His Early Tears. i^ 



in France was but miserably attended to during the 

 years that succeeded the great poUtical convulsions. 

 Military education had usurped all the care of the First 

 Empire, and the wants of the civil population were but 

 sparingly heeded. His father, from natural predilections, 

 was desirous that the boy should become a sailor, a cadet 

 in the French navy, or an engineer ; and with these views 

 before him, he decided on the course of study his son 

 should follow. Mathematics, drawing, geography, fencing 

 and music were among the branches of education pre- 

 scribed ; it being evident that a complex course of 

 instruction was not among the misapprehensions the old 

 sailor's professional prejudices had nurtured. Audubon 

 had, for music-master, an adept who taught him to play 

 adroitly upon the violin, flute, flageolet, and guitar. For 

 drawing-master, he had David, the chief inventor and 

 worshipper of the abominations which smothered the 

 aspirations of French artists during the revolutionary 

 generation. Nevertheless it was to David that Audubon 

 owed his earliest lessons in tracing objects of natural 

 history. Audubon was, moreover, a proficient in dancing, 

 ■ — an accomplishment which in after years he had more 

 opportunities of practising among bears than among men. 



Influenced by the military fever of his time, he 

 dreamed in his schooldays of being a soldier ; but 

 happily for natural science his adventurous sj^irit found 

 another outlet. Fortunately his instruction was under 

 the practical guidance of his mother, and large scope was 

 allowed him for indulging in nest-hunting propensities. 

 Supplied with a haversack of provisions, he made 

 frequent excursions into the country, and usually returned 

 loaded with objects of natural history, birds' nests, birds' 

 eggs, specimens of moss, curious stones, and other objects 

 attractive to his eye. 



When the old sailor returned from sea he was 



