202 Recent Literature. \_k^^\ 



Walter Scott wished to meet me, and would do so on Mondaj^ at the 

 Roj'al Academy." 



One more extract may here be given, to show the incentive that in- 

 spired Audubon's efforts : " We [referring to his engraver, Mr. Lizars] 

 then talked of the engraving of the HawVs, and it seems that it will be 

 done. Perhaps even yet fame may be mine, and enable me to provide all 

 that is needful for my Lucy [his wife] and my children. Wealth I do 

 not crave, but comfort; and for my boys I have the most ardent desire 

 that they may receive the best of education, far above any that I possess ; 

 and day by day science advances, new thoughts and new ideas crowd 

 onward, there is always fresh food for enjoj'ment, study, improvement, 

 and I must place them where all this may be a possession to them." 



His real feeling toward Alexander Wilson, at this period of Audu- 

 bon's life, is shown by his reference to "a new work on the Birds of 

 England." He says, "I did not like it as well as I had hoped; I much 

 prefer Thomas Bewick. Bewick is the Wilson of England." 



The fascinating pages of the 'European Journals' must now be left 

 to the enjoj'ment of the reader, while we pass to a brief notice of 

 the 'Labrador Journal' (1833), and the 'Yellowstone Journal' (1843). 

 These have a different interest, being narratives of exploration, and 

 hence, from the period when they were made, are of special interest for 

 the historian and the' naturalist. The voyage to Labrador was made in 

 the schooner ' Ripley,' in command of Captain Emery, which sailed from 

 Eastport, Me., June 6, to which port Audubon and his party returned 

 August 31. He had with him as companions and assistants his son 

 John, and four young men from Boston — -Messrs. George Shattuck, 

 Thomas Lincoln, William Ingalls, and Joseph Coolidge. Since the time 

 of Audubon's Labrador expedition great changes have taken place in the 

 bird fauna of the islands of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Labrador 

 coast. This, for example, is his description of the Bird Rocks, north of 

 the Magdalene Islands : " About ten a speck rose on the horizon, which 

 I was told was the Rock ; we sailed well, the breeze increased fast, and 

 we neared this object apace. At eleven I could distinguish its top plainly 

 from the deck, and thought it covered with snow to the depth of several 

 feet ; this appearance existed on every portion of the flat, pi-ojecting 

 shelves. Godwin said, with the coolness of a man who had visited this 

 Rock for ten successive seasons, that what we saw was not snow — but 

 Gannets ! I rubbed my eyes, took my spy-glass, and in an instant the 

 strangest picture stood before me. They were birds we saw, — a mass 

 of birds of such a size as I never before cast my eyes on. The whole of 

 my party stood astounded and amazed, and all came to the conclusion 

 that such a sight was of itself sufficient to invite any one -to come 

 across the Gulf to view it at this season. The nearer we approached, the 

 greater our surprise at the enormous number of these birds, all calmly 

 seated on their eggs or newly hatched brood, their heads all turned 

 to windward, and towards us. The air above for a hundred yards, and 



