CHAPTER XXXIII

NEW ENTERPRISES AND LIFE AT "MINNIE'S LAND"

Settlement in New York—The _Birds_ in miniature, and work on the _Quadrupeds_—Marriage of Victor Audubon—Coöperation of Bachman in the _Quadrupeds_ secured—Prospectuses—History of the octavo edition of the _Birds_—Baird's enthusiasm and efficient aid—Parkman's wren—Baird's visit to Audubon in New York—"Look out for Martens!" and wildcats—New home on the Hudson—Godwin's pilgrimage to "Minnie's Land" in 1842.

After thirteen years of unmitigated labor, Audubon could have basked in a fame already secure, and could have enjoyed, for a time at least, a leisure handsomely earned. But no sooner had he settled in New York than he entered upon two formidable tasks: one of these was the complete revision of his _Birds of America_, to be issued with its text in "miniature," as its reduced form was sometimes described; the other, which he did not live to see brought to completion, was an elaborate work on the _Quadrupeds of North America_, eventually carried forward in collaboration with the Reverend John Bachman.

In his confident and characteristic manner, Audubon at once issued a "Prospectus" of both these undertakings. The more cautious Bachman, in writing on September 13, 1839, to congratulate him upon their safe return, "in spite of storms, calms, and hurricane," said:

I am glad that you are about to do something with regard to the "_Small Edition of Birds_." But are you not too fast in issuing your prospectus of _The Birds and Quadrupeds_, without having numbers of both works, by which the public can judge of their merits? My idea, in regard to the latter, is that you should carefully get up, in your best style, a volume about the size of "Holbrook's Reptiles." This would enable you to decide on the terms of the book, I think that two thousand subscribers at $1.00 for each number, might be obtained. But it must be no half-way affair.

The animals have never been carefully described, and you will find difficulties at every step. Books cannot aid you much. Long journeys will have to be undertaken. Several species remain to be added and their habits ascertained. The drawings you can easily make, if you can procure the specimens. I wish I had you here, if only for two days. I think that I have studied the subject more than you have. You will be bothered with the Wolves and the Foxes, to begin with. I have two new species of Bats and Shrews to add. The Western Deer are no joke, and the ever varying Squirrels seem sent by Satan himself, to puzzle the Naturalists.

It is evident from this letter that Audubon was then intending to proceed with the work on the _Quadrupeds_ alone and that Bachman's active coöperation was secured later. On September 15, shortly after his return to America, he wrote to Thomas M. Brewer on this subject as follows:[173]

Now that I am about to commence the publication of the _Quadrupeds of North America_, I will expect your assistance in the procuring for me of all such subjects as may easily be obtained around you. John Bachman is about to give the whole of his collections and his notes to me; and as I intend to open a pretty general correspondence in different parts of the Union, I trust to be enabled to proceed roundly on this fresh undertaking.

Victor Gifford Audubon, who had preceded his father to America early in 1839, was married in that year to Mary Eliza, second daughter of John and Harriet Bachman. This double union of the two naturalists' families called forth mutual congratulations, but Bachman, who was inconsolable at the departure of his children, preferred to talk of birds: "By that time," said he, "four or five numbers [of the 'Small Edition of the Birds'] are published, you may turn over the work to your sons; but, till then, you should carefully review every page and plate. The next thing will be to get subscribers. This would be purgatory to me; but it is necessary to success. While drumming up subscribers, you may obtain specimens for the Quadrupeds." When writing again January 13, 1840, Bachman, whose cooperation in the proposed work had been sought, continued:

The descriptions in the "Small Edition of Birds" will have to be abridged—your "_worthy friend_" and other humbugs may be left out to advantage. I am not at all surprised at your success at getting subscribers; but let me say, _cities_ are not the only places to obtain them. Birds sing and nestle among the groves of the _country_—The planters and farmers are the men to become subscribers. An intelligent planter from the up country said, a few days ago, that if the right person would thoroughly canvass the whole State of South Carolina, he would insure three hundred subscribers to the "Small Work." _Old Jostle_ would be the man, and when his legs failed, the _Young Jostle_ should go forward. Get the Editors to notice your work—this is a puffing world—from the porpoise to the steamboat.

When we meet, we shall talk about the partnership in the quadrupeds. I am willing to have my name stand with yours, if it will help the sale of the book. The expenses and the profits shall be yours or the boys'. I am anxious to do something for the benefit of Victor and John, in addition to the _treasures_ I have given them—and this is all I can do.... Employ yourself now in drawing every quadruped you can lay your hands upon. If you can find me a live Ermine, buy it in New York. I must once more examine and study its change of _pilage_.

Don't flatter yourself that the quadrupeds will be child's play. I have studied them all my life. We have much, both in Europe and America, to learn on this subject. The skulls and the teeth must be studied, and color is as variable as the wind; down, down in the earth they grovel, while we, in digging and studying, may grow old and cross. Our work must be thorough. I would as soon stick my name to a _forged Bank Note_ as to a mess of _soupmaigre_.

The "Prospectus" of Audubon's "miniature" edition of the Birds was as follows:[174]

To those who have not seen any portion of Mr. Audubon's Original Drawings, it may be proper to state, that their superiority consists in the accuracy as to proportion and outline, and the variety and truth of the attitudes and positions of the figures, resulting from peculiar means discovered and employed by him, and his attentive examination of the objects portrayed, during a long series of years. Mr. Audubon has not contented himself with single profile views, but in many instances has grouped his figures, so as to represent the originals in their natural avocations, and has placed them on branches of trees decorated with foliage, blossoms and fruits, or amidst plants of numerous species—some are seen pursuing their prey in the air, searching for food amongst the leaves and herbage, sitting on their nests, or feeding their young; whilst others, of a different nature, swim, wade, or glide in or over their allotted element. The insects, reptiles and fishes that form the food of some of the birds, have now and then been introduced in the drawings. In nearly every instance where a difference of plumage exists between the sexes, both male and female have been represented, and the extraordinary changes which some species undergo in their progress from youth to maturity, have been depicted.

The plants are all copied from nature, and as many are remarkable for their beauty, their usefulness, or their rarity, the Botanist cannot fail to look upon them with delight.

The particulars of the plan of the work can be reduced to the following heads:

1. The size of the work is royal octavo, the paper being of the finest quality.

2. The Plates representing the Birds are correctly reduced from the original drawings, and are coloured in the most careful manner.

3. The work will appear in numbers, on the first and fifteenth of every month.

4. Each number will consist of Five Plates, accompanied with full descriptions of the habits and localities of the birds, their anatomy and digestive organs, (with occasionally wood cuts representing the latter,) and will be furnished to subscribers for one dollar, payable on delivery.

5. The work will be published in accordance with a scientific arrangement of the genera and species, and will complete the Ornithology of our country, it is believed, in the most perfect manner.

The octavo edition of Audubon's _Birds_ began to appear, in parts, late in 1839, and was in press four years. It was illustrated with 500 lithographic plates, which were reduced by John Woodhouse Audubon from his father's old or new originals, with such changes as the breaking up of composite plates and other considerations rendered necessary. Many new flowers and trees made their appearance in these plates, and seventeen new birds were added to the last volume; the text was also greatly improved by the process of addition and subtraction, as well as by the correction of many errors which it was then possible to effect: as twelve species were noticed without figures, this brought the total number of American birds finally recognized by Audubon to 507.[175] The first considerable list of American birds with any pretense to accuracy appeared in _Notes on Virginia_, published in 1782, by Thomas Jefferson, who then named 109 species peculiar to the United States; William Bartram, in 1791, gave 191; Alexander Wilson, 278; Wilson and Ord, in 1808-14, 320, and Charles Bonaparte, in 1825-33, is said to have extended the number to 382. The present number of North American birds, omitting sub-species, admitted to the third revised edition of the "Check-List," prepared by a Committee of the American Ornithologists' Union and published in New York in 1910, is 768. To this is added a hypothetical list of 26 names, the validity of which is still in doubt; these embrace Townsend's Bunting—_Spiza townsendi_ (Audubon); Carbonated Warbler—_Dendroica carbonata_ (Audubon), Blue Mountain Warbler—_Dendroica montana_ (Wilson), known only in the works of Wilson and Audubon; the mysterious Small-headed "Flycatcher," or Warbler—_Musicapa minuta_ (Wilson) or _Wilsonia_ (?) _microcephala_ (Ridgway), an account of which is given in Chapter XIV and which is known only in Wilson's and Audubon's works; and Cuvier's Regulus—_Regulus cuvieri_ (Audubon), which has never been seen beyond the covers of _The Birds of America_, and its descriptive text: "I shot _this_ bird," said Audubon, "on my father-in-law's plantation of Fatland Ford, on the Skuylkill River in Pennsylvania, on the 8th June 1812, while on a visit to my honoured relative Mr. William Bakewell.... I have not seen another since."

Audubon was soon canvassing the principal cities for this work, with what success is shown by the following letter[176] to his family:

_Audubon to his Family_

BALTIMORE, _Feb. 21. 1840_. 11 o'clock at night.

MY DEAR FRIENDS

So far so good, but alas! I am now out of numbers to deliver to my subscribers here. Here! where I expected to procure a good number more. This list is composed of excellent men and all good pay. I have in my pocket upwards of one hundred names, whom I am assured are likely to subscribe. Therefor I will not leave Baltimore for some days to come at least. I forward a copy of this list to Chevalier by the same mail and yet you may as well inquire if he has received it. More numbers I must have as soon as possible as all my subscribers here are anxious about receiving their copies, unfortunately I had only 90 No. 2. I look upon this list as a capital list. I have sent Mr. Ridgley of Annapolis a No. 1 and a prospectus, and expect some names tomorrow evening from that quarter.

I will remit money to Phila. and let you know how much as soon as I can. The box has arrived here safely and tomorrow or Monday I will deliver Biographies &c. D. Potter is very ill and poor and yet I hope to get his note before I leave here.

I received a note from dear Jonny dated at Norfolk, all well and going on. I expect they are at this moment at John Bachman's. I am fatigued beyond description and had the misfortune last evening of skinning my shin bones, they bled profusely however, and I hope will soon get well, though feel rather sore at this very moment, but I will take care of them.

The amount of attention which I have received here is quite bewildering, the very streets resound with my name, and I feel quite alarmed and queer as I trudge along. Mess. _Meckle_, _Oldfield_ and the Brune family have all assisted me in the most kind and brotherly manner, indeed I may say that my success is mostly derived from these excellent persons.

I have written to Mr. Mifflins. I feel that Theodore Anderson will not live long. Mr. Morris has not yet returned from Annapolis. See that the _notice_ in the Baltimore Patriot which I sent you yesterday is inserted in the _Albion_, the _New York Gazette_ and if possible in the _Courrier_ and _Enquirer_.

I have sent one to Chevalier and another to Dr. Parkman. I ought to have at this moment 300 copies Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, for Washington City and really I think it would be better to stop the publication of the work for _one month_ to effect this. Therefor loose no time in urging Mr. Bowen (write to him) and Chevalier also on this all important subject.

If ever I was in want of assistance it is at this moment and _you_ my dear Victor must be on the alert and second my endeavors to render you all Happy! I would be delighted to have a few lines from Mamma and Eliza at the end of your next letter, which I hope to receive in immediate answer to this, _Here_. I have marked all your items in your last letter. Call from time to time at the Mercantile Library. I am glad you have remitted to the Rathbone's. Do write to Mr. Hoppenstall and see the daughter of Capt. Brittan. I was invited last evening to a great ball, and should have gone had not my accident of shin bones prevented me. I am told that I would have had some 20 names there.

Recollect that our agents name is Gideon B. Smith and a most worthy man he is, highly recommended by Robert Gilmor and others.

[No signature]

To the gratification of Audubon and his friends, the octavo edition of his _Birds of America_ was an immediate and great success. Only 300 copies of the plates of the first number, which was ready on December 3, 1839, were printed, but in little more than a month 300 more were demanded, and the number of plates required rose steadily until January 9, 1841, when it stood at 1,475 copies.[177] The total number of subscribers given in Audubon's published lists was 1,198, of which 198 are credited to Boston, 164 to Baltimore, 141 to New York, sixty-five to Philadelphia, and forty-three to foreign countries, ten of which went to England; Mr. George Oates of Charleston subscribed for seven copies. Such a reception for an expensive work on natural history was unprecedented in the United States, and has had few parallels in any country.

At the very beginning of this new undertaking, the hand of disease and bereavement rested heavily on the Audubon and Bachman families; they were obliged to see first one and then another of their daughters swept by the same terrible malady, tuberculosis, to an early grave. Mrs. John Woodhouse Audubon died at her old home in Charleston, whither she had gone for the benefit of her health in the previous winter, on September 23, 1840, at the age of twenty-three; and Mrs. Victor Audubon, after a long sojourn in Cuba, and shortly after returning to her home in New York, died there on May 25, 1841, at the age of twenty-two. Audubon was very fond of his daughters-in-law, and his "beloved Rosy," as Victor's wife was familiarly called, is said to have been a particular favorite and the life of his family circle. If work at this time brought no pleasure, it at least afforded him relief from painful thoughts.

In June, 1840, a boy who lived in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, mustered up courage to write to the naturalist and give him an account of a new bird, the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, which he and his brother had discovered, under the very noses, as it were, of all the ornithologists in America. With that fine sense of modesty which characterized the man in after life, for his name was Spencer Fullerton Baird, he wrote:[178] "You see Sir that I have taken (after much hesitation) the liberty of writing you. I am but a boy, and very inexperienced, as you no doubt will observe from my description of the Flycatcher."

Audubon, who had just returned from the sick-bed of his daughter-in-law, replied promptly as follows:

_Audubon to Spencer Fullerton Baird_

NEW YORK, _June 13, 1840_.

DEAR SIR,

On my return home from Charleston S. C. yesterday, I found your kind favor of the 4th inst. in which you have the goodness to inform me that you have discovered a new species of fly-catcher, and which, if the bird corresponds to your description, is, indeed, likely to prove itself hitherto undescribed, for although you speak of yourself as being a youth, your style and the descriptions you have sent me prove that an old head may from time to time be found on young shoulders!

I wish you would send me one of the stuffed specimens as well as the one preserved in spirits, and wish you also to rest assured that if the little _Muscicapa_ stands as a nondescript that I shall feel pleased to name it after your friend.

I have never seen a male of the Cape May warbler with the upper part of the head pure black. Have you compared the _Regulus_ with the description of _Regulus Cuvieri_? Could you not send me your bird to look at? Being on the eve of publishing the Quadrupeds of our Country, I have thought that you might have it in your power to procure several of the smaller species for me, and thereby assist me considerably. Please write to me again soon, as I must resume my travels in 8 or 10 days. Have you seen a copy of the small edition of The Birds of America which I am now publishing? Believe me, dear sir,

With good wishes, your obt. sert.,

JOHN J. AUDUBON

Thus began a correspondence between the youth of fifteen and the veteran of fifty-five, which led to an intimate friendship that lasted during Audubon's active career, and was an undoubted stimulus to young Baird, whose talents, enthusiasm and industry were quickly appreciated by the older naturalist. Baird answered Audubon's letter on June 20, and proffered his services in collecting mammals, saying that while they were more difficult to find than birds, he hoped "by increased exertion to make up the difference"; he also added: "I have seen some numbers of your work now publishing, and admire them very much. I have no doubt that it will do more to spread a love of Natural history, than any work ever published. For my part I read the description of birds and the episodes in your _Ornithological Biography_ with the same motive of pleasure as I used to read a favorite novel." In Audubon's immediate reply of the 22nd, he said:

It is impossible at present for me to give you any precise idea of the work on our quadrupeds which I have in contemplation to publish, any further than to say to you, that it is my intention, as well as that of my friend, the Revd John Bachman, of Charleston, S. C., assisted by several others of our best naturalists, to issue a work on the Mammalia of North America worthy of the naturalist's attention, both at home and abroad.—Through our joint efforts, and assisted as we hope and trust to be, by numerous friends and acquaintances in different portions of our Wide Union, we expect to collect, not only new species, but much of valuable matter connected with their geographical range, and particular habits. For instance, in your assistance in this department as well as in ornithology, you may be able to send us valuable intelligence respecting the Shrews, Mice, Rats, Squirrels, etc., found in your immediate vicinity &c.—and by saving and forwarding specimens to us, be able also, in all probability, to place into our hands, objects never before known to the World of Science. Whatever information we thus receive is sacredly published under the name of the friend from whom we receive the information, etc. I have sent you the Zoological report of Docr. De Kay. His _Corvus cocolotle_ [cacolotl] is really our Raven. _Supposed_ by some inexperienced European naturalists to be distinct from the Raven of Europe, which, however, is a gross error.[179]...

The thrush which you have described, and which you kindly offer to send me, may be new, but perhaps you are not acquainted with the Turdus Nanus of my work, to which it appears, if not the same, probably a new variety! _Nous verrons_....

Please to collect all the Shrews, Mice, (field or wood), rats, bats, Squirrels, etc., and put them in a jar in common Rum, not whiskey, brandy or alcohol. All of the latter spirits are sure to injure the subjects.

Audubon, who was now "killing two birds with one stone"—collecting subscribers for one work and mammals for another, had found a strong and willing helper in the young naturalist of Carlisle. On December 10 of the same year Baird wrote that he had discovered another Flycatcher, as well as a small Woodpecker, which was apparently new, and had shot a "Bay Lynx or Wild Cat a mile & a quarter from Carlisle; the cat ... was 2½ feet long & weighed 12½ pounds.... It was a source of great regret," said Baird, "that I was not able to meet you in Philadelphia when I was there during the latter part of September. I saw Mr. Chevalier[180] several times, and found him a very agreeable gentleman." Audubon replied to this letter on Christmas Day, as follows:

_Audubon to Spencer Fullerton Baird_

NEW YORK, _December 25, 1840_.

MY DEAR SIR,

On my return yesterday from a tour of a month, I found your kind favor of the 10th inst. at my house. I regret exceedingly that you and I should not have met at Philadelphia, as I feel sure by the style and contents of your letters to me that you are fond of the study of natural objects, as much as I am.

I have no doubt that your journey during the last summer and autumn was a pleasing one to you, as I can well conceive from the fresh recollections of my many rambles.

You would oblige me much by sending me (through Mr. Chevelier) the _Muscicapa_ you obtained Oct. 12th, and also the small woodpecker "with the very broad bill". I am anxious to see those birds, and will take especial care of them, and also return them to you, free of all expense.

I cannot at this moment return to the specimens you have already sent me, but in my next letter, I will assure you of the names of the subjects. I wish I could see your Bay Lynx, as I feel somewhat confident that we have more than two species within our limits.

Your anecdote connected with the sagacity of the Weasel is quite pleasing to me, and will appear in my biographies of quadrupeds bye and bye. I cannot, as yet, give you any estimate of my work on the Quadrupeds of our Country but will do so as soon as possible. With my best wishes, for your health and prosperity, I pray you to consider me as your friend and obt. servant,

JOHN J. AUDUBON.

In the following letter by William Yarrell,[181] English naturalist and sportsman, are interesting references to Audubon's smaller edition of _The Birds of America_ as well as to the writer's _History of British Birds_, which later became the standard work on the ornithology of Great Britain:

_William Yarrell to Audubon_

[Addressed] J. J. AUDUBON Esqr No. 86 White Street New York. [Superscribed by Audubon] _March 10, 1841._

[English postmark] D Paid 4 MR 4 1841

MY DEAR SIR,

Your letter, and also that of your son, are now before me, both received so long ago as the middle of last year—how time flies with those who are fully occupied—I reproach myself for having allowed them to remain so long unanswered—and hope my numerous avocations, which absorb my whole time, will be admitted as my excuse. I see Mr. B. Phillips every now and then, we meet only to talk about you—I have received from his hands the first 17 Nos of your smaller American Birds and like them much—as I could not afford to have the large work I make myself content with the small one, and shall be happy to receive the continuation—pray tell me to whom shall I make payment for them, shall it be to Mr. Phillips if so, let me or him know, and it shall be done immediately—I am quite of your opinion that there would be some sale for it here—if it was advertised and made known, but a commission of 10. p cent will not tempt any London Bookseller who is sufficiently known and influential to be of any service to you—I exhibited my numbers at the meetings of the Linnean and Zoological Socities and gave the loose plates between them to lay on the table, but without the name of a London Bookseller on the cover no one knows where to get the work if Desirous of buying it.

I will now answer your inquiries for English Friends. Earl Derby remains much the same—very well in health, but deprived of the use of one side entirely, limbs as well as body—unable to attend to other things, he appears to devote himself almost entirely to Zoology—Thomson his Superintendent of the Aviary is at this time in London buying some new or rare pheasants lately arrived here from China—and will have a valuable addition to the stock to take back with him—Lord Derby came to London by the Rail Road last March (1840) and Thomson tells me, his Lordship means to come up again this Spring. The Prince of Musignano now P. of Canino I hear of by report from others—He is quite well, continually publishing, and we hear that he means to visit London in the course of the present year—of Mr. Lear we hear the most satisfactory accounts—generally through Mr. Hullmandill—he is greatly improved in health and finances—a favorite with every body, patronized by all who go there—and he too, we hear, means to visit England in the course of the present year. Mr. Gould returned safe to England in August last, after an absence of two years and 8 months—Two years of the time were passed on Van Diemans land and various parts of New Holland—he did not go to New Zealand—He has brought home a very large collection of Birds, with, in many cases, the eggs and nests—He has commenced the publication of the Birds on the same scale as his Birds of Europe, but improved in execution—two parts are out: it is to be published every three months. I sent off a letter this day to your Edinburgh friend Mr. MacGillivray—he is a candidate for the Professorship of Natural History in the Marischall College of Aberdeen and wrote to ask me for a testimonial of recommendation—this was the object of my letter to him.—My second volume of the British Birds will be complete in July next, I will send it to you in one lump. Pray remember me to your good lady and thank your son Victoire for me for his letter. I hope you are all well, and with best wishes for a continuance to you of all that is good—I remain very sincerely yours

Wm. YARRELL.

J. J. AUDUBON Esqr New York—

Spencer Baird and his brother, William, were soon able to announce another discovery, now well known the country over as the Least Flycatcher, and in some sections by the onomatopœic name of Chebec. In referring to it in his letter of June 21, 1841, Baird wrote:

There is one flycatcher respecting which we are in doubt, and which was very abundant this spring. It is the one we had considered _M. Pusilla_ but a thorough examination of the Biography, has thrown doubt on this supposition, it agrees pretty well with the _M. Acadica_ of Nuttall, but not with the _Acadica_, of the Synopsis. I will send you one as soon as possible, as there is no set of Plates in Carlisle to which we might refer.

In conclusion Baird added: "May we not expect to see you in Carlisle before a great while? It would give us very great pleasure indeed."

Though Audubon gladly admitted this new-found species of bird at a later day, he was not at first disposed to accept its validity, as will appear in the following interesting letter which he sent to his young friend:

_Audubon to Spencer Fullerton Baird_

NEW YORK, _July 29, 1841_.

MY DEAR SIR,—

I have not had time to answer your interesting favor of the 21st until this morning, being now constantly engaged in the figuring, &c., of the Quadrupeds of Our Country; by which I mean that I actually work from daylight every day until I retire to my necessary repose at night.

Your observations upon the birds of passage the last spring are what they have been almost throughout the U. S. The very backward spring which we have experienced this year did no doubt retard the coming into the States the millions of passenger birds that come to us from beyond our limits. The Fly-catcher of which you are in doubt is nevertheless the _M. Pusilla_, and you must not be surprised to find _perhaps_ some discrepancy between the specimens you have procured and the descriptions you may have read, as among mine these differences are quite obvious and belonging to either sex or age, as is indeed the case with most of our birds as well as among many of our quadrupeds....

I cannot at present tell you when I may have the pleasure of meeting you at your own domicile, and yet this may happen quite unexpectedly.

Do you pay attention to the quadrupeds around you? If not, I wish you would!—and moreover I should be highly pleased to hear of your procuring for us all such as may be found in your vicinity. You have _Bats, Wood Rats, & Mice, Weasels, &c., &c._, all of which I should like to possess specimens at your hands. Could you not save all that you come across with in this way, place them in _common good Rum_, and forward them to me at once or as soon as you have some 2 or three species. I will most cheerfully pay all expenses to Philadelphia addressed to _J. B. Chevalier_, No. 70 Dock Street.

I am now as anxious about the publication of the Quadrupeds as I ever was in the procuring of our Birds, indeed my present interest in Zoology is altogether bent toward the Completion of this department of Natural Science.

Do please write to me often as I am always glad to hear from you, and when I am somewhat slow in answering your letters, be assured that it is altogether on a/c of the excess of Labour that I have to go through.

Believe me with sincere good wishes Your friend and servant,

JOHN J. AUDUBON.

Although Audubon never went to Carlisle, young Baird, as we shall see, repeatedly visited him in New York and became a favorite with his family. A description of the new Flycatchers was published by the Baird brothers in 1843, and represented Spencer's first contribution to his favorite science; Audubon included their discovery in the Appendix to the seventh and last volume of _The Birds of America_ in 1844.

Audubon's occupations in the summer of this year are clearly reflected in the following letter:[182]

_Audubon to Dr. George Parkman_

NEW YORK, _June 20th 1841_

MY DEAR FRIEND.—

I intended having written to you yesterday by Miss Shatuck, who was good enough to spend the day with us, but I was so deeply engaged on a drawing of Rocky Mountain Flying Squirrels, that the time of her departure came suddenly and I could merely ask of her to say to you, that your last letter and remittance had reached us in safety, and with the unexampled promptness shewn by you on the three occasions you have been troubled with the delivery of 46 parts of our work to 46 of our Boston subscribers; and for which as I have said before I am very sorry to have nought but our sincerest thanks and gratitude to you for this, so remarkable, proceeding. May God reward you and yours for all your generous actions.

I thank you also for your memorandums about the quadrupeds in the Boston Museum as I see that our animal there may save me the trouble of going to the State of Maine for it. When I was last under the hospitable roof of our Friend Docr Shattuck, I saw in George's room a No. of the "Penny Magazine" in which there is a plate representing a family of Beavers at work, that reminded me greatly of what I have seen in the ponds of Indiana some thirty years ago, and which I should like to have for a few days to assist in part in the making of the background to my Drawing of these animals, drawn from the Individual you procured for me. I will take good care of the No. and will return it safely very soon.

Should George Shattuck have forwarded that No. to Mr. B. of Baltimore, pray ask him to write to the later to send it to me as soon as convenient. If per chance you could procure for me a live _Hare in the Summer dress_ (It is pure white in winter) pray do so and do not mind the price or the cost of its conveyance to me. This animal is abundant in the northern portions of your State and is fully double the size of the common _Hare_ called the "Rabbit."

With sincerest regards and kindest remembrances to all around you and our mutual Friends,

believe [me] yours always

JOHN J. AUDUBON.

The "Parkman Wren" well mounted will soon be on your chimney mantle!

The unique specimen of the little Wren, referred to in the postscript of this letter, had been discovered on the Columbia River by Dr. Townsend some years before, and though Audubon had described it in 1839, his figure of it had but just appeared; this was doubtless included, as Mr. Thayer remarks, in the parts of the octavo edition of _The Birds of America_, which Dr. Parkman distributed at Boston in the summer of this year.

As an indication of the zeal and energy with which Audubon undertook his work on the quadrupeds, the following letter (dated "New York, August 15, 1841," and addressed to "W. O. Ayres,[183] Esq., Miller's Place, Suffolk county, Long Island, New York") will be read with interest:

_Audubon to W. O. Ayres_

I am now closely engaged in conjunction with my friend the Revd. John Bachman—of Charleston, S. C., in the preparing of a work on the viviparous quadrupeds of North America, and I have already drawn about one hundred figures of these, including thirty-six species.

Now knowing the interest you feel towards the advancement of Natural Science, in every department, I have thought that should you assist us in the procuring specimens, whether in the flesh or skin, dead or alive; that we would be much benefitted by such aid.—Long Island possesses rare and valuable species, and although many of them are plentiful they are rarely procured unless accidentally as it were. In your Rambles after the feathered Tribe, you surely come across at times with quadrupeds, and if you were good enough to shoot them or to catch them and send them to me in the manner mentioned below, I personally would feel extremely obliged to you.

Bats, Wood Rats and Wood Mice, Shrews, Shrew Moles and all the smaller animals can be forwarded in an earthern jar immersed in good Yankee Rum.—The larger kinds can be skinned, preserving the skull entire, and also the legbone and the clavicles. One fore & one hind foot ought to be pinned on a board or cork until perfectly dried, and actual measurements and weights forwarded with the specimens. Nos. accordingly with the notes of localities and dates. Young and old are wanted. The Cat Squirrel is now and then procured about you of a very large size—the Woodchuck &c. but it is unnecessary for me to give you a list as we are anxious to procure every thing we can from every portion of the Union with the view to ascertain their geographical range.

The expense involved in producing the early numbers of the small edition of his _Birds_ must have been great, and Audubon was feeling the strain, when the letter,[184] dated "New York—April 29, 1841," from which the following extract is taken, was sent to his Boston agent: "I doubt much if you are _actually aware_ that we have at this moment in this city and at Philadelphia upwards of _Seventy_ persons employed upon the present work, and that all these ... are to be paid regularly each Saturday evening, and that _when we are out of temper_ it is not without cause."

When Baird visited the Audubons, in New York, in January, 1842, he was fascinated by the masterly drawings of birds and quadrupeds which were then being produced, and was determined to pay more attention himself to an art for which presumably he had little natural aptitude; he seems also to have received a hint for the improvement of his somewhat loose chirography. Upon leaving, Audubon presented his pupil with a copy of the _Biography_ of Birds. After returning to his home, Baird wrote from Carlisle, on February 8 of that year:

_Spencer Fullerton Baird to Audubon_

After a trial of two weeks I begin to find that I am getting over the shock caused by the sudden transition from the bustle of Broadway to the lifelessness of Carlisle, and hope that by the application of the proper means I may in time perfectly recover. Philadelphia seemed dull but Carlisle was death itself. My visit now however seems but as a dream, and I have settled down into my old regular monotonous life as if I had never been absent a day. When I arrived my friends had a great many questions to ask of course, but almost the first ones on every lip were about Mr. Audubon,—how he looked? What was his age, whether the idea they had formed of him from his writings was correct, many queries also were respecting Mrs. A. and her sons; and they all said that they would be ever grateful to them for their kindness, to one away from home....

For want of other objects I have commenced to draw the sternal and shoulder apparatus of our birds, a pretty large collection of which I have been making for a year past.... Have you heard from Mr. Lyon of Bedford yet about the money he owes you? I was asking about him the other day, of an acquaintance of his, who told me that he was as good as gold in all his debts, & expressed some surprise at his not having paid, as he generaly is very punctual.... Last week I walked up to Pinegrove an iron works about sixteen miles in the mountains where resides the Mr. Ege I have so often spoken about as the mighty Nimrod of our county. On my arrival I found a fine wild cat hanging in the stable which had been killed a few days before. On returning the next day I took the cat with me slung across my shoulders, and on reaching home after measuring & weighing it skinned it. I am in hopes of getting some more from here, as they promised to catch all they could for me.

Baird signed himself "Your affectionate pupil," and added in a postscript: "I forgot to say that I had a fine steak of the wild cat broiled and it tasted like a tender piece of fresh pork. I will certainly eat the whole of the next one obtained. I intend to taste all the Quadrupeds inhabiting this part of the country."

Audubon's interesting reply was in part as follows:

_Audubon to Spencer Fullerton Baird_

NEW YORK, _Feby. 10, 1842_.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND.

It is about half an hour since I had the real pleasure of receiving your letter of the 8th inst. and my earnest thanks to you for it and its contents; to all of which I will try to answer at your request.

That beautiful Carlisle, its surrounding hills bordering its valleys, all within the bosom of quiet nature should appear to you as a small affair when compared to our largest city in the Union, is not at all remarkable, but let me ask you the following questions. Did you meet all your dear Parents and Friends quite well? Did they not receive you with the kindest of welcomes? Were not their _hearts_ and feelings towards you the same as ever? Surely all this was fact, and being so, would you not after all prefer _Little Carlisle_ than _Great New York_ with all its humbug, rascality, and immorality? Surely or do I mistake your nature sadly, you do! It is now a good long time since I was young, and resided near Norristown in Pennsylvania. It was then and is now a very indifferent place as compared with New York; but still my heart and mind oftentime dwell in the pleasure that I felt there, and it always reminds me that within a few miles of that village, my Mother[185] did live, and it was there also that my good fortune led me to know and to marry the excellent Wife I have yet, at whose hands yourself have tried to be rendered comfortable. Say what you will. "there is nothing like home"... I wish I could be with you, if only for one week, for then I imagine that between your friends of the mountains, yourself, and myself, we could Tree a "Catamount" and soon untree him. The tugging part of that far-famed animal, I would cheerfully give up to your youthful shoulders, but not so with the figuring of it, yet for a while. Is there such a Beast in existence? Do let me know as soon as you can. I am heartily glad that you have procured a wild cat from the mountainous part of Pennsylvania, and that you have preserved its skin, which I beg you to forward as soon as you please, along with whatever other quadrupeds you may have in hand, that we may say more on those Beasts of the Central States, than has ever been before told....

_Look out for Martens_, and try to find me some youself! I am glad that you find wild cat meat pretty good, as it corroborates the sayings of many others, who pronounce it equal to young veal.

Let me say to you ("en passant") that your handwriting is considerably improved, and depend upon it that your attention _to Drawing_ will soon enable you as of "copper plate." Go ahead!

I now wish you earnestly to offer our joint respects, regards, and best wishes to all your family and friends, and to believe me always,

Yours most truly,

JOHN J. AUDUBON. 86 White Street.

P. S. Thank you for what you say of the Bedford gentleman. When I write next, I will mention him at greater length. I wish you could let me know whether we could procure first rate peach trees from your vicinity, and how much 50 of them would cost. I should like to have them assorted, soft, and clings yellow, or red, or blood-red. We wish to plant these as early in March as possible, if young trees, two years old could be had, we might, perhaps, have fruit on some of them during the next summer? Try what you can do for your New York friend. [The following on outside of letter-sheet] I will make up a box for you in a few days, and send it to you through Mr. Chevalier.

Audubon, who ever found city life irksome, as early as 1841 had begun to look about for a farm, or some retired spot within easy access to New York, where he could establish the families of himself, of his two sons, and have about him many of the animals which he then wished to study and depict for his new work. Edward Harris would have been glad to have had him for a neighbor, and wrote from Moorestown, New Jersey, on July 5, 1841, suggesting that he examine "a small farm close to _his_ village, containing about 25 acres of very good land," which the owner was then willing to sell for $3,500, though, added Harris, "when Mr. Havell was here, he asked $5,000 for it." A spot more to his liking, however, was found on the Hudson River, in Carmansville, later known as Washington Heights, where he purchased from thirty to forty acres of land which had a river frontage of a thousand feet, from the present One Hundred and Fifty-fifth to One Hundred and Fifty-eighth Streets, and extended to the easterly limits of the village at the old Bloomingdale Road, near the present Amsterdam Avenue. This tract was well wooded, and among the grand forest trees on the place a large tulip or white wood attracted general attention from its great girth and commanding height. Audubon decided to place his house at the foot of the river bluff, amid a cluster of fine oaks, chestnuts and evergreens, and a clearing had to be made before the site could be laid off; it was some years before the railroad came to mar his river view and interrupt access to the beach. Audubon began to build in 1841, and on February 24, 1842, Victor wrote to Edward Harris: "Our house in the country is going on well, and will probably be ready for us in about two months. John is at work out there every day"; they were planning, he said, to raise pigs and poultry, and he inquired after "draining tiles, such as are made near Philadelphia."

Audubon named his new estate "Minnie's Land," in honor of his wife, Lucy, to whom he deeded the property, the Scotch form of her name having no doubt come into familiar use during their residence abroad. In April, 1842, they turned their backs on the city and occupied their new home. Spencer Baird, when writing on May 3 of that year, said:

I have been in some doubt where this letter should be addressed, since "86 White St." will not reach you, and you must by this time be snugly fixed I hope in your beautiful place up the River. Do not laugh therefore if I prefix "Formerly" to the old superscription....

I suppose that the First Number of the "Quadrupeds of North America" is out by this time, I hope that it will be hailed by a large list of subscribers, and will do what I can for this desirable end.

Submerged as Audubon was, with painting the _Quadrupeds_, keeping the small edition of his _Birds_ in motion, and canvassing for subscribers to both works, which he published himself, he nevertheless found time for an extraordinary number of letters, which were written with an elegance of chirography that diverts our attention from their orthographic defects. In the labor of drawing and in all his business affairs he was constantly aided by his sons.

In Audubon's time the center of Carmansville was a quarter of a mile to the east of his house, while at a short distance below, on the river, lay Manhattanville, at the present One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street, from which men frequently came on summer evenings to help handle the seine, fish then being plentiful in that part of the Hudson. The place came to possess a good garden and orchard, with stable, dairy, and poultry yards; enclosures also were made for deer, elk, wolves, foxes and other wild animals. The old barn of the Audubon place stood higher on the slope where the naturalist built his studio or painting house, but no traces of either now exist. Though standing low, the house commanded a wide sweep of the river with the Palisades on its opposite shore, and such attractive surroundings were a never failing source of delight and inspiration to the naturalist to his dying day.

In describing Audubon's activities, Parke Godwin made this note in the spring of 1842:[186]

During the last winter, which he spent in this city, he has worked on an average fourteen hours a day, preparing a work on the Quadrupeds of America, similar to his work on the Birds. The drawings already finished, of the size of life, are master-pieces in their way, surpassing if that be possible, in fidelity and brilliancy, all that he has done before. Early in the summer he will depart to continue his labors in the woods.

Before we glance at the half-submerged relic of Audubon's old house as it stands today in upper New York,[187] we shall follow the same writer in a visit which he made to "Minnie's Land" in the summer of 1842 but did not describe until eleven years later;[188] we will only add that at this time Audubon was in his fifty-eighth year, and not over sixty, as this writer surmised. After passing beyond the outposts of the city of that day, and turning into a rustic road which led directly to the river, his walk

soon brought a secluded country house into view,—a house not entirely adapted to the nature of the scenery, yet simple and unpretending in its architecture, and beautifully embowered amid elms and oaks. Several graceful fawns and noble elk were stalking in the shade of the trees, apparently unconscious of the presence of a few dogs, and not caring for the numerous turkeys, geese, and other domestic animals that gabbled and screamed among them....

"Is the master at home?" I asked of the pretty maid-servant who answered my tap at the door, and who after informing me that he was, led me into a room on the left side of the broad hall. It was not, however, a parlor, or any ordinary reception-room that I entered, but evidently a room for work. In one corner stood a painter's easel, with a half-finished sketch of a beaver on paper; in the other lay the skin of an American panther. The antlers of elks hung upon the walls, stuffed birds of every description of gay plumage ornamented the mantle-piece; and exquisite drawings of field-mice, orioles, and woodpeckers were scattered promiscuously in other parts of the room, across one end of which a long rude table was stretched to hold artist materials, scraps of drawing paper and immense folio volumes filled with the delicious paintings of birds taken in their haunts.

The master, who soon appeared,

was a tall, thin man, with a high arched and serene forehead, and a bright penetrating gray eye; his white locks fell in clusters upon his shoulders, but were the only signs of age, for his form was erect, and his step as light as that of a deer. The expression of his face was sharp, but noble and commanding, and there was something in it, partly derived from the aquiline nose and partly from the shutting of the mouth, which made you think of the imperial eagle.

His greeting, as he entered, was at once frank and cordial, and showed you the sincere and true man. "How kind it is," he said with a slight French accent, and in a pensive tone, "to come and see me; and how wise, too, to leave that crazy city!" He then shook me warmly by the hand. "Do you know," he continued, "how I wonder that men can consent to swelter and fret their lives away amid those hot bricks and pestilent vapors, when the woods and fields are all so near?"

When writing in 1845, Godwin gave further intimations of the naturalist's appearance: "His forehead [was] high, arched, and unclouded; the hairs of the brow prominent, particularly at the root of the nose, which was long and aquiline; chin prominent, and mouth characterized by energy and determination. The eyes were deep-gray, set deeply in the head, and as restless as the glance of an eagle."