COLLECTING IN NEW YORK MARKET. 425 



arrived at Mayor's at midnight, having writ- 

 ten him to expect me. 



The next day I visited the market, and in 

 five days I had filled a great barrel with dif- 

 ferent kinds of fish and fresh-water turtles, 

 beside making several skeletons and various 

 dissections of mollusks. Wishing to employ 

 my tune as usefully as possible, I postponed 

 my visits to the savans of the city, and the 

 delivery of my letters, till I was on the eve of 

 departure, that I might avoid all invitations. 

 I had especial pleasure in making the ac- 

 quaintance of the two Le Contes, father and 

 son, who own the finest collection of insects 

 in the United States. I can easily make some 

 thousand exchanges with them when I receive 

 those that M. Coulon has put aside for me, 

 with a view to exchange. . . . Every morning 

 Auguste Mayor went with me to the market 

 before going to his office and helped me to 

 carry my basket when it was too heavy. One 

 day I brought back no less than twenty-four 

 turtles, taken in one draught of the net. I 

 made four skeletons, and dissected several 

 others. Under such conditions the day ought 

 to have thirty-six working hours. 



Were I an artist, instead of describing my 

 voyage from New York to Albany, I would 



