JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 77 



life when the Wild Turkeys that so often crossed my path, and the 

 thousands of lesser birds that enlivened the woods and the prairies 

 all looked like enemies, and I turned my eyes from them, as if I 

 could have wished that they had never existed." 



This financial calamity seems to mark the turning point in 

 Audubon's career for although prosperity did not come to him for 

 some years he was at once forced through necessity to make use 

 of his real talents instead of engaging in business for which he had 

 neither taste nor ability. He began to draw portraits in black 

 chalk and succeeded so well that he soon gained great popularity 

 and was enabled to settle in Louisville. 



One possession with which both Audubon and his wife were 

 endowed and the value of whicb^ ran harrfly be estimated was a 

 charming personality ^everywhere they made friendsjnot merely 

 "acquaintances but friends who were only too glad to render them 

 every assistance in their power, and in the period of adversity 

 which came to them during the years 1818 and 1819, and at other 

 times later on, they owed not a little to the generosity of their 

 friends. 



The year 1818 found the family in Cincinnati where Audubon 

 was engaged at the museum in stuffing birds, an occupation which 

 he continued for only six months owing to the failure of the au- 

 thorities to furnish him the promised remuneration. He now fell 

 back upon his pencil and gave lessons in drawing, while he was 

 actually forced to depend to some extent upon his gun to supply 

 his table. 



A sedentary life had no attractions for Audubon and he could 

 never remain long in one place without experiencing the restless 

 desire to be again roaming the forest and sooner or later he suc- 

 cumbed. So now after a couple of years he determined on a trip 

 southward to New Orleans. His wife was established with kind 

 friends in Cincinnati and was supporting herself in part by teach- 



ring. In such sympathy was she with his undertakings and with 

 such confidence in his ultimate success in anything he attempted 

 that she was ever willing to sacrifice personal comforts rather 

 than prove an obstacle to his plans, 



