Adventures of the Ojibbeway and Ioway Indians in England, France, and Belgium; Vol. 2 (of 2): being Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe with his North American Indian CollectionCatlin, George
History
Adventures of the Ojibbeway and Ioway Indians in England, France, and Belgium; Vol. 2 (of 2): being Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe with his North American Indian Collection
Catlin, George
England -- Description and travel; France -- Description and travel; Indians of North America
In the _Regalia Room_, the crown of her Majesty and four other crowns,
the sceptres and staffs, and orbs, swords of justice, swords of
mercy, royal spurs, salts, baptismal fonts, &c., in massive gold and
brilliant stones, seemed rather to disappoint than to astonish them;
and to us, who knew better than they did the meaning and value of these
magnificent treasures, there seemed a striking incongruity in the
public exhibition of them in so confined and humble an apartment.
The _Thames Tunnel_ was our next object, and a drive of a quarter of an
hour brought us to the dismal neighbourhood of its entrance. Paying our
fees, and descending some hundred or more steps by a spiral staircase,
we were ready to enter the tunnel. Walking through its gloomy halls,
and spending a few shillings for toys protruded under our faces at
every rod we advanced, by young women sitting at their little stalls
under each of its arches, we at length ascended an equal number of
steps, and came to the light of day on the opposite side of the Thames;
and in the midst of one of the most unintelligible, forlorn, and
forsaken districts of London or the world, we waited half an hour or
more for our omnibus to make its circuit across the bridge and take us
up. We sauntered and loitered our way through, and as long as we were
passing this monster speculation of the world, we met, to the best of
our recollection, but four or five persons passing through, who had
paid their penny a-head for the privilege.
While waiting for the bus, some "on-the-spot" remarks were made by the
Indians, which I thought had some sound sense in them. They thought it
must have cost a great deal of money, and believed it was too far out
of London ever to pay; and they did not see that it was any curiosity
for them, as they had passed through several on the railway ten times
as long. They did not think, however, that it need be time and money
thrown away, as "they thought it might make a first-rate place to twist
ropes." These and other remarks they were making about the great tunnel
as we were jogging along towards home, and evidently somewhat surprised
that we should have excited their curiosity so high about it.
On our return, after this fatiguing day's work was finished, their
dinner was ready; and after that their pipe was smoked, a nap taken,
and then their accustomed amusements in the Egyptian Hall. Their supper
was the next thing, and with it their mug of _chickabobboo_, then their
pipe, passing around as they all reclined on their buffalo robes on the
floor, and then began the gossip about the sights they had seen and
incidents they had witnessed during the day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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