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 expositionof the contents of the volume.
Everything that is marvellous carries with it much thatis instructive, and, in this sense, "Ten Thousand WonderfulThings," may be made useful for the highest educationalpurposes. Events which happen in the regular course haveno claim to a place in any work that professes to be a registerof what is uncommon; and were we to select suchWonders only as are capable of familiar demonstration, weshould destroy their right to be deemed wondrous, and, atthe same time, defeat the very object which we profess tohave in view. A marvel once explained away ceases to bea marvel. For this reason, while rejecting everything thatis obviously fictitious and untrue, we have not hesitated toinsert many incidents which appear at first sight to be whollyincredible.
In the present work, interesting Scenes from Nature,Curiosities of Art, Costume and Customs of a bygoneperiod rather predominate; but we have devoted many ofits pages to descriptions of remarkable Occurrences, beautifulLandscapes, stupendous Water-falls, and sublime Sea-pieces.It is true that some of our illustrations may notbe beautiful according to the sense in which the word isgenerally used; but they are all the more curious andcharacteristic, as well as truthful, on that account; forwhatever is lost of beauty, is gained by accuracy. Whatis odd or quaint, strange or startling, rarely possesses muchclaim to the picturesque and refined. Scrape the rust offan 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 thestrangeness of its nature, or from the quaintness of its narration,is like the obliterating process of scrubbing up apainting by one of the old masters. It looks all the cleanerfor the operation, but, the chances are, it is spoilt as a workof art.
We trust it is needless to say that we have closed ourpages against everything that can be considered objectionablein its tendency; and, while every statement inthis volume has been culled with conscientious care fromauthentic, although not gene