On December 23 Bachman wrote to Audubon: "Your visit to me gave me new life, induced me to go carefully over my favorite study, and made me and my family happy." His sister-in-law, Miss Maria Martin, who possessed considerable artistic talent, became one of Audubon's enthusiastic helpers, and not only drew birds for him but painted many of the flowers and insects which were later used for the embellishment of his plates. John Bachman's serious contributions to natural history also date from this visit. To repay him and his family for their hospitality, Audubon presented them with the first volume of _The Birds of America_, but the folio was not received until some time later; he was referring to this when he wrote to Bachman, just before sailing from New York, on April 5, 1834, and asked him to accept "the superbly bound book" from "your old Friend, in part atonement for the troubles I have given you, and the leatherings you may yet receive at my hands at chess." In a letter to Miss Martin, written also from New York on the following day, he said: "The Great Volume which Maj. Glassel did fortunately return into your hands, I give with all my heart to my valued friends, the Bachmans, and shall try to furnish them the sequel in like binding."[4] Audubon scattered detached plates and numbers of his large work freely among his friends, and sometimes spoke of a gift of the whole. The costly nature of such a present in most cases, no doubt, led to a change of mind if not of heart, but not in all, for a number of his presentation copies still exist. One was given to David Eckley[5] of Boston, a noted sportsman who had aided Audubon in collecting materials for his work. In a letter written at Charleston, January 1, 1837, to young Thomas M. Brewer, Audubon said: "Please to call on my good friend David Eckley, Esq., present to him and to his family my very best regards, and ask of him whether he has collected any hawks or owls for me. If so, take them from him, and place them in the general receptacle of 'pale-faced rum.'" Another copy is said to be in possession of the Public Library of Manchester, England, and to have been bequeathed to that institution by the Earl of Crawford. A complete set of the _Birds_ was also presented to his friends, the Rathbones of Liverpool, and is still in possession of the family. We shall now return to our narrative and fulfill our promise of reproducing Audubon's own account of his journey from Richmond to Florida:[6] _Audubon to G. W. Featherstonhaugh_