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- 2363
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:09.927Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
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- bottom of the sea. (Very ponderous; of lignum-vitae wood).
A stone Flower-pot, containing in the original soil, Unja’s last
footprints, when he embarked from Mardi for parts unknown. (One
foot-print unaccountably reversed).
The Jaw-bones of Tooroorooloo, a great orator in the days of Unja.
(Somewhat twisted).
A quaint little Fish-hook. (Made from the finger-bones of Kravi the
Cunning).
The mystic Gourd; carved all over with cabalistic triangles, and
hypogrifs; by study of which a reputed prophet, was said to have
obtained his inspiration. (Slightly redolent of vineyards).
The complete Skeleton of an immense Tiger-shark; the bones of a
Pearl-shell-diver’s leg inside. (Picked off the reef at low tide).
An inscrutable, shapeless block of a mottled-hued, smoke-dried wood.
(Three unaccountable holes drilled through the middle).
A sort of ecclesiastical Fasces, being the bony blades of nine sword-
fish, basket-hilted with shark’s jaws, braided round and tasseled with
cords of human hair. (Now obsolete).
The mystic Fan with which Unja fanned himself when in trouble. (Woven
from the leaves of the Water-Lily).
A Tripod of a Stork’s Leg, supporting a nautilus shell, containing the
fragments of a bird’s egg; into which, was said to have been magically
decanted the soul of a deceased chief. (Unfortunately crushed in by
atmospheric pressure).
Two clasped Right Hands, embalmed; being those of twin warriors, who
thus died on a battle-field. (Impossible to sunder).
A curious Pouch, or Purse, formed from the skin of an Albatross’ foot,
and decorated with three sharp claws, naturally pertaining to it.
(Originally the property of a notorious old Tooth-per-Tooth).
A long tangled lock of Mermaid’s Hair, much resembling the curling
silky fibres of the finer sea-weed. (Preserved between fins of the
dolphin).
A Mermaid’s Comb for the toilet. The stiff serrated crest of a Cook
Storm-petrel (Oh-Oh was particularly curious concerning Mermaids).
Files, Rasps, and Pincers, all bone, the implements of an eminent
Chiropedist, who flourished his tools before the flood. (Owing to the
excessive unevenness of the surface in those times, the diluvians were
peculiarly liable to pedal afflictions).
The back Tooth, that Zozo the Enthusiast, in token of grief, recklessly
knocked out at the decease of a friend. (Worn to a stump and quite
useless).
These wonders inspected, Oh-Oh conducted us to an arbor, to show us the
famous telescope, by help of which, he said he had discovered an
ant-hill in the moon. It rested in the crotch of a Bread-fruit tree;
and was a prodigiously long and hollow trunk of a Palm; a scale from a
sea-kraken its lens.
Then returning to his cabinet, he pointed to a bamboo microscope, which
had wonderfully assisted him in his entomological pursuits.
“By this instrument, my masters,” said he, “I have satisfied myself,
that in the eye of a dragon-fly there are precisely twelve thousand
five hundred and forty-one triangular lenses; and in the leg of a flea,
scores on scores of distinct muscles. Now, my masters, how far think
you a flea may leap at one spring? Why, two hundred times its own
length; I have often measured their leaps, with a small measure I use
for scientific purposes.”
“Truly, Oh-Oh,” said Babbalanja, “your discoveries must ere long result
in something grand; since you furnish such invaluable data for
theorists. Pray, attend, my lord Media. If, at one spring, a flea leaps
two hundred times its own length, then, with the like proportion of
muscles in his calves, a bandit might pounce upon the unwary traveler
from a quarter of a mile off. Is it not so, Oh-Oh?”
- title
- Chunk 2