Meets Washington Irving, 379 



ter : he said, ' Certainly, sir,' and I bowed and retired, 

 determined never to trouble him or the War Department 

 again. 



" I was revolving in my mind how I might get to the 

 Rocky Mountains without the assistance of the Secretary 

 of War, w^hen I suddenly met with a friendly face, no less 

 than Washington Irving's. I mentioned my errand to 

 him and the answer I had received, and he thought I was 

 mistaken. I might have been : but those eyes of mine 

 have discovered more truth in men's eyes than their 

 mouths were willing to acknowledge. However, I listen- 

 ed to good Irving with patience and calmness, and he 

 promised to see the Secretary of War ; and he also at 

 once accompanied me to Mr. Taney, the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, who received me well, and at once kindly gave 

 me a letter, granting me the privilege of the revenue cut- 

 ters along the coast south of Delaware Bay." 



Mr. Audubon returned to Baltimore, took the bay 

 steamer for Norfolk, went aboard the Potomac, which was 

 there ready to sail for Richmond, where he arrived at the 

 above date. There he called on Governor Floyd, who 

 promised to try to induce the State of Virginia to sub- 

 scribe for his "Birds of America." 



" October 16. We left Richmond this morning in a stage 

 well crammed with Italian musicians and southern mer- 

 chants, arrived at Petersburg at a late hour, dined, and 

 were again crammed in a car drawn by a locomotive, 

 which dragged us twelve miles an hour, and sent out 

 sparks of fire enough to keep us constantly busy in ex- 

 tinguishing them on our clothes. At Blakely we were 

 again crammed into a stage, and dragged about two miles 

 an hour. We crossed the Roanoke River by torchlight 

 in a flat boat, passed through Halifax, Raleigh, Fayette- 

 ville, and Columbia, where we spent the night. Here I 

 met Dr. Gibbs, at whose house we passed the evening, 



