The Palace and Park: Its Natural History, and Its Portrait Gallery, Together with a Description of the Pompeian CourtLatham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
History
The Palace and Park: Its Natural History, and Its Portrait Gallery, Together with a Description of the Pompeian Court
Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
Crystal Palace (Sydenham, London, England)
Nearer to the staircase, and adjoining the Australians, is a group of
Papuans from the Louisiade Archipelago, remarkable by their curious
frizzled hair; they are neither Malays nor Negroes, but a mixed race
between these two, retaining the characteristics of the tribes from
which they have sprung; hence they may be called Malay-Negroes. Behind
them is a fine Cassowary, a curious bird, indigenous to the Indian
Archipelago.
On the left-hand of the visitor, as he stands opposite the Australian
figures, is arranged a group of Botocudos, inhabitants of that district
in South America watered by the rivers Doce and Pardo. They have been
regarded as the fiercest of American savages; they are yellow in colour,
their hair is long and lank, their eyes are small, their cheek-bones
prominent, the expression of their countenance excessively savage; and
they give themselves a still wilder appearance by the insertion of
pieces of hard wood in the under lip and in the ears, distending the
flesh in a peculiar and strange manner. From this barbarous practice
they derived their appellation of Botocudos, from the Portuguese. The
operation of thus distending the lip is not, of course, carried out at
once, but from infancy by the gradual increase in size of the piece of
wood inserted. This may be noticed in the model of the child as compared
with the adult natives. Missionary efforts, it is consolatory to think,
have done something towards civilising these savages, who have been
induced to become industrious, and to turn their attention to the
cultivation of the soil. On the summit of the rockwork, over where three
of the natives appear to be in council, are two fine specimens of the
Black Jaguar and the Ocelot.
We now pass a case of birds belonging to North America, and at this
point the illustrations of that country commence. In the centre of this
case will be remarked a fine specimen of the Wild Turkey, from which our
domestic breed is derived. On the left of this path is a group of North
American Red Indians engaged in a war-dance, and surrounded by trees and
shrubs indigenous to North America. The Indians of the valley of the
Mississippi, and of the _drainage_ of the Great Lakes, supply us with
our current ideas of the so-called Red Man, or the Indian of the New
World. In stature they are above the middle height, and exhibit great
muscular force, their powers of endurance being very great; in temper
they are harsh, stoical, and unsociable, whilst in warfare they are
savage and cruel. The general physiognomy of the Red Indians is the same
from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic. Between the Alleghanies and
the Atlantic, the first-known country of these tribes, the variety is
now nearly extinct. The most conspicuous plants are the American
Rhododendrons, the Kalmias, the Andromedas, and the American Arbor Vitæ.
Amongst the foliage we see the Black Bear, the Otter, the Beaver, the
Grey Squirrel, and other animals indigenous to the country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account