88 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



standing had been carefully improved both by observa- 

 tion and by self education." Jean Audubon's means in 

 France had been reduced partly by bad debts, for he 

 seems to have been generous in lending money to his 

 friends; Madame Audubon found herself greatly ham- 

 pered by lack of ready money, although, as her son- 

 in-law remarked, her hands were full of notes. 



When Jean Audubon applied for nomination to the 

 naval service of the Republic in 1793, we find a descrip- 

 tion of his previous life and habits recorded as a part 

 of the information required by the Committee of Pub- 

 lic Safety. The commune of Nantes at that time gave 

 a flattering testimonial to his patriotism, in which he 

 was described as an officer of merit, who had acquired 

 through long experience at sea an extensive knowledge 

 of navigation, who was a man of honor, and devoid of 

 any inclination to vice or gambling ; his nautical experi- 

 ence had been chiefly gained in American waters, the 

 voyages of his choice being those to Santo Domingo and 

 the United States. 



At the age of forty-eight the elder Audubon thus 

 briefly described himself : short in stature, measuring five 

 feet, five inches; face, oval; eyes, blue; nose and mouth, 

 large; eyebrows, auburn; hair and beard turned gray. 

 Contrary to the naturalist's expressed belief, there seems 

 to have been little or no physical resemblance between 

 father and son. At a corresponding age, John James 

 Audubon, according partly to his own account, stood 

 five feet, ten inches in stockings; his hair was dark 

 brown; he had sunken, hazel eyes, flecked with brown, 

 and of remarkable brightness; while his clean-cut profile 

 showed an aquiline nose. "In temper," said the son, to 

 continue the comparison, "we much resembled each other, 

 being warm, irascible, and at times violent, but it was 



