Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 3Sylvester, Charles Herbert
General
Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 3
Sylvester, Charles Herbert
Children's literature; Literature -- Collections
As we went by the place where he had buried the two men, he pointed
exactly to the place, and showed me the marks that he had made to find
them again, making signs to me that we should dig them up again and
eat them. At this, I appeared very angry, expressed my abhorrence of
it, made as if I would vomit at the thoughts of it, and beckoned with
my hand to him to come away, which he did immediately, with great
submission. I then led him up to the top of the hill, to see if his
enemies were gone; and pulling out my glass, I looked, and saw plainly
the place where they had been, but no appearance of them or their
canoes; so that it was plain they were gone, and had left their two
comrades behind them, without any search after them.
But I was not content with this discovery; but having now more
courage, and consequently more curiosity, I took my man Friday with
me, giving him the sword in his hand, with the bow and arrows at his
back, which I found he could use very dexterously, making him carry
one gun for me, and I two for myself; and away we marched to the place
where these creatures had been; for I had a mind now to get some
fuller intelligence of them. When I came to the place, my very blood
ran chill in my veins, and my heart sunk within me, at the horror of
the spectacle; indeed, it was a dreadful sight, at least it was so to
me, though Friday made nothing of it. Friday, by his signs, made me
understand that they brought over four prisoners to feast upon; that
three of them were eaten up, and that he, pointing to himself, was the
fourth; that there had been a great battle between them and their next
king, of whose subjects, it seems, he had been one; and that they had
taken a great number of prisoners, all of which were carried to
several places, by those who had taken them in the fight, in order to
feast upon them, as was done here by these wretches upon those they
brought hither.
We then came back to our castle; and there I fell to work for my man
Friday; and first of all, I gave him a pair of linen drawers, which I
had out of the poor gunner's chest I mentioned, which I found in the
wreck, and which, with a little alteration, fitted him very well; then
I made him a jerkin of goat's skin, as well as my skill would allow,
and I was now grown a tolerably good tailor; and I gave him a cap
which I had made of a hare's skin, very convenient, and fashionable
enough; and thus he was clothed, for the present, tolerably well; and
was mighty well pleased to see himself almost as well clothed as his
master. It is true, he went awkwardly in these clothes at first:
wearing the drawers was very awkward to him, and the sleeves of the
waistcoat galled his shoulders and the inside of his arms; but a
little easing them where he complained they hurt him, and using
himself to them, at length he took to them very well.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account