Looking-Glass Insects

Looking-Glass Insects, an illustration by JVL in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking -Glass,

Artists' Choice Editions, 2011, page 38.

Here is the text at the beginning of the chapter:

 Looking-Glass Insects

 Of course the first thing to do was to make a grand survey of the

country she was going to travel through. 'It's something very like

learning geography,' thought Alice, as she stood on tiptoe in hopes

 being able to see a little further. 'Principal rivers -- there ARE

none. Principal mountains -- I'm on the only one, but I don't think

it's got any name. Principal towns -- why, what ARE those

creatures, making honey down there? They can't be bees -- nobody

ever saw bees a mile off, you know -- ' and for some time she stood

silent, watching one of them that was bustling about among the

flowers, poking its proboscis into them, 'just as if it was a regular

bee,' thought Alice.

However, this was anything but a regular bee: in fact it was an

elephant -- as Alice soon found out, though the idea quite took her

breath away at first. 'And what enormous flowers they must be!'

was her next idea. 'Something like cottages with the roofs taken off,

and stalks put to them -- and what quantities of honey they must

make! I think I'll go down and -- no, I won't JUST yet, ' she went

on, checking herself just as she was beginning to run down the hill,

and trying to find some excuse for turning shy so suddenly. 'It'll

never do to go down among them without a good long branch to

brush them away -- and what fun it'll be when they ask me how I

like my walk. I shall say -- "Oh, I like it well enough -- "' (here

came the favourite little toss of the head), '"only it was so dusty and

hot, and the elephants did tease so!"'

'I think I'll go down the other way,' she said after a pause: 'and

perhaps I may visit the elephants later on. Besides, I do so want to

get into the Third Square!'

So with this excuse she ran down the hill and jumped over the first

of the six little brooks.