RECOLLECTIONS, 1840. 27 



my purse with contents intact. I had had $500 in it, 

 but had taken $200 to go to be " chained." 



From November 1840 until March 1842, 1 continued 

 to conduct Mr. Thorburn's business at Astoria. Then 

 we parted and I came to Albany to try my chance as a 

 florist and nurseryman. I located on the Albany and 

 Troy road, on a modest scale more than modest, i. e. 

 meagre ! Do you wish to have a slight idea of it ? 

 Well ! before the year 1842 was over every cent of the 

 five or six hundred dollars, or a little over, were gone, 

 and in nine months, from March to December, business 

 was so prosperous that during that lapse of time I re- 

 ceived $17 ! We spent at least $100 a month. Had 

 it not been for that Phanerogyne, that Egeria of mine, 

 I would have had to bundle up, to bundle off, for 

 climes more hospitable, but that diminutive (in appear- 

 ance), that rara avis, that bird of mine, saved us from 

 a complete wreck. Not only saved us, but upheld my 

 courage, and when the rose buds or buds of any descrip- 

 tion, failed to open, she supplied them with 'musical 

 notes ! Now ! you will understand my love, my devo- 

 tion, my veneration for that personified providence. 

 She never flinched ; her fortitude upheld her will ! and 

 in my eyes the exiguity of her stature transfigured her 

 as a " giantess ! ! " 



