In addition to the above objects, there were many things of a kind to awaken human fear.
Stuffed serpents of the most objectionable and horrid kind; giant insects from the tropics, fearsome in every detail; fishes and crustaceans covered with weird spikes; dried octopuses of great size.

Other things, too, there were, not less deadly though seemingly innocuous--dried fungi, traps intended for birds, beasts, fishes, reptiles, and insects; machines which could produce pain of any kind and degree, and the only mercy of which was the power of producing speedy death.
Caswall, who had never before seen any of these things, except those which he had collected himself, found a constant amusement and interest in them.

He studied them, their uses, their mechanism--where there was such--and their places of origin, until he had an ample and real knowledge of all concerning them.

Many were secret and intricate, but he never rested till he found out all the secrets.

When once he had become interested in strange objects, and the way to use them, he began to explore various likely places for similar finds.