the straight tree-trunks and across the grassy slopes
to the purple waters of the Nonestic Ocean.

At the big end of the island, at the north, stood the
royal palace of King Kitticut, the lord and ruler of
Pingaree. It was a beautiful palace, built entirely of
snow-white marble and capped by domes of burnished
gold, for the King was exceedingly wealthy. All along
the coast of Pingaree were found the largest and finest
pearls in the whole world.

These pearls grew within the shells of big oysters,
and the people raked the oysters from their watery
beds, sought out the milky pearls and carried them
dutifully to their King. Therefore, once every year His
Majesty was able to send six of his boats, with sixty
rowers and many sacks of the valuable pearls, to the
Kingdom of Rinkitink, where there was a city called
Gilgad, in which King Rinkitink's palace stood on a
rocky headland and served, with its high towers, as a
lighthouse to guide sailors to the harbor. In Gilgad
the pearls from Pingaree were purchased by the King's
treasurer, and the boats went back to the island laden
with stores of rich merchandise and such supplies of
food as the people and the royal family of Pingaree
needed.

The Pingaree people never visited any other land but
that of Rinkitink, and so there were few other lands
that knew there was such an island. To the southwest