Year: 1859

One day, however, in the presence Of friend
L ran the risk-if il was one, and | swallowed
my little pill, only | took care to pound th,
glass finer than that which l gave to the cats
| do not know but it may have been the cffect
of my Imagination, but it seemed to me at din
ner that day that ate with unaccustomqd
pleasure; was it owing to the pounded glass
In any case, that would be an odd way to whet
an appetite.


"When it came to swallowing lints and the
noses of bottles, the Aissoua who did it really
put them In his mouth: but am quite sure that
he got rid of them. Besides, if he had swal.
lowed them it would not have been anything
extraordinary, compared with the perform
ances of juggler in France, thirty years ago
who was called the StcaitOwer Of iSa6res.


This man, who gave his performances on
the public square, threw back his head, so as
to present straight line to the weapon, and
really plunged saber into the esop ophagus, 50
that the hilt touched his lips.


He would also swallow an eg- without
breaking it, or a quantity OG nails and flints.
which he caused to rattle by striking on his
stomach with his fist


"Tbese feats were rendered possible by re-
markable conformation of his esophagus But
if he had lived among the AiSsouas, he would
not surely have been the star of the troupe


'Or what would the Arabs have said had
they seen another man who would run himself
through the body with the first saber which
was brought to him, and, while he was thus
spitted. stick knife into each of his nostrils
up to the handlo2 / have seen that, and so
have many others


This feat was. in fact, so frightful that the
spectators cried Enough enough begging
him to stop. But, without troubling himself ut
that, he answered, speaking horribly through
his nose. that On de dui fitixait bas de B49. ;
Tea He tat faIsoH pas dc mai that it did not
hurt him-and, with this strange accent, he
sang the ballad Of EeMre III TGpe, which he
accompanied on the guitar.


:, could not endure to look upon such a
SIGHT. and was turning away in horror. when
drawing out the saber the nasal troubadour
showed us that it was bloody.


However, when / came to think il over. 7
felt that this man could not really put n saber
through his belly IN this way, and that there
must he some trick about il which did not see


My love for the marvellous gave me the de
sire to find him out; l applied to the inrnl1cr-
db6e, and, by means of little money and the
promise that L would not make use of his
secret, he explained il to me


. can in turn communicate il to the pubIic
without extracting the same promise The
trick is very ingenious.


The mOuntebank was very lean. a quality
indispensable for success in this. lie drew a
girdle very tight about his belly. and. as the
baek bone would not give way. the intestines
were obliged to yield, and were tied back to il
He then replaced the compressed portion by a
pastebOard belly, which restored him to his
normal proportions; the whole was covered with
hesh-cOlored tight, and seemed to be a
part of the body. On each side, above the bips
two rOsettes Of ribbons concealed the openinps
by which the saber went in and struck out. A
sort OF leather sheath led from one of these
openings to the other, taking the blade through
In safety. In the middle of this sheath was a
sponge filled with red fluid As to the knives
In the nose, that was reality. The ,RrnIUer-
a5ie had a very fat nose, which allowed him 70
raise the cartilages of tho nose to the hight of
the nasal fosses, for the introduction Of the
knives"