Audubon and His Journals, Volume 1

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AUDUBON

AND

HIS JOURNALS




   [Illustration]




     AUDUBON AND HIS
     JOURNALS

     BY
     MARIA R. AUDUBON

     WITH ZOOLOGICAL AND OTHER NOTES
     BY
     ELLIOTT COUES

     VOLUME I.

     NEW YORK
     CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
     1897




     _Copyright, 1897_,
     BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.

     University Press:
     JOHN WILSON AND SON CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.




     In Loving Memory
     OF MY FATHER,
     JOHN  WOODHOUSE AUDUBON,
     AND OF
     HIS LOVE AND ADMIRATION FOR HIS FATHER,
     JOHN JAMES AUDUBON,
     THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN.




PREFACE


It is customary at the close of a Preface to make some acknowledgment
of the services rendered by others in the preparation of a volume; but
in my case this aid has been so generous, so abundant, and so helpful,
that I must reverse the order of things and begin by saying that my
heartiest thanks are due to the many who have assisted me in a work
which for many years has been my dream.

Without the very material aid, both by pen and advice, of Dr. Elliott
Coues, these pages would have lost more than I care to contemplate.
All the zoological notes are his, and many of the geographical,
besides suggestions too numerous to mention; moreover, all this
assistance was most liberally given at a time when he personally was
more than busy; and yet my wishes and convenience have always been
consulted.

Next to the memory of my father, Mr. Ruthven Deane has been the motive
power which has caused this volume to be written. For many years he
has urged me to attempt it, and has supplied me with some valuable
material, especially regarding Henderson. During the months that I
have been working on much that I have felt incompetent to deal with,
his encouragement has helped me over many a difficulty.

To my sisters Harriet and Florence, and my cousin M. Eliza Audubon, I
am especially indebted. The first and last have lent me of their
choicest treasures; letters, journals, and other manuscripts they have
placed unconditionally in my hands, besides supplying many details
from other sources; and my sister Florence has been my almost hourly
assistant in more ways than I can specify.

The arrangement of the papers and journals was suggested by the late
Dr. G. Brown Goode; and many names come to mind of friends who have
helped me in other ways. Among them are those of Mr. W. H. Wetherill,
Messrs. Richard R. and William Rathbone, my aunt, Mrs. James Hall, Dr.
Arthur T. Lincoln, Mr. Morris F. Tyler, Mr. Joseph Coolidge, Rev. A.
Gordon Bakewell, and Mr. George Bird Grinnell.

I wish also to say that without the loving generosity of my friend the
late Miss M. Louise Comstock, I should never have had the time at my
command which I have needed for this work; and last, but by no means
least, I thank my mother for her many memories, and for her wise
criticisms.

There came into my hands about twelve years ago some of these
journals,--those of the Missouri and Labrador journeys; and since then
others have been added, all of which had been virtually lost for
years. The story of how I heard of some, and traced others, is too
long to tell here, so I will only say that these journals have formed
my chief sources of information. So far as has been possible I have
verified and supplemented them by every means. Researches have been
made in San Domingo, New Orleans, and France; letters and journals
have been consulted which prove this or that statement; and from the
mass of papers I have accumulated, I have used perhaps one fifth.

"The Life of Audubon the Naturalist, edited by Mr. Robert Buchanan
from material supplied by his widow," covers, or is supposed to cover,
the same ground I have gone over. That the same journals were used is
obvious; and besides these, others, destroyed by fire in Shelbyville,
Ky., were at my grandmother's command, and more than all, her own
recollections and voluminous diaries. Her manuscript, which I never
saw, was sent to the English publishers, and was not returned to the
author by them or by Mr. Buchanan. How much of it was valuable, it is
impossible to say; but the fact remains that Mr. Buchanan's book is so
mixed up, so interspersed with anecdotes and episodes, and so
interlarded with derogatory remarks of his own, as to be practically
useless to the world, and very unpleasant to the Audubon family.
Moreover, with few exceptions everything about birds has been left
out. Many errors in dates and names are apparent, especially the date
of the Missouri River journey, which is ten years later than he
states.