Major Butler refused; Wilkinson threatened court martial; Butler resigned and retired to the farm of his sister, Mrs. Cook. In a few months he died; before dying he left special injunctions with Mr. and Mrs. Cook to have an auger-hole bored in his coffin, to have his hair neatly dressed and the pig-tail tied with a blue ribbon and run through that auger-hole, so that Wilkinson and his officers might see that he was pluck to the last and distained his authority. Dr. Franklin L. Riley, in a lecture, gives another version of this incident, which is very amusing. Dr. Kilpatrick narrates many incidents concerning Governor Poindexter, Mr. Percy, Audubon, Jeff Davis and others. The Audubon mentioned by him was the distinguished John James Audubon, the Naturalist. Born 1781, in Louisiana, died 1851, on the Hudson; Author of Birds of America, Quadrupeds of America, etc. Audubon was at the house of Mr. Percy, spent several months with him; he furnished Audubon with many specimens of birds for his sketches. One day Percy says he brought home a "magnificent gobbler" which weighed about 28 pounds and Audubon _would have it_. He pinned it up beside the wall so as get a good view of it and spent several days lazily sketching it. Percy said: "The ---- fellow kept it pinned up there till it rotted and stunk. I hated to lose so much good eating." It is said that while Aububon was at or near Woodville, his money gave out; he refused to accept gifts; but taught a dancing school, in order to get funds sufficient to enable him to proceed with his researches in Natural History. The people patronized him generously. "Jeff. Davis spent part of his boyhood in Wilkinson county, Miss. There was a boy on a place adjoining where Jeff. Davis lived named Bob Irion, son of a Baptist preacher. The two boys went hunting one day, each alone, and after some time they met behind a field. Jeff. Davis was out of shot and Bob was out of powder, but had shot. Davis wanted some shot and asked for some, but Bob was unaccommodating and saucy--jeered at Davis, and finally told him he had a mind to shoot him any how, and made some threatening demonstration which aroused Davis. Davis jerked out a small pocket knife dropped it down his gun on the load of powder and raised his gun and said: "Now, sir, I'm ready for you; I dare you to shoot.' Bob told me this himself during the Mexican campaign, as illustrating Davis' bravery and fertility of resources in emergencies. Of course the boys stopped their foolishness and exchanged ammunition." * *