NOTE-BOOK OF A NATUKALIST. 45 



birds themselves from their bedraggled and begrimed 

 plumage, or of the accidents of pitch and tar — that the 

 king might have well questioned the faith of those who 

 had filled his mind with the glories of this recipient of 

 the eyes of Argus, and his blood-drinker might have 

 been called into action. No, the train-feathers were 

 most wisely cut, and, with the birds, a well-executed 

 drawing of a peacock in all its glory was sent, and his 

 majesty was informed, that when they moulted, and the 

 new feathers came to perfection, the effect would be 

 similar to the drawing, but very superior. 



With the present, a letter — grandis epistola — was 

 sent, besealed and beribanded, together with a list of 

 the Society from which the present came. His majesty 

 listened in silence while one name well known to scien- 

 tific Europe after another was pronounced, and the king 

 made no sign ; but when that of Lord Palmerston was 

 enunciated, the royal voice interrupted the recitation of 

 the beadroll with, ' Ah, I know that man !' 



Then the peacocks were paraded, and, even in their 

 curtailed state, admired, and the king gave directions to 

 his Amazons to seek out a wild female elephant, with a 

 young one of an age fit to be separated from the mother ; 

 and when they had found her, their orders were to kill 

 the hapless parent and to save the offspring as a gift to 

 the Zoological Society of London. 



The lamented death of Mr. Duncan, who, take him all 

 in all, was, perhaps, the very man of all others for keeping 

 up our relations with this grim potentate, may possibly 

 act unfavourably for the interests of the Society, but we 

 have so much confidence in the energy of the manage- 

 ment, that we doubt not that this misfortune, great as it 

 is, will not be suffered long to cloud the fair prospects 

 which were opened to the longing eyes of naturalists and 

 the sight-seeing public. 



Just look at the announcement which the council of 



