Audubon, as we have seen, frankly attributed to personal vanity his failure to patronize Wilson's work, and added that "even at that time my collections were greater than his." But it should be noticed that money was far from plentiful with him at that moment. He was, in short, at the point of failure in the Louisville enterprise, and with Rozier was obliged to move down the river not long after the date of Wilson's visit. Audubon has been represented as at this time a well-to-do man of leisure, of fastidious tastes. Nothing could have been wider of the mark. He was still more of a sportsman than a naturalist, and when not occupied with drawing, he spent most of his time in the forest, to the neglect of his trade. We may be sure that he was quite as used to roughing it as any man on the frontier. CHAPTER XV EXPERIMENTS IN TRADE ON THE FRONTIER The Ohio a hundred years ago—Hardships of the pioneer trader—Audubon's long journeys by overland trail or river to buy goods—The "ark" and keelboat—Chief pleasures of the naturalist at Louisville—The partners move their goods by flatboat to Henderson, Kentucky, and then to Ste. Geneviève, (Missouri)—Held up by the ice—Adventures with the Indians—Mississippi in flood—Camp at the Great Bend—Abundance of game—Breaking up of the ice—Settle at Ste. Geneviève—The partnership dissolved—Audubon's return to Henderson—Rozier's successful career—His old store at Ste. Geneviève. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the banks of the Ohio River were but thinly settled, and over vast areas the virgin forest still reigned in undisturbed vigor and beauty. Yet traders were eagerly pushing westward in ever growing numbers, and by 1810 Audubon and Rozier found that competition at Louisville was already keen. This city, wrote Alexander Wilson in describing his experiences in the spring of that year, was as large as Frankfort, and possessed a number of good brick buildings and valuable shops; it would have been salubrious, he thought, "but for the numerous swamps and ponds that intersect the woods in its neighborhood," and the indifference of the people, whom he found too intent upon making money to give any heed to the drainage and sanitation of their town.