158 Life of Auduhon. 



longer. The family went off, and I felt relieved to know 

 that they had some employment, and asked him what it 

 was ! He replied, ' Begging, sir.' All that family, wife, 

 and half-grown girls, turned out in the streets of London 

 to beg. He assured me that witl i ail their united exer- 

 tions they seldom had more than one meal a day ; and 

 that in an extremity a few days before he had been com- 

 pelled to sell his best bed to pay the rent of his miserable 

 room. Unfortunately I had but a few shillings with me, 

 because I had been advised to carry neither watch nor 

 money in London, and had not the gratification of doing 

 much to relieve him. He said his caricatures brought 

 him in but little, and that despair had prompted him 

 more than once to drown himself, for he was only a 

 weight on the neck of his wife and children. Oh ! how 

 sick I am of London. 



" June 21. Received a letter from Mr. Lizars, that he 

 must discontinue my work. Have made an engagement 

 with Mr. Havell for coloring, which I hope will relieve 

 my embarrassment. Have painted a great deal to-day. 



" June 22. Am invited to dine at the Royal Society's 

 Club, with Charles Bonaparte. Gave some lessons in 

 drawing to the daughter of Mr. Children, Mrs. Atkins : 

 she has fine talents, but they are not cultivated so highly 

 as Mrs. Edward Roscoe's. This evening Charles Bona- 

 parte came with Lord Clifton, and several other gentle- 

 men to examine my drawings. They were all learned 

 ornithologists, but they all said that there were birds here 

 which they had never dreamed of, and Bonaparte offered 

 to name them for me. I was ple;ised at the suggestion, 

 and with a pencil he wrote down upwards of fifty names, 

 and invited me to publish them at once in manuscript at 

 the Zoological Society. We had charming discussions 

 about birds and their habits. Oh that our knowledge 

 could be arranged into a solid mass ! I am sure thai 



