62 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



some property upon "Jean Rabin, Creole de Saint Do- 

 mingue" which he refused to accept, saying, "my own 

 name I have never been permitted even to speak ; accord 

 me that of Audubon, which I revere, as I have cause 

 to do." 13 The reference in this instance was, I believe, to 

 the final will of Lieutenant Audubon, 14 according to 

 which his property, after being held in usufruct by his 

 wife during her lifetime, was to be equally divided be- 

 tween their two adopted children. In his first will the 

 son was referred to as "Jean Audubon," but in the sec- 

 ond and last document, executed in 1816, two years be- 

 fore the testator's death, he appears as "Jean Rabin." 

 Madame Audubon drew four wills; in the first, dated 

 December 4, 1814, her adopted son is called "Jean Au- 

 dubon"; in the next, of 1816, he is "Jean Rabin, Creole 

 de Saint-Domingue" while in a draft written December 

 26, 1819, he is styled simply "Jean Rabin"; finally, in 

 her fourth and last testament of July 16, 1821, the word- 

 ing is "Jean Audubon, called 'Jean Rabin.' It is 

 thus very plain that Audubon's foster parents consid- 

 ered it advisable to have his identity clearly set forth 

 in legal documents. In one of his autobiographical 

 sketches Audubon remarked that his own mother was 

 said to have been as wealthy as she was beautiful, and 

 if this were true, such caution might be explained and 

 a key found to certain other enigmatical conditions 

 which seemed to hedge his early life. But to such pos- 

 sibilities it will be necessary to revert at a later point of 

 our story. 15 



This dual personality was set forth by the naturalist 

 himself, but in a more curious form, in a power of attor- 



13 This statement was made to me by Miss Maria R. Audubon in 1914. 

 11 For full text of the six wills drawn at different times by Jean 

 Audubon and his wife see Appendix I, Documents Nos. 13-18. 

 35 See Chapter XVII. 



