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senate; a lame dog, an invader; the plague, a standing army; a buzzard, a prime minister; the gout, a high priest; a gibbet, a secretary of
state; a chamber pot, a committee of grandees; a sieve, a court lady; a broom, a revolution; a mouse-trap, an employment; a
bottomless pit, a treasury; a sink, a court; a cap and bells, a favourite; a broken reed, a court of justice; an empty tun, a general; a
running sore, the administration. {5}
"When this method fails, they have two others more effectual, which the learned among them call acrostics and anagrams. First, they
can decipher all initial letters into political meanings. Thus N, shall signify a plot; B, a regiment of horse; L, a fleet at sea; or,
secondly, by transposing the letters of the alphabet in any suspected paper, they can lay open the deepest designs of a discontented
party. So, for example, if I should say, in a letter to a friend, 'Our brother Tom has just got the piles,' a skilful decipherer would
discover, that the same letters which compose that sentence, may be analysed into the following words, 'Resist -, a plot is brought
home--The tour.' And this is the anagrammatic method."
The professor made me great acknowledgments for communicating these observations, and promised to make honourable mention of
me in his treatise.
I saw nothing in this country that could invite me to a longer continuance, and began to think of returning home to England.
Gulliver's Travels 57/96
Gulliver's Travels
CHAPTER VII
.
[The author leaves Lagado: arrives at Maldonada. No ship ready. He takes a short voyage to Glubbdubdrib. His reception by the
governor.]
The continent, of which this kingdom is apart, extends itself, as I have reason to believe, eastward, to that unknown tract of America
westward of California; and north, to the Pacific Ocean, which is not above a hundred and fifty miles from Lagado; where there is a
good port, and much commerce with the great island of Luggnagg, situated to the north-west about 29 degrees north latitude, and 140
longitude. This island of Luggnagg stands south-eastward of Japan, about a hundred leagues distant. There is a strict alliance between
the Japanese emperor and the king of Luggnagg; which affords frequent opportunities of sailing from one island to the other. I
determined therefore to direct my course this way, in order to my return to Europe. I hired two mules, with a guide, to show me the
way, and carry my small baggage. I took leave of my noble protector, who had shown me so much favour, and made me a generous
present at my departure.
My journey was without any accident or adventure worth relating. When I arrived at the port of Maldonada (for so it is called) there
was no ship in the harbour bound for Luggnagg, nor likely to be in some time. The town is about as large as Portsmouth. I soon fell
into some acquaintance, and was very hospitably received. A gentleman of distinction said to me, "that since the ships bound for
Luggnagg could not be ready in less than a month, it might be no disagreeable amusement for me to take a trip to the little island of
Glubbdubdrib, about five leagues off to the south-west." He offered himself and a friend to accompany me, and that I should be
provided with a small convenient bark for the voyage.
Glubbdubdrib, as nearly as I can interpret the word, signifies the island of sorcerers or magicians. It is about one third as large as the
Isle of Wight, and extremely fruitful: it is governed by the head of a certain tribe, who are all magicians. This tribe marries only among
each other, and the eldest in succession is prince or governor. He has a noble palace, and a park of about three thousand acres,
surrounded by a wall of hewn stone twenty feet high. In this park are several small enclosures for cattle, corn, and gardening.
The governor and his family are served and attended by domestics of a kind somewhat unusual. By his skill in necromancy he has a
power of calling whom he pleases from the dead, and commanding their service for twenty-four hours, but no longer; nor can he call
the same persons up again in less than three months, except upon very extraordinary occasions.
When we arrived at the island, which was about eleven in the morning, one of the gentlemen who accompanied me went to the
governor, and desired admittance for a stranger, who came on purpose to have the honour of attending on his highness. This was
immediately granted, and we all three entered the gate of the palace between two rows of guards, armed and dressed after a very antic
manner, and with something in their countenances that made my flesh creep with a horror I cannot express. We passed through several
apartments, between servants of the same sort, ranked on each side as before, till we came to the chamber of presence; where, after
three profound obeisances, and a few general questions, we were permitted to sit on three stools, near the lowest step of his highness's
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