.... In the country the atmosphere is of unequal density, and in
passing through the denser portions your silk hat will be ruffled, and
the country people will jeer at it. They will jeer at it anyhow. When
going into the country, you should leave your silk hat at a bank,
taking a certificate of deposit.
IX.
.... The sheep chews too fast to enjoy his victual.
CURRENT JOURNALINGS
... Following is the manner of death incurred by Dr. Deadwood, the
celebrated African explorer, which took place at Ujijijijiji, under the
auspices of the Royal Geographical Society of England, assisted, at
some distance, by Mr. Shandy of the _New York Herald:_—
An intelligent gorilla has recently been imported to this country, who
had the good fortune to serve the Doctor as a body servant in the
interior of Africa, and he thus describes the manner of his master’s
death. The Doctor was accustomed to pass his nights in the stomach of
an acquaintance—a crocodile about fifty feet long. Stepping out one
evening to take an observation of one of the lunar eclipses peculiar to
the country, he spoke to his host, saying that as he should not return,
until after bedtime, he would not trouble him to sit up to let him in;
he would just leave the door open till he came home. By way of doing
so, he set up a stout fence-rail between his landlord’s distended jaws,
and went away.
Returning about midnight, he took off his boots outside, so as not to
awaken his friend, entered softly, knocked away the prop, and prepared
to turn in. But the noise of pounding on the rail had aroused the
householder, and so great was the feeling of relief induced by the
relaxation of the maxillary muscles, that he unconsciously shut his
mouth to smile, without giving his tenant time to get into the bedroom.
The Doctor was just stooping to untie his drawers, when he was caught
between the floor and ceiling, like a lemon in a squeezer.
Next day the melancholy remains were given up to our informant, who
displays a singular reticence regarding his disposition of them; merely
picking his teeth with his claws in an absent, thoughtful kind of way,
as if the subject were too mournful to be discussed in all its
harrowing details.
None of the Doctor’s maps or instruments were recovered; his bereaved
landlord holds them as security for certain rents claimed to be due and
unpaid. It is probable that Great Britain will make a stern demand for
them, and if they are not at once surrendered will—submit her claim to
a Conference.
.... The prim young maidens who affiliate with the Young Men’s
Christian Association of San Francisco—who furnish the posies for their
festivals, and assist in the singing of psalms—have a gymnasium in the
temple. Thither they troop nightly to display their skill in turning
inside out and shutting themselves up like jack-knives of the gentler
kind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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