The inscriptions and paintings on the outside of the next show announced “The White Negro, who was rescued from her Black Parents by the bravery of a British Officer—the only White Negro Girl Alive—The Great Giantess and Dwarf—Six Curiosities Alive!—Only a Penny to see them All Alive!” One side of the interior was covered by a pictorial representation of a tread-mill, with convicts at work upon it, superintended by warders. On the other side were several monkeys in cages, an old bear in a jacket, and sundry other animals. When a sufficient number of persons had assembled, a curtain was withdrawn, and the visitors beheld the giantess and the white negro, whom the showman pronounced “the greatest curiosity ever seen—the first that has been exhibited since the reign of George II.—look at her head and hair, ladies and gentlemen, and feel it; there’s no deception—it’s like ropes of wool!” The girl, who had the flat nose, thick lips, and peculiarly-shaped skull of the negro, stooped to have her hair examined. It was of a dull flaxen hue, and hung, according to Hone’s description, “in ropes, of a clothy texture, the thickness of a quill, and from four to six inches in length.” Her skin was the colour of an European’s. Then there stepped forth a little fellow about three feet high, in a military dress, with top boots, who “strutted his tiny legs, and held his head aloft with not less importance than the proudest general officer could assume upon his promotion to the rank of field marshal.”
The next show was announced as an “exhibition of real wonders,” and the following bill was put forth by its proprietor:—
“Real Wonders!
See and believe.
Have you seen
The beautiful Dolphin,
The Performing Pig, and the Mermaid?
If not, pray do! as the exhibition contains more variety than any other in England. Those ladies and gentlemen who may be pleased to honour it with a visit will be truly gratified.
Toby,
The Swinish Philosopher, and Ladies’ Fortune
Teller.
That beautiful animal appears to be endowed with the natural sense of the human race. He is in colour the most beautiful of his race; in symmetry the most perfect; in temper the most docile; and far exceeds anything yet seen for his intelligent performances. He is beyond all conception: he has a perfect knowledge of the alphabet, understands arithmetic, and will spell and cast accounts, tell the points of the globe, the dice-box, the hour by any person’s watch, &c.
The Real Head of
Mahoura,
The Cannibal Chief!
At the same time the public will have an opportunity of seeing what was exhibited so long in London, under the title of
The Mermaid:
The wonder of the deep! not a fac-simile or copy, but the same curiosity