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felt all my muscles; and at the end of each operation they looked at the
chief and nodded, and said something in a tone quite pleasant, as though
I were all right. They even pulled down my eyelids, and looked, I
suppose, to see if they were bloodshot; but it was not so. At length
they gave up; and I think that all were satisfied of my being in the most
perfect health, and very robust to boot. At last the old magistrate made
me a speech of about five minutes long, which the other two appeared to
think greatly to the point, but from which I gathered nothing. As soon
as it was ended, they proceeded to overhaul my swag and the contents of
my pockets. This gave me little uneasiness, for I had no money with me,
nor anything which they were at all likely to want, or which I cared
about losing. At least I fancied so, but I soon found my mistake.

They got on comfortably at first, though they were much puzzled with my
tobacco-pipe and insisted on seeing me use it. When I had shown them
what I did with it, they were astonished but not displeased, and seemed
to like the smell. But by and by they came to my watch, which I had
hidden away in the inmost pocket that I had, and had forgotten when they
began their search. They seemed concerned and uneasy as soon as they got
hold of it. They then made me open it and show the works; and when I had
done so they gave signs of very grave displeasure, which disturbed me all
the more because I could not conceive wherein it could have offended
them.

I remember that when they first found it I had thought of Paley, and how
he tells us that a savage on seeing a watch would at once conclude that
it was designed. True, these people were not savages, but I none the
less felt sure that this was the conclusion they would arrive at; and I
was thinking what a wonderfully wise man Archbishop Paley must have been,
when I was aroused by a look of horror and dismay upon the face of the
magistrate, a look which conveyed to me the impression that he regarded
my watch not as having been designed, but rather as the designer of
himself and of the universe; or as at any rate one of the great first
causes of all things.

Then it struck me that this view was quite as likely to be taken as the
other by a people who had no experience of European civilisation, and I
was a little piqued with Paley for having led me so much astray; but I
soon discovered that I had misinterpreted the expression on the
magistrate's face, and that it was one not of fear, but hatred. He spoke
to me solemnly and sternly for two or three minutes. Then, reflecting
that this was of no use, he caused me to be conducted through several
passages into a large room, which I afterwards found was the museum of
the town, and wherein I beheld a sight which astonished me more than
anything that I had yet seen.

It was filled with cases containing all manner of curiosities--such as
skeletons, stuffed birds and animals, carvings in stone (whereof I saw

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