A BEAUTIFUL IMPOSTOR.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3991, 7 May 1884, Page 4

A BEAUTIFUL IMPOSTOR.

Next to tbe reign of Beau Nash, in tho last century, perhaps that of the Princess Caraboo, in tho curlier part of this, forms one of the most important and sensational incidents iv the history of the city of Bath.

In the year 1817, the sturdy village overseer of Almondsbury .saw onooveninir, wandering in Knob Park, the residence of a wealthy merchant, Mr Samuel Worrall, a young and very beautiful woman, commandin «>• in stature, voluptuous in figure, almost bronze ii: complexion, with regular features, superb black eyes, and a mass of straight, blue-black hair, that hung in two great braids, woven into beads, nearly to the ground. She wore an Oriental dross, full, with loose sleeves, and nothing on her small brown feet but a pair of worn sandals. So dignified and haughty was the Stranger's bearing that the honest man approached with deference, as well as curiosity, to inquire what she was doing iv the park, but found to his astonishment she was not able to speak or .understand one word of English. By signs and geeturcs she conveyed to him that rhe was looking for somewhere to sleep, and was worn out with fatigue. The overseer, at a Io3S what to do, led her to tho mansion of Mr Worrall, who was so struck by tho beauty, manners, and apparent misfortunes of the Princess, that he and his wife insisted on her remaining as their guest. The family soon became so interested in their visitor that they invited the greatest linguists of the clay to meet her, but, unfortunately, no one could interpret the strange though musical language she spoke. She ate no animal food, insisted on preparing her own diet, generally of rice or .sago, which oho dressed iv a peculiar fashion, and evinced tho ingenuous luippii.oss of a child in displaying her varied accomplishments for tbe amusement of the family and their friends. She executed various fantastic dances with grace and abandon, swain like a fish, and could dive head foremost into deep water, rowed with strength and skill, and excelled the best archer in England in the use of bow and arrow.

At this time she went to Bath for tho season with her generous protectors, and there sho made a sensation such as no woman or women in England, save the beautiful Gunning sisters, ever have produced.

Sho made her first appearance in the As-sembly-rooms in such a silence that a pin could have been heard to drop, so dazzling was her beauty, which was displayed to the greatest advantage in a loose but clinging robe of rich colors threaded with gold ; the full sleeves reaching only to her elbow could not conceal the exquisite moulding of her well-developed arms, a broad embroidered band was fastened about her round and supple vi aist, in which was stuck a small and rudely-fashioned knife, her inseparable companion. Her magnificent hair was worn, as usual, in broad braids, and on one side of her well-poised head were fastened seven peacock's feathers in the form of a waving crescent. Bird, the artist, who was present, was so struck by her extraordinary appearance that he afterwards painted her portrait life-size in the costume she wore that evening. There also happened to be present on that evening a learned Portuguese, who, on being presented to her, at once recognised her language as being that of tho Javasus, tho inhabitants of an island in the East Indies. He interpreted her remarkable history as follows :—

Her mother, Queen of Javasu, was killed during a rebellion. She herself attempted to escape with her father, but he was shot, and she was captured and sold to a band of pirates, who soon after visited the island. They took her on their sailing- vessel, but after a long voyage were attacked by a Spanish cruiser. .Many of them were killed, and the vessel sacked by tho assailants. She herself was a captive, but after piteous entreaties, and the .surrender of some gold ornaments which were concealed in her clothing, they landed her at a small dishing village on the coast of Spain. She had heard of England, and that the people were good there, and surmounting almost incredible difficulties, made her way to its friendly shores.

Sho drew with her finger a rough chart of the ship's course, and crude sketches of the principal scenes she had passed through, and told her story with such animation and dramatic gestures that the bystanders declared they could follow it perfectly.

When her romantic and pathetic history .becaiuc public, the furore was greater than ever, and the Princess Caraboo was entertained by the nobility, became the toast and belle of the season, and men of wealth, rank, and fortune knelt at her feet as suitors. Poems were dedicated to her, the wits strained their intellects for compliments and epigrams in her honor, aud great scholars Htrnght from her further informa-

tion as to the almost unknown island of Javasu. One learned savant, Dr Wilkinson, was so touched by her story that he visited London, endeavoring to interest the East Indian Directors in her ; and to rouse public sympathy in her behalf he wrote long letters to llic London newspapers concerning the beautiful wanderer from the Orient. When these effusions appeared in x>rini, the Princess Caraboo must, indeed, have ejaculated, "Lord, preserve me from my friends; I can defend myself against my enemies !" for the zealous doctor brought la belle savage most emphatically to grief.

Scarcely had these commuications appeared when a severe spinster from Devonshire made her appearance at Bath, to point a bony finger »f shame at the royal Caraboo, whom—alas ! for romance —she identified as a former maid-servant, and the daughter of a humble laborer in the creamy county of Devonshire. Society fell into a state of consternation—it was a wonder it did not collapse altogether—and when further particulars transpired, "the hussy," "the jade," from Javasu, had to leave the city of Bath to escape violence.

A maid servant, with an imagination that soared above dish water, and an ambition uugratified by "black-leading," she had been carried away by the promise of a fine gentleman from London, and went there "tobo a lady." It ended sadly enough— in her becoming a mother, and a temporary inmate of tho Magdalene. But with her head full of romance, aud thirsting for adventure, she conceived the idea of Princess Caraboo, and how well she carried it out has been related, the learned " Portugee " lending himself to the fraud, so infatuated was he with her beauty.

That site was a woman of no ordinary ability is evident, and it is a great pity- that one so naturally gifted and beautiful, with such talent for the stage, should not have found a better outlet for her ambition.

Fortunately, there happened to be onereal Christian on the spot, and that one the person -who had tho most reason to resent tho heartless hoax—Mrs Worrall herself, from first to last the constant and true friend of tho bogus Princess, now plain Peggy. When everybody else turned upon her, Mrs Worrall furnished her with an outfit, and paid her passage to America, where she promised to begin a new life under tho care of some Moravian ladies who were going to settle in Philadelphia. And such is the talc of Princess Caraboo.