Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1850-06-21
AN ORIENTAL EMBASSY.

AN ORIENTAL EMBASSY.
On the 25th May, his Exeellency Cen
eral Jung Bahadoor Koorman Ranagee,
Prime Minister and Commander-in-Ch Chief
of the kingdom of Nepaul, situated on the
borders of Thibet, arrived in England, as
ambassador extraordinary from the King
of Nepaul to the Queen of England. He
came from Egypt to Southampton, by the
steamship Ripon. His suite consisted of
twenty-four persons, and he was charged
with letter from his King to Queen Vic
toria, and with presents, of Nepaulese man
utactures, worth nearly a quarter Of
million sterling. The travelling expenses
of the embassy to England, were nearly
10000 sterling. They are all Buddhists,
and to avoid contact with Christians, had
the whole of the fore cabins and saloons
OF the steamer exclusively to their own
use, and there they fitted up their own
cooking apparatus. The General is
handsome oriental, very dark, 81 years old,
and a great man in India He dresses
magnificently, and his manners are said TO
be polished and graceful. When they
landed at Southampton, they would not 90
TO a hotel, but occupied the PeninsuIar
! offices, and had their cooking apparatus
erected in the yard. They are very mys.
terious about their cooking and eating
They are continually washing fond of
smoking, and of all oriental habits of lux
ury.
The London Times has letter from
Alexandria in Egypt which describes some
Of the animals intended as presents to the
Queen of England. They had all safely
arrived:
The steamer Ripon takes to the Zoologi-
cal society the Hyppopotamus which has
been waiting in Cairo for the hot season,
and collection of animals and birds,
among which are an Ibex from Mount
Sinai, Lion, Ghepard, two LinXes, an
Ichneumon, some Civet Cats, and avariety
of Serpents, Lizards, and Desert Rats
A young Giraffe was also to have formed
part of the collection, but it was uniortu-
nately drowned in the canal after reaching
Alexandria.
The HyppOpotamus, being only Is
months old, is comparatively small, and
lives exclusively on milk, its daily con-
sumption being about so pints, for the fur
nishing of which several cows have to be
kept on board It is very tame, and al
lows itself TO be freely handled by its
Arab attendant, whom it follows, and an
swers to the name of Ghebbaysch, an isl
and on the blue Nile, near the seventh cat
aracl, being between Senaar and Fazoglu,
where it was caught. 1t is male specl-
men, and Abbas Pasha, the Niceroy, has
issued orders to procure female, which
is expected to arrive here after the rise of
the Nile. in about three months time, and
will also be sent to England. Preparations
for the conveyance of the Hyppopotamus
had been made at Southampton, on board
the RipOn, with a convenient iron tank,
holding about 400 gallons of fresh water,
which it will require to be renewed every
other day to bathe in.
This is the first Hyppopotamus that is
taken to Europe alive, and it is to be
hoped that it will reach England in safety.
Some of the attendants of the embassy
are thus described:
Among them were two African serpent
charmers one of the latter was 4 lad,
strange little shrivelled faced fellow, who
caused much amusement by his comic
manners, his grotesque dress, and daring
handling of the beasts and reptiles. In
each of his ears were two brass bed cur
tain rings, his trousers did not reach below
his knees, and he wore pair of large
Wellington boots. His legs and boots ap-
peared like two mahogany posts in a pair
of leather buckets. He played with and
teased the most savage of the beasts and
reptiles with the most daring intrepidity,
but the most extraordinary performances
of this youthful charmer were with the
venomous serpents, at the request of the
Admiralty agent; and for the trifing back
sheehs of a silver sixpence, for which he
made profound and sIave-like salaam, he
exhibited his power over the serpent tribe
to the writer of this notice when he went
on board the Ripon in Southampton Docks.
He took out the Cobra Capellas from
box, fondled with them, kissed their heads
and mouths. held them in his mouth, irri-
tated them apparently to madness by
scratching them on the back, and even
suffered them to bite him without expert
encing any apparent injury. 1t was
singular sight to see one of these serpents
irritated, standing firmly on a small portion
of his tail, while the body was forming
graceful curves, and it was preparing to
spring upon the body with It's mouth open
and tangs quiyering.
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