JEAN AUDUBON AND HIS FAMILY 35 



same year he was placed in command of an American 

 armed vessel The Queen and sent on another mission 

 to France. Near the Chaussee des Saints he was at- 

 tacked by a British privateer, but after a stubborn fight 

 at close quarters he sank his enemy and entered the 

 port of Brest. Nothing is said of the taking of pris- 

 oners on such occasions, and there were doubtless few 

 survivors among the defeated crew. This command 

 Jean Audubon held until peace was concluded between 

 Great Britain and her former colonies in America, prob- 

 ably until the close of 1783. The hostile army was dis- 

 banded in the spring of that year, the treaty of peace 

 was made definitive in September, and on November 

 25, 1783, the last British troopers left the city of New 

 York. 



