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
It has been said, and very correctly, that there is no end to the
amusements of Paris, and to the Indians, to whose sight every thing was
new and curious, the term, no doubt, more aptly applied than to the
rest of the world. Of those never-ending sights there was one now at
hand which was promising them and "all the world" a fund of amusement,
and the poor fellows were impatient for its arrival. This splendid and
all-exciting affair was the King's fête on the 1st of May, his birthday
as some style it, though it is not exactly such, it is the day fixed
upon as the annual celebration of his birth. This was, of course, a
holiday to the Indians, as well as for everybody else, and I resolved
to spend the greater part of it with them.
Through the aid of some friends I had procured an order to admit the
party of Indians into the apartments of the Duke d'Aumale in the
Tuileries, to witness the grand concert in front of the Palace, and
to see the magnificent fireworks and illumination on the Seine at
night. We had the best possible position assigned us in the wing of
the Palace, overlooking the river in both directions, up and down,
bringing all the bridges of the Seine, the Deputies, and Invalides,
and other public buildings, which were illuminated, directly under our
eyes. During the day, Mr. Melody, and Jeffrey, and Daniel had taken,
as they called it, "a grand drive," to inspect the various places of
amusement, and the immense concourse of people assembled in them. Of
these, the Barrières, the Champs Elysées, &c., they were obliged to
take but a passing glance, for to have undertaken to stop and to mix
with the dense crowds assembled in them would have been dangerous, even
to their lives, from the masses of people who would have crowded upon
them. The Indians themselves were very sagacious on this point, and
always judiciously kept at a reasonable distance on such occasions.
It was amusement enough for them during the day to ride rapidly about
and through the streets, anticipating the pleasure they were to have
in the evening, and taking a distant view from their carriages, of
the exciting emulation of the _May-pole_, and a glance at the tops of
the thousand booths, and "flying ships," and "merry-go-rounds" of the
Champs Elysées.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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