228 WAXDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



When you go to Philadelphia, be sure not 

 to forget to visit the Museum. It will afford 

 you a great treat. Some of Mr. Peale's family are con- 

 stantly in it, and are ever ready to show the curiosities 

 to- strangers, and to give them every necessary informa- 

 tion. Mr. Peale has now passed his eightieth year, and 

 appears to possess the vivacity, and, I may almost add, 

 the activity of youth. 



To the indefatigable exertions of this gentleman is 

 the western world indebted for the possession of this 

 splendid museum. Mr. Peale is, moreover, an excellent 

 artist. Look attentively, I pray you, at the portrait he 

 has taken of himself, by desire of the State of Penn- 

 sylvania. On entering the room he appears in the act 

 of holding up a curtain to show you his curiosities. 

 The effect of the light upon his head is infinitely 

 striking. I have never seen anything finer in the way 

 of light and shade. The skeleton of the mammoth is 

 a national treasure. I could form but a faint idea of it 

 by description, until I had seen it. It is the most 

 magnificent skeleton in the world. The city ought 

 never to forget the great expense Mr. Peale was put to, 

 and the skill and energy he showed, during the many 

 months he spent in searching the swamps, where these 

 enormous bones had been concealed from the eyes of 

 the world for centuries. 



The extensive squares of this city are ornamented 

 with well-grown and luxuriant trees. Its unremitting 

 American attention to literature might cause it to be 

 literature. styled the Athens of the United States. 

 Here, learning and science have taken up their abode. 

 The literary and philosophical associations, the enthu- 

 siasm of individuals, the activity of the press, and the 



