Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 9 — page 11: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

sphere, was knocked into the sea; and the steep mountain becoming thereby flattened at the top, has since received the name of the Table Mountain, from its similarity to that piece of furniture. Just as this part of the mountain was knocked off, the ghost of the Cape, that tremendous sprite, which cuts such a figure in the Lusiad, was discovered sit- ting squat, in an excavation formed for him in the center of the mountain, He seemed just likea young bee in his little cell before he comes forth, or like a bean in a bean-pod; and when the upper part of the mountain was split across and knocked off, the superior half of his nen was discovered. He ap- peared of a bottle-blue color, and started, dazzled with the unexpected glare of the light; hearing the dreadful rattle of the wheels, and the loud chirping of the crickets, he was thunderstruck; and instantly giving a shriek, sunk down ten thousand fathoms in the earth; while the mountain, vomiting out some smoke, silently closed up, and left not a trace be- ind! CHAPTER XXvV. THE BARON SECURES HIS CHARIOT, ETC., AT THE CAPE, AND TAKES HIS PASSAGE FOR ENGLAND IN A HOME- WARD BOUND INDIAMAN—WRECKED UPON AN ISLAND OF ICE, NEAR THE COAST OF GUINEA—ESCAPES FROM THE WRECK, AND REARS A VARIETY OF VEGETABLES UPON THE ISLAND—MEETS SOME VESSELS BELONG- ING TO THE NEGROES, BRINGING WHITE SLAVES FROM EUROPE, IN RETALIATION, TO WORK UPON THEIR PLANTATIONS IN A COLD CLIMATE NEAR THE SOUTH POLE—ARRIVES IN ENGLAND, AND LAYS AN ACCOUNT OF HIS EXPEDITION BEFORE THE PRIVY COUNCIL—GREAT PREPARATIONS FOR A NEW EXPE- DITION—THE SPHINX,GOG AND MAGOG, AND A GREAT COMPANY ATTEND HIM—THE IDEAS OF HILARO FROS- TICOS RESPECTING THE INTERIOR PARTS OF AFRICA, I PERCEIVED With grief and consternation the mis- carriage of all my apparatus; yet I was not abso- lutely dejected: a great mind is never known but in adversity. With permission of the Dutch governor, the chariot was properly laid up in a great store- house, erected at the water's e, and the bulls re- ceived ee refreshment — e after so terrible a voyage. ell, you may sure they deserved it; and therefore every attendance was engaged for them, until I should return. As it was not possible to do anything more, I took my passage in a homeward-bound Indiaman, to re- turn to London, and lay the matter before the Privy Council. We met with nothing particular until we arrived upon the coast of Guinea, where, to our utter aston- ishment, we perceived a great hill, seemingly of glass, advancing against us in the open sea; the rays of the sun were reflected upon it with such splendor, that it was extremely difficult to gaze at the phenom- enon. I immediately knew it to be an island of ice and, though in so very warm a latitude, determined to make all possible sail from such horrible danger. We did so, but all in vain; for about eleven o'clock at night, blowing a very hard gale, and exceedingly dark, we struck upon the isiand. Nothing could — the distraction, the shrieks and despair of the whole crew; until I, knowing there was not a mo- ment to be lost, cheered up their spirits, and bade them not despond, but do as I shoul uest them. In a few minutes the vessel was half full of water; and the enormous castle of ice that seemed to hem us in on every side, in some places falling in hideous fragments upon the deck, killed the one-half of the crew; upon which, getting upon the summit of the mast, l contrived to make it fast to a great pro- montory of the ice, and calling to the remainder of the crew to follow me, we esca from the wreck, and got upon the summit of the island. The rising sun soon gave us a dreadful ——— of our situation, and the loss, or rather icefication, of the vessel; for being closed in on every side with castles of ice during the night, she was absolutely frozen over and buried, in such a manner that we could behold her under our feet, even in the central solidity of the island. Having debated what was best to be done, we imm y cut down through the ice, and got up some of the cables of the vessel and the boats, which making fast to the island, we towed it with all our might, determined to bring home island and all, or perish in the attempt. On the summit of the island we placed what oakum and dregs of every kind of matter we could get from the vessel; which, in the space of a very few hours, on account of the liquefying of the ice and the warmth of the sun, were transformed into a very fine man- ure; and as I had some seeds of exotic vegetables in my pocket, we shortly had a sufficiency of fruits and roots growing upon the island to supply the whole crew—eapecially. the bread-fruit tree, a few plants of which had been in the vessel; and another tree, which bore plum-puddings, so very hot, and with such exquisite proportion of sugar, fruit, etc., that we all acknowledged it was not possible to taste anything of the kind more delicious in England; in short, though the scurvy had made such dreadful progress among the crew before our striking upon the ice, the supply of ee and pepecially the bread fruit an pudding- ruit, put an almost imme- diate stop to the Se We not proceeded thus many weeks, advanc- with incredible fatigue by continual’ towing, when we fell in with a fleet of Negromen, as they them, These wretches, I must inform you, my dear friends, had found means to make prizes of those vessels from some Europeans upon the coast of Guinea; and tasting the sweets of our] , had formed colonies in several new discovered islan near the South Pole, where they had a variety of lantations of such matters as would only grow in the coldest climates. As the black inhabitants of Guinea were unsuited to the climate and excessive Baron Munchausen. a cold of the country, they formed the diabolical pro- io. of getting Christian slaves to work for them. ‘or this purpose, they sent vessels every year to the coast of Scotland, the northern parts of lreland and Wales, and were even sometimes seen off the coast of Cornwall; and having purchased, or entrapped by fraud or violence, a great number of men, women and children, they proceeded with their cargoes of human flesh to the other end of the world, and sold them to their planters, where they were flogged into obedience, <* made to work like horses all the rest of their lives. : My blood ran cold at the idea, while every one on the island also expressed his horror that such an iniquitous traffic should be suffered to exist. But, except by open violence, it was found impossible to destroy the trade, on account of a barbarous preju- dice, entertained of late by the negroes, that the white people have no souls! termined to attack them, and steering down our island upon them, soon overwhelmed them; we saved as many of the white 11 Ses $$$ - 7 — . — all the members of the National Assembly extend themselves along the shore, as a piece of French po- liteness, to honor this expedition, with Rousseau, Voltaire, and Beelzebub at their head, he set spurs to Sphinx, and, at the same time, cut and cracked away as hard as he could, holding in the reins with all his might, striving to make the creature plunge and show some uncommon diversion. But sulky and ill-tempered was Sphinx at the time: she lunged indeed—such a devil of a plunge !—that she ashed him, in one jerk over her head, and he fell precipitately into the water before her. It was in the Bay of Biscay, all the world knows a very bois- terous sea; and Sphinx, fearing he would be drowned, never turned to the left or to the right out of her way, but advancing furious, just stooped her head a little, and supped the poor count off the — _ water into her mouth, together with the quantity of However, we were de- | two or three tons of water, which she must have taken in along with him, but which were to such an enormous creature as Sphinx, nothing more than a 20ple as possible, but | pushed all the biacks into the water again. The | — creatures we saved from slavery were so over- | oO yed, that they wept aloud through gratitude: and we a every delightful sensation, to think what happiness we should shower upon their ~4 rents, their brothers, and sisters, and children, by bringing them home safe, redeemed from slavery, to | the bosom of their native agate Having happily arrived in England, I immediately Privy Council; and entreated immediate assistance to travel into Africa, and, if possible, refit my former machine, and take it along with the rest. Every- thing was instantly granted to my satisfaction, and I received orders to get myself ready for departure as soon as possible. As the Emperor of China had sent a most curious animal as a present to Europe, which was kept in the Tower; and it being of an enormous stature, and capable of performing the voyage with ecla/, she was ordered to attend me. She was called Sphinx, and was one of the most tremendous though magnificent figures I ever beheld. She was harnessed with su- perb trappings to a large flat-bottomed boat, in which was placed an edifice of wood, exactly resem- bling Westminster Hall. Two balloons were placed over it, tackled by a number of ropes to the boat, to keep up a proper equilibrium, and prevent it from overturning, or filling, from the prodigious weight of the fabric. The interior of the edifice was decorated with seats, in the form of an amphitheater, and crammed as full as it could hold with ladies and lords, asa council and retinue for your humble servant. Near- ly in the center was a seat elegantly decorated for myself, and on either side of me was. placed the famous Gog and MaGOR in all their pomp. The Lord Viscount Gosamer being our postillion, we floated gallantly down the river, the noble Sphinx note ee like the huge Leviathan, and towing after 1er the boat and balloons. Thus we advanced, sailing gently, into the open sea; be calm weather, we could scarcely feel the motion of the vehicle, and passed our time in grand debate — the glorious intention of our voyage, and the discoveries that would result. **l am of opinion,’ said my noble friend Hilaro Frosticos, “* that Africa was originally inhabited for the greater part, or, I may —, subjugated by lions; which, next to man, seem to be the most dreaded of all mortal tyrants. The country in general, at least, spoonful would be to any of you or me. She swal- lowed him, but when she had got him in her stom- ach, his long spurs so scratched and tickled her, that they produced the effect of an emetic. No sooner was he in, but out he was squirted with the most horrible impetuosity, like a ball or shell from the caliber of a mortar. Sphinx was at this time uite sea-sick; and the unfortunate count was driven orth like a sky-rocket and landed upon the peak of | Teneriffe, plunged over head and ears in the snow— laid a statement of my voyage, ete., before the | — eee what we have been hitherto able to discover, seems | rather inimical to human life; the intolerable dry- ness of the place, the burning sands that overwhelm whole armies and cities in general ruin, and the hideous life many roving hordes are compelled to lead, incline me to think, that if ever we form any great settlements therein, it will become the grave of our countrymen. Yet it is nearer to us than the East Indies; and I cannot but imagine, that in many places every Pelee ye of China, and of the East and West Indies, would flourish, if properly attended to. And as the country is so p ously extensive and unknown, what a source of discovery must not it contain! In fact, we know less about the interior of Africa than we do of the moon; for, in this latter, we measure the very prominences, and observe the varieties and inequalities of the surface through our glasses, Forests and mountains on her spotted orb. But we see nothing in the interior of Africa, but what some compilers of maps or geographies are fanciful enough to imagine. What a happy event therefore, should we not expect from a voyage of discovery and colonization, undertaken in so m i- ficent a style as the presen¢!—what a pride—what an acquisition to philosophy !"’ CHAPTER XXVI. COUNT GOSAMER THROWN BY SPHINX INTO THE SNOW ON THE TOP OF TENERIFFE—GOG AND MAGOG CONDUCT SPHINX FOR THE REST OF THE VOYAGE—THE BARON ARRIVES AT THE CAPE, AND UNITES HIS FORMER CHAR- I0T, ETC., TO HIS NEW RETINUE—PASSES INTO AFRICA, PROCEEDING FROM THE CAPE NORTHWARD—DEFEATS A HOST OF LIONS BY A CURIOUS STRATAGEM—TRAVELS THROUGH AN IMMENSE DESERT—HIS WHOLE COMPANY, CHARIOT, ETC., OVERWHELMED BY A WHIRLWIND OF SAND—EXTRICATES THEM, AND ARRIVES IN A FERTILE COUNTRY, THE brave Count Gosamer, with a pair of hell-fire spurs on, — upon Sphinx, directed the whole retinue toward ho Madetvas. But the cour. had no small share of an amiable vanity; and pe ceivin great multitudes of people, Gascons, etc., ass »>mb} <a the French coast, he could not refrain from o such as they had wing some — ea never seen before: but especially when he observed | eee in pace! perceived all this mischief from my seat in the ark, but was in such a convulsion of pe that I could not utter an intelligible word. d now Sphinx, deprived of her ao went ou in a zig- zag direction, and gamboled away after a most dreadful manner. And thus had everything gone to wreck, had I not given instant orders to Gog and Magog to sally forth. They plunged into the water, and swimming on each side, got at length right be- fore the animal, and then seized the reins. Thus they continued swimming on each side, like Tritons, holding the muzzle of Sphinx; while I, saliying forth astride upon the creature's back, steered forward on our voyage to the Cape of Good =m Arriving at the Cape, 1 immediately gave orders to repair my former chariot and machines, which was very pcos! performed by the excellent artists I had oo with me from Europe. And now, everything being refitted, we launched forth upon the water: perhaps there never was anything seen more glorious or more august. “Twas magnificent to behold Sphinx make her obeisance on the water and the crickets chirp upon.the bulls in return of the salute; while Gog and Magog advancing, took the reins of the a John Mowmowsky, and lead- ing toward us chariot and all, instantly disposed of them to the forepart of the ark by hooks and eyes, and tackled Sphinx before all the bulls. Thus the whole had a most tremendous and triumphal ap- earance. In front floated forward the a sphinx with Gog and Magog on each side; next fol- lowe” in order the bulls with crickets upon their heads; and then advanced the chariot of Queen Mab, containing the curious seat and orrery of heaven; after which appeared the boat and ark of council overtopped with two balloons, which gave an air of great lightness and elegance to the whole. 1 placed in the galleries under the balloons, and on the backs of the bulls, a number of excellent vocal performers, with martial music of clarionets and trumpets; they sung the Watery Dangers, and the Pomp of Deep Cerulean! The sun shone glorious on the water, while the procession advanced toward the land, under five hundred arches of ice, illuminated with colored lights, and adorned in the most grotesque and fanciful style with sea-weed, elegant festoons, and shells of every kind; while a thousand water- spouts danced eternally before and after us, attract- the water from the sea in a kind of cone, and suddenly uniting with the most fantastical thunder and lightning. Having landed our whole retinue, we immediately began to pruceed toward the heart of Africa; but first ge ne it e ent to place a number of wheels under the ark for its greater facility of ad- vancing. We journeyed neaaty due north for sev- eral days, and met with nothing remarkable exce the astonishment of the savage natives to behold our equipage. _ The Dutch Government at the Cape, to do them justice, gave us every possible assistance for the ex- pedition. I presume they had received instructions on that_head from their High Mightinesses in Hol- land. However, they presented us with a specimen of some of the most excellent of their Cape wine, and showed us every politeness in their power. As to the face of the country, as we advanced, it ap- peared in many places capable of every cultivation and of abundant fertility. The natives and Hotten- tots of this part of Africa have been frequently de- scribed by travelers, and therefore it is not neces- sary to say any more about them. But in the more interior parts of Africa the appearance, manners, and genius of the people are totally different. We directed our course by the compass and the stars, getting every day prodigious quantities of game in the woods, and at night encamping within a proper inclosure for fear of the wild ts. One whole day, in ular, we heard on every side, among the hills, the horrible roaring of lions, re- sounding from rock to rock like broken thunder, It seemed as if there was a Pe oe rendezvous of all these savage animals to fall upon our party. That whole day we advanced with caution, our hunters scarcely Lemp on ond pistol shot from the cara- van, for fear of ution. At night we encamped as usual, and threw up a circular intrenchment round our tents. We had scarce retired to repose IJOOKS COME (El)