ved.

Now listen and attend!

From that day to this the Moon has always pulled the sea up and down
and made what we call the tides. Sometimes the Fisher of the Sea pulls a
little too hard, and then we get spring tides; and sometimes he pulls
a little too softly, and then we get what are called neap-tides; but
nearly always he is careful, because of the Eldest Magician.

And Pau Amma? You can see when you go to the beach, how all Pau Amma's
babies make little Pusat Taseks for themselves under every stone
and bunch of weed on the sands; you can see them waving their little
scissors; and in some parts of the world they truly live on the dry
land and run up the palm trees and eat cocoa-nuts, exactly as the
girl-daughter promised. But once a year all Pau Ammas must shake off
their hard armour and be soft-to remind them of what the Eldest Magician
could do. And so it isn't fair to kill or hunt Pau Amma's babies just
because old Pau Amma was stupidly rude a very long time ago.

Oh yes! And Pau Amma's babies hate being taken out of their little Pusat
Taseks and brought home in pickle-bottles. That is why they nip you with
their scissors, and it serves you right!

CHINA-GOING P's and O's
Pass Pau Amma's playground close,
And his Pusat Tasek lies
Near the track of most B.I.'s.
U.Y.K. and N.D.L.
Know Pau Amma's home as well
As the fisher of the Sea knows
'Bens,' M.M.'s, and Rubattinos.
But (and this is rather queer)
A.T.L.'s can not come here;
O. and O. and D.O.A.
Must go round another way.
Orient, Anchor, Bibby, Hall,
Never go that way at all.
U.C.S. would have a fit
If it found itself on it.
And if 'Beavers' took their cargoes
To Penang instead of Lagos,
Or a fat Shaw-Savill bore
Passengers to Singapore,
Or a White Star were to try a
Little trip to Sourabaya,
Or a B.S.A. went on
Past Natal to Cheribon,
Then great Mr. Lloyds would come
With a wire and drag them home!

You'll know what my riddle means
When you've eaten mangosteens.

Or if you can't wait till then, ask them to let you have the outside
page of the Times; turn over to page 2 where it is marked 'Shipping'
on the top left hand; then take the Atlas (and that is the finest
picture-book in the world) and see how the names of the places that
the steamers go to fit into the names of the places on the map. Any
ste