1 62 Life of Auduhon, 



brownish; eyes, very brilliant and sparkling; nose, 

 aquiline, large, and red ; mouth, large, with good lips ; 

 teeth, few, and blunted by age, excepting one on the low- 

 er jaw, which was massive, measuring nearly three-quar- 

 ters of an inch square. This was Baron Cuvier ; I have 

 described him almost as if a new species of a man, from 

 the mere skin. But as he has invited us to dine with 

 him next Saturday at six o'clock, and I expect to have an 

 opportunity of seeing more of him, I will then describe 

 his habits as far as I am able. 



^^ September 5. After a breakfast of grapes, figs, 

 sardines, and French coffee, friend Swainson and I pro- 

 ceeded to the Jardin des Plantes, by the side of the river 

 Seine, which here, Lucy, is not so large as the Bayou 

 Sara, where I have often watched the alligators while 

 bathing. Walking in Paris is disagreeable in the ex- 

 treme. The streets are actually paved, but with scarcely 

 a sidewalk, and a large gutter filled with dirty black wa- 

 ter runs through the centre of each, and the people go 

 about without any kind of order, either along the centre, 

 or near the houses ; carriages, carts, and so forth do the 

 same, and I have wondered that so few accidents take 

 place. We saw a very ugly iron bridge at the entrance 

 called Pont Neuf, where stands the splendid statue of 

 Henry IV. We were more attracted, however, by the 

 sight of the immense number of birds offered for sale 

 along the quays, and saw some rare specimens. A 

 woman took us into her house, and showed us some hun- 

 dreds from Bengal and Senegal, which quite surprised us. 



"Weary with walking, we took a cabriolet, that 

 brought us for twenty-five sous, to the Jardin, and we went 

 to our appointment with Baron Cuvier. We saw him, and 

 he gave us a ticket to admit us to the Mus^e, and prom- 

 ised us all we wished. In the Mus^e, M. Valencienne was 

 equally kind. Having in my pocket a letter of introduc- 



