in
that country, as heat is in ours. Having observed that the discomfort was
abated by the passing of a light cloud between me and the sun, I dragged
myself with some difficulty to a clump of trees near by and found
permanent relief in their shade. As soon as I was comfortable enough to
examine my surroundings I saw that the trees were of metal, apparently
copper, with leaves of what resembled pure silver, but may have contained
alloy. Some of the trees bore burnished flowers shaped like bells, and in
a breeze the tinkling as they clashed together was exceedingly sweet. The
grass with which the open country was covered as far as I could see
amongst the patches of forest was of a bright scarlet hue, excepting along
the water-courses, where it was white. Lazily cropping it at some little
distance away, or lying in it, indolently chewing the cud and attended by
a man half-clad in skins and bearing a crook, was a flock of tigers. My
travels in New Jersey having made me proof against surprise, I
contemplated these several visible phenomena without emotion, and with a
merely expectant interest in what might be revealed by further
observation.

The tigerherd having perceived me, now came striding forward, brandishing
his crook and shaking his fists with great vehemence, gestures which I
soon learned were, in that country, signs of amity and good-will. But
before knowing that fact I had risen to my feet and thrown myself into a
posture of defense, and as he approached I led for his head with my left,
following with a stiff right upon his solar plexus, which sent him rolling
on the grass in great pain. After learning something of the social customs
of the country I felt extreme mortification in recollecting this breach of
etiquette, and even to this day I cannot think upon it without a blush.

Such was my first meeting with Jogogle-Zadester, Pastor-King of Ug, the
wisest and best of men. Later in our acquaintance, when I had for a long
time been an honored guest at his court, where a thousand fists were
ceremoniously shaken under my nose daily, he explained that my luke-warm
reception of his hospitable advances gave him, for the moment, an
unfavorable impression of my breeding and culture.

The island of Ug, upon which I had been marooned, lies in the Southern
Hemisphere, but has neither latitude nor longitude. It has an area of
nearly seven hundred square _samtains_ and is peculiar in shape, its width
being considerably grea