68 AIvEXANDKR VVII.SON: POET-NATURAUST 



and now he was busy taking notes on everything 

 he saw, studying the people and the country as he 

 passed. 



In September, 1808, the first volume of the 

 monumental "American Ornithology" appeared, 

 but to Wilson it was a mere earnest of what he 

 might do if he only had the means. The book 

 was a very costly one and even at the rate of one 

 hundred and twenty dollars per set he would have 

 to secure a large number of subscribers to make 

 his expenses clear. A long and bitter training 

 had put somewhat of masterfulness into his na- 

 ture, and if he had no way to carry his plan 

 through he must make one. So he began the 

 long toilsome journeys, of the fatigue of which 

 even his letters give us, perhaps, but a dim pic- 

 ture. But the opportunity of learning his adopted 

 country, to which he was now devoted, soul and 

 body, and of meeting face to face his audience, 

 was fraught with possibilities which Wilson was 

 not blind to, and the observations on contempo- 

 rary life which he has left in his somewhat hasty 

 personal letters are exceedingly valuable, but 

 must always be judged in view of the man who 

 wrote them, and the circumstances under which 

 they were made. Familiar as he had ever been 

 with sorrow and poverty, Wilson's naturally mel- 

 ancholy disposition deepened, and though he was 

 of too earnest and steadfast a disposition not to 

 be very hopeful in his general philosophy of life, 

 yet he was wont to form too gloomy an opinion 

 of the special conditions with which he came into 

 contact. It is also to be remembered that his 



