366 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 
He writes close lines, rather curved as they go from left to 
right, and puts an immense deal on very little paper... . I 
talked little, but, believe me, I listened and observed. 
Two days later Audubon paid Scott a second visit, this 
time with his portfolio, but little was recorded of this 
interview other than that it was more agreeable than 
the first, and that he greatly admired the accomplished 
Miss Scott, to whom he later sent as a gift the first 
number of his plates. Audubon’s drawings were ex- 
hibited at a meeting of the Royal Society over which 
Sir Walter presided, and Scott was also in attendance 
at the Royal Institution when Audubon’s large paint- 
ing of the Black Cocks was shown. “We talked much” 
on this occasion, said the naturalist, “and I would have 
gladly joined him in a glass of wine, but my foolish 
habits prevented me.” This restriction on wine was 
soon removed, as was that on whisky, whether of the 
Scotch or Kentucky brand, and during his later life in 
America Audubon was never a teetotaler by any means. 
While at the Exhibition Sir Walter pointed to Land- 
seer’s picture of the dying stag, saying, “many such 
scenes, Mr. Audubon, have I witnessed in my younger 
days.” Audubon was doubtless too polite to express an 
opinion of that popular artist, though of that very pic- 
ture he had written in his journal three days before that 
there was no nature in it, and that\he considered it a 
farce; “the stag,” he said, “had his tongue out, and his 
mouth shut! The principal dog, a greyhound, held the 
deer by one ear, just as if a loving friend; the young 
hunter had laced the deer by one horn very prettily, 
and in the attitude of a ballet-dancer was about to cast 
the noose over the head of the animal.” 
Scott and Audubon were kindred spirits in their love 
