thousands of people who crowd the Park,--all so different looking, and
so curiously dressed. Grave Turks,--swarthy Spaniards and
Italians,--East Indian Princes, glistening with gold and
jewels,--clever French and German workmen, in blue cotton
blouses,--Chinese gentlemen,--Tartars, Russians, energetic Americans,
and many more. I wonder what they all think of us, whose habits in
many things are so different from their own?

And what charming things there are in the Exhibition itself! Fine
porcelain wares, mirrors, books, statues, perfumes, and many more
articles from various parts of the world,--beautiful fans, books,
bronzes, and an infinity of other matters, from France in particular.
Here is a model in miniature of the Crystal Palace itself, in glass.

Ah! talking of glass, what think you of an enormous French decanter,
in which three persons, having gotten inside by a ladder, can sit and
dine off a table a yard in circumference? This is quite an exhibition
in itself, I think. In another part of the building, we have a
looking-glass, from Germany, which is the largest that ever was made,
and is encased in a splendid frame of Dresden china. But here is a
darling little English steam-engine, so small that you could, after
wrapping it up in paper, lay it very comfortably inside an
ordinary-sized walnut-shell, while the plate on which it stands is not
bigger than a sixpence!

In the very centre of the building, a gigantic crystal fountain
diffuses a delicious coolness around, its bright clear waters
sparkling, leaping, and playing, as if in delight and astonishment at
the splendid and wonderful articles surrounding it. And there are two
immense statues just beside it, looking mightily pleased with the