His greeting, as he entered, was at once frank and cordial, and showed you the sincere and true man. "How kind it is," he said with a slight French accent, and in a pensive tone, "to come and see me; and how wise, too, to leave that crazy city!" He then shook me warmly by the hand. "Do you know," he continued, "how I wonder that men can consent to swelter and fret their lives away amid those hot bricks and pestilent vapors, when the woods and fields are all so near?" When writing in 1845, Godwin gave further intimations of the naturalist's appearance: "His forehead [was] high, arched, and unclouded; the hairs of the brow prominent, particularly at the root of the nose, which was long and aquiline; chin prominent, and mouth characterized by energy and determination. The eyes were deep-gray, set deeply in the head, and as restless as the glance of an eagle." CHAPTER XXXIV EXPEDITION TO THE UPPER MISSOURI Ambitions at fifty-seven—Plans his last expedition in the _rôle_ of naturalist—Credentials from public men—Canvassing tour in Canada described—Baird's plans to accompany Audubon west frustrated—Western expedition begun—Ascent of the Missouri and Yellowstone—Discoveries of new birds—A wilderness that howls—Buffalo hunting—Passing of the great herds—Return from Fort Union—Incident on the canal boat—Completion of the octavo edition of the _Birds_. In the summer of 1842, when his two new undertakings were well in hand, Audubon was planning a journey which he felt would help them both, his long cherished but ever deferred expedition to the Far West; in the dim perspective his mind's eye could trace the snowy summits of the Rocky Mountains, a promised land he was never destined to see, though, with true poetic justice, one of those grand peaks now bears his name. At this time he was in his fifty-eighth year, and although his family thought him too old for so arduous a journey, he would not be thwarted, for his eye was undimmed and his natural force unabated. The letters which passed between Audubon and Baird at this time show how eager was his young friend to attach himself to the party. While in Washington, July 27, 1842, Baird wrote: After making several unsuccessful efforts to get a second sight of you day before yesterday, I was obliged to give up the attempt in despair. I went to the Capitol at half past twelve and wandered over the whole building, Library, Senate Chamber and House, without being able to see or hear anything of your excellency. In the evening as in the morning I was again at Fuller's without avail, went up the street, listened awhile to the Circus music, came back, you were in bed.