. The travels and surprising adventures of Baron Munchausen; . about a hundred yards,stooped for a couple of pebbles, of which there wereplenty under his feet, and slung them both so dex BARON MUNCHAUSEN. 71 terously at the animal, that each stone put out aneye, and lodged in the cavities which their removalhad occasioned. He now got upon his back* anddrove him into the sea ; for the moment he lost hissight, he lost also his ferocity, and became as tamoas possible. The sling was placed as a bridle in hismouth; he was guided with the greatest facilityacross the ocean, and in less than three hou
. The travels and surprising adventures of Baron Munchausen; . about a hundred yards,stooped for a couple of pebbles, of which there wereplenty under his feet, and slung them both so dex BARON MUNCHAUSEN. 71 terously at the animal, that each stone put out aneye, and lodged in the cavities which their removalhad occasioned. He now got upon his back* anddrove him into the sea ; for the moment he lost hissight, he lost also his ferocity, and became as tamoas possible. The sling was placed as a bridle in hismouth; he was guided with the greatest facilityacross the ocean, and in less than three hours theyboth arrived on the opposite shore, which is aboutthirty leagues. The master of tlie Three Cups, atHelvoetsluys, in Holland, purchased this marinehorse to make an exhibition of, for seven hundredducats, which w^as upwards of three hundredpounds; and the next day my father paid his passage back in the packet to Harwich. 1^^ My father made several curious observationsin this passage^ which I will relate hereafter. 72 OEIGINAL TRAVELS OF (RMvln ®w^Utft,. .^^ HIS famous sling makes the pos-sessor equal to any task he isdesirous of performing. I made a balloon of such ex-^ \ tensive dimensions, that an ac- count of the silk it contained would exceed allcredibility: every mercers shop and weavers stockin London, Westminster, and Spitalhelds, contrib-uted to it. With this balloon and my sling I playedmany tricks, such as taking one house from its sta-tion, and placing another in its stead, without dis-turbing the inhabitants, who were generally asleep,or too much employed to observe the peregrina-tions of their habitations. When the sentinel atWindsor castle heard St. Pauls clock strike thir-teen, it was through my dexterity; I brought thebuildings nearly together that night, by placing the BAKON MUNCHAUSEN. 73 castle in St. Georges Fields, and carried it backagain before daylight, without waking any of theinhabitants. JSTotwithstanding these exploits, Ishould have kept my bal
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