JOHN LEDYARD 303 



a ship and other proper facilities were necessary. 

 In order to obtain a partner possessing the requisite 

 means, he visited New York and Philadelphia, and 

 did his utmost to enlist the interest of some opulent 

 ship-merchants. He labored and argued in vain. 

 Scores of shrewd and enterprising merchants in 

 those cities refused and derided the very same enter- 

 prise which, in after-years, built the colossal for- 

 tune of J. J. Astor. At length, in despair of ac- 

 complishing any thing in his own country, Ledyard 

 sought and obtained a passage to Europe. On the 

 1st of June, 1784, he sailed for Cadiz. He had 

 been led to believe that he should find patrons in 

 the city of L' Orient. He was still very poor, and 

 found much difficulty in obtaining the means of 

 travel to that city. Having arrived, he immediately 

 presented himself with his letters of recommen- 

 dation to the leading merchants of the place. At 

 first his earnest representations and his glowing 

 arguments in favor of his commercial scheme, en- 

 listed their sympathy and favor. They agreed to 

 despatch a vessel to the designated coast; but 

 they found the season too late for that year, and 

 were compelled to postpone the execution of the 

 plan to the next. Ledyard spent the winter in 

 L'Orient in restless impatience, waiting for the 

 spring to open. When that period arrived, the 



