■"jT^mmm 



m 



294 



AUDUBON 



couragement for my work there is no reason for me to 

 remain. 



London, March SO. Left Oxford at eleven this morn- 

 ing, the weather still intensely cold. We had a guard 

 dressed in red with sizable buttons, a good artist on the 

 bugle, who played in very good style, especially fugues 

 and anthems, which were harmonious but not cheerful. 

 I saw a poor man and his wife trudging barefoot this 

 weather, a sight which drew the rings of my purse asun- 

 der. Almost as soon as I reached my lodgings a gentle- 

 man, Mr. Loudon,^ called to ask me to write zoological 

 papers for his journal. I declined, for I will never write 

 anything to call down upon me a second volley of abuse. 

 I can only write facts, and when I write those the Phila- 

 delphians call me a liar. 



April i, 1828. I have the honor to be a Fellow of the 

 Linnaean Society of London, quite fresh from the mint, 

 for the news reached me when the election was not much 

 more than over. Mr. Vigors tells me Baron Cuvier is to 

 be here this week. I had some agreeable time with a 

 gentleman from Ceylon, Bennett^ by name, who has a 

 handsome collection of fish from that place. 



April 2. Called on Mr. Children, and together we 

 walked to Mr. Havell's, where he saw the drawings for 

 No. 7. How slowly my immense work progresses; yet 

 it goes on apace, and may God grant me life to see it 

 accomplished and finished. Then, indeed, will I have 

 left a landmark of my existence. 



April 3. I have had many corrections to make to my 

 Prospectus, which have taken much time. I also exam- 

 ined many of my drawings, which I thougiit had suffered 

 exceedingly from the damp; this quite frightened me. 

 What a misfortune it would be if they should be spoiled, 



1 John Claudius Loudon, 1783-1843, writer on horticulture and arbori- 

 culture. In 1828-1836, editor of the " Magazine of Natural History." 



2 Edward Turner Bennett, 1 797-1836, zoologist. 



