180 JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. 



the enterprise, and a complete failure resulted. 

 Audubon gave up all the property he possessed to 

 his creditors, and left Hendersonville with his sick 

 wife, his gun, his dog, and his drawings. 



They reached Louisville, and were kindly received 

 by a relative. How could he support his family ? 

 The outlook was not hopeful. He would try mak- 

 ing crayon portraits. He succeeded so well that a 

 farmer came in the middle of the night to request 

 a picture of his mother before she died, and the 

 work was done by candle-light. 



Invited to Cincinnati to become curator of the 

 museum, Audubon accepted, and opened a drawing- 

 school in that city. But very little money resulted, 

 and he resolved to seek a new field of labor. Get- 

 ting letters of recommendation from General, after 

 wards President, Harrison, and from Henry Clay, 

 he started, October 12, 1820, for New Orleans. 

 Stopping for a time at Natchez, he and a companion 

 found themselves destitute of shoes. Going to a 

 shoemaker, he asked to sketch a crayon portrait of 

 himself and his wife in return for two pairs of 

 boots. The offer was accepted, and Audubon and 

 his friend found themselves again in suitable con- 

 dition for travelling. How different all this from 

 the former easy life at Mill Grove ! 



Arriving at New Orleans, what little money he 

 possessed was stolen, he could find no work, and he 

 was obliged to live on the boat in which he had 

 come thither. He writes in his journal : " Time 

 passed sadly in seeking ineffectually for employ- 



