which had been
collected through various travels in strange places: ancient Egyptian
relics from tombs and mummies; curios from Australia, New Zealand, and
the South Seas; idols and images--from Tartar ikons to ancient Egyptian,
Persian, and Indian objects of worship; objects of death and torture of
American Indians; and, above all, a vast collection of lethal weapons of
every kind and from every place--Chinese "high pinders," double knives,
Afghan double-edged scimitars made to cut a body in two, heavy knives
from all the Eastern countries, ghost daggers from Thibet, the terrible
kukri of the Ghourka and other hill tribes of India, assassins' weapons
from Italy and Spain, even the knife which was formerly carried by the
slave-drivers of the Mississippi region. Death and pain of every kind
were fully represented in that gruesome collection.

That it had a fascination for Oolanga goes without saying. He was never
tired of visiting the museum in the tower, and spent endless hours in
inspecting the exhibits, till he was thoroughly familiar with every
detail of all of them. He asked permission to clean and polish and
sharpen them--a favour which was readily granted. In addition to the
above objects, there were many things of a kind to awaken human fear.
Stuffed serpents of the most objectionable and horrid kind; giant insects
from the tropics, fearsome in every detail; fishes and crustaceans
covered with weird spikes; dried octopuses of great size. Other things,
too, there were, not less deadly though seemingly innocuous--dried fungi,
traps intended for birds, beasts, fishes, reptiles, and insects; machines
which could produce pain of any kind and degree, and the only mercy of
which was the power of producing speedy death.

Caswall, who had never before seen any of these things, except those
which he had collected himself, found a constant amusement and interest
in them. He studied them, their uses, their mechanism--where there was
such--and their places of origin, until he had an ample and real
knowledge of all concerning them. Many were secret and intricate, but he
never rested till he found out all the secrets. When once he had become
interested in strange objects, and the way to use them, he began to
explore various likely places for similar finds. He began to inquire of
his household where strange lumber was kept. Several of the men spoke of
old Simon Chester as one who knew everything in and about the house