Page:Armatafragment00ersk.djvu/206

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¬and said he would send for his son to accompany me, whose youth and modern manners made him a much fitter companion for such an expe- dition than himself. ¬The capital, he said, would fill me with admiration and wonder, as the city of Swaloal was, beyond all question, the greatest, the richest and the most illustrious in that world. I was struck with the name as he pronounced it, which he had not mentioned before; and although I well remembered the blunder which, from the habits of association, 1 had before made in the etymology of Armata, yet I could not help inquiring why this metropolis had obtained so singular an appellation. Morven, in answer, said, that he was himself no etymo- logist or antiquary, and could only inform me that Swaloal was a word in the Armatian language, signifying the city long known by that name. I smiled at this luminous explana- tion, saying, it reminded me of an anecdote of our George the Second, who, being a foreigner, ¬asked ¬