Since I last parted from you, my exertions have been unremitted, and my rambles extended as far as circumstances allowed, for I have been ever anxious to render the fourth and concluding volume of my Illustrations as worthy of your approbation as I could. Whether I have added to our knowledge of the birds which constantly reside within the limits of the United States and their Territories, or periodically visit us from the South, it is yours to say. That I have left undone much that might have been accomplished by an abler student of Nature, is doubtless quite true; but that any would have prosecuted the study of our numerous feathered denizens with more good will or more sincere desire to obtain facts and rectify errors, would, I think, be difficult to prove. If my “Birds of America,” and “Ornithological Biography,” are looked upon by you as having contributed in some degree to the improvement of our knowledge of these my favourite objects of observation, and as likely to stimulate other and perhaps more successful students to perfect it. I shall rest satisfied with my labours.
Having hitherto given you some account of the occurrences that have taken place during the time intervening between the appearance of one volume and that of another, I again resume the subject, hoping that what I have now to say may prove not less interesting to a friend like you. When I last left Edinburgh, I proceeded to London, full of the desire to revisit my native land before concluding my work. It was my wish to cross the Continent of America, gaze on the majestic wilds of the Rocky Mountains, wander along the green valleys of the Oregon, and search the shores of the Pacific Ocean and a portion of North California; but circumstances denied me the pleasure anticipated. However, here we are on the way to the metropolis of England; we have already passed through Newcastle, York, Leeds, and Manchester, and are just about to alight in the Main Street of Sheffield. The gentleman who meets me at the coach door, is John Heppenstall, Esq., well known to me by correspondence, but not personally until now. Arrived here according to appointment, we shake hands, and in a few minutes are beneath his most hospitable roof, and in the midst of his family and friends. The expectations which we had formed, so far from being disappointed, were more than gratified, for this sincere and honourable man is distinguished, not less by liberality of sentiment than by a generosity commensurate with the goodness of his heart. In these respects every member of his family is a counterpart of himself; and, such being our hosts, you may judge how agreeable to us was our stay in Sheffield. It was while enjoying the hospitality of this excellent friend, that we became acquainted with Ebenezer Elliot, Esq. and subsequently with Jonathan Brammell, Esq. from whom we have since received many acts of kindness. Stopping afterwards at Derby, we saw our relations there, and on arriving in London were kindly welcomed by my brother-in-law, Alexander Gordon, Esq., and soon established ourselves in a house in Wimpole Street.
I now again enjoyed the society of our numerous friends, and had the pleasure of seeing my work proceed apace. One day Mr Robert Havell informed me, that a gentleman, a Fellow of the Royal Society, residing not far from us, in the same street, had subscribed for the Birds of America. The gentleman called to see me; my wife and myself, were introduced to his lady, and the several members of his amiable family, and our intimacy and friendship have ever since increased. This excellent friend of mine is a surgeon of the highest merit. Long before I left England for America, he took charge of my wife’s precarious health; and when we parted at the coach that took my son, John Woodhouse, and myself, to Portsmouth, he promised to watch over her. When I again reached my house in Wimpole Street, after an absence of a year, he was the first friend to greet me with a cordial welcome. Were I to mention the many occasions on which he has aided me by his advice and superior knowledge of the world, you would be pleased to find so much disinterestedness in human nature. His professional aid too, valuable as it has proved to us, and productive of much inconvenience to him, has been rendered without reward, for I could never succeed in inducing him to consider us his patients, although for upwards of two years he never passed a day without seeing my wife. But why should I say more? This fine specimen of human nature, eminent for every virtue, this kind and generous friend, is Benjamin Phillips, Esq.
Having been long anxious to introduce into America several species of European birds, which I thought might thrive with us, I purchased about an hundred individuals of that delightful songster, the Sky Lark, fifty Starlings, and several Jays and Wood Pigeons, intending to set them loose in the Western States. Putting them in ample cages, accompanied with a store of food for the voyage, I had them sent on board in the London Docks; but on our reaching Portsmouth by land, we heard that the weather had been very bad in the Channel, and that our birds had suffered severely. The news, to my vexation, proved true; many of the birds had died; and, although our passage to New York was pleasant as well as speedy, very few were landed, so that my hopes were entirely disappointed.
On the 1st of August 1836, we went on board the fine American Packet Ship, the Gladiator, commanded by Thomas Britton, Esq. and proceeded on our voyage, which proved agreeable. On arriving at New York, we soon reached the house of my good friend and brother-in-law Nicholas Berthoud, Esq. Leaving my son there, I proceeded almost immediately to Boston, where, under the roof of my generous friend Dr George C. Shattuck, I enjoyed life for a while. My friend Dr George Parkman was absent, and I missed him much. Here, through the kindness of Dr Shattuck, I procured two subscribers, and formed acquaintance with Thomas M. Brewer, Esq., from whom I have received many valuable services, which you will find mentioned in the proper places. Pushing on to Salem I formed some acquaintances there, and procured several subscribers; then returned to Boston, and as fortune would have it, heard of the arrival of Thomas Nuttall, Esq., the well-known zoologist, botanist, and mineralogist, who had performed a journey over the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, accompanied by our mutual friend John Kirk Townsend, Esq., M. D. Mr Nuttall generously gave me of his ornithological treasures all that was new, and inscribed in my journal the observations which he had made respecting the habits and distribution of all the new and rare species which were unknown to me. All this information you will find in the different articles to which it refers, and you will allow that while it proves his zeal for the furtherance of science, it manifests the generosity of his noble nature.
Dr Townsend’s collection was at Philadelphia; my anxiety to examine his specimens was extreme; and I therefore, bidding farewell to my Boston friends, hurried off to New York, where, in a week, I added eighteen names to my list of subscribers, in obtaining which I was materially aided by my brother-in-law. Once more my son and I reached Philadelphia, where at once we placed ourselves under the roof of my ever staunch and true friend Richard Harlan, Esq., M. D., with whom we remained several weeks. Soon after my arrival, I called on my learned friend Dr Charles Pickering, formed the desired acquaintance of an enthusiastic young ornithologist, James Trudeau, Esq., and met my firm friend Edward Harris, Esq. Having obtained access to the collection sent by Dr Townsend, I turned over and over the new and rare species; but he was absent at Fort Vancouver, on the shores of the Columbia River; Thomas Nuttall had not yet come from Boston, and loud murmurs were uttered by the soi-disant friends of science, who objected to my seeing, much less portraying and describing those valuable relics of birds, many of which had not yet been introduced into our Fauna. The traveller’s appetite is much increased by the knowledge of the distance which he has to tramp before he can obtain a meal; and with me the desire of obtaining the specimens in question increased in proportion to the difficulties that presented themselves. Having ascertained the names of the persons best able or most willing to assist me on this occasion, and aided by Thomas Nuttall, who had now arrived, Drs Pickering, Harlan, S. G. Morton, Secretary to the Academy of Natural Sciences, M’Murtrie, Trudeau, and above all my friend Edward Harris, who offered to pay for them with the view of presenting them to me, I at length succeeded. It was agreed that I might purchase duplicates, provided the specific names agreed upon by Mr Nuttall and myself were published in Dr Townsend’s name. This latter part of the affair was perfectly congenial to my feelings, as I have seldom cared much about priority in the naming of species. I therefore paid for the skins which I received, and have now published such as proved to be new, according to my promise. But, let me assure you, Reader, that seldom, if ever in my life, have I felt more disgusted with the conduct of any opponents of mine, than I was with the unfriendly boasters of their zeal for the advancement of ornithological science, who at the time existed in the fair city of Philadelphia.
From Philadelphia I bent my course toward Baltimore, where I spent a few days. Before leaving the former city, my good friend Edward Harris had promised to join us at Charleston, for the purpose of accompanying us along the western coast of the Floridas, and the Gulf of Mexico, at least as far as Galveston Island in Texas. On reaching the city of Washington, I presented myself to the Honourable Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, a gentleman of learning, long friendly towards me, who at once assured me that he would, if possible, grant me one of our Revenue Cutters, for my intended voyage. The war, which was at that time raging between the Seminole Indians and the citizens of Florida tended strongly to frustrate my wishes, as every disposable vessel of the class under the Secretary of the Treasury was engaged on the coast of the Peninsula. I called on President Andrew Jackson, from whom, since 1819, I have received peculiar facilities, and who assured me of his wish to grant my request. My son and I dined with him on that day sans façon, both of us in the undress best suited to practical students of nature. And here I may inform you, that I have seldom eaten of a better Wild Turkey than the one which graced his table, and which had been procured not many miles distant from our centre of political intercourse. I also had the pleasure of seeing my excellent friend, Colonel J. J. Abert, of the U. S. Topographical Department, the Honourable J. R. Poinsett, and the Secretary of the Navy, to whom I then recommended several American naturalists as worthy of being engaged on any naval expedition of discovery.
We now proceeded towards Charleston in South Carolina, travelling the latter part of the way on one of the most extraordinary rail-roads in the world, and reached in safety the house of my worthy friend the Reverend John Bachman, D.D. It was indeed a happy meeting! Here I opened the box containing Dr Townsend’s precious series of birds, and while waiting the arrival of Mr Harris, drew upwards of seventy figures of the species which I had procured at Philadelphia, assisted in the finishing of the plants, branches of trees, and flowers, which accompany these figures, by my friend’s sister-in-law Miss M. Martin, to whom I now again offer my most sincere thanks. While here I received the agreeable intelligence of my having been elected a Member of the Ornithological Society of London.
Edward Harris joined me, but the Revenue Cutter had not made its appearance; and time becoming precious, on account of the approach of spring, we bid adieu to all at Charleston, and pushed for New Orleans, where, I was informed by Government letters, I should meet with a vessel. On reaching Augusta in Georgia, I called on Dr Wray, who promised to forward to me a number of plants for my noble friend Lord Ravensworth, who has received them in good order. After several days of severe travelling, we arrived at Montgomery in Alabama, and meeting there with a steam-boat bound to Mobile, secured our passage. Next day we arrived there, and spent two days in examining the neighbourhood; after which we proceeded to Pensacola, where I felt proud to find a harbour commodious enough to contain a fleet sufficient to repel the attacks of any naval force brought against the United States. Here I made the long-sought-for acquaintance of Mr Innerarity, to whom I had letters from my friend Alexander Gordon, Esq., and who introduced us to all who were likely to forward our views. The next morning he accompanied us on board the United States’ frigate, the Constellation, and presented us to Commodore Dallas, to whom I had letters of introduction from our government. This polite and gallant officer received us all with great kindness, and, after reading my letters, assured me that as soon as a cutter could be spared, it should be at my service, and that the information would be transmitted to me through the medium of the Collector of Customs at Mobile or New Orleans. After searching the country around Pensacola, we returned to Mobile, and proceeded to New Orleans in a steamer, by way of the great lakes.
Having previously received the most pressing invitation from my friend James Grimshaw, Esq., my son and I went at once to his house, where we were treated with all the kindness to be expected from a true English gentleman. I had the pleasure of renewing my acquaintance with Ex-Governor Roman, and several members of his most amiable family, among whom was Mr Zaringue. From that gentleman I received much valuable information respecting some of our birds, as well as from my long-known acquaintance, the great sportsman Mr Louis Adam. Here also I for the last time met with good M. Le Sueur, well known to the world of science as a zoologist of great merit, and with whom I first became acquainted at Philadelphia in 1824. He, alas! is now no more.