The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 3, March, 1862Various
History
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 3, March, 1862
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Periodicals
'Gen-till-men, do me the playshure to gaze within this first hole. 'Tis
the be-yu-ti-fool land of Sweet-sir-land. Vi-yew from the some-mut of
the Riggy Cool'm. Day break-in' in the dis-tant yeast. He has a blan-kit
round him, sir; for it is cold upon the moun-tin tops at break of day.
[Madame, the stupen-doss irrup-tion of Ve-soov-yus is two holes from the
corner.]
'Gen-till-men, do me the play-zure to gaze upon the second hole. 'Tis
Flor-renz the be-yu-ti-fool, be the bangs off the flowin' Arno. 'Twas
here that--'
'No matter about all that,' said Caper; 'show off America to us.' He
slipped a couple of _pauls_ into his hand, and instantly the Venerable
skipped four moons.
'Gen-till-men, do me the play-zure to gaze upon this hole. 'Tis the
be-yu-ti-fool city of Nuova Jorck in Ay-mer-i-kay, with the
flour-ish-ing cities of Brook-lyn, Nuova Jer-sais, and Long Is-lad. The
impo-sing struc-ture of rotund form is the Gr-rand Coun-cill Hall
con-tain-ing the coun-cill chamber of the Amer-i-can nations.... [You
say it is the Bat-tai-ree? It may be the Bat-tai-ree.] _What is that
road in Broo-klin_? that is the ra'l-road to Nuova Or-lins di-rect.
_What is that wash-tub_? "Tis not a wash-tub--'tis a stim-boat. They
make the stim out of coal, which is found on the ground. _Is that the
Ay-mer-i-cain eagill_? 'Tis not; 'tis a hoarse-fly which has
in-tro-doo-ced hisself behind the glass. _Are those savages in Nuova
Jer-sais_? (New Jersey.) Those are trees.'
'Pass on, illustrious gen-till-men, to the next hole. 'Tis the
be-yu-ti-fool city of Filadelfia. The houses here are all built of
woo-ood. The two rivaires that cir-cum-vent the city are the Lavar
(Delaware?) and the Hud-soon. I do not know what is "a pum-king cart,"
but the car-riage which you see before you is a fi-ah engine, be-cause
the city is all built of woo-ood. The tall stee-ple belongs to the
kay-ker (Quaker) temple of San Cristo.'
Rocjean now gave the Venerable a _paul_, requesting him to dwell at
length upon these scenes, as he was a Frenchman in search of a little of
geography.
'Excellencies, I will do my en-dea-vors. The gran-diose ship as lies in
the Lavar (Delaware) riv-aire is fool of em-i-gr-rants. The signora
de-scen-din' the side of the ship is in a dreadful sit-u-a-tion tru-ly.
[Per-haps the artist was in a boat and de-scri-bed the scene as he saw
it.] The elephant you see de-scen-din' the street is a nay-tive of this
tropi-cal re-gion, and the cock-a-toos infest the sur-round-in' air. The
Moors you see along the wharves are the spon-ta-ne-ous born of the soil.
Those are kay-kers (Quakers?) on mules with broad-brimmed hats onto
their heads; the sticks in their hands are to beat the Moors who live on
their su-gar plan-tay-tions.... Music? did you ask, Madame? We have none
in this establish-ment. Kone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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