LIFE IN NEW YOEK. 17 



famous dog Zephyr was a wonderful example. He was an 

 admirable marksman, an expert swimmer, a clever rider, pias- 

 sessed great activity, prodigious strength, and was notable for 

 the elegance of his figure and the beauty of his features, and he 

 aided nature by a careful attendance to his dress. Besides 

 other accomplishments, he was musical, a good fencer, danced 

 well, had some acquaintance of legerdemain tricks, worked in 

 hair, and could plait willow-baskets." He adds further, that 

 Audubon once swam across the Schuylkil river with him on his 

 back, no contemptible feat for a young athlete. 



The naturalist was evidently a nonpareil in the eyes of his 

 neighbours, and of those who were intimate enough to know his 

 manifold tastes. But Love began to interfere a little with the 

 gratification of these Bohemian instincts. On expressing his 

 desire of uniting himself to Miss Bakewell, Audubon was advised 

 by Mr. Bakewell to obtain some knowledge of commercial 

 pursuits before getting married. With this intention, Audubon 

 started for New York, entered the counting-house of Mr. Benjamin 

 Bakewell, and made rapid progress in his education by losing 

 some hundreds of pounds by a bad speculation in indigo. 



The leading work done by the imprisoned naturalist was, as 

 usual, wandering in search of birds and natural curiosities. While 

 so engaged he made the acquaintance of Dr. Samuel Mitchel, 

 one of the leading medical men in New York city, and dis- 

 tinguished as an ethnologist. Dr. Mitchel was one of the 

 founders of the Lyceum of Natural History, and of the ' Medical 

 Repository,' which was the first scientific journal started in the 

 United States. Audubon prepared many specimens for this 

 gentleman, which he believed were finally deposited in the New 

 York Museum. After a season of probation, during which 

 Mr. Bakewell became convinced of the impossibility of tutoring 

 Audubon into mercantile habits, the naturalist gladly returned 

 to Mill Grove. Eosier, who had likewise been recommended 

 to attempt commerce, lost a considerable sum in an unfortunate 

 speculation, and eventually returned to Mill Grove with his 

 friend. 



Audubon remarks that at this period it took him but a few 

 minutes, walking smartly, to pass from one end of New York to 

 another, so sparse was the population at the date of his residence. 



c 



