356 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 
land, as it later did to his purse. His painting devices 
are thus referred to in a journal entry for January, 
1827: 
No one, I think, paints in my method; I, who have never 
studied but by piece-meal, form my pictures according to my 
ways of study. For instance, I am now working on a Fox; I 
take one neatly killed, put him up with wires and when satisfied 
with the truth of the position, I take my palette and work as 
rapidly as possible; the same with my birds; if practicable I 
finish the bird at one sitting,—often, it is true, of fourteen 
hours,—so that I think they are correct, both in detail and 
composition. 
When he was painting pheasants and needed a white 
one as “a keystone of light” to his picture, a nobleman 
sent word that he would be given “leave to see the pic- 
tures” in his hall, but this Audubon characteristically 
refused, being determined to pay no such visits without 
invitation. 
On the 10th of September, 1826, Audubon left Liv- 
erpool, in a hopeful mood, for Manchester, with the in- 
tention of visiting the chief cities of England and Scot- 
land. He was fortified with a bundle of letters to a 
long list of distinguished people, including Baron von 
Humboldt, General Lafayette, Sir Walter Scott, Sir 
Humphry Davy and Sir Thomas Lawrence. His first 
step proved a disappointment, and when he finally left 
the City of Spindles six weeks later, he found himself 
poorer than when he had entered it. At Manchester, 
however, he added to his list of interested friends and 
possible patrons, and acting upon their suggestion, 
opened a subscription book for the publication of his 
long meditated work, to be called The Birds of America. 
The Rathbones, as well as other friends whose advice 
