THE EUROPEAN JOURNALS 



189 



table. Dr. Brewster and Mr. Allan wished the Academy 

 to subscribe for my work, and the committee retired to 

 act on this and other business. The meeting was very 

 numerous and no doubt very learned ; Sir William Jardine 

 and Mr. Selby arrived a little before the society was 

 seated. The door of the hall was thrown open and we all 

 marched in and seated ourselves on most slippery hair- 

 cloth seats. The room is rich and beautiful ; it is a large 

 oblong, the walls covered with brilliant scarlet paper in 

 imitation of morocco. The ceiling is painted to represent 

 oak panels. The windows are immensely large, framed to 

 correspond with the ceiling, and with green jalousies ; large 

 chandeliers, with gas, light every corner brilliantly. The 

 president sat in a large arm-chair lined with red morocco, 

 and after the minutes of the last meeting had been read, 



Professor gave us a long, tedious, and labored lecture 



on the origin of languages, their formation, etc. It seemed 

 a very poor mess to me, though that was probably be- 

 cause I did not understand it. My friend Ord would have 

 doubtless swallowed it whole, but I could make neither 

 head nor tail of it. A few fossil bones were then ex- 

 hibited, and then, thank heaven ! it was over. Sir William 

 Jardine brought some birds with him from Jardine Hall, 

 and to-morrow will see my style of posing them for paint- 

 ing. As I had promised to go to supper with Dr. Russell, 

 I left soon after ten, without knowing what decision the 

 committee had reached as to subscribing to my work. I 

 met several of the Academicians at Dr. Russell's, as well 

 as others whom I knew ; but I am more and more sur- 

 prised to find how little these men, learned as they are, 

 know of America beyond the situation of her principal 

 cities. We sat down to supper at eleven, — everything 

 magnificent ; but I was greatly fatigued, for I had been at 

 work since before five this morning, either painting or 

 writing or thinking hard. We left the table about one, and 

 I was glad to come home and shall now soon be asleep. 



