of
which the first volume appeared in New-York in 1846, was written
principally by the Rev. John Bachman, D.D., of Charleston, a long-tried
and enthusiastic friend, of whose introduction to him Audubon thus
speaks in the preface of the second volume of his Ornithological
Biography:

"It was late in the afternoon when we took our lodgings in
Charleston. Being fatigued, and having written the substance of
my journey to my family, and delivered a letter to the Rev. Mr.
Gilman, I retired to rest. At the first glimpse of day the
following morning, my assistants and myself were already
several miles from the city, commencing our search in the
fields and woods, and having procured abundance of subjects
both for the pencil and the scalpel, we returned home, covered
with mud, and so accoutred as to draw towards us the attention
of every person in the streets. As we approached the
boarding-house, I observed a gentleman on horseback close to
our door. He looked at me, came up, inquired if my name was
Audubon, and on being answered in the affirmative, instantly
leaped from his saddle, shook me most cordially by the
hand--there is much to be expressed and understood by a shake
of the hand--and questioned me in so kind a manner, that I for
a while felt doubtful how to reply. At his urgent desire, I
removed to his house, as did my assistants. Suitable apartments
were assigned to us; and once introduced to the lovely and
interesting group that composed his family, I seldom passed a
day without enjoying their society. Servants, carriages,
horses, and dogs were all at our command, and friends
accompanied us to the woods and plantations, and formed parties
for water excursions. Before I left Charleston, I was truly
sensible of the noble and generous spirit of the hospitable
Carolinians."

Audubon and Bachman (the same Bachman who recently refuted the heresies
of Agassiz respecting the unity of the human race) were from this time
devoted friends and co-workers. For several years the health of the hero
naturalist had declined, and he was rarely if ever seen beyond the
limits of his beautiful estate on the banks of the Hudson, near this
city, where, on the twenty-seventh of January, 1851, he died, full of
years, and illustrious with the most desirable glory.

Audubon's highest claim to admiration is founded