308 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



As their flatboat stopped at many towns and planta- 

 tions on the rivers, Audubon could hunt game and birds 

 to his heart's content. Having resolved, as he said, 

 never to draw from a stuffed specimen, he worked at 

 every new bird with the greatest diligence. It seems 

 almost incredible that he should never have met with 

 the Hermit Thrush before this journey, yet under date 

 of "Oct. 14, 1820," there is this entry: "We returned 

 to our boat with a Wild Turkey, a Telltale Godwit and 

 a Hermit Thrush, which was too much torn to make a 

 drawing of it ; this was the first time I had met with this 

 bird, and I felt particularly mortified at its condition." G 



Their visit to Natchez furnished Audubon with ma- 

 terials for at least two of his "Episodes." 7 This inci- 

 dent of his generosity may be taken as characteristic; 

 finding that one of his companions was down at the 

 heel and as short of ready money as himself, he sought 

 out a shoemaker and offered to do a portrait of the 

 man and his wife for two pairs of boots; the proposal 

 was accepted forthwith, and he set to work; the sketches 

 were finished in the course of two hours, and Audubon 



Audubon and Wilson manuscripts and drawings in possession of Harvard 

 University, having been once included in the estate of Joseph M. Wade. 

 The collection embraces four early drawings by Audubon, presumably at 

 one time in the hands of Edward Harris (see Note 9, Vol. I, p. 180) ; 73 of 

 Audubon's original letters, comprising largely his correspondence with Dr. 

 John Bachman; 60 letters by Victor G. Audubon; and a few by other mem- 

 bers of the naturalist's family. See the Annual Report of the Curator of 

 the Museum of Comparative Zoology for 1910-1911. 



Through the courtesy of Professor E. L. Mark, and the Director of 

 the Museum, Dr. Samuel Henshaw, I have been permitted to examine 

 these numerous documents. In any direct or casual reference to this 

 valuable material, I have endeavored not to overstep the bounds of pro- 

 priety, in view of the fact that the University contemplates publishing 

 copious extracts from it at an early day. It should be noticed that 

 excerpts from this journal have already appeared in print. See following 

 Note. 



6 See Ruthven Deane (Bibl. No. 41), The Auk, vol. xxi, pp. 334-338. 



' "Natchez in 1820" and "The Lost Portfolio," Ornithological Biography 

 (Bibl. No. 2), vol. iii, pp. 529 and 564. 



