Sails for England. 119

^^ May 31. Saw a small vessel making towards us;
she was a suspicious-looking craft, and our crew had
pardonable fears she might prove to be a pirate. A
young fat alligator I had with me died to-day, from being
placed in salt instead of fresh water — the former being
l)oisonous to the animal.
" Much troubled with anxious thoughts about the pur-
port and expectations of my voyage to England. \ had
obtained many favorable letters of introduction to friends
in England, which I believed would prove of material
assistance, and among these was the following : —

*' *New Orleans, May 16, 1826.
" * Dear Sir,

" ' I have ventured to put in the hands of Mr. John J.
Audubon, a gentleman of highly respectable scientific ac-
quirements, these introductory lines to you, under the
persuasion that his acquaintance cannot fail to be one of
extreme interest to you. Mr. Audubon is a native of the
United States, and has spent more than twenty years in
all parts of them, devoting most of his time to the study
of ornithology. He carries with him a collection of over
four hundred drawings, which far surpass anything of the
kind I have yet seen, and afford the best evidence of his
skill, and the perfection to which he has carried his re-
searches. His object is to find a purchaser or a publish-
er for them, and if you can aid him in this, and introduce
him either in person or by letter to men of distinction in
arts and sciences, you will confer much of a favor on me.
