Sails for England. 119 



^^ May 31. Saw a small vessel making towards us; 

 she was a suspicious-looking craft, and our crew had 

 pardonable fears she might prove to be a pirate. A 

 young fat alligator I had with me died to-day, from being 

 placed in salt instead of fresh water — the former being 

 poisonous to the animal. 



" Much troubled with anxious thoughts about the pur- 

 port and expectations of my voyage to England. I had 

 obtained many favorable letters of introduction to friends 

 in England, which I believed would prove of material 

 assistance, and among these was the following : — 



" 'New Orleans, May 16, 1826. 



" ' Dear Sir, 



" * I have ventured to put in the hands of Mr. John J. 

 Audubon, a gentleman of highly respectable scientific ac- 

 quirements, these introductory lines to you, under the 

 persuasion that his acquaintance cannot fail to be one of 

 extreme interest to you. Mr. Audubon is a native of the 

 United States, and has spent more than twenty years in 

 all parts of them, devoting most of his time to the study 

 of ornithology. He carries with him a collection of over 

 four hundred drawings, which far surpass anything of the 

 kind I have yet seen, and afford the best evidence of his 

 skill, and the perfection to which he has carried his re- 

 searches. His object is to find a purchaser or a publish- 

 er for them, and if you can aid him in this, and introduce 

 him either in person or by letter to men of distinction in 

 arts and sciences, you will confer much of a favor on me. 

 He has a crowd of letters from Mr. Clay, De Witt Clinton, 

 and others for England, which will do much for him ; but 

 your introduction to Mr. Roscoe and others may do 

 more. His collection of ornithological drawings would 

 prove a most valuable acquisition to any museum, or any 

 moneyed patron of the arts, and, I should think, convey a 



