THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 653 



Rooms had been prepared for the exhibitions of the Indians in the rotunda, and on 

 the second night after their arrival they commenced with a respectable audience, and 

 all seemed delighted and surprised with their picturesque effect. 



There was much applause from the audience, but no speeches from the Indians, 

 owing to their fatigue or to the fact that they had not yet rode about the city to see 

 anything to speak about. They returned from their exhibition to their apartments, 

 and after their supper they were happy to find that their beefsteaks were good, and 

 that they had found again the London chickabobboo. 



DUBLIN — AMUSIKG SCENE. 



A very amusing scene occurred during the exhibition, which had greatly excited 

 the Indians, though they had but partially understood it, and now called upon me to 

 explain it to them. While speaking of the modes of life of the Iowa Indians and 

 describing their way of catching the wild horses on the prairies, a dry and quizzical- 

 looking sort of man rose, and, apparently half drunk, excited the hisses of the audi- 

 ence whilst he was holding on to the end of a seat to steady him. It was difficult to 

 get him down, and I desired the audiencetolistento whathe hadtosay. "Ee — you'l 

 escuse me, sir, to e — yax e — yif you are ye man woo was lecturing e — year sometime 

 see — ynce, e — on ther Yindians and the — r wild e — yorses? — e — (hie) — e — and the — r 

 breathin, — ho — (hie) — e — in thee — ir noses ? " The excessive singularity of this fellow 

 set the whole house in a roar of laughter, and all felt disposed to hear him go on. 

 "Yes," I replied, "I am the same man." "Ee — e — r wal, sir, e — yerts all — (hie), 

 e — yits all gammon, sir, yer, y — ers (hie) yers tried it on two fillies, sir, e — yand — 

 (hie) yand it didn't se — seed, sir." The poor follow, observing the great amusement 

 of the ladies as he looked around the room, was at once disposed to be a little witty, 

 and proceeded : "Ee — (hie) — ye — yer tried it e — yon se — rl young ladies, e — yand (hie) 

 se — seded yerry well!" The poor fellow seemed contented with his wit thus far 

 rather than try to proceed further ; and he sat down amidst the greatest possible 

 amusement of the audience, many of whom, notwithstanding, did not seem to under- 

 stand his meaning, when I deemed it necessary to explain that he referred to my 

 account of Indians breaking wild horses by breathing in their noses, which it would 

 seem he had tried in vain, but by experimenting on young ladies he had met with 

 great success.* 



Nothing perhaps astonished them since they came into the country more than the 

 idea that a man is liable to severe punishment by the laws for shooting a deer a 

 rabbit, or a partridge, or for catching a fish out of a lake or a river, without a license, 

 for which he must pay a tax to the Government, and that then they can only shoot 

 upon certain grounds. The poor fellows at first treated the thing as rediculous and 

 fabulous ; but on being assured that such was the fiict, they were overwhelmed with 

 astonishment. "What !" asked one of them, "if a poor man is hungry and sees a fine 

 fish in the water, is he not allowed to spear it out and eat it ?" "No," said Daniel 

 "if he does he must go to jail, and pay a heavy fine besides. A man is not allowed to 

 keep a gun in his house without paying a tax to the Government for it, and if ho car- 

 ries a weapon in his pocket he is liable to a fine." " Why is that ?" " Because they 

 are afraid he will kill somebody with it." "What do you call a tax?" said Jim. 

 " Let that alone," said Daniel, " until we get home, and then I will tell you all about 

 it." Hero was a new field opening to their simple minds for contemplation upon the 

 beautiful mysteries and glories of civilization, in which a few hours of Daniel's lec- 

 tures would be sure to enlighten them. They dropped the subject here, however, and 

 took their carriage again for the city and their lodgings, laughing excessively as they 

 were returning, and long after they got back, at cabs they were constantly passing, 

 which they insisted on it had got turned around, and were going sideways.t When 

 they had returned and finished their first remarks about the curious things they had 



*See English experimenta in breaking horses by the Indian mode. Appendix B. 

 tQply to be appreciated by those who have seen the Dublin " cars." 



