VOE. II.] Andrew Fackson Grayson. 41 
posed work upon the birds of western Mexico. Their son Edward 
had been sent East to school the same year. 
The voyage to Mexico ended in disaster; the schooner J/ary 
Taylor was wrecked in the bay of Ventosa and all. the books, 
drawings, drawing paper and colors were ruined. In a strange land 
without money, Grayson gladly accepted a position as surveyor, 
which enabled him to replenish his funds. 
The loss of the drawing materials was keenly felt, but having be- 
come a self-taught taxidermist, he made collections of birds and 
kept notes and descriptions for future use. 
On again arriving in San Francisco he was compelled by want of 
funds to sell his collections to a naturalist. They were taken by 
the purchaser to New York and some or all found their way to the 
Smithsonian Institution. 
Soon after his return he made an exploring trip down the coast 
of Mexico in company with his esteemed friend Hutchings, of 
Yosemite Valley fame. Several months were spent together trav- 
_ eling in a canoe below San Blas. 
The lateness of the season and the inclement climate brought on 
an attack of the coast fever, which ended the trip without having 
accomplished much in the way of collecting natural history speci- 
mens. : 
The information gained by the canoe voyage decided Gray- 
son to settle at Mazatlan with his family and to make that city his 
headquarters for future explorations of western Mexico whenever 
opportunities afforded or time could be spared from the general 
merchandise and commission business in which he engaged. 
During the ten years of his residence in Mazatlan he performed 
the work by which naturalists shall judge him. In addition to the 
_ vicinity of Mazatlan, he explored the Tres Marias Islands, Socorro 
Island and Isabel Islands. Grayson contributed many articles 
to newspapers in Mexico and California and to magazines in this © 
- - State. Some of his writings appeared with his own name and 
: many with the om de plume ‘“ Wanderer,” others were signed 
_ “Rambler” or ‘ Occidentalus.” The majority of the articles were 
- geographical accounts of the interesting places and islands visited 
_ with profuse notices of natural history objects. A long letter writ-— 
ten at Mazatlan in 1865, to the editor of the Afexican Times, called 
the attention of the Imperial Government to the wrongs of Amer- 
1a settlers from California living — the west coast of Mexico. 
