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PIONEERS OF SCIENCE IN AMERICA. 



poor paper, and the records entered are rather in keeping with 

 his financial difficulties. It took all his means at this time to 

 supply his family with the necessaries of life ; and in order to 

 obtain money to educate the children, his wife undertook the 

 duties of a situation in which she had charge of and educated 

 the children of a Mr. Brand. They afterward removed to 

 Natchez, where Audubon drew and taught drawing in the col- 

 lege at Washington, Mississippi, and Mrs. Audubon taught ; 

 and then to Bayou Sara, Louisiana, where Mrs. Audubon es- 

 tablished a school, with the proceeds of which she was enabled 

 to aid materially in the publication of the Birds, and Audubon 

 assisted her by teaching music and dancing. A member of 

 one of the families, in which Mrs. Audubon was a governess 

 during this period, has furnished Dr. Shufeldt with a child- 

 hood's reminiscence of the naturalist. " He was with us," she 

 says, " eight months, but during the greater part of the time 

 was wandering all over the State, walking almost the entire 

 time ; no insect, worm, reptile, bird, or animal escaped his no- 

 tice. He would make a collection, return home and draw 

 his crayon sketches, when his son John would stuff the birds 

 and such animals as he wished to preserve." 



In the spring of 1824, Audubon, with two hundred draw- 

 ings, representing about a thousand birds, went to Philadelphia 

 in order to obtain help to complete his ornithological work. 

 He was soon satisfied, it is said in Mrs. Audubon's Life, that 

 the venture would be successful. Having purchased a new 

 suit of clothes and dressed himself with extreme neatness, he 

 called upon Dr. Mease, an old friend, and was introduced by 

 him to several artists, who paid him pleasant attentions. He 

 was also introduced to Prince Canino, son of Lucien Bona- 

 parte, " who examined my birds," Audubon writes, " and was 

 complimentary in his praises. He was at the time engaged on 

 a volume of American birds, which was soon to be published ; 

 but this did not prevent him from admiring another natural- 

 ist's work. April i2th. Met the prince at Dr. Mease's, and 

 he expressed a wish to examine my drawings more particu- 

 larly. I found him very gentlemanly. He called in his car- 

 riage and took me to Peale, the artist, who was drawing speci- 

 mens of birds for his work ; but from want of knowledge of 

 the habits of birds in a wild state, he represented them as 

 if seated for a portrait, instead of their own lively, animated 



