AUDUBON 75 



Grove Mr. David Pawling wrote in January, 1805: "To- 

 day I saw the swiftest skater I ever beheld ; backwards 

 and forwards he went like the wind, even leaping over 

 large air-holes fifteen or more feet across, and continuing 

 to skate without an instant's delay. I was told he was 

 a young Frenchman, and this evening I met him at a 

 ball, where I found his dancing exceeded his skating; 

 all the ladies wished him as partner; moreover, a hand- 

 somer man I never saw, his eyes alone command atten- 

 tion ; his name, Audubon, is strange to me." 



Abroad it was the same ; Mr. Rathbone speaks of " his 

 beautiful expressive face," as did Christopher North, and 

 so on until the beauty of youth and manhood passed into 

 the " magnificent gray-haired man." 



But " the gay young Frenchman who danced with all 

 the girls," was an old man now, not so much as the years 

 go, but in the intensity of his life. He had never done 

 anything by halves; he had played and worked, enjoyed 

 and sorrowed, been depressed and elated, each and all 

 with his highly strung nature at fever heat, and the end 

 was not far. He had seen the accomplishment of his 

 hopes in the " Birds," and the " Quadrupeds " he was 

 content to leave largely to other hands ; and surely no man 

 ever had better helpers. From first to last his wife had 

 worked, in more ways than one, to further the aim of his 

 life ; Victor had done the weary mechanical business 

 work; John had hunted, and preserved specimens, taken 

 long journeys notably to Texas and California and 

 been his father's travelling companion on more than one 

 occasion. Now the time had come when he no longer 

 led ; Victor had full charge of the publication of the 

 " Quadrupeds," besides putting in many of the back- 

 grounds, and John painted a large proportion of the 

 animals. But I think that none of them regarded their 

 work as individual, it was always ours, for father and 

 sons were comrades and friends ; and with Dr. Bachman's 



