J()H.\ JAMES AUDUBON. 773 



letter of introduction to liim, and when he left Cincinnati tj descend the 

 river to New Orleans, he received letters of recommendation from Henry 

 Clay and General Harrison to the Governor of Arkansas and other persons 

 likely to be of service to him. His design on this expedition was to collect 

 specimens in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, retracing his steps to New 

 Orleans, up the Red River, down the Arkansas, and then homewards. He 

 was determined in any case to complete one hundred drawings before he re- 

 turned to Cincinnati, and he fulfilled his resolve. 



On the I2th October, 1820, the naturalist left Cincinnati in company 

 with an officer of engineers, who had been commissioned to make a survey 

 of the Mississippi. For fourteen days they drifted down the Ohio in the 

 flat-boat which conveyed the scientific e.xpedition. Audubon had a relative 

 in the old French town of Natchez, and made his first stoppage on his way 

 down the Father of Waters at that place. " On a clear frosty morning in 

 December," writes Audubon in his journal, " I arrived at Natchez, and found 

 the levee lined with various sorts of boats full of Western produce. The 

 crowd was immense, and the market appeared to be a sort of fair. ScraM- 

 bling up to the cliffs on which the city is built, I found flocks of vultures 

 flying along the ground, with outspi'ead wings, in pursuit of food. Large 

 pines and superb magnolias crowne:! the bluff, and their evergreen foliage 

 showed with magnificent effect. I was delighted with the spectacle of 

 white-headed eagles pursuing fishing-hawks, and surveyed the river scenery, 

 sparkling in bright sunlight, with a new pleasure." 



After some stay in Natchez, Audubon left for New Orleans, with his 

 friend Berthou4, in a keel-boat, which was taken in tow of the steamer. 

 Not long after leaving, he discovered that one of his portfolios, containing 

 some drawings of birds he prized highly, was missing. On the voyage he 

 remarked the thousands of swallows in their winter quarters, the soft notes 

 of the doves, the glowing crests of the grosbeak, and the perfume of the 

 oranges across the stream. On arriving at New Orleans, Audubon was re- 

 lieved to find that the lost portfolio had been found, and was located safely 

 in the office of the Mississippi Republican newspaper. He, however, found no 

 work to do, and had to live for some days in the. boat he came with. The 

 money he had — not much — was stolen from him, and he had not even as 

 much as would pay a lodging he took in advance. Amid all his difficulties 

 he still kept wandering to the woods, made additions to his specimens, and 

 filled his portfolio with new drawings. Meeting an Italian painter, Audubon 

 explained his anxiety to have work. The Italian introduced him to the di- 

 rector of the theatre, who offered the naturalist one hundred dollars per 



