CHAPTER IX

AUDUBON'S LAST VISIT TO HIS HOME IN FRANCE

Life at Couëron—Friendship of D'Orbigny—Drawings of French birds—D'Orbigny's troubles—Marriage of Rosa Audubon—The Du Puigaudeaus—Partnership with Ferdinand Rozier—Their Articles of Association—They sail from Nantes, are overhauled by British privateers, but land safely at New York—Settle at "Mill Grove."

Reaching his home at Couëron in the spring of 1805, Audubon took his parents completely by surprise. He found his father, then in his sixty-first year, still "hale and hearty," and his "_chère maman_ as fair and good as ever." It was a time of momentous events in France; Napoleon had placed the crown upon his head but a few months before; defeat and victory followed in rapid succession. But this did not prevent the young naturalist from spending a year in "the lap of comfort" at Nantes and in the quiet villa of "La Gerbetière," where as usual he hunted birds and collected objects of natural history of every sort.

At this time also Audubon formed a friendship with a young man after his own heart, Dr. Charles Marie d'Orbigny, who "with his young wife and infant-son" was then living near his home. "The doctor," he said, "was a good fisherman, a good hunter, and fond of all objects in nature. Together we searched the woods, the fields and the banks of the Loire, procuring every bird we could, and I made drawings of every one of them—very bad, to be sure, but still they were of assistance to me."[107]

Charles d'Orbigny, who was Audubon's most intimate early friend and in all probability his father in natural history, was always spoken of in terms of great affection. While at Paris in October, 1829, Audubon learned from the naturalist Lesson that D'Orbigny was then in charge of the museum at La Rochelle and that "his son, Charles, then twenty-one," whom "he had held in his arms many times," was in the city; on October 8 he wrote in his journal: "this morning I had great pleasure in meeting my godson, Charles d'Orbigny. Oh! what past times were brought to my mind."[108]

In later life the elder D'Orbigny seems to have fallen on evil times. He appeared as a debtor to Lieutenant Audubon's estate, and the cordial relations that had long existed between the two families were broken; this is shown only too plainly by the following sharp letter[109] written by Gabriel du Puigaudeau and addressed to the doctor, on August 3, 1819, when the family had become reduced in means:

_Gabriel du Puigaudeau to Charles M. d'Orbigny_

Your letter of the twenty-fifth of January reached me in due time. I am grieved to see that you are annoyed because I addressed you through the voice of the mayor of the town in which you live, since I had not the honor of knowing the mayor any more than the enmity which may exist between you; I was in duty bound to find out where you were; I heard it said that Esnaudes was your home and I wrote you more than a year ago; when I received no reply, the supposition was that I must have been misinformed. I wrote to the mayor of Esnaudes and he had the kindness to reply that you were practicing in his commune. I am writing to you under this cover, persuaded that my last will not have the same fate as my first, which surely had not reached you.

As to the claim that Madame Audubon has upon you, the different credits which you mention are assuredly more than enough to pay the amount, but with forfeitures; unfortunately there are many creditors who do nothing but this; Madame Audubon gets nothing, and finds herself in straightened circumstances, although her hands are full of notes. You say that your creditors can claim only thirty-five hundred francs. I have certain knowledge to the contrary, since already the mortgages on your house reach nearly three thousand francs, while Madame Audubon is your creditor in the sum of at least sixteen hundred francs. I wish in business to be frank, and to have others so with me. You say that you owe rather those who have supplied you with food; you are unwilling then to recall that the sums that the late Mr. Audubon lent you repeatedly were for the same purpose. You tell us to be patient, and who have been more patient than we for the past four years? You speak of reduction of interest; indeed it is impossible that you should have thought of this, or that we should be content with what you should be so good as to give us, and that when you deem it convenient, without our being able to file a protest. I leave you to reflect on what we must think of this matter, and I beg you to see in my manner of writing to you the interpretation that I have given to what you write yourself.

Madame Audubon does not think that she should exact at once the capital in addition to the interest, but she charges me to say to you that, having a right at least to the interest accrued, she begs you to have that money paid to her with the least possible delay.

The following letter concerning D'Orbigny's affairs was also written by Gabriel du Puigaudeau to J. Cornet of Esnaudes, on June 26, 1819:

_Gabriel du Puigaudeau to J. Cornet_

Your honored [letter] of the sixteenth was duly received. It is impossible to be more grateful to you than I am for the information that you have been kind enough to give me about Mlle. Bouffard[110] as well as about M. Delouche. I will use it to my profit. As to the question that you put to me concerning M. d'Orbigny, I have the honor to tell you that he has lived in the commune of Vue in this department, and was highly esteemed and regretted when he left to come here. He lived here fifteen years without any one having cause to reproach him in any way. He has always been very well regarded and received by the best society here, and he carried from Vue the regrets of all. He left us to take part in a manufactory of soda, established at Noismoutiers, in the department of La Vendée.

I have had no news of him since. As to his pecuniary resources, I know him to have but one. His wife had a house, at Paimbœuf in this department, which was sold three years ago to satisfy the holders of mortgages. This is all that I can tell you about them; he owes my mother-in-law about fifteen hundred francs (money received at different times from my late father-in-law), for which we have his notes, but God only knows when we shall be paid.

As early as the autumn of 1805, if not before, plans were laid for getting young Audubon again safely out of France, for fear, no doubt, that the remorseless conscription officers of Napoleon would send him to the war if he remained. At that time Lieutenant Audubon and his wife issued jointly to their son and to Ferdinand Rozier a power of attorney for the conduct of their business affairs in America. Parts only of this punctilious document, which was written in French, have been preserved,[111] and these through the translation of a "notary public and sworn interpreter of foreign languages for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, resident in Philadelphia." The names of the grantors, who signed this letter on October 21, 1805, were attested under the signature and seal of the mayor of Couëron; this official upon the same day declared that, in conformity with the rigorous requirements of the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, since "no other act, not even a notarial instrument, can in any manner supply the same," he had examined Anne Moynet Audubon apart, when she admitted that she perfectly understood the nature of the act, which she had "signed, sealed, and delivered of her own free will and accord, without being compelled thereto by her husband, either by threats, or by any other means of compulsion whatsoever." The mayor's signature was authenticated three days later by the subprefect of Savenay, and the formality was finally closed by the attestation of his signature by the prefect, on the 27th of November.

It was during this last visit to his home in France that Audubon's sister, Rosa,[112] was married to Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau, who was not, however, as the naturalist has stated, either "the son of a fallen nobleman" or his father's "secretary." Du Puigaudeau came from a family of merchants in easy circumstances, and for a long time lived the life of a country gentleman of leisure—for a period at Port Launay, below Couëron, and later, after Lieutenant Audubon's death, at his own villa, "Les Tourterelles," in that commune, not far from "La Gerbetière." His father, though of a rich family, was not a "gentleman," that is, a member of the aristocracy, as the term was then used in France. Du Puigaudeau was without any settled business, but his revenues, upon which he depended, failed not long after the death of his father-in-law. He and young Audubon appear to have been good friends for many years, and after the latter's return to America they corresponded to as late as 1820, when for some reason their relations were broken.

In the spring of 1806 Lieutenant Audubon arranged a business partnership between his son and Ferdinand Rozier, to endure for nine years, and also secured passports for both to enable them to emigrate immediately to the United States. To the same hand can also be traced their "Articles of Association," which were drawn with the utmost care and designed to govern them in all their future business relations in the New World: these were signed by "Jean Audubon," and "Ferdinand Rozier," at Nantes, on March 23, 1806. Moreover, eight days before they embarked, a second and more elaborate letter of attorney was issued to them jointly by the Lieutenant, his wife, and, in this instance, the aged father of Ferdinand, under date of April 4, 1806.[113] According to the terms of this admirably executed paper the partners were entitled to conduct all the affairs of the grantors in reference to their property in the United States to the best of their judgment and ability; to carry on the "Mill Grove" farm, to the extent of their part ownership in the estate, or to dispose of this interest; "to exploit or cause to be exploited the mine recently discovered on the said farm, to consult in every important matter Mr. Miers Fisher, merchant of Philadelphia,—as a common friend and good counsellor, to keep all necessary books and registers, and at the end of each year, or sooner, to strike a balance of the receipts and expenses of the said farm and the exploitation of the mine, should there be reason for it."

To secure at this time the necessary passports for their young men no doubt taxed all the resources of the elder Audubon; Rozier's, said the naturalist, was written in Dutch, of which he did not understand a single word, while his own letter stated that he was born in New Orleans. These subterfuges worked so well that the inspection officer, after reading Audubon's paper, promptly offered him his congratulations, adding that he would be only too glad to leave his unhappy country under as favorable conditions. Audubon and Rozier sailed from Nantes on Saturday, April 12, 1806, on the ship _Polly_, Captain Sammis, but they did not land in New York until Tuesday, May 28, after a perilous voyage of nearly eight weeks. A fortnight had been passed at sea when they sighted a suspicious looking vessel which immediately gave chase, fired several shots across their bows, and compelled the captain to heave to and submit to being boarded and searched. This proved to be an English privateer, named the _Rattlesnake_. She was rather considerate for a British cruiser of the period, for she merely impressed two of their best seamen and robbed them of their provisions, carrying off, said Audubon, all of their "pigs, sheep, coffee and wine,"[114] in spite of loud remonstrances of the captain and of an American Congressman who happened to be among the passengers. "The _Rattlesnake_," he continued, "kept us under her lee, and almost within pistol-shot, for a day and a night, ransacking the ship for money, of which we had a great store in the run under the ballast which was partially removed, but they did not go deep enough to reach the treasure. The gold belonging to Rozier and myself I put away under the ship's cable in the bow, where it remained until the privateers had departed."

Upon reaching a point thirty miles off Sandy Hook, they learned from a fishing smack that two British frigates lay off the harbor and were impressing American seamen, that, in short, they were even more unwelcome than pirates who sailed under letters of marque. The captain, thus forewarned of one danger, had the misfortune to run into another, for upon taking his vessel into Long Island Sound, she encountered a storm and was stranded in a gale; no great harm was experienced, however, for the vessel was finally floated off and reached New York on the following day. The passage money paid by Audubon and Rozier to Captain Sammis amounting to 525 livres, or $125,[115] was entered, according to their articles of agreement, as the first item of their "social expenses." After a brief visit with Benjamin Bakewell they hurried to "Mill Grove," and Audubon to the home of his sweetheart, Lucy.