THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 577 



a copy of thein in the noble collection of Mr. Bally will, I hope, continue to be sub- 

 jects of interest and value. — G. C. 



Some of these casts are now in the U. S. National Museum. Mr. Cat- 

 lin used them for heads to his lay figures, described herein. 



THE INDIANS AT THE CATLIN GALLERY AND MUSEUM IN LONDON 



IN 1845. 



At Manchester he records the following amusing incident: 



In the midst of our success and of their amusement and enjoyment, an occurrence 

 took place that was near getting us into difficulty, as it raised a great excitement in 

 the neighborhood and no little alarm to many old women and little children. 



As I was leaving my exhibition-rooms one morning, I met, to my great surprise, an 

 immense crowd of people assembled in front, and the streets almost completely bar- 

 ricaded with the numbers that were rapidly gathering, and all eyes elevated towards 

 the roof of my building. I asked the first person I met what was the matter, sup- 

 posing that the house was on fire, to which he replied, "I believes, sir, that the Hop- 

 jib be-ways has got loose; I knows that some on 'em is hout, for I seed one on 'em 

 runnin' hover the tops of the 'ouses, and they'll 'ave a 'ard matter to catch 'em, hin my 

 hopinion, sir." 



It seems that the poor fellows had found a passage leading from their rooms out 

 upon the roof of the house, and that, while several of them had been strolling out 

 there for fresh air, and taking a look over the town, a crowd had gathered in the 

 street to look at them, and amongst the most ignorant of that crowd the rumor had 

 become current that they " had broke loose, and people were eugaged in endeavor- 

 ing to take them." 



I started back to my room as fast as I could, and t« the top of the house, to call 

 them down, and stop the gathering that was in rapid progress in the streets. When 

 I got on the roof, I was as much surprised at the numbers of people assembled on the 

 tops of the adjoining houses as I had been at the numbers assembled in the streets. The 

 report was there also current, and general, that they had " broke out, " and great pre- 

 parations were being made on the adjoining roofs with ropes and poles, &c, to " tako 

 them," if possible, before any harm could be done. About the time I had got amongst 

 them, and was inviting them down, several of the police made their appearance by 

 my side, and ordered them immediately into their room, and told me that in the 

 excited state of the town, with their mills all out, such a thing was endangering the 

 peace, for it brought a mob of many thousands together, which would be sure not to 

 disperse without doing some mischief. I was ordered by the police to keep them 

 thereafter in the rooms, and not to allow them to show themselves at the windows, so 

 great were their fears of a riot in the streets if there was the least thing to set it in 

 motion. As an evidence of the necessity of such rigor, this affair of about fifteen 

 minutes ' standing had already brought ten or fifteen thousand people together, and 

 a large body of the police had been ordered onto the ground, having the greatest dif- 

 ficulty during the day to get rid of the crowd. 



THE INDIANS GO TO LONDON. 



This seemed to please him very much, and we moved off pleasantly on our way to 

 London, leaving the ungratified curiosity that remained in Manchester until a future 

 occasion, when we might return again. 



For our passage to London we had chartered a secoud-class carriage to ourselves, 

 and in it had a great deal of amusement and merriment on the way. The novelty of 

 the mode of traveling and the rapidity at which* we were going raised the spirits of 

 I he Indians to a high degree, and they sang their favorite songs and even gave their 

 *ances as they passed along. Their curiosity had been excited to know how the train 

 (•-744 37 



