As far as these
things go, our life was perhaps tolerable; but
our neighbors, the people who live near us,
are extremely rough and violent, for they are savages

 

who have never had commerce with civilization."
"What!" said I, "are there, then, still other
men in the whale ?"
"Numbers of them," said he, "inhospitable
and barbarous in their manners. The western territory towards the tail is inhabited by the Driedherring folk, an eel-eyed, lobster-faced race, warlike, fierce, and eaters of raw flesh. On the other
side, towards the right, are the Triton-weasels,
who are like men above but like weasels below.
However, they are less unruly than the others.
On the left are the Crabclaws and the Tunnyheads, who have made a friendly alliance between
themselves. The country between is inhabited by
the Crayfish and the Skaitfeet, a warlike race and
very swift in running. The eastern part towards
the mouth consists of waste deserts washed by
the sea. But this region I hold, paying the Skaitfeet a yearly tribute of five hundred oysters.