JET. 28.] TO MRS. TORREY. 161 



TO MRS. TORREY. 



Wednesday evening. . . . There is little danger of 

 my being spoiled in Paris by being overpolished. In 

 London one must take care to be always comme il 

 f aut. There I took pains to keep myself rather spruce, 

 which I have continued here from the mere force of 

 habit ! ! ! But gentlemen in Paris dress anyhow ; they 

 don't pay half the attention to the matter it receives 

 in England ; with the ladies it is perhaps different, 

 but here I scarcely ever see ladies except in the 

 streets or shops and restaurants ! At the houses of 

 botanists I have only seen Mme. Gay, a very plain 

 and good-natured Swiss lady. As to parlez-vous-ing, 

 it is not such an easy matter, I assure you. You would 

 laugh most heartily to see me in the botanic gallery 

 of the Jardin des Plantes, endeavoring to carry on 

 a conversation with Gaudichaud or Decaisne ; the 

 former of whom can scarcely read English, and the 

 latter can speak only a dozen words. I get out, with 

 no little difficulty, a few sentences of such French as 

 has not been heard since the days of King Pepin, I 

 am sure ; and when that fails me I write in English, 

 which Decaisne can read, and make him write in 

 French in return, or else for short sentences speak 

 very slowly and distinctly. ,From my ignorance of 

 the language I am obliged to take great pains when I 

 wish to purchase anything from the shops ; for it is 

 customary to put on an additional price to English 

 customers. Fortunately my complexion and the style 

 of my countenance are so far French that before I 

 speak I am generally taken for a native, and I some- 

 times manage to make purchases without saying a 

 word beyond a monosyllable. So I have to be very 

 careful to avoid being cheated ; but I am every day 

 acquiring more knowledge and experience. 



