Audubon's last (?) letter to Edward Harris, February 22, 1847 287 House formerly belonging to Victor Gifford Audubon, east front, as it appears to-day _Facing_ 294 House formerly belonging to John Woodhouse Audubon, south front, as it appears to-day _Facing_ 294 Lucy Bakewell Audubon. After a miniature painted by Frederick Cruikshank in London, about 1831 _Facing_ 304 Lucy Bakewell Audubon. After an unpublished photograph of 1871 _Facing_ 304 AUDUBON THE NATURALIST SONNET TO J. J. AUDUBON, ESQ., ON BEHOLDING HIS DRAWINGS. Is there delight in Nature's solitudes, Her dark green woods, and fragrant wilderness, In scenes, where seldom human step intrudes, And she is in her wildest, loveliest dress? Is there delight in her uncultured flowers, Each ripened bloom or bright unfolding dye, Or in the tribes which animate her bowers, And through her groves in living beauty fly? Then, on thy canvas as they move and live, While taste and genius guide the fair design, And all the charms which Nature's works can give With equal radiance in thy colours shine; Amidst the praise thy country's sons extend, The stranger's voice its warm applause shall blend. J. E. R. [JANE ELIZABETH ROSCOE]. _The Winter's Wreath, 1832._ AUDUBON THE NATURALIST CHAPTER XXVI EXPLORATIONS IN FLORIDA AND THE SOUTH ATLANTIC Obituary published in London on day of his arrival in New York—Assistance from the Government—John Bachman becomes his friend—Winter in Charleston—His folios as gifts—To Florida with two assistants—Letters to Featherstonhaugh—St. Augustine—Misadventures in the mud of East Florida—Audubon on Florida's future—At the sources of the St. John's—Aboard the _Marion_—Return from Key West—A merchant of Savannah—Disbanding of party at Charleston. In the summer of 1831 Audubon felt that he must again return to America and extend his researches to the north, south and west, as well as begin a campaign for subscribers in the United States. His large folio was now running into its second volume, and the first installment of his text had been published; the time was favorable to his plans, and he hoped to remain in the country two or three years. For the second time the publication of his plates was entrusted to friend Children, and with Mrs. Audubon he set sail for New York on August 2, 1831. From the American metropolis he wrote to Joseph B. Kidd on September 7 as follows:[1]