The Doctor and Jim visit several churches--The Indians in St.
Paul's--In Westminster Abbey--The exhibition at the Hall--The
Doctor agrees to go in the carriage of the "jolly fat dame"--Mr.
Melody objects--The Doctor's melancholy--Indians stop the bus
to talk with Lascars--Make them presents of money--Indians
discover _chickabobboo-ags_ (gin-palaces)--and ladies lying
down in their carriages reading books--_Chim-e-gotch-ees_
(or fish)--Jim's story of "Fish"--Experiments in
mesmerism--Wash-ka-mon-ya (Jim) mesmerized--The Doctor's
opinions on mesmerism--Ioways in Lord's Cricket-ground--Archery
and ball-playing--Encampment--Wigwams--Indians invited by Mrs.
Lawrence to Ealing Park--Their kind reception--Their Royal
Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge--The Princess
Mary--The Duchess of Gloucester--The Hereditary Grand Duke and
Duchess, and other distinguished guests--Amusements--Beautiful
grounds--Indians dine on the lawn--Roast beef and
plum-pudding--_Chickabobboo_--Alarm of the parrots--Doctor's
superstition--_Chickabobboo_ explained--Speech of the
War-chief--Taking leave--Fright of the poor birds--Handsome
presents--Conservatory--The Doctor's ideas of it--Indians
visit Surrey Zoological Gardens--Fright of the birds and
animals--Indians sacrifice tobacco to the lion and the
rattle-snakes.
Mr. Melody, feeling the high importance of the charge of these
fourteen wild people intrusted to his hands by the Government while
they were to see the sights of a foreign country, and feeling the
strongest attachment to them personally, was stimulated to every
exertion by which he could properly open their eyes to the benefits
of civilization, and consequently was inquiring from day to day "what
shall be shown them next?"
I had also, with feelings of the highest respect for the chiefs of the
nation, knowing them to be of the party, enlisted my warmest exertions
in their behalf, and resolved to render them, in all ways I could, the
aid that was due from me for their hospitality which benefited me when
I was in their country.
With these views we continued our omnibus in driving them about
the City and country, and one or the other of us was almost daily
accompanying them to some institution or public works from which they
might derive some useful information. To these they generally went
together and in their native dresses, but there were others where
their costumes and their paint would render them too conspicuous,
and for such purposes two or three suits of clothes, beaver hats and
wigs, became necessary for such a number as wished at any time to look
further (and unobserved) into the arcana and hidden mysteries of the
great metropolis. And the reader will be ready to exclaim with me, that
the field before us was a vast and boundless one.
The two most ambitious to profit by such adventures were "_Jim_" (as
I have before denominated him) and the "_Doctor_:" the _first_, from
a peculiar faculty he had of learning the English language (in which
he was making daily progress), and a consequent insatiable desire to
see and learn the modes, and everything he could, of white people,
excepting their religion; and the _second_, from an indomitable desire
to look in everywhere and upon everything, more for the pleasure of
gratifying a momentary curiosity, and enjoying a temporary smile, than
from any decided ambition to carry home and adopt anything, unless it
might be a vapour-bath, or something of the kind, in the way of his
profession.
In frock-coats and beaver hats, and boots, with a large stick or an
umbrella under the arm, and the paint all washed off, there was not
much in the looks of these two new-fangled gentlemen to attract the
public gaze or remark; and consequently little in the way of the sights
and treasures of London being opened to their view.
From the time that this expedient was adopted, our avocations became
more diversified and difficult; our anxieties and cares increased, and
with them our amusement: for with Melody the sights of London were as
yet prospective; and with me, whether old or new, I met them with an
equal relish with my unsophisticated brethren from the wilderness.
The amusement of "trying on" and "getting the hang" of the new dresses
made merriment enough for the party for one day; and all but these
two were quite willing to forego all the pleasures they could afford,
rather than cover their cool and naked heads with beaver hats, their
shoulders with frock-coats, and substitute for their soft and pliant
mocassins and leggings of buckskin, woollen pantaloons and high-heeled
boots. The two wiseacres, however, who had adopted them were
philosophers, and knew that they were only for certain occasions, after
which they were to be dropped off, and their limbs "at home again"
in their light and easy native dresses. They were obliged, on such
occasions (to be in keeping), to leave their long and ornamented pipes
and tomahawks behind, and (not to lose the indispensable luxury of
smoking) to carry a short and handy civilized pipe, with their tobacco,
and a box of lucifers, in their pockets.
Reader, pray don't try to imagine what a figure these two
copper-coloured "swells" cut, when they first sallied forth in their
new attire, for it will be in vain: but behold them and me, in the
future pages of this book, and when their dresses had got to work easy,
profiting by gazing upon the wonders and glories of civilization, which
we never otherwise could have beheld together.
As one of the first fruits of the new expedient (and while the subject
was fresh and revolving in the minds of all), there was now a chance of
gratifying the Doctor's desire to see the modes and places of worship
of some of the different denominations of religion, of which he had
heard so much, from Daniel and others, within the few days past. These
visits were their first attempts in their assumed characters, and were
mostly made in the company of Mr. Melody or Jeffrey, and without any
amusing results either for the congregations or the Ioways, save an
incident or two, such as must be expected in the first experiments with
all great enterprises. The Doctor had been told that when he entered
the Protestant Church, he must take his hat off at the door, and had
practised it before he started; but, seeing such an immense number of
ladies, he had unfortunately forgot it, and being reminded of it when
he had been placed in his seat, his wig came off with it, exposing, but
a moment however, his scalp-lock and the top of his head, where he had
not deemed it necessary to wash off the red paint.
In the Methodist chapel, where these two queer fellows had ventured one
day with Daniel, the sermon was long and tedious, and there was nothing
observed curious excepting a blue smoke rolling up over the top of
the pew, where the Doctor's pipe had been lit, and his head sunk down
between his knees; and one other occurrence, that afterwards happened
in the heat of the exhortation from the pulpit, and much to the
amusement of the Doctor and Jim, of a young woman, in their immediate
vicinity, who began to groan, then to sing, and at length tumbled down
from her seat upon the floor. The Doctor thought at first she was very
sick, and wondered there was no physician there to bleed her; but when
Daniel told him what was the matter, the old man smiled, and often
talked about it afterwards.
I took the whole party through Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's, where
they stood and contemplated in amazement the works of human hands, so
entirely beyond their comprehension that they returned in reserved and
silent contemplation.
Returning again to the Exhibition-room at the Egyptian Hall, several
evenings of which have passed by without mention, but much in the
same way, we find the same excitement and applause, and the "jolly
fat dame" at the end of the platform, nightly receiving the Doctor's
impressive smiles, which are constantly ready for her; and which by
this time, aided by the continued coldness of the _Roman-nose_, were
making visible inroads upon her tender affections. She had had, it
seemed, on this evening, some conversation with the Doctor, through the
interpreter, who had heretofore studiously kept out of the way, and she
had invited the Doctor to ride to her house in her carriage, after the
exhibition was over, believing that he would be able to find in her
garden, some roots which he was in great distress to find, and that she
would bring him home again safe. Mr. Melody objected to this, which
seemed to puzzle the fair dame, and to throw the Doctor into a profound
melancholy and dejection.
This rebuff from Mr. Melody was so unexpected and so provoking, when
she had so nearly accomplished her object, that the good lady passed
out of the room earlier than usual, and tossed her head about with her
ostrich plumes as she passed along in the crowd, without having the
heart to stop and speak a few words to Daniel, as she had been in the
habit of doing. Mr. Melody retired with the Indians, and I remained
after the crowd had left, at the solicitation of a party of ladies,
who had sent me their card and wished to see me after the exhibition
was over. The room being nearly emptied, I saw a party of several
fashionably-dressed ladies at the further end of the room, examining
the paintings on the walls. In advancing towards them, the one who
seemed to be the leader of the party turned around and exclaimed, "Oh,
here comes Mr. Catlin, I believe?" "Yes, Madam, I am Mr. Catlin." "Oh,
I am so happy to have the honour of seeing you, Sir, and of speaking
to you--you have made all these paintings?" "Yes." "These Indians are
curious fellows, and well worth seeing, but I consider you ten times
more of a curiosity. Look here, ladies, here's Mr. Catlin, the very
man that I have so often told you about. Dear me, what dangers and
hardships you must have been through! Oh, I do think you are one of the
wonders of the world--and not a grey hair in your head yet! My dear
Sir, I know your whole history-- you'd scarcely believe it--I know it
'like a book,' as they say. I recollect the very day when you started
for India, and I have followed you the whole way--I have your book--I
bought several copies to give to my friends; I have read every word of
it over and over again--and, oh! it's wonderful--it's charming--one
can't stop in it--there's no stopping place in it. By the way, I don't
suppose you were down much in the neighbourhood of Chusan (I've got a
nephew there--a fine fellow--he's a surgeon). I suppose you kept pretty
much back in the mountains? You had no object in coming down about the
coast; and they have had rather hot work there." "No, Madam, I had not
the slightest object to take me near Chusan--I kept a great way back."
"That was right; oh, how judicious! Oh, I have read your interesting
work so often. By the way, these fellows are not from the coast--they
are from a great way back, I dare say?" "Yes, Madam, they are a great
way in the interior." "I thought so, I knew so--I can tell, d' ye
see--I can always tell a coaster. These are fine men--they grow tea, I
suppose, though?" "No, these people don't grow tea." "Ah, well, it's
late, we won't take up your time; but I have been so happy to have seen
you--glad, glad to see you home alive to your native soil, and out of
that plagued India. Good night." "Good night, ladies."
As they left me, I turned round, and met a poor fellow approaching me
on one leg and a pair of crutches, and his wife holding on to his arm.
He said he had been waiting some time to have the honour of speaking to
me before he left, having heard my name pronounced. He told me he lived
at Woolwich, where he held some situation for life, as he had lost his
leg in the service of his country, and it was a good living for him,
luckily, though he had been so unfortunate as to lose his leg.
"My wife and I (said he) ave long eard of this extro'nary hexibition,
and she as often hax'd me to come to see it; and though we ave been off
and hon about it a great many times, we never got off together until
this hafter-noon--it's a wonderful sight, sir, hand we are appy to ave
seen you halso."
I thanked the poor fellow, and asked him how he lost his leg.
"It was done by the kick of a orse, Sir."
"But your leg has been taken off above your knee."
"Yes, Sir, the bone was broken, hand it ad to be hamputated."
"It must have been very painful!"
"Ah, hit urt a little; though as for the pain of hamputation, I woudn't
give a penny for it: but the loss of my leg is worth a great deal to
me; it's hall ealed up now, Sir, though it's very hunandy."
This simple and unfortunate man and his very pretty little wife left
me, and I repaired to the Indians' rooms in St. James's Street, where
I found them finishing their suppers and taking their _chickabobboo_.
Here was in readiness a long catalogue of the adventures of the day--of
things they had seen in their drive, &c., to be talked over, as well as
the cruel jokes to be listened to, which they were all passing upon the
poor Doctor, for the sudden failure of his prospects of digging roots
in the fair dame's garden.
There were many subjects of an amusing nature talked over by these
droll fellows during the pipes of this evening, and one of the themes
for their comments was the drive which we had given them in two open
carriages through Hyde Park, at the fashionable hour. They decided
that "the Park, along the banks of the Serpentine, reminded them of
the prairies on the shores of the Skunk and the Cedar rivers in their
own country; and in fact, that some parts of it were almost exactly
the same." They were amused to see many of the ladies lying down as
they rode in their carriages; and also, that many of the great chiefs,
pointed out to them riding on horseback, "didn't know how to ride--that
they were obliged to have a man riding a little behind them to pick
them up if they should fall off."
Jim, who was in an unusual good humour this evening, either from
the effects of his _chickabobboo_ or from some fine present he might
have received in the room, seemed to be the chief "spokesman" for the
evening, and for the purpose of assisting his imagination or aiding
his voice had laid himself flat upon his back upon his robe, which was
spread upon the floor. His loquacity was such, that there was little
else for any of us to do than sit still and excessively laugh at the
dryness of his jokes, and his amusing remarks upon the things they had
seen as they were taking their ride on this and past mornings. He had
now got, as has been said, a facility of using occasional words of
English, and he brought them in once in a while with the most amusing
effect.
He said they had found another place where there were two more
Ojibbeway Indians (as he called them), Lascars. sweeping the streets;
and it seems that after passing them they had ordered their bus to
stop, and called them up and shook hands, and tried to talk with them.
They could speak a few words in English, and so could _Jim_: he was
enabled to ask them if they were Ojibbeways, and they to answer, "No,
they were Mussulmen." "Where you live?" "Bombay." "You sweep dirt in
the road?" "Yes," "Dam fool!" _Jim_ gathered a handful of pennies and
gave them, and they drove off.
It seemed that in their drive this day, Jim and the Doctor had both
rode outside, which had afforded to Jim the opportunity of seeing to
advantage, for the first time. the immense number of "gin palaces,"
as they passed along the streets; and into which they could look from
the top of the bus, and distinctly see the great number of large kegs,
and what was going on inside. The Doctor had first discovered them
in his numerous outside rides, and as he was not quite sure that he
had rightly understood them, hearing that the English people detested
drunkards so much, he had not ventured to say much about them. He had
been anxious for the corroboration of _Jim's_ sharper eyes, and during
this morning they had fully decided that the hundreds of such places
they were in all directions passing, were places where people went
to drink _chickabobboo_, and they were called _chickabobbooags_. The
conversation of Jim and the Doctor enlarged very much on this grand
discovery, and the probable effects they had upon the London people.
They had seen many women, and some of them with little babies in their
arms, standing and lying around them, and they were quite sure that
some of those women were drunk. Jim said that he and the Doctor had
counted two or three hundred in one hour. Some of the party told him
he had made his story too big, so he said he and the Doctor next day
would mark them down on a stick. Jim said there was one street they
came through, where he hoped they would never drive them again, for it
made their hearts sore to see so many women and little children all
in dirty rags: they had never seen any Indians in the wilderness half
so poor, and looking so sick. He was sure they had not half enough to
eat. He said he thought it was wrong to send missionaries from this
to the Indian country, when there were so many poor creatures here
who want their help, and so many thousands as they saw going into the
_chickabobbooags_ to drink fire-water.
He said they came through a very grand street, where every thing looked
so fine and splendid in the windows, and where the ladies looked so
beautiful in their carriages, many of them lying quite down, and seemed
as if they were very rich and happy; and some of them lay in their
carriages, that were standing still, so as to let them read their
books. And in this same grand street they saw a great many fine-looking
ladies walking along the sides of the roads, and looking back at the
gentlemen as they passed by them. These ladies, he and the Doctor
observed, looked young, and all looked very smiling, and they thought
they wanted husbands. A great deal, Jim said, they had seen of these
ladies as they were every day looking out of their own windows in St.
James's Street. A great many of these women, he said, behave very
curious; he said he didn't know for certain but some of these might
be _chimegotches_. This excited a tremendous laugh with the Doctor and
several of the young men, and made some of the women smile, though
it was rather hushed by the chiefs as an imprudent word for Jim to
apply in the present case. This did little, however, to arrest the
effects of Jim's joke, and he continued with some further ingenious
embellishments, which set the chiefs into a roar, and Jim then kept the
field. Melody and myself laughed also, not at the joke, for we did not
understand it, but at their amusement, which seemed to be very great,
and led us to inquire the meaning of _chimegotches_. "Fish," said
Jim, "fish!" We were still at a loss for the meaning of his joke; and
our ignorance being discovered, as well as our anxiety to know, they
proposed that Jim should relate the story of _Chimegotches_, or "Fish."
Some one was charging and lighting the pipe in the mean time, which was
handed to him, as he rose and took a whiff or two, and then, resuming
his former position, flat upon his back, he commenced--
"When the great Mississippi river was a young and beautiful stream,
and its waters were blue and clear, and the Ioways lived on its
banks, more than a thousand snows since, _Net-no-qua_, a young man
of great beauty, and son of a great chief, complained that he was
sick. His appetite left him, and his sleep was not good. His eyes,
which had been like those of the war-eagle, grew soft and dim, and
sunk deep in his head. His lips, that had been the music for all
about him, had become silent; his breast, that had always been calm,
was beating, and deep sighs showed that something was wrong within.
_O-za-pa_, whose medicine was great, and to whom all the plants and
roots of the prairies were known, was quite lost; he tried all, and
all was in vain; the fair son of the chief was wasting away, as each
sweet breath that he breathed went off upon the winds, and never
came back to him. Thus did _Net-no-qua_, the son of _Ti-ah-ka_, pine
away. The medicine man told him at last that there was but one thing
that could cure him, and that was attended with great danger. In his
dream a small prairie snake had got upon a bush, and its light, which
was that of the sun, opened his eyes to its brightness, and his ears
to its words: 'The son of _Ti-ah-ka_ grieves--this must not be--his
breast must be quiet, and his thoughts like the quiet waters of the
gliding brook; the son of _Ti-ah-ka_ will grow like the firm rocks of
the mountain, and the chiefs and warriors, who will descend from him,
will grow like the branches of the spreading oak.' The medicine man
said to the son of _Ti-ah-ka_ that he must now take a small piece of
the flesh from his side for his bait, and in a certain cove on the
bank of the river, the first fish that he caught was to be brought to
his wigwam alone, under his robe, and she, whose blood would become
warm, would be to him like the vine that clings around and through
the branches of the oak: that then his eyes would soon shine again
like those of the eagle; the music of his lips would soon return, and
his troubled breast would again become calm, his appetite would be
good, and his sleep would be sweet and quiet like that of a babe.
"_Net-no-qua_ stood upon a rock, and when the hook, with a piece
of his side, lay upon the water, the parting hair of _Lin-ta_ (the
river-born) was seen floating on the water, and its black and oily
tresses were glistening in the sun as the water glided off from them;
and her lips were opening to enclose the fatal hook that raised
her beautiful breasts above the water. Her round and delicate arms
shone bright with their beauty as she extended them to the shore,
and the river shed its tears over her skin as her beautiful waist
glided through its surface, above which the strong and manly arm of
_Net-no-qua_ was gently raising her. The weeping waves in sparkling
circles clung around her swelling hips and pressing knees, until the
folding robe of the son of _Ti-ah-ka_ was over the wave and around
her bending form. One hand still held her slim and tapering fingers,
and with the other he encompassed her trembling form, as their equal
steps took them from the shore and brought them to the wig-wam of
_Net-no-qua_. His silent house was closed from the footsteps of the
world; her delicate arms clung around the neck of the son of the
chief, and her black and glossy tresses fell over and around his
naked shoulders and mingled with his own. The same robe embraced
them both, and her breath was purer than the blue waves from which
she came. Their sleep was like the dreams of the antelope, and they
awoke as the wild rose-buds open amidst the morning dew; the breast
of _Net-no-qua_ was calm, his eyes were again like the eyes of the
eagle, his appetite was keen, and his lips sounded their music in the
ears of Lin-ta. She was lovely, she was the wife of the son of the
chief, and like the vine that clings around and through the branches
of the oak, did she cling to _Net-no-qua_. They were happy, and many
have been the descendants that have sprung from the dreams of the son
of _Ti-ah-ka_ and the beautiful _Lin-ta_ (the river-born).
"_O-ne-ak'n_ was the brother of _Net-no-qua_, and _Di-ag-gon_ was
his cousin: and _they_ were sick; and they sat upon the rock in the
cove in the river: and the two sisters of Lin-ta shone as they lifted
their graceful forms above the wave, and their beautiful locks spread
as they floated on the surface. The two young warriors sighed as
they gazed upon them. The two sisters embraced each other as they
glided through and above the waves. They rose to full view, and had
no shame. The river 'shed no tears, nor did the sparkling waves hang
in circles about their swelling hips and pressing knees;' and as they
sank, they beckoned the two young warriors, who followed them to
their water-bound caves. They stole back in the morning, and were
ashamed and sick. Their tongues were not silent, and others went.
The two sisters again showed their lovely forms as they glided above
the water, and they beckoned all who came to their hidden caves, and
all came home in the morning sick and sad, while every morning saw
the son of the chief and his river-born Lin-ta calm and bright as
the rising sun. Shame and fear they knew not, but all was love and
happiness with them; very different were the sisters of Lin-ta, who
at length ventured from their caves at night, and strolled through
the village; they were hidden again at the return of the light. Their
caves were the resorts of the young men, but the fair daughters of
Lin-ta knew them not.
"Such was the story of Lin-ta (the river-born); she was the loved of
her husband, and the virtuous mother of her children. Her beautiful
sisters were the loved of all men, but had no offspring. They live
in their hidden caves to this day, and sometimes in the day as well
as in the night are seen walking through the village, though all the
Indians call them _Chim-ee-gotch-es_, that is, _Cold-bloods_, or
_Fish_."
Jim got a round of applause for his story, though the Doctor thought
he had left out some of the most essential and funny parts of it. Jim,
however, seemed well content with the manner in which it was received,
and continued to remark that he and the Doctor had come to the
conclusion that those beautiful young women, that they saw looking back
at the gentlemen in the streets, as well as those who were standing in
front of their windows, and bowing to them, and kissing their hands
every day, must be "fish;" and that in the great village of London,
where so much _chickabobboo_ is drunk, there must be a great number of
"fish." And they thought also that some of these they had seen in the
Egyptian Hall when they were giving their dances.
The above and other critiques of Jim upon London modes seemed to the
chiefs to be rather too bold, and an impolitic position for Jim to
take; and whilst their reprimands were being passed upon him, the train
of humour he had happened to get into on that night turned all their
remarks into jokes, and they were obliged to join in the irresistible
merriment he produced on this occasion, merely from his having taken
(as his wife had refused it on this evening as it was just now
discovered) the additional mug of his wife's _chickabobboo_.
Much merriment was produced amongst the Indians about this time by an
appointment that had been made to see some experiments in mesmerism,
to be performed by a Dr. M---- at the Indians' rooms. The Doctor was
received at the appointed hour, and brought with him a feeble and
pale-looking girl of 14 or 15 years of age to operate upon. This had
taken the Indians rather by surprise, as no one had fully explained the
nature of the operations to them. I got Jeffrey, however, to translate
to them, as near as he could, the nature of this extraordinary
discovery, and the effects it was to produce; and the doors being
closed, and the young woman placed in a chair, the mesmeriser commenced
his mysterious operations. I had instructed the Indians to remain
perfectly still and not to laugh, lest they might hinder the operator,
and prevent the desired effect. With one knee upon the floor, in
front of her, and placing both of his extended thumbs (with his hands
clenched) just in front of her two eyebrows, he looked her steadily
in the face. This eccentric position and expression disposed Jim to
laugh, and though he covered his huge mouth with his hand, and made no
noise, still the irresistible convulsions in his fat sides shook the
floor we were standing on; and the old Doctor at the same time, equally
amused, was liable to do less harm, for all his smiles and laughter,
however excessive, were produced by the curious machinery of his face,
and never extended further down than the chin or clavicles. The little
patient, however, was seen in a few minutes to be going to sleep, and
at length fell back in the chair, in the desired state of somnambulism.
The operator then, by mesmeric influences, opened her eyes, without
touching them, and without waking her, and by the same influence closed
them again. In the same way he caused her hand to close, and none of
us could open it. Here our Doctor, who tried it, was quite at a stand.
He saw the fingers of the operator pass several times in front of it,
and its muscles relaxed--it opened of itself. He then brought, by the
same influence, her left arm to her breast, and then the right, and
challenged the strength of any one in the room to unbend them. This was
tried by several of us, but in vain; and when his fingers were passed
a few times lightly over them, they were relaxed and returned to their
former positions. By this time the Indian women, with their hands over
their mouths, began to groan, and soon left the room in great distress
of mind. The chiefs, however, and the Doctor and Jim, remained until
the experiments were all tried, and with unaccountable success. The
operator then, by passing his fingers a few times over the forehead of
his patient, brought her gradually to her senses, and the exhibition
ended. The convulsions of Jim's broad sides were now all tempered down
into cool quiet, and the knowing smiles of the old Doctor had all run
entirely off from, and out of, the furrows of his face, and a sort of
painful study seemed to be contracting the rigid muscles that were
gathering over them.
[Illustration: N^o. 12.]
The chiefs pronounced the unaccountable operation to be the greatest
of medicine, and themselves quite satisfied, as they retired; but the
old Doctor, not yet quite sure, and most likely thinking it a good
thing for his adoption among the mysteries of his profession in his own
country, was disposed to remain, with his untiring companion Jim, until
some clue could be got to this mystery of mysteries. With this view he
had the curiosity of feeling the little girl's pulse, of examining and
smelling the operator's fingers, &c., and of inquiring whether this
thing could be done by any others but himself; to which I replied, that
it was now being done by hundreds all through the country, and was no
secret. The charm had then fled--it had lost all its value to the old
Doctor. The deep thoughts ceased to plough his wrinkled face, and his
self-sufficient, happy smiles were again playing upon his front. His
views were evidently changed. _Jim_ caught the current of his feelings,
and amusement was their next theme. The old Doctor "thought that _Jim_
could easily be frightened," and would be a good subject. It was
proposed that _Jim_ should therefore take the chair, and it was soon
announced to the squaws, and amongst them to his wife, that _Jim_ had
gone to sleep, and was _mesmerised_. They all flew to the room, which
upset the gravity of his broad mouth, and, with its movements, as a
matter of course, the whole bearing of his face; and the operator's
fingers being withdrawn from his nose, he left the chair amidst a roar
of laughter. It was then proposed that the old Doctor should sit down
and be tried, but he resisted the invitation, on the grounds of the
_dignity of his profession_, which he got me to explain to the medical
man, whom he was now evidently disposed to treat rather sarcastically,
and his wonderful performance as a piece of extraordinary juggling,
or, at least, as divested of its supposed greatest interest, that of
novelty. He told him "that there was nothing new or very wonderful in
the operation, that he could discover; it was no more than the charm
which the snakes used to catch birds; and the more frightful and ugly
a man's face was, the better he could succeed in it. He had no doubt
but many ill-looking men amongst white people would use it as a mode of
catching pretty girls, which they could not otherwise do, and therefore
it would be called amongst white people a very useful thing."
"All the _medicine-men_ (said he) in the Indian country have known for
many years how to do the same thing, and what the white people know
of it at this time they have learned from the Indians; but I see that
they don't yet half know how to do it; that he had brought a _medicine
dress_ all the way with him for the very purpose, and if the mesmeriser
would come the next morning at 9 o'clock, he should see him with it on,
and he would engage to frighten any white lady to sleep in five minutes
who would take a good look at him without winking or laughing." The
mesmeriser did not come, though the Doctor was on the spot and ready.
(_Plate No. 12._)
An event which they had long been looking for with great solicitude
took place about this time--the prorogation of Parliament, which
afforded the poor fellows their only opportunity of seeing the Queen.
They were driven off in good season in their bus, and succeeded in
getting the most favourable view of the Queen and the Prince as they
were passing in the state-carriage; and, to use their own words for
it, "The little Queen and the Prince both put their faces quite out of
their carriage of gold to look at us and bow to us." There is no doubt
but by the kindness of the police they were indulged in a favourable
position and had a very satisfactory view of Her Majesty the Queen,
and it is equally certain that they will never cease to speak of the
splendour of the effect of the grand pageant as long as they live.
The nightly excitements and amusements going on at the Egyptian Hall
were increasing the public anxiety to see these curious people more at
large, and we resolved to procure some suitable ground for the purpose,
where their active limbs could be seen in full motion in the open air,
as they are seen on their native prairies with their ball-sticks, in
their favourite game of the ball, and the use of their bows and arrows,
all of which they had brought with them, but could not use in their
amusements at the Hall. Their dances, &c., were, however, to be kept
up as usual, at night; and for their afternoon exercises in the open
air, an arrangement was made for the use of "Lord's Cricket Ground,"
and on that beautiful field (prairie, as they called it) they amused
thousands, daily, by their dances, archery, and ball-playing.[18]
For this purpose an area of an acre or two was enclosed by a rope,
and protected for their amusements by the police. To this the
visitors advanced on every side, and seemed delighted with their rude
appearance and native sports. This arrangement afforded the Indians
the opportunity of showing their games and amusements to the greatest
advantage, and also of meeting again the acquaintances they had made
at the Egyptian Hall, and shaking hands with all who felt disposed to
do them that honour. They had also brought with them, to illustrate
the whole of Indian life, no less than three tents (wig-wams) made of
buffalo hides, curiously but rudely painted, which the squaws daily
erected on the ground, in presence of the spectators, forming by no
means the least accurate and pleasing part of the exhibition.
[18] This is, undoubtedly, the favourite and most manly and
exciting game of the North American Indians, and often played
by three or four hundred on a side, who venture their horses,
robes, weapons, and even the very clothes upon their backs,
on the issue of the game. For this beautiful game two byes or
goals are established, at three or four hundred yards from
each other, by erecting two poles in the ground for each, four
or five feet apart, between which it is the strife of either
party to force the ball (it having been thrown up at a point
half-way between) by catching it in a little hoop, or racket,
at the end of a stick, three feet in length, held in both
hands as they run, throwing the ball an immense distance when
they get it in the stick. This game is always played over an
extensive prairie or meadow, and the confusion and laughable
scrambles for the ball when it is falling, and often sought
for by two or three hundred gathered to a focus, are curious
and amusing beyond the reach of any description or painting.
The beautiful scenes presented there could be repeated but a few
days, owing to other uses to be made of the grounds; but during that
time they were visited by vast numbers of the nobility of London, and
several members of the Royal Family. The incidents of those days, which
were curious and many, must be passed over, excepting that the Doctor
daily beheld in front of the crowd, and at full length, the "jolly fat
dame," to whom he as often advanced, with a diffident smile, to receive
a beautiful rose, which she handed to him over the rope.
These amusements in the open air in the daytime, with the dances,
&c., at the Hall in the evenings, with their "drive" in the morning,
and civil attentions to persons calling on them at their rooms, now
engrossed completely all their time, and they were actually compelled
to give offence to some parties who called on them, and to whom they
could not devote the time. Amongst those were several deputations from
public schools, of clergymen, and Sunday school teachers; and also
three very excellent Christian ladies in a party, one of whom, Mrs.
E----, I was well acquainted with, and knowing her extensive Christian
and charitable labours, I had encouraged to call, as she had expressed
a strong desire to talk with them on the subject of religion. They
appealed to me, and I desired them to call at another hour, which they
did, and I said to the chief that there was another proposition for a
talk on the subject of religion. This seemed to annoy them somewhat,
and after smoking a pipe, they decided not to see them. I then told
them that they were three ladies; this seemed to startle them for a
few moments, but they smoked on, and finally the War-chief said "it
was a subject on which, if they had anything more to say, they would
rather say it to the men than to women--they can talk with our women if
they like." I then invited the Indian women into the room, and Jeffrey
interpreted for the ladies, who had a long conversation with them, but,
as the ladies afterwards told me, few words on the subject of religion:
as to the first questions on that subject, the squaws answered that
they left that mostly to their husbands, and they thought that if they
loved their husbands, and took good care of their children, the Great
Spirit would be kind to them. These kind ladies called the next day
and left them fourteen Bibles and some other very useful presents,
and their prayers for their happiness, feeling convinced that this
was the most effectual and best way of making lasting and beneficial
impressions on their minds.
One of the very high compliments paid them from the fashionable world
was now before them, and this being the day for it, all parties were
dressing and painting for the occasion. I had received a very kind note
from Mrs. Lawrence, inviting me to bring them to pay her a visit in her
lovely grounds at Ealing Park, a few miles from the city of London.
The omnibus was ready, and being seated, we were there with an hour's
drive, and received on the fine lawn in the rear of her house. Here was
presented the most beautiful scene which the Ioways helped to embellish
whilst they were in the kingdom--for nothing more sweet can be seen
than this little paradise, hemmed in with the richness and wildness
of its surrounding foliage, and its velvet carpet of green on which
the Indians were standing and reclining, and the kind lady and her
Royal and noble guests, collected in groups, to witness their dances
and other amusements. Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge, with the lovely Princess Mary, the Hereditary Grand Duke
and Duchess of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, the Duchess of Gloucester, and
many of the nobility, formed the party of her friends whom this lady
had invited, and who soon entered the lawn to meet these sons of the
forest, and witness their wild sports.
At the approach of the lady and her Royal party, the Indians all
arose, and the chiefs having been introduced, half an hour or more
was passed in a conversation with them, through Jeffrey and myself,
and an examination of their costumes, weapons, &c., when they seated
themselves in a circle, and passing the pipe around, were preparing for
a dance. The first they selected was their favourite, the eagle-dance,
which they gave with great spirit, and my explanation of the meaning
of it seemed to add much to its interest. (_Plate No. 13._) After the
dance they strung their bows and practised at the target, and at length
Mr. Melody tossed up the ball, when they snatched up their ballsticks,
which they had brought for the purpose, and darted over and about the
grounds in the exciting game of the ball. This proved more amusing
to the spectators than either of the former exercises, but it was
short, for they soon lost their ball, and the game being completed,
they seated themselves again, and with the pipe were preparing for the
_war-dance_, in which, when they gave it, the beautiful lawn, and the
forests around it, resounded with the shrill notes of the _war-whoop_,
which the frightened parroquets and cockatoos saucily echoed back with
a laughable effect, and a tolerable exactness. The pipe of peace (or
calumet) dance was also given, with the pipes of peace in their hands,
which they had brought out for the purpose.
While these exciting scenes were going on, the butler was busy
spreading a white cloth over a long table arranged on the lawn, near
the house, and on it the luxuries that had been preparing in the
kitchen, for their dinners. This arrangement was so timed that the
roast beef was on and smoking just when their amusements were finished,
and when the announcement was made that their "dinner was up," all
parties moved in that direction, but in two divisions, the one to
partake, and the other to look on and see how wild people could handle
the knife and fork. This was to be the _last_, though (as I could see
by the anxiety of the spectators) not the _least amusing_ of their
amusements, and it was in the event rendered peculiarly so to some of
us, from the various parts which the kind and illustrious spectators
were enabled to take in it, when in all their former amusements there
was no possible way in which they could "lend a hand." Every one could
here assist in placing a chair or handing a plate, and the Indians
being seated, all were ready and emulous, standing around the table and
at their elbows, to perform some little office of the kind, to assist
them to eat, and to make them comfortable. His Royal Highness proposed
that I should take my stand at the head of the table, before a huge
sirloin of roast beef, and ply the carving knife, which I did; whilst
he travelled, plates in hand, until they all were helped. The young
Princess Mary, and the two little daughters of the kind lady, like the
three Graces, were bending about under loads of bread and vegetables
they were helping the Indians to, and the kind lady herself was filling
their glasses from the generous pitcher of foaming ale, and ordering
the butler to uncork the bottles of champagne which were ready and
hissing at the delay.
[Illustration: N^o. 13.]
This unusual scene was taking place in the nearer vicinity of the
poor parroquets and cockatoos, who seemed, thus far, awed into a
discretionary silence, but were dancing to the right and the left,
and busily swinging their heads to and fro, with their eyes and their
ears open to all that was said and done. When the cork flew from the
first bottle of champagne, the parrots squalled out, "There! there!!
there!!!" and the Indians as suddenly, "_Chickabobboo! chickabobboo!_"
Both laughed, and all the party _had_ to laugh, at the simultaneous
excitement of the parrots and the Indians; and most of them were as
ignorant of the language (and of course of the wit of) the one as of
the other. _Chickabobboo_, however, was understood, at least by the
Indians; and their glasses being filled with champagne, the moment they
were raising it to their lips, and some had commenced drinking, the
cockatoos suddenly squalled out again, "_There! there!! there!!!_" The
old Doctor, and his superstitious friend Jim, who had not got their
glasses quite to their mouths, slowly lowered them upon the table, and
turned, with the most beseeching looks, upon Mr. Melody and myself, to
know whether they were breaking their vow to us. They said nothing, but
the question was sufficiently plain in their _looks_ for an answer, and
I replied, "No, my good fellows, the parrots are fools, they don't know
what they are talking about; they, no doubt, thought this was whiskey,
but we know better; it's some of the '_Queen's chickabobboo_,' and
you need not fear to drink it." This curious affair had been seen but
by a part of the company, and only by the Indians at our end of the
table, and therefore lost its general effect until I related it. The
queer-sounding word "_chickabobboo_" seemed to amuse, and to excite the
curiosity of many, and there was no understanding it without my going
over the whole ground, and explaining how and where it originated,
which, when finished, created much amusement. While I was relating this
story the plates were being changed, and just at the end of it the
parrots sang out again, "_There! there!! there!!!_" as before; but it
was discovered that, at that instant, one of the waiters was passing
near them with a huge and smoking plum-pudding, and so high that we
could but just see his face over the top of it. This was placed before
me, and as I divided and served it, the same hands, Royal and fair,
conveyed it to the different parts of the table. This was a glorious
pudding, and I had helped each one abundantly, expecting, as all did,
that they would devour it without mincing; but, to the surprise of all,
they tasted a little, and left the rest upon their plates. Fears were
entertained that the pudding did not suit them, and I was constrained
to ask why they did not eat more. The reply was reluctant, but very
significant and satisfactory when it came. Jim spoke for all. He said,
"They all agreed that it was good--very good; but that the beef was
also very good, and the only fault of the pudding was, that it had come
too late."
The War-chief at this time was charging his long pipe with _k'nick
k'neck_, and some fire being brought to light it, it was soon passed
from his into the chiefs hands, when he arose from the table, and
offering his hand to His Royal Highness, stepped a little back, and
addressed him thus:--
"My Great Father,--Your face to-day has made us all very happy. The
Great Spirit has done this for us, and we are thankful for it. The
Great Spirit inclined your heart to let us see your face, and to
shake your hand, and we are very happy that it has been so. (_How,
how, how!_)
"My Father,--We have been told that you are the uncle of the Queen,
and that your brother was the King of this rich country. We fear we
shall go home without seeing the face of your Queen, except as we saw
it in her carriage; but if so, we shall be happy to say that we have
seen the great chief who is next to the Queen. (_How, how, how!_)
"My Father,--We are poor and ignorant people from the wilderness,
whose eyes are not yet open, and we did not think that we should be
treated so kindly as we have to-day. Our skins are red, and our ways
are not so pleasing as those of the white people, and we therefore
feel the more proud that so great a chief should come so far to see
us, and to help to feed us; this we shall never forget. (_How, how,
how!_)
"My Father,--We feel thankful to the lady who has this fine house and
these fine fields, and who has invited us here to-day, and to all the
ladies and gentlemen who are here to see us. We shall pray for you
all in our prayers to the Great Spirit, and now we shall be obliged
to shake hands with you and go home. (_How, how, how!_)"
His Royal Highness replied to him,--
"That he and all his friends present had been highly pleased with
their appearance and amusements to-day, and most of all with the
reverential manner in which he had just spoken of the Great Spirit,
before whom we must all, whether red or white, soon appear. He
thanked the chiefs for the efforts they had made to entertain them,
and trusted that the Great Spirit would be kind to them in restoring
them safe home to their friends again."
At this moment, when all were rising and wrapping their robes around
them preparing to start, the lady appeared among them, with a large
plate in her hands, bearing on it a variety of beautiful trinkets,
which she dispensed among them according to their various tastes; and
with a general shake of the hand, they retired from the grounds to take
their carriage for town. The parrots and cockatoos all bowed their
heads in silence as they passed by them; but as the old Doctor (who
always lingers behind to bestow and catch the last smile, and take the
second shake of the hand where there are ladies in question) extended
his hand to the kind lady, to thank her the second and last time, there
was a tremendous cry of "_There! there!! there!!!_" and "_Cockatoo!
cockatoo!_"--the last of which the poor Doctor, in his confusion, had
mistaken for "_Chickabobboo! chickabobboo!_" He, however, kept a steady
gait between the din of "_There! there!! there!!!_" and "_Cockatoo!_"
that was behind him, and the inconceivable laughter of his party in the
carriage, who now insisted on it (and almost made him believe), that
his ugly face had been the sole cause of the alarm of the birds and
monkeys since the Indians entered the ground.[19]
[19] The polite Doctor often spoke of his admiration of this
excellent lady and of her beautiful park, and expressed his
regrets also that the day they spent there was so short; for
while hunting for the ball which they had lost, it seemed he
had strolled alone into her beautiful _Conservatoire_, where
he said, "in just casting his eyes around, he thought there
were roots that they had not yet been able to find in this
country, and which they stood much in need of." He said "he
believed from what he had seen when he was looking for the
ball, though nobody had ever told him, that this lady was a
great root-doctor."
This was theme enough, to ensure them a merry ride home, where they
arrived in time, and in the very best of humour, for their accustomed
evening amusements at the Hall; and after that, of taking their suppers
and _chickabobboo_ in their own apartments, which resounded with songs
and with encomiums on the kind lady and her _chickabobboo_, until they
got to sleep.
The next morning we had an appointment to visit the Surrey Zoological
Gardens, and having the greatest curiosity to witness the mutual
surprise there might be exhibited at the meeting of wild men and wild
animals, I was one of the party. The interview, in order to avoid the
annoyance of a crowd, had been arranged as a private one: we were,
therefore, on the spot at an early hour; and as we were entering (the
Doctor, with his jingling dress and red face, being in advance of the
party, as he was sure to be in _entering_ any curious place, though
the last to _leave_ if there were ladies behind), we were assailed
with the most tremendous din of "_There! there!! there!!!" "Cockatoo!
cockatoo!_" and "_God dam!_" and fluttering of wings of the poor
affrighted parrots, that were pitching down from their perches in all
directions. I thought it best that we should retreat a few moments,
until Mr. Cross could arrange the front ranks of his aviary a little,
which he did by moving back some of their outposts to let us pass. We
had been shown into a little office in the meantime, where Mr. Melody
had very prudently suggested that they had better discharge as many of
their rattling gewgaws as possible, and try to carry into the ground as
little of the frightful as they could. Amusing jokes were here heaped
upon the Doctor for his extreme ugliness, which, as Jim told him,
had terrified the poor birds almost to death. The Doctor bore it all
patiently, however, and with a smile; and partially turned the laugh
upon Jim with the big mouth, by replying that it was lucky for the
gentleman owning the parrots that Jim did not enter first; for if he
had, the poor man would have found them all dead, instead of being a
little alarmed, as they then were.
We were now entering upon the greatest field for the speculations and
amusement (as well as astonishment) of the Indians that they were to
meet in the great metropolis. My note-book was in my hand and my pencil
constantly employed; and the notes that I then and in subsequent visits
made, can be allowed very little space in this work. All were ready,
and we followed Mr. Cross; the Indians, fourteen in number, with their
red faces and red crests, marching in single file. The squalling of
parrots and barking of dogs seemed to have announced to the whole
neighbourhood that some extraordinary visitation was at hand; and when
we were in front of the lions' cage, their tremendous bolts against
its sides, and unusual roar, announced to the stupidest animal and
reptile that an enemy was in the field. The terrible voice of the king
of beasts was heard in every part, and echoed back in affrighted notes
of a hundred kinds. Men as well as beasts were alarmed, for the men
employed within the grounds were retreating, and at every turn they
made amidst its bewildering mazes, they imagined a roaring lion was to
spring upon their backs. The horrid roaring of the lions was answered
by lions from another part of the garden. Hyenas and panthers hissed,
wolves were howling, the Indians (catching the loved inspiration of
nature's wildness) sounded their native war-whoop, the buffaloes
bellowed, the wild geese stretched their necks and screamed; the deer,
the elk, and the antelopes were trembling, the otters and beavers dived
to the bottom of their pools, the monkeys were chattering from the tops
of their wire cages, the bears were all at the summit of their poles,
and the ducks and the geese whose wings were not cropped, were hoisting
themselves out of their element into quieter regions.
The whole establishment was thus in an instant "brushed up," and
in their excitement, prepared to be seen to the greatest possible
advantage; all upon their feet, and walking their cages to and fro,
seemingly as impatient to see what they seemed to know was coming, as
the visiting party was impatient to see them.
I explained to the Indians that the lion was the king of beasts--and
they threw tobacco before him as a sacrifice. The hyenas attracted
their attention very much, and the leopards and tigers, of the nature
of all of which I promised to give them some fuller account after we
got home. They met the panther, which they instantly recognized, and
the recognition would seem to have been mutual, from its evident alarm,
evinced by its hissing and showing its teeth. _Jim_ called for the
Doctor "to see his brother," the wolf. The Doctor's _totem_ or _arms_
was the wolf--it was therefore _medicine_ to him. The Doctor advanced
with a smile, and offering it his hand, with a smirk of recognition,
he began, in a low and soft tone, to howl like a wolf. All were quiet
a moment, when the poor animal was led away by the Doctor's "_distant
howlings_," until it raised up its nose, with the most pitiable looks
of imploration for its liberty, and joined him in the chorus. He turned
to us with an exulting smile, but to his "poor imprisoned brother,"
as he called it, with a tear in his eye, and a plug of tobacco in his
hand, which he left by the side of its cage as a _peace-offering_.
The ostrich (of which there was a noble specimen there) and the
kangaroo excited the admiration and lively remarks of the Indians; but
when they met the poor distressed and ragged prisoner, the buffalo
from their own wild and free prairies, their spirits were overshadowed
with an instant gloom; forebodings, perhaps, of their own approaching
destiny. They sighed, and even wept, for this worn veteran, and walked
on. With the bears they would have shaken hands, if they could have
done it, "and embraced them too," said the Little-wolf, "for he had
hugged many a one." They threw tobacco to the rattlesnake, which is
_medicine_ with them, and not to be killed. The joker, _Jim_, made
us white men take off our hats as we passed the beaver, for it was
his relation; and as he had learned a little English, when he heard
the ducks cry "quack," he pointed to them and told the Doctor to go
there--he was called for.
Thus rapid were the transitions from surprise to pity, and to mirth,
as we passed along, and yet to wonder and astonishment, which had been
reserved for the remotest and the last. Before the massive _elephant_
little or nothing was said; all hands were over their mouths; their
tobacco was forgotten, they walked quietly away, and all of us being
seated under an arbour, to which we were conducted, our kind guide
said to Jeffrey, "Tell the Indians that the immense arch they see now
over their heads is made of the jaw-bones of a whale, and they may now
imagine themselves and the whole party sitting in its mouth." "Well,
now," said Jeffrey, "you don't say so?" "Yes, it's even so." "Well,
I declare! why, the elephant would be a mere baby to it." Jeffrey
explained it to the Indians, and having risen from their seats, and
being satisfied, by feeling it, that it was actually bone, they wished
to go home, and "see the rest at a future time." We were then near the
gate, where we soon took our carriage, and returned to their quarters
in St. James's Street.