ary
RevZMA, Tierney,
197.01
Hubbard
Imag. Voy.
PR
3724
•G8
1801

GULLIVERY TRAVELS.
Gulliver embarking in his canoe
from the country of the Houyhnhme
Vide VolChapao Page
Satchell EWH
TRAVELS
INTO SEVERAL
REMOTE NATIONS -
OF THE
1
WORLD.
BY LEMUEL GULLIVER.
Firſt a Surgeon, and then a Captain, of feveral Ships,
TWO VOLUMES IN ONE.
BY DEAN SWIFT.
Cooke's Edition.
1
EMBELLISHED WITH SUPERB ENGRAVINGS.
London:
Printed for C. COOKE, Paternofter Row,
by J. Adlard, Duke Street, and fold by all
the Bookfellers in Great Britain
and Ireland.
Res.
Regent Li Li Hittard the
If
1-10-1924
PUBLISHER
-
TO
THE READER.
THE author of theſe travels, Mr. Lemuel Gulliver, is my
ancient friend; there is likewife fome relation between
us by the mother's fide. About three years ago, Mr. Gulli
ver, growing weary of the concourfe of curious people coming
to his houſe near Redriff, made a ſmall purchaſe of land, with
a convenient houfe, near Newark in Nottinghamshire his na-
tive country, where he now lives retired, yet in good eſteem
among his neighbours.
Although Mr. Gulliver was born in Nottinghamſhire, where
his father dwelt, yet I have heard him fay his family came
from Oxfordshire. To confirm which, I have obferved in the
church-yard at Banbury, in that county, ſeveral tombs and
monuments of the Gullivers.
Before he quitted Redriff; he left the cuftody of the follow-
ing papers in my hands, with the liberty to difpofe of them as
I ſhould think fit. I have carefully peruſed them three times
the ſtyle is very plain and fimple, and the only fault I find is,
that the author, after the manner of travellers, is a little cir- .
cumftantial. There is an air of truth apparent through the
whole; and indeed, the author was fo diſtinguiſhed for his ve-
racity, that it became a proverb among his neighbours at Red-
riff, when any one affirmed a thing, to fay, it was as true as if
· Mr. Gulliver had spoke it.
By the advice of feveral worthy perfons, to whom, with the
author's permiffion, I communicated theſe papers, I now ven-
ture to fend them into the world, hoping they may be, at leaſt
for fome time, a better entertainment to noblemen than the
Common fcribblers of politics and party.
This volume would have been at least twice as large, if I
A 3
had.
iv
THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER.
7
had not made bold to ftrike out innumerable paffages relating
to the winds and tides, as well as to the variations and bearings
in the ſeveral voyages; together with the minute deſcription of
the management of the ſhip in ftorms, in the ftyle of failors:
likewiſe the account of the longitudes and latitudes; wherein
I have reafon to apprehend Mr. Gulliver may be a little dif
ſatisfied: but I was refolved to fit the work as much as poffi-
ble to the general capacity of readers. However, if my own
ignorance in fea-affairs fhall have led me to commit fome mif-
takes, I alone am anfwerable for them: and if any traveller
hath a curiofity to fee the whole work at large, as it came from
the hand of the author, I fhall be ready to gratify him.
As for any farther particulars relating to the author, the
reader will receive fatisfaction from the first pages of the book.
RICHARD SYMPSON,
1
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS,
PART I.
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
CHAP. I.
The author gives fome account of himself and family;
his firſt inducements to travel. He is hipwrecked, and fwims
for his life; gets fafe on bore in the country of Lilliput; is
made a prifoner, and carried up the country.
M
Y rather had a finall eftate in Nottinghamshire; I
was the third of five fons. He fent me to Emanuel
College, in Cambridge, at fourteen years old, where I re-
fided three years, and applied myſelf clofe to my ftudies;
but the charge of maintaining me (although I had a very
fcanty allowance) being too great for a narrow fortune, I
was bound apprentice to Mr. James Bates, an eminent
furgeon in London, with whom I continued four years;
and my father now and then fending me fmall fums of
money, I laid them out in learning navigation, and other
parts of the mathematics, uſeful to thoſe who intend to
travel, as I always believed it would be fome time or other
my fortune to do. When I left Mr. Bates, I went down
to my father; where, by the affiftance of him and my uncle
John, and fome other relations, I got forty pounds, and
a promise of thirty pounds a year to maintain me at Ley-
den there I ftudied phyfic two years and feven months,
knowing it would be uſeful in long voyages.
:
Soon after my return from Leyden, I was recommended
by my good matter, Mr. Bates, to be furgeon to the
Swallow, Captain Abraham Pannel, commander; with
whom I continued three years and a half, making a voy-
age or two into the Levant, and fome other parts. When
I came back, I refolved to fettle in London, to which Mr.
Bates, my matter, encouraged me, and by him I was re-
commended
Theſe voyages are intended as a moral political romance; to
correct vice, by fhewing its deformity, in oppofition to the beauty
of virtue, and to amend the falfe fyſtems of philofophy by point-
ing out the errors, and applying falutary means to avoid them.
ORRERY,
A 3
}
[
1
6
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
commended to ſeveral patients. I took part of a ſmall
houſe in the Old Jewry; and being adviſed to alter my
condition, I married Mrs. Mary Burton, fecond daughter
to Mr. Edmund Burton, hofier, in Newgate Street, with
whom I received four hundred pounds for a portion.
But my good mafter Bates dying in two years after,
and I having few friends, my bufinefs began to fail, for
my confcience would not ſuffer me to imitate the bad prac-
tice of too many among my brethren. Having therefore
confulted with my wife, and fome of my acquaintance,
I determined to go again to fea. I was furgeon fuccef-
fively in two ſhips, and made feveral voyages for fix years,
to the East and Weft-Indies, by which I got fome addi-
tion to my fortune. My hours of leifure I ſpent in read-
ing the best authors, ancient and modern, being always
provided with a good number of books: an when I was
afhore, in obferving the manners and difpofitions of the
people, as well as learning their language, wherein I had
a great facility by the ſtrength of my memory.
The laft of thefe voyages not proving very fortunate,
I grew weary of the fea, and intended to ſtay at home
with my wife and family. I removed from the Old Jewry
to Fetter Lane, and from thence to Wapping, hoping to
get bufinefs among the failors: but it would not turn to
account. After three years expectation that things would
mend, I accepted an advantageous offer from Captain
William Prichard, mafter of the Antelope, who was
making a voyage to the South Sea. We fet fail from
Bristol, May 4th, 1699, and our voyage at first was
very profperous.
It would not be proper for fome reaſons to trouble the
reader with the particulars of our adventures in thoſe
feas. Let it fuffice to inform him that, in our paffage
from thence to the East Indies, we were driven by a vio-
Jent form to the North-west of Van Diemen's Land. By
an obſervation, we found ourſelves in the, latitude of 30
deg. two min. South. Twelve of our crew were dead
by immoderate labour and ill food, the reft were in a
very weak condition. On the fifth of November, which
I
was
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
7
22
+
was the beginning of fummer in thofe parts, the weather
being very hazy, the feamen fpied a rock, within half a
cable's length of the fhip; but the wind was fo ftrong,
that we were driven directly upon it, and immediately
fplit. Six of the crew, of whom I was one, having let
down the boat into the fea, made a fhift to get clear of
the ſhip and the rock. We rowed, by my computation,
about three leagues till we were able to work no longer,
being already ſpent with labour while we were in the
fhip. We therefore trufted ourſelves to the mercy of the
waves, and in about half an hour the boat was overfet
by a fudden flurry from the North. What became of my
companions in the boat, as well as thofe who escaped
on the rock, or were left in the veffel, I cannot tell; but
conclude they were all loft. For my own part, I ſwam
as fortune directed me, and was pushed forward by wind
and tide. I often let my legs drop, and could feel no
bottom. But when I was almost gone, and able to ſtrug-
gle no longer, I found myſelf within my depth; and by
this time the ftorm was much abated. The declivity
was fo fmall that I walked near a mile before I got to
the ſhore, which I conjectured was about eight o'clock
in the evening, I then advanced forward near half a
mile, but could not difcover any fign of houfes or inha-
bitants; at leaft I was in fo weak a condition that I did
not obſerve them. I was extremely tired, and, with that
and the heat of the weather, and about half a pint of
brandy that I drank as I left the ſhip, I found myſelf
much inclined to fleep. I lay down on the grafs, which
was very fhort and foft, where I flept founder than ever
I remember to have done in my life, and, as I reckoned,
about nine hours; for when I awaked, it was juſt day-
light. I attempted to rife, but was not able to ftir; for
as I happened to lie on my back, I found my arms and
legs were ftrongly faftened on each fide to the ground;
and my hair, which was long and thick, tied down in the
fame manner. I likewife felt ſeveral flender ligatures
across my body, from my arm-pits to my thighs. I
could only look upwards: the fun began to grow hot,
and
}
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
I
and the light offended my eyes. I heard a confufed
noife about me, but in the pofture I lay, could fee nothing
except the ſky. In a little time I felt fomething alive
moving on my left leg, which advanced gently forward
over my breaft, came almoft up to my chin; when, bend-
ing my eyes downwards as much as I could, I perceived
it to be an human creature not fix inches high, with a
bow and arrow in his hands, and a quiver at his back,
In the mean time, I felt at least forty more of the fame
kind (as I conjectured) following the first. I was in
the utmoſt aſtonishment, and roared fo loud, that they all
ran back in a fright; and fome of them, as I was after-
wards told, were hurt with the falls they got by leaping
from my fides upon the ground. However, they foon
returned, and one of them, who ventured fo far as to get
a full fight of my face, lifting up his hands and eyes by
way of admiration, cried out in a fhrill, but diftinct voice,
Hekinah Degul: the others repeated the ſame words
feveral times, but I then knew not what they meant.
lay all this while, as the reader may believe, in great un-
eafinefs; at length ftruggling to get loofe, I had the for-
tune to break the ftrings, and wrench out the pegs that
faftened my left arm to the ground: for by lifting it up
to my face, I diſcovered the methods they had taken to
bind me,
and at the fame time, with a violent pull, which
gave me exceſſive pain, I a little loofened the Itrings that
tied down my hair on the left fide, fo that I was juſt able
to turn my head about two inches. But the creatures
ran off a fecond time, before I could feize them: where-
upon there was a great fhout in a very fhrill accent, and
after it ceaſed, I heard one of them cry aloud, “ Tolgo
Phonac;" when in an inftant I felt above an hundred
arrows difcharged on my left hand, which pricked me
like fo many needles; and, befides, they hot another
flight into the air, as we do bombs in Europe, whereof
many, I fuppofe fell on my body (though I felt them
not) and ſome on my face, which I immediately covered
with my left hand. When this fhower of arrows was
over I fell a groaning with grief and pain, and then
friving
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
·9
peo-
ftriving again to get looſe, they diſcharged another vol-
ley larger than the firft, and fome of them attempted with
fpears to ſtick me in the fides; but by good luck, I had
on me a buff jerkin, which they could not pierce. I
thought it the most prudent method to lie ftill, and my
deſign was to continue fo till night, when, my left hand
being already looſe, I could eaſily free myſelf: and, as
for the inhabitants, I had reaſon to believe I might be a
match for the greateſt army they could bring againſt me,
if they were all of the fame fize with him that I faw.
But fortune difpofed otherwife of me. When the people
obferved I was quiet, they difcharged no more arrows:
but by the noife I heard, I knew their numbers increaſed;
and about four yards from me, over againſt my right ear,
I heard a knocking for above an hour, like that of
ple at work; when, turning my head that way, as well
as the pegs and ftrings would permit me, I faw a ſtage
erected, about a foot and a half from the ground, capa-
ble of holding four of the inhabitants, with two or three
ladders to mount it: from whence one of them, who feemed
to be a perſon of quality, made me a long ſpeech, whereof
I underſtood not one fyllable. But I fhould have men-
tioned, that before the principal perfon began his oration,
he cried out three times, " Langro Dehul fan:" (theſe
words and the former were afterwards repeated and ex-
plained to me.) Whereupon immediately about fifty
of the inhabitants came and cut the ftrings that faſtened
the left fide of my head, which gave me the liberty of
turning it to the right, and of obferving the perfon and
gefture of him that was to speak. He appeared to be of
a middle age, and taller than any of the other three who
attended him, whereof one was a page that held up his
train, and ſeemed to be ſomewhat longer than my middle
finger; the other two ſtood on each fide to fupport him.
He acted every part of an orator, and I could obſerve
many periods of threatenings, and others of promifes,
pity and kindneſs.
Í anſwered in a few words, but in a ſubmiſſive man-
ner, lifting up my left hand and both my eyes to the fun,
as
1
10
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
as calling him for a witneſs: and being almoſt famifhed
with hunger, having not eaten a morfel for fome hours
before I left the fhip, I found the demands of nature ſo
frong upon me, that I could not forbear fhewing my im-
patience (perhaps against the ftrict rules of decency) by
putting my finger frequently to my mouth, to fignify
that I wanted food. The Hurgo (for fo they call a
great lord, as I afterwards learnt) underſtood me very
well. He defcended from the ſtage, and commanded that
feveral ladders fhould be applied to my fides, on which
above an hundred of the inhabitants mounted, and walked
towards my mouth, laden with baſkets full of meat,which
had been provided and fent thither by the king's orders,
upon the first intelligence he received of me. I obſerved
there was the flesh of feveral animals, but could not dif-
tinguish them by the tafte. They were ſhoulders, legs,
and loins, fhaped like thofe of mutton, and very well
dreffed, but ſmaller than the wings of larks. I eat them
by two or three at a mouthful, and took three loaves at
a time, about the ſize of muſket bullets. They fupplied
me as fast as they could,fhewing a thoufand marks of won-
der and aftonifliment at my bulk and appetite. I then made
another fign that I wanted drink. They found by my
eating that a fmall quantity would not fuffice me, and
being a mott ingenious people, they flung up with great
dexterity one of their largeſt hogheads, then rolled it to-
wards my hand, and beat out the top; I drank it off at
a draught, which I might well do, "for it did not hold
half a pint, and tafted like a ſmall wine of Burgundy,
but much more delicious. They brought me a fecond
hoghead, which I drank in the fame manner, and made
figns for more; but they had none to give me. When I
had performed theſe wonders, they ſhouted for joy, and
danced upon my breaſt, repeating feveral times, as they
did at first, Hekinah Degul. They made me a fign that
I fhould throw down the two hogfheads, but firft warn-
ed the people below to ftand out of the way, crying
aloud, Borach Mevola, and when they faw the veſſels
in the air, there was an univerfaļ ſhout of Hekinah Dis
gul
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
1
gul, I confefs I was often tempted, while they were
paffing backwards and forwards on my body, to feize
forty or fifty of the first that came within my reach, and
dash them against the ground. But the remembrance of
what I had felt, which probably might not be the worſt
they could do, and the promiſe of honour I made them,
for fo I interpreted my fubmiffive behaviour, foon drove
out theſe imaginations. Befides, I confidered myſelf as
bound by the laws of hospitality to a people who had
treated me with fo much expence and magnificence.
However, in my thoughts I could not fufficiently wen
der at the intrepidity of thofe diminutive mortals, who
durſt venture to mount and walk upon my body, while
one of my hands was at liberty, without trembling at
the fight of to prodigious a creature as I must appear to
them. After fome time, when they obſerved that I made
no more demands for meat, there appeared before me a
perſon of high rank from his imperial majefty. His ex-
cellency having mounted on the ſmall of my right leg,
advanced forwards up to my face, with about a dozen of
his retinue; and producing his credentials under the
fignet royal, which he applied clofe to my eyes, ſpoke
about ten minutes without any fign of anger, but with a
kind of determinate refolution; often pointing forwards,
which as I afterwards found, was towards the capi-
tal city, about half a mile diftant, whither it was
agreed by his majesty in council that I must be con-
veyed. I answered in a few words, but to no pur-
pofe, and made a fign with my hand that was loofe,
putting it to the other, (but over his excellency's head
for fear of hurting him or his train) and then to my
own head and body, to fignify that I deſired my liberty.
It appeared that he understood me well enough, for he
fhook his head by way of difapprobation, and held his
hand in a poſture to fhow that I must be carried as a pri-
foner. However, he made other figns to let me under-
ftand that I fhould have meat and drink enough, and
very good treatment. Whereupon I once more thought
of attempting to break my bonds; but again when I
felt
té
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
-
felt the ſmart of their arrows, upon my face and hands,
which were all in blifters, and many of the darts ftill
fticking in them, and obferving likewife that the num-
ber of my enemies increaſed, I gave tokens to let them
know that they might do with me what they pleaſed.
Upon this the Hurgo and his train withdrew with much
civility and chearful countenances. Soon after I heard
great
a general fhout, with frequent repetitions of the words
Peplom Selan, and I felt a great number of people on
my left fide, relaxing the cords to fuch a degree, that I
was able to turn to my right, and to cafe myſelf with
making water; which I very plentifully did, to the
aftoniſhment of the people, who conje&uring by my mo-
tion what I was going to do, immediately opened, to the
right and left, on that fide to avoid the torrent which fell
with fuch noife and violence from me. But before this
they had daubed my face and both my hands with a fort
of ointment very pleaſant to the fmell, which in a few
minutes removed all the fmart of their arrows. Theſe
circumſtances, added to the refreſhment I had received
by their victuals and drink, which were very nourishing,
diſpoſed me to fleep. I flept about eight hours, as I
was afterwards affured; and it was no wonder, for the
phyficians, by the emperor's order, had mingled a fleepy
potion in the hogheads of wine.
It ſeems that upon the first moment I was difcovered
fleeping on the ground, after my landing, the emperor
had early notice of it by an expreſs; and determined in
council that I fhould be tied in the manner I have re-
lated, (which was done in the night while I flept) that
plenty of meat and drink ſhould be fent to me, and a
machine prepared to carry me to the capital city.
This refolution may perhaps appear very bold and
dangerous, and I am confident would not be imitated by
any prince in Europe on the like occafion; however, in
my opinion, it was extremely prudent, as well as gene-
rous for fuppofing theſe people had endeavoured to kill
me with their fpears and arrows while I was afleep, I
ſhould certainly have awaked with the firſt fenſe of ſmart,
་
which
1
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
13
J
which might ſo far have rouzed my rage and ſtrength,
as to have enabled me to break the ftrings wherewith I
was tied, after which, as they were not able to make re-
fiftance, fo they could expect no mercy.
Theſe people are moft excellent mathematicians, and
arrived to a great perfection in mechanics, by the coun-
tenance and encouragement of the emperor, who is a re-
nowned patron of learning. This prince hath ſeveral
machines fixed on wheels, for the carriage of trees and
other great weights. He often builds his largeſt men
of war, whereof fome are nine feet long, in the woods
where the timber grows, and has them carried on theſe
engines, three or four hundred yards to the fea. Five
hundred carpenters and engineers were immediately fet
to work, to prepare the greateſt engine they had. It
was a frame ofwood, raiſed three inches from the ground,
about feven feet long and four wide, moving upon twenty-
two wheels. The fhout I heard was upon the arrival
of this engine, which it ſeems fet out in four hours after
my landing. It was brought parallel to me as I lay.
But the principal difficulty was to raife and place me in
this vehicle. Eighty poles, each of one foot high, were
erected for this purpoſe, and very ſtrong cords of the big-
nefs of pack-thread, were faftened by hooks to many ban-
dages, which the workmen had girt round my neck, my
hands, my body, and my legs. Nine hundred of the
ftrongest men were employed to draw up theſe cords by
many pullies, faſtened to the poles, and thus, in lefs
than three hours, I was raifed and flung into the engine,
and there tied faft. All this I was told, for while the
whole operation was performing, I lay in a profound
fleep, by the force of that foporiferous medicine infufed
into my liquor, Fifteen hundred of the emperor's ftrong-
eft horſes, each about four inches and a half high, were
employed to draw me towards the metropolis, which, as
I faid, was half a mile diftant.
About four hours after we began our journey. I
awaked by a very ridiculous accident: for the carriage
being fopt a while to adjuſt fomething that was out of
B
order
14
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
order, two or three of the young natives had the curio
fity to fee how I looked when I was afleep; they climbed
up into the engine, and advancing very foftly to my face,
one of them, an officer in the guards, put the fharp end
of his half pike a good way up into my left noftril, which
tickled my nofe like a traw, and made me fneeze violent-
ly:* whereupon they ftole off unperceived, and it was
three weeks before I knew the caufe of my awaking fo
fuldenly. We made a long march the remaining part
of the day, and relted at night with five hundred guards
on each fide of me, half with torches, and half with
bows and arrows, ready to fhoot me if I fhould offer to
ftir. The next morning at fun rife we continued our
march, and arrived within two hundred yards of the city
gates about noon. The emperor and all his court came
out to meet us, but his great officers would by no means
fuffer his majesty to endanger his perfon by mounting on
my body.
At the place where the carriage ftopt, there flood an
ancient temple, efteemed to be the largeft in the whole
kingdom, which having been polluted fome years before
by an unnatural murder, was, according to the zeal of
thofe people, looked upon as prophane, and therefore had
been applied to common ufe, and all the ornaments and
furniture carried away. In this edifice it was determin
ed I fhould lodge. The great gate fronting to the north
was about four feet high, and almoft two feet wide,
through which I could easily creep. On each file of the
gate was a finall window, not above fix inches from the
ground into that on the left fide, the king's fmith con-
veyed
It has been remarked, that courage, in whatever caufe,
though it fometimes excites indignation, is never the object of
contempt; but this appears to be true, only becauſe courage is
fuppofed to imply fuperiority; for this officer in the guards-be-
comes extremely ridiculous and contemptible by an actof the moft
daring curiofity, which fets him in compari fon with Gulliver;
to whom he was fo much inferior, that a blaſt of the Man-moun-
tain's noftrils would have endangered his life; and, if heroiſm
itfelf is not proof againſt ridicule, thofe furely must be Lillipu-
tians in philofophy who confider ridicule as the teft of truth.
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
15
;
veyed four fcore and eleven chains, like hofe that hang
to a lady's watch in Europe, and almoſt as large, which
were locked to my left leg with fix and thirty padlocks.
Over against this temple, on the other fide of the great
Highway, at twenty feet dillance, there was a turret at
leaft five feet high. Here the emperor afcended with
many principal lords of his court, to have an opportu
nity of viewing me, as I was told, for I could not fee
them. It was reckoned that above an hundred thouſand
inhabitants.came out of the town upon the fame errand
and in fpite of my guards, I believe there could not be
fewer than ten thouſand, at feveral times, who mounted
my body by help of ladders. But a proclamation was
foon illued to forbid it, upon pain of death. When
the workmen found it was impoffible for me to break
loofe, they cut all the ftrings that bound me; whereupon
I role up with as melancholy a difpofition as ever I had
in my life. But the noife and aftoniſhment of the people
at feeing me rife and walk, are not to be expreffed. The
chains that held my left leg, were about two yards long,
and gave me not only the liberty of walking backwards
and forwards, in a femi circle; but being fixed within
four inches of the gate, allowed me to creep in, and lie
at my full length in the temple.
CHAP. II.
The emperor of Lilliput, attended by feveral of the no-
bility, comes to fee the author in his confinement. The em-
peror's perſon and babit defcribed. Learned men appoint-
Ri to teach the author their language. He gains favour
by bix mild difpofition. His pockets are jearched, and bis
javord and pytols taken from him.
WHEN I found myfelf on my feet, I looked about
me, and mult confefs I never beheld a more enter-
taining profpect. The country round appeared like a
continued garden, and the inclofed fields, which were
generally forty feet fquare, refembled fo many beds of
flowers. Thefe fields were intermingled with woods of
half a ftang,* and the tallest trees, as I could judge,
appeared
* Aftang is a pole or perch, fixteen feet and a half,
B 2
1
*
16
OYAGE
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
appeared to be feven feet high. I viewed the town on
my left hand, which looked like the painted ſcene of a
city in a theatre.
I had been for fome hours extremely preffed by the
neceffities of nature: which was no wonder, it being
alinoft two days fince I had laft difburdened myſelf. I
was under great difficulties between urgency and ſhame.
The best expedient I could think on, was, to creep into
my houſe, which I accordingly did; and fhutting the
gate after me, I went as far as the length of my chain
would fuffer, and diſcharged my body of that uneafy
load. But this was the only time I was ever guilty of fo
uncleanly an action; for which I cannot but hope the
candid reader will give fome allowance, after he hath
maturely and impartially confidered my cafe, and the dif-
treſs I was in. From this time, my conftant practice,
was, as foon as I rofe, to perform that bufinefs in open
air, at the full extent of my chain, and due care was
taken every morning before company came, that the of-
fenfive matter fhould be carried off in wheel-barrows, by
two fervants appointed for that purpoſe. I would not
have dwelt fo long upon a circumftance, that perhaps at
first fight may appear not very momentous, if I had not
thought it neceffary to juftify my character in point of
cleanliness to the world; which I am told fome of my
maligners have been pleaſed, upon this, and other occa-
fions, to call in queftion.
When this adventure was at an end, I came back out
of my houfe, having occafion for fresh air. The empe-
ror was already defcended from the tower, and advanc-
ed on horfeback towards me, which had like to have
coft him dear for the beast, though very well trained,
yet wholly unuſed to fuch a fight, which appeared as if
a mountain moved before him, reared up on his hinder
feet; but that prince, who is an excellent horfeman, kept
his feat till his attendants ran in, and held the bridle,
while his majefty had time to difmount. When he
alighted, he furveyed me round with great admiration,
but
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT
17
but kept without the length of my chain. He ordered
his cooks and butlers, who were already prepared, to
give me victuals and drink, which they pushed forward
in a fort of vehicles upon wheels, till I could reach them.
I took thefe vehicles, and foon emptied them all; twenty
of them were filled with meat, and ten with liquor;
each of the former afforded ine two or three good mouth-
fuls, and I emptied the liquor of ten veffels, which was
contained in earthen vials, into one vehicle, drinking it
off at a draught, and fo I did with the reſt.
The em-
prefs and young princes of the blood, of both fexes,
attended by many ladies, fat at fome diftance in their
chais, but upon the accident that happened to the em-
peror's horfe they alighted, and came near his perſon,
which I am now going to defcribe. He is taller by al-
molt the breadth of my nail, than any of his court
which alone is enough to ftrike an awe into the beholders.
His features are frong and mafculine, with an Auſtrian
Jip and arched role, his complexion olive, his counte-
nance erect, his body and limbs well proportioned, all
his motions graceful, and his deportment majeftic.* He
was then past his prime, being twenty-eight years and
three quarters old, of which he had reigned about
feven, in great felicity, and generally victorious.
the better convenience of beholding him, I lay on my
fide, fo that my face was parallel to his, and he food
but three yards off: however, I have had him fince many
times in my hand, and therefore cannot be deceived in
the defcription. His drefs was very plain and fimple,
and the fashion of it between the Afiatic and European:
but he had on his head a light helmet of gold, adorned
with jewels, and a plume on the creft. He held his
fword
B 3
For
* The mafculine ſtrength of features, which Gulliver could
not fee, till he laid his face upon the ground; and the awful fu-
periority of ftature in a being whom he held in his hand; the hel
met, the plume, and the word, are a fine reproof of human
pride;
the objects of which are trifling diftinctions, whether of
perfon or rank, the ridiculous parade and oftentation of a pig-
my; which derive not only their origin, but their ufe, from the
toity, weakneſs, and imperfection of ourſelves and others,
2
18
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT,
fword drawn in his hand, to defend himſelf, if I should
happen to break loofe; it was almoft three inches long,
the hilt and fcabbard were gold enriched with diamonds.
His voice was fhrill, but very clear and articulate, and
I could diſtinctly hear it when I ftood up. The ladies
and courtiers were all moft magnificently clad, ſo that
the spot they stood upon feemed to refemble a petticoat
fpread on the ground, embroidered with figures of gold
and filver. His imperial majefty ſpoke often to me, and
I returned anſwers, but neither of us could underſtand
a fyllable. There were feveral of his priests and lawyers
prefent, (as I conjectured by their habits) who were
commanded to address themselves to me, and I spoke to
them in as many languages, as I had the leaft fmattering
of, which were High and Low Dutch, Latin, French,
Spanish, Italian, and Lingua Franca; but all to no
purpoſe. After about two hours the court retired, and
I was left with a strong guard, to prevent the imperti-
nence, and probably the malice of the rabble, who were
very impatient to crowd about me, as near as they durft,
and ſome of them had the impudence to fhoot their ar-
rows at me as I fat on the ground, by the door of my
houfe, whereof one very narrowly miffed my left eye.
But the colonel ordered fix of the ringleaders to be
ſeized, and thought no puniſhment fo proper as to de-
liver them bound into my hands, which fome of his
foldiers accordingly did, pushing them forwards with
the butt-ends of their pikes into my reach; I took them
all in my right hand, put five of them into my coat
pocket, and as to the fixth, I made a countenance as if
I would eat him alive. The poor man fqualled terri-
bly, and the colonel and his officers were in much pain,
eſpecially when they faw me take out my pen-knife;
but I foon put them out of fear, for, looking mildly,
and immediately cutting the ftrings he was bound with.
I fet him gently on the ground and away he ran ; I
treated the reſt in the fame manner, taking them one by
one; out of my pocket, and I obferved both the foldiers
and people were highly delighted at this mark of my
clemency,
1
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
19
elemency, which was reprefented very much to my ad-
vantage at court.
Towards night I got with fome difficulty into my
houſe, where I lay on the ground, and continued to do
fo about a fortnight; during which time the emperor
gave orders to have a bed prepared for me. Six hundred
beds* of the common meafure were brought in carriages
and worked up in my houfe, an hundred and fifty of
their beds fown together made up the breadth and length;
and thefe were four double, which however kept me but
very indifferently from the hardneſs of the floor that was
of fimooth ftone. By the fame computation they pro
vided me with fheets, blankets, and coverlets, tolerable
enough for one who had been fo long inured to hardships.
As the news of my arrival ſpread through the king-
dom, it brought prodigious numbers of rich, idle, and
curious people to fee me; fo that the villages were al-
most emptied, and great neglect of tillage and houfhold
affairs must have enfued, if his imperial majefty had not
provided, by ſeveral proclamations and orders of ſtate,
againſt this inconveniency. He directed, that thoſe whọ
had already beheld me, fhould return home, and not
prefume to come within fifty yards of my houfe, with-
out licence from court; whereby the ſecretaries of ſtate
got confiderable fees.
In the mean time, the emperor had frequent councils
to debate what courfe fhould be taken with me, and I
was afterwards affured by a particular friend, a perſon
of great quality, who was looked upon to be as much in
the fecret as any, that the court was under many dif-
ficulties concerning me. They apprehended my break-
ing loofe, and that my diet would be very expenfive, and
might caufe a famine. Sometimes they determined
to ftarve me, or at leall to fhoot me in the face and
hands, with poifoned arrows, which would foon dif-
patch me; but again they confidered, that the ftench
of fo large a carcale might produce a plague in the me-
tropolis
* Culliver has obferved great exactnefs in the juft proportion
and appearances of the object thus leffened,
ORREKY
}
20
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
tropolis, and probably fpread through the whole king-
dom. In the midſt of theſe confultations feveral officers
of the army went to the door of the great council-cham-
ber; and two of them being admitted, gave an account
of my behaviour to the fix criminals abovementioned,
which made fo favourable an impreffion in the breast of
his majeſty and the whole board in my behalf, that an
imperial commiffion was iſſued out, obliging all the vil-
lages nine hundred yards round the city, to deliver in
every morning, fix heeves, forty fheep, and other vic-
tuals for my fuftenance; together with a proportionable
quantity of bread and wine, and other liquors: for the
due payment of which, his majelty gave affignments
upon his treafury. For this prince lives chiefly upon
his own demefnes, feldom, except upon great occafions,
railing any fubfidies upon his fubjects, who are bound to
attend him in his wars at their own expence. An ella-
bliſhment was alfo made of fix hundred perfons, to be
my domeftics, who had board-wages allowed for their
maintenance, and tents built for them, very conveni-
ently on each fide of my door. It was likewife ordered,
that three hundred taylors fhould make me a luit of
cloaths, after the fafliion of the country. That fix
of his majefty's greateft fcholars fhould be employed to
inftruct me in their language; and, laftly, that the em-
peror's horfes, and thofe of the nobility, and troops of
guards, fhould be frequently exercited in my fight to
accuftom themfelves to me. All theſe orders were duly
put in execution, and in about three weeks I made a great
progrefs in learning their language: during which time
the emperor frequently honoured me with his vifits,
and was pleased to affilt my mafters in teaching me. We
began already to converfe together in fome fort: and the-
fift words I learnt, were to exprefs my defire that he'
would pleaſe to give me my liberty, which I every day
repeated on my knees. His anfwer, as I could appre-
hend it, was, that this must be a work of time, not to
be thought on without the advice of council, and that
first I muſt lumos kelmin peſſo deſmar lon empofo; that
is
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
21
is, fwear a peace with him and his kingdom. How-
ever, that I ſhould be ufed with all kindneſs; and he
adviſed me to acquire, by my patience and difcreet be-
haviour, the good opinion of himſelf and his fubjects.
He defired that I would not take it ill if he gave orders
to certain proper officers to fearch me; for probably I
might carry about me feveral weapons, which must
needs be dangerous things, if they answered the bulk of
fo prodigious a perfon. I faid his majeſty ſhould be fa-
tisfied, for I was ready to ftrip myſelf, and turn up my
pockets before him. This I delivered part in words,
and part in figns. He replied, that by the laws of
the kingdom I must be fearched by two of his officers
that he knew this could not be done without my con-
ſent and aſſiſtance; that he had ſo good an opinion of
my generofity and juftice, as to truft their perfons in
my hands that whatever they took from me fhould be
returned when I left the country, or paid for at the
rate which I would fet upon them. I took up the
two officers in my hands, put them firft into my
coat pockets, and then into every other pocket about
me, except my two fobs, and another fecret pocket I
had no mind fhould be fearched, wherein I had fome
little neceffaries that were of no confequence to any but
myſelf. In one of my fobs there was a filver watch,
and in the other a fmall quantity of gold in a purfe,
Thefe gentlemen, having pen, ink, and paper about
them, made an exact inventory of every thing they faw;
and, when they had done, defired I would fet them
down, that they might deliver it to the emperor. This
inventory I afterwards tranflated into English, and is
word for word as follows:
*
"Imprimis, in the right coat-pocket of the Great
Man-Mountain (for fo I interpret the words Quinbus
Fleftrix,) after the ftricteft fearch, we found only one
great piece of coarſe eloth, large enough to be a foot
cloth for your majefty's chief room of ftate. In the
left pocket, we faw a huge filver cheft, with a cover of
the fame metal, which we the fearchers were not able to
lift
黛
​22
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
lift. We defired it fhould be opened, and one of us
ftepping into it, found himſelf up to the mid leg in a fort
fbrown duft, ſome part thereof flying up to our faces,
fet us both a facezing for feveral times together. In his
right waiſtcoat-pocket, we found a prodigious bundle
of white thin fubftances, folded one over another, about
the bigness of three men, tied with a ſtrong cable, and
marked with black figures: which we hombly conceive
to be writings every letter almoſt half as large as the
palm of our hands. In the left there was a fort of
engine, from the back of which were extended twenty
large poles, refembling the pallifadoes before your ma-
jefty's court; wherewith we conjecture the Man-Moun-
tain combs his head, for we did not always trouble him
with queſtions, becauſe we found it a great difficulty to
make him underſtand us. In a large pocket on the right
fide of his middle cover, fo I tranflate the word Raa-
fulo, by which they meant my breeches, we faw a hol-
low pillar of iron, about the length of a man, faftened
to a strong piece of timber, larger than the pillar; and
upon one fide of the pillar were huge pieces of strong
iron ſticking out, cut in ſtrange figures, which we knew
not what to make of. In the left pocket, another en-
gine of the fame kind. In the finaller pocket, on the
right fide, were feveral round flat pieces of white and
red metal, of different bulk; ſome of the white, which
ſeemed to be filver, were fo large and heavy, that my
comrade and I could hardly lift them. In the left
pocket were two black pillars, irregularly fhaped: we
could not without difficulty reach the top of them as
we ſtood at the bottom of his pocket. One of them was
covered, and feemed all of a piece: but, at the upper
end of the other, there appeared a white round fubftance,
about twice the bignefs of our heads. Within each of
thefe was incloſed a prodigious plate of teel: which by `
our orders, we obliged him to fhew us, becauſe we ap
prehended they might be dangerous engines. He took
them out of their cafes, and told us that in his own
country his practice was to fhave his beard with one of
thefe
書
​A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
23
thefe, and to cut his meat with the other. There were
two pockets which we could not enter: thefe he called
his fobs; they were two large flits cut into the top of
his middle cover, but fqueezed clofe by the preffure of
his belly. Out of the right fob hung a great filver chain,
with a wonderful kind of engine at the bottom. We
directed him to draw out whatever was faftened to that
chain; which appeared to be a globe, half filver, and
half of fome tranfparent metal; for on the tranſparent
file we faw certain ftrange figures circularly drawn, and
thought we could touch them, till we found our fingers
ftopped by that lucid fubftance. He put this engine to
our ears, which made an inceffant noife, like that of a
water mill. And we conjecture it is either fome un-
known animal, or the ged that he worſhips; but we
are more inclined to the latter opinion, because he af
fured us, if we understood him right, (for he expreffed
himfelf very imperfectly) that he feldom did any thing
without confulting it. He called it his oracle, and ſaid,
it pointed out the time for every action of his life.* From
the left fob he took out a net almoſt large enough for a
fisherman, but contrived to open and fhut like a purſe,
and ferved him for the fame ufe: we found therein fe-
veral maffy pieces of yellow metal, which, if they be
real gold, muſt be of immenfe value.
**
Having thus, in obedience to your majefty's com-
mands, diligently fearched all his pockets, we obferved
a girdle about his waift, made of the hide of fome pro-
digious animal, from which, on the left fide, hung a
fword, of the length of five men; and, on the right a
bag or pouch divided into two cells, each cell capable
of holding three of your majefty's fubjects. In one of
thefe cells were feveral globes or balls of a moft ponde-
rous metal, about the bigness of our heads, and requir
ing a frong hand to lift them: the other cell contained à
hcap of certain black grains, but of no great bulk or
weight
*Perhaps the author intended to expofe the probable fallacy of
opinions derived from the relations of travellers, by fhewing how
little truth need to be miſunderſtood to make fallhood ſpecious.
24
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
weight, for we could hold above fifty of them in the
palm of our hands.
"This is an exact inventory of what we found about
the body of the Man-Mountain, who uſed us with great
civility, and due refpect to your majefty's commiſſion.
Signed and fealed on the fourth day of the eighty ninth
moon of your Majeſty's aufpicious reign.
"Clefrin Frelock, Marſi Frelock.”
When this inventory was read over to the emperor,
he directed me, although in very gentle terms, to deliver
up the feveral particulars. He first called for my fey-
mitar, which I took out, fcabbard and all. In the mean
time he ordered three tlioufand of his choiceft troops
(who then attended him) to ſurround me at a distance,
with their bows and a rows juſt ready to diſcharge: but
I did not obſerve it, for mine eyes were wholly fixed
upon his majefty. He then defired me to draw my
fcymetar, which, although it had got fome ruft by the
fea water, was in moft parts exceedingly bright. I did
fo, and immediately all the troops gave a fhout between
terror and furpriſe; for the fun fhone clear, and the re-
flection dazzled their eyes as I waved the fcymetar to and
fro in my hand. His majetty, who is a moft magnani-
mous prince,* was lefs daunted than I could expect; he
ordered me to return it into the fcabbard, and caft it on
the ground as gently as I could, about fix feet from the
end of my chain. The next thing he demanded, was
one of the hollow iron pillars, by which he meant my
pocket piftols. I drew it out, and at his defire, as well
as I could, expreffed to him the ufe of it; and charging
it only with powder, which by the clofenefs of my pouch
happened to eſcape wetting in the fea, (an inconveni-
ence against which all prudent mariners take ſpecial
care
* He who does not find himselfdifpofed to honour this mag
nanimity, ſhould reflect that a right to judge of moral and in-
tellectual excellence is with great abfurdity and injuftice arro-
gated by him who admires, in a being fix feet high, any quali-
ties that he deſpiſes in one whofe ftature does not exceed fix
inches.
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
25
are to provide) I firft cautioned the emperor not to be
afraid, and then I let it off into the air. The aſtoniſk-
ment here was much greater than at the fight of my
feymetar. Hundreds fell down as if they had been ſtruck
dead: and even the emperor, although he ſtood his
ground, could not recover himself for fome time. I de-
livered up both my pistols, in the fame manner as I had
done my feymetar, and then my pouch of powder and
bullets; begging him that the former might be kept
from the fire, for it would kindle with the ſmalleſt fpark,
and blow up his imperial palace into the air. I like-
wife delivered up my watch, which the emperor was
very curious to fee, and commanded two of his talleſt
yeomen of the guards to bear it on a pole upon their
fhoulders, as draymen in England do a barrel of ale.
He was amazed at the continual noife it made, and the
motion of the minute-hand, which he could eaſily dif
cern; for their fight is much more acute than ours;
and aſked the opinions of his learned men about him,
which were various and remote, as the reader may well
imagine without my repeating, although indeed I could
not very perfectly underftand them. I then gave up
my filver and copper money, my purfe, with nine large
pieces of gold, and fome fmaller ones; my knife and
razor, my comb and filver. fnuff-box, my handkerchief
and journal book. My fcymetar, piftols, and pouch,
were conveyed in carriages to his majeſty's ſtores; but
the rest of my goods were returned me.
I had, as I before obferved, one private pocket which
efcaped their fearch, wherein there was a pair of ſpecta-
cles, (which I fometimes ufe for the weakneſs of mine
eyes) a pocket-perfpective, and feveral other little con-
veniencies: which being of no confequence to the em-
peror, I did not think myſelf bound in honour to dif-
cover, and I apprehended they might be loft or ſpoiled if
I ventured them out of my poffeflion.
G
CHAP,
J
26
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
CHAP. III.
The author diverts the emperor and his nobility of both
fexes in a very uncommon manner. The diverfions of the
court of Lilliput defcribed. The author has his liberty
granted him upon certain conditions.
My gentleness and good behaviour had gained ſo far
on the emperor and his court, and indeed upon the
army and people in general, that I began to conceive
hopes of getting ny liberty in a fhort time. I took all
poffible means to cultivate this favourable difpofition.
The natives came by degrees to be lefs apprehenfive of
any danger from me. I would fometimes lie down, and
let five or fix of them dance upon my hand. And at last
the boys and girls would venture to come and play at
hide-and-feek in my hair. I had now made a good pro-
grefs in underſtanding and ſpeaking their language. The
emperor had a mind one day to entertain me with feveral
of the country-hows, wherein they exceed all nations I
have known; both for dexterity and magnificence. I was
diverted with none fo much as that of the rope dancers,
performed on a flender white thread, extended about
two feet, ten inches from the ground. Upon which
I fhall defire liberty, with the reader's patience to en-
large a little.
This diverfion is only practifed by thofe perfons who
are candidates for great employments and high favour at
court. They are trained in this art from their youth,and
are not always of noble birth, or liberal education. When
a great office is vacant either by death or difgrace (which
often happens) five or fix of thefe candidates petition the
emperor to entertain his majefty and the court with a
dance on the rope, and whoever jumps the highest, with-
out falling, fucceeds in the office Very often the chief
minifters themſelves are commanded to fhew their ſkill,.
and to convince the emperor that they have not loft their.
faculty. Flimnap, the treaſurer, is allowed to cut a caper
on the trait rope, at leaſt an inch higher than any other
lord in the whole empire. I have feen him do the fum-
merlet
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
27
merfet* ſeveral times together upon a trencher fixed on
the rope, which is no thicker than a common packthread
in England. My friend Reldrefel, principal fecretary
for private affairs, is, in my opinion, if I am not partial,
the fecond after the treaſurer; the rest of the great offi
cers are much upon a par.
Thefe diverfions are often attended with fatal acci-
dents, whereof great numbers are on record. I myſelf
have ſeen two or three candidates break a limb. But the
danger is much greater when the minifters themſelves
are commanded to fhew their dexterity: for by contend-
ing to excel themſelves and their fellows, they fſtrain ſo
far, that there is hardly one of them who hath not re-
ceived a fall, and fome of them two or three. I was
affured that a year or two before my arrival, Flimnap
would have infallibly broke his neck, if one of the
king's cuſhions, that accidentally lay on the ground,
had not weakened the force of his fall.
There is likewife another diverfion, which is only fhewn
before the emperor and emprefs, and first minifter upon
peculiar occafions. The emperor lays on the table three
filken threads of fix inches long; one is blue, the other
red, and the third green. Theſe threads are propofed as
prizes for thofe perfons whom the emperor hath a mind
to diftinguiſh by a peculiar mark of his favour. The ce-
remony is performed in his majesty's great chamber of
ftate, where the candidates are to undergo a trial of dex-
terity very different from the former, and fuch as I
have not obferved the leaft refemblance of in any coun-
try of the old or new world. The emperor holds a
ftick in his hands, both ends parallel to the horizon, while
the candidates advancing, one by one,fometimes leap over
the tick, fometimes creep under it backwards and for--
wards feveral times, according as the tick is advanced
or depreffed. Sometimes the emperor holds one end of
the flick, and his firft minifter the other; fometimes the
Cz
minifter
* Summerfet, or Summerfault, a gambol of a tumbler, in
which he fprings up, turns heels over head in the air, and çomeş
down upon his feet,
28
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
2
miniſter has it entirely to himſelf. Whoever performs
his part with moſt agility, and holds out the longeſt in
leaping and creeping, is rewarded with the blue-colour-
ed filk; the red is given to the next, and the green to
the third, which they all wear girt twice round about
the middle; and you fee few great perfons about this
court, who are not adorned with one of thefe girdles.
*.
The horſes of the army, and thofe of the royal ftables,
having been daily led before me, were no longer fhy,
but would come up to my very feet without ftarting.
The riders would leap them over my hand as I held it
on the ground, and one of the emperor's huntfmen, upon
a large courfer, took my foot, fhoe, and all; which was
indeed a prodigious leap. I had the good fortune to di-
vert the emperor one day after a very extraordinary man-
ner. I defired he would order feveral ſticks of two feet
high, and the thickneſs of an ordinary cane, to be brought
me; whereupon his majefty commanded the maſter of his
woods to give directions accordingly, and the next morn-
ing fix woodmen arrived with as many carriages drawn by
eight horſes to each. I took nine of theſe ſticks, and fix-
ing them firmly in the ground in a quadrangular figure,
two feet and a half fquare, I took four other ſticks, and
tied them parallel at each corner, about two feet from the
ground; then I faftened my handkerchief to the nine ſticks
that stood erect, and extended it on all fides, till it was as
tight as the top of a drum; and the four parallel ſticks
riling about five inches higher than the handkerchief,
ferved as ledges on each fide. When I had finished my
work, I defired the emperor to let a troop of his beft
horfe, twenty-four in number, come and exercife upon
this plain. His majeſty approved of the propofal, and I
took them up one by one in my hands, ready mounted
and armed, with the proper officers to exercife them. As
foon as they got in order, they divided into two parties.
performed mock fkirmishes, difcharged blunt arrows,
drew their fwords, fled and purfued, attacked and retired,
and in ſhort diſcovered the best military difcipline I ever
beheld. The parallel ſticks fecured them and their horſes
from
1
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
2.9
"
from falling over the ftage; and the emperor was fo much
delighted, that he ordered this entertainment to be re-
peated feveral days, and once was plealed to be lifted up,
and give the word of command; and, with great diffi-
culty perfuaded even the empress herſelf to let me hold
her in her clofe chair within two yards of the stage, from
whence the was able to take a full view of the whole
performance. It was by good fortune that no ill acci-
dent happened in thefe entertainments, only once a fiery
horfe, that belonged to one of the captains, pawing with
his hoof, ftruck a hole in my handkerchief, and his foot
flipping, he over threw his rider and himself; but I im-
nediately relieved them both, and covering the hole
with one hand, I fet down the troop with the other, in
the fame manner as I took them up. The horſe that
fell was trained in the left fhoulder, but the rider got
no hurt, and I repaired my handkerchief as well I could;
however, I would not truſt to the ftrength of it any morę
in fuch dangerous enterpriſes,
:
About two or three days before I was fet at liberty, as
I was entertaining the court with this kind of feat, there
arrived an expiels, to inform his majesty that fome of his
fubjects, riding near the place where I was firft taken up,
had feen a great black fubftance lying on the ground,
very oddly fhaped, extending its edges round as wide as
his majesty's bed chamber, and rifing up in the middle
as high as a man; that it was no living creature, as they
at firft apprehended, for it lay on the grafs without mo-
tion and fome of them had walked round it feveral
times; that, by mounting upon each other's fhoulders,
they had got to the top, which was flat and even, and,
ftamping upon it, they found it was hollow within; that
they humbly conceived it might be fomething belong-
ing to the Man-Mountain; and, if his majefty pleated,
they would undertake to bring it with only five horſes.
I preſently knew what they meant, and was glad at heart
to receive this intelligence. It feems upon my first reach-
ing the ſhore, after our fhipwreck, I was in fuch confu-
fion, that, before I came to the place where I went to
fleep
C 3
芦
​30
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
fleep, my hat, which I had faftened with a ftring to my.
head while I was rowing, and had ſtuck on all the time
I was ſwimming, fell off after I had come to land; the
ftring, as I conjecture, breaking by fome accident, which
I never obſerved, but thought my hat had been loft at
fea. I intreated his imperial majefty to give orders that it
might be brought to me as foon as poffible, defcribing
to him the uſe and nature of it; and the next day the
waggoners arrived with it, but not in a very good con-
dition; they had bored two holes in the brim, within
an inch and a half of the edge, and fastened two
hooks in the holes: thefe hooks were tied by a long
cord to the harneſs, and thus my hat was dragged along
for above half an English mile; but, the ground in that
country being extremely fmooth and level, it received
lefs damage than I expected.
Two days after this adventure, the emperor having
ordered that part of his army, which quarters in and
about the metropolis, to be in readineſs, took a fancy of
diverting himſelf in a very fingular manner: he defired I
would ſtand like a Coloffus, with my legs as far affunder
as I conveniently could: he then commanded his general
(who was an old experienced leader, and a great patron
of mine) to lead up the troops in clofe order, and march
them under me; the foot by twenty four in a breaſt,
and the horſe by fixteen, with drums beating, colours
flying, and pikes advanced. The body confifted of three
thouſand foot, and a thouſand horfe. His majefty gave
orders, upon pain of death, that every foldier in his
march fhould obferve the strictest decency, with regard
to my perfon; which, however, could not prevent fome
of the younger officers from turning up their eyes as
they paffed under me. And, to confefs the truth, my
breeches were at that time in fo ill a condition, that
they afforded ſome opportunities for laughter and ad-
miration.
I had fent fo many memorials and petitions for my li-
berty, that his majeſty at length mentioned the matter,
hrt in the cabinet, and then in a full council; where it
was

OKC
Bimblems & Ornament by Sancher
Engred by Caro
STARDIVER
Abody of thillipudan horle and foot
mazeling between the legs of Gulliver
Sep.1.1891
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
31
was oppofed by none, except Skyreſh Bolgolam, who
was pleaſed, without any provocation, to be my mortal
enemy. But it was carried against him by the whole
board, and confirmed by the emperor. That minifter
was galbet, or admiral of the realm, very much in his
maſter's confidence, and a perfon well verfed in affairs,
but of a morofe and four complexion. However, he
was at length perfuaded to comply; but prevailed that
the articles and conditions upon which I fhould be fet
free, and to which I muſt ſwear, ſhould be drawn up by
himſelf. Theft articles were brought to me by Skyreh
Bolgolam in perſon, attended by two under-fecretaries,
and ſeveral perfons of diftinction. After they were read,
I was demanded to ſwear to the performance of them;
first in the manner of my own country, and afterwards
in the method preſcribed by their laws, which was, to
hold my right foot in my left hand, and to place the
middle finger of my right hand on the crown of_my
head, and my thumb on the tip of my right ear.
becauſe the reader may be curious to have fome idea of
the ftyle and manner of expreffion peculiar to that peo-
ple, as well as to know the articles upon which I re-
ceived my liberty, I have made a tranflation of the
whole inſtrument, word for word, as near as I was able;
which I here offer to the public:
But,
"Golbafto Momaren Evlame Gurdilo Shefin Mully Ully
Gue, Moft Mighty Emperor of Lilliput, Delight and
Terror of the Univerfe, whofe dominions extend five
thouſand Bluftrugs, (about twelve miles in circumfer-
ence) to the extremities of the globe; monarch of all
monarchs, taller than the fons of men; whoſe feet preſs
down to the centre, and whofe head frikes againſt the-
fun; at whofe nod the princes of the earth shake their
knees; pleaſant as the fpring, comfortable as the fum-
mer, fruitful as autumn, dreadful as winter. His moft
fublime majesty propofeth to the Man Mountain, lately
arrived to our celeftial dominions, the following articles,
which, by a folemn oath, he ſhall be obliged to perforın:
ist,
32
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
ft. The Man-Mountain fhall not depart from our
dominions without our licence, under our great feal.
zd. He fhall not prefume to come into our metropolis,
without our exprefs order; at. which time the inhabi-
tants fhall have two hours warning to keep within
doors.
3d. The faid Man-Mountain fhall confine his walks
to our principal high roads, and not offer to walk or
lie down in a meadow or field of corn.
4th. As he walks the faid roads, he fhall take the
utmost care not to trample upon the bodies of any of
our loving fubjects, their horfts, or carriages, nor take
any of our fubjects into his hands, without their own
confent.
5th. If an exprefs requires extraordinary diſpatch,
the Man-Mountain thall be obliged to carry in his
pocket, the meſſenger and horfe, a fix days journey once
in every moon, and return the faid meſſenger back (if
fo required) fafe into our imperial prefence.
6th. He fhall be our ally againſt our enemies in the
ifland ot Blefufcu, * and do his utmost to deſtroy their
fleet, which is now preparing to invade us.
7th. That the faid Man-Mountain hall, at his times
of leifure, be aiding and affilling to our workmen, in
helping to raiſe certain great ftones, towards covering
the wall of the principal park, and other our royal
buildings.
8th. That the faid Man-Mountain fhall, in two
moons time, deliver in an exact furvey of the circum-
ference of our dominions, by a computation of his own
paces round the coaft.
Laftly. That upon his folemn cath to obferve all the
above articles, the faid Man-Mountain fhall have a daily
allowance of meat and drink fufficient for the fupport of
1724 of our fubjects, with free access to our royal per-
fun, and other marks of our favour. Given at our
palace
* In his deſcription of Lilliput, he feems to have had England
more immediately in view; in his defcription of Blefufcu, he
feems to intend the people and kingdom of France. ORRERY.
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
33-
palace at Belfaborac, the twelfth day of the ninety-firſt
moon of our reign.
รา
Ifwore and fubfcribed to theſe articles with great
chearfulneſs and content, although fome of them were
not ſo honourable as I could have wifhed; which pro-
ceeded wholly from the malice of Shyreſh Bolgolam, the
high admiral'; whereupon my chains were immediately
unlocked, and I was at full liberty; the emperor hini-
felf, in perfon, did me the honour to be by at the whole
ceremony; I made my acknowledgments, by proftrat-
ing myſelf at his majefty's feet: but he commanded me
to rife; and after many gracious expreffions, which, to
avoid the cenfure of vanity, I fhall not repeat; he added
that he hoped I ſhould prove a uſeful fervant, and well
deſerve all the favours he had already conferred upon me,
or might do for the future.
霉
​The reader may pleaſe to obferve, that, in the laſt
article for the recovery of my liberty, the emperor ftipu-
lates to allow me a quantity of meat and drink fuffici-
ent for the ſupport of 1724 Lilliputians. Some time
after afking a friend at court, how they came to fix an
that determinate number; he told me, that his majeſty's
mathematicians, having taken the height of my body
by the help of a quadrant, and finding it to exceed theirs
in the proportion of twelve to one, they concluded from
the fimilarity of their bodies, that mine muft contain,
at leaſt 1724 of theirs, and, confequently, would re-
quire as much food as was neceffary to fupport that
number of Lilliputians. By which, the reader may con-
ceive an idea of the ingenuity of that people, as well as
the prudent and exact economy of fo great a prince.
CHAP. IV.
Mildendo, the metropolis of Lilliput defcribed, together
with the emperor's palace. A converfation between the
author and a principal ſecretary, concerning the affairs of
that empire. The author offers to serve the emperor in his
wars.
TH HE first request I made after I had obtained my li-
berty, was, that I might have licence to ſee Mil-
dendo
34
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
dendo, the metropolis; which the emperor eaſily granted
me, but with a ſpecial charge to do no hurt, either to`
the inhabitants or their houſes. The people had notice
by proclamation, of my defign to visit the town. The
wall which encompaffed it, is two feet and a half high,
and at least eleven inches broad, fo that a coach and
horfes may be driven very fafely round it; and it is
flanked with frong towels, at ten feet diftance. I
ſtept over the great western gate, and paffed very gently,
and fideling through the two principal ftreets, only in
my ſhort waiſtcoat, for fear of damaging the roofs and
eves of the houfes with the fkirts of my coat. I walk-
ed with the utmost circumspection, to avoid treading en
any ftragglers that might remain in the streets, although
the orders were frict, that all people fhould keep in their
houſes, at their own peril. The garret windows and
tops of houſes were fo crowded with fpectators, that I
thought in all my travels, I had not feen a more popu-
lous place. The city is an exact ſquare, each ſide of
the wall being five hundred feet long. The two great
ftreets, which run crofs, and divide it into four quarters,
are five feet wide. The lanes and allies, which I could
not enter, but only viewed them as I paffed, are from
twelve to eighteen inches. The town is capable of
holding five hundred thouſand fouls. The houfes are
from three to five ftories. The fhops and markets
well provided.
The emperor's palace is in the centre of the city,
where the two great streets meel. It is inclofed by a
wall of two feet high, and twenty feet diftance from
the buildings. I had his majefty's permiffion to fep
over this wall: and, the ſpace being ſo wide between
that and the palace, I could eafily view it on every ſide.
The outward court is a fquare of forty feet, and includes
two other court: in the inmoft are the royal apartments,
which I was very defirous to fee, but found it extremely
difficult; for the great gates from one fquare into
another, were but eighteen inches high, and ſeven
inches wide. Now the buildings of the outer court
were
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT,
35
were at leaſt five feet high, and it was impoffible
for me
to ftride over them, without infinite da-
mage to the pile, though the walls were ftrongly built
of hewn ſtone, and four inches thick. At the fame
time, the emperor had a great defire that I fhould fee
the magnificence of his palace; but this I was not able
to do till three days after, which I ſpent in cutting
down with my knife, fome of the largelt trees in the
royal park, about an hundred yards diftant from the city.
Of theſe trees I made two ftools, each about three feet
high, and ſtrong enough to bear my weight. The peo-
ple having received notice a fecond time, I went again
through the city to the palace, with my two ftools in my
hands. When I came to the fide of the outer court, I
ftood upon one ftool, and took the other in my hand >
this I lifted over the roof, and gently fet it down on the
fpace between the first and fecond court, which was
eight feet wide. I then ftept over the building very con-
veniently, from one ftool to the other, and drew up-
the first after me with a hooked tick. By th`s contriv-
ance, I got into the inmoſt court, and, lying, down up-
on my fide, I applied my face to the windows of the
middle ftories, which were left open on purpoſe, and
diſcovered the moft fplendid apartments that can be ima-
gined. There I faw the emprefs, and the young princes.
in their ſeveral lodgings, with their chief attendants
about them. Her imperial majefty was pleafed to finile
very graciously upon me, and gave me out of the win-
dow her hand to kifs.
But I thall not anticipate the reader with farther de-
fcriptions of this kind, becauſe I referve them for a
greater work, which is now almoft ready for the prefs,
containing a general deſcription of this empire, from its
firft erection, through a long feries of princes, with a
particular account of their wars, and politics, laws, learn-
ing, and religion; their plants and animals, their pe-
culiar manners and cuſtoms, with other matters very
curious and uſeful; my chief defign at prefent being
only to relate fuch events and tranfactions as happened
to
*
36
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
to the public or to myſelf, during a refidence of about
nine months in that empire.
One morning, about a fortnight after I had obtained
my liberty, Reldrefal, principal fecretary (as they ftile
him) of private affairs, came to my houſe, attended only
by one fervant, he ordered his coach to wait at a diſtance,
and defired I would give him an hour's audience, which
I readily confented to, on account of his quality, and
perfonal merits, as well as the many gocd offices he had
done me during my folicitations at court. I offered to
lie down, that he might the more conveniently reach my
ear; but he choſe rather to let me hold him in my hand
during our converſation. He began with compliments
on my liberty; faid, he might pretend to fome merit in
it; but however, added, that if it had not been for the
preſent ſituation of things at court, perhaps I might not
have obtained it fo foon. "For, faid he, as flouriſhing a
condition as we may appear to be in to foreigners, we
labour under two mighty evils; a violent faction at home,
and the danger of an invaſion by a moſt potent enemy
from abroad. As to the firft, you are to underſtand, for
above leventy moons past, there have been two ftruggling
parties in this empire, under the names of Trameckfan
and Slameckfan* from the high and low heels of their
fhoes, by which they diftinguish themſelves. It is al-
ledged indeed, that the high heels are moſt agreeable to
our ancient conftitution; but, however this be, his ma-
jefty hath determined to make ufe of only low heels of the
adminiſtration of the government, and all offices in the
gift of the crown, as you cannot but obſerve; and par-
ticularly, that his majefty's imperial heels are lower at
least by a drurr, than any of his court (drurr is a mea-
fure about the fourteenth part of an inch). The animo-
fitics
* High-church, and low-church, or whig and tory. As every
accidental differencebetween man and man in perfon and circum-
ftances is by this work rendered extremely contemptible: fo fpe--
culative differences are fhewn to be equally ridiculous, when the
zeal with which they are oppoſed and defended too much exceeds
their own importance,
་
*
37
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
ſities between theſe two parties run fo high, that they
will neither eat nor drink, nor talk with each other.
We compute the Trameckfan, or high heels, to exceed
us in number; but the power is wholly on our fide. We
apprehend his imperial highneſs, the heir to the crown,
to have ſome tendency towards the high heels; at leaſt we
can plainly diſcover that one of his heels is higher than
the other, which gives him a hobble in his gait. Now,
in the midst of theſe inteftine difquiets, we are threatened
with an invafion from the iſland of Blefuſcu, which is the
other great empire of the univerfe, almoſt as large and
powerful as this of his majefty. For as to what we heard
you affirm, that there are other kingdoms and ftates in
the world, inhabited by human creatures, as large as
yourſelf, our philofophers are in much doubt, and would
rather conjecture that you dropped from the moon, or one
of the ftars; becauſe it is certain, that an hundred mor-
tals of your bulk, would, in a fhort time, deftroy all the ~
fruits and cattle of his majefty's dominions. Befides,
our hiſtorians of fix thouſand moon's make no mention of
any other regions than the two great empires of Lilliput
and Blefufcu; which two mighty powers hare, as I
was going to tell you, been engaged in a moft obftinate
war for fix and thirty moons pat. It began on the fol-
lowing occafion: It is allowed on all hands that the pri-
mitive way of breaking eggs, before we eat them, was
upon the larger end: but his prefent majefty'sgrandfather,
while he was a boy, going to eat an egg, and breaking it
according to the ancient practice, happened to cut one
of his fingers; whereupon the emperor, his father, pub-
lifhed an edict, commanding all his fubjects, upon fe-
vere penalties, to break the fmaller end of their eggs. The
people fo highly reſented this law, that our hiftorians tell
us there have been fix rebellions on that account; where-
in one emperor loft his life, and another his crown.
Theſe civil commotions were conftantly fomented by the
monarchs of Blefufcu; and when they were quelled, the
exiles always fled for refuge to that empire. It is com-
puted that eleven thouſand perfons have, at feveral times
perfons have, at feveral times
fuffered
36
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
fuffered death, rather than ſubmit to break their eggs at
the ſmaller end. Many hundred large volumes have been
publiſhed upon this controverſy; but the books of the
Big-Endians have been long forbidden, and the whole
party rendered incapable by law of holding any employ-
ments. During the courfe of theſe troubles, the empe-
rors of Blefufcu did frequently expoftulate by their am-
baffadors, accufing us of making a fchifin in religion, by
offending againſt a fundamental doctrine of our great
prophet Lullrog, in the fifty-fourth chapter of the Blun-
decral, (which is their Alcoran). This, however, is
thought to be a mere ſtrain upon the text for the words
are thefe That all true believers break their eggs
at the convenient end." And which is the convenient
end, feems, in my humble opinion, to be left to every
man's confcience, or at leaft in the power of the chief
magistrate to determine. Now, Big Endian exiles have
found fo much credit in the emperor of Blefufcu's court,
and fo much private affiftance and encouragement from
their party here at home, that a bloody war hath been
carried on between the two empires, for thirty-fix moons,
with various fuccefs; during which time we have loft for-
ty capital ſhips, and a much greater number of finaller
veffels, together with thirty thousand of our beft fſeamen
and foldiers; and the damage received by the enemy is
reckoned to be ſomewhat greater than ours. However,
they have now equipped a numerous fleet, and are juſt
preparing to make a defcent upon us; and his imperial
majefty, placing great confidence in your valour and
frength, hath commanded me to lay this account of his
affairs before you."
I defired the ſecretary to prefent my humble duty to the
emperor, and to let him know, that I thought it would
not become me, who was a foreigner, to interfere with
parties: but I was ready, with the hazard of my life,
to defend his perfon and ſtate againſt all invaders.*
* Gulliver, without examining the fubject of difpute, engaged
to defend the emperor, becaufe he knew that no monarch had
a right to invade the dominions of another, for the propagation
of truth..
CHAP.
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
39
CHAP. V.
The author, by an extraordinary ftratagem, prevents
an invafion. A high title of honour is conferred upon him.
Ambaffadors arrive from the emperor of Blefufcu, and ſue
for peace. The empress's apartment on fire by accident ;
the author inftrumental in faving the rest of the palace.
THE empire of Blefufcu is an ifland fituated on the
north-eaft fide of Lilliput, from whence it is parted
only by a channel cf eight hundred yards wide. I had
not yet feen it, and upon this notice of an intended in-
vafion, I avoided appearing on that fide of the coaſt, for
fear of being diſcovered by fome of the enemy's fhips,
who had received no intelligence of me, all intercourfe
between the two empires having been ftrictly forbidden
during the war, upon pain of death, and an embargo
laid by our emperor upon all veffels whatſoever. I com-
municated to his majesty a project I had formed of feizing
the enemy's whole fleet: which, as our ſcouts affured us,
lay at anchor in the harbour, ready to fail with the first
fair wind. I confulted the moſt experienced feamen upon
the depth of the channel, which they had often plummed,
who told me, that in the middle, at high water, it was
feventy glumgluffs deep, which is about fix feet of Euro-
pean meaſure; and the rest of it fifty glumgluffs at moſt.
Î walked towards the north-eaſt coaſt, over againſt Ble-
fufcu;
where lying down behind a hillock, I took out
my ſmall perſpective glaſs, and viewed the enemy's fleet
at anchor, confifting of about fifty men of war, and a
great number of tranfports: I then came back to my
houſe, and gave orders (for which I had a warrant) for a
great quantity of the ſtrongeſt cable and bars of iron.
The cable was about as thick as packthread, and the
bars of the length and ſize of a knitting needle. I trebled
the cable, to make it ſtronger, and, for the fame reaſon,
I twisted three of the iron bars together, bending the ex-
tremity into a hook. Having thus fixed fifty hooks to
as many cables, I went back to the north eat coaft, and
putting off my coat, fhoes, and stockings, walked into
the fea in my leathern jerkin, about an hour before high
D 2
water
1
A
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
40
water. I waded with what hafte I could, and ſwam in
the middle about thirty yards, till I felt ground; Iar-
rived at the fleet in less than half an hour. The enemy
was fo frightened when they faw me, that they leaped
out of their fhips, and fwam to fhore, where there could
not be less than thirty thouſand fouls. I then took my
tackling, and, fastening a hook to the hole at the
prow
of each, I tied all the cords together at the end. While I
was thus employed, the enemy difcharged feveral thou-
fand arrows, many of which fuck in my hands and face,
and, beſides the exceffive fmart; gave me much diſturb-
ance in my work. My greatest apprehenfion was for
my eyes, which I fhould have infallibly loft, if I had
not fuddenly thought of an expedient. I kept, among
other little neceffaries, a pair of fpectacles in a private
pocket, which, as I obferved before, had efcaped the
emperor's fearchers. Theſe I took out and faftened as
ftrongly as I could upon my nofe, and thus armed, went
on boldly with my work in fpight of the enemy's arrows,
many of which ftruck against the glaffes of my ſpecta-
cles, but without any other effects farther than a little
to diſcompofe them. I had now faſtened all the hooks,
and, taking the knot in my hand, began to pull, but
not a fhip would ftir, for they were all too faft held by
their anchors, fo that the boldeft part of my enterprize
remainded. I therefore let go the cord, and leaving the
hooks fixed to the fhips, I refolutely cut with my knife
the cables that faftened the anchors, receiving about two
hundred ſhots in my face and hands; then I took up the
knotted end of the cables to which my hooks were tied,
and with great eafe drew fifty of the enemy's largeſt
men of war after me.
The Blefufcudians, who had not the leaft imagina-
tion of what I intended, were at first confounded with
aftonishment. They had feen me cut the cables, and
thought my defign was only to let the fhips run adrift.
or fall foul of each other: but when they perceived the
whole fleet moving in order, and faw me pulling at the
end, they fet up fuch a ſcream of grief and deſpair, that
it
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
41
it is almoft impoffible to defcribe or conceive. When I
had got out of danger, I stopped a while to pick out the
arrows that ſtuck in my hands and face; and rubbed on
ſome of the fame ointment that was given me at my firſt
arrival, as I have formerly mentioned. I then took off
my fpectacles, and waiting about an hour, till the tide
was a little fallen, I waded through the middle with my
cargo, and arrived fafe at the royal port of Lilliput.
The emperor and his whole court ftood on the fhore,
expecting the iffue of this great adventure. They faw
the hips move forward in a large half-moon, but could
not difcern me, who was up to my breaft in water. When
I advanced to the middle of the channel, they were yet
in more pain, becauſe I was under water to my neck.
The emperor concluded me to be drowned, and that the
enemy's fleet was approaching in a hoſtile manner: but
he was foon eafed of his fears, for the channel growing
fhallower every step I made, I came in a fhort time within
hearing, and, holding up the end of the cable by which
the fleet was faſtened, I cried in a loud voice, Long
live the moſt puiffant emperor of Lilliput!' This great
prince received me at my landing with all poffible enco-
miums, and created me a Nardac upon the spot, which
is the higheſt title of honour among them.
His majeſty defired I would take fome other opportu -
nity of bringing all the reft of his enemies fhips into his
ports. And fo unmeaſurable is the ambition of princes,
that he ſeemed to think of nothing less than reducing the
whole empire of Blefufcu into a province, and governing
it by a viceroy; of deftroying the Big Endian exiles,
and compelling that people to break the finaller end of
their eggs, by which he would remain the fole monarch
of the whole world. But I endeavoured to divert him
from his defign, by many arguments drawn from the to-
pics of policy, as well as juttice: and, I plainly protefted
that I would never be an infrument of bringing a brave
and free people into flavery. And when the matter was
debated in council, the wifeft part of the miniftry were
of my opinion. -
D 3
This
42
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT:
This open bold declaration of mine was fo oppofite
to the ſchemes and politics of his imperial majefty, that
he could never forgive me; he mentioned it in a very art-
ful manner at council, where I was told that fome of the
wifeft appeared, at leaſt by their filence, to be of my opi-
nion; but others, who were my fecret enemies, could
not forbear fome expreffions which,by a fide wind,reflect.
ed on me. And from this time began an intrigue between
his majefty and a junto of minifters maliciouſly bent a-
gainst me, which broke out in about two months, and
had like to have ended in my utter deſtruction: of ſo
little weight are the greateſt fervices to princes, when put
into the balance with a refufal to gratify their paffions.
About three weeks after this exploit, there arrived a
folemn embafly from Blefufcu with humble offers of a
peace, which was foon concluded upon conditions very
advantageous to our emperor, wherewith I fhall not
trouble the reader. There were fix ambaſſadors, with a
train of about five hundred perfons, and their entry was
very magnificent, fuitable to the grandeur of their maf-
ter, and the importance of their bulinefs. When their
treaty was finished, wherein I did them ſeveral good of-
fices by the credit I now had, or at leaſt appeared to have
at court, their excellencies, who were privately told how
much I had been their friend, made me a vifit in form.
They began with many compliments upon my valour
and generofity, invited me to that kingdom in the empe-
ror their maſter's name,and deſired me to fhew them fome
proofs of my prodigious ftrength, of which they had heard
fo many wonders; wherein I readily obliged them, but
fhall not trouble the reader with the particulars.
When I had for fome time entertained their excellen-
cies to their infinite fatisfaction and furprife, I defired
they would do me the honour to prefent my most humble
respects to the emperor their mafter, the renown of whofe
virtues had fo justly filled the whole world with admira-
tion, and whofe royal perfon I refolved to attend before
I returned to my own country. Accordingly, the next
time I had the honour to fee our emperor, I defired his
general
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
43
general licence to wait on the Blefufcudian monarch,
which he was pleaſed to grant me, as I could plainly
perceive, in a very cold manner: but could not gueſs
the reafon till I had a whifper from a certain perfon,
that Flimnap and Bogolam had reprefented my inter-
courfe with thofe ambaſſadors as a mark of difaffection,
from which my heart was entirely free. And this was
the first time I began to form fome imperfect idea of
courts and minifters.
It is to be obferved, that theſe ambaſſadors ſpoke to
me by my interpreter, the language of the two empires
differing as much from each other as any two in Eu-
rope, and each nation priding itſelf upon the antiquity,
beauty, and energy, of its own tongue, with an avowed
contempt for that of its neighbour: yet our emperor,
ftanding upon the advantage he had got by the feizure
of their fleet, obliged them to deliver their credentials,
and make their fpecch in the Lilliputian tongue, And
it must be confeffed, that from the great intercourſe of
trade and commerce between both realms, from the con-
tinual reception of exiles, which is mutual among them,
and from the cuftom in each empire to fend their young
nobility and richer gentry to the other, in order to po-
lith themſelves by feeing the world, and understanding
men and manners; there are few perfons of diftinction,
or merchants, or feamen, who dwell in the maritime
parts, but what can hold converfation in both tongues;
as I found, fome weeks after, when I went to pay my
respects to the emperor of Blefufcu, which, in the midít
of great misfortunes, through the malice of my ene-
mies, proved a very happy adventure to me, as I fhall
relate in its proper place.
The reader may remember, that, when I figned thofe
articles upon which I recovered my liberty, there were
fome which I difliked upon account of their being too
fervile, neither could any thing but an extreme necef-
fity have forced me to fubinit. But, being now a Nar-
dac of the highest rank in that empire, fuch offices were
looked upon as below my dignity, and the emperor (to
do
!
44
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
do him juſtice) never once mentioned them to me. How
ever, it was not long before I had an opportunity of
doing his majefty, at leaft as I then thought, a most
fignal fervice. I was alarmed at midnight with the
cries of many hundred people at my door; by which
being fuddenly awakened, I was in fome kind of terror.
I heard the word Burglum repeated inceffantly: ſeveral
of the emperor's court, making their way through the
crowd, entreated me to come immediately to the palace,
where her imperial majefty's apartments were on fire, by
the careleſſnels of a maid of honour, who fell aſleep
while he was reading a romance. I got up in an in-
ftant, and orders being given to clear the way before
me, and it being likewife a moon-light night, I made
a' fhift to get to the palace without trampling on any of
the people. I found they had already applied ladders
to the wall of the apartment, and were well provided
with buckets, but the water was at fome diftance. Thefe
buckets were about the ſize of a large thimble, and the
poor people fupplied me with them as faft as they could;
but the flame was fo violent, that they did little good.
I might easily have Rifled it with my coat, which I un-
fortunately left behind me through hafte, and came away
only in my leathern jerkin. The cafe fecmed wholly de-
fperate and deplorable, and this magnificent palace
would have infallibly been burnt down to the ground,
if, by a prefence of mind unufual to me, I had not fud-
denly thought of an expedient. I had, the evening be-
fore, drank plentifully of a moft delicious wine, called
Glimigrim, (the Blefufcudians call it Flunce, but ours is
eſteemed the better fort) which is very diuretic. By
the luckieft chance in the world, I had not diſcharged
myſelf of any part of it. The heat I had contracted
by coming very near the flames, and by my labouring
to quench them, made the wine begin to operate by
urine; which I voided in fuch a quantity, and applied
fo well to the proper places, that in three minutes the
fire was wholly extinguifhed, and the rest of that noble
pile, which had coft fo many ages in erecting, preferved
from deſtruction.
It:
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
4-5
L
It was now day-light, and I returned to my houfe,
without waiting to congratulate the emperor; be-
caufe, although I had done a very eminent piece of fer-
vice, yet I could not tell how his majefty might refent
the manner by which I had performed it; for, by the
fundamental laws of the realm, it is capital in any per-
fon, of what quality foever, to make water within the
precincts of the palace. But I was a little comforted
by a meffage from his majefty, that he would give orders.
to the grand jufticiary for paffing my pardon in form;
which, however, I could not obtain. And I was pri-
vately affured, that the empreſs, conceiving the greateſt
abhorrence at what I had done, removed to the moft dif-
tant fide of the court, firmly refolved that thoſe build-
ings fhould never be repaired for her ufe; and, in the
preſence of her chief confidants, could not forbear vow-
ing revenge.
CHAP. VI.
Of the inhabitants of Lilliput; their learning, laws, and
cuſtoms; manner of educating their children. The author's
way of living in that country. His vindication of a great
lady.
ALTHOUGH I intend to leave the defcription of
this empire to a particular treatiſe, yet, in the
mean time, I am content to gratify the curious reader
with fome general ideas. As the common fize of the
natives is fomewhat under fix inches high, ſo there
an exact proportion in all other animals, as well as
plants and trees: for inftance, the talleft horfes and
oxen are between four and five inches in height, the
fheep an inch and an half, more or lefs; their geefe
about the bignefs of a fparrow, and fo the feveral gra-
dations downwards, till you come to the ſmalleft, which,
to my fight, were almost invisible; but nature hath
adapted the eyes of the Lilliputians to all objects pro-
per for their view: they fee with great exactnefs, but
at no great diftance., And to fhew the fharpnefs of their
fight towards objects that are near, I have been much
pleaſed with obſerving a cook pulling a lark, which was
not
45
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
not fo large as a common fly; and a young girl thread-
ing an invisible needle with inviſible filk. Their talleft
trees are about ſeven feet high; I mean fome of thoſe in
the great royal park, the tops whereof I could but juſt
reach with my fift clinched. The other vegetables are
in the fame proportion, but this I leave to the reader's
imagination.
I fhall fay but little at prefent of their learning,
which for many ages hath flourished in all its branches
among them: but their manner of writing is very pecu-
liar, being neither from the left to the right, like the
Europeans; nor from the right to the left, like the Ara-
bians; nor from up to down, like the Chinefe; but
allant from one corner of the paper to the other, like la-
dies in England.
They bury their dead with their heads direfly down-
wards, becauſe they hold an opinion, that in eleven thou-
fand moons they are all to rife again, in which period
the earth, (which they conceive to be flat) will turn up-
fide down, and by this means they fhall, at their refur-
rection, be found ready ſtanding on their feet. The learn-
ed among them confefs the abfurdity of this doctrine, but
the practice ftill continues, in compliment to the vulgar.
There are fome laws and cuftoms in this empire very-
peculiar; and, if they were not fo directly contrary to
thofe of my own dear country, I fhould be tempted to
fay a little in their juflification. It is only to be wished
they were as well executed. The first I fhall mention,
relates to informers. All crimes againſt the ſtate are
punished here with the utmoft feverity; but, if the per-
fon accufed maketh his innocence plainly to appear upon
his trial, the accufer is immediately put to an ignomini.
ous death; and, out of his goods or lands, the inno-
cent perfon is quadruply recompenfed for the lofs of his
time, for the danger he underwent, for the hardship of
his imprisonment, and for all the charges he has been at
in making his defence. Or, if that fund be deficient, it
is largely fupplied by the crown. The emperor does alfo
confer on him fome public mark of his favour, and pro-
clamation
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
47
lamation is made of his innocence thro' the whole city.
They look upon fraud as a greater crime than theft, and
therefore feldom fail to punish it with death; for they
alledge, that care and vigilance, with a very common
understanding, may preferve a man's goods from thieves,
but honefty has no fence againft fuperior cunning; and
fince it is neceffary that there fhould be a perpetual in-
tercourſe of buying and felling, and dealing upon cre-
dit, where fraud is permitted and connived at, or hath
no law to punith it, the honeft dealer is always undone,
and the knave gets the advantage. I remember when
I was once interceding with the king for a criminal
who had wronged his mafter of a great fum of money,
which he had received byorder, and ran away with; and
happening to tell his majefty, by way of extenuation, it
was only a breach of truft; the emperor thought it
monftrous in me to offer, as a defence, the greatest ag-
gravation of the crime: and truly I had little to fay in
return, farther than the common anfwer, that different
nations had different customs; for I confefs that I was
heartily ashamed.*
Although we ufually call reward and punishment the
two hinges upon which all government turns, yet I could
never obferve this maxim to be put into practice by any
nation except that of Lilliput. Whoever can there bring
fufficient proof that he has ſtrictly obferved the laws of
his country, for feventy-three moons, hath a claim to
certain privileges, according to his quality and condi-
tion of life, with a proportionable fum of money out of
a fund appropriated for that ufe: he likewife acquires
the title of Snilpall, or Legal, which is added to his
name, but does not defcend to pofterity. And theſe
people thought it a prodigious defect of policy among,
us, when I told them that our laws were enforced only
by penalties, without any mention of reward. It is upon
this account that the image of justice, in their courts of
judicature, is formed with fix eyes, two before, as many
behind,
*An act of parliament hath been fince paffed, by which ſome
breaches of truft have been made capital,
I
48
+
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
behind, and on each fide one, to fignify circumspection;
with a bag of gold open in her right hand, and a fſword
fheathed in her left, to fhew that he is more dispoſed to
reward than to puniſh.
In chufing perions for all employments, they have more
regard to good morals than to great abilities; for, fince
government is neceffary to mankind, they believe that
the common fize of human understandings is fitted to
fome ſtation or other, and that Providence never intended
to make the management of public affairs a mystery, to
be comprehended only by a few perfons of fublime ge-
nius, of which there feldom are three born in an age:
but they fuppofe truth, juftice, temperance, and the
like, to be in every man's power, the practice of which
virtues, affifted by experience, and a good intention,
would qualify any man for the fervice of his country,
except where a courfe of ftudy is required. But they
thought the want of moral virtues was fo far from being
fupplied by fuperior endowments of the mind, that em-
ployments could never be put into fuch dangerous hands
as thoſe of perfons fo qualified; and at leaſt, that the
miſtakes, committed by ignorance in a virtuous difpofi-
tion, would never be of fuch fatal confequences to the
public weal, as the practices of a man whofe inclinations.
led him to be corrupt, and had great abilities to manage,
to multiply, and defend his corruptions.
In like manner, the difb-lief of a Divine Providence
renders a man incapable of holding any public ſtation;
for, fince kings avow themſelves to be the deputies of
Providence, the Lilliputians think nothing can be more
abfurd than for a prince to employ fuch men as diłown
the authority under which they act.
In relating thefe and the following laws, I would only
be underſtood to mean the original inftitutions, and not
the moſt ſcandalous corruptions into which theſe people
are fallen by the degenerate nature of man.
For as to
that infamous practice of procuring great employments
by dancing on the ropes, or the badges of favour and
diftinction, by leaping over fticks, and creeping under
them
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
49
them, the reader is to obferve, that they were firſt in-
troduced by the grandfather of the emperor now reign-
ing, and grew to the prefent height, by the gradual in-
creaſe of party and faction.
Ingratitude is among them a capital crime, as we read
it to have been in fome other countries; for they reafon
thus, that whoever makes ill returns to his benefactor,
muſt needs be a common enemy to the reft of mankind,
from whom he hath received no obligation, and there-
fore fuch a man is not fit to live.
'Their notions relating to the duties of parents and
children differ extremely from ours. For, fince the con-
junction of male and female is founded upon the great
law of nature, in order to propagate and continue the
fpecies, the Lilliputians will needs have it, that men
and women are joined together like other animals, by the
motives of concupifcence, and that their tenderness to-
ward their young proceeds from the like natural princi-
ple: for which reafon they will never allow, that a child
is under any obligation to his father for begetting him,
or to his mother for bringing him into the world, which,
confidering the miferies of human life, was neither a be-
nefit in itſelf, or intended fo by his parents,whofe thoughts
in their love encounters were otherways employed.-
Upon theſe, and the like reafonings, their opinion is
that parents are the laft of all others to be trusted with
the education of their own children, and therefore they
have in every town public nurferies, where all parents,
except cottagers and labourers, are obliged to fend their
infants of both fexes to be reared and educated, when
they come to the age of twenty moons, at which time
they are fuppofed to have fome rudiments of docility.-
The fchools are of feveral kinds, fuited to different qua-
lities, and to both fexes. They have certain profeffors
well filled in preparing children for fuch a condition of
life as befits the rank of their parents, and their own ca-
pacities, as well as inclinations. I fhall first fay fome-
thing of the male nurferies, and then of the female.
The nurfers for males of noble or eminent birth, are
provided
}
E
50
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
provided with grave and learned profeſſors, and their fe-
veral deputies. The cloaths and food of the children
are plain and fimple. They are bred up in the principles
of honour, juſtice, courage, modefty, clemency, religion,
and love to their country; they are always employed in
fome bufinefs, except in the times of eating and fleeping,
which are very ſhort, and two hours for diverſions, con-
fifting of bodily exercites. They are dreffed by men till
four years of age, and then they are obliged to dress
themſelves, altho' their quality be ever fo great: and the
women attendants, who are aged proportionably to ours
at fifty, perform only the molt menial offices. They are
never fuffered to converfe with fervants, but go together
in fmaller and greater numbers to take their diverfions,
and always in the prefence of a profeffor, or one of his
deputies, whereby they avoid thofe early bad impreffions
of folly and vice, to which our children are fubje&t.-
Their parents are fuffered to fee them only twice a year;
the vifit is to laft but an hour. They are allowed to kifs
the child at meeting and parting; but a profeffor, who al-
ways ſtands by on thefe occafions, will not fuffer them to
whiſper or ufe any fondling expreffions, or bring any
prefents of toys, fweetmeats, and the like.
3
The penfion froin each family, for the education and
entertainment of a child, upon failure of due payment is
levied by the emperor's officers.
The nurſeries for children of ordinary gentlemen,
merchants, traders, and handicrafts, are managed propor
tionably after the fame manner; only thofe defigned for
trades are put out apprentices at eleven years old, whereas
thofe perfons of quality continue in their exercifes till fif-
teen, which anſwers to twenty one with us; but the con-
finement is gradually leffened for the last three years.
In the female nurferies, the young girls of quality are
educated much like the males, only they are dreſſed by
orderly fervants of their own fex; but always in the pre-
fence of a profeffor or deputy, till they come to dreſs
themfelves, which is at five years old. And if it be
found that theſe nurſes ever preſume to entertain the girls
with
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
དྷ་ོ
with frightful or foolish ftories, or the common follies
practifed by chambermaids among us, they are publicly
whipt thrice about the city, imprisoned for a year, and
banished for life to the most defolate part of the country.
Thus the young ladies there are as much aflamed of
being cowards and fools, as the men, and defpife all per-
fonal ornaments beyond decency and cleanliness; neither
did I perceive any difference in their education, made by
their difference of fex, only that the female exerciſes were
not ſo robuft; and that fome rules were given them re-
lating to domeftic life, and a finaller compafs of learning
was enjoined them: for their maxim is, that, among peo
ple of quality, a wife fhould be always a reafonable and
agreeablecompanion,becauſe he cannot alwaysbeyoung.
When the girls are twelve years old, which among them
is the marriageable age, their parents or guardians take
them home, with great expreflions of gratitude to the
profeffors, and feldom without tears from the young lady
and her companions.
In the nurieries of females of the meaner fort, the chil-
dren are inftructed in all kinds of works proper for their
fex, and their feveral degrees: thofe intended for appren-
tices, are difmiffed at feven years old, the reft are kept
to eleven.
The meaner families, who have children at theſe nur-
feries, are obliged, befides their annual penñon, which is
as low as poffible, to return to the ſteward of the nurſery
a fmall monthly fhare of their gettings, to be a portion
for the child; and therefore all parents are limited to
their expences by the law. For the Lilliputians think
nothing can be more unjuft, than for people, in fubfer-
vience to their own appetites, to bring children into the
world, and leave the burden of ſupporting them to the
public. As to perfons of quality, they give fecurity to
appropriate a certain fum to each chili fuitable to their
condition; and thefe funds are always managed with,
good huſbandry, and the moſt exact juſtice.
The cottagers and labourers keep their children at
home, their bufinefs being only to till and cultivate the
I 2
earth
}
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
52
earth, and therefore their education is of little confequence
to the public: but the old and diſeaſed among them are
fupported by hofpitals: for, begging is a trade unknown
in that empire.
And here it may, perhaps, divert the curious reader,
to give fome account of my domeftics, and my manner of
living in this country, during a refidence of nine months
and thirteen days. Having a head mechanically turned,
and being likewife forced by neceffity, I had made for
myſelf a table and chair, convenient enough, out of the
largeſt trees in the royal park. Two hundred femftreffes
were employed to make me fhirts, and linen for bed and
table, all of the ftrongeſt and coarſeft kind they could get,
which, however, they were forced to quilt together in
feveral folds, for the thickeft was fome degrees finer
than lawn. Their linen is ufually three inches wide,
and three feet make a piece. The femftrelles took my
meaſure as I lay on the ground, one ſtanding at my neck,
and another at my mid-leg, with a ſtrong cord extended,
that each held by the end, while a third meaſured the
length of the cord with a rule of an inch long. Then
they meaſured my right thumb, and defired no more;
for by a mathematical computation, that twice round the
thumb is once round the wrist, and fo on to the neck and
the waift; and by the help of my old ſhirt, which I dif-
played on the ground before them for a pattern, they
fitted me exactly. Three hundred taylors were employed
in the fame manner to make me cloaths; but they had
another contrivance for taking my meafure. I kneeled
down, and they raiſed a ladder from the ground to my
neck; upon this ladder one of them mounted, and let`
fall a plumb-line from my collar to the floor, which juſ
anſwered the length of my coat; but my waiſt and arms
I meaſured myfelf. When my cloaths were finiſhed,
which was done in my houſe (for the largeſt of theirs
would not have been able to hold them), they looked like
the patchwork made by the ladies in England, only that
mine were all of a colour.
{
I had three hundred cooks to drefs my victuals, in
little
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
.53
little convenient huts built about my house, where they
and their families lived, and prepared me two dishes a-
piece. I took up twenty waiters in my hand, and placed
them on the table; an hundred more attended below on
the ground, fome with dishes of neat, and fome with
barrels of wine, and other liquors, flung on their fhoul-
ders; all which the waiters above drew up as I wanted,
in an ingenious manner, by certain cords, as we draw
the bucket up a well in Europe. A difh of their meat
was a good mouthful, and a barrel of their liquor a rea-
Jomble draught. Their mutton yields to ours, but
their beefis excellent. I have had a furloin fo large that I
have been forced to make three bits of it; but this is rare.
My fervants were aftonifhed to ſee me eat it, bones and
all, as in our country we do the leg of a lark. Their geefe
and turkies I ufually ate at a mouthful; and, I mult
confefs they far exceed ours. Of their fmaller fowl I
could take up twenty or thirty at the end of my knife.
me.
One day his imperial majefty, being informed of my
way of living, defired that himſelf and his confort, with
the young princes of the blood of both fexes, might have
the happinefs (as he was pleaſed to call it) of dining with
They came accordingly, and I placed them upon
chairs of flate, on my table, juft over againſt me, with
their guards about them. Flimnap, the lord high trea-
furer, attended there likewife, with his white ſtaff; and
Iobferved he often looked on me with a four countenance,
which I would not feem to regard, but eat more than
ufual, in honour to my dear country, as well as to fill the
court with admiration. I have fome private reaſons to
believe, that this vifit from his majefty gave Flimnap an
opportunity of doing me ill offices with his mafter. That
minifter had always been my fecret enemy, though he out-
wardly careffed me more than was ufual to the morofenefs
of his nature. He reprefented the low condition of his
treasury; that he was forced to take up money at great
aliſcount; that exchequer bills would not circulate un-
der nine per cent below par; that, in fhort, I had coft
his majefty above a million and a half of Sprugs (their
E 3
greatek
54
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
է
greatest gold coin, about the bigness of a ſpangle) and
upon the whole, that it would be advifeable in the en-
peror to take the firft fair occafion of difiniffing me.
I am here obliged to vindicate the reputation of an ex-
cellent lady, who was an innocent fufferer on my account.
The treaſurer took a fancy to be jealous of his wife, from
the malice of fome evil tongues, who informed him that
her grace had taken a violent affection for my perfon, and
the court fcandal ran for fome time, that the once came
privately to my lodging. This I folemnly declare to be
a moft infamous falfhood, without any grounds, farther
than that her grace was pleafed to treat me with all in-
nocent marks of freedom and friendship. I own the
came often to my houfe, but always publicly, nor ever
without three more in the coach, who were uſually her
fifter and young daughter, and fome particular acquain-
tance: but this was common to many other ladies of the
court. And 1 ftill appeal to my fervants round, whether
they at any time faw a coach at my door, without know-
ing what perſons were in it. On thofe occafions, when
a fervant had given me notice, my custom was to go im-
mediately to the door; and after paying my refpects,
to take up the coach and two horfes very carefully in my
hands (for if there were fix horfes, the poftillion always
unharneffed four) and place them on a table, where I
had fixed a moveable rim quite round, of five inches high,
to prevent accidents; and I have often had four coaches
and horfes at once on my table, full of company, while
I fat in my chair, leaning my face towards them; and,
when I was engaged with one fet, the coachman would
gently drive the others round my table. I have paſſed
many an afternoon very agreeably in thefe converfations.
But I defy the treaſurer, or his two informers (Iwill name
them, and let them make their best of it) Cluftril, and
Drunlo, to prove that any perfon ever came to me incog
nito, except the fecretary Reldrefal, who was fent by ex-
prefs command of his imperial majefty, as I have before
related. I should not have dwelt fo long upon this par-
ticular, if it had not been a point wherein the reputation
of
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
55
of a great lady is fo nearly concerned, to fay nothing of
my own; though I then had the honour to be a Nardac,
which the treaſurer himfelf is not; for all the world
knows that he is cnly a Glumlum, a title inferior by one
degree, as that of a marquis is to a duke in England, al-
though I allow he preceded me in right of his pott. Theſe
falle informations, which I afterwards came to the know-
ledge of, by an accident not proper to mention, made
Flimnap the treaſurer, fhew his lady, for fome time, an
ill countenance, and me a worſe; and although he was at
laft undeceived, and reconciled to her, yet I loſt all cre-
dit with him, and found my intereft decline very faſt
with the emperor himſelf, who was, indeed, too much
governed by that favourite.
CHAP, VÌ.
The Author being informed of a defign to accufe him
af bigh treafon, makes his ejcape to Blefujcu.-His recep-
tion there.
BEFORE I proceed to give an account of my leaving
this kingdom, it may be proper to inform the reader
of a private intrigue which had been for two months
forming against me.
I had been hitherto, all my life a ftranger to courts,
for which I was unqualified by the meannefs of my con-
dition. I had, indeed, heard and read enough of the
difpofitions of great princes and minifters; but never
expected to have found fuch terrible effects of them in fo
remote a country, governed, as I thought, by very dif
ferent maxims from thofe of Europe.
When I was juft preparing to pay my attendance on
the Emperor of Blefufcu, a confiderable perfon at court
(to whom I had been very ferviceable, at a time when he
lay under the higheft difpleasure of his imperial majefty)
came to my house very privately at night in a clofe chair,
and, without fending his name, deſired admittance: the
chairmen were difimiffed; I put the chair, with his lord-
fhip in it, into my coat pocket; and giving orders to a
trufty fervant to lay I was indifpofed and gene to fleep,
I faftened the door of my houſe, placed the chair on the
tables
56
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
table, according to my ufual cuſtom, and fat down by it.
After the common falutations were over, obferving his
lordship's countenance full of concern, and enquiring into
the reafon; he defired I would hear him with patience, in
a matter that highly concerned my honour and my life.
His fpeech was to the following effect, for I took notes
of it as foon as he left me.
+
You are to know,' faid he, that feveral commit-
tees of council have been lately called in the moſt pri-
vate manner on your account; and it is but two days
fince his majefty came to a full refolution.
You are very fenfible that Skyreſh Bolgolam (Gal-
bet, or high admiral) hath been your mortal enemy al-
moft ever fince your arrival: his original reafons I
know not; but his hatred is increafed fince your great
fuccefs againſt Blefufcu, by which his glory, as admi-
ral, is much obfcured. This lord, in conjunction with
Flimnap, the high treafarer, whofe enmity against you
♦ is notorious on account of his lady, Limtoc the gene-
ral, Lalcon the chamberlain, and Balmuff the grand
jufticiary, have prepared articles of impeachment
againſt you, for treaſon, and other capital crimes."
E
C
This preface made me fo impatient, being confcious
of my own merits and innocence, that I was going to
interrupt him when he entreated me to be filent, and
thus proceeded :
<
Out of gratitude for the favours you have done me,
I procured information of the whole proceedings, and
of the articles, wherein I venture my head for
your fervice."
a copy
Articles of impeachment against Quinbus Fleftrin, the
Man-Mountain.
ARTICLE I.
16 WHEREAS, by a ſtatute made in the reign of his
imperial majefty Calin Deffar Plune, it is enac-
ted, That whoever shall make water within the pre-
cincts of the royal palace, fhall be liable to the pains
and penalties of high-treafon: notwithstanding the aid
Quinbus Fleftrin, in open breach of the faid law, under
• colour
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
57
• colour of extinguishing the fire kindled in the apart-
ment of his majefty's molt dear imperial, confort, did
malicioufly, traitorously, and devilishly, by difcharge
* of his urine, put out the faid fire, kindled in the faid
apartment, lying and being within the precincts of the
* royal palace, against the ftatute in that cafe provided,
• &c. against the duty, &c.
ARTICLE II.
That the faid Quinbus Fleftrin having brought the
• imperial fleet of Blefufcu into the royal port, and be-
ing afterwards commanded by his imperial majefty to
• feize all the other ſhips of the ſaid empire of Blefuſcu,
• and reduce that empire to a province, to be governed
by a viceroy from hence, and to deftroy and put to
death not only all the Big Endian exiles, but likewiſe
all the people of that empire, who would not immedi-
ately forfake the Big-Endian herefy: he the faid Flef-
trin, like a falfe traitor against his moft aufpicious,
ferene, imperial majefty, did petition to be excufed
from the laid fervice, upon pretence of unwillingness
to force the confciences, or deftroy the liberties and
• lives of innocent people.*
ARTICLE III.
That, whereas certain ambaffadors arrived from
the court of Blefufcu, to fue for peace in his majeſty's
court: he the faid Fleftrin did, like a falſe traitor, aid,
abet, comfort, and divert the faid ambaffadors, al-
though he knew them to be fervants to a prince who
was lately an open enemy to his imperial majeſty, and
in open war against his faid majesty.
ARTICLE IV.
That the faid Quinbus Fleftrin, contrary to the duty
* of a faithful fubject, is now preparing to make a voyage
to the court and empire of Blefufcu, for which he has
* received only verbal licence from his imperial majeſty;
and
A lawyer thinks himſelf honeft if he does the best he can
for his client, and a flatefinan if he promotes the intereft of his
country, but the Dean here inculcates a higher notion of right
and wrong, and obligations to a larger community.
58
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
and under colour of the faid licence doth falfely and
• traitorouſly intend to take the ſaid voyage, and there-
by to aid, comfort, and abet the emperor of Blefufcu,
fo late an enemy and in open war with his imperial
majeſty aforefaid.
There are fome other articles, but thefe are the moſt
important, of which I have read you an abſtract.
In the feveral debates upon this impeachment, it
• muſt be confeſſed that his majeſty gave many marks of
his great lenity, often urging the fervices you had done
• him, and endeavouring to extenuate your crimes. The
• treaſurer and admiral infifted that you ſhould be put
to the most painful and ignominious death, by fetting
fire to your houſe at night, and the general was to at-
• tend with twenty thousand men armed with poifoned
arrows, to shoot you on the face and hands. Some of
your fervants were to have private orders to ftrew a
'poiſonous juice on your fhirts and ſheets, which would
foon make you tear your own fleſh, and die in the ut-
moft torture. The general came into the fame opinion;
fo that for a long time there was a majority againſt
you: but his majefty refolving, if poffible, to fave your
life, at laſt brought off the chamberlain.
<
Upon this incident, Reldrefal, principal fecretary
for private affairs, who always proved himself your
true friend, was commanded by the emperor to deliver
his opinion, he accordingly did: and therein juttified
the good thoughts you have of him. He allowed your
crimes to be great, but that ftill there was room for
mercy; the most commendable virtue in a prince, and
for which his majefty was fo juftly celebrated. He
faid, the friendship between you and him was fo well
⚫ known to the world; that, perhaps, the moſt honoura-
•ble board might think him partial: however, in obe-
⚫dience to the command he had received, he would freely
offer his fentiments. That if his majefly, in confidera-
tion of your fervices, and purfuant to his own merci-
ful difpofition, would pleafe to fpare your life, and only
give order to put out both your eyes, he humbly con-
<ceived,
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
59
}
ceived, that, by this expedient, juftice might infome
• meafure be fatisfied, and all the world would applaud
the lenity of the emperor, as well as the fair and gene-
rous proceedings of thoſe who have the honour to be
his counsellors. That the lofs of your eyes would be
no impediment to your bodily ftrength, by which you
might ſtill be uſeful to his majefty. That blindneſs is
an addition to courage, by concealing dangers from us;
that the fear you had for your eyes, was the greateſt
difficulty in bringing over the enemy's fleet, and it
◄ would be fufficient for you to fee by the eyes of the
minifters, fince the greateſt princes do no more.
K
C
This propofal was received with the utmoſt diſap-
probation by the whole board. Bolgolam, the admiral,
could not preferve his temper; but rifing up in a fury,
• faid, he wondered how the ſecretary durft preſume to
give his opinion for preſerving the life of a traitor :
that the ſervices you had performed were, by all true
reafons of ſtate, the great aggravation of your crimes;
that you, who were able to extinguifh the fire, by dif
charge of urine in her majefty's apartment (which he
• mentioned with horror) might, at another time, raiſe
⚫ an inundation by the fame means to drown the whole
• palace, and the fame ftrength, which enabled you to
• bring over the enemy's fleet, might ferve upon the first
• difcontent, to carry it back; that he had good reaſons
to think you were a Big-Endian in your heart; and
as treafon begins in the heart, before it appears in
overt acts, fo he accufed you as a traitor on that ac-
count, and therefore infifted you fhould be put to
< death.
The treaſurer was of the fame opinion; he fhewed
to what ftraights his majeſty's revenue was reduced by
the charge of maintaining you, which would foon grow
infupportable: that the fecretary's expedient of putting
out your eyes was fo far from being a remedy against
this evil, it would probably increaſe it, as it is manifeft
• from the blinding fome kind of fowl, after which, they
fed the fafter, and grew fooner fat; that his facred
• majeſty,
60
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
C
<
C
majefty, and the council, who are your judges, were is
their own confciences fully convinced of your guilt,
which was a fufficient argument to condemn you to
death, without the formal proofs required by the ſtric
letter of the law.*
But his imperial majefty, fully determined against capi-
⚫tal puniſhment, was graciously pleaſed to ſay, that, fince
the council thought the lofs of your eyes too ealy a
⚫ cenfure, fome other may be inflicted hereafter. And
your friend, the fecretary, humbly defiring to be heard
again, in anfwer to what the treaſurer had objected
concerning the great charge his majefty was at in main-
taining you, faid, that his exeellency, who had the fole
difpofal of the emperor's revenue, might eafily provide
against that evil, by gradually leffening your establim-
ment; by which, for want of fufficient food, you would
grow weak and faint, and lofe your appetite, and con-
fume in a few months; neither would the stench of
your carcafe be then fo dangerous, when it should be-
come more than half diminished; and, immediately
upon your death, five or fix thousand of his majeſty's
fubjects might, in two or three days, cut your fleſh
from your bones, take it away by cart-loads, and bury
it in diftant parts to prevent infection, leaving the
fkeleton as a monument of admiration to pofterity.'
C
4
Thus, by the great friendship of the fecretary, the
whole affair was compromifed. It was ftriatly en-
• joined, that the project of farving you, by degrees,
fhould be kept a fecret, but the fentence of putting out
your eyes was entered on the books; none diffenting
except Bolgolom, the admiral, who, being à creature
C
of
* There is fomething fo odious in whatever is wrong, that
even thoſe whom it does not fubject to puniſhment, endeavour
to colour it with an appearance of right; but the attempt is al-
ways unſucceſsful, and only betrays a conſciouſneſs of deformi-
ty, by fhewing a defute to hide it. Thus the Lilliputian court
pretended a right to difpenfe with the ftrict letter of the law,
to put Gulliver to death, though, by the ftrist letter of the law
only, he could be convicted of a crime; the intention of the fta-
tute not being to fuffer the palace rather to be burnt than piffed
upon.
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
C
<
of the empress, was perpetually inftigated by her ma-
jefty to infift upon your death, the having borne per-
petual malice against you, on account of that infamous
and illegal method you took to extinguish the fire in
her apartment.
In three days, your friend the fecretary will be di-
rected to come to your houſe, and read before you the
articles of impeachment; and then to fignify the great
lenity and favour of his majeſty, and council, whereby
C you are only condemned to the lofs of your eyes,which
his majefty doth not queſtion you will gratefully and
humbly fubmit to; and twenty of his majefty's fur-
geons will attend, in order to fee the operation well
performed, by difcharging very fharp pointed arrows
into the balls of your eyes, as you lie on the ground,
I leave to your prudence what meaſures you will
take: and, to avoid fufpicion, I muft immediately re-
turn in as private a manner as I came.'
▼
His lordfiip did fo, and I remained alone, under many
doubts and perplexities of mind.
It was a cuſtom introduced by this prince and his
miniftry (very different, as I have been affured, from the
practices of former times) that after the court had de-
creed. any cruel execution, either to gratify the monarch's
refentment, or the malice of a favourite, the emperor al-
ways made a fpeech to his whole council, expreffing his
great lenity and tenderneſs, as qualities known and con-
feffed by all the world. This fpeech was immediately
publiſhed through the kingdom; nor did any thing ter-
rify the people fo much as thofe encomiums on his majef
ty's mercy; becauſe it was obferved, that the more thefe
praiſes were enlarged and infifted on, the more inhuman
was the punishment, and the fufferer more innocent. And
as to myſelf, I must confefs, having never been defigned
for a courtier either by my birth or education, I was fo
ill a judge of things, that I could not difcover the lenity
and favour of this fentence, but conceived it (perhaps
erroneously) rather to be rigorous than gentle. I fome-
pimes thought of ſtanding my trial; for, although I
F
could
62
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
could not deny the facts alledged in the feveral articles,
yet I hoped they would aduit of ſome extenuation. But
having in my life perufed many ſtate-trials, which I ever
obſerved to terminate as the judges thought fit to direct,
I durft not rely on fo dangerous a decifion, in fo critical
2 juncture, and against fuch powerful enemies. Once I
was ftrongly bent upon refiflance; for, while, I had li
berty, the whole ftrength of that empire could hardly
fubdue me, and I might eafily with tones pelt the me-
tropolis to pieces; but I foon rejected that project with
horror, by remembering the oath I had made to the em-
peror, the favours I had received from him, and the
high title of Nardac he conferred upon me. Neither had
I fo foon learned the gratitude of courtiers, to perfuade
myfelf, that his majeſty's prefent feverities acquitted me
of all paft obligations.
At laft I fixed upon a refolution, for which it is
pro-
bable I may incur fome cenfure, and not unjustly; for I
confefs I owe the prefeiving mine eyes, and confequently
my liberty, to my own great rafhnefs, and want of expe
rience: becauſe, if I had then known the nature of princes
and miniſters, which I have fince obferved in many other
courts, and their methods of treating criminals lefs ob-
noxious than myfelf, I should with great alacrity and
readineſs have fubmitted to fo eafy a punishment. But
hurried on by the precipitancy of youth, and having his
imperial majefty's licence to pay my attendance upon
the emperor of Blefufcu, I took this opportunity, before
the three days were elapfed, to fend a letter to my friend
the fecretary, fignifying my refolution of fetting out that
morning for Blefufcu, purſuant to the leave I had got;
and, without waiting for an anſwer, I went to that fide
of the island where our Acet lay. I feized a large man
of war, tied a cable to the prow, and, lifting up the an-
chors, I ftripped myſelf, put my cloaths (together with
my coverlet, which I brought under my arm) into the
veffel, and drawing it after me, between wading and
fwimming, arrived at the royal port of Blefufcu, where
the people had long expected me; they lent me two guides.
te
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
63
to direct me to the capital city, which is of the fame
name. I held them in my hands till I came within two
hundred yards of the gate, and defired them to ſignify
my arrival to one of the fecretaries, and let him know I
there waited his majeſty's command. I had an anſwer
in about an hour, that his majeſty, attended by the royal
family, and great officers of the court, was coming out
to receive me. I advanced an hundred yards. The
emperor and his train alighted from their horſes, the em-
preis and ladies from their coaches, and I did not per-
ceive they were in any fright or concern. I lay on the
ground to kifs his majeſty's and the emprefs's hand. I
told his majesty that I was come according to my pro-
mife and with the licence of the emperor my maſter, to
have the honour of ſeeing ſo mighty a monarch, and to.
offer him any ſervice in my power, confiftent with my
duty to my own prince: not mentioning a word of my
diſgrace, becauſe I had hitherto no regular information
of it, and might ſuppoſe myſelf wholly ignorant of any
fuch defign; neither could I reaſonably conceive that
the emperor would diſcover the fecret while I was out of
his power; wherein, however, it foon appeared I was
deceived.
I fhall not trouble the reader with the particular ac-
count of my reception at this court, which was fuitable
to the generofity of fo great a prince; nor of the diffi-
culties I was in for want of a houſe and bed, being forced
to lie on the ground, wrapped up in my coverlet.
CHAP. VIII.
The Author, by a lucky accident, finds means to leave
Blefufcu-and, after fome difficulties, returns fafe to his
native country.
THREE days after my arrival, walking out of cu-
riofity to the north-eaft coaſt of the inland, I ob-
ferved, about half a league off, in the ſea, ſomewhat that
looked like a boat overturned. I pulled off my fhoes and
ftockings, and wading two or three hundred yards, I
found the object to approach nearer by force of the tides
I 2
and
I
64
and then plainly ſaw it to be a real boat, which I fup.
pofed might, by fome tempeft, have been driven from a
fhip; whereupon I returned immediately towards the
city, and defired his imperial majeſty to lend me twenty
of the talleſt veffels he had left after the lofs of his fleet,
and three thousand feamen,under the command of the vice
admiral. This fleet failed round, while I went back the
ſhorteſt way to the coaſt, where I firſt diſcovered the boat,
I found the tide had driven it ftill nearer. The feamen
were all provided with cordage, which I had before hand
twiſted to a fufficient ftrength. When the hips came
up I ftripped myfelf, and waded till I came within an
hundred yards of the boat, after which I was forced to
fwim till I got up to it. The feamen threw me the end
of the cord, which I faftened to a hole in the fore part
of the boat, and the other end to a man of war: but I
found all my labour to little purpoſe; for, being out of
my depth, I was not able to work. In this neceflity, I
was forced to fwim behind, and push the boat forwards
as often as I could, with one of my hands; and the tide
favouring me, I advanced fo far, that I could juſt hold
up my chin, and feel the ground. I refted two or three
minutes, and then gave the boat another hove, and ſo
on, till the fea was no higher than my arm-pits; and now
the moſt laborious part being over, I took out my other
cables, which were towed in one of the fhips, and faften-
ed them first to the boat, and then to nine of the veffels
which attended me; the wind being favourable, the fea-
men towed, and I fhoyed, till we arrived within forty
yards of the ſhore, and waiting till the tide was out, I
got dry to the boat, and by the affiftance of two thouſand
men, with ropes and engines, I made a shift to turn it on
its bottom, and found it was but little damaged.
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
I ſhall not trouble the reader with the difficulties I
was under by the help of certain paddles, which cost me
ten days making, to get my boat to the royal port of
Blefufcu, where a mighty concourfe of people appeared
upon my arrival, full of wonder at the fight of fo prodi-
gious a veffel. I told the emperor, that my good for-
tune
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
65
tune had thrown this boat in my way, to carry me to
fome place, from whence I might return into my native
country, and begged his majefty's orders for getting ma-
terials to fit it up, together with his licence to depart, which
after fome kind expoftulations, he was pleaſed to grant.
I did very much wonder, in all this time, not to have
heard of any exprefs relating to me from our emperor to
the court of Blefufcu. But I was afterwards given pri-
vately to underſtand, that his imperial majefty, never
imagining I had the leaft notice of his defigns, believed
I was only gone to Blefufcu in performance of my pro-
mife, according to the licence he had given me, which
was well known at our court, and would return in a few
days, when the ceremony was ended. But he was at laſt
in pain at my long abfence; and after confulting with the
treasurer, and the reft of that cabal, a perfon of quality
was diſpatched with a copy of the articles against me.
This envoy had inftruction to reprefent to the monarch
of Blefufcu the great lenity of his mafter, who was con-
tent to punish me no farther than with the lofs of mine
eyes; that I had fled from juftice, and if I did not re-
turn in two hours, I ſhould be deprived of my title of
Nardac, and declared a traitor. The envoy farther add-
ed, that, in order to maintain the peace and amity be-
tween both empires, his mafter expected that his brother
of Blefufcu would give orders to have me fent back to
Lilliput, bound hand and foot, to be puniſhed as a traitor.
The emperor of Blefuſcu, having taken three days to
confult, returned an anfwer, confifting of many civilities
and excufes. He faid, that, as for fending me bound,
his brother knew it was impoffible; that although I had
deprived him of his fleet, yet he owed great obligations
to me for many good offices I had done him in making
the peace. That, however, both their majeſties would
foon be made easy; for I had found a prodigious veffel
on the fhore, able to carry me on the fea, which he had
given orders to fit up with my own affiſtance and direc-
tion; and he hoped, in a few weeks, both empires would
be freed from fo infupportable an incumbrance.
F 3
With
1
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
66
With this anſwer the envoy returned to Lilliput, and
the monarch of Blefufcu related to me all that had paff-
ed; offering to me at the fame time (but under the
ftrictest confidence) his gracious protection, if I would
continue in his fervice: wherein, although I believed
him fincere, yet I refolved never more to put any con-
fidence in princes or minifters, where I could poffibly
avoid it; and therefore, with all due acknowledgments
for his favourable intentions, I humbly begged to be ex-
cuſed. I told him, that fince fortune, whether good or
evil, had thrown a veffel in my way, I was refolved to
venture myſelf on the ocean, rather than be an occafion
of difference between two ſuch mighty monarchs. Nei-
ther did I find the emperor at all difpleafed; and I dif-
covered, by a certain accident, that he was very glad of
my refolution, and fo were most of his minifters.
Thefe confiderations moved me to haften my departure
fomewhat fooner than I intended; to which the court,
impatient to have me gone, very readily contributed.-
Five hundred workmen were employed to make two fails
to my boat, according to my directions, by quilting
thirteen fold of their strongest linen together. I was at
the pains of making ropes and cables, by twifting ten,
twenty, or thirty of the thickeft and strongest of theirs.
A great ftone that I happened to find, after a long fearch
by the fea-fhore, ferved me for an anchor. I had the tal-
low of three hundred cows for greafing my boat, and
other uſes. I was at incredible pains in cutting down
fome of the largeſt timber-trees for oars and maſts;
wherein I was, however, much affifted by his majeſty's
fhip carpenters, who helped me in fimoothing them after
I had done the rough work.
In about a month, when all was prepared, I fent to
receive his majeſty's commands, and to take my leave.
The emperor and royal family came out of the palace;
I laid down on my face to kifs his hand, which he very
graciously gave me; fo did the emprefs, and young
princes of the blood. His majesty prefented me with
fifty purſes of two-hundred fprugs apiece, together with
his
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
67
·
his picture at full length, which I put immediately into
one of my gloves, to keep it from being hurt. The
ceremonies at my departure were too many to trouble
the reader with at this time.
I ftored the boat with the carcafes of an hundred oxen
and three hundred fheep, with bread and drink pro-
portionable, and as much meat ready dreffed as four
hundred cooks could provide. I took with me fix cows
and two bulls alive, with as many ewes and rams, in-
tending to carry them into my own country, and propa-
gate the breed; and, to feed them on board, I had a good
bundle of hay, and a bag of corn. I would have gladly
taken a dozen of the natives, but this was a thing the
emperor would by no means permit; and, befides a
diligent fearch into my pockets, his majefty engaged my
honour not to carry away any of his fubjects, although
with their own confent and defire.
Having thus prepared all things as well as I was able,
I fet fail on the twenty-fourth day of September 1701,
at fix in the morning; and when I had gone about four
leagues to the northward, the wind being at fouth-east,
at fix in the evening, I deſcried a ſmall iſland about half
a league to the north-weft. I advanced forward, and
calt anchor on the lee fide of the iſland, which feemed to
be uninhabited. I then took fome refreſhment, and went
to my reft. I flept well, and as I conjecture about fix
hours, for I found the day broke in two hours after I
awaked. It was a clear night. I eat my breakfaſt be-
fore the fun was up; and heaving anchor, the wind be-
ing favourable I fteered the fame courfe that I had done
the day before, wherein I was directed by my pocket
compafs. My intention was to reach, if poffible, one of
thofe iflands, which I had reafon to believe lay to M
north-east of Van Diemen's land. I difcovered nothing
all that day; but upon the next, about three in the after-
noon, when I had by my computation inade twenty-four
leagues from Blefulcu, I defcried a fail fteering to the
fouth-east; and my courfe was the due eaft. I hailed her,but
could get no answer; yet I found I gained upon her,
for
68
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
1
for the wind flackened. I made all the fail I could, and
in half an hour fhe fpied me, then hung out her ancient,
and diſcharged a gun. It is not eafy to exprefs the joy
I was in upon the unexpected hope of once more feeing
my beloved country, and the dear pledges I left in it.
The hip flackened her fails and I came up with her be-
tween five and fix in the evening, September 26; but my
heart leapt within me to fee her English colours. I put
my cows and heep into my coat pockets, and got on
board with all my little cargo of provifions. The veſſel
was an English merchantman, returning from Japan, by
the north and fouth feas; the captain, Mr. John Biddle, of
Deptford, a very civil man, and an excellent failor. We
were now in the latitude of 30 degrees fouth, there were
about fifty men in the fhip; and here I met an old com-
rade of mine, one Peter Williams, who gave me a good
character to the captain. This gentleman treated me
with kindneſs, and defired I would let him know what
place I came from laft, and whither I was bound; which
I did in a few words, but he thought I was raving, and
that the dangers I had undergone had disturbed my head;
whereupon I took my black cattle and ſheep out of my
pocket, which, after great aſtoniſhment, clearly convinced
him of my veracity. I then thewed him the gold given
me by the emperor of Blefuſcu, together with his ma-
jesty's picture at full length, and fome other rarities of
that country. I gave him two purfes of two hundred
fprugs each, and promifed, when we arrived in England,
to make him a prefent of a cow and a ſheep big with
young.
I fhall not trouble the reader with a particular ac
count of this voyage, which was very profperous for the
ift part.
We arrived in the Downs on the 13th of
April, 1702. I had only one misfortune, that the rats
on board carried away one of my fheep; I found her
bones in a hole, picked clean from the flesh. The rest
of my cattle I got fafe on fhore, and ſet them a grazing
in a bowling-green at Greenwich, where the fineness of
the grafs made them feed very heartily, though I always
feared
t
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
69
S
feared the contrary; neither could I poffibly have pre-
ferved them in fo long a voyage, if the captain had not
allowed me fome of his best buifcuit, which rubbed to
powder, and mingled with water, was their conſtant food.
The fhort time I continued in England, I made a con-
fiderable profit by fhewing my cattle to many perfons of
quality, and others: and, before I began my fecond
voyage, I fold them for fix hundred pounds. Since my
laft return, I find the breed has confiderably increaſed,
eſpecially the fheep, which I hope will prove much to
the advantage of the woollen manufacture, by the fine-
nefs of the fleeces.
1
I flayed but two months with my wife and family;
for my infatiable defire of feeing foreign countries would
fuffer me to continue no longer. I left fifteen hundred
pounds with my wife, and fixed her in a good houſe at
Redriff. My remaining ſtock I carried with me, part in
money and part in goods, in hopes to improve my for-
tune. My eldeſt uncle John had left me an eftate in
land, near Epping, of about thirty pounds a year; and
I had a long leafe of the Black Bull in Fetter Lane,
which yielded me as much more; fo that I was not in
any danger of leaving my family upon the parish. My
fon Johnny, named fo after his uncle, was at the gram-
mar ſchool, and a towardly child. My daughter Betty
who is now well married, and has children) was then
at her needle-work. I took leave of my wife, and boy
and girl, with tears on both fides, and went on board
the Adventure, a merchant-fhip, of three hundred tons,
bound for Surat, captain John Nicholas, of Liverpool,
commander. But my account of this voyage must be
referred to the ſecond part of my travels.
PART
+
( 70 )·
PART II.
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAĠ.
CHAP. I.
A great form defcribed-The long boat fent to fetch wa-
ter.-The Author goes with it to discover the country.
He is left on fhore. Is feized by one of the natives, and
carried to a farmer's houfe.-His reception, with feveral
accidents that happened there.-A defcription of the inha-
bitants.
HAVING been condemned by nature and fortune to
an active and reſtleſs life, in two months after my
return, I again left my native country, and took fhipping
in the Downs on the 20th day of June 1702, in the Ad-
venture, captain John Nicholas, a Cornish man, com-
mander, bound for Surat. We had a very profperous
gale till we arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, where
we landed for fresh water, but difcovering a leak, we un-
fhipped our goods, and wintered there; for the captain
falling fick of an ague, we could not leave the Cape till
the end of March. We then fet fail, and had a good
voyage till we paffed the Straits of Madagaſcar; but
having got northward of that iſland, and to about five
degrees fouth latitude, the winds, which in thofe feas
are obferved to blow a conftant equal gale between the
north and weft, from the beginning of December to the
beginning of May, on the ninth of April began to blow
with much greater violence, and more wefterly than
ufual, continuing fo for twenty days together, during
which time, we were driven a little to the east of the
Molucca islands, and about three degrees northward of
the line, as our captain found by an obſervation he tock
the ſecond of May, at which time the wind ceaſed, and
it was a perfect calm, whereat I was not a little rejoiced.
But he, being a man experienced in the navigation of
thofe feas, bid us all prepare against a ftorm, which ac-
cordingly happened the day following: for a fouthern
wind, called the fouthern monfoon, began to fet in.
Finding it was like to overblow, we took in our fprit
fail;
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
71
A
J
fail; and ſtood by to hand the fore-fail; but, making
foul weather, we looked the guns were all faft, and hand-
ed the mizen. The fhip lay very broad off, fo we thought
it better ſpooning before the fea, than trying or hulling.
We reeft the fore-fail and fet it, and hauled aft the fore-
ſheet; the helm was hard a-weather. The fhip wore
bravely. We belayed the fore down hall; but the fail
was ſplit, and we hauled down the yard, and got the fail
into the fhip, and unbound all the things clear of it. It
was a very fierce ftorm; the fea broke ftrange and dan-
gerous. We hauled off upon the lanniard of the whip-
ſtaff, and helped the man at the helm. We would not
get down our top-maft, but let all ſtand, becauſe ſhe feud-
ded before the ſea very well, and we knew that, the top-
maft being aloft, the fhip was the wholfomer, and made
better way through the fea, feeing we had fea room.-
When the ſtorm was over, we ſet fore-fail and main-fail,
and brought the fhip to. Then we fet the mizen, main-
top-fail, and the fore-top-fail. Our courfewas eaft-north-
eaſt, the wind was at fouth-weft. We got the ftarboard
tacks aboard, we caft off our weather-braces and lifts
we fet in the lee-braces, and hauled forward by the wea-
ther-bowlings, and hauled them tight, and belayed them,
and hauled over the mizen-tack to windward, and kept
her full and by as near as fhe would lie.
During this ftorm, which was followed by a ſtrong
wind weft-fouth-west, we were carried, by my compu-
tation, about five hundred leagues to the eaft, fo that the
oldeſt failor on board could not tell in what part of the
world we were. Our proviſions held out well, our fhip
was ſtaunch, and our crew all in good health; but we
lay in the utmoſt diftrefs for water. We thought it beſt
to hold on the fame courſe, rather than turn more north-
erly, which might have brought us to the north-weſt
parts of great Tartary, and into the Frozen Sea.
On the 16th day of June, 1703, a boy on the top-maft
diſcovered land. On the 17th, we came in full view of
a great iſland or continent (for we knew not whether)
on the ſouth-fide whereof was a ſmall neck of land jut-
ting
72
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
ting out into the fea, and a creek too ſhallow to hold
a hip of above one hundred tons. We caft anchor within
a league of this creek, and our captain fent a dozen of
his men well armed, in the long boat, with veffels for wa-
ter, if any could be found. I deſired his leave to go
with them, that I might fee the country, and make what
diſcoveries I could. When we came to land, we faw
no river or ſpring, nor any ſign of inhabitants. Our men,
therefore, wandered on the fhore to find out ſome freſh
water near the fea, and I walked alone about a mile on
the other fide, where I obferved the country all barren.
and rocky. I now began to be weary, and feeing no-
thing to entertain my curiofity, I returned gently down
towards the creek; and, the fea being full in my view,
I faw our men already got into the boat, and rowing for
life to the fhip. I was going to halloo after them, al-
though it had been to little purpoſe, when I obferved a
huge creature walking after them into the fea, as fast as
he could. He waded not much deeper than his knees,
and took prodigious ftrides; but our men had the ſtart
of him half a league, and the fea thereabouts being full
of fharp-pointed rocks, the monſter was not able to over-
take the boat. This I was afterwards told, for I durft
not ſtay to fee the iffue of the adventure; but ran as faſt
as I could the way I first went, and then climbed up a
fteep hill, which gave me fome profpect of the country.
I found it fully cultivated; but that which first furpriſed
me was the length of the grafs, which, in thofe grounds
that ſeemed to be kept for hay, was about twenty feet high.
I fell into a high road, for fo I took it to be, though
it ferved for the inhabitants only as a foot path through
a field of barley. Here I walked on for fome time, but
could fee little on either fide, it being now near harveſt,
and the corn rifing at leaſt forty feet. I was an hour
walking to the end of this field, which was fenced in with.
a hedge of at leaſt one hundred and twenty feet high.
and the trees fo lofty that I could make no computation
of their altitude. There was a tile to pass from this
field into the next; and it had four steps, and a stone te
crofs
+
1
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
73
crofs over when you came to the uppermoft: it was im-
poffible for me to climb this ftile, becauſe every ſtep was
hx feet high, and the upper ftone above twenty. I was
endeavouring to find fome gap in the hedge, when I dif-
covered one of the inhabitants in the next field,advancing
towards the file, of the fame fize with him whom I faw-
in the fea, purfuing our boat. He appeared as tall as
an ordinary ſpire fteeple, and took about ten yards at
every ftride, as near as I could guess. I was ftruck with
the utmost fear and aftoniſhment, and ran to hide myſelf
in the corn, from whence I faw him at the top of the tile,
looking back into the next field on the right hand, and
heard him call in a voice many degrees louder than a
fpeaking trumpet; but the noife was fo high in the air,
that at firſt I thought it was certainly thunder. Where-
upon feven monfters like himſelfcame towards him, with
reaping hooks in their hands, each book about the large-
nels of fix fcythes. Thefe people were not fo well clad as
the firft, whofe fervants or labourers they feemed to be:
for, upon fome words he spoke, they went to reap the
corn in the field where I lay. I kept from them, at as
great a distance as I could, but was forced to move with
extreme difficulty, for the ftalks of the corn were fome-
times not above a foot diftant, fo that I could hudly
fqueeze my body betwixt them. I made fhift to go for-
ward, till I came to a part of the field where the corn
had been laid by the rain and wind. Here it was im-
poffible for me to advance a ſtep; for the ſtalks were ſo
interwoven that I could not creep through, and the beards
of the fallen ears fo ftrong and pointed, that they pierced
through my cloaths into my flesh. At the fame time I
heard the reapers not above an hundred yards behind
me. Being quite difpirited with toil, and wholly over-
come by grief and deſpair, I lay down between two
ridges, and heartily wished I might the end my days. I
bemoaned my defolate widow, and fatherlefs children.
I lamented my own folly and wilfulnefs, in attempting
a fecond voyage,againſt the advice of all my friends and
relations. In this terrible agitation of inind I could
G
not
74
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
not forbear thinking of Lilliput, whofe inhabitants look
ed upon me as the greatest prodigy that ever appeared in
the world while I was able to draw an imperial fluct
in my hand, and perform thoſe other actions which will
be recorded for ever in the chronicles of that, empire,
while pofterity fhall hardly believe them, although at-
tested by millions. I reflected what a mortification it
muft prove to me to appear as inconfiderable in this na-
tion, as one fingle Lilliputian would among us.. But
this I conceived was to be the leaft of my misfortunes:
for, as human creatures are obferved to be more favage
and cruel in proportion to their bulk, what could I ex-
pect but to be a morfel in the mouth of the first among
theſe enormous barbarians, that ſhould happen to ſeize
me? Undoubtedly philofophers are in the right, when
they tell us, that nothing is great or little otherwife than
by comparifon. It might have pleafed Fortune to let
the Lilliputians find ſome nation, where the people were
as diminutive with refpect to them, as they were to me.
And who knows but that even this prodigious race of
mortals might be equally overmatched in fome diftant
part of the world, whereof we have yet no difcovery?
Scared and confounded as I was, I could not forbear
going on with thefe reflections, when one of the reapers,
approaching within ten yards of the ridge where I lay,
made me apprehend, that with the next step I fhould be
cruſhed to death under his foot, or cut in two with his
reaping-hook and, therefore, when he was again about
to move, I fcreamed as loud as fear could make me.-.
Whereupon the huge creature trod fhort; and, looking
round about under him for fome time, he at lalt efpied ine
as I lay on the ground. He confidered awhile with the
caution of one who endeavours to lay hold on a fall dan-
gerous animal in fuch a manner that it may not be able
either to ſcratch or to bite him, as I myſelf have fome-
times done with a weafel in England. At length he
ventured to take me up behind by the middle, between
his fore-finger and thumb, and brought me within three
yards of his eyes, that he might behold my fhape more
perfectly.
A VOYAGE TO BROEDINGNAG,
75
perfectly. I gueffed his meaning, and my good fortune
gave me fo much prefence of mind, that I reſolved not to
ftruggle in the leaft as he held me in the air, about fixty
feet from the ground, although he grievously pinched my
fides, for fear I ſhould flip through his fingers. All I
ventured was to raife mine eyes towards the fun, and
place my hands together in a fupplicating pofture, and
to ſpeak fome words in an humble melancholy tone,
fuitable to the condition I was then in. For I appre-
hended every moment that he would daſh me againſt the
ground, as we ufually do any little hateful animal which
we have a mind to deftroy.* But my good ftar would
have it, that he appeared pleafed with my voice and
geftures, and began to look upon me as a curiofity,much
wondering to hear me pronounce articulate words, al-
though he could not understand them. In the mean
time I was not able to forbear groaning and shedding
tears, and turning my head towards my fides letting him
know, as well as I could, how cruelly I was hurt by the
preffure of his thumb and finger. He feemed to appre-
hend my meaning; for, lifting up the lappet of his coat,
he put me gently into it, and immediately ran along
with me to his mafter, who was a fubftantial farmer,
and the fame perfon I had firft feen in the field.
my
The farmer having (as I fuppofed by their talk) re-
ceived fuch an account of me as his fervant could give
him, took a piece of ſmall ſtraw, about the fize of a
walking ſtaff, and therewith lifted up the lappets of
coat; which, it feems, he thought to be fome kind of
covering that nature had given me. He blew my hairs
afide to take a better view of my face. He called his
hint abou thim; and afkedthem (as Iafterwards learned)
whether they had ever feen in the fields any little crea-
G 2
ture
* Our inattention to the felicity of fenfitive beings merely
becauſe they are fmall, is here forcibly reproved: many have
wantonly crushed an infect, who would fhudder at cutting the
throat of a dog; but it should always be remembered, that the
leaft of theſe,
"In mortal fufferance feels a pang as great
"As when a giant dies."
75
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
ture that refembled me? he then placed me foftly on the
ground upon all four, but I got immediately up,and walk-
ed flowly backwards and forwards, to let thofe people fee
I had no intent to run away. They all fat down in a
circle about me, the better to obferve my motions. I
pulled off my hat, and made a low bow towards the far-
mer. I fell upon my knees, and lifted up my hands and
eyes, and ſpoke ſeveral words as loud as I could; I took
a purfe of gold out of my pocket, and humbly prefented
it to him. He received it on the palin of his hand, then
applied it cloſe to his eye, to fee what it was, and after-
wards turned it feveral times with the point of a pin
(which he took out of his fleeve) but could make no-
thing of it. Whereupon I made a fign that he ſhould
place his hand on the ground. I then took the purfe,
and opening it, poured all the gold into his palm, There
were fix Spaniſh pieces of four pistoles each, befides
twenty or thirty fmaller coins. I faw him whet the tip
of his little finger upon his tongue, and take up one of
my largelt pieces, and then another, but he ſeemed to be
wholly ignorant what they were. He made me a ſign to
put them again into my purfe, and my pure again into
my pocket, which, after offering it to him feveral times,
I thought it beft to do.
The farmer by this time was convinced I muſt be a
rational creature. He spoke often to me, but the found
of his voice pierced my ears like that of a water-mill,
yet his words were articulate enough. I anſwered as
loud as I could, in feveral languages, and he often laid
his ear within two yards of me; but all in vain, for we
were wholly unintelligible to each other. He then fent
his fervants to their work, and taking his handkerchief -
out of his pocket, he doubled and ſpread it on his left-
hand, which he placed flat on the ground, with the
palm upwards, making me a fign to ſtep into it, as I
could eaſily do, for it was not above a foot in thickneſs.
I thought it my part to obey, and, for fear of falling, I
laid myfelf in full length upon the handkerchief, with
the remainder of which he lapped me up to the head for
faither

GULLIVERS TRAVELS.
Gulliver, after being released from the pocket
of the Beaper, paying his respects to the Mafter
Vide Part II Chap. Page 70.
Any 1.1798
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
77
farther fecurity, and in this manner carried me home to
his houſe. There he called his wife, and fhewed me to
her; but fhe fcreamed and ran back as women in Eng-
land do at the fight of a toad or a fpider. However,
when ſhe had a while feen my behaviour, and how well I
obferved the figns her huſband made, fhe was foon recon-
ciled, and by degrees grew extremely tender of me.
}
+
It was about twelve at noon, and a fervant brought in
dinner. It was only one ſubſtantial diſh of meat (fit for
the plain condition of an huſbandman) in a diſh of about
four and twenty feet diameter. The company were the
farmer and his wife, three children, and an old grandmo
ther. When they were fet down, the farmer placed me
at ſome diſtance from him on the table, which was thirty
feet high from the floor. I was in a terrible fright, and
kept as far as I could from the edge, for fear of falling.
The wife minced a bit of meat, then crumbled fome bread
on a trencher, and placed it before me. I made her a
low bow, took out my knife and fork, and fell to eating,
which gave them exceeding delight. The miſtreſs ſent
her maid for a fmall dram cup, which held about two
gallons, and filled it with drink; I took up the veſſel
with much difficulty in both hands, and in a moſt re-
ſpectful manner drank to her ladyship's health,expreffing
the words as loud as I could in Engliſh,which made the
company laugh fo heartily, that I was almoft deafened
with the noife. The liquor tafted like a ſmall cyder, and
was not unpleaſant. Then the mafter made me a ſign
to come to his trencher fide; but as I walked on the
table, being in great furprife all the time, as the indul-
gent reader will eafily conceive and excufe, I happened to
ftumble against a cruft, and fell flat upon my face, but
received no burt. I got up immediately, and obferving
the good people to be in much concern, I took my hat
(which I held under my arm out of good manners) and
waying it over my head,made three buzzas, tofhew I had
got no mifchief by my fall. But advancing forward to-
wards my malter (as I fhall henceforward call him) his
youngeſt ſon, who fat next him, an arch boy of about ten
G 3
years
78
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
years old, took me up by the legs, and held me fo high
in the air, that I trembled every limb; but his father
fnatched me from him, and at the fame time gave him
fuch a box on the left ear, as would have felled an Euro-
pean troop of horſe to the earth, ordering him to be taken
from the table. But being afraid the boy might owe
me a ſpite, and well remembering how mifchievous all
children among us naturally are to fparrows, rabbits,
young kittens, and puppy dogs, I fell on my knees, and
pointing to the boy, made my master to underſtand, as
well as I could, that I defired his fon might be par-
doned. The father complied, and the lad took his feat
again; whereupon I went to him, and kiffed his hand,
which my mafter took, and made him ftroak me gently
with it.
t
1
+
In the midst of dinner my miftrefs's favourite cat leapt
into her lap. I heard a noife behind me like that of a
dozen ftocking-weavers at work; and, turning my head,
I found it proceeded from the purring of that animal,
who feemed to be three times larger than an ox, as I
computed by the view of her head, and one of her paws,
while her miftrefs was feeding and ftroking her. The
fierceness of this creature's countenance altogether dif
compofed me; though I ftood at the farther end of the ta-
ble, about fifty feet off; and although my miſtreſs held
her faft, for fear fhe might give a fpring, and feize me in
her talons. But it happened there was no danger; for the
cat took not the leatt notice of me, when my mafter
placed me within three yards of her. And as I have
been always told, and found true by experience in my
travels, that flying or difcovering fear, before a fierce
animal, is a certain way to make it purfue or attack you,
fo I refolved in this dangerous juncture, to thew no man-
ner of concern; I walked with intrepidity five or fix
times before the very head of the cat, and came within
half a yard of her; whereupon the drew herself back, as
if he were more afraid of me: I had lefs apprehenfion
concerning the dogs, whereof three or four came into the
room, as it is ufual in farmer's houfes, one of which was
a maftiff,
{
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
79
t
fo
a maftiff, equal in bulk to four elephants, and a grey-
hound ſomewhat taller than the maftiff, but not ſo large.
When dinner was almost done, the nurſe came in with
a child of a year old in her arms, who immediately ſpied
me, and began a fquall that you might have heard from
London: Bridge to Chelfea, after the ufual oratory of in-
fants, to get me for a play-thing. The mother out of
pure indulgence, took me, up, and put me towards the
child, who prefently feized me by the middle, and got
my head into his mouth, where I roared fo loud that the
urchin was frightened, and let me drop, and I ſhould in-
fallibly have broke my neck if the mother had not held
her apron under me. The murfe, to quiet her babe,made
uſe of a rattle, which was a kind of hollow vefiel filled with
great ftones, and faftened by a cable to the child's waift;
but all in vain, fo that fhe was forced to apply the laft
remedy by giving it fuck. I must confeis no object ever
difgufted me fo much as the fight of her monstrous breaſt,
which I cannot tell what to compare with, fo as to give
the curious reader an idea of its bulk, fhape, and co-
lour. It food prominent fix feet, and could not be leſs
than fixteen in circumference. The nipple was about
half the bignefs of my head, and the hue both of that
and the dug fo varified with fpots, pimples, and freckles,
that nothing could appear more naufequs: for. I had a
near fight of her, the fitting down the more conveniently
to give fuck, and I ftanding on the table. This made
me reflect upon the fair (kins of our English ladies, who
appear fo beautiful to us, only becauſe they are of our
own fize, and their defects not to be feen but through a
magnifying glafs, where we find by experiment, that the
finootheft and whiteft fkins look rough, and coarfe and
ill-coloured.
↓
t
1
T
}
I remember, when I was at Lilliput, the complexions
of thoſe diminutive people appeared to be the fairest in
the world, and talking upon this fubject with a perfon of
learning there, who was an intimate friend of mine, he
faid that my face appeared much fairer and fimoother
when he looked on me from the ground, than it did upona
}
nearer,
80
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
;
nearer view, when I took him up in my hand and brought
him close, which he confeffed was at firft a very ſhocking
fight. He faid he could diſcover great holes in my ſkin
that the ftumps of my beard were ten times ſtronger
than the briftles of a boar, and my complexion,made up
of feveral colours, altogether difagreeable; although I
muft beg leave to ſay for myſelf, that I am as fair as moſt
of my fex and country, and very little fun-burnt by all
my travels. On the other fide, difcourfing of the ladies in
that emperor's court, he uſed to tell me, one had freckles,
another too wide a mouth, a third too large a noſe, no-
thing of which I was able to diftinguish. I confess this
reflection was obvious enough; which, however, I could
not forbear, left the reader might think thofe vaſt crea-
tures were actually deformed: for I must do them the
juftice to fay, they are a comely race of people; and par-
ticularly the features of my maſter's countenance, al-
though he were but a farmer, when I beheld him from
the height of fixty feet, appeared very well proportioned.
When dinner was done, my mafter went out to his
labourers and, as I could difcover by his voice and
gefture, gave his wife a ftrict charge to take care of me.
was very much tired, and difpofed to fleep, which my
mitrefs perceiving, fhe put me on her own bed, and co-
vered me with a clean white handkerchief, but larger
and coarſer than the main-fail of a man of war.
I slept about two hours, and dreamed I was at home
with my wife and children, which aggravated my forrows
when I awoke, and found myfelf alone in a vaft room,
between two and three hundred feet wide, and above two
hundred high, lying in a bed twenty yards wide. My
miftrefs was gone about her houfhold affairs, and had
locked me in. The bed was eight yards from the floor.
Some natural neceffities required me to get down; I
durft not prefume to call, and if I had, it would have
been in vain, with fuch a voice as mine, at ſo great a
diſtance as from the room where I lay to the kitchen
where the family kept. While I was under theſe circum.
ftances, two rats crept up the curtains, and ran fmell-
ing
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
81
'
[
{
ing backwards and forwards on the bed. One of them
came up almoſt to my face, whereupon I rofe in a fright,
and drew out my hanger to defend myſelf. Thefe horri-,
ble animals had the boldness to attack me on both fides,
and one of them held his fore-foot at my collar; but I
had the good fortune to rip up his belly, before he could
do me any mischief. He fell down at my feet, and the
other, feeing the fate of his comrade, made his eſcape,
but not without one good wound, on the back, which I
gave him as he fled, and made the blood run trickling
from him. After this exploit, I walked gently to and
fro on the bed, to recover my breath and lofs of fpirits..
Theſe creatures were of the fize of a large maſtiff, but
infinitely more nimble and fierce, fo that, if I had taken
off my belt before I went to fleep, I must have infallibly
been torn to pieces and devoured. Inseaſured the tail of
the dead rat, and found it to be two yards long, want-
ing an inch; but it went again my ftomach to drag the
carcafe off the bed, where it lay ftill bleeding; I ob-
ferved it had yet fome life, but with a trong flaſh crois
the neck, I thoroughly diſpatched it.
my:
Soon after, my miltrels came into the room; who,
feeing me all bloody, ran and took me up in her hand.
I pointed to the dead rat, fmiling, and making other
figns, to fhew I was not hurt, whereat fhe was extremely
rejoiced, calling the maid to take up the dead rat with
a pair of tongues, and throw it out at the window,
Then the fet me on a table, where I fhewed her my
hanger all bloody, and wiping it on the lappet of
coat, returned it to the fcabbard. I was preffed to do
more than one thing, which another could not do for me,
and therefore endeavoured to make my miſtreſs under-
ftand that I defired to be fet down on the floor; which
after he had done, my bafhfulneſs would not fuffer me.
to expreſs myſelf farther, than by pointing to the door,
and bowing feveral times. The good woman, with
much difficulty, at laſt perceived what I would be at,
and taking me up again in her hand, walked into the
garden, where the fet me down. I went on one fide,
about
?
82
A VOYAGE TO BROEDINGNAG.
about two hundred yards, and beckoning to her not to
look or to follow me, I.hid myſelf between two leaves
of forrel, and there dicharged the neceffities of nature.
I hope the gentle reader will excufe me for dwelling
on thefe and the like particulars, which, however, infig-
nificant they may appear to grovelling vulgar minds, yet
will certainly help a philofopher to enlarge his thoughts
and imagination, and apply them to the benefit of public
as well as private life, which was my fole defign in pre-
fenting this and other accounts of my travels to the
world; wherein I have been chiefly ftudious of truth,
without affecting any ornaments of learning or of ſtyle.
But the whole ſcene of this voyage made fo ftrong an im-
preffion on my mind, and is ſo deeply fixed in my me-
mory, that, in committing it to paper, I did not omit
one material circumftance: however, upon a strict re-
view, I blotted out feveral paffages of lef's moment which
were in my first copy, for fear of being cenfured as tedi-
ous and trifling, whereof travellers are often, perhaps
not without justice, accuſed.
17
CHAP. II.
A defcription of the farmer's daughter. The author car.
ried to a market-town, and then to the metropolis. The
particulars of his journey.
MY mistress had a daughter of nine years old, a
child of towardly parts of her age, very dextrous
at her needle, and ſkilful in dreffing her baby. Her mo-
ther and the contrived to fit up the baby's cradle for me
against night the cradle was put into a fmall drawer,
placed upon a hanging fielf, for fear of the rats; this
was my bed all the time I stayed with thofe people, tho'
made more convenient by degrees, as I began to learn
their language, and make my wants known. This young
girl was fo handy, that, after I had once or twice pull-
ed off my cloaths before her, he was able to drefs
and undreſs me, though I never gave her that trouble,
when he would let me do either myfelf. She made me
feven ſhirts, and fome other linen, of as fine a cloth as
could be got, which indeed, was coarfer than fack-cloth;
*
and
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
.83
"
and theſe ſhe conftantly wafhed for me with her own
hands. She was likewife my fchool miſtreſs, to teach
me the language: when I pointed to any thing, fhe told
me the name of it in her own tongue, ſo that in a few
days I was able to call for whatever I had a mind to. She
was very good natured, and not above forty feet high,
being little for her age. She gave me the name of Gril.
drig, which the family took up, and afterwards the whole
kingdom. The word imports what the Latins call Na-
nunculus, the Italians Homunceletino, and the Engliſh
Mannikin. To her Ichiefly owe my prefervation in that
country: we never parted while I was there: I called
her my Glumdalclitch, or little nurfe and ſhould be
guilty of great ingratitude, if I omitted this honourable
mention of her care and affection towards me, which I
heartily with it lay in my power to requite as ſhe de-
ferves, inſtead of being the innocent but unhappy inftru-
ment of her diſgrace, as I have too much reaſon to fear.
:
It now began to be known and talked of in the neigh-
bourhood, that my mafter had found a ſtrange animal in
the field, about the bigness of a Splacnuck, but exactly
fhaped in every part like a human creature; which it
likewife imitated in all its actions, feemed to ſpeak in
a little language of its own, had already learned feveral
words of theirs, went erect upon two legs, was tame and
gentle, would come when called, do what it was bid,
had the finest limbs in the world, and a complexion fairer
than a nobleman's daughter of three years old. Another
farmer, who lived hard by, and was a particular friend
of my mafter, came on a vifit on purpoſe to enquire into
the truth of this ftory. I was immediately produced
and placed upon a table, where I walked as I was com-
manded, drew my hanger, put it up again, made my
reverence to my mafter's gueit, afked him in his own
language, how he did, and told him he was welcome,
juſt as my little nurſe had inftructed me. This man,
who was old and dim fighted, put on his fpectacles to
behold me better, at which I could not forbear laughing
very heartily, for his eyes appeared like the full moon
Laining
84- A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGnag.
再
​fhining into a chamber at two windows. Our people,
who discovered the cauſe of my mirth, bore me company
in laughing, at which the old fellow was fool enough to
be angry and out of countenance. He had the character
of a great mifer, and to my misfortune he well deferved
it, by the curfed advice he gave my mafler to fhew me
as a fight, upon a market day, in the next town, which
was half an hours ride, about two and twenty miles
from our houſe. I gueffed there was fome mischief con-
triving, when I obferved my mafter and his friend whif-
pering long together, and fometines pointing at me: my
fears made me fancy that I overheard and underſtood fome
of their words; but the next morning, Glumdalclitch,
my little nurfe, told me the whole matter, which ſhe had
cunningly picked out of her mother. The poor girl
laid me on her bofoin, and fell a weeping with fhame
and grief. She apprehended ſome miſchief would happen
to me from rude vulgar folks, who might fqueere me to
death, or break one of my limbs, by taking me in their
hands. She had alfo obferved how modeft I was in my
nature, how nicely I regarded my honour, and what an
indignity I fhould conceive it to be expofed for money, as
a public fpectacle, to the meanest of the people. She faid,
her papa and mamma had promiſed that Grildrig fhould
be her's; but now the found they meant to ferve her as
they did laſt year, when they pretended to give her a
lamb, and yet, as foon as it was fat, fold it to a butcher.
For my own part, I may truly affirm, that I was lefs
concerned than my nurfe. I had a ſtrong hope, which
never left me, that I fhould one day recover my liberty;
and as to the ignominy of being carried about for a mon-
fter, I confidered myfelf to be a perfect ftranger in the
country, and that fuch a misfortune could never be charged
upon me as a reproach, if ever I fhould return to Eng-
land; fince the king of Great Britain himfelf, in my con-
dition, muſt have undergone the fame ditrefs.
My mafter, purfuant to the advice of his friend, car-
ried me in a box the next market-day to the neighbouring
town, and took along with him his little daughter, my
nurfe,
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
$5
nurfe, upon a pillion behind him. The box was clofe
on every fide, with a little door for me to go in and out,
and a few gimblet-holes to let in air. The girl had been
fo careful as to put the quilt of her baby's bed into it, for
me to lie down on. However, I was terribly fhaken and
difcompofed in this journey, though it were but of half
an hour; for the horfe went about forty feet at every ſtep,
and trotted fo high, that the agitation was equal to the
riling and falling of a fhip in a great ſtorm, but much
more frequent: our journey was fomewhat farther than
from London to St. Alban's. My mafter alighted at an
inn which he uſed to frequent: and after confulting a
while with the inn-keeper, and making fome neceſſary
preparations, he hired the Grultrud, or crier, to give no-
tice through the town of a ſtrange creature, to be ſeen
at the fign of the Green Eagle, not fo big as a Splac-
nuck, (an animal in that country, very finely shaped,
about fix feet long) and in every part of the body refem-
bling an human creature, could speak ſeveral words, and
perform an hundred diverting tricks.
I was placed upon a table in the largeſt room of the
inn, which might be about three hundred feet fquare.
My little nurfe ftood on a low ftool clofe to the table, to
take care of me, and direct what I fhould do. My maf
ter, to avoid a crowd, would fuffer only thirty people at
a time to fee me. I walked about on the table as the girl
commanded, ſhe aſked me quellions, as far as he knew
my underſtanding of the language reached, and I anſwered
them as loud as I could. I turned about ſeveral times
to the company, paid my humble reſpects, faid they
were welcome, and uſed fome other fpeeches I had been
taught. I took up a thimble filled with liquor, which
Glundalclitch had given me for a cup, and drank their
healths I drew out my hanger, and flouriſhed with it
after the manner of fencers in England. My nurfe gave
me part of a straw, which I exercifed as a pike, having
learned the art in my youth. I was that day fhewn
to twelve fets of company, and as often forced to go over
again the fame fopperies, till I was half dead with wea-
H
rinefs
86
A هم
VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
rinefs and vexation. For thoſe who had ſeen me made
fuch wonderful reports, that the people were ready to
break the doors to come in. My mafter, for his own
intereft, would not fuffer any one to touch me except my
nurſe; and to prevent danger, benches were fet round the
table at fuch a distance as put me out of every body's
reach. However, an unlucky ſchool-boy aimed a hazel
mut directly at my head, which very narrowly miffed
me; otherwife, it came with fo much violence that it
would have infallibly knocked out my brains, for it was
almoſt as large as a ſmall pumpkin: but I had the fatis-
faction to fee the young rogue well beaten and turned
out of the room.
My mafter gave public notice, that he would fhew
me again the next market-day, and in the mean time he
prepared a more convenient vehicle for me, which he
had reafon enough to do; for I was fo tired with my firſt
journey, and with entertaining company eight hours to-
gether, that I could hardly stand upon my legs, or fpeak
a word. It was at leaſt three days before I recovered
my ſtrength; and that I might have no reft at home, all
the neighbouring gentlemen from an hundred milesround,
hearing of my fame, came to fee me at my master's own
houfe. There could not be fewer than thirty perfons,
with their wives and children, (for the country is very
populous ;) and my mafter demanded the rate of a full
room whenever he fewed me at home, although it were
only to a single family. So that for fome time I had but
little eale every day of the week (except Wedneſday,
which is their fabbath) although I was not carried to
the town.
My mafter finding how profitable I was like to be,
refolved to carry me to the most confiderable cities in the
kingdom. Having therefore provided himself with all
things neceffary for a long journey, and fettled his af-
fairs at home, he took leave of his wife, and upon the
17th of Auguft 1703, about two months after my arri-
val, we fet out for the metropolis, fituated near the mid-
dle of that empire, and about three thouſand miles dif-
tance
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG,
87
1
tance from our houſe my mafter made his daughter
Glumdalclitch ride behind him. She carried me cn her
lap, in a box tied about her waift. The girl had lined
it on all fides with the fofteft cloth fhe could get, well
quilted underneath, furniſhed it with her baby's hed,
provided me with linen and other neceffaries, and made
every thing as convenient as the could. We had no other
company but a boy of the houfe, who rode after us with
the luggage.
My master's defign was to fhew me in all the towns by
the way, and to ſtep out of the road for fixty or an hun-
dred miles, to any village, or perfon of quality's houſe,
where he might expect cuftom. We made eafy journies
of not above feven or eight fcore miles a day: for Glum-
dalclitch, on purpoſe to fpare me, complained ſhe was
tired with the trotting of the horfe. She often took me
out of my box, at my own defire, to give me air, and
fhew me the country, but always held me faft by a lead-
ing fring. We paffed over five or fix rivers, many de-
grees broader and deeper than the Nile, or the Ganges:
and there was hardly a rivulet fo fmall as the Thames
at London bridge. We were ten weeks on our journey,
and I was fhewn in eighteen large towns, befides many
villages and private families.
On the 26th day of October, we arrived at the metro-
polis, called in their language, Lorbrulgrud, or pride of
the Univerſe. My mafter took a lodging in the princi-
pal ftreet of the city, not far from the royal palace, and
put out bills in the ufual form, containing an exact de-
fcription of my perfon and parts. He hired a large room,
between three and four hundred feet wide. He provided
a table fixty feet in diameter, upon which I was to act
my part, and palifadoed it round three feet from the
edge, and as many high, to prevent my falling over.
I was fhewn ten times a day, to the wonder and fatis-
faction of all the people. I could now fpeak the language
tolerably well, and perfectly underſtood every word that
was fpoken to me. Befides, I had learned their alpha-
bet, and could make a fhift to explain a fentence here and
H 2
there
88
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
there; for Glumdalclitch had been my inftru&tor while
we were at home, and at leifure hours during our jour-
-ney. She carried a little book in her pocket not much
larger than a Sanfon's Atlas; it was a common treatiſe
for the uſe of young girls, giving a fhort account of their
religion; out of this the taught me my letters and in-
terpreted the words.
CHA P. III.
The author fent for to court. The queen buys him of his
mafter the farmer, and prefents him to the king. He dif-
putes with his majeſty's great ſcholars. An apartment at
court provided for the author. He is in high favour with
the queen. He ftands up for the honour of his own country.
His quarrels with the queen's dwarf.
THE frequent labours I underwent every day, made
in a few weeks a very confiderable change in my
health: the more my matter got by me, the more infa-,
tiable he grew. I had quite loft my ftomach, and was
almoft reduced to a fkeleton. The farmer obferved it,
and concluding I mult foon die, refolved to make as
good a hand of me as he could. While he was thus
reaſoning and refolving with himſelf, a ftradal, or gen-
tleman uſher, came from court, commanding my master
to carry me thither, for the diverfion of the queen and
her ladies. Some of the latter had already been to fee
me, and reported ftrange things of my beauty, behaviour,
and good fenfe. Her majefty, and thoſe who attended
her, were beyond meaſure delighted with my demeanour;
I fell on my knees, and begged the honour of kiffing her
imperial foot; but this gracious prinçels held out her
little finger towards me (after I was fet on a table) which
I embraced in both my arms, and put the tip of it, with
the utmoſt reſpect, to my lips. She asked me fome ge-
neral queſtions about my country and my travels, which
I answered as diftinctly, and in as few words as I could.
She aſked me whether I would be content to live at court.
I bowed down to the board of the table, and humbly an-
fwered that I was my mafter's flave; but, if I were at my
own diſpoſal, I ſhould be proud to devote iny life to her
majefty's
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
89
}
majeſty's ſervice. She then aſked my matter whether he
was willing to fell me at a good price. He, who appre-
hended I could not live a month, was ready enough to
part with me, and demanded a thouſand pieces of gold,
which were ordered him on the fpot, each piece being
about the bigness of eight hundred moidores: but allow-
ing for the proportion of all things between that country
and Europe, and the high price of gold among them, was
hardly fo great a fum as a thoufand guineas would be in
England. I then faid to the queen, fince I was now her
majeſty's moſt humble creature and vaffal, I muſt beg the
favour that Glumdalclitch, who had always tended me
with fo much care and kindneſs, and underſtood to do it
fo well, might be admitted into her ſervice, and continue
to be my nurfe and inftructor. Her majeſty agreed to
my petition, and eafily got the farmer's confent, who
was glad enough to have his daughter preferred at court:
and the poor girl herself was not able to hide her joy: my
late mafter withdrew, bidding me farewel, and ſaying he
had left me in a good fervice; to which I replied not a
word, only making him a flight bow.
The queen obferved my coldneſs, and when the farmer
was gone out of the apartment, aſked me the reafon. I
made bold to tell her majefty, that I owed no other obli-
gation to my late mafter, than his not daſhing out the
brains of a poor harmless creature found by chance in his
field; which obligation was amply recompenfed by the
gain he had made by fhewing me through half the king-
dom, and the price he had now fold me for.
That
the life I had fince led, was laborious enough to kill an
animal of ten times my ftrength. That my health was
much impaired by the continual drudgery of entertaining
the rabble every hour of the day, and that, if my maſter
hid not thought my life in danger, her majeſty would not
have got fo cheap a bargain. But as I was out of all
fear of being ill-treated under the protection of ſo great
and good an emprefs, the ornament of nature, the darling
of the world, the delight of her fubjects, the phoenix of
the creation; ſo I hoped my late mafter's apprehenfions
would
$
H 3
3
90
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
would appear to be groundleſs, for I already found my
fpirits to revive by the influence of her moſt auguſt
prefence.
This was the fum of my fpeech, delivered with great
impropriety and heſitation; the latter part was altoge-
ther framed in the ftyle peculiar to that people, whereof
I learned ſome phrafes from Glumdalclitch, while fhe was
carrying me to court.
The queen, making great allowance for my defective-
nefs in fpeaking, was however furpriſed at fo much wit
and good fenfe in fo diminutive an animal. She took me
in her own hands, and carried me to the king, who was
then retired to his cabinet. His majefty, a prince of
much gravity and auftere countenance, not well obferv-
ing my ſhape at firſt view, aſked the queen, after a cold
manner, how long it was fince she grew fond of a Splac-
nuck; for fuch it ſeems he took me to be, as I lay upon
my breast in her majefty's right-hand. But this princefs,
who hath an infinite deal of wit and humour, fet me
gently on my feel upon the fcrutore, and commanded ine
to give his majesty an account of myfelf, which I did in
a very few words; and Glumdalclitch who attended at the
cabinet door, and could not endure I ſhould be out of
her fight, being admitted, confirmed all that had paſſed
from my arrival at her father's houſe.
The king, although he be as learned a perfen as any
in his dominions, had been educated in the study of phi-
lofophy, and particularly mathematics; yet when he ob-
ferved my fhape exactly, and law me walk erect, before I
began to speak, conceived I might be a piece of clock-
work, (which is in that country arrived to very great
perfection) contrived by fome ingenious artiſt. But when
he heard my voice, and found what I delivered to be re-
gular and rational, he could not conceal his aftoniſhment.
He was by no means fatisfied with the relation I gave
him of the manner. I came into his kingdom, but
thought it a story concerted between Glumdalclitch and
her father, who had taught me a fet of words to make mé
fell at a better price. Upon this imagination he put leve-
{
ral
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
91
ral other queſtions to me, and ſtill received rational an-
fwers, no otherwiſe defective, than by a foreign accent,
and an imperfect knowledge in the language, with fome
ruftic phrales, which I had learned at the farmer's houſe,
and did not fuit the polite ftyle of a court.
His majeſty fent for three great ſcholars, who were
then in their weekly waiting, according to the cuſtom in
that country. Thefe gentlemen, after they had a while
examined my shape with much nicety, were of different
opinions concerning me. They all agreed that I could
not be produced according to the regular laws of nature,
because I was not framed with a capacity of preferving
my life, either by ſwiftneſs, or climbing of trees, or dig.
ging holes in the earth. They obferved by my teeth,
which they viewed with great exactneſs, that I was a
carnivorous animal; yet moſt quadrupeds being an over-
match for me,
and field mice, with fome others too nimble,
they could not imagine how I fhould be able to fupport
mylelf, unless I fed upon fnails and other infects, which
they offered by many learned arguments, to evince that
I could not poffibly do. One of thefe virtuofi feemed
to think that I might be an embryo, or abortive birth.
But this opinion was rejected by the other two, who ob-
Served my limbs to be perfect and finished, and that I
had lived feveral years, as it was manifeft from my beard,
the stumps whereof they plainly difcovered through a
magnifying glafs. They would not allow me to be a
dwarf, becauſe my littleness was beyond all degrees of
compariſon, for the queen's favourite dwarf, the ſmalleſt
ever known in that kingdom, was near thirty feet high.
After much debate, they concluded unanimouſly that I
was only Relplum Scalcatch, which is interpreted literally
lufus nature; a determination exactly agreeable to the
modern philofophy of Europe, whofe profeffors, difdain-
ing
By this reafoning the author probably intended to ridicule
the pride of thofe philofophers, who have thought fit to arraign
the wifdom of Providence in the creation and government of the
·world: whoſe cavils are fpecious, like thofe of the Brobding-
nagian fages, only in proportion to the ignorance of thofe to
whom they are propofed,
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
ing the old evafion of occult caufes, whereby the fol
lowers of Ariftole endeavoured in vain to diſguiſe their
ignorance, have invented this wonderful folution of all
difficulties, to the unspeakable advancement of human
knowledge.
After this decifive conclufion, I entreated to be heard
a word or two. I applied myself to the king, and af-
fured his majesty that I came from a country which
abounded with feveral millions of both fexes, and of my
own ſtature; where the animals, trees, and houſes, were all
in proportion, and where by confequence I might be as
able to defend myſelf, and to find fuftenance, as any of
his majeſty's fubjects could do here; which I took for a
full answer to thoſe gentlemen's arguments. To this
they only replied with a fimile of contempt, faying, that
the farmer had inftructed me very well in my leffon.*
The king, who-had a much better underflanding, dif-
miffing his learned men, fent for the farmer, who by
good fortune was not gone out of town: having there-
fore first examined him privately, and then confronted
him with me and the young girl, his majeſty began to
think that what we told him might poffibly be true.
defired the queen to order that particular care fhould be
taken of me, and was of opinion that Glumdalclitch
fhould ſtill continue in her office of rending me, becauſe he
obferved we had a great affection for each other. A con-
venient apartment was provided for her at court; fhe
had a fort of governeſs appointed to take care of her edu-
cation, a maid to drefs her, and two other fervants for
menial offices; but the care of me was wholly appropri-
ated to herſelf. The queen commanded her own cabinet-
maker to contrive me a box that might ferve me for a
bed-chamber, after the model that Glumdalelitch and I
fhould agree upon. This man was a moft ingenious artiſt,
and according to my directions, in three weeks finiſhed
for me a wooden chamber of fixteen feet fquare, and
twelve
He
This fatire is levelled against all who reject thofe facts for
which they cannot perfectly account, notwithſtanding the abfur-
dity of rejecting the teſtimony by which they are fupported.
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
twelve high, with faſh-windows, a door, and two cloſets,
Like a London bed chamber. The board that made the
cieling was to be lifted up and down by two hinges, to
put in a bed ready furniſhed by her majesty's upholsterer,
which Glumdalelitch took out every day to air, made it
with her own hands, and, letting it down at night,
locked up the roof over me.. A nice workman, who
was famous for little curiofities, undertook to make me
two chairs, with backs and frames of a fubflance not
unlike ivory, and two tables, with a cabinet to put my
things in. The room was quilted on all fides, as well
as the floor and the ceiling, to prevent any accident from
the carcleffuefs of thoſe who carried me, and to break
the force of a jolt when I went in a coach. I defined a
key for my door, to prevent rats and mice frm coming
in the fmith, after feveral attempts, made the fmalieit
that ever was feen among them, for I have known a larger
at the gate of a gentleman's houfe in England. I made a
Shift to keep the key in a pocket of nry own, fearing
Glumdalclitch might lofe it. The queen likewife or-
dered the thinneft filks that could be got, to make me
cloaths, not much thicker than an Engliſh blanket,
very cumbersome, till I was accustomed to thein.
They were after the fashion of the kingdom, partly re-
fembling the Perfian, and partly the Chineſe, and are
a very grave and decent habit.
:
The queen became fo fond of my company, that the
could not dine without me. I had a table placed upon
the fame at which her majesty ate, juft at her left elbow, and
'a chair to fit on. Glumdalclitch ftood on a tool on the
floor near my table, to affift and take care of me. I had
an entire fet of filver diflies and plates, and other necef-
faries, which, in proportion to thole of the queen's,
were not much bigger than what I have ſeen in a London
toy fhop, for the furniture of a baby houfe; thefe my
little nurfe kept in her pocket, in a filver box, and gave
me at meals as I wanted them, always cleaning them
herfelf. No perfon dined with the queen but the two
princeffes royal, the elder fixteen years old, and the
younger
94.
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
I
younger at that time thirteen and a month. Her majeſtý
ufed to put a bit of meat upon one of my diſhes, out of
which I carved for myself; and her diverfion was to fee
me eat in miniature. For the queen (who had, indeed,
but a weak ftomach) took up, at one mouthful, as much
as a dozen English farmers could eat at a meal, which,
to me, was for fome time a very naufeous fight,
She would crunch the wings of a lark, bones and all,
between her teeth, although it were nine times as large
as that of a full grown turkey: and put a bit of bread into
her mouth, as big as two twelve penny loaves. She drank
out of a golden cup above a hoghead at a draught.
Her knives were twice as long as a fcythe, fet ftraight
upon the handle. The fpoons, forks, and other inftru-
ments were all in the fame proportion. I remember
when Glumdalclitch carried me out of curiofity to fee
fome of the tables at court, where ten or a dozen of
theſe enormous knives and forks were lifted up together,
I thought I had never, till then, beheld fo terrible a
fight.
It is the custom, that every Wedneſday (which, as
I have before obferved, was their Sabbath) the king and
queen, with the royal iffue of both fexes, dine together
in the apartment of his majeſty, with whom I was now
become a great favourite; and at thefe times my little
chair and table were placed at his left hand, before one
of the falt-cellars. This prince took a pleaſure in con-
verfing
* Among other dreadful and difgufting images which cuſtom
has rendered familiar are thofe which arife from eating animal
food: He who has ever turned with abhorrence from the ſkele-
ton of a beaft which has been picked whole by birds or vermin,
muft confefs that habit only could have enabled him to endure
the fight of the mangled bones and flesh of a dead carcaſe which
every day covers his table: And he who reflects on the number of
lives that have been facrificed to fuftain his own, fhould enquire
by what the account has been balanced, and whether his life is
become proportionably of more value by the exerciſe of virtue
and piety, by the fuperior happinefs which he has communi-
cated to reafonable beings, and by the glory which his intelle&
has afcribed to God.
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
95
verfing with me, and enquiring into the manners, reli
gion, laws, government, and learning of Europe:
wherein I gave him the best account I was able. His
apprehenfion was fo clear, and his judgment ſo exact,
that he made very wife reflections and obfervations upon
all I faid. But I confefs, that after I had been a little
too copious in talking of my own beloved country, of
our trade, and wars by fea and land, of our ſchiſins in
religion, and parties in the ftate; the prejudices of his
education prevailed fo far, that he could not forbear tak-
ing me up in his right hand, and froaking me gently
with the other, after an hearty fit of laughing, aſked
me, whether I was a Whig, or Tory? Then turning
to his firſt minifter, who waited behind him with a white
ſtaff, near as tall as the main maft of the Royal Sove-
reign, he obſerved how contemptible a thing was human-
grandeur, which could be mimicked by fuch diminutive
infects as I And yet, fays he, I dare engage, theſe
creatures have their titles and diftinctions of honour,
they contrive little nefts and burrows, which they call
houſes and cities: they make a figure in drefs and equi-
page; they love, they fight, they difpute, they cheat,
they betray. And thus he continued on, while my colour
came and went ieveral times with indignation, to hear
our noble country, the miftrefs of arts and arms, the
fcourge of France, the arbitrefs of Europe, the feat of
virtue, piety, honour and truth, the pride and envy of
the world, fo contemptuously treated.
But as I was not in a condition to refent injuries, fo,
upon mature thoughts, I began to doubt whether I was
injured or not. For, after having been accustomed feve-
ral months to the fight and converfe of this people, and
obferved every object upon which I caft my eyes, to be
of proportionable magnitude, the horror I had at firft
conceived, from their bulk and afpect, was ſo far won
off, that if I had then beheld a company of English
lords and ladies in their finery, and birth-day cloaths,
acting feveral parts in the moft courtly manner of ftrutt-
ing, and bowing, and prating: to fay the truth, I should
2
have
96
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
have been frongly tempted to laugh as much at them,
as the king and his grandees did at me. Neither indeed
could I forbear fmiling at myſelf, when the queen uſed
to place me upon her hand towards a looking glafs, by
which both our perfons appeared before me in full view
together; and there' could be nothing more ridiculous
than the comparison: So that I really began to imagine
myſelf dwindled many degrees below my ufual fize.
Nothing mortified me to much as the queen's dwarf,
who being of the loweft ftature that was ever feen in that
country (for I verily think he was not full thirty feet
high) became fo infolent at feeing a creature fo much
beneath him, that he would always affect to fwagger and
look big as he paffed by me in the queen's antichamber,
while I was ftanding on fome table talking with the
lords or ladies of the court, and he feldom failed of a
fmart word or two upon my littleness; against which I
could only revenge myſelf by calling him brother, chal-
lenging him to wreſtle, and fuch repartees as are ufual
in the mouths of court pages. One day at dinner, this
malicious little cub was fo nettled at fomething I had
faid to him, that, raifing himself upon the frame of her
majeſty's chair, he took me up by the middle, as I was
fitting down, not thinking any harm, and let me drop
into a large filver bowl of cream, and then ran away as
faft as he could. I fell over head and ears, and, if I
had not been a good ſwimmer, it might have gone very
hard with me; for Glumdalclitch, in that infant, hap-
pened to be at the other end of the room, and the queen
was in fuch a fright that he wanted prefence of mind
to affift me, but my little nurfe ran to my relief, and
took me out, after I had (wallowed above a quart of cream.
I was put to bed; however, I received no other damage
than the lofs of a fuit of cloaths, which was utterly
Spoiled. The dwarf was foundly whipped, and, as a
farther punifament, forced to drink up the bowl of cream,
into which he had thrown ine; neither was he ever ref-
tored to favour: for foon after the queen bestowed him
on a lady of high quality, fo that I faw him no more,
to
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
97
to my very great fatisfaction; for I could not tell to
what extremity fuch a malicious urchin might have car- •
ried his refentment.
He had before ferved me a fcurvy trick, which fet
the queen a laughing, although at the fame time ſhe was
heartily vexed, and would have immediately caſhiered
him, if I had not been fo generous as to intercede. Her
majeſty had taken a marrow-bone upon her plate, and,
after knocking out the marrow, placed the bone again
in the dish, erect, as it stood before; the dwarf, watching
his opportunity, while Glumdalclitch was gone to the
fide-board, mounted the ftool fhe ftood on to take care of
me at meals, took me up in both hands, and, ſqueezing
my legs together, wedged them into the marrow bone
above my waist, where I ftuck for fome time, and made a
very ridiculous figure. I believe it was near a minute
before any one knew what was become of me; for I
thought it below me to cry out. But, as princes fel-
dom get their meat hot, my legs were not ſcalded, only
my fiockings and breeches in a fad condition.
dwarf, at my entreaty, had no other punishment than a
found whipping.
The
I was frequently rallied by the queen for my fearful-
nefs; and the uſed to aſk me, whether the people of our
country were as great cowards as myfelf? The occafion
was this: the kingdom is much peſtered with flies in the
fummer; and thefe odious infects, each of them as big
as a Dunſtable lark, hardly gave me any reft while I fat at
dinner, with their continual humming and buzzing about
mine ears. They would fometimes alight upon my vic-
tuals, and leave their loathfome excrement or fpawn be-
hind, which to me was very visible, though not to the
natives of that country, whofe large optics were not
fo acute as mine in viewing finaller objects. Sometimes
they would fix upon my nofe or forehead, where they
flung me to the quick, finelling very offensively; and I
could easily trace that viscous matter, which our rotu-
ralifts tell us, enable thofe creatures to walk with their feet
upwards upon a cieling. I had much ado to defend
myfelf
I
I
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG,
98
myſelf againſt theſe deteftable animals, and could not
forbear starting when they came upon my face. It was
a common practice of the dwarf, to catch a number of
thefe infeas in his hand, as fchool-boys do amongst us,
and let them out fuddenly under my nofe, on purpoſe to
frighten me, and divert the queen. My remedy was to
cut them in pieces with my knife, as they flew in the
air, wherein my dexterity was much admired.
I remember, one morning when Glumdalclitch had
fet me in my box upon a window, as the ufually did in
fair days to give me air (for I durft not venture to let
the box be hung on a nail out of window, as we do
cages in England) after I had lifted up one of the
faſhes, and fat down at my table to eat a piece of ſweet
cake for my breakfalt, about twenty wafps, allured by
the fmeil, came, flying into the room, humming louder
than the drones of as many bag-pipes.
Some of them
ſeized my cake, and carried it piece-meal away; others
flew about my head and face, confounding me with the
noife, and putting me in the utmoſt terror of their ftings.
However, I had the courage to rife and draw my hanger,
and attack them in the air. I difpatched four of them,
but the reft got away, and I preſently fhut my window.
Thefe infects were as large as partridges; I took out
their fings, found them an inch and a half long, and
as ſharp as needles. I carefully preferved them all, and
have fince fhewn them, with fome other curiofities, in
feveral parts of Europe; upon my return to England I
gave three of them to Grefham-college, and kept the
fourth for myfelf.
CHAP. IV.
The country defcribed. A propofal for correcting mo
dern maps. The king's palace, and fome account of the me-
tropolis. The author's way of travelling. The chief
temple defcribed.
NOW intend to give the reader a fhort description of
this country, as far as I travelled in it, which was
not above two thousand miles round Lorbrulgrud, the
metropolis. For the queen, whom I always attended,
never
1
A VOYAGE TO BROEDINGĦAG.
99
never went farther when the accompanied the king in his
progreffes, and there ftaid till his majefty returned from
viewing the frontiers. The whole extent of this prince's
dominions reaches about fix thouſand miles in length,
and from three to five in breadth. From whence I
cannot but conclude that our geographers of Europe
are in a great error, by fuppofing nothing but fea
between Japan and California; for it was ever my `opi-
nion, that there must be a balance of earth to counter-
poife the great continent of Tartary; and therefore they
ought to correct their maps and charts, joining this
vant tract of land to the north-weft parts of America,
wherein I fhall be ready to lend them my affiſtance.
The kingdom is a peninfula, terminated to the north
eaft by a ridge of mountains thirty miles high, which
are altogether impaffable, by reafon of the volcanoes upon
the tops.
Neither do the most learned know what fort
of mortals inhabit beyond thoſe mountains, or whether
they be inhabited at all. On the three other fides it is
bounded by the ocean. There is not one fea-port in the
whole kingdom, and thofe parts of the coafts into which
the rivers iffue, are fo full of pointed rocks, and the fea
generally fo rough, that there is no venturing with the
fmalleſt of their boats, ſo that theſe people are wholly exclu-
ded from any commerce with the rest of the world. But the
large rivers are full of veſſels, and abound with excellent
fifh, for they feldom get any from the fea, becauſe the
fea-fish are of the fize with thofe in Europe, and confe-
quently not worth catching; whereby it is manifeft,
that nature, in the production of plants and animals of
fo extraordinary a balk, is wholly confined to this con-
tinent, of which I leave the reaſons to be determined by
philofophers. However, now and then they take a whale
that happens to be dafhed against the rocks, which
the common people feed on heartily. Thefe whales I
have known fo large that a man could hardly carry
one upon his fhoulders; fometimes for curiofity they are
brought in hampers to Lorbrulgrud: I faw one of them
in a diſh at the king's table, which paffed for a rarity,
1 2
but
}
100
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
but I did not obſerve he was fond of it; for I think in-
deed the bignefs difgufted him, altho' I have feen one
fomewhat larger in Greenland.
The country is well inhabited, for it contains fifty-
one cities, near an hundred walled towns, and a great
number of villages. To fatisfy my curious reader, it
may be fufficient to defcribe Lorbrulgrud. This city
ftands upon almoſt two equal parts on each ſide the river
that paffes through it. It contains above eighty thoufand
houſes, and about fix hundred thousand inhabitants. It
is in length three Glomglumgs (which make about fifty-
four English miles) and two and a half in breadth, as
I meaſured it myſelf in the royal map made by the king's
order, which was laid on the ground on purpoſe for me,
and extended an hundred feet; I paced the diameter and
circumference feveral times bare-foot, and, computing by
the ſcale, meaſured it pretty exactly.
The king's palace is no regular edifice, but an heap
of buildings, about feven miles round; the chief rooms
are generally two hundred and forty feet high, and
broad and long in proportion. A coach was allowed to
Glumdalclitch and me, wherein her governefs frequently
took her out to fee the town, or go among the shops;
and I was always of the party, carried in my box; al-
though the girl, at my own defire, would often take me
out, and hold me in her hand, that I might more con-
veniently view the houfes and the people, as we paſſed
along the streets. I reckoned our coach to be about a
fquare of Westminster hall, but not altogether fo high:
however, I cannot be very cxact. One day the gover-
nefs ordered our coachman to ftop at feveral hops, where
the beggars, crowding to the fides of the coach, gave
me the most horrible fpectacle that ever an European
eye beheld. There was a woman with a cancer in her
breaft, fwelled to a monstrous fize, full of holes, in two
or three of which I could have eafily crept, and covered
my whole body. There was a fellow with a wen in his
neck, larger than five wool-packs, and another with a
fouple of wooden legs, each about twenty feet high. But
the
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
101
the moſt hateful fight of all was the lice crawling on
their cloaths. I could fee diſtinctly the limbs of theſe
vermin with my naked eye, much better than thoſe of
an European louſe thro' a microſcope, and their fnouts,
with which they routed like fwine. They were the
firſt I had ever beheld, and I ſhould have been curious
enough to diffect one of them, if I had had proper in-
ftruments (which I unluckily left behind me in the ſhip)
although indeed the fight was ſo naufeous that it per-
fectly turned my ftomach.
Befides the large box in which I was ufually carried,
the queen ordered a ſmaller one to be made for me, of
about twelve feet ſquare, and ten high, for the conveni-
ence of travelling, becauſe the other was fomewhat too
large for Glumdalclitch's lap, and cumberſome in the
coach; it was made by the fame artiſt, whom I directed
in the whole contrivance. This travelling cloſet was an
exact fquare, with a window in the middle of three of the
fquares, and each window was latticed with iron wire
on the outside, to prevent accidents in long journies.
On the fourth fide, which had no window, two ftrong
ftaples were fixed, thro' which the perfon that carried
me, when I had a mind to be on horſe-back, put in a
leathern belt, buckled about his wait. This was al-
ways the office of fome grave and truſty ſervant in whom
I could confide, whether I attended the king and queen
in their progreffes, or were difpofed to fee the gardens,
or pay a visit to fome great lady or minifter of ſtate in
the court, when Glumdalclitch happened to be out of
order: for I foon began to be known and esteemed among
the greatest officers, I fuppofed more upon account of
their majefties' favour, than any therit of my own. In
journies, when I was weary of the coach, a fervant on
horfe-back would buckle my box, and place it on a
cuſhion before him; andthere I had a full profpect of the
country on three fides from the three windows. I had
in this clofet a field-bed and a hammock flung froin the
cieling, two chairs and a table, neatly fcrewed to the
floor, to prevent being toffed about by the agitation of
I 3
the
}
t
102
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAO.
the horfe or the coach. And having been long uêd tô
fea voyages, thofe motions, although fometimes very via-
lent, did not difcompofe me.
Whenever I had mind to fee the town it was always
in my travelling closet, which Glumdalclitch held in
her lap in a kind of open ſedan. after the faſhion of the
country, borne by four men, and attended by two others
in the queen's livery. The people, who had often heard
of me, were very curious to crowd about the fedan,
and the girl was complaifant enough to make the bearers
ftop, and take me in her hand that I might be more con-
veniently feen.
I was very defirous to fee the chief temple, and parti-
cularly the tower belonging to it, which is reckoned the
higheft in the kingdom. Accordingly one day my nurſe
carried me thither, but I may truly fay I came back dif-
appointed; for the height is not above three thouſand feet,
reckoning from the ground to the higheſt pinnacle top;
which, allowing for the difference between the fize of
thofe people, and us in Europe, is no great matter for
adıniration, or at all equal in proportion (if I rightly
remember) to Saliſbury ſteep'e. But, not to detract from
a nation to which during my life I fhall acknowledge my-
felf extremely obliged, it must be allowed that whatever
this famous tower wants in height is amply made up in
beauty and ſtrength. For the walls are near an hundred
feet thick, built of hewn flone; whereof each is about
forty feet fquare, and adorned on all fides with ftatues of
gods and emperors, cut in marble, larger than the life,
placed in their feveral niches. I meaſured a little finger
which had fallen down from one of the ftatues, and lay
unperceived among fome rubbish, and found it exactly
four feet and an inch in length. Glumdalclitch wrapped
it up in her handkerchief; and carried it home in her
pocket to keep among other trinkets, of which the girl
was very fond, as children at her age ufually are.
事
​The king's kitchen is a noble building, vaulted at top,
and is about fix hundred feet high. The great oven is
not fo wide by ten paces as the cupola, of St. Paul's, for
the
I mea
A VOYAGE TO BROEDINGNAG.
103-
I meaſured the latter on purpofe after my return. But
if I fhould defcribe the kitchen-grate, the prodigious
pets and kettles, the joints of meat turning on the fpits,
with many other particulars, perhaps I fhould be hardly
believed; at leaſt a fevere critic would be apt to think.
I enlarged a little, as travellers, are often fufpected to do.
To avoid which cenfure, I fear I have run too much into
the other extreme; and that if this treatife ſhould happen
to be tranſlated into the language of Brobdingnag, (which
is the general name of that kingdom) and tranfmitted
thither, the king and his people would have reafon to
complain that I had done them an injury by a falle and
diminutive repreſentation.
His majefty feldom keeps above fix hundred horfes in
his ftables; they are generally from fifty-four to fixty
feet high. But when he goes abroad on folemn days, he
is attended for ſtate by a militia guard of five-hundred
horfe, which indeed I thought was the most fplendid fight
that could ever be beheld, till I faw part of his army in
battalia, whereof I ſhall find another occaſion to ſpeak.
CHAP. V.
Several adventures that happened to the author. The
execution of a criminal. The author fhews bis fkill in
navigation.
I
1
Should have lived happy enough in that country, if
my littleneſs had not expofed me to feveral ridiculous
and troubleſome accidents: fome of which I fhall venture
to relate. Glumdalclith often carried me into the gardens
of the court in my finaller box, and would fometimes
take me out of it, and hold, me in her hand, or fet me
down to walk. I remember, before the dwarf left the
queen, he followed us one day into thofe gardens, and
my nurfe having fet me down, he and I being clote toge-
ther, near fome dwarf apple trees. I muft-needs fhew
my wit, by a filly allufion between him and the trees,
which happens to hold in their language as it doth in ours.
Whereupon the malicious rogue, watching his opportuni-
ty, when I was walking under one of them, thook it directly
A
over
1
}
104
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
} over my head, by which a dozen apples, each of them
near as large as a Briſtol barrel, came tumbling about my
ears; one of them hit me on the back as I chanced to
ftoop, and knocked me down flat on my face; but I re-
ceived no other hurt, and the dwarf was pardoned at my
defire, becauſe I had given the provocation.
Another day Glumdalclitch left me on a ſmooth grafs-
plot, to divert myfelf, while fhe walked at fome diftance
with her governels. In the mean time there fuddenly fell
fuch a violent fhower of hail, that I was immediately,
by the force of it, ftruck to the ground, and when I was
down, the hail ftones gave me fuch cruel bangs all over
the body, as if I had been pelted with tennis balls; how-
ever I made a fhift to creep on all four, and fhelter my-
felf, by lying flat on my face, on the lec-fide of a border
of lemon thyme, but fo bruifed from head to foot that
I could not go abroad in ten days. Neither is that at all
to be wondered at, becauſe Nature, in that country, ob-
ferving the fame proportion through all her operations, a
hail ftone is near eighteen hundred times as large as one
in Europe, which I can affert from experience, having.
been fo curious to weigh and meaſure them.
But a more dangerous accident happened to me in the
fame garden, when my little nurfe believed he had put
me in a fecure place, which I often entreated her to do,
that I might enjoy my own thoughts, and having left
my box at home to avoid the trouble of carrying it, went
to another part of the garden with her governefs; and
fome ladies of her acquaintance. While fhewas abfent,
and out of hearing, a fmall white ſpaniel belonging to
one of the chief gardeners, having got by accident into
the garden, happened to range near the place where I
Jay the dog, following the feent, came directly up, and
taking me in his mouth, ran ſtrait to his mafter, wagging
his tail, and fet me gently on the ground. By good
fortune he had been fo well taught, that I was carried
between his teeth without the leaft hurt, or even tearing
my cloaths. But the poor gardener, who knew me well,
and had a great kindneſs for me, was in a terrible fright:
he
}

brbull deli
ULLIV
43797
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG,
105
he took me up gently in both his hands, and aſked me
how I did; but I was fo amazed and out of breath, that
I could not speak a word. In a few minutes I came to
myfelf, and he carried me fafe to my little nurfe, who by
this time had returned to the place where the left me,
and was in cruel agonies when I did not appear, нor an-
fwer when the called; the feverely reprimanded the gar-
dener on account of his dog. But the thing was hushed
up, and never known at court; for the girl was afraid
of the queen's anger, and truly as to myself I thought it
would not be for my reputation that fuch a Rory fhould
go about.
This accident abfolutely determined Glumdalclitch
never to trust me abroad for the future out of her fight.
I had been long afraid of this refolution, and therefore
concealed from her fome little unlucky adventures that
happened in thoſe times when I was left by myfelf. Once
a kite, hovering over the garden, made a ftoop at me,
and if I had not refolutely drawn my hanger, and run
under a thick efpalier, he would certainly have carried
me away in his talons. Another time, walking to the
top of a fresh mole-hill, I fii to my neck in the hole
through which that animal had caft up the earth, and
coined fome lye not worth remembering, to excufe my-
felf for fpoiling my cloaths. I likewife broke my right
fin against the hell of a faail which I happened to ftum-
ble over, as I was walking alone, and thinking on poor
England.
I cannot tell whether I was more pleafed or mortified,
to observe in thofe folitary walks, that the finaller birds
did not appear to be at all afraid of me, but would hop
about within a yard's diftance, looking for worms and
other food, with as much indifference and fecurity, as if
no creature at all were near them. I remember a thrufhi
had the confidence to fnatch out of my hand, with his
bill, a piece of cake that Glumdalclitch had juſt given me
for my breakfast. When I attempted to catch any of
thefe birds, they would boldly turn against me, endea-
youring to peck my fingers, which I durſt not venture
within
тоб
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
within their reach; and then they would hop back un-
concerned, to hunt for worms or fnails, as they did
before. But one day I took a thick cudgel, and threw
it with all my ftrength fo luckily at a linnet, that I
knocked him down, and, feizing him by the neck with
both my hands, ran with him in triumph to my nurſe.
However, the bird, who had been only ftunned, recover-
ing himſelf, gave me fo many frokes with his wings on
both fides of my head and body, though I held him at
arms length, and was out of the reach of his claws, that
I was twenty times thinking to let him go. But I was
foon relieved by one of our fervants, who wrung off the
bird's neck, and I had him next day for dinner by the
queen's command. This linnet, as near as I can re-
member, feemed to be fomewhat larger than an Engliſh
fwan.
;
The maids of honour often invited Glumdalclitch to
their apartments, and defired fhe would bring me along
with her, on purpofe to have the pleasure of feeing and
touching me. They would often trip me naked from
top to toe, and lay me at full length in their bofoms
wherewith I was much difgufted; becauſe to fay the
truth, a very offenfive finell came from their ſkins, which
I do not mention, or intend, to the diſadvantage of thoſe
excellent ladies, for whom I have all manner of refpect;
but I conceive that my fenfe was more acute, in pro-
portion to my littlenefs, and that thofe illuftrious per-
fons were no more difàgreeable to their lovers, or to each
other, than people of the fame quality are with us in
England. And, after all, I found that their natural
fmell was much more fupportable than when they uſed
perfumes, under which I immediately fwooned away. I
cannot forget that an intimate friend of mine in Lilli-
put took the freedom in a warm day, when I had ufed a
good deal of exercise, to complain of a ftrong fmell about
me, although I am as little faulty that way as moſt of
my fex: but I fuppofe his faculty of finelling was as
nice, with regard to me, as mine was to that of this
people. Upon this point, I cannot forbear doing justice
to
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
107
to the queen my miſtreſs, and Glumdalclitch my nurſe,
whoſe perſons were as fweet as thofe of any lady in
England.
That which gave me the inoft uneafinefs among the maids
of honour (when my nurfe carried me to visit them) was
to ſee them ufe me without any manner of ceremony, like
a creature who had no fort of confequence; for they would
ftrip themſelves to the ſkin, and put on their fimocks in
my prefence, while I was placed on the toilet, directly
before their naked bodies, which I am fure, to me, was
very far from being a tempting fight, or from giving me
any other emotions than thofe of horror and diſguft.
Their ſkins appeared fo coarfe and uneven, fo variouſly
coloured, when I faw them near, with a mole here and
there, as broad as a trencher, and hairs hanging from it
thicker than packthread, to ſay nothing farther concern-
ing the rest of their perfons. Neither did they at all
fcruple, while I was by, to difcharge what they had
drank, to the quantity of at least two hogheads, in á
veſſel that held above three tuns. The hand fomeſt among
thefe maids of honour, a pleafant, frolicfome girl of
fixteen, would fometimes fet me aftride upon one of her
nipples, with many other tricks, wherein the reader will
excufe me,
for not being over particular. But 1 was fo
much diſpleaſed, that I entreated Glumdalclitch to con-
trive fome excufe for not ſeeing that young lady, any
more.
One day a young gentleman, who was nephew to my
nurfe's governels, came and preffed them both to fee an
execution. It was of a man who had murdered one of
that gentleman's intimate acquaintance. Glumdal
:
clitch was prevailed on to be of the company, very much
against her inclination, for fhe was naturally tender-
hearted and, as for myſelf, although I abhorred fuch
kind of fpectacles, yet my curiofity tempted me to fee
fomething that I thought inuft be extraordinary. The
malefactor was fixed in a chair upon a fcaffold erected for
that purpoſe, and his head cut off at one blow, with a
ſword about forty feet long. The veins and arteries
fpouted
L
708
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
fpouted up fuch a prodigious quantity of blood, and fo
high in the air, that the great jet d'eau at Verſailles was
not equal for the time it lafted; and the head, when it
fell on the ſcaffold floor, gave fuch a bounce as made
me ftart, although I were at least half an Engliſh mile
distance.
The queen, who often uſed to hear me talk of my
fea-voyages, and took all occafions to divert me when I
was melancholy, afked me whether I underſtood how to
handle a fail, or an oar, and whether a little exerciſe of
rowing might not be convenient for my health; I an-
fwered, that I underſtood both very well: for, although
my proper employment had been to be furgeon or doctor
to the hip, yet often, upon a pinch, I was forced to
work like a common mariner. But I could not fee how
this could be done in their country, where the ſmalleſt
wherry was equal-to a firſt rate man of war among us,
and fuch a boat as I could manage, would never live in
any of their rivers. Her majefty faid, if I would con-
trive a boat, her own joiner would make it, and the
would provide a place for me to fail in. The fellow
was an ingenious workman, and by my inftructions, in
ten days finiſhed a pleafurh-boat, with all its tackling,
able conveniently to hold eight Europeans. When it
was finiſhed, the queen was fo delighted that the ran
with it in her lap to the king, who ordered it to be put
in a ciſtern full of water, with me in it, by way of trial;
where I could not manage my two fculls er little oars,
for want of room. But the queen had before contrived
another project, the ordered the joiner to make a wooden
trough of three hundred feet long, fifty broad, and
eight deep; which being well pitched, to prevent leak-
ing, was placed on the floor along the wall, in an outer
room of the palace. It had a cock near the bottom, to
let out the water when it began to grow ftale, and two
fervants would eafily fill it in half an hour. Here I often
uſed to row for my own diverfion as well as that of the
queen and her ladies,who thought themſelves well enter-
tained with my ſkill and agility. Sometimes I would
4
put
། ་
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
109
put up my fail, and then my buſineſs was only to fteer,
while the ladies gave me a gale with their fans; and,
when they were weary, fome of their pages would blow
my fail forward with their breath, while I fhewed my art
by fteering ftarboard or larboard, as I pleaſed. When
I had done, Glumdalclitch always carried back my boat
into her cloſet, and hung it on a nail to dry.
In this exercife I once met an accident, which had
like to have coft me my life; for one of the pages hav-
ing put my boat into the trough, the governefs who at-
tended Glumdalclitch, very officiouſly lifted me up to
place me in the boat, but I happened to flip through her
fingers, and ſhould infallibly have fallen down forty feet
upon the floor, if, by the luckiest chance in the world,
I had not been ſtopped by a corking-pin that ſtuck in
the good gentlewoman's ftomacher; the head of the pin
paffed between my fhirt and the waiſtband of my breeches,
and thus I was held by the middle in the air, till Glum-
dalclitch ran to my relief.
Another time, one of the fervants, whofe office it was
to fill my trough every third day with freſh water, was
fo careless as to let a huge frog (not perceiving it) flip
out of his pail. The frog lay concealed till I was put
into my boat, but then, feeing a refting place, climbed
up, and made it lean fo much on one fide, that I was
forced to balance it with all my weight on the other,
to prevent overturning. When the frog was got in, it
hopped at once half the length of the boat, and then over
my head, backwards and forwards, daubing my face
and cloaths with its odious flime. The largenefs of its
features made it appear the most deformed animal that
can be conceived. However, I defired Glumdalclitch
to let me deal with it alone. I banged it a good while
with one of my fculls, and at laft forced it to leap out
of the boat,
But the greateſt danger I ever underwent, in that
kingdom, was from a monkey, which belonged to one of
the clerks of the kitchen. Glumdalclitch had locked
me up in her cloſet, while ſhe went ſomewhere upon bu-
K
finefs,
TIO
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
+
1
fineſs, or a vifit. The weather being very warm, the
cloſet-window was left open, as well as the windows
and the door of my bigger box, in which I uſually
lived, becauſe of its largenefs and conveniency. As I
fat quietly meditating at my table, I heard fomething
bounce in at the clofet-window, and fkip about from
one fide to the other; whereat, although I were much
alarmed, yet I ventured to look out, but not ftirring
from my feat: and then I faw this frolicfome animal,
frifking and leaping up and down, till at last he came to
my box, which he feemed to view with great pleaſure
and curiofity, peeping in at the door, and every window,
I retreated to the farther corner of my room, or box
but the monkey looking in, at every fide, put me into
fuch a fright, that I wanted prefence of mind to conceal
myſelf under the bed, as I might easily have done. After
fome time spent in peeping, and chattering, he at length
efpied me, and reaching one of his paws in at the door,
as a cat does when the plays with a moufe, although I
often ſhifted place to avoid him, he at length feized the
lappet of my coat (which, being made of that country
filk, was very thick and ftrong) and dragged me out. He
took me up in his right fore- foot, and held me as a nurſe
does a child ſhe is going to fuckle, juſt as I have ſeen
the fame fort of creature, do with a kitten in Europe:
and, when I offered to ftruggle, he fqueezed me fo hard,
that I thought it more prudent to fubmit. I have good
reafon to believe, that he took me for a young one of his
own fpecies, by his often ftroaking my face very gently
with his other paw. In thefe diverfions, he was inter-
rupted by a noiſe at the cloſet-door, as if fomebody were
opening it; whereupon he fuddenly leaped up to the
window, at which he had come in, and thence upon the
leads and gutters, walking upon three legs, and holding
me in the fourth, till he climbed up to a roof that was
next to ours. I heard Glumdalclitch give a fhriek at the
moment he was carrying me out. The poor girl was
almoſt diſtracted: that quarter of the palace was all in
an uproar; the fervants ran for ladders; the monkey was
feen
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
111
ſeen by hundreds in the court, fitting upon the ridge of a
building, holding me like a baby in one of his fore-paws,
and feeding me with the other, by cramming into my
mouth fome victuals he had fqueezed out of the bag on
one fide of his chaps, and patting me when I would not
eat;
whereat many
of the rabble below could not for-
bear laughing: neither do I think they juſtly ought to
be blamed; for, without queftion, the fight was ridicu-
lous enough to every body but myſelf. Some of the peo-
ple threw up ftones, hoping to drive the monkey down;
but this was strictly forbidden, or elſe, very probably,
my brains had been daſhed out.
The ladders were now applied, and mounted by fe-
veral men, which the monkey obferving, and finding
himſelf almoſt encompaffed, not being able to make ſpeed
enough with his three legs, let me drop on a ridge tile,
and made his eſcape. Here I fat for fome time, five hun-
dred yards from the ground, expecting every moment to
be blown down, by the wind, or to fall by my own gid-
dinefs, and come tumbling over and over from the ridge
to the eaves; but an honest lad, one of my nurſe's foot-
men, climbed up, and putting me into his breeches poc-
ket, brought me down fafe.
i
I was almost choaked with the filthy ftuffthe monkey
had crammed down my throat; but my dear little nurſe
picked it out of my mouth with a finall needle, and then
I feil a vomiting, which gave me great relief. Yet L
was fo weak, and bruifed in the fides, with the fqueezes
given me by this odious animal, that I was forced to
keep my bed a fortnight. The king, queen, and all
the court, fent every day to enquire after my health, and
her majesty made me feveral vifits during my fickneſs.-
The monkey was killed; and an order made that no
fuch animal fhould be kept about the palace.
When I attended the king after my recovery, to re-
turn him thanks for his favours, he was pleaſed to rally
me a good deal upon this adventure. He aſked me what
my thoughts and ſpeculations were while I lay in themon-
key's paw; how I liked the victuals he gave me; his
K 2
manner
112
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
manner of feeding; and whether the fresh air on the roof
had ſharpened my ftomach. He defired to know what I
would have done upon fuch an occafion in my own coun-
try. I told his majeſty, that in Europe we had no mon-
kies, except fuch as were brought for curiofities from
other places, and fo fmall that I could deal with a dozen
of them together, if they prefumed to attack me. And
as for that monftrous animal with whom I was fo lately
engaged (it was, indeed, as large as an elephant) if my
fears had fuffered me to think fo far as to make uſe of my
hanger (looking fiercely, and clapping my hand upon
the hilt as I fpoke) when he poked his paw into my
chamber, perhaps I fhould have given him fuch a woond
as would have made him glad to withdraw it with more
hafte than he put it in. This I delivered in a firm tone,
like a perſon who was jealous left his courage fhould be
called in queſtion. However, my speech produced no-
thing elſe befides a loud laugh, which all the respect
due to his majefty, from thofe about him, could not
make them contain. This made me reflect, how vain
an attempt it is for a man to endeavour to do himſelf
honour among thofe who are out of all degree of equality
or comparison with him. And yet I have ſeen the inodel
of my own behaviour very frequently in England fince my
return, where a little contemptible varlet, without the
leaft title to birth, perfon, wit, or common fenfe, fhall
prefume to look with importance, and to put himſelf
upon a footing with the greateft perfons in the kingdom.
I was every day furnishing the court with fome ridi-
culous ftory; and Glumdalclitch, although the loved me
to excels, yet was arch enough to inform the queen,
whenever I committed any folly that he thought would
be diverting to her majefty. The girl, who had been out
of order, was carried by her governess to take the air
about an hour's distance, or thirty miles from town.
They alighted out of the coach near a ſmall foot-path in
the field, and Glumdalclitch fetting down my travelling
box, I went out of it to walk. There was a cow-dung
in the path, and I muft needs try my activity, by at-
tempting
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG!
113
tempting to leap over it. I took a run, but unfortunately
jumped fhort, and found myſelf juſt in the middle up to
my knees. I waded through with fome difficulty, and
one of the footmen wiped me as clean as he could with
his handkerchief; for I was filthily bemired, and my
nurfe confined me to my box till we returned home;
where the queen was foon informed of what had paffed,
and the footman fpread it about the court; fo that all
the mirth, for fome days, was at my expence.
CHAP. VI.
I
Several contrivances of the author to please the king
and queen.—He feros bis fkill in mufic.-The king enquires
into the fate of England, which the author relates to him.
-The king's obfervations thereon.
I USED to attend the king's levee once or twice a week,
and had often feen him under the barber's hand;
which, indeed, was at firit very terrible to behold; for
the razor was almoft twice as long as an ordinary ſcythe.
His majefty, according to the cuftom of the country, was
only ſhaved twice a week. I once prevailed on the bar-
ber to give me fome of the fuds or lather, out of which I
picked forty or fifty of the ſtrongeſt flumps of hair;
then took a piece of fine wood, and cut it like the back of
a comb, making feveral holes in it at equal distance, with
as finalla needle as I could get from Glumdalclitch. I
fixed in the ftumps fa artificially, fcraping and floping them
with my knife towards the points, that I made a very to-
lerable comb, which was a ſeaſonable fupply, my own
being fo much broken in the teeth that it was almoſt
ufelefs: neither did I know any artist in that country fo
nice and exact, as would undertake to make me another.
Ι
And this puts me in mind of an amuſement, wherein
I spent many of my leifure hours. I defired the queen's
woman to fave for me the combings of her majefty's
hair, whercof in time I got a good quantity, and con-
fulting with my friend the cabinet-maker, who had re-
ceived general orders to do little jobs for me, I directed
him to make two chair-frames, no larger than thofe I had
in my box, and then to bore little holes with a fine awl
K 3
round
114
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
t
round thoſe parts where I defigned the backs and feats;
through thefe holes I wove the ftrongeft hairs I could
pick out, juft after the manner of cane chairs in England.
When they were finiſhed, I made a prefent of them to
her majefty, who kept them in her cabinet, and uſed to
fhew them for curiofities, as, indeed, they were the won-
der of every one that be held them. The queen would
have had me fit upon one of theſe chairs, but I
abfolutely refuſed to obey her, proteſting I would rather
die a thoufand deaths, than place a difhonourable part of
my body on thoſe precious hairs that once adorned her
majelly's head. Of thefe hairs (as I had always a me-
chanical genius) I likewiſe made a neat little purſe, about
five feet long, with her majefty's name decyphered in
gold letters, which I gave to Glumdalclitch, by the
queen's confent. To lay the truth, it was more for fhew
than uſe, being not of ſtrength to bear the weight of their
larger coins, and therefore fhe kept nothing in it but
fome little toys that girls are fond of.
I am
The king, who delighted in mufic, had frequent con-
certs at court, to which I was fometimes carried, and ſet
in my box on a table to hear them: but the noife was fo
great, that I could hardly.diftinguiſh the tunes.
confident, that all the drums and trumpets of a royal
army, beating and founding together juſt at your ears
could not equal it. My practice was to have my box
removed from the place where the performers fat, as far
as I could; then to fhut the doors and windows of it,
and draw the window-curtains; after which I found
their mufic not difagreeable.
I had learnt in my youth to play a little upon the
fpinnet. Glundalclitch kept one in her chamber, and
a mafter attended twice a week to teach her: I call it a
fpinnet, becauſe it fomewhat refembled, that inftrument,
and was played upon in the fame manner. A fancy came
into my head that I would entertain the king and queen
with an English tune upon this inftrument. But this ap-
peared extremely difficult for the fpinnet was nearly
ixty feet long, each key being almoſt a foot wide, fo
that
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
115
that, with my arms extended, I could not reach to above
five keys: and to prefs them down required a good ſmart
ftroke with my fift, which would be too great a labour,
and to no purpoſe. The method I contrived was this:
Iprepared two round ſticks, about the bignefs of common
cudgels; they were thicker at one end than the other,
and I covered the thicker end with a piece of mcufe's
fkin, that, by rapping on them, I might neither da
mage the tops of the keys, nor interrupt the found. Be-
fore the fpinnet a bench was placed, about four feet be-
low they keys. And I was put upon the bench. I ran
fideling upon it, that way and this, as faft as I could,
banging the proper keys with my two ſticks, and made
a fhift to play a jigg, to the great fatisfaction of both
their majefties: but it was the moft violent exercise I
ever underwent, and yet I could not ſtrike above fixteen
keys, nor confequently play the bafs and treble together,
as other artifts do; which was a great difadvantage to
my_performance.
The king, who as I before obferved, was a prince of
excellent underſtanding, would frequently order that I
fhould be brought in my box, and fet upon the table in
his cloſet he would then command me to bring one of
my chairs out of the box, and fit down within three yards
diſtance upon the top of the cabinet, which brought me
almoſt to a level with his face. In this manner I had
feveral conversations with him. I one day took the free-
dom to tell his majefty, that the contempt he difcovered
towards Europe and the rest of the world, did not ſeem
anfwerable to thofe excellent qualities of mind he was
mafter of. That reafon did not extend itſelf with the
bulk of the body: on the contrary we obferved in our
country, that the talleft perfons were ufually leaft pro-
vided with it, That, among other animals, bees and
ants had the reputation of inore induſtry, art and fa-
gacity, than many of the larger kinds; and that, as in-
confiderable as he took me to be, I hoped I might live
to do his majeſty fome fignal ſervice. The king heard
me with attention, and began to conceive a much better
opinion
115
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
opinion of me than he had ever before. He defired I
would give him as exact an account of the government
of England, as I poffibly could; becauſe, as fond as
princes commonly are of their own cuſtoms (for ſo he
conjectured of other monarchs by my former difcourfes)
he should be glad to hear of any thing that might de-
ferve imitation.
Imagine with thyfelf, courteous reader, how often I
then wiſhed for the tongue of Demofthenes, or Cicero,
that might have enabled me to celebrate the praife of my
own dear native country, in a style equal to its merits
and felicity.
I began my difcourfe, by informing his majefty, that
our dominions confifted of two islands, which compofed
three mighty kingdoms under one fovereign, befides our
plantations in America. I dwelt long upon the fertility
of our foil, and the temperature of our climate. I then
fpoke at large upon the conftitution of an Engliſh parlia-
ment, partly made up of an illuſtrious body, called the
houfe of peers, perfons of the noblest blood, and of the
most ancient and ample patrimonies. I defcribed that ex-
traordinary care always taken of their education in arts
and arms, to qualify them for being counſellors both to
the king and kingdom; to have a fhare in the legiſlature;
to be members of the highest court of judicature, from
whence there could be no appeal: and to be champions
always ready for the defence of their prince and country,
by thei valour, conduct, and fidelity. That theſe were
the ornament and bulwark of the kingdom, worthy fol-
lowers of their most renowned anceſtors, whofe honour
had been the reward of their virtue, from which their
pofterity were never once known to degenerate. To theſe
were joined ſeveral holy perfons, as part of that aſſembly,
under the title of biflops, whole peculiar bufinefs it is
to take care of religion, and of thoſe who inftru&t the
people therein. Thefe were fearched and fought out
through the whole nation, by the prince and his wifeſt
counsellors, among fuch of the priesthood as were moſt
defervedly diftinguished by the fanctity of their lives,
´and
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAC.
117
and the depth of their erudition, who were, indeed, the
fpiritual fathers of the clergy and the people.
That the other part of the parliament confifted of an
affembly called the houfe of commons, who were all prin-
cipal gentlemen, freely picked and culled out by the peo-
ple themſelves, for their great abilities and love of their
country, to reprefent the wiſdom of the whole nation.-
And that these two bodies made up the moſt auguſt aſ-
fembly in Europe; to whom, in conjunction with the
prince, the whole legiſlature is commited.
I then defcended to the courts of juſtice, over which
the judges, thofe venerable fages and interpreters of the
law, prefided, for determining the disputed rights and
properties of men, as well as for the punishment of vice
and protection of the innocent. I mentioned the prudent
management of our treatury, the valour and achieve-
ments of our forces by fea and land. I computed the
number of our people, by reckoning how many millions
there might be of each religious fect, or political party
among us. I did not omit even our ſports or paftimes,
or any other particular which I thought might redound
to the honour of my country. And I finished all with
a brief hiſtorical account of affairs and events in England
for about an hundred years.
This converſation was not ended under five audiences,
each of feveral hours: and the king heard the whole
with great attention, frequently taking notes of what I
fpoke, as well as memorandums of what queſtions he in-
tended to aſk me.
When I had put an end to theſe long difcourfes, his
majeſty,in a fixth audience, confulting his notes, propofed
many doubts, queries, and objections, upon every article.
He asked what methods were uſed to cultivate the minds
and bodies of our young nobility, and in what kind of
buſineſs they commonly ipent the first and teachable part
of their lives? What courfe was taken to fupply that
affembly, when any noble family became extinct? What
qualifications were neceffary in thoſe who are to be
created new lords? Whether the humour of the prince,
a fum
718
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG..
a lum of money to a court lady, or a prime minifter, or
a defign of ſtrengthening a party oppofite to the public
intereft, ever happened to be motives in thofe advance-
ments? What fhare of knowledge thefe lords had in the
laws of their country, and how they came by it, ſo as
to enable them to decide the properties of their fellow-
fubjects in the laft refort. Whether they were all fo
free from avarice, partialities, or want, that a bribe, or
fome other finifter view, could have no place among them.
Whether thoſe holy lords I ſpoke of, were always pro-
moted to that rank upon account of their knowledge in
religious matters, and the fanctity of their lives; had
never been compliers with the times, while they were
common prieſts, or flavish proftitute chaplains to fome
noblemen, whofe opinions they continued fervilely to
fallow, after they were admitted into that affembly.
He then defired to know what arts were practifed in
electing those whom I called commoners: Whether a
ftranger with a strong purfe might not influence the vulgar
voters to chufe him before their own landlord, or the most
confiderable gentleman in the neighbourhood. How it
came to pafs, that people were fo violently bent upon
getting into this affembly, which I allowed to be a great
trouble and expence, often to the ruin of their families,
without any falary or penfion: Becauſe this appeared
fuch an exalted strain of virtue and public fpirit, that his
majefty feemed to doubt it might poffibly not be always
fincere. And he defired to know whether fuch zealous
gentlemen could have any views of refunding themſelves
for the charges and trouble they were at, by facrificing
the public good to the defigns of a weak and vicious
prince, in conjunction with a corrupted miniftry? He
multiplied his queflions, and fifted me thoroughly upon
every part of this head, propoling numberless enquiries
and objections, which I think it not prudent or conve
nient to repeat.
Upon what I faid in relation to our courts of juſtice,
his majesty defired to be fatisfied in feveral points: and
this I was the better able to do, having been formerly
almoſt
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
119
almost ruined by a long fuit in chancery, which was de-
creed for me with colts. He asked what time was uſually
ſpent in determining between right and wrong, and what
degree of expence. Whether advocates and orators had
liberty to plead in caufes manifeftly known to be unjuſt,
vexatious, or oppreffive. Whether party in religion or
politics were obferved to be of any weight in the fcale of
juftice. Whether thofe pleading orators were perfons
educated in the general knowledge of equity, or only in
provincial, national, and other local cuftoms. Whether
they, or their judges had any part in penning thofe laws
which they affumed the liberty of interpreting and gloffing
over at their pleafure. Whether they had ever at dif
ferent times pleaded for and against the fame caufe, and
cited precedents to prove contrary opinions. Whether
they were a rich or a poor corporation. Whether they
received any pecuniary reward for pleading or delivering
their opinions. And particularly, whether they were ever
admitted as members in the lower fenate?
He fell next upon the management of our treaſury;
and ſaid, he thought my memory had failed me, becauſe
I computed our taxes at about five or fix millions a year,
and, when I came to mention the iffues, he found they
fometimes amounted to more than double; for the notes
he had taken were very particular in this point, becauſe
he hoped, as he told me, that the knowledge of our con-
duct might be uſeful to him, and he could not be de-
ceived in his calculations: but if what I had told him
were true, he was ſtill at a lofs how a kingdom could run
out of its eftate like a private perfon. He aſked me, who
were our creditors; and where we found money to pay
them. He wondered to hear me talk of fuch charge-
able and expenſive wars; that certainly we muſt be a
quarrelfome people, or live among very bad neighbours,
and that onr generals muft needs be richer than our kings.
He asked what bufinefs we had out of our own iſlands,
unleſs upon the ſcore of trade or treaty, or to defend the
coafts with our fleet. Above all, he was amazed to hear
me talk of a mercenary ſtanding army in the midſt of
I
peace,
ว
i
1
1
120
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
peace, and among a free people. He faid, if we were
governed by our own content in the perſons of our repre-
fentatives, he could not imagine of whom we were afraid,
or againſt whom we were to fight; and would hear my
opinion, whether a private man's houſe might not be bet-
ter defended by himſelf, his children, and family, than
by half a dozen rafcals picked up at a venture in the
ftreets, for fmall wages, who might get an hundred
times more by cutting their throats?
He laughed at my odd kind of arithmetic (as he was
pleaſed to call it) in reckoning the numbers of our
people by a computation drawn from the feveral fects
among us in religion and politics. He faid he knew
no reaſon, why thole who entertain opinions prejudicial
to the public, fhould be obliged to change, or fhould not
be obliged to conceal them. And as it was tyranny in
any government to require the firft, fo it was weakneſs
not to enforce the fecond: for a man may be allowed to
keep poiſons in his cloſet, but not to vend them about
for cordials.
He obſerved, that, among the diverſions of our nobi-
lity and gentry, I had mentioned gaming. He defired to
know at what age this entertainment was ufually taken
up, and when it was laid down; how much of their time
it employed; whether it ever went fo high as to affect
their fortunes: Whether mean vicious people, by their
dexterity in that art, might not arrive at great riches,
and fonetimes keep our very nobles in dependance, as
well as habituate them to vile companions, wholly take
them from the improvement of their minds, and force
them, by the loffes they received, to learn and practiſe
that infamous dexterity upon others?
He was perfectly aftonished with the hiftorical account
I gave him of our affairs during the last century, pro-
tefting it was only a heap of confpiracies, rebellions, mur-
ders, maffacres, revolutions, banishments, the very worſt
effects that avarice, faction, hypocrify, perfidiouínefs,
cruelty, rage, madneſs, hatred, envy, luft, malice, or
ambition could produce,
His
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
121
•
His majefty at another audience was at the pains to
recapitulate the fum of all I had spoken, compared the
queſtions he made with the anſwers I had given: then
taking me into his hands, and ſtroking me gently, deli-
vered himself in thefe words, which I fhall never forget,
nor the manner he ſpoke them in: 'My little friend Gril-
'drig, you have made a moft admirable panegyric upon
your country: you have clearly proved, that ignorance,
idleneſs, and vice, are the proper ingredients for quali
fying a legiſlator. That laws are beft explained, inter-
preted, and applied by thoſe whofe intereft and abilities
lie in perverting, confounding, and eluding them. I ob-
ferve among you fome lines of an inftitution, which, in
its original, might have been tolerable; but thefe half
erafed, and the reft wholly blurred and blotted by cor-
ruptions. It doth not appear from all you have faid, how
any one perfection is required towards the procurement
⚫ of any one ſtation among you: much leſs that men are
⚫ ennobled on account of their virtue, that prieſts are ad-
vanced for their piety or learning, foldiers for their con-
*duct and valour, judges for their integrity, fenators for
the love of their country, or counfellors for their wif
'dom. As for yourſelf (continued the king) who have
fpent the greatest part of your life in travelling, I am well
difpofed to hope you may hitherto have eſcaped many
⚫vices of your country. But by what I have gathered from
your own relation, and the anfwers I have with much
• pains wrung and extorted from you, I cannot but
conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most per-
• nicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever
⚫ ſuffered to crawl upon the face of the earth.'
CHAP. VII.
The author's love of his country.-He makes a propoſal
of much advantage to the king, which is rejected.-The
king's great ignorance in politics.-The learning of that
country very imperfect and confined.-Their laws, and
military affairs and parties in the ftates.
NOTHING but an extreme love of truth could have
hindered me from concealing this part of my story.
L
It
122
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
It was in vain to diſcover my refentments, which were
always turned into ridicule; and I was forced to reft
with patience, while my noble and moſt beloved country
was fo injuriouſly treated. I am as heartily forry as any
of my readers can poffibly be, that fuch an occafion was
given: but this prince happened to be fo curious and in-
quifitive upon every particular, that it could not confift
either with gratitude or good manners, to refuſe giving
him what fatisfaction I was able. Yet thus much I may
be allowed to ſay in my own vindication, that I artfully
eluded many of his questions, and gave to every point a
more favourable turn,by many degrees,than the ftri&neſs
of truth would allow. For I have always borne that lau-
dable partiality to my own country, which Dionyfius
Halicarnaffenlis with fo much juſtice recommends to an
hiftorian: I would hide the frailties and deformities of
my political mother, and place her virtues and beauties
in the most advantageous light. This was my fincere
endeavour in the many difcourfes I had with that mo-
narch, although it unfortunately failed of fucceſs.
But great allowances fhould be given to a king who
lives wholly fecluded from the reſt of the world,and muſt
therefore be altogether unacquainted with the manners
and cuſtoms that moſt prevail in other nations; the want
of which knowledge will ever produce many prejudices,
and a certain narrowness of thinking, from which we
and the politer countries of Europe, are wholly exempt-
ed; and it would be hard, indeed, if fo remote a prince's
notions of virtue and vice were to be offered as a ſtandard
for all mankind.
To confirm what I have now faid, and further to
fhew the miſerable effects of a confined education, I
fball here infert a paſſage which will hardly obtain be-
lief. In hopes to ingratiate myſelf farther into his
majefty's favour, I told him of an invention diſcovered
between three and four hundred years ago, to make a
certain powder, into an heap of which the finalleft fpark
of fire falling, would kindle the whole in a moment, al-
though it were as big as a nountain, and make it all-fly
up
A VOYAGE TO BROEDINGNAG.
123
up in the air together, with a noife and agitation greater
than thunder. That a proper quantity of this powder
rammed into a hollow tube of brafs or iron, according
to its bignefs, would drive a ball of iron or lead with
fuch violence and ſpeed, as nothing was able to ſuſtain
its force. That the largest balls, thus difcharged,
would not only deſtroy whole ranks of an army at once,
but batter the ftrongest walls to the ground, fink down
ſhips, with a thoufard men in each, to the bottom of the
fea; and, when linked together by a chain, would cut
through mafts and rigging, divide hundreds of bodies
in the middle, and lay all wafte before them. That we
often put this powder into large hollow balls of iron,
and diſcharge them by an engine into fome city we
are befieging, which rips up the pavements, tears the
houſes to pieces, burfts and throws fplinters on every
fide, daſhing out the brains of all who come near.-
That I knew the ingredients very well, which were
cheap and common: I understood the manner of com-
pounding them, and could direct his workmen how to
make thoſe tubes of a fize proportionable to all other
things in his majeſty's kingdom, and the largeſt need
not he above an hundred feet long; twenty or thirty of
which tubes, charged with the proper quantity of pow-
der and balls, would batter down the walls of the
Arongest town in his dominions in a few hours, or de-
ftroy the whole metropolis, if ever it fhould pretend to
difpute his abfolute commands.-This I humbly offer-
ed to his majeſty, as a ſmall tribute of acknowledgment
in return of fo many marks that I had received of his
royal favour and protection.
The king was ftruck with horror at the defcription
I had given of thoſe terrible engines, and the propofal I
Bad made. He was amazed how fo impotent and gro-
veling an infect as I (theſe were his expreffions) could
entertain fuch inhuman ideas, and in fo familiar a man-
ser as to appear wholly unmoved at all the ſcenes of
blood and defolation which I had painted as the com-
mon effects of thofe destructive machines, whereof, he
L 2
faid,
124
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
faid, fome evil genius, enemy to mankind, muſt have
been the firſt contriver. As for himſelf, he proteſted,
that, although few things delighted him fo much as
new diſcoveries in art or nature, yet he would rather
lofe half his kingdom, than be privy to ſuch a ſecret,
which he commanded me, as I valued my life, never to
mention any more.
A ſtrange effect of narrow principles and fhort views!
that a prince poffeffed of every quality which procures
veneration, love, and eſteem; of strong parts, great wif-
dom, and profound learning, endowed with admirable ta
lents for government, and almoft adored by his fubjects;
ſhould, from a nice unneceffary fcruple, whereof in Eu-
rope we can have no conception, let flip an opportunity
put into his hands, that would have made him abfolute
maſter of the lives, the liberties, and the fortunes of his
people. Neither do I fay this with the lealt intention to
detract from the many virtues of that excellent king,
whoſe character, I am fenfible, will on this account be
very much leffened in the opinion of an English reader :
but I take this defect among them to have rifen from
their ignorance, by not having hitherto reduced politics
into a fcience, as the more acute wits of Europe have
done. For I remember very well, in a difcourfe one day
with the king, when I happened to ſay there were ſeveral
thousand books among us written upon the art of go-
vernment, it gave him (directly contrary to my inten-
tion) a very mean opinion of our understandings. He
profeffed both to abominate and defpite all mystery, re-
finement, and intrigue, either in a prince or a minitter.
He could not tell what I meant by fecrets of ſtate, where
an enemy, or fome rival nation, were not in the cafe.-
He confined the knowledge of governing within very
narrow bounds, to common fenfe and reafon, to juſtice
and lenity, to the ſpeedy determination of civil and cri-
minal caufes; with fome other obvious topics, which
are not worth confidering. And he gave it for his opi- .
nion, that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two
blades of graſs, to grow upon a ſpot of ground where
only
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG,
125
only one grew before, would deferve better of mankind,
and do more effential ſervice to his country, than the
whole race of politicians put together.
The learning of this people is very defective, confift-
ing only in morality, history, poetry, and mathematics;
wherein they must be allowed to excel. But the laft of
thefe is wholly applied to what may be uſeful in life, to
the improvement of agriculture, and all mechanical arts;
fo that among us it would be little esteemed. And as
to ideas, entities, abftractions, and tranfcendentals, I
could never drive the least conception into their heads.
No law of that country muft exceed in words the num-
ber of letters in their alphabet, which confifts only in
two and twenty. But, indeed, few of them extend even
to that length. They are expreffed in the moſt plain and
fimple terms, wherein thoſe people are not mercurial
enough to difcover above one interpretation: and to
write a comment upon any law is a capital crime. As
to the decifion of civil cauies or proceedings againſt cri-
minals, their precedents are fo few that they have little
reaſon to boaſt of any extraordinary ſkill in either.
They have had the art of printing, as well as the
Chineſe, time out of mind. But their libraries are not
very large for that of the king's, which is reckoned the
largeft, doth not amount to above a thouſand volumes,
placed in a gallery of twelve hundred feet long, from
whence I had liberty to borrow what books I pleafed.
The queen's joiner had contrived, in one of Glumdal-
clitch's rooms, a kind of a wooden machine, five and
twenty feet high, formed like a flanding ladder, the ſteps
were each fifty feet long: it was, indeed, a moveable
pair of ftairs, the loweft end placed at ten feet diſtance
from the wall of the chamber. The book. I had a mind
to read, was put up leaning against the wall; I firſt
mounted to the upper ftep of the ladder, and turning my
face towards the book, began at the top of the page, and
fo walking to the right and left, about eight or ten paces,
according to the length of the lines, till I had gotten a
dittle below the level of mine eyes, and then defcending
gradually
+
L 3
126
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGŇAG.
gradually till I came to the bottom. After which I
mounted again, and began the other page in the fame
manner, and fo turned over the leaf, which I could ea-
fily do with both my hands, for it was as thick and ſtiff
as a pafteboard, and in the largelt folios, not above
eighteen or twenty feet long.
Their ftyle is clear, mafculine, and finooth, but not
florid; for they avoid nothing more than multiplying
unneceſſary words, or ufing various expreffions. I have
perufed many of their books, eſpecially thofe in history
and morality. Among the reft, I was much diverted with
a little old treatife, which always lay in Glumdalclitch's
bed-chamber, and belonged to her governels, a grave
elderly gentlewoman, who dealt in writings of morality
and devotion. The book treats of the weakneſs of hu-
man kind, and is in little efteem, except among the wo-
men and the vulgar. However, I was curious to fee what
an author of that country could fay upon fuch a fubject.
This writer went through all the ufual topics of Euro-
pean moralifts, fhewing how diminutive, contemptible,
and helpleſs an animal was man in his own nature; how
unable to defend himſelf from inclemencies of the air,
or the fury of wild beaſts; how much he was excelled by
one creature in ſtrength, by another in ſpeed, by a third
in forefight, by a fourth in industry. He added, that
nature was degenerated in theſe latter declining ages of
the world, and could now produce only ſmall abortive
births, in compariſon of thoſe in ancient times. He faid,
it was very reaſonable to think, not only that the ſpecies
of men were originally much larger, but alto, that there
must have been giants in former ages, which, as it is
afferted by hiſtory and tradition, fo it hath been con-
firmed by huge bones and ſkulls cafually dug up in ſ-
veral parts of the kingdom, far exceeding the common
dwindling race of man in our days. He argued, that
the very laws of nature abfolutely required we fhould
have been made in the beginning of a fize more large and
robuſt, not ſo liable to deſtruction from every little ac-
cident of a tile falling from a houſe, or a ſtone caft from
the
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
127
the hand of a boy, or being drowned in a little brook.
From this way of reafoning, the author drew feveral
moral applications,ufeful in the conduct of life, but need-
l-fs here to repeat. For my part, I could not avoid re-
flecting how univerfally this talent was ſpread, of draw-
ing lectures in morality, or, indeed, rather matter of
diſcontent and repining, from the quarrels we raife with
nature; and, I believe upon a ftri&t enquiry, thofe quar-
rels might be fhewn as ill-grounded among us, as they
are among that people.*
As to their military affairs, they boaſt that the king's
army confifts of an hundred and feventy fix thouſand
foot, and thirty-two thouſand horfe: if that may be
called an army which is made up of tradefmen in the
feveral cities, and farmers in the country, whofe com-
manders are only the nobility and gentry, without pay
or reward. They are, indeed, perfect enough in their
exercifes, and under very good difcipline, wherein I faw
no great merit: for how fhould it be otherwife, where
every farmer is under the command of his own land-
lord, and every citizen under that of the principal men
in his own city, chofen after the manner of Venice by
ballot?
I have often feen the militia of Lòrbrulgrud drawn out
to exercife in a great field near the city, of twenty miles
fquare. They were, in all, not above twenty-five thou-
fand feet and fix thouſand horfe; but it was utterly im-
poffible to compute their number, confidering the ſpace
of ground they took up. A cavalier, mounted on a large
feed, might be about ninety feet high. I have feen
this whole body of harke, upon a word of command,draw
their fwords at once, and bandith them in the air. Ima-
gination can figure nothing to grand, fo furprising, and
fo aftonishing. It looked as if ten thouſand flashes of
lightning
**The author's zeal to juftify Providence has before been
remarked, and thefe quarrels with nature, or in other words
with God, could not have been more forcibly reproved than by
fhewing, that the complaints upon which they are founded
would be equally fpecious among beings of fuch aſtoniſhing fu-
periority of ſtature and strength.
128
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG,
lightning were darting at the fame time from every
quarter of the ſky.
I was curious to know how this prince, to whoſe da-
minions there is no accefs from any other country, came
to think of armies, or to teach his people the practice of
military difcipline. But I was foon informed, both by
converfation and reading their hiftories: for, in the
courfe of many ages, they have been troubled with the
fame difeafe to which the whole race of mankind is ſub-
ject; the nobility often contending for power, the peo-
ple for liberty, and the king for abfolute dominion. All
which, however happily tempered by the laws of that
kingdom, have been fometimes violated by each of the
three parties, and have more than once occafioned civil
wars, the laft whereof was happily put an end to by this
prince's grandfather, in a general compoſition; and the
militia, then fettled with common confent, hath been
ever fince kept in the frictest duty.
CHAP. VIII.
The king and queen make a progress to the frontiers.—
The author attends them.-The manner in which he leaves
the country very particularly related. He returns to
England.
I
HAD always a ftrong impulfe that I fhould fome-
time recover my liberty, though it was impoffible to
conjecture by what means, or to form any project with
the leaft hope of fucceeding. The fhip in which I failed
was the firft ever known to be driven within fight of
that coaft, and the king had given ftrict orders, that if
at any time another appeared, it ſhould be taken aſhore,
and, with all its crew and paffengers, brought in a tum-
bril to Lorbrulgrud. He was ftrongly bent to get me
a woman of my own fize, by whom I might propagate
the breed but, I think, I fhould rather have died,
than undergone the diſgrace of leaving a poſterity to be
kept in cages like tame canary-birds, and perhaps, in
time, fold about the kingdom to perfons of quality, for
curiofities. I was, indeed, treated with much kind-
nefs: I was the favourite of a great king and queen, and
the
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
129
the delight of the whole court: but it was upon fuch a
footing, as ill became the dignity of human kind. I could
never forget thoſe domeſtic pledges I had left behind me.
I wanted to be among people with whom I could con-
verfe upon even terms, and walk about the ſtreets and
fields, without being afraid of being trod to death, like
a frog, or a young puppy. But my deliverance came
fooner than I expected, and in a manner not very com-
mon: the whole ftory and circumſtances of which I
fhall faithfully relate.
I had now been two years in this country: and, about
the beginning of the third, Glumdalclitch and I at-
tended the king and queen in a progrefs to the fouth
coaft of the kingdom. I was carried as ufual, in my
travelling-box, which, as I have already defcribed, was a
very convenient cloſet of twelve feet wide; and I had
ordered a hammock to be fixed, by filken ropes, from
the four corners at the top, to break the jolts,when a fer-
vant carried me before him on horſeback, as I fometimes
defired, and would often fleep in my hammock while we
were upon the road. On the roof of my cloſet, not di-
rectly over the middle of the hammock, I ordered the
joiner to cut out a hole of a foot ſquare, to give me air
in hot weather, as I flept; which hole I fhut up at plea-
fure with a board that drew backwards and forwards
through a groove.
When we came to our journey's end, the king thought
proper to pass a few days at a place he had near Flan-
flanfnic, a city within eighteen Engliſh miles of the fea-
fide. Glumdalclitch and I were much fatigued: I had
got a fmall cold, but the poor girl was fo ill as to be
confined to her chamber. I longed to fee the ocean,
which must be the only fcene of my efcape; if ever it
fhould happen. I pretended to be worfe than I really
was, and deſired leave to take the fresh air of the fea,
with a page I was very fond of, and who had fometimes
been trusted with me. I fhall never forget with what un-
willingneſs Glumdalclitch conſented, nor the ſtrict charge
The gave the page to be careful of me, bursting at the
}
fame
:
130
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
fame time into a flood of tears, as if he had fome fore-
boding of what was to happen. The boy took me out
in my box about half an hour's walk from the palace
towards the rocks on the fea fhore. I ordered him to
fet me down, and lifting up one of my fafhes, caft many
a wishful melancholy look towards the fea. I found my-
felf not very well, and told the page that I had a mind
to take a nap in my hammock, which I hoped would
do me good. I got in, and the boy fhut the window
clofe down to keep out the cold. I foon fell asleep, and
all I can conjecture is, that, while I flept, the page think-
ing no danger could happen, went among the rocks to
look for birds eggs, having before obferved him from my
window fearching about, and picking up one or two in
the clefts. Be it as it will, I found myſelf fuddenly
awaked with a violent pull upon the ring which was
faſtened at the top of my box, for the conveniency of
carriage. I felt my box raiſed very high in the air, and
then borne forward with prodigious fpeed. The firſt
jolt had like to have ſhaken me out of my hammock,but
afterwards the motion was eafy enough. I called out
feveral times, as loud as I could raiſe my voice, but all
to no purpoſe. I looked towards my windows, and could
fee nothing but the clouds and fky. I heard a noife
over my head like the clapping of wings, and then be-
gan to perceive the woeful condition I was in, that fome
eagle had got the ring of my box in his beak, with an
intent to let it fall on a rock like a tortoiſe in a ſhell,
and then pick out my body, and devourit. For the fa-
gacity and ſmell of this bird enables him to difcover his
quarry at a great distance, though better concealed than
I could be within a two-inch board.
In a litle time I obferved the noife and flutter of
wings to incrcafe very faft, and my box was toft up and
down like a fign in a windy day. I heard feveral bangs
or buffets, as I thought, given to the eagle (for fuch
I am certain it must have been that held the ring of
my box in his beak) and then all on a fudden felt my-
felf falling perpendicularly down for above a minute,
but
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
131
but with ſuch incredible ſwiftneſs that I almoſt loſt my
breath. My fall was ſtopped by a terrible ſquaſh, thát
founded louder to my ears than the cataract of Niagara *;
after which I was quite in the dark for another minute,
and then my box began to rife ſo high that I could fee
light from the tops of the windows, I now perceived
that I was fallen into the fea. My box, by the weight
of my body, the goods that were in, and the broad plates
of iron fixed for ftrength at the four corners of the top
and bottom, floated about five feet deep in the water. I
did then, and do now, fuppofe that the eagle which flew
away with my box, was purfued by two or three others,
and forced to let me drop while he was defending him-
felf against the reft, who hoped to ſhare in the prey. The
plates of iron faftened at the bottom of the box (for
thofe were the ftrongeft) preferved the balance while it
fell, and hindered it from being broken on the ſurface of
the water. Every joint of it was well grooved, and the
door did not move on hinges, but up and down like a
fafh, which kept my cloſet ſo tight that very little water
came in. I got with much difficulty out of my ham-
mock, having first ventured to draw back the flip-board
on the roof already mentioned, contrived on purpoſe
to let in air, for want of which I found myſelf almoſt
ftifled.
How often did I then with myfelf with my dear Glum-
dalclitch, from whom one fingle hour had to far divided
me! And I may fay, with truth, that in the midst of
my own misfortunes I could not forbear lamenting my
poor nurſe, the grief fhe would fuffer for my lofs, the dif
pleature of the queen, and the ruin of her fortune. Per-
haps many travellers have not been under greater diffi-
culties and diftrefs that I was at this juncture, expecting
every moment to fee my box daſhed in pieces, or at leaſt
overfet
*Niagara is a fettlement of the French in North America, and
the cataract is produced by the fall of a conflux of water (form-
ed of the four vaft lakes of Canada) from a rocky precipice, the
perpendicular height of which is one hundred and thirty feven
feet; and it is faid to have been heard fifteen leagues.
}
732
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAC.
overfet by the first violent blaft, or a rifing wave. A
breach in one fingle pane of glafs would have been imme-
diate death: nor could any thing have preferved the
windows but the ftrong lattice wires placed on the out-
fide againſt accidents in travelling. I ſaw the water
ooze in at ſeveral crannies, although the leaks were not
confiderable, and I endeavoured to ftop them as well as
I could. I was not able to lift up the roof of my cloſet,
which otherwife I certainly fhould have done, and fat on
the top of it, where I might, at leaſt, preſerve myſelf
fome hours longer than by being fhut up, as I may call
it, in the hold. Or, if I efcaped thefe dangers for a day
or two, what could I expect but a miſerable death of
cold and hunger! I was four hours under theſe circum
ftances, expecting, and indeed wifhing, every moment
to be my laſt.
I have already told the reader, that there were two
ftrong ftaples fixed upon that fide of my box which had
no window, and into which the fervant who uſed to carry
me on horſeback would put a leather belt, and buckle it
about his waiſt. Being in this difconfolate ftate, I heard,
or at leaſt thought I heard, fome kind of grating noiſe on
that fide of my box where the ftaples were fixed, and foon
after I began to fancy that the box was pulled or
towed along in the fea; I now and then felt a fort of
tugging, which made the waves rife near the tops of my
windows, leaving me almoft in the dark. This gave me
fome faint hopes of relief: although I was not able to
imagine how it could be brought about. I ventured to
unfcrew one of my chairs, which were always faftened to
the floor; and, having made a hard ſhift to fcrew it down
again directly under the flipping-board that I had lately
opened, I mounted on the chair, and, putting my mouth
as near as I could to the hole, I called for help in a loud
voice, and in all the languages I underſtood. I then
faſtened my handkerchief to a ſtick I ufually carried,
and, thrufting it up the hole, waved it feveral times in
the air, that if any boat or fhip were near, the feamen
might conjecture fome unhappy mortal to be fhut up in
the box.
I found
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
133
I found no effect from all I could do, but plainly per-
ceived my cloſet to be moved along; and in the space of
an hour, or better, that fide of the box where the ſtaples
were, and had no window, ftruck againſt fomething that
was hard. I apprehended it to be a 1ock, and found
myfelf toffed more than ever. I plainly heard a noiſe
upon the cover of my clofet, like that of a cable, and
the grating of it as it paſſed through the ring. I then
found myself hoisted up by degrees, at least three feet
higher than I was before: whereupon I again thruft up
my tick and handkerchief, calling for help till I was
almoſt hearse. In return to which, I heard a great fhout
repeated three times, giving me fuch tranſports of joy,
as are not to be conceived but by thofe who feel them.
I now heard a trampling over my head, and fomebody
calling through the hole, with a loud voice in the En-
gliſh tongue, if there be any body below let them fpeak.
I anſwered I was an Engliſhman,drawn by ill-fortune into
the greatest calamity that ever any creature underwent, and
begged, by all that was moving, to be delivered out of
the dungeon I was in. The voice replied, I was ſafe,
for my box was faftened to their fhip; and the carpenter
fhould immediately come and faw a hole in the cover large
enough to pull me out. I answered, that was needlefs,
and would take up too much time, for there was no more
to be done, but let one of the crew put his finger into
the ring and take the box out of the fea into the ſhip,
and fo into the captain's cabin*. Some of them, upon
hearing me talk fo wildly, thought I was mad; others
laughed; for, indeed, it never came into my head, that
I was now got among people of my own ftature and
ftrength. The carpenter came, and in a few minutes
fawed
*There are feveral incidents which fhew the author to have
had a deep knowledge of human nature; and I think this is one.
Although the principal advantages enumerated by Gulliver in
the beginning of this chapter, of mingling again among his
countrymen, depended on their being of the fame fize with
himſelf, yet this is forgotten in his ardour to be delivered, and
he is afterwards betrayed into the fame abfurdity, by his zeal to
preſerve his furniture.
M
}
[
134
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG,
fawed a paffage about four feet fquare, then let down a
finall ladder, upon which I mounted, and from thence
was taken into the fhip in a very weak condition.
The failors were all in amazement, and aſked me a
thouſand queſtions, which I had no inclination to an-
fwer. I was equally confounded at the fight of fo many
pigmies, for fuch I took them to be, after having fo
long accustomed mine eyes to the monftrous objects I had
left. But the captain, Mr. Thomas Wilcocks, an honeſt
worthy Shropshireman, obferving I was ready to faint,
took me into his cabin, gave me a cordial to comfort me,
and made me to turn in upon his own bed, adviſing me
to take a little reft, of which I had great need. Before I
went to fleep, I gave him to underſtand that I had fome
valuable furniture, in my box, too good to be loft; a fine
hammock, and handſome field bed, two chairs, a table,
and a cabinet. That my closet was hung on all fides,
or rather quilted, with filk and cotton: that, if he would
let one of the crew bring my clofet into his cabin, I
would open it there before him, and flew him my goods.
The captain,hearing me utter thefe abfurdities, concluded
I was raving: however (I fuppofe to pacify me) he pro-
mifed to give orders, as I defired, and going upon deck,
fent fome of his men down into my clofet, from whence
(as I afterwards found) they drew up all my goods, and
tripped off the quilting; but the chairs, cabinet, and
bedftead, being fcrewed to the floor, were much_da-
maged by the ignorance of the feamen, who tore them
up by force.
Then they knocked off fome of the boards
for the ufe of the fhip, and when they had got all they
had a mind for, let the hulk drop into the fea, which, by
reafon of many breaches made in the bottom and fides,
funk at once. And, indeed, I was glad not to have
been a spectator of the havock they made: becauſe I
am confident it would have fenfibly touched me, by
bringing former paffages into my mind, which I had
rather forgot.
I flept fome hours, but was perpetually diſturbed with
dreams of the place I had left, and the dangers I had ef-
caped.
VOYAGE TO BROBDIGNAG.
135
caped. However, upon waking, I found myfelf much
recovered. It was now about eight o'clock at night,
and the captain ordered fupper immediately, thinking I
had already fafted two long. He entertained me with
great kindneſs, obferving me not to look wildly nor talk
inconfiftantly; and, when we were left alone, defired I
would give him a relation of my travels, and by what
accident I came to be fet adrift in that monstrous wooden
cheft. He faid, that about twelve o'clock at noon, as
he was looking through his glaſs, he fpied it at a dif
tance, and thought it was a fail, which he had a mind
to make, being not much out of his courfe, in hopes of
buying fome bifcuit, his own beginning to fall fhort.
That, upon coming nearer, and finding his error, he ſent
out his long boat, to difcover what I was; that his men
came back in a fright, fwearing they had feen a fwimming-
houfe. That he laughed at their folly, and went
himself in the boat, ordering his men to take a ftrong
cable along with them, That, the weather being calm,
he rowed round me feveral times, obferved my windows,
and the wire lattices that defended them. That he dif-
covered two staples on one fide, which fide was all of
boards, without any paffage for light. He then com-
manded his men to row up to that fide, and, faftening a
cable to one of the ftaples, ordered them to tow my
cheft (as they called it) towards the fhip. When it was
there, he gave directions to faften another cable to the
ring fixed in the cover, and to raiſe up my cheft, with
pullies, which all the failors were not able to do above
two or three feet. He faid, the faw my tick and hand-
kerchief ftuck out of the hole, and concluded that fome
unhappy man must be ſhut up in the cavity. I aſked
whether he or his crew had feen any prodigious bird in
the air, about the time he first discovered me? To which
he anſwered, that, difcourfing this matter with the fai-
lors, while I was alleep, one of them faid, he had ob-
ferved three eagles flying towards the north, but re-
marked nothing of their being larger than the ufual ſize,
which I fuppofe muſt be imputed to the great height
M 2
1
they
736
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAC, }
they were at; and he could not yet guess the reafon of
my queſtion. I then aſked the captain how far he reckon-
ed we might be from land. He faid, by the best com-
putation he could make, we were at leaſt an hundred
leagues. I affured him, that he must be mistaken by
almost half, for I had not left the country from whence
I came above two hours before I dropt into the fea.
Whereupon, he began again to think that my brain was
diſturbed, of which he gave me a hint, and adviſed me
to go to bed in a cabin he had provided. I affured him
I was well refreshed with his good entertainment and
as much in my fenfes as ever I was in my life. He then
grew ferious, and defired to aſk me freely whether I was
not troubled in mind, by the conſciouſneſs of fome enor-
mous crime, for which I was puniſhed at the command
of fome prince, by expofing me in that cheft, as great
criminals in other countries have been forced to fea in
a leaky veffel, without provifions? for, although he
fhould be forry to have taken fo ill a man into his fhip,
yet he would engage his word to fet me fafe on fhore in
the first port at which we should arrive. He added,
that his fufpicions were much increaſed, by fome very
abfurd ſpeeches I had delivered at firſt to the failors, and
afterwards to himſelf, in relation to my clofet or cheft,
as well as by my odd looks and behaviour while I was
at fupper.
I begged his patience to hear me tell my ftory, which
I faithfully did, from the last time I left England to the
moment he firſt diſcovered me; and, as truth always
forceth its way into rational minds, fo this honeft wor
thy gentleman, who had fome tincture of learning and
very good fenfe, was immediately convinced of my can-
dour and veracity. But, farther to confirm all I had
faid, I entreated him to give orders that my cabinet ſhould
be brought, of which I had the key in my pocket (for
he had already informed me how the feamen difpofed of
my clofet.) I opened it in his prefence, and fhewed
him the fmall collection of rarities, I made in the country
from whence I had been ſo ſtrangely delivered. There
was
A´´ VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 137
was a comb I had contrived ont of the ftumps of the
king's beard, and another of the fame materials, but fixed
into a paring of her majefty's thumb nail, which ferved
for the back. There was a collection of needles and pins
from a foot to half a yard long; four wafp ftings, like
joiner's tacks; fome combings of the queen's hair; a
gold ring which one day fhe made me a prefent of in a
moft obliging manner, taking it from her little finger,
and throwing it over my head like a collar. I defired
the captain would pleafe to accept this ring in return of
his civilities, which he abfolutely refufed. I thewed
him a corn that I had cut off with my own hand, from
a maid of honour's toe; it was about the bignefs of a
Kentish-pippin,and g: own fo hard, that, when I returned
to England, I got it hollowed into a cup, and fet in filver.
Laftly, I defired him to fee the breeches I had then on,
which were made of a mouſe's ſkin.
I could force nothing on him but a footman's tooth,
which I obferved him to examine with great curiofity,
and found he had a fancy for it. He received it with
abundance of thanks, more than fuch a trifle could de-
ferve. It was drawn by an unſkilful furgeon, in a mif-
take, from one of Glundalclitch's men, who was af-
flicted with the tooth-ach, but it was as found as any in
his head. I got it cleaned, and put it into my cabinet.
It was about a foot long, and four inches in diameter.
The captain was very well fatisfied with this plain
relation I had given him, and faid, he hoped, when he
returned to England, I would oblige the world, by put-
ing. it in paper, and making it public. My anfwer
was, that I thought we were already overftocked with
books of travels: That nothing could now pafs which
was not extraordinary; wherein I doubted fome authors
lefs confulted truth than their own vanity, or intereft,
or the diverfion of ignorant readers. That my ſtory
could contain little befides common events, without thoſe
ornamental defcriptions of ftrange plants, trees, birds,
and other animals; or of the barbarous cuſtoms and ido-
Jatry of lavage people, with which moft writers abound,
However,
M 3
138
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
However, I thanked him for his good opinion, and pro-
miſed to take the matter into my thoughts.
He faid, he wondered at one thing very much, which
was to hear me fpeak fo loud, aſking me whether the
king or queen of that country were thick of hearing. I
told him it was what I had been uſed to for above two
years paft: and that I wondered as much at the voices
of him and his men, who ſeemed to me only to whiſper,
and yet I could hear them well enough. But, when I
ſpoke in that country, it was like a man talking in the
ftreet to another looking out from the top of a feeple,
unleſs when I was placed on a table, or held in any per-
fon's hand. I told him I had likewiſe obſerved another
thing, that when I firſt got into the fhip, and the failors
flood all about me, I thought they were the moſt little
contemptible creatures I had ever beheld. For, indeed,
while I was in that prince's country, I could never en-
dure to look in a glais, after mine eyes had been ac-
cuſtomed to ſuch prodigious objects, becauſe the com-
parifon gave me fo defpicable a conceit of myfelf. The
captain faid, that while we were at ſupper, he obſerved
me to look at every thing with a kind of wonder, and
that I feemed hardly able to contain my laughter, which
he knew not well how to take, but imputed it to fome
diforder in my brain. I answered, it was very true;
and I wondered how I could forbear, when I faw his
diſhes of the fize of a filver three pence, a leg of pork
hardly a mouthful; a cup not ſo big as a nut fiell;"and
fo I went on, defcribing the reff of his houfhold stuff
and provifions, after the fame manner. For, although
the queen had ordered a little equipage of all things ne-
ceffary for me while I was in her fervice, yet my ideas were
wholly taken up on what I faw on every hide of me, and
I winked at my own littleneſs, as people do at their own
faults. The captain underfood my raillery very well,
and merrily replied, with the old Engliſh prove.b, that
he doubted mine eyes were bigger-than my belly, for
he did not obferve my ftomach fo good, although I had
fafted all day; and, continuing in his mirth, proteſted
he
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG,
139
he would gladly have given an hundred pounds to have
feen my closet in the eagle's bill, and afterwards in its
fall from ſo great a height into the fea; which would
certainly have been a moſt aſtoniſhing object, worthy to
have the deſcription of it tranſmitted to future ages; and
the compariſon of Phaeton was fo obvious, that he could
not forbear applying it, although I did not much ad-
mire the conceit.
The captain having been at Tonquin, was, on his re-
turn to England, driven north-eastward, to the latitude
of 44 degrees, and of longitude 143. But, meeting a
trade wind two days after I came on board him, we failed
fouthward a long time, and coafting New Holland, kept
our coaſt weſt-ſouthweſt, and then ſouth-ſouthweſt, tillwe
doubled the cape of Good Hope. Our voyage was very
profperous, but I fhall not trouble the reader with a journal
of it. The captain called in at one or two ports, and fent
in his long boat for provifions and fresh water, but I ne-
ver quitted the fhip till we came into the Downs, which
was on the third day of June, 1706, about nine months
after my eſcape. I offered to leave my goods as fecurity
for payment of my freight, but the captain protefted he
would not receive one farthing. We took a kind leave
of each other, and I'made him promife to come and
fee me at Redriff. I hired a horfe and guide for five
fhilungs, which I borrowed of the captain.
As I was on the road, obferving the littleneſs of the
houſes, the trees, the cattle and the people, I began to
think myſelf in Lilliput. I was afraid of trampling on
every traveller I met, and often called aloud to have
them ſtand out of my way fo that I had liked to have
gotten one or two broken heads for my impertinence.
-
When I came to my own houfe, for which I was
forced to enquire, one of the ſervants opening the door,
bent down to go in (like a goofe under a gate) for
fear of striking my head. My wife ran out to embrace
me; but I ftooped lower than her knees, thinking the
could otherwise never be able to reach my mouth. My
daughter kneeled to aſk my bleffing; but I could not
fee
140
A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG.
fee her till the arofe, having been fo long ufed to ftand
with my head and eyes erect, to above fixty feet; and
then I went to take her up with one hand by the waift.
I looked down upon the fervants, and one or two friends
who were in the houſe, as if they had been pigmies and
I a giant. I told my wife ſhe had been too thrifty, for
I found the had itaived herself and her daughter to no-
thing. In short, I behaved myſelf fo unaccountably,
that they were all of the captain's opinion when he firſt
faw me, and concluded I had loft my wits. This I men-
tion as an inſtance of the great power of habit and prejudice.
In a little time, I and my family and friend's came to
a right underſtanding: but my wife protefted I fhould
never go to lea any more; although my evil deftiny fo
ordered, that he had not power to hinder me, as the
reader may know hereafter. In the mean time I here
conclude the fecond part of my unfortunate voyages.*
From the whole of theſe two voyages to Lilliput and Brob-
dingnag arifes one general remark, which, however obvious, has
been overlooked by thofe who confider them as little more than
the ſport of a wanton imagination. When human actions are af-
cribed to pigmies and giants, there are few that do not excite either
contempt, difguft, or hoiror; to afcribe them therefore to fuch
beings was perhaps the most probable method of engaging the
mind to ex mine them with attention, and judge of them with
impartiality, by fufpending the fafcination of habit, and exhibit-
ing familiar objects in a new light. The ufe of the fable then is
not lefs apparent than important and extenfive; and that this was
in ended by the author can be doubted only by thoſe who are dif-
poſed to affirm, that order and regularity are the effects of chance,
PART
-
+
( 141 )
PART III.
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, BALNIBARBI, LUGGNAGG,
GLUBBDUEDRIBB, AND JAPAN.
CHAP. I.
The author fets out on his third-voyage; is taken by pi-
rates. The malice of a Dutchman. His arrival at an
inland. He is received into Laputa.
I
HAD not been at home above ten days when cap-
tain-William Robinſon, a Corniſh man, commander
of the Hopewell, a ftout fhip of three hundred tons, came
to my houſe. I had formerly been furgeon of another
ſhip where he was inafter, and a fourth part owner, in a
voyage to the Levant; he had always treated me more
like a brother than an inferior officer, and hearing of my
arrival, made me a vifit, as I apprehended, only out of..
friendſhip, for nothing paffed more than ufual after long
abfences. But repeating his vifits often, expreffing his
joy to find me in good health, aſking whether I were now
fettled for life; adding, that he intended a voyage to the
Eaft-Indies, in two months, and at laft plainly invited
me, though with fome apologies, to be furgeon of the
fhip; that I should have another furgeon under me, be
fides our two mates; that my falary ſhould be double to
the ufual pay; and that having experienced my know-
ledge in fea affairs to be at least equal to his, he would
enter into any engagement to follow my advice, as much
as if I had a fhare in the command:
He faid fo many other obliging things, and I knew
him to be fo honeft a man, that I could not reject his pro-
pofal: the thirt I had of feeing the world, notwithſtand-
ing my paft misfortunes, continuing as violent as ever.
The only difficulty that remained was to perfuade my
wife, whofe confent however I at last obtained, by the
profpect of advantage the propofed to her children?
We fet out the 5th day of Auguſt, 1706, and arrived
at Fort St. George the 11th of April, 1707. We ſtayed
there three weeks to refreſh our crew, many of whom
were fick.
From thence we went to Tonquin, where
the
142
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
the captain refolved to continue ſome time, becauſe many
of the goods he intended to buy were not ready, nor
could he expect to be dispatched in feveral months.-
Therefore, in hopes to defray fome of the charges he
muſt be at, he bought a floop, loaded it with feveral
forts of goods, wherewith the Tonquinefe ufually trade
to the neighbouring iflands; and putting fourteen men
on board, whereof three were of the country, he ap-
pointed me maler of the floop, and gave me power to
traffic for two months, while he tranlacted his affairs at
Tonquin.
4
We had not failed above three days, when a great
form arifing, we were driven five days to the north-
north-east, and then to the eaft; after which we had fair
weather, but still with a pretty ſtrong gale from the weſt.
Upon the tenth day we were chafed by two pirates, who
foon overtook us; for my floop was fo deep loaden that
the failed very flow, neither were we in a condition to
defend ourſelves.
We were boarded about the fame time by both the
pirates, who entered furioufly at the head of their men,
but finding us all proftrate upon our faces, (for fo I gave
order) they pinioned us with strong ropes, and fetting a
guard upon us, went to fearch the floop.
I obferved among them a Dutchman, who feemed to
be of fome authority, though he was not commander of
either fhip. He knew us by our countenance to be
Englishmen, and jabbering to us in his own language,
fwore we should be tied back to back and thrown into
the fa. I spoke Dutch tolerably well; I told him who
we were, and begged him, in confideration of our being
Chriftians and Proteflants, of neighbouring countries, in
ftrict alliance, that he would move the captains to take
fome pity on us. This inflamed his rage, he repeated
his threatenings, and turning to his companions, ſpoke
with great vehemence, in the Japaneſe language, as I
fuppofe, often ufing the word Chriftianos..
The largeſt of theſe two pirate fhips was commanded
by a Japaneſe captain, who spoke a little Dutch, but
very
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
143
very imperfectly. He came up to me, and after ſeveral
questions, which I anfwered with great humility, he
faid we ſhould not die. I made the captain a very low
bow, and then turning to the Dutchman, faid I was
forry to find more mercy in a heathen than in a brother
Chriſtian: but I had foon reaſon to repent thofe fooliſh
words; for that malicious rep obate, having often en-
deavoured in vain to perfuade both the captains that I
might be thrown into the fea (which they would not
yield to, after the promiſe made me that I ſhould not
die) however prevailed fo far as to have a puniſhment
inflicted on me, worfe in all human appearance than death
itfelf. My men were fent by an equal divifion into both
pirate ships, and my floop new manned. As to myſelf
it was determined that I fhould be fet adrift in a fmall
canoe, with paddles and a fail, and four days proviſions;
which laft the Japaneſe captain was fo kind to double out
of his own ftores, and would permit no man to fearch me.
I got down into the canoe, while the Dutchman ſtanding
upon the deck, loaded me with all the curfes and inju-
rious terms his language could afford.
About an hour before we faw the pirates, I had taken
an obſervation, and found we were in the latitude of 46
north, and of longitude 183. When I was at ſome diſ-
tance from the pirates, I diſcovered by my pocket-glaís
feveral iſlands to the fouth-eaſt. I fet up my fail, the
wind being fair, with a defign to reach the neareſt of
thoſe iſlands, which I made a fhift to do in about three
hours. It was all rocky; however, I got many birds
eggs, and ftriking fire, I kindled fome heath and dry
fea weed, by which I roafted my eggs. I eat no other
fupper, being refolved to ſpare my provifions as much
as I could. I paffed the night under the fhelter of a
tock, ftrewing fome heath under me, and ſlept pretty well.
The next day I failed to another iſland, and thence to
a third or fourth, ſometimes ufing my fail, and fome-
times my paddles. But, not to trouble the reader with
a particular account of my diſtreffes, let it fuffice, that
on
144
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
>
on the fifth day I arrived at the laft iſland in my fight,
which lay fouth-ſouth-eaſt to the former.
This iſland was at a greater diſtance than I expected,
and I did not reach it in lefs than five hours. I encom-
paſſed it almoſt round before I could find a convenient
place to land in, which was a ſmall creek, about three
times the width of my canoe. I found the iſland to
be all rocky, only a little intermingled with tufts of
grafs, and fweet-fmelling herbs. I took out my ſmall
proviſions, and after having refreſhed myſelf, I fecured
the remainder in a cave, whereof there were great num-
bers. I gathered plenty of eggs upon the rocks, and
got a quantity of dry fea weed and parched grafs, which
I defigned to kindle the next day, and roaft my eggs as
well as I could: for I had about me my flint, fteel,
match, and burning-glafs. I lay all night in the cave
where I had lodged my provifions. My bed was the
fame dry grafs and fea-weed which I intended for fuel.
I flept very little, for the difquiets of my mind prevailed
over my wearineſs, and kept me awake. I confidered
how impoffible it was to preferve my life in fo defolate a
place, and how miſerable my end muſt be; yet found
myfelf fo liftlefs and defponding, that I had not the heart
to rife; and before I could get fpirits enough to creep
out of my cave, the day was far advanced. I walked
awhile among the rocks; the ſky was perfectly clear,
and the fun fo hot that I was forced to turn my face
from it: when all on a fudden it became obfcure, as I
thought in a manner very different from what happens by
the interpofition of a cloud. I turned back, and per-
ceived a vaſt opake body between me and the fun, mov-
ing forwards towards the iſland, it ſeemed to be about
two miles high, and hid the fun fix or feven ininutes;
but I did not obſerve the air to be much colder, or the
fky more darkened than if I had ftood under the ſhade of
a mountain. As it approached nearer over the place
where I was, it appeared to be a firm ſubſtance, the
bottom flat, fimooth, and fhining very bright from the
reflexion of the fea below. I ftood upon a height about
two
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
14-5
two hundred yards from the fhore, and faw this valt body
defcending almoft to a parallel with me, at leſs than
an Engliſh mile diftance. I took out my pocket-per-
fpective, and could plainly diſcover numbers of people
moving up and down the fides of it, which appeared to
be floping, but what thoſe people were doing, I was not
able to diftinguiſh.
The natural love of life gave me fome inward motions
of joy, and I was ready to entertain a hope, that this ad-
venture might fome way or other help to deliver me from
the defolate place and condition I was in.
But at the
ſame time, the reader can hardly conceive my aftoniſh-
ment, to behold an iſland in the air, inhabited by men,
who were able (as it fhould feem) to raife, or fink, or
put it into a progreffive motion, as they pleafed. But
not being at that time in a difpofition to philofophife upon
this phænomenon, I rather chofe to obferve what courſe the
iſland would take, becauſe it ſeemed for a while to ſtand.
ftill. Yet foon after it advanced nearer, and I could fee
the fides of it encompaffed with feveral gradations of
galleries and ſtairs, at certain intervals, to deſcend from
one to the other. In the loweſt gallery I beheld fome
people fiſhing with long angling rods, and others looking
on. I waved my cap, (for my hat was long fince worn
out) and my handkerchief towards the island: and, upon
its nearer approach; I called and ſhouted with the utmoſt
ftrength of my voice: and then looking circumspectly, I
beheld a crowd gathered on that fide which was moſt in
my view. I found by their pointing towards me, and
to each other, that they plainly difcovered me, although
they made no return to my shouting; and I could fee
four or five men running in great hafte up the ſtairs to
the top of the ifland, who then difappeared. I happened
rightly to conjecture, that theſe were fent for orders to
fome perfon in authority upon this occafion.
The number of people increaſed, and in leſs than half
an hour the iſland was raiſed and moved in fuch a man-
ner, that the lowest gallery appeared in a parallel of leſs
than an hundred yards diftance from the height where I'
N
ftood.
146
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
ftood. I then put myſelf into the moſt ſupplicating poſ
ture, and ſpoke in the humbleft accent, but received no
anfwer. Thoſe who ſtood neareſt over againſt me, ſeem-
ed to be perfons of diftinction, as I fuppofed by their
habit. They conferred carneftly with each other, looking
often upon me.
At length one of them called out in a
clear, polite, fmooth dialect, not unlike in found to the
Italian; and therefore I returned an anſwer in that lan-
guage, hoping at least that the cadence might be more
agreeable to his ears. Although neither of us underſtood
the other, yet my meaning was eaſily known, for the
people faw the diftreſs I was in.
They made figns for me to come down from the rock
and go towards the fhore, which I accordingly did; and
the flying ifland being raiſed to a convenient height, the
verge directly over me, a chain was let down from the
loweſt gallery, with a ſeat ſaſtened to the bottom to which
I fixed myſelf, and was drawn up by pullies.
CHAP. II.
The humours and difpofitions of the Laputians defcribed.
—An account of their learning.-Of the king and his
court. The author's reception there.-The inhabitants
fubject to fear and diſquietudes.—An account of the women.
A¹
T my alighting I was furrounded with a crowd
of people; but thoſe who ſtood neareft, feemed to
be of better quality. They beheld me with all the
marks and circumſtances of wonder; neither, indeed,
was I much in their debt, having never, till then, feen
a race of mortals fo fingular in their fhapes, habits, and
countenances. Their heads were all inclined either to
the right or the left; one of their eyes turned inward,
and the other directly up to the zenith. Their out-
ward garments were adorned with the figures of funs,
moons, and ſtars, intervoven with thoſe of fiddles, futes,
harps, trumpets, guitars, harpfichords, and many more
inftruments
*By this defcription the author intended to ridicule thoſe who
wafte life in fpeculative ſcience, the powers of whoſe minds are
as abfurdly employed as the eyes of the Laputians.
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
14€
inftruments of muſic, unknown to us in Europe. I ob-
ſerved here and there many in the habit of fervants, with
a blown bladder faftened like a flail to the end of a fhort
ftick, which they carried in their hands. In each blad-
der was a ſmall quantity of dried peafe, or little pebbles,
(as I was afterwards informed). With thefe bladders
they now and then flapped the mouths and ears of thoſe
who ſtood near them, of which practice I could not then
conceive the meaning: it ſeems the minds of theſe peo-
ple are fo taken up with intenſe ſpeculations, that they
neither can ſpeak, nor attend to the difcourfes of others,
without being rouzed by fome external action upon the
organs of speech and hearing, for which reaſon, thoſe
perfons who are able to afford it, always keep a Flapper
(the original is Climenole) in their family, as one of their
domeſtics, nor ever walk abroad, or make vifits without
him. And the bufinefs of this officer is, when two, three,
or more perfons are in company, gently to ftrike with his
bladder the mouth of him who is to ſpeak, and the right
ear of him or them to whom the ſpeaker addreffeth him-
felf. This flapper is likewife employed diligently to at-
tend his walks, and, upon occafion, to give him a foft
flap on his eyes, becauſe he is always fo wrapped up in
cogitation, that he is in manifeſt danger of falling down
every precipice, and bouncing his head againſt every poſt,
and in the Rreets of juftling others, or being joſtled him-
felf into the kennel.
It was neceffary to give the reader this information,
without which he would be at the fame lofs with me, to
understand the proceedings of thefe people, as they con-
ducted me up the fairs, to the top of the iſland, and from
thence to the royal palace. While we were afcending,
they forgot ſeveral times what they were about, and left
me to myſelf, till their memories were again rouzed by
their flappers; for they appeared altogether unmoved by
the fight of my foreign habit and countenance, and by
the fhouts of the vulgar, whofe thoughts and minds were
more difengaged.
At last we entered the palace, and proceeded into the
chamber
N 2
鹰
​148
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
}
$
chamber of prefence, where I faw the king feated on his
throne, attended on each fide by perfons of prime quality.
Before the throne was a large table filled with globes and
fpheres, and mathematical inftruments of all kinds. His
majefly took not the leaft notice of us, although our en-
trance was not without fufficient noife, by the concourfe
of all perfons belonging to the court. But he was then
deep in a problem, and we attended at least an hour be-
fore he could folve it. There ffood by him on each ſide
a young page, with flaps in their hands, and when they
faw he was at leifure, one of them gently ftruck his
mouth, and the other his right ear; at which he started
like one awoke on a fudden, and looking towards me,
and the company I was in, recollected the occafion of our
coming, whereof he had been informed before. He fpoke
fome words, whereupon immediately a young man with
a flap came up to my fide, and flapt me gently on the right
ear; but I made figns, as well as I could, that I had no
occafion for fuch an inftrument; which, as I afterwards
found, gave his majefty and the whole court a very mean
opinion of my understanding. The king, as far as I
could conjecture, afked me feveral queſtions, and I ad-
dreffed myſelf to him in all the languages I had. When
it was found that I could neither underſtand, nor be un-
derſtood, I was conducted, by the king's order, to an
apartment in his palace, (this prince being diftinguished
above all his predeceffors for his hofpitality to ftrangers)
where two fervants were appointed to attend me. My
dinner was brought, and four perfons of quality, whom
I remembered to have feen very near the king's perfon,
did me the honour to dine with me. We had two courſes,
of three diſhes each. In the firft courfe there was a
ſhoulder of Mutton, cut into an æquilateral triangle, a
piece of beef into a rhomboides, and a pudding into a cy-
cloid. The fecond courfe was two ducks, truffed up into
the form of fiddles; faufages and puddings, refembling
flutes and hautboys, and a breaft of veal in the fhape of
a harp. The fervants cut out bread into cones, cylinders,
parallelograms, and ſeveral other mathematical figures.
While
1
f
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c-
149
While we were at dinner, I made bold to aſk the names
of ſeveral things in their language: and thote noble per-
fons, by the affiftance of their flappers, delighted to give
me anſwers, hoping to raiſe my admiration of their great
abilities, if I could be brought to converfe with them.
I was foon able to call for bread and drink, or whatever
elfe I wanted.
After dinner, my company withdrew, and a perfon
was ſent to me by the king's order, attended by a flap-
per. He brought with him pen, ink, and paper, and
three or four books, giving me to underſtand by figns
that he was fent to teach me the language. We fat to-
gether four hours, in which time I wrote down a great
number of words in columns, with the tranſlations over
against them. 1 likewife made a fhift to learn ſeveral
fhort fentences. For my tutor would order one of my
fervants, to fetch fomething, or turn about, to make a
bow, to fit, or ſtand, or walk, and the like. Then I took
down the fentence in writing. He fhewed me alſo in
one of his books the figures of the fun, moon, and ſtars,
the zodiac, the tropics and polar circles, together with
the denomination of many figures of planes and folids.-
He gave me the names and defcriptions of all the muſical
inftruments, and the general terms of art in playing on
each of them. After he had left me, I placed all my
words, with their interpretations, in alphabetical order.
And thus in a few hours, by the help of a very faithful
memory, I got fome infight into their language.
The word, which I interpret the Flying or Floating
Iſland, is in the original Laputa, whereof I could never
learn the true etymology. Lap, in the old obfolete lan-
guage, fignifieth high, and Untub, a governor, from which
they fay, by corruption was derived Laputa from La-
puntub. But I do not approve of this derivation, which
Teems to be a little trained. I ventured to offer to the
learned among them a conjecture of my own, that Laputa
was quafi Lap outed, Lap fignifying properly the dancing
of the fun beams in the fea, and outed a wing; which
however, I fhall not obtrude, but ſubmit to the judicious
`reader.
N 3
Thofe
350
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
Thoſe to whom the king had entruſted me, obferving
how ill I was clad, ordered a taylor to come next morn-
ing, and take my meaſure for a fuit of clothes. This
operator did his office after a different manner from thoſe
of his trade in Europe. He first took my altitude by a
quadrant, and then with a rule and compaffes, defcribed
the dimensions and out-lines of my whole body; all which
he entered upon paper, and in fix days brought my
cloaths very ill made, and quite out of fhape, by happen-
ing to miftake a figure in the calculation. But my com-
fort was, that I obferved fuch accidents very frequent,
and little regarded.
During my confinement for want of cloaths, and by
an indifpofition that held me fome days longer, I much
enlarged my dictionary, and when I went next to court,
was able to underſtand many things the king (poke, and
to return him fome kind of anfwers. His majesty had
given crders that the iſland ſhould move north-eaſt and
by caft, to the vertical point over Lagado, the metro-
polis of the whole kingdom below upon the firm earth..
It was about ninety leagues diflant, and our voyage laſteḍ.
four days and a half. I was not in the leaft fenfible of.
the progreffive motion made in the air by the island.—
On the fecond morning, about eleven o'clock, the king
himſelf in perſon, attended by his nobility, courtiers, and
officers, having prepared all their muſical inſtruments,
played on them for three hours without intermiffion, ſo
that I was quite ſtunned with the noife; neither could
I poffibly guess the meaning, till my tutor informed me.
He faid, that the people of their iſland had their ears
adapted to hear the music of the fpheres, which always
played at certain periods, and the court was now pre-
pared to bear their part in whatever inftrument they moſt
excelled.
In our journey towards Lagado, the capital city, his
majefty ordered that the island fhould ftop over certain
towns and villages, from whence he might receive the
petitions of his fubjects. And to this purpoſe feveral.
packthreads were let down with fmall weights at the bot-
tom.
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &C.
151
tom. On theſe packthreads the people ftrung their pe
titions, which mounted up directly like the fcraps of
paper fastened by fchool-boys at the end of the fring
that holds their kite. Sometimes we received wine and
victuals from below, which were drawn up by pullies.
The knowledge I had in mathematics gave me great
affiſtance in acquiring their phraſeology, which depended
much upon that fcience and mufic; and in the latter I
was not unskilled. Their ideas are perpetually converfant
in lines and figures. If they would, for example, praiſe
the beauty of a woman, or any other animal, they deſcribe
it by rhombs, circles, parallelograms, ellipfes, and other
geometrical terms, or by words of art drawn from mufic,
needlefs here to repeat. I obferved in the king's kit-
chen all forts of mathematical and muſical inftruments,
after the figures of which they cut up the joints that were
ferved to his majeſty's table.
Their houfes are very ill built, the walls bevil, with-
out one right angle in any apartment; and this defect
arifeth from the contempt they bear to practical geome-
try, which they defpife, as vulgar and mechanic, thofe
inftructions they give being too refined for the intellec-
tuals of their workmen, which occafions perpetual mif.
takes. And although they are dexterous enough upon
a piece of paper in the management of the rule, the pen-
cil, and the divider, yet in the common actions and be-
haviour of life, I have not ſeen a more clumſy, awkward
and unhappy people, nor fo flow and perplexed in their
conceptions upon all other fubjects, except thofe of ma-
thematics and mufic. They are very bad reafoners, and
vehemently given to oppofition, unlefs when they happen
to be of the right opinion, which is feldom their cafe.-
Imagination, fancy and invention, they are wholly ftran-
gers to, nor have any words in their language by which
thoſe ideas can be expreſſed: the whole compafs of their
thoughts and mind being ſhut up within the two fore-
mentioned fciences.
Most of them, and eſpecially thoſe who deal in the af-
tronomical part, have great faith in judicial aftrology,
althoug.i
$
152
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
although they are aſhamed to own it publicly. But what
I chiefly admired, and thought altogether unaccountable,
was, the ftrong difpofition I obferved in them towards
news and politics, perpetually enquiring into public af-
fairs, giving their judgments in matters of ſtate, and paſ-
fionately difputing every inch of a party opinion. I
have, indeed, obferved the fame difpofition among most
of the mathematicians I have known in Europe, although
I could never difcover the leaft analogy between the two
fciences; unle's people ſuppoſe, that becauſe the finalleſt
circle hath as many degrees as the largeft, therefore the
regulation and management of the world require no more
abilities than the handling and turning of a globe. But
I rather take this quality to fpring from a very common
infirmity of human nature, inclining us to be more cu-
rious and conceited in matters where we have leaft con-
cern, and for which we are leaſt adapted either by study
or na ure.
Theſe people are under continual difquietudes, never
enjoying a minute's peace of mind; and their diſturb-
ances proceed from caufes which very little affect the reſt
of mortals. Their apprehenfions arife from feveral
changes they dread in the celestial bodies. For inſtance,
that the earth, by the continual approaches of the fun to-
wards it, muft in courfe of time be abforbed or fwallowed
up that the face of the fun will, by degrees, be incrufted
with its own effluvia, and give no more light to the
world that the earth very narrowly escaped a bruſh
from the tail of the laft comet, which would have infal-
Jably reduced it to afhes; and that the next, which they have
calculated for one and thirty years hence; will probably
destroy us. For, if in its perihelium it fhould approach
within a certain degree of the fun (as by their calcula-
tions they have reaſon to dread) it would conceive a de-
gree of heat ten thousand times more intenfe than that of
red-hot glowing iron: and, in its abfence from the fun,
carry a blazing tail ten hundred thousand and fourteen
miles long; through which, if the earth fhould paſs at
the distance of one hundred thouſand miles from the nu
clus
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
153
cleus or main body of the comet, it muſt in its paſſage
be fet on fire, and reduced to afhes: that the fun daily
fpending its rays without any nutriment to fupply them,
will at last be wholly confumed and annihilated; which
must be attended with the deftruction of this earth, and
of all the planets that receive their light from it.*
They are ſo perpetually alarmed with the apprehen-
fions of thefe and the like impending dangers that they
can neither fleep quietly in their beds, nor have any re-
lifh for the common pleaſures or amuſements of life.—
When they meet an acquaintance in the morning, the firſt
queſtion is about the fun's health, how he looked at his
fetting and ifing, and what hopes they have to avoid the
ftroke of the approaching comet. This converfation
they are apt to run into with the fame temper that boys
diſcover, in delighting to hear terrible ſtories of fpirits
and hobgoblins, which they greedily liften to, and dare
not go to bed for fear.
The women of the iſland have abundance of vivacity;
they contemn their huſbands, and are exceedingly fond
of ftrangers, whereof there is always a confiderable num-
ber from the continent below, attending at court, either
upon affairs of the feveral towns and corporations, or their
own particular occaſions, but are much deſpiſed, becauſe
they want the fame endowments. Among thefe the la-
dies chooſe their gallants: but the vexation is, that they
act with too much eaſe and ſecurity; for the huſband is
always fo wrapt in fpeculation, that the miſtreſs and
lover may proceed to the greateſt familiarities before his
face, if he be but provided with paper and implements,
and without his flapper at his fide.
The wives and daughters lament their confinement to
the iſland, although I think it the most delicious Spot of
ground in the world, and although they live here in the
greateft plenty and magnificence, and are allowed to do
whatever they pleafe, they long to fee the world, and
take the diverfions of the metropolis, which they are not
allowed
* All theſe were fuppofitions of perfons eminent in their time
for mathematical knowledge.
1
154
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
allowed to do without a particular licence from the king;
and this is not eaſy to be obtained, because the people of
quality have found by frequent experience, how hard it
is to perfuade their women to return from below. I was
told that a great court lady, who had feveral children, is
married to the prime minilter, the richest fubject in the
kingdom, a very graceful perfon, extremely fond of her,
and lives in the finest palace of the ifland, went down to
Lagado, on the pretence of health, there hid herself for
feveral months, till the king fent a warrant to ſearch for
her, and the was found in an obfcure eating houfe all in
rags, having pawned her cloaths to maintain an old de-
formed footman who beat her every day, in whofe compa-
ny ſhe was taken, much against her will. And although
her huſband received her with all poffible kindneſs, and
without the leaft reproach, the foon after contrived to
ſteal down again, with all her jewels, to the fame gallant,
and hath not been heard of fince.
This may, perhaps, pafs with the reader rather for an
European or English ftory, than for one of a country ſo
remote: but he may pleafe to confider, that the caprices
of womenkind are not limited by any climate or nation,
and that they are much more uniform than can be eaſily
imagined.
In about a month's time I had made a tolerable pro-
ficiency in their language, and was able to anſwer molt
of the king's questions, when I had the honour to at-
tend him. His majefty difcovered not the leaft cu-
riolity to enquire into the laws, government, hiftory,
religion, or manners of the countries where I had been,
but confined his questions to the state of mathematics,
and received the account I gave him with great con-
tempt and indifference, though often rouzed by his flap-
per on each fide.
CHAP.
3
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
755
CHAP. III.
A phænomenon folved by modern philofophy and aftra-
nomy-The Laputians great improvements in the latter.
The king's method of fuppreffing infurrections.
I
Defired leave of this prince to fee the curiofities of the
ifland, which he was graciously pleaſed to grant, and
ordered my tutor to attend me. I chiefly wanted to
know to what cauſe in art, or in nature, it owed its feve-
ral motions, whereof I will now give a philoſophical ac-
Count to the reader.
The flying or floating ifland, is exactly circular, its
diameter 7837 yards, or about four miles and a half, and
confequently contains ten thousand acres. It is three
hundred yards thick. The bottom or under ſurface,
which appears to thoſe who view it from below, is one
even regular plate of adamant, fhooting up to the height
of about two hundred yards. Above it lie the feveral
minerals in their ufual order, and over all is a coat of rich
mould ten or twelve feet deep. This declivity of the
upper furface, from the circumference of the centre, is
the natural caufe why all the dews and rains which fall
upon the iſland, are conveyed in finall rivulets towards
the middle, where they are emptied into four large ba-
fons, each of about half a mile in circuit, and two hun-
dred yards diftant from the centre.-From theſe baſons
the water is continually exhaled by the fun in the day.
time, which effectually prevents their overflowing. Be-
fides, as it is in the power of the monarch to raiſe the
ifland above the region of clouds and vapours, he can
prevent the falling of dews and rains whenever he pleaſes:
for the highest clouds cannot rife above two miles, as
naturalifts agree, at least they were never known to da
in that country.
At the centre of the island there is a chafin, about
fifty yards in diameter, from whence the attronomers
defcend into a large dome, which is therefore called
Flandona Gagnole, or the Aftronomers Cave, fituated
at the depth of a hundred yards beneath the upper fur-
face of the adamant. In this cave are twenty lamps
continually
156
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
continually burning, which, from the reflection of the
adamant, caft a ftrong light into every part. The
place is ftored with great variety of fextants, quadrants,
teleſcopes, aftrolabes, and other aftronomical inftru-
ments. But the greateſt curiofity, upon which the fate
of the island depends, is a load-ftone of a prodigious
fize, in fhape refembling a weaver's fhuttle. It is in
length fix yards, and in the thickeſt part at least three
yards over. This magnet is ſuſtained by a very strong
axle of adamant paffing through its middle, upon which
it plays, and is poiſed fo exactly that the weakest hand
can turn it. It is hooped round with a hollow cylinder
of adamant, four feet deep, as many thick, and twelve
yards in diameter, placed horizontally, and ſupported by
eight adamantine feet, each fix yards high. In the mid-
dle of the concave fide there is a groove twelve inches deep,
in which the extremities of the axle are lodged, and turn-
ed round as there is occaſion.
The ſtone cannot be moved from its place by any
force, becauſe the hoop and its feet are one continued
piece with that body of adamant, which conſtitutes the
bottom of the iſland.
By means of this load-ftone, the iſland is made to rife
and fall, and move from one place to another. For, with
reſpect to that part of the earth over which that monarch
prefides, the ftone is endued at one of its fides with an
attractive power, and at the other with a repulfive.
Upon placing the magnet erect, with its attracting end
towards the earth, the island defcends; but when the
repelling extremity points downwards, the iſland mounts
directly upwards. When the pofition of the ftone is
oblique, the motion of the ifland is ſo too. For in this
magnet the forces always act in lines parallel to its di-
rection.
By this oblique motion the iſland is conveyed to dif-
ferent parts of the monarch's dominions. To explain
the manner of its progrefs, let A B reprefent a line
drawn acroſs the dominions of Balnibarbi, let the line
cd repreſent the load-ftone, of which let d be the repel-
ling
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
157
ling end, and the attracting end; the ifland being
over C, let the ftone be placed in the pofition c d, with
its repelling end downwards, when the island will be
driven upwards obliquely towards D. When it is ar-
rived at D, let the ftone be turned upon its axis till its
attracting end points towards E, and then the iſland
will be carried obliquely towards E; where, if the
ftone be turned upon its axis till it ftands in the
pofition E F, with its repelling point downwards, the
ifland will rife obliquely towards F; where, by direct-
ing the attracting end towards G, the island may be
carried to G, and from G to H, by turning the ftone,
fo as to make its repelling extremity point directly
downwards. And thus by changing the fituation of
the ftone as often as there is occafion, the iſland is made
to riſe and fall by turns in an oblique direction; and by
thoſe alternate rifings and fallings (the obliquity being
not confiderable) is conveyed froin one part of the do-
minions to the other.
Laputa.
B
BALNIBARBI
Lagado A
H
Maldonada.
But it must be obferved, that this ifland cannot move
beyond the extent of the dominions below, nor can it
rife above the height of four miles. For which the af
tronomers (who have written large fyftems concerning
the ftone) affign the following reafon : that the mag-
netic virtue does not extend beyond the diſtance of four
miles
158
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
miles, and that the mineral which acts upon the ftone in
the bowels of the earth, and in the fea, about fix leagues
diftant from the fhore, is not diffufed through the whole
globe, but terminated with the limits of the king's do-
minions; and it was eafy, from the great advantage of
fuch a ſuperior ſituation, for a prince to bring under his
obedience whatever country lay within the attraction of
that magnet.
When the ſtone is put parallel to the plane of the hori-
zon, the iſland ſtandeth ftill; for in that cafe the extre-
mities of it being at equal diſtance from the earth, act
with equal force; the one in drawing downwards, the
other in pushing upwards, and confequently no motion
can ensue.
This load-ftone is under the rare of certain aftrono-
mers, who from time to time give it fuch pofitions as
the monarch directs. They spend the greateſt part of
their lives in obferving the celestial bodies, which they
do by the affiftance of glaffes far exceeding ours in good-
nefs. For this advantage has enabled them to extend
the difcoveries much farther than our aftronomers in Eu-
rope; for they have made a catalogue of ten thouſand
fixed ftars; whereas the largeſt of ours do not contain
above one third part of that number. They have like-
wife difcovered two leffer ſtars, or fatellites, which re-
volve about Mars, whereof the innermost is diſtant from
the centre of the primary planet exactly three of his dia-
meters, and the outermost five; the former revolves in
the ſpace of ten hours, and the latter in twenty-one and
a half: fo that the fquares of their periodical times are
very near in the fame proportion with the cubes of their
diſtance from the centre of Mars; which evidently fhews
them to be governed by the fame law of gravitation that
influences the other heavenly bodies.
They have obferved ninety-three different comets, and
fettled their periods with great exactneſs. If this be
true, (and they affirm it with great confidence) it i
much to be wished that their obfervations were mad
public, whereby the theory of comets, which at preſen
is
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
139
is very lame and defective, might be brought to the fame
perfection with other parts of aftronomy.
The king would be the moſt abfolute prince in the
nniverfe, if he could but prevail on a miniftry to join
with him; but theſe have their eftates below on the
continent, and confidering that the office of a favourite
hath a very uncertain tenure, would never confent to the
enflaving their country.
If any town fhould engage in rebellion and mutiny,
fall into violent factions, or refufe to pay the ufual tri-
bute, the king hath two methods to reduce them to
obedience. The firſt and the mildeſt courſe is by keep-
ing the iſland hovering over fuch a town, and the lands
about it, whereby he can deprive them of the fun and
the rain, and confequently afflict the inhabitants with
death and diſeaſes. And, if the crime deferve it, they
are at the ſame time pelted from above with great ſtones,
against which they have no defence but by creeping into
cellars or caves, while the roofs of their houſes are bea-
ten to pieces. But if they ftill continue obftinate, or
offer to raife infurrections, he proceeds to the laſt re-
medy, by letting the iſland drop directly upon their
heads, which makes a univerſal deſtruction both of
houſes and men. However, this is an extremity to
which the prince is feldom driven, neither indeed is he
willing to put it in execution, nor dare his minifters ad-
vife him to an action, which, as it would render them
odious to the people, fo it would be a great damage to
their own eftates, which lie all below, for the island is
the king's demefne.
But there is still indeed a more weighty reaſon, why
the kings of this country have been always averle from
executing fo terrible an action, unleſs upon the utmoſt
neceffity. For if the town, intended to be deftroyed,
fhould have in it any tall rocks, as it generally falls out
in the larger cities, a fituation probably choſen at firſt
with a view to prevent fuch a catastrophe; or if it
abound in high fpires, or pillars of tone, a fudden fall
might endanger the bottom or under-furface of the if-
land;
160 A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
land: which, although it confifts, as I have faid, of
one entire adamant, two hundred yards thick, might
happen to crack by too great a check, or burft by ap-
proaching too near the fires from the houſes below, as
the backs both of iron and ftone will often do in our
chimnies. Of all this the people are well apprized, and
underſtand how far to carry their obftinacy, where their
liberty or property is concerned. And the king, when
he is higheft provoked, and moſt determined to prefs a
city to rubbish, orders the island to defcend with great
gentleness, out of a pretence of tenderness to his people,
but indeed for fear of breaking the adamantine bottom;
in which caſe it is the opinion of all the philofophers,
that the load-ftone could no longer hold it up, and the
whole mafs would fall to the ground.
By a fundamental law of this realm, neither the king,
nor either of his two elder fons, are permitted to leave
the iſland; nor the queen, till fhe is paſt child-bearing.
CHAP. IV.
The author leaves Laputa, is conveyed to Balnibarbi,
arrives at the metropolis. A defcription of the metropolis,
and the country adjoining. The author hofpitably received
by a great lord. His converfation with that lord.
ALTHOUGH I cannot fay that I was ill-treated in
this ifland, yet I must confefs I thought myſelf too
much neglected, not without fome degree of contempt.
For neither prince nor people appeared to be curious in
any part of knowledge, except mathematics and muſic,
wherein I was far their inferior, and upon that account
very little regarded.
On the other fide, after having feen all the curiofities
of the iſland, I was very delirous to leave it, being
heartily weary of theſe people. They were indeed ex-
cellent for two fciences, for which I have great efteem,
and wherein I am not unverfed; but at the fame time
fo abftracted and involved in fpeculation, that I never
met with fuch difagreeable companions.. I converſed
only with women, tradefinen, flappers, and court pages,
during two months of my abode here, by which, at laft,
I ren-
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
I rendered myself extremely contemptible, yet theſe were
the only people from whom I could ever receive a rea-
fonable anfwer.
I had obtained, by hard ftudy, a good degree of
knowledge in their language; I was weary of being
confined to an island where I received fo little counte-
nance, and refolved to leave it with the firft opportunity.
There was a great lord at court nearly related to the
king, and for that reafon alone ufed with refpect. He
was univerfally reckoned the most ignorant and ftupid
perfon among them. He had performed many eminent
fervices for the crown, had great natural and acquired
parts, adorned with integrity and honour, but fo ill an
ear for mufic, that his detractors reported he had been
often known to beat time in the wrong place; neither
could his tutors, without extreme difficulty, teach him
to demonſtrate the most eafy propofition in the mathe-
matics. He was pleased to fhew me many marks of
favour, often did me the honour of a vifit, defired to be
informed in the affairs of Europe, the laws and cuſtoms,
the manners and learning, of the feveral countries where
I had travelled. He liftened to me with great attention,
and made very wife obfervations on all I fpoke. He
had two flappers attending him for ftate, but never
made ufe of them, except at court and in vifits of cere-
mony, and would always command them to withdraw
when we were alone together.
I intreated this illuftiious perſon to intercede in my
behalf with his majefty for leave to depart; which he
accordingly did, as he was pleafed to tell me, with re-
gret: for indeed he had made me feveral offers very ad-
vantageous, which, however, I refufed, with expreffions
of the higheſt acknowledgment.
On the 16th day of February I took leave of his ma→
jefty and the court. The king made me a prefent to the
value of above two hundred pounds Engliſh, and my
protector, his kinfman, as much more, together with a
letter of recommendation to a friend of his in Lagado,
the metropolis: the ifland being then hovering over
.0 3
mountain
162
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
mountain about two miles from it, I was let down from
the loweſt gallery in the fame manner as I had been
taken up.
The continent, as far as it is fubject to the monarch
of the flying iſland, paffes under the general name of
Balnibarbi, and the metropolis, as I faid before, is called
Lagado. I felt fome little fatisfaction in finding my-
felf on firm ground. I walked to the city without any
concern, being clad like one of the natives, and fuffi-
ciently inftructed to converfe with them. I foon found
out the perfon's houfe to whom I was recommended,
prefented my letter from his friend the grandee in the
ifland, and was received with much kindneſs. This great
lord, whofe name was Munodi, ordered me an apart
ment in his own houfe, where I continued during my
ftay, and was entertained in a moſt hofpitable manner.
The next morning after my arrival, he took me inhis
chariot to fee the town, which is about half the bignefs
of London, but the houfes very ftrangely built, and
moſt of them out of repair. The people in the ſtreets
walked faſt, looked wild, their eyes Axed, and were ge-
nerally in rags. We paffed through one of the town-
gates, and went about three miles into the country,
where I faw many labourers working with feveral fòrts
of tools in the ground, but was not able to conjecture
what they were about; neither did I obferve any expec
tation either of corn or graſs, although the foil appeared
to be excellent. I could not forbear admiring at theſe
odd appearances both in town and country, and I made
bold to defire my conductor, that he would be pleaſed to
explain to me what could be meant by fo many buſy
heads, hands, and faces, both in the ftreets and the fields,
becauſe I did not difcover any good effects they produced;
but, on the contrary, I never knew a foil fo unhappily
cultivated, houfes fo ill contrived, and fo ruinous, or a
people whofe countenances and habit expreffed ſo much
mifery and want.
This lord Munodi was-a perfon of the firſt rank, and
had been fome years governor of Lagado but by a
*
cabal
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
163
ها
cabal of minilters was difcharged for infufficiency.
However, the king treated him with tendernels, as a
well meaning man, but of a low contemptible under-
Atanding.
Who I gave that free cenfure of the country and its
inhabitants, be made no further anſwer than by telling
me, that I had not been long enough among them to
form a judgment; and that the different nations of the
world had different customs, with other common topics,
to the fame purpofe. But when we returned to his pa-
lace, he asked me how I liked the building, what ab-
furdities I obferved, and what quarrel I had with the
dreſs and looks of his domeftics. This he might fafely
do, becauſe every thing about him was magnificent, re-
gular, and polite. I anfwered, that his excellency's
prudence, quality, and fortune, had exempted him from
thofe defects which folly and beggary had produced in
others. He faid, if I would go with him to his country
houle, about twenty miles diflant, where his eftate lay,
there would be more leifure for this kind of converfà-
tion. I told his excellency that I was entirely at his dif-
pofal; and accordingly we fet out next morning.
During our journey, he made me obferve the feveral
methods ufed by farmers in managing their lands, which
to me were wholly unaccountable; for, except in fome
very few places, I could not diſcover one ear of corn, or
blade of grass. But in three hours travelling, the ſcene
was wholly altered; we came into a most beautiful coun-
try; farmers houfes at fmall diſtances, neatly built ;-
the fields inclofed, containing vine-yards, corn-grounds,
and meadows. Neither do I remember to have feen a
more delightful profpect. His excellency obferved my
countenance to clear up; he told me, with a figh, that
there his eftate began, and would continue the fame till
we should come to his houfe; that his countrymen ridi- ·
culed and deſpiſed him for managing his affairs no bet-
ter, and for fetting fo ill an example to the kingdom,
which, however, was followed by very few, fuch as were
old, and`wilful, and weak, like himflf.
i
We
164
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
We came at length to the houfe; which was indeed
a noble ſtructure, built according to the beſt rules of
ancient architecture. The fountains, gardens, walks,
avenues, and groves, were all difpofed with exact judg-
ment and taſte. I gave due praiſe to every thing I faw;
whereof his excellency took not the leaft notice till after
fupper, when, there being no third companion, he told
me, with a very melancholy air, that he doubted he muſt
throw down his houſes in town and country, to rebuild
them after the prefent mode, deftroy all his plantations,
and caft others in fuch a form as modern ufage required,
and give the fame directions to all his tenants, unleſs he
would fubmit to incur the cenfure of pride, fingularity,
affectation, ignorance, caprice, and perhaps increaſe his
majeſty's diſpleaſure.
That the admiration I appeared to be under would
ceafe or diminish, when he had informed me of fome
particulars, which, probably, I never heard of at court;
the people there being too much taken up in their own
fpeculations, to have regard to what paffed here be-
low.
The fum of this difcourfe was to this effect: that,
about forty years ago, certain perfons went up to La
puta, either upon bufinefs or diverfion, and after five
months continuance, came back with a very little fmat-
tering in mathematics, but full of volatile fpirits ac-
quired in that airy region. That theſe perfons upon
their return began to dislike the management of every
thing below, and fell into fchemes of putting all arts,
fciences, languages, and mechanics, upon a new foot.
To this end they procured a royal patent for erecting
an academy of projectors in Lagado; and the humour
prevailed fo ftrongly among the people, that there is not
a town of any confequence in the kingdom without fuch
an academy. In thefe colleges, the profeffors contrive
new rules and methods of agriculture and building, and
new inftruments and tools for all trades, and manufac
tures; whereby, as they undertake, one man fhall do
the work of ten; a palace may be built in a week, of
materials
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
~165
materials fo durable as to laft for ever, without re-
pairing; all the fruits of the earth fhall come to matu-
Fity at whatever feafon we think fit to chufe, and in-
creaſe an hundred fold more than they do at preſent,
with innumerable other happy propofals. The only
inconvenience is, that none of thefe projects are yet
brought to perfection, and in the mean time the whole
country lies miferably wafte, the houſes in ruins, and
the people without food or cloaths. By all which, in-
ftead of being difcouraged, they are fifty times more
violently bent upon profecuting their fchemes, driven
equally on by hope and defpair: that as for himſelf, be-
ing not of an enterprizing fpirit, he was content to go
on in the old forms, to live in the houſes his ancestors
had built, and act as they did in every part of life with-
out innovation: that fome few other perfons of quality
and gentry had done the fame, but were looked on with
contempt and ill-will, as enemies to art, ignorant and
ill commonwealthfmen, preferring their own eafe and
floth before the general improvement of their coun-
try.
His lordship added, that he would not by any further
particulars prevent the pleafure I fhould certainly take
in viewing the grand academy, whither he was refolved
I fhould go.
He only defired me to obfèrve, a ruined
building upon the ſide of a mountain about three miles
diftant, of which he gave me this account: that he had
a very convenient mill within half a mile of his houfe,
turned by a current from a large river, and fufficient
for his own family, as well as a great number of his te-
nants that, about feven years ago, a club of thoſe
projectors came to him with propofals to deftroy this
mill, and build another on the fide of that mountain, on
the long ridge, whereof a long canal must be cut for a
repofitory of water to be conveyed up by pipes and en-
gines to fupply the mill: becauſe the wind and air upon
an height agitated the water, and thereby made it fitter
for motion; and becauſe the water, defcending down à
declivity, would turn the mill with half the current of a
river:
•
!
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
1.55
river, whoſe courfe is more upon a level. He faid, that
being then not very well with the court, and preffed by
many of his friends, he complied with the propofal ;—
and, after employing an hundred men for two years,
the work mifcarried, the projectors went off, laying the
blame entirely upon him, railing at him ever fince, and
putting others upon the fame experiment, with equal af-
furance of fuccefs, as well as equal difappointment.
In a few days we came back to town, and his excel-
lency, confidering the bad character he had in the aca-
demy, would not go with me himſelf, but recommended
me to a friend of his to bear me company thither. My
lord was pleaſed to repreſent me as a great admirer of
projects, and a perfon of much curiofity and eaſy belief,
which, indeed, was not without truth, for I had myſelf
been a fort of projector in my younger days.
CHAP. V.
The author permitted to fee the grand academy of La-
gado. The academy largely defcribed. The arts wherein
the profeſſors employ themselves.*
THIS academy is not an entire fingle building, but
a continuation of feveral houfes on both ſides of a
ftreet, which growing wafte was purchaſed and applied
to that uſe.
I was received very kindly by the. warden, and went
for many days to the academy. Every room hath in it
one or more projectors, and I believe I could not be in
fewer than five hundred rooms.
The first man I faw was of a meagre afpect, with footy
hands
* However wild the defcription of the flying island, and the
manners and various projects of the philofophers of Lagado may
appear, yet it is a real picture, embellished with much latent wit
and humour. ORRERY.
[This note in general feems to be a teftimony of his lordship's
approbation, but it is not eaſy to difcover what in particular is
meant by the word real, fince every picture is a real picture.
whether it be copied from nature or fancy; and indeed it is
equally difficult to conceive how a picture of any kind can be
embelliſhed with that which is hidden.]
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA,&c.
167
hands and face, his hair and beard long, ragged, and
finged in feveral places: his cloaths, fhirt, and ſkin,
were all of the fame colour. He had been eight years
upon a project for extracting fun-beams out of cucum-
bers, which were to be put into vials hermetically fealed,
and let out to warm the air in raw inclement fummers.
He told me, he did not doubt in eight years more, he
ſhould be able to ſupply the governor's garden with fun-
fhine at a reaſonable rate; but he complained that his
ftock was low, and entreated me to give him fomething
as an encouragement to ingenuity, efpecially fince this
had been a very dear feafon for cucumbers. I made him
a finall prefent, for my lord had furniſhed me with mo-
ney on purpoſe, becauſe he knew their practice of beg-
ging from all who go to fee them.
I went into another chamber, but was ready to haſten
back, being almoft overcome with a horrid ftink. My
conductor preſſed me forward, conjuring me, in a whif-
per, to give no offence, which would be highly refented,
and therefere I durft not fo much as ftop my nofe.-
The projector of this cell was the most ancient ſtudent
of the academy: his face and beard were of a pale
yellow his hand and cloaths daubed over with filth.
When I was prefented to him, he gave me a very cloſe
embrace, (a compliment I could have well excufed.)-
His employment, from his firſt coming into the academy,
was an operation to reduce human excrement to its ori
ginal food, by feparating the feveral parts, removing
the tincture which it receives from the gall, making the
ordure exhale, and ſcumming off the faliva. He had a
weekly allowance from the fociety of a veffel filled with
human ordure, about the bignefs of a Briſtol barrel.
I faw another at work to calcine ice into gunpowder,
who likewife fhewed me a treatife he had written, con-
cerning the malleability of fire, which he intended to
publiſh.
There was a moſt ingenious architect, who had con-
trived a new method for building houfes, by beginning
at the roof and working downwards to the foundation,
which
168.
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA. &c.
which he juftified to me by the like practice of thofe two
prudent infects, the bee and the fpider.
There was a man born blind, who had ſeveral appren-
tices in his own condition: their employment was to mix
colours for painters, which their master taught them to
diftinguifh by feeling and fmelling. It was indeed my
misfortune to find them at that time not very perfect in
their leffons, and the profeffor himself happened to be
generally mistaken: this artift is much encouraged and
efteemed by the whole fraternity.
In another apartment I was highly pleaſed with a pro-
jector, who had found a device of ploughing the ground
with hogs, to fave the charges of ploughs, cattle, and
labour. The method is this: in an acre of ground you
bury at fix inches distance, and eight deep, a quantity
of acorns, dates, chefnuts, and other maſte or vegetables,
whereof theſe animals are the fordelt: then you drive fix
hundred or more of them into the field, where in a few
days they will root up the whole ground in fearch of their
food, and make it fit for fowing; at the fame time manur-
ing it with their dung. It is true, upon experiment,
they found the charge and trouble very great, and they
had little or no crop: however, it is not doubted that
this invention may be capable of great improvement.
I went into another room where the walls and cielings
were all hung round with cobwebs, exeept a narrow
paffage for the artiſt to go in and out. At my entrance,
he called aloud to me not to disturb his webs. He la
mented the fatal miſtake the world had been fo long in,
of using filk-worms, while he had fuch a plenty of domeftic
infects, who infinitely excelled the former, becauſe they
underſtood how to weave as well as fpin. And he pro-
pofed farther, that, by employing fpiders, the charge of
dying filks would be wholly faved, whereof I was fully
convinced, when he fhewed me a vast number of flies,
moft beautifully coloured, wherewith he fed his fpiders,
afluring us, that the webs would take a tincture from
them; and as he had them of all hues, he hoped to fuit
every body's fancy as foon as he could find proper food
for
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
169
for the flies, of certain gums, oils, and other glutinous
matter, to give a ſtrength and confiftence to the threads.
There was an aftronomer who had undertaken to place
a fun-dial upon the great weather-cock on the town houſe,
by adjusting the annual and diurnal motions of the earth
and fun, fo as to anſwer and coincide with all accidental
turnings of the wind,
I was complaining of a ſmall fit of the cholic, upon
which my conductor led me into a room, where a great
phyſician reſided, who was famous for curing that dif-
eafe by contrary operations from the fame inftrument.-
He had a large pair of bellows, with a long flender muz-
zle of ivory. This he conveyed eight inches up the anus,
and drawing in the wind, he affirmed he could make the
guts as lank as a dried bladder. But when the diſeaſe
was more stubborn, he let in the muzzle, while the bellows
were full of wind, which he diſcharged into the body of
the patient, then withdrew the inftrument to repleniſh it,
clapping his thumb ftrongly againſt the orifice of the
fundament; and this being repeated three or four times,
the adventitious wind would rush out, bringing the
noxious along with it (like water put into a pump) and
the patient recover. I faw him try both experiments
upon a dog, but could not difcern any effect from the
former. After the latter, the animal was ready to burft,
and made fo violent a diſcharge, as was very offenfive to
me and my companions. The dog died on the ſpot, and
we left the doctor endeavouring to recover him by the
fame operation.
I visited many other apartments, but ſhall not trouble
my reader with all the curiofities I oblerved, being
fludious of brevity.
I had hitherto feen only one fide of the academy, the
other being appropriated to the advancers of fpeculative
learning, of whom I shall fay fomething when I have
mentioned one illuftrious perfon more, who is called a-
mong them the Univerfal Artift. He told us, he had
been thirty years employing his thoughts for the improve-
ment of human life, He had two large rooms full of
wonderful
Р
176 -
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
wonderful curiofities, and fifty men at work. Some
were condenfing air into a dry tangible ſubſtance, by
extracting the nitre, and letting the aqueous or fluid
particles percolate; others foftening marble for pillows
and pincushions, others petrifying the hoofs of a living
horfe to preferve them from foundering. The artiſt him-
felf was at that time bufy upon two great defigns; the
first to fow land with chaff, wherein he affirmed the true
feminal virtue to be contained, as he demonftrated by
feveral experiments, which I was not ſkilful enough to
comprehend. The other was, by a certain compofition
of gums, minerals, and vegetables outwardly applied, to
prevent the growth of wool upon two young lambs; and
he hoped in a reaſonable time to propagate the breed of
naked ſheep all over the kingdom.
We croffed a walk to the other part of the academy,
where, as I have already faid the projectors in fpecula-
tive learning refided.
The first profeffor I faw was in a very large room, with
forty pupils about him. After falutation, obferving me
to look earnestly upon a frame, which took up the greateſt
part of both the length and breadth of the room, he ſaid,
perhaps I might wonder to fee him employed in a project
for improving fpeculative knowledge by practical and
mechanical operation. But the world would foon be
fenfible of its uſefulneſs, and he flattered himself that a
more noble exalted thought never fprung in any other
man's head. Every one knew how laborious the ufual
method is of attaining the arts and ſciences: whereas by
his contrivance the most ignorant perfon, at a reaſonable
charge, and with a little bodily labour, may write books
in philofophy, poetry, politics, law, mathematics, and
theology, without the leaft affiftance from genius and
ftudy. He then led me to the frame, about the fides
whereof all his pupils ftood in ranks. It was twenty
feet fquare, placed in the middle of the room. The fu-
perficies were compofed of ſeveral bits of wood, about the
bigness of a dye, but fome larger than others. They
were all linked together by flender wires, Thefe bits
of
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
171
of wood were covered on every fquare with papers pafted
on them, and on theſe papers were written all the words
of their language, in their ſeveral moods, tenſes, and de-
clenfions, but without any order. The profeſſor then
deſired me to obferve, for he was going to fet his engine
at work. The pupils at his command took each of them
hold of an iron handle, whereof there were forty fixed
round the edges of the frame; and giving them a fudden
turn, the whole difpofition of the words was entirely
changed. He then commanded fix and thirty of the lads
to read the ſeveral lines, foftly, as they appeared upon the
frame; and where they found three or four words toge-
ther that might make part of a ſentence, they dictated to
the four remaining boys, who were fcribes. This
work was repeated three or four times, and at every
turn the engine was fo contrived, that the words fhifted
into new places, as the ſquare bits of wood moved upſide
down.
Six hours a day the young ſtudents were employed in
this labour, and the profeffor fhewed me feveral volumes
in large folio already collected, of broken fentences,
which he intended to piece together, and out of thoſe
rich materials to give the world a complete copy of arts
and fciences; which, however, might be ftill improved,
and much expedited, if the public would raiſe a fund for
making and employing five hundred fuch frames in La-
gado, and oblige the managers to contribute in common
their feveral collections.
He aſſured me, that this invention had employed all
his thoughts from his youth, that he had emptied the
whole vocabulary into his frame, and made the ſtricteſt
computation of the general proportion there is in books
between the number of particles, nouns, and verbs, and
other parts of ſpeech.
I made my humbleft acknowledgments to this illuf-
trious perfon for his great communicativenefs, and pro-
mifed, if ever I had the good fortune to return to my
native country, that I would do him juftice, as the fole
inventor of this wonderful machine; the form and con-
P 2
trivance
172
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
trivance of which I defired leave to delineate upon paper,
as in the figure here annexed. I told him although it were
the custom of our learned in Europe to fteal inventions
from each other, who had thereby at leaſt this advantage,
that it became a controverfy which was the right owner,
yet I would take fuch caution, that he ſhould have the
honour entire without a rival.
肉肉
​灣
​F F F F F F F F F F T
N
لنا اليه
P T T T T T F S T T
We next went to the fchool of languages, where three
profeffors fat in confultation upon improving that of their-
own country.
The first project was to ſhorten difcourfe; by cutting po-
lyfyllables into one, and leaving out verbs and participles,
becaufe in reality all things imaginable are but nouns.
The other was the fcheme for entirely abolishing all
words whatfoever; and this was urged as a great advan-
tage in point of health as well as brevity. For it is
plain, that every word we fpeak is in fome degree a di-
minution of our lungs by corrofion, and confequently
contributes to the fhortening of our lives. An expedi-
ent
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
173
ent was therefore offered, that, fince words are only
names for things, it would be more convenient for all
men, to carry about them fuch Things as were neceffary
to express the particular buſineſs they are to difcourfe on.
And this invention would certainly have taken place, to
the great eaſe as well as health of the fubject, if the wo-
men in conjunction with the vulgar and illiterate, had
not threatened to raiſe a rebellion, unless they might be
allowed the liberty to ſpeak with their tongues, after the
manner of their anceſtors; fuch conftant irreconcileable
enemies to fcience are the common people. However,
inany of the moſt learned and wife adhere to the new ſcheme
of expreffing themſelves by Things, which hath only this
inconvenience attending it, that if a man's bufinefs be
very great, and of various kinds, he muſt be obliged in
proportion to carry a great bundle of Things upon his
back, unless he can afford one or two ftrong fervants to
attend him. I have often beheld two of thofe fages almoft
finking under the weight of their packs, like pedlars
amongst us; who, when they met in the ſtreets, would
lay down their loads, open their facks, and hold conver-
fation for an hour together; then put up their implements,
help each other to refume their burthens, and take their
leave.
But for ſhort converfations, a man may carry imple-
ments in his pockets and under his arms, enough to fup-
ply him, and in his houſe he cannot be at a lofs: there-
fore the room where company meet, who practiſe this
art, are full of all Things ready at hand, requifite to fur-
nish matter for this kind of artificial converfe.
Another great advantage propofed by this invention,
was, that it would ferve as an univerfal language to be
underſtood in all civilized nations, whofe goods and u-
tenfils are generally of the fame kind, or nearly re-
fembling, fo that their uſes might easily be comprehended.
And thus ambaſſadors would be qualified to treat with
foreign princes or minifters of state, to whoſe tongues
they were utter ftrangers.
I was at the mathematical fchool, where the maſter
P 3
taught
1\x74
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
taught his pupils after a method fcarce imaginable to us
in Europe. The propofition and demonſtrations were
fairly written on a wafer, with ink compofed of a če-
phalic tincture. This the ftudent was to fwallow upon
a fafting ftomach, and for three days following eat no-
thing but bread and water. As the wafer digefted, the
tincture mounted to his brain, bearing the propofition
along with it. But the fuccefs hath not hitherto been
anſwerable, partly by fome error in the Quantum or com-
pofition, and partly by the perverfenefs of lads, to whom
this bolus is fo naufeous that they generally ſteal afide
and diſcharge it upwards before it can operate: neither
have they been yet perfuaded to uſe fo long an abftinence
as the preſcription requires.
CHAP. VI.
A further account of the academy. The author propofes
fome improvements which are bonourably received.
IN the fchool of political projectors I was but ill en-
tertained, the profeffors appearing, in my judgment,
wholly out of their fenfes, which is a fcene that never
fails to make me melancholy. Thefe unhappy people
were propofing ſchemes for perfuading monarchs to chuſe
favourites upon the ſcore of their wildom, capacity, and
virtue; of teaching minifters to confult the public good;
of rewarding merit, great abilities, and eminent fervices;
of inftructing princes to know their true interefis, by
placing it on the fame foundation with that of their peo-
ple: of chufing for employments perfons qualified to ex-
ercife them, with many other wild impoffible chimæras,
that never entered before into the heart of man to con-
ceive, and confirmed in me the old obfervation, that there
is nothing fo extravagant and irrational which fome phi-
lofophers have not maintained for truth.
But, however, I ſhall ſo far do justice to this part of
the academy, as to acknowledge that all of them were
not ſo viſionáry. There was a moſt ingenious doctor
who feemed to be perfectly verfed in the whole nature
and ſyſtem of government. This illuſtrious perſon had
very
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
175
very ufefully employed his ftudies in finding out effectual
remedies for all difeafes and corruptions to which the fe-
veral kinds of public adminiftration are fubject by the
vices or infirmities of thofe who govern, as well as by
the licentiouſneſs of thoſe who are to obey. For inftance,
whereas all writers and reafoners have agreed, that there
is a ftrict univerfal reſemblance between the natural and
the political body; can there be any thing more evident,
than that the health of both muſt be preserved, and the
difeafes cured by the fame prefcriptions? it is allowed,
that fenates and great councils are often troubled with
redundant, ebullient, and other peccant humours, with
many diſeaſes of the head, and more of the heart; with
trong convulfions, with grievous contractions of the
nerves and finews in both hands, but efpecially the right;
with ſpleen, flatus, vertigoes, and deliriums; with fcro-
phulous tumours, full of foetid purulent matter; with
four frothy eructations, with canine appetites and crude-
nefs of digeftion, beſides many others, needleſs to mention.
This doctor therefore propofed, that, upon the meet-
ing of a fenate, certain phyficians ſhould attend at the
three first days of their fitting; and at the clofe of each
day's debate, feel the pulfe of every fenator; after which,
having maturely confidered, and confulted upon the na-
ture of the feveral maladies, and the methods of cure,
they ſhould, on the fourth day, return to the fenate houſe
attended by their apothecaries, ftored with proper medi-
cines; and, before the members fat, adminiſter to each of
them lenitives, aperitives, abſterfives, corrofives, aftrin-
gents, palliatives, laxatives, cephalalgics, icterics, apo-
plegmatics, acoustics, as their feveral cafes required;
and according as thefe medicines fhould operate, repeat,
alter or omit them at the next meeting.
This project could not be of any great expence to the
public, and would in my poor opinion, be of much uſe
for the dispatch of bufinefs in thofe countries where.fe-
nates have any fhare in the legiſlative power, beget una ◄
nimity, fhorten debates, open a few mouths which are
now cloſed, and clofe many more which are now open;
curb
176 A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
curb the petulancy of the young, and correct the poſitive-
nefs of the old, roufe the ftupid, and damp the pert.
Again, becauſe it is a general complaint that the fa-
vourites of princes are troubled with ſhort and weak me-
mories, the fame doctor propofed, that whoever attended
a firſt miniſter, after having told his buſineſs with the ut-
mof brevity, and in the plaineft words, fhould at his
departure give the faid miniſter a tweak by the nofe, or
a kick in the belly, or tread on his corns, or lug him
thrice by both ears, or run a pin into his breech, or
pinch his arm black and blue, to prevent forgetfulneſs;
and at every levee-day repeat the fame operation till the
bulinefs was done or abfolutely refuſed.
He likewife directed, that every fenator in a great
council of a nation, after he had delivered his opinion
and argued in the defence of it, fhould be obliged to
give his vote directly contrary; becaufe if that were
done, the refult would infallibly terminate in the good
of the public.
When parties in a ſtate are violent, he offered a won->
derful contrivance to reconcile them. The method is
this: : you take an hundred leaders of each party, you
difpofe them into couples of fuch whofe heads are
neareſt of a fize; then let two nice operators faw off
the occiput of each couple at the fame time, in ſuch a
manner that the brain may be equally divided. Let
the occiputs thus cut off be interchanged, applying each
to the head of his oppofite party man. It feems in-
deed to be a work that requireth fome exactneſs ;
but the profeffor affured us, that, if it were dexterously
performed, the cure would be infallible. For he urged
thus that the two half brains being left to debate the
matter between themſelves within the space of one ſkull,
would foon come to a good underſtanding, and produce
that moderation as well as regularity of thinking, fo
much to be wifhed for in the heads of thoſe, who ima-
gine they come into the world only to watch and govern
its motion and as to the difference of brains in quan-
ti.y or quality, among thoſe who are directors in fac-
:
•
tion
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
177
tion, the doctor affured us from his own knowledge, that
it was a perfect trifle.
I heard a very warm debate between two profeffors,
about the most commodious and effectual ways and
means of raising money without grieving the fubjects.
The firſt affirmed, the jufteft method would be to lay a
tax upon vice and folly, and the fum fixed upon every
man to be rated after the fairest manner by a jury of his
neighbours. The fecond was an opinion directly con-
trary, to tax thofe qualities of body and mind for which
men chiefly value themfelves, the rate to be more or lefs
according to the degrees of excelling, the deciſion where-
of ſhould be left entirely to their own breafts. The
higheſt tax was upon men, who are the greateft favour-
ites of their own fex, and the affeffinents according to
the number and nature of the favours they have receiv-
ed; for which they are allowed to be their own vouchers.
Wit, valour, and politenefs were likewife propoſed to
be largely taxed, and collected in the fame manner, by
every perfon giving his own word for the quantum of
what he poffeffed. But, as to honour, juſtice, wiſdom,
and learning, they fhould not be taxed at all, becauſe
they are qualities of fo fingular a kind, that no man will
either allow them in his neighbour, or value them him-
felf.
The women were propofed to be taxed according to
their beauty and ſkill in dreffing, wherein they had the
fame privilege with the men, to be determined by their
own judgment. But conftancy, chaſtity, good fenfe, and
good nature, were not rated, becaufe they would not bear
the charge of collecting.
To keep fenators in the intereft of the crown, it was
propoſed that the members fhould raffle for employments,
every man firſt taking an oath, and giving fecurity that
he would vote for the court, whether he won or not after
which the lofers had in their turn the liberty of raffling
upon the next vacancy. Thus hope and expectation
would be kept alive, none would complain of broken pro-
miſes, but impute their diſappointments wholly to for-
tune,
178
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
tune, whoſe ſhoulders are broader and ſtronger than thoſe
of a miniſtry.
Another profeffor fhewed me a large paper of inftruc-
tions for diſcovering plots and confpiracies againſt the
government. He adviſed great ſtateſmen to examine into
the diet of all fufpected perfons; their times of eating;
upon which fide they lay in bed; with which hand they
wiped their pofteriors; to take a ſtrict view of their ex-
crements, and from the colour, the odour, the taſte, the
confiftence, the crudeness, or maturity of digeftion, form
a judgment of their thoughts and deſigns: becauſe men
are never fo ferious, thoughtful, and intent, as when
they are at ftool, which he found by frequent experiment.
For in fuch conjectures, when he ufed merely as a trial
to confider which was the best way of murdering the king,
his odure would have a tincture of green, but quite dif-
ferent when he thought only of raiſing an infurrection,
or burning the metropolis.
·
The whole difcourfe was written with great acuteness,
containing many obfervations both curious and uſeful
for politicians, but as I conceived, not altogether com-
plete. This I ventured to tell the author, and offered,
if he pleaſed, to fupply him with fome additions. He re-
ceived my propofition with more compliance than is uſual
among writers, eſpecially thofe of the projecting fpecies,
profeffing he would be glad to receive further informa
tion.
I told him, that ſhould I happen to live in a kingdom
where plots and confpiracies were either in vogue from
the turbulency of the meaner people, or could be turned
to the uſe and ſervice of the higher rank of them, I firſt
would take care to cherish and encourage the breed of
difcoverers, witneffes, informers, accufers, profecutors,
evidences, fwearers, together with their feveral fubfer-
vient and fubaltern inftruments; and, when I had got a
competent number of them, of all forts of capacities, I
would put them under the colour and conduct of fome
dexterous perfons in fufficient power both to protect and
reward them. Men thus qualified, and thus empowered,
might
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
179
might make a moft excellent uſe and advantage of plots;
they might raife their own characters, and paſs for
most profound politicians; they might reſtore new vi-
gour to a crazy adminiſtration; they might ſtifle or divert
general diſcontents; fill their pockets with forfeitures;
and advance or fink the opinion of public credit, as
either might anſwer their private advantage. This
might be done by firft agreeeing among themfelves
what fufpected perfons fhould be accufed of a plot.
Then effectual care is taken to fecure all their letters
and papers, and put the criminal in ſafe and ſecure
cuftody. Thefe papers might be delivered to a ſet of
artifts of dexterity fufficient to find out the myſterious
meaning of words, fyllables, and letters. They ſhould
be allowed to put what interpretation they pleaſed up-
on them, giving them a fenfe not only which hath no
relation at all to them, but even what is quite con-
trary to the true intent and real meaning; thus, for
inſtance, they may, if they fo fancy, interpret a ſieve to
fignify a court-lady; a lame dog,* an invader ; the
plague, a ſtanding army; a buzzard, a great ſtateſman
the gout, a high prieft; a chamber-pot, a committee of
grandees; a broom, a revolution; a mouſe trap, an em-
ployment; a bottomlefs pit, a treaſury; a fink, a court;
a cap and bells, a favourite; a broken reed, a court of
juftice; an empty tun, a general; a running fore, an
adminiftration.
But ſhould this method fail, recourſe might be had to
others more effectual, by learned men called acroftics
and anagrams. Firſt might be found men of ſkill and pe-
netration who can difcern that all initial letters have po-
litical meanings. Thus N fhall fignify a plot, B a regi-
ment of horſe, L a fleet at fea; or fecondly, by tranfpo-
fing the letters of the alphabet in any fufpected paper, who
can diſcover the deepeſt deſigns of a difcontented party.
So for example, if I ſhould ſay in a letter to my friend,
“ Our brother Tom has juſt got the piles," a man of ſkill
in
*See the proceedings againſt Dr. Atterbury, Bp, of Rochef-
ter, State Trials, Vol. VI.
180
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
in this art would diſcover how the fame letters which
compofe that fentence, may be analyfed into the follow.
ing words: "Reſiſt a plot is brought home-the
tour." And this is the anagrammatic method.
The profeffor made me great acknowledgements for
communicating theſe obfervations, and promiſed to make
honourable mention of me in his treatiſe.
I faw nothing in this country that could invite me to
a longer continuance, and began to think of returning
home to England.
CHAP. VII.
The author leaves Lagado, arrives at Maldonada.—No
Ship ready.-He takes a fhort voyage to Glubbdubdribb.-
His reception by the governor.
THE continent, of which this kingdom was a part,
extends itſelf, as I have reafon to believe, eastward
to the unknown tract of America, weftward of Califor-
nia, and north to the Pacific Ocean, which is not above
an hundred and fifty miles from Lagado, where there is
a good port, and much commerce with the great iſland of
Luggnagg, fituated to the north-weft about 29 degrees
north latitude, and 140 longitude. This ifland of Lugg-
nagg ftands fouth eastwards of Japan, about an hundred
leagues diftant. There is a ftrict alliance between the
Japaneſe emperor and the king of Luggnagg, which af-
fords frequent opportunities of failing from one ifland to
the other. I determined, therefore, to direct my courſe
this way, in order to my return to Europe. I hired-two
mules, with a guide to fhew me the way, and carry my
fmall baggage. I took leave of my noble protector,
who had fhewn me fo much favour, and made me a ge-
nerous prefent at my departure.
My journey was without any accident or adventure
worth relating. When I arrived at the port of Mal-
donada, (for fo it is called) there was no fhip in the har-
bour, bound to Luggnagg, nor like to be in fome time.-
The town is about as large as Portfmouth. I foon fell
into fome acquaintance, and was very hofpitably received.
A gentleman of diftinction faid to me, that, fince the
thips!
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &C.
181
fhips bound for Luggnagg could not be ready in lefs
than a month, it might be no difagreeable amufement for
me to take a trip to the little iſland of Glubbdubdribb,
about five leagues off to the fouth-weft. He offered
himſelf and a friend to accompany me, and that I ſhould
be provided with a fmall convenient barque for the
voyage.
Glubbdubdribb, as nearly as I can interpret the
word, fignifies the iſland of Sorcerers or Magicians. It is
about one-third as large as the Ifle of Wight, and ex-
tremely fruitful: it is governed by the head of a certain
tribe, who are all magicians. This tribe marries only
among each other, and the eldest in fucceffion is prince
or governor. He hath a noble palace, and a park of
about three thouſand acres, furrounded by a wall of hewn
ftone twenty feet high. In this park are ſeveral ſmaller
inclofures for cattle, corn, and gardening.
The governor and his family are ferved and attend-
ed by domeſtics of a kind fomewhat unusual. By his
fkill in necromancy, he hath a power of calling whom he
pleaſeth from the dead, and cominanding their fervice
for twenty-four hours, but no longer; nor can he call
the fame perfon up again in lefs than three months, ex-
cept on very extraordinary occafions.
When we arrived at the ifland, which was about
eleven in the morning, one of the gentlemen who ac-
companied me, went to the governor, and defired ad-
mittance for a ftranger, who came on purpoſe to have
the honour of attending on his highnefs. This was
immediately granted, and we all three entered the gate
of the palace between two rows of guards, armed and
dreſſed after a very antic manner, and fomething in their
countenances that makes my flesh creep with a horror I
cannot exprefs. We paffed through feveral apartinents
between fervants of the fame fort, ranked on each side as
before, till we came to the chamber of prefence: where
after three profound obeylances, and a few general quef-
tions, we were permitted to fit on three ftools near the
loyeft fteps of his highness's throne. He understood
Q
the
782
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA; &C.
the language of Balnibarbi, although it were different
from that of this iſland. He defired me to give him
fome account of my travels; and to let me fee that I
fhould be treated without ceremony, he difmiffed all his
attendants with a turn of his finger, at which, to my
great aſtoniſhment they vaniſhed in an inſtant like vifions
in a dream, when we awake on a fudden. I could not re-
cover myſelf in fome time, till the governor affured me
that I should receive no hurt and obferving my two
companions to be under no concern, who had been often
entertained in the fame manner, I began to take courage,
and related to his highnefs a fhort hiftory of feveral ad-
ventures, yet not without fome heſitation, and frequently
looking behind me to the place where I had feen thofe
domeftic ſpectres. I had the honour to dine with the
governor, where a new fet of ghoſts ſerved up the meat,
and waited at table. I now obſerved myſelf to be leſs
terrified than I had been in the morning. I ftaid till fun
fet, but humbly defired his highness to excufe me for not
accepting of his invitation of lodging in the palace. My
two friends and I lay at a private houſe in the town ad-
joining, which is the capital of this little iſland; and the
next morning we returned to pay our duty to the go-
vernor, as he was pleafed to command us.
After this manner we continued in the island for ten
days, moft part of every day with the governor, and at
night in our lodging. I foon grew fo familiarized to the
fight of ſpirits, that after the third or fourth time they
gave me no emotion at all; or if I had any apprehenfions
left, my curiofity prevailed over them. For his high-
nefs, the governor, ordered me to call up whatever perſons
I would chufe to name, and in whatever numbers, among
all the dead from the beginning of the world to this pre-
fent time, and command them to answer any question I
fhould think fit to afk, with this condition, that my
queftions must be confined within the compafs of the
times they lived in. And one thing I might depend
upon, that they would certainly tell me truth, for lying
was a talent of no uſe in the lower world.
I
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
183
I made my humble acknowledgments to his highneſs
for fo great a favour. We were in a chamber, from
whence there was a fair profpect into the park.-
And, becauſe my firft inclination was to be entertained
with ſcenes of pomp and magnificence, I defired to ſee
Alexander the Great, at the head of his army, juft after
the battle of Arbela; which upon a motion of the go-
vernor's finger immediately appeared in a large field un-
der the window where we ftood. Alexander was called
up into the room: it was with great difficulty that I
underſtood his Greek*, and had but little of my own.
He affured me upon his honour that he was not poiſon-
ed, but died of a fever by exceffive drinking†.
Next I faw Hannibal paffing the Alps, who told me
he had not a drop of vinegar in his campt.
I faw Cæfar and Pompey at the head of their troops
juſt ready to engage. I law the former in his laſt great.
triumph. I defired that the fenate of Rome might ap-
pear before me in one large chamber, and an aſſembly
of fomewhat a latter age, in counterview in another.-
The firſt ſeemed to be an aſſembly of heroes and demi-
gods: the other a knot of pedlars, pickpockets, high-
waymen, and bullies.
The
* An hint from Gulliver, that we have loft the true Greek
idiom. ORRERY.
+ In this paffage there is a peculiar beauty, though it is not
diſcovered at an hafty view. The appearance of Alexander with
a victorious army immediately after the battle of Arbela pro-
duces only a declaration that he died by drunkennefs; thus in-
adequate and ridiculous in the eye of reafon is the ultimate pur-
pofe for which Alexander with his army marched into a remote
country, fubverted a mighty empire, and deluged a nation with
blood; he gained no more than an epithet to his name, which,
after a few repetitions was no longer regarded even by himself;
thus the purpoſe of his refurrection appears to be at least equally
important with that of his life, upon which it is a fatire not more
bitter than juft.
Livy the Roman hiftorian has related, that Hannibal burnt
a great pile of wood upon a rock that ftopped his paffage, and
when it was thus heated poured vinegar upon it, by which it
was made fo foft as to be easily cut through.
Q²
184
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
The governor, at my requeft, gave the fign for Cæfar
and Brutus to advance towards us. I was ftruck with
a profound veneration at the fight of Brutus, and could
eaſily diſcover the most confummate virtue, the greateſt
intrepidity and firmnefs of mind, the trueft love of his
country, and general benevolence to mankind in every
lineament of his countenance. I obferved with much
pleaſure, that theſe two perfons were in good intelligence
with each other, and Cæfar freely confeſſed to me, that
the greatest actions of his own life were not equal by
many degrees to the glory of taking it away. I had
the honour to have much converfation with Brutus ; and
was told that his ancestors Junius, Socrates, Epami-
nondas, Cato the Younger, Sir Thomas More, and
himself, were perpetually together: a Sextumvirate to
which all the ages of the world cannot add a feventh.
It would be tedious to trouble the reader with re-
lating what vaft numbers of illuftrious perfons were called
up to gratify that infatiable defire I had to fee the world
in every period of antiquity placed before me. I chiefly
fed mine eyes with beholding the deftroyers of tyrants and
ufurpers, and the reflorers of liberty to oppreffed and in-
jured nations. But it is impoffible to exprefs the fatif-
faction I received in my own mind, after fuch a manner
as to make it a fuitable entertainment to the reader.
CHAP. VIII.
A further account of Glubbdubdribb-Ancient and modern
history collected.
HAVING a defire to fee thofe ancients, who were
moſt renowned for wit and learning. I fet apart
one day on purpoſe. I propofed that Homer and Ariftotle
might appear at the head of all their commentators; but
thefe, were fo numerous that fome hundreds were forced
to attend in the court and outward rooms of the palace.
I knew, and could diftinguish thofe two heroes at firſt
fight, not only from the crowd but from each other.-
Homer was the taller and comelier perfon of the two,
walked very erect for one of his age, and his eyes were
the
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
185
the most quick and piercing I ever beheld. Ariftotle
ftooped much, and made ufe of a staff. His vifage was
meagre, his hair lank and thin, and his voice hollow.
I foon diſcovered that both of them were perfect tran-
gers to the rest of the company, and had never ſeen or
heard of them before. And I had a whiſper from a ghoſt,
who fhall be nameleſs, that theſe commentators always
kept in the moſt diſtant quarters from their principals in
the lower world, through a confcioufnefs of fhame and
guilt, becauſe they had ſo horribly miſrepreſented the
meaning of thofe authors to pofterity. I introduced
Didymus and Euftathius to Homer, and prevailed on
him to treat them better than perhaps they deſerved;
for
he foon found they wanted a genius to enter into the ſpi
rit of a poet. But Ariftotle was out of all patience with
the account I gave him of Scotus and Ramus, as I pre-
fented them to him; and he asked them, whether the reft
of the tribe were as great dunces as themſelves.
I then defired the governor to call up Defcartes and
Gaffendi*, with whom I prevailed to explain their fyf-
tems to Ariftotle. This great philofopher freely ac-
knowledged his own miſtakes in natural philofophy, be-
caule he proceeded in many things upon conjecture, as
all men muſt do; and he found that Gaffendi, who had
made the doctrine of Epicurus as palatable as he could,
and the vortices of Defcartes, were equally exploded..
He predicted the fame fate to attraction, whereof the
prefent learned are fuch zealous affertors. He faid, that
new fyftems of nature were but new fafhions, which
would vary in every age; and even thofe who pretend to
demonftrate them from mathematical principles, would
flourish but a short period of time, and be out of vogue
when that was determined.
I ſpent five days in converfing with many others of
the
*Gaffendi was efteemed one of the greatest ornaments of
France; he was a doctor of divinity and royel profeffor of ma-
thematics; he was born in Provence in 1592, and died-1655-
With great induftry he collected whatever related to the perfon
and to the philofophy of Epicurus, the latter of which he has
reduced into a complete fyftem. OBRERY.
186
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
the ancient learned. I faw moft of the firft Roman em-
perors. I prevailed on the governor to call up Helio-
gabalus's cooks to drefs us a dinner; but they could not
fhew us much of their skill, for want of materials.
helot of Agefilaus made us a difh of Spartan broth
but I was not able to get down a fecond ſpoonful.
A
;
The two gentlemen who conducted me to the island,
were preffed by their private affairs to return in three
days, which I employed in feeing fome of the modern
dead, who had made the greateft figure for two or three
hundred years paft in our own and other countries of
Europe: and having been always a great admirer of old
illutiious families, I defired the governor would call
up a dozen or two of kings, with their ancestors, in or-
der, for eight or nine generations. But my difappoint-
ment was grievous and unexpected: for instead of a long
train with royal diadems, I faw in one family two fiddlers,
three ſpruce courtiers, and an Italian prelate. In ano-
ther, a barber, an abbot and two cardinals. I have too
great a veneration for crowned heads to dwell any longer
on fo nice a fubject. But as to counts, marquiffes,,
dukes, earls, and the like, I was not fo fcrupulous. And
I confefs it was not without fome pleasure that I found
myſelf able to trace the particular features, by which cer-
tain families are diftinguished, up to their originals. I
could plainly diſcover from whence one family derives a
long chin, why a fecond hath abounded with knaves for
two generations. and fools for two more; why a third hap-
pened to be crack-brained, and a fourth to be fharpers.
Whence it came from what Polydore Virgil fays of a
certain great houfe, Nec vir fortis, nec fæmina cufta.-
How cruelty, falfhood, and cowardice grew to be cha-
racteristics, by which certain families are diftinguiſhed as
much as by their coats of arms. Who firft brought the
pox into a noble houfe, which has lineally defcended in
fcrophulous tumours to their pofterity. Neither could
I wonder at all this, when I faw fuch an interruption of
lineages by pages, lacquies, valets,coachmen, gamefters,
captains, and pickpockets.
I was
;
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
187
I was chiefly difgufted with modern hiftory. For,
having strictly examined all the perfons of greateſt name
in the courts of princes for an hundred years paft, I
found how the world had been milled by proſtitute wri-
ters to afcribe the greateſt exploits in war to cowards,
the wifeft counfel to fools, fincerity to flatterers Roman
virtue to betrayers of their country, piety to atheiſts,
chaſtity to Sodomites, truth to informers. How many in-
nocent and excellent perfons had been condemned to death
or banishment, by the practising of great minifters upon
the corruption of judges, and the malice of faction.-
How many villains had been exalted to the highest places
of truft, power, dignity, and profit: how great a fhare
in the motions and events of courts, councils, and fe-
nates, might be challenged by bawds, whores, pimps,
paralites, aud buffoons: how low an opinion I had of
human wildow and integrity, when I was truly inform-
ed of the fprings and motives of great enterprifes and re-
volutions in the world, and of the contemptible accidents
to which they owed their fuccefs.
Here I discovered the roguery and ignorance of thoſe
who pretend to write anecdotes, or fecret hiftory: who
fend To many kings to their graves by a cup of poison;
will repeat the difcourfe between a prince and chief mi-
nifter where no witnefs was by: unlock the thoughts
and cabinets of ambaffadors and fecretaries of ftate, and
have the perpetual misfortune to be mistaken. Here I
diſcovered the true caufes of many great events that have
furprifed the world; how a whore can govern the back
ftairs, the back ſtairs a council, and the council a ſenate.
A general confeffed in my prefence, that he got a vic-
tory purely by the force of cowardice and ill conduct;
and an admiral, that, for want of proper intelligence, he
beat the enemy to whom he intended to betray the fleet.
Three kings protested to me, that in their whole reigns
they did never once prefer any perfon of merit, unleſs
by mistake or treachery of fome minifter in whom they
confided: neither would they do it, if they were to live
again; and they fhewed with great ftrength of reafon,
that
188
A`VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
that the royal throne could not be fupported without
corruption, becauſe that pofitive, confident, reftive tem-
per, which virtue infuſed into man, was a perpetual clog
to public business.
I had the curiofity to enquire in a particular manner,
by what method great numbers had procured to them-
felves high titles of honour and prodigious eftates; and I
confined my enquiry to a very modern period; however,
without grating upon prefent times, becauſe I would be
fure to give no offence even to foreigners (for I hope the
reader need not be told, that I do not in the leaft intend
my own country in what I fay upon this occafion) a
great number of perfons concerned were called up, and
upon a very flight examination diſcovered ſuch a ſcene of
infamy that I cannot reflect upon it without ſome fe-
rioufnels. Perjury, oppreffion, fubordination, fraud, pan-
darifin, and the like infirmities, were amongſt the moſt
excufeable arts they had to mention, and for theſe I gave,
as it was reaſonable, great allowance. But when fome
confeſſed they owed their greatnefs and wealth to fodomy
or inceſt } others to the proftituting of their own wives
and daughters; others to the betraying their country or
their prince; fome to poifoning, more to perverting of
juſtice, in order to deftroy the innocent: I hope I may
be pardoned if thefe difcoveries inclined me a little to
abate of that profound veneration which I am naturally
apt to pay to perfons of high rank, who ought to be
treated with the utmoſt reſpect due to their ſublime dig-
nity, by us, their inferiors.
Í had often read of fome great fervices done to princes
and ſtates, and defired to ſee the perfons by whom thoſe
fervices were performed. Upon enquiry I was told that
their names were to be found on no record, except a few
of them whom history had reprefented as the vileft rogues
and traitors. As to the reft, I had never once heard of
them. They all appeared with dejected looks, and in the
meanest habit, most of them telling me they died in po-
verty and diſgrace, and the reft on a ſcaffold or a gibbet.
Among the reft, there was one perſon whofe cafe.ap
peared
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
189
peared a little fimgular. He had a youth about eighteen
years old standing by his fide, He told me he had for
many years been commander of a fhip, and in the ſea-
fight at A&ium, had the good fortune to break through
the enemy's great line of battle, fink three of their capital
ſhips, and take a fourth, which was the fole cauſe of An-
thony's flight, and of the victory that ensued; that the
youth ſtanding by him, his only fon, was killed in the
action. He added, that upon the confidence of ſome merit,
the war being at an end, he went to Rome, and folicited
at the court of Auguftus to be preferred to a greater ſhip,
whoſe commander had been killed; but without any re-
gard to his pretenfions, it was given to a youth who had
never ſeen the fea, the ſon of Libertina, who waited on
one of the emperor's miftreffes. Returning back to his
own veſſel, he was charged with neglect of duty, and the
ſhip given to a favourite page of Publicola, the vice-ad-
miral; whereupon he retired to a poor farm, at a great
diſtance from Rome, and there ended his life. I was fo
curious to know the truth of this ftory, that I defired
Agrippa might be called, who was admiral in that fight.
He appeared and confirmed the whole account, but with
much more advantage to the captain, whofe modefty had
extenuated or concealed a great part of his merit.
I was furprised to find corruption grown fo high and
fo quick in that empire, by the force of luxury fo lately
introduced, which made me leis worder at many parallel
cafes in other countries, where vices of all kinds have
reigned fo much longer, and where the whole praiſe as
well as pillage hath been engroffed by the chief com-
mander, who perhaps had the leaſt title to either.
As every perſon called up made exactly the fame ap-
pearance he had done in the world, it gave me melan-
choly reflections to obferve how much the race of human
kind was degenerated among us, within thefe hundred
years paft. How the pox, under all its confequences
and denominations, had altered every lineament of an
Engliſh countenance, ſhortened the fize of bodies; un-
braced the nerves, relaxed the finews and muſcles, intro-
duced
190
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
duced a fallow complexion, and rendered the fleſh loofe
and rancid.
I defcended fo low, as to defire that fome Engliſh yeo-
men of the old ftamp might be fummoned to appear,
once fo famous for the fimplicity of their manners, diet,
and dreſs; for juſtice in their dealings, for their true ſpi-
rit of liberty, for their valour and love of their country.
Neither could I be wholly unmoved, after comparing
the living with the dead, when I confidered how all theſe
pure native virtues were prostituted for a piece of money
by their grand-children, who in felling their votes, and
managing at elections, have acquired every vice and core
ruption that can poffibly be learned in a court.
CHAP. IX.
The Author's return to Maldonada. Sails to the king-
dom of Luggnagg. The author confined. He is fent for
to court. The manner of his admittance. The king's
great lenity to his fubjects.
THE day of our departure being come, I took leave
of his highneſs, the governor of Glubbdubdribb,
and returned with my two companions to Maldonada,
where, after a fortnight's waiting, a fhip was ready to
fail for Luggnagg. The two gentlemen, and fome
others were fo generous and kind as to furnish me with
proviſions and fee me on board. I was a month in this
voyage. We had one violent ftorm, and were under a
neceffity of fteering weftward to get into the trade-wind,
which holds for above fixty leagues. On the 21st of
April, 1708, we failed in the river Clumegnig, which is
a fea-port town, at the fouth-east point of Luggnagg,
We caft anchor within a league of the town, and made
a fignal for a pilot. Two of them came on board in leſs
than half an hour, by whom we were guided between
certain hoals and rocks, which are very dangerous in a
paffage to a large bafon, where a fleet may ride in fafety
within a cable's length of the town wall.
Some of our failors, whether out of treachery or in-
advertance, had informed the pilots that I was a ftranger,
and
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
191
and a great traveller, whereof thefe gave notice to a
custom houfe officer, by whom I was examined very
ſtrictly upon my landing. This officer ſpoke to me in
the language of Balnibarbi, which by the force of much
commerce is generally underſtood in that town, efpe-
cially by feamen, and thoſe employed in the cuſtoms. I
gave him a fhort account of fome particulars, and made
my ſtory as plaufible and confiftent as I could; but I
thought it neceffary to difguife my country, and call my-
felf a Hollander, becauſe my intentions were for Japan,
and I knew the Dutch were the only Europeans per-
mitted to enter into that kingdom. I therefore told the
officer, that having been fhipwrecked on the coast of
Balnibarbi, and caft on a rock, I was received up into
Laputa, or the flying iſland, (of which he had often
heard) and was now endeavouring to get to Japan, from
whence I might find a convenience of returning to my
own country. The officer faid, I muſt be confined till
he could receive orders from court, for which he would
write immediately, and hoped to receive an anſwer in a
fortnight. I was carried to a convenient lodging, with
a centry placed at the door; however, I had the liberty
of a large garden, and was treated with humanity enough,
being maintained all the time at the king's charge. I
was invited by feveral perfons, chiefly out of curiofity,
becauſe it was reported that I came from countries very
remote, of which they had never heard.
I hired a young man, who came in the fame fhip, to
be an interpreter; he was a native of Luggnagg, but
had lived fome years at Maldonada, and was a perfect
mafter of both languages. By his affiftance I was able to
hold a converfation with thoſe who came to vifit me; but
this confifted only of their queftions and my answers.
The difpatch came from court about the time we ex-
pected. It contained a warrant for conducting me and
my retinue to Traldi agdubb or Tridrogdrib, for it is
pronounced both ways as near as I can remember, by a
party of ten horfe. All my retinue was that poor lad
for an interpreter, whom I perfuaded into my fervice,
and,
192
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
and, at my humble requeft, we had each of us a mule
to ride on. A meſſenger was diſpatched half a day's
journey before us, to give the king notice of my ap-
proach, and to defire that his majefty would pleaſe to
appoint a day and hour, when it would be his gracious
pleaſure that I might have the honour to “lick the duſt
"before his foot-ftool." This is the court ftyle; and
found it to be more than matter of form. For upon my
admittance two days after my arrival, I was cominanded
to crawl on my belly, and lick the floor as I advanced :
but on account of my being a ftranger, care was taken
to have it ſwept fo clean, that the duft was not offenfive;
however this was a peculiar grace, not allowed to any
but perfons of the highest rank, when they defire an
admittance. Nay, fometimes the floor is ftrewed with
duft, on purpoſe, when the perfon to be admitted hap-
pens to have powerful enemies at court. And I have
feen a great lord with his mouth fo crammed, that when
he had crept to the proper diftance from the throne, he
was not able to ſpeak a word. Neither is there any re-
medy, becauſe it is capital for thoſe who receive an audi-
ence to fpit or wipe their mouths in his majeſty's pre-
fence. There is indeed another cuſtom, which I can-
not altogether approve of. When the king hath a mind
to put any of his nobles to death in a gentle indulgent
manner, he commands to have the floor ftrewed with a
certain brown powder of a deadly compofition, which
being licked up, infallibly kills him in twenty-four
hours. But in juftice to this prince's great clemency,
and the care he hath of his fubje&s lives, (wherein it
were much to be wifhed that the monarchs of Europe
would imitate him) it must be mentioned for his honour,
that ſtrict orders are given to have the infected parts of
the floor well washed after every fuch execution; which
if his domeftics neglect, they are in danger of incur
ing his royal difpleafure. I myself heard him give di-
rections, that one of his pages fhould be whipt, whoſe
turn it was to give notice about walling the floor after
an execution, but maliciously had mitted it; by which
neglect,
A VOYAGE TO LAFUTA, &c.
193
neglect, a young lord of great hopes coming to an audi-
ence, was unfortunately poifoned, although the king at
that time had no defign againſt his life. But this good
prince was fo gracious as to forgive the poor page his
whipping, upon promife that he would do fo no more,
without fpecial orders.
rr
CC
To return from this digreffion: when I had crept within
four yards of the throne, I raiſed myfelf gently upon my
knees, and then striking my forehead feven times on the
ground, I pronounced the following words, -as they had
been taught me the night before; Ichpling gloff-
"throbb fquutferuum blbiop mlafonalt, zwin tnodbalkguffb
"Athiop had gurdlubb afht." This is the compliment
eftabliſhed by the laws of the land for all perfons admitted
to the king's prefence. It may be rendered into English
thus: "May your celeftial majelly outlive the fun,
"eleven moons and a half." To this the king re-
turned ſome anſwer, which although I could not under-
Stand, yet I replied as I had been directed: "Fluft drin
"yalerick dwuldom praſtrad mirpush," which pro-
perly fignifies, "My tongue is in the mouth of my
friend," and by this expreffion was meant,' that I
defired leave to bring my interpreter; whereupon the
young man already mentioned was accordingly intro-
duced, by whofe intervention I answered as many quef-
tions as his majefty could put in above an hour. I spoke
in the Balnibarbian tongue, and my interpreter delivered
my meaning in that of Luggnagg.
The king was much delighted with my company, and
ordered his Bliftmarklub, or high chamberlain, to ap-
point a lodging in the court for me and my interpreter,
with a daily allowance for my table, and a large purſe of
gold for my common expences.
I ftaid three months in this country out of perfect
obedience to his majefty, who was pleafed highly to fa-
vour me, and made me very honourable offers. But I
thought it more confiftent with prudence and juſtice to
paſs the remainder of my days with my wife and family.
R
CHAP.
t
194
A VOYAGE TO LAFUTA, &c.
CHAP. X.
The Luggnaggians commended. A particular defeription
of the Struldbruggs, with many converſations between the
author and fome eminent perfons upon that fubject.
THE
HE Luggnaggians are a polite and generous peo-
ple, and although they are not without fome fhare
of that pride which is peculiar to all Eastern countries,
yet they thew themſelves courteous to ftrangers, especially
fuch as are countenanced by the court.
I had many
acquaintance among perfons of the beſt faſhion, and be-
ing always attended by my interpreter, the converfation
we had was not difagaeeable.
One day in much good company I was afked by a per-
fon of quality, whether I had feen any of the Struld-
bruggs or Immortals. I faid I had, and defired he
would explain to me what he meant by fuch an appella-
tion applied to a mortal creature. He told me, that
fometimes, though very rarely, a child happened to be
born in a family with a red circular fpot in the forehead,
directly over the left eyebrow, which was an infallible
mark that it should never die. The fpot, as he defcrib-
ed it, was about the compafs of a filver three-pence,
but in courſe of time grew larger and changed its colour;
for at twelve years old it became green, fo continued till
five and twenty, then turned to a deep blue; at five and
forty it grew coal black, and as large as an Engliſh ſhit-
ling, but never admitted any farther alteration. He faid
thefe births were fo rare, that he did not believe there
could be above eleven hundred Struldbruggs of both fexes
in the whole kingdom, of which he computed about
fifty in the metropolis, and among the reft a young girl
born about three years ago. That theſe productions
were not peculiar to any family, but a mere effect of
chance; and the children of the Struldbruggs themſelves
were equally mortal with the reft of the people.
I freely own myself to have been truck with inexpref-
fible delight upon hearing this account; and the perfon
who gave it to me happening to underhand the Balm-
barbian language, which I spoke very well, I could not
forbear
A VOYAGE TO LAFUTA, &C.
195
,
forbear breaking out into expreſſions perhaps a little too
extravagant. I cried out as in a rapture: Happy nation,
'where every child hath at leaſt a chance for being im-
• mortal! Happy people who enjoy ſo many living examples
* of ancient virtue; and have mafters ready to inftruct
⚫ them in the wisdom of all former ages! but, happieſt be-
'yond all compariſon are thoſe excellent Struldbruggs,
who, born exempt from that univerfal calamity of human
nature, have their minds free and difengaged, without
"the weight and depreffion of fpirits cauſed by the conti-
nual apprehenfions of death.' Idifcovered my admiration
that I had not obſerved any of theſe illuftrious perfons
at court; the black fpat on the forehead being fo re-
markable a diſtinction that I could not have eafily over-
looked it; and it was impoſſible that his majeſty, a moſt
judicious prince, ſhould not provide himſelf with a good
number of ſuch wife and able counſellors. Yet perhaps
the virtue of thoſe revered fages was too ftrict for the
corrupt and libertine manners of a court. And we often
find by experience, that young men are too opiniative
and volatile to be guided by the fober dictates of their
feniors. However, fince the king was pleaſed to allow
me acceſs to his royal perfon, I was refolved, upon the.
very firſt occafion, to deliver my opinion to him on this
matter freely, and at large, by the help of my interpreter:
and whether he would pleaſe to take my advice or no,
yet in one thing I was determined, that, his majeſty hav-
ing frequently offered me an eſtablishment in this coun-
try, I would with great thankfulneſs accept the favour,
and paſs my life here in the converſation of thoſe fuperi-
or beings, the Struldbruggs, if they would pleaſe to ad-
mit me.
The gentleman to whom I addreſſed my diſcourſe,
becauſe (as I have already obferved) he spoke the lan-
guage of Balnibarbi, faid to me, with a fort of fmile,
which uſually arifes from pity to the ignorant, that he
was glad of any occafion to keep me among them, and
defired my permiffion to explain to the company what I
had spoke. He did fo, and they talked together for
R2
fome
196
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
fome time in their own language, whereof I underſtood
not a ſyllable; neither could I obſerve by their counte-
nances, what impreffion my difcourfe had made on them.
After a fhort filence, the fame perfon told me, that his
friends and mine (fo he thought fit to exprefs himſelf)
were very much pleaſed with the judicious remarks I had
made on the great happineſs and advantages of immor-
tal life; and they were defirous to know in a particular
manner, what ſcheme of living I ſhould have formed to
myſelf, if it had fallen to my lot to have been born a
Struldbrugg.
I answered, it was eaſy to be eloquent on fo copious
and delightful a ſubject, eſpecially to me who have been
often apt to amule myſelf with viſions of what I ſhould
do if I were a king, a general, or a great lord: and upon
this very cafe I had frequently run over the whole fyftem
how I fhould employ myſelf, and pafs the time, if I
were fure to live for ever.
That, if it had been my good fortune to come into the
world a Struldbrugg, as foon as I could difcover my own
happineſs, by understanding the difference between life
and death, I would firſt refolve by all arts and methods
whatſoever to procure myſelf riches. In the purſuit of
which, by thrift and management, I might reaſonably
expect in about two hundred years to be the wealthieft
man in the kingdom. In the fecond place, I would
from my earliest youth apply myſelf to the study of arts
and fciences, by which I fhould arrive in time to excel
all others in learning. Lastly, I would carefully record
every action and event of confequence that happened in
the republic; impartially draw the characters of the fe-
veral fucceffions of princes, and great minifters of ſtate,
with my own obfervations on every point. I would ex-
actly fet down the feveral changes in cuftoms, langua-
ges, fashion, drefs, diet, and diverfions. By all which
acquirements, I fhould be a living treafury of know-
ledge and wiſdom, and certainly become the oracle of
the nation.
would never marry after threeſcore, but live in an
hoſpitable
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
197
hofpitable manner, yet ftill on the faving fide. I would en-
tertain myſelf in forming and directing the minds of
hopeful young men, by convincing them from my own
remembrance, experience, and obfervation, fortified by
numerous examples, of the uſefulneſs of virtue in public
and private life. But, my choice and conftant compani-
ons ſhould be a fet of my own immortal brotherhood,
among whom I would felect a dozen from the moſt an-
cient down to my own contemporaries. Where
Where any of
thefe wanted fortunes, I would provide them with con-
venient lodges round my own eftate, and have fome of
them always at my table, only mingling a few of the
moſt valuable among you mortals, whom length of time
would harden me to loſe with little or no reluctance, and
treat your pofterity after the fame manner, jult as a man
diverts himself with the annual fucceffion of pinks and
tulips in his garden, without regretting the lofs of thoſe
which withered the preceding year.
Thefe Struldbruggs and I would mutually communi-
cate our obfervations and memorials through the courſe
of time, remark the ſeveral gradations by which corrup-
tion ſteals into the world, and oppofe it in every ſtep,
by giving perpetual warning and inftruction to man-
kind; which, added to the strong influence of our own
example, would probably prevent that continual dege-
neracy of human nature fo juftly complained of in all .
ages.
Add to all this the pleaſure of feeing the various re-
volutions of ſtates and empires, the changes in the lower
and upper world, ancient cities in ruins, and obfcure vil-
lages become the feats of kings: famous rivers leffening
into fhallow brooks, the ocean leaving one coaft dry, and
overwhelming another: the difcovery of many countries
yet unknown: barbarity overrunning the politeft na-
tions, and the most barbarous become civilized. I
fhould then fee the difcovery of the longitude, the perpe-
tual motion, the univerfal medicine, and many other
great inventions brought to the utmost perfections.
What wonderful diſcoveries fhould we make in aftro-
R 3
nomy
198
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
1
nomy, by outliving and confirming our own predictions,
by oblerving the progress and returns of comets, with
the changes of motion in the fun, moon, and ftars!
I enlarged upon many other topics, which the natu-
ral defire of endless life and fublunary happiness could
eafily furnish me with. When I had ended, and the
fum of my difcourfe had been interpreted as before, to
the rest of the company, there was a good deal of talk
among them in the language of the country, not without
fome laughter at my expence. At laft the fame gentle-
man who had been my interpreter, faid, he was defired
by the reft to fet me right in a few mistakes which I had
fallen into through the common imbecility of human na-
ture, and upon that allowance was lefs anfwerable for
them. That this breed of Struldbruggs were peculiar
to their country, for there were no fuch people either in
Balnibarbi or Japan, where he had the honour to be am-´
baffador from his majefty, and found the natives in both
theſe kingdoms very hard to believe that the fact was
poffible; and it appeared from my afloniſhment, when
he first mentioned the matter to me, that I received it as
a thing wholly new, and fcarcely to be credited. That
in the two kingdoms above mentioned, where during his
refidence he had converfed very much, he obferved long
life to be the univerſal defire and wiſh of mankind. That
whoever had one foot in the grave, was fure to hold back
the other as strongly as he could. That the oldeſt had
ftill hopes of living a day longer, and looked on death
as the greatest evil, from which nature always prompted
him to retreat; only in this ifland of Luggnagg, the
appetite for living was not fo eager, from the continual
example of the Struldbruggs before their eyes.
That the fyftem of living contrived by me was unrea-
fonable and unjuft, becauſe it fuppofed a perpetuity of
youth, health, and vigour, which no man could be fo
foolish to hope, however extravagant he may be in his
wiſhes. That the question therefore was not, whether
a man would choose to be always in the prime of youth,
attended with profperity and health; but how he would
pafs.
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
109.
pafs a perpetual life under all the uſual diſadvantages
which old age brings along with it*. For although few
men would avow their defires of being immortal upon
fuch hard conditions, yet in the two kingdoms before
mentioned, of Balnibarbi and Japan, he obſerved that
every man defired to put off death for fome time longer, let
it approach ever fo late; and he rarely heard of any man
who died willingly, except he was incited by the extre-
mity of grief and torture. And he appealed to me, whe-
ther in thofe countries I had travelled, as well as in my
own, I had not obferved the fame general difpofition.
After this preface, he gave me a particular account
of the Struldbruggs among them. He faid they com-
monly acted like mortals till about thirty years old, af
ter which, by degrees, they grew melancholy and de-
jected, increafing in both till they came to fourfcore.
This he learned from their own confeffion; for otherwife,
there not being above two or three of that ſpecies born in
an age, they were too few to form a general obfervation
by. When they came to fourfcore years, which is reck-
oned the extremity of living in this country, they had
not only all the follies and infirmities of other old men,
but many more, which aroſe from the dreadful proſpects
of never dying. They were not only opinionative, pee-
vish, covetous, morofe, vain, talkative, but incapable
of friendſhip, and dead to all natural affection, which
never defcended below their grand children. Envy and
impotent defires are likewife their prevailing pathons,
But thoſe objects against which their envy feems princi-
pally directed, are the vices of the younger forts, and
death of the old. By reflecting on the former, they
find themſelves cut off from all poffibility of pleafure;
and
To this it may poffibly be objected, that the perpetuity of
youth, health, and vigour, would be lefs a prodigy than the per-
petuity of life in the body fubject to a gradual decay, and might
therefore be hoped withoutgreater extravagance or folly; but the
fentiment here expreffed, is that of a being to whom immorta-
lity, though not perpetual youth, was familiar, and in whom
the wish of perpetual youth only would have been extravagant,
becauſe that only appeared from facts to be impoffible.
200
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
1
and whenever they fee a funeral, they lament and repine
that others are gone to an harbour of reft, to which
they themselves can never hope to arrive. They have ·
no remembrance of any thing but what they learned and
obferved in their youth and middle age, and even that
is very imperfect. And for the truth or particulars of
any fact, it is fafer to depend upon common traditions,
than upon their beſt recollections. The leaft miſerable
among them appear to be thofe who turn to dotage, and
entirely loſe their memories; thefe meet with more pity
and affiftance, becauſe they want many bad qualities:
which abound in others.
If a Struldbrugg happens to marry one of his own kind,
the marriage is diffolved of courle by the courtely of the
kingdom, as foon as the younger of the two comes to
be fourſcore. For the law thinks it a reaſonable indul-
gence, that thofe who are condemned without any fault
of their own to a perpetual continuance in the world,
ſhould not have their miſery doubled by the load of a wife.
As foon as they have completed the term of eighty
years, they are looked on as dead in law; their heirs
immediately fucceed to their eftates, only a finall pittance
is referved for their fupport, and the poor ones are main-
tained at the public charge. After that period they are
held incapable of any employment of truft or profit; they
cannot purchaſe lands, or take leafes, neither are they
allowed to be witneffes in any caufe, either civil or cri-
minal, not even for the decifion of meers and bounds.
At ninety, they lofe their teeth and hair; they have
at that age no diftinction for tafte, but eat and drink
whatever they can get, without relifh or appetite; the
difeafes they were fubject to ftill continuing without in-
creafing or diminishing. In talking, they forget the com-
mon appellation of things, and the names of perſons,
even of thoſe who are their nearest friends and relations.-
For the fame reaſon, they can never amuſe themſelves with
reading, becauſe their memory will not ferve to carry.
them from the beginning of a fentence to the end; and
by this defect they are deprived of the only entertainment
whereof they might otherwife be capable..
The
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
201
The language of this country being always upon the
Aux, the Struldbruggs of one age do not understand thoſe
of another, neither are they able after two hundred years
to hold any converfation (farther than by a few general
words) with their neighbours the mortals; and thus they
lie under the diſadvantage of living like foreigners in
their own country.
This was the account given me of the Struldbruggs,
as near as I can remember. I afterwards faw five or fix
of different ages, the youngest not above two hundred
years old, who were brought me at feveral times by ſome
of my friends; but although they were told that I was
a great traveller, and had feen all the world, they had
not the leaſt curiofity to aſk me a queſtion; only deſired
I would give them fumfkudafk, or a token of remem-
brance, which is a modelt way of begging, to avoid the
law that strictly forbids it, becauſe they are provided for
by the public, although, indeed, with a very fcanty
allowance.
They are defpifed and hated by all forts of people;
when one of them is born, it is reckoned ominous, and
their birth is recorded very particularly; fo that you
may know their ages by confulting the regiſtry, which,
however, hath not been kept above a thousand years paft,
or at leaſt hath been deſtroyed by time or public diſturb-
ances. But the ufual way of computing how old they
are, is by afking them what kings or great perfons they
can remember, and then confulting hiftory; for infallibly
the laft prince in their mind, did not begin his reign after
they were fourſcore years old.
They were the most mortifying fight I ever beheld;
and the women more horrible than the men. Befides the
ufual deformities in extreme old age, they acquired an
additional ghaftlinefs in proportion to their number of
years, which is not to be defcribed; and among half a
dozen, I foon diftinguished which was the eldeft, although
there was not above a century or two between them.
The reader will eafily believe, that from what I had
heard and feen, my keen appetite for perpetuity of life
was
}
202
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
was much abated. I grew heartily afhamed of the pleaf-
ing vifions I had formed, and thought no tyrant could
invent a death into which I would not run with pleaſure
from fuch a life. The king heard of all that had paſſed
between me and my friends upon this occafion, and rallied
me very pleaſantly, wifhing I would fend a couple of
Struldbruggs to my own country, to arm our people
against the fear of death; but this it feems is forbidden
by the fundamental laws of the kingdom, or elſe I ſhould
have been well content with the trouble and expence of
tranſporting them.
I could not but agree that the laws of this kingdom,
relating to the Strüldbruggs, were founded upon the
ftrongest reaſons, and fuch as any other country would
be under the neceffity of enacting in the like circumstances.
Otherwiſe, as avarice is the neceffary conſequence of old
age, thofe immortals would in time become proprietors
of the whole nation, and engroſs the civil power, which,
for want of abilities to manage, muft end in the ruin of
the public.
CHAP. XI.
The author leaves Luggnagg, and fails to Japan. From
thence he returns in a Dutch Ship to Amſterdam, and
from Amfterdam to England.
Thought this account of the Struldbruggs might be
fome entertainment to the reader, becauſe it ſeems to
be a little out of the common way; at least I do not re-
member to have met the like in any book of travels that
has come to my hands; and if I am deceived, my excufe
muſt be, that it is neceffary* for travellers who defcribe
the fame country, very often to agree in dwelling on the
fame particulars, without deferving the cenfure of hav
ing borrowed or tranſcribed from thoſe who wrote before
them.
There
*The word necesary is here uſed in the fame manner, as when
by the idiom of our language it means convenient, though it is
to be understood in its proper and original fignification. Tra-
vellers who defcribe the fame country very often neceffarily
agree in dwelling on the fame particulars, and therefore do not
deferve the cenfure of having borrowed, &c.
A VOYAGE TO LAPÚTA, &C.
203
There is indeed a perpetual commerce between this
kingdom and the great empire of Japan; and it is very
probable that the Japanele authors may have given fome
account of the Struldbruggs; but my Ray in Japan was
fo ſhort, and I was fo entirely a ftranger to that language,
that I was not qualified to make any enquiries. But I
hope the Dutch, upon this notice, will be curious and
able enough to fupply my defects.
His majeſty having often preffed me to accept fome
employment in his court, and finding me abfolutely de-
termined to return to my native country, was pleafed to
give me his licence to depart, and honoured me with a
letter of recommendation, under his own hand, to the em-
peror of Japan. He likewife prefented me with four
hundred and fifty-four large pieces of gold, (this nation
delighting in even numbers) and a red diamond which I
fold in England for eleven hundred pounds.
On the 6th day of May, 1709, I took a folemn leave
of his majesty, and all my friends. This prince was fo
gracious as to order a guard to conduct me to Glangu-
enftald, which is a royal port to the fouth-west part of
the iſland. In fix days
In fix days I found a veffel ready to carry
me to Japan, and ſpent fifteen days in the voyage. We
landed at a fmall port town called Xamofchi, fituated on
the fouth east part of Japan; the town lies on the weſtern
point, where there is a narrow ftrait leading northward
into a long arm of the fea, upon the north weſt part of
which, Yedo, the metropolis, ftands. At landing, I
ſhewed the cuſtom houfe officers my letter from the king
of Luggnagg to his imperial majefty. They knew the
feal perfectly well; it was as broad as the palm of my
hand. The impreffion was, a king lifting up a lame beg-
gar from the earth. The magiftrates of the town hearing
of my letter received me as a public minifter; they pro-
vided me with carriages, and fervants, and bore my
charges to Yedo, where I was admitted to an audience,
and delivered my letter, which was opened with great
ceremony, and explained to the emperor by an interpreter,
who then gave me notice, by his majeſty's order, that I
fhould
โ
リ
​204
A VOYAGE TO LABUTA, &c.
fhould fignify my request, and, whatever it were, it
fhould be granted, for the fake of his royal brother of
Luggnagg. This interpreter was a perfon employed to
tranfact affairs with the Hollanders; he foon conjectured
by my countenance that I was an European, and there-
fore repeated his majesty's commands in Low Dutch,
which he spoke perfectly well. I answered (as I had
before determined) that I was a Dutch merchant, hip-
wrecked in a very remote country, from whence I had
travelled by fea and land to Luggnagg, and then took
fhipping for Japan, where I knew my countrymen often
traded, and with fome of thefe I hoped to get an oppor-
tunity of returning into Europe: I therefore most hum-
bly intreated his royal favour to give orders that I ſhould
be conducted in fafety to Nangafac. To this I added
another petition, that, for the fake of my patron, the
king of Luggnagg, his majefty would condefcend to ex-
cufe my performing the ceremony impofed on my coun-
trymen, of trampling upon the crucifix, becaufe I had been
thrown into this kingdom by my misfortunes, without
any intention of trading. When this latter petition was
interpreted to the emperor, he feemed a little furpriſed,
and faid, he believed I was the firft of my countrymen
who ever made any fcruple in this point, and that he
began to doubt whether I was a real Hollander, or no,
but rather fufpected I must be a Chriftian. However,
for the reaſons I had offered, but chiefly to gratify the king
of Luggnagg, by an uncommon mark of his favour, he
would comply with the fingularity of my humour; but the
affair muſt be managed with dexterity, and his officers
Thould be commanded to let me pafs, as it were, by for-
getfulness. For he affured me, that if the fecret ſhould
be diſcovered by my countrymen the Dutch, they would
cut my throat in the voyage. I returned my thanks by
the interpreter for fo unufual a favour; and fome troops
being at that time on their march to Nangafac, the com-
manding officer had orders to convey me fafe thither, with
particular inftructions about the bufinefs of the crucifix.
On the 9th day of June, 1709, I arrived at Nangafac,
after
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, &c.
205
after a very long and troubleſome journey. I foon fell
into company of fome Dutch failors, belonging to the
Amboyna of Amſterdam, a ſtout ſhip of 450 tons. I
had lived long in Holland, purfuing my studies at Leyden,
and I ſpoke Dutch well. The feamen foon knew from
whence I came laft; they were curious to enquire into
my voyages and courfe of life. I made up a story as
fhort and probable as I could, but concealed the greateſt
part. I knew many perfons in Holland; I was able to
invent names for my parents, whom I pretended to be
obfcure people in the province of Guelderland. I would
have given the captain (one Theodorus Vangrult) what
he pleaſed to ask for my voyage to Holland; but under-
ftanding I was a furgeon, he was contented to take half
the ufual rate, on condition that I would ferve him in
the way of my calling. Before we took fhipping, I was
often asked by fome of the crew, whether I had performed
the ceremony above-mentioned: I evaded the queftion by
general anſwers, that I had ſatisfied the emperor and court
in all particulars. However, a malicious rogue of a
fkipper went to an officer, and pointing to me told him,
I had not yet trampled on the crucifix: but the other who
had received inftruction to let me pafs, gave the rafcal
twenty ſtrokes on the fhoulders with a bamboo, after
which I was no more troubled with fuch queſtions.
Nothing happened worth mentioning in this voyage.
We failed with a fair wind to the Cape of Good Hope,
where we ftaid only to take in freſh water. On the 16th
of April we arrived fafe at Amfterdam, having loft only
three men by fickneſs in the voyage, and a fourth who
fell from the fore-maft into the fea, not far from the Coaft
of Guinea. From Amfterdam I foon after fet fail for
England, in a ſmall veffel belonging to that city.
On the roth of April 1710, we put in at the Downs,
I landed the next morning, and faw once more my native
country, after an abfence of five years and fix months
complete. I went ftraight to Redriff, where I arrived
the fame day at two in the afternoon, and found my wife
and family in good health.
S
PART
+
(206)
PART IV.
A VOYAGE TO THE COUNTRY OF THE HOUYHNHNMS.
CHAP. I.
The author fets out as captain of a fhip. His men con-
Spire against him, confine him a long time to his cabin, fet
him on fhore in an unknown land. He travels up into the
country. The Yahoos, a ftrange fort of animal, defcribed.
The author meets two Houyhnhnins.
I
Continued at home with my wife and children about
five months in a very happy condition, if I could
have learned the leffon of knowing when I was well. I
left my poor wife big with child, and accepted an ad-
vantageous offer made me to be captain of the Adven-
ture, a ftout merchantmen of 350 tons : for I underſtood
navigation well; and being grown weary of a furgeon's
employment at fea, which, however, I could exerciſe up-
on occafion, I took a fkilful young man of that calling,
one Robert Purefoy, into my fhip. We fet fail from
Portſmouth upon the fecond day of Auguft, 1710; on
the fourteenth we met with captain Pocock, of Briſtol,
at Teneriffe, who was going to the Bay of Campeachy to
cut logwood. On the fixteenth he was parted from us
by a-tform; I heard fince my return, that his fhip foun-
dered, and none efcaped, but one cabin-boy. He was
an honest man, and a good failor; but a little too pofi-
tive in his own opinion, which was the caufe of his de-
ftruction, as it hath been of feveral others. For if he
had followed my advice, he might have been fafe at home
with his family at this time, as well as myfelf.
I had feveral men died in my fhip of calentures, fo
that I was forced to get recruits out of Barbadoes, and
the Leeward Iſlands, where I touched by the direction
of the merchants who employed me, which I had foon
too much caufe to repent; for I found afterwards, that
moſt of them had been Buccaneers.* I had fifty hands
on board, and my orders were, that I fhould trade with
the
*Certain pirates, that infifted the Weft Indies, were fe
called.
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUTHNHNMS. 207
the Indians in the South Sea, and make what diſcover
ries I could. Theſe rogues, whom I had picked up,
debauched my other men, and they all formed a confpi-
racy to feize the fhip, and fecure me; which they did
one morning, rufhing into my cabin, and binding me
hand and foot, threatening to throw me overboard, if I
offered to ftir. I told them I was their prifoner, and
would fubmit. This they made me fwear to do, and
then they unbound me, only faltening one of my legs
with a chain near my bed, and placed a centry at my
door with his piece charged, who was commanded to
fhoot me dead, if I attempted my liberty. They fent
me down victuals and drink, and took the government
of the ship to themſelves. Their defign was to turn
pirates, and plunder the Spaniards, which they could
not do, till they got more men. But first they reſolved
to fell the goods in the fhip, and then go to Madagaſcar
for recruits, feveral among them having died fince my
confinement. They failed many weeks, and traded
with the Indians, but I knew not what courſe they took,
being kept a clofe prifoner in my cabin, and expecting
nothing less than to be murdered, as they often threat-
ened me.
Upon the ninth day of May, 1711, one James Welſh
came down to my cabin, and faid he had orders from
the captain to fet me afhore. I expoftulated with him,
but in vain; neither would he fo much as tell me who
their new captain was. They forced me into the long-
boat, letting me put on my beft fuit of cloaths, which
were as good as new, and a fmall bundle of linen; but
no arms except my hanger; and they were fo civil as
not to fearch my pockets, into which I conveyed what
money I had, with fome other little neceffaries. They
rowed about a league, and then fet me down on a ftrand,
I defired them to tell me what country it was. They all
fwore they knew no more than myfelf: but faid that
the captain (as they called him) was refolved, after they
had fold the lading, to get rid of me in the firſt place
where they could difcover land. They pushed off in-
$ 24
mediately
208 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
mediately, advifing me to make hafte, for fear of being
overtaken by the tide, and fo bade me farewel.
In this defolate condition I advanced forward and
foon got upon firm ground, where I fat down on a bank
to reft myſelf, and confider what I had beſt to do.
When I was a little refreſhed, I went up into the
country, refolving to deliver myſelf to the first favages I
fhould meet, and purchafe my life from them by fome
bracelets, glafs rings, and other toys, which failors
uſually provide themſelves with in thofe voyages, and
whereof I had fome about me: the land was divided by
long rows of trees, not regularly planted, but naturally
growing; there was great plenty of grafs, and ſeveral
fields of oats. I walked very circumfpectly for fear of being
furpriſed, or fuddenly fhot with an arrow from behind,
or on either fide. I fell into a beaten road, where I faw
many tracts of human feet, and fome of cows, but moſt
of horſes. At laft I beheld feveral animals in a field,
and one or two of the fame kind fitting in trees. Their
fhape was very fingular and deformed, which a little dif-
compofed me, fo that I laid down behind a thicket to
obferve them better. Some of them coming forward,
near the place where I lay, gave me an opportunity of
diftinctly marking their form. Their heads and breafts
were covered with a thick hair, fome frizzled and others
lank; they had beards like goats, and a long ridge of
hair down their backs, and the fore parts of their legs
and feet; but the rest of their bodies were bare, fo that
I might fee their fkins, which were of a brown buff co-
lour. They had no tails, nor any hair at all on their
buttocks, except about the anus, which, I prefume,
nature had placed there to defend them as they fat on
the ground? for this pofture they uſed as well as lying
down, and often ftood on their hind feet. They climb-
ed high trees as nimbly as a fquirrel, for they had ftrong
extended claws before and behind, terminating in fharp
points, hooked. They would often fpring and bound,
and leap with prodigious agility. The females were
pot fo large as the males; they had long lank hair on
their
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS, 209
their heads, but none on their faces, nor any thing
more than a fort of down on the reft of their bodies, ex-
cept about the anus and pudenda. Their dugs hung
before their fore feet, and often almoft reached to the
ground as they walked. The hair of both fexes was of
feveral colours, brown, red, black, and yellow. Upon
the whole, I never beheld in all my travels fo difagreea-
ble an animal, nor one againft which I naturally con-
ceived fo ftrong an antipathy. So that thinking I had
feen enough, full of contempt and averfion, I got up
and purfued the beaten road, hoping it might direct me
to the cabin of fome Indian. I had not gone far, when
I met one of thefe creatures full in my way, and coming
up directly to me. The ugly monfter, when he faw
me, diftorted feveral ways every feature of his vifage, and
flared as at an object he had never feen before; then
approaching nearer, lifted up his fore paw, whether out
of curiofity or mischief, I could not tell.
But I drew
my hanger, and gave him a good blow with the flat fide
of it, for I durft not ftrike him with the edge, fearing
the inhabitants might be provoked againſt me, if they
fhould come to know that I had killed or maimed any of
their cattle. When the beaft felt the fmart, he drew
back, and roared fo loud, that a herd of at least forty
came flocking about me from the next field, howling
and making odious faces; but I ran to the body of a
tree, and leaning my back against it, kept them off by
waying my hanger. Several of this curfed brood getting
hold of the branches behind, leapt up into the tree, from
whence they began to difcharge their excrements on my
head: however, I efcaped pretty well, by fticking clofe
to the item of the tree: but was almoft ftifled with the
filth, which fell about me on every fide. In the midst
of this diftrefs, I obferved them all to run away on a
fudden as fast as they could, at which I ventured to
leave the tree, and purfue the road, wondering what it
was that could put them into this fright. But looking
on my left hand, I faw a horfe walking foftly in the field;
which my perfecutors having fooner difcovered, was the
$ 3
cauſe
N
210
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
caufe of their flight. The horſe ſtarted a little when he
came near me, but foon recovering himſelf, looked full
in my face with manifelt tokens of wonder: he viewed
my hands and feet, walking round me feveral times.-
I would have purfued my journey, but he placed him-
felf directly in the way; yet looking with a very mild
afpect, never offering the leaſt violence. We ftood gaz-
ing at each other for fome time: at laft I took the bold-
nels to reach my hand towards his neck, with a defign
to ſtreak it, uſing the common ftyle and whiſtle of joc-
kies when they are going to handle a ſtrange horſe -But
this animal feeming to receive my civilities with disdain,
fhook his head, and bent his brows, foftly railing his
right fore-foot to remove my hand. Then he neighed
three or four times, but in fo different a cadence, that I
almoſt began to think he was ſpeaking to himſelf in fome
language of his own.
While he and I were thus employed, another horfe
came up, who applying himſelf to the firft in a very for-
mal manner, they gently ftruck each other's right hoof
before, neighing feveral times by turns, and varying the
found, which feemed to be almoft articulate. They went
fome paces off, as if it were to confer together, walk-
ing fide by fide, backward and forward, like perfons de-
liberating upon ſome affair of weight, but often turning
their eyes towards me, as it were, to watch that I might
not eſcape. I was amazed to fee fuch actions and be-
haviour in brute beafts, and concluded with myſelf, that
if the inhabitants of this country were endued with a
proportionable degree of reaſon, they must needs be the
wifeft people upon earth. This thought gave me fo
much comfort, that I refolved to go forward until I
could diſcover fome houfe or village, or meet with any
of the natives, leaving the two horfes to difcourfe toge-
ther as they pleafed. But the firft, who was a dapple-
grey, obferving me to leal off, neighed after me in fo
expreffive a tone, that I fancied myfelf to underſtand
what he meant; whereupon I turned back, and camę
near him, to expect his farther commands, But con
1
cealing
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS. ZII
cealing my fear as much as I could, for I began to be
in fome pain how this adventure might terminate; and
the reader will eaſily believe I did not much like my pre-
fent fituation.
The two horfes came cloſe up to me, looking with
great earnestnefs upon my face and hands. The grey
fteed rubbed my hat all round with his right fore-hoof,
and difcompofed it to much, that I was forced to adjuſt
it better, by taking it off, and fettling it again; whereat
both he and his companion (who was a brown bay) ap-.
peared to be much furprifed; the latter felt the lappet
of my coat, and finding it to hang looſe about me, they
both looked with new figns of wonder. He ftroaked
my right hand, feeming to admire the foftneſs and co-
lour; but he fqueezed it fo hard between his hoof and
his paſtern, that I was forced to roar; after which they
touched me with all poffible tenderneſs. They were
under great perplexity about my fhoes and ſtockings,
which they felt very often, neighing to each other, and
ufing various geftures, not unlike thofe of a philofo-
pher, when he would attempt to folve fome new and dif-
ficult phænomenon.
Upon the whole, the behaviour of theſe animals was
fo orderly and rational, fo acute and judicious, that I at
laft concluded they must needs be magicians, who had
thus metamorphofed themſelves upon fome defign, and
feeing a franger in the way, were refolved to divert
themlelves with him; or perhaps were really amazed at
the fight of a man fo very different in habit, feature, and
complexion, from thofe who might probably live in fo
remote a climate. Upon the ftrength of this reafoning,
I ventured to addre's them in the following manner :-
"Gentlemen, if you be conjurors, as I have good
cauſe to believe, you can understand any language ;-
therefore I make bold to let your worſhips know, that
I am a poor diftreffed Engliſhman, driven by misfor
tunes upon your coaft, and I entreat one of you to let
me ride upon his back, as if he were a real horfe, ta
foine houfe or village, where I can be relieved. In
return
114 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
return for which favour, I will make you a prefent of
this knife and bracelet, (taking them out of my pocket)."
The two creatures flood filent while I fpoke, feeming
to liften with great attention; and when I had ended,
they neighed frequently towards each other, as if they
were engaged in ferious converfation. I plainly obferv-
ed, that their language expreffed the paffions very well,
and their words might with little pains be refolved into
an alphabet, more easily than the Chineſe.
I could frequently diſtinguiſh the word Yahoo, which
was repeated by each of them feveral times; and although
it was impoffible for me to conjecture what it meant:
yet, while the two horfes were bufy in converfation, I
endeavoured to practife this word upon my tongue;
and as foon as they were filent, I boldly pronounced
Yahoo in a loud voice, imitating at the fame time, as
near as I could, the neighing of a horfe; at which
they were both viſibly furpriſed, and the grey repeated
the fame word twice, as if he meant to teach me the right
accent, wherein I fpoke after him as well as I could,
and found myſelf perceivably to improve every time,
though very far from any degree of perfection.Then
the bay tried me with a fecond word, much harder to be
pronounced; but reducing it to the English orthogra-
phy, may be fpelt thus, Houyhnhnm. I did not fucceed
in this fo well as in the former, but after two or three
farther trials, I had better fortune, and they both ap-
peared amazed at my capacity. After fome farther dif
courfe, which I then conjectured might relate to me,
the two friends took their leave, with the fame compli
ment of friking each other's hoof; and the grey made
me figne that I fhould walk before them, wherein F
thought it prudent to comply, till "I could find a better
director When I offered to flacken my pace, he would
cry Ilhunn, Hhunn; I guefied his meaning, and gave
him to understand, as well as I could, that I was weary,
and not able to walk fafter; upon which he would ſtand
a while to let me reſt.
CHAP.
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
213
CHAP. II.
The author conducted by a Houyhnhnm to his house. The
boufe defcribed. The author's reception. The food of the
Houybubums. The author in diftress for want of meat, iş
at laft relieved. His manner of feeding in this country.
HAVING travelled about three miles, we came to a
long kind of building, made of timber, ftuck in
the ground, and wattled acrofs; the roof was low, and
covered with ftraw. I now began to be a little com-
forted, and took cut fome toys, which travellers ufually
carry for preſents to the favage Indians of America and
other parts, in hopes the people of the houfe would be
thereby encouraged to receive me kindly. The horſe
made me a figu.to go in fift; it was a large room, with
a fmooth clay floor, and a rack and manger, extending
the whole length on one fide. There were three nags,
and two mares, not eating, but fome of them fitting
down upon their hams, which I very much wondered
at; but wondered more to fee the reft employed in do-
meftic bufinels. Thefe feemed but ordinary cattle; how-
ever this confirmed my firft opinion, that a people who
could fo far civilize brute animals, muft needs excel in
wifdom all the nations of the world. The grey came
in juſt after, and thereby prevented any ill treatment,
which the others might have given me. He neighed to
them ſeveral times in a ftyle of authority, and received
anfwers.
Beyond this room there were three others, reaching
the length of the houfe, to which you paffed through
three doors oppofite to each other, in the manner of a
vifta; we went through the fecond room towards the
third, here the grey walked in firft, beckoning me to
attend: I waited in the fecond room, and got ready my
prefents for the mafter and miftrels of the houfe: they
were two knives, three bracelets of falle pearl, a finall
looking-glafs, and a bead necklace. The horfe neighed
three or four times, and I waited to hear fome anſwers
in a human voice, but I obferved no other returns than
in
1
214
in the fame dialect, only one or two a little fhriller than
his. I began to think that this houſe muſt belong to
fome perfon of great note among them, becauſe there
appeared fo much ceremony before I could gain admit-
tance. But, that a man of quality fhould be ferved all
by horfes, was beyond my comprehenfion. I feared my
brain was disturbed by my fufferings and misfortunes:
I roufed myſelf, and looked about me in the room where
I was left alone; this was furniſhed like the first, only
after a more elegant manner. I rubbed my eyes often,
but the fame objects ftill occured. I pinched my arms
and fides, to awake myself, hoping I might be in a
dream. I then abfolutely concluded, that all theſe ap-
pearances could be nothing less than necromancy and
magic. But I had no time to pursue thefe reflections;
for the grey horfe came to the door, and made me a fign
to follow him into the third room, where I faw a very
comely mare, together with a colt and fole, fitting upon
their haunches, upon mats of straw, not unartfully made,
and perfectly neat and clean.
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
The mare, foon after my entrance, rofe from her mat,
and coming up cloſe, after having nicely obſerved my
hands and face, gave me a moft contemptuous look;
then turning to the horſe, I heard the word Yahoo often
repeated betwixt them; "the meaning of which word I
could not then comprehend, although it was the first I
had learned to pronounce; but I was foon better in-
formed to my everlasting mortification: for the horſe
beckoning to me with his head, and repeating the word
Hhunn, Hhunn, as he did upon the road, which I un-
derſtood was to attend him, led me out into a kind of
court, where was another building at ſome diſtance from
the houſe. Here we entered, and I faw three of theſe
deteftable creatures, whom I first met after my landing,
feeding upon roots, and the flesh of fome animals, which
I afterwards found to be that of affes and dogs, and
now and then a cow dead by accident or difeafe. They
were all tied by the neck with ftrong wyths, faftened to
a beam; they held their food between the claws of their
fore-feet,
•
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
275
fore-feet, and tore it with their teeth. The mafter
horfe ordered a forrel nag, one of his fervants, to untie
the largeſt of theſe animals, and take him into the
yard. The beaft and I were brought clofe together;
and our countenances diligently compared, both by maf-
ter and fervant, who thereupon repeated feveral times
the word Yahoo. My horror and aftonishment are not
to be defcribed, when I obferved, in this abominable
animal, a perfect human figure; the face cf it, indeed,
was flat and broad, the nofe depreffed, the lips large,
and the mouth wide. But thefe differences are common
to all favage nations, where the lineaments of the coun-
tenance are distorted by the natives fuffering their in-
fants to lie grovelling on the earth, or by carrying them
on their backs, nuzzling with their face against the mo-
ther's fhoulders. The fore-feet of the Yahoo differed
from my hands in nothing elfe but the length of the
nails, the coarſeneſs and brownnefs of the palms, and the
hairinefs on the backs. There was the fame refem-
blance between our feet, with the fame differences, which
I knew very well, though the horfes did not, becauſe of
my ſhoes and ſtockings; the fame in every part of our
bodies, except as to hairinefs and colour, which I have
already deſcribed.
The great difficulty that feemed to ftick with the
two horſes, was, to fee the rest of my body ſo very dif-
ferent from that of a Yahoo, for which I was obliged to
my cloaths, whereof they had no conception: the forrel
nag offered me a root, which he held (after their man-
ner, as we ſhall defcribe in its proper place) between
his hoof and paſtern; I took it in my hand, and, hav-
ing fmelt it, returned it to him again as civilly as I
could. He brought out of the Yahoo's kennel a piece
of afs's flesh, but it fmelt fo offenfively that I turned
from it with loathing; he then threw it to the Yahoo,
by whom it was greedily devoured.* He afterwards
thewed
* Whoever is diſguſted with this picture of a Yahoo, would
do well to reflect, that it becomes his own in exact proportion as
he
K
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
Z16
fhewed me a wifp of hay, and a fetlock full of oats!
but I fhook my head, to fignify, that neither of theſe
were food for me. And, indeed, I now apprehended
that I muſt abſolutely ftarve, if I did not get to fome
of my own ſpecies: for as to thofe filthy Yahoos, altho'
there were few greater lovers of mankind at that time
than myfelf; yet I confefs I never faw any fenfitive be-
ing fo deteftable on all accounts; and the more I came
near them, the more hateful they grew, while I ftaid in
that country. This the mafter horfe obferved by my
behaviour, and therefore fent the Yahoo back to his
kennel. He then put his fore hoof to his mouth, at
which I was much furpriſed, although he did it with
cafe, and with a motion that appeared perfectly natural,
and made other figns to know what I would eat; but I
could not return him fuch an anfwer as he was able to
apprehend; and if he had understood me, I did not fee
how it was poffible to contrive any way for finding my-
felf nourishment. While we were thus engaged, I ob-
ferved a cow paffing by, whereupon I pointed to her, and
expreffed a defire to let me go and milk her. This had
its effect; for he led me back into the houſe, and order-
ed a mare-fervant to open a room, where a good fore of
milk lay in earthen and wooden veffels, after a very or-
derly and cleanly manner. She gave me a large bowl
full, of which I drank very heartily, and found myſelf
well refreſhed.
About noon,
I faw coming towards the houfe a kind
of vehicle drawn like a fledge, by four Yahoos. There
wain it an old fteed, who feemed to be of quality! he
alignted with his hind-feet forward, having by acci-
dent got a hurt in his left fore-foot. He came to dine
with our horfe, who received him with great civility.
They dined in the beft room, and had oats boiled in milk
for the fecond courfe, which the old horfe eat warm, but
the reft cold. Their mangers were placed circular in the
middle
he deviates from virtuc, for virtue is the perfection of reafon;
the appetites of thofe abandoned to vice are not lefs brutal and
fordid than that of a Yahoo for affes flesh, nor is their life a ftate
of lefs abject fervility.
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS. 217
middle of the room, and divided into feveral partitions,
round which they fat on their haunches upon boffes of
ftraw. In the middle was a large rack with angles an-
fwering to every partition of the manger. So that each
horfe and mare eat their own hay, and their own maſh of
oats and milk, with much decency and regularity. The
behaviour of the young colt and fole appeared very mo◄
deft, and that of the matter and miſtreſs extremely cheer-
ful and complaiſant to their gueft. The grey ordered
me to ſtand by him, and much difcourfe paffed between
him and his friend concerning me, as I found by the
ftranger's often looking on me, and the frequent repeti-
tion of the word Yahoo.
I happened to wear my gloves, which the mafter grey
obferving, feemed perplexed, difcovering figns of won-
der what I had done to my fore-feet; he put his hoof
three or four times to them, as if he would fignify, that
I ſhould reduce them to their former fhape: which I pre-
fently did, pulling off both my gloves, and putting them
both into my pocket. This occafioned further talk, and
I faw the company was pleafed with my behaviour,
whereof I foon found the good effects. I was ordered
to ſpeak the few words I underſtood, and while they
were at dinner, the maiter taught me the names for oats,
milk, fire, water, and fome others; which I could rex-
dily pronounce after him, having from my youth a great
facility in learning languages.
When dinner was done, the mafter horſe took me
afide, and by figns and words made me underſtand the
concern that he was in, that I had nothing to eat.-
Oats in their tongue are called hluunh. This word I
pronounced two or three times; for although I had re-
fufed them at first, yet, upon fecond thoughts, I confi-
dered that I could contrive to make of them a kind of
bread, which might be fufficient with milk, to keep me
alive, till I could make iny efcape to fome other country,
and to creatures of my own fpecies. The horſe iminė-
diately ordered a white mare-fervant of his family to
bring me a good quantity of oats in a fort of wooden
T
tray.
218 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
tray. Theſe I heated before the fire, as well as I could,
and rubbed them till the huſks came off, which I made a
fhift to winnow from the grain; I ground and beat them
between two ftones, then took water and made them in-
to a paſte or cake, which I toaſted at the fire and eat
warm with milk. It was at firſt a very infipid diet,
though common enough in many parts of Europe, but
grew tolerable by time, and having been often reduced
to hard fare in my life, this was not the first experiment
I had made how easily nature is fatisfied. And I cannot
but obferve, that I never had one hour's fickneſs while
I ftaid in this ifland. It is true, I fometimes made a
fhift to catch a rabbit, or bird, by fprings made of Ya-
hoos' hairs; and I often gathered whole fome herbs, which
I boiled, or eat as fallads with my bread, and now and
then, for a rarity, I made a little butter, and drank the
whey. I was at firft at a great lofs for falt, but cuftom
foon reconciled the want of it; and I am confident that
the frequent use of falt among us is an effect of luxury,
and was first introduced only as a provocative to drink;
except where it is neceffary for preſerving of fleſh in long
voyages, or in places remote from great markets. For
we obferve no animal to be fond of it but man; and
as to myſelf, when I left this country, it was a great
while before I could endure the taste of it in any thing
that I ate.
This is enough to fay upon the fubject of my diet,
wherewith our travellers fill their books, as if the read-
ers were perfonally concerned whether we fared well or
ill. However it was neceflary to mention this matter,
left the world ſhould think it impoffible that I could find
fuftenance for three years in fuch a country, and among
fuch inhabitants.
When it grew towards evening, the mafter horfe cr-
dered a place for me to lodge in; it was but fix yards
from the houfe, and feparated from the ftable of the
Yahoos. Here I got fome ftraw, and, covering my-
felf with my own cloaths, flept very found. But I was
in a fhort time better accommodated, as the reader fhall
know
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
219
know hereafter, when I come to treat more particularly
about my way of living.
CHAP. III.
The author ftudious to learn the language; the Houyhn-
brim, his mafter, affifts in teaching him. The language
defcribed. Several Houyhnbums of quality come out of cu-
riofity to fee the author. He gives his mafter a ſhort ac-
count of his voyage.
MY principal endeavour was to learn the language,
which my mafter (for fo I fhall henceforth call
him) and his children, and every fervant of his houſe were
defirous to teach me. For they looked upon it as a pro-
digy, that a brute animal fhould difcover fuch marks of
a rational creature. I pointed to every thing, and en-
quired the name of it, which I wrote down in my jour-
nal book when I was alone, and corrected my bad ac-
cent, by defiring thofe of the family to pronounce it of
ten. In this employment, a forrel nag, one of the un-
der fervants, was very ready to affift me.
In fpeaking they pronounce through the nofe and
throat, and their language approaches nearest to the High-
Dutch or German, of any I know in Europe; but is
much more graceful and fignificant. The Emperor
Charles V. made almoft the fame obſervation, when he
faid, That if he were to ſpeak to his horfe, it fhould be
in High-Dutch.
The curiofity and impatience of my mafter were fo
great, that he spent many hours of his leifure to inftruct
me. He was convinced (as he afterwards told me) that
I must be a Yahoo, but my teachableness, civility, and
cleanlineſs, aftoniſhed him; which were qualities alto-
gether fo opposite to thofe animals. He was moſt per ›
plexed about my cloaths, reafoning fometimes with him-
felf, whether they were a part of iny body; for I never
pulled them off till the family were aſleep, and got them
on before they waked in the morning. My mafter was
eager to learn from whence I came, how I acquired thoſe
appearances of reaſon which I diſcovered in all my ac-
tions ;
T 2
220 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
tions;, and to know my ftory from my own mouth, which
he hoped he should foon do by the great proficiency I
made in learning and pronouncing their words and fen-
tences.
To help my memory, I formed all I learned
into the English alphabet, and wrote the words down
with the tranflation. This laft, after fome time, I ven-
tured to do in my mafter's prefence. It coft me much
trouble to explain to him what I was doing; for the in-
habitants have not the leaft idea of books or literature.
In about ten weeks time I was able to underſtand moſt
of his questions; and in three months could give him
fome tolerable anſwers. He was extremely curious to
know from what part of the country I came, and how I
was taught to imitate a rational creature, becauſe the
Yahoos, (whom I exactly refembled in my head, hands,
and face, that were only visible) with fome appearance
of cunning, and the ftrongeft difpofition to miſchief, were
obferved to be the moſt unteachable of all brutes. I an-
fwered, that I came over the fea from a far place, with
many others of my own kind, in a great hollow veſſel
made of the bodies of trees. That my companions
forced me to land on this coast, and then left me to thift
for myſelf. It was with fome difficulty, and by the help
of many figns, that I brought him to underftand me.
He replied, that I muft needs be miſtaken, or that I faid
the thing which was not. (For they have no word in
their language to exprefs lying or falfhood.) He knew
it was impoffible that there could be a country beyond
the lea, or that a parcel of brutes could move a wooden
veffel whither they pleafed uppn water.
He was fure no
Houyhnhnm alive could make fuch a veſſel, nor would
truft Yahoos to manage it.
+
The word Houyhnhnm, in their tongue, fignifies a
horfe, and in its etymology, the perfection of nature.
I told my mafter, that I was at a lofs for expreffion,
but would improve as fast as I could; and hoped in a
fhort time I ſhould be able to tell him wonders: he was
pleaſed to direct his own mare, his colt and fole, and the
fervants of the family to take all opportunities of in-
ftructing
A VOYAGE TO THE HOỮYHNHNMS.
221
זי
ſtructing me; and every day, for two or three hours, he
was at the fame pains himſelf. Several horfes and
mares of quality in the neighbourhood came often to our
houfe, upon the report fpread of a wonderful Yahoo,
that could fpeak like a Houyhnhnın, and feemed in his
words and actions to diſcover ſome glimmerings of rea-
fon. Thefe delighted to converfe with me; they put
many questions, and received fuch anſwers as I was
able to return. By all theſe advantages I made fo great
a progrefs, that in five months from my arrival I under-
ftood whatever was ſpoke, and could exprefs myſelf to-
lerably well.
The Houyhnhnms who came to visit my mafter, out
of a defign of feeing and talking with me, could hardly
believe me to be a right Yahoo, becauſe my body had a
different covering from others of my kind. They were af-
toniſhed to obſerve me without the uſual hair or ſkin,
except on my head, face, and hands; but I diſcovered
that fecret to my mafter, upon an accident that happen-
ed about a fortnight before.
I have already told the reader, that every night, when
the family were gone to bed, it was my cuſtom to ſtrip,
and cover mytelf with my cloaths: it happened, one
morning early, that my mafter fent for me, by the forrel
nag, who was his valet; when he came, I was faft afleep,
y cloaths having fallen off on one fide, and my fhirt
above my waift. I awaked at the noiſe he made, and
obferved him to deliver his meſſage in fome diforder ¿
after which he went to my master, and in a great fright
gave him a very confuſed account of what he had feen:
this I prefently difcovered; for going, as foon as I was
dreffed, to pay my attendance upon his honour, he asked
me the meaning of what his fervant had reported; that
I was not the fame thing when I flept as I appeared to
be at other times; that his valet affured him, fome part
of me was white, fome yellow, at leaſt not ſo white, and
fome brown.
I had hitherto concealed the fecret of my drefs, in or
der to diſtinguiſh myfelf as much as I could from the cur-
T 3
fed
222 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
fed race of Yahoos; but now I found it in vain to do fo
any longer. Befides, I confidered, that my cloaths and
fhoes would foon wear out, which already were in a de-
clining condition, and must be fupplied by fome contri-
vance from the hides of the Yahoos or other brutes
whereby the whole fecret would be known: I therefore
told my maſter, that in the country from whence I came,
thoſe of my kind always covered their bodies with the
hairs of certain animals prepared by art, as well for de-
cency, as to avoid the inclemencies of air, both hot and
cold: of which, as to my own perfon, I would give him
immediate conviction, if he pleaſed to command me;
only defiring his excufe, if I did not expofe thofe parts
that nature taught us to conceal. He faid my diſcourſe
was all very ftrange, but eſpecially the last part; for he
could not understand why nature ſhould teach us to con-
ceal what nature had given. That neither himſelf nor
family were ashamed of any parts of their bodies; but
however I might do as I pleafed. Whereupon I first un-
buttoned my coat, and pulled it off. I did the fame with
my waiſtcoat; I drew off my fhoes, stockings, and
breeches. I let my fhirt down to my waift, and drew
up the bottom, faftening it like a girdle about my mid-
dle, to hide my nakedneſs.
;
My malter obſerved the whole performance with
great figns of curiofity and admiration. He took up all
my cloaths in his paſtern, one picce after another, and
examined them diligently; he then ftroked my body
very gently, and looked round me feveral times, after
which he faid, it was plain I muſt be a perfect Yahoo
but that I differed very much from the rest of my fpe-
cies, in the ſoftneſs, and whiteneſs, and fmoothness of
my skin, my want of hair in feveral parts of iny body,
the ſhape and fortneſs of my claws behind and before,
and my affectation of walking continually on my two
hinder feet. He defired to fee no more, and gave me
leave to put on my cloaths again, for I was fhuddering
with cold.
A
I expreſſed my uneafineſs at his giving me fo often
the
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
223
the appellation of Yahoo, an odious animal, for which
I had fo utter an hatred and contempt. I begged he
would forbear applying that word to me, and give the
fame order in his family, and among his friends whom
he fuffered to ſee me. I requeſted likewiſe, that the ſe-
cret of my having a falfe covering to my body might be
known to none but himfelf, at leaſt as long as my pre-
fent cloathing ſhould laft; for, as to what the forrel nag,
his valet, had obferved, his honour might command him
to conceal it.
All this my mafter very gracioufly confented to, and
thus the fecret was kept till my cloaths began to wear
out, which I was forced to fupply by feveral contri-
vances, that ſhall hereafter be mentioned. In the mean
time, he defired I would go on with my utmost diligence
to learn their language, becaufe he was more aſtoniſhed
at my capacity for ſpeech and reaſon, than at the figure
of my body, whether it were covered or no; adding,
that he waited with fome impatience to hear the wonders
that I promiſed to tell him.
From thenceforward he doubled the pains he had been
at to instruct me; he brought me into all company, and
made them treat me with civility, becauſe, as he told
them privately, this would put me into good huniour,
and make me more diverting.
Every day when I waited on him, befide the trouble
he was at in teaching, he would ask me feveral quef-
tions concerning myfelf, which I anfwered as well as I
could; and by thefe means he had already received fome
general ideas, though very imperfect. It would be te-
dious to relate the feveral fteps, by which I advanced to
a more regular converfation: but the firft account I
gave of myſelf in any order and length, was to this pur-
pole:
hol-
That I came from a very far country, as I had already
attempted to tell him, with about fifty more of my own
fpecies; that we travelled upon the feas, in a great
low veffel made of wood, and larger than his honour's
houſe. I defcribed the ship to him in the best terms I
could,
224
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
could, and explained by the help of my handkerchief
diſplayed, how it was driven forward by the wind.
That upon a quarrel among us, I was fet on ſhore on
this coaft, where I walked forward without knowing
whither, till he delivered me from the perfecution of
thofe execrable Yahoos. He asked me who made the
fhip, and how it was poffible that the Houyhnhnms of
my country would leave it to the management of brutes?
My answer was, that I durft proceed no farther in my
relation, unleſs he would give me his word and honour
that he would not be offended, and then I would tell
him the wonders I had ſo often promifed. He agreed;
and I went on by affuring him, that the fhip was made
by creatures like myſelf, who in all the countries I had
travelled, as well as in my own, were the only govern-
ing, rational animals; and that upon my arrival hi-
ther, I was as much aſtoniſhed to ſee the Houyhnhnms
act like rational beings, as he or his friends could be in
finding fome marks of reafon in a creature he was pleaf-
ed to call a Yahoo; to which I owned my reſemblance
in every part, but could not account for their degenerate
and brutal nature. I faid farther, that if good fortune
ever reſtored me to my native country to relate my tra-
vels hither, as I refolved to do, every body would be-
lieve that I faid the thing which was not; that I invent-
ed the story out of my own head; and with all poffible
refpect to himſelf, his family, and friends, and under
his promife of not being offended, our countrymen would
hardly think it probable, that a Houyhnhnm ſhould be
the prefiding creature of a nation, and a Yahoo the
brute.
CHAP. IV.
The Houyhnhnm's notion of truth and falfbood. The ‹ u-
thor's difcourfe diſapproved by his master. The a
gives a more particular account of himſelf, and the acci-
dents of his voyage.
MY matter heard me with great appearance of unea-
finefs in his countenance, becaufe doubting, or
not believing, are fo little known in this country, that
the
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
225
the inhabitants cannot tell how to behave themſelves un-
der fuch circumftances. And I remember in frequent
difcourfes with my mafter, concerning the nature of man-
hood in other parts of the world, having occafion to talk
of lying, and falſe repreſentation, it was with much dif-
ficulty that he comprehended what I meant, although he
had otherwife a moft acute judgment. For he argued
thus: that the uſe of fpeech was to make us underſtand
one another, and to receive information of facts; now if
any one faid the thing which was not, thofe ends were de-
feated, becauſe I cannot properly be faid to underſtand
him; and I am fo far from receiving information, that he
leaves me worſe than in ignorance, for I am led to believe
a thing black when it is white, and fhort when it is long.
And theſe were all the notions he had concerning that
faculty of lying, fo perfectly well underſtood, and uni-
verfally practifed among human creatures.
To return from this digreffion; when I afferted that
the Yahoos were the only governing animals in my coun-
try, which my maſter ſaid was altogether paſt his con-
ception, he delired to know whether we had Houyhnhnms
among us, and what was their employment: I told him
we had great numbers; that in the fummer they grazed
in the fields, and in winter were kept in houfès, with hay
and oats, where Yahoo fervants were employed to rub
their ſkins ſmooth, comb their manes, pick their feet, ferve
them with food, and make their beds. I underſtand
¿ you well,' faid my mafter, It is now very plain, from
all you have ſpoken, that, whatever fhaie of reafon the
• Yahoos pretend to, the Houyhnhnms are your maſters;
I heartily with our Yahoos would be fo tractable.' I
begged his honour would be pleaſed to excufe me from
proceeding any farther, becaufe I was very certain that
the account he expected from me would be highly dif
pleafing. But he perfifted in commanding me to let him
know the beft and the woft: I told him he fhould be
obeyed. I owned that the Houyhnhnms among us, whom
we called horfes, were the most generous and comely ani-
mals we had; that they excelled in ftrength and fwiftneſs;
and
226
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
1
and when they belonged to perfons of quality, employed
in travelling, racing, or drawing chariots, they were treat-
ed with much kindneſs and care, till they fell into difeafes,
or became foundered in the feet, but then they were fold,
and uſed to all kinds of drudgery, till they died; after
which their ſkins were ftripped and fold for what they
were worth, and their bodies left to be devoured by dogs
and birds of prey. But the common race of horſes had
not fo good fortune, being kept by farmers and carriers,
and other mean people, who put them to greater labour,
and fed them worse. I defcribed, as well as I could,
our way of riding; the ſhape and uſe of a bridle, a faddle,
a fpur, and a whip; of harnefs, and wheels. I added,
that we faſtened plates of a certain hard ſubttance, called
iron, at the hottom of their feet, to preſerve their hoofs
from being broken by the ftony ways on which we often
travelled,
My maſter, after fome expreffions of great indignation,
wondered how we dared to venture upon an Houyhnhnm's
back; for he was fure that the weakest fervant in his
houſe would be able to fhake off the ſtrongeſt Yahoo; or
by lying down, and rolling on his back, ſqueeze the brute
to death. I anſwered, that our horfes were trained up
from three years old, to the feveral ufes we intended them
for; that if any of them proved intolerably vicious, they
were employed for carriages; that they were feverely
beaten while they were young, for any miſchievous tricks:
that the males, defigned for common ufe, as riding or
draught, were generally caftrated about two years after
their birth, to take down their ſpirits, and make them
tame and gentle; that they were indeed fenfible of rewards
and puniſhments; but his honour would pleafe to confider
that they had not the leaft tincture of realon, any more
than the Yahoos in this country.
It put me to the pains of circumlocutions to give my
maſter a right idea of what I fpoke; for their language
doth not abound in variety of words, becauſe their wants
and paffions are fewer than among us. But it is impoſ-
fible to repreſent his noble reſentment of our ſavage treat-
ment
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
;
J
227
ment of the Houyhnhnm race; particularly after I had
explained the manner and ufe of caftrating horfes among
us, to hinder them from propagating their kind, and to
render them more fervile. He faid, if it were poffible
there could be any country where Yahoos alone were en-
dued with reaſon, they certainly muſt be the governing
animal; becauſe reafon will in time always prevail againſt
brutal ftrength. But, confidering the frame of our bo-
dies, and eſpecially of mine, he thought no creature of
equal bulk was fo ill contrived for employing that reaſon
in the common offices of life; whereupon he defired to
know, whether thofe among whom I lived reſembled me
or the Yahoos of his country. I affured him that I was
as well ſhaped as most of my age; but the younger and
the females were much more foft and tender, and the
fkins of the latter generally as white as milk. He ſaid,
I differed indeed from other Yahoos, being much more
cleanly, and not altogether fo deformed; but in point of
real advantage, he thought I differed for the worſe. That
my nails were of no ufe either to my fore or hinder-feet
as to my fore-feet, he could not properly call them by that
name, for he never obferved me to walk upon them; that
they were too foft to bear the ground; that I generally
went with them uncovered, neither was the covering I
fometimes wore on them of the ſame fhape, or ſo ftrong
as that on my feet behind. That I could not walk with
any fecurity, for if either of my hinder-feet flipped I muſt
inevitably fall. He then began to find fault with other
parts of my body, the flatnefs of my face, the promi-
nence of my nose, mine eyes placed directly in the front,
fo that I could not look on either fide without turning
my head: that I was not able to feed myſelf without lift-
ing one of my fore-feet to my mouth; and therefore na-
ture had placed thofe joints to anſwer that neceffity.-
He knew not what could be the uſe of thofe feveral clefts
and divifions in my feet behind that thefe were too foft
to bear the hardneſs and fharpness of ftones, without a
covering made from the ſkin of fome other brute; that my
whole body wanted a fence againſt heat and cold, which
I was
228
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
I was forced to put on and off every day with tediouſneſs
and trouble. And, laftly, that he obferved every animal
in this country naturally to abhor the Yahoos, whom the
weaker avoided, and the ftronger drove from them. So
that fuppofing us to have the gift of reaſon, he could not
fee how it were poffible to cure that natural antipathy
which every creature difcovered against us, nor, confe-
quently, how we could tame and render them ferviceable.
However, he would (as he faid) debate the matter no
farther, becauſe he was more defirous to know my own
ftory, the country where I was born, and the feveral ac-
tions and events of my life before I came hither.
I affured him how extremely defirous I was that he
fhould be fatisfied in every point; but I doubted mucli
whether it would be poffible for me to explain myſelf on
feveral fubjects whereof his honour could have no concep-
tion, because I faw nothing in his country to which I
could reſemble them. That, however, I would do my
beft, and strive to exprefs myself by fimilitudes, humbly
defiring his affiftance when I wanted proper words; which
he was pleaſed to promiſe me.
I faid my bir.h was of honeft parents, in an ifand
called England, which was remote from this country, as
many days journey as the ftrongeſt of his honour's fer-
vants would travel in the annual courfe of the fun. That
I was bred a furgeon, whoſe trade is to cure wounds in
the body, got by accident or violence; that my country
was governed by a female man, whom we called Queen.
That I left it to get riches, whereby I might maintain
myſelf and family when I fhould return. That in my
lalt voyage I was commander of the fhip, and had about
fifty Yahoos under me, many of which died at,fea, and
I was forced to fupply them with others picked out from
feveral nations. That our fhip was twice in danger of
being funk; the firſt time by a great ftorm, and the fe-
cond by ftriking against a rock. Here my malter inter-
pofed, by asking me how I could perfuade ftrangers out
of different countries, to venture with me, after the loffes
I had ſuſtained, and the hazards I had run, I ſaid they
were
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS. 220
were fellows of deſperate fortunes, forced to fly from the.
places of their birth, on account of their poverty or their
crimes. Some were undone by law-fuits; others fled for
treafon; many for murder, thefts, poifoning, robbery,
perjury, coining falfe money, for committing rapes or
fodomy; for flying from their colours, or deferting to
the enemy; and moft of them had broken prifon; none
of theſe durft return to their native countries for fear of
being hanged, or of flarving in a jail'; and therefore were
under a neceflity of feeking a livelihood in other places.
During this difcourfe, my maſter was pleaſed to in-
terrupt me feveral times; I had made ufe of many cir-
cumlocutions in defcribing to him the nature of feveral
crimes, for which most of our crew had been forced to
fly their country. This labour took up feveral conver-
fations before he was able to comprehend me. He was
wholly at a lofs to know what could be the ufe or necef
fity of practifing thofe vices. To clear up which, I en-
deavoured to give him fome ideas of the defire of power
and riches, and of the terrible effects of luft, intempe-
rance, malice, and envy. All this I was forced to de-
fine and defcribe by putting of cafes, and making of fup-
pofitions. After which, like one whofe imagination was
ftruck with fomething never ſeen nor heard of before, he
lifted up his eyes with amazement and indignation. Power,
government, war, law, punishment, and a thoufand
other things had no terms, wherein that language could
exprefs them, which made the difficulty almoft infupe-
rable to give my mafter any conception of what I meant.
But being of an excellent understanding, much improved
by contemplation and converfe, he at laft arrived at a
competent knowledge of what human nature in our part
of the world is capable of performing, and defired I would
give him fome particular account of that land, which we
call Europe, but especially of my own country.
u
}
CHAP.
جيري
J
230
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
CHAP. V.
The author, at his master's command, informs him of the
ftate of England. The causes of war among the princes
of Europe. The author begins to explain the Engliſh con-
ftitution.
THE reader may pleafe to obferve, that the following
extract of many converfations I had with my maf
ter, contains a fuminary of the moft material points, of
which we difcourfed at feveral times for above two years;
his honour often defiring fuller fatisfaction, as I farther
improved in the Houyhnhnm tongue. I laid before him,
as well as I could, the whole ftate of Europe; I dif
courfed of trade and manufactures, of arts and ſciences;
and the anfwers I gave to all the questions he asked, as
they arofe upon feveral fubjects, were a fund of conver-
fation not to be exhaufted. But I ſhall here only ſet
down the fubftance of what paffed between us concern-
ing my own country, reducing it into order, as well as I
can, without any regard to time or other circumſtances,
while I ftrictly adhere to truth. My only concern is,
that I fhall hardly be able to do juftice to my maſter's
arguments and expreffions, which muft needs fuffer by
my want of capacity, as well as by a tranflation into
our barbarous English.
In obedience therefore to his honour's commands,, I
related to him the revolution under the prince of Orange,
the long war with France entered into by the faid prince,
and renewed by his fucceffor, the prefent queen, wherein
the greatest powers of Christendom were engaged, and
which ſtill continued: I computed, at his requeft, that
about a million of Yahoos might have been killed in the
whole progrefs of it, and perhaps a hundred or more ci-
ties taken, and five times as many fhips burnt or funk.
He asked me what were the ufual caufes or motives
that made one country go to war with another. I an-
fwered they were innumerable, but I fhould only men-
tion'a few of the chief. • Sometimes the ambition of
princes,who never think they have land or people enough
´to govern; fometimes the corruption of minifters, who
• engage
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS. 231
engage their mafter in a war, in order to ftifle or di
• vert the clamour of the ſubjects against their evil admi
⚫niſtration. Difference in opinions hath coft many mil-
lions of lives; for instance, whether Flesh be Bread, or
• Bread be Flesh; whether the juice of a certain Berry be
♦ Blood or Wine*; whether Whiſtling be a vice or a virtuef;
whether it be better to kiss a Poff, or throw it into the
firet; what is the best colour for a Coat, whether black,
white, red, or grey; and whether it fhould be long or
• fort, narrow or wide, dirty or clean, with many more.
Neither are any wars fo furious and bloody, or of fo
¿ long continuance, as thofe occafioned by difference in
'opinion, eſpecially if it be in things indifferent.
<
Sometimes the quarrel between two princes is to de-
'cide which of them fhall difpoffefs a third of his domi
• nions, where neither of them pretend to any right.
Sometimes one prince quarrelleth with another, for fear
the other ſhould quarrel with him. Sometimes a war is
' entered upon, becaufe the enemy is too ftrong, and fome-
times becauſe he is too weak. Sometimes our neigh-
bours want the things which we have, or have the things
← which we want; and we both fight, till they take ours,
or give us theirs. It is a very juftifiable caufe of war,
'to invade a country after the people have been wafted by
famine, deftroyed by peftilence, or embroiled by factions
among themselves. It is juftifiable to enter into war
against our neareſt ally, when one of his towns lies con-
venient for us, or a territory of land that would render
* our dominions round and complete. If a prince fends
• forces into a nation, where the people are poor and ig-
norant, he may lawfully put half of them to death, and
• make flaves of the reft, in order to civilize and reduce.
* them from their barbarous way of living. It is a very
kingly, honourable, and frequent practice, when one
prince defires the affiftance of another, to fecure him
against an invafion, that the affiftant, when he hath
t
*
• Tranſubſtantiation. † Church mufic. Kifling a crofs.
The colour and the make of facred vestments and different
orders of popish ecclefiaftics.
U 2
• driven
W
232
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
$
C
⚫ driven out the invader, fhould feize on the dominions
himſelf, and kill, imprifon, or banish the prince he
• came to relieve. Alliance by blood, or marriage, is a
frequent caufe of war between princes, and the nearer
their kindred is, the greater is their difpofition to quar-
rel poor nations are hungry, and rich nations are
proud, and pride and hunger will ever be at variance.
For thefe reafons, the trade of a foldier is held the molt
⚫ honourable of all others: becauſe a foldier is a Yahoo
hired to kill in cold blood as many of his own ſpecies,
who have never offended him, as poffibly he can.
There is likewife a kind of beggarly princes in Eu-
rope, not able to make war by themfelves, who hire out
their troops to richer nations for fo inuch a day to each
man; of which they keep three-fourths to themſelves,
and it is the best part of their maintenance; fuch are
• thofe in many northern parts of Europe."
C
• What you have told me, (faid my maſter) upon the
• fubject of war, does indeed diſcover moſt admirably the
* effects of that reafon you pretend to: however, it is
¿ happy that the fhame is greater than the danger; and that
nature hath left you utterly incapable of doing much
miſchief: for your mouths lying flat with your faces,
you can hardly bite each other to any purpofe, unleſs
by confent. Then as to the claws upon your feet before
and behind, they are fo fhort and tender, that one of
our Yahoos would drive a dozen of yours before him.
And therefore in recounting the numbers of thoſe who
have been killed in battle, I cannot but think that you
have faid the thing that is not.'
"
I could not forbear fhaking my head, and fmiling a
little at his ignorance. And being no ftranger to the
art of war, I gave him a defcription of cannons, culve-
rins, mufquets, carbines, piftols, bullets, powder,
fwords, bayonets, fieges, retreats, attacks, under-
mines, countermines, bombardments, fea fights: fhips
funk with a thousand men, twenty thoufand killed on
each fide; dying groans, limbs flying in the air, fimoke,
noife, confufion, trampling to death under horfes feet
flight,
A VOYAĠE TO THE HOUTHNHNMS.
233
I
flight, purfuit, victory; fields ftrewed with carcafès
left for food to dogs and wolves, and birds of prey;
plundering, ftripping, ravishing, burning, and deftroy-
ing. And to fet forth the valour of my own dear coun-
trymen, I affured him, that I had feen them blow up a
hundred enemies at once in a fiege, and as many in a
thip, and beheld the dead bodies come down in pieces
from the clouds, to the great diverfion of the fpecta-
tors*. I was going on to more particulars, when my
mafter commanded me filence. He faid, whoever un-
derſtood the nature of Yahoos, might eafily believe it
poffible for fo vile an animal to be capable of every ac-
tion I had named, if their ftrength and cunning equalled
their malice. But as my difcourfe had increaſed his ab-
horrence of the whole fpecies, fo I found it gave him a
diſturbance in his mind, to which he was wholly a ftran-
ger before. He thought his ears, being used to fuch
abominable words, might by degrees admit them with
leſs deteftation. That, although he hated the Yahoo's
of this country, yet he no more blamed them for their
odious qualities, than he did a Gnnayh (a bird of prey)
for its cruelty, or a ſharp ſtone for cutting his hoof.
* It would perhaps be impoffible, by the moft laboured argu-
ment or forcible eloquence, to fhew the abfurd injuftice and hor-
rid cruelty of war fo effectually, as by this fimple exhibition of
them in a new light with war, including every fpecies of ini-
quity and every art of deftruction, we become familiar by de-
grees under fpecious terms, which are feldom examined, be-
cauſe they are learned at an age in which the mind implicitly
receives and retains whatever is impreft: thus it happens, that
when one man murders another to gratify his luft, we fhudder;
but when one man murders a million to gratify his vanity, we
approve and we admire, we envy and we applaud. If, when
this and the preceding pages are read, we difcover with aftoniſh-
ment, that when the fame events have occurred in hiſtory we
felt no emotion, and acquiefced in wars which he could not but
know to have been commenced for fuch caufes, and carried on
by fuch means; let him not be cenfured for too much debating
his fpecies, who has contributed to their felicity and prefervation
by ftripping off the veil of cuftom and prejudice, and holding
up in their native deformity the vices by which they become
wretched, and the arts by which they are destroyed.
U 3
But,
234
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
But when a creature, pretending to reafon, could be ca
pable of fuch enormities, he dreaded left the corruption
of that faculty might be worfe than brutality itſelf. He
feemed therefore confident, that inſtead of reaſon we
were only poffeffed of fome quality fitted to increaſe our
natural vices; as the reflection from a troubled ftream
returns the image of an ill-fhapen body, not only larger,
but more diftorted.
He added, that he had heard too much upon the ſub-
ject of war, both in this and fome former difcourfes.
There was another point which a little perplexed him at
prefent. I had informed him, that fome of our crew
had left their country on account of being ruined by law;
I had already explained the meaning of the word; but
he was at a lofs how it should come to paſs, that the
law, which was intended for every man's preſervation,
fhould be any man's ruin. Therefore he defired to be
farther fatisfied what I meant by law, and what fort of
difpenfers thereof it could be by whofe practices the
property of any perfon could be loft, instead of being
preferved. He added, he faw not what great occafion
there could be for this thing called law, fince all the
intentions and purpoſes of it may be fully anfwered by
following the dictates of nature and reaſon, which are
fufficient guides for a reaſonable animal, as we pretend-
ed to be, in fhewing us what we ought to do, and what
to avoid.
A
I affured his honour, that law was a fcience wherein
I had not much converfed, having little more know-
ledge of it than what I had obtained by employing ad-
vocates, in vain, upon fome injuftice that had been done
me, and by converfing with fome others, who by the
fame method had first loft their fubftance, and then left
their own country under the mortification of fuch dif-
appointments; however I would give him all the fatisfac-
tion I was able.
I faid, that thoſe who made profeffion of this ſcience
were exceedingly multiplied, being almoft equal to the
Caterpillars in number; that they were of divers degrees,
diſtinctions,
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
235
3
diſtinctions, and denominations. The numerouſneſs of
thofe that dedicated themſelves to this profeffion were
fuch, that the fair and juſtifiable advantage and income
of the profeffion was not fufficient for the decent and
handfome maintenance of multitudes of thoſe who fol-
lowed it. Hence it came to pass, that it was found need-
ful to fupply that by artifice and cunning, which could
not be procured by juft and honeft methods: the better
to bring which about, very many men among us were
bred up from their youth in the art of proving, by words,
multiplied for that purpoſe, that white is black,and black
is white, according as they are paid. The greatneſs
of theſe men's affurances, and the boldness of their pre-
tenlions, gained upon the opinions of the vulgar, whom.
in a manner they made flaves of, and got into their hands
much the larger thare of the practice of their profeffion.
Thefe practitioners were, hy men of difcernment, called
pettifoggers, (that is, confounders, or rather deftroyers,
of right). As it was my ill hap, as well as the misfor-
tune of my fuffering acquaintance, to be engaged only
with this fpecies of the profefiion, I defired his honour
to underſtand the defcription I had to give, and the ruin
I had complained of, to relate to thefe fectaries only
and how and by what means the misfortunes we met
with were brought upon us by the management of thefe
men, might be more easily conceived by explaining to
him their method of proceeding, which could not be
better done than by giving him an example.
C
My neighbour, faid I, I will fuppofe, has a mind
to my cow; he hires one of thele advocates to prove that
4 he ought to have my cow from me.
I must then hire
another of them to defend my right, it being againſt all
rules of law that any man fhould be allowed to speak for
himſelf. Now in this cafe, I who am the right owner lie
under two great difadvantages. First,iny advocate being,
as I laid before, practifed aloft from his cradle in de
fending falood, is quite out of his element when he
would
*As in every caufe, council are feed on both fides, it can
not be pretended that this account is much exaggerated.
i
236 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
+
6
*
would argue for right, which, as an office unnatural,
he attempts with great awkwardneſs, if not with an ill-
i will.
The ſecond difadvantage is, that my advocate
'must proceed with great caution; for fince the mainte-
nance of fo many depends on the keeping up of bufi-
nels, fhould he proceed too fummarily, if he does not
incur the difpleafure of his fuperiors, he is fure to gain
• the ill-wiil and hatred of his brethren, as being by them
• eſteemed one that would leffen the practice of the law.
This being the cafe, I have but two methods to pre-
ferve my cow. The first is, to gain over my adverfary's
• advocate with a double fee; from the manner and de-
fign of whofe education before mentioned, it is eaſy to
expect he will be induced to drop his client, and let the
❝ balance fall to my fide. The fecond way is for
for my ad-
vocate not to infift on the juftice of my cauſe, by al-
lowing the cow to belong to my adverfary; and this if
it be dexterously and fkilfully done, will go a great
way towards obtaining a favourable verdict, it hav-
ing been found, from a careful obfervation of iffues and
events, that the wrong fide, under the management of
fuch practitioners, has the fairer chance for fuccefs;
and this more efpecially, if it happens, as it did in
mine and my friend's cafe, and may have done fince
* that the perſon appointed to decide all controverfies of
property, as well as for the trials of criminals, who
fhould be taken out of the most knowing and wife of
his profeffion, is by the recommendation of a great fa
vourite or court-mistress, chofen out of the fect be-
'fore mentioned, and fo having been under a trangé
bias all his life against equity and fair dealing, lies as
it were under a fatal neceffity of favouring ſhifting,
double-dealing, and oppreflion, and befides through age,
infirmity, and diftempers, grown lazy, inactive, and
• inattentive, and thereby almoft incapacitated from do-
ing any thing becoming the nature of his employment
and the duty of his office. In fuch cafes, the decifions
and determinations of men fo bred, and fo qualified,
may with reafon be expected on the wrong fide of the
• caufe
<
A VOYAGE TO THE HOVYHNHNMS.
237
caufe, fince thoſe who can take harangue and noiſe
(if purfued with warmth, and drawn out into à length)
for reafoning, are not much to be wondered at, if they
infer the weight of the argument from the heaviness of
• the pleading.
It is a maxim among these men, that whatever has
• been done before may legally be done again; and there-
fore they take fpecial care to record all the deciſions
formerly made, even thofe which have through igno-
rance or corruption contradicted the rules of common
juftice, and the general reafon of mankind. Thefe,
under the name of precedents, they produce as au-
thorities, and thereby endeavour to juftify the moſt ini-
quitous opinions; and they are fo lucky in this prac-
tice, that it rarely fails of decrces anfwerable to their
• intent and expectation.
f
In pleading, they ftudiouſly avoid entering into the
merits of the caufe; but are loud, violent, and tedious
in dwelling upon all circumſtances which are not to the
purpoſe. For inftance, in the cafe already mentioned,
they never defire to know what claim or title my ad-
verfary hath to my cow; but whether the faid cow
were red or black, her horns long or fhort; whether the
field I grazed her in be round or fquare; whether ſhe
was milked at home or abroad; what diſeaſe the is fub-
ject to, and the like; after which they confult prece-
dents, adjourn the caufe from time to time, and in ten,
• twenty, or thirty years, come to an iſſue.
It is likewife to be obferved, that this feciety hath a
peculiar cant and jargon of their own, that no other
mortal can understand, and wherein all their laws are.
written, which they take fpecial care to multiply;
whereby they have gone near to confound the very ef
શું
fence of truth and falfhood, or right and wrong; fo
⚫ that it will take thirty years to decide whether the field,
left me by my ancestors for fix generations, belongs to
me or a franger three hundred miles off.
In the trial of perions accufed for crimes against the
ftate, the method is much more fhort and commenda-
** ble ;
238 À VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
p
ble for if thofe in power, who know well how to chufe
• inftruments fit for their purpole, take care to recom-
'mend and promote out of this clan a proper perfon, his
⚫ method of education and practice makes it eaſy to him,
when his patron's difpofition is understood, without
difficulty or ftudy either to condemn or acquit the cri-
minal, and at the fame time ftrictly preferve all due
' form of law."
Here my maſter interpofing, faid it was a pity that
creatures endowed with fuch prodigicus abilities of
mind as theſe advocates, by the defcription I gave of
´them, muſt certainly be, were not rather encouraged to
be inſtructors of others in wisdom and knowledge. In
anſwer to which, I affured his honour, that the buſineſs
and fudy of their own calling and profeffion fo took up
all their thoughts, and engroffed all their time, that they
minded nothing elfe; and that therefore, in all points
out of their own trade, many of them were of fo great
ignorance and ſtupidity, that it was hard to pick out of
any profeffion a generation of men more deſpicable in
common converfation, or who were fo much looked
upon as avowed enemies to all knowledge and learning,
being equally difpofed to pervert the general reafon of
mankind in every other fubject of difcourfe, as in that
of their own calling.
CHAP. VI.
A continuation of the ſtate of England; ſo well govern-
ed by a queen as to need no first minifter. The character of
fuch an one in fome European courts.
MY mafter was yet wholly at a lofs to underſtand what
motives could incite this race of lawyers to per-
plex, diquiet, and weary themselves, and engage in a
confederacy of injuftice, merely for the fake of injuring
their fellow animals: neither could he comprehend what
I meant by faying he did it for hire. Whereupon I was
at much pains to defcribe to him the ufe of money, the
materials it was made of, and the value of the metals;
that when a Yahoo had got a great store of this precious
ſubſtance, he was able to purchafe whatever he had a
mind
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYḤNÀNMS.
239
mind to the fineſt cloathing, the nobleft houſes, great
tracts of land, the moſt coftly meats and drinks, and have
his choice of the moſt beautiful females. Therefore,fince
money alone was able to perform all theſe feats, our Ya-
hoos thought they could never have enough of it to ſpend
or to fave, as they found themſelves inclined from their
natural bent, either to profufion or avarice. That the
bulk of our people were forced to live miferably, by la-
bouring every day for fmall wages, to make a few live
plentifully. I enlarged myself much on thefe and many
other particulars to the fame purpoſe; but his honour
was ftill to feek, for he went upon a fuppofition, that all
animals had a title to their ſhare in the productions of the
earth, and eſpecially thofe who prefided over the reft.-
Therefore he defired I would let him know, what thefe
coftly meats were, and how any of us happened to want
them. Whereupon I enumerated as many forts as came
into my head, with the various methods of dreffing them,
which could not be done without fending veffels by fea
to every part of the world, as well for liquors to drink,
as for fauces and innumerable other conveniences. I af-
fured him, that this whole globe of earth muſt be at leaſt
three times gone round, before one of our better female
Yahoos could get her breakfast, or a cup to put it in.-
He faid, that muft needs be a miferable country, which
cannot furnish food for its own inhabitants. But what
he chiefly wondered at, was, how fuch vaft tracts of
ground, as I deſcribed, fhould be wholly without freſh
water, and the people put to the neceffity of fending over
the fea for drink. I replied, that England (the dear place
of my nativity) was computed to produce three times the
quantity of food more than its inhabitants are able to
confume, as well as liquors extracted from grain, or
preffed out of the fruit of certain trees, which made ex-
cellent drink, and the fame proportion in every other con-
venience of life. But, in order to feed the luxury and
intemperance of the males, and the vanity of the females,
we fent away the greateſt part of neceffary things to other
countries, from whence in return, we brought the ma-
--
terials
$
1
240
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHN HNMS.
terials of diſeaſes, folly, and vice, to spend anong our-
felves. Hence it follows of neceffity, that vaft numbers
of our people are compelled to feek their livelihood by
begging, robbing, ſtealing, cheating, pimping, forfwear-
ing, flattering, fuborning, forging, gaming, lying,
fawning, hectoring, voting, fcribbling, tar gazing, poi-
fening, whoring, canting, libelling, free thinking, and
the like occupations. Every one of which terms I was
at much pains to make him underſtand.
That wine was not imported among us from foreign
countries to fupply the want of water or other drinks,
but becauſe it was a fort of liquid which made us merry,
by putting us out of our fenfes ; diverted all melancholy
thoughts: begat wild extravagant imaginations in the
brain; raiſed our hopes, and baniſhed our fears; luf-
pended every office of reafon for a time; and deprived
us of the use of our limbs, till we fell into a profound
fleep; although it must be confeffed, that we awaked
always weak and difpirited, and that the ufe of this li-
quor filled us with diſeaſes which made our lives uncom-
fortable and ſhort.*
But beſide all this, the bulk of our people fupported
themſelves by furniſhing the neceffities or conveniencies
of life to the rich and to each other. For instance, when
"I am at home, and dreffed as I ought to be, I carry on
my body the workinanthip of an hundred tradefnien;
the building and furniture of my houfe employ as many
more, and five times the number to adorn my wife."
I was going on to tell him of another fort of people,
who get their livelihood by attending the fick, having
upon fome occafion informed his honour, that many of
my crew had died of diſeaſes. But here it was with the
utmoſt difficulty that I brought him to apprehend what
'I meant. He could eaſily conceive that a Houyhnhnm
grew weak and heavy a few days before his death, or by
fome accident might hurt a limb: but that nature, who
works
* This account excites ideas of drunkenneſs, very different
from thoſe which are conceived under the forms by which it is
generally expreſſed.
I
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHN HNMS,
241
works all things to perfection, fhould fuffer any pains to
breed in our bodies, he thought it impoffible, and defired
to know the reaſon of ſo unaccountable an evil. I told
him, we fed on a thousand things which operate the one
contrary to each other; that we eat when we were not
hungry, and drank without the provocation of thirf;
that we fat whole nights drinking ftrong liquors without
eating a bit, which difpofed us to floth, inflamed our bo
dies, and precipitated or prevented digeftion. That
proftitute female Yahoos acquired a certain malady which
bred rottennefs in the bones of thoſe who fell into their
embraces; that this and many other diſeaſes were propa-
gated from father to fon, fo that great numbers came into
the world with complicated maladies upon them; that it
would be endleſs to give him a catalogue of all difeafes
incident to human bodies; for they could not be fewer
than five or fix hundred, fpread over every limb and joint,
in fhort, every part, external and inteftine, having dif
eafes appropriated to them. To remedy which, there
was a fort of people bred up among us in the profeffion or
pretence of curing the fick. And because I had fome
ikill in the faculty, I would in gratitude to his honour,
let him know the whole myftery and method by which
they proceed.
Their fundamental is, that all difeafes ariſe from
repletion, from whence they conclude, that a great
• evacuation of the body is neceffary, either through the
• natural paffage, or upwards at the mouth. Their next
buhneſs is, from herbs, minerals, gums, oils, fhells,
falts, juices, fea-weed, excrements, barks of trees,
ferpents, toads, frogs, fpiders, dead men's fefh and
bones, birds, beafts, and fifles, to form a compofition,
for finell and taste the most abominable, naufesus, and
deteftable, they poffibly can contrive, which the ftomach
* immediately rejects with loathing; and this they call
a vomit; or elfe from the fame ftore-houfe, with fome
other poiſonous additions, they command us to take
in at the orifice above or below, (juft as the phylician
then happens to be difpofed) a medicine equally annoying
X
• and
2
242
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
<
and difgullful to the bowels, which relaxing the belly,
drives down all before it, and this they call a purge
or a clyfter. For nature (as the phyficians alledge)
having intended the fuperior anterior orifice only for
the intromiffion of folids and liquids, and the inferior
pofterior for ejection, thefe artists ingeniously confi-
dering, that in all difeafes nature is forced out of her
feat; therefore, to replace her in it, the body must be
treated in a manner directly contrary, by interchanging
the uſe of each orifice, forcing folids and liquids in at
the anus, and making evacuations at the mouth.
But, befides real difeafes, we are fubject to many
• that are only imaginary, for which the phyſicians have
invented imaginary cures; thefe have their feveral
names, and fo have the drugs that are proper for them,
and with theſe our female Yahoos are always infefted.
'One great excellence in this tribe is their ſkill in
prognostics, wherein they feldom fail; their predictions
in real difeafes, when they rife to any degree of malig-
nity, generally portending death, which is always in
their power when recovery is not: and therefore upon
any unexpected figns of amendment after they have pro-
nounced their fentence, rather than be accufed as falfe
prophets, they know how to approve their fagacity to
the world by a feaſonable doſe.
C
C
८
They are likewife of fpecial ufe to husbands and
wives, who are grown weary of their mates, to eldeſt
fons, to great minifters of state, and often to princes."
I had formerly, upon occafion, difcourfed with my
mafter upon the nature of government in general, and
particularly of our own excellent conftitution, deſervedly
the wonder and envy of the whole world. But having
here accidentally mentioned a minifter of ftate he com-
manded ine fome time after to inform him what fpecies of
Yahoo I particularly meant by that appellation.
•
I told him that our fhe-governor, or queen, having no
ambition to gratify, no inclination to fatisfy of extending
her power to the injury of her neighbours, or the preju-
dice of her own fubjects, was therefore lo far from needing
a corrupt
2
༑ ན
1
A VOYAGE TO THE HÒUYHNHÌMS.
243
a corrupt miniftry to carry on or cover any finifter defigns,
that flie not only directs her own actions to the good of
her people, conducts them by the direction, and restrains.
them within the limitation of the laws of her own coun-
try, but fubmits the behaviour and acts of thofe the en
trufts with the adminiftration of her affairs, to the ex-
amination of her great council, and fubjects them to the
penalties of the law, and therefore never puts any fuch
confidence in any of her fubjects, as to entrust them with
the whole and entire adminiftration of her affairs; but I
added, that in fome former reigns here, and in many
other courts of Europe now, where princes grew indolent
and careless of their own affairs, through a conftant love
and purſuit of pleaſure, they made ule of fuch an ad-
miniftrator as I had mentioned under the title of firft
or chief minister of ſtate, the defcription of which, as
far as it may be collected not only from their actions,
but from letters, memoirs, and writings, published by
themſelves, the truth of which has not yet been dif-
puted, may be allowed as follows: That he is a
perfon wholly exempt from joy and grief, love and ha-
tred, pity and anger; at leaft makes uſe of no other
'paffions but a violent defire of wealth, power, and ti-
tles; that he applies his words to all ufes, except to the
indication of his mind; that he never tells a truth,
but with an intent that you should take it for a lye:
nor a lye, but with a defign that you ſhould take it
for a truth; that thoſe he ſpeaks worſt of behind their
backs, are in the fureft way to preferment: and when-
ever he begins to praife you to others, or to yourself,
you are from that day forlorn. The worst mark you
can receive is a promife, efpecially when it is confirmed
with an oath; after which every wife man retires, and
gives over all hopes.
There are three methods by which a man may rife to be
chief minister: the firft is, by knowing how with pru-
dence to difpofe of a wife, a daughter, or a filler: the
fecond, by betraying or undermining his predeceffor:
and the third is, by a furious zeal in public affemblies
• againſt
X 2
244 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
againſt the corruptions of the court. But a wife prince
would rather chufe to employ thoſe who practife the laft
• of theſe methods; becauſe fuch zealots prove always the
moft obfequious and fubfervient to the will and paffious
of their master. That thefe minifters having all em-
⚫ployments at their own difpofal, preferve themſelves in
power by bribing the majority of a fenate or great
council; and at laſt, by an act of indemnity (whereof I
• defcribed the nature to h m) they fecure themfelves from
after reckonings, and retire from the public, laden
with the fpoils of the nation.-
<
C
The palace of a chief miniſter is a feminary to breed
C up others in his own trade; the pages, lacquies, and
porter, by imitating their mafter, become minifters of
ftate in their feveral diſtricts, and learn to excel in the
three principal ingredients of infolence, lying, and bi-
bery. Accordingly, they have a fubaltern court paid
to them by perfons of the beft rank, and ſometimes, by
• the force of dexterity and impudence, arrive, through
feveral gradations, to be fucceffors to their lord.
He is ufually governed by a decayed wench, or fa-
vourite footman, who are the tunnels through which
all graces are conveyed, and may properly be called, in
the laſt refort, the governors of the kingdom.'
One day in difcourfe, my mafter having heard me
mention the nobility of my country, was pleafed to
make me a compliment which I could not pretend to de-
ferve that he was fure, I must have been born of fome
noble family, becauſe I far exceeded in fhape, colour,
and cleanlineſs, all the Yahoos of his nations, although
I feemned to fail in ftrength and agility, which must be
imputed to my different way of living from thofe other
brutes; and befides, I was not only endowed with the
faculty of speech, but likewife with fome rudiments of
reafon, to a degree, that with all his acquaintance I
paffed for a prodigy.
He made me obſerve, that among the Houyhnhnms,
the white, the forrel, and the iron-grey, were not fo
exactly shaped as the bay, the dapple-grey, and the
black i
1
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS. 245
}
black; nor born with equal talents of the mind, or a
capacity to improve them; and therefore continued al-
ways in the condition of fervants, without ever afpiring
to match out of their own race, which in that country
would be reckoned monstrous and unnatural.
I made his honour my most humble acknowledgments
for the good opinion he was pleaſed to conceive of me;
but affured him at the fame time, that my birth was of
the lower fort, having been born of plain honeſt parents,
who were juſt able to give me a tolerable education :
that nobility among us was altogether a different thing
from the idea he had of it; that our young noblemen are
bred from their childhood in idleness and luxury; that
as foon as years will permit, they confume their vigour,
and contract odious difcafes among lewd females; and
when their fortunes are almoſt ruined, they marry fome
woman of mean birth, difagreeable perfon, and unfound
conftitution, merely for the fake of money, whom they
hate and deſpiſe. That the productions of fuch mar-
riages are generally ferophulous, ricketty, or deformed
children; by which means the family feldom continues
above three generations, unleſs the wife takes care to
provide a healthy father among her neighbours, or do-
meftics, in order to improve and continue the breed.
That a weak, difeafed body, a meagre countenance,
and a fallow complexion, are no uncommon marks of a
great man; and a healthy robust appearance is fo far
difgraceful in a man of quality, that the world is apt
to conclude his real father to have been one of the infe.
riors of the family, eſpecially when it is feen, that the im-
perfections of his mind run parallel with thofe of his body,
and are little elle than a compofition of ſpleen, dullneſs,
ignorance, caprice, fenfuality, and pride.
X
- 3
CHAP,
246 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS,
*
CHAP. VII.
The author's great love of his native country. His
maſter's obfervations upon the conftitution and adminiſ
tration of England, as defcribed by the author, with pa-
rallel cafes and comparisons. His mafter's obſervations
upon human nature.
THE reader may be difpofed to wonder how I could
prevail on myfelf to give fo free a reprefentation
of my own fpecies, among a race of mortals who were
already too apt to conceive the vileft opinion of human
kind from that entire congruity betwixt me and their
Yahoos. But I muft freely confefs, that the many
virtues of thofe excellent quadrupeds, placed in oppo-
fite view to human corruptions, had fo far opened my eyes,
and enlightened ny understanding, that I began to
view the actions and paffions of man in a very differ
ent light, and to think the honour of my own kind
not worth maintaining; which, befides, it was impoffi-
ble for me to do before a perfon of fo acute ajudgment
as my mafter, who daily convinced me of a thoufand
faults in myfelf, whereof I had not the least perception
before, and which among us would never be numbered
even among human infirmities: I had likewife learned
from his example, an utter deteftation of all falfhocd
or difguife, and truth appeared fo amiable to me, that I
determined upon facrificing every thing to it.
t
Let me deal fo candidly with the reader, as to confefs,
that there was yet a much fonger motive for the free-
dom I took in my reprefentation of things. I had not
been year in this country before I contracted fuch a
love and veneration for the inhabitants, that I entered
on a firm refolution never to return to human kind, but
to paſs the rest of my life among thefe admirable Houy-
hnhnms, in the contemplation and practice of every
virtue; where I could have no example or enticement
zo vice. But it was decreed by fortune, my perpetual
enemy, that lo great a felicity fhould not fall to my
fhare. However, it is now fome comfort to reflect,
that in what I faid of my countrymen, I extenuated
their
1
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
247
their faults as much as I durft before ſo ftrict an ex-
aminer, and upon every article gave as favourable a
turn as the matter would bear. For, indeed, who is
there alive that would not be swayed by his bias and
partiality to the place of his birth?
I have related the ſubſtance of feveral converfations
I had with my mafter, during the greateſt part of the
time I had the honour to be in his fervice, but have
indeed, for brevity fake, omitted much more than is here
fet down.
When I had anſwered all his queſtions, and his curi-
ofity feemed to be fully fatisfied; he fent for me one
morning early, and commanded me to fit down at fome
diſtance, (an honour which he had never before con-
ferred upon me) he ſaid, he had been very ſeriouſly con-
fidering my whole story, as far as it related both to my--
felf and my country: that he looked upon us as a fort
of animals, to whofe fhare, by what accident he could
not conjecture, fome ſmall pittance of reafon had fallen,
whereof we made no other ufe than by its affiftance to
aggravate our natural corruptions, and to acquire new
ones, which nature had not given us: that we difarmed
ourfelves of the few abilities he had beltowed, had been
very ſucceſsful in multiplying our original wants, and
feemed to ſpend our whole lives in vain endeavours to
fupply them by our own inventions. That as to myfelf,
it was manifeft I had neither the ftrength or agility of a
common Yahoo, that I walked infirmly on my hinder
feet, had found out a contrivance to make my claws of
no ufe or defence, and to remove the hair from my chin,
which was intended as a fhelter from the fun and the
weather. Laftly, That I could neither run with ſpeed,
nor climb trees like my brethren (as he called them) the
Yahoos in this country.
That our inftitutions of government and law were
plainly owing to our grofs defects in reason, and, b♬
confequence, in virtue; becaufe reafon alone is fuffi-
cient to govern a rational creature: which was there-
fore a character we had no pretence to challenge, even
from
248 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
from the account I had given of my own people; although
he manifeftly perceived, that in order to favour them I
had concealed many particulars, and faid the thing which
was not.
:
He was the more confirmed in this opinion, becauſe
he obferved, that as I agreed in every feature of my
body with other Yahoos, except where it was to my real
difadvantage in point of firength, fpeed and activity,
the fhortness of my claws, and fome other particulars
where nature had no part; fo from the reprefentation I
had given him of our lives, our manners, and oùr ac-
tions, he found as near a refemblance in the difpofition
of our minds. He faid the Yahoos were known to hate
one ano her more than they did any different fpecies of
animals and the reafon ufually affigned, was, the odi-
oufnels of their own fhapes, which all could fee in the
reft, but not in themfelves. He had therefore begun to
think it not unwife in us to cover our bodies, and by
tha inventi n conceal many of our own deformities from
each other, which would elfe be hardly fupportable.
But, he now found he had been mistaken, and that the
diffentions of thofe brutes in his country were owing to
the fame caufe with ours, as I had defcribed them. For,
if (faid he) you throw among five Yaho、s as much food
as would be fufficient for fifty, they will, instead of
eating peaceably, fall together by the ears, each fingle
one impatient to have all to itſelf, and therefore a fervant
was ufually employed to ftand by while they were feed-
ing abroad, and thofe kept at home were tied at à dif-
tance from each other; that if a cow died by age or ac-
cident, before a Houyhnhnm. could fecure it for his own
Yahoos, thole in the neighbourhood would come in
herds to feize it, and then would enfue fuch a battle as
I hd defcribed, with terrible wounds made by their
claws on both fides, although they feldom were able to
kill one another, for want of fuch convenient inftru-
ments of death, as we had invented. At other times
the like battles have been fought between the Yahoos of
feveral neighbourhoods without any vifible caufe: thote
of
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUTHN HNMS. 249
of one diftrict watching all opportunities to furpriſe the
next before they are prepared. But if they find their
project hath miſcarried, they return home; and, for want
of enemies, engage in what I call a civil war among
themſelves.
That in fome fields of his country there are certain
fhining ftones of feveral colours, whereof the Yahoos are
violently fond; and when part of thefe ftones is fixed
in the earth, as it fometimes happens, they will dig
with their claws for whole days to get them out, then
carry them away, and hide them by heaps in their ken-
nels; but still looking round with great caution, for
fear their comrades fhould find out their treafure. My
inafter faid, he could never difcover the reafon 'of this
unnatural appetite, or how thefe ftones could be of any
ufe to a Yahoo; but now he believed it might proceed
from the fame principle of avarice, which I had afcribed
to mankind; that he had once, by way of experiment,
privately removed a heap of theſe ſtones from the place
where one of his Yahoos had buried it: whereupon, the
fordid animal miffing his treafure, by his loud lamenting
brought the whole herd to the place, there miferably
howled, then fell to biting and tearing the reft, began
to pine away, would neither eat, nor fleep, nor work,
till he ordered a fervant privately to convey the ftones
into the fame hole, and hide them as before; which when
his Yahoo had found, he prefently recovered his fpirits
and good humour, but took care to remove them to a
better hiding place, and hath ever fince been a very fer-
viceable brute.*
My mafter farther affured me, what I alfo obferved
myſelf, that in the fields where the fhining ftones abound,
the fiercest and most frequent battles are fought, occa-
fioned by perpetual inroads of the neighbouring Yahoos.
He faid, it was common when two Yahoos difcovered
fuch a ſtone in a field, and were contending which of
them
* Nothing can be faid to make avarice a greater reproach to
mankind, except that it is a vice, which this defcription will
pot cure.
259.
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHN HNMS.
them ſhould be the proprietor, a third would take the
advantage and carry it away from them both; which
my mafter would needs contend to have fome kind of
reſemblance with our fuits at law; wherein I thought it
for our credit not to undeceive him; fince the deciſion
he mentioned was much more equitable than many de-
crees among us; becauſe the plaintiff and defendant
there loft nothing befides the ftone they contended for,
whereas our Courts of Equity would feldom have dif-
miffed the cauſe while either of them had any thing left.
My mafter, continuing his difcourfe, faid, there was
nothing that rendered the Yahoos more odious than their
undiftinguiſhed appetite to devour every thing that came
in their way, whether herbs, roots, berries, the corrupted
fle of animals, or all mingled together: and it was pe-
culiar in their temper, that they were fonder of what they
could get by rapine or ftealth, at a greater diftance, than
much better food provided for them at home. If their
prey held out, they would eat till they were ready to
burt; after which nature had pointed out to them a
ċertain out that gave them a general evacuation.
There was alfo another kind of root, very juicy, but
fomewhat rare and difficult to be found, which the Ya-
hoos fought for with much eagerness, and would fuck
it with great delight; it produced in them the fame ef-
fects that our wine hath upon us. It would make them
fomeumes hug, and fometimes tear one another; they
would howl, and grin, and chatter, and reel, and tum-
ble, and then fall aſleep in the dirt.
I indeed obferved the Yalioos were the only animals
in this country fubject to any difeafes; which, however,
were much fewer than horfes have among us, and con-
tracted not by any ill treatment they meet with, but by
the naftiness and greediness of that fordid brute. Nei-
ther has their language any more than a general appel-
lation for thofe maladies, which is borrowed from the
name of the beaft, and called Hnea-Yahoo, or the
Yahocs Evil; and the cure prefcribed is a mixture of
their own Dung and Urine, forcibly put down the Ya-
hoo's
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS. 251
hoo's throat. This I have fince often known to have
been taken with fuccels, and do freely recommend it to
my countrymen for the public good, as an admirable
ſpecific against all difeafes produced by repletion.
As to learning, government, arts, manufactures, and
the like, my master confeſſed he could find little or no
refemblance between the Yahoos of that country and thoſe
of ours. For he only meant to obferve what purity there
was in our natures. He had heard indeed fome curious
Houyhnhnms obſerve, that in moſt herds there was a fort
of ruling Yahoo, (as among us there is generally fome
leading or principal ſtag in a park) who was always more
deformed in body, and mischievous in difpofition, than
any of the reft. That this leader had ufually a favour-
ite,as like himſelf as he could get, whofe employment was
to lick his Master's feet and pofteriors, and drive the
female Yahoos to his kennel*; for which he was now
and then rewarded with a piece of affes flesh. This fa-
vourite is hated by the whole herd, and therefore to pro-
tect himſelf keeps always near the perfon of his leader.
He ufually continues in office till a woife can be found;
but the very moment he is diſcarded, his fucceffor, at
the head of all the Yahoos in that district, young and old,
male and female, come in a body, and difcharge their ex-
crements upon him from head to foot. But how far this
might be applicable to our courts and favourites, and
miniſters of ſtate, my mafter faid,I could beſt determine.
I durft make no return to his malicious infinuation,
which debaſed human underſtanding below the fagacity
of a common hound, who has judgment enough to dif
tinguifi and follow the cry of the ableft dog in the pack,
without being ever miſtaken.
My after told me there were fome qualities remarka-
ble in the Yahoos, which he had not obferved me to men-
tion, or at leaſt very flightly, in the account 1 had given
him of human kind; he faid, thofe animals, like other
brutes, had their females in common; but in this they
differed, that the fhe Yahoo would admit the male, while
Flattery and rimping.
the
2-52 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYANHNMS.
1
་
fhe was pregnant, and that the he's would quarrel and
fight with the females as fiercely as with each other.
Both which practices were fuch degrees of infamous bru-
tality, that no other fenfitive creature ever arrived at.
Another thing he wondered at in the Yahoos, was
their frange difpofition to naſtinefs and dirt, whereas
there appears to be a natural love of cleanlinefs in all
other animals. As to the two former accufations, I was
glad to let them pafs without any reply, becaufe I had
not a word to offer upon them in defence of my ſpecies,
which otherwife I certainly had done from mine own in-
clination. But I could easily have vindicated human
kind from the imputation of fingularity on the laſt ar-
ticle, if there had been any fwine in that country, (as
unluckily for me there were not) which although it may
be a ſweeter quadruped than a Yahoo, cannot, I humbly
conceive, in juftice pretend to more cleanlinefs; and fo
his honour himſelf must have owned, if he had feen their
filthy way of feeding, and their cuſtom of wallowing
and fleeping in the mud.
My mafter likewife mentioned another quality which
his fervants had difcovered in feveral Yahoos, and to him
was wholly unaccountable. He faid, a fancy would
fometimes take a Yahoo to retire into a corner, to lie
down and howl and groan, and fpurn away all that
came near him, although he were young and fat, wanted
neither food nor water, nor could the fervant imagine
what could poffibly ail him; and the only remedy they
found, was to fet him to hard work, after which he
would infallibly come to himfelf. To this I was filent,
out of partiality to my own kind; yet here I could dif-
cover the true feeds of fpleen, which only feizeth on the
Tazy, the luxurious, and the rich; who, if they were
forced to undergo the fame regimen, I would undertake
for the cure.
T
His honour had farther obferved, that a female Ya-
hoo would often ftand behind a bank or bufh, to gaze
on the young males paffing by, and then appear, and
hide, ufing many antic geftures and grunaces, at which
time
-
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
253
¿
|
1
time it was obſerved that ſhe had a moſt offenſive ſmell;
and when any of the males advanced, would flowly re-
tire, looking often back, and with a counterfeit ſhew of
fear run off into fome convenient place, where the knew
the male would follow her.
At other times, if a female ftranger came among them,
three or four of her own fex would get about her, and
frare, and chatter, and grin, and ſmell her all over, and
then turn off with geftures that feemed to expreſs con-
tempt and difdain.
Perhaps my mafter might refine a little in theſe ſpecu-
lations, which he had drawn from what he had ob-
ſerved himſelf, or had been told him by others ; how-
ever, I could not reflect without fome amazement and
much forrow, that the rudiments of lewdneſs, coquetry,
cenfure, and ſcandal, ſhould have place by inſtinct in
womankind.
I expected every moment, that my mafter would ac-
cufe the Yahoos of thofe unnatural appetites, in both
fexes, fo common among us. But nature it feems hath
not been fo expert a fchool miftrefs; and thefe politer
pleafures are entirely the productions of art and reaſon
on our fide of the globe.
CHAP. VIII.
The author relates feveral particulars of the Yaboos.-
The great virtues of the Houyhnhnms. The education and
exerciſes of their youth. Their general aſſembly.
As SI ought to have underſtood human nature much
better than I fuppofed it poffible for my mafter to
do, fo it was eafy to apply the character he gave the
Yahoos, to myfelf and my countrymen : and I believed
I could yet make farther difcoveries from my own obfer-
vations. I therefore often begged his favour to let me
go among the herds of Yahoos in the neighbourhood, to
which he always very graciously confented, being per-
fectly convinced, that the hatred I bore thoſe brutes
would never fuffer me to be corrupted by them; and his
honor ordered me one of his fervants, a ftrong forrel nag,
Y
very
}
254
VOYAGE TO THE HOUŸHNHNMS.
*
t
-
www
very honeft and good natured, to be my guard, without
whofe protection I durft not undertake fuch adventures,
For I have already told the reader how much I was per-
tered with thofe odious animals upon my first arrival :
and I afterwards failed very narrowly, three or four
times, of falling into their clutches, when I happened
to ftray at any diftance without my hanger. And I have
reafon to believe they had fome imagination that I was
of their own fpecies, which I often affifted myſelf, by
ftripping up my fleeves, and fhewing my naked arms and
my breast in their fight, when my protector was with
me. At which times they would approach as near as
they durft, and imitate my actions after the manner of
monkies, but ever with great figns of hatred, as a tame
jack-daw with cap and ftockings is always perfecuted
by the wild ones, when he happens to be got among
them.
}
They are prodigiously nimble from their infancy;
however, I once caught a young male of three years old,
and endeavoured by all marks of tenderness to make it
quiet; but the little imp fell a fqualling and ſcratching,
and biting, with fuch violence, that I was forced to let it
go; and it was high time, for a whole troop of old ones
came about us at the noiſe, but finding the cub was fafe
(for away it ran) and my forrel nag being by, they durſt
not venture near us. I obferved the young animal's fleſh
to ſmell very rank, and the ftink was fomewhat between
a weazel and a fox, but much more difagreeable. I for-
got another circumftance, (and perhaps I might have
the reader's pardon, if it were wholly omitted), that
while I held the odious vermin in my hands, it voided
its filthy excrements of a yellow liquid fubftance all over
my cloaths; but by good fortune there was a ſmall
brook hard by, where I washed myſelf as clean as I
could, although I durft not come into my mafter's pre-
fence, until I was fufficiently aired.
J
By what I could difcover, the Yahoos appear to be
the moſt unteachable of all animals, their capacities ne-
ver reaching higher than to draw or carry burthens;
yet
1
?
1
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHN HNMS.
255
yet I am of opinion, this defect arifeth chiefly from a
perverſe, reftive difpofition. For they are cunning, ma-
licious, treacherous and revengeful. They are ſtrong
and hardy, but of a cowardly fpirit, and by confequence
infolent, abject, and cruel.. It is obferved that the red-
haired of both fexes are more libidinous and mifchievous
than the reſt, whom yet they much exceed in ſtrength
and activity.
The Houyhnhnms keep the Yahoos for prefent uſe,
in huts not far from the house; but the reft are fent
abroad to certain fields, where they dig up roots, eat
feveral kinds of herbs, and fearch about for carrion, or
fometimes catch weazels and luhimuhs, (a fort of wild
rat) which they greedily devour, Nature hath taught
them to dig deep holes with their nails on the fide of a
rifing ground, where they lie by themſelves, only the
kennels of the females are larger, fufficient to hold two
or three cubs.
ነ
They ſwim from their infancy like frogs, and are able
to continue long under water, where they often take
fish, which the females carry home to their young. And,
upoa this occaſion, I hope the reader will pardon my
relating an odd adventure..
Being one day abroad with my protector, the forrel-
nag, and the weather exceeding hot, I entreated him to
let me bathe in a river that was near. He confented,
and I immediately ftripped myſelf ſtark naked, and
went foftly down into the ftream. It happened that a
young female Yahoo ftanding behind a bank, faw the
whole proceeding, and inflamed by defire, as the nag
and I conjectured, came running with all ſpeed, and
leaped into the water, within five yards of the place
where I bathed. I was never in my life fo terribly
frighted the nag was grazing at fome diftance, not
fufpecting any harm. She embraced me after a moſt
fulfome manner: I roared as loud as I could, and the
nag came galloping towards me, whereupon the quitted
her grafp with the utmost reluctancy, and leaped upon
Y 2
the
*
تم
256- A VOYAGE TO, THE HOUYHNHNMS.
the oppofite-bank, where the ftood gazing and howling
all the time I was putting on my cloaths.
This was matter of diverfion to my mafter and his
family, as well as mortification to myself. For now I
could no longer deny that I was a real Yahoo, in every
limb and feature, fince the females had a natural pro-
penſity to me as one of their own fpecies: neither was
the hair of this brute of a red colour, (which might
have been ſome excufe for an appetite a little irregular)
but black as a floe, and her countenance did not make
an appearance fo hideous as the rest of the kind; for, I
think he could not be above eleven years old.
Having lived three years in this country, the reader,
I fuppofe, will expect that I fhould, like other travel-
Jers, give him fome account of the manners and cuſtoms.
of its inhabitants, which it was indeed my principal.
ſtudy to learn.
As thefe noble Houyhnhnms are endowed by nature
with a general difpofition to all virtues, and have no
conceptions or ideas of what is evil in a rational crea-
ture, fo their grand maxim is to cultivate reaſon, and
to be wholly governed by it. Neither is reafon among
them a point problematical as with us, where men can
argue with plaufibility on both fides of a question, but
ſtrikes you with immediate conviction; as it must needs.
do where it is not mingled, obfcured, or difcoloured by
paffion and intereft. I remember it was with extreme,
difficulty that I could bring my mafter to underſtand the
meaning of the word opinion, or how a point could be
diſputable; becauſe reaſon taught us to affirm or deny
only where we are certain and beyond our knowledge
we cannot do either. So that controverfies, wranglings,
difputes, and pofitiveneſs in falſe or dubious propofitions
are evils unknown among the Houyhnhnms. In the like
manner, when I used to explain to him our ſeveral fyf-
tems in Natural Philofophy, he would laugh, that a
creature pretending to reaſon ſhould value itſelf upon the
knowledge of other people's conjectures, and in things,
where that knowledge, if it were certain, could be of
no
]
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHN HNMS.A
2.57
no uſe. Wherein he agreed entirely with the fentiments
of Socrates, as Plato delivers them which I mention as
the highest honour. I can do that prince of philofophers,
I have often fince reflected what deftruction fuch a doc-
trine would make in the libraries of Europe, and how
many paths to fame would be then hut up in the learn-
ed world. dopil ano madi te amo då sin ci
Friendthip and benevolence are the two principal vir-
tues among the Houyhnhnms*; andthefe not confined-
to particular objects, but univerfal to the whole race.
For a firanger from the remoteft part is equally treated
with the neareſt neighbour, and wherever he goes, looks
upon himſelf as at home. They preferve decency and
civility in the highest degrees, but are altogether igno-
rant of ceremony. They have no fondneſs for their
colts or foals; but the care they take in educating them
proceeds entirely from the dictates of reafont. And I
obferved my mafter to fhew the fame affection to his
neighbour's iffue that he had for his own. They will
have it, that nature teaches them to love the whole fpe-
cies; and it is reafon only that makes a diftinction of
perfons, where there is a fuperior degree of virtuet.
When the matron Houyhnhnms have produced one of
each fex, they no longer accompany with their conforts
except they lofe one of their iffue by fome cafualty,
Their virtuous qualities are only negative. ORRERY.
+ We here view the pure inftincts of brutes, acting in their
narrow fphere, merely for their immediate prefervation. OR-
RERY.
+
It may perhaps be thought fomewhat ftrange, that the fenfe
of the noble commentator fhould appear to be directly oppofite
to that of the author, in the paffages which thefe notes were
intended to illuftrate; but, this apparent oppofition may arife
merely from their ufing the fame word in an oppofite fenfe; as
by the word candour, his lordship always means a quality which
inclines a man to put the worlt conftruction upon the words and
actions of another, and by candour, the Dean always means
just the contrary.
en nyn gale
Compare Orrery, fmall edit. p. 1op-large edit, p.146, datt
paragraph, with Swift's Apology for the Tale of a Tub. p. 35
Y 3
which
258 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
which very feldom happens: but in fuch a cafe they meet
again; or when the like accident befals a perſon, whoſe
wife is paft bearing, fome other couple beltow on him
one of their own colts, and then go together again tiil
the mother is pregnant. This caution is neceffary to
prevent the country from being overburthened with
numbers. But the race of inferior Houyhnhnms, bred
up to be fervants, is not fo ftrictly limited upon this ar-
ticle; theſe are allowed to produce three of each fex, to
be domeſtics in the noble families.
་
In their marriages they are exactly careful to chuſe
fuch colours as will not make any difagreeable mixture
in the breed. Strength
Strength is chiefly valued in the male,
and comelineſs in the female, not upon the account of
love, but to preferve the race from degenerating; for
where a female happens to excel in ſtrength, a confort is
chofen with regard to comeliness. Courtship, love, pre-
fents, jointures, fettlements, have no place in their
thoughts; or terms whereby to express them in their
language. The young couple meet and are joined,
merely becauſe it is the determination of their parents
and friends: it is what they fee done every day, and
they look upon it as one of the neceflary actions of a ra-
tional being. But the violation of marriages, or any
other unchastity, was never heard of: and the married
pair paſs their lives with the fame friendſhip and mutual
benevolence that they bear to all others of the fame fpe-
cies, who come in their way, without jealouſy, fondneſs,
quarrelling, or diſcontent.
In educating the youth of both fexes, their method is
admirable, and highly deferves our imitation. Theſe
are not ſuffered to taste a grain of oats, except upon
certain days, till eighteen years old; nor milk, but very
rarely; and in fummer they graze two hours in the
morning, and as long in the evening, which their pa-
rents likewife obfe: ve, but their fervants are not allow-
ed above half that time, and a great part of their grafs
is brought home, which they eat at the moſt convenient
hours, when they can be beſt ſpared from work.
Temperance
•
A VOYAGE TO THE BOUYHNANM5.
259
Temperance, induftryp exercife, and cleanliness, are
the leftons equally enjoined to the young ones of both
fexes and my matter thought it monftronsin us to give
the females a different kind ofeducation from the males,
except in ſome articles of domestic management; where-
by, as he truly obferves, one half of our natives were good
for nothing but bringing children into the world and
to trust the care of our children to fuch ufelefs animals,
he faid, was yet a greater inftance of brutality.
But the Houyhnhnms train up their youth to ftrength,
fpeed and hardinefs, by exercifing them in running races
up and down steep hills, and over hard and stony grounds;
and when they are all in afweat, they are ordered to leap
over head and ears into a pond or a river. Four times a
year the youth of a certain diftri& meet to ſhew their
proficiency in running and leaping, and other feats of
ftrength and agility, where the victor is rewarded with a
fong made in his or her praife. On this feftival the fer-
vants drive a herd of Yahoos into the field, laden with
hay and oats, and milk, for a repaſt to the Houyhnhnms;
after which, thefe brutes are immediately driven back
again, for fear of being noifome to the affembly.
Every fourth year, at the vernal equinox, there is a re-
prefentative council of the whole nation, which meets in
a plain about twenty miles from our houſe, and continues
about five or fix days. Here they enquire into the ſtate
and condition of the ſeveral diftricts, whether they abound
or be deficient in hay or oats, or cows, or. Yahoos. And
wherever there is any want (which is but feldom) it is
immediately ſupplied by unanimous confent and contri-
bution. Here likewife the regulation of children is ſet-
tled; as for inftance, if a Houyhnhnm haih two inales,
he changeth'one of them with another that hath two fe-
males: and when a child hath been loft by any cafualty,
where the mother is paft breeding, it is determined what
family fhall breed another to fupply the lofs.
*
CHAP.
J
፡
2.60.
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
CHAP. IX,
20
A grand debate at the general aſſembly of the Houyhn-
hums, and how it was determined. The learning of the
Houyhnhnms. Their buildings. Their manner of burials.
The defectiveness of their language,
ONE of theſe grand affemblies was held in my time,
about three months before my departure, whither
my mafter went as the reprefentative of our district. In
this council was refumed their old debate, and indeed the
only debate that ever happened in that country; whereof
my maſter, after his return, gave me a very particular
account.
The queſtion to be debated was, whether the Yahoos
fhould be exterminated from the face of the earth?' One
of the members for the affirmative offered feveral argu-
ments of great ftrength and weight, alledging, that as
the Yahoos were the most filthy, noiſome, and deforined
animal which nature ever produced, fo they were the
moſt reſtive and indocible, mischievous and malicious;
they would privately, fuck the teats of the Houyhnhnms
cows, kill and devour their cats, trample down their
oats and grafs, if they were not continually watched, and
commit a thouſand other extravagancies. He took no-
tice of a general tradition, that Yahoos had not been
always in that country: but that, many ages ago, two
of thefe brutes appeared together upon a mountain, whe-
ther produced by the heat of the fin upon corrupted mud
and flime, or from the ooze and froth of the fea, was ne-
ver known. That theſe Yahoos ingendered, and their
brood in a fhort time grew fo numerous as to overrun and
infeft the whole nation. That the Houyhnhnms, to get
rid of this evil, made a general hunting, and at lift in-
clofed the whole herd, and deftroying the old ones,
every Houyhnhnm kept two young ones in a kennel, and
brought them to fuch a degree of tamenefs, as an ani-
mal, to favage by nature, can be capable of acquiring
uling them for draught and carriage, That there feem-
ed to be much truth in this tradition, and that thofe
creatures could not be Yinhniamy (or Aborigines of
•
the
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
261
whe
the land) becauſe of the violent hatred the Houyhnhnms,
as well as all other animals, bore them which, altho'
their evil difpofition fufficiently deſerved, could never
have arrived at fo high a degree, if they had been Abori-
gines, or elfe they would have long fince been rooted out,
That the inhabitants, taking a fancy to uſe the ſervice
of the Yahoos, had very imprudently neglected-to-culti-
vate the breed of affes, which were a comely animal,
eafily kept, more tame and orderly, without any offen-
five fmell, ftrong enough for labour, although they yield
to the other in agility of body; and if their braying be
no agreeable found, it is far preferable to the horrible
howlings of Yahoos.
7
Several others declared their fentiments to the fame
purpoſe, when my mafler propoſed an expedient to the
affembly, whereof he had indeed borrowed the hint from
me. He approved of the tradition mentioned by the ha-
nourable member who spoke before, and affirmed, that
the two Yahoos, faid to be firſt feen among them, had
been driven thither over the fea; that coming to land,
and being fortaken by their companions, they retired to
the mountains, and, degenerating by degrees, became
in process of time much more favage than thofe of their
own species in the country from whence thefe two origi-
nals came.
The reafon of his affertion was, that he
had now in his poffeffion a certain wond rful Yahoo,
(meaning myself) which mott of them had heard of, and
many of them had feen. He then related to them how
he had first found me, that my body was covered all
over with an artificial compofure of the ſkins and
hairs of other animals: that I had a language of my
own, and had thoroughly learned theirs that I had
related to him the accidents which brought me thither:
that when he faw me without my covering, I was an ex-
act Yahoo in every part, only of a whiter colour, leſs
hairy, and with fhorter claws. He added, how I had en-
deavoured to perfuade him, that in my own and other
countries the Yahoos acted as the governing, rational
animal, and held the Houyhnhums in fervitude: 'chat
→
he
262 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
རྞ
1
&
he obſerved in me all the qualities of a Yahoo, only a
little more civilized by fome tincture of reafon, which
however was in a degree as far inferior to the Houyhn-
hnm race, as the Yahoos of their country were to me:
that, among other things, I mentioned a custom we had
of caftrating Houyhnhnms when they were young, in
order to render them tame; that the operation was eafy
and fafe; that it was no fhame to learn wiſdom from
brutes, as induftry is taught by the ant, and building
by the ſwallow. (For ſo I tranflate the word Lybannh,
although it be a much larger fowl.) That this inven-
tion might be practifed upon the younger Yahoos here;
which, befides rendering them tractable and fitter for
uſe, would in an age put an end to the whole fpecies,
without deſtroying life. That in the mean time the
Houyhnhnms fhould be exhorted to cultivate tl e breed
of affes, which as they are in all refpects more valuable
brutes, fo they have this advantage, to be fit for fervice
at five years old, which the others are not till twelve.
This was all my mafter thought fit to tell me at that
time, of what paffed in the grand council. But he was
pleaſed to conceal one particular, which related perſon-
ally to myſelf, whereof I foon felt the unhappy effect, as
the reader will know in its proper place, and from whence
I date all the fucceeding misfortunes of my life.
The Houyhnhnms have no letters, and confequently
their knowledge is all traditional. But there happen-
ing few events of any moment among a people fo well
united, naturally difpofed to every virtue, wholly go-
verned by reafon, and cut off from all commerce with
other nations, the hiftorical part is eafily preferved with-
out burthening their memory. I have already obſerved
that they are fubject to no diſeaſes, and therefore can
have no need of phyficians. However, they have excel-
lent medicines compofed of herbs, to cure accidental
bruiſes and cuts in the paſtern or frog of the foot by ſharp
ftones, as well as other maims and hurts in the feveral
parts of the body;}anageme
They calculate the year by the revolution of the fun
and
J
AVOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS. 263
and the moon, but uſe no fubdivifions into weeks.
They are well enough. acquainted with the motions of
thofe two luminaries, and underſtand the nature of
eclipfes and this is the utmoſt progrefs of their aſtro-
nomy, moda e bemuto. p 1, 201
]
✓
+
In poetry they must be allowed to excel all other mor-
tals; wherein the juftnefs of their families, and the mi-
nuteness as well as exactness of their defcriptions, are
indeed inimitable. Their verſes abound very much in
both of theſe, and ufually contain either fome exalted
notions of friendship and benevolence, or the praiſes of
thoſe who were victors in races, and other bodily exer-
eifes. Their buildings, although very rude and fimple,
are not inconvenient, but well contrived to defend them
from all injuries of cold and heat. They have a kind of
tree, which at forty years old loofens in the root, and falls
with the firſt ſtorin; they grow very ftraight and be-
ing pointed like ſtakes with a ſharp ſtone, (for the Houy-
hnhnms know not the uſe of iron) they ftick them erect
in the ground about ten inches afunder, and then weave
in oat-Itraw, or fometimes wattles between them. The
roof is made after the fame manner, and fo are the
doors.
The Houyhnhnms ufe the hollow part between the
paftern and the hoof of their fore-feet, as we do our
hands; and this with greater dexterity than I could firſt
imagine. I have feen a white mare of our family threadle
a needle (which I lent her on purpoſe) with that joint.
They milk their cows, reap their oats, and do all the
work which requires hands, in the fame manner. They
have a kind of hard flints, which, by grinding againit
other ftones, they form into inftruments, that ferve in-
ftead of wedges, axes, and hammers. With tools made
of theſe flints, they likewife cut their hay, and reap
their oats, which there groweth naturally in feveral
fields: the Yahoos draw home the heaves in carriages,
and the fervants tread them in feveral covered huts, to
get out the grain, which is kept in ftores. They make
arude kind of earthen and wooden veffels, and bake the
former in the fun.
1
་
If
264 -
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
If they can avoid cafualties, they die only of old age,
and are buried in the obſcureſt places that can be found,
their friends and relations expreffing neither joy nor
grief at their departure, nor does the dying perfon dif-
cover the leaft regret that he is leaving the world, any
more than if he were returning home from a vifit to one
of his neighbours. I remember my mafter having once
made an appointment with a friend and his family to
come to his houfe upon fome affair of importance; on
the day fixed, the miftrefs and her two children came
very late he made two excuſes, firft for her huſband,
who, as the faid, happened that very morning to lhnuwnh.
The word is ftrongly expreffive in their language, but
not easily rendered into English; it fignifies to retire to
his first mother. Her excufe for not coming fooner, was,
that her huſband dying late in the morning, fhe was a
good while confulting her fervants about a convenient
place where his body thould be laid; and I obferved ſhe
behaved herſelf at our houſe as cheerfully as the reſt, and
died about three months after.
They live generally to feventy, or feventy five years,
very feldom to fourfcore: fome weeks before their death
they feel a gradual decay, but without pain. During
this time they are much vifited by their friends, becauſe
they cannot go abroad with their ufual eafe and fatisfac-
tion. However, about ten days before death, which
they feldom fail in computing, they return the vifits that
have been made them by thofe who are neareſt in the
neighbourhood, being carried in a convenient fledge,
drawn by Yahoos, which vehicle they ufe, not only upon
this occafion, but, when they grow old, upon long jour-
nies, or when they are lained by an accident. And there-
fore when the dying Houyhnhnms return thofe vifits,
they take a folemn leave of their friends, as if they were
going to fome remote part of the country, where they
defigned to pals, the reft of their lives.
I know not whether it may be worth obferving, that
the Houyhnhnms have no word in their language to ex-
prefs any thing that is evil, except what they borrow
1
from
1
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHŃÍNMS •
265
from the deformities or ill qualities of the Yahoos.
Thus they denote the folly of a fervant, an omiffion of a
child, a ftone that cut their feet, a continuance of foul or
unfeaſonable weather, and the like, by adding to each
the epithet of Yahoo: for inftance, Hhom Yahoo, Whna-
holm Yahoo, Ynlhmndwihlma Yahoo, and an ill-con-
trived houſe, Ynholmhnmrohlnw Yahoo.
I could with great pleafure enlarge farther upon the
manners and virtues of this' excellent people; but in-
tending in a fhort time to publiſh a volume by itſelf ex-
prefsly upon that fubject, I refer the reader thither.-
And in the mean time, proceed to relate my own fad
cataſtrophe.
CHAP. X.
The auther's economy and happy life among the Houyhn-
bums. His great improvement in virtue, by converfing
with them. Their converfations. The author has notice
given him by his mafter, that he muſt depart from the coun--
try. He falls into a fuoon for grief, but fubmits.---He
contrives and finishes a canoe, by the help of a fellow fer-
vant, and puts to fea at a venture.
1
HAD fettled my little economy to my own heart's
content. My mafter had ordered a room for me af-
ter their manner, about fix yards from the houſe, the
fides and floor of which I plastered with clay, and co-
vered with rush mats of my own contriving; I had
beaten hemp, which there grows wild, and made of it a
fort of ticking. This I filled with the feathers of fe-
veral birds I had taken with fprings made of Yahoos
hairs, and were excellent food. I had worked two
chairs with my knife, the forrel nag helping me in the
groffer and more laborious part. When my cloath's
were worn to rags, I made myſelf others with the fkins
of rabbits, and of a certain beautiful animal of the fame
fize, called nubnub, the ſkin of which is covered with a
fine down. Of theſe I made very tolerable ſtockings, I
foaled my fhoes with wood, which I cut from a tree,
and fitted to the upper leather; and when this was
worn out, I fupplied it with the fkins of Yahoos dried
T
Z
in
5
256 A VOYAGE (TO THE HOUYENHNMS.
y
in the fun. I often got honey out of the hollow trees,
which I mingled with water, or ate with my bread.-
No man could more verify the truth of theſe two maxims,
that nature is very eaſily ſatisfied'; and, that neceffity is
the mother of invention. I enjoyed perfect health of
body and tranquillity of mind; I did not find the trea-
chery or inconftancy of a friend, nor the injuries of a
fecret or open enemy; I had no occafion of bribing,
flattering, or pimping, to procure the favour of any great
man, or of his minion; I wanted no fence againſt fraud
or oppreffion; here was neither phyſician to deſtroy my
body, nor lawyer, to ruin my fortune; no informer to
watch my words and actions, or forge accufations againk
me for hire; here were no gibers, cenfurers, backbiters,
pickpockets, highwaymen, houfebreakers, attornies,
bawds, buffoons, gainefters, politicians, wits, ſplene-
tics, tedious taikers, controvertifts, raviſhers, murderers,
robbers, virtuofoes: no leaders or followers of party
and faction; no encouragers to vice, by feducement or
examples; no dungeon, axes, gibbets, whipping-poks,
or pillories; no cheating fhopkeepers or mechanics; no
pride, vanity, or affectation; no fops, bullies, drunk-
ards, ftrolling whores, or poxes; no ranting, lewd,
expenfive wives; no ftupid, proud pedants; no impor-
tunate, overbearing, quarrelfome, noify, roaring, emp-
ty, conceited, fwearing companions; no fcoundrels,
raifed from the duft for the fake of their vices, or nobili-
ty thrown into it on account of their virtues; no lords,
fidlers, judges, or dancing-mafters.
着
​I had the favour of being admitted to ſeveral Houyhn-
hnms, who came to vifit or ding with my mafter, where
his honour graciously. fuffered me to wait in the room
and liften to their difcourfe. Both he and his company
would often defcend to ask me questions, and receive
my anſwers. I had alſo fometimes the honour of at-
tending my mafter in his vifits to others. I never pre-
fumed to ſpeak, except in anſwer to a queſtion, and
then I did it with inward regret, becauſe it was a
Lofs of fo much time for improving myself: but I was
14
infinitely
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUTHNHWM3
267
}
infinitely delighted with the ftation of an humble audi-
tor in fuch converfations, where nothing paſſed but
what was uſeful, expreffed in the feweft and moft figni-
fcant words where the greateft decency was obſerved,
without the leaft degree of ceremony; where no perfon
spoke without being pleafed himſelf, and pleafing his
companions; where there was no interruption, tediouf
nefs, heat or difference of fentiments. They have a no-
tion, that when people are met together, a fhort filence
doth much improve converfation this I found to be
true: for, during thofe little intermiflions of talk, new
ideas would arife in the thoughts, which very much en-
livened their difcourfe. Their fubjects are generally on
friendship and benevolence, on order and economy;
fometimes upon the visible operations of nature, or an-
cient traditions upon the bounds and limits of virtue,
upon the unerring rules of reafon, or upon fome deter-
minations to be taken at the next great affembly; and
often upon the various excellencies of poetry.
་
I may
add without vanity, that my prefence often gave thei
ſufficient matter for difcourfe, becauſe it afforded my
mafter an occafion of letting his friends into the hiftory
of me and my country, upon which they were all pleaſed
to defcant in a manner not very advantageous to human
kind; and for that reafon I thall not repeat what they
faid: only I may be allowed to obferve, that his honour,
to my great admiration, appeared to understand the na-
ture of Yahoos in all countries, much better than myſelf.
He went through all our vices and follies, and diſcover-
ed many which I had never mentioned to him, by only
fuppofing what qualities a Yahoo of their country, with
a fmall proportion of reafon, might be capable of exer-
ting; and concluded, with too much probability, how
vile as well as miferable fuch a creature muſt be
-
I freely confefs, that all the little knowledge I have
of any value, was acquired by the lectures I received
from my mafter, and from hearing the difcourfes of him
and his friends; to which I fhould be prouder to listen,
than to dictate to the greateſt and-wiſeſt aſſembly in
Europe.
Z 2
เ
1
1
2
1
}
268 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYḤNANMS.
Europe. I admired the ſtrength, comeliness, and ſpeed:
of the inhabitants, and fuch: a conftellation of virtues in
ſuch amiable perſons produced in me the higheſt vène-
ration. At first, indeed, I did, not feel that natural
awe, which the Yahoos and all other animals bear to-
wards them, but it grew upon me by degrees, much.
fooner than I imagined, and was mingled-with a refpect-
ful love and gratitude, that they would condefcend to
diftinguish me from the rest of my fpecies.
1
▼
When I thought of my family, my friends, and my
countrymen, or human race in general, I confidered
them as they really were, Yahoos in fhape and diſpoſi.
tion, only a little civilized, and qualified with the gift
of fpeech, but making no other ufe of reafon, than to
improve and multiply thofe vices, whereof their bre. hren
in this country had only the fhare that nature allotted
them. When I happened to behold the reflection of my
own form in a lake or a fountain, I turned away my face
in horror and deteftation of myſelf, and could better en-
dure the fight of a common Yahoo, than of my own per-
fon. By converfing with the Houyhnhnms, and looking
upon them with delight, I fell to imitate their gait and
gefture, which is now grown into an habit, and my
friends often tell me, in a blunt way, that I trot like a
horfe; which, however, I take for a great compliment:
neither fhall I difown, that in fpeaking I am apt to fall
into the voice and manner of the Houyhnhnms, and hear
myſelf ridiculed on that account, without the leaft mor-
tification.
}
In the midft of all this happiness, and when I looked
upon myſelf to be fully fettled for life, my mafler fent
for me one morning a little earlier that his ufual hour.
I obferved by his countenance that he was in fome per-
plexity, and at a lofs how to begin what he had to
Ipeak. After a fiort filence, he told me, he did not
know how I would take what he was going to fay;
that in the laft general affembly, when the affair of the
Yahoos was entered upon, the reprefentatives had taken
offence at his keeping à Yahoo (meaning myſelf) in his
family,
}
1
་
1
i
ļ
A&VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS. 269
family, more like a Houyhnhnm, than a brute animal.
That he was known (frequently to converfe with me, as
if he could receive fome advantage or pleaſure in my
company that fuch a practice, was not agreeable to rea--
fon or nature, nor as thing ever heard of before among
them. The affembly did therefore exhort him, either to
employ me like the rest of my fpecies, or command me to
Swim back to the place from whence I came. That the
first of thefe expedients was utterly rejected by all the
Houyhnhnms, who had ever ſeen me at his house or their
own for they alledged, that because I had fome rudi-
ments of reafon added to the natural pravity of thofe ani-
mals, it was to be feared, I might be able to feduce them
into the woody and mountainous parts of the country,
and bring them in troops by night to destroy the Houyh-
nhnms cattle, as being naturally of the ravenous kind,
and averfe from labour.
1
+
My mafter added, that he was daily preffed by the
Houyhnhnms of the neighbourhood to have the aflem-
bly's exhortation executed, which he could not put off
much longer. He doubted it would be impoffible for
me to fwim to another country, and therefore wished I
would contrive fome fort of vehicle refembling those I had
deſcribed to him, that might carry me on the fea, in
which work I fhould have the affiftance of his own fer-
wants, as well as thofe of his neighbours. He concluded,
that for his own part, he could have been content to
keep me in his fervice as long as I lived, becauſe he
found I had cured myself of fome bad habits and difpo-
itions, by endeavouring, as far as my inferior nature
was capable, to imitate the Houyhnhnms.
{
I fhould here obferve to the reader, that a decree of the
general affembly in this country is expreffed by the word
Habloayn, which fignifies an exhortation, as hear as I can
render it for they have no conception how a rational
creature can be compelled, but only adviſed, or exhort-
ed, becauſe no perfon can difobey reafon, without giving
up his claim to be a rational creature.
"I was fruck with the utmoſt grief and defpeir at
i
Z 3
my
f
279
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS,
1
६
{
my master's difcourfe, and being uanble to fupport the
agonies I was under, I fell into a fwoon at his feet;
when I came to myſelf, he told me, that he concluded
I had been dead. (For thefe people are ſubject to no
fuch imbecilities of nature), I antwered, in a faint
voice, that death would have been too great an happi-
nefs; that although, I could not blame the aflembly's
exhortation, or the urgency of his friends; yet in my
weak and corrupt judgment, I thought it might confift
with reaſon to have been lefs rigorous. That I could
not fwim a league, and probably the nearelt land to
theirs might be diftant above an hundred that many
materials, neceffary for making a ſmall veffel to carry
me off, were wholly wanting in this country; which,
however, I would attempt, in obedience and gratitude to
his honour, although I concluded the thing to be impof-
fible, and therefore looked on myſelf as already devoted
to deftruction. That the certain profpect of unnatural
death was the leaft of my evils: for fuppofing I ſhould
efcape with life by fome ftrange adventure, how could I
think with temper of paffing my days among Yahoos,
and relapfing into my old corruptions, for want of ex-
amples to lead and keep me within the paths of virtue?
That I knew too well upon what folid reasons all the
determinations of the wife Houyhnhnms were founded,
not to be fhaken with arguments of mine, a miferable
Yahoo, and therefore after prelenting him with my
humble thanks for the offer of his fervant's affiſtance in
1king a veffel, and defiring a reaſonable time for fo
difficult a work, I told him I would endeavour to pre-
ferve a wretched being; and if ever I returned to Eng-
land, was not without hopes of being uſeful to my own
fpecies, by celebrating the praifes of the renowned
Houyhnhnms, and propofing their virtues to the imita-
tion of mankind.
W
My master in a few words made me a very gracious
reply, allowed me the ſpace of two months to finish my
boat, and ordered the forrel nag, my fellow fervant (for
fo at this diſtance I may prefume to call him) to follow
my
}
L
ΤΙ
हूँ
1
A VOTAGE TO THE HOUYHNIINMS, 271
my inftructions, becauſe I told my mafter that his help
would be fufficient, and I knew he had a tendernel's for
nrebefore w
ent threat smut I ar
me.
1
In his company, my fuft-business was to go to that
part of the coaft, where my rebellious crew had ordered
me to be fet on shore. I got upon a height, and look-
ing on every fide into the fea, I fancied I ſaw à finall
inland towards the North-eaft: I took out my pocket
glafs, and could then clearly diftinguish it about five
leagues off, as I computed; but it appeared to the for-
rel nag to be only a blue cloud: for, as he had no con-
ception of any other country befides his own, fo he
could not be as expert in diftinguishing remote objects
at fea, as we who fo much converfe in that element.
+
}
After I had difcovered this ifland, I confidered no far-
ther; but refolved it fhould, if poffible, be the first
place of my banifhment, leaving the confequence to for-
tune..
I returned home, and confulting with the forrel nag,
we went into a copfe at fome diſtance, where I with my
knife, and he with a sharp flint fastened very artificially;
after their manner, to a wooden handle, cut down feve-
ral oak wattles about the thickness of a walking ſtaff,
and fome larger pieces. But I fhall not trouble the read-
er with a particular defcription of my own mechanics ;
let it fuffice to fay, that in fix weeks time, with the help
of the forrel nag, who performed the parts that required
moft labour, I fiuifhed a fort of Indian canoe, but much
larger, covering it with the ſkins of Yahoos well ſtitch-
ed together, with hempen threads of my own mak
ing. My fail was likewife compofed of the ſkins of
the fame animal: but I made ufe of the youngeſt I
could get, the older being too tough and thick; and I
likewife provided myfelf with four paddles. I laid in a
ftock of boiled flesh of rabbits and fowls, and took with
me two yeffels, one filled with milk, and the other with
water.
'
I tried my canoe in a large pond Fear my maſter'
houſe, and then corrected in it what was amifs: top-
ping
272 A VOYAGE TO: THEY HOU YHNHNMSA
ping all the chinks with Yahba's fallow, till I found
faunch, and able to bear me and my freight. And when
it was as complete as I could poffibly make it, I had it
drawn on a carriage very gently by Yahoos to the fea-
fide, under the conduct of the forrel pag, and another
fervant.
+
When all was ready, and the day come for my depar
ture, I took leave of my matter and lady, and the whole
family, mine eyes flowing with tears, and nine heart
quite funk with grief. But his honour, out of curioſity,
and perhaps (if I may ſpeak it without vanity) partly
out of kindnefs, was determined to fee me in my canoe,
and gat feveral of his neighbouring friends to acceni-
pany him. I was forced to wait above an hour for the
tide, and then obferving the wind very fortunately bear
ing towards the iſland, to which I intended to fleer my
courſe, I took a fecond leave of my mailer: but as I was
going to proftrate mylelf to kifs his hoof, he did me the
honour to raite it gently to my mouth. I am not igno-
rant how much I have been cenfured for mentioning this
laft particular: for my detractors are pleaſed to think it
improbable, that fo illuftrious a perfon thould defcend to
give fo great a mark of diftinction to a creature fo infe-
rior as I. Neither have I forgot, how apt ſome travel-
lers are to boaft of extraordinary favours they have re
ceived. But if thefe cenfurers were better acquainted
with the noble and courteous difpo ition of the Houyhn-
hams, they would foon change their opinion.
I paid my respects to the rest of the Houyhnhnms in
his honour's company; then getting into my canoe, I
puſhed off from the shore.
}
CHAP.
1
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS,
273
}
CHAP. XL /
}
The author's dangerous voyage. He arrives at New-
Holland, hoping to fettle there. Is rounded with an ar-
row by one of the natives. Is feized and carried by force
into a Portugueze ſhip. The great civilities of the captain.
The author arrives at England.
I Began this defperate voyage on February 15, 1714,
at nine o'clock in the morning. The wind was
very favourable; however, I made ufe at firit only of
my paddles, but confidering I fhould foon be weary, and
that the wind might chop about, I ventured to fet up
my little fail; and thus, with the help of the tide, I went
at the rate of a league and a half an hour, as near as I
could gueſs. My matter and his friends continued on
fhore, till I was almoft out of fight; and I have often
heard the forrel nag (who always loved me) crying out,
Huuy illa nyba majab Yahoo,' 'Take care of thy felf,
'gentle Yahoo.'
My defign was, if poffible, to diſcover fome ſmall
iſland uninhabited, yet fufficient by my labour to furnish
me with the neceffaries of life, which I would have
thought a greater happineſs than to be firft miniſter in
the politeft court of Europe; fo horrible was the idea I
conceived of returning to live in the ſociety, and under
the government of Yahoos. For, in fuch a folitude as I
deſired, I could at leaft enjoy my own thoughts, and re-
flect with delight on the virtues of thofe inimitable Houy-
hnhnms, without any opportunity of degenerating into
the vices and corruptions of my own fpecies.
The reader may remember what I related when my
crew conſpired againſt me, and confined me to my cabin.
How I continued there feveral weeks, without knowing
what courſe we took, and when I was put afhore in the
long boat, how the failors told me with oaths, whether
true or false, that they knew not in what part of the world
we were. However, I did then believe us to be about
ten degrees fouthward of the Cape of Good Hope, or
about forty-five degrees fouthern latitude, as I gathered
from fome general words I over-heard among them, be-
ing
274 A VOYAGE TO THE &
"
HOUYHNHNMS,
ing: I fuppofed to the fouth-east in their intended voyage
to Madagaſcar. And although this were but little better
than conjecture, yet I refolved to ſteer my courle eastward,
hoping to reach the fouth-west coast of New Holland,
and perhaps fome fuch iflands as I defred, lying weſt-
ward of it. The wind was full weft, and by fix in the
evening I computed I had gone eastward at least eighteen
leagues, when I fpied a very ſmall iſland about half a
league off, which I foon reached. It was nothing but a
rock with one creek, naturally arched by the force of
tempefts. Here I put in my canoe, and climbing up a
part of the rock, I could plainly difcover land to the
eaft, extending from fouth to north. I lay all night in
my canoe, and repeating my voyage early in the mor-
ning, I arrived in feven hours at the fouth-eaft point of
New Holland. This confirmed me in the opinion I have
long entertained, that the maps and charts hitherto
publiſhed placed this country at least three degrees more
to the eaſt than it really is; which thought I communi-
cated many years ago to my worthy friend Mr. Hernan
Moll, and gave him my reafons for it, although he hath.
rather choſen to follow other authors.
1
1
I faw no inhabitants in the place where I landed, and
being unarmed, I was afraid of venturing far into the
country. I found, fome ſhell-fish on the thore, and ate
them raw, not daring to kindle a fire, for fear of being
diſcovered by the natives. I continued three days feed-
ing on oyfters, and limpets, to fave my own proviſions;
and I fortunately found a brook of excellent water, which
gave me great relief.
1
On the fourth day venturing out early a little too far,
I faw twenty or thirty natives upon a height, not above
five hundred yards from me. They were ſtark naked,
men, women, and children, round a fire, as I could dif-
cover by the moak. One of them fpied me, and gave
notice to the reft; five of them advanced towards me,
leaving the women and children at the fire. I made what
hate I could to the fhore, and getting into m canoe,
hoved off the favages obferving my retreat, ran after
}
"
mei
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS. 275
=
ז
me; and, before I could get far enough into the fea,
difchaiged an arrow, which wounded me deeply on the
fide of my left knee. ( fhall carry the mark to my
grave.) I apprehended the arrow might be poifoned,
and paddling out of the reach of their darts (being a
calm day) I made a fhift to fuck the wound, and drefs
it as well as I could.
I
-
I
I was at a lofs what to do, for I durft not return to
the fame landing place, but ftood to the North, and was
forced to paddle; for the wind, though very gentle, was
against me, blowing North weft. As I was looking
about for a fecure landing place, Ifaw a fail to the North-
North-Eaſt, which appearing every minute more visible,
I was in fome doubt, whether I fhould wait for them or
no; but at laſt my deteftation of the Yahoo race prevailed;
and, turning my canoe, I failed and paddled together to
the South, and got into the fame creek from whence I fet
out in the morning, chung rather to truft myfelfamong
thefe barbarians, than live with European Yahoos. I
drew up my canoe as clofe as I could to the fhore, and
hid myself behind a ſtone by the little brook, which, as
I have already faid, was excellent water.
-
¿
The ſhip came within half a league of this creek, and
fent out her long boat with veffels to take in freſh water,
(for the place, it feems, was very well known) but I did
not obſerve it till the boat was almoſt on thore, and it
was too late to feek another hiding-place. The feamen
at their landing obferved my canoe, and rummaging it
all over, easily conjectured, that the owner could not be
far off. Four of them, well armed, fearched every cranny
and lurking hole, till at last they found me flat on my
face behind the ftone. They gazed a while in admira-
tion at my strange uncouth drefs, my coat made of ſkins,
my wooden-foaled hoes, and my furred ftockings; from
whence however, they concluded I was not a native of
the place, who all go naked. One of the teamen, in Por-
tugueze, bid me rife, and afked who I was. I under!
ftood that language very well, and getting upon my feet,
faid I was a poor Yahoo, banilied from the Houy-
I
4
+
hnhnms,
276 A VOYAGE TO THE HOÙYHNHNMS.
hnhninn, and defired they would pleaſe to let me depart.
They admired to hear me anſwer them in their own
tongue, and ſaw, by my complexion, I must be an Eu-
ropean: but were at a lofs to know what I meant by
Yahoos and Houyhnhnms, and at the fame time fell´a
laughing at my ftrange tone of ſpeaking, which refem-
bled the neighing of a horfe. Î trembled all the while
betwixt fear and hatred: I again defired leave to depart,
and was gently moving to my canoe: but they laid hold
on me, defiring to know what country I was of? and
from whence I came with many other questions. I told
them I was born in England, from whence I came about
five years ago, and then their country and ours were at
peace. I therefore hoped they would not treat me as
an enemy, fince I meant them no harm, but was a poor
Yahoo, feeking fome defolate place where to paſs the re-
mainder of my unfortunate life.
When they had began to talk, I thought I never heard
or faw any thing fo unnatural; for it appeared to me as
monstrous as if a dog or a cow ſhould ſpeak in England,
or a Yahoo in Houyhnhnmland. The hone Portugueze
were equally amazed at my ftrange drefs, and the odd
manner of delivering my words, which, however, they
understood very well. They fpoke to me with great hu-
manity, faid they were fure their captain would carry me
gratis to Lisbon, from whence I might return to my own
country; that two of the feamen would go back to the
fhip, inform the captain of what they had feen, and re-
ceive his orders; in the mean time unleſs I would give
my folemn oath not to fly, they would fecure me by
force. I thought it beft to comply with their propofal.
They were very curious to know my ftory, but I gave
them very little fatisfaction; and they all conjectured,
that my misfortunes had impaired my reafon.
In two
hours, the boat, which went loaden with veffels of water,
returned with the captain's command to fetch me on
board. I fell on my knees to preferve my liberty, but
all was in vain; and the men having tied me with cords,
heaved me into the boat, and from thence into the cap-
tain's cabin,
His
]
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
277
His name was Pedro de Mendez, he was a very cour-
teous and generous perfon; he entreated me to give fome
account of myſelf, and defired to know what I would
eat or drink; faid I fhould be uſed as well as himself,
and ſpoke fo many obliging things, that I wondered to
find fuch civilities from a Yahoo. However, I remained
filent and fullen; I was ready to faint at the very ſmell
of him and his men. At laſt I defired fomething to eat
out of my own canoe; but he ordered me a chicken and
fome excellent wine, and then directed that I ſhould be
put to bed in a very clean cabin. I would not undreſs
myſelf, but lay on the bed-cloaths, and in half an hour
ftole out, when I thought the crew was at dinner, and
ge:ting to the fide of the fhip, was going to leap into the
fea, and fwim for my life, rather than continue among
Yahoos. But one of the feamen prevented me, and
having informed the captain, I was chained to my
cabin.
After dinner, Don Pedro came to me, and defired to
know my reafon for ſo deſperate an attempt; afſuring me
he only meant to do me all the fervice he was able, and
fpoke fo very movingly, that at laft I defcended to treat
him like an animal that had fome little portion of reafon.
I gave him a very short relation of my voyage, of the
confpiracy against me by my own men, of the country
where they let me on fhore, and of my three years refi-
dence there. All which he looked upon as if it were a
dream or viſion, whereat I took great offence; for I had
quite forgot the faculty of lying, fo peculiar to Yahoos
in all countries where they prefide, and confequently the
difpofition of fufpecting truth in others of their own fpe-
cies. I asked him whether it were the custom in his
country to ſay the thing that was not? I affured him I
had almost forget what he meant by falfhood, and if I
had lived a thousand years in Houyhnhnmland, I ſhould
never have heard a lye from the meaneft fervant; that I
was altogether indifferent whether he believed me or no;
but however, in return for his favours, I would give fo
much allowance to the corruption of his nature, as to an-
A a
fwer
£
278 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
fwer any objection he would pleaſe to make, and then he
might difcover eally the truth.
The captain, a wife man, after many endeavours to
catch me tripping in fome part of my ftory, at laft began
to have a better opinion of my veracity; and the rather,
becauſe he confeffed he met with a Dutch fkipper, who
pretended to have landed, with five others of his crew,
upon a certain iſland or continent fouth of New Holland,
where they went for fresh water, and obferved a horfe
driving before him feveral animals exactly refembling
thoſe I defcribed under the name of Yahoos, with fome
other particulars, which the captain faid he had forgot;
becauſe he then concluded them all to be lyes. But he
added, that fince I profeffed fo inviolable an attachment
to truth, I muſt give him my word and honour to bear
him company in this voyage, without attempting any
thing against my life, or elfe he would continue me a
prifoner till we arrived at Liſbon. I gave him the pro-
mife he required, but at the fame time protefted, that I
would fuffer the greatest hardships rather than return to
live among Yahoos.
Our voyage paffed without any confiderable accident.
In gratitude to the captain, I fometimes fat with him at
his earnest request, and ftrove to conceal my antipathy
against human kind, although it often broke out, which
he fuffered to paſs without obfervation. But the greatest
part of the day I confined my felf to my cabin, to avoid
feeing any of the crew. The captain had often entreated
me to ftrip myſelf of my favage drefs, and offered to lend
me the best fuit of cloaths he had. This I would not be
prevailed on to accept, abhorring to cover myſelf with
any thing that had been on the back of a Yahoo. I only
defired he would lend me two clean fhirts, which having
been waſhed fince he wore them, I believed would not fo
much defile me. Thefe I changed every ſecond day, and
washed them myſelf.
We arrived at Lisbon, Nov. 5, 1715. At our land-
ing the captain forced me to cover myfelf with his cloak,
to prevent the rabble from crowding about me. I was
conveyed
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
270
conveyed to his own houfe; and at my earnest request,
he led me up to the highest room backwards. I conjured
him to conceal from all perfons what I had told him of
the Houyhnhnms, becauſe the leaft hint of fuch a ſtory,
would not only draw numbers of people to ſee me, but
probably put me in danger of being imprifoned or burnt
by the inquifition. The captain perfuaded me to accept
a fuit of cloaths newly made, but I would not fuffer the
taylor to take my measure; however, Don Pedro being
almoſt of my fize, they fitted me well enough. He ac-
coutred me with other neceffaries, all new, which I aired
for twenty-four hours before I would ufe them.
The captain had no wife, nor above three fervants,
none of which were fuffered to attend at meals, and his
whole deportment was fo obliging, added to every good
human understanding, that I really began to tolerate his
company. He gained fo far upon me, that I ventured
to look out of the back window. By degrees I was
brought into another room, from whence I peeped into
the ſtreet, but drew my head back in a fright. In a
week's time he feduced me down to the door. I found
my terror gradually leffened, but my hatred and con-
tempt feemed to increaſe. I was at laſt bold enough to
walk the ftreet in his company, but kept my nofe well
ftopped with rue, or fometimes with tobacco.
In ten days, Don Pedro, to whom I had given fome
account of my domeſtic affairs, put it upon me as a
matter of honour and confcience, that I ought to return
to my native country, and live at home with my wife and
children. He told me, there was an English fhip in the
port juft ready to fail, and he would furnish me with all
things neceffary. It would be tedious to repeat his ar-
guments and my contradictions. He faid it was altoge-
ther impoffible to find fuch a folitary iſland as I had de-
fired to live in; but I might command in my own houſe,
and paſs my time in a manner as reclufe as I pleaſed.
I complied at laft, finding I could not do better. I
left Lifbon the 24th day, of November, in an Engliſir
merchantman, but who was the mafter I never enquired,
Aaz
Don
280
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
Don Pedro accompanied me to the ſhip, and lent me
twenty pounds. He took kind leave of me, and em-
braced me at parting, which I bore as well as I could.
During this laſt voyage I had no commerce with the
mafter or any of his men, but pretending I was fick,
kept cloſe in my cabin. On the 5th day of December,
1715, we caft anchor in the Downs about nine in the
morning, and at three in the afternoon I got fafe to my
houſe at Rotherhithe.
My wife and family received me with great furpriſe
and joy, becauſe they concluded me certainly dead; but
I must freely confefs the fight of them filled me only
with hatred, difguft, and contempt, and the more by
reflecting on the near alliance I had to them. For, al-
though fince my unfortunate exile from the Houyhnhnm
country, I had compelled myſelf to tolerate the fight of
Yahoos, and to converfe with Dou Pedro de Mendez,
yet my memory and imagination were perpetually filled
with the virtues and ideas of thofe exalted Houyhnhnms.
And when I began to confider, that by copulating with
one of the Yahoo fpecies I had become a parent of more,
it ftruck me with the utinoft fhame, confuſion, and
horror.
:
As foon as I entered the houſe, my wife took me in
her arms, and kiſſed me, at which, having not been
uſed to the touch of that odious animal for fo many years,
I fell into a fwoon for almoſt an hour. At the time I
am writing it is five years fince my last return to Eng-
land during the first year I could not endure my wife
or children in my prefence, the very finell of them was
intolerable, much lefs could I fuffer them to eat in the
fame room. To this hour they dare not preſume to touch
my bread, or drink out of the fame cup, neither was I
ever able to let one of them take me by the hand. The
first money
I laid out was to buy two young tone-horfes,
which I kept in a good ftable, and next to them the
groom is my greateft favourite; for I feel my fpirits
revived by the finell he contracts in the ftable. My
horfes underſtand me tolerably well; I converfe with
them
1
A VOYAGE "
281
TO THE HOUỲHNHNMS.
them at least four hours every day. They are ftrangers
to bridle or faddle, they live in great amity with me, and
friendſhip to each other.
}
CHAP. XII.
The author's veracity. His defignin publiſhing this work.
His cenfure of those travellers who fwerve from the truth,
The author clears himself from any finifter ends in writing.
An objection anfwered. The method of planting colonies.
His native country commended. The right of the crown
to thofe countries defcribed by the author is juflified. The
difficulty of conquering them. The author takes his last leave
of the reader: propofeth his manner of living for the fu-
ture, gives good advice, and concludes.
THUS, gentle reader, I give thee a faithful hiftory of
my travels for fixteen years and above feven
months, wherein I have not been fo ftudious of ornament
as truth. I could perhaps, like others, have aſtoniſhed
thee with ftrange improbable tales; but I rather chofe to
relate plain matter of fact, in the fimpleft manner and.
ftyle, becaufe my principal defign was to inform, and not
to amufe thee.
It is eafy for us who travel into remote countries
which are feldom vifited by Englishmen or other Euro-
peans to form defcriptions of wonderful animals both at
fea and land. Whereas a traveller's chief aim fhould be
to make men wifer and better, and to improve their minds
by the bad as well as good example of what they deliver
concerning foreign places.
I could heartily with a law was enacted, that every
traveller, before he were permitted to publish his voya
ges, fhould be obliged to make oath before the lord high
chancellor, that all he intended to print was abfolutely
true, to the belt of his knowledge; for then the world
would no longer be deceived, as it ufually is, while fome
writers to make their works pafs the better upon the pub-
lic, impoſe the groffeft falfities on the unweary reader.
I have perufed feveral books of travels with great delight
in my younger days; but having fince gone over moft
A a 3
parts
ป
AL
}
*282
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
parts of the globe, and been able to contradict many fa-
bulous accounts from my own obfervation, it hath given
me a great diſguſt againſt this part of reading, and fome
indignation to fee the credulity of mankind impudently
abufed. Therefore, fince my acquaintance were pleaſed
to think my poor endeavours might not be unacceptable
to my country, I impofed on myſelf as a maxim, never
to be ſwerved from, that I would ſtrictly adhere to truth,
neither indeed can I be ever under the leaft temptations.
to vary from it, while I retain in my mind the lectures
and example of my noble mafter, and other illuftrious
Houyhnhnms, of whom I had ſo long the honour to be
an humble hearer.
-Nec, fi miferum Fortuna Sinonem
Finxit, vanum etiam, mendacemque improba finget.
I knew very well how little reputation is to be got by
writings which require neither genius nor learning, nor
indeed any other talent, except a good memory, or an ex-
act journal. I know likewife, the writers of travels,
like dictionary-makers, are funk into oblivion by the
weight and bulk of thoſe who come after, and therefore
lie uppermoft. And it is highly probable that fuch tra-
vellers who fhall hereafter vifit the countries defcribed in
this work of mine, may, by detecting my errors (if there
be any) and admitting many new difcoveries of their own,
justle me out of vogue, and ſtand in my place, making
the world forget that I was ever an author. This in-
deed would be too great a mortification, if I wrote for
fame but, as my fole intention was the public good, I
cannot be altogether disappointed. For who can read
of the virtues I have mentioned in the glorious Houy-
hnhnms, without being afhamed of his own vices, when
he confiders himself as the reafoning governing animal
of his country? I fhall fay nothing of thofe remote na-
tions where Yahoos prefide, amongst which, the leaſt
corrupted are the Brobdingnagians, whofe wife maxims in
morality and government it would be our happineſs to
obferve. But I forbear defcanting farther, and rather
Leave
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS. 283
leave the judicious reader to his own remarks and ap-
plications.
I am not a little pleaſed that this work of mine can
poffibly meet with no cenfurers: for what objections can
be made againſt a writer who relates only plain facts that
happened in fuch diftant countries, where we have not
the leaft intereft with reſpect either to trade or negocia-
tions? I have carefully avoided every fault with which
common writers of travels are often too juftly charged.
Befides I meddle not with any party, but write without
paffion, prejudice, or ill-will against any man, or number
of men whatfoever. I write for the nobleft end, to in-
form and inftru&t mankind, over whom I may, without
breach of modesty, pretend to ſome fuperiority from the
advantages I received by converfing fo long among the
molt accompliſhed Houyhnhnins. I write without any
view towards profit or praiſe. I never ſuffered a word
to paſs that looks like reflection, or poffibly can give the
leaſt offence even to thoſe who are moſt ready to take it.
So that I hope I may with juftice pronounce myſelf an
author perfectly blameleſs, against whom the tribes of
anfwerers, confiderers, obfervers, reflecters, detecters,
remarkers, will never be able to find matter for exer-
ciling their talents.
I confefs, it was whiſpered to me, that I was bound
in duty, as a ſubject of England, to have given in a me-
morial to a fecretary of ftate at my first coming over; be-
caufe whatever lands are difcovered by a ſubject, belong
to the crown. But I doubt whether our conqueſts in the
countries I treat of, would be as eafy as thofe of
Ferdinando Cortez over the naked Americans. The
Lilliputians, I think, are hardly worth the charge of a
fleet and army to reduce them, and I queftion whether it
might be prudent or fafe to attempt the Brobdingnagians.
Or whether an English army would be much at their
eaſe with a flying iſland over their heads. The Houy-
hnhnms, indeed, appear not to be fo well prepared for
war, a fcience to which they are perfect frangers, and
eſpecially against millive weapons. However, fuppofing
1
myfelf
✓
284 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
myſelf to be a minifter of ftate, I could never give any
advice for invading them. Their prudence, unanimity,
unacquaintedneſs with fear, and love of their country
would amply ſupply all defects in the military art.
Imagine twenty thousand of them breaking into the midft
of a European army, confounding the ranks, overturn-
ing the carriages, battering the warriers faces into mum-
my, by terrible jerks from their hinder hoofs. For
they would well deferve the character given to Auguftus:
Recalcitrat undique tutus. But instead of propofals for
conquering that magnanimous nation, I rather wish
they were in a capacity or difpofition to fend a fufficient
number of their inhabitants for civilizing Europe, by
teaching us the first principles of honour, juftice, truth,
temperance, public fpirit, fortitude, chaſtity, friendſhip,
benevolence, and fidelity. The names of all which vir-
tues are fill retained among us in moft languages, and
are to be met with in fome modern as well as ancient au-
thors; which I am able to affert from my own fmall
1eading.
But I had another reafon which made me lefs forward
to enlarge his majefty's dominions by my difcoveries. To
fay the truth, I had conceived a few fcruples with rela-
tion to the diſtributive juſtice of princes upon thofe occa-
fions. For infance, a clew of pirates are driven by a
ftorm they know not whither, at length a boy difcovers
land from the top-maft, they go on fhore to rob and
plunder; they fee an harmless people, are entertained
with kindnes, they give the country a new name, they
take formal poffeffion of it for their king, they fet up a
rotten plank or a ftone for a memorial, murder two or
three dozen of the natives, bring away a couple more by
force for fample, return home, and get their pardon.
Here commences a new dominion acquired with a title by
divine right Ships are fent with the firft opportunity,
the natives driven out or destroyed, their princes tortured
to difcover their gold; a free licenfe given to all acts of
inhumanity and luft, the earth reeking with the blood of
its inhabitants and this execrable crew of butchers em-
ployed
ન
:
}
*
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
285
ployed in fo pious an expedition, is a modern colony,
fent to convert and civilize an idolatrous and barbarous
people.
But this defcription, I confefs, doth by no means af-
fect the British nation, who may be an example to the
whole world for their wisdom, care, and juſtice in plant-
ing colonies; their liberal endowments for the advance-
ment of religion and learning; their choice of devout and
able paftors to propagate Chriſtianity, their caution in
flocking their provinces with people of fober lives and
converfations from this their mother kingdom; their ſtrict
regard to the diftribution of juſtice, in fupplying the civil
adminiſtration through all their colonies, with officers of
the greatest abilities, utter ftrangers to corruption; and
to crown all, by fending the moſt vigilant and virtuous
governors, who have no other views than the happineſs
of the people over whom they prefide, and the honour of
the king their maſter.
But, as thofe countries which I have deſcribed, do not
appear to have a defire of being conquered and enflaved,
murdered, or driven out by colonies, nor abound either in
gold, filver, fugar, or tobacco; I did humbly conceive
they were by no means proper objects of our zeal, our
valour, or our intereft. However, if those whom it
more concerns, think fit to be of another opinion, I am
ready to depofe, when I fhall be lawfully called, that no
European did ever vifit theſe countries before me. I
mean, if the inhabitants ought to be believed; unlefs a
dispute may arife about the two Yahoos, faid to have been
feen many ages ago on a mountain in Houyhnhnmland,
from whence the opinion is, that the race of thoſe brutes
hath defcended; and thefe, for any thing I know, may
have been English, which indeed I was apt to ſuſpect
from the lineaments of their pofterity's countenances, al-
though very much defaced. But, how far that will go
10 make out a title, I leave to the learned in colony law.
But as to the formality of taking poffeffion in my fo-
vereign's name, it never came once into my thoughts; and
if it had, yet, as my affairs then stood, I fhould, perhaps,
11
286 A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
*
in point of prudence and felf-prefervation, have put it
off to a better opportunity.
Having thus answered the only objection that can ever
be raiſed againft me as a traveller, I here, take a final
leave of all my courteous readers, and return to enjoy
my own fpeculations in my little garden at Redriff, to
apply thofe excellent leffons of virtue which I learned a-
mong the Houyhnhnms, to inftru&t the Yahoos of my
own family; as far as I should find them docible animals,
to behold my figure often in a glafs; and thus, if poffible,
habituate myſelf by time to tolerate the fight of a human
creature: to lament the brutality of the Houyhnhnms in
my own country, but always treat their perfons with
refpect for the fake of my noble mafter, his family, his
friends, and the whole Houyhnhnm race, whom theſe
of ours have the honour to refemble in all their linea-·
ments, however their intellectuals came to degenerate.
I began last week to permit my wife to fit at dinner
with me, at the fartheft end of a long table, and to anſwer
(but with the utmoſt brevity) the few questions I afked
her. Yet the fmell of a Yahoo continuing very offenfive,
I always keep my nofe well ftopped with rue, lavender,
or tobacco-leaves. And although it be hard for a man
late in life to remove old habits, I am not altogether out
of hopes in fome time to fuffer a neighbour Yahoo in
my company, without the apprehenfions I am yet under
of his teeth or his claws.
My reconcilement to the Yahoo kind in general might
not be fo difficult, if they would be content with thofe vices
and follies only which nature hath intitled them to. I
am not in the leaft provoked at the fight of a lawyer, a
pickpocket, a colonel, a fool, a lord, a gameſter, a po-
litician, a whore-mafter, a phylician, an evidence, a
fuborner, an attorney, a traitor, or the like: this is all
according to the due courfe of things. But when I be-
hold a lump of deformity and difeafes, both in body and
mird, fmitten with pride, it immediately breaks all the
meatures of my patience; neither fhall I ever be able to
comprehend how fucli an animal and fuch a vice could
tally
A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS.
287
1
tally together. The wife and virtuous Houyhnhnms,
who abound in all excellencies that can adorn a rational
creature, have no name for this vice in their language,
which hath no terms to exprefs any thing that is evil.
except thoſe whereby they defcribe the detestable qualities
of their Yahoos, among which they were not able to dif-
tinguiſh this of pride, for want of thoroughly under-
ſtanding human nature, as it fheweth itſelf in other
countries where that animal prefides. But I, who had
more experience could plainly obferve fome rudiments of
it among the wild Yahoos.
But the Houyhnhnms, who live under the government
of reaſon, are no more proud of the good qualities they
poffefs, than I fhould be for not wanting a leg, or an
arm, which no man in his wits would boaſt of, although
he muſt be miſerable without them. I dwell the longer
upon this fubject, from the deffre I have to make the
fociety of an English Yahoo by any means not infup-
portable, and therefore I here intreat thoſe who have any
tincture of this abfurd vice, that they will not prefume
to come in my fight.*
* To mortify pride, which indeed was not made for man,
and produces not only the moft ridiculous follies, but the most
extenfive calamity, appears to have been one general view of the
author în every part of thefe travels. Perfonal ftrength and
beauty, the wisdom and the virtue of mankind, become objects
not of pride but of humility, in the diminutive ftature and con-
temptible weakneſs of the Lilliputians; in the horrid deformity
of the Brobdingnagians; in the learned folly of the Laputians,
and in the parallel drawn between our manners and thofe of
the Houyhnhnms.
THE END.
J. ADLARD, Printer, Duke-fti eet.
..
Lift of the Works publiſhed in
COOKE'S
POCKET LIBRARY.
Each Work may be had in feparate Numbers.
SELECT NOVELS.
SELECT NOVELS.
SELECT NOVELS.
3 6
Solyman and Almèra o 6 Adventures of an Atom 1 6 Moral Tales
| |
Zadig
Almoran and Hamet
Sentimental Journey
Nourjahad
Catle of Otranto
Kacelas
6
6
Vicar of Wakefield 16 Court Fathom
Chineft Tales
o 6|Launcelo: Greaves
06 Tale of a Tub
10 Jonathan Wild
Theodofius&Conftantia 1 o
Bellifarios
Pompey the Little
Candid
Journey to Next World
Peruvian Princefs
Louifs Mildmay
.
SELECT POETS.
Goldſmith
Gray
Armorong
Falconer
Codina
Otway
Rochetter
Smoliert
nסותלס1
Pomfret
Dudley
Lyttleton
لام کی
16 Tales of the Genii
16
J 5
Ruderic Randon
-
16 | Tri:ram Shandy
Devil on Two Sticks
Gulliver's Travels
I of Sifters
1 oj Henrietta
10 Jofeph Andrews
1 0 Teleinachus
1 6 Female Quixotte
16 | Humphrey Clinker
·
SELECT POETS.
6 G. ith
6 | Sheffield
o 6 Addion
6 | Congreve.
6 Tickel
6
Fenton
o 6 Rowe
6 | Mickle
© 6 Broome
6 Mallett
o 6 Cunningham.
6 | Lanidowa
© 6 ¦ Blackmore
16 Robin.fon Cruce
An.chia
2 0
2 0 | Chryfal
Gil Blas
10 Peregrine Pickle
26 Tom Jones
Don Quixote
3 0
Arabian Nights
3 0
3
Pamela
છેલ
૭૦ %
SELECT POETS.
6
Moare
19
6
1 6
6
o 6 Sakipcare
Parnel
10) WaleT
1 of Langhorne
Glover
Shentone
I
Akenfide
2 6
Thom ton
10 Young
10 | Pope
Walth
SACRED CLASSICS.
10 | Milton
10 | Dryden
SACRED CLASSICS.
SACRED CLASSICS,
Dodd on Death
10
Addiſon's Evidences of
the Chriftian Religion
o
Economy of Human Life o 6
Death of Abel
Dodd's Prifon Thoughts
Rowe's Dev. Exercifes 1 c Hervey's Meditations 2
Centaur not Fabulous
Ic
i
Rowe's Letters
20
Pilgrim's Progrefs
20
BRITISH CLASSICS.
Goldfmith's Ellay's
Idler
10
BRITISH CLASSICS.
BRITISH CLASSICS,
Citizen of the World 3 0 | Rambler
2 6] Adventurer
50
Which will be followed by others of equal Eftimation, viz.
The Spectator
Tader
Guardian
Comoritur
World
Mirror, &c.
HUME's HISTORY OF ENGLAND,
with continuations by
SMOLLETT AND LLOYD.
Hume,
Smollett,
Lloyd.
53 Numbers,
34 Numbers,
24 Numbers,
Price £1 6 6
9 17 2
0 12 0
Zatellished with, upwards of One Hundred Engravings, confitting of
Kutorica Subjećts and Portraits of zid the Monarchs,
nner of the Pa, a mny be purchas-o iepurate,
ARTES
1837
SCIENTIA
LIBRARY
VERITAS
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
PLURIBUS URUN
TUEBOR
CRIS PENINSULAM AMIE NAM
CIRCUMSFICE
GIFT OF
REGENT LLHUBBARD