The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Rudolf Raspe

without, or

      by a deputy! and what do you think was the only return she could prevail

      upon him to accept for such eminent services? setting Shakespeare at

      liberty! Such was his affection for that famous writer, that he would

      have shortened his own days to add to the number of his friend’s.

      I do not hear that any of the queen’s subjects, particularly the

      _beef-eaters_, as they are vulgarly called to this day, however they

      might be struck with the novelty at the time, much approved of her

      living totally without food. She did not survive the practice herself

      above seven years and a half.

      My father, who was the immediate possessor of this sling before me, told

      me the following anecdote: —

      He was walking by the sea-shore at Harwich, with this sling in his

      pocket; before his paces had covered a mile he was attacked by a fierce

      animal called a seahorse, open-mouthed, who ran at him with great fury;

      he hesitated a moment, then took out his sling, retreated back about

      a hundred yards, stooped for a couple of pebbles, of which there were

      plenty under his feet, and slung them both so dexterously at the animal,

      that each stone put out an eye, and lodged in the cavities which their

      removal had occasioned. He now got upon his back, and drove him into the

      sea; for the moment he lost his sight he lost also ferocity, and became

      as tame as possible: the sling was placed as a bridle in his mouth; he

      was guided with the greatest facility across the ocean, and in less

      than three hours they both arrived on the opposite shore, which is about

      thirty leagues. The master of the _Three Cups_, at Helvoetsluys, in

      Holland, purchased this marine horse, to make an exhibition of, for

      seven hundred ducats, which was upwards of three hundred pounds, and the

      next day my father paid his passage back in the packet to Harwich.

      _ – My father made several curious observations in this passage, which I

      will relate hereafter._

      CHAPTER XII

      _The frolic; its consequences – Windsor Castle – St. Paul’s – College of

      Physicians – Undertakers, sextons, &c., almost ruined – Industry of the

      apothecaries._

      THE FROLIC.

      This famous sling makes the possessor equal to any task he is desirous

      of performing.

      I made a balloon of such extensive dimensions, that an account of the

      silk it contained would exceed all credibility; every mercer’s shop and

      weaver’s stock in London, Westminster, and Spitalfields contributed to

      it: with this balloon and my sling I played many tricks, such as taking

      one house from its station, and placing another in its stead, without

      disturbing the inhabitants, who were generally asleep, or too much

      employed to observe the peregrinations of their habitations. When the

      sentinel at Windsor Castle heard St. Paul’s clock strike thirteen, it

      was through my dexterity; I brought the buildings nearly together that

      night, by placing the castle in St. George’s Fields, and carried it

      back again before daylight, without waking any of the inhabitants;

      notwithstanding these exploits, I should have kept my balloon, and its

      properties a secret, if Montgolfier had not made the art of flying so

      public.

      On the 30th of September, when the College of Physicians chose their

      annual officers, and dined sumptuously together, I filled my balloon,