Chapter XXVII: Eastern Visit and Explorations in the North Atlantic (2)

Now to other subjects. We are deeply at work. John
has drawn a few Birds, as good as any I ever made, and
in a few months I hope to give this department of my
duty up to him altogether; his improvements on other
subjects are equally pleasing. I write a [biography of
a] Bird or so every evening, and our friend grants me
all his knowledge of the habits of those with which he
has become well acquainted, belonging to this part of
the Union. I have nearly _one 100_ drawings of Water
Birds ready for publication & I pronounce them equal
to any previous ones. I am much pleased at the news
you give me respecting Havell; I hope he will continue
with hand and heart to do all in his power for the fame
of our work, and for himself. We have not seen Nos.
34, 35, tho. from your letter we suppose them to be
in New York. Wm. Oakes, I have written you, has paid
all, up to No. 33; Arnold, of New Bedford, for all he
has had; John Neal has his copy, but I do not know if
he has yet paid Dr. Parkman, who is our kind friend
and agent in that part of the Country. I wish you had
forwarded _first volumes_ bound, as you had those on
hand, as several would have been disposed of and paid
for by this time; do send all, or whatever of them you
have ready, as _soon as possible_. It will be well for
you to have friend Bachm's. paper published in _toto_,
in some _good circulating paper_ in London & Edinboro.
Brushes! Brushes! Brushes! I am glad to hear of Kidd &
Co.'s publication of Parrots, but I regret that my face
should have been there from Syme's picture, which in
my estimation is none of the best. Push Kidd with the
pictures; _have them, and take care of them_. Sell all
the Shells you please; write to John Adamson, of New
Castle, about them, but keep smug all the Bird Skins.
I cannot do without them when I write my Synopsis,
which will be when I am with you. Our voyage round the
Floridas, Gulph Mexico &c. will begin about the 1st.
February. This will be my last journey, after which
John and I will hunt for Subscribers, procure a round
number, and join you as soon as possible. Your dear Mama
will in all probability join you in May or June next.
In about a fortnight I shall send you more land Birds
for the end of the 2d. volume, extra small plates, and
several _numbers_ of _Water_ Birds. I am anxious to hear
something about the little edition. Do not omit to let
me know when you want money, for tho. our expenses are
always great, _the Work_ must not, and shall not suffer,
as long as my eyes and hands can work.

Dec. 23d., last evening, we had the pleasure of yours
of the 28 Oct, and one from Havell of the 9th. Regarding
Havell, we are glad that all is well with him, and hope
he will not trouble us about extra prices, not even for
the _Water Birds_. The safe arrival of my last drawings
has relieved me of that anxiety. You are quite right on
the score of _advice_. _You_ in England, will do best
to act as you may think proper. _We_, in America, are
trying to do equally well, and our little _Alliance_ is
as efficient as the Holy one at least. That Subscribers
should die is an event we cannot help; that such fellows
as V. should act so cannot be controlled, but depend
upon our _industry_, our _truth_, and the regular manner
in which we publish our work; this will always prove
to the world and to our Patrons that nothing more can
be done than what we do; nay, I doubt if any _family_,
with our pecuniary means, ever will raise for themselves
such a monument as the "Birds of America" is, over their
tomb.

How comes it that Harlan has not money enough to pay
his expenses in Europe? I shall remember the 20 £, and
the exchange. Chamley, of New Castle, was never prompt
pay; indeed, my dear Victor, were you fully acquainted
with the great difficulties which I had to surmount and
did surmount, it would give you less fear than you now
feel or experience. We shall be glad to receive the
Brushes that are, I hope, now under way for us. Mr.
Miesson resides [at] No. 2 Rue Pigalle, on the east
side of the grand Boulevards. Present my regards to Mr.
Yarrell, and thank him in my name for his kind offer
of eggs, and add that I shall have it in my power to
present him with many which I think he has not found,
that our two collections will most likely comprise the
whole of those published in my 4 volumes. I fear that
to give the eggs in the 2d. of Biography would render
that volume too large, and again too costly, and that
a few plates of eggs at the end of the large work will
answer better.[51] The _plates_ ought to be insured for
at least 4 or 5 times the cost, for should they by an
accident be destroyed, the amount of their cost would
prove a poor remuneration, when compared with the time
it would require to have them renewed. Attend to this
as soon as you can. Henry Ward has rendered himself
very obnoxious _here_. a letter came to Mr. B. on last
evening from St. Augustine, to inquire how a certain
amount left by him unpaid was to be settled. Mr. Bachman
will inform you of the particulars.

Do forward the bound volumes as soon as possible,
for with them I could at once make you a considerable
remittance, which would enable you to prepare the Nos.
of the 2d. Vol. for those who do not wish to have it
complete. I am trying to receive some money on Act.
of the 2d. Vol. through the mediums of Dr. Parkman, N.
Berthoud, John Bellonis, Wm. Gaston, and will let you
know the result. The Plate ... which you sent me is
_extremely well_ engraved, but let us keep to Havell as
long as he behaves with propriety, and does good work.

I have now replied to your letter fully, except on what
you say about my immediate _return_. The following are
my views, but if after all, you say—come on, _I shall
do so_. Our country is becoming more wealthy every day.
Science is looked upon with more congeniality every
year. Subscribers in this Dear Country of ours do not
drop off unless they die. They pay punctually on demand,
and to have more of them in this land than in Europe is
a thing that may prove of the greatest importance _to
us_. When I visited our woods on my first return from
England, I was absent about 12 months. The Rathbones
and Mr. Children wrote to me many times to return,
or expect the work to fall. I went back to Europe
before I was ready to go, and on my arrival there, to
my surprise and joy, I found everything going on as
well as usual; but I was again obliged to come to our
Country to renew my researches, and improve my head,
as well as my collection of drawings. I had then left
no one like you in England. Now you, my Dear Son, are
there; thank God for it! You prove to be a better man
at carrying on the publication than myself, and to tell
you more, I doubt if I could procure more subscribers
there than yourself. I am truly desirous for your sake,
and that of your dear Mother and Brother, to do all
in my power for the completion of this great work. I
wish to finish here all that is to be done both in the
way of drawing, and increase of knowledge, in _black
and white_, and also in Patrons, as much as possible,
ere I return to Europe, where, when I do go, I must
remain several years, if not until the completion of the
engraving. I am growing old very fast; in 3 or 4 years
my career as a traveller will be ended, and should I be
obliged to renew my field-labours, it is doubtful if my
constitution could bear it. One year now is equal to
3, 3 years hence. I receive much assistance from the
Government, and have John to accompany me. I am still
able to undergo some fatigue, and, as I have said, I am
anxious, _very anxious_, to do all that can be done ere
I return to Europe. Now the whole time which I conceive
necessary to enable me to perform these desideratums
cannot exceed 12 or 15 months. What pleasure it would
be to us all, when I take your hand and press you to my
heart, I should also have a list of _100 new names from
America!_; all the drawings and the manuscripts ready
for the completion of this our wonderful undertaking.
I would advise you to address a circular letter to
all those who may be concerned in Europe, to acquaint
them with what _I call_ the necessity of my being in
America, for the _sole purpose_ of increasing the value
of our publications, either Illustrative or graphical.
This, and the constant improvement now exhibited to
them with each new number of the work, could not fail,
I think, to render them quiet, if not pleased, that I
am now doing all I can for the advantage of the work.
Tell them the facts, that I have greatly added to the
Ornithology of the United States since my absence from
Europe, that the number of species which I now have,
and that are not given by Wilson or Bonaparte, combined,
amounts to nearly one hundred, and that the Water Birds
will be fully equal in point of interest and beauty, to
any of the land Birds that are published. And, not the
least part of this, my remaining in America has already
[given], and will continue, to give me the power of
portraying the habits of the Water Birds with more truth
and completeness than has ever yet been done. Next, have
extracts of my letter to you, before the world's eye,
through the medium of Papers. Visit such of our friends,
and ask them to say those things to their acquaintance;
go on yourself, as you have done, and depend upon it,
we shall all be _greatly benefitted_. In your most kind
letter to John you mention with unexampled modesty what
you are attempting to do in the way of self-improvement,
but my Dear Victor, you cannot convey more thoroughly
to us the _march_ of your improvement than you have done
by sending your letters, and the result of your actions,
so well delineated as this is, and _we all_ feel deeply
gratified and most happy. Cruickshank is _right_;
by _drawing_ you are enabled to study the lights and
shadows of bodies, again the beautiful mellowness with
which, altho. all powerful in _the effect_, these blend
themselves with each other. The _reflective power of
bodies_ will also strike your discerning attention, and
when these combinations of the true Materia are well
understood, the artist is a Master! Nature after all,
has done all for us; she groups, and most beautifully,
every thing that is presented to our eye or mind,
so completely also, that if one observes a number of
bodies, no matter what these bodies are, whether horses
or apes, he sees at once the general elegance of their
arrangement in _contour_, the force of the light and
shadows, the mellowness existing between these, and
as the eye passes on to the finishing of that natural
picture, it at once pronounces it complete.

Do not forget to take from Kidd whatever pictures of
ours he may have finished, and take good care of them.
We have pretty nearly kilt G. Ord and Waterton with our
Buzzard experiments. You say you wish you could see us
at friend Bachman's; I assure you my pleasure at such
an event would be equal to yours. We are indeed happy
in having such a friend. Miss Martin, with her superior
talents, assists us greatly in the way of drawing;
the insects she has drawn are, perhaps, the best I've
seen; at night we have some music and reading. When you
receive Bird Skins, perhaps it would be as well to form
a collection of each species in pairs, and variety of
age or color.

24 Dec. We have just received yours of 18th. October.
You are, my Dear Son, too low spirited respecting my
immediate appearance in England. Cheer up, my beloved
Victor! Believe me, when I repeat that our own Dear
Country will support the efforts of us all, and will
grant us more Patrons than the whole of Europe together;
by the way of a nightcap, let me give you the name of
Wm. J. Rees, of Sumpter district, Statesbury, South
Carolina, who put his name to my list this afternoon
at the moment when the Vultures lost their olfactory
powers, for I daubed the imitation of a sheep, and the
very first one that passed over the picture rounded and
came to it.

Respecting Kidd, and his prospectus, depend upon it,
nothing is to be feared from that quarter; that work is
_dead at the moment I write_, and as to his publishing
the intention of the pictures, it signifies nothing.
All you have to do is to _take all_ the pictures from
him, _by goodwill or otherwise_, and _give him no more
originals to copy_.

If I regret anything at this moment, it is that you
should have kept the 20 volumes in London, when, if I
had them in America, I should at once be enabled to make
you a valuable remittance. Ship them, ensured, as fast
as possible, and doubt not my disposing of them. Lewis
Atterbury writes me to night that all the numbers 34,
35, which Havell has shipped, are injured greatly by
salt water. I do not know yet if they were insured or
not. I write to him this evening. Do not ship anything
without insurance; it is better to lose time in this
case than money. I will write again in a few days, and I
shall forward you _Water Birds_ in good time. God bless
you, my dear fellow; keep up your spirits, and again may
God bless you.

Ever your affectionate father,

J. J. AUDUBON.

Honest John Bachman, who had lived and worked with Audubon for months at a time, and who probably knew him better than did any one in America outside of the naturalist's own family, gave this account of his habits in 1834, when, at the age of forty-nine, he was still working at his best:

He rises at the earliest dawn, and devotes the whole of
the day, in intense industry, to his favourite pursuit.
The specimens from which he makes his drawings are all
from nature; carefully noting the colors of the eye,
bill, and legs; measuring, with great accuracy, every
part of the bird. When differences exist, either in the
sexes or young, several figures are given on the same
plate; sparing no labour in retouching old drawings or
in making new ones, in all cases where he conceives
there may be a possibility of making an improvement.
In this way, he has already succeeded in figuring
nearly the whole of the birds necessary to complete his
splendid and important work.

He keeps a journal, and regularly notes down every
thing connected with natural history. This journal
is always kept in English: a language which, it must
be acknowledged he writes very correctly, when it is
taken into consideration that he spent nearly the first
seventeen years of his life in France. Besides this,
he keeps separate journals, in which he notes every
thing that he learns each day on the habits of every
bird. In all his travels, he carries these journals
with him; and he never suffers business, fatigue, or
pleasure to prevent him each evening from noting down
every interesting observation. In this way, a mass of
information has been accumulated from year to year. When
he sits down to write the history of a bird (which is
usually in the evening), he first reads over all the
memoranda which he has made with regard to its habits
and he is generally able to write an interesting paper
on the subject in the course of an evening. At some
leisure moment this is again revised and corrected: the
scientific details he leaves to the last.

Early in March, 1834, Audubon left his friends in Charleston, and with his wife and son passed northward to Washington and Baltimore. From the latter city, on March 9, he wrote to Edward Harris, in part as follows:

Friends such as you _have been_, and _are_ still, are
the only recompense such poor individuals such as I am
can enjoy in this world, and the more valued as they are
so very rare.

We came from Charleston by land to Norfolk; thence to
Washington City by steamer in 20 hours, and in 8 to the
city here, well fatigued but safely.... At Washington,
where we remained only an hour, Col. J. Abert told me
something connected with the climbing of Rattlesnakes
upon trees &c. that will make your mouth water, and your
generous heart leap with joy, _when you read_ [about]
them, which you shall do ere long, I give you my word
for it.

Audubon was still in Baltimore on March 15, for on that day he gave Harris a letter of introduction to Edward Everett. New York was reached in April, when he wrote to Bachman that they had secured berths in "that fine packet ship the _North America_," which was to sail on the tenth of that month.

AFTER AN ENGRAVING BY W. RADDON OF A PORTRAIT BY EDDIS, 1839.]

REPRODUCED FROM "CASSINIA" FOR 1902.]

Toward the close of Audubon's Charleston visit he had an unpleasant experience; he was sued for an old debt, which no doubt dated from his Henderson period and the failure of his mill in 1819.[52] Apparently the case was carried into court, where the naturalist was defended by a lawyer named Dunkin, who, if my inference is correct, later became a distinguished judge and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court[53] of South Carolina. The incident was referred to by Audubon in letters written from New York at this time; on April 6, he wrote to Miss Maria Martin as follows:

I told friend Bach. in my letter of yesterday that
I knew nothing of Mr. Pettigrue, connected with my
business at Charleston, and that if that gentleman had
presented himself before the court, it must have been
for charity's sake; indeed, from the conversations
that passed between Friend B. & I respecting Mr. Dunker
[Dunkin], it would have been absurd in me to think for
a moment of employing any other person than Mr. D.

In the letter just quoted Audubon said also that he had spent all of the morning of the previous day in going from shop to shop with friend Harris to procure some models for "the dear girls," but in vain; New York with its two hundred and fifty thousand souls, possessed but two drawing masters; "these instruct in _3 months_," he added, "and starve for the nine of the year." In reference to financial matters, he said that he had managed to collect about £600 sterling, and had sent 500 to Victor in bills of exchange, so that when they reached London, they would be tolerably well off, considering that they were "naturalists from the wilds of America." "Nothing starts the blues so effectually," he continued, as "constant unemployment; for myself who have done next to nothing since I left you, have had horrors all around me; dreams of sinking and burning ships at night, fears of lost drawings, & failures of subscribers by day, have ever and anon been my companions." "Victor," he added, "has sent 6 boxes of pills, which will be divided into 3 parts, the largest for G. Ord."

The Audubons finally sailed from New York on April 16, 1834. On the preceding day the naturalist sent his friend, Edward Harris, a parting letter, in which he said:

To tell you that I am surprised at your generous conduct
in remitting to me Four hundred, Ninety dollars in
advance, for all the numbers of my book, would be a
poor gratification to me. I feel your generosity, and I
cannot say any more. God bless you.

Nos. 36 & 37 have reached this place; my drawings
shipped from Charleston are safely in the hands of
Victor at London. I have been able to forward him 650
£, and I have 30 sovereigns to defray our expenses
from Liverpool to the Great Metropolis. In 1824, poor
J. had dreams, but how far was I then from believing
that I should ever have succeeded as I have; who will
believe my story? Only one or two besides yourself, have
_an Idea_ of what I have undergone, but, if God grants
me life, I shall publish that story, and send you the
sheets thereof, as they are struck by the printer.

Audubon took with him to England all the collections which he had accumulated during nearly three years of travel and search in different parts of the United States and the British possessions. During this eventful period he had renewed one hundred of his older drawings, executed many new ones, discovered new birds, extended his acquaintance, and added sixty-two names to his list of patrons.

After they had reached Liverpool, he wrote to Bachman, May 8, 1834, that they had returned on the "superb packet of 650 tons, called the _North America_, commanded by an admirable gentleman, named Dixie of Philadelphia"; the voyage was made in not quite twenty days. A little later they joined their son, Victor, in London.