JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 59 
him to continue his journeys. He could 
sleep on a steamer’s deck, with a few 
shavings for a bed, and, wrapped in a 
blanket, look up at the starlit sky, and 
give thanks to a Providence that he 
believed was ever guarding and guiding 
him. 
Early in September he left for Pitts- 
burg where he spent one month scouring 
the country for birds and continuing his 
drawings. In October, he was on his 
way down the Ohio in a skiff, in com- 
pany with ‘‘a doctor, an artist and 
an Irishman.’’ The weather was rainy, 
and at Wheeling his companions left the 
boat in disgust. He sold his skiff and 
continued his voyage to Cincinnati in a 
keel boat. Here he obtained a loan of 
fifteen dollars and took deck passage on a 
boat to Louisville, going thence to Ship- 
ping Port to see his son Victor. Ina 
few days he was off for Bayou Sara to 
see his wife, and with a plan to open a 
school there. 
