30 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 
lieutenant of his vessel, but in the summer of 1768 he 
shipped again from Les Sables as sailor before the mast 
for a short trading cruise on the coast of France; in 
this instance the vessel, called Le Propre, was captained 
by Pierre Martin, who was possibly an uncle. At this 
juncture Jean Audubon enlisted in the French navy 
(service for the State) as a common sailor, and made 
two voyages on governmental business from the port of 
Rochefort, serving altogether nearly nine months 
(1768-9). After the termination of this last engage- 
ment nothing is heard of Jean for over a year, when 
in 1770 he makes his first appearance at Nantes, the 
city that was to know him in many capacities for nearly 
half a century. There he reéntered the merchant ma- 
rine, and on November 1, 1770, began a series of eight 
voyages, lasting as many years, to the island of Santo 
Domingo, the western section of which was then in pos- 
session of France. 
Since much of the mystery which hitherto has 
shrouded the early life of John James Audubon is in- 
volved in the West Indian period of his father’s career, 
we shall now trace this history in considerable detail. 
The great export trade of French Santo Domingo 
in those days was in brown and white sugar, then known 
as the “Muscovado” and “clayed” sorts, which for the 
year 1789 amounted to over 141,000,000 pounds, valued 
at more than 122,000,000 francs; and in coffee, which 
in the same year totaled nearly 77,000,000 pounds, esti- 
mated to be worth nearly 52,000,000 francs. While all 
®In 1789 over 7,000,000 pounds of cotton and 758,628 pounds of 
indigo were exported from the French side of the island, while further 
products of that year, including smaller amounts of cocoa, molasses, rum, 
hides, dye-woods, and tortoise shell, swelled the grand total of exports to 
205,000,000 livres or francs. Bryan Edwards, however, whose deductions 
were based on official returns, placed the average value of all exports 
from French Santo Domingo for the years 1787, 1788, and 1789, at 
