130 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



a fragmentary sketch, which was not published for over 

 half a century. 



Audubon started for Edinburgh in September of 

 1834. He wrote to Edward Harris from Liverpool, on 

 the 15th of that month, to inquire into the truth of a 

 report, which had circulated in London, of the failure of 

 the house in New Orleans "in which our friend N. Ber- 

 thoud is concerned." "I wish you would have the kind- 

 ness to inform me," he adds, "if he is a sufferer by this 

 mishap, and I wish you to keep this quite entre nous." 



At a slightly earlier day Audubon had entertained 

 the idea of illustrating the birds of Great Britain on a 

 scale commensurate with his work on those of America, 

 but on May 1, 1828, he wrote Swainson that no one 

 favored the project, and it was quickly given up. The 

 subject is referred to by MacGillivray, in a letter writ- 

 ten from Edinburgh, May 7, 1831: "As I understand 

 your proposals respecting the Birds of Britain to have 

 ended in nothing, and as you do not allude to the sub- 

 ject, I shall suppose all your ideas to have dispersed, 

 and shall think of the matter myself." The first volume 

 of MacGillivray's History of British Birds appeared six 

 years later. 6 It is evident that he wished to obtain Au- 

 dubon's criticism of some of the drawings subsequently 

 used in this work when he sent the following formal 

 note 7 to his lodgings at Edinburgh: 



William MacGillivray to Audubon 



Edinburgh, 22d. October, 1834. 



Dear Sir, 



I take the liberty of sending you a collection of drawings 

 made by myself, and intended for a work on the vertebrate 



6 See Vol. II, p. 135. 



7 This, and the letter of MacGillivray soon to follow, are from the 



Howland MSS. 



