203 



THE OOLOGIST. 



evev proved to be a faithful and loving 

 sharer of all his joys and sorrows. 

 Soon after his marriage Audubon be- 

 came a merchant of Louisville, Ky., but 

 the same lack of success pursued him 

 in this business as in all others which 

 he laid his hand to. His heart was in 

 the study of Nature, and all other em- 

 ployments were drudgery to him, and 

 only to be tolerated under the most ex- 

 treme circumstances. He would under- 

 take long journeys, ransack the woods, 

 the lakes, the prairies and the shores of 

 the Atlantic. Years were spent away 

 from his family, yet he had no object 

 in view other than to enjoy the sight of 

 Nature in all her varied aspects. Never 

 for a moment did he conceive the idea 

 of becoming useful to his fellow-men, 

 until he accidently formed the acquain- 

 tance of the Prince of Musiguauo in 

 Philadelphia. He reached the Quaker 

 City on April 5, 1824, and with the ex- 

 ception of Dr. Mease, he had scarcely 

 a friend in the .whole city. Audubon 

 called upon him and showed him some 

 of his drawings, and by him was pre- 

 sented to the justly celebrated Charles 

 Lucian Bonaparte, who in his turn in- 

 troduced him to the Natural History 

 Society of Philadelphia. But the pat- 

 ronage which Audubon so much need- 

 ed he was compelled to seek elsewhere. 

 From Philadelphia he went to New 

 York, where he was received with a 

 kindness well suited to elevate his de- 

 pressed spirits. From New York he 

 ascended the Hudson crossed the Great 

 Lakes and sought the solitude of the 

 pathless forests. 'After the lapse of 

 eighteen months Audubon returned to 

 his family, who were then in Louisiana. 

 He explored every portion of the woods 

 around and at last sailed for the Old 

 World. 



Before we follow his steps to Europe 

 it might be as well to give an idea of 

 the true greatness of the work which 

 Audubon was striving to accomplish. 

 Merely to state that each drawing was 



life size would be a trifle vague. Not 

 only were the objects as a whole full 

 size, but also every portion of each ob- 

 ject. The bill, feet, legs, claws and 

 even the very feathers as they project- 

 ed one beyond anothei*, were accurate- 

 ly measured. The birds in nearly 

 every case were killed by Audubon, 

 and were; after he had examined their 

 motions and habits as much as'.the case 

 admitted, drawn on the spot where 

 shot. 



An accident happened to two hun- 

 dred of Audubon's original drawings 

 which well nigh put a stop to his re- 

 searches in ornithology. Having busi- 

 ness in Philadelphia, he left the village 

 of Henderson, Ky., where he resided 

 for some years, and started out on the 

 long journey. Before his departure he 

 took all his drawings, placed them 

 carefully in a wooden box, and gave 

 them iu charge of a relative, with in- 

 junctions to see that nothing should 

 happen to them. After an absence of 

 several months he returned to Hender- 

 son, and almost immediately inquired 

 for his "treasure" as it pleased him to 

 term it. The box was produced and 

 opened, but what was his dismay to 

 find that a pair of Norway rats had 

 taken possession of the whole, and 

 amoug the gnawed bits of paper which 

 but a few months before had represent- 

 ed nearly a thousaud birds, had reared 

 a family. The burning heat which in- 

 stantly rushed through Audubon's 

 brain was too great to be endured with- 

 out affecting his entire nervous system. 

 He slept not for nights, and clays passed 

 in oblivion, until the animal powers 

 being recalled into action, through the 

 strength of his constitution, he took up 

 his gun, note-book and pencils and 

 went forth to the woods as if nothing 

 had happened. He even felt pleased 

 that he now might make much better 

 drawiugs than before; and, ere a period 

 not exceeding three years had elapsed,, 

 his portfolios were filled once more. 

 [To be continued.] 



