John James Audubo7i. 



books, and we are told that differences of 

 opinion between his father and himself as 

 to the progress he made in his studies 

 were frequent. Of drawing he was very 

 fond, and even at Nantes he began to 

 make drawings of French birds — drawings 

 which gave him only temporary satisfac- 

 tion, for he says : " My pencil gave birth 

 to a family of cripples. So maimed were 

 most of them that they resembled the 

 mangled corpses on a field of battle, com- 

 pared with the integrity of living men. 

 These difficulties and disappointments irri- 

 tated me, but never for a moment destroyed 

 the desire of obtaining perfect representa- 

 tions of nature. The worse my drawings 

 were, the more beautiful did I see the 

 originals. To have been torn from the 

 study would have been as death to me. 

 My time was entirely occupied with it. I 

 produced hundreds of these rude sketches 

 annually, and for a long time, at my re- 

 quest, they made bonfires on the anniver- 

 saries of my birthday." 



As the boy approached manhood his 

 father was desirous that he should enter 

 the French army, but war no longer seemed 

 to the youth the most glorious of pursuits, 

 and instead of becoming a soldier he was 

 sent out to America to look after his 

 father's property. On reaching New York 

 he was stricken with yellow fever, and af- 

 ter his recovery was put in charge of his 

 father's estates at Mill Grove, Pa. Here his 

 life was one of quiet enjoyment, devoted to 

 shooting, fishing and drawing. It was here 

 that he met Miss Lucy Bakewell, the 

 daughter of a neighbor, who afterwards 

 became his wife, and who all through his 

 eventful and checkered career helped to 

 cheer him by her love and to aid him by her 

 strong common sense. 



Life at Mill Grove was pleasant, but it was 

 at length rudely interrupted by the arrival 

 of a certain Da Costa, an agent sent out 

 from France by the elder Audubon to look 

 after his son and his property. This man 



not only attempted to put restraints on 

 young Audubon, but even objected to his 

 proposed marriage with Miss Bakewell. 

 Outraged by this treatment he started for 

 New York, and after considerable difficul- 

 ties and delays took passage for Nantes, 

 where he arrived and laid the condition of 

 things before his father. Da Costa was re- 

 moved, and a conditional assent granted to 

 the marriage with Miss Bakewell. 



For a year Audubon remained in France. 

 The Empire was then shaken by prepara- 

 tions for the invasion of Russia, and there 

 seemed danger that he might be obliged to 

 join the army. To avoid this he volunteered 

 in the navy and received an appointment as 

 midshipman. After one short cruise, leave 

 of absence was obtained for the young man, 

 and in company with a friend named Rosier, 

 he sailed for America, the two having 

 agreed to a nine years' partnership. The 

 vessel on which they sailed was overhauled 

 by a British privateer, the crew of which 

 plundered the passengers, but after consid- 

 erable delay and adventure they reached 

 New York. 



Back again at Mill Grove, with the dis- 

 turber of his peace removed, Audubon 

 entered once more upon his pleasant coun- 

 try life, but he now desired to marry, and it 

 was evident that he must first have some 

 settled occupation. 



He accordingly entered the counting 

 house of Benjamin Bakewell of New York, 

 but gave most of his time to collecting 

 birds. It was during this period that he 

 met Dr. Samuel Mitchell, at that time one 

 of the leading scientific men of New York. 

 It took but a short time to convince Mr. 

 Bakewell that it would be impossible to in- 

 stil business habits into the nature of young 

 Audubon, and the latter, therefore, returned 

 to Mill Grove. He and Rosier now planned 

 a commercial expedition to Kentucky, and 

 the estate at Mill Grove was sold and the 

 proceeds invested in goods. Before start- 

 ing, the marriage with Miss Bakewell took 



