680 THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 



tiins whose heads roll from the side of the guillotine. His hook was then closed and 

 a curious discussion arose between the Indians and Daniel whether the gallows, 

 which they had seen in the prisons of England and Ireland, was a preferable mode of 

 execution to that of the guillotine, which they had just been to see. They had no 

 doubt but both of them or, at least, one or the other of them, was absolutely neces- 

 sary in the civilized world ; but the question was, Which was the best ? Daniel con- 

 tended that the punishment which was most ignominious was best, and contended 

 for the gallows, while the Indians thought the guillotine was the best. They thought 

 that death was bad enough, without the Government trying to add to its pang by 

 hanging people up by the neck with a rope, as the Indians hang dogs. From this 

 grave subject, which they did not seem to settle, as there was no umpire, they got 

 upon a somewhat parallel theme, and were quite as seriously engaged, when I was 

 obliged to leave them, whether it would be preferable to be swallowed whole by a 

 whale or to be chewed. Daniel was referring to Scripture for some authority on 

 this subject, by looking into one of Jim's Bibles, when Mr. Melody and I were ap- 

 prised of an appointment, which prevented us from ever hearing the result. 



THE DOG MARKET AND HOSPITAL. 



The Dog Hospital, being en route, was visited first; and though one conld scarcely 

 imagine what there could be there that was amusing or droll, still the old doctor in- 

 sisted on it that it must be very interesting, and all resolved to go. It was even so, 

 and on that particular occasion was rendered very amusing, when the doctor entered, 

 with Jim and the rest following. The squalling of " There! there! there!" by the 

 frightened parrots in Cross's Zoological Gardens bore little comparison to the barking 

 and yelling of u les petits pauvres chiens," and the screams of the old ladies — "Ne 

 les'effrayez pas, Messieurs, s'il vous plait ! ils sont tous malades — tous malades : pauvres 

 betes ! pauvres betes ! " It was soon perceived that the nerves of the poor little " mal- 

 ades," as well as those of the old women, their doctors, were too much affected to stand 

 the shock, and it was thought best to withdraw. The old doctor, j ust getting a glance 

 at the sick-wards, enough to convince him of the clean comforts these little patients 

 had, and seeing that their physicians were females, and also that the wards were 

 crowded with fashionable ladies looking and inquiring after the health of their little 

 pets, he was quite reluctant to leave the establishment without going fairly in and 

 making his profession known, which he had thought would, at least, command him 

 some respect amongst female physicians. He had some notion for this purpose of 

 going in alone, but sarcastic Jim said the whole fright of the poor dogs had been pro- 

 duced by his appearance ; to which the doctor replied that they only barked because 

 Jim was coming behind him. However, our visit was necessarily thus short, and at- 

 tention directed to the dog market, for which Jim was more eager, as he had a special 

 object. This was a curiosity, to be sure, and well worth seeing ; there was every 

 sort of whelp and cur that could be found in Christendom, from the veriest minimum 

 of dog to the stateliest mastiff and Newfoundland ; and, at Jim and the doctor's ap- 

 proach hundreds of them barked and howled, many broke their strings, some laid 

 upon their backs and yelled (no doubt, if one could have understood their language) 

 that they never saw before in their lives so ill-looking and frightful a couple, and so 

 alarming a set as those who were following behind them. Jim wanted to buy, and, 

 the business meaning of his face being discovered there were all sorts of offers made 

 him, and every kind of pup protruded into his face ; but the barking of dogs was 

 such that no one could be heard, and then many a poor dog was knocked flat with a 

 broom, or whatever was handiest, and others were choked to stop their noise. No 

 one wanted to stand the din of this canine Bedlam longer than was necessary for Jim 

 to make his choice, which the poor fellow was endeavoring to do with the greatest 

 despatch possible. His mode was rather different from the ordinary mode of testing 

 the qualities he was looking for, which was by feeling of the ribs ; and having bar- 



