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player , or one gentleman who has drawn on another gentleman , in the heat of altercation , ' one does not learn that night , hut it will appear in the morning paper ; if the former it will be headed " Murderous affray , " if the latter , " Unfortunate difficulty . " There are different names for the same thing , even in a democratic colony ! The climate of California is very healthy;—there is a tendency in it to intermittent fever and ague in some parts of the mountains ; but in the mines , sickness has generally resulted from imprudent exposure , and the drinking of the worst possible description of ardent spirits . On the sea-coast and at San Francisco , the weather is very changeable during the summer months . When the sun rises and clears away the fog that hangs over the bay , the air is as pure and transparent as that of Naples ; by noon the glass is at 90 deg ., and then the sea breeze sets in , and would be -welcome , but that it does not fan one gently like other sea breezes , but bursts on you with the force of a hurricane , blows off a bit of the roof of your house , and sends the fine dust in whirling clouds along the street , in such a way that the people would profit by lying down flat on their stomachs , as they do in a regular Simoom ! The following contains both information and humour : —
GRIZZLY BEARS . The chief difficulty in killing the grizzly bear arises from the formation of his head , which is convex . The ball generally glances off sufficiently to avoid the brain ; you have in fact but three vital parts , the back of the ear , the spine , and the heart ; and it ij said that the grizzly bear will live long enough after being shot in the latter part to do much mischief . He is always in motion , and I think the steadiest of hunters will allow that his conduct when wounded is not calculated to improve one's aim . The very fact of finding that you hit him so often without effect destroys confidence , and the sudden rushes that the bear makes at his assailant is a great trial to the hunter ' s nerve . There are many accidents of the description I witnessed on record , although I know one or two instances of bears being killed at the first shot .
It appears to me that a recorder of travels has a difficulty to surmount , which falls to the lot of no other writer , for whilst duty admonishes him to give a strictly veracious account of everything that comes before his notice ( and of a great deal that does not ) , inclination and the publisher prompt him to avoid prosiness , for this very good reason , that if he enters into details he bores his readers ; -but then , on the other hand , if he is not sufficiently specific , he is pronounced a " superficial observer . " This observation is induced by the necessity of my introducing , at all costs , further accounts respecting the grizzly bear . When we consider the weight of the grizzly , which often reaches fifteen hundred pounds , the enormous strength of which he is possessed , « s evidenced by the limbs of trees which he will wrench from the trunk , and his extraordinary speed and activity , we have reason ( speaking as one who lives in his vicinity ) for congratulation that the animal is of inoffensive habits , and avoids the presence of man . The sole instance to the contrary is that in which you are unfortunate enough to invade the domestic
circle of the she-rbear when accompanied by her cubs : she invariably gives chase the instant she sees the intruder , who , if he is wise , will "draw a bee-line" in an opposite direction . In running from a bear , the best plan is to turn round the side of a bill , for the bear having then as it were ; two short legs and two long ones , can't , under such circumstances , run very fast . There is but one sized tree that you can climb in safety in escaping from a bear , and you may run a long way before you find it . It must be just top small for your pursuer to climb up after you , and just too large for it to pull down , a nice point to hit . The she-bear is invariably irascible when nursing , and perhaps this accounts for the fact that the male-bear is seldom found in her company "; to her he leaves the education and support of their progeny , whilst he seeks amusement elsewhere—I might say at his club , for it is the habit of bears to congregate in threes or fours under a tree for hours , and dance on their Bams in a very ludicrous manner , with no apparent ostensible object but that of passing the time away and getting away from their wives .
Mr . Marryat gives excellent advice to emigrants . But our readers would prefer , most probably , to hear him in his lighter vein . In the anecdote which we subjoin lies a terrible lesson to Snob and tJent ; specimens of each class ( and some who are both together ) are no doubt to be found everywhere , now-a-days . Would that punishment awaited them in every case with the certaintywith which _ it _ pjirsued M » e . Jl BjobbJinjs ' _ jofjthe following adventure . The scene was a steamer which runs from Aspinwall to New York , and Mr . Marryat was , with other Californians , homeward bound : — We had on board the junior partner of some English house , who was returning from a business visit he had made to some part of South America . He gave himself great airs , and being dressed with the extreme taste which characterises your fast city man , be threw us all into the shade , for we as yet were not fashionably attired , nor had we put razors to our chins . One day at dinner this fellow , being affronted at some negligence on the part of the waiter , said , " Aw ! do you take me for a returned Californian ?"
This remark being audible above the din of knives and forks produced a sudden silence , and , for a moment I thought that Mr . Bobbins ' s ears would have been taken off with a carving knife . Fortunately , for him , however , each one was in high spirits at the thought of reaching home , and being very hungry continued his dinner without waiting to resent the impertinence . There was a man on board who had brought with him from the mines two young grizzly bear cubs , who were just getting large enough to be dangerous , and that evening as Mr . Bobbins was dreamily enjoying a cigar on deck , he was aroused from the contemplation of his patent leather boots by moonlight with , " Sir , allow me to introduce to you two returned Californians . " Ursa major , thereupon , being held up , scratched Bobbins ' s face , whilst ursa minor attacked the patent leathers , which he forcibly removed , together with a toe-nail or so with his teeth . *
Whilst one miner held a screeching , biting , ring-tailed monkey over Mr . Bobbins a head , another produced a savage bull terrier , who , having done his duty at the mines dogfully , seemed very anxious indeed to make the acquaintance of Mr . Bobbins's throat . It vrai some time before the " returned Californians" could tear themselves away from their new acquaintance , and when they did , they tore away more of bis crossbarred trousers and cut-away coat than any tailor could repair . Nothing remains but to recommend this pleasant book to all lovers of sense and fun .
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . Corsica in its Picturesque , Social , and Iliitorical Aspects ; Being the Record of a Tour in the Summer of 1862 . By Ferdinand Gregorovius . Translated by Ruasell Martineau , M . A . 8 Parts . ( The Traveller ' s JLibrary , Parts 79 , 80 , and 81 . ) ' ' Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . The Church and its Episcopal Corruption in Wales : An Appeal to the People of England . By . tho Rev . R . W . Morgan . , Robert Hardwicke . Sketches of Lancashire L \ fe and Localities . By Edwin Waugh . Whittaker and Co . Wofferts Roosts and other Sketches . By Washington Irving . Georgo Routledge and Co .
The Fibrous Plants of India fitted for Cordage , Clothing , and Paper . With an Account of the Cultivation and Preparation of Flax , Hemp , and their Substitutes . By J . Forbes Royle , M . D ., &c . Smith , Elder , and Co . " Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary , in which the Accentuation , Orthography , and Pronun ciation of the English Language are distinctly shown , according to the best authorities , and every word defined with Clearness and Brevity . ( New Edition . ) , ' . ¦¦ ' '¦•¦ G . Routledge and Co . Poems . By Arthur M . Morgan . Saunders and Otley .
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OLYMPIC THEATRE . It will be a long time before Saturday evening last ceases to be talked about , either in the fashionable , literary , or dramatic coteries of London * The amount of brains and beauty collected within the Olympic Theatbe , on the occasion of the Amateur Performance for the benefit of Mr . Angus Reach , had never yet been so effectively condensed in anybody ' s memory ; and it was difficult to say whether the auditory or the stage presented the most agreeable spectacle . The stalls glowed with bright colours like spring tulip-beds ; the dress circle alike formed a conservatory of the fairest flowers of female loveliness ; far and away , to the very back of the pit , white and cerise visites , pale cameiias , and glossy bands and tresses , formed points for the eye to rest upon wherever it turned ; and the very gallery looked -as if the ordinary Opera pit audience had
ascended there for the nonce , and was enjoying the change mightily . Equally pleasant was it to see the eager anxiety with which the different celebrities of the day were regarded by the fair patricians , as one after the other was pointed out or recognised—how the lorgnette of the bright Duchess of Wellington was directed towards Charles Dickens , and the Editor of Punch formed quite a target for eye-glances as soon as he was indicated to Lady Aylesbtjry . How Mr . Thackeray showed his daughters the young hero of the Balaklava charge , Sir George Wombwell ; and John Leech was sweeping the house with his keen eye for fresh beauties , for his inimitable pictures of young-lady life . It was a rare sight ; and the excellent regulations that had been enforced with respect to the tickets sold—no less in limiting numbers than in ensuring an almost exclusive propriety—left nothing to be desired .
Beyond two or three brief , and in most cases merely allusive paragraphs , nothing had been announced as to the object or programme of the evening ' s amusements . Yet everybody knew it , and knew that a pantomime was to be attempteddaring ambition—for the first time , by amateurs ; and so great was the excitement caused by this report , and so eager the curiosity to witness it , that _ many more persons than were in the house were unable to obtain tickets . Admissions were sold and resold at incredible prices ; and on Saturday afternoon , at a wellknown-literary club , twelve guineas were given for a small pit box , which ten minutes afterwards might have fetched fifteen . With admirable punctuality , the curtain rose at eight for the farce ' of My
Neighbour's Wife . The three ladies were represented by Miss M . Oliver , Miss Ellen Tubnek , and Miss Maskell ; and the husbands by Mr . Palgrave Simpson , Mr . Hallett , and Mr . Edmund Yates . On any other occasion this farce would have been pronounced as having been admirably performed—and , indeed , the laughter of the audience was as spontaneous as their applause was liberal—but still the pantomime was to be the thing of the evening , and the attention and energy of the house in general appeared to be reserved for this undertaking . " I wonder how they will get through it 1 " was observed innumerable times ; and we must say ( except among the privileged few who had been admitted to the rehearsals , and knew what the troupe could do ) , mistrust was
uppermost . , ,.,,,. After a very short delay the curtain rose for the prologue , which had been written by Mr . Tom Taylor . Mr . Cole , capitally made up for Shakspeare , — or rather not made up at all , for the physical resemblance was most remarkable j —Mr . Palgrave Simpson , in modern evening costume , as the Present Drama ; and Miss ~ OuvER , ; as the Spirit of Pantominier very prettilydressed afterthe Arlechino of the old Italian pantomime ( sketched , we believe , by Mr . Thackekay ) , held a clever argument about each other ' s prospects . For the only time the objects of the evening ' s gathering were here alluded to , but with great delicacy . These lines were so charmingly given by Miss Oliver , that a warm recognition followed their delivery . .
The overture followed , and then came the pantomime . The curtain again rose to discover the vaults below the Houses of Parliament , and the audience directly recognised the well-known features of Mr . Albert Smith , who , as Catesby , was smoking a long pipe and sitting on one of the powder barrels . He was heartily welcomed , and directlj' went off at a burst , with one of his rapid songs , in which nobody knows how much of the history of England , relating to the period , was condensed . The audience being thus put au courant with the plot , were prepared to receive Guy Fawkes ; and when that renowned personage appeared , embodied by Mr . Tom Holmes , with his lantern and tinder-box , and bowed his head down in the most approved style of Mr . W . H . Payne , until it touched his toes , their delight knew no bounds .
11 Yes , " says the Times , " people really began to believe that an amateur pantomime was possible . A great weight was , therefore , removed from the mind , which became keenly susceptible of enjoyment . A parody on an Italian air , admirably sungby Mr . Holmes , was loudly applauded , and the statement of the Lord Monteagle ( Mr . Hale ) of King James ' s time that he was ' Lord Monteagle , formerly Spring Bice , elicited roars of mirth . But the cream of the introduction was the terrific co" ™** between Catesby and Fawkes , in which Messrs . Smith and Holmes went through all those conventional poses that earned immortality in those good old days when tne Coburg had not yet taken the name of the Victoria . The introduction was comprised in a single scene , and , according to a common modern practice , the actors of the harlequinade were not the same with those of the story . When the moment of tr& ™~ formation * arrived , and the Spirit of the Thames , enacted by Miss Martindalo , toia returned
Catesby to change into Harlequin , the old nervousness of the audience once more . What they had hitherto seen showed grotesque talent , it is true , , alter all , it was only tho ' little go' of tho affair ; tho difficulties of Clownery and x antaloonery had yet to be surmounted , and a breakdown was yot upon tho cards , ffitow efficiently were these fears dispelled by the first entrance of tho chief characters , mi . Bidwoll looked as much like a real Harlequin as any that ever sparkled at cnriBir mas ; Mr . Arthur Smith was a thorough Pantaloon ; Mr . Edmund Yates was an unexceptionable lover ; and Mr . J . Robins was an ordinary—no , ho was not , lie wasw extraordinary Clown , for , with his etout figure , his fat face , and the «* P ? ' £ " \ „ quiet humour in his eyes and mouth , he gave a taste of that quality which pl * e £° ™ of thirty years' standing may recollect in Grimoldi , but of which modern **»* « the theatre know but little . Tho Columbine was , of course , professiona , ana a more excellent Columbine could not have been obtained than Miss Kosina Wrignt . in w
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332 THE LEADER . [ Saturday , I - ^—— .- ^—^———JM ^ - ^ . , ^ M
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Leader (1850-1860), April 7, 1855, page 332, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2085/page/20/
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