"You'll find it a very interesting place," he told me. "Glubbdubdrib means the island of magicians. All the important people there are good at magic, you see. The President is the best magician of them all. But I must warn you, he has some very strange servants -- they're all ghosts! By using magic he can order the ghost of any dead person to be his servant for twenty-four hours, and the ghost must obey."

Although the Laputans were kind to me, I did not want to spend a long time in their country. Therefore, I decided to travel from Balnibarbi to the island of Luggnagg, from there to Japan, and then home to England. But before I went to Luggnagg, an official I had met in Lagado persuaded me to visit the small island of Glubbdubdrib.

It seemed unbelievable, but it was true. When we arrived on the island, we were invited to the President's palace. His servants certainly looked strange to me there was a smell of death about them. When the President no longer needed them, he waved a hand, and they simply disappeared.

I visited the President every day during my stay, and soon got used to seeing the ghosts. One day the President said, "Gulliver, would you like to call a ghost? It could be anyone from the beginning of the world up to the present day. You could ask them questions about their lives. And you can be sure they'll tell the truth -- ghosts always do."

"That's very kind of you, sir," I replied, and thought hard for a moment. "First, I'd like to see Alexander the Great, please."

The President pointed out of the window. There in a large field was the ghost of Alexander, with his huge army. This famous king lived long ago in Macedonia in northern Greece. His kingdom covered many countries, from Greece to Egypt, from Persia to parts of India. But he died very young, when he was only thirty-three, and no one knew why. The President called him into the room.

"Young man," he replied, "nobody murdered me. I drank too much and died of a fever."

"Great King," I said to him, "just tell me one thing. Were you murdered, or did you die naturally!"

"Great Caesar," I said, "how do you feel about your murderer, Brutus?"

So, in these few words, I had learnt one of the secrets of history! I turned to the President. "And now, may we see Julius Caesar and Brutus?"

The two Romans took Alexander's place. Brutus, of course, had killed Julius Caesar in Rome on 15th March, 44BC -- one of the most famous murders in history. It is terrible to die by the hand of a friend.

I cannot remember how many more ghosts I called to appear. I was very interested in their answers to my questions, which often seemed to offer a different view of history from the one I had been taught at school.

"Do not call him that," replied Caesar, "He is a brave, good man, the best in Rome, and he did the right thing for Rome by killing me. In death, as in life, he has always been my friend."

However, it was soon time to leave Glubbdubdrib, and sail to Luggnagg, a much larger island to the south-east of Japan. The Luggnuggians are polite and generous people, and I stayed here for three months. I made many friends among them. One day, one of them asked me, "Have you ever seen any of our Struldbrugs?"

"Well, a Struldbrug is a human being who will never die, but will live for ever. If a Luggnuggian baby is born with a round spot above its left eye, which never disappears, it's a Struldbrug. We have over a thousand of them in the country."

"I don't think so," I replied. "What's that?"

"How wonderful!" I cried. "How exciting! How lucky you are in Luggnagg, where a child has a chance of living for ever! And how especially lucky the Struldbrugs are! Disease, disaster, and death can never touch them! And imagine how much we can learn from them! I expect they're among the most important people in the country. They've lived through history and know so much, which they're certain to pass on to the rest of us. If I had the chance, I'd like to spend my whole life listening to the intelligent conversation of these extraordinary people, here in Luggnagg!"

"Well, of course," answered my Luggnuggian friend with a smue, "we'll be delighted if you stay longer with us. But I'd like to know how you would plan your life if you were a Struldbrug."

I had only just finished describing the happiness of endless life, when I realized that my friend's shoulders were shaking and tears of laughter were running down his face.

"That's easy," I replied. "First I'd work hard, and earn a lot of money. In about two hundred years I'd be the richest man in Luggnagg. I'd study too, so that I knew more about everything than the cleverest professors. I'd also write down everything important that happened over the years, so that students of history would come to me for help. I'd teach young people what I had learnt. But most of my time I'd spend with other Struldbrugs, friends of mine. Together we could help to destroy crime in the world, and begin to build a new and better life for everyone."

"I really must explain," he said. "You see, you've made a very understandable mistake. You suppose that if someone lives for ever, he is young, healthy, and strong for ever too. And that doesn't happen. Our Struldbrugs have a terrible life. After living for about eighty years, they become ill and miserable. They have no friends and they can't remember much of the past. At that age the law considers them to be dead, so their children inherit their houses and money. Then they sometimes have to beg to get enough food to eat. They lose their teeth and hair, they forget the names of their families, and the only thing they want is to die. But that's impossible!"

I realized how stupid I had been, and felt very sorry for the poor Struldbrugs.

I finally left Luggnagg on a boat sailing to Japan. From there I found a ship which was returning to England. My voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdrib and Luggnagg had taken me away from home for five and a half years.