Painting in Oil. 93 



if I took care of the mill. At Natchez I met Mr, Mur- 

 ray, formerly of Charleston, and Mr. Blackburn, formerly 

 of Cincinnati. They had both suffered heav-y reverses of 

 fortune, and appeared to me to be in distress. Their 

 change of fortune was sufficient to reconcile me to my 

 own vexations. 



" November 3. While engaged in sketching a view of 

 Natchez, an English gentleman named Leacock was in- 

 troduced to me as a naturalist. He called and spent 

 the evening with me, and examined my drawings, and ad- 

 vised me to visit England and take them with me. But 

 when he said I should probably have to spend several 

 years to perfect them, and to make myself known, I closed 

 my drawings and turned my mind from the thought. My 

 wife, finding it difficult to get her salary for teaching, has 

 resolved to relinquish her situation." 



In December there arrived at Natchez a portrait- 

 painter, from whom Audubon received his first lessons in 

 the use of oil colors, and who was in return instructed by 

 the naturalist in chalk drawing. Mrs. Audubon was de- 

 sirous that her husband should go to Europe, and obtain 

 complete instruction in the use of oil ; and with this aim 

 in vievv' she entered into an engagement with a Mrs. Per- 

 cy to educate her children, along with her own and a 

 limited number of pupils. Mrs. Percy lived at Bayou 

 Sara, and thither Mrs. Audubon removed, while her hus- 

 band remained at Natchez, painting with his friend Stein, 

 the artist whose instructions in oil painting had been so 

 valuable. After enjoying all the patronage to be expect- 

 ed at Natchez, Audubon and his friend Stein resolved to 

 start on an expedition as perambulating portrait-painters ; 

 and purchasing a wagon, prepared for a long expedi- 

 tion through the Southern States. 



" I had finally determined to break through all bonds, 

 and pursue my ornithological pursuits. My best friends 



