Leaving Charleston, we reached Norfolk by a steamer, after a short passage of thirty-eight hours, and proceeded at once to Washington, where I presented myself to the President of the United States, MARTIN VAN BUREN, to whom I had letters from my amiable and celebrated friend, WASHINGTON IRVING, Esq., and offered my best thanks to the heads of the several departments, and my various friends. We then passed rapidly through Baltimore and Philadelphia, my wish being to reach New York as soon as possible. There I remained a fortnight, while my son and daughter-in-law visited the Falls of Niagara. They having returned, we embarked, on the 16th of July 1837, on board the American packet-ship, the England, commanded by ROBERT WAITE, Esq., for Liverpool, where, seventeen days after, we were safely landed. Here we quickly paid our respects to the RATHBONES, the CHORLEYS, and other friends, to whom bidding adieu at the same time, we proceeded to join my family in London, where, on the 7th of August, we once more met all together. I found the publication of the “Birds of America” in a satisfactory state of progression, but received the disagreeable intelligence that a great number of my British patrons had discontinued their subscriptions, and that most of those who still received the numbers as they came out, were desirous of seeing the work finished in Eighty Numbers, as I had at first anticipated. On this account, I found myself obliged to introduce, and in some instances to crowd, a number of species into one and the same plate, in order to try to meet the wishes of those who had by their subscriptions in some measure assisted me in the publication of that work. This, however, I did in such a manner as seemed best to accord with the affinities of the species. But, Reader, Dr TOWNSEND meantime returned to Philadelphia, after an absence of about four years, and with a second collection, containing several rare and new birds, which, after meeting with the same difficulties as on the former occasion, in consequence of the opposition of various enlightened persons at Philadelphia, although Dr TOWNSEND was extremely desirous that every thing new or rare belonging to our Fauna should be given to me, I received only a few weeks before closing the engraving of my plates. A few others did not reach me until several days after. What was I to do? Why, Reader, to publish them to be sure; for this I should have done, to the best of my power, even if every subscriber in Europe had refused to take them. What! said I, shall the last volume of the “Birds of America” be now closed, at a time when new species are in my hands? No! And in spite of threats from this quarter and that, that such and such persons would discontinue their subscriptions (which indeed they have done, and refused to take the few numbers that would have rendered their copies complete), my wish to do all that was in my power has been accomplished:—All Dr TOWNSEND’s species, as well as