130 BRITISH BIRDS. [VOL. XI. 
Two months after his arrival in America he wrote a letter, 
subsequently printed and sold at two pence in pamphlet form, 
to his friend Mr. John Skippon, of Orford Hill, Norwich, in 
which he dealt chiefly with the economic conditions then 
prevailing in New York. He apparently took up teaching 
again, and Mr. A. R. Grand possesses a letter dated Huntington, 
Long Island, 2nd June, 1837, in which Hunt says: ‘* When 
I first took the school at which I am now situated I had very 
near 70 scholars, the largest number ever known in this place, 
and 20 of the boys as large as myself, but willing to do all I 
could I fagged myself too much, however take all together I 
have enjoyed better health than for years previously till the 
last winter, and am now recovering from a violent Inflamation 
in my chest and bowels which have [sic] reduced me just 40 
pounds and have left me excessively weak as you may judge 
from my writing.” Joseph John Gurney, the philanthropist, 
had been a constant visitor to the house of John Hunt when 
he lived in Norwich, so it is not surprising that, while travelling 
in America in 1837, he should have visited Hunt. The 
following extracts from a letter, written by John Hunt to 
his son George, dated 9th June, 1840, are of interest: *‘ You 
will see that I am again got into the Town of Huntington and 
have rented one of the neatest Cottages near the Harbour . 
I have been so ill that I have scarce been able to crawl about, 
but I am now leading a Gentleman’s life and these last two 
or three days I feel as if I had taken a new leaf. I am not 
quite the colour of the Indians but a few shades lighter and 
have lost since I left Norwich about 50 Ibs. of good flesh ; 
previous to this attack I have experienced better health than 
for years before and, if I have not saved a fortune, I have 
lived well and I now hope the exercise in my garden and a 
little rest from fatigue will soon renovate me; I do not despair. 
I could wish you would dispose of the Birds and the 
Copperplates I left behind . . . I do not regret that I have 
not to work for the Great Paupers & Pampered Priests.” 
The allusions to the ** Birds ” and ** Copperplates ” doubtless 
refer to his ornithological collection and to the plates of his 
British Ornithology, for which, from the last extract from his 
letter, it would seem that the Norfolk Gentry & Clergy had_ 
either owed him money or had not been generous supporters 
in his enterprise. Beyond the fact that Hunt’s family circle 
was enlarged by several grandchildren born in America, 
nothing more is known of his life, and the next items of 
information concerning him are his obituary notices. These 
appeared in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (published at Brooklyn, 
New York) of 18th June, 1842, and in the Long Island Farmer 
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