THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. G73 



Quartier St. Germain, and the windows in front, looking over the garden of the 

 Tuileries and Place Concorde, the most general and comprehensive view that was to 

 be had from any point that conld have been selected. Under our eyes in front, the 

 immense area of the garden of the Tuileries was packed with human beings, form- 

 ing but one black and dotted mass of some hundreds of thousands who were gathered 

 to listen to the magnificent orchestra of music, and to see and salute, with "Vive le 

 Roi ! " " Vive la Reine !" and " Vive le Comte de Paris ! " the royal family as they ap- 

 peared in the balcony. Though it appeared as if every part of the gardens was filled, 

 there was still a black and moving mass pouring through Rue Rivoli,RueCastiglione, 

 RueRoyale, and Place Concorde, all concentrating in the garden of the Tuileries. This 

 countless mass of human beings continued to gather until the hour when their Maj- 

 esties entered the balcony, and then, all hats off, there was a shout, as vast and incom- 

 putable as the mass itself, of "Vive le Roi! Vive le Roi! Vive la Reine! Vive le 

 Comte de Paris ! " The King then, with his chapeau in his hand, bowed to the audi- 

 ence in various directions; so did Her Majesty the Queen and the little Comte de 

 Paris. The band then struck up the national air, and played several pieces, while 

 the royal family were seated in the balcony, and the last golden rays of the sun, that 

 was going behind the Arc de Triomphe, was shining in their faces. Their Majesties 

 then retired as the twilight was commencing, and the vast crowd began to move in 

 the direction of the Seine, the Terrace, and Place Concorde, to witness the grand 

 scene of illumination and " feu d'artifice " that was preparing on the river. 



SCENE ON TIIE RIVER. 



As the daylight disappeared, the artificial light commenced to display its various 

 characters, and the Indians began to wonder. This scene was to be entirely new to 

 them, and the reader can imagine better than I can explain what was their astonish- 

 ment when the King's signal rocket was fired from the Tuileries, and in the next 

 moment the whole river, as it were, in a blaze of liquid fire, and the heavens burst 

 asunder with all their luminaries falling in a chaos of flames and sparkling fire to the 

 earth ! The incessant roar and flash of cannons lining the shore of the river, and tho 

 explosion of rockets in the air, with the dense columns of white, and yellow, and 

 blue, and blood-red smoke, that were rising from the bed of the river, and all reflected 

 upon the surface of the water, heightened the grandeur of its effect, and helped to 

 make it unlike anything on earth, save what we might imagine to transpire in and 

 over the deep and yawning crater of a huge volcano in the midst of its midnight 

 eruption. 



This wonderful scene lasted for half an hour. 



INDIANS IN A CROWD OF NOBILITY. 



We turned our eyes at that moment from the scene, and, in turning around, found 

 ourselves blockaded by a phalanx of officers in gold lace and cocked hats, and ladies, 

 attache's of the royal household, deputies, peers of France, and other distinguished 

 guests of the royal family, who had been viewing the scene from other windows of 

 the palace, and had now gathered in our rooms to look at " les Peaux Bouges." My good 

 friend M. Vattemare was present on this occasion, and of great service to us all, as 

 there were in this crowd the incumbents of several high offices under the Crown, and 

 others of distinction with whom he was acquainted, and to whom he introduced us 

 all, converting the rooms and the crowd in a little time into a splendid soiree, where 

 conversation and refreshments soon made all easy and quite happy. 



The servants of the duke's household conducted us into the several apartments, ex- 

 plaining the paintings and other works of art, and also took us into the duke's bed- 

 chamber, where were the portraits of himself and the duchess and others of the royal 

 family. There was, we learned, in another part of the palace, a grand bal on that even- 

 ing, and that accounted for the constant crowds of fashionable ladies and gentlemeu 

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