

232 



AUDUBON 



head, and his eyes are further apart than those of any man 

 I remember just now. A complete Englishman, full of 

 life and energy though now seventy-four, very witty and 

 clever, better acquainted with America than most of his 

 countrymen, and an honor to England. Having shown 

 me the work he was at, a smill vignette cut on a block of 

 box-wood not more than three by two inches, representing 

 a dog frightened during the night by false appearances of 

 men formed by curious roots and branches of trees, rocks, 

 etc., he took me upstairs and introduced me to his three 

 daughters — all tall, and two of them with extremely fine 

 figures ; they were desirous to make my visit an agreeable 

 one and most certainly succeeded. I met there a Mr. 

 Goud, and saw from his pencil a perfect portrait of Thomas 

 Bewick, a miniature, full-length, in oil, highly finished, well 

 drawn and composed. The old gentleman and I stuck to 

 each other; he talked of my drawings, and I of his wood- 

 cuts, till we liked each other very much. Now and then 

 he would take off his cotton cap, but the moment he be- 

 came animated with the conversation the cap was on, yet 

 almost off, for he had stuck it on as if by magic. His eyes 

 sparkled, his face was very expressive, and I enjoyed him 

 much more, I am sure, than he supposed. He had heard 

 of my drawings and promised to call early to-morrow 

 morning with his daughters and some friends. I did not 

 forget dear John's wish to possess a copy of his work on 

 quadrupeds, and having asked where I could procure one, 

 he answered " Here." After coffee and tea had been 

 served, young Bewick, to please me, brought a bagpipe 

 of a new construction, called a " Durham," and played 

 simple, nice Scotch and English airs with peculiar taste; 

 the instrument sounded like a hautboy. Soon after ten 

 the company broke up, and we walked into Newcastle. 

 The streets were desolate, and their crookedness and 

 narrowness made me feel the more the beauty of fair 

 Edinburgh. 



