But I got no light on
the subject, and, as it soon became evident, even to Jack, that there was
no danger this time, we fell to examining the land over which we were
passing.
We flew at a height of about two thousand feet, so that the range of
vision was very wide. The sea behind us curved into the land in three
great scallops, separated by acuminate promontories, whose terminal
bluffs of sand were as yellow as gold. Away ahead the line of mountains,
that we had noticed before, appeared as a dark sierra, and between it and
the sea the country seemed to be very little broken by hills. Large
forests were visible, but from our elevation it was impossible to tell
whether the trees composing them bore any resemblance to terrestrial
forms. The open land was about equally divided in area between bare
yellowish soil (or what we took to be soil) and bright green expanses
whose color suggested vegetation. Scattered here and there we saw what
appeared to be habitations, but we could not be sure of their nature;
and, upon the whole, the land seemed to us to be very thinly populated.
Many birds accompanied us in our flight, frequently alighting on the deck
and other parts of the air ship.
Pages:
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153