THE EUROPEAN JOURNALS 307 



many opportunities of seeing him I will write more as I 

 become acquainted with him. After dinner Mr. Parker 

 and I went roving anywhere and everywhere, but as it 

 grew dark, and Paris is very badly lighted, little can I 

 say, more than that we saw the famous Palais Royal, and 

 walked along each of its four avenues. The place was 

 crowded, and filled with small shops, themselves filled with 

 all sorts of bagatelles. 



September 5. After breakfast, which was late but good, 

 consisting of grapes, figs, sardines, and French coffee, 

 Swainson and I proceeded to Les Jardins des Plantes, by 

 the side of the famous river Seine, which here, Lucy, is 

 not so large as the Bayou Sara, where I have often watched 

 the Alligators while bathing. Walking in Paris is disagree- 

 able in the extreme; the streets are paved, but with 

 scarcely a sidewalk, and a large gutter filled with dirty 

 black water runs through the centre of each, and the people 

 go about without any kind of order, in the centre, or near 

 the houses ; the carriages, carts, etc., do the same, and I 

 have wondered that so few accidents take place. We saw a 

 very ugly bridge of iron called the Pont Neuf, and the 

 splendid statue of Henri Ouatre. We were, however, more 

 attracted by the sight of the immense numbers of birds 

 offered for sale along the quays, and some were rare 

 specimens. A woman took us into her house and showed 

 us some hundreds from Bengal and Senegal, and I assure 

 thee that we were surprised. We proceeded to our ap- 

 pointment with Baron Cuvier, who gave us tickets for the 

 Musee, and promised all we could wish. At the Musee 

 M. Valenciennes ^ was equally kind. Having a letter for 

 M. Geoffroy de St. Hilaire,^ we went to his house in the 

 Jardins, and with him we were particularly pleased. He 

 proved to me that he understood the difference in the ideas 

 of the French and English perfectly. He repeated the 



1 Achille Valenciennes, born 1794, French naturalist. 



2 £tienne Geoffroy de St. Hilaire, 1772-1844, French naturalist. 



