148 



John y antes Audubon. 



started out to find new subscribers, and 

 after visiting several English towns, finally 

 arrived at Edinburgh, where they spent the 

 winter. 



Soon after his arrival in Edinburgh, 

 Audubon began the preparation of his "Orni- 

 thological Biography of the Birds of Amer- 

 ica." In this he was somewhat at a dis- 

 advantage, on account of his imperfect 

 knowledge of English. He was fortunate 

 enough to secure for assistance in this 

 work the services of William MacGillivray 

 of Edinburgh, a naturalist and anatomist 

 fully qualified to correct the somewhat 

 rough manuscript which Audubon turned 

 over to him. The work went on through 

 the winter, and by hard and unceasing 

 effort the first volume was completed early 

 in March, 1831, and was enthusiastically 

 received. 



In September, 1831, Audubon returned 

 once more to America; this time with the 

 object of proceeding to the South and West, 

 where he felt sure there were many varieties 

 of birds wholly unknown to him. The 

 winter he spent in East Florida, and late in 

 the following summer, accompanied by 

 Mme. Audubon and his two sons, he made a 

 journey to Maine, of both of which excur- 

 sions he has left most interesting accounts, 

 which will be referred to later. 



In the autumn Audubon decided to send 

 his son Victor to England to superintend 

 the engraving of the "Birds," and to look 

 after his English interests, wishing himself 

 to spend another year in America. 



That winter and the next summer Audu- 

 bon spent in Boston working on old draw- 

 ings, making sketches of new birds, and 

 taking short excursions to the surround- 

 ing country, the longest of which was to 

 Labrador, a journey occupying three months. 

 On his return, after resting in New York 

 for three weeks, and sending thirty draw- 

 ings to England, the indefatigable natural- 

 ist started once more for Florida, taking 

 with him Mme. Audubon and his son John 



In Philadelphia, instead of gaining subscrip- 

 tions for his book, he was arrested for an 

 old partnership debt, and had it not been 

 for the kind offices of his friend, William 

 Norris, he would have been imprisoned. 

 This occurrence inspired him with some 

 rather bitter reflections in regard to his 

 former business transactions. After this 

 unpleasant experience they journeyed slowly 

 southward, stopping in Washington to try 

 to arrange for Government aid in an expedi- 

 tion to the Rocky Mountains, which he even 

 then contemplated. He received but little 

 encouragement from General Cass, then 

 Secretary of War. Proceeding southward 

 they reached Charleston, where they were 

 hospitably received by the Rev. John Bach- 

 man. The expedition to Florida was for 

 the time abandoned, and the winter was spent 

 near Charleston. Then, owing to pressing 

 letters from his son Victor, urging his 

 return to England, Audubon journeyed 

 north, and in April, 1834, with his wife and 

 son John, he sailed from New York for 

 Liverpool. There is very little of interest 

 to record for some months after Audubon's 

 arrival in England. His time was spent in 

 looking for subscribers to his book, and in 

 work connected with it until the autumn of 

 1834, when he removed his fam^ily to 

 Edinburgh, where they spent eighteen 

 months, during which time Audubon was 

 principally occupied in writing. 



After leaving Edinburgh the Audubon 

 family settled in London, and thei'e the 

 naturalist left his wife and eldest son, while 

 he with John returned to America to make 

 his long deferred journey to the South. It 

 was doubtless a great joy to Audubon to be 

 once more in America, and he spent some 

 months in visiting Boston, Philadelphia and 

 Washington, and in renewing his acquaint- 

 ance with his old friends, but the serious 

 object of his journey was not forgotten, 

 and the early autumn of 1836 found him in 

 Charleston. He made short excursions to 

 the neighboring sea islands and to Florida, 



