If you have a map of the Land of Oz handy, you will find that the great Nonestic Ocean
washes the shores of the Kingdom of Rinkitink, between which and the Land of Oz lies a
strip of the country of the Nome King and a Sandy Desert. The Kingdom of Rinkitink
isn't very big and lies close to the ocean, all the houses and the King's palace being built
near the shore. The people live much upon the water, boating and fishing, and the wealth
of Rinkitink is gained from trading along the coast and with the islands nearest it.
Four days' journey by boat to the north of Rinkitink is the Island of Pingaree, and as our
story begins here I must tell you something about this island. At the north end of
Pingaree, where it is widest, the land is a mile from shore to shore, but at the south end it
is scarcely half a mile broad; thus, although Pingaree is four miles long, from north to
south, it cannot be called a very big island. It is exceedingly pretty, however, and to the
gulls who approach it from the sea it must resemble a huge green wedge lying upon the
waters, for its grass and trees give it the color of an emerald.
The grass came to the edge of the sloping shores; the beautiful trees occupied all the
central portion of Pingaree, forming a continuous grove where the branches met high
overhead and there was just space beneath them for the cosy houses of the inhabitants.
These houses were scattered everywhere throughout the island, so that there was no town
or city, unless the whole island might be called a city. The canopy of leaves, high
overhead, formed a shelter from sun and rain, and the dwellers in the grove could all look
past the straight tree-trunks and across the grassy slopes to the purple waters of the
Nonestic Ocean.
At the big end of the island, at the north, stood the royal palace of King Kitticut, the lord
and ruler of Pingaree. It was a beautiful palace, built entirely of snow-white marble and
capped by domes of burnished gold, for the King was exceedingly wealthy. All along the
coast of Pingaree were found the largest and finest pearls in the whole world.
These pearls grew within the shells of big oysters, and the people raked the oysters from
their watery beds, sought out the milky pearls and carried them dutifully to their King.
Therefore, once every year His Majesty was able to send six of his boats, with sixty
rowers and many sacks of the valuable pearls, to the Kingdom of Rinkitink, where there
was a city called Gilgad, in which King Rinkitink's palace stood on a rocky headland and
served, with its high towers, as a lighthouse to guide sailors to the harbor. In Gilgad the
pearls from Pingaree were purchased by the King's treasurer, and the boats went back to
the island laden with stores of rich merchandise and such supplies of food as the people
and the royal family of Pingaree needed.
The Pingaree people never visited any other land but that of Rinkitink, and so there were
few other lands that knew there was such an island. To the southwest was an island called
the Isle of Phreex, where the inhabitants had no use for pearls. And far north of Pingaree
-- six days' journey by boat, it was said -- were twin islands named Regos and Coregos,
inhabited by a fierce and warlike people.
Many years before this story really begins, ten big boatloads of those fierce warriors of
Regos and Coregos visited Pingaree, landing suddenly upon the north end of the island.
