CHAPTER XXII 
TO EUROPE AND SUCCESS 
Audubon sails from New Orleans—Life at Sea—Liverpool—The Rath- 
bones—Exhibition of drawings an immediate success—Personal appear- 
ance—Painting habits resumed—His pictures and methods—Manchester 
visited—Plans for publication—The Birds of America—Welcome at 
Edinburgh—Lizars engraves the Turkey Cock—In the réle of society’s 
lion—His exhibition described by a French critic—Honors of science 
and the arts—Contributions to journals excite criticism—Aristocratic 
patrons—Visit to Scott—The Wild Pigeon and the rattlesnake—Letter 
to his wife—Prospectus—Journey to London. 
When Audubon had reached the age of forty-one, 
his fortunes were destined to undergo still further kalei- 
doscopic changes, but the patterns and hue were now 
of a more agreeable character. He had failed repeated- 
ly in business ventures of various kinds; he had failed 
also to find either encouragement or support for his 
ambitious schemes of publishing his drawings in the 
United States. But there was still a chance for success 
in the Old World, and thither he was determined to go 
to try the hazard of fortune in either England or France. 
Accordingly, he left his family at St. Francisville and 
went to New Orleans, where he engaged passage on a 
cotton schooner bound for Liverpool, named the Delos, 
Captain Joseph E. Hatch. With his drawings, a few 
books, and a purse, if not ample, at least sufficient for 
his immediate needs, and fortified with numerous let- 
ters, he finally set sail on the 17th of May, 1826. 
This voyage, like every other which the naturalist 
ever made, was turned to good account; the log book 
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