The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

149 Pages·2021·2.74 MB·English

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Title: The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle

Author: Hugh Lofting

Release Date: May 19, 2016 [EBook #1154]

Language: English

Character set encoding: UTF-8

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VOYAGES OF DR. DOLITTLE ***

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Internet Archive)

THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE

Transcriber's note: Image with tissue paper

overlay

[i]

I

HIS LANDING

ON THE
ISLAND

II

HIS MEETING

WITH THE
BEETLE

III

HE LIBERATES

THE LOST
FAMILIES

IV

HE MAKES

FIRE

V

HE LEADS THE

PEOPLE TO
VICTORY IN

WAR

VI

HE IS

CROWNED

KING

THE

POPSIPETEL

PICTURE-HISTORY OF
KING JONG THINKALOT

The VOYAGES of

DOCTOR DOLITTLE

ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR

BY HUGH LOFTING

Published by

FREDK. A. STOKES Co.

at 443 Fourth Avenue New York A.D. 1922

[ii]
[iii]

Copyright, 1922, by

Frederick A. Stokes Company

All rights reserved, including that of translation

into foreign languages

First Printing,
August 18, 1922

Second Printing,
November 10, 1922

Third Printing,
February 28, 1923

Fourth Printing,
June 20, 1923

Fifth Printing,
August 16, 1923

Sixth Printing,
November 30, 1923

Seventh Printing,
April 18, 1925

Eighth Printing,
March 19, 1926

Ninth Printing,
July 30, 1927

Tenth Printing,
April 11, 1928

Eleventh Printing,
June 19, 1929

Twelfth Printing,
September 12, 1930

Thirteenth Printing,
August 10, 1931

Fourteenth Printing, September 1, 1933

Printed in the United States of America

[iv]

To
Colin
and

Elizabeth

[v]

CONTENTS

PART ONE

CHAPTER
PAGE

Prologue
1

I The Cobbler’s Son
3

II I Hear of the Great Naturalist
8

III The Doctor’s Home
15

IV The Wiff-Waff
24

V Polynesia
32

VI The Wounded Squirrel
41

VII Shellfish Talk
45

VIII Are You a Good Noticer?
50

IX The Garden of Dreams
55

X The Private Zoo
60

XI My Schoolmaster, Polynesia
65

XII My Great Idea
70

XIII A Traveler Arrives
75

XIV Chee-Chee’s Voyage
80

XV I Become a Doctor’s Assistant
84

PART TWO

I The Crew of “The Curlew”
88

II Luke the Hermit
91

III Jip and the Secret
95

IV Bob
99

V Mendoza
105

VI The Judge’s Dog
111

VII The End of the Mystery
116

VIII Three Cheers
121

IX The Purple Bird-of-Paradise
126

X Long Arrow, the Son of Golden Arrow 129
XI Blind Travel
135

XII Destiny and Destination
140

PART THREE

I The Third Man
144

II Good-Bye!
151

III Our Troubles Begin
155

IV Our Troubles Continue
160

V Polynesia Has a Plan
167

VI The Bed-Maker of Monteverde
172

VII The Doctor’s Wager
177

VIII The Great Bullfight
184

IX We Depart in a Hurry
193

PART FOUR

I Shellfish Languages Again
198

II The Fidgit’s Story
205

III Bad Weather
221

IV Wrecked!
225

V Land!
233

VI The Jabizri
239

VII Hawk’s-Head Mountain
245

PART FIVE

I A Great Moment
253

II “The Men of the Moving Land”
262

III Fire
266

IV What Makes an Island Float
271

V War!
275

VI General Polynesia
282

VII The Peace of the Parrots
287

VIII The Hanging Stone
291

IX The Election
300

[vi]
[vii]

[viii]

X The Coronation of King Jong
308

PART SIX

I New Popsipetel
314

II Thoughts of Home
322

III The Red Man’s Science
328

IV The Sea-Serpent
332

V The Shellfish Riddle Solved at Last
340

VI The Last Cabinet Meeting
346

VII The Doctor’s Decision
350

[ix]

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Popsipetel Picture-History of King Jong Thinkalot (in colors)
Frontispiece

PAGE

“I would sit on the river-wall with my feet dangling over the water”
5

“And in her right foot she carried a lighted candle!”
22

“‘Being a good noticer is terribly important’”
53

A traveler arrives
77

“On the bed sat the Hermit”
101

“Sat scowling down upon the amazed and gaping jury”
115

“‘What else can I think?’”
133

“‘Boy, where’s the skipper?’”
147

“In these lower levels we came upon the shadowy shapes of dead ships” (in colors)
162

“The Doctor started chatting in Spanish to the bed-maker”
175

“Did acrobatics on the beast’s horns”
189

“‘He talks English!’”
201

“I was alone in the ocean!”
226

“It was a great moment”
257

The Terrible Three
279

“Working away with their noses against the end of the island”
293

“The Whispering Rocks”
295

“Had to chase his butterflies with a crown upon his head”
317

“‘Tiptoe incognito,’ whispered Bumpo”
353

[x]
[xi]

[xii]

THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE
[xiii]

THE VOYAGES OF
DOCTOR DOLITTLE

[1]

A

PROLOGUE

LL that I have written so far about Doctor Dolittle I heard long after it happened from those who had known him
—indeed a great deal of it took place before I was born. But I now come to set down that part of the great man’s

life which I myself saw and took part in.

Many years ago the Doctor gave me permission to do this. But we were both of us so busy then voyaging around

the world, having adventures and filling note-books full of natural history that I never seemed to get time to sit down and
write of our doings.

Now of course, when I am quite an old man, my memory isn’t so good any more. But whenever I am in doubt and

have to hesitate and think, I always ask Polynesia, the parrot.

That wonderful bird (she is now nearly two hundred and fifty years old) sits on the top of my desk, usually humming

sailor songs to herself, while I write this book. And, as every one who ever met her knows, Polynesia’s memory is the
most marvelous memory in the world. If there is any happening I am not quite sure of, she is always able to put me right,
to tell me exactly how it took place, who was there and everything about it. In fact sometimes I almost think I ought to
say that this book was written by Polynesia instead of me.

Very well then, I will begin. And first of all I must tell you something about myself and how I came to meet the

Doctor.

[2]

PART I
[3]

M

THE FIRST CHAPTER

THE COBBLER’S SON

Y name was Tommy Stubbins, son of Jacob Stubbins, the cobbler of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh; and I was nine
and a half years old. At that time Puddleby was only quite a small town. A river ran through the middle of it; and

over this river there was a very old stone bridge, called Kingsbridge, which led you from the market-place on one side
to the churchyard on the other.

Sailing-ships came up this river from the sea and anchored near the bridge. I used to go down and watch the sailors

unloading the ships upon the river-wall. The sailors sang strange songs as they pulled upon the ropes; and I learned
these songs by heart. And I would sit on the river-wall with my feet dangling over the water and sing with the men,
pretending to myself that I too was a sailor.

For I longed always to sail away with those brave ships when they turned their backs on Puddleby Church and went

creeping down the river again, across the wide lonely marshes to the sea. I longed to go with them out into the world to
seek my fortune in foreign lands—Africa, India, China and Peru! When they got round the bend in the river and the
water was hidden from view, you could still see their huge brown sails towering over the roofs of the town, moving
onward slowly—like some gentle giants that walked among the houses without noise. What strange things would they
have seen, I wondered, when next they came back to anchor at Kingsbridge! And, dreaming of the lands I had never
seen, I’d sit on there, watching till they were out of sight.

Three great friends I had in Puddleby in those days. One was Joe, the mussel-man, who lived in a tiny hut by the

edge of the water under the bridge. This old man was simply marvelous at making things. I never saw a man so clever
with his hands. He used to mend my toy ships for me which I sailed upon the river; he built windmills out of packing-
cases and barrel-staves; and he could make the most wonderful kites from old umbrellas.

Joe would sometimes take me in his mussel-boat, and when the tide was running out we would paddle down the

river as far as the edge of the sea to get mussels and lobsters to sell. And out there on the cold lonely marshes we
would see wild geese flying, and curlews and redshanks and many other kinds of seabirds that live among the samfire
and the long grass of the great salt fen. And as we crept up the river in the evening, when the tide had turned, we would
see the lights on Kingsbridge twinkle in the dusk, reminding us of tea-time and warm fires.

“I would sit on the river-wall with my feet dangling over the

water”

Another friend I had was Matthew Mugg, the cat’s-meat-man. He was a funny old person with a bad squint. He

looked rather awful but he was really quite nice to talk to. He knew everybody in Puddleby; and he knew all the dogs

[4]

[5]
[6]