Vanderlyn. 77 



have noticed that bird, always in the same spot and same 

 position, and have been particularly pleased at hearing 

 him imitate the watchman's cry of ' All's well ! ' which 

 comes from the fort, about three squares distant ; and so 

 well has he sometimes mocked it that I should have been 

 deceived if he had not repeated it too often, sometimes 

 several times in ten minutes. 



"March 21. Read in the papers this morning that the 

 treaty between Spain and the United States is concluded, 

 and that a clause provides that an expedition is to leave 

 Natchitoches next year to survey the boundary line of the 

 ceded territory. I determined to try for an appointment 

 as draughtsman and naturalist. I wrote to President 

 Monroe, and was quite pleased at the prospect before me. 

 I walked out in the afternoon of the day on which I 

 formed the project, and saw nothing but hundreds of new 

 birds in imagination within range of my gun. I have 

 been struck with the paucity of birds in the neighborhood 

 of New Orleans during a season I had expected to meet 

 with them. Many species of warblers, thrushes, &c., 

 which were numerous during the winter, have migrated 

 eastward towards Florida, leaving swallows and a few 

 water-birds almost the sole representatives of the feathered 

 race. 



"March 31. My time has been engrossed thinking 

 over and making plans about the Pacific expedition. I 

 called on Mr. Vanderlyn, the historical painter, with my 

 portfolio, to show him some of my drawings and ask him 

 for a recommendation. He said they were handsomely 

 done, and was pleased with the coloring and positions of 

 the birds drawn. He was however a rude-mannered 

 man, treated me as a mendicant, and ordered me to lay 

 down my portfolio in the lobby. I felt inclined to walk 

 off without farther comment, but the thought of further- 

 ing my prospects in connection with the expedition in 



