to and fro, flourishing his hatchet in a most
dexterous manner. The instant one speaker,
finishes, another starts up to answer him; but
previous to rising they throw a mat or blanket
over their shoulders, and arrange it most tastefully
around them; and, as their attitudes are
all striking and graceful, and a great part of
the figure is left exposed, it forms a study for
an artist, well worth his going many miles to
witness, and invariably reminded me of the
fine models of antiquity.
As a painter, I conceive that this must have
been the great secret of the perfection to
which the Greek and Roman sculptors brought
their works; as they constantly contemplated
the display of the human form in all its beauty
in their various gymnastic exercises, which
enabled them to transfer to marble such ease
and elegance as we, living in an age of coats
and breeches, never shall be able to rival.
After the important subjects had been settled
by the elders, the young men assembled
without their weapons, and began another
kind of sham fight, one grappling with another,
till hundreds of them were locked in each
M