Chapter: CHAPTER VIII

     THE KING AND QUEEN MAKE A PROGRESS[83] TO THE FRONTIERS. THE AUTHOR
     ATTENDS THEM. THE MANNER IN WHICH HE LEAVES THE COUNTRY VERY
     PARTICULARLY RELATED. HE RETURNS TO ENGLAND.


I had always a strong impulse that I should sometime recover my liberty,
though it was impossible to conjecture by what means, or to form any
project with the least hope of succeeding. The ship in which I sailed
was the first ever known to be driven within sight of the coast; and the
king had given strict orders, that if at any time another appeared, it
should be taken ashore, and with all its crew and passengers brought in
a tumbrel[84] to Lorbrulgrud. I was treated with much kindness: I was
the favorite of a great king and queen, and the delight of the whole
court; but it was upon such a footing as ill became the dignity of human
kind. I could never forget those domestic pledges I had left behind me.
I wanted to be among people with whom I could converse upon even terms,
and walk about the streets and fields, without being afraid of being
trod to death like a frog or a young puppy. But my deliverance came
sooner than I expected, and in a manner not very common: the whole story
and circumstances of which I shall faithfully relate.

[Illustration: "SHE HAD SOME FOREBODING." P. 94.]

I had now been two years in this country; and about the beginning of
the third, Glumdalclitch and I attended the king and queen in a progress
to the south coast of the kingdom. I was carried, as usual, in my
travelling-box, which, as I have already described, was a very
convenient closet of twelve feet wide. And I had ordered a hammock to be
fixed by silken ropes from the four corners at the top, to break the
jolts, when a servant carried me before him on horseback, as I sometimes
desired, and would often sleep in my hammock while we were upon the
road. On the roof of my closet, not directly over the middle of the
hammock, I ordered the joiner to cut out a hole of a foot square, to
give me air in hot weather as I slept, which hole I shut at pleasure
with a board that drew backwards and forwards through a groove.

When we came to our journey's end, the king thought proper to pass a few
days at a palace he hath near Flanflasnic, a city within eighteen
English of the sea-side Glumdalclitch and I were much fatigued, I had
gotten a small cold, but the poor girl was so ill as to be confined to
her chamber. I longed to see the ocean, which must be the only scene of
my escape, if ever it should happen I pretended to be worse than I
really was, and desired leave to take the fresh air of the sea with a
page, whom I was very fond of, and who had sometimes been trusted with
me. I shall never forget with what unwillingness Glumdalclitch
consented, nor the strict charge she gave the page[85] to be careful of
me, bursting at the same time into a flood of tears, as if she had some
foreboding of what was to happen.

The boy took me out in my box about half-an-hour's walk from the palace
towards the rocks on the sea-shore. I ordered him to set me down, and
lifting up one of my sashes, cast many a wistful melancholy look towards
the sea. I found myself not very well, and told the page that I had a
mind to take a nap in my hammock, which I hoped would do me good. I got
in, and the boy shut the window close down to keep out the cold. I soon
fell asleep, and all I can conjecture is, that while I slept, the page,
thinking no danger could happen, went among the rocks to look for birds'
eggs, having before observed him from my windows searching about, and
picking up one or two in the clefts. Be that as it will, I found myself
suddenly awaked with a violent pull upon the ring, which was fastened at
the top of my box for the conveniency of carriage. I felt my box raised
very high in the air, and then borne forward with prodigious speed. The
first jolt had like to have shaken me out of my hammock, but afterwards
the motion was easy enough. I called out several times, as loud as I
could raise my voice, but all to no purpose. I looked towards my
windows, and could see nothing but the clouds and sky. I heard a noise
just over my head like the clapping of wings, and then began to perceive
the woful condition I was in, that some eagle had got the ring of my box
in his beak, with an intent to let it fall on a rock like a tortoise in
a shell, and then pick out my body and devour it; for the sagacity and
smell of this bird enabled him to discover his quarry[86] at a great
distance, though better concealed than I could be within a two-inch
board.

[Illustration]

In a little time I observed the noise and flutter of wings to increase
very fast, and my box was tossed up and down like a sign in a windy day.
I heard several bangs or buffets, as I thought, given to the eagle (for
such I am certain it must have been, that held the ring of my box in his
beak), and then all on a sudden felt myself falling perpendicularly down
for above a minute, but with such incredible swiftness, that I almost
lost my breath. My fall was stopped by a terrible squash,[87] that
sounded louder to my ears than the cataract of Niagara; after which I
was quite in the dark for another minute, and then my box began to rise
so high that I could see light from the tops of the windows. I now
perceived I was fallen into the sea. My box, by the weight of my body,
the goods that were in, and the broad plates of iron fixed for strength
at the four corners of the top and bottom, floated about five feet deep
in the water. I did then, and do now suppose, that the eagle which flew
away with my box was pursued by two or three others, and forced to let
me drop while he defended himself against the rest, who hoped to share
in the prey. The plates of iron fastened at the bottom of the box (for
those were the strongest) preserved the balance while it fell, and
hindered it from being broken on the surface of the water. Every joint
of it was well grooved, and the door did not move on hinges, but up and
down like a sash, which kept my closet so tight that very little water
came in. I got with much difficulty out of my hammock, having first
ventured to draw back my slip-board on the roof already mentioned,
contrived on purpose to let in air, for want of which I found myself
almost stifled.

How often did I then wish myself with my dear Glumdalclitch, from whom
one single hour had so far divided me. And I may say with truth that in
the midst of my own misfortunes I could not forbear lamenting my poor
nurse, the grief she would suffer for my loss, the displeasure of the
queen, and the ruin of her fortune. Perhaps many travellers have not
been under greater difficulties and distress than I was at juncture,
expecting every moment to see my box dashed to pieces, or at least
overset by the first violent blast or rising wave. A breach in one
single pane of glass would have been immediate death; nor could anything
have preserved the windows but the strong lattice-wires placed on the
outside against accidents in travelling. I saw the water ooze in at
several crannies, although the leaks were not considerable, and I
endeavored to stop them as well as I could, I was not able to lift up
the roof of my closet, which otherwise I certainly should have done, and
sat on the top of it, where I might at least preserve myself some hours
longer, than by being shut up (as I may call it) in the hold. Or, if I
escaped these dangers for a day or two, what could I expect but a
miserable death of cold and hunger? I was four hours under these
circumstances, expecting, and indeed wishing, every moment to be my
last.

I have already told the reader that there were two strong staples fixed
upon that side of my box which had no window, and into which the servant
who used to carry me on horseback would put a leathern belt, and buckle
it about his waist. Being in this disconsolate state, I heard, or at
least thought I heard, some kind of grating noise on that side of my box
where the staples were fixed, and soon after I began to fancy that the
box was pulled or towed along in the sea, for I now and then felt a sort
of tugging which made the waves rise near the tops of my windows,
leaving me almost in the dark. This gave me some faint hopes of relief,
although I was not able to imagine how it could be brought about. I
ventured to unscrew one of my chairs, which were always fastened to the
floor, and having made a hard shift to screw it down again directly
under the slipping board that I had lately opened, I mounted on the
chair, and putting my mouth as near as I could to the hole, I called for
help in a loud voice and in all the languages I understood. I then
fastened my handkerchief to a stick I usually carried, and thrusting it
up the hole, waved it several times in the air, that if any boat or ship
were near, the seamen might conjecture some unhappy mortal to be shut up
in the box.

I found no effect from all I could do, but plainly perceived my closet
to be moved along; and in the space of an hour or better, that side of
the box where the staples were and had no window struck against
something that was hard. I apprehended it to be a rock, and found myself
tossed more than ever. I plainly heard a noise upon the cover of my
closet like that of a cable, and the grating of it as it passed through
the ring. I then found myself hoisted up by degrees, at least three feet
higher than I was before. Whereupon I again thrust up my stick and
handkerchief, calling for help till I was almost hoarse. In return to
which I heard a great shout repeated three times, giving me such
transports of joy as are not to be conceived but by those who feel them.
I now heard a trampling over my head, and somebody calling through the
hole with a loud voice in the English tongue. "If there be anybody
below, let them speak." I answered I was an Englishman, drawn by ill
fortune into the greatest calamity that ever any creature underwent, and
begged by all that was moving to be delivered out of the dungeon I was
in. The voice replied I was safe, for my box was fastened to their ship;
and the carpenter should immediately come and saw a hole in the cover,
large enough to pull me out. I answered that was needless, and would
take up too much time, for there was no more to be done, but let one of
the crew put his finger into the ring, and take the box out of the sea
into the ship, and so into the captain's cabin. Some of them upon
hearing me talk so wildly thought I was mad; others laughed; for indeed
it never came into my head that I was now got among people of my own
stature and strength. The carpenter came, and in a few minutes sawed a
passage about four feet square, then let down a small ladder upon which
I mounted, and from thence was taken into the ship in a very weak
condition.

[Illustration: "SOMEBODY CALLING ... IN THE ENGLISH TONGUE." P. 99.]

The sailors were all in amazement, and asked me a thousand questions,
which I had no inclination to answer. I was equally confounded at the
sight of so many pygmies, for such I took them to be, after having so
long accustomed mine eyes to the monstrous objects I had left. But the
captain, Mr. Thomas Wilcocks, an honest, worthy Shropshire man,
observing I was ready to faint, took me into his cabin, gave me a
cordial to comfort me, and made me turn in upon his own bed, advising me
to take a little rest, of which I had great need. Before I went to
sleep, I gave him to understand that I had some valuable furniture in my
box, too good to be lost; a fine hammock, a handsome two chairs, a
table, and a cabinet. That my closet was hung on all sides, or rather
quilted, with silk and cotton: that if he would let one of the crew
bring my closet into his cabin, I would open it there before him, and
show him my goods. The captain, hearing me utter these absurdities,
concluded I was raving: however (I suppose to pacify me), he promised
to give orders as I desired, and going upon deck, sent some of his men
down into my closet, from whence (as I afterwards found) they drew up
all my goods, and stripped off the quilting; but the chairs, cabinet,
and bedstead, being screwed to the floor, were much damaged by the
ignorance of the seamen, who tore them up by force. Then they knocked
off some of the boards for the use of the ship, and when they had got
all they had a mind for, let the hull drop into the sea, which, by
reason of so many breaches made in the bottom and sides, sunk to
rights.[88] And indeed I was glad not to have been a spectator of the
havoc they made; because I am confident it would have sensibly
touched me, by bringing former passages into my mind, which I had rather
forgotten.

I slept some hours, but was perpetually disturbed with dreams of the
place I had left, and the dangers I had escaped. However, upon waking, I
found myself much recovered. It was now about eight o'clock at night,
and the captain ordered supper immediately, thinking I had already
fasted too long. He entertained me with great kindness, observing me not
to look wildly, or talk inconsistently; and when we were left alone,
desired I would give him a relation of my travels, and by what accident
I came to be set adrift in that monstrous wooden chest.

He said that about twelve o'clock at noon, as he was looking through his
glass, he spied it at a distance, and thought it was a sail, which he
had a mind to make[89], being not much out of his course, in hopes of
buying some biscuit, his own beginning to fall short. That upon coming
nearer and finding his error, he sent out his long-boat to discover what
it was; that his men came back in a fright, swearing they had seen a
swimming-house. That he laughed at their folly, and went himself in the
boat, ordering his men to take a strong cable along with them. That the
weather being calm, he rowed round me several times, observed my windows
and wire-lattices that defenced them. That he discovered two staples
upon one side, which was all of boards, without any passage for light.
He then commanded his men to row up to that side, and fastening a cable
to one of the staples, ordered them to tow my chest (as they called it)
towards the ship. When it was there, he gave directions to fasten
another cable to the ring fixed in the cover, and to raise up my chest
with pulleys, which all the sailors were not able to do above two or
three feet. He said they saw my stick and handkerchief thrust out of the
hole, and concluded that some unhappy man must be shut up in the cavity.
I asked whether he or the crew had seen any prodigious birds in the air
about the time he first discovered me? to which he answered, that,
discoursing this matter with the sailors while I was asleep, one of them
said he had observed three eagles flying towards the north, but remarked
nothing of their being larger than the usual size, which I suppose must
be imputed to the great height they were at; and he could not guess the
reason of my question. I then asked the captain how far he reckoned we
might be from land?

He said, by the best computation he could make, we were at least a
hundred leagues. I assured him that he must be mistaken by almost half,
for I had not left the country from whence I came above two hours before
I dropt into the sea. Whereupon he began again to think that my brain
was disturbed, of which he gave me a hint, and advised me to go to bed
in a cabin he had provided. I assured him I was well refreshed with his
good entertainment and company, and as much in my senses as ever I was
in my life.

He then grew serious, and desired to ask me freely whether I were not
troubled in mind by the consciousness of some enormous crime, for which
I was punished by the command of some prince, by exposing me in that
chest, as great criminals in other countries have been forced to sea in
a leaky vessel without provisions; for although he should be sorry to
have taken so ill a man into his ship, yet he would engage his word to
set me safe ashore in the first port where we arrived. He added that his
suspicions were much increased by some very absurd speeches I had
delivered, at first to his sailors, and afterwards to himself, in
relation to my closet chest, as well as by my odd looks and behavior
while I was at supper.

I begged his patience to hear me tell my story, which I faithfully did,
from the last time I left England to the moment he first discovered me.
And as truth always forceth its way into rational minds, so this honest
worthy gentleman, who had some tincture of learning and very good sense,
was immediately convinced of my candor and veracity. But, farther to
confirm all I had said, I entreated him to give order that my cabinet
should be brought, of which I had the key in my pocket (for he had
already informed me how seamen disposed of my closet). I opened it in
his own presence, and showed him the small collection of rarities I made
in the country from whence I had been so strangely delivered. There was
the comb I had contrived out of the stumps of the king's beard. There
was a collection of needles and pins, from a foot to half a yard long;
four wasps' stings, like joiners' tacks; some combings of the queen's
hair; a gold ring, which one day she made me a present of in a most
obliging manner, taking it from her little finger and throwing it over
my head like a collar. I desired the captain would please to accept this
ring in return of his civilities, which he absolutely refused. Lastly I
desired him to see the breeches I had then on, which were made of a
mouse's skin.

I could force nothing upon him but a footman's tooth, which I observed
him to examine with great curiosity, and found he had a fancy for it. He
received it with abundance of thanks, more than such a trifle could
deserve. It was drawn by an unskilful surgeon, in a mistake, from one of
Glumdalclitch's men, who was affected with the toothache, but it was as
sound as any in his head. I got it cleaned, and put it in my cabinet. It
was about a foot long, and four inches in diameter.

The captain was very well satisfied with this plain relation I had given
him, and said he hoped when we returned to England I would oblige the
world by putting it on paper, and making it public. My answer was, that
I thought we were already overstocked with books of travels; that
nothing could now pass which was not extraordinary; wherein I doubted
some authors less consulted truth than their own vanity, or interest, or
the diversion of ignorant readers, that my story could contain little
besides common events, without those ornamental descriptions of strange
plants, trees, birds, and other animals; or of the barbarous customs and
idolatry of savage people, with which most writers abound. However, I
thanked him for his good opinion, and promised to take the matter into
my thoughts.

He said he wondered at one thing very much, which was, to hear me speak
so loud, asking me whether the king or queen of that country were thick
of hearing. I told him it was what I had been used to for above two
years past, and that I wondered as much at the voices of him and his
men, who seemed to me only to whisper, and yet I could hear them well
enough. But when I spoke in that country, it was like a man talking in
the street to another looking out from the top of a steeple, unless when
I was placed on a table, or held in any person's hand. I told him I had
likewise observed another thing, that when I first got into the ship,
and the sailors stood all about me, I thought they were the most
contemptible little creatures I had ever beheld. For indeed, while I was
in that prince's country, I could never endure to look in a glass, after
my eyes had been accustomed to such prodigious objects, because the
comparison gave me so despicable a conceit of myself. The captain said
that while we were at supper he observed me to look at everything with a
sort of wonder, and that I often seemed hardly able to contain my
laughter, which he knew not well how to take, but imputed it to some
disorder in my brain. I answered, it was very true, and I wondered how I
could forbear, when I saw his dishes of the size of a silver threepence,
a leg of pork hardly a mouthful, a cup not so big as a nut-shell, and so
I went on, describing the rest of his household stuff and provisions
after the same manner. For although the queen had ordered a little
equipage of all things necessary for me, while I was in her service,
yet my ideas were wholly taken up with what I saw on every side of me,
and I winked at my own littleness, as people do at their own faults. The
captain understood my raillery very well, and merrily replied that he
did not observe my stomach so good, although I had fasted all day; and,
continuing in his mirth, protested he would have gladly given a hundred
pounds to have seen my closet in the eagle's bill, and afterwards in its
fall from so great a height into the sea; which would certainly have
been a most astonishing object, worthy to have the description of it
transmitted to future ages: and the comparison of Phaeton[90] was so
obvious, that he could not forbear applying it, although I did not much
admire the conceit.

[Illustration: "MY DAUGHTER KNEELED BUT I COULD NOT SEE HER" P. 109.]

The captain having been at Tonquin, was, in his return to England,
driven northeastward, to the latitude of 44 degrees, and of longitude
143. But meeting a trade-wind two days after I came on board him, we
sailed southward a long time, and, coasting New Holland, kept our course
west-south-west, and then south-south-west, till we doubled the Cape of
Good Hope. Our voyage was very prosperous, but I shall not trouble the
reader with a journal of it. The captain called in at one or two ports,
and sent in his long-boat for provisions and fresh water, but I never
went out of the ship till we came into the Downs, which was on the third
day of June, 1706, about nine months after my escape. I offered to leave
pay goods in security for payment of my freight, but the captain
protested he would not receive one farthing. We took a kind leave of
each other, and I made him promise he would come to see me at my house
in Redriff. I hired a horse and guide for five shillings, which I
borrowed of the captain.

As I was on the road, observing the littleness of the houses--the trees,
the cattle, and the people, I began to think myself in Lilliput. I was
afraid of trampling on every traveller I met, and often called aloud to
have them stand out of the way, so that I had like to have gotten one or
two broken heads for my impertinence.

When I came to my own house, for which I was forced to inquire, one of
the servants opened the door, I bent down to go in (like a goose under a
gate), for fear of striking my head. My wife ran out to embrace me, but
I stooped lower than her knees, thinking she could otherwise never be
able to reach my mouth. My daughter kneeled to ask my blessing, but I
could not see her till she arose, having been so long used to stand with
my head and eyes erect to above sixty feet; and then I went to take her
up with one hand by the waist. I looked down upon the servants, and one
or two friends who were in the house, as if they had been pygmies, and I
a giant. I told my wife she had been too thrifty, for I found she had
starved herself and her daughter to nothing. In short, I behaved myself
so unaccountably, that they were all of the captain's opinion when he
first saw me, and concluded I had lost my wits. This I mention as an
instance of the great power of habit and prejudice.

In a little time, I and my family and friends came to a right
understanding: but my wife protested I should never go to sea any more;
although my evil destiny so ordered, that she had not power to hinder
me, as the reader may know hereafter. In the meantime I here conclude
the second part of my unfortunate voyages.

[Illustration]





FOOTNOTES:

[1] _Redriff  Rotherhithe_: then a Thames side village, now part of
London.

[2] _Pound_: nearly five dollars.

[3] _Levant_: the point where the sun rises. The countries about the
eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea and its adjoining waters.

[4] _Mrs._: it was formerly the custom to call unmarried women Mrs.

[5] _The South Sea_: the Pacific Ocean.

[6] _Van Diemen's Land_: N.W. from Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) and in
latitude 30 degrees 2 minutes would be in Australia or off the West
Coast.

[7] _Cable's length_: about six hundred or seven hundred feet.

[8] _Buff jerkin_ a leather jacket or waistcoat.

[9] _Small_: weak, thin.

[10] _Signet-royal_: the king's seal.

[11] _Half-pike_ a short wooden staff, upon one end of which was a
steel head.

[12] _Stang_: an old word for a perch, sixteen feet and a half, also
for a rood of ground.

[13] _Chairs_: a sedan chair is here meant. It held one person, and
was carried by two men by means of projecting poles.

[14] _Crest_: a decoration to denote rank.

[15] _Lingua Franca_: a language--Italian mixed with Arabic, Greek,
and Turkish--used by Frenchmen, Spaniards, and Italians trading with
Arabs, Turks, and Greeks. It is the commercial language of
Constantinople.

[16] _Imprimis_: in the first place, (pr.) im pri' mis.

[17] _Lucid_: shining, transparent.

[18] _Yeomen of the guards_: freemen forming the bodyguard of the
sovereign.

[19] _Pocket perspective_: a small spy-glass or telescope.

[20] _Trencher_: a wooden plate or platter.

[21] _Corn_: such grains as wheat, rye, barley, oats.

[22] _Quadrant_: an instrument long used for measuring altitudes.

[23] _Skirt_: coat-tail.

[24] _Alcoran_ the Koran or Mohammedan Bible.

[25] _Embargo_: an order not to sail.

[26] _Discompose them_: displace them.

[27] _Puissant_: powerful.

[28] _Junto_: a body of men secretly united to gain some political
end.

[29] _Pulling_: plucking and drawing, preparatory to cooking,

[30] _Meaner_: of lower rank.

[31] _Portion_: the part of an estate given to a child.

[32] _Domestic_: the household and all pertaining thereto.

[33] _Exchequer bills_: bills of credit issued from the exchequer by
authority of parliament.

[34] _Close chair_: sedan chair.

[35] _Cabal_: a body of men united for some sinister purpose.

[36] _Lee side_: side sheltered from the wind.

[37] _Ancient_: flag, corrupted from ensign.

[38] _Downs_: A famous natural roadstead off the southeast coast of
Kent, between Goodwin Sands and the mainland, south of the Thames
entrance.

[39] _Black Bull_: inns in England are often named after animals with
an adjective descriptive of the color of the sign; as, _The Golden
Lion, The White Horse_.

[40] _Towardly_: apt, docile.

[41] _Straits of Madagascar_: Mozambique Channel.

[42] _The line_: the equator.

[43] _Hinds_: peasants; rustics.

[44] _Pistoles_: about three dollars and sixty cents.

[45] _Trencher-side_: up to his trencher or wooden plate.

[46] _Discovering_: Showing.

[47] _From London Bridge to Chelsea_: about three miles as the birds
fly.

[48] _Pillion_: a cushion for a woman to ride on behind a person on
horseback. _From London to St. Alban's_: about twenty miles.

[49] _Pumpion_: pumpkin.

[50] _Parts_: accomplishments.

[51] _Sanson's Atlas_: a very large atlas by a French geographer in
use in Swift's time.

[52] _As good a hand of me_: as much money of me.

[53] _Moidore_: a Portuguese gold piece worth about six dollars.

[54] _Guineas_: an obsolete English gold coin, of the value of five
dollars.

[55] _Phoenix_: a bird of fable said to live for a long time and rise
anew from its own ashes.

[56] _Cabinet_: a private room.

[57] _Scrutoire_: a writing-desk.

[58] _Waiting_: attendance on the king.

[59] _Lusus naturae_: a freak of nature.

[60] _Royal Sovereign_: one of the great ships of Swift's time.

[61] _Dunstable lark_: large larks are caught on the downs near
Dunstable between September and February, and sent to London for
luxurious tables.

[62] _Drone_: the largest tube of a bag-pipe, giving forth a dull
heavy tone.

[63] _Gresham College_, in London, is named after the founder, an
English merchant, who died in 1579.

[64] _The square of_: as large as the square of.

[65] _Salisbury Steeple_: this is about four hundred feet high.

[66] _Battalia_: the order of battle.

[67] _Espalier_: a lattice upon which fruit-trees or shrubs are
trained.

[68] _Scull_: a short oar.

[69] _Starboard or larboard_: right or left.

[70] _Corking-pin_: a larger-sized pin.

[71] _Stomacher_: a broad belt.

[72] _Varlet_: knave.

[73] _Levee_: a ceremonious visit received by a distinguished person
in the morning.

[74] _Spinet_: a stringed instrument, a forerunner of out piano.

[75] _Closet_: private room.

[76] _Signal_: memorable.

[77] _Chancery_: a high court of equity.

[78] _Glossing_: commenting.

[79] _Dionysius of Halicarnassus_ was born about the middle of the
first century, B.C.; he endeavored in his history to relieve his Greek
countrymen from the mortification they had felt in their subjection to
the Romans, and patched up an old legend about Rome being of Greek
origin and therefore their "political mother."

[80] _Ideas, entities, abstractions, transcendentals_, words used in
that philosophy which deals with thinking, existence, and things
beyond the senses.

[81] _Mercurial_: active, spirited.

[82] _Composition_: compact, agreement.

[83] _Progress_: an old term for the travelling of the sovereign to
different parts of his country.

[84] _Tumbrel_: a rough cart.

[85] _Page_: a serving-boy, and especially one who waits on a person
of rank.

[86] _Quarry_: prey.

[87] _Squash_: shock, concussion.

[88] _To rights_ speedily.

[89] _To make_ To get alongside.

[90] _Phaeton_ a son of Apollo who was dashed into the river Endanus
for his foolhardiness in attempting to drive the steeds of the sun for
one day.

 Gulliver really wants to go home. He has now spent two years in Brobdingnag, and though his life has been comfortable, he wants to return to a place where he doesn't have to worry about being stomped to death by a puppy. He and Glumdalclitch are going on a tour of the south coast of the kingdom with the Brobdingnagian King and Queen. Both Gulliver and Glumdalclitch have colds, but Gulliver's is mild. He manages to persuade Glumdalclitch to let him go down to the beach with a servant. This servant carries Gulliver's traveling box down to the beach. Once they get to the beach, Gulliver decides to take a nap, so he shuts the entrance to his box and climbs into his hammock. He wakes up when he feels a sudden jolt. It would seem that the servant left Gulliver's box on the beach while going off for whatever reason, and that the box has now been snagged by an eagle. The eagle flies high and then drops Gulliver's box; Gulliver feels by the bobbing of his box that he is at sea. Gulliver feels really bad for Glumdalclitch, who is doubtless going to be blamed for his loss by the Queen. He notices that water is slowly leaking into his box, so he's getting pretty worried for himself, too. He hears something scraping at the two staples attached to the side of his box that has no windows, and wonders what it is. Gulliver calls out, and a voice answers that his box has been lashed to the side of a ship. A sailor saws a hole in the side of his box and Gulliver emerges, very weak. Gulliver has been so long in Brobdingnag that he has lost perspective on regular humans - he's surprised to be surrounded by such small people, even though they are his own height. The sailors salvage some of the contents of Gulliver's box. The captain of the ship, Thomas Wilcox, asks Gulliver to tell him where he has been. The captain thinks that Gulliver is crazy, and/or a convict who has been sent to sea in a giant box as punishment. To prove the truth of his story, Gulliver shows the captain his comb, made from the beard stubble of the King of Brobdingnag, as well as his pants, which are made of mouse skin. The captain agrees that Gulliver is telling the truth, He asks Gulliver if the King or Queen of Brobdingnag were hard of hearing, because Gulliver keeps shouting. After all, Gulliver has spent the last two years yelling to make himself heard by Brobdingnagian giants. The ship arrives back in England on June 3, 1706, 9 months after Gulliver leaves Brobdingnag. He keeps acting as though he expects to see 60-foot people around him, so Gulliver's whole family thinks he has gone nuts. Gulliver's wife tells him never again to go to sea, but there are two more parts left to Gulliver's Travels, so we think he's not going to listen to her.

