158 WANDERINGS IN 



THIRD I hired some negroes from a woodcutter in ano- 



JOURNEY. 



converted ther creek to repair the roof ; and then the house, 



or a * l eas t what remained of it, became head-quar- 

 ers f or natural history. The frogs, and here and 

 there a snake, received that attention which the 

 weak in this world generally experience from the 

 strong, and which the law commonly denominates 

 an ejectment. But here, neither the frogs nor 

 serpents were ill-treated ; they sallied forth, 

 without buffet or rebuke, to choose their place of 

 residence; the world was all before them. The 

 owls went away of their own accord, preferring to 

 retire to a hollow tree rather than to associate with 

 their new landlord. The bats and vampires staid 

 with me, and went in and out as usual. 



It was upon this hill in former days that I first 

 tried to teach John, the black slave of my friend 

 Mr. Edmonstone, the proper way to do birds. 

 But John had poor abilities, and it required much 

 time and patience to drive any thing into him. 

 Some years after this his master took him to Scot- 

 land, where, becoming free, John left him, and 

 ,got employed in the Glasgow, and then the 

 Edinburgh museum. Mr. Robert Edmonstone, 

 nephew to the above gentleman, had a fine mulatto 

 capable of learning any thing. He requested me 

 to teach him the art. I did so. He was docile 

 and active, and was with me all the time in the 

 forest ; I left him there to keep up this new art 

 of preserving birds, and to communicate it to 



