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
"Well, Jim," said I, "what do you think of the King, Louis Philippe?"
He reached for the pipe, and taking a puff or two handed it to the
Doctor, and rolling over on to his back, and drawing up his knees,
said, "I think he is a great man and a very good man. I believe he is a
much greater chief than the Queen of England, and that he governs his
people much better, because we don't see so many poor people in the
streets--we think that his people all have enough to eat. His wigwam
is very grand and very bright, and his _chickabobboo_ the best that
we have had. We did not see the King with his fine dress on, but as
his servants all around him were beautifully dressed, like gentlemen,
we know that the King and Queen must look very elegant when they are
in full dress. We saw the King's two sons, and he told us that his
grandson was to be the King when he dies--now we don't understand
this!" It seemed that his teacher, Daniel, had overlooked the _doctrine
of descents_ during their close investigations of the statistics and
politics of England, and the poor fellow was yet quite in the dark
to know "how a grandson (a mere child) would be taken in case of the
King's death, instead of one of his sons, either of whom he said he
thought would make a very good king if he would take a trip for a year
or two, as his father did, on the Mississippi and Missouri, amongst
the different tribes of Indians." This was considered a pretty clever
thing for Jim to say, and it raised a laugh amongst the Indians; he
was encouraged to go on, and turned his conversation upon the gold and
silver medals, with which he was very much pleased. They were delighted
with the idea that the King's portrait was on one side, and that he
was to have their names engraved on the other; and they were not less
delighted when I told them that the gentleman who had come in with me
and was now sitting by my side, had come from the King to bear them
some other token of his Majesty's attachment to them. The object of
his visit being thus made known to them, he turned out into the lap
of the chief 500 francs to be divided according to their custom. This
of course put a stop to conversations about descents and Palaces,
&c., for the time, and all went to counting until it was divided into
thirteen parcels, one of which for the interpreter. Jeffrey, however,
very kindly surrendered his share, and insisted that they should divide
it all amongst themselves. It was accordingly made into twelve parcels,
each one, old and young, taking an equal share, according to the Indian
mode of dividing in all the tribes I have visited.
The War-chief rose and addressed the young man who was commissioned to
bear the present to them:--
"My Friend, we have seen your King (our Great Father) this day, and
our hearts were made glad that we were allowed to see his face. We
now receive the token of his friendship which he has sent through
your hands, and our hearts are again glad. ('_How, how, how!_')
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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