BIRTH AND PARENTAGE 53 
born, at Les Cayes, a son, on the twenty-sixth of April, 
1785. This boy, who was sometimes referred to in early 
documents as “Jean Rabin, créole de Saint-Domingue,” 
and who again was called “Fougére”’ (in English, 
“Fern”’), received the baptismal name of Jean Jacques 
Fougére six months before his sixteenth birthday. 
The bill of the physician, Doctor Sanson of Les 
Cayes, who assisted at young Audubon’s birth still 
exists, and as the reader will perceive, it is a highly 
unique and interesting historical document.? Written 
in the doctor’s own hand, it is receipted by him, as well 
as approved and signed by Jean Audubon himself. 
This tardy discovery, along with other pertinent records 
in the commune of Couéron, in France, finally resolves 
the mystery which has ever hedged the Melchizedek of 
American natural history. The child’s name, of course, 
is not given in the bill, but authentic records of Audu- 
bon’s subsequent adoption and baptism agree so com- 
pletely in names and dates as to establish his identity 
beyond a shadow of doubt. Much other documentary 
evidence which also has recently come to light is all in 
harmony with these facts, and further shows that the 
natal spot and time as given in the Sanson bill can refer 
only to this talented boy. But before turning to these 
legal documents we must examine the personal record 
of Jean Audubon’s physician. 
Dr. Sanson’s carefully itemized account, to the 
amount of 1,339 francs, extends over a period of nearly 
two years, from December 29, 1783, to October 19, 
1785; it was accepted and signed by Captain Audubon 
on October 12, 1786, and receipted by the doctor when 
2For photographic reproduction see p. 54; and for transliteration 
and translation, Appendix I, Documents Nos. 1 and la; for “Fougére” 
see Appendix I, Documents Nos. 2 and 3; and for “Jean Rabin,” Docu- 
ments Nos. 14, 16, 17 and 18. 
