44 JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 
Leaving his family behind him, he 
started for New Orleans on a flatboat. 
He tarried long at Natchez, and did not 
reach the Crescent City till midwinter. 
Again he found himself destitute of 
means, and compelled to resort to por- 
trait painting. He went on with his 
bird collecting and bird painting; in 
the meantime penetrating the swamps 
and bayous around the city. 
At this time he seems to have heard of 
the publication of Wilson’s ‘‘ Ornitho- 
logy,’’? and tried in vain to get sight of 
a copy of it. 
In the spring he made an attempt to 
get an appointment as draughtsman and 
naturalist to a government expedition 
that was to leave the next year to survey 
the new territory ceded to the United 
States by Spain. He wrote to President 
Monroe upon the subject, but the ap- 
pointment never came to him. In March 
he called upon Vanderlyn, the historical 
painter, and took with him a portfolio 
