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221) at midnight. He has a house in Paris, & spends part of every Winter in St Petersbourg. - "I think one always feels so cross" he said, "& nasty if one gets up before noon, & then besides the world is not well aired before that time." - When he went up the Nile he took an extra boat filled with sheep, & another with hens & chickens; his butter was kept quite fresh in brine, & he had freezing powders for his champagne. - Sunday September 17th. Last night I heard Patti in Ernani! I have longed to see her since I was seven years old, & now my desire has been gratified. - At first I was disappointed, but then I had expected so very much! She is a small woman, & rather thin; of a Southern or slightly oriental "type," with a great deal of very black hair, & handsome but peculiar dark eyes, with long lashes, & "pale" skin.- I have heard people say that she could not act atall; but that idea is quite bete, for she acts quite as much as a

\222 cantatrice needs to. In the highly sentimental parts she is not very demonstrative, & keeps the "tenor" at a sufficiently respectful distance, which is a great improvement upon what one usually sees on the stage. - Her voice was perfectly lovely, & her execution faultless, though I think, she might have put a little more soul into it. - Not but what she sang with a great deal of expression, but she did not appear ever to be wholly carried away by the music. Her dresses were gorgeous; in the second act she wore a light blue faille, trimmed with silver lace; in the last a wedding dress of white & gold, with a coronet & vail on the back of her head, which made her look bewitching. - The marquis de Cause sat in the front row, his opera glass raised watching her attentively during the whole performance, as if he were looking at her for the first time. - The finale she acted with great spirit, & sang it splendidly; she picked up the boquets thrown & her in the most coquettish manner, with the funniest les airs & grimaces, that made us all laugh. -