e deposited upon the table, and all about the room,
wherever it was possible to find a place. There were several active
servants in attendance; and, upon a large table, at the farther end of
the apartment, were seated seven or eight people with fiddles, fifes,
trombones, and a drum. These fellows annoyed me very much, at intervals,
during the repast, by an infinite variety of noises, which were intended
for music, and which appeared to afford much entertainment to all
present, with the exception of myself.

Upon the whole, I could not help thinking that there was much of the
bizarre about every thing I saw--but then the world is made up of
all kinds of persons, with all modes of thought, and all sorts of
conventional customs. I had travelled, too, so much, as to be quite an
adept at the nil admirari; so I took my seat very coolly at the right
hand of my host, and, having an excellent appetite, did justice to the
good cheer set before me.

The conversation, in the meantime, was spirited and general. The ladies,
as usual, talked a great deal. I soon found that nearly all the company
were well educated; and my host was a world of good-humored anecdote
in himself. He seemed quite willing to speak of his position as
superintendent of a Maison de Sante; and, indeed, the topic of lunacy
was, much to my surprise, a favorite one with all present. A great
many amusing stories were told, having reference to the whims of the
patients.

"We had a fellow here once," said a fat little gentleman, who sat at my
right,--"a fellow that fancied himself a tea-pot; and by the way, is it
not especially singular how often this particular crotchet has entered
the brain of the lunatic? There is scarcely an insane asylum in France
which cannot supply a human tea-pot. Our gentleman was a Britannia--ware
tea-pot, and was careful to polish himself every morning with buckskin
and whiting."

"And then," said a tall man just opposite, "we had here, not long ago,
a person who had taken it into his head that he was a donkey--which
allegorically speaking, you will say, was quite true. He was a
troublesome patient; and we had much ado to keep him within bounds. For
a long time he would eat nothing but thistles; but of this idea we
soon cured him by insisting upon his eating nothing else. Then he was
perpetually kicking out his heels-so-so-"

"Mr. De Kock! I will thank you to behave yourself!" here interrupted
an old lady, who sat next to the speaker.