“And what to me thus pining for some one to page me a quotation from Burton on Blue-Devils.” V. I. p. 15.
What is paging a quotation?
“Anoint the ropes and they will travel deftly through the subtle windings of the blocks.” p. 33.
Why not say—“apply some oleaginous substance to the ambulatory cords, and prevent the inarticulate dissonance caused by the inharmonious attrition of the flaxen fibres against the ligneous particles?”
But this passage I especially commend:
“Good old Arcturion! Maternal craft, that rocked me so often in thy heart of oak, I grieve to tell how I deserted thee on the broad deep. (‘Maternal craft—maternal old oaken-hearted craft—maternal old oaken-cradle hearted craft’ is good!) So far from home, with such a motley crew, so many islands, whose heathen babble echoing through thy Christian hull must have grated harshly on every carline.” p. 38.
“Many there are who can fall,” says Martinus Scriblerius, “but few can arrive at the felicity of falling gracefully.”
How beautifully he embellishes the most commonplace ideas:
“Among savages, severe personal injuries are, for the most part, accounted but trifles. When a European would be taking to his couch in despair the savage would disdain to recline.” p. 96.
“At Ravavai I had stepped ashore some few months previous; and now was embarked on a cruise for the whale, whose brain enlightens the world!” p. 1.