house at
Mackinack, about five o'clock P.M., my attention was directed to the
strong current which set through the strait, west, under the influence
of a strong easterly wind. The waves were worked up into a perfect
series of foam wreaths, succeeding each other for miles. While admiring
this phenomenon, a cloud gathered suddenly in the west, and, in a few
minutes, poured forth a gust of wind towards the east, attended with
heavy rain. So suddenly was this jet of wind propagated towards the
east, that the foam of waves running west was driven back eastwardly,
before the waves had time to reverse their motion, which created the
unusual spectacle of two opposing currents of wind and waves, in the
most active and striking manner. The wave current still running west,
while the wind current seized its foam and carried it in a long line
towards the east. The new current soon prevailed. At half-past six
o'clock the storm had quite abated, and the wind settled lightly from
the south-west.

_26th_. Mr. John J. Audubon announces his intention to prepare a
complete work on American quadrupeds, correspondent, in the style of
execution, to his great work on ornithology. "As I do not know," he
modestly says, "whether you are aware of my having published a work on
the birds of America, I take this opportunity to assure you that I
have, and, at the same time, to apprise you of my having undertaken, and
in fact, began another on the viviparous quadrupeds of our country,
which it is also my intention to publish as soon as I can.

"In all such undertakings, the simple though unintermitted labors of an
individual are not sufficient, and assistance from others is not only
agreeable, but is, in my opinion, absolutely necessary to render them as
complete as possible.

"Having not only heard, but also read, of your having rendered essential
services to Charles Bonaparte, Mr. Cooper of this city, and other
eminent naturalists, I think that perhaps, you would not look upon my
endeavors to advance science as not unworthy of the same species of
assistance at your hands, and I will therefore say, at once, what my
desires are, and wish of you to have the goodness to let me know,
whether it is agreeable or convenient for you to assist me.

"My wishes are to procure of quadrupeds, of moderate and small sizes,
preserved entire in the flesh, and in strong common rum (no other
spiritous liquor will preserve them equally well), and the _heads_ and
_fe