Oliver Optic

“ The captain became quite impatient; for he was less a scientist than the young millionaire, though he had a taste for natural history.
"Have you finished, Louis?" asked Scott as the former returned to the yacht. [101]
"All done; but Lane must sum up the results," replied Louis.
"What good will all those measurements do you?" demanded the captain rather contemptuously.
"They will not put any money in my pocket, but I want to know the size of the game I have killed," answered Louis, somewhat nettled by the manner of Scott. "When a man has caught a fish he wants to know what his prize weighs." ”

“ After walking through the streets of Hong-Kong and Canton, the boys saw very little that was new to them.
"Is there a cemetery in the town?" asked Louis, after they had become somewhat tired, not to say disgusted, with the dirty streets, and the crowd in them.
"Nothing that you Americans would call by that name," replied the guide. "There are some small burial-grounds; but the Chinese generally bury their dead in private grounds, outside of the cities. They have a reverence for their dead which is not equalled by any people on the face of the earth. ”

“ But the most telling tribute to the skill of the cook was in the amount consumed; and the captain expressed a fear that the engineer and five seamen would have to "kiss the cook."
"It is only a woman cook that gets served in that way, and then not unless she is good looking," replied Pitts, laughing. "But you need have no fear, Captain, and the second table will have no occasion to kiss the cook, even it were one of the pretty girls we saw at the long-house below; for I have another fish in the oven, and it will be done by the time they are ready for it." ”

“ The Great Union Saloon, where His Imperial Majesty receives the high-class mandarins, was elegant enough for any royal apartment.
The tourists walked about among the Chinese glories till they were tired out. The two Cupids were completely "blown;" and when they found a place, they seated themselves, and let the rest of the company finish the survey of the Forbidden City. The palace of one prince of the imperial house was so large that three thousand men could be quartered in the out-buildings, and doubtless as many more could be accommodated in the main structure. ”

“ Melancthon Sage, and I invoke a blessing upon the head of Monsieur Odervie, the chief cook. Our life on the ocean wave is a constant promotive of the appetite. If the proof of the pudding is not in the eating of the bag, it is in the eating of the dinners; and I think we pay an abundant tribute to the talent of Mr. Sage, the prince of stewards, in the quantity of the well-cooked food he causes to be placed before us."
"We get through dinner about seven o'clock. I see that the accomplished chief steward is standing at the door," continued Louis. ”

“ The explorers watched the ships till they could no longer be seen, and then headed up the river.
"Faix, the bridges betune oursels and civiloization are all broke down!" exclaimed Felix McGavonty, who sometimes used his Milesian dialect in order, as he put it, not to lose his mother's brogue.
"Not so bad as that, Felix; for there is considerable civilization lying around loose in Borneo," replied Louis Belgrave.
"Not much of it here is found," added Achang Bakir, the Bornean. ”

“ In less than half an hour the ship was under way again, with the Blanche following her.
"How far is it to Shang-hai?" asked Mrs. Belgrave, as she met the captain in front of the pilot-house.
"It is eight hundred and seventy miles, and the voyage will require two days and fourteen hours," he replied. "I shall keep well to the eastward, and if you are up by six to-morrow morning you will see the island of Formosa. Then we shall be about on the Tropic of Cancer, when we shall pass out of the Torrid Zone—out of the tropics." ”

“ Some of our Indians eat clay, and I suppose they like it."
"Something up in the trees yonder, Captain," said Wales, as the boat approached some higher ground, which was not overflown with water, as most of the shore below had been.
"Monkeys," added Achang, not at all excited.
"I don't think I care to shoot monkeys unless it is for the purpose of examining them," said Louis. "They are too small game, and they are harmless creatures."
"Strange monkeys in here," continued Achang. "Not these," he added when he had obtained a sight of one of them. "These no good." ”

“ Oliver Optic is a nom de plume that is known and loved by almost every boy of intelligence in the land. We have seen a highly intellectual and world-weary man, a cynic whose heart was somewhat embittered by its large experience of human nature, take up one of Oliver Optic's books, and read it at a sitting, neglecting his work in yielding to the fascination of the pages. ”

“ There is no doubt that silk was first produced in China; and silk, linen, and cotton form the clothing of the people. A ceremony like that with the plough is performed by the emperor over the silkworms and mulberry-trees, whose leaves are the food of the worm. From before the twenty-third century b.c., the care of the silkworm, and the spinning and weaving of the thread from the cocoon, has been the particular labor of the women. The mulberry-tree grows everywhere in the country, and silk is manufactured in greater or less quantities in every province. ”

“ Frôler, as in Constantinople," said Louis, as the Frenchman came near with the captain and Mrs. Belgrave.
"They are outcast dogs, like those in Constantinople," replied the guide. "Nobody owns them, and they have to pick up their living in the streets. They are no more honest than some of the natives; for some of them will steal a piece of meat, and then comes a fight with all the others in the vicinity."
"Where does the meat used here come from?" asked Louis.
"From Cambodia," replied the Frenchman. "But it is about time for your lunch at the hotel, and I think we had better return. ”

“ It could travel all over Borneo where forests exist without touching the ground, passing from tree to tree in long leaps. The boat was stopped in the river, in order to permit the party to witness the exhibition which was in process, without the payment of any admission fee.
Every branch was a trapeze, and no troupe of artists could compare with them in the agility of their movements. Their long arms appeared to be the key to their marvellous feats, for their legs were comparatively short, and for the size of their bodies the animals possessed immense strength. ”

“ The trees were full of monkeys, and hundreds of them appeared to be in sight all the time. They were of the most common kind to be found in Borneo, and the yacht created no excitement among them. They were so tame that any number of them could have been brought down by the hunters.
"The water is not so dirty as it has been everywhere below," said Captain Scott, as the Blanchita stemmed the current without any difficulty, where paddling a sampan must have been a laborious occupation. "It is tolerably clear along here, and we might take our morning bath very comfortably." ”

“ Sage an order to that effect," replied the commander.
"But who is to eat the dinner after it is provided, an hour after the passengers have gorged themselves at the table?" demanded Dr. Hawkes. "Is this a conspiracy to make more work for the surgeon?"
"Not at all," protested Louis. "It is to give the gentlemen who question so closely an opportunity to have an abundance of a good thing."
"But we could not eat the dinner," said Uncle Moses. "We are not hogs."
"Oh, you are not!" chuckled the owner.
"But what has all this to do with hunting and exploring in Borneo?" inquired Mr. Woolridge. ”

“ The barrier was not solid, and was held together by the entanglement of the bushes as they were driven into the nucleus of the mass by the current.
"We can't cut through in that way," said Scott, as he looked at the half-sundered bridge.
"We don't want to take the back track," added Louis.
"There are more ways than one to skin a mosquito, and we haven't half tried yet," replied the captain. "The thing is softer than I supposed, and yielded when the boat hit it. I could go through, but it would take all the paint off the sides. Get out the anchor, Clingman, and we will see what can be done." ”

“ Like a great many other young men of eighteen, which was the age of three of them, while the fourth was hardly sixteen, they were fond of adventure,—of hunting, fishing, and sporting in general. They had gone over a large portion of Europe, visited the countries on the shores of the Mediterranean, crossed India, and called at some of the ports of Burma, the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Celebes, and had reached Sarawak in their explorations. ”

“ The ladies were properly costumed for the dinner, and all of them wore the best they had. When the Blanchita came alongside the ship with the Blanche's party, more surprise was manifested; for Mrs. Noury was dressed as a princess, as she was, with the richest garments of India; General Noury clothed in the full costume of his Moroccan rank, a dress which had not been seen before. Captain Sharp wore his uniform, and his wife proved that no money had been spared on her dress and adornings. ”

“ He isn't a very desirable fellow to have as a companion on board."
"What is the use of killing him? He would only be food for the crocodiles," protested Louis.
"Do what you like with him, Louis," added the captain.
"I certainly will not have him killed. If Achang never saw but one of the kind, there cannot be a great many of them in this part of the island. Put him ashore, Achang," said the humane young gentleman.
The Bornean complied with this request; and the handsome snake skurried off in the woods, none the worse for his adventure. ”

“ While the carpenter and the second officer were busy making a place for the large map of Cochin China, the returned hunters from Borneo were invited to the cabin of the commander. They were pleased with the change of scene from the mud and water of their week in Borneo; though they felt that they would like to go there for another week—not more than that—at another time.
"After lunch you will visit the city of Bangkok, and spend the afternoon there; for you ought to see the place, as you are here," said Captain Ringgold. "It is a large city." ”

“ The monsoon is about as fresh here as it has been all the voyage; and we have used up about half of our coal, so that we are considerably lighter than when we left Kuching, and with the sail we can easily log nine knots an hour. We shall go into the Menan River before sundown to-morrow, and it will take two or three hours to go up to the city. We shall be alongside the ship some time in the evening; and that is just the time I should like to be there."
"We shall give our friends a tremendous surprise," added Louis. ”

“ When you go into the markets you may see whole dogs dressed for food, or cut up into pieces ready for cooking. These are not common yellow dogs, such as you saw in the capital of the Turkish empire; but they are the peculiar Chinese breed, sleek and hairless, which are carefully fatted, and prepared for market. I have no doubt that your stomachs revolt at the very idea of eating dog; but I cannot see that it is any worse than eating pork and fowls, which feed more or less on animal food. ”

“ I met an American gentleman who had been to the capital of China, and he told me he had been to the Great Wall. Dr. Legge may take the conceit out of some travellers when he says: 'What foreigners go to visit from Peking is merely a loop-wall of later formation, enclosing portions of Chih-li and Shan-hsî.'
"Leaving the Grand Canal and the Great Wall, we will pass on to the lakes of China. They are not on a large scale, like the rivers; and they are insignificant compared with those of our own country. ”

“ But the captain must speak for himself.
"Now, fellows, you can study the chart for yourselves," said he, as he put the point of his pencil on the mouth of the Sarawak River. "If the Blanchita [126] were a sailing-craft instead of a steamer, I should not have a moment's hesitation; for though she is not heavy and clumsy, she is very strongly built. I have looked her over several times, with this trip in my head."
"But she can be rigged as a sailing-craft, and has a short mast and a sail," interposed Morris. "I talked with the rajah about her, and he told me that he had been out to sea in her. ”

“ In reply to the message the Bornean delivered to them, the Malays nodded their heads vigorously, and smiled their assent.
"Go ahead, down the river, Clinch," added the captain to the helmsman. [52]
"I fancy there will be a lively kick-up on the part of the game," said Louis, as the boat came up to her course.
"Not much," added Scott. "If we put them through the water at the rate of eight knots an hour, the crocs will not feel much like doing any gambolling. We are not making more than four knots now."
"They are as lively now as a parched pea in a hot skillet." ”