BIRTH AND PARENTAGE 67 



ers 20 having been "killed in the wars." He then believed, 

 as he said, that his first journey to France was made 

 when he was two years old. 



The later and fuller biography, referred to above as 

 written in 1835 and published in 1893, begins with these 

 words : 21 



The precise period of my birth is yet an enigma to me, 

 and I can only say what I have often heard my father repeat 

 to me on this subject, which is as follows: It seems that my 

 father had large properties in Santo Domingo, and was in the 

 habit of visiting frequently that portion of our Southern States 

 called, and known by the name of, Louisiana, then owned by 

 the French Government. 



During one of these excursions he married a lady of Spanish 

 extraction, whom I have been led to understand was as beauti- 

 ful as she was wealthy, and otherwise attractive, and who bore 

 my father three sons and a daughter, — I being the youngest of 

 the sons and the only one who survived extreme youth. My 

 mother, soon after my birth, accompanied my father to the 

 estate [sic] of Aux Cayes, 22 on the island of Santo Domingo, 

 and she was one of the victims during the ever-to-be-lamented 

 period of the negro insurrection of that island. 



My father, through the intervention of some faithful ser- 

 vants, escaped from Aux Cayes with a good portion of his 

 plate and money, and with me and these humble friends reached 

 New Orleans in safety. From this place he took me to France, 

 where having married the only mother I have ever known, he 

 left me under her charge and returned to the United States in 

 the employ of the French Government, acting as an officer 

 under Admiral Rochambeau. Shortly afterward, however, he 



20 Whether Jean Audubon had other sons born in Santo Domingo is 

 not recorded, and this reference of the naturalist, which was repeated in 

 his later sketch, cannot be verified. 



21 See Maria R. Audubon, Audubon and His Journals (Bibl. No. 86), 

 vol. i, p. 7. 



22 See Note 2, Vol. I, p. 38. 



