Not only are all these works of art exhibited gratis by the
public-spirited habiters of Chatham Street and the Bowery, but they have
an infinity of other exhibitions, which cannot be classified as either
gratuitous, theatrical or amphitheatrical, to see which a fee is
demanded, moderate but peremptory, trifling but inevitable.
These consist principally of ferocious beasts captured by heroic men,
and brought from their native fastnesses to astonish the city people--of
deformed and monstrous beings which should be human, but whom nature has
sent into the world destitute of arms or legs, or vital organs, the lack
of which makes these curtailed individuals objects of wonder, of
mystery, and of three-cent speculation--and of various animals, human
and otherwise, trained to perform unheard of feats of strength, agility,
or juggling sleight.
The whereabouts of these interesting prodigies is made known by huge
paintings on nobody-knows-how-many square yards of canvass; and
generally by a decrepit hurdy-gurdy played in a masterly manner by the
enterprising proprietor, who occasionally varies his performance by
reciting at the top of his voice the leading attractions of his
exhibitions, and extending to the bystanders a general invitation to
walk in, and get their money's worth.
Reader, whose dainty musical and dramatic tastes, our theatrical and
operatic managers fail to gratify; who have laughed your fill at
Burton, and at Forrester; who have tired of Vestvali, Steffanone,
D'Ormy, and the rest; who have grown sick of Badiali, impatient of
Brignoli, and tired of both; who have ceased to interest yourself in the
"Happy Family" either at the Academy of Music or at Barnam's; whose
sickened ear is fatigued with the burnt-cork lyrics of Christy, Buckley,
and their sooty accomplices in questionable harmonies; you, who know
every inch in the circle of fashionable amusement, and long for some
novelty to break the monotony of the tedious track; pray discard the
Shanghae coat, don a more sensible and less noticeable garb, step from
the Broadway sphere to the Bowery precincts, and there look upon wonders
hitherto unknown, and which will heartily astonish your bewildered
optics.
Let us begin with the Anacondas, and the "only living Rhinoceros;" let
me speak, and you hold your breath, and marvel.
Pause ere you enter the apartment containing these prodigies of Natural
History--these dread-inspiring denizens of the mighty rivers and
impenetrable morasses of the tropics, examine carefully the gorgeous
painting which decks the outside of the building. How majestic in
design! how masterly in the execution! Criticism is silent, and we can
only speak to commend.
Observe the brilliancy of the coloring; the vivid red and yellow spots
upon the serpents, which wind their powerful folds about that noble
charger--(you thought it was a windmill? No, Sir! I have inspected it
carefully, and I am positive it is intended for a horse.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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