disdain upon work of this sort. He not only rejected Swainson's advice but answered it rather tartly in the first volume of his letterpress, which appeared in the following year. A passage which caused the naturalist no little annoyance on another score was as follows:[104]

It is a pity that Audubon did not maintain so admirable an attitude towards the description of new species as was here expressed, but at the close of his career in England, when he desired to make his work on American ornithology as complete as possible, he appeared as keen to describe and publish new birds as any of his contemporaries.

Shortly after his return to London in the spring of 1831, Audubon sent Swainson the following letter with a copy of the first volume of his Biography of Birds, but his one-time friend was not the author of an extended and impartial review of the work, which appeared in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal in the same year.[105] 112

Audubon to William Swainson

113

It is interesting to notice that Swainson kept his promise about the woodpeckers, and in 1831 named one, which had been obtained from Louisiana, Picus auduboni;[106] although Audubon later repudiated it, saying that he believed it to represent only an immature state of the common Downy Woodpecker, he returned the compliment by dedicating to Swainson one of his warblers, Sylvia, now Helinaria, swainsonii.

When William Swainson brought to a close his labors on the Cabinet Cyclopædia in 1840, a part of the eleventh volume was devoted to a biography of naturalists.[107] In this little work Audubon was accorded a page, Alexander Wilson received eight, while the author devoted fourteen pages to himself. The talented MacGillivray, whose memorable History of British Birds had then advanced to its third volume, was studiously ignored, and was referred to only in a footnote as "Mr. Gilvray"; but he was of necessity a sharer in the following 114 criticism of Audubon's Biography of Birds: "a want of precision in his descriptions, and a general ignorance of modern ornithology sadly disappoint the scientific reader." The technical descriptions in that work were written, as Swainson must have known, by his young rival, William MacGillivray, then one of the ablest exponents of the anatomy of birds in Great Britain; but anatomy, the master key to relationship, Swainson affected to regard with contempt, though overzealous friends had compared him with Cuvier, one of the greatest masters of anatomy of all time. To follow the comment of a later critic,[108] Swainson probably regarded the title of "the British Cuvier" as rather derogatory, since he had pronounced Cuvier to have been "totally unacquainted with the very first principles of the natural system." To Swainson, however, as the same commentator explains, "the natural system" implied the concept of a magical number and a circle, ideas which Cuvier would have been the first to repudiate or ignore.

The ardent MacGillivray was naturally scornful of Swainson's unscientific attitude, which he had roundly scored in the introduction to his History of British Birds that had begun to appear in 1837; he then said that Swainson could exclaim: "How superficially do we study nature," while in anatomy his own studies were a century behind the times and his opinions on the subject worthy of the Dark Ages.

In his biographical notice of Audubon, Swainson refers to their Paris experience in the following words:

Audubon, to be sure, was never much of a closet naturalist or an admirer of stuffed specimens; but in reading this criticism of an estranged friend, one wonders if the writer had really forgotten that while his own expressed desire in going to Paris in 1828 was to study in the Museum, Audubon's sole purpose was to extend his subscription list; that after innumerable interviews with ministers of state and running from post to pillar for two months, his friend was obliged to come away with but thirteen additional names or orders for his work. Had Swainson also forgotten that during all that time Audubon acted as his interpreter, assisting him in all his visits and purchases, and that but shortly after, when hard pressed for money, he had called on Audubon for a considerable sum?

As a parting shot to his former friend, Swainson also said:

What was here said of Audubon might have been true in 1830, but it was not true in 1840. Swainson could never understand that his friend was a man who 116 never stood still. Audubon drew heavily upon his more learned associates, and he could give as well as take. When working under the influence of a powerful motive, he improved as rapidly in his use of English words as he had in the finish and composition of his pictures; he soon came to write not only with fluency but at times with eloquence, and the technicalities of his science did not remain to him a sealed book, though for the drudgery of detailed description he had confessedly no stomach.

We have referred to William Swainson's advocacy of the "Circular" or "Quinarian" system of the classification of animals, with him amounting almost to a monomania, which was one of the most notorious examples of reasoning in a circle of which zoölogists have ever been guilty. It was a serious attempt to rationalize nature in a wholly irrational manner, and must be regarded as a curious by-product of minds fixed in the belief of a special creation,—to whom every form of evolutionary doctrine was sacrilegious and abhorrent. Its advocates, nevertheless, were sincere, and Swainson probably regarded himself as a martyr to the cause. As a later critic remarked, the system served him well by investing with a cloak of originality his treatises on those classes of animals with which he had little first-hand knowledge. His work on fishes is regarded as "a literary curiosity, the appearance of which was a misfortune to a man who, by his indefatigable industry under by no means favorable circumstances, had contributed as much as any of his contemporaries to the advancement of Zoölogy and its diffusion among the people."[109] This egregious doctrine, which its disciples called "the natural system" without grasping the true meaning of 117 "affinity," or "homology," to use the more modern word, vitiated most of their writings; abler men played with it for a time, only to cast it aside, and no one but a historian or a psychologist would now give it a passing thought.

So far as Swainson was concerned, Audubon's conduct appears to have been above reproach, and it must be regarded as fortunate that this ardent "Quinarian" did not have a hand in the Biography of Birds, for if it were really true that Audubon could have brought himself to accept the artificial system then in vogue, American ornithology, as Elliott Coues remarked, escaped a great affliction.

Swainson's early life affords a striking illustration of nepotism, and his later years reflected some of its disastrous consequences. At fourteen he was appointed as a junior clerk in the Liverpool Customs House at a salary of eighty pounds a year, to service under his father, who had in turn succeeded his grandfather in the office of Collector. At eighteen he received an appointment in the commissary department of the English army and went to Sicily, where he remained eight years, during which he worked industriously at natural-history pursuits. Having attained the rank of Assistant Commissary-General, at twenty-six he was retired on half-pay because of ill health. Upon returning to England he became a member of the Linnæan Society, in 1816, before his departure for Brazil, where with Henry Koster he collected birds for nearly two years. Having settled again at Liverpool, he entered the Royal Society, on the recommendation of Sir Joseph Banks, in 1820, the year in which he began to publish the results of his studies. Swainson was married in 1825, but upon the death of his father in the following year, his income so much reduced that he resorted to authorship as 118 a profession; of course he found it a poor crutch, though he worked with indefatigable industry and produced from one to two illustrated volumes each year. Eventually he became embittered against Audubon and towards the world of men and things in general, especially after 1835, when domestic bereavement and trouble of many kinds pressed hard upon him. He repeatedly applied to the Zoölogical Department of the British Museum for a position which went to others; he tried to sell his collections to the Museum and failed; he applied for an appointment on the Civil List but was denied; then he decided to give up the struggle of authorship in England and leave the country.

In 1840 Swainson emigrated with his family to New Zealand, where he seems to have met with no better success, although his scientific activity did not wholly cease. Though four years younger than Audubon, he outlived him five years, dying in 1856. His excellent draughtsmanship, tireless industry, and punctilious habits were deserving of recognition, but he suffered from the lack of a liberal education, and was rather too vain, too inclined to jealousy and to quarrel with his contemporaries, to have achieved great success.

In a paragraph already quoted from the Ornithological Biography, in which Audubon portrayed the eagerness with which some naturalists pressed forward to describe new species of birds, too often forgetting every propriety in their eagerness to outstrip a rival, the name of his "excellent friend, Charles Lucien Bonaparte,"[110] had been indiscreetly mentioned. Though there was no evident intention of giving offense, this reference was keenly resented. Bonaparte, it may be recalled, was still engaged upon his American Ornithology, 119 the last volume of which was not published until 1833, and was therefore, in a degree, a rival of Audubon in the ornithological field. Audubon did his best to smooth over the difficulty but with little success. In writing to his son, Victor, from New York in 1833,[111] he referred to the following letter which he was about to send "by duplicate, to try to correct that error" of his early friend:

Audubon to Charles Lucien Bonaparte

120

Bonaparte was too much of a man of the world to permit such an incident to cause any sudden break in their relations. We know that they met in London in 1837, when, as Audubon said in a later letter to Harris[112] he "pumped him sadly too much"; at his request Bonaparte then drew up a list of American birds, to the number of 425.[113] Although his subscription to The Birds of America was permitted to lapse, Bonaparte's name was retained on the list to the end. When the business was being closed up in London, however, Audubon wrote to Havell, from Edinburgh, under date of 15 May, 1839: "As respects my old Friend, C. Bonaparte, unless he pays the long standing balance which he owes me of £8.18.6, and also the price of the set of Nos. 81-87, on the nail, he is not to receive the latter." Again on the thirtieth of June he wrote: "I have no numbers for Charles Bonaparte, and no 5th. vol. of Biog. for Mr. Gould; let the Gentlemen purchase or procure what they want where they can."

In 1838 Bonaparte published a paper[114] in which appeared this comment:

A reviewer in America,[115] who could not repress his resentment at the last remark, said: "It would be invidious to make any comment on this—to even insinuate a wonder that a personage bearing this world renowned name would consent to resign his reputation as a man of science, through all time, to the doubtful association of such an expression of mere professional spite."

John Gould, to whom Bonaparte referred, was perhaps the only ornithologist who ever grew rich at his profession. He was the author of forty large, illustrated folios, produced at the rate of about one a year, on the birds of Great Britain, Europe, Asia, and Australia, as well as those of numerous families of the tropical Orient. Audubon, in response to Bachman, thus referred to him when writing in London, April 30, 1835: "Gould is a man of great industry and has the advantage of the Zoölogical Society, museums, gardens, &c., and is in correspondence with Temminck, Jardine, Selby, James Wilson and the rest of the scientific gentry. His wife makes his drawings on stone. She is a plain, fine woman, and although their works are not quite up to nature, both deserve great credit."

Acting no doubt upon this expressed belief, Audubon became a subscriber to Gould's Century of Birds, 122 published in 1831, and also to his Birds of Europe (1832-37). In the preface to the latter work, "J. J. Audubon, Esq.," and twenty others are thanked "for the warm interest which they have at all times taken in the present work"; it was also said that the greater part of the plates of this series, those of his Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains and his Monograph on the Trogons, as well as three-quarters of those of the Monograph on the Toucans, "have been drawn and lithographed by Mrs. Gould, from sketches and designs by myself always taken from nature." It should be noticed also that Gould appeared as a subscriber to The Birds of America in 1838, but his name was soon dropped.

Gould was preëminently a museum naturalist, of strong commercial instincts, and spent but little time in the field. His books were mainly composed of illustrations made by artists from stuffed specimens, with a text of so thin a quality as to possess little scientific value; but, as Alfred Newton has remarked, a scientific character was so adroitly assumed that scientific men have often been deceived. In his best work, that on the Humming Birds,[116] the plates are enlivened by numerous specimens of tropical flowers and fruits, an accessory not so noticeable in his early productions. It has been said that Gould sought and received Audubon's aid in the composition of some of his plates, and that thereafter his figures began to show more vitality. The over-zealous writer quoted above[117] made the charge that Gould not only received much unacknowledged aid from Audubon, but copied his drawings; he mentioned five 123 cases of what he called "picking and stealing," in one of which the Red-headed Pochard is declared to have been copied from Audubon's Scaup Duck: "here the trick is so shallow," he adds, "that detection cannot for a moment be at fault. You see that the Scaup Ducks have been accurately outlined, then lifted from the original 'grounding,' and let down upon a new one, by Gould, who found it safer for his pencil to adjust earth and water differently beneath them, than to tamper in the slightest degree with the proportions of the figures themselves." Suffice it to say that there is little or no substantial basis for such odious charges.

Gould is said to have possessed a kind heart under a rather gruff exterior. The following anecdote of his methods comes at second hand from his friend and collaborator, Mr. Bowlder Sharpe. Mr. Gould was invited to dine at a well known country estate, where were gathered numerous representatives of wealth and aristocracy. The attention of the ornithologist was soon directed from the guests to a bird on the lawn, which he was watching intently when dinner was announced; abruptly leaving the table with the remark that dinner was of no consequence to him when he could study a bird, he returned to the window and stood there munching a roll or piece of bread. Of course the seated guests began to inquire who the peculiar individual was, and were quietly informed by their host that it was "Mr. Gould, the famous ornithologist." The meal over, Gould selected a promising looking young nobleman and began to tell him about the habits of the bird which had so fascinated him; "that species," he said, "I have described in my Birds of Europe. Of course, you have seen my Birds of Europe." The nobleman was obliged to admit that he had not. "Why," said Mr. Gould, "you must 124 have seen it; every country gentleman has it in his library. Won't you let me put you down for a copy?" Naturally he could not refuse a work which every country gentleman possessed, and down went his name on the list; later he received the volumes and also a bill for fifty pounds. John Gould is said to have left a fortune of eighty thousand pounds.

Probably no class of men with kindred tastes are bound together with stronger ties of good fellowship than the naturalists. Their free-masonry extends to every clime and race, and knows no distinction of language, class or station; but, as with all serious workers, occasional jealousies or disputes occur to ruffle the serenity of their lives. Though we have been obliged to touch upon some of these incidents, they are nevertheless quite exceptional. 125

CHAPTER XXX
AUDUBON AND MACGILLIVRAY

In London once more—MacGillivray's assistance continued—Return to Edinburgh—MacGillivray's character and accomplishments—Audubon's acknowledgments—Tributes of "Christopher North"—Results of overwork—Fusilades from "Walton Hall"—Progress of the large plates.

Audubon's return voyage, begun in mid-April, lasted twenty days, and was one of the uneventful, "not unpleasant sort." Liverpool was reached in early May, and later in the month the Audubons were again settled in London, where on June 1, 1834, the naturalist wrote to Edward Harris:

While at Charleston in the previous winter, Audubon had worked diligently at his letterpress, and no doubt, before returning to Europe had his "biographical" materials well in hand. We have seen that at Edinburgh in the autumn of 1830 he entered upon a businesslike arrangement with William MacGillivray to assist 126 him with the technical portions of the Ornithological Biography. The part which his young assistant played in this work was long a subject of dispute, until letters of both which showed the precise character of the relations between them were finally published.

Immediately upon his return to England Audubon again applied to his young friend, and received from him the following letter:[119]

William MacGillivray to Audubon

A satisfactory arrangement was made and MacGillivray set to work on Audubon's second volume. On the 16th of June he wrote from Edinburgh:

By the 9th of July MacGillivray had received the twenty-five descriptions of birds called for, and on the 18th of that month he wrote to report progress as follows:

On more than one occasion MacGillivray urged Audubon to reduce the size of his text, and in the letter just quoted he said: "Had it been of the post 8vo size, in two volumes it would have gone off in style; but your imperial size and regal price do not answer for radicals, or republicans either. Could you sacrifice the first volume, reprint it of a small size and continue the series to the end?" He remarked that if twenty woodcuts or engravings were added to each volume, "it would spread over the land like a flock of migratory pigeons. Even without the embellishments it would fly, but were you to give it those additional wings, it would sweep along in beautiful curves, like the nighthawk or the 129 purplebreasted swallow." "I have often thought," he continued, "that your stories would sell very well by themselves, and I am sure that with your celebrity, knowledge, and enthusiasm, you have it in your power to become more popular than your glorious pictures can ever make you of themselves, they being too aristocratic and exclusive."

Audubon kept MacGillivray supplied with materials, while he remained in London during the summer of 1834. On the 25th of August he wrote Bachman that he had sold bird skins to the British Museum to the amount of fifty-two pounds sterling, and again for twenty-five pounds, while Havell had disposed of a goodly number more, so that "he would not be a loser in that way"; he added: "My own double collection I have in drawers at home." Acting evidently upon Swainson's advice, Audubon began to accumulate a large and valuable collection of the skins of American birds, which he brought with him to America in 1839.[121] Though rightly criticized for not having deposited in some museum a complete series of the forms which he described, Elliott Coues certainly was not justified in remarking that his interest in a bird ceased from the moment he had made a drawing of it; on the contrary, he spent no end of time and lavished large sums of money on collections to illustrate variation in every description, as well as for anatomical dissection.

A hint thrown out by MacGillivray seems to have been well taken, for in the letter just quoted Audubon said: "This coming winter I will spend at writing my own Biography, to be published as soon as possible, and to be continued, as God may be pleased to grant me life." As already noticed,[122] this effort resulted only in 130 a fragmentary sketch, which was not published for over half a century.

Audubon started for Edinburgh in September of 1834. He wrote to Edward Harris from Liverpool, on the 15th of that month, to inquire into the truth of a report, which had circulated in London, of the failure of the house in New Orleans "in which our friend N. Berthoud is concerned." "I wish you would have the kindness to inform me," he adds, "if he is a sufferer by this mishap, and I wish you to keep this quite entre nous."

At a slightly earlier day Audubon had entertained the idea of illustrating the birds of Great Britain on a scale commensurate with his work on those of America, but on May 1, 1828, he wrote Swainson that no one favored the project, and it was quickly given up. The subject is referred to by MacGillivray, in a letter written from Edinburgh, May 7, 1831: "As I understand your proposals respecting the Birds of Britain to have ended in nothing, and as you do not allude to the subject, I shall suppose all your ideas to have dispersed, and shall think of the matter myself." The first volume of MacGillivray's History of British Birds appeared six years later.[123] It is evident that he wished to obtain Audubon's criticism of some of the drawings subsequently used in this work when he sent the following formal note[124] to his lodgings at Edinburgh:

William MacGillivray to Audubon

Audubon and MacGillivray finished their work in November, and by the first of December the manuscript of the second volume of the Ornithological Biography was in the printer's hands. On the 10th of the latter month Audubon wrote to Bachman from Edinburgh: "I am quite sure I never have been half as anxious as I am at this moment to do all in my power to compleat my vast enterprise, and sorrowful indeed would be my dying moments if this book of mine were not finished ere my eyes are for ever closed." The naturalist was thinking of materials for new "Episodes" for the work when he added:

We thus have from Audubon himself a definite statement in regard to the publication of his Biography of Birds in America, and as to the number of copies issued.

MacGillivray immediately agreed to "revise and correct" Audubon's forthcoming third and fourth volumes, and that he was quite satisfied with their method of cooperation is shown by the following definite statement of his contract:

William MacGillivray to Audubon

When William MacGillivray first met Audubon, in the autumn of 1830, he was an enthusiastic naturalist of four and thirty, young, but, as we have seen, a thorough 135 anatomist, who stood firmly on his own feet and was destined to advance his favorite study in a notable degree. Audubon at this time was forty-five, but in anatomy the older man gladly sat at the feet of the younger and acknowledged him master; while this young anatomist was dissecting, Audubon in the rôle of student was seated by his side, and we may be sure that little escaped his penetrating eye and keen intelligence. To MacGillivray, on the other hand, Audubon was master of his art, and to him he looked for criticism of his own artistic efforts; after him he named a son, and to him dedicated a child of his brain.[125] In short, MacGillivray looked upon Audubon as his best friend in the world, and the latter fully appreciated his indebtedness to this able assistant. MacGillivray continued to aid Audubon with his letterpress, revising and probably contributing most of the technical details; in the fourth and concluding volumes, published in 1838 and 1839, the large store of anatomical matter and many excellent drawings were duly acknowledged as coming from his hand. His own writings were varied and numerous, but were generally characterized by a high degree of excellence. His History of British Birds, in five volumes (1837-1852), was too extended and too technical ever to become popular, but in that work, for the first time in the history of science, classification was placed on a strictly anatomical basis. MacGillivray even followed Audubon to some extent by introducing into this work "delineations of British scenery and character," but under another head. The sixth of his "Lessons in Practical Ornithology" recounts in dialogue form the 136 experiences of two friends in tramping the Pentland Hills together; says "Physiophilus" [himself], "You must have many fine songsters in America"; to which "Ornithologus" [Audubon] replies:

William MacGillivray was a man of the finest character and an honor to the best traditions of British scholarship; in his enthusiasm and indefatigable energy he was fully a match to Audubon. For nearly twelve years (1841-1852) he was an honored lecturer and professor in Marischal College and University, Aberdeen, where he died, probably as a result of overwork in the field, in 1852, thus outliving his older friend but one year. His last completed work, Natural History of Deeside and Braemar, was published under the patronage of Queen Victoria and by her command privately printed, under the editorship of E. Lancaster, in 1855. MacGillivray's surviving son, whose career as a field naturalist was also cut short by too strenuous work, accompanied Huxley, then an assistant surgeon in the Royal Navy, on the memorable voyage of the Rattlesnake under Captain Owen Stanley in 1842. MacGillivray was honored when 137 alive, and though dead has not been forgotten; in 1890 a beautiful tablet was dedicated to him in Aberdeen, and at the same time a worthy monument was raised to his memory at Edinburgh.[126]

In authorship the public is mainly interested in seeing merit duly acknowledged. Said Audubon, in the introductory address to his first volume:

In the introduction to Volume IV he added that the

138

Audubon evidently believed that this printed acknowledgment was just; MacGillivray was as plainly satisfied, so that complaints which have been made against the naturalist on this score seem to have been rather groundless. It might be noticed that bookmaking at that time was regarded as more of a trade than at present; as Sir Walter Besant remarks, a traveler would often give his notes to a bookseller, who in turn would hand them over to a literary hack to be cast into suitable form.

A fine token of the friendship which existed between these two men was discovered in the summer of 1903 in a London bookshop, where it was found reflected in the pages of a handsomely bound copy of Audubon's Biography of Birds; on the title pages were inscribed the autographs of William MacGillivray, while on the first page of the introduction to the first volume the hand of Audubon had written this dedication:

139

Professor John Wilson gave the third volume of the Ornithological Biography a very handsome notice in Blackwood's Magazine, and on New Year's Day, 1836, Audubon acknowledged the compliment in the following letter:[127]

Audubon to John Wilson ("Christopher North")

Wilson had said in his earlier review: 140

The following comment on Audubon's second volume of the Biography appeared in the Athenæum for 1835:

The winter and spring of 1835 were spent in London, and though suffering from the strain of overwork, Audubon kept doggedly at his tasks. On April 20 he wrote to Bachman:

On the 28th of April Audubon wrote to Edward Harris, begging him to send specimens of certain birds which he needed, as well as a circumstantial account of the shad fisheries of the Delaware River as material for an "Episode" for the third volume of his Biography; the fiftieth number of his illustrations was then in the hands of the colorist. He continued:[128]

His persistent heckler, Charles Waterton, was quite busy at this time, four articles having been directed against Audubon or his friends in 1835, though this was not his most prolific year. A similar reference occurs in a letter written to Bachman from Edinburgh on the 20th of July: "As to the rage of Mr. Waterton, or the lucubrations of Mr. Neal, who by the bye is a subscriber to the Birds of America (bona fide), I really care not a fig—all such stuffs will soon evaporate, being mere smoke from a Dung Hill."

In the summer of 1835 Audubon was again established in Edinburgh and working with unremitting vigor at his Biography; some idea of the speed which he maintained when able to devote himself unreservedly to this task can be gathered from the fact that after the issue of his second volume, of 620 large pages, in December, 1834, the third, of 654 pages, was published in just a year from that time. He wrote to Edward Harris from Edinburgh on the 5th of July, when engaged in this work:

Audubon wrote to Harris again from Edinburgh, on September 5, when he said:

The third volume of his letterpress,[129] which dealt with the water birds of America, made its appearance at the close of 1835; in the introduction he said:

Audubon returned to London with his family early in 1836, visiting Newcastle, York, Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield by the way, and took a house at Number 4, Wimpole Street, Cavendish Square. As Mrs. Audubon's health was anything but good, they were fortunate in having as a neighbor in this street an eminent surgeon, Benjamin Phillips,[130] and this friend was also a subscriber to The Birds of America. "Were I to mention," said Audubon, 145

In the spring of 1836 Audubon's two sons made a tour of France and Italy; on the 9th of March he wrote to Harris that they expected to leave England in a week, be gone three and a half months, visit Paris, Rome and Messina, and return by way of Marseilles and Paris. With the passage of 1836 he had completed 70 numbers, of 350 plates, of his larger work, leaving but 85 plates yet to be engraved. Though anxious to see this greatest of his tasks brought to an end, he still looked with longing eyes to the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Coast, and began preparations for his last journey to obtain materials and subscribers in the United States. 146

CHAPTER XXXI
THIRD AMERICAN TOUR, 1836-1837

In New York harbor—Collections from the Far West—Audubon's efforts to secure them—Return to Boston—Friendship of Daniel Webster—Renewed efforts to obtain the Nuttall-Townsend collection—Expedition to the west coast of Florida—Deferred governmental aid—Another winter with Bachman—Overland journey to New Orleans—On board the Crusader—Mistaken for pirates—With Harris and his son explores the Gulf Coast—The Republic of Texas—Visit to its capital and president—Meeting in Charleston—Marriage of his son—Their return to England.

Audubon left London with his son, John, July 30, 1836, and on the second day of August sailed from Portsmouth on the packet Gladiator, bound for New York. Two hundred and sixty live birds had preceded them to the ship, while three dogs came as a present from the Earl of Derby, and "a brace of tailless cats from our friend George Thackeray, D.D., provost of King's College": all had suffered somewhat from lack of care, but the dogs, one of which was sent to John Bachman of Charleston, and some of the birds crossed the Atlantic in safety. Five weeks were spent at sea; when the Navesink Highlands at last hove into view the welcome news spread rapidly over the ship; rockets were sent up later to attract a pilot, and when anchor was grounded on American soil, Audubon confessed that he cried like a child and devoutly thanked God for their preservation. He continued:

Audubon remained in New York from the 7th to the 13th of September. On Sunday, the 12th, he wrote to Edward Harris, in part as follows:[132]

Audubon to Edward Harris

Audubon also communicated at once with John Bachman, whom he had planned to visit on his journey south, but soon learned that the cholera had broken out in Charleston and that the Seminoles were on the warpath in Florida. Said Bachman, writing on September 14:

Bachman kept his friends informed of the progress of the epidemic, which had placed an embargo over his city; at the same time he sent news of the Anhingas, Caracara Eagles and Cormorants, which had been successfully held in captivity for the naturalist, and added: 149 "These are awful times in money matters, but of this you will hear enough when we meet. Everyone nearly has failed, but the Parsons and Ornithologists."

On September 13 Audubon started for Philadelphia, anxious to see with his own eyes those western collections which had so stirred his curiosity. It seems that in 1834, Dr. Thomas Nuttall and Dr. John Kirk Townsend set out on a journey to the mouth of the Columbia River; Nuttall was first of all a botanist, and is said to have carried no gun, but Townsend was an experienced ornithologist and made extensive collections of birds, a part of which he sent in care of Nuttall to Philadelphia in 1835, although he himself did not return east until the close of 1837. One of Audubon's great ambitions had been to explore the regions which they had recently visited, and in the circumstances we can sympathize with his desire to acquire so valuable an acquisition for the work upon which he had been long engaged. The object of his immediate quest apparently had been entrusted to the Academy of Natural Sciences, an institution which had not always shown itself friendly to his claims, and which in this instance is said to have assisted the travelers with funds to prosecute their journey. The collection, said Audubon, contained "about forty new species of birds, and its value cannot be described." Balked in his initial efforts to obtain the coveted prize, after two days of fruitless efforts on the part of his Philadelphia friends, he returned to New York; Edward Harris then came forward with the offer of $500 for the purchase of the collection outright, but negotiations were not immediately successful.

With his hunger still unappeased, Audubon now visited Boston on a canvassing tour, while his son remained with Nicholas Berthoud at New York. Setting 150 out on the 20th of September, he traveled by the steamer Massachusetts and the Providence Railroad, paying seven dollars fare, "which included supper and breakfast"; the sail up Providence Bay in early morning was like a "fairy dream," and the locomotive in waiting then pulled the passengers from "Providence to Boston at the rate of fifteen miles an hour." We arrived, said he, at four in the afternoon: "a cart took my trunk, and placing myself by the side of the owner, we drove to the house of my friend, Dr. George C. Shattuck."

On the day after his arrival, Audubon visited Thomas M. Brewer, then a young ornithologist living at Roxbury, to examine his collection of bird skins and eggs, and upon his return called on David Eckley, "the great salmon fisher," to whom he later presented a copy of his folio plates of The Birds of America.[134] Brewer, who later became a physician and distinguished ornithologist, for many years was one of Audubon's valued correspondents and supplied him with much interesting material. On the following day Audubon met Thomas Nuttall,[135] who at once promised him duplicates of all the new birds which he had brought from the West. Colonel Thomas H. Perkins, an early subscriber, Edward Everett, who had befriended him in Washington, and who in 1836 became Governor of Massachusetts, Josiah Quincy, president of Harvard College, Dr. Bowditch, and 151 other prominent characters, all extended a helping hand. He visited Salem to deliver his letters, and was successful in obtaining a number of subscribers; upon invitation of the curator of the Natural History Society there, he examined "the young collection of that newborn institution," and had "the good fortune to find one egg of the American bittern." On the 25th of September he wrote Harris: "Nuttall has arrived—he breakfasted with me the other day—gave me 6 new species of Birds and tells me that he will urge both Townsend and the Society at Philadelphia to allow me to portray all the species which they have procured within the limits of our Territories."

In Boston, September 27, 1836, Audubon made this note in his journal:[136] "The citizens are all excitement; guns are firing, flags flying, and troops parading and John Quincy Adams is delivering a eulogy on the late President Madison. The mayor of Boston did me the honor to invite me to join in the procession, but I am no politician and declined." He noted on the same day also that Dr. Shattuck had completed the subscription list of the Boston Society of Natural History "by presenting me to his lady, who subscribed for one-tenth, and the Dr. then put down his son George's name for one-twentieth, making his own family one-fourth of the whole, or two hundred and twenty dollars, for which he gave me his cheque. Without the assistance of this generous man, it is more than probable that the Society never would have had a copy of 'The Birds of America.'" Two days later he met Daniel Webster at the rooms of the Historical Society, and on the same evening at the home of Isaac P. Davis, where, said Audubon, "we took tea, talked on ornithology and ornithologists; 152 he promised to send me some specimens of birds, and finished by subscribing to my work." Webster also gave him a general note of recommendation, in which he said:[137] "I take this mode of commending Mr. Audubon to any friends of mine he may meet in his journey to the west. I have not only great respect for Mr. Audubon's scientific pursuits, but entertain for him personally much esteem and hearty good wishes." Mr. Davis exerted his influence in other directions, and in this instance acted as agent for the transmission of Audubon's plates to their distinguished friend; on October 7, he wrote:[138] "I received the half Nos of the 'Birds of America' for the worthy and sublime Danl. Webster—they shall be delivered safely on his return." After urging Audubon to visit Buffalo, where Dr. Bowditch and his friends thought that a number of new subscribers might be procured, he appended a list of twelve likely names of residents of that city, and added: "Bowdoin College shall be remembered as the opportunity offers."

Webster, who was an ardent sportsman and well acquainted with the water fowl of the coast, had volunteered to procure for Audubon specimens of the Labrador Duck, which was even then extremely rare and has since become extinct, but was unable to fulfill his promise. Audubon had already found that many American birds, like the common crow, which had been regarded as identical with those of the Old World, were in reality distinct, and was now anxious, as he wrote to Thomas Brewer, "to compare the anatomy of all our birds with those of the same families in Europe." His letters 153 to young Brewer at this time show how eager he was to secure the promised specimens. On October 23 he wrote from Philadelphia: "I hope you will not forget to call on our enlightened statesman D. Webster, and remind him of his kind promise to assist you in the procuring of specimens for me. This winter and next spring are my only chances, and I beg you to do all you can for me." He wrote again from Charleston, January 1, 1837: "I am sorry that the Hon. D. Webster has not attended to his promises, and will write to him; yet I would beg you, being on the spot, to trouble him a good deal."[139]

After returning to New York, Audubon had a visitor for whom he expressed the greatest admiration, Washington Irving, who had aided him in 1833; he now received from his hands letters to Martin Van Buren, the President-elect, and Benjamin F. Butler, who then occupied the post of Attorney-General. Irving called attention in his letter to the national character of Audubon's work, and warmly commended it to the patronage of the country at large. On October 8 Audubon wrote MacGillivray from New York that he had obtained twelve new subscribers, two at Salem, four at Boston, and six in New York, but a little later, through the aid of Nicholas Berthoud, in one week's time eighteen new names were added to his subscription list in New York City alone.

Meanwhile Nuttall's and Townsend's birds had not been forgotten, and on October 15 he started with his son for Philadelphia, where he was again welcomed by Dr. Richard Harlan. No sooner, however, were efforts renewed to gain permission to study the desired objects 154 than new obstacles were encountered. To quote the naturalist:[140]

At length, "it was agreed," to continue his account of the transaction,

While still in Philadelphia, on October 23, Audubon wrote to Thomas Brewer that Dr. Morton, the corresponding secretary of the Academy, had not only permitted him to portray the new birds but had sold him "ninety odd of the skins, forming a portion of the collection," and added that with his other acquisitions they would swell his "catalogue to the number of 475, all of which must be introduced in my fourth volume." 155

For many years Audubon had expressed great contempt for all seekers after priority in the naming of new species of animals, but now he began to find the pressure from without too strong to be resisted. Rivalry in this field had become keen on both sides of the Atlantic, and in the commendable desire to render his work as complete as possible, he was inevitably drawn into a struggle in which the higher aspirations of scientific men are all too apt to be obscured by petty vanities, suspicions and disputes.

While at Philadelphia Audubon paid this fine tribute to the ornithologist whom he had met at Louisville twenty-six years before, and whose name had long been a cover for the jealousies and animosities of supposititious friends: "Passed poor Alexander Wilson's schoolhouse, and heaved a sigh. Alas, poor Wilson! Would that I could once more speak to thee, and listen to thy voice!"

Audubon was planning during the coming year to explore the west coast of Florida, in company with his son and Edward Harris, and to proceed as far as possible along the coast of Texas. From Philadelphia he went to Baltimore, and on November 8 he arrived at Washington. His steadfast friend and supporter, Colonel John James Abert, then at the head of the Topographical Bureau, took him to the White House to call on President Andrew Jackson and present his letters. The General, said Audubon, looked well and was smoking a pipe; after reading his letters attentively, he said at once: "Mr. Audubon, I will do all in my power to serve you, but the Seminole war, will, I fear, prevent you from having a cutter; however, as we shall have a committee at twelve o'clock, we will consider this, and give you an answer tomorrow." Levi Woodbury, 156 Secretary of the Treasury, was as friendly as ever, and offered the party passage to Charleston on the Campbell, a vessel of fifty-five tons carrying three guns and twenty-one men, but Audubon, who was a poor sailor, preferred to travel by land and await the coming of this boat at the Bachman home. Before leaving the capital the naturalist and his son were invited to dine informally at the White House, and he had the opportunity of studying at close range "a man who had done much good and much evil to our country." Said Audubon of this dinner:

Audubon, with his son, John, left Washington on the 10th of November, and after traveling six days on one of "the most extraordinary railroads in the world," they reached the city of Charleston, where, under the hospitable roof of John Bachman, the party eventually passed the winter, though momentarily expecting their vessel, which did not arrive. During this long interval of waiting, Audubon made drawings of all the new birds in the Nuttall-Townsend collection, representing upwards of seventy figures, and Miss Maria Martin, Bachman's sister-in-law, again assisted him in drawing plants and insects. 157

As spring approached and the long awaited Campbell had not arrived, Audubon, with Harris and John, started overland for New Orleans. After several days of hard traveling by coaches they reached Montgomery, and descended the Alabama River by steamboat to Mobile. When that district had been ransacked for birds, they went on to Pensacola, where they learned that the Government cutter would soon be at their service at New Orleans; accordingly they retraced their steps to Mobile, passed through the lakes, and entered the southern capital, the city in which the naturalist had nearly starved, a penniless stranger, sixteen years before, but which, less than three-quarters of a century later, was to raise a monument to his memory. He was still destined to a degree of disappointment, when it was learned that the Campbell could not be put in readiness before the last of March, but he was delighted to find that the old pilot of the Marion, Napoleon Coste, was to command this vessel. At New Orleans Audubon met for the last time "good M. Le Sueur," artist and naturalist, who had spent many years at New Harmony, Indiana, and whose acquaintance he had first made at Philadelphia in 1824.

Audubon and his party finally left New Orleans on the 1st of April and entered the Gulf by the Southwest Pass, where, on the 3rd of the month, they were joined by the Crusader, a schooner of twelve tons which was attached to the Revenue Service; on this journey she carried a crew of four, with as many guns, and acted as a tender to the larger vessel. The expedition was provisioned for two months, and aimed to explore the keys, bayous and shoreline from the Mississippi to the Bay of Galveston. Some of Audubon's experiences on this cruise were described in a letter to William MacGillivray,[142] 158 dated "Côte Blanche, 18 April, 1837," which we will now reproduce:

Audubon to William MacGillivray

After wading through mud for whole days, exposed to scorching heat, and constantly annoyed by myriads of insects in the course of their numerous excursions on shore, they reached Galveston Bay on the 24th of April. The fort of Galveston returned their salute of "26 fires," given by the big gun on the Campbell, and shortly after they received a visit from the Secretary of the Navy of the Republic of Texas, which under Sam Houston had declared its independence but a few weeks before their arrival, and were invited to proceed to the seat of government, at Houston, eighty miles distant, in the interior. They landed on the 26th of April, and after three weeks had been spent in exploring Galveston Island and its adjacent shores for birds and animals of all sorts, they started for Houston on the 8th of May. After making about twelve miles, their vessel grounded on Red Fish Bar, and the party then took to tender and gig, reaching their destination on the 15th; wild turkeys, ibises, and ducks of many kinds were seen in great numbers along their course. 164

Audubon has left a graphic account[143] of what he then saw at the capital of this short-lived infant Republic, including its picturesque President, the mêlée of dejected Mexican prisoners then gathered there, and its drunken Indians, "halooing and stumbling about in the mud in every direction." Houston's abode was a small log house, "consisting of two rooms, with a passage through, after the Southern fashion."

The party left Texas on the 18th of May, and on the 27th reached New Orleans, which was then oppressively hot and nearly deserted. Here Audubon's collections and equipment were packed to be sent north; his dog was given to his brother-in-law, William Bakewell, and on the last day of the month the party began to retrace their steps of the previous March. After more hard traveling by car, coach and railroad, Charleston was reached in eight and a half days, on June 10, 1837. Edward Harris, who ascended the Mississippi from New Orleans for the purpose of making further collections, later rejoined the party at Bachman's home in Charleston. Audubon said that he lost twelve pounds in weight during this journey, which proved exceedingly trying, and the hardships encountered were hardly commensurate with the returns in bird and animal lore; yet Audubon was by no means dissatisfied at the results, as shown by the following account which he gave Thomas Brewer two days after his return:[144]

Maria Rebecca Bachman, eldest of the nine Bachman children, was married at this time to John Woodhouse Audubon, and the entire party started north before the end of June. They went by steamer to Norfolk, and thence to Washington, where Audubon presented his letters to President Van Buren and tendered his thanks in person to the various officers of the Government and friends who had aided his expedition; they passed rapidly through Baltimore and Philadelphia, to New York, where Audubon remained a fortnight, while 167 his son and daughter-in-law were enjoying a honeymoon at Niagara Falls. All sailed from New York on the packet England, and landed at Liverpool on the 2d of August. Five days later the family was united in London. 168

CHAPTER XXXII
AUDUBON'S GREATEST TRIUMPH

Extension of his work—Financial panic and revolt of patrons—New western collections—His "Book of Nature" completed—Work on the letterpress in Edinburgh—Vacation in the Highlands—Commissions to Harris—Parting address to the reader—Dissolution of the Havell engraving establishment—The residuum of The Birds of America—Robert Havell, engraver, and his family—Lizars' first edition and the Havell reissues of plates—Brief manual for collectors—Appreciations—Total edition of The Birds of America—Past and present prices—The Rothschild incident.

After Audubon's return to England in the summer of 1837, the completion of his magnum opus occupied but two years. Certain now of the ultimate success which would crown his efforts, he worked with a furious ardor, determined not only to execute his original plans, but to extend them, if necessary, to include every bird which had been discovered in America, or, at least, in the United States.

Audubon wrote Thomas Brewer in September that, for some unexplained cause, a large part of his collections made in Texas had probably been lost; when writing on October 29, the box containing all the eggs collected on the Gulf of Mexico had not come to hand. He continued:[145]

When writing his young friend again, on November 18, he implored him to proceed

Again, on the 22nd, he admonished his friend not to send his "drawings of eggs by letter," but to forward all such to N. Berthoud, "and ask him to send them by captains of London packets. The postages are very heavy these hard times, and I am not a prince."

Although Audubon's "Prospectus" called for only 170 eighty parts of 400 plates, by 1837 the number of new discoveries had multiplied to such an extent that he faced the dilemma of either enlarging his work or issuing it in an incomplete state. In the summer of that year large numbers of his British patrons discontinued their subscriptions, a result, no doubt, of the disastrous panic which had driven many into bankruptcy, and still more refused to take any plates in excess of the stipulated number. To alleviate this anticipated difficulty, he had already begun to admit composite plates, on which from two to six different kinds of birds were grouped together, much in the older style which he abhorred; but, in spite of this concession and omission of the eggs, colored figures of which he had hoped to give at the end, he was obliged to add seven parts, thus swelling the total number of large plates to 435, which represented 489 supposedly distinct species of American birds.

When Audubon was facing such protests in England, Dr. J. K. Townsend[146] returned to Philadelphia with a second great collection from the Far West. How eager he was, at this psychological moment, to gain access to these ornithological treasures is clearly shown in the following letter[147] to Edward Harris:

Audubon to Edward Harris

In reference to the new species of birds which had come into his hands, Audubon said:

Doubtless we should hesitate to blame many of Audubon's subscribers for wishing to be relieved from an obligation which for a period of ten years had cost them from $50 to $100 per annum, not to speak of any who had met financial disaster in the panic of that day, but at this juncture he really had no choice. When his eightieth Number, originally intended to be the last, appeared in 1837, many important kinds of birds, including ducks, swan, tern, and the Flamingo, as well as grouse, warblers and woodpeckers, were still calling loud for recognition. So generous of space had he been in the earlier phase of his undertaking that twenty species were each shown on two distinct plates, while in the end the need of compression compelled him to introduce thirty-five composite plates.

Subscribers to The Birds of America at the beginning had been permitted to take a part or the whole, and many incomplete sets were circulated, upwards of 120, as Audubon declared in 1839, having then discontinued their subscriptions. Towards the end of his undertaking, owing to the great expense and uncertainty involved, he was disinclined to supply any but regular subscribers, as shown by the following letter written from London, May 25, 1838, to William A. Colman of New York:[148]

On May 26 Audubon wrote Thomas M. Brewer that "Edward Harris, one of the best men of this world," had reached his house "yesterday at noon, after a pleasant passage of fourteen days and a few hours." "My illustrations," he said, "will be finished on the 20th of next month, and the fourth volume of text shortly afterward"; at the end he added: "When I return to our beloved land, I intend to spend a full season about the lakes in Northern Vermont, for, from what I hear, much knowledge is to be acquired there and thereabouts." After returning to New York in September of the following year, he again alluded to the ramble he would like to take "along the borders of the famous lakes of New Hampshire and Vermont," but was unable to bring it to pass at that time.

To depart but slightly from the chronological sequence, the last to be preserved of Audubon's letters to 176 William Swainson,[149] written at a time when his great work was drawing to a close, will be given at this point:

Audubon to William Swainson

Audubon's day of greatest triumph came on June 20, 1838, when he had the supreme satisfaction of seeing the last plate of his "Book of Nature," The Birds of America, completed. Having been begun virtually in the autumn of 1826, it was in press nearly twelve years. The sumptuous character of this work, its commanding beauty, as well as its surprising accuracy, considering all the obstacles of time and circumstance, mark it, when combined with its letterpress, as one of the most remarkable and interesting undertakings in the history of literature and science in the nineteenth century. Unique as it was in every detail of its workmanship, it will remain for centuries a shining example of the triumph of human endeavor and of the spirit and will of man. This is true in spite of any errors it may disclose, and even if it be conceded that bare bones and plain photographs are more valuable for elucidating the technicalities 178 of science than the most artistic productions of the pen, pencil or brush.

Audubon's labors in England, however, did not end with the completion of his plates, for two volumes of his "Biographies" still remained to be published. He was in London during the early summer of 1838, when he recorded a visit from John Bachman, who had come to Europe for the recuperation of his health. He was then obliged to hasten to Edinburgh, where he was soon joined by both Bachman and Victor Audubon and later by other members of his family. For the convenience of work he took rooms near the museums, on the south side of the city, not far from Lauriston Place and within easy reach of "The Meadows," a well known recreation ground.

The following letter,[150] sent to his son John soon after his arrival at the Scottish capital, and addressed "No. 4 Wimpole Street, London," abounds in interesting personal details, but the student of birds would find more significant its clear statement of his relations with MacGillivray; it shows us the anatomist at work, and Audubon as his student and "secretary." "Under his kind tuition," he said, when writing at a little later time, "I think I have learned something of anatomy, which may enable me, at some future period, to produce observations that may prove interesting...."

Audubon to his Son, John

Audubon's fourth volume, the printing of which was announced in this letter, was published in November, and at the conclusion of the introduction he said:

These prophetic remarks, which were no doubt inspired by the studies of MacGillivray, have found ample justification in the later history of ornithology; to give a single illustration, it was through the aid of anatomy only, in this instance, of the vocal organs, that modern students have been able to define the true Passerine or Oscine birds, as distinguished from all others, and as the highest representatives of the avian class.

In the autumn of 1838, when Mrs. Audubon was still suffering from impaired health, the naturalist paused in his work to indulge in a short vacation, the first in many years. On September 14, he wrote to Edward Harris, who was then in Scotland:[151] 182

Audubon to Edward Harris

With MacGillivray as guide, Audubon and his family visited Stirling, Doun and Callander, where they "marched in a body to the Falls of Bracklin, guided by a rosy-cheeked Highland lassie, stopping now and then by the way to pick up a wild flower,—a blue-bell, a 'gowan,' or a dog-rose, or to listen to the magpies and titmice." From Callander they ascended to Loch Katrine, and explored the Trossachs, "admired by many, chiefly or entirely on account of Scott's description of them"; at the tavern there, said Audubon, "with that most curious innate desire which there is in us of becoming older, for the purpose of enjoying the morrow, I went to rest, anxious to see the morn, and discover what existed beyond the crags that had bounded my view."

From the wild and beautiful scenes about Loch Katrine, which stirred the naturalist's emotions and 183 evoked the desire to remain until the curtain of night had gradually and peacefully closed the landscape from their view, they proceeded to the rocky shores of Loch Lomond, where they found "a few small stone cabins, some fat bairns, abundance of ale, and a sufficiency of capital whisky." After crossing to Tarbet and examining both the head and the foot of the lake, they went on from Balloch to Dumbarton by stage, and thence by steamer to Glasgow; there they spent a few days, and returned to Edinburgh by way of Dumbarton and Lanark. Steamers and coaches, slow as they then were, were all too fast for Audubon on this journey, and he declared that if ever again he visited the Highlands, it should be on foot, "for no man, with nerve and will, and an admirer of the beauties of nature, can ever truly enjoy the pleasures of travelling, unless he proceed in this manner."

Mrs. Audubon's health had not improved by the journey, for shortly after their return she was again taken ill; she was placed in the care of Dr. John Argyle Robertson, for whose efficient aid and "kind and gentle treatment," said Audubon, "we can never cease to cherish the most lively feelings of affection." "It is a curious part of my history," he continues, "that during the whole of my sojourn in Britain, none of the principal medical advisers whom we had occasion to employ would receive any recompense from us."

By the 5th of November, 1838, but a few days after the issue of the fourth volume of his "Biographies," the printing of the fifth and last had already begun. The following letter[152] is interesting for its personal details, and in showing that his confidence in the existence of the "bird of Washington"[153] had not been shaken: 184

Audubon to Edward Harris

In May, 1839, Audubon's fifth and last volume of the Ornithological Biography, consisting of 704 pages, was issued. It was followed almost immediately by A Synopsis of the Birds of North America, in which the efficient aid of MacGillivray was again enlisted. On May 4 Audubon wrote to Havell that this work was in press and would be ready in about a month's time; again, on the 30th of June he announced that it was finished and in the hands of the binder. With this methodical catalogue of the birds of North America 187 then known and described, to the number of 491, fifty-two of which were new, Audubon's life and labors in England were brought to a close.

The introduction to the last volume of his "Biographies" begins as follows:

Later on he says: "You may well imagine how happy I am at this moment, when ... I find my journeys all finished, my anxieties vanished, my mission accomplished;" and he concludes: "I have pleasure in saying that my enemies have been few, and my friends numerous. May the God who granted me life, industry, and perseverance to accomplish my task, forgive the former, and forever bless the latter!"

Audubon's introductions to the five volumes of his "Biographies," from which we have frequently quoted, are characteristic; in them he cheers his subscribers, calls all his helpers and correspondents by name, and takes the public into his confidence by recording the acts which marked the steady progress of his work. Frequent appeals to the "good" and "gentle reader" have gone out of fashion, but in this instance they seem in keeping with 188 the style and character of the man, and they were not made in vain. Audubon's belief in his mission was so plainly sincere, his power so manifest and his enthusiasm so ardent, that there were few who did not gladly acclaim the extraordinary success of the man who twelve years before had landed in Liverpool poor and unknown.

In the winter and spring of 1839, while Audubon was engaged in Edinburgh and Victor was in America, the settlement of his business affairs in London was entrusted mainly to Robert Havell, his engraver. At that time Havell was also pulling up roots, for he had caught the spirit of his patron and had decided to emigrate with his family to the United States; this involved disposing of his stock and breaking up his engraving and printing establishment at 77 Oxford Street. Havell had acquired distinction as well as a competence through his long engagement with Audubon, and being then in his forty-sixth year, he doubtless looked to America as a field for the fuller expression of his artistic aspirations and talents. How anxious Audubon was at this juncture regarding the disposition of the residual stock of his plates, his drawings, and his books, then in Havell's hands, is seen by the following letter,[155] written at Edinburgh, in the winter of this year.

Audubon to Robert Havell

How fully Audubon's injunctions in regard to his residual stock, and particularly to scattered plates of the Birds, were followed, is not known, but it is certain that a part of this residuum remained in England, where it is occasionally turned up even at the present day. In a considerable number of the original plates which were found in a bookshop in New Oxford Street in August, 1912, twelve were in the uncolored state, and several had the appearance of rejects; moreover, in a collection of these plates received from England in 1910, there were nine copies of the same subject, the Painted Bunting (No. 11, Plate 53). Though a complete set of the plain plates is known,[156] and a considerable number were probably dispersed in America, they are very rare.

Audubon wrote to Havell again on the 13th of March, when he complained of the gross mistakes made 191 by the "idle rascals" who were employed in filling orders in his shop, and who had so sadly mixed matters that no less than twelve numbers of his Birds had come back to him, some of them containing one, three, and five copies of the same plate, instead of a "Number," and mixtures of the most incongruous sort; he thought that "a clever young man as a clerk was worth a hundred thick heads," and begged Havell again to send him "a correct list of what he shipped to America on his account, and that list not made by any other person than either himself or Mrs. Havell." His next injunction, on May 4, was to insure his copper-plates of The Birds of America for £5,000, and to send them to either Victor Audubon or Mr. N. Berthoud, Number 2 Hanover Street, New York. At that moment Audubon was planning to return to America with his family by the Great Western on July 6. In writing again on June 30, he remarked that he was not at all certain that Havell, who was then visiting at his native Reading, in Berkshire, would really sail on the 25th of July, since he had already postponed the journey so many times; he added that it would not even surprise him if his work on the Quadrupeds of America might not be out before they could fish and shoot together in his "native land."

Havell eventually came to America with his wife and daughter on the ship Wellington, in September, 1839; they landed at New York after the 15th of that month, and for a time were the guests of the Audubons at Number 86 White Street. His brother, Henry,[157] who visited the United States in 1829, returned at about this time and established a print shop in Broadway, New York, but according to Robert's biographer, 192 his enterprise was ruined by a fire, when he went back to England and he died there about 1840. After a brief residence in Brooklyn, Robert Havell settled at Sing Sing, now Ossining, at a beautiful spot on the Hudson, overlooking the Palisades, which he named "Rocky Mount." There he devoted himself with characteristic energy to painting and sketching, but he also engraved and published a number of excellent views of his favorite river, the Hudson, as well as of New York and other American cities. In 1857 he established himself at Tarrytown, where he built a house and studio, and where in his later years he produced many meritorious works in oils. "He never tired," says his biographer, "of the great, broad, sweeping Hudson, and propped up in bed, that he might gaze at will on this mighty river," he died at the age of eighty-five, November 11, 1878.[158]

Havell has been described as quite the opposite of Audubon in many of his characteristics, calm, deliberate, not easily discouraged, and fully his equal in industry, perseverance and determination. Audubon sometimes complained of his friend's lax business habits, but their long sustained and cordial relations were never broken during life, and their mutual debt was great. The engraver's first son, who lived but a year, was named Robert Audubon, and the naturalist, who was his godfather, held the child at its baptism at old St. James Church, Oxford Street, in 1827. A descendant of Luke Havell, who was a drawing master at Reading, uncle of Robert the second, possesses a silver loving-cup which Audubon presented to his engraver upon the completion of the second volume of his illustrations; it is inscribed "To Robert Havell, from his friend J. J. A. 1834." 193

When we consider the size of Audubon's plates, which required for the portrayal of his largest subjects, such as the Whooping Crane or Wild Turkey, an area of no less than five square feet, it will be seen that his engraver was compelled to adopt the most expeditious methods. This and kindred difficulties were overcome by Havell's skillful union of aquatint with etching and line engraving, but some of his smaller figures, as the Snow Birds (Plate 13), appear to have been etched in the usual way, with but slight use of either aquatint, dry-point or burin. In aquatinting the plate was usually bitten to the desired depth for the softer shading of feathers or foliage, or for the entire expression of sky, water or landscape. Says George Alfred Williams:[159]

194

Artists have sometimes frowned upon this combination of aquatint with other forms of engraving, especially when executed with the burin, for "like the permanent misery of a quarrelling married couple, they may ruin everything with discord"; but any such lack of harmony, when not overcome by Havell's skill, was usually completely subdued by the color which was subsequently applied to the printed sheet. This is seen by a comparison of the plain proof of such an elaborate plate as that of the rattlesnake attacking the mocking birds (Plate xxi) with the result attained in the finished impression. In replying to a criticism of Havell's work in 1830, Audubon expressed his conviction that "no birds were ever so beautifully and softly represented on copper," and any hardness, which his plates rarely showed, was not due to aquatinting, the inherent quality of which is softness. To quote our authority again:

When Audubon first proposed to present the Congressional Library at Washington with a copy of his Birds, he asked Havell to do all the coloring himself; Havell

Much misunderstanding has arisen in regard to the engraving and publication of Audubon's earlier plates owing to the complex relations which existed between Lizars, the two Havells of the same name, and the naturalist himself; this involved the reissue of the first two numbers of the work, and a confusing series of legends upon the plates themselves, occasioned partly by a division of labor between father and son, and by the death of Robert Havell, Senior, in 1832. The errors into which some commentators have fallen, however, are due to their examination of but one set of plates. The account which follows is based upon a collation of complete copies at the British Museum, the Radcliffe Library, Oxford, the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, and the Boston Society of Natural History, and of numerous scattered plates. Lizars engraved the first ten plates only of the large folio, but before the summer of 1827 a considerable number of these early impressions had been distributed. The Havells, as we have seen, started the work anew, and Robert, the younger, retouched the greater part of Lizars' plates, so that their reissue in London constitutes for the bibliophile a second, and in some cases a third, edition. Moreover, the plates which were eventually executed by the younger Havell, to the number of 425, were repeatedly printed from to meet the requirements of new subscribers; on such occasions errors were corrected, minor changes in the artist's or engraver's name introduced, and the nomenclature of the birds and plants more or less completely revised. Frequently the Whatman water-marks, or, indirectly, 196 Audubon's titles, postdate the year of publication as printed on the plate itself. Conflicting legends, particularly on the earlier plates, which have often puzzled collectors, are mainly due to one or another of the conditions named. Nearly every plate underwent alterations of some sort, but the various legends show conclusively whether the print belongs to a first or a subsequent impression. In the British Museum copy, the younger Havell's first independent legend appears on Plate lxxvi (Virginia Partridge), as "Engraved, Printed, & Coloured by R. Havell Junr. 1830." The word "London" was later added, but was eventually discarded. After the senior Havell's death in 1832, the son naturally dropped the suffix from his own name; thereafter his brief designation of name and date became gradually stereotyped. It should be noticed, however, that when Robert Havell needed to reprint from plates which were executed before his father's death, he would frequently remove only the "Junior," and let the original date stand, so that legends like the following are not uncommon: "Engraved, Printed, & Coloured by R. Havell, —— London—1831"; to avoid the lacuna, designation of place and date were, at times, erased also. The naturalist's name underwent a different evolution on the plates, but after 1830, the date of his election to membership in the Royal Society, his designation gradually settled into the phrase: "Drawn from nature by J.J. Audubon, F.L.S. F.R.S." (as in Plate lxxxi, 1830); accordingly, all plates which bear these titles, but an earlier date, are second or later editions. The previous hints, with examples to be given presently, will enable collectors to determine whether a given plate is a first or subsequent impression.

Lizars' first edition of plates, Numbers i to x, bore 197 no dates, and, so far as known, the first date of the entire series was "1828," which was added to Plate 31 (the White-headed Eagle), but was erased from later issues. When Robert Havell, Junior, retouched Lizar's engraving of the Turkey Hen (No. II, Plate vi), he added the date "1829," but in a third or later edition the name was changed and the date removed. This same date appears also on the retouched Plate ii, of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and on that of the Purple Grackle or Crow Blackbird (Plate vii). A curious error crept into the first impressions of the former plate, which was mislabeled "Black-billed Cuckoo," a bird then recognized as quite distinct.[160] Plates xxxi to lxxv (1828-29) were all dated in the first issue, and bore the names of both Havells; the legends are: "Engraved, Printed & Coloured by R. Havell & Son, London, 1828," and "Engraved by Robt. Havell, Junr. Printed & Coloured by R. Havell Senr. London, 1828," or "1829" (British Museum copy), but when later printed by Robert, the younger, the dates were erased. All subsequent dating of the plates was somewhat irregular until 1834 (Plate ccii), but from that point to the end of the series, the year of issue was consistently added to each plate. Ornithologists are specially interested in the time of publication, since forty-seven new specific names occur on Audubon's large plates, and should date from them and not from the letterpress which followed.

To illustrate what has been said of successive editions of Audubon's plates, we shall give the legends of two or three of the most famous, taken from copies in 198 the British Museum and Boston Society of Natural History libraries or from detached plates obtained in London, in 1903:

199

Plates which were wholly the work of Lizars have naturally become extremely rare; they were evidently disregarded by Audubon when he recorded on July 2, 1827, that he had given Mr. Children a proof of his first number, which he called "the first in existence," and declared that the two guineas then received was the first money that had been returned to his hands. Lizars' initial number had actually been finished in the previous winter, and a copy of this is recorded as having been given to the daughter of Sir Walter Scott on the 9th of March, 1827.

When Audubon had finally closed all his business affairs in Edinburgh and London, late in the summer of 1839, he returned to America, with the remaining members of his family, and settled in New York, where he purchased a house at Number 84 White Street, then in the uptown district.

An anonymous writer in the London Athenæum[161] in giving a final review of Audubon's labors in 1839, paid this interesting tribute:

Possibly it was the same writer who gave this striking picture of Audubon in the pages of the same journal, thirty years later:[162]

We will add to this the musings of an anonymous American writer[163] in the North American Review for the following year (1840):

It has often been asked, how many complete sets of Audubon's folio of The Birds of America were distributed, and how many are in existence today. No definite answer can be given to either question. His final lists, appended to the last volume of his "Biographies" in 1839, and reproduced in Appendix III to the present work, gave the number of standing names as 161 (calling for 166 copies), of which 79 (with 84 copies) pertained to Europe, and 82 were American; inasmuch as 118 subscribers had dropped off, with incompleted sets on their hands, this brought the total number of original patrons at that time to 279, and the number of copies which had been originally ordered to 284. On the other hand, the following advertisement, evidently from the hand of Audubon himself, appeared in The Athenæum, under date of "London, November 202 1, 1837," and was reprinted in America a few weeks later:[164]

Assuming that Audubon's final published lists, calling for 166 copies, were correct, and that ten additional sets were prepared, this would bring the total original number known to have been complete to 176, which agrees with an estimate attributed to Victor Audubon, who once expressed the belief that "about 175 copies" were in existence, of which about 80 were in America.[165] It is probable, however, that of the 118 persons who allowed their subscriptions to lapse, a number completed their sets from the residual stock, which must have been great, though the later plates would be the hardest to obtain; in this event the number of perfect sets of Audubon's Birds probably never exceeded 190 or 200. 203

The proprietor of a well known Philadelphia bookshop[166] has stated that during his experience as an antiquary, he has had personal knowledge of forty or fifty copies of the folio edition of Audubon's Birds in America, and he thought it probable that a single New England print dealer, in the course of twenty years, had broken up thirty or forty volumes for the purpose of selling the plates. This is not surprising, since from the sale of a single volume upwards of $1,500 might be realized in this way, but no reputable dealer would now think of breaking up an unimpaired set.

Mr. Ruthven Deane, who has compiled a careful record of copies of The Birds of America known to exist in the United States, recorded in 1908 that he had ascertained the resting-place of seventy-five sets which, with few exceptions, were complete and in good condition. "A set in the library of the Mechanics-Mercantile Institute, San Francisco, California, which had been there for some thirty years, and another set in the San Francisco Art Association, presented in 1894 by Mr. Edward F. Searles, Methuen, Massachusetts, were both destroyed by the disastrous earthquake and fire which visited that city April 18, 1906."[167]

Audubon's own copy of his Birds, the plates of which were naturally selected with the greatest care, was sold by Mrs. Audubon after the death of her last surviving son, in 1862, to John T. Johnson, of New York, for $1,200; the subsequent history of these volumes has not been traced. Havell brought with him to America a copy, every plate of which is said to have been selected by himself, and it is undoubtedly one of the finest sets in existence. It passed from the family's possession to the 204 hands of the publishers and booksellers, Messrs. C. S. Francis & Company, of 554 Broadway, New York, who in 1856 had charge of the sale of all of Audubon's works,[168] and was later purchased by Dr. W. Gurdon Russell, of Hartford, Connecticut, who presented it to Trinity College, July 10, 1900.[169]

After recording the facts of the case, so far as they have been ascertained, the following extract from the minutes of a meeting of the New York Historical Society, held October 3, 1865, will be read with interest:[170]

205

As regards the subscription of Rothschild the following account of his interview with the famous banker has been recorded by Audubon himself.[172] The naturalist, it appears, received a letter to Baron Rothschild from the American banking-house of Prime, Ward & King, and presented it in the summer of 1834. The banker was 206 not in when Audubon and his son, Victor, called upon him, but "soon a corpulent man appeared, hitching up his trousers, and a face red with the exertion of walking, and without noticing any one present, dropped his fat body into a comfortable chair, as if caring for no one else in this wide world but himself." When Audubon presented his credentials, the banker asked: "Is this a letter of business, or is it a mere letter of introduction?'" As Audubon had not read the letter, he was obliged to answer rather awkwardly that he could not tell. "The banker then opened the letter, read it with the manner of one who was looking only at the temporal side of things, and after reading it said, 'This is only a letter of introduction, and I expect from its contents that you are the publisher of some book or other and need my subscription.'" Audubon continues:

208

CHAPTER XXXIII
NEW ENTERPRISES AND LIFE AT "MINNIE'S LAND"

Settlement in New York—The Birds in miniature, and work on the Quadrupeds—Marriage of Victor Audubon—Coöperation of Bachman in the Quadrupeds secured—Prospectuses—History of the octavo edition of the Birds—Baird's enthusiasm and efficient aid—Parkman's wren—Baird's visit to Audubon in New York—"Look out for Martens!" and wildcats—New home on the Hudson—Godwin's pilgrimage to "Minnie's Land" in 1842.

After thirteen years of unmitigated labor, Audubon could have basked in a fame already secure, and could have enjoyed, for a time at least, a leisure handsomely earned. But no sooner had he settled in New York than he entered upon two formidable tasks: one of these was the complete revision of his Birds of America, to be issued with its text in "miniature," as its reduced form was sometimes described; the other, which he did not live to see brought to completion, was an elaborate work on the Quadrupeds of North America, eventually carried forward in collaboration with the Reverend John Bachman.

In his confident and characteristic manner, Audubon at once issued a "Prospectus" of both these undertakings. The more cautious Bachman, in writing on September 13, 1839, to congratulate him upon their safe return, "in spite of storms, calms, and hurricane," said:

It is evident from this letter that Audubon was then intending to proceed with the work on the Quadrupeds alone and that Bachman's active coöperation was secured later. On September 15, shortly after his return to America, he wrote to Thomas M. Brewer on this subject as follows:[173]

210

Victor Gifford Audubon, who had preceded his father to America early in 1839, was married in that year to Mary Eliza, second daughter of John and Harriet Bachman. This double union of the two naturalists' families called forth mutual congratulations, but Bachman, who was inconsolable at the departure of his children, preferred to talk of birds: "By that time," said he, "four or five numbers [of the 'Small Edition of the Birds'] are published, you may turn over the work to your sons; but, till then, you should carefully review every page and plate. The next thing will be to get subscribers. This would be purgatory to me; but it is necessary to success. While drumming up subscribers, you may obtain specimens for the Quadrupeds." When writing again January 13, 1840, Bachman, whose cooperation in the proposed work had been sought, continued:

The "Prospectus" of Audubon's "miniature" edition of the Birds was as follows:[174] 212

The octavo edition of Audubon's Birds began to appear, in parts, late in 1839, and was in press four years. It was illustrated with 500 lithographic plates, which were reduced by John Woodhouse Audubon from his father's old or new originals, with such changes as the breaking up of composite plates and other considerations rendered necessary. Many new flowers and trees made their appearance in these plates, and seventeen new birds were added to the last volume; the text was also greatly improved by the process of addition and subtraction, as well as by the correction of many errors which it was then possible to effect: as twelve species were noticed without figures, this brought the total number of American birds finally recognized by Audubon to 507.[175] The first considerable list of American birds with any pretense to accuracy appeared in Notes on Virginia, published in 1782, by Thomas Jefferson, who then named 109 species peculiar to the United States; William Bartram, in 1791, gave 191; Alexander Wilson, 278; Wilson and Ord, in 1808-14, 320, and Charles Bonaparte, in 1825-33, is said to have extended 215 the number to 382. The present number of North American birds, omitting sub-species, admitted to the third revised edition of the "Check-List," prepared by a Committee of the American Ornithologists' Union and published in New York in 1910, is 768. To this is added a hypothetical list of 26 names, the validity of which is still in doubt; these embrace Townsend's Bunting—Spiza townsendi (Audubon); Carbonated Warbler—Dendroica carbonata (Audubon), Blue Mountain Warbler—Dendroica montana (Wilson), known only in the works of Wilson and Audubon; the mysterious Small-headed "Flycatcher," or Warbler—Musicapa minuta (Wilson) or Wilsonia (?) microcephala (Ridgway), an account of which is given in Chapter XIV and which is known only in Wilson's and Audubon's works; and Cuvier's Regulus—Regulus cuvieri (Audubon), which has never been seen beyond the covers of The Birds of America, and its descriptive text: "I shot this bird," said Audubon, "on my father-in-law's plantation of Fatland Ford, on the Skuylkill River in Pennsylvania, on the 8th June 1812, while on a visit to my honoured relative Mr. William Bakewell.... I have not seen another since."

Audubon was soon canvassing the principal cities for this work, with what success is shown by the following letter[176] to his family:

Audubon to his Family

To the gratification of Audubon and his friends, the octavo edition of his Birds of America was an immediate and great success. Only 300 copies of the plates of the first number, which was ready on December 3, 1839, were printed, but in little more than a month 300 more were demanded, and the number of plates required rose steadily until January 9, 1841, when it stood at 1,475 copies.[177] The total number of subscribers given 218 in Audubon's published lists was 1,198, of which 198 are credited to Boston, 164 to Baltimore, 141 to New York, sixty-five to Philadelphia, and forty-three to foreign countries, ten of which went to England; Mr. George Oates of Charleston subscribed for seven copies. Such a reception for an expensive work on natural history was unprecedented in the United States, and has had few parallels in any country.

At the very beginning of this new undertaking, the hand of disease and bereavement rested heavily on the Audubon and Bachman families; they were obliged to see first one and then another of their daughters swept by the same terrible malady, tuberculosis, to an early grave. Mrs. John Woodhouse Audubon died at her old home in Charleston, whither she had gone for the benefit of her health in the previous winter, on September 23, 1840, at the age of twenty-three; and Mrs. Victor Audubon, after a long sojourn in Cuba, and shortly after returning to her home in New York, died there on May 25, 1841, at the age of twenty-two. Audubon was very fond of his daughters-in-law, and his "beloved Rosy," as Victor's wife was familiarly called, is said to have been a particular favorite and the life of his family circle. If work at this time brought no pleasure, it at least afforded him relief from painful thoughts.

In June, 1840, a boy who lived in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, mustered up courage to write to the naturalist and give him an account of a new bird, the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, which he and his brother had discovered, 219 under the very noses, as it were, of all the ornithologists in America. With that fine sense of modesty which characterized the man in after life, for his name was Spencer Fullerton Baird, he wrote:[178] "You see Sir that I have taken (after much hesitation) the liberty of writing you. I am but a boy, and very inexperienced, as you no doubt will observe from my description of the Flycatcher."

Audubon, who had just returned from the sick-bed of his daughter-in-law, replied promptly as follows:

Audubon to Spencer Fullerton Baird

Thus began a correspondence between the youth of fifteen and the veteran of fifty-five, which led to an intimate friendship that lasted during Audubon's active career, and was an undoubted stimulus to young Baird, whose talents, enthusiasm and industry were quickly appreciated by the older naturalist. Baird answered Audubon's letter on June 20, and proffered his services in collecting mammals, saying that while they were more difficult to find than birds, he hoped "by increased exertion to make up the difference"; he also added: "I have seen some numbers of your work now publishing, and admire them very much. I have no doubt that it will do more to spread a love of Natural history, than any work ever published. For my part I read the description of birds and the episodes in your Ornithological Biography with the same motive of pleasure as I used to read a favorite novel." In Audubon's immediate reply of the 22nd, he said:

Audubon, who was now "killing two birds with one stone"—collecting subscribers for one work and mammals for another, had found a strong and willing helper in the young naturalist of Carlisle. On December 10 of the same year Baird wrote that he had discovered another Flycatcher, as well as a small Woodpecker, which was apparently new, and had shot a "Bay Lynx or Wild Cat a mile & a quarter from Carlisle; the cat ... was 2½ feet long & weighed 12½ pounds.... It was a 222 source of great regret," said Baird, "that I was not able to meet you in Philadelphia when I was there during the latter part of September. I saw Mr. Chevalier[180] several times, and found him a very agreeable gentleman." Audubon replied to this letter on Christmas Day, as follows:

Audubon to Spencer Fullerton Baird

In the following letter by William Yarrell,[181] English naturalist and sportsman, are interesting references to Audubon's smaller edition of The Birds of America as well as to the writer's History of British Birds, which later became the standard work on the ornithology of Great Britain:

William Yarrell to Audubon

Spencer Baird and his brother, William, were soon able to announce another discovery, now well known the country over as the Least Flycatcher, and in some sections by the onomatopœic name of Chebec. In referring to it in his letter of June 21, 1841, Baird wrote:

In conclusion Baird added: "May we not expect to see you in Carlisle before a great while? It would give us very great pleasure indeed."

Though Audubon gladly admitted this new-found species of bird at a later day, he was not at first disposed 226 to accept its validity, as will appear in the following interesting letter which he sent to his young friend:

Audubon to Spencer Fullerton Baird

Although Audubon never went to Carlisle, young Baird, as we shall see, repeatedly visited him in New York and became a favorite with his family. A description of the new Flycatchers was published by the Baird brothers in 1843, and represented Spencer's first contribution to his favorite science; Audubon included their discovery in the Appendix to the seventh and last volume of The Birds of America in 1844.

Audubon's occupations in the summer of this year are clearly reflected in the following letter:[182]

Audubon to Dr. George Parkman

The unique specimen of the little Wren, referred to in the postscript of this letter, had been discovered on 229 the Columbia River by Dr. Townsend some years before, and though Audubon had described it in 1839, his figure of it had but just appeared; this was doubtless included, as Mr. Thayer remarks, in the parts of the octavo edition of The Birds of America, which Dr. Parkman distributed at Boston in the summer of this year.

As an indication of the zeal and energy with which Audubon undertook his work on the quadrupeds, the following letter (dated "New York, August 15, 1841," and addressed to "W. O. Ayres,[183] Esq., Miller's Place, Suffolk county, Long Island, New York") will be read with interest:

Audubon to W. O. Ayres

The expense involved in producing the early numbers of the small edition of his Birds must have been great, and Audubon was feeling the strain, when the letter,[184] dated "New York—April 29, 1841," from which the following extract is taken, was sent to his Boston agent: "I doubt much if you are actually aware that we have at this moment in this city and at Philadelphia upwards of Seventy persons employed upon the present work, and that all these ... are to be paid regularly each Saturday evening, and that when we are out of temper it is not without cause."

When Baird visited the Audubons, in New York, in January, 1842, he was fascinated by the masterly drawings of birds and quadrupeds which were then being produced, and was determined to pay more attention himself to an art for which presumably he had little natural aptitude; he seems also to have received a hint for the improvement of his somewhat loose chirography. Upon leaving, Audubon presented his pupil with a copy of the Biography of Birds. After returning to his 231 home, Baird wrote from Carlisle, on February 8 of that year:

Spencer Fullerton Baird to Audubon

232

Baird signed himself "Your affectionate pupil," and added in a postscript: "I forgot to say that I had a fine steak of the wild cat broiled and it tasted like a tender piece of fresh pork. I will certainly eat the whole of the next one obtained. I intend to taste all the Quadrupeds inhabiting this part of the country."

Audubon's interesting reply was in part as follows:

Audubon to Spencer Fullerton Baird

Audubon, who ever found city life irksome, as early as 1841 had begun to look about for a farm, or some retired spot within easy access to New York, where he could establish the families of himself, of his two sons, and have about him many of the animals which he then wished to study and depict for his new work. Edward Harris would have been glad to have had him for a neighbor, and wrote from Moorestown, New Jersey, on July 5, 1841, suggesting that he examine "a small farm close to his village, containing about 25 acres of very good land," which the owner was then willing to sell for $3,500, though, added Harris, "when Mr. Havell was here, he asked $5,000 for it." A spot more to his liking, however, was found on the Hudson River, in Carmansville, later known as Washington Heights, where he purchased from thirty to forty acres of land which had a river frontage of a thousand feet, from the present One Hundred and Fifty-fifth to One Hundred and Fifty-eighth Streets, and extended to the easterly limits of the village at the old Bloomingdale Road, near the present Amsterdam Avenue. This tract was well wooded, and among the grand forest trees on the place a large tulip or white wood attracted general attention from its great girth and commanding height. Audubon decided to place his house at the foot of the river bluff, amid a cluster of fine oaks, chestnuts and evergreens, and a clearing had to be made before the site could be laid off; it was some years before the railroad came to mar his river view and interrupt access to the 235 beach. Audubon began to build in 1841, and on February 24, 1842, Victor wrote to Edward Harris: "Our house in the country is going on well, and will probably be ready for us in about two months. John is at work out there every day"; they were planning, he said, to raise pigs and poultry, and he inquired after "draining tiles, such as are made near Philadelphia."

Audubon named his new estate "Minnie's Land," in honor of his wife, Lucy, to whom he deeded the property, the Scotch form of her name having no doubt come into familiar use during their residence abroad. In April, 1842, they turned their backs on the city and occupied their new home. Spencer Baird, when writing on May 3 of that year, said:

Submerged as Audubon was, with painting the Quadrupeds, keeping the small edition of his Birds in motion, and canvassing for subscribers to both works, which he published himself, he nevertheless found time for an extraordinary number of letters, which were written with an elegance of chirography that diverts our attention from their orthographic defects. In the labor of drawing and in all his business affairs he was constantly aided by his sons.

In Audubon's time the center of Carmansville was 236 a quarter of a mile to the east of his house, while at a short distance below, on the river, lay Manhattanville, at the present One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street, from which men frequently came on summer evenings to help handle the seine, fish then being plentiful in that part of the Hudson. The place came to possess a good garden and orchard, with stable, dairy, and poultry yards; enclosures also were made for deer, elk, wolves, foxes and other wild animals. The old barn of the Audubon place stood higher on the slope where the naturalist built his studio or painting house, but no traces of either now exist. Though standing low, the house commanded a wide sweep of the river with the Palisades on its opposite shore, and such attractive surroundings were a never failing source of delight and inspiration to the naturalist to his dying day.

In describing Audubon's activities, Parke Godwin made this note in the spring of 1842:[186]

Before we glance at the half-submerged relic of Audubon's old house as it stands today in upper New York,[187] we shall follow the same writer in a visit which he made to "Minnie's Land" in the summer of 1842 but did not describe until eleven years later;[188] we will only 237 add that at this time Audubon was in his fifty-eighth year, and not over sixty, as this writer surmised. After passing beyond the outposts of the city of that day, and turning into a rustic road which led directly to the river, his walk

The master, who soon appeared,

When writing in 1845, Godwin gave further intimations of the naturalist's appearance: "His forehead [was] high, arched, and unclouded; the hairs of the brow prominent, particularly at the root of the nose, which was long and aquiline; chin prominent, and mouth characterized by energy and determination. The eyes were deep-gray, set deeply in the head, and as restless as the glance of an eagle." 239

CHAPTER XXXIV
EXPEDITION TO THE UPPER MISSOURI

Ambitions at fifty-seven—Plans his last expedition in the rôle of naturalist—Credentials from public men—Canvassing tour in Canada described—Baird's plans to accompany Audubon west frustrated—Western expedition begun—Ascent of the Missouri and Yellowstone—Discoveries of new birds—A wilderness that howls—Buffalo hunting—Passing of the great herds—Return from Fort Union—Incident on the canal boat—Completion of the octavo edition of the Birds.

In the summer of 1842, when his two new undertakings were well in hand, Audubon was planning a journey which he felt would help them both, his long cherished but ever deferred expedition to the Far West; in the dim perspective his mind's eye could trace the snowy summits of the Rocky Mountains, a promised land he was never destined to see, though, with true poetic justice, one of those grand peaks now bears his name. At this time he was in his fifty-eighth year, and although his family thought him too old for so arduous a journey, he would not be thwarted, for his eye was undimmed and his natural force unabated.

The letters which passed between Audubon and Baird at this time show how eager was his young friend to attach himself to the party. While in Washington, July 27, 1842, Baird wrote:

Audubon's interesting reply to this letter will be given in full:

Audubon to Spencer Fullerton Baird

Audubon enclosed with this letter a warm recommendation of his friend for the position of curator of 242 the rich collections made by the United States Exploring Expedition to the Antarctic, under command of Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, then stored at the Patent Office and National Institute, but nothing came of it and Baird went away disappointed.

During the summer, in accordance with his usual custom, Audubon had taken pains to fortify himself with credentials from the Government, and had obtained excellent letters from President John Tyler, Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, General Winfield Scott, who then held the highest commission in the Army, John C. Spencer, Secretary of War, and Lord Ashburton, a member of a special commission to settle the disputed boundary between Maine and the British provinces. The letters given him by Daniel Webster and President Tyler were as follows:[189]

Daniel Webster to Whom it May Concern

President John Tyler to Whom it May Concern

John Bachman, who had agreed to be responsible for the letterpress of the Quadrupeds, was already at work, as shown by the following note[190] sent to Audubon at this time:

John Bachman to Audubon

On September 12 Audubon set out on a canvassing tour of Canada, on which he went as far north as Quebec; as he passed his home, he hailed his sons, who were sailing on the river, and the sight of them at this moment brought tears to his eyes. Whitehall, New York, was reached on September 13, St. Johns, Canada, on the following day, and on the 15th he was in Montreal; three days were spent at Quebec (September 16-18), where, as at other points, he met with the most gratifying success. After reaching home in October, the following glowing account of this tour and of the attractions of his new estate on the Hudson was given in a letter to Dr. Benjamin Phillips of London,[191] dated from "New York, 7th Nov., 1842":

Audubon to Dr. Benjamin Phillips

A few weeks later Audubon wrote also to William Yarrell, hoping to interest him in the foreign sale of his new publication, but as will be seen by his friend's reply, now to be given, with indifferent success:

William Yarrell to Audubon

In the following letter to Spencer Baird, Audubon was able to outline more fully his final plans for the western journey: 248

Audubon to Spencer Fullerton Baird

Baird was unable to reach a decision in the matter, and Audubon actually wrote five more letters on the subject and kept a place open for his young friend for nearly three months. On January 2, 1843, he said that while it was impossible to determine with any degree of 250 accuracy the amount of money the journey might require, he could "safely say that the sum of $500. would prove all sufficient, as our passages to the Yellow Stone will be granted us free; and the expenses from here or from Carlisle cannot exceed 50$ to St. Louis, and may be less." "I have given up," he added, "all Idea of going South this season, being determined to draw quadrupeds until a few days of my leaving home for this grand and Last Journey, I intend to make as a Naturalist." Again, on January 31, he wrote:

In still another letter, of February 10, Audubon said:

Young Baird would gladly have accompanied Audubon, but the fears of his friends for his health and safety interposed, and the party as eventually made up comprised, beside the naturalist, John G. Bell, as taxidermist, Isaac Sprague, artist, Lewis Squires, general assistant and secretary, and his old friend Edward Harris.

Audubon left his home on March 11, 1843, with Victor, who accompanied him as far as Philadelphia, where a rendezvous was made before starting west. The party went first to Baltimore, and by steam cars to Cumberland, then by coach through the Gap, and across the Alleghanies to Wheeling, where a steamer took them down river to Cincinnati. On March 19 they reached Louisville, where Audubon spent four days with his brother-in-law, William G. Bakewell, and on the 28th they arrived at St. Louis, where the party completed their outfit. On April 25 they began their ascent to the Missouri, in the steamer Magnet, a small vessel belonging 253 to the American Fur Company, with a motley crowd of trappers, employed by the Company, representing French creoles, Canadian French, Indians, and other nationalities.

During this journey, which lasted eight months, Audubon kept a voluminous journal, which was written in a fine hand on large sheets of linen paper that could be easily rolled and carried in his pocket; this was afterwards sent to Bachman, was returned, and was lost for fifty years, or until 1896, when it was recovered from an old secretary by Audubon's granddaughters, one of whom published it in 1898.[193] It is a highly interesting and spirited narrative from beginning to end, and abounds in graphic pictures of the Indians and trappers, the military posts and pioneer settlements, the abundant bird life and big game, the biggest of which, the buffalo, was then seen by Audubon in a state of nature for the first time, the grand and turbulent rivers, and the smiling or frowning face of the great wilderness so soon to be changed by the devastating hands of civilized man.

What Audubon thought to be a new finch, discovered near the Snake Hills in Missouri, was named for Edward Harris, and though it proved to have been previously described, the bird is still known as "Harris' Finch"; a few days later a new vireo, Vireo bellii, received the name of John G. Bell, his taxidermist, and similar honors were passed to artist Isaac Sprague, to whom was dedicated the little titlark, Alauda spragueii, now Anthus spraguei.

In those days of river navigation, the frequent tying up for fuel or necessary repairs, not to speak of grounding 254 in a treacherous channel, gave almost daily opportunities for the hunters to go ashore, and these occasions seldom failed to produce something interesting, new, or rare. In the Indian country, at Bellevue, Nebraska, where they touched to land a part of their cargo, Audubon "saw a trick of the trade, which made him laugh. Eight cords of wood were paid for with five tin cups of sugar and three of coffee—value at St. Louis about twenty-five cents."

They began to meet with buffalo about the mouth of the James River, in South Dakota, on May 20; the ground, said Audubon, was literally covered with their tracks, and the bushes with their hair. On the same day they discovered "Meadow Larks whose songs and single notes were quite different from those of the Eastern States," and this proved to be the first notice of the Western Meadow Lark, which later appeared as the Sturnella neglecta in the small edition of his Birds of America, then in course of publication.

Audubon's opinion of the Indian was modified considerably after having seen him in the western wilderness, and his confidence in George Catlin's descriptions was completely shattered; "His book," he said, "must, after all, be altogether a humbug. Poor devil! I pity him from the bottom of my soul; had he studied, and kept up to the old French proverb that says, 'Bon Renommé vaut mieux que ceinture doré,' he might have become an honest man—the quintessence of God's works."

After forty-eight days and seven hours out of St. Louis, on the 12th of June, they reached Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, where the Omega left them and returned down river. The country proved so interesting that the naturalist remained two months at 255 the fort, where he occupied the room which had been used by Maximilian, Prince of Neuwied, when traveling through the western parts of America ten years before; here Audubon made many drawings. Buffalo were abundant on all sides, and a favorite occupation was shooting wolves from the ramparts of the fort. On June 18 they killed two antelope and two deer before noon, and "immediately after dinner," he said, "the head of the old male was cut off, and I went to work outlining it; first small, with the camera lucida, and then by squares." On the 30th he wrote: "I began drawing at five this morning, and worked almost without cessation till after three, when becoming fatigued for want of practice, I took a short walk, regretting that I could no longer draw twelve or fourteen hours without a pause, or thought of weariness."

On the 15th of July they started up the shore of the Yellowstone in a cart. The party soon had had enough of buffalo hunting, and on one day the naturalist was nearly speared by a charging bull that had been wounded. "What a terrible destruction of life," he says, "as it were for nothing, or next to it, as the tongues only were brought in, and the flesh of these fine animals was left to beasts and birds of prey, or to rot on the spots where they fell. The prairies are literally covered with the skulls of the victims, and the roads the Buffalo make in crossing the prairies have all the appearance of heavy wagon tracks." Foreseeing the departure of the buffalo, he wrote:

On the 9th of August he added: "I have scarcely done anything but write this day, and my memorandum books are now crowded with sketches, measurements, and descriptions." Those who maintain that a "howling wilderness" is a place that never howls, should read his note for August 19: "Wolves howling, and bulls roaring, just like the long continued roll of a hundred drums"; or this for the 21st: "Buffaloes all over the bars and prairies, and many swimming; the roaring can be heard for miles."

At Fort Union they built a Mackinaw barge forty feet long, which they christened the "Union," and on the 16th of August they started for St. Louis, which was reached in safety on the 19th of October. There they unloaded, and "sent all things to Nicholas Berthoud's warehouse." "Reached home," said Audubon, "at 3 p. m., November 6th, 1843, and thank God, found all my family quite well."

When Audubon was returning by the canal route from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, he was sought out by a young traveler, who afterwards related the following incident.[194] The naturalist, he was told, was under "a huge pile of green blankets and fur," which he had already noticed on one of the benches, and had taken for the fat pile of some western trader. Having waived 257 his choice of a berth in Audubon's favor, he observed that "the green bale stirred a little,—half turned upon its narrow resting place, and after a while sat erect, and showed us, to our no small surprise, that a man was inside of it. A patriarchal beard fell white and wavy down his breast; a pair of hawk-like eyes glanced sharply out of a fuzzy shroud of cap and collar." When this stranger, drawn by a sense of irrepressible curiosity, had ventured near enough to recognize the "noble Roman countenance" thus obscured, he saw that it was Audubon in his wilderness dress; he was "hale and erect, with sixty winters upon his shoulders, and like one of his old eagles, feathered to the heel." Audubon's conversation, said this writer, was impulsive and fragmentary, but he showed him with pleasure some of his original drawings of animals, as well as a living collection of foxes, badgers and Rocky Mountain deer, which he was bringing home.

To follow this narrator further:

The second Mrs. Victor G. Audubon[195] said that on the day the naturalist returned, "the whole family, with his old friend, Captain Cummings, were on the piazza waiting for the carriage to come from Harlem.... He had on a green blanket coat with fur collar and cuffs; his hair and beard were very long, and he made a fine striking appearance. In this dress his son John painted his portrait."[196] This interesting portrait, which is still in possession of the family, and which is reproduced by his granddaughter in the work from which we have just quoted, shows a man whose apparent age, as suggested by his flowing white hair and grayish white beard, overshoots the clearer testimony of his smooth face and bright eye; as already noticed, Audubon had not then attained his sixtieth year.

Upon his return at this time Audubon is said to have been mistaken for a Dunker, or member of a sect of Quakers noted for their ample beards. On November 29 Bachman wrote: "I am glad to hear that your great beard is now cut off. I pictured you to myself, as I saw you in my home, when you came from Florida, via Savannah. You jumped down from the top of the stage. Your beard, two months old, was as gray as a Badger's. I think a grizzly-bear, forty-seven years old, would have claimed you as 'par nobile fratrum.'" Bachman was apparently disturbed about Audubon's personal habits at this time, for he added in the letter just quoted: "I am a teatotaler. I drink no wine, and do not 259 use snuff. I hope that you are able to say the same."[197]

Spencer Baird wrote to Audubon from Washington, November 24, 1843, to congratulate him upon the safe return of his western party, saying: "From time to time short notices of your whereabouts and doings appeared in the newspaper and a thousand times I wished that the fears of my friends had not prevented me from accompanying you to the scenes of action." Audubon thought that he might well regret the difficulties that had stood in his way; in replying he said that he had seen "not one Rattlesnake and heard not a Word of bilious fever, or [experienced] anything more troublesome than Moschitoes and of these by no means many"; they had brought home a Swift Fox, an American Badger, and a live Deer, which they thought might prove to be new, fifteen new birds, as well as a certain number of quadrupeds, besides "many of the Birds procured on the Western side of the Big Rocky Hills by Nuttall and Townsend." He felt that much still remained to be done, his only regret being that he was not what he "was 25 Years ago, Strong and Active, for willing he was as much as ever."

In 1844 Audubon brought to a close his octavo edition of the Birds by adding seventeen species, eleven of which were new and represented his discoveries on the Upper Missouri of the previous year. The 500th plate, and last of the series which marked the end of Audubon's life-long labors in ornithology, was dedicated to "Baird's Bunting," Emberiza bairdii. "If a trace of sentiment be permissible in bibliography," said Elliott 260 Coues,[198] "I should say that the completion of that splendid series of plates with the name bairdii was significant; the glorious Audubonian sun had set indeed, but in the dedicating of the species to his young friend Spencer F. Baird the scepter was handed to one who was to wield it with a force that no other ornithologist of America has ever exercised." 261

CHAPTER XXXV
FINAL WORK DAYS

Painting the Quadrupeds—Assistance of Bachman and Audubon's sons—Copper plates of the Birds go through the fire in New York—Audubon a spectator at the ruins—Bachman's ultimatum—Success of the illustrations of the Quadrupeds—Bachman's letterpress—Recommendation of Baird—John W. Audubon in London—Bachman's assistants—His life and labors—Decline of Audubon's powers—Dr. Brewer's visit—Audubon's last letters—His death at "Minnie's Land."

After 1844 Audubon's remaining energies were devoted exclusively to his work on the Quadrupeds, in which it is necessary to discriminate between the large folio of illustrations, which began to appear, in parts, as early as 1842 and which was completed in 1846; the text, of which he lived to see but one volume finished; and lastly, the first and only composite edition of both text and plates, which was published by Victor Audubon in 1854.[199] This series of works, as already noticed, was produced in collaboration with the Reverend John Bachman, of Charleston, South Carolina; Bachman assumed entire responsibility for the text, but owing to his comparative isolation from large libraries, and to the demands of professional duties, he depended on the Audubons to supply him with specimens and books.

Honest John Bachman, whose motto was, "Nature, Truth, and no Humbug," was suffering sadly, he said, from lack of tools, when he wrote to Victor Audubon in November, 1844:[200] 262

Bachman wrote again on the 29th of that month:

Bachman explained that he was the "schoolmaster," and when the boys were a little lazy, he would have to apply the whip.

In March, 1844, Spencer Baird sent Audubon a live Pennant's Marten or Fisher, a rather rare animal even at that time, and now all but extinct. Said Baird:[201]

Audubon used this marten as the model for his illustration of the species (shown in natural size, Plate xli of the Quadrupeds); in noticing its habits later, he said:[202] 264

Baird also tried to secure for Audubon the "far-famed catamount" alive, which, from stories related by hunters, he thought might be different from the young of the panther or puma, and also a specimen of the true black fox in the flesh; though unsuccessful in either quest, his efficient aid was greatly appreciated by his friend. In February, 1845, Baird paid a visit to the Audubons at their Hudson River home, where he was warmly received; as his biographer relates,[203] upon leaving he was invited to select any duplicate bird skins he desired from the naturalist's collection, then at John G. Bell's taxidermist shop in New York; he accepted this generous offer, and chose about forty specimens.

It is evident that some trouble-maker had disturbed the serenity of John Bachman's mind when the following interesting letter was written by Audubon to balm the feelings of his old friend. It is evident that Audubon at this time expected to collaborate in the letterpress of their work, but that plan, according to Bachman's own statement, was never carried out:

Audubon to John Bachman

265

In July, 1845, a destructive fire devastated a large section of the city of New York, including the warehouse in which the copperplates of Audubon's Birds were stored; many believed that the plates had been ruined, and one of these was the writer who after witnessing the event gave the following dramatic account:[204]

When Baird heard the untoward news, he wrote from Carlisle, August 4, 1845: "It is with sincerest regret 268 that I see by the papers that your copper plates were injured or perhaps ruined by the fire which occurred a few weeks ago. Various reports are circulated respecting your loss, and among so many contradictory ones it is difficult to get at the truth of the case. Might I ask you to let me know the truth of the matter." In a postscript to this letter he added: "I forgot to say that I have been elected professor of Natural History in Dickinson College. The situation is entirely nominal, nothing to do & no salary whatever." Audubon replied promptly on the 7th of August:[205] "You have been too well-informed about the plates of our large work. They have indeed passed through the great fire of the 19 ul°; but we are now engaged in trying to restore them to their wonted former existence; although a few of them will have to be reingraved for use, if ever that work is republished in its original size at all."

Bachman, who paid a long visit to the Audubons in the late summer or early autumn of 1845, said that while he was at "Minnie's Land," Audubon painted "Le Conte's Pine Mouse" with his usual facility and skill, but he detected a change in his mental powers. For a long time Bachman had complained of the want of books, which the younger Audubons failed to supply, and of lack of specimens, which no doubt their father wished to retain for use in his own studies, until at length his patience was gone and he tried another form of appeal. The following letter[206] to their mutual friend, Edward Harris, shows that he was then determined to throw up the responsibility which had been assumed in the Quadrupeds unless what he regarded as "reasonable requests" were complied with forthwith: 269

John Bachman to Edward Harris

If Audubon was remiss in supplying the necessary materials, it is possible that Bachman, in turn, may have failed to appreciate the load which his friend's shoulders had carried for the five years then past. To Bachman specimens and books were, of course, absolutely essential, but Audubon needed them also, as well as subscribers and the large sums of money necessary to keep his great enterprises in orderly movement. At all events, Bachman's ultimatum brought immediate results, and it might not be wide of the mark to affirm that to the tactful Harris we virtually owe the completion of that admirable work, The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. It should be noticed that at the time the complaining letter was sent, John W. Audubon was in Texas, engaged in making collections, though, as it proved, with little success; Victor searched the country 271 for the needed books, and his father's Missouri River journal was despatched to Charleston, without delay.

On New Year's Day, 1846, Bachman wrote to his friend:

In his letter of March 6 he said:

Audubon wrote to Baird on February 2, 1846, to remind him of the Catamount, which was thought not to be "the Cougar," and of the Black Fox: "for the latter," he said, "I do give you my word that I would willingly pay you Twenty Dollars by a draft upon us at Sight." In another letter from "Minnie's Land, N. Y.," of March 14, he said:[208]

Concerning his son's journey to Texas, Audubon had written Spencer Baird, September 30, 1845:[209]

As Baird gave no reply, Audubon sat down on Christmas Day, 1845, and wrote again to his young friend:[210]

Audubon's prediction in regard to his son was correct, and after John's return from Texas, in April, 1846, he started for England on June 10, with his wife and family; he remained in Europe until May, 1847, engaged, as his father said, "in making figures of those arctic animals, of which accessible specimens exist only in the museums of that quarter of the globe."

The Audubons, as we have seen, now tried to keep John Bachman better supplied, and in the spring of 1846 sent him several boxes of skins, with the urgent request that all which pertained to animals that had not been figured be returned as soon as possible. On March 13 Victor wrote that Temminck's monograph could not be found in all America, not in Boston, or Philadelphia, 274 but that a copy would be ordered from Europe at once. In those days Charleston was farther removed in time from New York than California is now from Boston; two weeks was required for a letter of one naturalist to reach the other, and the difficulties of coöperation were correspondingly great. On May 31 Audubon acknowledged the return of the skins, but said: "Judge of my astonishment, when I could not find a single one of the small animals, Shrews, and Scalops argentatus, the latter of which I am anxious to draw at once."

The summer and autumn of 1846 bore heavily on John Bachman, subject as he then was to a "thousand calls and interruptions," and "bowed down, and almost distracted, with anxieties and grief."[211] But the first volume of the letterpress which had given him so much trouble was finished in November, and was published by Audubon at the close of this year. It was at once recognized as a standard and authoritative work, which was then without a competitor in America, and as Louis Agassiz affirmed, without an equal in Europe. At the time of its issue the twentieth number of the folio illustrations was nearly ready; the text itself had 271 subscribers, calling for 281 copies,[212] though only the eastern cities had then been canvassed.

Early in 1846 Baird wrote to Audubon:[213] "I have made drawings of the sculls of our quadrupeds which are at your service if you want them. They are Mink, 276 Wild Cat, Ground Hog, Lepus Sylvaticus, Neotoma Floridana and others. I have got a Camera Lucida now and intend trying to draw with it. Anything I can do for you in this way will be cheerfully done." When he wrote again, towards the close of this year, some important events had happened, as shown by this letter:

Spencer Fullerton Baird to Audubon

Audubon's immediate reply was as follows:[215]

Audubon to Spencer Fullerton Baird

Victor Audubon's gift of the volume was acknowledged by Baird on January 19, 1847, when he said:

279

There was soon another matter of vital importance which Baird wished to announce to his friend, and, on February 8, he wrote Audubon:

This was followed, on February 11, by a cordial letter from Audubon, in which he said:

Spencer Fullerton Baird's subsequent career, following his appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in July, 1850, as successor to Professor Henry, its first Secretary, as the organizer of the United States National Museum and the Fish 280 Commission, now the Bureau of Fisheries, as one of the ablest students of birds and fishes which the country has ever produced, as well as the friend of science and scientific men everywhere, is now well known, and has been ably set forth by his most recent biographer.[216]

John W. Audubon spent the winter of 1846-47 in London, where he was engaged in painting subjects for his father's work on the Quadrupeds. While he was there, arrangements were made for the publication in that city of the first volume of the letterpress; this appeared in May, 1847,[217] closely following the American edition of the previous year, and it was the only European issue of the text of that work. At this time also John Audubon made the acquaintance of the distinguished zoölogist, John Edward Gray, then in charge of the great collections which were being brought together under his direction at the British Museum. Gray was asked to furnish descriptions of the animals which the younger Audubon had painted, but, as will appear from the following letter, he declined:[218]

John Edward Gray to John Woodhouse Audubon

Bachman was married in 1849 to Maria Martin,[219] his former wife's sister, who had aided Audubon in drawing the accessories of his large plates. While engaged upon the Quadrupeds, he wrote to Victor Audubon, from Madison Springs, Georgia, on June 30 of that year, as follows:[220]

About thirty years later, when Victor Audubon's sister-in-law[221] was making a disposition of his literary effects, a bundle of manuscripts was saved and given to Mr. George Bird Grinnell. Included in it were a number of Audubon's letters, which are now reproduced, as well as a considerable section of the printer's copy of The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, Volume I; this was in various handwritings, including little of Bachman's himself, much of Victor's and of John G. Bell's; a little of this copy also was made by the second Mrs. Bachman and by other and unknown hands, possibly those of one of Bachman's daughters and of his son-in-law, Reverend John Haskell, all of whom are known to have assisted in this labor.

When we recall the disadvantages under which John Bachman worked, it must be acknowledged that he was deserving of all the credit which he received. Born of Swiss and German stock at Rheinbeck, New York, in 1790, he clearly remembered walking in the mock funeral procession that was held in his village when the country was mourning the death of Washington in 1799. 284 From early boyhood he was an ardent enthusiast in the study of nature, at a time when such studies were generally frowned upon in country districts as not only idle but positively harmful. He trapped the beaver, and from the sale of its skins was able to make his first purchase of books on natural history. While a young man he became acquainted with Alexander Wilson and learned to know him well, having joined him in field excursions and collected birds for him in northern New York; on Wilson's recommendation he succeeded both him and his nephew, William Duncan, in the Elwood School, at Milestown, Pennsylvania, where he taught for a year. While there, a youth of barely fifteen, he was invited, no doubt through the influence of Wilson, to meet Alexander von Humboldt at a dinner given in honor of the great traveler at Philadelphia in 1804. From a pastorate in Shagticoke, New York, Bachman in 1815 went to Charleston, South Carolina, where he presided over the Lutheran church for nearly sixty years, and became thoroughly identified with the South. Beloved as few men ever are in their community, he was widely honored for his attainments in natural science.

In an address on Humboldt, dictated by Bachman when in his eightieth year, and too feeble to deliver it himself, he alluded to the event noticed above to show "how scanty, in those days, was the material in natural science." Among the few naturalists who were present on the occasion of the dinner, which was held in Peale's Museum, were, he said:[222]

As we have noticed, Audubon's large illustrations of the Quadrupeds were completed in 1846; this marked the ebb tide of his powers, and his son, John, who had painted nearly one-half of the originals of the large plates, like Victor, continued to aid Bachman in the prosecution of that work. The first number of this lithographic series was introduced by the common American wildcat, or Lynx rufus, in three-quarters natural size, followed by the proverbial ground hog, "Maryland marmot," or woodchuck, shown in both young and adult state, in the size of life. Plate No. 4 reproduced an exquisite drawing of four Florida rats climbing over a pine branch. Some of the elder Audubon's plates of squirrels are particularly fine and recall the best of his more famous bird pictures; the gray fox (No. 3, Plate xxi) is sniffing at a feather blown from a farmer's yard; in another drawing a rascally old black rat and its three young ones are robbing a hen's nest and breaking up the eggs; Hudson Bay squirrels reach after hazel nuts which hang in clusters from green boughs above; 286 opossums, with sardonic grin, are making for the ripe, orange fruits of the persimmon, holding to the branch with their rat-like, coiled tails; the swift fox (Vulpes velox) sits on the ground, barking like a dog, with head up-turned, while the better known red fox (No. 18, Plate lxxxvii) struggles in an old-fashioned steel trap, the toothed jaws of which have gripped a paw above the heel, and you observe that his tail is where, in the circumstances, it is bound to be—between his legs. While many of these plates are of the highest degree of excellence, the colors are apt to be too vivid and the execution is far from uniform.

Thomas M. Brewer, a valued friend and correspondent,[223] in response to an urgent request, "ere it be too late," paid a visit to the famous naturalist on the Fourth of July, 1846, of which he has given this record:[224]

Audubon's last (?) letter to Edward Harris, here reproduced, is dated at "Minnie's Land, Feby 22, 1847," and refers to the letterpress of the Quadrupeds. His last published letter to Baird, in which he recommended him to the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution,[225] was written at "Minnie's Land, Feb. 11, 1847." In Spencer F. Baird's last published letter[226] to him, dated at "Carlisle April 24, 1847," he refers to "a fine specimen living of a Red Fox," and added: "If you want him let me know immediately and I will send him on immediately." On July 16 of that year Baird entered this note in his diary:[227] "Went to Mr. Audubon's by stage. Found him much changed."

While Audubon never became blind, as has been erroneously stated, it troubled him to use glasses, and when from failing powers he could no longer paint, his heart seemed broken. Like Jonathan Swift, who compared his own case with that of the proud forest tree whose withering top showed to every passerby the first sign of decrepitude, so the mind of Audubon gave way before his splendid physique utterly broke down.

Bachman, who visited his old friend in the spring of 289 1848, has given this picture of the naturalist's household in a letter[228] from "Minnie's Land, May 11, 1848":

The following letter was written by Victor Audubon to his father-in-law, John Bachman, before February 8, 1849, when his brother started on the ill-fated expedition to which he refers:

The California party, which eventually consisted of nearly one hundred young men, sought to reach the goldfields by way of Texas, Mexico and Arizona; attacked by cholera in the valley of the Rio Grande and deserted by their leader, a remnant of the company chose in his stead young Audubon, who bravely conducted them to their destination. John Audubon returned in the following year, after thirteen of the members of the party and $27,000 had been lost in the venture.

Like a patriarch of old, as a friend had once pictured him, Audubon passed the end of his days surrounded by loving and able retainers, who, like "ministers of state," were only too glad to execute his every wish. Distinguished and handsome in age, appearing to many older than he actually was, for years his snowy locks and benign countenance attracted every passer on the street, and for each he had a friendly look, word, or greeting, until in him were fulfilled the words of the Psalmist: "When thou art young thou goest whither thou willest, but when thou art old another shall lead thee, and thou shalt go whither thou willest not." On the 27th of January, 1851, Jean Jacques Fougère Audubon died, before attaining his sixty-seventh year, "as gently as a child composing himself for his beautiful sleep." 291

CHAPTER XXXVI
AFTERWORD: AUDUBON'S FAMILY IN AMERICA

Bachman completes his text on the Quadrupeds—Victor Audubon's success in canvassing—John Woodhouse Audubon's family—New houses at "Minnie's Land"—Second octavo edition of the Birds—Victor Audubon's illness and death—Attempt to reissue The Birds of America in America—The residual stock of this imperfect edition—Death of John Woodhouse Audubon—His career and work as an artist and field collector—Mrs. Audubon resumes her old vocation—Fate of "Minnie's Land"—Death of Mrs. Audubon—Her share in her husband's fame—Story written on Audubon's original drawings—Fate of the original copper plates of the Birds—A boy comes to the rescue—"Minnie's Land" today—The "Cave"—A real "Audubon Park."

After the death of the elder Audubon, his sons, under the leadership of Bachman, continued the work on the Quadrupeds until the third and last volume of the letterpress was completed in 1852. On March 13 of that year Bachman wrote to Edward Harris:[229]

When Victor was canvassing the South for the second or composite edition of this work, Bachman wrote to a friend in Savannah, on March 25, 1852:[230]

On the 9th of April Bachman wrote to his son-in-law: "Will you not return to New York by the way of Charleston and sail from here, take a manuscript volume in your pocket, and four hundred good and true names on your list?"

The reception accorded to the illustrations and text of this work had encouraged the brothers to do for the Quadrupeds what their father, with their aid, had so successfully accomplished for the Birds, by presenting text and plates, as Bachman said, in "Miniature." In this they succeeded as admirably as before, John reducing all the large plates, by the aid of the camera lucida, for the octavo edition which was published in 1854.

The following historical evidence of the appreciation which Audubon's works have received at the hands of the National Government I owe to Mr. Ruthven Deane, to whom the reader of these pages is already indebted for many illuminating facts. Dr. Theodore S. Palmer was recently inspecting governmental records at Washington, when he accidentally came upon the following entry: 294

In John Woodhouse Audubon's family there were two sets of children, two by his former wife, Maria R. Bachman, and seven by Caroline Hall, to whom he was married on October 2, 1841. Victor Gifford Audubon, who had no children by his first wife, May Eliza Bachman, was married on March 2, 1843, to Georgiana Richards Mallory, an Englishwoman, and six children were born to them between 1845 and 1854. Of the naturalist's fifteen grandchildren, six are believed to be now living (1917).[231]

In 1852-3 Audubon's sons built houses for their 295 growing families on their mother's estate; Victor's was placed just north of the original homestead, and John's not far away. On the slope behind John Audubon's house, a small building, later known as the "Cave," was specially constructed for the safer keeping of the famous copper plates, which had already passed through fire,[232] and not wholly unscathed. Mr. John Hardin, now (1915) a serene and clear-eyed man of eighty-four, who settled in that neighborhood in 1852 and who was intermittently employed by the younger Audubons for a decade, has told me that he boxed with his own hands all of the copper plates, after wrapping each in tissue paper, and stored them in that building; whenever John Audubon wanted a plate, John Hardin would go to the "Cave" and get it for him.

In 1856 Victor Audubon published a second reduced edition of his father's Birds of America, in which the text and plates of the first octavo were reproduced with little or no change. At about that time Victor suffered an injury to the spine,[233] and after 1857 he was completely invalided; he died in his own home, August 18, 1860.

To quote the daughter of John W. Audubon:[234]

In 1858 or 1859 John W. Audubon entered upon an ambitious project, which the outbreak of the Civil War, aided, it is believed, by the unscrupulous dealings of business partners, rendered disastrous. In association with Messrs. Roe Lockwood, & Son, New York, and the lithographers, Messrs. J. Bien & Company, Number 180 Broadway, with whom considerable money had been invested, a second and American edition of his father's great folio on The Birds of America was attempted. An atlas of 106 double elephant plates, reproduced in colors on stone with slight but numerous changes from the original copper plates, was completed as Volume I in 1860;[235] the war, which broke immediately afterwards, completely ruined the enterprise, so that but few copies of the work were dispersed and an immense stock of plates was rendered useless; the burden of debt was undoubtedly increased by the issue of seven octavo volumes of text.[236]

Many years later, hundreds of persons who knew of Audubon's work only through its great reputation, and 297 who had never learned to discriminate between a hand-colored copper-plate engraving and a lithograph, were deceived by an adroit, but essentially spurious advertisement of these inferior reproductions when they were being exploited by a firm of Boston book dealers. The original bulk of these large lithographs must have been vast indeed, if the following story, which was attributed to a member of the firm in question, be true: "We bought the entire stock of those plates, many years ago," so this man is reported to have said, "and, though the sales of every succeeding year since have been sufficient to cover the original cost, the number of plates has not appreciably diminished."

When this larger venture failed, one of the publishers, who was not satisfied with the surplusage of books and plates left on his hands, is said to have placed encumbrances upon the Audubon estate. At about this time John W. Audubon's health broke down; "Worn out," as his daughter has said,[237] "in body and spirit, overburdened with anxieties, saddened by the condition of his country, it is no matter of surprise that my father could not throw off a heavy cold which attacked him early in 1862." He died at the age of forty-nine, on the 18th of February of that year.

John Woodhouse Audubon, like his brother, Victor, had inherited decided artistic abilities, and from a youth had been his father's assistant, field companion and friend. Victor Audubon, on the other hand, was never a field collector, but aided his father more in a financial and secretarial capacity. Both in adult life were fond of music and good cheer, and at one time John was probably as devoted to adventure and sport as his father had ever been in his palmiest days. One of his youthful 298 pranks is thus guardedly referred to by the senior Audubon when writing at American Harbor, on the coast of Labrador, June 25, 1833:[238] "The young men, who are always ready for sport, caught a hundred codfish in half an hour, and somewhere secured three fine salmon, one of which was sent to the 'Gulnare' with some cod." Whether the fishermen at American Harbor, who had obstinately refused to sell, ever missed those fine salmon from their pounds, is not recorded. Another adventure has been related by Mr. Fraser,[239] whose family was on intimate terms with the Audubons and MacGillivrays at Edinburgh, when John Audubon, John MacGillivray (William MacGillivray's eldest son), and himself were caught in the Ravelston woods while shooting birds; the boys, he said "were rather roughly handled," but got off by giving up their guns.

Under his father's tuition John Audubon became an observant and self-reliant collector in the field, and an animal painter and draughtsman of no mean powers. At twenty-one, as we have seen, he accompanied his father's expedition to Labrador, was with him and Harris in Florida and Texas in 1837, made successive visits to England, and traveled again in Texas and in Mexico, all in the interests of his father's works. He painted nearly one-half of the large plates of the Quadrupeds of North America, besides reducing all the drawings for the smaller editions of the Birds and Quadrupeds, an enormous labor in itself, representing the redrawing, with numerous alterations, of 655 elaborate octavo plates. After his return from California in 1850, he began to bring out an account of his western travels, 299 —projected for ten monthly numbers, but this never advanced beyond the first part.[240]

If not a "business man" by instinct or training, John Audubon in emergencies could turn his hand to many things. For a time he superintended the building of houses, including his own and Victor's, which were completed in 1853, as well as another that was built on the Audubon estate for Mr. Hall, a brother-in-law; he also took charge of lighting the streets, and at another time was superintendent of a quarry in Vermont. "He was a bluff, gruff, but friendly man," writes George Bird Grinnell,[241] and was always willing to talk about birds, mammals, or, indeed, any natural history object, to any boy who asked him questions." On the other hand, an ardent sportsman, who had lived with the family for years,[242] has described him as a lovable companion, "genial in speech, full of anecdote, and a capital conversationalist;... in person of more than median height, and of commanding appearance, his face told plainly of the humanity of the man; he was as tender-hearted as a girl, and his expressive voice could command any key of which the vocal organs were capable; to the last he retained the Southern habit of softly clipping the ends of words."

John Woodhouse Audubon will be remembered chiefly as his father's aid and companion, although in his Western Journal,[243] written in his thirty-eighth year but not published until forty-two years after his death, he has left a record of which anyone could be rightfully proud.

Mrs. John James Audubon was very active in body 300 and mind for a long period after her husband's death, and in 1857, when in her seventieth year, she returned in a degree to her old vocation of school teaching, which had been so successfully followed in Ohio and Louisiana when her husband was on the threshold of his extraordinary career. Her pupils now consisted of some of her numerous grandchildren and a few others drawn from the neighborhood; among the latter was the well known writer and father of the original Audubon Society, George Bird Grinnell, who pointed out to me the room in Victor Audubon's old house where his revered and venerable teacher had gathered her little flock. "She loved to read, to study, and to teach," said one who had known her, and "she knew how to gain the attention of the young, and to fix knowledge in their minds. 'If I can hold the mind of a child to a subject for five minutes, he will never forget what I teach him,' she once remarked; and, acting upon this principle, she was as successful, at three score and ten years, in imparting knowledge, as she had been in early life when she taught in Louisiana."

Mrs. Audubon's own house was rented and eventually sold. Meanwhile, it seems, she lived for a number of years with the family of her eldest son, and it was at Victor's house, as just noticed, that she started a small school. Finally, in 1863, at the age of seventy-five, bereft of children and fortune, she left the scenes of her once happy home, then "Minnie's Land" no longer, and for a considerable period lived with a granddaughter at Washington Heights, as that section on the river, including Carmansville, came to be called, and a little later at Manhattanville, a short distance below; there at the home of the Reverend Charles Coffin Adams, who prepared the original draft of the Life of her husband, the 301 history of which has been given,[244] she passed a number of years after 1865.

In a letter written to a relative from "Washington Heights, N. Y., July 11, 1865," Mrs. Audubon spoke thus of the present, while memories, not untinged with sorrow, filled the retrospect:

After Mrs. Audubon had passed her eightieth year she left New York and again made her home in the West. In 1874, when with a granddaughter at Louisville, she dictated and signed the following letter to a gentleman who had asked for an autograph of her husband:

Mrs. Audubon to William R. Dorlan

Mrs. Audubon's closing days were spent at the home of her sister-in-law, Mrs. William G. Bakewell, at Shelbyville, Kentucky, where she died, with her mental faculties unimpaired, at the age of eighty-six, June 13, 1874, having outlived this sister-in-law and her younger sisters, Mrs. Alexander Gordon, of New Orleans, 303 and Mrs. Nicholas Augustus Berthoud, of St. Louis.

Not long after John W. Audubon's death, his family disposed of their house on what had been the "Minnie's Land" estate, and lived successively at Harlem, New Haven, Connecticut, and Salem, New York, where Mrs. John W. Audubon died, and where her daughter, Maria Rebecca, the biographer of her father and grandfather, with a sister, still resides. Victor Audubon's family, with some of their kinsfolk, remained at the Hudson River place, which was included in the section known as "Audubon Park," until May, 1878, when they took a house in New York, where Mrs. Victor Audubon died in 1882.

A brother of Mrs. Victor Audubon, Mr. E. Mallory, in writing to a friend in Buffalo from "Audubon Park, August 31, 1874," said that it was a source of deep regret to Mrs. John James Audubon that her last years were not passed with them, under the shadow of her old home on the Hudson; and he continued: "She was a kind and good friend, very intelligent, and much beloved here; I remember her telling a young lady, who asked her if she had read some fashionable novel, that she had no time; 'at my age,' said she, 'I must make the most of my time.' As she was a wide reader, it was a great trial when, in age, her eyesight completely failed her. The minister who pronounced her eulogy[245] said:

Mrs. Audubon, during the period of her husband's greatest activity, had traveled much and met people distinguished in every walk of life. If, as some have thought, when Audubon was struggling for recognition, he was somewhat oblivious of the privations which his wife endured, in the sunshine of later years, when fame and fortune had smiled upon him, he showed by every token of affection how fully he realized his debt. Let it also be remembered that the monument by which Americans have signalized their appreciation of his labors, is honored by the ashes of his beloved Lucy, which rest by his side.

The original drawings of the plates of The Birds of America were sold by Mrs. Audubon on June 2, 1863, to the Historical Society of New York,[246] and a few of them are now displayed in its building in that city; it is still hoped that a fire-proof and adequately lighted hall can be constructed so that the whole of this great series of pictures may be exhibited under more perfect conditions. The artistic beauty and historical value of these drawings, with the added charm which personal association has so richly supplied, would render Audubon's "Book of Nature" one of the most unique and interesting 305 exhibits in the New World. The collection appears to be nearly complete, although some notable pieces, such as the Wild Turkeys, are lacking, but there are other drawings, and some of early date, which were never reproduced; all are inclosed in the original portfolios, scarred by hard knocks and the tooth of time, massive, leather-bound containers, which two strong arms would raise with difficulty from the ground. Most of these originals are mounted on a gray backing, with plate margins in each case indicated by ink lines. As was noticed in an earlier chapter, many original legends and notes written by Audubon's pencil or pen still remain on the drawings, though many have been trimmed off or erased; these include names of localities and dates, and directions to the engraver for changes in the background and composition or for any improvement of the whole or a part.

As a further illustration of the care which Audubon exercised over the minute details of his great undertaking, we will reproduce the penciled orders on the drawing of the Great White Heron (Plate cclxxxi), which shows an adult male performing the gymnastic feat of seizing a large striped fish, a view of Key West forming the background: "Keep closely to the sky in depth & colouring! have the water a Pea-green tint. Keep the division of the scales on the leg in fact white in your engraving—The colouring over these will subdue them enough! finish the houses better from the original which you have; have the upper back portion very mellowing in the outline." Again, on the drawing of the Great Cinereous Owl (Plate cccli), we read: "Raise the bird about 4 inches on the copper—higher than in the Drawing, and put in a landscape below of Wild Mountains," a direction which in this instance was not followed, for 306 the bird was eventually shown on a branch against the sky.

In many instances towards the end of his work, Audubon furnished Havell with drawings of the birds only, with directions to supply "an old rotten stick" for perch, or to "amend this rascally sky and water"; as we have already seen, he often depended upon him to combine several detached pictures into one plate, but not always with happy results. The following note was written on a drawing of the Carolina Parrot, reproduced in a very striking plate (No. xxvi), in which seven gaudy individuals of this nearly extinct species are represented feeding on a favorite weed, the cockle-bur: "The upper specimen was shot near Bayou Sarah, and appeared as very uncommon having 14 Tail feathers all very distinct—uniformly affixed in 14 distinct receptacles that I drew it more to exhibit one of those astonishing fits of nature than anything else—it was a female.—The Green headed is also a Singular although not so uncommon a variety as the above one. Louisiana—December (1821?) J. J. Audubon." The upper bird, which is here referred to, is noticed in his "Biography" of the species as "a kind of occasional variety."

On the drawing of the Swamp Sparrow (Plate lxiv), which was published in 1829, Audubon wrote, evidently with the wish of having his wife's name appear: "Drawn from Nature by Lucy Audubon, Mr. Havell will please have Lucy Audubon name on this plate instead of mine...!"

Vandalism is always short-sighted, but seldom has its vision been more myopic and sinister than in the case of the copper plates of The Birds of America, most of which were sold for old metal and converted into copper bars. Had they been preserved to this day, their value 307 would have been an hundred-fold greater than that of the few paltry tons of metallic copper which they were supposed to represent. Mr. Ruthven Deane, whose researches in the field of "Auduboniana" have added greatly to this subject, has given a history of these plates,[247] and of the interesting way in which a remnant came to be snatched, as it were, from the very mouth of the furnace, through the persistence and enthusiasm of a lad of fourteen. To follow this writer's account, it seems that shortly after the death of her son John, Mrs. Audubon sold the copper plates to a firm in New York, where they remained until about 1865, stored in the warehouse of Messrs. Phelps, Dodge & Company. Not far from that time the plates were sorted and a few were given away; the large remainder was sent to a brass and copper company, of which William E. Dodge was president, at Ansonia, Connecticut. How some of these were fortunately rescued, in about the year 1873, is told in a letter to Mr. Deane from Mr. Charles A. Cowles, of Ansonia:

It was thought possible that some of these plates had been sold in New York City before the bulk of them were condemned as junk and sent to Connecticut, but in 1898 Mr. Deane was able to give the designation and resting place of only thirty-seven;[248] among these, however, 309 were the Wild Turkeys, Canada Goose, Great Northern Diver, Raven, American Robin, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird, all among the finest of the original 435.

Under the guidance of Mr. George Bird Grinnell, on April 6, 1916, I paid a visit to "Audubon Park," now "Minnie's Land" no longer, where country roads have given way to business streets and forests to subways and skyscraper apartment houses. Notwithstanding the momentous changes which the extension of upper New York City has effected both above and below ground during the recent era of rapid transportation, the old Audubon houses still remain, like boulders amid stream, the impact of the city which has flowed around and beyond them being checked for the moment by a rampart of solid masonry, the retaining wall of the far-famed Riverside Drive, which rises above Audubon's old house close to its rear veranda and there makes a wide turn. For Mr. Grinnell this was a return to the scenes of his boyhood; the home of his father, Mr. George Blake Grinnell, stood on the hill just above the Audubon house, not far from the present "Riviera" building at One Hundred and Fifty-Seventh Street; the Grinnell apartment house which towers aloft close at hand stands in their old cow pasture, while their garden site is marked by the present entrance to the subway station on Broadway.

The first part of Audubon's original tract to be sold was the easterly section, extending from what is now the east side of Broadway to the Bloomingdale Road, and between the present One Hundred and Fifty-sixth and One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Streets; on that portion John Woodhouse Audubon built a large frame structure which, for a number of years, served as a 310 boarding house for workmen employed in the sugar refinery of Messrs. Plume & Lamont that stood on the river-bank, at the foot of the present One Hundred and Sixtieth Street. Victor and John W. Audubon also built three houses on the hill, one of which, between One Hundred and Fifty-sixth and One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Streets, was occupied by Mr. Grinnell; another, at one time the dwelling of Henry A. Smythe, a former Collector of the Port of New York, was on land now covered by the Numismatic Building, while a third, which was occupied by Wellington Clapp, was on a part of the Archer M. Huntington estate, south of One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Street, and stood a little easterly of the present Riverside Drive; all of these houses have disappeared. In September, 1842, the Corporation of Trinity Parish acquired from Richard F. Carman, in Carmansville, the tract of land later known as "Trinity Cemetery"; this extended from Bloomingdale Road to the River, and between the present One Hundred and Fifty-third and One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Streets.[249]

The original Audubon house, standing in the angle nearly opposite One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street, is all but concealed, except from the river side, but may be approached by a lane which leads off from One Hundred and Fifty-eighth Street. In 1913, when this old landmark was in imminent danger of demolition, the Commissioner of Public Parks made an eloquent plea for its preservation to the Audubon Societies and to lovers of birds and nature everywhere. It was then suggested that instead of permitting the historic structure to be destroyed, the city should acquire it, float it 311 up the Hudson River to Fort Washington Park, and re-establish it there as a permanent memorial to the naturalist; it was also noticed that the public interest was enhanced by the fact that the father of telegraphy, Samuel F. B. Morse, had worked upon his invention while Audubon's guest, and that the first message to be received from Philadelphia came over a wire which entered his room at the northwest corner of the building.

An early engraving[250] represents the naturalist's house essentially as it appeared during his lifetime, surrounded by goodly forest trees of oak and chestnut, but these, when standing at all, are now reduced to gaunt and scarred remnants. A later print[251] shows the three Audubon houses, the river, and between it and the lawn "that eye-sore of a railroad,"[252] which was built not long after Audubon settled upon his estate. The original house was sold before 1862,[253] and about eight years later its new owner occupied it, after having given it a mansard roof and made numerous changes which were sanctioned by an era of bad taste. The naturalist's house overlooked the river and commanded a grand view from its high veranda on the front, while Victor's, which later adjoined it to the north, owing probably to the encroachments of the railroad, was built to face the hill-slope opposite; a top studio, at a corner of its roof, is an addition of a later purchaser.[254]

Adjoining Victor's house on the north was that of his 312 brother, John, and on the east side of this was built the "Cave" and a barn since converted into a dwelling; at one time the loft of this barn was piled with boxes of bird skins and the surplus stock of the Ornithological Biography, good copies of which now bring from $30 to $50.

The three houses which were built and occupied by the great nature lover and his two sons, though in dire neglect, are not beyond repair; if such a project were practicable, they should be converted into a museum, and their walls once more ornamented with those beautiful pictures of birds and beasts which father and sons united to create. The triangle of ground between Riverside Drive and the Hudson River should be spared by the proud city that for years was the home of America's pioneer naturalist and animal painter, as well as the scene of his youthful experiments in trade, and converted into a true "Audubon Park." Such a memorial would contribute to the instruction and pleasure of all the people, for every generation of Americans that is to come.

APPENDICES

---

APPENDIX I
Original Documents

314

1. Copy of the original bill rendered by Doctor Sanson, physician at Les Cayes, Santo Domingo, to Jean Audubon, containing the only record known to exist of the birth of his son, Jean Jacques Fougère Audubon (see entry for April 26, 1785). Les Cayes, December 29, 1783-October 19, 1785; paid, June 7, 1787.

DOIT Mr. AUDUBON ngt. A SANSON

Chirurgien aux Cayes

				SAVOIR
				|
				L
1783	Xbre	" 29 "	ipecacuanha pour un nègre Bossal	"	6 " "
		" 31 "	ipecacuanha pour un nègre Bossal	"	6 " "
1784	janvier	"   3 "	une medecine pour un nègre Bossal	"	6 " "
		"   5 "	une medecine pour un nègre Bossal	"	6 " "
		"   7 "	une medecine pour un nègre Bossal	"	6 " "
		"   9 "	une medecine pour un Bossal	"	6 " "
		" 10 "	une medecine pour un Bossal	"	6 " "
		" 14 "	une medecine pour le mulâtre joue	"	6 " "
		" 26 "	une medecine pour Mr Audubon	"	10 " "
	mars	" 27 "	inoculé cezard 30 " inoculé jupiter 30 inoculé Rose 30 "	"	90 " "
	avril	"   1 "	apozême purgatif pour joue mulâtre	"	6 " "
		"   3 "	une medecine pour le mulâtre joue	"	6 " "
		"   8 "	apozême purgatif pour le nègre Dominique	"	6 " "
		" 10 "	une medecine pour Dominique	"	6 " "
		" 15 "	une medecine pour Zemire	"	6 " "
		" 20 "	une medecine pour Rose	"	6 " "
		"	apozême purgatif pour jupiter	"	6 " "
		" 21 "	une medecine pour Dominique	"	6 " "
	may	"   2 "	une medecine pour la negresse therese	"	6 " "
		" 11 "	pour soins, visites et remedes pendant la petite verole du mulâtre joue	"	66 " "
		" 21 "	Liqueur minerale d'hoffman pour mlle. Rabin	"	6 " "
	juin	" 20 "	inoculé un petit nègre Bossal nommé joue	"	30 " "
	juillet	" 20 "	Remis a mr audubon le compte du traitement de la galle de marianne et de sa fille, tout acquité	"	36 " "
	7bre	" 14 "	apozême purgatif pour le nègre jean maçon	"	6 " "
		" 16 "	une medecine pour jean maçon	"	6 " "
		" 21 "	saigné au bras mr audubon	"	3 " "
		" 23 "	eau de tamarinds compee. pour mr Audubon	"	10 " "
		" 24 "	une medecine en deux Dozes pour mr audubon	"	10 " "
	8bre.	" 22 "	une medecine pour le negrillon joue	"	6 " "
		" 23 "	traité soigné et fourni le medicament a joue attaqué de piano	"	132 " "
				L	513 " "
[Page 2]
			Suite de l'autre part	L	513 " "
	8bre.	" 25 "	saigné au bras mlle. Rabin	"	3 " "
		" 26 "	Liqueur minerale d'hoffman pour mlle. Rabin	"	6 " "
		" 30 "	une medecine pour le negrillon joue	"	6 " "
	9bre	" 15 "	une medecine pour le negrillon joue	"	6 " "
	Xbre	"   8 "	une medecine pour joue	"	6 " "
1785	janvier	" 18 "	une medecine pour mr audubon	"	10 " "
		" 21 "	une medecine pour le negrillon joue	"	6 " "
	fevrier	" 15 "	2once. manne pour mlle. Rabin	"	3 " "
		" 18 "	une medecine pour le tonneliere	"	6 " "
	mars	"   6 "	une medecine pour le tonneliere	"	6 " "
		" 10 "	une medecine pour le tonneliere	"	6 " "
		" 11 "	trois Dozes de kina pour le tonneliere	"	9 " "
		" 12 "	trois Dozes de kina pour le tonneliere	"	9 " "
		" 13 "	trois Dozes de kina pour le tonneliere	"	9 " "
		" 14 "	trois Dozes de kina pour le tonneliere	"	9 " "
	avril	"   2 "	une visite de nuit pour mlle Rabin	"	10 " "
		"   3 "	une Lotion pour un Erésipèle, que mlle. Rabin a à la jambe.	"	6 " "
		"   5 "	une Lotion pour mlle. Rabin	"	6 " "
		"   7 "	une Lotion pour mlle. Rabin	"	6 " "
		"   8 "	une medecine pour le tonneliere	"	6 " "
		"   9 "	trois Dozes de kina pour le tonneliere	"	9 " "
		" 10 "	trois Dozes de kina pour le tonneliere	"	9 " "
		" 11 "	trois Dozes de kina pour le tonneliere	"	9 " "
		" 12 "	trois Dozes de kina pour le tonneliere	"	9 " "
		" 24 "	Passé la nuit pres de mlle. Rabin. en mal d enfant	"	66 " "
		" 25 "	Passé la nuit pres de mlle. Rabin	"	66 " "
		" 26 "	mlle. Rabin est accouchée	"	... " "
	may	"   2 "	une visite de nuit et Liqueur minerale d'h. p. mlle. Rabin	"	16 " "
		"   3 "	Liqueur minerale d'hoffman p. mlle. Rabin	"	6 " "
		"   4 "	six Bouteilles d'eau blanche pour les cataplasmes nécessaires au mal de sein de mlle. Rabin	"	18 " "
	juin	" 19 "	ouvert un abcès au sein de mlle. Rabin soins et pour pansements	"	36 " "
		" 26 "	une medecine pour augustin negrillon	"	6 " "
				L	897 " "
[Page 3]
			Suite de l'autre part	L	897 " "
	juin	" 30 "	une medecine pour augustin	L	6 " "
	juillet	"   1 "	une medecine pour la vielle jeanne	"	6 " "
		" 16 "	une medecine pour mlle. Rabin	"	10 " "
	aout	" 15 "	une medecine pour mlle. Rabin	"	10 " "
		"	eau blanche pour mr audubon	"	3 " "
		" 20 "	une medecine pour mr aubinais commis	"	10 " "
		" 22 "	une medecine pour mr aubinais	"	10 " "
		" 24 "	tinture de Rhubarbe pour mr aubinais	"	6 " "
		" 26 "	tinture de Rhubarbe pour mr aubinais	"	6 " "
	7bre.	" 23 "	une bouteille vin medicinal pour le nègre enflé	"	15 " "
		" 27 "	une medecine pour la vielle jeanne	"	6 " "
	8bre	"   7 "	une medecine pour le nègre enflé	"	6 " "
		" 11 "	une medecine pour le nègre enflé	"	6 " "
		" 16 "	une medecine pour thérése	"	6 " "
		" 19 "	une medecine pour therese	"	6 " "
		acceptée apercu [?] Le 12 octob 1786		L	1009 " "
		Audubon			330
					1339 " "
		Pour acquit aux cayes ce 7 juin 1787
		—— Sanson
Recu de Mr Sanson 7. Juin 1787.
			1784 janvier traité mr ... soins et fourni services		330 "

315

1a. Translation of the Sanson bill. (For comment, see Chapter IV.)

M. AUDUBON, merchant, to SANSON,

Physician at Cayes

				Dr. TO WIT
				|
				Francs
1783	December	" 29 "	Ipecacuanha for a negro Bossal	"	6 " "
		" 31 "	Ipecacuanha for a negro Bossal	"	6 " "
1784	January	"   3 "	A medicine for a negro Bossal	"	6 " "
		"   5 "	A medicine for a negro Bossal	"	6 " "
		"   7 "	A medicine for a negro Bossal	"	6 " "
		"   9 "	A medicine for a Bossal	"	6 " "
		" 10 "	A medicine for a Bossal	"	6 " "
		" 14 "	A medicine for the mulatto Joue[255]	"	16 " "
		" 26 "	A medicine for M. Audubon	"	10 " "
	March	" 27 "	Inoculated Cæsar, 30f; inoculated Jupiter, 30f; inoculated Rose, 30f	"	90 " "
	April	"   1 "	Purgative decoction for Joue, [the] mulatto	"	6 " "
		"   3 "	A medicine for the mulatto, Joue	"	6 " "
		"   8 "	Purgative decoction for the negro Dominique	"	6 " "
		" 10 "	A medicine for Dominique	"	6 " "
		" 15 "	A medicine for Zemire	"	6 " "
		" 20 "	A medicine for Rose	"	6 " "
		"	Purgative decoction for Jupiter	"	6 " "
		" 21 "	A medicine for Dominique	"	6 " "
	May	"   2 "	A medicine for the negress Theresa	"	6 " "
		" 11 "	For attentions, visits, and remedies during the smallpox of the mulatto Joue	"	66 " "
		" 21 "	Hoffman's mineral water for Mlle. Rabin	"	6 " "
	June	" 20 "	Inoculated a little negro Bossal named Joue	"	30 " "
	July	" 20 "	Account rendered to M. Audubon for treatment of the gale[256] in Marian and her daughter, all receipted	"	36 " "
	September	" 14 "	Purgative decoction for the negro, John Mason [or John, mason(?)]	"	6 " "
		" 16 "	A medicine for John Mason	"	6 " "
		" 21 "	Bled M. Audubon at the arm	"	3 " "
		" 23 "	Tamarind water compound for M. Audubon	"	10 " "
		" 24 "	A medicine in two doses for M. Audubon	"	10 " "
	October	" 22 "	A medicine for the little negro Joue	"	6 " "
		" 23 "	Treated, attended, and furnished remedies for Joue attacked by the pian[257]	"	132 " "
				L	513 " "
[Page 2]
			Brought forward from other part	L	513 " "
	October	" 25 "	Bled Mlle. Rabin at the arm	"	3 " "
		" 26 "	Hoffman's mineral water for Mlle. Rabin	"	6 " "
		" 30 "	A medicine for the little negro Joue	"	6 " "
	November	" 15 "	A medicine for the little negro Joue	"	6 " "
	December	"   8 "	A medicine for Joue	"	6 " "
1785	January	" 18 "	A medicine for M. Audubon	"	10 " "
		" 21 "	A medicine for the little negro Joue	"	6 " "
	February	" 15 "	Two ounces of manna for Mlle. Rabin	"	3 " "
		" 18 "	A medicine for the cooper	"	6 " "
	March	"   6 "	A medicine for the cooper	"	6 " "
		" 10 "	A medicine for the cooper	"	6 " "
		" 11 "	Three doses of kino[258] for the cooper	"	9 " "
		" 12 "	Three doses of kino for the cooper	"	9 " "
		" 13 "	Three doses of kino for the cooper	"	9 " "
		" 14 "	Three doses of kino for the cooper	"	9 " "
	April	"   2 "	A night visit for Mlle. Rabin	"	10 " "
		"   3 "	A lotion for an erysipelas which Mlle. Rabin has on the leg	"	6 " "
		"   5 "	A lotion for Mlle. Rabin	"	6 " "
		"   7 "	A lotion for Mlle. Rabin	"	6 " "
		"   8 "	A medicine for the cooper	"	6 " "
		"   9 "	Three doses of kino for the cooper	"	9 " "
		" 10 "	Three doses of kino for the cooper	"	9 " "
		" 11 "	Three doses of kino for the cooper	"	9 " "
		" 12 "	Three doses of kino for the cooper	"	9 " "
		" 24 "	Passed the night with Mlle. Rabin [who was] in child-birth	"	66 " "
		" 25 "	Passed the night with Mlle. Rabin	"	66 " "
		" 26 "	Mlle. Rabin is delivered	"	... " "
	May	"   2 "	A night visit and Hoffman's mineral water for Mlle. Rabin	"	16 " "
		"   3 "	Hoffman's mineral water for Mlle. Rabin	"	6 " "
		"   4 "	Six bottles of eau blanche for poultices needed in an affection of the breast of Mlle. Rabin	"	18 " "
	June	" 19 "	Opened an abscess in the breast of Mlle. Rabin; for attentions and dressings	"	36 " "
		" 26 "	A medicine for the little negro Augustine	"	6 " "
				L	897 " "
[Page 3]
			Brought forward from the other part	L	897 " "
	June	" 30 "	A medicine for Augustine	"	6 " "
	July	"   1 "	A medicine for old Jane	"	6 " "
		" 16 "	A medicine for Mlle. Rabin	"	10 " "
	August	" 15 "	A medicine for Mlle. Rabin	"	10 " "
		"	Eau blanche for M. Audubon	"	3 " "
		" 20 "	A medicine for M. Aubinais, clerk	"	10 " "
		" 22 "	A medicine for M. Aubinais	"	10 " "
		" 24 "	Tincture of rhubarb for M. Aubinais	"	6 " "
		" 26 "	Tincture of rhubarb for M. Aubinais	"	6 " "
	September	" 23 "	A bottle of medicinal wine for a swollen negro	"	15 " "
		" 27 "	A medicine for old Jane	"	6 " "
	October	"   7 "	A medicine for the swollen negro	"	6 " "
		" 11 "	A medicine for the swollen negro	"	6 " "
		" 16 "	A medicine for Theresa	"	6 " "
		" 19 "	A medicine for Theresa	"	6 " "
		Accepted viséd [?] October 12 1786		L	1009 " "
		Audubon			330
					1339 " "
		Paid at Les Cayes this 7th June, 1787
		—— Sanson
M. Sanson's receipt June 7, 1787.
			1784 January Treated M.... For care and services rendered		330 "

328

2. Copy of the Act of Adoption of Fougère (John James Audubon) and Muguet (Rosa Audubon). Nantes, March 7, 1794. (For translation, see Chapter IV.)

Extrait des registres des naissances des sections de la Halle et de Jean-Jacques de la commune de Nantes, département de la Loire-Inférieure, le 17 Ventose, an 2 de la République, une et indivisible, 10 heures du matin.

Devant moi Joseph Theulier, officier public élu pour constater l'état-civil des citoyens, ont comparu en la maison commune Jean Audubon, commandant la corvette "le Cerbère," bâtiment de la République, âgé de 49 ans, natif des Sables-d'Olonne, département de la Vendée et Anne Moinet son épouse, agée de 58 ans, native de la ci-devant paroisse de Saint-Léonard, de cette commune, lesquels assistés de René Toussaint Julien Beuscher, fabricant, âgé de 25 ans demeurant section de la Halle rue Rubens et de Julien Pierre Beuscher, chirurgien marin, âgé de 24 ans, demeurant section de la Fraternité, rue du Marchix, et employé par continuation sur la dite corvette le Cerbère, m'ont déclaré adopter et reconnaître dès ce moment comme leurs propres enfants savoir:

Un enfant mâle nommé Fougère, issu depuis le mariage d'eux comparant contrôlé le 24 Août 1772 dans la commune de Paimboeuf en ce département de lui Jean Audubon avec une habitante de l'Amérique morte il y a environ huit ans et une enfant femelle nommée Muguet issue aussi depuis le mariage sus dit de lui Jean Audubon d'une autre habitant de l'Amérique nommée Catherine Bouffard dont il ignore le sort.

Les deux enfants ci-présents, âgés le premier de 9 ans qui échoieront le 3 Floréal prochain, le second de 7 ans que échoieront aussi au 7 Floréal prochain tous deux nés en Amérique d'après cette déclaration que les témoins ci-dessus ont certifié véritable, j'ai rédigé le présent acte que le père naturel et la mère adoptive ainsi que leurs témoins ont signé avec moi les dits jour et an.

329

3. Copy of the Act of Baptism of Jean Jacques Fougère Audubon. Nantes, October 23, 1800. (For translation, see Chapter IV.)

Premier brumaire, an neuvième.

Nous soussignés certifions avoir baptisé ce jour, premier brumaire, an 9 de la République, Jean Jacques Fougère Audubon fils adoptif de Jean Audubon lieutenant de vaisseau de la République et d'Anne Moinet sa légitime épouse, présents et certifiant l'adoption qu'ils ont fait du dit Fougère ainsi et de la même manière qu'il est porté dans l'acte ci-dessus.

330

4. Copy of a bill of sale of Negroes rendered by Monsieur Ollivier to Monsieur Audubon. Les Cayes, Santo Domingo, 1785.

1785.—M. Audubon doit à Ollivier ce qui suit:

Juillet	pour	4	négresses à	1750	7.000
—	—	1	"	1750	1.750
—	—	1	négresse borgne		1.600
—	—	1	négritte		1.200
					11.590

Pour acquit en compte et billet à mon ordre sous la réserve d'une augmentation de cent livres sur la négritte si elle vit an delà de six mois.

Aux Cayes, le 25 Juillet 1785.

Signé: Ollivier.

331

5. Statement of Accounts of Messrs. Audubon, Lacroix, Formon, & Jacques in the purchase of negroes from M. Th. Johnston, Les Cayes, Santo Domingo, 1785. (For comment, see Chapter III.)

Compte de vente frais et net produit de quarante nègres achetés de Monsieur Th. JOHNSTON, de compte à demi entre MM. AUDUBON LACROIX FORMON & JACQUES, pour prix la somme de soixante mille livres, payée au dit sieurs la dite somme comme suit:

Par Monsieur Audubon	20.000}
Par Lacroix Formon & Jacques	40.000}
		60.000

1785 Vendu par Monsieur AUDUBON, dont il se charge:

Février	11	1	à. Reynaud Chateaudun	f 1650
	12	1	—Garreau	2100
—	12	3	—Bourseret	6000
—	12	1	—Lui-même	1500
—	14	2	—Cossard	3564
—	15	1	—Lenoir	1782
—	18	1	—Blanchet	1782
—	19	3	—Jacques Bourry	6000
Mars	24	3	—Bouffard	4950
—	24	1	—Lui-même	1500
—	24	1	—Ch. Gettée	1800
—	24	1	—Bouffard	1650
		19 têtes			34.278

332

Vendu par Lacroix Formon & Jacques dont il se charge:

Février	12	3	à. Bourseret	6000
—	12	1	—Menard	2000
—	12	2	—Reynaud fils	3780
—	13	2	—Peridigon	3800
—	13	3	—Maillet Lacoste	5700
—	15	1	—Dugay	1712
—	19	3	—Jacques Bourry	6000
—	19	1	—Lui-même	1782
—	19	1	—Eux-mêmes	1500
—	19	1	—Begon M.	1700
—	19	2	—Millet	3300
Mars 2	A.	1	de mort chez Villeneuve chirurgien pour mémoire...;
					37.274
				f	71.552

Frais à deduire payés par Lacroix Formon & Jacques

Pour	80 régimes de bannanes	15	60}
—	8 têtes de boeuf	3	24}
Payé à Villeneuve chirurgien pour le traitement du nègre mort			99}	183
Net produit: f				71.369
La demi de Monsieur Audubon				35.684.10
Il a reçu en les reprises dont il se charge:				34.278. "
Il lui est dû pour Lacroix Formon & Jacques				1.406.10

333

Clos et arrêté le présent compte en double par lequel il résulte que M. Audubon doit à Lacroix Formon & Jacques dix mille livres pour sa demi du payement des dits nègres dont il les débite au compte courant arrêté ce jour en double, et les dits Lacroix Formon & Jacques devant au dit Sieur Audubon celle de cent six livres dix pour sa demi qui lui revient du net produit de la vente des dits nègres, lesquels portés au crédit des deux comptes courant, dont quitté aux Cayes, le plus porté au crédit de M. Audubon la somme de dix sept cent quatre-vingt deux livres pour la demi du billet du sieur Collard qui nous reste aux Cayes le 16 Septembre 1785.

Nous avons reçu de M. Audubon la somme de trente mille livres pour la portion d'achat des dits nègres au-dessus.

334

6. Copy of bill of sale of Negroes to Monsieur Audubon, and a statement of his account with Messrs. Lucas Brothers & Constant. Les Cayes, Santo Domingo, August 7, 1785-June 9, 1788. (For comment, see Chapter III.)

Nous soussignés déclarons avoir vendu et livré à Monsieur Audubon, négociant de cette ville les nègres ci-après, nation Hibo et Canga....

			Savoir:
1	nommé	Autron	Etampé	Lucas
1	—	Jupiter	—	—
1	—	Antoine	—	—
1	—	Pitre	—	—
1	—	Thehimaque	—	—
1	—	Jeanpierre	—	—
1	—	Magloire	—		Jh. Lucas
1	—	Lagrilade	—	—
1	—	Patté	—	—
1	—	Parisse	—	—
			—.Négresses.—
1	nommée	Françoise	—	—
1	—	Lucie	—	—
1	—	Julie	—	—
13	Ensemble treize nègres ou négresses à deux mille livres chaque formant la somme de vingt six mille livres sur laquelle somme nous avons reçu vingt-quatre mille livres comme suit:
16.000		en un mandat en sucre sur MM. Lacroix Formon & Jacques.
7.100		—17—8 en un billet de Formon Plumardière.
	889	—24 en son billet.
24.000		pour payement et à compte des treize nègres 335 ci-dessus détaillés, dans le nombre desquels le nommé Patté pour engagement de le livrer à M. Audubon dès qu'il sera en état de se rendre aux Cayes. Le dit sieur Audubon se réservant vue dessus quand nous lui en ferons la remise pour le prix de la somme de deux mille livres en argent comptant et moi Audubon accepte le dit marché et déclare avoir reçu livraison des douze têtes de nègres ou négresses que j'ai bien vus et visités et desquels je suis satisfait, aux Cayes, le 7 Août 1785.

Signé: Audubon—Lucas frères.

Nous avons reçu à compte de M. Audubon	162
	660
	882

Pour acquit porté en debit de notre compte courant arrêté ce jour, au Fond, le 9 Juin 1788.

Lucas frères & Constant.

336

7. Accounts of William Bakewell, of "Fatland Ford," as protégé of his future son-in-law and as attorney or agent for Audubon & Rosier, giving certain exact indications of the naturalist's movements and personal relations, before and after finally leaving "Mill Grove." January 4, 1805-April 9, 1810. (For further reference, see Chapter VIII.)

Messrs Audubon & Rozier in a/c with Wm Bakewell								Cr
1805
Jan	4	Cash for sundries	11	.25	March	18	Cash	5
	12	do	1
	18	Brother	150
1807
Apl	22	Cash Mr Rozier	66		Apl	1	Cash of Miller	150
		Advertists in Philada & Norristown	7				do of Jackson	50
		Cash pd M Fisher	40
		do paid Vendreman	3
1808
		Adv.ts & hand bills	3	.75	Jan	8	do of Longacre	50
		Cash Mr Pears	14	.50	Apl	2	do of Longacre	50
May	3	Exps of Horses to Philada	4	.76	do	25	d	100
	20	Sundries	18	.50	May	12	do formon	31	.84
June	8	Cash	3	.18	Dec	20	Cash of Longacre	30
	17	Smith's work	5	.00
		Advertiset	1
Oct	10	Exchange of Horse	10
		Keep of Horses 23 weeks	42	.50
Decr	31	Cash pd Mr Pears	18	.92
1809
		Advertisets & Vendue Exps	12	.82	Apl	18	Clennell	20
	25	Bills payable to W. Thomas	607	.10	Sept	30	Kymar	22
		Cash pd Mr Page for powr of Attorney	1	.37	Oct	27	d	47
	13	Paid Attachment fees	9	.28	Nov	6	d	22	.50
		Cash paid for tax	2	.91	Dec	23	do	10
	25	mortes [?] & half taxes	7
		Commission 7998 a 1½ per Cent	119	.97
1810
Jany	23	omitted Exps at Vendue	3	.77	Jan	23	Cash of Dacosta	299	.44
			$1176	.91	Feb	13	do of Miller	20
							Balle of Neckland	237	.32
					Apl	3	Miller	8
						9	do	6	.12½
								$1159	.22½

337

338

340

8. Concerning a Power of Attorney issued by Lieutenant Audubon and Anne Moynet Audubon to Ferdinand Rosier and John Audubon, the Younger, at Couëron, France, in 1805; parts in French translated by a Philadelphia notary; signatures of original document authenticated by the Mayor of Couëron, October 21, 1805; his attest of the legality of Anne Moynet Audubon's signature, at Couëron, October 27, 1805; authentication of the signature of the Mayor of Couëron by the Subprefect's of Savenay, November 27, 1805; attest of the Subprefect's signature by the Prefect. (Remainder of document missing.)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ss:

I, Peter Stephan Du Ponceau, notary public & Sworn Interpreter of foreign Languages for the Commonwealth aforesaid, residing in the City of Philadelphia, do hereby certify that I have carefully translated into English so much of the Instrument of writing hereunto annexed as is written in the French language, as follows, to wit:

341

And on the back of the said Deed [Act] is written in French what follows.

(Afterwards is written also in the French Language, as follows:)

344

9. Articles of Association of Jean Audubon and Ferdinand Rozier to govern their partnership in business; drawn up at Nantes, March 23, 1806. (See Chapter IX.)

Entre nous soussignés Ferdinand Rozier et Jean Audubon, nous proposant de passer aux états Unis sommes Convenus de former une société de Commerce aux Conditions Suivantes.

Article Premier.

La société sera régie sous les noms Collectifs de Ferdinand Rozier et Jean Audubon et chacun de nous aura la Signature pour toute affaire de notre Commerce seulement.

Art. 2.

a Notre arrivée nous prendrons possession de La terre de Mill-Grove, et nous ferons rendre Compte a Mr. Dacosta qui a la procuration d Mr. Audubon pére. nous nous occuperons des moyens de faire valoir cet établissement ou prendre Connoissance de La mine de Plomb Découverte, et avant d'y continuer les travaux Commencés, nous Examinerons si les dépenses faites par le Sr. Dacosta ont été et peuvent nous etre utiles. enfin nous fairons où fairons faire des devis Estimatifs des frais et des produits qui peuvent en résulter. et nous n'entreprendrons rien que nous ne soyons tous deux parfaitement d'accord sur le principe en Conséquence nous signerons l'un et l'autre le projet que nous en arrêterons afin que l'un de nous ne s'en écarte, et il en sera de meme pour toute les nouvelles Dépences qui changeraient les profits arrêtes.

Art. 3.

Il est convenu que la Moitié du produit de cette habitation seront entre nous par Moitié et pour en Connoitre ainsi que la perte, nous aurons un Livre particulier pour cet Objet, d'un Coté seront Inséres les articles de dépences par Jour, et au moment que nous en fairons, de l'autre Coté les ventes et Produits des fermes et de tout ce qui pourra résulter de cette Opération en sorte que le Bénéfice se verra tous les jours par l'addition des articles qui Composeront le débit et le Crédit.

Art. 4.

La Maison cy dessus sera un objet distinct. de tout Commerce afin de pouvoir régler cette propriété tant et tant de fois que Nous le désirerons. il est même Convenu que joindrons aux frais de cette Exploitation ceux nécessaires pour la vie et autres dépences communes tant qu'il nous Conviendra de vivre et d'habiter ensemble.

Art. 5.

Il ne peut nous etre interdit de faire tout autre Commerce, mais avant d'en entreprendre nous resterons six mois a prendre des Informations aux pays de ce qui pourroit nous etre avantageux, alors nous nous livrerions à quelque opération de commerce ou Intérieur ou Maritime.

Art. 6.

Nous pourrons l'un et l'autre faire quelque voyage a l'effet de nous procurer des Connoissances, et s'il arrivait que nous decidions quelque Négociants a envoyer des Marchandises à la vente ou à la Consignation de Mr. Rozier pére nous fairions la Condition que le Bénéfice qui resulteroit de ces Consignations seroit partages entre nous et le Sur. F. Rozier pere.

Art. 7.

Tous les bénéfices comme les pertes résultant de nos Opérations Commerciales seront partagées Egalement entre les associes.

Art. 8.

Les frais de Passage et autre communs entre nous fairont le premier article de nos dépences sociales....

Art. 9.

Nous nous promettons l'un et l'autre amitié et Intelligence, et convenons très expressement qua la moindre difficulté, nous prendrons chacun un arbitre qui sera authorisé a se choisir un troisieme et nous engageons sur notre honneur a en passer par tout ce qui sera décidé, sans que jamais nous puissions en faire appel devant aucuns tribunaux.

Art. 10.

En cas de mort de l'un ou l'autre (ce qu'a Dieu ne plaise) le survivant sera seul charge de la Liquidation pour en tenir Compte à qui de droit, c'est a dire aux héritiers du Déffunt, mais la societé ne pourra etre dissoute que neuf années à Compter du Jour de la Datte du présent. ce Cas seulement arrivant, il sera alloué au survivant une Commission sur les produits de l'Etablissement fixe à Dix pour Cent.

346

9a. Translation of the Articles of Association of John Audubon and Ferdinand Rozier.

We, the undersigned, Ferdinand Rozier and John Audubon, who are intending to go to the United States, are agreed to form a partnership in business upon the following conditions:

Article First.

The partnership will be administered under the joint names of Ferdinand Rozier and John Audubon, and each of us will have the power of signature for all matters of our business only.

Art. 2.

Upon our arrival we will take possession of the farm of Mill-Grove, and we will call to account Mr. Dacosta, who has the power of attorney of Mr. Audubon, Senior. We shall take measures to improve the establishment, or make an investigation of the lead mine discovered [on the property], and before continuing the work already begun we will ascertain whether the expenditures made by Sr. Dacosta, have been, and can still be, advantageous to us. Finally we shall prepare, or attempt to prepare, estimates of the expenses and the products which accrue from these, and we shall undertake nothing upon which we are not both perfectly agreed in principle; consequently we shall both subscribe to the project which we shall decide upon, in order that neither of us may depart from it, and it will be the same for all new expenses which might alter the plans that are reached.

Art. 3.

It is agreed that half the product of this plantation shall be divided between us on a one half basis, and in order to recognize this [profit], as well as the loss, we shall keep a special book for the purpose; on one side shall be entered the items of expense, day by day, and, at the moment this is done, on the other side [shall also be given] the sales and products of the farms, and of all that can result from this business, in such a way that the profit shall be always apparent by the addition of the items which compose the debit and the credit.

Art. 4.

The house above mentioned [Mill-Grove farmhouse] shall be an object separate from all business, in order that we may settle matters as completely as we desire. It is agreed that we shall add to the expenses of this exploitation, those necessary for life, and others of a common character, so long as it shall suit us to live and dwell together.

Art. 5.

We cannot be prevented from engaging in any other kind of business, but before undertaking it we shall remain six months in order to gather from the country information of a kind that would be advantageous to us; we shall then apply ourselves to some commercial occupation, whether inland or maritime.

Art. 6.

We are both at liberty to make any journey in order to procure information, and should it happen that we persuade any merchants to send goods to Mr. Rozier, Senior, we would establish the condition that the benefit which might result from these consignments would be divided between us and the Mr. F. Rozier, Senior.

Art. 7.

All the benefits as well as the losses resulting from our commercial transactions shall be divided equally between the partners.

Art. 8.

The expenses of the journey and others of a common nature shall make the first item of our social expenses....

Art. 9.

We both resolve to maintain friendship and mutual understanding, and we agree very expressly that, upon the least difficulty, we shall each select one arbitrator, who will be authorized to choose a third, and we promise upon our honor to fully accept the decision that shall be reached, without ever having it in our power to make an appeal from it before any courts.

Art. 10.

In case of the death of one or the other (which, God forbid), the survivor shall have sole charge of making a settlement, in order to give an accounting to those entitled to it by law, that is to say to the heirs of the deceased, but the partnership cannot be dissolved until after nine years, counting from the day of the date of the present [instrument]. Only in this event, the survivor will be allowed a commission upon the products of the establishment fixed at ten per cent.

350

10. Power of Attorney issued by Lieutenant Jean Audubon, Anne Moynet Audubon, and Claude François Rozier to their respective sons, Jean Audubon and Ferdinand Rozier, at Nantes, France, April 4, 1806, eight days before the latter embarked to America to enter upon their partnership in business.

Par devant Royer et Son Collégue, notaires à la résidence de Nantes, département de la Loire-inférieure soussignés,——————ont comparu le Sieur Jean Audubon, rentier, et dame Anne Moinet, son épouse qu'il autorise, demeurants rue Rubens, No. 39, et monsieur Claude-françois Rozier, négociant, rue de la fosse, tous trois commune de nantes, Les quels constituent pour leurs Procureurs généraux et spéciaux Jean Audubon, fils, et ferdinand Rozier, fils, aux quels, l'un en l'absence de l'autre, ils donnent pouvoir et procuration de faire, pour et au mieux de l'intérêt de Constituants, tous réglements de comptes, éligements de crédits, recovrements, payements, et autres actes analogues avec tous fermiers, correspondants, débiteurs et créanciers des Constituants aux Etats-unis d'Amérique; plaider, constituer, transiger, recevoir, donner quittances, renouveler, prendre termes, expedier et géréralement faire pour leur utilité, tout ce qui leur semblera le plus convenable; le tout, d'après les renseignements, pieces et documents relatifs, qui leur ont été, leur sont ou leur seront fournis tant par les constituants que par autres leurs précédents chargés d'affaires et fondés de pouvoirs aux dits Etats-unis de régir, gérer et administrer la moitié appartenante aux constituants de la terre de Mill Grove en Pensylvania même d'exploiter ou faire exploiter la mine de plomb récemment découverte sur la dite terre: consulter dans tous les cas importants, monsieur Miers fisher,—négociant à Philadelphie, comme ami commun et bon conseil; tenir tous livres et registres nécessaires, faire à la fin de chaque année ou plutôt, la balance de la recette et dépense pour la régie de la dite terre et l'exploitation de la mine, s'il y a lieu; vendre aux prix, charges, clauses et conditions dont il conviendront, mais d'accord avec monsieur Dacosta, propriétaire de l'autre moitié, la moitié de la dite terre de Mill grove, appartenante aux constituants, en toucher le prix, en donner quittances, faire tous partages, accepter tout lot et généralement faire pour l'intérêt des constituants tous actes conservatoires et definitifs en tous tribunaux, devant toutes administrations et officiers publics, qui leur paraitront nécessaires ou utiles; à l'effet de quoi, tous pouvoirs analogues exprimés ou non exprimés pour tous cas prévus ou imprévus, même de substituer en tout ou partie des dits pourvoirs, qui bon leur semblera et de le revoquer, leur sont donnés par la présente procuration qui ne sera pas sujette à surannation.——

fait et passé en l'étude et au rapport de Royer, l'un de nous, sous les seings des comparants, après lecture, ce jour trois avril mil-huit-cent six. la minute est signée des parties et des Notaires soussignés; elle est restée à Royer, l'un d'eux, enregistrée à nantes le trois avril mil-huit-cent-six par Dufau, qui a reçu un franc dix centimes.

351

10a. Translation of the Power of Attorney issued by Jean Audubon, Anne Moinet Audubon, and Claude François Rozier to Jean Audubon and Ferdinand Rosier, April 4, 1806.

In presence of Royer and his colleague, notaries, living at Nantes, department of the Loire-inférieure undersigned,—————————have appeared Sieur Jean Audubon, capitalist, and Madame Anne Moinet, his wife, whom he authorizes [to act], living at Number 39, rue Rubens, and Monsieur Claude François Rozier, of rue de la Fosse, all three of the commune of Nantes: who empower, to act as their general and special attorneys, Jean Audubon, the younger, and Ferdinand Rozier, the son, to whom, jointly and severally, they give authority and warrant of attorney to make, for and in the best interest of the grantors, all settlements of accounts, assignments of credits, recoveries of debts, payments, and other analogous acts with all tenants, representatives, debtors and creditors of the grantors in the United States of America; to go into court, settle, compromise, receive, to give receipts, to renew [loans or notes], to grant time, to expedite, and in general to do for their benefit all that shall seem to them most fitting; the whole, according to the instructions, papers, and documents relating thereto, which have been, are, or shall be furnished them, as well by the grantors as by their previous agents and attorneys in the aforesaid United States, to govern, conduct, and administer the half, belonging to the grantors, of the farm of Mill Grove in Pennsylvania, as well as to exploit, or cause to be exploited the lead mine recently discovered on the said farm; to consult, in every important matter, Mr. Miers Fisher,—merchant at Philadelphia, as a common friend and good counsellor; to keep all necessary books and registers; at the end of each year, or sooner, to strike the balance of receipts and expenses for the control of the said farm and the exploitation of the mine, should there be reason for it; to sell at prices, charges, stipulations, and conditions, upon which they shall agree, but In accord with Monsieur Dacosta, owner of the other half, the half of the said farm of Mill Grove, belonging to the grantors; to receive the price thereof, to give receipt for it, to make all divisions, to receive all allotments, and in general to perform for the interest of the grantors all conservative and final acts in every court of justice before all jurisdictions and public officers, which shall seem to them necessary or useful: to the effect of which all analogous powers, expressed or unexpressed, foreseen or unforeseen, even of substituting in whole or in part of the aforesaid powers, whosoever shall seem good to them, and of revoking him, are given to them by the present bill of attorney, which will not be subject to expiration.—— Done and granted in the office and on the report of Royer, one of us, under the signatures of the persons in appearance, after reading, this third day of April, one thousand eight hundred and six. The minute is signed by the parties and the undersigned notaries; it remains with Royer, one of us, recorded at Nantes the third of April one thousand eight hundred and six, by Dufau, who has received one franc, ten centimes.

354

11. Account Current of John Audubon and Ferdinand Rozier with the estate of Benjamin Bakewell, late commission merchant in New York, showing their dealings and standing with this house during the first sixteen months of their business experience in the West. Covers the period, August 1, 1807 to December 13, 1808. (Statement accompanying the letter of Thomas Bakewell, reproduced in Vol. I, p. 196.)

Drs	Messrs John Audubon & Ferdinand Rozier in Account Current with Benjn Bakewell									Crs.
1807
Augt	1	To Sundry Merchdize pr Invoice	$2482	35	Augt.	4	By your note at 8 mos		$3647	29
	31	" Cash sundry expences on the above	6	44	Decr.	31	" net proceeds sales on your a/c	4.50
Septr	29	" Merchdize Powder Horns shot bags &c	57					319.35	323	85
Novr	13	" W Taylor exps on Do to Pittsburgh	3	77			" Francis Rozier balance his a/c		816	56
	"	Cash certificate property pr Mentor to Nantes	2						$4787	50
	30	" Do postage sundry french letters	3	14
Decer	31	" Advt pr Jane # for Indigo & expences	1516	43
1808
Jany	29	" Cash frt & cartge Oil from Philada	12	45	Feby	1	By Balance as pr a/c rendered		$ 695	12
	30	" Do pd Hislop for breast pins on your a/c	9		March	1	" your dft on U S Bank Philada		2000
		Balance	695	12			" commission on goods allowed you	$118.20	[paper torn]
							deduct ⅓ profit on french goods	24.26	[ 93.94 ]
			4787	50		25	" R Kinder & Co's accepte @ 6 mos.		[paper torn]
March	1	To Merche pr Bill @ 6 mos	$ 161				" L Huron's note — " 9 days.		[ " ]
April	7	" your note due this day	3647	29			your note @ 4 mos for balance		[ " ]
		" R. Henderson amt due him by you	72	12			Balance		[ 924.49 ]
June	27	" Cash cartge & Lighterage on tobacco	7	50			New York Decemr. 13th. 1808 for the Assignees of the [estate of Benjamin Bakewell]
		" Freight & primage— " Do	105		Th[omas Bakewell]
July	28	" your note due this day	787	73
Septr	23	" Mdse 1 doz sans paraitres	24	24
			$4804	90
Decr	13	To Balance	$924	49

356 11a. Final Account of Francis Dacosta, rendered July 25, 1807, to Lieutenant Jean Audubon, his partner in the unfortunate mining enterprise at "Mill Grove"; later contested and settled by arbitration. (For comment, see Vol. I, p. 168.)

Dr.		Mill Grove Farm—in account with Francis Dacosta						Cr.
1806					1806
July	15th.	To printers Charges for advertising	4	44	Sepbre	26	By lead ore valued & divided	160
Aug.	23d	To horse hired	4	50	ditto		By tools & furniture—ditto—ditto	189	36
Octb	15	To housing the chair 4 months	4				By M. Mackley s/ refunding money /	2	00
Nov.	29	To Notariat and Consular charges in Bordeaux for Certificate to make void the mortgage & bond given to M. Fisher as agent	29	52	Oct.	11	By sale of the Chair	75
1807					1807
July	25	Ballance	390	62	april	6	By Sale of 84 panes of Glass to John Pawling	6	72
			$433	8				$433	8

Dr.		John Audubon of Nantz in Account Current with Francis Dacosta						Cr.
1806
June	1st	To Balance brought from the last account	316	27
1807					1807
July	25	to interest of the same to this day 13 m., 25 Dc	21	15			By cash	6	47
Sepbr	26	to his half in the Lead ore delivered to him & valued as above $160	80		July	25	By half of the ballance of the Mill Grove Farm—account current amounting as per the above account to 390.62	195	31
ditto		to ditto in the tools and furniture do do at $189.36	94	67	do	do	Ballance claimed this day	950	64
Octbr	15	to ditto in the chair Sold 75 Dollars	37	50
		to the recorder in Norristown for entering satisfaction of John Audubon mortgage to John Augustine Prevost	2	83
		to compensation claimed by Francis Dacosta for making up half of his expences, in managing the mining Works, the mills repairs, & taking up the formation of a Company, during two years of constant cares—troubles—and loss of time at 300 dollars a year	600	00
			$1152	42				$1152	42
E. E. Philadelphia the 25th July 1807
		[Signed] Francis Dacosta.

358

Erreurs à réléver dans le Compte de M. J. Audubon
	Veritables valeurs	" an lieu de	Difference
dans le Balance	" 125"8	300 "	174.92
do Furnitures	" 189"36	270 "	80.64
do Chairs	" 75"	125 "	50 "
do Mine 120.29 280.29		400"	119 "71
do —160 "		——	——
			$425-27
		la moitié est de	212.63½
Omis $300 payé par francis Dacosta à Miers Fisher le 24 May 1803			300
Ditto $176"67 La proportion de Fis Dacosta dans la rente de la premiere annee qui ne lui a pas été payé			176.67
			$689.30

359

12. Quit Claim or Release given by John James Audubon to Ferdinand Rozier on the Dissolution of their Partnership in Business at Sainte Geneviève, Upper Louisiana (Missouri), April 6, 1811.

I John Audibon having this day by mutual Consent with Ferdinand Rozier, dissolved and forever closed the partnership and firm of Audibon & Rozier,—and having Received from said Ferdinand Rozier, payments and notes to the full amount of my part of the goods & debts of the late firm of Audibon & Rozier—I the said John Audibon one of the firm aforesaid, do hereby release and forever quit Claim to all or any Interest which I have or may have in the Stock on hand and debts due to the Late Firm of Audibon & Rozier unto him the said Ferdinand Rozier, all my rights titles, claimes and Interest in the goods merchandise and debts due to the late Firm of Audibon & Rozier—and do hereby authorize and empower him for my part to collect the same in any manner whatseer. either privately or by suit or suits in law or equity—hereby acclaiming him sole and absolute proprietor and rightful owner of all the goods merchandises & debts of the firm aforesaid, as completely as they were the goods and property of the Late firm of Audibon & Rozier—

In witness whereof I have hereto Set my hand & Seal this Sixth day of April 1811

Ed D. De Villmonte

360

13. Copy of a portion of the first Will of Lieutenant Jean Audubon. Couëron, May 20, 1812. (For comment on this and documents Nos. 14 to 18, see Chapter IV.)

Jean AUDUBON, propriétaire demeurant à sa maison de la Gerbetière commune de Couëron, lequel sain d'esprit a fait son testament comme suit:

Par les présentes mon testament.

Je donne et lègue à dame Anne Moinette mon épouse, la part et portion disponible en usufruit à raison de ce que j'aurai ou non de descendants de généralement tous les biens meubles et immeubles qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès.

Je donne et lègue à Monsieur Jean Audubon que je crois actuellement aux Etats-Unis sans cependant en être sûr, la moitié en toute propriété de généralement tous les biens meubles et immeubles qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès pour par lui en faire et disposer en toute propriété et à sa volonté à la charge toutefois par lui de laisser dame Anne Moinette mon épouse jouir sur iceux du legs fait ci-dessus en sa faveur.

Je donne et lègue à dame Rose Bouffard épouse de Monsieur Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau, demeurant actuellement an Port-Launay en Couëron, la moitié en propre de généralement tous les biens meubles et immeubles qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès pour par lui en faire et disposer en toute propriété et à sa volonté à la charge toutefois par elle de laisser dame Anne Moinette mon épouse, jouir sur iceux du legs que je fais ci-dessus en sa faveur.

Je veux et entends qu'en cas de mort de Monsieur Audubon ou de madame Puigaudeau, mes deux derniers légataires aux présentes ou même de tous les deux, les héritiers en ligne directe de l'un ou de l'autre recueillent entr'eux le legs fait en leur faveur, c'est-à-dire que les héritiers de M. Audubon recueilleront le legs qui lui est fait et ceux de Madame Puigaudeau celui fait à la dite; en cas toutefois que les sieurs Audubon et la dame Puigaudeau ne recueilleraient pas eux-mêmes le legs, soit parce qu'ils précéderaient moi le testateur, ou autrement,...

361

14. Copy of the second and last Will of Lieutenant Jean Audubon. March 15, 1816.

Moi, soussigné, Jean AUDUBON, demeurant à la Gerbetière en la commune de Couëron, département de la Loire-Inférieure.

Par les présentes mon testament.

Je donne et lègue a dame Anne MOINETTE, mon épouse la part et portion disponible en usufruit à raison de ce que j'aurai de descendants de généralement tous les biens meubles et immeubles qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès.

Je donne et lègue à Monsieur Jean RABAIN créole de Saint-Domingue, que je crois actuellement aux Etats-Unis, sans cependant en être sûr, époux de Mademoiselle Lucy BACKWELL, la moitié en toute propriété de généralement tous les biens meubles et immeubles qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès pour par lui en faire et disposer en toute propriété et à sa volonté, à la charge toutefois par lui de laisser dame Anne Moinette, mon épouse jouir sur iceux du legs fait ci-dessus en sa faveur.

Je donne et lègue à dame Rose BOUFFARD, créole de Saint-Domingue épouse de M. Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau, demeurant actuellement an Port-Launay en Couëron, la moitié en propre de généralement tous les biens meubles qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès pour par elle en faire et disposer en toute propriété et à sa volonté, à la charge toutefois par elle de laisser à dame Anne Moinette, mon épouse jouir sur iceux du legs fait ci-dessus en sa faveur.

Je veux et entends qu'en cas de mort de M. RABAIN ou Madame Puigaudeau, mes deux derniers légataires aux présentes, ou même de tous les deux, les héritiers en ligne directe de l'un ou de l'autre recueillent entr'eux le legs fait en leur faveur.

Cela dit, que les héritiers de M. RABAIN recueilleront le legs qu'il lui est fait et ceux de dame Puigaudeau celui fait à la dite dame en cas toutefois que les dits sieurs Rabain et dame 362 Puigaudeau ne recueilleront pas eux-mêmes les legs faits, parce qu'ils précéderaient moi le testataire, ou autrement et dans le cas ou par quelque motif que ce puisse être les présentes dispositions en faveur de Jean Rabain et Rose Bouffard épouse Loyen du Puigaudeau seraient attaquées et annulées, je déclare donner mes biens meubles et immeubles sans exception quelconque à la dame Anne Moinette mon épouse en toute propriété.

Fait dans ma demeure susdite à la Gerbetière en Couëron le 15 Mars 1816. Vive le Roi!

Signé: Audubon.

363

15. Copy of a portion of the first Will of Madame Anne Moynet, wife of Lieutenant Audubon. December 4, 1814.

Par les preséntes mon testament.

Je donne et lègue à Monsieur Jean AUDUBON, mon mari, la jouissance en toute propriété des biens meubles et celle en usufruit des biens immeubles qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès, pour qu'à l'un et l'autre titre de cette epoque, il en jouisse fasse et dispose comme de tous ses autres biens sans être tenu d'en donner caution, voulant et entendant qu'il puisse faire sur les immeubles tous changements, coupes de bois et autres qu'il lui plaira, le tout avec dispense des dommages et intérêts.

Je donne et lègue en toute propriété à Monsieur Jean Audubon fils et à dame Rose Bouffard, épouse de Monsieur Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau à chacun par moitié, la totalité de tous les biens qui composeront ma succession immobilière à l'instant de mon décès, duquel néanmoins par suite du legs fait ci-dessus en faveur de mon mari, ils ne pourront se mettre en possession qu'a sa mort.

Arrivant que mon mari fut mort avant moi, je veux et entends que M. Jean AUDUBON fils et la dame Rose Bouffard, épouse Puigaudeau, recueillent aussi ma sucession mobilière à l'effet de quoi le cas arrivant, je leur lègue et donne en toute propriété.

Mes intentions que si M. Jean Audubon fils ou la dite dame Puigaudeau étaient morts l'un ou l'autre avant moi ou même tous les deux, leurs enfants soient mes légataires, c'est-à-dire que les enfants de M. Audubon recueilleraient entr'eux ce que celui-ci doit avoir et que ceux de Madame Puigaudeau recueilleraient aussi entr'eux ce que celle-ci doit avoir à l'effet de quoi je les donne et lègue aux dits enfants.

Si à ma mort l'un ou l'autre de M. Audubon fils ou de Madame Puigaudeau étaient eux-mêmes morts sans enfants, je veux que ce soit alors les survivants d'eux deux ou ses enfants qui recueillent ma succession entière, pourquoi à cette cause, je lègue la totalité de mes biens meubles et immeubles,...

364

16. Copy of a portion of the second Will of Madame Jean Audubon. May 10, 1816.

... Je donne et lègue à Monsieur Jean AUDUBON, mon époux, la part et portion disponible en usufruit à raison de ce que j'aurai ou non d'enfants de généralement tous les biens meubles et immeubles qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès pour par lui en jouir sa vie durant, sans pouvoir être tenu à en fournir caution et à ma mort mes héritiers les prendre dans l'état où ils seront.

Je donne et lègue en toute propriété à M. Jean RABIN, créole de Saint-Domingue, époux de demoiselle Lucy BACHWELL, laquelle je crois aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique, sans cependant en être sûre et à dame Rose Bouffard, créole de Saint-Domingue, épouse de Monsieur Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau, demeurant an Plessis commune de Couëron, la généralité de tous les biens meubles et immeubles qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès, pour par eux s'en mettre en possession, les partager par moitié et chacun jouir faire et disposer de ceux qui lui échoieront comme de ses autres biens propres de ce jour. Si M. Jean Audubon mon époux, est mort avant moi, mais seulement du jour de sa mort s'il me survit parce que je veux expressément que le legs fait ci-dessus en sa faveur ait sa pleine et entière exécution de préférence et avant tout.

Je veux et entends qu'en cas de mort de Monsieur RABIN ou de Madame Puigaudeau mes deux derniers légataires ou même de tous les deux, les héritiers en ligne directe de l'un ou de l'autre réunis recueillent le legs fait en faveur de leur auteur, c'est-à-dire que les héritiers de M. RABIN recueuilleraient le legs à lui fait et ceux de Madame PUIGAUDEAU ce que celle-ci aurait recueilli.

Arrivant que les libéralités faites en faveur de Monsieur Rabin ou celles faites en fabeur de Madame Puigaudeau ou même toutes les deux par quelles causes ou raisons que ce soit viendraient à être déclarées nulles, je veux que Monsieur Audubon, mon époux recueille en toute propriété les biens meubles 365 et immeubles qui en font l'objet et auraient passé aux mains de celui ou ceux qui ne pourraient les faire à l'effet de quoi je l'institue mon héritier en droits, fonds et propriétés pour les biens que mes autres légataires ci-dessus ou l'un d'eux seulement ne recueilleraient pas,...

366

17. Copy of the third Will—"No 169—of Madame Anne Moynet, widow of M. Jean Audubon, living at his house of La Gerbetière, situated near the village of Port-Launay, not far from Couëron." December 26, 1819.

Par les présentes mon testament;

Je donne et lègue en toute propriété à Monsieur Jean RABIN époux de dame Lucy BACKWELL, que je crois présentement aux Etats-Units d'Amérique et à dame Rose BOUFFARD, épouse de M. Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau aîné la généralité de tous les biens meubles et immeubles de toute espèce et nature qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès en quelles mains et lieux qu'ils soient et par quelques personnes qu'ils soient dûs ou possédés pour par eux deux en jouir faire et disposer en toute propriété comme de leurs autres biens, et ainsi qu'ils le jugeront convenable, sauf à les partager par égale portion s'ils le trouvent à propos et nécessaire et sans que qui que ce soit étant ou se prétendant mes héritiers, puissent y apporter aucune opposition, parce que par ces mêmes présentes, j'institue le dit M. Rabin et la dame Puigaudeau, mes seuls et uniques héritiers.

Je veux que dans le cas de mort de M. Rabin, ses enfants recueillent entr'eux le legs fait en sa faveur, je veux également qu'en cas de mort de Madame Loyen du Puigaudeau, ses enfants recueillent entr'eux le legs fait en faveur de la dite leur mère.

Je veux également qu'en cas de mort de M. Rabin sans enfants, Madame Loyen du Puigaudeau ou ses enfants, recueillent seuls la totalité de ma fortune et par ces mêmes raisons, qu'en cas de mort de Mme Loyen du Puigaudeau sans enfants, Jean Rabin ou ses enfants recueillent seuls la totalité de ma dite fortune.

367

18. Copy of a portion of the fourth and last Will of "Madame Jean Audubon, living at the house of Les Tourterelles ('The Turtle Doves') at Couëron." July 16, 1821.

Par les présentes, mon testament,

Je donne et lègue en toute propriété à Monsieur Jean AUDUBON, dit Jean RABIN, époux de dame Lucy BACKWELL, et que je crois présentement aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique et à dame Rose BOUFFARD, épouse de Monsieur Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau aîné, demeurant à Couëron. Je leur donne et lègue, dis-je la généralité de tous biens meubles et immeubles de toute espèce et nature que je laisserai et qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès, en quelques mains et lieux qu'ils soient et par quelques personnes qu'ils soient dûs ou possédés pour par eux deux en jouir, faire et disposer comme de leurs autres biens et ainsi qu'il le jugeront convenables, sauf à les partager par égale portion quand et comme ils le voudront sans que qui que ce soit se disant ou prétendant les héritiers puissent y apporter aucune opposition parce que par les dites présentes, j'institue les dits M. Jean Audubon, dit Jean Rabin et la dame Rose Bouffard, épouse Loyen du Puigaudeau, les deux seuls et uniques héritiers de mes droits, actions, possessions et généralement tous autres, sans exception pas même pour les préventions.

Je veux et entends que dans le cas où l'un ou l'autre ou même tous les deux ne pourraient pas recueillir les effets de ma libéralité, soit parce que je leur survivrais ou par toute autre raison, les enfants qu'ils laisseraient soient mes héritiers et légataires, c'est-à-dire que les enfants de Monsieur Jean Audubon dit Rabin, recueilleraient entr'eux la moitié de ma succession que je leur lègue et ceux de dame Rose Bouffard, épouse Loyen du Puigaudeau, recueilleraient aussi ensemble l'autre moitié que je leur lègue également.

Je veux et entends qu'avant de mort avant moi de Monsieur Jean Audubon, dit Jean Rabin sans enfants, Madame Rose Bouffard épouse Loyen du Puigaudeau ou ses enfants recueillent 368 seuls la totalité de ma fortune, et par même raison qu'en cas de mort avant moi de Madame Rose Bouffard, épouse Loyen du Puigaudeau; sans enfants, Monsieur Jean Audubon, dit Jean Rabin ou ses enfants recueillent seuls cette totalité,...

369

19. Notice of the Death of Lieutenant Jean Audubon, from the Official Registry of Nantes, Nantes, February 19, 1818. (For translation, see Chapter V.)

Extrait du registre des actes de décès des 3o & 4o cantons de la Ville de Nantes, département de la Loire-Inférieure.

L'an 1818, le 19 Février à 11 heures du matin, devant nous soussignés, adjoints et officiers de l'état civil, délégués de M. le Maire de Nantes, chevalier de Saint-Louis, ont comparu les sieurs Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau rentier, gendre du défunt ci-après demeurant à Couëron et François Guillet, épicier demeurant quai de la Fosse, majeurs, lesquels nous ont déclaré que ce jour à six heures du matin, Jean Audubon, ancien capitaine de navire, pensionnaire de l'Etat, né aux Sables d'Olonne département de la Vendée, époux de dame Anne Moinet, est décédé en la demeure de demoiselle Berthier, située chaussée de la Madeleine, No 24, 4o canton.

Les déclarants ont signé avec nous le présent acte, d'après lecture leur faite. Le dit défunt âgé de 74 ans.

370

20. Letter of Lieutenant Jean Audubon to Francis Dacosta, his American agent and attorney, relating to the conduct of his son and to the lead mine at "Mill Grove" farm; transliterated from photographic copy of duplicate (Letter No 4) in Jean Audubon's letter-book. Nantes, March 10, 1805. (For translation, see Chapter VIII.)

Nantes Le 19 ventose an 13, 10 mars 1805

Je viens de recevoir dans ce moment votre duplicata du 12. 9bre. & la votre du 5. Decembre, qui n'est pas aussi avantageuse, Sous plusiers rapports que votre précédente, mais enfin il faut espérer que l'item vous prouvera que votre dernier sillon ne sera point déserteur, et que les occides de fer qui se trouvent se dissiperont en fouillant plus avant, an moins c'est ce que je désire, vous faites bien de faire tous vos efforts pour avoir des associés & Si cela ne réussit pas, & que vous vouliez travailler pour notre compte Je trouverai toujours bon, tout ce que vous ferez, puisque vous avez ma confiance dans ce cas je crois que vous s... igé[?], de faire faire des reparations les plus urgentes Surtout à la maison principale, Devant vous y loger. Quand à Mr W. Thomas, vous ferez bien de vous le garder, pour toutes les raisons, que vous me dites & Je crois qu'il ne doit pas sopiniatrer à se retirer, qu'il ne sache, s'il à mérité, oui ou non, sa récompense.

Je suis Mr. on ne peut plus faché de ce que vous ayez à vous plaindre, de la conduite de mon fils, car le tout, bien considéré n'est occasionné, que par de mauvais conseils & un deffaut d'usage on a aiguillonné son amour propre, et peut être avait-il été assez jeune pour se vanter, dans la maison ou il va que cette plantation devait lui echoir, à lui seul; vous avez tous les moyens de detruire cette présomption, on n' ignore point a philadelphie, que vous avez autant de droits que moi & que vous ne faites rien que pour notre mutuel avantage. 371

Je lui ecris a ce sujet, car il ne men parle point, et je lui donne la cémonce que mérite son indiscrétion; vous lirez cette lettre et voudrez bien avoir la complaisance de la cacheter avant de lui remettre. Vous me dites que je puis m'en rapporter sur son compte an rapport que m'en fait Mr. Meyers fisher, dans sa longue lettre du mois de Septembre que Malheureusement je n'ai pas reçu, car Mr fisher, ne me parle point de lui, ni en bien, ni en mal. Quand à venir dans le pays, cela me parraît presqu'impossible, rappeller mon fils n'est pas plus aisé, les raisons qui me l'en fait l'envoyer existent toujours; il ne faut qu'un instant pour le faire changer du mal au bien, sa grande jeunesse et sa pétulance sont tous ses torts et si vous avez la Bonté de lui donner l'indispensable, il sentira bientot la Nécessité de se rapprocher de vous et pourra vous être d'une grande utilité, si vous exploitez par vous même.

Il faut donc Mon cher monsieur, que nous tachions de le ramener par la douceur à son Devoir. Si vous avez de l'indulgence pour lui ce sera moi qui vous en aurai toute l'aubligation; j'espere que la lettre cy-jointe operera chez lui un changement. C'est mon seul fils, mon heritier, & je suis vieux. Quand Mr Meiers fisher aura montré ma lettre au prétendu beaupere, il verra qu'il s'est trompé dans son calcul sur le prétendu Mariage de sa fille, car s'il avait lieu sans mon consentement tout secours de ma part cesserait des cet instant; et c'est ce que vous pouvez bien si vous voulez avoir cette bonté, dire an prétendu beau pere, ne voulant pas que mon fils se marie aussi jeune; vos lettres du 28 Octobre & 12 Novembre sont à la campagne. Je ne puis point répondre categoriquement sur leurs contents; Je les examinerai & vous dirai par ma prochaine ce que J'en pense. Votre famille que J'ai vu se porte bien. Nos dames vous rémercient de votre bon souvenir. Je suis &.

[Jean Audubon.]

372

21. Letters of John James Audubon to Claude François Rozier, father, and to Ferdinand Rozier, son, immediately preceding and following his active partnership in business with the latter: 1807 and 1812. (For translations see Chapters XI and XV.)

New York avril 24 1807—

Mon Cher Monsieur

Je profite d'une bonne occasion pour Bordeaux pour vous accuser reception d'un Duplicats des pouvoirs que nous vous demandai plusieurs mois passes. Vous saurez aussi que les vins consignes a M. L. Huron de Philadelphia sont arrives en cette ville et ont sauves les assurances; votre fils s'est transporte sur la place et par une de ses lettres m'apprend que les 60 caisses sont vendues il me dit que vous pouvez compter sur un profit net d'a peu pres 20 p. ct. s'il s'est trouve tres bons et le reste ne manquera de trouver acheteur: Mr. Le Ray est arrive et a apporte avec lui une petite Boite de dentelles pour M. Benjamin Bakewell d'icy elle doit arriver en peu de jours de Philadelphia. Mr. B. B. a paru satisfait de la vente de son Bois Futtie. il lui tarde seulement de voir les retours il est malheureux que le commerce de votre ville avec ce pays ne soye pas aussi regulierement suivi qu'a Bordeaux d'ou nous avons des Batiments tous les mois et par plusieurs. Comme notre ami Ferdinand vous ecriva de Philadelphia concernant Mr. Huron je ne m'ettendray pas sur son compte: dans plusieurs de vos Lettres que si nous nous decidions obtenir un magasin de detail que vous pourriez nous tenir constamment employe nos idees sur ce sujet sont parfaitement d'accord et ce serait avec bien du plaisir que nous commenserions sous auspices et les bons 373 avis de Mr. Bakewell ici; les objects bien choisis bien achette et envoye avec soins sont toujours sur de rencontrer un bon marche: j'ose esperer que le Navire la Jeanne Capt Sammis sera arrive a votre port et que les Indigos charges par M. B. Bakewell pourront y etre venu en temp de vente de cette marchandise dont j'ai neanmoins quelque crainte vu le prix qu'ils lui avaient coute. Nous vous remercions sincerement pour le prix courant que vous nous avez envoye, dans une de mes dernieres ecrite par voye de Bordeaux je vous priais de demander a Mr. Fleury Emery une boite de graines de la Martinique et de se pays cy. nous esperons sous peu vous envoyer quelque marchandises et peut etre Mr. Bakewell profitera d'une occasion que nous allons avoir en peu de jour pour votre port. A peu plus trois semaines passees Je fus a Mill Grove et l'affermais pour un an ne pouvant faire mieux pour le present. Votre fils a Philadelphia a present va essayer de terminer les comptes de mon pere avec Mr. Dacotta [Dacosta] qui n'oublie pas aisement d'etre chicanneur... presentez Je vous prie mes respects et amities a votre bonne famille et epouse et croyez en moi comme votre devoue

Ayez la complaisance de faire parvenie l'incluse a mon bon pere.

Shippingport, 10th. Augst. 1812

Mon cher Rozier:—

Come il est presque probable que l'occasion que je trouve est sur, je suis avec elle le plaisir de t'écrire quelque mots—

Je reçus en temps ta lettre envoyé a Phila a lequelle je repondis alors; depuis je n'ai entendu de tes nouvelles que par 374 voies très indirectes, je serais bien content si tu peux donner quelques instants a tes amis que tu me compte aux nombre et m'écrire par temps; je partis avec ma femme et mon fils de Phila au mois passé, la plus grande parties de ce temps a été à descendre L'Ohio qui est actuellement très bas nous avons eu la Barge et L'Equipage du Gl Clark, avec la compagnie de Mr R. A. Maupin et de Mde Gait qui avaient rester plusieurs mois a New York & a Phila. Je vais probablement descendre a la N. Orléans cet autumn avec N. Berthoud, les merchandizes sont extremement rare et très chere, partout, mais plus encore les gros Lainages que l'on ne trouve du tout.

Je n'ai pas de doute que ton plomb ne se vende tres bien cet article ayant augmenté considerablement depuis la guerre.—dans les derniers jours que j'etais dans l'Est j'ai recu une lettre de mon père et une de ton frère toute ta famille se portait alors bien dit 4 mois passés, ton frère desire beaucoup entendre de toi, si la paix vient un jour non bien loin (ce qu'à Dieu plaise) j'espere entrer en liaison avec lui.

Je lui est écrit et l'engage a faire de même tes lettres pouront se rendre si envoyers a N. York et de la dans la Cartel. Ma femme se porte bien et mon fils sois de même et compte au nombre de tes amis est ce que dison celui qui t'estimera toujours.

375

APPENDIX II
Audubon's Early Dated Drawings Made in France and America

Drawings now in the Collections of Mr. Joseph Y. Jeanes, of Philadelphia, and formerly belonging to Mr. Edward Harris, of Moorestown, New Jersey; of Mr. John E. Thayer, Lancaster, Massachusetts; and of Harvard University. (See Chapter XII.)

In addition to the serial numbers, here given, the drawings usually bear French and English names, with various notes in French relating to weights and measurements, and rarely with sketches of detail.

Mr. Jeanes' collection contains the following:

No. 5.	Long-tailed Mountain Tit,	22 January,	1805
13.	Sedge Sparrow, near Nantes,		1805
22.	Reed Sparrow, near Nantes,		1805
78.	Hawk's Eye,—Spotted Plover,—France,	18 March,	1805 [?]
97.	The Creeper, France,	June 7,	1805
86.	Shrike, near Nantes,	July,	1805
93.	Nuthatch, near Nantes,	July 9,	1805
	Terns, France,	July 12,	1805
50.	The Redstart, near Nantes,	August,	1805376
61.	The Great Swallow (Le martin noir), near Nantes,		1805
65.	The Wagtail, near Nantes,	Dec. 22,	1805
69.	The Green Finch, near Nantes,	Dec.,	1805
92.	L'Ecorcheur à tête rouge, near Nantes,		1805
6.	"Grosbec," near Nantes,		1806 [?]
94.	Woodpecker, near Nantes,	March 8,	1806
	Fish Hawk, Perkioming Creek,		1806
209.	Wood Thrush, Mill Grove,	August 14,	1806
145.	Long-tailed Duck, New York,	Dec. 17,	1806
	Golden Eye, New York,	Dec. 28,	1806
153.	American Widgeon, New York,	Dec. 28,	1806
102.	Robin (eggs dated May 8th), New York,	Jany. 4,	1807
156.	Shelldrake, New York,	Jany. 28,	1807
143.	Widgeon, New York,	Feby. 23,	1807
146.	Canvasback, New York,	March 22,	1807
163.	Shoveller, New York,	April 3,	1807
163.	Sprig-tail, New York,	Feby. 22,	1807
	Wood Duck,		1807
48.	Orchard Oriole, Falls of the Ohio,	June 5,	1808
214.	Chimney Swallow, Falls of the Ohio,	July 27,	1808
188.	Kentucky Warbler, 20 miles from Philadelphia,	(June?),	1809
109.	Passenger Pigeon, Falls of the Ohio,	Dec. 11,	1809
	Hooded Merganser, Falls of the Ohio,	March 7,	1810377
41.	Catbird, Red Banks,	June,	1810
105.	Red-wing Blackbird,	June,	1810
81.	The Frog-eater (Hawk), Red Banks,	Nov. 29,	1810
186.	Killdeer,		1811
200, 201.	Pewit, and Great-crested Flycatcher, Henderson,	May 22,	1811
207.	Carolina Parrot, Henderson,	June 9,	1811
49.	Swamp Sparrow, Pennsylvania,	March 12,	1812
6.	Spotted Sandpiper, Pennsylvania,	April 22,	1812
11.	Whippoorwill, Pennsylvania,	May 7,	1812
10.	Nighthawk,	May 8,	1812
58.	Great American Shrike, Henderson,	Nov. 30,	1812
76.	Red-crowned black Woodpecker, Henderson,	Oct. 15,	1814
66.	Black-capped Nuthatch, Henderson,	Feby. 16,	1815
	Willet, Henderson,	May 8,	1815
	Snipe, Henderson,	March 17,	1816
300.	Yellow-billed Rail, Henderson,	Oct. 9,	1816
	Purple Gallinule, New Orleans,	April 23,	1821
	Chuck Wills Widow, Red River,	June,	1821

378

The Harvard University collections contain the following:

No. 91.	L'Ecorcheur,
42.	The Sedge-bird, near Nantes,		1805
43.	The Nightingale, near Nantes,	July 6,	1805
57.	Brown Thrush, near New York,	May 10,	1807

Excellent examples of Audubon's early work in the collection of Mr. John E. Thayer are:

No. 96.	Woodpecker: prior to 1803 (see note, vol. i, p. 178).
112.	Water Thrush, Mill Grove, Pennsylvania,	Aug. 2,	1806
144. 64.	Malaga Shell Drake. Goosander, Mergus Merganser A. W. Chute de L'Ohio	17 December,	1809
175.	Crested Titmouse, Redbanks,	July 1,	1810
71. 44.	The Spirit or Butterball-Bufflehead, Henderson,	Mar. 19,	1815
154.	Golden Crested Wren A. W., Sylvia Regulus, Shippingport, Kentucky; drawn by J. J. Audubon—Mistletoe on Black Walnut.	Jany. 28,	1820
	Hermit Thrush, opposite Fredericksburg, Ky.,	Oct. 16,	1820
315.	Rose-breasted Grosbeak (on spray of dogwood).

379

Among the drawings of the Harris-Jeanes collection which may be earlier than 1805, though they bear no date, are "The Black Crow of Buffon, Corneille noire," also the head of a Jackdaw wholly in crayon and pastel: "No. 160, Le grand Duc, âgé vingt un an, Buffon,—the large horned owl, Eagle owl. J. J. L. Audubon," a crayon sketch on paper measuring eighteen by twenty-six inches, and water-marked "J. Kool"; also "No. 164. La corneille mantelle de Buffon, Royalton crow, Sea crane, hooded crow, crow—British,—J. J. L. Audubon," a crude sketch in pastels of the same size as the last.

The following legends appear on the drawing of the Canvasback Duck: "Cet Oiseau est nommé Canvas Back Canard very much esteemed par les Americans and very rare ici [c]elui est male et étais beau"; "New York le 22 Mars 1807—J. J. L. Audubon" "No. 146." 380

APPENDIX III
"The Birds of America"

1. Final Lists of Subscribers to "The Birds of America," folio edition, as published by Audubon in 1839. (See Ornithological Biography, vol. v, pp. 647-651.)

List of American Subscribers

• 1. Library of Congress of the United States, Washington City.
• 2. State Departments, Washington City.
• 3. Library of the General Court of Massachusetts.
• 4. Legislature of South Carolina, for the Columbia College.
• 5. Legislature of Louisiana.
• 6. Legislature of Maryland.
• 7. Legislature of New York.
• 8. Legislature of Michigan.
• 9. Boston Athenæum.
• 10. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• 11. Providence Athenæum, Rhode Island.
• 12. Salem Athenæum, Salem, Massachusetts.
• 13. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.
• 14. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.
• 15. Columbia College of New York.
• 16. Boston Natural History Society.
• 17. Charleston Library, South Carolina.
• 18. Charleston Natural History Society, South Carolina.
• 19. Charleston Citizens' Library, South Carolina
• 20. Richard Harlaw [Harlan], Esq., M.D., Philadelphia. 381
• 21. John P. Wetherell, Esq. Philadelphia.
• 22. Mrs. Ford, Philadelphia.
• 23. Mrs. Douglas Cruger, New York.
• 24. Edward Prime, Esq., banker, New York.
• 25. James G. King, Esq., banker, New York.
• 26. Cornelius C. Low, Esq., New York.
• 27. P. J. Stuyvesant, Esq., M.D., New York.
• 28. Robert Ray, Esq., New York.
• 29. J. L. Joseph, Esq. , New York.
• 30. Richard N. Carman, Esq., New York.
• 31. Mrs. Bailey, New York.
• 32. Stephen Van Rensselaer, Esq., Albany, New York.
• 33. Hogden Haggerty, Esq., Albany, New York.
• 34. W. L. Colman, Esq., Albany, New York.
• 35. Samuel Swartout, Esq., Albany, New York.
• 36. James Watson Webb, Esq., Albany, New York.
• 37. Thomas H. Faile, Esq., Albany, New York.
• 38. Lewis Rogers, Esq., Albany, New York.
• 39. Jer. Van Rensselaer, Esq. M.D., Albany, New York.
• 40. H. C. De Rham, junior, Esq., Albany, New York.
• 41. Stephen A. Halsey, Esq. Long Island, New York.
• 42. Edward Harris, Esq. Moorestown, New Jersey.
• 43. Thomas H. Perkins, Esq. Boston.
• 44. J. G. Cushing, Esq. Boston.
• 45. Samuel Appleton, Esq. Boston.
• 46. George C. Shattuck, Esq. M.D. Boston.
• 47. P. J. Jackson, Esq. Boston.
• 48. James Brown, Esq. Boston.
• 49. Frederick Tudor, Esq. Boston.
• 50. The Honourable Daniel Webster, Boston.
• 51. Augustus Thorndike, Esq. Boston.
• 52. L. Baldwin, Esq. Civil Engineer, Boston.
• 53. E. Greenwood, Esq. Museum, Boston.
• 54. George Pratt, Esq. Boston.
• 55. William Sturges, Esq. Boston.
• 56. Robert Gilmor, Esq. Baltimore.
• 57. John B. Morris, Esq. Baltimore. 382
• 58. —— Smith, Esq. Baltimore.
• 59. Thomas Edmonston, jun. Esq. Baltimore.
• 60. William Gaston, Esq. Savannah, Georgia.
• 61. James Potter, Esq. Savannah, Georgia.
• 62. Alexander Telfair, Esq. Savannah, Georgia.
• 63. Thomas Young, Esq. Savannah, Georgia.
• 64. John David Mongin, Esq. Savannah, Georgia.
• 65. Daniel Blake, Esq. Savannah, Georgia.
• 66. Thomas Butler King, Esq. St. Simon Island, Georgia.
• 67. Thomas Metcalf, Esq. Augusta, Georgia.
• 68. E. Geddings, Esq. M.D., Charleston, South Carolina.
• 69. William J. Rees, Esq. Stateburgh, South Carolina.
• 70. R. O. Anderson, Esq. Georgetown, South Carolina.
• 71. Miss Burley, Salem, Massachusetts.
• 72. Miss Elizabeth L. Pickman, Salem, Massachusetts.
• 73. William Oakes, Esq. Ipswich, Massachusetts.
• 74. James Arnold, Esq. New Bedford, Rhode Island.
• 75. Garnet Duncan, Esq. Louisville, Kentucky.
• 76. John Croghan, Esq. M. D. Louisville, Kentucky.
• 77. Henry Clay, jun. Esq. Ashland, Kentucky.
• 78. James Grimshaw, Esq. New Orleans.
• 79. Gustavus Schmidt, Esq. New Orleans.
• 80. J. J. Hughes, Esq. Manchester, Mississippi.
• 81. John Hunt, Esq. Mobile, Alabama.
• 82. Henry Hunt, Esq. Mobile, Alabama.

Europe

• 1. Her Most Excellent Majesty, Queen Adelaide, England.
• 2. (His Most Christian Majesty, Charles X).
• 3. His Majesty Philippe I. King of the French.
• 4. Her Royal Highness Mademoiselle d'Orleans.
• 5. Prince Massena, Paris.
• 6. His Grace the Duke of Rutland, London.
• 7. The Honourable W. C. Wentworth Fitzwilliam, London.
• 8. The Right Honourable the Countess of Ravensworth, Ravensworth Castle. 383
• 9. The University of Edinburgh.
• 10. The Society of Writers to her Majesty's Signet, Edinburgh.
• 11. Henry Witham, Esq. of Lartington, Durham.
• 12. John Rutter, Esq., M.D., Liverpool.
• 13. Doctor Bickersteth, Liverpool.
• 14. Armorer Donkin, Esq. Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
• 15. Yorkshire Philosophical Society, York.
• 16. John Clough, Esq., Oxton Hall, Yorkshire.
• 17. Jos. S. Crompton, jun., Esq., Eshott Hall, Bradford, Yorkshire.
• 18. Thomas Walker, Esq. Killinbeck, near Leeds.
• 19. Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society.
• 20. John Marshall, jun. Esq., Headlinglay, Leeds.
• 21. Samuel Greg [Gregg], Esq., Quarry Bank, near Manchester.
• 22. Edward Lloyd, Esq., Greenhill, near Manchester.
• 23. The Manchester Society for the promotion of Natural History.
• 24. The Reverend Peter Horden, M.A., for the Cheetham Library, Manchester.
• 25. G. W. Wood, Esq., Manchester.
• 26. Mrs. Rattsbone [Rathbone], Greenbank, Liverpool.
• 27. J. G. Children, Esq., British Museum, London.
• 28. The Right Honourable the Earl of Carnarvon, London.
• 29. S. P. Atkins, Esq., Walbrook, London.
• 30. The Right Honourable the Earl of Derby, P. Z. S. [President of the Zoological Society], &c. &c. &c.
• 31. The Right Honourable Earl Spencer, London.
• 32. John Heathcote, Esq., London.
• 33. Joseph John Gurney, Esq. Earlham Hall, Norfolk.
• 34. James Darbyshire, Esq., Manchester.
• 35. John Blackwell, Esq., Manchester.
• 36. A. J. Cresswell Baker, Esq., Prowin Park.
• 37. Reverend Edward Craig, Edinburgh.
• 38. The College of Glasgow, as Trustees of the Hunterian Museum. 384
• 39. John Buddle, Esq., Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
• 40. The York Subscription Library, York.
• 41. Kirk Patrick, Esq., London.
• 42. T. B. L. L. Baker, Esq. Christ Church, Oxford.
• 43. Doctor Lodge, for the University Library, Cambridge.
• 44. George Thackeray, D.D., Provost of King's College, Cambridge.
• 45. The Cambridge Philosophical Society.
• 46. The Fitzwilliam Museum, by M. Davy, Vice Chancellor.
• 47. Dr. Kidd, for the Anatomical School, Christ Church, Oxford.
• 48. Doctor Williams, for the Radcliffe Library, Oxford.
• 49. James Pickering Ord, Esq., Hedge Hill, near Derby.
• 50. The Right Honourable Viscount Milton, London.
• 51. M. Feuillet, for the Library of the Royal Institute of France.
• 52. Vicounte [Viscount] Simeon, for the Ministry of the Interior, 6 copies.
• 53. M. Pitois, Paris.
• 54. Mrs. Warden, London.
• 55. Mr. Hearne, bookseller, London.
• 56. Henry Ellisan, Esq., Beverly, Yorkshire.
• 57. Benjamin Smith, Esq. M. P., London.
• 58. The Right Honourable the Earl of Bradford, London.
• 59. Thomas Frost, Esq., Gorton Hall, near Manchester.
• 60. John G. Reeves, Esq., Birmingham.
• 61. Birmingham Old Library, by Beilby, Knott, and Beilby.
• 62. Joseph C. Dyer, Esq., Manchester.
• 63. Thomas Walker, Esq., Ravensfield, near Doncaster.
• 64. George Lamb Fox, Esq., Yorkshire.
• 65. Haarlem Library, Holland.
• 66. Mrs. [Miss] Euphemia Gifford, Duffield Bank, Derby.
• 67. Charles Fox, Esq., Perrair, near Truro, England.
• 68. George Lane Fox, Esq., Yorkshire.
• 69. Sir John Tobin, Liverpool.
• 70. His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, Dalkeith Palace, Scotland. 385
• 71. His Imperial and Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Tuscany, &c. &c. &c.
• 72. London Institution, by Mr. Bradley, Librarian.
• 73. Benjamin Phillips, Esq., F. R. S. L., &c. &c. &c., 17 Wimpole Street, London.
• 74. Henry G. Bohn, Esq., London.
• 75. Charles J. Warde, Esq. Welcomb, near Stratford-on-Avon.
• 76. The British Museum, London (in part).
• 77. His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, &c. &c. &c.
• 78. Earl Hardwicke, &c. &c. &c. Wimpole, Arrington, Cambridge.
• 79. Sir Jacob Hastley, Bart, &c. &c. &c., Cavendish Square, London.

386