ARRIVAL IN EDINBURGH. 171 



list of subscribers had not increased, it had not much diminished. 

 During my absence I had been elected a fellow of the Eoyal 

 Society of London, for which I believe I am indebted to Lord 

 Stanley and J. S. Children, Esq., of the British Museum, and on 

 the sixth of May I took my seat in the great hall, and paid my 

 entrance fee of fifty pounds, though I felt myself that I had not 

 the qualifications to entitle me to such an honour." 



Soon after his arrival in England, he found that subscribers 

 did not pay up as regularly as he expected, and money being 

 needed to push forward the engraving of the " Birds' of America," 

 he again resorted to his pencil and brush, and painted birds and 

 quadrupeds, for all of which he found ready sale at satisfactory 

 prices. Besides this he was occupied in filling up the ground- 

 work of many of his drawings, and introducing plants and trees 

 which had at first been given only in outline. His stay at 

 London however was not long. Mrs. Audubon having joined 

 him there after a few weeks, not liking a residence in the city, 

 travelled with him on his journeys to obtain new subscribers. 



"We visited Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, York, Hull, 

 Scarborough, Whitby, Newcastle, and received several sub- 

 scriptions at the latter place ; and my former friends, Mr. 

 Adamson and the Eev. Mr. Turner, were quite kind to us, as 

 also was the family of the Earl of Eavensworth. On our way 

 to Edinburgh we stopped a few days and were hospitably enter- 

 tained at Pursel House, by Mr. Selby. 



" Oeiober 13, 1830. We reached Edinburgh safely, and took 

 lodgings at my old boarding-house, with Mrs. Dickie, where we 

 were made very comfortable." 



At this period Audubon began to prepare his " Ornithological 

 Biography of the Birds of Am.erica," a work containing nearly 

 three thousand pages, and published by Mr. Black of Edinburgh. 



" I applied to Mr. James Wilson, to ask if he knew of any 

 person who would undertake to correct my ungrammatical 

 manuscripts, and to assist me in arranging the more scientific 

 part of the 'Biography of the Birds.' He gave me a card 

 with th« address of Mr. W. McGillivray, spoke well of him 

 and of his talents, and away to Mr. McGillivray I went. He 

 had long known of me as a naturalist. I made known my 

 business, and a bargain was soon struck. He agreed to assist 



