78 JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 

 woods again. His friend, Basil Hall, 

 had insisted upon his procuring a black 

 suit of clothes. "When he put this on to 

 attend his first dinner party, he spoke of 

 himself as " attired like a mournful 

 raven," and probably more than ever 

 wished himself in the woods. 



He early called upon the great por- 

 trait painter, Sir Thomas Lawrence, 

 who inspected his drawings, pronounced 

 them "very clever," and, in a few days, 

 brought him several purchasers for some 

 of his animal paintings, thus replenish- 

 ing his purse with nearly one hundred 

 pounds. 



Considering Audubon's shy disposi- 

 tion, and his dread of persons in high 

 places, it is curious that he should have 

 wanted to call upon the King, and 

 should have applied to the American 

 Minister, Mr. Gallatin, to help him to 

 do so. Mr. Gallatin laughed and said : 

 " It is impossible, my dear sir, the King 

 sees nobody ; he has the gout, is peevish, 



