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A Sojourn With Royalty (October 26, 1865) (13 pages)
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Page: of 13
Southern owl was worse to swallow than the Northern, but give me chicken, worms,
grasshoppers and all, before either a Northern or Southern owl. Do you believe it, the
King and the Cherokee sat unconcernedly and finished the owl between them, every
mouthful, and licked -their tongues at the end?
Kings have strong stomachs for delicacies, while mudsills grow sick on high
feeding. I wonder if owls will ever be introduced upon the tables of our wealthy
gourmands--why not owls as well as frogs and snails?
We were riding quietly along one day. when his Majesty 's charger became dull
and drowsy, and his Majesty himself had relapsed into a meditative mood. We had
ascended a high mountain, and began to descend an inclined plane, when it occurred
to me that I could impart a little mettle to his Majesty's charger, and quicken his
pace without awaking the King from his pleasant dream. I observed that there was no
crupper on his Imperial Highness' saddle, so I quietly slipped the halter off my
horse's neck, made a slipping noose, and quietly riding up beside his Majesty, I
slipped the knot over his steed's stub tail, and holding my end of the line, I spurred
rapidly forward. My intention was to propel the horse forward; a sort of primitive
locomotive, acting upon lever power, instead of steam. Had the thing been
successful, I intended to have taken out a patent for the invention. It might have been
applied to various uses. It would have been invaluable to fast young gentlemen who
hire livery hacks, and can't drive fast enough, or who desire to show off as people are
coming out of church on Sundays. It would have been the making of any fair equestrian
who was riding a race for a prize, it would be in common use in runaway matches; and for
baulky horses in going to, a ball or shoddy party it would have been a sine qua non. I
should have sold the right cheap, for I wish to benefit man and woman kind gratuitously,
more than I desire to fill my pocket by useful inventions. But, alas! for human foresight.
The Atlantic cable was a failure--it parted; in spite of all the care and science in its
manufacture, it brought up with a jerk and parted in the middle. As I drew the halter taught
his Majesty's Pegasus, at first swayed around as a ship might do at the turn of her rudder in
a gale, then stopped suddenly as when a vessel comes to an anchor, then an awful lull for a
moment, to be followed by a series of gymnastic performances which would have put
Hernandez to the blush. -