JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 111 

 In Salem lie called upon a wealthy 

 young lady by the name of Silsby, who 

 had the eyes of a gazelle, but "when I 

 mentioned subscription it seemed to fall 

 on her ears, not as the cadence of the 

 wood thrush, or of the mocking bird 

 does on mine, but as a shower bath in 

 cold January. " 



From Boston Audubon returned in 

 October to New York, and thence went 

 southward through Philadelphia to 

 Washington, carrying with him letters 

 from Washington Irving to Benjamin F. 

 Butler, then the Attorney General of 

 the United States, and to Martin Van 

 Buren who had just been elected to the 

 presidency. Butler was then quite a 

 young man: "He read Washington 

 Irving' s letter, laid it down, and 

 began a long talk about his talents, 

 and after a while came round to my 

 business, saying that the Government 

 allows so little money to the depart- 

 ments, that he did not think it prob- 



