26 



AUDUBON 



passed a fishing-boat, from which we were hailed and told that two 

 British frigates lay off the entrance of the Hook, had fired an Amer- 

 ican ship, shot a man, and impressed so many of our seamen that 

 to attempt reaching New York might prove to be both unsafe and 

 unsuccessful. Our captain, on hearing this, put about immedi- 

 ately, and sailed for the east end of Long Island Sound, which we 

 entered uninterrupted by any other enemy than a dreadful gale, 

 which drove us on a sand-bar in the Sound, but from which we 

 made off unhurt during the height of the tide and finally reached 

 New York. 



I at once called on your uncle Benjamin Bakewell, stayed with 

 him a day, and proceeded at as swift a rate as possible to Fat- 

 land Ford, accompanied by Ferdinand Rozier. Mr. Da Costa 

 was at once dismissed from his charge. I saw my dear Lucy, 

 and was again my own master. 



Perhaps it would be well for me to give you some slight in- 

 formation respecting my mode of life in those days of my youth, 

 and I shall do so without gloves. I was what in plain terms 

 may be called extremely extravagant. I had no vices, it is true, 

 neither had I any high aims. I was ever fond of shooting, fish- 

 ing, and riding on horseback ; the raising of fowls of every sort 

 was one of my hobbies, and to reach the maximum of my desires 

 in those different things filled every one of my thoughts. I was 

 ridiculously fond of dress. To have seen me going shooting in 

 black satin smallclothes, or breeches, with silk stockings, and 

 the finest rufiled shirt Philadelphia could afford, was, as I now 

 realize, an absurd spectacle, but it was one of my many foibles, and 

 I shall not conceal it. I purchased the best horses in the country, 

 and rode well, and felt proud of it ; my guns and fishing-tackle 

 were equally good, always expensive and richly ornamented, 

 often with silver. Indeed, though in America, I cut as many 

 foolish pranks as a young dandy in Bond Street or Piccadilly. 



I was extremely fond of music, dancing, and drawing ; in all I 

 had been well instructed, and not an opportunity was lost to con- 

 firm my propensities in those accomplishments. I was, like most 

 young men, filled with the love of amusement, and not a ball, a 

 skating-match, a house or riding party took place without me. 



