Shortly after reaching London, as we have seen, Audubon had made the acquaintance of Sir Thomas Lawrence, then at the head of the Royal Academy and favorite painter of the Court and fashionable society. The friendship of this influential artist at a critical moment proved most fortunate, for Sir Thomas called repeatedly at his lodgings, and at each visit brought patrons who went away with some of his pictures but not without leaving a handsome toll of sovereigns in his lap; the "Entrapped Otter" again did duty by bringing him twenty-five pounds, while others returned from seven to thirty-five pounds. At a later time the artist visited the "Zoölogical Gallery," as the Havell establishment in Newman Street was then known, and saw Audubon's large paintings called "The Eagle and the Lamb," and "English Pheasants Surprised by a Spanish Dog" or "_Sauve qui peut_." Audubon, who on this occasion missed seeing his distinguished visitor, had written in his journal three days before (December 23, 1828) that the paintings were what he called "finished," but that, as usual, he could not bear to look at either. Sir Thomas praised the "Eagle," admired an "Otter," which was later exhibited in London, but gave no opinion on the "Pheasants." Afterwards, however, when Audubon proposed to present this canvas to King George, the artist assured him that this picture was worth 300 guineas and that it was too good to be given away; if offered to the King, no doubt, said he, "it would be accepted and placed in his collections, but you would receive no benefit from the gift." According to a later record, this canvas was sold to Mr. John Heppenstall of Sheffield; whether it was ever delivered, or not, I do not know, but either the original or a copy, here reproduced, now forms the central figure in the large Audubon collection in the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and is an excellent illustration of the elaborate and ambitious character of Audubon's larger compositions. These fortunate windfalls came none too soon, for to follow the journal: Mr. Havell had already called to say that on Saturday I must pay him sixty pounds. I was then not only not worth a penny, but had actually borrowed five pounds a few days before to purchase materials for my pictures. But these pictures which Sir Thomas sold for me enabled me to pay my borrowed money, and to appear full-handed when Mr. Havell called. Thus I passed the Rubicon. [Illustration: "ENGLISH PHEASANTS SURPRISED BY A SPANISH DOG" AFTER AUDUBON'S ORIGINAL PAINTING, ABOUT SIX BY NINE FEET IN SIZE, NOW IN POSSESSION OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YORK. PUBLISHED BY COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.]