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.