222 AUDUBON 



of three hundred years past. Large volumes are written 

 on parchment, by hand, and must have been works of 

 immense labor. The volumes containing the mere trans- 

 fers of landed estates filed within the last forty years 

 amounted to almost three thousand, and the parcels of 

 ancient papers filled many rooms in bundles and in bags of 

 leather, covered with dust, and mouldering with age. The 

 learned antiquarian, Mr. Thompson, has been at great 

 pains to put in order all these valuable and curious docu- 

 ments. The edifice of the Registry is immense, and the 

 long, narrow passages proved a labyrinth to me. Mr. 

 Hays' allotted portion of curiosities consists of Heraldry, 

 and I saw the greatest display of coats of arms of all sorts, 

 emblazoned in richest style on sleeky vellum and parch- 

 ment. ^ 



March 21. Called on Miss D , the fair American. 



To my surprise I saw the prints she had received the 

 evening before quite abused and tumbled. This, how- 

 ever, was not my concern, and I regretted it only on her 

 account, that so little care should be taken of a book that 

 in fifty years will be sold at immense prices because of its 

 rarity. 1 The wind blew great guns all morning. Finding 

 it would be some days before my business would permit 

 me to leave, I formed an agreement to go to see the 

 interior of the Castle, the regalia, and other curiosities of 

 the place to-morrow. I received a valuable letter of 

 introduction to the Secretary of the Home Department, 

 Mr. Peel, from the Lord Advocate of Scotland, given me 

 at the particular request of the Countess of Morton, a most 

 charming lady ; the Earl of Morton would have written 

 himself but for the low state of his health. 



March 22. After lunch the Rev. Wm. Newbold and I 

 proceeded to the Castle ; the wind blew furiously, and con- 



1 A distinguished ornithologist said of the book in 1895 : " It is one of the 

 few illustrated books, if not the only one, that steadily increases in price as 

 the years go on." 



