lis. For the queen, whom I always attended,
never went farther when she accompanied the king in his progresses, and
there staid till his majesty returned from viewing his frontiers. The
whole extent of this prince's dominions reaches about six thousand miles
in length, and from three to five in breadth: whence I cannot but
conclude, that our geographers of Europe are in a great error, by
supposing nothing but sea between Japan and California; for it was ever
my opinion, that there must be a balance of earth to counterpoise the
great continent of Tartary; and therefore they ought to correct their
maps and charts, by joining this vast tract of land to the north-west
parts of America, wherein I shall be ready to lend them my assistance.

The kingdom is a peninsula, terminated to the north-east by a ridge of
mountains thirty miles high, which are altogether impassable, by reason
of the volcanoes upon the tops: neither do the most learned know what
sort of mortals inhabit beyond those mountains, or whether they be
inhabited at all. On the three other sides, it is bounded by the ocean.
There is not one seaport in the whole kingdom: and those parts of the
coasts into which the rivers issue, are so full of pointed rocks, and the
sea generally so rough, that there is no venturing with the smallest of
their boats; so that these people are wholly excluded from any commerce
with the rest of the world. But the large rivers are full of vessels,
and abound with excellent fish; for they seldom get any from the sea,
because the sea fish are of the same size with those in Europe, and
consequently not worth catching; whereby it is manifest, that nature, in
the production of plants and animals of so extraordinary a bulk, is
wholly confined to this continent, of which I leave the reasons to be
determined by philosophers. However, now and then they take a whale that
happens to be dashed against the rocks, which the common people feed on
heartily. These whales I have known so large, that a man could hardly
carry one upon his shoulders; and sometimes, for curiosity, they are
brought in hampers to Lorbrulgrud; I saw one of them in a dish at the
king's table, which passed for a rarity, but I did not observe he was
fond of it; for I think, indeed, the bigness disgusted him, although I
have seen one somewhat larger in Greenland.

The country is well inhabited, for it contains fifty-one cities, near a
hundred walled towns, and a great number