Biographical Memoir 27 



ilies. It is hard today to picture the surroundings 

 of that time. No railroad cut ofif the waters of 

 the lovely river, then the highway from the ocean 

 to Albany, and alive with craft of many kinds. 

 The other three sides were heavily wooded; and 

 neighbors there were none, for it was not until 

 some years later that other homes began slowly to 

 appear here and there. Few if any of the friends 

 of the Audubons in those days are left on earth, and 

 the houses where they once lived have, with few 

 exceptions, either been torn down or so altered that 

 their former owners would not recognize them. 



Minniesland with its large gardens and orchards, 

 especially celebrated for peaches, its poultry yards 

 and dairy which added to the comfort of the home 

 and of the many guests who always found a wel- 

 come there, had an interesting side in the elk, deer, 

 moose, foxes, wolves and other wildwood creatures 

 which were kept for study and pleasure; and still 

 another in the books, pictures and curios within 

 the ever hospitable house, but more than all was 

 the charm of the tall gray-haired old man, who 

 by talent, industry, and almost incredible persever- 

 ance won it for those he loved. 



The early days at Minniesland were very happy 

 ones for all. The "Quadrupeds of North America" 

 had been begun and was of intense interest to father 

 and sons, and the work he was doing for this 

 publication, the superintendence of the animal life 



