An early engraving[250] represents the naturalist's house essentially as it appeared during his lifetime, surrounded by goodly forest trees of oak and chestnut, but these, when standing at all, are now reduced to gaunt and scarred remnants. A later print[251] shows the three Audubon houses, the river, and between it and the lawn "that eye-sore of a railroad,"[252] which was built not long after Audubon settled upon his estate. The original house was sold before 1862,[253] and about eight years later its new owner occupied it, after having given it a mansard roof and made numerous changes which were sanctioned by an era of bad taste. The naturalist's house overlooked the river and commanded a grand view from its high veranda on the front, while Victor's, which later adjoined it to the north, owing probably to the encroachments of the railroad, was built to face the hill-slope opposite; a top studio, at a corner of its roof, is an addition of a later purchaser.[254] Adjoining Victor's house on the north was that of his brother, John, and on the east side of this was built the "Cave" and a barn since converted into a dwelling; at one time the loft of this barn was piled with boxes of bird skins and the surplus stock of the _Ornithological Biography_, good copies of which now bring from $30 to $50. The three houses which were built and occupied by the great nature lover and his two sons, though in dire neglect, are not beyond repair; if such a project were practicable, they should be converted into a museum, and their walls once more ornamented with those beautiful pictures of birds and beasts which father and sons united to create. The triangle of ground between Riverside Drive and the Hudson River should be spared by the proud city that for years was the home of America's pioneer naturalist and animal painter, as well as the scene of his youthful experiments in trade, and converted into a true "Audubon Park." Such a memorial would contribute to the instruction and pleasure of all the people, for every generation of Americans that is to come. APPENDICES APPENDIX I ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS 1. Copy of the original bill rendered by Doctor Sanson, physician at Les Cayes, Santo Domingo, to Jean Audubon, containing the only record known to exist of the birth of his son, Jean Jacques Fougère Audubon (see entry for April 26, 1785). Les Cayes, December 29, 1783-October 19, 1785; paid, June 7, 1787. DOIT Mr. AUDUBON ngt. A SANSON Chirurgien aux Cayes SAVOIR ---- | L