PART IV

I PARCEL POST

II THE GREAT MAIL ROBBERY

III PEARLS AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS

IV PEARL DIVERS

V OBOMBO'S REBELLION

VI THE DOCTOR'S RELEASE

VII A MYSTERIOUS LETTER

VIII THE LAND OF THE MANGROVE SWAMPS

IX THE SECRET LAKE

X THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL'S LAST ORDER

XI GOOD-BYE TO FANTIPPO

_ILLUSTRATIONS_

"It was mournful scenery" _Frontispiece_

"John Dolittle talked to the woman"

"Looking into all the bays"

"'Where have you been?'"

"The birds spread themselves out along the coast"

"'_Fire!_' said Speedy"

"The bluejackets crowded to the rail"

"A rare Fantippo stamp"

"The Doctor gave the king a cup of China tea"

"'Good morning! What can I do for you?'"

"They found the Doctor shaving"

"Thousands of swallows built their nests in her rigging"

"'Turn back, Jip!' gasped the Doctor"

"'All we eat is bananas'"

"He was pulling out a loose tooth"

"They sat down in the shade of a palm tree"

"He began his great inauguration speech"

"He put his large face in at the information window"

"The houseboat post office of No-Man's-Land"

"Jip hung up the sign"

"He held scribbling classes for the animals"

"Cheapside, the London sparrow"

"The double letter boxes of Fantippo"

"The royal peacock complained that Cheapside had made faces at him"

"'Great heavens, Doctor, I've gained an ounce!'"

"The sailors were ready to kill their admiral"

"There were many rocks and shallows near the end of Cape Stephen"

"The gulls dashed themselves into the wheelman's face"

"The Doctor lit the candle"

"The Doctor and Dab-Dab cooked his breakfast for him"

"The gull caught the tomato skin with a lightning lunge"

"The gull took a fresh piece of toast"

"The Doctor took an armchair beside the kitchen stove"

"John Dolittle saw him snooping around the post office"

"The Doctor experimented on Jip"

"It was certainly a wonderful collection of objects"

"It was Sir Timothy Quisby, our most expensive patient"

"He had fallen into the soup"

"She made a regular pet of him"

"'We'll keep the black and white one, Liza'"

"The old rat laughed a quavering laugh"

"Upstairs where the dye vats stood"

"The Doctor cut off all my fur"

"His pictures are just awful"

"A retriever came up with a gold watch and chain"

"'Come over here by the trough'"

"The Doctor span the penny"

"'What was that?'"

"They'd run off with it and swallow it"

"I jabbed the watchman"

"I leapt as I have never leapt before"

"Putting the King's bicycle together"

"Dab-Dab looked over his shoulder"

"They reminded him of old broken down cab horses"

"I put the parcel down"

"Wilkins levelled a pistol at the Doctor's head"

"'_Pst!_' I whispered to the wife"

"The rout of the Amazons"

"'Oh, I think this is an awful place!'"

"The young ones were with her"

"Gub-Gub dives for pearls"

"The Doctor patted him on the shoulder"

"In the jungle Obombo made speeches"

"'How dare you speak to me like that?'"

"The white mouse would roll them down the hole"

"'Do you realize what that pearl means to us?'"

"The King saw the Doctor's canoe arriving"

"In popped the head of an enormous snake"

"The canoe was yanked from under them"

"The Doctor saw the shape of an enormous turtle"

"The trees bent down with his weight"

"The Doctor was washing his face in the lake"

"Dab-Dab, the economical housekeeper, blew out the candle"

"Mixing the turtle's medicine"

"A never-ending stream of big birds"

"Dab-Dab prepared a meal"

"A wooden statue still stands to his memory"

DOCTOR DOLITTLE'S POST OFFICE

PROLOGUE

Nearly all of the history of Doctor Dolittle's post office took place when he was returning from a voyage to West Africa. Therefore I will begin (as soon as I have told you a little about how he came to take the journey) from where he turned his ship towards home again and set sail for Puddleby-on-the-Marsh.

Some time before this the pushmi-pullyu, after a long stay in England, had grown a little homesick for Africa. And although he was tremendously fond of the Doctor and never wanted to leave him altogether, he asked him one winter day when the weather was particularly cold and disagreeable if he would mind running down to Africa for a holiday--just for a week or two.

The Doctor readily agreed because he hadn't been on a voyage in a long while and he felt he too needed a change from the chilly December days of England.

So he started off. Besides the pushmi-pullyu he took Dab-Dab the duck, Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the pig, Too-Too the owl, and the white mouse--the same good company he had had with him on his adventurous return from the Land of the Monkeys. For this trip the Doctor bought a little sailing boat--very old and battered and worn, but a good sound craft for bad weather.

They sailed away down to the south coast of the Bight of Benin. There they visited many African kingdoms and strange tribes. And while they were ashore the pushmi-pullyu had a chance to wander freely through his old grazing grounds. And he enjoyed his holiday thoroughly.

One morning the Doctor was delighted to see his old friends the swallows gathering once more about his ship at anchor for their yearly flight to England. They asked him whether he too was returning; because if so, they said, they would accompany him, the same as they had done when he was escaping from the Kingdom of Jolliginki.

As the pushmi-pullyu was now quite ready to leave, the Doctor thanked the swallows and told them he would be delighted to have their company. Then for the remainder of that day all was hustle and hurry and bustle, getting the ship provisioned and making preparations for the long trip back to England.

By the following morning everything was in readiness to put to sea. The anchor was drawn up and with all sail set the Doctor's ship moved northward before a favorable wind. And it is from this point that my story begins.