672 THE GEOEGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 



and. subjected him to curious remarks amongst the ladies. He had loaded on all his 

 wampum and other ornaments, and smiled* away the hours in perfect happiness, as 

 he was fanning himself with the tail of a war eagle, and bowing his head to the young 

 and beautiful ladies who were helping him to lemonade and blanc mange, and to the 

 young men who were inviting him to the table to take an occasional glass of the 

 " Queen's cMcJcaloiboo." Their heavy buffalo robes were distressing to them (said 

 the Doctor) in the great heat of the rooms, " but then, as the ladies were afraid of 

 getting paint on their dresses, they did not squeeze so hard against us as they did 

 against the other people in the room, so we did not get so hot as we might have been." 

 It amused the Doctor and Jim very much to see the gentlemen take the ladies by 

 the waist when they were dancing with them, probably never having seen waltzing 

 before, They were pleased also, as the Doctor said, with " the manner in which the 

 ladies showed their beautiful white necks and arms, but they saw several that they 

 thought had better been covered." "The many nice and sweet and frothy little 

 things that the ladies gave them in tea-saucers to eat, with little spoona, were too 

 sweet, and they did not like them much ; and in coming away they were sorry they 

 could not find the good lady to thank her, the crowd was so great ; but the chicka- 

 bobboo (champagne), which was very good, was close to the door, and a j'oxmg man 

 with yellow hair and moustaches kept pouring it out until they were afraid, if they 

 drank any more, some of the poor fellows who were dancing so hard would get none," 



THE king's f£;te. 



It has been said, and very correctly, that there is no end to the amusements of 

 Paris ; and to the Indians, to whose sight everything was new and curious, the term 

 no doubt more aptly applied than to the rest of the world. Of those never-ending 

 sights there was one now at hand which was promising them and " all the world" a 

 fund of amusement, and the poor fellows were impatient for its arrival. This splen- 

 did and all-exciting affair was the King's fete on the 1st of May, 184-, his birthday, as 

 some style it, though it is not exactly such ; it is the day fixed upon as the annual 

 celebration of his birth. This was, of course, a holiday to the Indians, as well as for 

 everybody else, and I resolved to spend the greater part of it with them. 



Through the aid of some friends I had procured an order to admit the party of In- 

 dians into the apartments of the Duke d'Aumale in the Tuileries, to witness the 

 grand concert in front of the palace, and to see the magnificent fireworks and illu- 

 mination on the Seine at night. We had the best possible position assigned us in the 

 wiug of the palace overlooking the river in both directions, up and do^n, bringing 

 all the bridges of the Seine, the Deputies, and Invalides, and other public buildings, 

 which were illuminated, directly under our eyes. During the day Mr. Melody and 

 Jeffrey and Daniel had taken, as they called it, "a grand drive " to inspect the vari- 

 ous places of amusement and the immense concourse of people assembled in them. 

 Of these, the Barri^res, the Champs Elys^es, &c., they were obliged to take but a 

 passing glance, for to have undertaken to stop and to mix with the dense crowds as- 

 sembled in them would have been dangerous, even to their lives, from the masses of 

 people who would have crowded upon them. The Indians themselves were very sa- 

 gacious on this point, and always judiciously kept at a reasonable distance on such 

 occasions. It was amusement enough for them during the day to ride rapidly about 

 and through the streets, anticipating the pleasure they were to have in the evening, 

 and taking a distant view from their carriages of the exciting emulation of the May- 

 polo and a glance at the tops of the thousand booths and " flying ships " and "merry- 

 go-rounds " of the Champs Elys6es. 



SCENE FROM THE TUILERIES. 



At 6 o'clock we took our carriages and drove to the Tuileries, and, being con- 

 ducted to the splendid apartments of the Duke d'Aumale, who was then absent from 

 Paris, we had there, from the windows looking down upon the Seine and over the 



