The Planters' banner. [volume] (Franklin, Attakapas Co., Lou.) 1849-1872, 1852-09-25

issued to gentlemen and ladies of all
tribes and tongues. who were requested
to be present i'll their respective cos
| tunes on the appointed evening at the
Godown of Kim Sing. A detail of the
chronological display made at this party
might be taken for bad joke, butt am
perfectly serious and deliberate in sta
ting generally that the company inclu-
ded Englishmen, Frenchmen. Dutch
men, Scotchmen, Irishmen, Germans,
Portuguese from Malacca, Spaniards
from the Philippines, Malays, Kings,
Bombayises, Cambodians, Tonquinese,
Mandarins from Cochin China, Siam
ese, Peguans, Arabs, Javanese, Jews,
Parsees, Chinese, and haIf-castes.
considered myself extremely fortu-
nate to have arrived just in time 10 be
present at this entertainment. | had of
course about me las everybody. else
had) the usnal Frejudices of my own
race, and therefore, on being. presented
10 the master of the house, with his
pig-tall, sharp features, and Mongoian
eyes, il was with much difficulty that |
kept my mirth under polite restraint
| had been, introduced under the best
possible auspices, and soon felt myself
quite at home, both with the Celestial
and the terrestrial visitors. The ladies
Of the company being in a decided
minority, each having about two gen
tlemen TO her fair share, |, being quite
a stranger, began to apprehend pau
9If nt 7 l.
young lady Of Dutch descent, but dark
in complexion as a Malay, soon found
herself, know not how, my viS-a-vis,
and away we went, whirling and pi-
ronettlng down the apartment, TO the
great amazement of the Asiastic neo-
phytes. must pause here 10 observe
by way Of parenthesis, that the ball
room was not smaller than the body Of
a goodsized English church, with a
row of pillars on each side under the
galleries, behind which the spectators
thronged. Next after us, followed
Jew in the costume of Bengal. with
delicate young damsel fresh from Eng
land. Their came fire-worshipper
with Partisan belle, and then multi
tude of unimaginable con. binatioas,
until the floor was crowded with dan
GERS glancing hither and thither be-
meath the glitter Of the splendid chan
deliers. H..,.
The harmony of dance and music
was, however, presently disturbed by an
uncivil Frenchman IA rare creature,
who suddenly discovering that he had
lost his partner, plunged about the room
in search of her, and found her actively
pointing her toes at a young English
of gigantic stature. Jaoqnes
Bonhomme, being small, had some
trouble te strike his rival Ill the lace:
the rival With much courtesy requested
him to walk down stairs, and promised
a sufficient explanation when the dance
was over. jacques remained upstairs.
wandering about the room like wolf in
a cage. A duel impended, and the Ash
atics very much enjoyed the prospect
of this unexpected addition to their
evenings entertainment Somebody,
however, procured the Intervention Of
police, and in corner of ballroom
there took place the episode of arrest,
bail. and those other details preliminary
10 civil action against Jacques Bon
homme for;assault and battery.
Having shared several dances with
my young Asiatic Netherlander. lnext
found myself opposite Spanish lady,
from Manila. who smoked between
the figures, and spoke very bad English.
This, however, she declared to me was
her favorite language, thongh she
knew both Malay and French; [ was
therefore bound, in politeness, to con-
ceal my ignorance as to the import of
about two words in every three with
which she favored me. ..ae
The cluster of faces peering out from
between the pillars was now and then
lighted up with laughter, as odd groups
Of dancers whirled past; even the
dancers themselves often found it i'm
possible to preserve their gravity Some
little awkwardness, moreover. was oc-
casionally displayed by the strangely
united couples For example. young
lady from Calcutta, dressed after the
most elaborate fashion Of the city of
palaces, got fearfnlly entangled in a
Schottische with Chinese, Mandarin,
whose large, jet-biack tail descended
considerably below, his waist As he
hoped and frisked, the tail few about
in the most dangerous manner. No
doubt could be entertained, however,
that the gentleman had been taking
lessons for a fortnight or three weeks,
because he really went through the
business Of hedance very respectfully. |
AT length, however, as ill-tnck would |
have ii, one of his red slippers came |
off. A burst of laughter, which It was |
to restrain, shook the fat |
sides of the host at this disaster, while /
the unhappy How GUM Foo quilted his |
partner, and rushed, with his .leng tail |
ike comet, torsgain the shoe--for TO
be shoeless is TO be disgraced in Celes-
ial eyes. @s.i ..l 'ta e
At another time, and in another part
if the ROOM the tails Of two of the
Chinese, as they passed one another,
back to back, hooked together: perhaps |
oy the string which tied them. While I
he gentlemen bnaed forward with their
reads, after the manner of rams, to dis
olive their involuntary partnership,
4t nd i .