The Audubon Reader by John James Audubon Read Free Book Online

had rain most of the way, as I intended to walk a great deal, for whilst the stage is going either up or down the mountains they move as slowly forwards as possible, but the great stones beneath the wheels make the stage coach rock about most dreadfully.
    After the two first days we commenced climbing the mountains. We crossed the low mountains, the Allegheny, the Laurel, the Sidling and many others which are very stony and disagreeable to pass through. They are not mentioned in the maps. The Cove Mount is the highest, I think, that we passed and also the most stony, though there is a great deal more said of the Allegheny mountain. We stayed at Pittsburgh two weeks. It is situated at the extremity of Pennsylvania just at the junction of three rivers, the Allegheny, [Monongahela] and Ohio. High mountains on all sidesenvironPittsburgh, and a thick fog is almost constant over the town, which is rendered still more disagreeable by the dust from a dirty sort of coal that is universally burnt. Coal is found at the surface of the earth in the neighborhood of this place, which is really the blackest looking place I ever saw. There are many nail manufactories carried on here, which supply the inland states of this country, also iron castings, tin ware, and glass manufactured. There is great trade carried on between Pittsburgh and New Orleans by means of the rivers Ohio and Mississippi as well as many other places situated on the banks of those rivers. The seven hundred miles by water was performed without much fatigue though not without some disagreeables. Our conveyance was a large square or rather oblong boat; but perfectly flat on all sides; and just high enough to admit a person walking upright. There are no sails made use of owing to the many turns on the river which brings the wind from every quarter in the course of an hour or two. The boat is carried along by the current, and in general without the least motion, but one day we had as high a wind as to make some of us feel a little seasick. Bread, beer and hams we bought at Pittsburgh, but poultry, eggs and milk can always be had from the farmhouses on the banks.
    There are not many extensive prospects on the river as the shores are in general bounded by high rocks covered with woods. However I was gratified by the sight of a great variety of foliage and flowers. There are many small towns on the way, some of which we stopped at. Mr. Audubon regretted he had not his drawing implements with him as he would have taken some views for you. However, there are some well worth taking in this neighborhood when he has got a little more settled and arranged his business. We traveled generally all right, and reached the place of our future residence which is a very pleasantly situated place. The country round is rather flat, but the land is very fertile. I cannot quite tell how I shall like Louisville as I have only been here three weeks and have not yet got a house, but I have received every attention from the inhabitants … Where we board we have very accommodating people … We are as private as we please … Most of the houses here have gardens adjoining, and some of them are very prettily laid out indeed. Vegetation is a month or six weeks forwarded herethan in Pennsylvania or New York State. I am very sorry there is no library here or book store of any kind for I have very few of my own and as Mr. Audubon is constantly at the store, I should often enjoy a book very much whilst I am alone …

Episode: Kentucky Barbecue on theFourth of July
    Along with the four volumes of large, hand-colored copperplate engravings that made up
The Birds of America,
Audubon also wrote and published separately a five-volume text he called
Ornithological Biography.
Most of its several thousand pages are devoted to detailed narratives of his encounters with each of the almost 500 species in
The Birds.
But to alleviate what might become tedium for some readers, Audubon interspersed among the bird