DACOSTA AND THE MINE 123 



troubled with an inflammation of the lungs ; and one ought not 

 to be ill in a foreign country, where he does not receive the care 

 that he enjoys in his own home. You ask me to bring you 

 money. . . . You know better than anyone else what was my 

 [financial] position when I sold to you ; by that alone you must 

 know how difficult this would be for me. It is necessary to man- 

 age so that our object suffices us [or so that the mine pays its 

 way], and if we cannot work on a grand scale, we must needs 

 do the best with our affairs on a lower plane; for that I de- 

 pend on you. I salute you. 



P. S. When you shall have my papers from Mr. Miers Fisher, 

 you will find a promissory note of Mr. Samuel Plaisance of 

 Richmond, for the business of the widow Ross. If there 

 were justice there this sum would be paid to me with the 

 costs. 



The foregoing letters show that Dacosta had been 

 asked to oppose the proposed marriage of the younger 

 Audubon to Lucy Bakewell until consent should be 

 given ; that he was calling for more money to exploit the 

 lead mine and was urging Lieutenant Audubon to come 

 to America; and that their relations were becoming 

 strained, Dacosta, to prove his title to a one-half inter- 

 est in the mine and farm, having threatened to take 

 his case to the courts. 



This mining experiment was spread over many years. 

 Before turning to the sequel (see Chapter XI), let us 

 glance at the picture which the naturalist has left of his 

 unsympathetic tutor. "Dacosta," he said, "was intend- 

 ed to teach me mineralogy and mining engineering, but 

 in fact" he "knew nothing of either; besides which he 

 was a covetous wretch, who did all he could to ruin 

 my father, and indeed swindled us both to a large 

 amount. I had to go to France to expose him to my 



