Count Gosamer thrown by Sphinx into the snow on the top of Teneriffe—Gog and Magog conduct Sphinx for the rest of the voyage—The Baron¹ arrives at the Cape², and unites his former chariot, &c., to his new retinue³—Passes into Africa, proceeding⁴ from the Cape northwards—Defeats a host of lions by a curious stratagem—Travels through an immense desert—His whole company, chariot, &c., overwhelmed by a whirlwind of sand—Extricates them, and arrives in a fertile country.  
The brave Count Gosamer, with a pair of hell-fire spurs on, riding upon Sphinx, directed the whole retinue towards the Madeiras. But the Count had no small share of an amiable⁵ vanity, and perceiving great multitudes of people, Gascons, &c., assembled upon the French coast, he could not refrain from showing some singular capers⁶, such as they had never seen before: but especially when he observed all the members of the National Assembly extend themselves along the shore, as a piece of French politeness, to honour this expedition, with Rousseau, Voltaire, and Beelzebub at their head; he set spurs to Sphinx, and at the same time cut and cracked away as hard as he could, holding in the reins⁷ with all his might, striving to make the creature plunge⁸ and show some uncommon⁹ diversion. But sulky and ill-tempered was Sphinx at the time: she plunged¹⁰ indeed—such a devil of a plunge, that she dashed him in one jerk over her head, and he fell precipitately¹¹ into the water before her. It was in the Bay of Biscay, all the world knows a very boisterous¹² sea, and Sphinx, fearing he would be drowned, never turned to the left or the right out of her way, but advancing furious, just stooped her head a little, and supped the poor count off the water, into her mouth, together with the quantity of two or three tuns of water, which she must have taken in along with him, but which were, to such an enormous creature as Sphinx, nothing more than a spoonful would be to any of you or me. She swallowed him, but when she had got him in her stomach, his long spurs so scratched and tickled¹³ her, that they produced the effect of an emetic¹⁴. No sooner was he in, but out he was squirted with the most horrible impetuosity, like a ball or a shell from the calibre of a mortar¹⁵. Sphinx was at this time quite sea-sick, and the unfortunate count was driven forth¹⁷ like a sky-rocket, and landed upon the peak of Teneriffe, plunged over head and ears in the snow—requiescat in pace!
 
I perceived all this mischief¹⁸ from my seat in the ark, but was in such a convulsion of laughter that I could not utter an intelligible¹⁹ word. And now Sphinx, deprived of her postillion, went on in a zigzag²⁰ direction, and gambolled²¹ away after a most dreadful manner. And thus had everything gone to wreck²², had I not given instant orders to Gog and Magog to sally forth. They plunged into the water, and swimming on each side, got at length right before the animal, and then seized the reins. Thus they continued swimming on each side, like tritons, holding the muzzle²³ of Sphinx, while I, sallying forth astride upon the creature's back, steered²⁴ forward on our voyage to the Cape of Good Hope.
 
Arriving at the Cape, I immediately gave orders to repair my former chariot and machines, which were very expeditiously²⁶ performed by the excellent artists I had brought with me from Europe. And now everything being refitted, we launched forth upon the water: perhaps there never was anything seen more glorious or more august. 'Twas magnificent to behold²⁷ Sphinx make her obeisance²⁸ on the water, and the crickets chirp²⁹ upon the bulls in return of the salute³⁰; while Gog and Magog, advancing, took the reins of the great John Mowmowsky, and leading towards us chariot and all, instantly disposed of them to the forepart of the ark by hooks and eyes, and tackled Sphinx before all the bulls. Thus the whole had a most tremendous and triumphal appearance. In front floated forwards the mighty³¹ Sphinx, with Gog and Magog on each side; next followed in order the bulls with crickets upon their heads; and then advanced the chariot of Queen Mab, containing the curious seat and orrery of heaven; after which appeared the boat and ark of council, overtopped with two balloons, which gave an air of greater lightness and elegance³² to the whole. I placed in the galleries under the balloons, and on the backs of the bulls, a number of excellent vocal³³ performers, with martial³⁴ music of clarionets and trumpets³⁵. They sung the "Watery³⁶ Dangers," and the "Pomp of Deep Cerulean!" The sun shone glorious on the water while the procession advanced toward the land, under five hundred arches of ice, illuminated³⁷ with coloured lights, and adorned³⁸ in the most grotesque³⁹ and fanciful style with sea-weed, elegant festoons, and shells of every kind; while a thousand water-spouts danced eternally before and after us, attracting the water from the sea in a kind of cone⁴⁰, and suddenly uniting with the most fantastical thunder and lightning.
 
Having landed our whole retinue, we immediately began to proceed toward the heart of Africa, but first thought it expedient⁴¹ to place a number of wheels under the ark for its greater facility of advancing. We journeyed nearly due north for several days, and met with nothing remarkable⁴² except the astonishment⁴³ of the savage⁴⁴ natives to behold our equipage.
 
The Dutch Government at the Cape, to do them justice, gave us every possible assistance for the expedition. I presume they had received instruction on that head from their High Mightinesses in Holland. However, they presented us with a specimen⁴⁵ of some of the most excellent of their Cape wine, and showed us every politeness in their power. As to the face of the country, as we advanced, it appeared in many places capable of every

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