<p class="gutsumm">A phenomenon solved by modern philosophy and
astronomy. The Laputians’ great improvements in the
latter. The king’s method of suppressing
insurrections.</p>
<p>I desired leave of this prince to see the curiosities of the
island, which he was graciously pleased to grant, and ordered my
tutor to attend me. I chiefly wanted to know, to what
cause, in art or in nature, it owed its several motions, whereof
I will now give a philosophical account to the reader.</p>
<p>The flying or floating island is exactly circular, its
diameter 7837 yards, or about four miles and a half, and
consequently contains ten thousand acres. It is three
hundred yards thick. The bottom, or under surface, which
appears to those who view it below, is one even regular plate of
adamant, shooting up to the height of about two hundred
yards. Above it lie the several minerals in their usual
order, and over all is a coat of rich mould, ten or twelve feet
deep. The declivity of the upper surface, from the
circumference to the centre, is the natural cause why all the
dews and rains, which fall upon the island, are conveyed in small
rivulets toward the middle, where they are emptied into four
large basins, each of about half a mile in circuit, and two
hundred yards distant from the centre. From these basins
the water is continually exhaled by the sun in the daytime, which
effectually prevents their overflowing. Besides, as it is
in the power of the monarch to raise the island above the region
of clouds and vapours, he can prevent the falling of dews and
rain whenever he pleases. For the highest clouds cannot
rise above two miles, as naturalists agree, at least they were
never known to do so in that country.</p>
<p>At the centre of the island there is a chasm about fifty yards
in diameter, whence the astronomers descend into a large dome,
which is therefore called <i>flandona gagnole</i>, or the
astronomer’s cave, situated at the depth of a hundred yards
beneath the upper surface of the adamant. In this cave are
twenty lamps continually burning, which, from the reflection of
the adamant, cast a strong light into every part. The place
is stored with great variety of sextants, quadrants, telescopes,
astrolabes, and other astronomical instruments. But the
greatest curiosity, upon which the fate of the island depends, is
a loadstone of a prodigious size, in shape resembling a
weaver’s shuttle. It is in length six yards, and in
the thickest part at least three yards over. This magnet is
sustained by a very strong axle of adamant passing through its
middle, upon which it plays, and is poised so exactly that the
weakest hand can turn it. It is hooped round with a hollow
cylinder of adamant, four feet yards in diameter, placed
horizontally, and supported by eight adamantine feet, each six
yards high. In the middle of the concave side, there is a
groove twelve inches deep, in which the extremities of the axle
are lodged, and turned round as there is occasion.</p>
<p>The stone cannot be removed from its place by any force,
because the hoop and its feet are one continued piece with that
body of adamant which constitutes the bottom of the island.</p>
<p>By means of this loadstone, the island is made to rise and
fall, and move from one place to another. For, with respect
to that part of the earth over which the monarch presides, the
stone is endued at one of its sides with an attractive power, and
at the other with a repulsive. Upon placing the magnet
erect, with its attracting end towards the earth, the island
descends; but when the repelling extremity points downwards, the
island mounts directly upwards. When the position of the
stone is oblique, the motion of the island is so too: for in this
magnet, the forces always act in lines parallel to its
direction.</p>
<p>By this oblique motion, the island is conveyed to different
parts of the monarch’s dominions. To explain the
manner of its progress, let <i>A</i> <i>B</i> represent a line
drawn across the dominions of Balnibarbi, let the line <i>c</i>
<i>d</i> represent the loadstone, of which let <i>d</i> be the
repelling end, and <i>c</i> the attracting end, the island being
over <i>C</i>: let the stone be placed in position <i>c</i>
<i>d</i>, with its repelling end downwards; then the island will
be driven upwards obliquely towards <i>D</i>. When it is
arrived at <i>D</i>, let the stone be turned upon its axle, till
its attracting end points towards <i>E</i>, and then the island
will be carried obliquely towards <i>E</i>; where, if the stone
be again turned upon its axle till it stands in the position
<i>E</i> <i>F</i>, with its repelling point downwards, the island
will rise obliquely towards <i>F</i>, where, by directing the
attracting end towards <i>G</i>, the island may be carried to
<i>G</i>, and from <i>G</i> to <i>H</i>, by turning the stone, so
as to make its repelling extremity to point directly
downward. And thus, by changing the situation of the stone,
as often as there is occasion, the island is made to rise and
fall by turns in an oblique direction, and by those alternate
risings and fallings (the obliquity being not considerable) is
conveyed from one part of the dominions to the other.</p>
<p>But it must be observed, that this island cannot move beyond
the extent of the dominions below, nor can it rise above the
height of four miles. For which the astronomers (who have
written large systems concerning the stone) assign the following
reason: that the magnetic virtue does not extend beyond the
distance of four miles, and that the mineral, which acts upon the
stone in the bowels of the earth, and in the sea about six
leagues distant from the shore, is not diffused through the whole
globe, but terminated with the limits of the king’s
dominions; and it was easy, from the great advantage of such a
superior situation, for a prince to bring under his obedience
whatever country lay within the attraction of that magnet.</p>
<p>When the stone is put parallel to the plane of the horizon,
the island stands still; for in that case the extremities of it,
being at equal distance from the earth, act with equal force, the
one in drawing downwards, the other in pushing upwards, and
consequently no motion can ensue.</p>
<p>This loadstone is under the care of certain astronomers, who,
from time to time, give it such positions as the monarch
directs. They spend the greatest part of their lives in
observing the celestial bodies, which they do by the assistance
of glasses, far excelling ours in goodness. For, although
their largest telescopes do not exceed three feet, they magnify
much more than those of a hundred with us, and show the stars
with greater clearness. This advantage has enabled them to
extend their discoveries much further than our astronomers in
Europe; for they have made a catalogue of ten thousand fixed
stars, whereas the largest of ours do not contain above one third
part of that number. They have likewise discovered two
lesser stars, or satellites, which revolve about Mars; whereof
the innermost is distant from the centre of the primary planet
exactly three of his diameters, and the outermost, five; the
former revolves in the space of ten hours, and the latter in
twenty-one and a half; so that the squares of their periodical
times are very near in the same proportion with the cubes of
their distance from the centre of Mars; which evidently shows
them to be governed by the same law of gravitation that
influences the other heavenly bodies.</p>
<p>They have observed ninety-three different comets, and settled
their periods with great exactness. If this be true (and
they affirm it with great confidence) it is much to be wished,
that their observations were made public, whereby the theory of
comets, which at present is very lame and defective, might be
brought to the same perfection with other arts of astronomy.</p>
<p>The king would be the most absolute prince in the universe, if
he could but prevail on a ministry to join with him; but these
having their estates below on the continent, and considering that
the office of a favourite has a very uncertain tenure, would
never consent to the enslaving of their country.</p>
<p>If any town should engage in rebellion or mutiny, fall into
violent factions, or refuse to pay the usual tribute, the king
has two methods of reducing them to obedience. The first
and the mildest course is, by keeping the island hovering over
such a town, and the lands about it, whereby he can deprive them
of the benefit of the sun and the rain, and consequently afflict
the inhabitants with dearth and diseases: and if the crime
deserve it, they are at the same time pelted from above with
great stones, against which they have no defence but by creeping
into cellars or caves, while the roofs of their houses are beaten
to pieces. But if they still continue obstinate, or offer
to raise insurrections, he proceeds to the last remedy, by
letting the island drop directly upon their heads, which makes a
universal destruction both of houses and men. However, this
is an extremity to which the prince is seldom driven, neither
indeed is he willing to put it in execution; nor dare his
ministers advise him to an action, which, as it would render them
odious to the people, so it would be a great damage to their own
estates, which all lie below; for the island is the king’s
demesne.</p>
<p>But there is still indeed a more weighty reason, why the kings
of this country have been always averse from executing so
terrible an action, unless upon the utmost necessity. For,
if the town intended to be destroyed should have in it any tall
rocks, as it generally falls out in the larger cities, a
situation probably chosen at first with a view to prevent such a
catastrophe; or if it abound in high spires, or pillars of stone,
a sudden fall might endanger the bottom or under surface of the
island, which, although it consist, as I have said, of one entire
adamant, two hundred yards thick, might happen to crack by too
great a shock, or burst by approaching too near the fires from
the houses below, as the backs, both of iron and stone, will
often do in our chimneys. Of all this the people are well
apprised, and understand how far to carry their obstinacy, where
their liberty or property is concerned. And the king, when
he is highest provoked, and most determined to press a city to
rubbish, orders the island to descend with great gentleness, out
of a pretence of tenderness to his people, but, indeed, for fear
of breaking the adamantine bottom; in which case, it is the
opinion of all their philosophers, that the loadstone could no
longer hold it up, and the whole mass would fall to the
ground.</p>
<p>By a fundamental law of this realm, neither the king, nor
either of his two eldest sons, are permitted to leave the island;
nor the queen, till she is past child-bearing.</p>
<h3>III - CHAPTER IV.</h3>
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