I had one much attached to me, who would come of her own accord, flutter her wings, and crouch at the top of my chair.  The attendant was obliged to milk the animal close to my chair, and the affectionate little thing would watch the man until he handed me the milk, as though she feared he might give it to one of the guests.  Infants are suckled by these tame animals.

At the beginning of my reign the animals were very rare, and indeed nearly extinct, their only food being the nut of a tree then extremely scarce, for before the discovery of the application of electricity the tree had been burnt for use.  By my order large tracts were planted with these trees, and there are now large enclosures in which herds of Meleetas are preserved.

The young are very precocious, and can soon be fed on nuts, and consequently taken from the mother, who remains in milk for a long time—­nearly a year and a half.

Great interest is taken in the Meleetas, and they are treated with much gentleness, each having a small house to itself, lined with soft down, and furnished with a perch.

They are very intelligent and grateful, and I well recollect the astonishment of my favourite when she laid her first egg.  She would take hold of my robe and pull me, that I might look at the novel production, and she would make all the time a pretty noise like a laugh, seeming to be astonished and overjoyed.

I sometimes wore long flowing robes, and was often accompanied by this little creature when I strolled through my grounds.  If it was at all damp she would hold up the hem of my garment with her mouth, that it might not get wet.  When with me in my study, she would crouch down and remain quiet at my bidding.

The Meleetas resent ill-treatment, though not spitefully.  They can only raise themselves a small distance from the ground, but I have seen one when offended flutter, fly up quickly, and descend, giving the offender a smart box on the ear with her wing.

7.  Turvee.—­An insect whose electricity forcibly attracts and subdues the power of man.

8.  Shooting stars are, in our legends, said to be companies of good angels, linked in brightness and despatched from one star to another, on messages of love and peace, sometimes to protect an inferior world from the too great inroads of legions of evil spirits.

9.  Whale electricity.—­Of all, the most powerfully attractive.

10.  The Martolooti.—­A basilisk, or serpent, possessing wondrous fascinating power over its prey.

11.  Castrenka, or Flower of Grace.—­A plant with two branches only, which spontaneously or at the slightest breath move always together in a most graceful manner.

12.  Chilarti.—­A little pet animal, always playful and smiling.

13.  The Tootmanyoso’s fruit.—­That is to say the Allmanyuka—­ the fruit invented by me, of which hereafter.

14.  The perfume of the everlasting gulf.—­A gulf the waters of which emitted a delicious fragrance, and when taken from the gulf would not keep together, but separated into drops like tears.