Although none of those seated at the table, opened their mouths for any
other purpose than to eat, Emanuel perceived, with some surprise,
that they were composed of many different nations, which was easily
discernible from the contour of their countenances. His _cicerone_
remarked his astonishment, and replying to his thought before he had
given utterance to it, said, with an American accent, which Emanuel had
already observed, and which proved that he who spoke to him was born on
the other side of the Atlantic: “Yes, yes, we have a tolerably pretty
sample of every nation in the world, and if all at once a good deluge
should carry off the children of Noah, as it formerly did those of Adam,
our ark could furnish people who speak every language. Do you observe
those three fellows who are exchanging a piece of roast beef for a
clove of garlick, they are lads from Galicia, whom we picked up at Cape
Ortegal, and who would not go into action without having said a prayer
to St Jago, of Corapostello, but who, when once their prayer is over,
would rather allow themselves to be cut in pieces, like martyrs, than
retreat a single step. Those two who are polishing their table at
the expense of their jacket-sleeves, are honest Dutchmen, who still
complain: of the injury done to their commerce by the discovery of the
Cape of Good Hope. You see them--at first sight they look like very
beer-pots. Well, those brave fellows, the moment they hear the drum beat
to quarters, become as active as monkeys; Go near them, and they will
talk to you about their ancestors; they will tell you they descend from
those famous sweepers of the sea, who when going into action, hoisted a
broom instead of a flag; but they will take good care not to inform you
that one fine morning the English took their broom, and made rods of it
to whip them with. That whole table, where they are chattering together
at such a rate, but in an under tone, is occupied by Frenchmen, who
would talk louder if they dared. The seat of honor is occupied by a
chief, elected by themselves; he is a Parisian by birth, a cosmopolite
from taste, a great master at the small sword, singlestick, and a
dancing-master to boot. Always gay and contented, he sings when he is
on duty, sings when he is fighting, and will die singing, unless a hemp
cravat should stop his voice, which may very likely happen to him should
he have the misfortune to fall into the hands of John Bull. Turn your
eyes to the other side now, and observe that row of square and idle
heads. These are strange faces to you, are they not? but which every
American born between Hudson’s Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, would
recognize at once for bears born on: the borders of Lake Erie, or
seals from Nova Scotia.. There are three, or four of them who are one
eyed--this arises from, their peculiar mode of fighting; they twist
their fingers in the hair of their antagonist, and gouge out his eye
with their thumbs. There are some of them who are very expert at this
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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