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    C lit. Irk

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    of partridges , then stop , and allow me a good aim at them . All camels , however , stand fire . " After longer experience lie writes : — " All my interest about these animals is lessening fast . It is impossible to imagine how provoking they can make themselves , and did contrive to make themselves , day after day . Some would run away—some , by -way of contrast , not only would not run , they ¦ would not move . Some were always lying down — some could not be persuaded to kneel : but mine "beat all the rest in camel-like amiability . On an average he howled six hours a day , a kind of music such as no one can conceive who has not heard it . He would stand doggedly still , till forced by blows to lie down ; and every time I turned round , he howled fiercer than ever . "

    The lover of Natural History will regret that Mr . Melly should not have devoted more space to the record of his observations in that department , for which the opportunities were great . He keeps his eye open , however , and incidentally mentions many little facts : — " It is curious to observe the prevalence of the Bandy colour of tbe soil in the creatures that have to exist upon it . Sandy coloured eagles devour sandy coloured vipers and lizards , which in tbeir turn prey on grasshoppers and slugs of the same complexion : and partridges and sparrows , by means of their resemblance to the ground , avoid the prying eyes of the falcons and hawks . "

    He did not see much of the Hippopotamus , but informs us that many hundred natives are on the look out for that elegant and fascinating animal , the British Consul having offered a reward of £ 1000 for two . The Arabs , not urged by scientific curiosity , and having no Zoological Gardens , regard the Hippo with other feelings than those which animate the British breast ; for these beasts are numerous and destructive , not so much by

    eating as by trampling down whole fields of corn and beans . When Night descends , they emerge from the river and roll their unwieldly bodies in the fields , making a peculiar noise all the while . But the Arabs , though they know the sound and Late the beast , take no active measures to rid themselves of it , " probably because it is Allah ' s will , and partly , also , from their aversion to going otit in the dark . "

    " The inhabitants of an island , a short distance below Berber , applied , -while we were at Khartoum , for troops to drive away these midnight revellers , and a hundred soldiers were despatched hippopotamihunting . Troops are made all sorts of uses of in the East ; a battalion of infantry was sent boar-hunting in the Delta last year , owing to the great devastation committed by these animals who wore rooting up acres of cotton . I think this sporting must bo more amusing than the frontier work against the Shellouk tribes , north of Kordofan . "

    Who does not remember that story in Herodotus of Croesus , King of Lydia , to whom the people come imploring aid because " a great thing of a hoar , " as Herodotus in his naive style calls it—< rvoq x pij . oia [/ . eyo . —is ravaging their country , and Oitt'sus forthwith equips a troop of horsemen to despatch the monster . The passage just quoted calls it to mind . Indeed , as Mr . Melly remarks , it is impossible to traverse those countries without being everywhere delighted by coming upon some living commentary on ancient writers . But what reflections this fact suggests as to the slowness of Progress ! But we must not indulge reflections ; rather let us accompany our author to Khartoum : — -

    " Khartoum , Been from the river , is a long mud wall , with several hou . soB just peering above it , among which the most conspicuous is the retiidoiice of the Governor , with its oflices , the old ( Government House , and the C ' utliolic ; Chapel and Mission . We proceeded to the ( iovemor ' n oflices , through a large op < n ground , in which two companies of troops , the best dressed and accoutred of any 1 have see / i since ; 1 ]« ft ISurope , were chunking gunrd , each company led by a soldier with a bedstead on his bayonet . He being the officer , and the only one allowed . such a luxury , the rest always . sleeping on the ground . We next arrived at a court in which wvru several brass piecen , then entered a large room lltteil up with TurkiHh div » ns and JTCuropean chairs . This wan

    " the Divan . " "At one end sat LutifFe Pacha , ( Jenerul in the Army , Admiral of the Fleet , and ( Governor of the Soudan , from Philm V > the furthent possessions of the Pacha of Kgypt- He looks like a man capable of being all this and more , an he possesses a fine figure , a good faee set off with n reinark » bly fair complexion , and a beautifully trimmed mustache and heard ua black oh jet . These advantages were assisted by the hamlHOinest A « i « tio Arena 1 have seen— a suit of d « rk blue cloth , richly embroidered , rod and gold

    tunic waistcoat , and full sleeves of pink silk and gold , silk stockings , a magnificent scarf round his waist , tarboosh , diamond star , and several gold chains . " On his right hand sat AH Bey Hassib , the Governor of Berber , and a few other grandees sat near him , in full costume . " His receptfon of us was very courteous : for a few minutes he spoke to the Governor of Berber ; he then gave his entire attention to us , reading our firman , passport , and letters of introduction . The conversation was in Italian , of which he possess a limited knowledge ; we had , however , been told that he was French

    also familiar with English and . We inquired where it would be agreeable to him . that we should pitch our tents ; he answered by presenting us with a capital house . On asking where we could find a boat , he replied that his own would be ready for us in three days . On mentioning camels , he promised to have thirty ready to meet us at Berber . At a hint respecting the forwarding of our letters , he volunteered to send them by a special messenger from station to station on swift dromedaries to Assouan , whence men would run with them on foot to Cairo , and then they would proceed in the usual course . In short , lie promised everything we wanted , gave us coffee and pipes , and then we took our leave . "

    The civility and attention they met with seem to have been unusual . Visits and presents followed fast : — " Another visitor followed Monsieur II ; then came a basket of parsley , lettuce , radishes , pomegranates , lemons , and sugar-canes from , the apothecary ; and , finally , the Pacha ' s head man , with a small quantity of milk , and many apologies for the cows not being more productive .

    " The next morning was passed in paying visits to our obliging friends . We first walked through a garden of vines , oranges , pomegranates , and jessamine trees , to the house of the apothecary ; in an anteroo : n we met the doctor and one of the ministers of the Catholic Church . We then entered a large divanned room , hung with Napoleon pictures , -with , its curtained windows looking particularly cool and comfortable . We sat round in solemn conclave , our

    friends in full Turkish costume , while lemonade gezeuse , coffee , and pipes Avere handed round , conversing of the climate , the rate of mortality , diseases , and other lively matters too numerous to mention . I ascertained that there is a great mortality in children from three to seventeen years . If they survive that age , they live to their appointed time ; but at thirtyfive they look shrivelled and old ; notwithstanding which , however , they manage to exist till eighty or ninetv , and further sou'h to a hundred .

    " We next called on Monsieur 11 , in whose yard we eaw a j-oung giraffe , about nine or ten feet high , and quite tame ; and an antelope as large as a donkey , with two horns at least a yard long- Our friend had the best garden in Khartoum , with treliiscovercd walks , made of vines , which bear throughout the year . AVe were received in a largo room , with tbe usual devoirs , and found Monsieur K transacting busincsss with several native merchants , in their white robes , turbans , and scarfs . Afterwards came in a very intelligent Turk , handsomely dressed , and wearing a diamond star round his neck , who spoke French fluently . Like L , ntiffe Pacha , and many others here , he is in honourable banishment , deprived of the . society of his wives and family . "

    Of course their appearance excited great speculation : —¦ " They are a little puzzled when they speculate upon what brought us to their remote corner of the world ; and to add to their mystification , they cannot , for certain reasons , avoid regarding- us with a considerable amount of respect , mingled with a slight addition of awe . The fact is , it has got abroad tlmt our firman contained denunciations unusually stringent against , all and sundry , who wanted to eat dirt by exhibiting the slightest , degree of neglect or remissness in looking after our safety , comfort , ami pleasure . Kvery one argues that mich commands from such a source mean something , and the upshot is , that we were immediately set . down as illustrious Htiangers of a most illustrious generation .

    " Long before our arrival , iiiiuouih were m circulation respecting us that , increased in extravagance every hour . Among other veracious statements , it was affirmed that u gentleman , with bis harccm , was known to be on the mud , who was h Pitch . i with thico tails ; that ; he was iidorued with three diamond stiira [ iiiciich breast , and neck , and piodigious gold epaulettes on each ( shoulder . One of our frU'iidn , who

    knew something of us , was asked if the great , man about , to viMt . them really was greater than any I ' achii of their acquaintance . Our friend net , ( . he matter at rest , by assuring his eager qucntioi er that all 1 ' iichnn were as nothing to the least , of us , for they worn obliged to do tbe bidding of tbeir master--but that we were our own mantels , and did exactly as wv pleased . There wiih a f ' ci viuit exclamation respecting the goodneHH of Allah , and the querist walked away , as un Irishman , would phrase it , bothered entirely . ' "

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    VIVIAN AT THE BLOOMER BALL . For a fiasco complete , extravaga nt , unredeemed and unredeemable ; for the perfect frustration of all expectations , the Bloomer Ball given on "Wed nesday at the Hanover-rooms , transcends all m * experience . Palmam qui meruit ferat ; let men carry off the palm , and the greatest of failures sinks abashed before this ! The amount of exciied curiosity may be estimated by the fact , that q uit early in the evening the rooms were crowded wit ] notabilities . Mixed up with a nameless fashionable

    mob , there were a German Duke , one of the Editors of a great morning journal , a Parliamentary Poet , the " handsomest man in Europe " an old beau of the peerage , a famous but fading baronet , Punch , several artists , certain peers many blackguards , and such a tohu bohu as Kossuth himself could not gather together . But rio women ! What came the crowd to see ? Bloomer shaken in the walt # ! Fifty Bloomers , a hundred Bloomers , —women young , daring , plea , sure-loving , radient in new and piquant costumes

    saucy with the insolence of fascination , delirious with excitement , civilized Menads , not irreproachable in morals . That is what the crowd came to see , thinking that the lights , the music , the hum of voices , the bright glances of eyes flashing up fro m their languor , and the very air infected with gaiety , would form a fitting accompaniment to the New Costume , which was henceforth to invest the person of the " emancipated mind . " That and nothing else . What did they see ? A few , very few women of that class which it makes the heart ache to think

    of , in finery as poor and faded as their own unhappy lives ! How shall I describe my disappointment ? At an hour when the bed candle is usually admitted , I closed one of the wisest books that was ever written , and left that study where the good and great keep serene empire , to dress myself for this Bloomer Ball , of which I had heard so much . What visions of lovely women lured me forth ! what Syren voices called to me from the deeps ! what made me anxious to be there , I atn ashamed to

    think of ! Enough , I went . A mob had collected in Hanover-square ; and through this yelling mob , intolerant of innovation , loving a riot , and not fastidious in the selection of language , the cab made difficult way . Many Bloomers were discouraged , and turned ' back frightened . If it required some courage to adopt the costume , it required heroism to run the gauntlet of that mob ' s derision , which might at any moment end in violence . Many , therefore , turned hack . When I entered the room

    there were not a dozen Bloomers present ; and such Bloomers !—ye gods , such Guys ! Two or three " emancipated minds , " with persons endowed , 1 am willing to believe , with great " beauty of intellect , " but otherwise not prepossessing— -these evidently the Priestesses of the New Creed—walked about , hard and triumphant . The others were <) i that class which no man can think of seriously without ineffable sadness , and of thorn this pen shall write no word approaching to ridicule .

    These dozen women were scattered through the rooms crowded with men , who jeered , leered , an ' cheered them as they danced . I told you <> t t " mob outside . The mob inside was ; w brutal , only better dressed , and wearing moustachios for tnc most part . Had the Bloomers been Monkeyf ) exhibiting for money , the men would have behave more politely ! It " was no doubt a painfully *? " te . sque sight , that of the Bloomer Quadrille : wolllt j a ^ ed in their youthwith a look at once faded ui

    , bold . dre . ssed like the actresses of a strolling c « m ^ pany , intensely conscious of being looked at , < dancing with loose legged cavalier * , pic <«< 1 Heaven knows where—a sight such an I shall i ^ forget , so painful , so absurd , so hideous . this was a Ball ! If Bloonierism is not , « it . Loi * X ^ discredited and extinguished l » y < - hiH , I «»"" (] u ) amazed . Who could for a moment coinpai ' { costume there worn with that of an <> r < l ""» ) ' h ? No one but a child or a bump ki

    cess thinks the actresses at a l- ' air are -ra . he . it low * light . " . of About one o ' clock there came an ^^ ' ^^ , 1 , moo . ners , abevyof <; auls , Homewlm lielU ¦ ¦ ' ¦ - ^ hut the Bartholomew Fair stamp " » IlU : ( - H ' . : ol < M , > Ah the men seemed to get more and ' ««>«* - in ( . ( - < l I thought , it time to depart , and I did «» "' , lliat that Bloouierimn was quashed . 1 « ' »"""" ' , d , no a Lady Correspondent from Drottdcn had uw

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    1046 ® f > * 3 L $ &i ! $ t * [ Saturday , _ _ -- ¦ - ¦¦ --.. . ¦ .- fn I , ,

    C Lit. Irk

    C lit . Irk

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 1, 1851, page 1046, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1907/page/18/