20 JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 



sides below the water line, to gain an 

 excuse to spend a few more days with 

 his bride. 



After a voyage of nineteen days the 

 vessel entered the Loire, and anchored 

 in the lower harbour of Nantes, and 

 Audubon was soon welcomed by his 

 father and fond foster-mother. 



His first object was to have the man 

 Da Costa disposed of, which he soon 

 accomplished j the second, to get his 

 father's consent to his marriage with 

 Lucy Bakewell, which was also brought 

 about in due time, although the parents 

 of both agreed that they were "owre 

 young to marry yet. ' ' 



Audubon now remained two years in 

 France, indulging his taste for hunting, 

 rambling, and drawing birds and other 

 objects of Natural History. 



This was probably about the years 

 1805 and 1806. France was under the 

 sway of Napoleon, and conscriptions 

 were the order of the day. The elder 



