Note 320 — Chapter XXII · TO EUROPE AND SUCCESS
Reading edition
Audubon's 1826 manuscript journal, which I examined through the courtesy of Miss Maria R. Audubon in 1914, was written, mostly in pencil, in a ruled blank book, of similar size and quality to that used on the Ohio River in 1820-21 (see Note, p. 307), and was illustrated with a number of pencil sketches, chiefly of fishes. On page 2 was a rough outline sketch of first mate Sam L. Bragdon, of Wells, Maine, reading in the booby hatch; to his kindness Audubon paid a written tribute; there was also a drawing of a "Balacuda [Barracouta] Fish, June 17, 1826;" of a "Shark, 7 ft. long; off Cuba, Jn. 18" (see reproduction); and of a "Dolphin; Gulph of Florida, May 28;" other sketches were of a line or "thread-winder," a Flying Fish, and outlines of the Cuban coast.
Audubon presented a sketch of the "Dolphin" to Captain Hatch, whose vessel, the Delos, went down on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in the summer of 1831, but not until her crew and valuables had been transferred to another boat that stood by. (For this note I am indebted to Miss Maria R. Audubon.)