394 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



his lap; the "Entrapped Otter" again did duty by 

 bringing him twenty-five pounds, while others returned 

 from seven to thirty-five pounds. At a later time the 

 artist visited the "Zoological Gallery," as the Havell 

 establishment in Newman Street was then known, and 

 saw Audubon's large paintings called "The Eagle and 

 the Lamb," and "English Pheasants Surprised by a 

 Spanish Dog" or ff Sauve qui peut/ J Audubon, who 

 on this occasion missed seeing his distinguished visitor, 

 had written in his journal three days before (December 

 23, 1828) that the paintings were what he called "fin- 

 ished," but that, as usual, he could not bear to look at 

 either. Sir Thomas praised the "Eagle," admired an 

 "Otter," which was later exhibited in London, but gave 

 no opinion on the "Pheasants." Afterwards, however, 

 when Audubon proposed to present this canvas to King 

 George, the artist assured him that this picture was 

 worth 300 guineas and that it was too good to be given 

 away; if offered to the King, no doubt, said he, "it 

 would be accepted and placed in his collections, but you 

 would receive no benefit from the gift." According to 

 a later record, this canvas was sold to Mr. John Hep- 

 penstall of Sheffield; whether it was ever delivered, or 

 not, I do not know, but either the original or a copy, 

 here reproduced, now forms the central figure in the 

 large Audubon collection in the American Museum of 

 Natural History in New York, and is an excellent illus- 

 tration of the elaborate and ambitious character of 

 Audubon's larger compositions. These fortunate wind- 

 falls came none too soon, for to follow the journal: 



Mr. Havell had already called to say that on Saturday I 

 must pay him sixty pounds. I was then not only not worth a 

 penny, but had actually borrowed five pounds a few days be- 

 fore to purchase materials for my pictures. But these pic- 



