BOllN BLIND AND DEAF. 71 



the second, of the common speech on the fingers. But how 

 great an acquisition would the principal language alone be, 

 without any such auxiliaries ! 



Several circumstances occurred, during my visit, which 

 shew, how perfectly susceptible he is of pleasure from joking, 

 or playing with him, or from any thing ludicrous in the ideas 

 communicated to him. Twice or thrice when his sister per- 

 ceived that he was crossing the room to go away, she stepped 

 to the door unperceived by him, to prevent his escape. When 

 he found her there before him, he stepped back smiling, and 

 seemed to take this sort of teazing in perfect good humour. 

 I had given him my whip, with which he seemed pleased ; and 

 once or twice his sister took him by surprise, and pulled it 

 smartly out of his hand. He immediately shewed by his 

 smiles that he knew who had robbed him ; and quickly catch- 

 ing his sister, he endeavoured to wrest the whip from her. 

 The joke obviously amused him very much j but Miss Mit- 

 chell assured me, that it would have given him offence to 

 have repeated it more frequently. An uncommonly large 

 Newfoundland dog, belonging to a gentleman who accompa- 

 nied me, had got into the room ; and nothing could be more 

 expressive of surprise than young Mitchell's countenance, 

 when he first felt this animal. His sister observing this, im- 

 mediately, with great quickness, took hold of his arm, and 

 stretched it above his head, a sign which, it seems, he uses to 

 denote mounting a horse. He instantly understood her mean- 

 ing, and laughing, made a motion as if he would bestride the 

 dog. 



New clothes are still among Mitchell's greatest sources of 

 delight. After his measure has been taken, it would seem 

 that every hour is full of anxiety until the new suit is in his 



possession. 



