one winter"s evening, as captain compass was sitting by the fireside with his children all round him, little jack said to him: "papa, pray tell us some stories about what you have seen in your voyages. i have been vastly entertained whilst you were abroad, with gulliver"s travels1 and the adventures of sinbad the sailor2; and i think, as you have gone round and round the world, you must have met with things as wonderful as they did." - "no, my dear," said the captain, "i never met with lilliputians or brobdingnagians3, i assure you, nor ever saw the black loadstone mountain, or the valley of diamonds4; but, to be sure, i have seen a great variety of people, and their different manners and ways of living; and if1gulliver"s travels: a fabulous story of adventure by dean swift.
2sinbad the sailor: one of the stories of the arabian nights entertain-ments.
3lilliputians and brobdingnagians: the former very small, the latter gigantic people mentioned in "gulliver"s travels."4black loadstone mountain and valley of diamonds: scenes in the story of sinbad the sailor.
it will be any entertainment to you, i will tell you some curious particulars of what i observed." "pray, do, papa," cried jack and all his brothers and sisters; so they drew close around him, and he began as follows:-"well, then, i was once, about this time of the year, in a country where it was very cold,and the poor inhabitants had much ado to keep themselves from starving. they were clad partly in the skins of beasts, made smooth and soft by a particular art, but chiefly in garments made from the outer covering of a middle- sized quadruped, which they were so cruel as to strip off his back while he was alive. they dwelt in habitations, part of which was sunk under ground. the materials were either stones, or earth hardened by fire; and so violent, in that country, were the storms of wind and rain, that many of them covered their roofs all over with stones. the walls of their houses had holes to let in the light; but to prevent the cold air and wet from coming in, they were covered by a sort of transparent stone, made artificially1 of melted sand or flints. as wood was rather scarce, i know not what they would have done for firing, had they not discovered in the bowels of the earth2, a very extraordinary kind of stone, which, when put among burning wood, caught fire and flamed like a torch.""dear me," said jack, "what a wonderful stone! i suppose it was somewhat like what we call fire-stones,that shine so when we rub them together." "i don"t think they would burn," replied the captain; "besides, they are of a darker colour."1 made artificially: made by human skill. 2 bowels of the earth: mines.
sheep shearing
well, but their diet, too, was remarkable. some of them ate fish that had been hung up in the smoke till it was quite dry and hard; and along with it, they ate either the roots of plants, or a sort of coarse black cake made of powdered seeds. these were the poorer class; the richer had a white kind of cake, which they were fond of daubing over with a greasy matter that was the product of a large animal among them. this grease they used, too, in almost all their dishes, and when fresh it really was not unpalatable1. they likewise devoured the flesh of many birds and beasts when they could get it; and ate the leaves and other parts of a variety of vegetables growing in the country, some absolutely raw, others variously prepared by the aid of fire. another great article of food was the curd of milk, pressed into a hard mass and salted. this had so rank a smell that persons of1 unpalatable: unpleasant to the taste.
weak stomachs often could not bear to come near it. for drink, they made great use of the water in which certain dry leaves had been steeped. these leaves, i was told, came from a great distance. they had likewise a method of preparing a drink from the seeds of a grass-like plant, by steeping them along with a bitter herb in water, and then setting them to work or ferment. i was prevailed upon to taste it, and thought it at first nauseous1 enough, but in time i liked it pretty well. when a large quantity of the ingredients2 is used, it becomes perfectly intoxicating. but what astonished me most, was their use of a liquor so excessively hot and pungent, that it seems like liquid fire.
i once got a mouthful of it by mistake, taking it for water, which it resembles in appearance; but i thought it would instantly have taken away my breath. indeed, people are not unfrequently killed by it; and yet many of them will swallow it greedily whenever they can get it. this, too, is said to be prepared from the seeds above mentioned, which are innocent and salutary3 in their natural state, though made to yield such a pernicious4 juice. the strangest custom that i believe prevails in any nation, i found here ; which was, that some take a mighty pleasure in filling their mouths full of abominable smoke; and others, in thrusting a nasty powder up their nostrils.""i should think it would choke them," said jack. "it almost choked me," answered his father, "only to stand by while they did it; but use, it is truly said, is second nature."1 nauseous: causing a sick feeling. 2 ingredients: maferials.
3salutary: wholesome.
4pernicious: injurious.
