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TEN THOUSAND
WONDERFUL THINGS
COMPRISING
WHATEVER IS MARVELLOUS AND RARE, CURIOUS
ECCENTRIC AND EXTRAORDINARY
IN ALL AGES AND NATIONS
ENRICHED WITH
HUNDREDS OF AUTHENTIC ILLUSTRATIONS
EDITED BY
EDMUND FILLINGHAM KING, M.A.
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, Limited
BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL
MANCHESTER AND NEW YORK
1894
STANDARD WORKS OF REFERENCE.
UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME.
LEMPRIÈRE'S CLASSICAL DICTIONARY.
WALKER'S RHYMING DICTIONARY.
MACKAY'S THOUSAND AND ONE GEMS OF ENGLISH POETRY.
D'ISRAELI'S CURIOSITIES OF LITERATURE.
BARTLETT'S FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS.
CRUDEN'S CONCORDANCE TO THE BIBLE.
THE FAMILY DOCTOR.
PREFACE.
A Book of Wonders requires but a brief introduction. Our title-page tells its own tale and forms the best exposition of the contents of the volume.
Everything that is marvellous carries with it much that is instructive, and, in this sense, "Ten Thousand Wonderful Things," may be made useful for the highest educational purposes. Events which happen in the regular course have no claim to a place in any work that professes to be a register of what is uncommon; and were we to select such Wonders only as are capable of familiar demonstration, we should destroy their right to be deemed wondrous, and, at the same time, defeat the very object which we profess to have in view. A marvel once explained away ceases to be a marvel. For this reason, while rejecting everything that is obviously fictitious and untrue, we have not hesitated to insert many incidents which appear at first sight to be wholly incredible.
In the present work, interesting Scenes from Nature, Curiosities of Art, Costume and Customs of a bygone period rather predominate; but we have devoted many of its pages to descriptions of remarkable Occurrences, beautiful Landscapes, stupendous Water-falls, and sublime Sea-pieces. It is true that some of our illustrations may not be beautiful according to the sense in which the word is generally used; but they are all the more curious and characteristic, as well as truthful, on that account; for whatever is lost of beauty, is gained by accuracy. What is odd or quaint, strange or startling, rarely possesses much claim to the picturesque and refined. Scrape the rust off an antique coin, and, while you make it look more shining, you invariably render it worthless in the eyes of a collector. To polish up a fact which derives its value either from the strangeness of its nature, or from the quaintness of its narration, is like the obliterating process of scrubbing up a painting by one of the old masters. It looks all the cleaner for the operation, but, the chances are, it is spoilt as a work of art.
We trust it is needless to say that we have closed our pages against everything that can be considered objectionable in its tendency; and, while every statement in this volume has been culled with conscientious care from authentic, although not generally accessible, sources, we have scrupulously rejected every line that could give offence, and endeavoured, in accordance with what we profess in our title-page, to amuse by the eccentric, to startle by the unexpected, and to astonish by the marvellous.
INDEX TO ENGRAVINGS
PAGE ABYSSINIAN ARMS, 509 —— LADIES, 492 —— ORNAMENTS OF, 493 —— LADY TATTOOED, 496 ALTAR-PIECE OF SAN MINIATO, 601 AMULET WORN BY EGYPTIAN FEMALES, 452 AMULET BROTCHE, 332 ANCIENT METHOD OF KEEPING A WASHING ACCOUNT, 3 —— NUT-CRACKERS, 236 —— SNUFF-BOXES, 210 ANGLO-SAXONS, SEPULCHRAL BARROW OF THE, 27 APTERYX, THE, OR WINGLESS BIRD, 308 ARCH, A BEAUTIFUL, IN CANNISTOWN CHURCH, 433 —— OF TRAJAN AT BENEVENTUM, 445 ARCHITECTURE FOR EARTHQUAKES, 324 ARMLET, AN ANCIENT, 425 ARMOUR, ANCIENT, CURIOUS PIECE OF, 341 ASH, THE SHREW, 397 AZTEC CHILDREN, THE, 37 BAGPIPES, 505 BANDOLIERS, 560 BANNERS AND STANDARDS, ANCIENT, 584, 585 BASTILLE, STORMING OF THE, 195 BEAU BRUMMELL (A), OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, 61 BECTIVE ABBEY, 392 BEDESMEN IN THE TIME OF HENRY VII, 593 BELLOWS, A PRIMITIVE PAIR OF, 637 BELL SHRINE, AN ANCIENT, 348 —— OF SAINT MURA, 412 BIBLE USED BY CHARLES I. ON THE SCAFFOLD, 271 BILLY IN THE SALT BOX, 181 BLACKFRIARS, PARIS GARDEN AT, 465 BLIND GRANNY, 70 —— JACK, 23 BOAT, A BURMESE, 668 BOOK-SHAPED WATCH, 328 BRACELET, A MAGICIAN'S, 345 BRAMA, THE HINDOO DEITY, 556 BRANK, THE, 2 BRASS MEDAL OF OUR SAVIOUR, 241 BRITANNIA TUBULAR BRIDGE, 173 BROOCH, ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN, 401 BRICKS OF BABYLON, 613 BRIDGE OVER THE THAMES, THE FIRST, 428 —— A CHINESE, 440 —— CROMWELL'S, AT GLENGARIFF, 648 BUCKINGER, MATTHEW, 53 BUCKLER OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, WITH PISTOL INSERTED, 30 BUNYAN'S (JOHN) TOMB, 157 BURMESE PRIEST PREACHING, 266 BUST, AN ANCIENT ETRURIAN,
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[email protected]#i_694.jpg" class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">677 CAMDEN CUP, THE, 250 CANDLESTICK, A REMARKABLE, IN FAYENCE, 592 —— OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, 436 CARFAX CONDUIT, 333 CARRIAGE, A TURKISH, 656 CASCADE DES PELERINES, 135 CATACOMBS AT ROME, 87 CAVE, PORT COON, 516 —— THE TIGER, AT CUTTACK, 361 CHAIR BROUGHT OVER TO AMERICA BY THE PILGRIM FATHERS, 186 —— DAGOBERT'S, ANCIENT, 421 —— HENRY VIII.'S, 488 —— THE DUCHESS OF LAUDERDALE'S, 401 CHAPTER-HOUSE, A, IN THE TIME OF HENRY VII., 600 CHARLEMAGNE, CROWN OF, 377 CHIEFTAIN, ANCIENT SCOTTISH, 500 CHINESE METHOD OF FISHING, 316 —— PUNISHMENT OF THE KANG, OR WOODEN COLLAR, 134 CHRISTMAS, PROCLAIMING THE NON-OBSERVANCE OF, 19 CISTERN OF MAJOLICA WARE, 597 COFFEE POT, IN STONEWARE, A CURIOUS, 649 COIN, THE FIRST, WITH BRITANNIA ON IT, 468 COLLARS, ANCIENT STONE, 665 COLUMN AT CUSSI, 533 COMB, A CURIOUS INDIAN, 657 CORAL REEFS, 74 CORPSE BEARER DURING THE PLAGUE, 284 COSTUMES, ANCIENT, 18, 71, 78, 86, 212, 213, 220, 296, 297 —— GERMAN, OF THE 16TH CENTURY, 548 COSTUME, FOREIGN, IN 1492, 543 —— OF A GERMAN NOBLE, 536 COUTEAU-DE-CHASSE, 633 CRADLE OF MOSS, 325 —— HENRY V., 416 CROSBY, SIR JOHN, HELMET OF, 520 CROSS OF CONG, 457 —— MUIREDACH, 369 CUCKING STOOL, 1 CUPID OF THE HINDOOS, THE, 552 CURFEW BELL, THE, 33 CURIOUS FIGURES ON A SMALL SHRINE, 203 DAGGER OF RAOUL DE COURCY, 263 —— AN ANCIENT, 673 DAGOBERT, ANCIENT CHAIR OF, 421 DANCING NATIVES OF NEW SOUTH WALES, 225 DARNEY (JENNY), A HARMLESS ECCENTRIC OF THE YEAR 1790, 187 DERVISHES DANCING, 669 DIAL AND FOUNTAIN IN LEADENHALL STREET, 553 DINNER PARTY IN THE 17TH CENTURY, 609 —— TABLE, AN EGYPTIAN, 537 DIOGENES IN A PITHOS—NOT TUB, 524 DOG-WHEEL, THE OLD, 101 DRINKING CUP, A CURIOUSLY SHAPED, 413 —— EARLY GERMAN, 460 —— VESSEL, A DECORATIVE, 336 —— GLASS, ANCIENT, 153 DROPPING WELL OF KNARESBOROUGH, 143 DRUID'S SEAT, THE, 464 DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS, OR ORNITHORYNCHUS PARADOXUS, 273 DYAK WITH HEADS, SKULL HOUSE, AND HOUSE OF SEA DYAKS, 276, 277 —— WAR BOAT IN BORNEO, 540 DYAKS OF BORNEO, WAR DANCE OF THE, 541 EAST INDIA HOUSE, THE FIRST,
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206 EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE, 109 EGYPTIAN TOYS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, 130 EMBROIDERED GLOVE, PRESENTED BY MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTLAND, TO AN ATTENDANT ON THE MORNING OF HER EXECUTION, 263 EXTRAORDINARY CATARACT, 224 —— SITUATION FOR A TREE, 313 —— TREE, 183 FASHIONABLE DISFIGUREMENT OF THE TIME OF CHARLES I., 213 FAWKES HALL, OLD MANOR HOUSE OF, 380 FETE OF THE FEDERATION OF THE NATIONAL GUARDS OF FRANCE, 1790, 289 FIGG (JAMES), THE CHAMPION PRIZE-FIGHTER OF 1733, 113 FISH, SHOOTING, 432 FISHERMAN, BULGARIAN, 497 FLOATING CITY OF BANKOK, 309 FONT AT KILCARN, THE, 417 FRENCH ASSIGNATS, FAC-SIMILE OF THE FORMS IN WHICH THEY WERE ISSUED TO THE PUBLIC, 254 FULLERTON'S (COLONEL) DEVICE FOR PASSING A MOUNTAIN TORRENT, 194 FUNEREAL JAR, 481 GARDEN, EGYPTIAN, 349 GARRICK'S CUP, 232 GATE, THE, ON OLD LONDON BRIDGE, 561 GAUNTLET OF HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES, 661 GIANT TREE, 229 GLAIVE, A, 504 GRACE KNIVES, 641 GRAVES OF THE STONE PERIOD, 364 GREAT WALL OF CHINA, 233 GREY MAN'S PATH, THE, 528 GUN, A CELEBRATED, 568 GUY, THOMAS, PORTRAIT OF, 605 HACKNEY COACHMAN OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II., 258 HACKNEY COACH, THE EARLIEST, 211 HEAD-BREAKER, A, 665 —— ORNAMENT, ANTIQUE, 393 HEART OF LORD EDWARD BRUCE AND CASE, 246, 247 HELMET, AN EARLY ENGLISH, 632 HELMET OF SIR JOHN CROSBY, 520 HENRY V., CRADLE OF, 516 —— VII., BEDESMEN IN THE TIME OF, 393 —— VIII., CHAIR OF, 488 —— I. (KING) DREAM OF, 26 —— VIII.'S WALKING STICK, 30 HINDOO ADORATION OF THE SÁLAGRÁM, 588 HOLY-WATER SPRINKLER, 532 HOOPS, LADIES', IN 1740, 6 HUDSON, JEFFERY, THE DWARF OF THE COURT OF CHARLES I., 472 IMPLEMENTS USED IN BUDDHIST TEMPLES, 621 INCENSE CHARIOT, AN ANCIENT, 513 INSTRUMENTS OF TORTURE:—THE EXECUTIONER'S AXE; THE BLOCK ON WHICH LORDS BALMERINO AND LOVAT WERE BEHEADED; THE SCAVENGER'S DAUGHTER; SPANISH BILBOES; MASSIVE IRON COLLAR FOR THE NECK; THUMB SCREW. BRAND FOR MARKING FELONS: IMPRESSION OF BRAND; PUNISHMENT FOR DRUNKARDS, FORMERLY IN USE AT NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE; THE WHIRLIGIG, A MILITARY METHOD OF PUNISHMENT; PILLORY, STOCKS, AND WHIPPING-POST FORMERLY ON LONDON BRIDGE, 60, 90 IRRIGATION, TURKISH MACHINE FOR, 681 JAMES I., CURIOUS JEWEL WHICH BELONGED TO, 456 —— II., AND THE CHURCH OF DONORE, 557 JEWEL PRESENTED BY MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, TO EARL HUNTLEY, 243 JOHNSON'S (DR. SAMUEL), RESIDENCE IN INNER TEMPLE LANE, 48 — — OLD STAIRCASE IN, 49 JOY (WILLIAM), THE ENGLISH SAMPSON, 177 KING'S STONE, THE, 461 KNIGHT'S COSTUME OF THE 13TH CENTURY, 480 LAMPS, ANCIENT ROMAN, 437 LOCOMOTIVE, THE FIRST, 96 —— THE PRESENT, AND TRAIN, 97 LORD OF MISRULE, 15 LOUIS XII., IVORY SCEPTRE OF, 476 LOUIS XVI., EXECUTION OF, 255 LUTHER'S (MARTIN) TANKARD, 150
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LYNCH'S CASTLE, GALWAY, 581 MAGICIAN'S MIRROR, 344 —— BRACELET, 345 MAY-POLES, 101 MAIL, ANCIENT SUIT OF, 484 MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS', CANDLESTICK, 436 MEDMENHAM ABBEY, 429 MILITARY HATS IN THE OLDEN TIME, 75 MILL AT LISSOY, 469 MIRROR, A MAGICIAN'S, 344 MONSOONS, 180 MONSTROUS HEAD-DRESS OF 1782, 242 MONUMENTS, WAYSIDE, 588 —— ROCK CUT, OF ASIA MINOR, 444 MORAYSHIRE FLOODS, 126 MOSQUE OF OMAR, 317 —— ST. SOPHIA, 104 MUMMERS, OR ANCIENT WAITS, 14 MUMMY CASES, 409 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT, HINDOO, 684 —— —— A CURIOUS BURMESE, 628, 629 —— —— EGYPTIAN, 405 NAORA, THE, 636 NEBUCHADNEZZAR, MASK OF, 105 NECKLACE, ANCIENT JET, 529 NELL GWYNNE'S LOOKING-GLASS, 237 NEWTON CHURCH, DOORWAY OF, 473 NEWTON'S (SIR ISAAC) OBSERVATORY, 10 —— HOUSE, ST. MARTIN'S STREET, 11 NORMAN CAPS, 44 NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN WAR DESPATCH, 45 OLD LONDON BRIDGE, GATE ON THE, 561 —— —— SIGNS, 120 ORNAMENTS ABYSSINIAN FEMALE, 493 —— ANTIQUE HEAD, 393 —— FEMALE, OF THE IRON PERIOD, 400 —— EGYPTIAN FEMALE, 448 —— PERSONAL, OF EGYPTIANS, 453 —— OF FEMALE DRESS IN THE TIMES OF THE ANCIENT BRITONS, 79 PAGODA, THE GREAT SHOEMADOO, 572 PAILOOS, CHINESE, 625 PAPYRUS ROLL, FROM A SPECIMEN IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, 82 —— SYRIAN, WITH AND WITHOUT FLOWERS, 83 PARIS GARDEN AT BLACKFRIARS, 465 PASS OF KEIM-AN-EIGH, 329 PENN'S (WILLIAM) SILVER TEA SERVICE, 202 PENNSYLVANIA JOURNAL, FAC-SIMILE OF THE HEADING OF THE LAST NUMBER, 1765, 63 PEST HOUSE DURING THE PLAGUE IN TOTHILL FIELDS, 573 PETER THE GREAT, HOUSE OF, AT ZAANDAM, 545 PLOUGHING, ANCIENT MODE OF, 66 POISON CUP, THE, 485 PONT DU GARD, THE GREAT AQUEDUCT OF, 312 POPE'S CHAIR, 577 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS IN 1743, 56 PORCELAIN FIGURES, 517 POTTERY IN CHINA, THE ART OF, 321 POWERSCOURT FALL, PHENOMENON AT, 305 PREACHING FRIAR, 221 PRE-ADAMITE BONE CAVERNS, 199 PRIESTS OF SIKKIM, 664 PRINCE RUPERT, HEAD QUARTERS OF, DURING THE SIEGE OF LIVERPOOL, IN 1644, 292 PULPIT OF JOHN KNOX AT ST. ANDREW'S, 270 PUNISHMENT, ANCIENT INSTRUMENT OF, 680 PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT, 131 QUEEN ELIZABETH'S STATE COACH, 198 —— —— SIDE SADDLE OF, 340 RAFFAELLE, TOMB OF, 569 RALEIGH'S (SIR WALTER) ANCIENT RESIDENCE AT BLACKWALL,
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tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">161 REVOLVER, A, OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, 30 RING, FORMERLY THE PROPERTY OF CHARLES I., 263 RINGS, CALCINATED, 408 —— SARDONYX, WITH CAMEO HEAD OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, 372 —— A TOAD STONE, 424 ROCK OF CASHEL, THE, 352 RUINS OF CLONMACNOIS, 612 SACK-POT, OLD ENGLISH, 521 SAINT GEORGE, TOMB OF, 281 SAINT GEORGE'S HALL, GIBRALTAR, 7 SALAGRAM, HINDOO ADORATION OF THE, 589 SARDONYX RING, WITH CAMEO HEAD OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, 373 SCEPTRE, IVORY, OF LOUIS XII., 476 SCHOOL, A CHINESE, 525 SCRIPTURAL ANTIQUITIES:—DRUM, OR TIMBREL; DRUM IN USE IN THE EAST; HARP; LUTES; INSCRIBED STONE; SANDALS; DISTAFF; ROMAN FARTHING; STONEMONEY-WRIGHTS; HAND MILL; EASTERN WINE AND WATER BOTTLES, 217 SELKIRK (ALEXANDER) AND THE DANCING GOATS, 22 SEPULCHRAL VASE, 320, 608 SHAKESPEARE'S JUG, 576 SHIELD, ANCIENT DANISH, 420 SHRINE OF ST. SEBALD AT NUREMBERG, 604 SILVER LOCKET IN MEMORY OF THE EXECUTION OF CHARLES I., 263 SNAKE CHARMER, 300 SOUTH STACK LIGHTHOUSE, 240 SPANISH DAGGER OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, 263 SPIDER, THE TRAP-DOOR, 384 —— NEST OF THE, 385 ST. WINIFRED'S WELL, 304 STAMP, MEDICINE, ANTIQUE ROMAN, 449 STANDARDS, EGYPTIAN, 396 —— ASSYRIAN, 584, 585 STEAM BOAT, FAC-SIMILE OF THE FIRST, 301 STICKS, OLD WALKING, 388 SWORD BREAKER, ANCIENT, 672 —— AN EXECUTIONER'S, 676 —— CURIOUS ANTIQUE, 596 —— THE HAWTHORNDEN, 353 —— THE SETON, 357 SUMMERS' MAGNET, OR LOADSTONE, 41 TEMPLAR'S BANNER, CALLED BEAUSEANT, 565 TEMPLE AT SIMONBONG, INTERIOR VIEW OF, 620 THRASHING CORN, ANCIENT METHOD OF, 67 TILBURY FORT, WATER-GATE OF, 190 TOILET BOXES, EGYPTIAN, 381 TOMB, ANCIENT GREEK, INTERIOR VIEW OF, 617 —— A CHINESE, 508 —— OF RAFFAELLE, 569 TOMB OF CÆCILIA METELLA, 477 TOPE, THE SANCHI, 389 TORTURE CHAMBER AT NUREMBERG, 616 TOWER OF THE THUNDERING WINDS, 93 TRAJAN, ARCH OF, AT BENEVENTUM, 445 TREATY STONE AT LIMERICK, 564 TRIPOD, AN ANCIENT, 549 TUMBREL, THE, 2 TUNISIAN TURNER, A, 652 TYRIAN PURPLE, THE SHELL FISH FROM WHICH IT IS OBTAINED, 644 UMBRELLA, ANGLO-SAXON, 624 VASES, ANCIENT, 337 —— GREEK, 501 —— ROMAN, IN BLACK WARE, 372 —— A SEPULCHRAL, OF ANCIENT EGYPT, 608 VASES TEUTONIC, HUT-SHAPED, 580 VAUXHALL, 380 VESSEL, A CURIOUSLY SHAPED, 376 VESUVIUS, CRATER OF, IN 1829, 165 VISHNU, THE GOD, 645 VOLCANO OF JORULLO, MEXICO,
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class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">161 WAR CHARIOT OF EGYPT, 365 WATCH, ANTIQUE, 368 —— PRESENTED BY LOUIS XII. OF FRANCE TO CHARLES I. OF ENGLAND, 640 —— PRESENTED BY MARY OF SCOTLAND TO MARY SKATON, 285 WATER CARRIER OF THE OLDEN TIME, 259 WEAPON, AN ANCIENT, 660 —— A POISON, 672 WEAVER BIRD, SOCIAL NEST OF, 441 WIGS OF VARIOUS PERIODS, 31
