FOOTNOTES[1]"My name is John James Laforest Audubon. The name Laforest I never sign except when writing to my wife, and she is the only being, since my father's death, who calls me by it." (Letter of Audubon to Mrs. Rathbone, 1827.) All Mrs. Audubon's letters to her husband address him as Laforest.[2]This manuscript was found in an old book which had been in a barn on Staten Island for years.[3]Reprinted from Scribner's Magazine, March, 1893, p. 267. A few errors in names and dates are now corrected.[4]Isle à Vache, eight miles south of Aux Cayes.[5]This vessel was the "Annelle."[6]The family still own this portrait, of which Victor G. Audubon writes: "This portrait is probably thefirstone taken of that great and good man, and although the drawing is hard, the coloring and costume are correct, I have no doubt. It was copied by Greenhow, the sculptor, when he was preparing to model his 'Washington' for the Capitol, and he considered it as a valuable addition to the material already obtained. This portrait was painted by an artist named Polk, but who or what he was, I know not."[7]There still remain those who recall how Audubon would walk up and down, snapping his fingers, a habit he had when excited, when relating how he had seen his aunt tied to a wagon and dragged through the streets of Nantes in the time of Carrier.[8]This brother left three daughters; only one married, and her descendants, if any, cannot be traced.[9]"The Polly," Captain Sammis commander.[10]May 26, 1806.[11]Great Blue Heron.[12]This visit passed into history in the published works of each of the great ornithologists, who were never friends. See "Behind the Veil," by Dr. Coues in Bulletin of Nuttall Ornithological Club, Oct., 1880, p. 200.[13]Episode "Breaking of the Ice."[14]1819.[15]Stephen Harriman Long, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, who was then on his way to explore the region of the upper Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers.[16]Titian R. Peale, afterward naturalist of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, under Commodore Wilkes. Later in life he was for many years an examiner in the Patent Office at Washington, and died at a very advanced age. He was a member of the eminent Peale family of artists, one of whom established Peale's Museum in Philadelphia.—E. C.[17]The distinguished naturalist of that name.—E. C.[18]Jacques Louis David (1748-1825), court painter to Louis XVI. and afterwards to Napoleon I.[19]In 1836, Audubon wrote to Dr. John Bachman: "Some of my early drawings of European birds are still in our possession, but many have been given away, and the greatest number were destroyed, not by the rats that gnawed my collection of the "Birds of America," but by the great fire in New York, as these drawings were considered my wife's special property and seldom out of her sight. Would that the others had been under her especial care also! Yet, after all, who can say that it was not a material advantage, both to myself and to the world, that the Norway rats destroyed those drawings?"[20]Mr. W. H. Wetherill, of Philadelphia.[21]April 28, 1893.[22]"I have often seen the red-sandstone monument placed to mark the terminal of the Sullivan Bridge on our side of the river, but the curiosity hunters have so marred it that only 'livans' and part of the date remain." (Extract from letter of Mr. W. H. Wetherill, Aug. 12, 1893.)[23]This statement is from the "Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography," vol. xiv., No. 2, page 218, July, 1890.[24]"Under the will of Col. Jno. Macomb Wetherill, late owner of Fatland Farm, 40 feet square were deeded out of the farm, and placed in trust, and $1000 trusteed to keep the grove and lot in order. A granite curb and heavy iron rail surround this plot; Col. Wetherill was buried there and his remains lie with those of your ancestors." (Extract from letter of W. H. Wetherill, May 10, 1897.)[25]From "History of Henderson County, Kentucky," by E. L. Starling, page 794.[26]Of these many sketches few can be traced, and none purchased.[27]Mrs. Audubon afterwards received four hundred dollars, of the twelve hundred dollars due; the remainder was never paid.[28]See Episode: "A Tough Walk for a Youth."[29]The before-mentioned journal, 1822-24.[30](With slight alterations) from "Bird Life," by F. M. Chapman, 1897, p. 13.[31]Prince of Musignano, and subsequently a distinguished ornithologist. In March, 1824, Bonaparte was just publishing his "Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson's Ornithology," which ran through the "Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences," of Philadelphia, from April 5, 1824, to Aug. 25, 1825, in five parts. This was preliminary to Bonaparte's "American Ornithology," which appeared in four quarto vols., 1825-33, to his "Synopsis," of 1828, and to his "Comparative List," of 1838.—E. C.[32]Probably the Academy of Natural Sciences.[33]Ord had edited the posthumous vols. viii. and ix. of "Wilson's Ornithology," which appeared in 1814; and in 1824 was engaged upon that edition of Wilson which was published in 3 vols. 8vo, in 1828-29, with a folio atlas of 76 plates. This is probably enough to account for his attitude toward Audubon.—E. C.[34]"Defence of Audubon," by John Bachman. "Bucks Co. Intelligencer," 1835, and other papers.[35]Almost the only other enemy Audubon appears to have ever had in public print was Charles Waterton, who vehemently assailed him in "Loudon's Magazine of Natural History," vi. 1833, pp. 215-218, and vii., 1834, pp. 66-74. Audubon was warmly defended by his son Victor in the same magazine, vi. 1833, p. 369, and at greater length by "R. B.,"ibid., pp. 369-372. Dr. Coues characterizes Waterton's attack as "flippant and supercilious animadversion," in "Birds of the Colorado Valley," 1878, p. 622.The present is hardly the occasion to bring up the countless reviews and notices of Audubon's published life-work; but a few references I have at hand may be given. One of the earliest, if not the first, appeared in the "Edinburgh Journal of Science," vi. p. 184 (1827). In 1828, Audubon himself published "An Account of the Method of Drawing Birds," etc., in the same Journal, viii., pp. 48-54. The "Report of a Committee appointed by the Lyceum of Natural History of New York to examine the splendid work of Mr. Audubon," etc., appeared in "Silliman's Journal," xvi., 1829, pp. 353, 354. His friend William Swainson published some highly commendatory and justly appreciative articles on the same subject in "Loudon's Magazine," i., 1829, pp. 43-52, and in the "Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal," x., 1831, pp. 317-332, under the pseudonym "Ornithophilus." Another anonymous review, highly laudatory, appeared in the same Journal, xviii., 1834, pp. 131-144. Dr. John Bachman defended the truthfulness of Audubon's drawings in the "Journal of the Boston Society of Natural History," i. 1834, pp. 15-31. One of the most extended notices appeared anonymously in the "North American Review," July, 1835, pp. 194-231; and another signed "B," in "Loudon's Magazine," viii., 1835, PP. 184-190. In Germany, "Isis von Oken" contained others, xxx., 1837, pp. 922-928, xxxv., 1842, pp. 157, 158; and xxxvii., 1844, pp. 713-718. "Silliman's Journal" again reviewed the work in xlii., 1842, pp. 130-136.—E. C.[36]That is the species now known as Wilson's Snipe,Gallinago delicata.[37]Dr. Richard Harlan is the author of the well-known "Fauna Americana," 8vo, Philadelphia, 1825, and of many scientific papers. Audubon dedicated to him the Black Warrior,Falco harlani, a large, dark hawk of the genusButeo, shot at St. Francisville, La., Nov. 18, 1829.[38]Charles Alexandre Le Sueur, 1778-1846, distinguished French naturalist. Best biography in Youman's "Pioneers of Science in America," 8vo, N.Y., 1896, pp. 128-139, with portrait. The same volume contains a biographical sketch of Audubon, pp. 152-166, with portrait after the oil painting by George P. A. Healy, belonging to the Boston Society of Natural History.—E. C.[39]Of the great folios, parts i.-v., containing plates 1-25, were originally published at successive dates (not ascertained) in 1827; parts vi.-x., plates 26-50, appeared in the course of 1828,—all in London. The whole work was completed in 1838; it is supposed to have been issued in 87 parts of 5 plates each, making the actual total of 435 plates, giving 1065 figures of birds. On the completion of the series, the plates were to be bound in 4 vols. Vol. i., pll. 1-100, 1827-30; vol. ii., pll. 101-200, 1831-34; vol. iii., pll. 201-300, 1834-35; vol. iv., pll. 301-435, 1835-38 (completed June 30). These folios had no text except the title-leaf of each volume. The original price was two guineas a part; a complete copy is now worth $1,500 to $2,000, according to condition of binding, etc., and is scarce at any price. The text to the plates appeared under the different title of "Ornithological Biography," in 5 large 8vo volumes, Edinburgh, 1831-39; vol. i., 1831; vol. ii., 1834; vol. iii., 1835; vol. iv., 1838; vol. v., 1839. In 1840-44, the work reappeared in octavo, text and plates together, under the original title of "Birds of America;" the text somewhat modified by the omission of the "Delineations of American Scenery and Manners," the addition of some new matter acquired after 1839, and change in the names of many species to agree with the nomenclature of Audubon's Synopsis of 1839; the plates reduced by the camera lucida, rearranged and renumbered, making 500 in all. The two original works, thus put together and modified, became the first octavo edition called "Birds of America," issued in 100 parts, to be bound in 7 volumes, 1840-44. There have been various subsequent issues, partial or complete, upon which I cannot here enlarge. For full bibliographical data see Dr. Coues' "Birds of the Colorado Valley," Appendix, 1878, pp. 612, 618, 625, 629, 644, 661, 666, 669 and 686.—E. C.[40]Referring to Mr. Robert Havell, of No. 77 Oxford St., London. His name will be recalled in connection withSterna havellii, the Tern which Audubon shot at New Orleans in 1820, and dedicated to his engraver in "Orn. Biogr." v., 1839, p. 122, "B. Amer.," 8vo, vii., 1844, p. 103, pl. 434. It is the winter plumage of the bird Nuttall calledS. forsteriin his "Manual," ii., 1834, p. 274. See Coues, "Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Science," 1862, p. 543.—E. C.[41]See previous note on p. 59, where it is said that plates 1-25 appeared in 1827, and plates 26-50 in 1828—in attestation of which the above words to Victor Audubon become important.—E. C.[42]It actually ran to 87 numbers, as stated in a previous note.[43]See Episodes "Great Egg Harbor" and "Great Pine Swamp."[44]Mr. Garrett Johnson, where Mrs. Audubon was then teaching.[45]There has been much question as to the spelling of MacGillivray's name, Professor Newton and most others writing it Macgillivray, but in the autograph letters we own the capital "G" is always used.[46]Address at the special meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences, April 26, 1893.[47]Referring to one of the six "epochs" into which, in the same work, Dr. Coues divided the progress of American Ornithology. His "Audubon epoch" extends from 1824 to 1853, and one of the four periods into which this epoch is divided is the "Audubonian period," 1834-1853.[48]Descriptions of the Rapacious Birds of Great Britain. By William MacGillivray, A.M., Edinburgh, 1836, I vol. small 8vo. This valuable treatise is dedicated "To John James Audubon, in admiration of his talents as an ornithologist, and in gratitude for many acts of friendship." Mr. MacGillivray also had then in preparation or contemplation his larger "History of British Birds," 3 volumes of which appeared in 1837-40, but the 4th and 5th volumes not till 1852.—E. C.[49]The completed volume bears date of MDCCCXXXI. on the titlepage and the publisher's imprint of "Adam Black, 55, North Bridge, Edinburgh." The collation is pp. i-xxiv, 1-512, + 15 pp. of Prospectus, etc. This is the text to plates I.-C. (1-100) of the elephant folios. Other copies are said to bear the imprint of "Philadelphia, E. L. Carey and A. Hart, MDCCCXXXI."—E. C.Audubon wrote to Dr. Richard Harlan on March 13, 1831, "I have sent a copy of the first volume to you to-day."[50]We only possess one oil painting signed "Audubon."[51]John Bachman, D.D., LL.D., Ph.D., Feb. 4, 1790-April 24, 1874. Author of many works, scientific, zoölogical, and religious. For sixty years he was pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, Charleston, S.C.[52]Both these daughters died young,—Maria, the eldest, who married John, before she was twenty-four; Eliza, who married Victor, still younger, during the first year of her wedded life.[53]Mr. Joseph Coolidge, formerly of Maine, now of San Francisco, Cal. Two others are known by name to every ornithologist through Audubon'sEmberiza shattuckiiandFringilla lincolnii; for these birds see notes beyond.—E. C.[54]The offices 34 Liberty St., New York, were burned at this time.[55]John James Abert, who was in 1837 brevet lieutenant-colonel of Topographical Engineers, U.S. Army, and afterward chief of his corps. Abert's Squirrel,Sciurus aberti, forms the subject of plate 153, fig. 1, of Audubon and Bachman's "Quadrupeds."[56]This important and standard work on American Mammalogy was not, however, finished till many years afterward, nor did Audubon live to see its completion. Publication of the colored plates in oblong folio, without text, began at least as early as 1840, and with few exceptions they first appeared in this form. They were subsequently reduced to large octavo size, and issued in parts with the text, then first published. The whole, text and plates, were then gathered in 3 volumes: vol. i., 1846; vol. ii., 1851; vol. iii., to page 254 and pl. 150, 1853; vol. iii., p. 255 to end, 1854. There are in all 155 plates; 50 in vol. i., 50 in vol. ii., 55 in vol. iii.; about half of them are from Audubon's brush, the rest by John Woodhouse. The exact character of the joint authorship does not appear; but no doubt the technical descriptions are by Dr. Bachman. Publication was made in New York by Victor Audubon; and there was a reissue of some parts of the work at least, as vol. i. is found with copyright of 1849, and date 1851 on the title.—E. C.[57]Lucy, now Mrs. Delancey B. Williams.[58]Victor Audubon wrote in reply to a question as to how many copies of the "Birds" were in existence: "About 175 copies; of these I should say 80 were in our own country. The length of time over which the work extended brought many changes to original subscribers, and this accounts for the odd volumes which are sometimes offered for sale."In stating that the work had been "absolutely completed" in 1838, I must not omit to add that when the octavo reissue appeared it contained a few additional birds chiefly derived from Audubon's fruitful voyage up the Missouri in 1843, which also yielded much material for the work on the Quadrupeds. The appearance of the "Synopsis" in 1839 marks the interval between the completion of the original undertaking and the beginning of plans for its reduction to octavo.—E. C.[59]"These little folk, of all sizes, sit and play in my room and do not touch the specimens." (Letter of Dr. Bachman, May 11, 1848, to his family in Charleston.)[60]Harper's Monthly Magazine, October, 1880, p. 665.[61]Both sons had married a second time. Victor had married Georgiana R. Mallory of New York, and John, Caroline Hall of England.[62]Mrs. V. G. Audubon.[63]Reminiscences of Audubon, Scribner's Monthly, July, 1876, p. 333; Turf, Field, and Farm, Nov. 18, 1881.[64]Unveiled April 26, 1893, on which occasion eulogies were pronounced by Mr. D. G. Elliot, ex-president of the American Ornithologists' Union, and Prof. Thomas Egleston of Columbia College.[65]This sounds involved, but is copied verbatim.[66]Mr. Wm. Rathbone, of the firm of Rathbone Bros. & Co., to whom Audubon had a letter from Mr. Vincent Nolté. To Messrs. Wm. and Richard Rathbone, and their father Wm. Rathbone, Sr., Audubon was more deeply indebted than to any other of his many kind friends in England. Their hospitality was only equalled by their constant and valuable assistance in preparing for the publication of the "Birds," and when this was an assured fact, they were unresting in their efforts to aid Audubon in procuring subscribers. It is with pleasure that Audubon's descendants to-day acknowledge this indebtedness to the "family Rathbone," which is ever held in grateful remembrance.[67]William Roscoe, historical, botanical, and miscellaneous writer, 1753-1831.[68]In a charming letter written to me by Mr. Richard R. Rathbone, son of this gentleman, dated Glan y Menai, Anglesey, May 14, 1897, he says: "To us there was a halo of romance about Mr. Audubon, artist, naturalist, quondam backwoodsman, and the author of that splendid work which I used to see on a table constructed to hold the copy belonging to my Uncle William, opening with hinges so as to raise the bird portraits as if on a desk. But still more I remember his amiable character, though tinged with melancholy by past sufferings; and his beautiful, expressive face, kept alive in my memory by his autograph crayon sketch thereof, in profile, with the words written at foot, 'Audubon at Green Bank.Almosthappy, 9th September, 1826.' Mr. Audubon painted for my father, as a gift, an Otter (in oils) caught by the fore-foot in a steel trap, and after vainly gnawing at the foot to release himself, throwing up his head, probably with a yell of agony, and displaying his wide-open jaws dripping with blood. This picture hung on our walls for years, until my mother could no longer bear the horror of it, and persuaded my father to part with it. We also had a full-length, life-sized portrait of the American Turkey, striding through the forest. Both pictures went to a public collection in Liverpool. I have also a colored sketch by Mr. Audubon of a Robin Redbreast, shot by him at Green Bank, which I saw him pin with long pins into a bit of board to fix it into position for the instruction of my mother."[69]At Green Bank.[70]Vincent Nolté, born at Leghorn, 1779, traveller, merchant, adventurer.[71]William Henry Hunt (1790-1864).[72]Mrs. Alexander Gordon was Mrs. Audubon's sister Anne.[73]Thomas Stewart Traill, M.D., Scottish naturalist, born in Orkney, 1781; edited the eighth edition of the "Encyclopædia Britannica," was associated with the Royal Institute at Liverpool; he died 1862.[74]The Swiss historian, born at Geneva, 1773, died 1842.[75]Daughter of Mr. William Rathbone, Sr.; married Dr. William Reynolds.[76]Edward, fourteenth Earl of Derby, 1799-1869. Member of Parliament, Chief Secretary for Ireland, Secretary for the Colonies, First Lord of the Treasury, and Prime Minister. Translated Homer's Iliad into blank verse. His was a life of many interests: literature, art, society, public affairs, sportmanship, and above all "the most perfect orator of his day."[77]Mrs. Wm. Rathbone, Sr., whom Audubon often calls "Lady Rathbone," and also "The Queen Bee."[78]Muzio Clementi, composer and pianist, born in Rome, 1752, died in London, 1832. Head of the piano firm of that name.[79]Relative of Mr. Wm. Rathbone, Sr.[80]The Irwell.[81]William Smyth, 1766-1849, poet, scholar, and Professor of Modern History at Cambridge.[82]Henry Clay.[83]John Randolph of Roanoke, 1773-1833, American orator and statesman.[84]William S. Roscoe, son of William Roscoe, 1781-1843.[85]I believe Mr. Robert Bentley, the publisher.[86]Robert Jameson, the eminent Scotch naturalist, 1774-1854. Regius Professor of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh. Founder of the Wernerian Society of that city, and with Sir David Brewster originated the "Edinburgh Philosophical Review." Wrote many works on geology and mineralogy.[87]Andrew Duncan, M.D., 1745-1828. Lecturer in the University of Edinburgh.[88]Patrick Neill, 1776-1851, Scottish naturalist and horticulturalist. Was a printer in Edinburgh at this time.[89]Prideaux John Selby, English ornithologist, author of "British Birds" and other works; died 1867.[90]Lord Francis Jeffrey, 1773-1850, the distinguished Scottish critic and essayist.[91]Sir William Jardine.[92]W. H. Lizars, the engraver who made a few of the earliest plates of the "Birds of America."[93]Scottish naturalist, 1800-1874. Published "Naturalists' Library" and other works.[94]James Wilson, brother of Professor John Wilson (Christopher North), naturalist and scientific writer, 1795-1856.[95]George Combe, an eminent phrenologist and author on that subject. Born and died in Edinburgh, 1788-1856.[96]David Bridges, editor of one of the Edinburgh newspapers.[97]John Syme. His portrait of Audubon was the first one ever engraved.[98]Charles Waterton, English naturalist and traveller, 1782-1865,—always an enemy of Audubon's.[99]This seal Audubon always used afterwards, and it is still in the possession of the family.[100]Robert Graham, Scottish physician and botanist, born at Stirling, 1786, died at Edinburgh, 1845.[101]David Brewster, author, scientist, and philosopher, Edinburgh, 1781-[102]Dugald Stewart, Professor of Moral Philosophy, author, etc., Edinburgh, 1753-1828.[103]Thomas Bruce, seventh Earl of Elgin. 1777-1841.[104]Wm. Forbes Skene, Scottish historian.[105]Afterwards Sir William Allan, historical painter; in 1833 was elected president of the Scottish Royal Academy, Edinburgh. 1782-1850.[106]An eminent divine 1784-1858; father of Dr. John Brown, author of "Rab and his Friends," etc.[107]William Nicholson, First Secretary of the Scottish Academy and portrait painter. 1784-1844.[108]Traveller and author. 1788-1844.[109]Robert Kaye Greville, author of "Plants of Edinburgh" and other botanical works, 1794-1866.[110]This entry begins a new blank book, in shape and size like a ledger, every line of which is closely written.[111]Spencer Perceval, born 1762, assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons, May 11, 1812.[112]"Jan. 22, 1827. A visit from Basil Hall with Mr. Audubon the ornithologist, who has followed that pursuit by many a long wandering in the American forests. He is an American by naturalization, a Frenchman by birth, but less of a Frenchman than I have ever seen,—no dash, no glimmer or shine about him, but great simplicity of manners and behaviour; slight in person and plainly dressed; wears long hair which time has not yet tinged; his countenance acute, handsome, and interesting, but still simplicity is the predominant characteristic." (Journal of Sir Walter Scott, vol. i., p. 343.)[113]"January 24. Visit from Mr. Audubon, who brings some of his birds. The drawings are of the first order—the attitudes of the birds of the most animated character, and the situations appropriate.... This sojourner of the desert had been in the woods for months together. He preferred associating with the Indians to the company of the settlers; very justly, I daresay, for a civilized man of the lower order when thrust back on the savage state becomes worse than a savage." (Journal of Sir Walter Scott, vol. i., p. 345.)[114]Sir John Leslie, 1766-1832, Scottish geometer and natural philosopher and voluminous author on these subjects.[115]Joseph B. Kidd, who later copied many of Audubon's birds.[116]James Baillie Fraser, 1783-1856, Scottish writer of travels.[117]Mrs. Anne Grant, poetess and miscellaneous writer. Born 1755, died 1838.[118]This entry is the only one on a large page, of which a facsimile is given. It is written in the centre, and all around the edge of the paper is a heavy black border, an inch in depth.[119]A distinguished ornithologist said of the book in 1895: "It is one of the few illustrated books, if not the only one, that steadily increases in price as the years go on."[120]One of the greatest metaphysicians of modern times. Born at Glasgow 1788, died in Edinburgh, 1856.[121]Possibly Charles Heath, engraver, 1784-1848.[122]Thomas Bewick was at this time nearly seventy-four. He died Nov. 8, 1828, being then past seventy-five.[123]Probably St. Mary's Abbey.[124]Mr. Vernon was the president of the Philosophical Society of York.[125]Mr. John Backhouse.[126]Nearly every entry in all the journals begins and ends with a morning greeting, and an affectionate good-night. These have been omitted with occasional exceptions.[127]Mr. Melly.[128]John George Children, 1777-1852, English physicist and naturalist, at this time secretary of the Royal Society.[129]Robert Inglis, 1786-1855, of the East India Company.[130]Nicholas Aylward Vigors, 1787-1840, naturalist, First Secretary of the Zoölogical Society of London.[131]Then a boy not fifteen, who was at Bayou Sara with his mother.[132]When found by Audubon the Havells were in extreme poverty. He provided everything for them, and his publication made them comparatively wealthy.[133]Benson Rathbone.[134]The distance between these places is about two miles.[135]The Duck-billed Platypus,Ornithorynchus paradoxusof Australia.—E. C.[136]The Andean Eagle is undoubtedly the Harpy,Thrasaëtos harpyia.—E. C.[137]François Athanase de Charette, a leader of the Vendéans against the French Republic; executed at Nantes, on May 12, 1797.[138]Children's Warbler. Plate xxxv.[139]Vigors' Warbler. Plate xxx.[140]Cuvier's Regulus. Plate lv. No bird was named after Temminck by Audubon.[141]This decision was made in consequence of various newspaper and personal attacks, which, then as now, came largely from people who knew nothing of the matter under consideration. It was a decision, however, never altered except in so far as regards the Episodes published in the "Ornithological Biography."[142]David Don, Scottish botanist, 1800-1840; at this time Librarian of Linnæan Society.[143]Thomas Nuttall, botanist and ornithologist; born in England 1786, died at St. Helen's, England, September 10, 1859.[144]Of all the twenty-six only three are known to be in existence; the other volumes now extant are all of later date.[145]Joshua Brookes, 1761-1833, anatomist and surgeon.[146]Captain (Sir) Edward Sabine accompanied Parry's expedition to the Arctic regions,—a mathematician, traveller, and Fellow of the Royal Society, 1819. Born in Dublin, 1788, died in Richmond, 1883.[147]Adam Sedgwick, geologist. 1785-1873.[148]William Whewell, 1795-1866, Professor of Moral Philosophy, Mineralogy, and other sciences.[149]John Stevens Henslow, botanist, 1796-1861.[150]Dr. John Kidd, 1775-1851, Professor of Chemistry and Medicine at Oxford.[151]Edward Burton, D.D., 1794-1836, Professor of Divinity at Oxford.[152]William Buckland, D.D., 1784-1856, geologist.[153]John Claudius Loudon, 1783-1843, writer on horticulture and arboriculture. In 1828-1836, editor of the "Magazine of Natural History."[154]Edward Turner Bennett, 1797-1836, zoölogist.[155]William Swainson, naturalist and writer. Born in England 1789, emigrated in 1841 to New Zealand, where he died 1855.[156]This picture is still in the family, being owned by one of the granddaughters.[157]François Levaillant, born at Paramaribo, 1753; died in France, 1824.[158]John Edward Gray, 1800-1875, zoölogist.[159]No trace of this portrait can be found.[160]George Chrétien Léopold Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier, Baron, 1769-1832; statesman, author, philosopher, and one of the greatest naturalists of modern times.[161]Achille Valenciennes, born 1794, French naturalist.[162]Étienne Geoffroy de St. Hilaire, 1772-1844, French naturalist.[163]René Primevère Lesson, a French naturalist and author, born at Rochefort, 1794, died 1849.[164]Isidore Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 1805-1861, zoölogist.[165]Son of André, Prince d'Essling and Duc de Rivoli, one of the marshals of Napoleon.[166]Charles Alexandre Le Sueur, French naturalist. 1778-1846.[167]Pierre Joseph Redouté, French painter of flowers. 1759-1840.[168]François Gérard, born at Rome 1770, died 1837; the best French portrait painter of his time, distinguished also for historical pictures.[169]Charles d'Orbigny, son of Audubon's early friend, M. le docteur d'Orbigny.[170]Count Joseph Jérôme Siméon, French Minister of State. 1781-1846.[171]The words of the secretary were fully verified within a few months.[172]These terms were not, however, held to by the owners of the vessel, and the provisioning was left also to them, the whole outlay being about $1500 for the entire trip.[173]Now commonly spelled Canso—not Canseau.[174]Plectrophenax nivalis, the Snow Bunting.—E. C.[175]Canachites canadensis, the Canada Grouse.—E. C.[176]Foolish Guillemot.[177]Black Guillemot.[178]Great Blue Heron.[179]Razor-billed Auk.[180]Spotted Sandpiper, nowActitis macularia.—E. C.[181]Dusky Duck.[182]Scoter Duck.[183]The Least or Wilson's Sandpiper,Tringa (Actodromas) minutilla.—E. C.[184]A mistake, which Audubon later corrected. The Herring Gull is of course quite distinct from the Black-backed. The former is of the variety called by meLarus argentatus smithsonianus, as it differs in some respects from the common Herring Gull of Europe.—E. C.[185]Perhaps Forster's Tern,Sterna forsteri.—E. C.[186]Charles Lucien Bonaparte.[187]No doubt the common species,Phalacrocorax carbo, as Audubon afterward identified it. See beyond, date of June 30.—E. C.[188]That is, the species which Audubon named the Florida Cormorant,Phalacrocorax floridanus, now known to be a small southern form of the Double-crested Cormorant,P. dilophus.—E. C.[189]This is the so-called Bridled Guillemot,Uria ringvia. The white mark is not characteristic of sex, age, or season. The bird is not specifically distinct fromUria troile.—E. C.[190]Merula migratoria, the American Robin.[191]Kinglet,Regulus calendula.—E. C.[192]An interesting note of this new species figured in B. of Am., folio pl. 193, and described in Orn. Biogr. ii., 1834, p. 539. It is now known asMelospiza lincolni.—E. C.[193]The Common Puffin, now calledFratercula arctica.—E. C.[194]This is the usual sailors' name of the Razor-billed Auk in Labrador and Newfoundland, and was the only one heard by me in Labrador in 1860 (see Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1861, p. 249).—E. C.[195]NowOtocorys alpestris.—E. C.[196]NowAnthus pennsylvanicus.—E. C.[197]Common Cormorant. Seenoteon page 370.[198]Loxia leucoptera.[199]Le petit caporal, Falco temerarius,Aud.Ornith. Biog. i., 1831, p. 381, pl. 85.Falco columbarius,Aud.Ornith. Biog. i., 1831, p. 466, pl. 92; v., 1838, p. 368. Synopsis, 1839, p. 16. B. Amer. 8vo, ed. 1., 1840, p. 88, pl. 21.Falco auduboni,Blackwall, Zoöl. Researches, 1834.—E. C.In vol. v., p. 368, Audubon says: "The bird represented in the last mentioned plate, and described under the name ofFalco temerarius, was merely a beautiful adult of the Pigeon Hawk,F. columbarius. The great inferiority in size of the individual represented asF. temarariuswas the cause of my mistaking it for a distinct species, and I have pleasure in stating that the Prince of Musignano [Charles Bonaparte] was the first person who pointed out my error to me soon after the publication of my first volume."Bonaparte alludes to this in his edition of Wilson, vol. iii. p. 252.[200]American Ring Plover, now known asÆgialitis semipalmata.—E. C.[201]Great Northern Diver or Loon, now calledUrinator, orGavia,imber. The other Diver above mentioned as the "Scapegrace" isU., or G., lumme.[202]Red-throated Diver, nowUrinator, orGavia,lumme.—E. C.[203]The White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows are now placed in the genusZonotrichia.—E. C.[204]Jager.[205]Petrels, most probablyCymochorea leucorrhoa.—E. C.[206]NowL. delawarensis, also called Ring-billed Gull.—E. C.[207]Double-crested Cormorant.[208]The Catchfly.[209]Pigeon Hawk.[210]White-crowned Sparrow.[211]Brown Titlark.[212]Black-poll Warbler.[213]Savannah Finch.[214]Double-crested Cormorant.[215]Hudson's Bay Titmouse.[216]The Ruffed Grouse,Bonasa umbellus.—E. C.[217]Common Gull. This record raises an interesting question, which can hardly be settled satisfactorily.Larus canus, the common Gull of Europe, is given by various authors in Audubon's time, besides himself, as a bird of the Atlantic coast of North America, from Labrador southward. But it is not known as such to ornithologists of the present day. The American Ornithologists' Union cataloguesL. canusas merely a straggler in North America, with the query, "accidental in Labrador?" In his Notes on the Ornithology of Labrador, in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila. 1861, p. 246, Dr. Coues givesL. delawarensis, the Ring-billed Gull, three specimens of which he procured at Henley Harbor, Aug. 21, 1860. These were birds of the year, and one of them, afterward sent to England, was identified by Mr. Howard Saunders asL. canus(P.Z.S. 1877, p. 178; Cat. B. Brit. Mus., xxv. 1896, p. 281). This would seem to bear out Audubon's Journal; but the "Common American Gull" of his published works is the one he callsL. zonorhynchus(i. e.,L. delawarensis), and on p. 155 of the Birds of Am., 8vo ed., he gives the very incident here narrated in his Journal, as pertaining to the latter species. The probabilities are that, notwithstanding Dr. Coues' finding of the supposedL. canusin Labrador, the whole Audubonian record really belongs toL. delawarensis.—E. C.
[1]"My name is John James Laforest Audubon. The name Laforest I never sign except when writing to my wife, and she is the only being, since my father's death, who calls me by it." (Letter of Audubon to Mrs. Rathbone, 1827.) All Mrs. Audubon's letters to her husband address him as Laforest.
[2]This manuscript was found in an old book which had been in a barn on Staten Island for years.
[3]Reprinted from Scribner's Magazine, March, 1893, p. 267. A few errors in names and dates are now corrected.
[4]Isle à Vache, eight miles south of Aux Cayes.
[5]This vessel was the "Annelle."
[6]The family still own this portrait, of which Victor G. Audubon writes: "This portrait is probably thefirstone taken of that great and good man, and although the drawing is hard, the coloring and costume are correct, I have no doubt. It was copied by Greenhow, the sculptor, when he was preparing to model his 'Washington' for the Capitol, and he considered it as a valuable addition to the material already obtained. This portrait was painted by an artist named Polk, but who or what he was, I know not."
[7]There still remain those who recall how Audubon would walk up and down, snapping his fingers, a habit he had when excited, when relating how he had seen his aunt tied to a wagon and dragged through the streets of Nantes in the time of Carrier.
[8]This brother left three daughters; only one married, and her descendants, if any, cannot be traced.
[9]"The Polly," Captain Sammis commander.
[10]May 26, 1806.
[11]Great Blue Heron.
[12]This visit passed into history in the published works of each of the great ornithologists, who were never friends. See "Behind the Veil," by Dr. Coues in Bulletin of Nuttall Ornithological Club, Oct., 1880, p. 200.
[13]Episode "Breaking of the Ice."
[14]1819.
[15]Stephen Harriman Long, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, who was then on his way to explore the region of the upper Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers.
[16]Titian R. Peale, afterward naturalist of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, under Commodore Wilkes. Later in life he was for many years an examiner in the Patent Office at Washington, and died at a very advanced age. He was a member of the eminent Peale family of artists, one of whom established Peale's Museum in Philadelphia.—E. C.
[17]The distinguished naturalist of that name.—E. C.
[18]Jacques Louis David (1748-1825), court painter to Louis XVI. and afterwards to Napoleon I.
[19]In 1836, Audubon wrote to Dr. John Bachman: "Some of my early drawings of European birds are still in our possession, but many have been given away, and the greatest number were destroyed, not by the rats that gnawed my collection of the "Birds of America," but by the great fire in New York, as these drawings were considered my wife's special property and seldom out of her sight. Would that the others had been under her especial care also! Yet, after all, who can say that it was not a material advantage, both to myself and to the world, that the Norway rats destroyed those drawings?"
[20]Mr. W. H. Wetherill, of Philadelphia.
[21]April 28, 1893.
[22]"I have often seen the red-sandstone monument placed to mark the terminal of the Sullivan Bridge on our side of the river, but the curiosity hunters have so marred it that only 'livans' and part of the date remain." (Extract from letter of Mr. W. H. Wetherill, Aug. 12, 1893.)
[23]This statement is from the "Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography," vol. xiv., No. 2, page 218, July, 1890.
[24]"Under the will of Col. Jno. Macomb Wetherill, late owner of Fatland Farm, 40 feet square were deeded out of the farm, and placed in trust, and $1000 trusteed to keep the grove and lot in order. A granite curb and heavy iron rail surround this plot; Col. Wetherill was buried there and his remains lie with those of your ancestors." (Extract from letter of W. H. Wetherill, May 10, 1897.)
[25]From "History of Henderson County, Kentucky," by E. L. Starling, page 794.
[26]Of these many sketches few can be traced, and none purchased.
[27]Mrs. Audubon afterwards received four hundred dollars, of the twelve hundred dollars due; the remainder was never paid.
[28]See Episode: "A Tough Walk for a Youth."
[29]The before-mentioned journal, 1822-24.
[30](With slight alterations) from "Bird Life," by F. M. Chapman, 1897, p. 13.
[31]Prince of Musignano, and subsequently a distinguished ornithologist. In March, 1824, Bonaparte was just publishing his "Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson's Ornithology," which ran through the "Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences," of Philadelphia, from April 5, 1824, to Aug. 25, 1825, in five parts. This was preliminary to Bonaparte's "American Ornithology," which appeared in four quarto vols., 1825-33, to his "Synopsis," of 1828, and to his "Comparative List," of 1838.—E. C.
[32]Probably the Academy of Natural Sciences.
[33]Ord had edited the posthumous vols. viii. and ix. of "Wilson's Ornithology," which appeared in 1814; and in 1824 was engaged upon that edition of Wilson which was published in 3 vols. 8vo, in 1828-29, with a folio atlas of 76 plates. This is probably enough to account for his attitude toward Audubon.—E. C.
[34]"Defence of Audubon," by John Bachman. "Bucks Co. Intelligencer," 1835, and other papers.
[35]Almost the only other enemy Audubon appears to have ever had in public print was Charles Waterton, who vehemently assailed him in "Loudon's Magazine of Natural History," vi. 1833, pp. 215-218, and vii., 1834, pp. 66-74. Audubon was warmly defended by his son Victor in the same magazine, vi. 1833, p. 369, and at greater length by "R. B.,"ibid., pp. 369-372. Dr. Coues characterizes Waterton's attack as "flippant and supercilious animadversion," in "Birds of the Colorado Valley," 1878, p. 622.
The present is hardly the occasion to bring up the countless reviews and notices of Audubon's published life-work; but a few references I have at hand may be given. One of the earliest, if not the first, appeared in the "Edinburgh Journal of Science," vi. p. 184 (1827). In 1828, Audubon himself published "An Account of the Method of Drawing Birds," etc., in the same Journal, viii., pp. 48-54. The "Report of a Committee appointed by the Lyceum of Natural History of New York to examine the splendid work of Mr. Audubon," etc., appeared in "Silliman's Journal," xvi., 1829, pp. 353, 354. His friend William Swainson published some highly commendatory and justly appreciative articles on the same subject in "Loudon's Magazine," i., 1829, pp. 43-52, and in the "Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal," x., 1831, pp. 317-332, under the pseudonym "Ornithophilus." Another anonymous review, highly laudatory, appeared in the same Journal, xviii., 1834, pp. 131-144. Dr. John Bachman defended the truthfulness of Audubon's drawings in the "Journal of the Boston Society of Natural History," i. 1834, pp. 15-31. One of the most extended notices appeared anonymously in the "North American Review," July, 1835, pp. 194-231; and another signed "B," in "Loudon's Magazine," viii., 1835, PP. 184-190. In Germany, "Isis von Oken" contained others, xxx., 1837, pp. 922-928, xxxv., 1842, pp. 157, 158; and xxxvii., 1844, pp. 713-718. "Silliman's Journal" again reviewed the work in xlii., 1842, pp. 130-136.—E. C.
[36]That is the species now known as Wilson's Snipe,Gallinago delicata.
[37]Dr. Richard Harlan is the author of the well-known "Fauna Americana," 8vo, Philadelphia, 1825, and of many scientific papers. Audubon dedicated to him the Black Warrior,Falco harlani, a large, dark hawk of the genusButeo, shot at St. Francisville, La., Nov. 18, 1829.
[38]Charles Alexandre Le Sueur, 1778-1846, distinguished French naturalist. Best biography in Youman's "Pioneers of Science in America," 8vo, N.Y., 1896, pp. 128-139, with portrait. The same volume contains a biographical sketch of Audubon, pp. 152-166, with portrait after the oil painting by George P. A. Healy, belonging to the Boston Society of Natural History.—E. C.
[39]Of the great folios, parts i.-v., containing plates 1-25, were originally published at successive dates (not ascertained) in 1827; parts vi.-x., plates 26-50, appeared in the course of 1828,—all in London. The whole work was completed in 1838; it is supposed to have been issued in 87 parts of 5 plates each, making the actual total of 435 plates, giving 1065 figures of birds. On the completion of the series, the plates were to be bound in 4 vols. Vol. i., pll. 1-100, 1827-30; vol. ii., pll. 101-200, 1831-34; vol. iii., pll. 201-300, 1834-35; vol. iv., pll. 301-435, 1835-38 (completed June 30). These folios had no text except the title-leaf of each volume. The original price was two guineas a part; a complete copy is now worth $1,500 to $2,000, according to condition of binding, etc., and is scarce at any price. The text to the plates appeared under the different title of "Ornithological Biography," in 5 large 8vo volumes, Edinburgh, 1831-39; vol. i., 1831; vol. ii., 1834; vol. iii., 1835; vol. iv., 1838; vol. v., 1839. In 1840-44, the work reappeared in octavo, text and plates together, under the original title of "Birds of America;" the text somewhat modified by the omission of the "Delineations of American Scenery and Manners," the addition of some new matter acquired after 1839, and change in the names of many species to agree with the nomenclature of Audubon's Synopsis of 1839; the plates reduced by the camera lucida, rearranged and renumbered, making 500 in all. The two original works, thus put together and modified, became the first octavo edition called "Birds of America," issued in 100 parts, to be bound in 7 volumes, 1840-44. There have been various subsequent issues, partial or complete, upon which I cannot here enlarge. For full bibliographical data see Dr. Coues' "Birds of the Colorado Valley," Appendix, 1878, pp. 612, 618, 625, 629, 644, 661, 666, 669 and 686.—E. C.
[40]Referring to Mr. Robert Havell, of No. 77 Oxford St., London. His name will be recalled in connection withSterna havellii, the Tern which Audubon shot at New Orleans in 1820, and dedicated to his engraver in "Orn. Biogr." v., 1839, p. 122, "B. Amer.," 8vo, vii., 1844, p. 103, pl. 434. It is the winter plumage of the bird Nuttall calledS. forsteriin his "Manual," ii., 1834, p. 274. See Coues, "Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Science," 1862, p. 543.—E. C.
[41]See previous note on p. 59, where it is said that plates 1-25 appeared in 1827, and plates 26-50 in 1828—in attestation of which the above words to Victor Audubon become important.—E. C.
[42]It actually ran to 87 numbers, as stated in a previous note.
[43]See Episodes "Great Egg Harbor" and "Great Pine Swamp."
[44]Mr. Garrett Johnson, where Mrs. Audubon was then teaching.
[45]There has been much question as to the spelling of MacGillivray's name, Professor Newton and most others writing it Macgillivray, but in the autograph letters we own the capital "G" is always used.
[46]Address at the special meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences, April 26, 1893.
[47]Referring to one of the six "epochs" into which, in the same work, Dr. Coues divided the progress of American Ornithology. His "Audubon epoch" extends from 1824 to 1853, and one of the four periods into which this epoch is divided is the "Audubonian period," 1834-1853.
[48]Descriptions of the Rapacious Birds of Great Britain. By William MacGillivray, A.M., Edinburgh, 1836, I vol. small 8vo. This valuable treatise is dedicated "To John James Audubon, in admiration of his talents as an ornithologist, and in gratitude for many acts of friendship." Mr. MacGillivray also had then in preparation or contemplation his larger "History of British Birds," 3 volumes of which appeared in 1837-40, but the 4th and 5th volumes not till 1852.—E. C.
[49]The completed volume bears date of MDCCCXXXI. on the titlepage and the publisher's imprint of "Adam Black, 55, North Bridge, Edinburgh." The collation is pp. i-xxiv, 1-512, + 15 pp. of Prospectus, etc. This is the text to plates I.-C. (1-100) of the elephant folios. Other copies are said to bear the imprint of "Philadelphia, E. L. Carey and A. Hart, MDCCCXXXI."—E. C.
Audubon wrote to Dr. Richard Harlan on March 13, 1831, "I have sent a copy of the first volume to you to-day."
[50]We only possess one oil painting signed "Audubon."
[51]John Bachman, D.D., LL.D., Ph.D., Feb. 4, 1790-April 24, 1874. Author of many works, scientific, zoölogical, and religious. For sixty years he was pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, Charleston, S.C.
[52]Both these daughters died young,—Maria, the eldest, who married John, before she was twenty-four; Eliza, who married Victor, still younger, during the first year of her wedded life.
[53]Mr. Joseph Coolidge, formerly of Maine, now of San Francisco, Cal. Two others are known by name to every ornithologist through Audubon'sEmberiza shattuckiiandFringilla lincolnii; for these birds see notes beyond.—E. C.
[54]The offices 34 Liberty St., New York, were burned at this time.
[55]John James Abert, who was in 1837 brevet lieutenant-colonel of Topographical Engineers, U.S. Army, and afterward chief of his corps. Abert's Squirrel,Sciurus aberti, forms the subject of plate 153, fig. 1, of Audubon and Bachman's "Quadrupeds."
[56]This important and standard work on American Mammalogy was not, however, finished till many years afterward, nor did Audubon live to see its completion. Publication of the colored plates in oblong folio, without text, began at least as early as 1840, and with few exceptions they first appeared in this form. They were subsequently reduced to large octavo size, and issued in parts with the text, then first published. The whole, text and plates, were then gathered in 3 volumes: vol. i., 1846; vol. ii., 1851; vol. iii., to page 254 and pl. 150, 1853; vol. iii., p. 255 to end, 1854. There are in all 155 plates; 50 in vol. i., 50 in vol. ii., 55 in vol. iii.; about half of them are from Audubon's brush, the rest by John Woodhouse. The exact character of the joint authorship does not appear; but no doubt the technical descriptions are by Dr. Bachman. Publication was made in New York by Victor Audubon; and there was a reissue of some parts of the work at least, as vol. i. is found with copyright of 1849, and date 1851 on the title.—E. C.
[57]Lucy, now Mrs. Delancey B. Williams.
[58]Victor Audubon wrote in reply to a question as to how many copies of the "Birds" were in existence: "About 175 copies; of these I should say 80 were in our own country. The length of time over which the work extended brought many changes to original subscribers, and this accounts for the odd volumes which are sometimes offered for sale."
In stating that the work had been "absolutely completed" in 1838, I must not omit to add that when the octavo reissue appeared it contained a few additional birds chiefly derived from Audubon's fruitful voyage up the Missouri in 1843, which also yielded much material for the work on the Quadrupeds. The appearance of the "Synopsis" in 1839 marks the interval between the completion of the original undertaking and the beginning of plans for its reduction to octavo.—E. C.
[59]"These little folk, of all sizes, sit and play in my room and do not touch the specimens." (Letter of Dr. Bachman, May 11, 1848, to his family in Charleston.)
[60]Harper's Monthly Magazine, October, 1880, p. 665.
[61]Both sons had married a second time. Victor had married Georgiana R. Mallory of New York, and John, Caroline Hall of England.
[62]Mrs. V. G. Audubon.
[63]Reminiscences of Audubon, Scribner's Monthly, July, 1876, p. 333; Turf, Field, and Farm, Nov. 18, 1881.
[64]Unveiled April 26, 1893, on which occasion eulogies were pronounced by Mr. D. G. Elliot, ex-president of the American Ornithologists' Union, and Prof. Thomas Egleston of Columbia College.
[65]This sounds involved, but is copied verbatim.
[66]Mr. Wm. Rathbone, of the firm of Rathbone Bros. & Co., to whom Audubon had a letter from Mr. Vincent Nolté. To Messrs. Wm. and Richard Rathbone, and their father Wm. Rathbone, Sr., Audubon was more deeply indebted than to any other of his many kind friends in England. Their hospitality was only equalled by their constant and valuable assistance in preparing for the publication of the "Birds," and when this was an assured fact, they were unresting in their efforts to aid Audubon in procuring subscribers. It is with pleasure that Audubon's descendants to-day acknowledge this indebtedness to the "family Rathbone," which is ever held in grateful remembrance.
[67]William Roscoe, historical, botanical, and miscellaneous writer, 1753-1831.
[68]In a charming letter written to me by Mr. Richard R. Rathbone, son of this gentleman, dated Glan y Menai, Anglesey, May 14, 1897, he says: "To us there was a halo of romance about Mr. Audubon, artist, naturalist, quondam backwoodsman, and the author of that splendid work which I used to see on a table constructed to hold the copy belonging to my Uncle William, opening with hinges so as to raise the bird portraits as if on a desk. But still more I remember his amiable character, though tinged with melancholy by past sufferings; and his beautiful, expressive face, kept alive in my memory by his autograph crayon sketch thereof, in profile, with the words written at foot, 'Audubon at Green Bank.Almosthappy, 9th September, 1826.' Mr. Audubon painted for my father, as a gift, an Otter (in oils) caught by the fore-foot in a steel trap, and after vainly gnawing at the foot to release himself, throwing up his head, probably with a yell of agony, and displaying his wide-open jaws dripping with blood. This picture hung on our walls for years, until my mother could no longer bear the horror of it, and persuaded my father to part with it. We also had a full-length, life-sized portrait of the American Turkey, striding through the forest. Both pictures went to a public collection in Liverpool. I have also a colored sketch by Mr. Audubon of a Robin Redbreast, shot by him at Green Bank, which I saw him pin with long pins into a bit of board to fix it into position for the instruction of my mother."
[69]At Green Bank.
[70]Vincent Nolté, born at Leghorn, 1779, traveller, merchant, adventurer.
[71]William Henry Hunt (1790-1864).
[72]Mrs. Alexander Gordon was Mrs. Audubon's sister Anne.
[73]Thomas Stewart Traill, M.D., Scottish naturalist, born in Orkney, 1781; edited the eighth edition of the "Encyclopædia Britannica," was associated with the Royal Institute at Liverpool; he died 1862.
[74]The Swiss historian, born at Geneva, 1773, died 1842.
[75]Daughter of Mr. William Rathbone, Sr.; married Dr. William Reynolds.
[76]Edward, fourteenth Earl of Derby, 1799-1869. Member of Parliament, Chief Secretary for Ireland, Secretary for the Colonies, First Lord of the Treasury, and Prime Minister. Translated Homer's Iliad into blank verse. His was a life of many interests: literature, art, society, public affairs, sportmanship, and above all "the most perfect orator of his day."
[77]Mrs. Wm. Rathbone, Sr., whom Audubon often calls "Lady Rathbone," and also "The Queen Bee."
[78]Muzio Clementi, composer and pianist, born in Rome, 1752, died in London, 1832. Head of the piano firm of that name.
[79]Relative of Mr. Wm. Rathbone, Sr.
[80]The Irwell.
[81]William Smyth, 1766-1849, poet, scholar, and Professor of Modern History at Cambridge.
[82]Henry Clay.
[83]John Randolph of Roanoke, 1773-1833, American orator and statesman.
[84]William S. Roscoe, son of William Roscoe, 1781-1843.
[85]I believe Mr. Robert Bentley, the publisher.
[86]Robert Jameson, the eminent Scotch naturalist, 1774-1854. Regius Professor of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh. Founder of the Wernerian Society of that city, and with Sir David Brewster originated the "Edinburgh Philosophical Review." Wrote many works on geology and mineralogy.
[87]Andrew Duncan, M.D., 1745-1828. Lecturer in the University of Edinburgh.
[88]Patrick Neill, 1776-1851, Scottish naturalist and horticulturalist. Was a printer in Edinburgh at this time.
[89]Prideaux John Selby, English ornithologist, author of "British Birds" and other works; died 1867.
[90]Lord Francis Jeffrey, 1773-1850, the distinguished Scottish critic and essayist.
[91]Sir William Jardine.
[92]W. H. Lizars, the engraver who made a few of the earliest plates of the "Birds of America."
[93]Scottish naturalist, 1800-1874. Published "Naturalists' Library" and other works.
[94]James Wilson, brother of Professor John Wilson (Christopher North), naturalist and scientific writer, 1795-1856.
[95]George Combe, an eminent phrenologist and author on that subject. Born and died in Edinburgh, 1788-1856.
[96]David Bridges, editor of one of the Edinburgh newspapers.
[97]John Syme. His portrait of Audubon was the first one ever engraved.
[98]Charles Waterton, English naturalist and traveller, 1782-1865,—always an enemy of Audubon's.
[99]This seal Audubon always used afterwards, and it is still in the possession of the family.
[100]Robert Graham, Scottish physician and botanist, born at Stirling, 1786, died at Edinburgh, 1845.
[101]David Brewster, author, scientist, and philosopher, Edinburgh, 1781-
[102]Dugald Stewart, Professor of Moral Philosophy, author, etc., Edinburgh, 1753-1828.
[103]Thomas Bruce, seventh Earl of Elgin. 1777-1841.
[104]Wm. Forbes Skene, Scottish historian.
[105]Afterwards Sir William Allan, historical painter; in 1833 was elected president of the Scottish Royal Academy, Edinburgh. 1782-1850.
[106]An eminent divine 1784-1858; father of Dr. John Brown, author of "Rab and his Friends," etc.
[107]William Nicholson, First Secretary of the Scottish Academy and portrait painter. 1784-1844.
[108]Traveller and author. 1788-1844.
[109]Robert Kaye Greville, author of "Plants of Edinburgh" and other botanical works, 1794-1866.
[110]This entry begins a new blank book, in shape and size like a ledger, every line of which is closely written.
[111]Spencer Perceval, born 1762, assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons, May 11, 1812.
[112]"Jan. 22, 1827. A visit from Basil Hall with Mr. Audubon the ornithologist, who has followed that pursuit by many a long wandering in the American forests. He is an American by naturalization, a Frenchman by birth, but less of a Frenchman than I have ever seen,—no dash, no glimmer or shine about him, but great simplicity of manners and behaviour; slight in person and plainly dressed; wears long hair which time has not yet tinged; his countenance acute, handsome, and interesting, but still simplicity is the predominant characteristic." (Journal of Sir Walter Scott, vol. i., p. 343.)
[113]"January 24. Visit from Mr. Audubon, who brings some of his birds. The drawings are of the first order—the attitudes of the birds of the most animated character, and the situations appropriate.... This sojourner of the desert had been in the woods for months together. He preferred associating with the Indians to the company of the settlers; very justly, I daresay, for a civilized man of the lower order when thrust back on the savage state becomes worse than a savage." (Journal of Sir Walter Scott, vol. i., p. 345.)
[114]Sir John Leslie, 1766-1832, Scottish geometer and natural philosopher and voluminous author on these subjects.
[115]Joseph B. Kidd, who later copied many of Audubon's birds.
[116]James Baillie Fraser, 1783-1856, Scottish writer of travels.
[117]Mrs. Anne Grant, poetess and miscellaneous writer. Born 1755, died 1838.
[118]This entry is the only one on a large page, of which a facsimile is given. It is written in the centre, and all around the edge of the paper is a heavy black border, an inch in depth.
[119]A distinguished ornithologist said of the book in 1895: "It is one of the few illustrated books, if not the only one, that steadily increases in price as the years go on."
[120]One of the greatest metaphysicians of modern times. Born at Glasgow 1788, died in Edinburgh, 1856.
[121]Possibly Charles Heath, engraver, 1784-1848.
[122]Thomas Bewick was at this time nearly seventy-four. He died Nov. 8, 1828, being then past seventy-five.
[123]Probably St. Mary's Abbey.
[124]Mr. Vernon was the president of the Philosophical Society of York.
[125]Mr. John Backhouse.
[126]Nearly every entry in all the journals begins and ends with a morning greeting, and an affectionate good-night. These have been omitted with occasional exceptions.
[127]Mr. Melly.
[128]John George Children, 1777-1852, English physicist and naturalist, at this time secretary of the Royal Society.
[129]Robert Inglis, 1786-1855, of the East India Company.
[130]Nicholas Aylward Vigors, 1787-1840, naturalist, First Secretary of the Zoölogical Society of London.
[131]Then a boy not fifteen, who was at Bayou Sara with his mother.
[132]When found by Audubon the Havells were in extreme poverty. He provided everything for them, and his publication made them comparatively wealthy.
[133]Benson Rathbone.
[134]The distance between these places is about two miles.
[135]The Duck-billed Platypus,Ornithorynchus paradoxusof Australia.—E. C.
[136]The Andean Eagle is undoubtedly the Harpy,Thrasaëtos harpyia.—E. C.
[137]François Athanase de Charette, a leader of the Vendéans against the French Republic; executed at Nantes, on May 12, 1797.
[138]Children's Warbler. Plate xxxv.
[139]Vigors' Warbler. Plate xxx.
[140]Cuvier's Regulus. Plate lv. No bird was named after Temminck by Audubon.
[141]This decision was made in consequence of various newspaper and personal attacks, which, then as now, came largely from people who knew nothing of the matter under consideration. It was a decision, however, never altered except in so far as regards the Episodes published in the "Ornithological Biography."
[142]David Don, Scottish botanist, 1800-1840; at this time Librarian of Linnæan Society.
[143]Thomas Nuttall, botanist and ornithologist; born in England 1786, died at St. Helen's, England, September 10, 1859.
[144]Of all the twenty-six only three are known to be in existence; the other volumes now extant are all of later date.
[145]Joshua Brookes, 1761-1833, anatomist and surgeon.
[146]Captain (Sir) Edward Sabine accompanied Parry's expedition to the Arctic regions,—a mathematician, traveller, and Fellow of the Royal Society, 1819. Born in Dublin, 1788, died in Richmond, 1883.
[147]Adam Sedgwick, geologist. 1785-1873.
[148]William Whewell, 1795-1866, Professor of Moral Philosophy, Mineralogy, and other sciences.
[149]John Stevens Henslow, botanist, 1796-1861.
[150]Dr. John Kidd, 1775-1851, Professor of Chemistry and Medicine at Oxford.
[151]Edward Burton, D.D., 1794-1836, Professor of Divinity at Oxford.
[152]William Buckland, D.D., 1784-1856, geologist.
[153]John Claudius Loudon, 1783-1843, writer on horticulture and arboriculture. In 1828-1836, editor of the "Magazine of Natural History."
[154]Edward Turner Bennett, 1797-1836, zoölogist.
[155]William Swainson, naturalist and writer. Born in England 1789, emigrated in 1841 to New Zealand, where he died 1855.
[156]This picture is still in the family, being owned by one of the granddaughters.
[157]François Levaillant, born at Paramaribo, 1753; died in France, 1824.
[158]John Edward Gray, 1800-1875, zoölogist.
[159]No trace of this portrait can be found.
[160]George Chrétien Léopold Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier, Baron, 1769-1832; statesman, author, philosopher, and one of the greatest naturalists of modern times.
[161]Achille Valenciennes, born 1794, French naturalist.
[162]Étienne Geoffroy de St. Hilaire, 1772-1844, French naturalist.
[163]René Primevère Lesson, a French naturalist and author, born at Rochefort, 1794, died 1849.
[164]Isidore Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 1805-1861, zoölogist.
[165]Son of André, Prince d'Essling and Duc de Rivoli, one of the marshals of Napoleon.
[166]Charles Alexandre Le Sueur, French naturalist. 1778-1846.
[167]Pierre Joseph Redouté, French painter of flowers. 1759-1840.
[168]François Gérard, born at Rome 1770, died 1837; the best French portrait painter of his time, distinguished also for historical pictures.
[169]Charles d'Orbigny, son of Audubon's early friend, M. le docteur d'Orbigny.
[170]Count Joseph Jérôme Siméon, French Minister of State. 1781-1846.
[171]The words of the secretary were fully verified within a few months.
[172]These terms were not, however, held to by the owners of the vessel, and the provisioning was left also to them, the whole outlay being about $1500 for the entire trip.
[173]Now commonly spelled Canso—not Canseau.
[174]Plectrophenax nivalis, the Snow Bunting.—E. C.
[175]Canachites canadensis, the Canada Grouse.—E. C.
[176]Foolish Guillemot.
[177]Black Guillemot.
[178]Great Blue Heron.
[179]Razor-billed Auk.
[180]Spotted Sandpiper, nowActitis macularia.—E. C.
[181]Dusky Duck.
[182]Scoter Duck.
[183]The Least or Wilson's Sandpiper,Tringa (Actodromas) minutilla.—E. C.
[184]A mistake, which Audubon later corrected. The Herring Gull is of course quite distinct from the Black-backed. The former is of the variety called by meLarus argentatus smithsonianus, as it differs in some respects from the common Herring Gull of Europe.—E. C.
[185]Perhaps Forster's Tern,Sterna forsteri.—E. C.
[186]Charles Lucien Bonaparte.
[187]No doubt the common species,Phalacrocorax carbo, as Audubon afterward identified it. See beyond, date of June 30.—E. C.
[188]That is, the species which Audubon named the Florida Cormorant,Phalacrocorax floridanus, now known to be a small southern form of the Double-crested Cormorant,P. dilophus.—E. C.
[189]This is the so-called Bridled Guillemot,Uria ringvia. The white mark is not characteristic of sex, age, or season. The bird is not specifically distinct fromUria troile.—E. C.
[190]Merula migratoria, the American Robin.
[191]Kinglet,Regulus calendula.—E. C.
[192]An interesting note of this new species figured in B. of Am., folio pl. 193, and described in Orn. Biogr. ii., 1834, p. 539. It is now known asMelospiza lincolni.—E. C.
[193]The Common Puffin, now calledFratercula arctica.—E. C.
[194]This is the usual sailors' name of the Razor-billed Auk in Labrador and Newfoundland, and was the only one heard by me in Labrador in 1860 (see Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1861, p. 249).—E. C.
[195]NowOtocorys alpestris.—E. C.
[196]NowAnthus pennsylvanicus.—E. C.
[197]Common Cormorant. Seenoteon page 370.
[198]Loxia leucoptera.
[199]Le petit caporal, Falco temerarius,Aud.Ornith. Biog. i., 1831, p. 381, pl. 85.Falco columbarius,Aud.Ornith. Biog. i., 1831, p. 466, pl. 92; v., 1838, p. 368. Synopsis, 1839, p. 16. B. Amer. 8vo, ed. 1., 1840, p. 88, pl. 21.Falco auduboni,Blackwall, Zoöl. Researches, 1834.—E. C.
In vol. v., p. 368, Audubon says: "The bird represented in the last mentioned plate, and described under the name ofFalco temerarius, was merely a beautiful adult of the Pigeon Hawk,F. columbarius. The great inferiority in size of the individual represented asF. temarariuswas the cause of my mistaking it for a distinct species, and I have pleasure in stating that the Prince of Musignano [Charles Bonaparte] was the first person who pointed out my error to me soon after the publication of my first volume."
Bonaparte alludes to this in his edition of Wilson, vol. iii. p. 252.
[200]American Ring Plover, now known asÆgialitis semipalmata.—E. C.
[201]Great Northern Diver or Loon, now calledUrinator, orGavia,imber. The other Diver above mentioned as the "Scapegrace" isU., or G., lumme.
[202]Red-throated Diver, nowUrinator, orGavia,lumme.—E. C.
[203]The White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows are now placed in the genusZonotrichia.—E. C.
[204]Jager.
[205]Petrels, most probablyCymochorea leucorrhoa.—E. C.
[206]NowL. delawarensis, also called Ring-billed Gull.—E. C.
[207]Double-crested Cormorant.
[208]The Catchfly.
[209]Pigeon Hawk.
[210]White-crowned Sparrow.
[211]Brown Titlark.
[212]Black-poll Warbler.
[213]Savannah Finch.
[214]Double-crested Cormorant.
[215]Hudson's Bay Titmouse.
[216]The Ruffed Grouse,Bonasa umbellus.—E. C.
[217]Common Gull. This record raises an interesting question, which can hardly be settled satisfactorily.Larus canus, the common Gull of Europe, is given by various authors in Audubon's time, besides himself, as a bird of the Atlantic coast of North America, from Labrador southward. But it is not known as such to ornithologists of the present day. The American Ornithologists' Union cataloguesL. canusas merely a straggler in North America, with the query, "accidental in Labrador?" In his Notes on the Ornithology of Labrador, in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila. 1861, p. 246, Dr. Coues givesL. delawarensis, the Ring-billed Gull, three specimens of which he procured at Henley Harbor, Aug. 21, 1860. These were birds of the year, and one of them, afterward sent to England, was identified by Mr. Howard Saunders asL. canus(P.Z.S. 1877, p. 178; Cat. B. Brit. Mus., xxv. 1896, p. 281). This would seem to bear out Audubon's Journal; but the "Common American Gull" of his published works is the one he callsL. zonorhynchus(i. e.,L. delawarensis), and on p. 155 of the Birds of Am., 8vo ed., he gives the very incident here narrated in his Journal, as pertaining to the latter species. The probabilities are that, notwithstanding Dr. Coues' finding of the supposedL. canusin Labrador, the whole Audubonian record really belongs toL. delawarensis.—E. C.