IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC 53 



though he had forgotten his letter from Dr. McKen- 

 ney, he was resolved not to trouble that official further. 

 At this juncture he met Washington Irving, who did 

 his best to save the situation, and thought that Audubon 

 had been mistaken in his judgment of the Secretary; 

 "I might have been," he said, "but those eyes of mine 

 have discovered more truth in men's eyes than their 

 mouths were willing to acknowledge." Irving accom- 

 panied him to the offices of Mr. Taney, the Secretary 

 of the Treasury, who at once gave the naturalist the 

 privileges of the revenue cutter service on the southern 

 coast. 



At Richmond Audubon met Governor Floyd, who 

 promised to try to induce the legislature of his State to 

 subscribe for a copy of the Birds. From that point to 

 Charleston we shall follow their itinerary as given in 

 his journal under date of October 16:^* 



We left Richmond this morning in a stage well crammed 

 with Italian musicians and southern merchants, arrived at 

 Petersburg at a late hour, dined, and were again crammed in 

 a car drawn by a locomotive, which dragged us twelve miles 

 an hour, and sent out sparks of fire enough to keep us con- 

 stantly busy in extinguishing them on our clothes. At Blakely 

 we were again crammed into a stage, and dragged two miles an 

 hour. We crossed the Roanoke River by torchlight in a flat- 

 boat, passed through Halifax, Raleigh, Fayetteville, and 

 Columbia, where we spent the night. Here I met Dr. Gibbs, 

 at whose house we passed the evening, and who assisted me 

 greatly; at his house I met President Thomas Cooper, who 

 assured me he had seen a rattlesnake climb a five-rail fence on 

 his land. I received from the treasury of the State four hun- 

 dred and fifty dollars on account of its subscription for one 

 copy of the "Birds of America." 



«/6iU, p. 379. 



