JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 95 



It was no easy thing to secure enough 

 men to pledge themselves to $1, 000 for a 

 work, the publication of which must of 

 necessity extend over eight or ten years. 



Few enterprises, involving such labour 

 and expense, have ever been carried 

 through against such odds. 



The entire cost of the "Birds" ex- 

 ceeded one hundred thousand dollars, 

 yet the author never faltered in this 

 gigantic undertaking. 



On August 2, Audubon and his 

 wife sailed for America, and landed 

 in New York on September 4. They 

 at once went to Louisville where the 

 wife remained with her sons, while 

 the husband went to Florida where the 

 winter of 1831-2 was spent, prosecuting 

 his studies of our birds. His adventures 

 and experiences in Florida, he has 

 embodied in his Floridian Episodes, 

 "The Live Oakers," "Spring Gar- 

 den," "Deer Hunting," "Sandy Isl- 

 and," "The Wreckers," "The Tur- 



