A journey to the world under-ground
some Fragments of the Ship, might for the present at least escape.
But whilst we were comforting ourselves with these Hopes, we struck
upon a Rock, which being under Water had escap’d our Notice, with such
Violence, that the Vessel was in an Instant dash’d into an hundred
Pieces. In the Midst of this Confusion I laid hold of a Plank, being
only anxious for my own Safety, and little minding what became of my
Companions, whose Fate I am yet a Stranger to. It is most likely that
they were all lost, since I could not hear of the Arrival of any of
them into that Country. I was carry’d with great Rapidity to the Shore,
by the Help of the Tide and of the Waves. This was a Means of saving
me, for had I continued a little longer in the State I was in, I should
certainly have perish’d through Hunger and Fatigue. After I had doubled
the Point of a certain Promontory, the Waves abated, and I heard the
Murmuring of them at a Distance only, and that too by Degrees grew
weaker and weaker, till it intirely vanish’d.
This whole Region is mountainous. And hence the frequent Windings of
the Mountains, their overhanging Tops, together with the Deepness of
the Vales below, are the Occasion of very great Echoes here. As soon
as I found myself near the Shore, I hollow’d out as loud as I was
able, in hopes that some of the Inhabitants upon the Coasts might hear
me, and come to my Assistance. My first Shout was not return’d, but
after I had repeated it, I heard a Kind of Noise from the Shore, and
at length saw the Inhabitants running out of the Woods, and coming to
meet me with a Boat, which was made of Osier Branches and Oaken Twigs,
a Proof that they were not a very improv’d or civiliz’d People. But
the Sight of the Rowers gave me a Transport beyond Description; for
as to their exterior Figure, they did not differ at all from Men, and
were the only Creatures of my own Species that I had beheld during this
whole Subterranean Tour. They are something like the Inhabitants of
the Torrid Zone. For they have black Beards, and short, curl’d Hair;
and those who have long, flaxen Hair, are reputed a Kind of Monsters.
At length they drew near to the broken Piece of the Ship I was upon,
and took me into their Boat in a dropping Condition. They then row’d
to Shore, where after I had been refresh’d with some Meat and Drink,
though in a very plain and coarse Manner, I soon recover’d my Vigour
and Spirits, notwithstanding I had been three whole Days and Nights in
a Manner combating with Thirst and Hunger.
CHAP. XII.
_The Author’s Arrival at_ +Quama+.
And now a Croud of People surrounded me. They talk’d to me in their
Language, of which, as I was wholly ignorant, I was at a Loss what to
answer. They often repeated the Word _Dank_, _Dank_, which sounding
like High Dutch, I answer’d first in that Language, then in the
_Danish_ Tongue, and lastly in _Latin_. But to all this they only shook
their Heads, to intimate that these Languages were utterly unknown
to them. Then I try’d them in the Subterranean Languages, namely,
the _Nazaric_, and the _Martinian_; but all to no Purpose. This made
me conclude, that they were an unsociable Nation, who had no Kind of
Commerce with the rest of the World, and that therefore I should be
under a Necessity in this Country of turning Boy, and going to School
once more to learn my Letters.
After we had convers’d some Time together, but in such a Manner that
we did not understand one another, they brought me to a Cottage made
of Osiers. There were no Seats, Benches, or Tables in it; for they
eat upon the Ground, and for Want of Beds, they use only Straw, and
sleep promiscuously on the Floor, which is the more to be admir’d, as
they have Plenty of Timber among them. Their Food is Milk, Cheese,
Barley-Bread, and Flesh; which last they broil upon the Coals, having
no Notion of any other Sort of Cookery. In short, they liv’d in as
plain a Manner as the first Race of Mankind. So that I was forc’d to
live like a _Cynic_ Philosopher, till I had made such a Progress in
their Language as enabled me to converse with the Inhabitants, and
assist their Ignorance. And, indeed, all my Orders and Directions were
observ’d as so many Oracles. Nay to such a Height my Reputation rose,
that they flock’d to me in Crouds from all the adjacent Towns and
Villages, as to an illustrious Doctor, or a Teacher sent from Heaven.
I heard also, that a new Computation of Time was made use of among
them, which commenc’d from my Arrival. All this, I own, was so much the
more grateful to me, as in the Planet _Nazar_, and at _Martinia_, I
had been a publick Jest; in the former Place for my Vivacity and quick
Conception, and in the latter for my Dulness. And here I experienc’d
the Truth of that vulgar Saying, “Among the Blind, he that squints is
a King.” For I was now in a Country, where with a slender Share of
Knowledge, and with ordinary Abilities, I could arrive at the highest
Honours. And Room enough there was here, to try my own Strength,
and exercise my Talents; for the Country abounded to Profusion with
every Thing necessary for the Use of Man. Many Things it produc’d
spontaneously, and whatever Grain was sow’d, repaid the Husbandman
with ample Interest. The Inhabitants were of a docil Disposition, and
by no Means destitute of Wit and Understanding; but then, as they had
never been taught any Thing, they remain’d in the Depth of Ignorance.
When I related to them the Circumstances of my Family, my Country,
my Shipwreck, and the other Accidents that befel me in my Travels,
nobody could be brought to believe it. For they were positive, that I
was an Inhabitant of the Sun, and that I descended from that glorious
Luminary. Agreeably to this Conceit, they commonly call’d me by the
Name of _Pikil-Su_, that is, _Embassador of the Sun_. As to their
Religion, they did not deny the Existence of a Supreme Being, but then
they did not trouble their Heads about the Proof of that high Point;
it was sufficient to them that their Fathers before them believ’d it:
And this is their whole System of Divinity. As to their Morality,
they knew nothing except this single Precept of _Not doing to others
what you would not have done to yourself_. They knew no Law beside the
sole Will and Pleasure of their Emperor, and therefore no Crimes, but
those of a publick Nature, were ever punish’d. Whatever Misdemeanour
was otherwise committed, all the Revenge the Neighbours took, was to
avoid the Company of the Offenders, to whom such a general Contempt was
usually so intolerable, that many have died for Grief, and as many more
have laid violent Hands upon themselves through a Weariness of Life.
Chronology they know nothing of, only they compute their Years from the
Eclipse of the Sun, which happens by the Interposition of the Planet
_Nazar_; so that when you enquire how old any one is, their Answer is,
that he is so many Eclipses old. Their Physicks are excessively barren
and absurd; they believe the Sun is a Golden Plate, and the Planet
_Nazar_ a Cheese. When I enquir’d the Reason why at stated Times the
Planet _Nazar_ increas’d and decreas’d, they reply’d, that they knew
nothing at all about it. Their Wealth and Substance consists chiefly in
Swine, which they distinguish by some particular Mark, and then suffer
them to run loose in the Woods. They scourge and beat all such Trees as
bear no Fruit, from a foolish Opinion, that their Sterility proceeds
from Malice and Envy. Such was the State of this poor miserable
People, whom I almost despair’d of ever reducing to Humanity; but
recollecting that Assertion of the Poet,
_Nemo adeo ferus est, ut non mitescere possit,
Si modo culturæ patientem præbeat aurem_,
I took Courage, and employ’d the whole Force of my Capacity and
Abilities in reforming these Barbarians. For these my Endeavours, and
the Success which attended them, they regarded me as something above
the Race of Mortals, and so extravagant an Opinion did they entertain
of my Wisdom, that they thought nothing was impossible to me. Upon the
Loss of Cattle or Goods, they would come, at all Hours, to my Hut, and
implore my Assistance. One Day I saw a poor Peasant prostrate before my
Door weeping and wringing his Hands, and crying out to me to help him.
Upon Inquiry into the Occasion of his Grief, he complain’d to me of the
Perverseness and Ill-Nature of his Trees, and begg’d me to interpose my
Authority to make them bear more Acorns.
I was inform’d, that the whole Country was in Subjection to a Monarch,
whose Residence, _at that Time_, was about eight Days Journey from the
Place I was now in. I say _at that Time_, because the Metropolis of the
Empire was moveable, that is, his Majesty (whose Place of Residence was
look’d upon as the Capital) had no Palace, or fix’d Habitation, but
liv’d in Tents, which he transported, together with his Royal Family
and the whole Court, from one Province to another. The Prince, who then
sway’d the Sceptre, was a Man in Years, and was call’d _Casba_, which
signifies, _Great Emperor_. This Territory, with respect, to the Extent
of it, merits indeed the Name of an Empire; but thro’ the Ignorance of
the Inhabitants, who do not know their own Strength, it makes no great
Figure, but is expos’d to the Insults and Ridicule of its Neighbours,
and is often oblig’d to become tributary to Nations in Reality more
contemptible than themselves.
Fame had now spread my Name and Virtues over all the Provinces.
Nothing of Moment was undertook without first consulting me, and every
unsuccessful Enterprize was ascrib’d to my Coldness and Want of Favour.
Nay, some had it in their Heads to appease my Anger with Sacrifices.
I forbear to recount all the Follies of this stupid Nation, and shall
only give one or two Instances, by which you may easily judge of the
rest. A big-bellied Woman came to me, to desire she might have a Boy.
Another intreated me to make his old Parents young again. Another
begg’d me to take him with me up to the Sun, that he might return
from thence with as much Gold as he could carry. With these, and such
unaccountable Requests, was I continually pester’d, tho’ I still
reprimanded their Folly in a severe Tone: For I was afraid lest that
absurd Conceit of my Power might terminate in divine Worship.
At length it reach’d the Ears of the Monarch, that a Stranger was
arriv’d in his Dominions, who call’d himself the Ambassador of the Sun,
and who by giving most wise and divine Instructions to the _Quamites_
(so were call’d the Inhabitants of this Country, the Name of which was
_Quama_) had convinc’d the People that he was more than Man. Upon this
he presently dispatch’d an Embassy to me, inviting me to Court. The
Embassadors were in Number thirty, all cloath’d with Tigers Skins, a
Dress so much the more honourable in this Country, as the Use thereof
is permitted to none but those who have behav’d themselves with
Gallantry in the War against the _Tanachites_. (These are rational
Tigers, and implacable Enemies to the _Quamites_.) But during all this
Time, in the Village where I continued, I had run up a Stone-House
of two Stories, after the Manner of the Buildings in _Europe_. The
Embassadors beheld it as a stupendous Work, exceeding human Strength,
and therefore when they came to me to signify his Imperial Majesty’s
Pleasure, they enter’d my House with a religious Awe, as into a Temple
or Sanctuary. The Speech they made to me, on this Occasion, was nearly
this:
“Whereas the great Emperor _Casba_, our Sovereign Lord and Master,
derives his Origin from the great _Spynko_, Son of the Sun, and
Founder of the _Quamitic_ Empire, he therefore thinks nothing could
be more fortunate or agreeable, than your Arrival, especially as it