KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



79 



intuition, her every wish, her every thought ; 

 and her loving commands are instantaneously 

 obeyed. Her gentle will is law. She asks 

 apparent impossibilities, yet are her wishes 

 immediately complied with. What she does 

 not know herself, her birds can tell her rea- 

 dily. The philosophers who see these things, 

 must be puzzled, — nay, must confess them- 

 selves to be beaten. Mind and matter are 

 here divisible — divided. The bird thinks, 

 acts, and performs what we may justly call 

 a miracle. Madlle. Emilie's triumph is com- 

 plete. All she does is successful. There is 

 no noise, no attempt at deception, ro strain- 

 ing after stage effect ; — all is perfect repose. 

 Like a fairy princess, with her little wand 

 she fairly takes all hearts by storm. Ours 

 fell with the rest. We died without a 

 struggle ! 



The scene of action was Willis's Rooms ; 

 the founder of the feast, the ever-enter- 

 prising Mr. Mitchell. At the upper end of 

 the apartment selected for the exhibition, 

 was a raised platform. Here, on a table, 

 was placed a long and elegant cage, con- 

 taining eight birds. The cage was divided 

 down its entire length, into eight compart- 

 ments, each compartment having its allotted 

 inmate. There were — a Java sparrow, a 

 goldfinch, a canary, a coral bill, two chaf- 

 finches, a siskin, and a cardinal; of these, 

 three only were performers on the occasion 

 of our visit, viz. : — One of the chaffinches, 

 the siskin (or Aberdevine), and the cardinal. 

 This last was an elegant creature. 



To relate what these birds did, would be 

 impossible. It would puzzle us to say what 

 they did not do. A gentleman lent his 

 watch. The watch was shown to one of the 

 birds. He noted the exact time, and, at a 

 wish from his mistress, selected from a 

 mighty mass of cards all shuffled together, 

 — one card with " 25 " on it, for the minutes ; 

 and another with " 4 " on it, for the hour. 

 It was exactly 25 minutes past 4! These 

 cards were all put together en masse, in 

 a long row. They lay on their edges, and 

 were packed longitudinally in a frame. Any 

 other questions — and some singular ones 

 were propounded — were answered quickly, 

 and with the utmost intelligenceo There 

 were no failures. 



It was not merely " amusing " to note the 

 performances of these birds ; and the confi- 

 dence reposed in their powers by their 

 lovely mistress. The mind went far, very 

 far beyond this ; and we did not leave the 

 room without feeling ourselves really edified 

 by the exhibition. 



So well instructed are the troupe, that, 

 with their bill, they draw the required card 

 out of the pack with the most determined 

 energy — turning it round afterwards (with a 

 coolness and strength almost incredible), in 



order that the visitors may satisfy them- 

 selves by ocular demonstration, that there is 

 " nothing of the humbug" about them. 

 As for Madlle. V., she alone is a host ; a 

 Bird of Paradise, surrounded by the birds 

 of earth. Long life to her and her amiable 

 little company ! 



THE INDIA-RUBBER TREE OF BRAZIL. 



The caoutchouc tree grows, in general, to the 

 height of forty or fifty feet without branches ; 

 then branching, runs up fifteen feet higher. 

 The leaf is about six inches long, thin, and 

 shaped like that of a peach tree. The trees 

 show their working by the number of knots 

 or bunches, made by tapping ; and a singular 

 fact is, that when most tapped, they give 

 more milk or sap. As the time of operating 

 is early day, before sunrise the tappers are 

 at hand. The blacks are first sent through 

 the forest, armed with a quantity of soft 

 clay and a small pick-axe. On coming to 

 one of the trees, a portion of the clay is 

 formed into a cup, and stuck to the trunk. 

 The black then striking his pick over the 

 cup, the sap oozes out slowly, a tree giving 

 out daily about a gill. The tapper con- 

 tinues in this way, tapping, perhaps, fifty 

 trees, when he returns, and with a jar 

 passing over the same ground, empties his 

 cups. So, by seven o'clock, the blacks come 

 in with their jars, ready for working. The 

 sap at this stage resembles milk in appear- 

 ance, and somewhat in taste. It is also 

 frequently drunk with perfect safety. If 

 left standing now, it will curdle like milk, 

 disengaging a watery substance like whey. 

 Shoemakers now arrange themselves to form 

 the gum. Seated in the shade with a large 

 pan of milk on one side, and on the other a 

 flagon, in which is burned a nut, peculiar to 

 this country, emitting a dense smoke, the 

 operator having his last, or form, held by a 

 long stick or handle, previously besmeared 

 with a soft clay (in order to slip off the shoe 

 when finished), holds it over the pan, and 

 pouring on the milk until it is covered, sets 

 the coating in the smoke, then giving it a 

 second coat, repeats the smoking ; and so on 

 with a third and a fourth, until the shoe is 

 of the required thickness, averaging from six 

 to twelve coats. 



When finished, the shoes on the forms are 

 placed in the sun the remainder of the day 

 to drip. Next day, if required, they may 

 be figured, being so soft that any impression 

 will be indelibly received. The natives are 

 very dexterous in this work. With a quill and 

 a sharp-pointed stick they will produce finely- 

 lined leaves and flowers, such as you may 

 have seen on the shoes, in an incredibly 

 short space of time. After remaining on the 



