24 Life of Auduhon, 



threatened every man capable of bearing arms, and Au- 

 dubon appeared to believe that he stood in some danger 

 of being enrolled in the general levy. His two brothers 

 were already serving in the armies of Napoleon as offi* 

 cers, and it was decided that their junior should volunta- 

 rily join the navy. After passing what he called "a 

 superficial examination " for an appointment as midship- 

 man, he was ordered to report at Rochefort. Entering 

 upon his duties in the French marine, he was destined to 

 make at least one short cruise in the service of France. 

 Before entering the service he had made the acquaintance 

 of a young man named Ferdinand Rosier, to whom he 

 had made some proposal of going to America. On the 

 return of the vessel in which he acted, it was proposed 

 that he and Rosier should leave for America as partners, 

 under a nine years' engagement. The elder Audubon 

 obtained leave of absence for his son ; and after pass- 

 ports were provided, the two emigrants left France at a 

 period when thousands would have been glad of liberty 

 to follow their footsteps. 



About two weeks after leaving France, a vessel gave 

 chase to the French vessel, passed her by to windward, 

 fired a shot across her bows, and continued the chase 

 until the captain of the outvv^ard bound was forced to heave 

 his ship to, and submit to be boarded by a boat. The 

 enemy proved to be the Enghsh privateer, Rattlesnake, 

 the captain of which was sadly vexed to find that his prey 

 was an American vessel, carrying proper papers, and fly- 

 ing the stars and stripes. Unable to detain the vessel, 

 the privateer's crew determined at least to rob the pas- 

 sengers. " They took pigs and sheep," writes Audubon, 

 " and carried away two of our best sailors, in spite of the 

 remonstrances of the captain, and of a member of the 

 United States Congress, who was a passenger on board, 

 and was accompanied by an amiable daughter. The 



