64 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



Early in March, 1834, Audubon left his friends in 

 Charleston, and with his wife and son passed northward 

 to Washington and Baltimore. From the latter city, 

 on March 9, he wrote to Edward Harris, in part as fol- 

 lows: 



Friends such as you have been, and are still, are the only 

 recompense such poor individuals such as I am can enjoy in 

 this world, and the more valued as they are so very rare. 



We came from Charleston by land to Norfolk; thence to 

 Washington City by steamer in 20 hours, and in 8 to the city 

 here, well fatigued but safely. . . . At Washington, where we 

 remained only an hour, Col. J. Abert told me something con- 

 nected with the climbing of Rattlesnakes upon trees &c. that 

 will make your mouth water, and your generous heart leap with 

 joy, when you read [about] them, which you shall do ere long, 

 I give you my word for it. 



Audubon was still in Baltimore on March 15, for on 

 that day he gave Harris a letter of introduction to 

 Edward Everett. New York was reached in April, 

 when he wrote to Bachman that they had secured berths 

 in "that fine packet ship the North America," which was 

 to sail on the tenth of that month. 



Toward the close of Audubon's Charleston visit he 

 had an unpleasant experience; he was sued for an old 

 debt, which no doubt dated from his Henderson period 

 and the failure of his mill in 1819. 33 Apparently the 

 case was carried into court, where the naturalist was de- 

 fended by a lawyer named Dunkin, who, if my infer- 

 ence is correct, later became a distinguished judge 

 and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court 34 of South 

 Carolina. The incident was referred to by Audubon 

 in letters written from New York at this time; on 



83 See Vol. I, p. 260. 



84 See Audubon's statement of the case, given in Note 18, Vol. I, p. 260. 



