xt7qbz616213 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7qbz616213/data/mets.xml Bradford, Mary Fluker. 1897 books b92-48-26951886 English [Press of L. Graham], : New Orleans : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Audubon, John James, 1785-1851. Audubon / by Mary Fluker Bradford. text Audubon / by Mary Fluker Bradford. 1897 2002 true xt7qbz616213 section xt7qbz616213 , AUDUBON BY MARY FLUKER BRADFORD NEW ORLEANS 1897 PRtss OF L. GRAHAM SON, Ltd, 207-211 Baronne Street, New Orleans. H E following Biographical Sketch of ,,t Audubon was originally read before the Quarante Club, a leading literary society of New Orleans. It is now offered in printed form to a larger circle of readers at the suggestion of .some of the relatives and admirers of the famous Louisianian, in the hope that it may create such an interest in its subject as will ultimately lead to the result long ardently desired by the writer- the erection of a suitable monument in the Crescent City in memory of our great ornithol- ogist. The raison d'e/re of this unpretending brochure being explained, the author begs for it the kindly indulgence of a generous public, and a hearty cooperation in the work, of which it is hoped this modest effort may prove the corner-stone. Our country is at last rapidly refuting the traditional charge of the ingratitude of Repub- lics to their noblest sons and though she has as yet no Pantheon nor Westminster Abbey, AUDUBON. statues and monuments throughout the land per- petuate the memory and deeds of her patriots, scholars and heroes. We of the far South must not be behindhand in this great movement. Undismayed by difficulties and discourage- ments, we must earnestly strive to do like honor to our illustrious dead, and ennoble and beautify our parks and public places with last- ing memorials in bronze and marble-grand object lessons of their lives and deeds. The entire proceeds from the sale of this book will be contributed to the Audubon Monu- ment Fund. 4 IUDUBON. HILE it gives me great pleasure to have (QYi been selected to present to you this brief record of the life, labors and achieve- ments of John James Audubon, the great nat- uralist of America, I do so with extreme diffi- dence; and, disclaiming for myself any origi- nality, learning or eloquence, will rely for the success of my effortssolely upon yourown warm interest in the man himself, and in the personal details of his remarkable career, 'i more in- structive than a sermon, more romantic than a romance." The name and fame of Audubon are world- wide, yet nowhere should they be more highly honored and cherished than here among us- here in the very State where his ardent spirit first saw the light. To me, especially, is there a charm in the very name of Audubon, inter- woven as it is with the earliest and dearest recollections of my childhood and of my old AUDUBON. home in the Felicianas, where, I love to reflect, he was in the olden time a frequent and ever welcome guest. As a child, I listened eagerly when any of the incidents connected with these visits were recalled, and I early developed for thegreat naturalist a most devoted hero-worship. More fascinating than a fairy tale to my youth- ful imagination was the account of his long struggle with adversity and his ultimate tri- umph. I heard with delighted curiosity of the strange stuffed birds, and curious impaled in- sects that filled his room in artistic disorder. And more especially I took immense pride in the thought that the familiar portraits which looked down upon me from the walls were painted by his hand; and I gloried in the knowledge from the lips of my own dear mother, that " once upon a time " she had been a pupil of his lovely and gifted wife. But above all else I cherished the family tradition that upon our plantation near Bayou Sara, the great artist captured the magnificent wild turkey from which he painted then and there his celebrated master.piece. 6 V I This page in the original text is blank. AUDUBON. And so perfect was the picture it is further- more said, so life-like in pose and appearance that when finished and set to dry upon the piazza, it attracted and deceived a flock of do- mestic turkeys that came strutting upon the scene, noisily gobbling and quarreling, and actually tried to attack and drive out the lordly forest intruder. The tribute paid to the old Greek painter Zeuxis by the birds that flew at his bunch of grapes and pecked at them upon his canvas, sank into insignificance compared with this triumph of art in our unclassic age. The woods, the fields, the streams, were invested with new beauty and romantic interest, when I learned how he, the famous Audubon, then poor and unknown, had spent days and nights roaming among them, with only his dog and gun to bear him company. My childish heart overflowed with sympathy for the lonely wanderer. Enthusiast and dreamer, all pro- nounced him to be in those very practical days: all, save the faithful wife who believed in her husband's genius, and for his sake became the 9 AUDUBON. patient bread-winner of the family by teaching music, French, drawing and other accomplish- ments among the most aristocratic country families. Reared among such influences, and with these early memories still clinging to me, the reader-will easily understand that it gives me a peculiar pleasure to think and write of Audubon-and that the labor of compiling from various fragmentary and some private sources of information, and arranging in a more condensed form the story of his life, has been to me trulv a labor of love. The name of Audubon is of French extrac- tion and found only among the ancestors of the naturalist, who were humble fisher-folk, dis- tinguished for sturdy honesty and manly courage. His grandsire, John Audubon, was a native of Sables d'Olonne on the coast of La Vendee. With a laudable ambition, it would seem, to populate the New World as well as the Old, he reared to maturity a family of twenty-one children. Of this extraordinary number the father of our Audubon was the 10 AUDUBON. twentieth son; and he, at the age of twelve set out to seek his fortune, with the slender equip- ment of one shirt, a suit of clothes, a cane and the paternal blessing. He went before the mast, sailing in a vessel bound for America. The career of this young sailor was a most re- markable one, but after uncommon vicissitudes he finally rose to position and wealth. He served in the army of Lafayette and Rocham- beau, was the personal friend of Washington, and later on became naval officer in the ser- vice of France. It is interesting to trace the influences of heredity on the character of the famous descendant of this daring and im- petuous Frenchman. Audubon doubtless in- herited from him that adventurous spirit and tremendous will-power, as well as the quick, stormy temper which he describes as "rising like the blast of a hurricane, and as suddenly calmed. " In the course of his many voyages the suc- cessful naval officer acquired valuable prop- erties in San Domingo and large possessions in 11 AUDUBON. the United States. During one of his visits to Louisiana he married a beautiful and wealthy Spanish Creole, and there, on his plantation not far distant from New Orleans, most prob- ably at Mandeville, his youngest son, John James Audubon, was born, either in 1780 or 1781, for strangely enough the exact date of his birth is unknown. But he was fortunate in the place of his birth,forsurely in all the earth there could not be found a more auspicious spot for the nativity of the future naturalist than this fair land of Louisiana, so rich in its sources of scientific interest and poetic inspiration. His earliest recollections are of lying among the fragrant blossoms under the orange trees, watching the movements of the mocking-bird and listening to its music. When very young Audubon accompanied his motherto San Domingo, where she perished, a victim of the insurrection of i79i. He was afterward sent to France, where his father re- married and settled at Nantes. His step-mother, without children of her own, became passion- 'See addenda, p. 75. 12 AUDUBON. ately attached to her youthful charge, who re- turned her devotion most ardently, and, years afterward, speaks of her as " chre maman," " adorable maman." "Her kindness," he says, was "overwhelming." She indulged him in every whim and extravagance, being determined that "he should live and die a gentleman." She boasted in his presence that " he was the hand- somest boy in France," and supplied him lavishly with pocket money and fine clothes. To this overindulgence and injudicious praise may perhaps be attributed the vanity and love of dress of which Audubon was sometimes, and not unjustly, accused. His life at Nantes was free and joyous, and the embryo naturalist fairly reveled in a carte-blanche on all the confectionery and cake shops in the town, un- troubled by any presentiment of the hardship he was one day to endure in the depths of Ameri- can forests. An intense love of natural scenery and animated nature marked his earliest years to a degree that " bordered on frenzy," he tells us. And when a mere child he began draw- 13 A1UDUBON . ing the birds he saw around him, and would " gaze with ecstacy upon their pearly and shin- ing eggs as they lay imbedded in the soft down of their tiny nests." During his father's absence at sea he was allowed the utmost latitude in the indulgence of his tastes, to the utter neglect of his educa- tion. " I usually made for the fields, where I spent the day, instead of going to school, where I should have been," he tells us, "my little basket with me well supplied with good pro- visions; and when I returned, either in winter or summer, it was replenished with what I called curiosities, such as birds' eggs, birds' nests, curious lichens, flowers, and even peb- bles." When the father of the young student of nature returned from his cruise he was aston- ished at the extent and variety of the boy's collection, but none the less mortified by his deficiencies of education of the ordinary kind. He determined that his son should be educated, and placed him at school to study either as an 14 .4 41 E- z To Q E- 39 This page in the original text is blank. AUDUBON. engineer or a naval cadet, to further which end he had him carefully instructed in drawing and mathematics. Young Audubon found mathe- matics dull work, but acquired great proficiency in drawing, as well as in dancing, fencing and music. For the latter he evinced considerable talent, and learned to play skilfully upon the violin, flute and flageolet. How much he owed to these accomplishments in after years we shall presently see. For seven years he had the advantage of the best drawing masters in France; and in Paris studied under David, the famous classic painter of the revolutionary period (I748-i825). However, the genius of Audubon could not be restricted by the rules of books anti teachers, and he still sought the woods and fields for his inspirations, "taking the keenest delight in the examination of the nests, eggs, young, and parents of any species of bird." The star of Napoleon was now in the ascend- ant, the two elder brothers of Audubon were already in the French army, and his father was 11 AUDUBON. ambitious that he, too, should win fame and glory by following the victorious eagles of France. But the soul of the boy naturalist soared aloft to the eaglets of the sky, and a soldier's life had for him no charm. So at the age of I7 he was sent out to America to look after the family interests in Pennsylvania. Arriving in New York he was seized with vellow fever and nursed back to health by some kind Quaker ladies of Morristown. Soon afterward he was put in possession of his father's beautiful farm, Mill Grove. It was romantically situated on the Schuylkill river, not far from Philadelphia, and it became a haven of rest to the young wanderer, " a blessed spot," he calls it, "where cares he knew not." His life here, indeed, was ideally happy. The natural scenery around him offered pleasing subjects for the young artist's pencil, and he pursued his favorite studies with as little con- cern about the future as though the whole world belonged to him. He rose at "daybreak to begin his rambles, and returned at nightfall, 18 AUDUBON. 19 wet with dew, but happy if he bore a feathered prize His studio was a cave, and his room soon became a museum of Being regarded rank and natural curiosities. as a young expectations, gentleman of Audubon had the ad- vantage of the best social intercourse having unlimited leisure he indulged freely in all the sports and pleasures natural to his age, such as fishing, hunting and skating. confesses that he was " ; gay, pleasure-loving, extravagant; and though in America, cut many foolish pranks as anys dandy in Bond Street or on Piccadilly, going hunting in black satin knee-breeches and pumps, and wearing and He as AUDUBON. the finest ruffled shirts he could obtain from France. But the young lover of Nature was soon to feel a rival passion to whose subtle influence he quickly succumbed. Adjoining Mill Grove was the estate of Fatland Ford, owned by Mr. Bakewell, an English gentleman and a de- scendant of the historic " Peveril of the Peak." Audubon learned that his neighbor had several handsome daughters, and also some fine pointer dogs, but his French prejudices against every- thing English caused him to remain utterly in- different to both attractions, usually so irre- sistible to the young masculine fancy, and only accident, or perhaps Providence, brought about his acquaintance with the family with which he afterward became so closely united. It happened one day when the ground was cov- ered with snow and he was hunting grouse that he met Mr. Bakewell similarly engaged, and accepted an invitation to visit his home. Audubon's impressions of the visit are best told in his own language. " Well do I remem- 20 AUDUBON. ber," he says, " and please God, I will never forget, the morning when for the first time I entered the Bakewell household. I was shown into the parlor, where only one young lady was snugly seated at work by the fire. It was she, my dear Lucy Bakewell, who afterward be- came my wife and the mother of my children. When she arose from her seat her form seemed radiant with beauty, and my heart and eyes followed her every step. At parting, I felt, I knew not why, that I was at least not indiffer- ent to her." The two young people thus mu- tually attracted met frequently after this intro- duction and a devoted attachment sprung up be- tween them. Their love tale is a charming one, for she was a "maiden fair," and he an ardent lover. The gentle Lucy taught him English, once so heartily despised, and he gave her drawing lessons in return, while each was learning from the other the richest lore of all the ages, the depth and purity and strength of love of which the human heart is capable. But the happy course of his wooing was AUDUBON. soon rudely interrupted by the discovery of the treachery of his father's agent, Da Costa, who opposed his matrimonial plans, and attempted to limit his finances. Audubon resolved to de- mand a letter of credit and then to seek his father. With characteristic energy he walk- ed to New York in midwinter, but only to find there was no money for him there; and that Da Costa was actually planning to have him seized and sent to China. Furious at his wrongs, he borrowed money and set sail for Nantes. After elicotintering a heav soale and other vexatious delays he arrived in France, and was soon in the arms of his parents. They joy- fully welcomed him and sympathized in his grievances, his father removing his unworthy steward and consenting to his marriage. Au- dubon spent one happy year with them in their beautiful villa on the Loire, passing his time as usual in rambling and drawing; and with marvelous industry finished about two hundred sketches of French birds. Though crude in 22 AUDUBON. execution there is " life in them," and they give evidence of the wonderful gift of the future ornithologist. His success in after life may doubtless be attributed to the high ideal to which he consecrated himself in extreme youth. In his biography he tells us of his earl) passion for birds and flowers; of his grief and disappointment when, in attempting to copy them, his pencil gave birth to " a family of cripples so maimed they resembled the mangled corpses on a field of battle compared with the integrity of living men." The worse his drawings were, the more beautiful he found the originals-and never, for a moment, did he abandon the all-absorbing desire of repro- ducing nature fresh and life-like, as though just from the hand of its Maker. France was now about to engage in one of her colossal struggles with hostile Europe, and to avoid conscription, Audubon entered the French marine service,-made one short cruise and then obtained passports for America. The perils and adventures which seemed ever to 23 AUDUBON. beset him were not lacking on this voyage. His vessel, though floating " the Stars and Stripes," was seized by an English privateer, the "Rattlesnake," overhauled and robbed. Audubon, however, saved his gold by hiding it under the cable in the ship's bows. Once more he landed in New York and was soon at Mill Grove, of which he was now the owner. He returned to the woods of the New World with fresh ardor and began a series of illustrations which afterward formed part of his great work, " The Birds of America," pronounced by Cuvier " the most gigantic enterprise of the kind ever executed by a single man." It is likely, too, that about this time he began to formulate in his own mind the idea of his Ornithological Biography. Ornithology, the branch of natural history that Audubon specially loved and studied, is a very ancient science. Birds are mentioned in the earliest written records of man, and of all the divisions of the animal creation they are the most interwoven with the traditions and mythologies of the human race. 24 AUDUBON. r7 lie very oldest picture in the world is said by Egyptoloaists to be a fragment of a fresco taken from a tomb, and now preserved a museum at Boulak. It dates back three thousand years ag years ro, and B. C.,I nearly five reproduces with thousand wonderful /I -d i fidelity to nature in form and coloring, figures of six geese. Aristotle is the first known writer ornithology, though even he, w t mrriting three hundred and twenty-six years before Christian era, speaks of the works of his decessors. Tho Linnaeus, the great Swedish 25 in the on the pree AUDUBON. naturalist of the last century, we are indebted for the scientific classification of birds and other animals. Contemporary with him and in more recent times we meet with a long array of brilliant natural scientists, such as Buffon, Cuvier and Agassiz. But in Audubon alone we find combined the scientist, the artist and the writer. Notwithstanding his high aspirations and elevated tastes, " the gay young Frenchman," as he was called, entered con amore into all the social pleasures of the neighborhood and was specially fond of music and dancing. But though pleasure-loving, no vice tainted the purity of his character. He was a vegetarian in diet and so singularly temperate that he had never tasted spirits until his wed- ding day. As a natural consequence he was " as rosy as a girl and as strong and agile as a young buck," to use his own words. To this mode of living he also attributed his iron con- stitution and enormous powers of physical endurance. Audubon had the gift of personal beauty in 26 AUDUBON. an eminent degree, and judging from a pen- and-ink sketch of himself he was not uncon- scious of his attractions. He naively describes himself at this time as " measuring 5 feet 10 1-2 inches; of fair mien, and quite a hand- some figure; large, dark and rather sunken eyes: light-colored eyebrows; aquiline nose; a fine set of teeth; hair fine of texture and luxuriant, divided and passing down behind each ear in luxuriant ringlets as far as the shoulders." The young master of Mill Grove seems to have been regarded as a veritable Admirable Crichton, and aside from his literary and artistic talents he was a capital marksman, an expert swimmer, a fearless rider, a skilful musician and graceful dancer, besides being an adept in the art of stuffing birds and training dogs. He was as strong and active as an ancient athlete, and once swam across the Schuylkill with young Bakewell on his back. But alas! Mr. Bakewell pere, a gentleman of prudence as well as learning, could not see in 27 AUDUBON. these varied acconplislhments anly means of substantial support for the young couple, and therefore insisted that his son-in-law elect should learn something of commercial pursuits before his marriage. He obtained for hirn a p)oSitiOIl ill a counting house in New York, but there oUr p)oo0 naturalist l)illed like an iinpris- oxned bird within the city's walls, and sought relaxation and pleasure in preparing specimens of stuffed birds. Trlis made him obnoxious to his neighbors, who strongly objected to the odor of the drying skins, and demanded, through the medium of a constable, an imme- diate cessation of " the nuisance." During the entire course of his mercantile education Audu- bon demonstrated his utter unfitness for prac- tical affairs, and succeeded only in losing several hundred pounds by a bad speculation in indigo. He relates of himself that he once posted and neglected to seal, a letter containing eight thousand dollars ! After a most unsatisfactory probation he gladly returned to Mill Grove. AUDUBON. The great West was then opening up as a sort of Eldorado for adventurous spirits, and thither Audubon resolved to go and invest the proceeds of his faimn, which he sold for that purpose. In the spring of i8o8 he was mar- ried to Lucv Bakewell, a union that proved most fortunate. Audubon ever cherished the nmost devoted and romantic affection for the noble wife, to whose tender sympathy and un- selfish devotion lie owed so much of his subse- quent happiness and success. Their wedding journey to the " Land of promise I was not without accident, the coach in which they traveled to Pittsburg being upset and the young bride seriously lurt. They floated down the Ohio river on a flat- boat for twelve days, finally arriving at Louis- ville, where Audubon and his partner, Rosier, opened a store. Fancy our elegant young " glass of fashion " and devotee of nature sell- ing pork, flour and lard! However, he seems to have paid but slight attention to business, for he confesses " Birds were birds, then as 29 AUDUBON. now, and my thoughts were ever turning to them as the objects of my greatest delight. I shot, I drew, I looked on nature, and my days were happy beyond human conception." The young couple soon gathered around them a large circle of friends, Audutbon's per- sonal magnetism, attractive physique and bright, lovable nature rendering him extremely popular. He gratefully records in his faithfully kept journal, the generous hospitality of the Kentucky planters and their kind reception of his young wife, whose "talents were above par, and who was considered a gem." "lThe 30 AUDUBON. simplicity and whole-heartedness of those days," he continues, " I can not describe. The people around us loved us, and we loved them in return." At this period he was visited by Alexander Wilson, of Paisley, who called to solicit sub- scriptions for his work on American Ornithol- ogy, little dreaming that lie had a formidable rival in the Louisville merchant, who had even then a collection superior to his own. Audu- bon did not subscribe, but he showed the Scotch naturalist his own portfolio, and offered to give him his drawings to publish if he would give the name of their author. Wilson seemed astonished at the collection, but did not accept -Audubon's proposition. Audubon honestly admired Wilson's talents and enthusiasm, and showed him great kindness, presenting hinm to his friends, hunting with him, and assisting him to obtain new specimens. But Wilson could not overcome his own jealousy, and never mentioned Audubon in his writings; and of Louisville wrote that neither " art nor literature had a friend in the place." 31 AUDUBON. The pen of Audubon is as picturesque as his pencil-we find in his journal most graphic accounts of the years spent in Kentucky and the West. The record is one of financial failure and artistic success-of lively narrative and tender pathos-of thrilling adventures and hairbreadth escapes-of sharp contrasts of poverty and ease-of buoyant hope and bitter disappointment-of happy home-life and lonely wanderings. Through it all we see the man himself, dominated by one idea; his character and genius developing into noble perfection by the trials and misfortunes which assailed him. Audubon seems to have had that indifference to money-getting and that recklessness in re- gard to the future, inseparable from the true artistic temperament. He hated traffic as much as he enjoyed intensely the long journeys to the East " through the dear, the darling forests of Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania," and re- lates that upon one occasion he lost sight en- tirely of the pack-horses with their goods and 32 AUDUBON. cash, to watch the movements of a woodland warbler. Audubon's affairs did not prosper in Louis- ville and he moved his family to Henderson, from whence he made an excursion to St. Genevieve in Missouri. His account of this journey is a most realistic series of pen pictures of frontier life. The party started in a snow-storm and their boat becoming wedged in among huge masses of ice, they were obliged to leave it and go into winter quarters on shore. A band of In- dians camped by them, and Audubon was de- lighted with the opportunity of studying the aborigines in such close proximity. They re- mained thus over a month snow-bound and ice- bound. Their provisions failing them, they lived on pecan-soup, bear meat and opossum; ate the breast of wild turkey for bread and bear-grease for butter. Audubon gives a most amusing account of his partner's discomfort, and his own enjoyment of the situation, twenty miles from any settlement. He says " the bones we threw 33 AUDUBON. around our camp attracted many wolves, and we had much sport in hunting them. Here I passed six weeks pleasantly, investigating the habits of deer, bears, cougars, raccoons and wild turkeys and other animals; and I drew much, by the side of our great camp fire, and no one can have an idea what a good fire is who has never seen one in the woods of America. The Indians wove their baskets of cane; Mr. Pope played on the violin; I accompanied him with the flute; the men danced to the tunes; the squaws looked on and laughed, while the hunters smoked their pipes with such serenity as only Indians can; and I never re- gretted one day spent there." 34 ALI)UDUBN. When the ice at length broke they resumed their perilous journey. Near C."ape Girardeau Audubon saw for the first time the great bald eagle, which he calls '"the bird of Washing- ton " and paints so gloriously with brush and pen. The outlook at St. Genevieve was not promis- ing and Audubon returned to Henderson by land, encountering en ,-oute the memorable earthquake of I812, and narrowly escaping assassination in a settler's cabin. He seemed ever to bear a charmed life. Audubon re- mained about seven years at Henderson; bought land and slaves, and was supremely happy in his cabin home, his ready rifle amply supplying his table with forest luxuries. Prosperity seemed, for a time, to smile upon him. He had all the elements of a pioneer, and he readily adopted the wild life and rough dress of a woodsman of those primitive days. He mentions in his journal the pleasure lie took in the society of that Prince of Hunters, Daniel Boone. While living here he was vis- AUDUBON. ited by Rafinesque, an eccentric old naturalist, grotesquely dressed, and bearing a bunch of weeds upon his shoulders. Audubon presented his learned guest to his family and put him into a state bordering on ecstacy, by showing him a new species of plant. He jumped and danced and fairly hugged his kindly host, ex- claiming that it was not only a new species but a new genus. That night Audubon, hearing a frightful noise in the stranger's apartment, rushed to the rescue and found Rafinesque run- ning around like a madman with the handle of our artist's favorite violin, his valued Cremona, the body of which the excited scientist had completely shattered in trying to kill some bats which, he declared, were " a new species." Audubon became more and more absorbed in the study of Natural History, accomplishing wonders by his patient, tireless industry. It was in Kentucky that he laid the corner-stone of his future greatness. There, too, his two sons were born, and there his two infant daughters were buried. He made many long 36 AUDUBON. and tedious journeys, undismayed by danger and hardship. Once he traveled one hundred and sixty-five miles on foot; at another time he rode a wild horse through Tennessee and Georgia, and once he went down the Missis- sippi river to New Orleans in a skiff. While living in Henderson he was the vic- tim of a calamity that would have crushed a less undaunted spirit. During a protracted absence he placed for security in the warehouse of a friend, a wooden box containing over two hundred drawings. When he returned and examined his treasures, he found, to use his own words, " that a pair of Norway rats had reared a young family among the bits of paper that a few months ago represented over a thousand inhabitants of the air." The poor artist was overwhelmed at the greatness of the disaster, and days of fever, almost of madness, followed. Then, as he tells us, he took up his gun, his sketch-book and pencil, and sallied forth in the wilderness as gayly as if nothing had happened, consoling himself with the 37 AUDUBON. thought of making better drawings than those he had lost, and in three years had refilled his portfolio. Surely, if Audubon " was not always a hero, lie was always a man," nobly illustrating in his checkered life the admirable precepts of James Freeman Clarke: " Take thy self-denial cheerfully, and let the sunshine of thy gladness fall on dark things and light alike-like the smile of the Almighty." On the death of his father, Commodore Au- dubon, our artist found himself possessed of an estate in France. This he generously sur- rendered to his sister Rosa, reserving for him- self seventeen thousand dollars in money, which was placed in the hands of a merchant in Richmond, Va., who became insolvent be- fore our unlucky legatee could collect a sou. Misfortunes now crowded upon him thick and fast. The firm it) New Orleans of Audu- bon Co., in which all his capital was em- barked, failed entirely, and all his enterprises proved disastrous. Bills fell due, creditors were clamorous, and poor Audubon was a 38 AUDUBON. bankrupt. He gave up all he possessed, and with his sick wife, his dog, his gun and his precious drawings lie returned to Louisville. "Cast down, but not in despair" his courage mounted to the height of his necessities. Determined, he said, "not to let his wife and children suffer in the abundant land of Kentucky, he began taking portraits in crayon, and acquired some reputation but little money, earning by his art the bare means of subsistence, scarcely more than the wages of a common day laborer. Later he accepted an engagement to stuff birds for the museum in Cincinnati. He spent six months i