CHAPTER VIII 



DACOSTA AND THE "MILL GROVE" MINE 



Advent of a new agent at "Mill Grove" Dacosta becomes guardian to 

 young Audubon and exploits a neglected lead mine on the farm 

 Correspondence of Lieutenant Audubon and Dacosta Quarrel with 

 Dacosta Audubon's return to France. 



If young Audubon was playing the role of a prodigal 

 son at the "Mill Grove" farm, which in a certain sense 

 was doubtless true, an episode soon occurred which put 

 a check to his carefree existence. Not long after the 

 naturalist had arrived, William Thomas, the tenant, 

 called his attention to the lead-ore deposits, which he 

 thought had been discovered by a Mr. Gilpin in 1791, 

 and the news of this prospect was promptly communi- 

 cated to the elder Audubon in France. Though the 

 presence of this mineral at "Mill Grove" had been 

 known, as we have seen, at a much earlier day, its redis- 

 covery excited great interest, and may have been a factor 

 of influence in the steps which were soon to be taken. It 

 should be noticed, however, that before May, 1803, a 

 young Frenchman from Nantes, bearing the Portuguese 

 name of Francis Dacosta, had preceded young Audubon 

 to "Mill Grove," and apparently had acquired at that 

 time a certain interest in the farm. 1 Dacosta soon suc- 



1 In Dacosta's final statement of his account, which was disputed, car- 

 ried into court, and eventually settled by arbitration at Philadelphia, on 

 August 1, 1807, these items occur: "Omitted, $300.00, paid by Francis 

 Dacosta to Miers Fisher, on May 24, 1803;" and "Ditto $176.67, the pro- 

 portion of Francis Dacosta in the rent of the first year, which has not 

 been paid to him." (See Appendix I, Document lla; MSS. in possession 

 of Mr. Welton A. Rozier.) 



113 



