KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



241 



THE ORIGINAL ARTIST. 



In every secret glance he stole, 

 The fond enthusiast sent his soul. 



Scott. 



/NE fair and very warm raorn- 

 (^^frT\ ing, as I was lounging on 

 • Hta;\ the Levee at New Orleans, 

 I chanced to observe a gen- 

 tleman whose dress and other 

 accompaniments greatly at- 

 tracted my attention. I 

 wheeled about, and followed 

 him for a short space, when, judging by 

 everything about him that he was a true 

 original, I accosted him. But here, kind 

 reader, let me give you some idea of his 

 exterior. His head was covered by a straw 

 hat, the brim of which might cope with those 

 worn by the fair sex in 1830 ; his neck was 

 exposed to the weather ; the broad frill of a 

 shirt, then fashionable, flapped about his 

 breast ; whilst an extraordinary collar, care- 

 fully arranged, fell over the top of his coat. 

 The latter was of a light green color, harmo- 

 nising well with a pair of flowing yellow nan- 

 keen trousers, and a pink waistcoat, from the 

 bosom of which, amidst a large bunch of 

 the splendid flowers of the Magnolia, pro- 

 truded part of a young alligator, which 

 seemed more anxious to glide through the 

 muddy waters of some retired swamp than to 

 spend its life swinging to and fro among folds 

 of the finest lawn. 



The gentleman held in one hand a cage full 

 of richly-plumed nonpareils, whilst in the 

 other he sported a silk umbrella, on which 

 I could plainly read, " Stolen from /," these 

 words being painted in large white characters. 

 He walked as if conscious of his own impor- 

 tance, that is, with a good deal of pomposity, 

 singing, " My love she's but a lassie yet," 

 and with such thorough imitation of the 

 Scotch emphasis, that had not his physiog- 

 nomy brought to my mind a denial of his 

 being from " within a mile of Edinburgh," 

 I should have put him down in my journal 

 for a true Scot. But no : — his tournure, nay, 

 the very shape of his visage, pronounced him 

 an American, from the farthest parts of 

 our eastern Atlantic shores. 



All this raised my curiosity to such a 

 height, that I accosted him with — " Pray, Sir, 

 will you allow me to examine the birds you 

 have in that cage ? " The gentleman stopped, 

 straightened his body, almost closed his 

 left eye, then spread his legs apart, and, 

 with a look altogether quizzical, answered, 

 " Birds, Sir, did you say birds ? " I nodded, 

 and he continued, " What do you know 

 about birds, Sir ? " 



Reader, this answer brought a blush into 

 my face. I felt as if caught in a trap, for I 

 was struck by the force of the gentleman's 

 question ; which, by the way, was not much 



in discordance with a not unusual mode of 

 granting an answer in the United States. 

 Sure enough, thought I, little or perhaps 

 nothing do I know of the nature of those 

 beautiful denizens of the air ; but the next 

 moment vanity gave me a pinch, and urged 

 me to conceive that I knew at least as much 

 about birds as the august personage in my 

 presence. " Sir," I replied, "lama student 

 of nature, and admire her works — from the 

 noblest figure of man to the crawling reptile 

 which you have in your bosom." "Ah!" 

 replied he, "a-a-a naturalist. I presume!" 

 "Just so, my good Sir," was my answer. 

 The gentleman gave me the cage ; and I ob- 

 served from the corner of one of my eyes, 

 that his were cunningly inspecting my face. 

 I examined the pretty finches as long as I 

 wished, returned the cage, made a low bow, 

 and was about to proceed on my walk ; when 

 this odd sort of being asked me a question 

 quite accordant with my desire of knowing 

 more of him. " Will you come with me 

 Sir ? If you will, you shall see some more 

 curious birds, some of which are from differ- 

 ent parts of the world. I keep quite a collec- 

 tion." I assured him that I should feel gra- 

 tified, and accompanied him to his lodging. 



We entered a long room ; there, to my 

 surprise, the first objects that attracted my 

 attention were a large easel, with a full- 

 length unfinished portrait upon it, a table 

 with pallets and pencil, and a number of 

 pictures of various sizes placed along the 

 walls. Several cages containing birds were 

 hung near the windows, and two young 

 gentlemen were busily engaged in copying 

 some finished portraits. I was delighted with 

 all I saw. Each picture spoke for itself; the 

 drawing, the coloring, the handling, the com- 

 position, and the keeping all proved, that, who- 

 ever was the artist, he certainly was possessed 

 of superior talents. 



I did not know if my companion was the 

 painter of the picture, but, as we say in 

 America, I strongly guessed ; and, without 

 waiting any longer, paid him the compli- 

 ments which I thought he fairly deserved. 

 " Aye," said he, "the world is pleased with 

 my work ; I wish I were so too, but time 

 and industry are required, as well as talents, 

 to make a good artist. If you will examine 

 the birds, I'll to my labor." So saying, the 

 artist took up his pallet, and was searching 

 for a rest-stick, but not finding the oie with 

 -which he usually supported his hand, he drew 

 the rod of a gun, and was about to sit ; when 

 he suddenly threw down his implements on, 

 the table, and, taking the gun, walked to me, 

 and asked me " if I had ever seen a percus- 

 sion-lock." I had not, for that improvement 

 was not yet in vogue. He not only explained 

 the superiority of the lock in question, but 

 undertook to prove that it was capable of 



Vol. V.— 16. 



=:-.: 



