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
"My Friends (said he), the Great Spirit has caused your hearts to be
thus kind to us, and we hope the Great Spirit will not allow us to
forget it. We are thankful to all your friends whom we see around you
also, and we hope the Great Spirit will be kind to you all.
"My friend the chief wishes to shake hands with you all, and then we
will bid you farewell."
The kindest wishes were expressed, in reply to the old man's remarks,
for their health and happiness; and after a general shaking of hands we
took leave, and our omnibus, for St. James's Street.
The usual dinner hour of the Indians was just at hand when they
returned, which was a joyful occurrence for the Doctor, who had, at
some inconvenience, been endeavouring to practise Indian and civilized
gentility at one and the same time. He smiled when dinner came on, and
others smiled to see him endeavouring to mend the breach that had been
made.
The excitements of this day had put the Indians in remarkably good
humour for their evening's amusements at the Hall, which they gave to
a crowded house, and, as usual, with great applause. The "jolly fat
dame" was there as she had promised, still admiring, and still "quite
miserable that she could not speak to them in their own language, or
something that they could understand." Daniel had taken a private
opportunity to tell the Doctor the whole story of her attachment to
Cadotte, and to assure him, at the same time, of her _extraordinary_
admiration of him, the evidence of which was, that "she had made him
the first present, after which all others were mere foils." The Doctor
took a peculiar liking to Daniel from that moment, and little else than
a lasting friendship could be expected to flow from such a foundation
as was then so kindly laid. This most welcome information had been
communicated to the Doctor's ear on the evening previous, and he had
now come prepared to present her (with his own hand, and the most
gracious smile, and at the end of the platform) a string of wampum from
his own neck, and a _white feather_ with two spots of red painted on
it, to which he pointed with great energy, and some expression that
she heard, but did not understand. The "_fair dame_" held her exciting
present in her hand during the evening, with some little occasional
trepidation, expecting to draw from Daniel some key to the meaning of
the mysterious gift as she was leaving the rooms. This hope proved
vain, however; for Daniel, it seems, was not yet deep enough in Indian
mysteries to answer her question, and she carried the present home,
with its mysterious meaning, to ruminate upon until the riddle could be
solved.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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