Indeed, the adjective “lovely” but poorly expresses the wealth and beauty of flower and foliage that met his gaze at every turn.
It seemed a veritable garden of Eden. It must have been miles in extent, yet the king assured him he might wander everywhere, and he would find neither wild beast nor loathsome dangerous reptile.
His majesty went to his tent and did not appear again that day, nor was he visible until late into the next.
Harry was walking about making friends with the cocks and hens, the goats and the pigs, and with several charmingly plumaged birds of the guinea-hen species, when he was summoned into the king’s presence.
The dusky monarch was seated in the middle of his tent on a mat. So black was he, and so dark was the hut, that, coming right in from the glare of the noonday sun, it was some time before Harry could see him or anything else. He heard the king’s hearty laugh, however, and went towards it.
He was beckoned to a mat on the floor, and fruit was handed to him.
Then the royal host began to show all the inquisitiveness of a child, and evinced so much curiosity that Harry could not answer his questions fast enough. But he delighted him greatly by saying that at home he too lived on an island.
The king was exceedingly tickled, though, when told through Raggy that we were subjects to a queen.
He laughed so immoderately that he was obliged to lie back and roll on his mat, and for quite three minutes could say nothing but “Lobo! Lobo! Lobo!”
In the midst of all this pleasant discourse two amazons entered, and helped the king to rise.