no ALEXANDER WII^ON : POET-NATURAEIST 



large number of his colored sheets, but Wilson's 

 was fortunately nothing like so great. 



After his return from this trip through the 

 inland to Florida, Wilson set vigorously to work 

 preparing for the press the material which he had 

 collected. The year 1811 and the earlier part of 

 1812 was spent in Philadelphia, where he stayed 

 a great part of the time at the beautiful flower- 

 embowered home of William Bartram. Busy as 

 he was, he found time occasionally to write to 

 Scotland and to send some part of his little in- 

 come to his old father. Misfortunes seem to 

 have been gatheringr across the water. Wilson 

 wrote his brother David that his wish to "reach 

 the glorious rock of independence" in order that 

 from thence he might assist his "relatives who are 

 struggling with and buffeting the billows of adver- 

 sity" had led him on to his prodigious exertions. 

 Later in the same year David joined him in 

 America, bringing tidings of the loved ones and 

 of their misfortunes, and \^'ilson took him with 

 him to live. 



The third volume of the "Ornitholog)^" ap- 

 peared in the early part of 181 1, and on July g of 

 the same year Wilson wrote George Ord that the 

 fourth volume was all finished, save the engrav- 

 ing of two plates. It appeared a little later. 

 The fifth and sixth volumes came from the press 

 in 18 12, and in the early part of the following year 

 the seventh was published. 



Late in 181 2 he made his last ornithological 

 trip. This voyage led him up the Hudson, across 

 the rough, rugged country to Lake Champlain, 



