246 



THE OOLOGIST. 



lect sufficient tuition to pay his board, 

 having no more than twenty-seven 

 scholars. He threatened lo give up the 

 school if the authorities did not supply 

 him with more funds and scholars. A 

 meeting of the trustees was called, and 

 rather than have him resign, two gen- 

 tlemen offered to pay one hundred dol- 

 lars a year themselves. Forty-six 

 scholars were subscribed for and he re- 

 mained in his humble vocation. Al- 

 though such embarrassments as these 

 arose, yet he was resolutely bent on ac- 

 complishing his great design and he oc- 

 cupied every leisure moment in study- 

 ing birds and making drawings. ■ 



The trials and hardshids of that mem- 

 orable winter at last past, he hailed the 

 appearance of Spring with joj>- and ris- 

 ing enthusiasm. With the return of 

 Spring came his favorite companions— 

 the birds; and he sacrificed every amuse- 

 ment except reading and fiddling for 

 the accomplishment of his plans. He 

 had now entered upon the profession of 

 an ornithologist in earnest. As the 

 first streak of dawn tinged the eastern 

 horizon he shouldered his gun and 

 sketching material and set out in pur- 

 suit of some new and strange bird just 

 arriving from the South. Scarcely a 

 month had elapsed before he had com- 

 pleted and sent to Mr. Bartram for in- 

 spection twenty-eight drawings of birds 

 found in Pennsylvania, either as regul- 

 as residents or stragglers. Two of these 

 were entirely new to naturalists as they 

 were unfigured either in Bartram's list 

 or Edward's seven volumes. 



He had heard that former naturalists 

 had executed the plates illustrative of 

 their works themselves, and he felt con- 

 fident that he could do likewise. There- 

 upon he procurred the necessai'y cop- 

 per plates and at once attempted etch- 

 ing them. The next day he burst into 

 Mr. Lawson's office saying that he had 

 completed his first plate and must. have 

 a proof before he left there. The proof 

 was taken but it fell far short of his ex- 



pectations. After a few more trials of 

 similiar success he threw them aside in 

 despair convinced that nothing short of 

 the engraver would give proper effect 

 to his illustrations. Mr. Bartram re- 

 fused to engage with him jointly in his- 

 work. Thus baffled and discouraged 

 he solemnly resolved to proceed alone in 

 the publication even if it cost him his 

 life. Using his own words he said that 

 "I shall at least leave a small beacon to 

 point out where I perished." 



In the year 1806 Wilson learned that 

 Thomas Jefferson, Presideut of the 

 United States contemplated, equipping 

 and sending out an expedition to ex- 

 plore the valley of the Mississippi. The 

 Mississippi valley then known as the 

 Louisianana Territory was a new re- 

 gion and Mr Jeffersou realized the im- 

 portance of exploring that region be- 

 fore he made his famous purchase. 

 Wilson had long indulged in the desire 

 to visit this region; in fact he had not 

 long before seriously contemplated des- 

 cending the Ohio river in search of new 

 specimens. A favorable • opportunity 

 was now afforded him and he lost ho 

 time in gaining the consent of Mr. Bart- 

 ram, who was a close friend of Jeffer- 

 sou, to write him a letter of recom- 

 mendation. This letter together with 

 the one he wrote was enclosed in one 

 cover and addressed to "His Excellency, 

 Thomas Jefferson, President of the 

 United States." In this letter he set' 

 forth the design of his new ornithology 

 of the United States, and stated that al- 

 though he had. traversed the greater 

 part of our northern and eastern states 

 and had completed upwards of one 

 hundred drawings, yet he was unac- 

 quainted with the beautiful tribes in- 

 habiting the extensive counti'y of the 

 Ohio. He said he had engaged the as- 

 sistance and compionship of Mr. Bart- 

 ram in an expedition down the Ohio 

 river from Pittsburgh to the Mississippi 

 thence to New Orleans, and to continue 

 researches by land in return to Phila- 



