Dacosta was at first averse to forming a company, but the Quaker tenant, William Thomas, who caught the fever, and who was thought to possess more knowledge of the mine than he was ready to divulge, seems to have been taken conditionally into the partnership. Dacosta made full reports of his progress to the old sailor at Couëron, who came regularly to Nantes to send back to America his well considered answers and candid advice. Dacosta also called persistently for money, but as Lieutenant Audubon was unable to meet these demands, he applied to his friend François Rozier, a wealthy merchant at Nantes, to supply the needed capital. Rozier invested 16,000 francs, and to complicate matters took a mortgage upon one-half of the value of "Mill Grove," in which the earlier proprietor, John Augustin Prevost, as well as Francis Dacosta, was also interested. Jean Audubon, Dacosta and Rozier thus became partners in an enterprise which seems to have swallowed up all of the money which was advanced and never to have made any substantial returns.
The eventual failure of the lead mine must be attributed in part to the high cost of materials, as well as to the expense involved in uncovering the ore, a difficulty which all later exploiters seem to have found insuperable. Dacosta also discovered that the management of his youthful charge was quite as difficult as making a success of the mine. His grievances on this score were duly reported at Couëron, and if he was really trying to carry out the instructions which came from France, it was perhaps no wonder that he received the undisguised contempt of his rebellious pupil. How just the naturalist's charges against his hated tutor may have been, will be considered in the sequel, but Lieutenant Audubon's letters,[95] to be given presently at length, clearly show that in spite of the strained relations which later ensued, Dacosta continued to enjoy his confidence for some time after young Audubon's return to France in 1805. The more serious troubles that followed seem to have arisen from entanglements into which all were later drawn.
In the first two letters to be given, but the third and fourth of the series, Jean Audubon refers particularly to "Mill Grove" and the prospective mine, and to the proposed marriage of his son to Lucy Bakewell, concerning which he was reluctant to give his consent for reasons which he specifies at length; his sanction was in fact withheld until the young man was on the road to self-support two years later.
Jean Audubon to Francis Dacosta
[Nantes, 1804-5]
I told you to sell to W. Thomas the portion on the other side ... but your letter of the 27th of September with that of Mr. Miers Fisher, who is not in favor of it, has made me change my mind in the meantime. If your plan succeeds, as I wish it may, this part of the farm would become almost indispensable for exploitation [of the mine]. Moreover, has not Mr. W. Thomas intentions, which we do not know? Might it not be possible that in this very same part he had made more valuable discoveries than those which he has shown us? In all these matters, however, I rely entirely on the wisdom of Mr. Miers Fisher and of yourself, and I thank you for your willingness to remain in charge of my affairs,[96] by accepting anew the power of attorney, which he sends me together with the indenture to be signed by my wife and by myself in presence of witnesses. But you ask that this should be done before the mayor of Nantes, while we have been living, since you departed, in the commune of Couëron; accordingly this will be taken before the mayor of that commune, and legalized by a prefect of the department. That, I believe, will fulfil the same obligations, for should it be necessary for my wife to come to Nantes in the weather that we are constantly having it might cause a delay that would be prejudicial to us. Remember, my dear Sir, I expect that if your plan succeeds, my son will find a place in the works, which will enable him to provide for himself, in order to spare me from expenses that I can, with difficulty, support. Your first letters have almost persuaded me that this so-called mine was of little or no account, but the arrangement that you have made with W. Thomas is so important that I do not doubt you made certain of the value of the object before deciding to grant him a recompense, which was to be only in the thing itself. In this work we should then be making a very great sacrifice, and it would be a loss. If, however, you propose to forestall the payment of the sums that you owe, I accept [the proposition] to be paid in Philadelphia; I will reflect upon it, and will look into it. If I can arrange matters for this [plan] with Mr. Dupuir, my next will be more explicit upon this subject. My son speaks to me about his marriage. If you would have the kindness to inform me about his intended, as well as about her parents, their manners, their conduct, their means, and why they are in that country, whether it was in consequence of misfortune that they left Europe, you will be doing me a signal service, and I beg you, moreover, to oppose this marriage until I may give my consent to it. Tell these good people that my son is not at all rich, and that I can give him nothing if he marries in this condition.
Jean Audubon to Francis Dacosta
Nantes, le 19 ventose, an 13 9 March, 1805
Mr. Dacosta, Philadelphia:
I have received at this very moment your duplicate of the twelfth of November, and your letter of December fifth, which is not so favorable for several reasons as the one preceding it, yet this impels us to hope that your last tunnel will not be a deserter, and that the oxides of iron which are present will not vanish upon further digging; this, at least, is my hope. You do well to make every effort to obtain associates. If this does not succeed, and if you should wish to work for our interests, I should always approve of everything that you do, since you have my confidence. In this case I believe ... that you should make the most urgent repairs, above all at the principal house, before going there to live. As to Mr. W. Thomas, you do well to keep him for yourself for every reason that you give me, and I believe that he will not be stubborn about withdrawing until he has, or has not, deserved his reward.