II. 



AUDUBON was now eager to marry, 

 but Mr. Bakewell advised him first to 

 study the mercantile business. This 

 he accordingly set out to do by enter- 

 ing as a clerk the commercial house of 

 Benjamin Bakewell in New York, while 

 his friend Eozier entered a French house 

 in Philadelphia. 



But Audubon was not cut out for busi- 

 ness ; his first venture was in indigo, and 

 cost him several hundred pounds. Eo- 

 zier succeeded no better ; his first specu- 

 lation was a cargo of hams shipped to 

 the West Indies which did not return 

 one fifth of the cost. Audubon' s want 

 of business habits is shown by the state- 

 ment that at this time he one day posted 

 a letter containing eight thousand dollars 

 without sealing it. His heart was in the 

 fields and woods with the birds. His 

 room was filled with drying bird skins, 

 the odour from which, it is said, became 



