274 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 
to humor his fancy, disregarding dates as readily as 
he did the accents on French words. This tendency is 
particularly apparent in the accounts of some of his 
early adventures in the western country, such as “Louis- 
ville in Kentucky” (1808-10), “The Prairie” (1812), 
“A Wild Horse” (1811-13), and “The Eccentric Nat- 
uralist” (1818), the history of which is detailed in the 
following chapter. We shall examine some of these 
stories at this point, though their composition belongs to 
a later period, in order to reach a just conclusion in 
regard to the author’s method, as well as for the intrinsic 
interest of the narratives themselves. 
During Audubon’s early life in Kentucky, as we 
have seen, he frequently visited the East, whether in the 
interest of birds or business, traveling by way of the 
river and the forest roads. Incidents of these journeys 
frequently occur in the “Episodes,” but since dates com- 
monly are omitted and the order of events is liable to be 
blended or confused, they cannot be trusted always for 
historical accuracy. Thus, “The Wild Horse” episode * 
professes to be an account of a single journey from 
Henderson, in Kentucky, to Philadelphia and back 
again, whereas some of the events recorded occurred in 
reality at least two years apart, such as the meeting with 
Nolte at the Falls of the Juniata River in December, 
1811, and the naturalist’s return from Pennsylvania 
with the proceeds of “Mill Grove,” which could not have 
been earlier than 1818, the date of its sale to Mr. Samuel 
Wetherill, Junior.? 
Audubon visited Philadelphia in November, 1811, 
2 Ornithological Biography, vol. iii, p. 270. 
> While the object of this visit is not mentioned in the “Episode,” it 
is stated in the second biographical sketch; the ambiguities connected 
with the sale of this farm, in which others besides Audubon were then 
interested, are discussed in Chapter XI. 
