The Six Imperial Lines
Plate I of IV — Eighteen Founding Specimens, Classified under Six Imperial Lines
Sovereign Specimens — one per Imperial Line — from Professor Wetherby's Pocket Beasts of the Empire, Plate I, Series the First.
Natural History Studio of the Wetherby Press, London, MDCCCXCIII.
Frequently observed in boiler rooms, smithies, and the stokeholds of steam packets. A soot-red salamander of impish disposition, loyal when kept warm, mischievous when neglected. It sneezes sparks when excited.
The intermediate form, distinguished by its proud military collar-frill and a tail that burns with the controlled steadiness of a good officer. Temperament: spirited, disciplined, loyal to its keeper above all others.
The fully matured form — a compact heraldic drake of surpassing nobility, with chest glowing like a furnace door. Associated with officers, engineers, and the farthest stations of the Crown. The companion beast of gentlemen.
Tidy, dependable, and entirely acceptable to Edwardian sensibility. Polished shell of lacquered naval aspect. Favours ship basins, harbour fountains, and the washtubs of naval stations from Gibraltar to Hong Kong.
Shell ridges resembling ironclad plating; fin-like cheek-flares; tail adopting the form of a rudder. Calm under pressure and entirely steadfast. The mariner's natural companion beast.
A creature of commanding dignity — dome-shell of deep naval blue, brass-bright markings, and shell vents capable of projecting water under considerable pressure. Master of tide, harbour, and storm.
A golden dormouse-hare of remarkable charm. Whiskers crackle in atmospheric disturbance. Most sensitive to electrical charge; found near telegraph houses, engine sheds, and storm-prone upland stations throughout the Empire.
Leaner, faster, more resolute. The tail assumes the shape of a lightning pennant; the fur stands in regimented angles. Associated with the great railway termini, storm-prone moors, and the wire stations of the colonial interior.
The fully matured electrical form — a creature of metropolitan-imperial bearing, with gold-and-cream coat, charged ears of remarkable length, and a tail that arcs like a sabre of lightning above the rooftops of the capital.
A mischievous but honest creature of the permanent way. Found among sleepers, signal huts, and ballast beds from Crewe to the Cape Government line. Senses the approach of locomotives through the ground long before the rail sings.
Tireless, exacting, and thoroughly territorial. Tracks movement through smoke and steam with unnerving accuracy. Best left undisturbed when it has taken a siding under its charge. Known to bite through loose coupling rope.
The stern matured form — paces the line in darkness and steadies frightened beasts and men alike through cuttings and tunnels. Associated with the great viaducts and the night expresses. Engine drivers salute it as they would an old inspector.
Snappish, diligent, and quietly indispensable. Cuts fouled rope and shifts small tackle with its hook-claws, primarily at the Malta Dockyard. No dock foreman readily admits how useful the creature can be.
Calm, strong, methodical. Drags loads of surprising weight and braces itself against cargo cranes and timber wharves like harbour tackle. Most obedient when labour is orderly and shouted commands are few. Observed at Singapore Roads.
The immovable final form — withstands gale and surf upon the breakwaters of Simon's Bay, claws anchored upon wet stone like grapnels. It is said no wave has yet persuaded one to give ground.
Restless and attentive, this creature grows visibly agitated at a failing lamp and will circle weakening flame in warning. Found at Fastnet Rock and the lamp rooms of exposed coastal stations. Lighthouse keepers indulge it, for it dislikes negligence more than they do.
Silent, vigilant, and patient beyond reckoning. Sees through fog and turns its face toward dangerous weather hours before instruments record any change. Its cry before dawn is taken seriously along the headlands of the Longships station.
The austere final form, breast glowing like a lamp through glass upon the sea stacks of Cape Wrath. Appears before the harshest storms and has never once been observed to abandon its post in foul weather. The lighthouse keeper's most solemn companion.
