BIRTH AND PARENTAGE 53 



born, at Les Cayes, a son, on the twenty-sixth of April, 

 1785. This boy, who was sometimes referred to in early 

 documents as "Jean Rabin, Creole de Saint-Domingue/' 

 and who again was called "Fougere" (in English, 

 "Fern"), received the baptismal name of Jean Jacques 

 Fougere six months before his sixteenth birthday. 



The bill of the physician, Doctor Sanson of Les 

 Cayes, who assisted at young Audubon's birth still 

 exists, and as the reader will perceive, it is a highly 

 unique and interesting historical document. 2 Written 

 in the doctor's own hand, it is receipted by him, as well 

 as approved and signed by Jean Audubon himself. 

 This tardy discovery, along with other pertinent records 

 in the commune of Coueron, in France, finally resolves 

 the mystery which has ever hedged the Melchizedek of 

 American natural history. The child's name, of course, 

 is not given in the bill, but authentic records of Audu- 

 bon's subsequent adoption and baptism agree so com- 

 pletely in names and dates as to establish his identity 

 beyond a shadow of doubt. Much other documentary 

 evidence which also has recently come to light is all in 

 harmony with these facts, and further shows that the 

 natal spot and time as given in the Sanson bill can refer 

 only to this talented boy. But before turning to these 

 legal documents we must examine the personal record 

 of Jean Audubon's physician. 



Dr. Sanson's carefully itemized account, to the 

 amount of 1,339 francs, extends over a period of nearly 

 two years, from December 29, 1783, to October 19, 

 1785 ; it was accepted and signed by Captain Audubon 

 on October 12, 1786, and receipted by the doctor when 



8 For photographic reproduction see p. 54; and for transliteration 

 and translation, Appendix I, Documents Nos. 1 and la; for "Fougere" 

 see Appendix I, Documents Nos. 2 and 3; and for "Jean Rabin," Docu- 

 ments Nos. 14, 16, 17 and 18. 



