The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-02-04

which has been the secret of hin success, he
prepared forhis departure. lie saed-but una
tarer reflection taught him to approach the shores
OF England with dependency and doubt. There
was not FREUD in all the nation 10 whom he
could apply. When he had landed, his situa ion.
appeared to him precarious in the extreme. He
Imagined, he says, in the simplicity of his heart,
that every individual! he was about to meet might
be possessed OF talents superior to any on this
side of the Atlantic
Traversing the streets of Liverpool for two
whole days, he hid looked in vain for single
glance OF synpathy. But how soon did the MS
pect Of things around him change. There are
kind, generous hearts everywhere; men Of no
BILE faculties to discern the beautiful and true,
and women Of warm, gushing Affections In
little while, he was the admired Of all admirers.
Men OF genius, the Wilson's the Roscoes, the
Swainsons, suddenly recognized his lofty claims;
learned societies, without number, extended to
him the warm and willing hand Of fellowship;
the houses Of tie nobility were opened to him
and wherever he went, the solitary, untriended
American woodsman was the conspicuous OBJ
Ject OF wide remark and love. Under such
auspices, 10 1881, at Edinburgh, he put forth his
first volume Of OrnitholOgica Biography. Its
striking and original merit procured him subscri-
lers to the remaining Volumes from all parts of
the Kingdom At once, he took rank as the
most worthy ornithologst of the nge--able as
an observer and describer to wear the mantle
of the gifted Wilson, and, as a painter Of ami
mails, to take his place by the side Of the equally
gifted Barrabaud.
From England, Mr.. Audubon proceeded to
France, where he received the homage Of the
most distinguished men of science Of that learned
milton; among the rest, Of that gigantic but
graceful genns, Cuvier, the glance of whose
eye into the great valley of death, has infused
life into the dry bones Of thousand years.
And that other distinguished man who for eighty
years now, has illustrated Germany and the
world by his vast and incredtable labor in al
most every department of natural science, acbiev-
ing fame as brilliant ss was ever won by the l.
telect-Alexande Won Humboldt became his
enthusiastic admrer, and sincere correspondent
and friend
TX. EXPEDITION.
When he returned to hi. native land, it was
only to renew with NOR burning nrdor his la
bors in the woods. His first expedition was to
the coast of Florida, where, amid hocks of
snowy pelicans and cormorants, tortoises and
flying-hsh he laid up vast treasures of know
ledge for his forth coming volumes. Having ex-
amined every part Of the coast, and of the diff
ferent keys, passing even to the Tortngas Is
lands, he returned to Charleston, 8. c., anxious
to bend his course to the northeast that he might
keep pace with the birds during their mgrations
Sickness detained him for the greater part of the
summer at Boston, but being recovered about the
middle of August, he left his Boston friends OH
his way eastward.
He explored the whole State of Maine, the
British province of New Brunswick, portion of
the Canadas, and then, when there were no more
prizes in those districts to carry away, turned
his steps to the dreary shores of icebound Lab
rador. Ills researches into the habits Of the
birds, beasts, and men Of this hyperbo,ean re-
gion were successful, and he returned, rich with
materials, to the abode of his family and friends
OF the industry with which he pushed his inqui-
ries, and Of the startling and touching adven-
lures to which his various excursions gave rise
his volumes are full of entertaining and instruc-
tive proof Our plan does not allow US, as we
should wish, to introduce them here. Let us
add, however, that his Ornithological Biography
has expanded into five large books that his
birds of America" are finished in glorious STYLE
and that his magnificent Illustrations" being
those birds drawn to the size Of life, have, for
some time, been the establishment and delight
of the cultivated world
One hundred and seventy-fve subscribers to
his great work, Mt one thousand dollars, eighty
of these we are glad to say, were his country
men, remunerated him for the expenses he had
incurred in its publication.
Iu the year 1912, Mr., Audubon began a col
lection of the quadrupeds of America, similar to
his magnificent work on the BIRDS He had al
ready, at that time, materials enough to make
five large volumes, and it was the impression of
those who saw his original coored drawings,
that the work when completed, would make
still grander monument to his memory than any
that he had yet executed. The animals, if we
remember rightly, were drawn of the size of life,
with all that accuracy of outline, that grace and
vigor of action, and fidelity of form and color
which characterized his pencil. To sec one of
his plates was to see the animal ITSELF as he APP
peared in his native haunts, without so much as
a spot or hair omitted.
Mr.. Audubon was an old man at this time,
(sixty-six, neary,) yet he contemplated his pros
to the Rocky Mountains with
as much apparent ardor and delight, as a school
boy looks forward to the rambes of vacation
1t was a journey that involved thousands upon
of miles of travel, through an I'M
broken wilderness, but we remember that when
we limited TO him word or two about the proba-
bic hardships of such an undertaking. he re-
piled in his broken English, with peculiar smile
upon his face, and his eye flashing with a sudden
fire, "Hardshps why it's sport, man-sport
it is they who are perpetualy stewed within
these brick walls, without freedom, health, or
happiness, who have the hardships of life" But.
we believe that some unforeseen circumstances
prevented Mr.. Audubon from fulfilling his in.
tention; at any rate, TO the extent which was
originally in his mind.
X. HIS WRIrNcs AND CHARACTER.
A peculiar case, vigor, and animation, mark
Mr.. Audubon's written style. His descriptions
Of birds in their various moods are not the dull
dry details of naturalist, but the warm, lively, !
picturesque paintings of poet. To open at any
page of his volumes is to step at once into re- !
gion of agreeable forms and enrapturing sounds |
tie seems to enter into the very spirits of birds
themselves, sings when they sing, and rises upon |
the wing when they fly And his whole life like |
theirs, seems to have been perpetual and cheer.
ful ascrlptIon Of f.raise, to that
"Power whose care
Teaches their way along the pathless coast,
The desert and illimitabe air.
Lone wandering, but not lost"
In person Mr.. Audubon was tall, with fine. |
elastic form. and most sfr,kinc opne,ronca Ii.