318 M'iscellaneo2is. 



In a few days he called again, and asked me if I really was willing 

 to undertake the commission, and if I believed I could obtain it at 

 the sum I had named. I said I thought I might, and would try ; 

 on which he sent me an order on Messrs. Green, the bankers in 

 Paris, for double the amount I should require, according to the printed 

 catalogue, and said, if necessary, I might use the whole sum. Ou 

 my arrival in Paris, I put up at Meurice's, and at once sent a mes- 

 senger with a note to the Prince Massena, saying that I was willing 

 to purchase the collection of birds at the rate of four francs per 

 specimen, and that I was prepared to pay for it in ready money. 

 While sitting at dinner at the table cVhote, an aide-de-camp came in, 

 all green and gold, with a cocked hat and a large white feather, to 

 inquire for me, with a message from the Prince to inquire what I 

 intended by ready money, and, when I explained, to inquire if I was 

 ready to pay the sum that evening. I said no, that I had only just 

 arrived in Paris, and had not delivered my letter of credit to the 

 banker, but I would be ready to pay as soon as the bank opened the 

 next morning. He said the bank opened early, and would I come 

 to the prince at seven o'clock ? to which I assented. I immediately 

 sent my letter of credit to Messrs. Green, and mentioned the sum 

 that I should draw for early the next morning. I kept my appoint- 

 ment ; the prince met me, declared the collection agreed with the 

 catalogue, on which I gave his highness a cheque on Messrs. Green ; 

 and he gave me a receipt and handed me the keys of the cases, and 

 I sealed them up, the affair being settled in a few minutes. 



Having finished my work sooner than I expected, and it still 

 being early, I went to call on my dear old friend Prof. De Blainville, 

 and had breakfast with him. He asked what had brought me to 

 Paris. I said, among other things, to purchase the Prince Massena's 

 Collection of Birds, which I had done ; on which he became much 

 excited, and said that the French Government had intended to pur- 

 chase it, and that he must take measures to prevent its leaving 

 France. I said I was not aware that the Government wanted it, for 

 I knew it had been for several years in the market, and it was now 

 too late, as I had paid for the collection, which was now in my 

 possession ; and I showed him the keys of the cases and the receipt 

 for the money. At length my good and kind friend became pacified. 

 I then sent to an English dealer residing at Dieppe to come and 

 pack the collection for exportation to the United States, as Mr. 

 Wilson wished me to do if I succeeded in getting it. 



It soon became buzzed about Paris that I had bought the collec- 

 tion ; and I had applications from several dealers to pack it, and 

 remonstrances from others for having made the bargain myself, and 

 not through them : they said that if I had employed them, I could 

 have got it for the same price, and they have obtained a good profit 

 out of it ! 



Mr. Wilson was much pleased with the purchase, and afterwards 

 purchased the cases, in which the birds were retained, and the 

 specimens of the parrots that were not contained in the catalogue. 

 On my return from Paiis, Mr. Wilson sent me a very complimentary 



